6 June 1966 The modern-era pop charts and pop culture have really done no favours to Frank Sinatra's legacy. He was a star since the '40s, recorded his imperial-phase classics in the '50s... and yet our perception of him today seems to be for dreary late-era kitsch like 'Theme From New York, New York' and … Continue reading Frank Sinatra – ‘Strangers In The Night’
Author: Aidan Curran
Manfred Mann – ‘Pretty Flamingo’
9 May 1966 So, you're the same shade of pink as Barbara Cartland's boudoir, you stand around for ages on one foot at a time, and everyone incorrectly thinks you urinate down your legs: you big flamingo, you! No, I wouldn't be too flattered either. That said, I reckon I'd wear the pink well: it … Continue reading Manfred Mann – ‘Pretty Flamingo’
Bruno Mars – ‘Just The Way You Are’
7 October 2010 Remember when Bruno Mars was a fresh, exciting new act? Hah! Trick question. Yes, unlike the latter-day Martian retro soul schtick, its faddish-for-2010 mix of beats and piano make 'Just The Way You Are' sound like it was made by people who acknowledge the existence of pop music made after 1975. Otherwise, … Continue reading Bruno Mars – ‘Just The Way You Are’
Pat Smyth and The Johnny Flynn Showband – ‘Black And Tan Gun’
25 April 1966 Right after 'The Sea Around Us' we have another Irish republican ballad at the top of our charts. 'Black And Tan Gun', though, is a painfully antiquated and simpering '50s-style country-&-Irish showband number telling the maudlin tale of a fallen Irish soldier, shot near Bantry by the notoriously fashion-uncoordinated British army unit … Continue reading Pat Smyth and The Johnny Flynn Showband – ‘Black And Tan Gun’
The Ludlows – ‘The Sea Around Us’
28 March 1966 The Seekers had already topped our charts with the Australian variant, and the US influence of pre-electric Bob Dylan was still in the air, but here's our first encounter with the home-grown Irish '60s folk ballad revival. The Ludlows include a youthful Jim McCann, later a solo balladeer of considerable success, and … Continue reading The Ludlows – ‘The Sea Around Us’
Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner – ‘Written In The Stars’
30 September 2010 My long-standing modus operandi here vis-à-vis 'inspirational' tracks is that I don't knock or begrudge anyone for getting inspiration from something. Here in October 2023 as I write this, the world is being even more relentlessly dreadful than usual: take any inspiration or solace you can get, is what I say. What … Continue reading Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner – ‘Written In The Stars’
The Script – ‘For The First Time’
9 September 2010 Mark Sheehan, guitarist with The Script, died in April 2023, only six months ago as I write this. The Script's brand of U2-influenced earnest, melodramatic, stadium-sized soft rock has been hugely successful, and 'For The First Time'—whose video stars Eve Hewson—is on-brand in that regard. It's not a genre of music that … Continue reading The Script – ‘For The First Time’
Dickie Rock – ‘Come Back To Stay’
28 February 1966 Engagement and gamification are not new concepts; the unlikely vanguard of these multimedia strategies was Ireland's 1966 Eurovision entry. Dickie sings "come back to stay" and you can immediately jump in to finish the rhyme-cliche, "stray", which he delivers about half an hour later in this tired, bland, watery ballad. Likewise, "true" … Continue reading Dickie Rock – ‘Come Back To Stay’
Nancy Sinatra – ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”
21 February 1966 Everyone's favourite Batman is the '60s TV show, not the recent-day notiony auteur films, right? I mention it here because I fear 'These Boots Are Made For Walkin'', like classic Batman, is dismissed as camp, whimsical Austin Powers fancy-dress fodder, when in fact it's smart, funny, slyly subversive, and far more enduring … Continue reading Nancy Sinatra – ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin”
Katy Perry – ‘Teenage Dream’
2 September 2010 Party-anthem EDM-pop beds in for 2010 and beyond. Following in the designer loafers of designer loafers Flo Rida, David Guetta and Taio Cruz, here again is Katy Perry, America's sweetheart of the spring-break mechanical-bull rodeo. 'Teenage Dream' aims less for saucy-postcard and more schoolgirl-diary, or at least a grown-up's contrivance of same: … Continue reading Katy Perry – ‘Teenage Dream’
