4 November 2010 I remember the spectacular skyscraping chorus of 'Only Girl (In The World)' but not much else of it. That's me having listened to it just now, by the way, not casting my mind back to 2010. Scrunching up my face and listening another time really, really hard, the verses here could be … Continue reading Rihanna – ‘Only Girl (In The World)’
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The Kinks – ‘Sunny Afternoon’
18 July 1966 England's mythical summer of 1966, when London swung and the years-of-hurt counter still said zero, seemed to involve a good deal of pop-star whinge about paying tax, what with the first line of The Kinks' 'Sunny Afternoon' and the opening track of The Beatles' Revolver. Alas, we in Ireland couldn't help; our … Continue reading The Kinks – ‘Sunny Afternoon’
The Beatles – ‘Paperback Writer’
20 June 1966 The novel in 'Paperback Writer' is churned-out hackwork: "It's a thousand pages, give or take a few / I'll be writing more in a week or two". Alas, I have to say that 'Paperback Writer' itself, like some other made-to-order Beatle hits we've seen at number one so far, has the same … Continue reading The Beatles – ‘Paperback Writer’
Cheryl – ‘Promise This’
28 October 2010 It might seem unfair to suggest that the only explanatory factor for 'Promise This' topping the Irish and UK charts was the celebrity status of its singer, as seen on prime-time TV every Saturday night and in the gossip-hungry tabloid press all the other days of the week. For one thing, the … Continue reading Cheryl – ‘Promise This’
Frank Sinatra – ‘Strangers In The Night’
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’
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’
