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Post by richard on Jun 15, 2019 12:31:08 GMT
What are some of your favourite tracks other than by ABBA? Any era, genre and style. I'm intrigued to know if our choices stay pretty much within the pop realm of ABBA or are more divergent.
I think some of th US girl groups of the early 60s, such as the Shirelles, the Ronettes, and the Chiffons, recorded some wonderfully melodic, well-written, pop songs.
Love this one, including the oboe that comes in on the line "Don't give him love today, tomorrow he's on his way". Very poignant. And the section towards the end: "Stay away from him, stay away from him..."
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 15, 2019 12:53:30 GMT
Fleetwood Mac, Donna Summer, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Blondie, Erasure, Girls Aloud, ELO , Sarah Brightman, Bananarama, Kylie and the Mamas and Papas. Think if Abba had been around a decade earlier they may have had hits similar to the Mamas and Papas.
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Post by Michal on Jun 15, 2019 19:23:38 GMT
There are so many it's not possible to mention them all, both within the pop territory and without. My non-pop favourites come from the likes of Europe (who'd resist The Final Countdown  - but they are my one of my most favourite bands overall), Bryan Adams, Asia, Avantasia (mainly The Metal Opera), Eagles, Heart, Queen, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, U2... |
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 15, 2019 19:47:57 GMT
My list continued Madonna, the Carpenters, the Eagles, Queen and the Spice Girls.
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Post by richard on Jun 15, 2019 21:01:38 GMT
Thanks for the responses, guys, but what about a favourite, specific, track by one of the artists you mention; and, if you want, a word or two as to why it's a favourite track of yours?
In any case, perhaps this topic is too big and awkward to go on with. What do you think?
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Post by josef on Jun 16, 2019 11:30:56 GMT
Two songs spring to mind. Pink Moon by Nick Drake and A Coral Room by Kate Bush.
I find both songs exquisitely beautiful and almost unbearable to listen to. Both have a deep personal meaning to me. I find it torture to listen to them and yet I must. True works of art.
Nick Drake is of course folk and Kate Bush defies categorisation.
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Post by richard on Jun 16, 2019 13:42:38 GMT
Just the sort of post I was l hoping to read, Josef. Leading us, perhaps, to seek out tracks we weren't aware of, or listen anew to familiar ones, or simply to know what floats our various boats when it comes to specific tracks.
Kate Bush is so talented musically and lyrically, and what also appeals to me are the arrangements that add to already brilliant songs. Army Dreamers is a favourite of mine, and that plaintive little motif on what sounds a bit like a harpsichord, as I recall, gets me every time: de-dum, de-dum
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 16, 2019 14:42:47 GMT
I imagine this is a thread that many of us will return to often, needing to add to the list of favourites. Here is just a tiny handful of mine: Yazoo - Only You. Such a pure and perfect tune. The combination of the synths and that voice... Sublime. Dollar - Hand Held In Black And White. Such superb production. Dollar may fall into the "guilty pleaures" territory for some but this is an incredible record. In fact, having heard it, ABC campaigned to ensure that Trevor Horn would produce their first album, the wonderful "Lexicon Of Love." Desireless - Voyage, Voyage. I get lost in this every time I hear it - especially if it's on a dancefloor. Bucks Fizz - My Camera Never Lies. More pop perfection and glossy production. I developed a deep fondness for this group that has never faded. Goldfrapp - Crystalline Green. The gorgeous opening track of their brilliant "Black Cherry" album. It's all about the blend of sounds for me. Lyrically, I can't make out what's going on or what's meant, but I love this. Elbow - Scattered Black And Whites. I went though a deep love affair with this band more than a decade ago and while more recent albums haven't connected as deeply with me, I think they are an amazing band. Guy Garvey's lyrics are just incredible and that voice. Oh dear lord. For some reason, this song reminds me of my late father. It's one of only a handful of songs that can reduce me to tears. Eddi Reader - Bell, Book And Candle. Eddi has one of the most pure and affecting voices. She doesn't just sing songs, she inhabits them. She has so many beautiful pieces in her canon, but this is a heartbreaking peach. Niamh Kavanagh - Let's Make Trouble. Niamh won the Eurovision for Ireland in 1993. She has a fantasticly warm and soulful voice. This is an upbeat moment on her superb and under-recognised debut album, "Flying Blind." Alison Moyet - Changeling. I have loved Alison's voice ever since I heard Yazoo's "Only You" in 1982. "Changeling" is the lead track from her amazing 2013 album, "the minutes" - a wonderful return to electronic music after years in a more organic setting. Divine. Royseven - We Should Be Lovers. Irish pop used to be dodgy cabaret nonsense. Then our boybands made it big in the 90s and, this century, we have produced some brilliant stuff. Royseven are no longer working but this track is brilliant. Wild Youth - Can't Move On. This is a very current Irish pop group. Still in their infancy, they are making a big noise here. Brilliant songwriting. I hope they have an international breakthrough. Ariana Grande - Into You. I love this girl's voice and while I'm not a fully committed fan, I love a lot of her material. This unofficial 1980s-style remix is superb and helps illustrate why I think the 1980s is such an important pop decade: Playlist: Spotify |
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Post by richard on Jun 16, 2019 21:36:07 GMT
What a beautiful voice Eddi Reader has. I listened to a few of her vocals on YouTube this afternoon. I like Dragonflies, especially.
With this choice, I'm going back in time a bit.
When I was younger, Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and the great standard songs they sang - written by songwriters such as Gershwin, Kern, Porter, and Rodgers - just weren't in my musical awareness. Now I know that mainstream jazz musicians to this day improvise on these songs; and these songs - some nearly a hundred years old - are still being performed and recorded by singers. Timeless melodies with often lovely chord changes - and not full of 'moon and June' cliches, as they're sometimes depicted as having, though they often have lyrics very romantic in character.
I love Peggy Lee's soft, intimate voice on this recording.I take it to be a song of longing for a dream that cannot be...
The video I posted for this track is no longer available on YouTube, so here is an alternative one:
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Post by josef on Jun 18, 2019 21:50:03 GMT
This is one of my favourite kind of threads because it introduces me to songs and singers I might not have heard before. I spent quite some time going through Tony's choices and what a bunch of gems. I also approve of Peggy Lee. What a voice she had.
I'm tempted to go crazy and post links to songs but I don't want to make the thread too long to load so I'll simply mention the odd song and post links when I really feel it's special.
Joan Armatrading is someone I return to again and again. What a songwriter she is! Superb. I honestly wouldn't know where to begin- she has such a rich legacy. Love and Affection? Rosie? Down to Zero? All wonderful.
Janis Ian is another one. I must admit I'm only really familiar with two of her songs- At Seventeen and The Other Side of the Sun. Check them out if you've a mind to. They both evoke strong memories of friends amd times past, a wistful, nostalgic feeling.
A HUGE favourite is Sara by Fleetwood Mac oh if only I could find the words to explain what this song means to me. Impossible right now. Suffice to say it evokes a lost love and indeed estranged friends- bridges that really are burnt.
Music is so powerful.
Here's Where The Story Ends by The Sundays is a firm go-to. Harriet has such a lovely voice. Check out Julianne Regan's dulcet tones in her band 'All About Eve', too. 'Martha's Harbour' 😍
I seem to be drawn to melancholic songs, I'm such a sucker for sadness. I'm no masochist but there is a strange kind of beauty in a melancholic melody that's irresistible. It makes the pain, the emotional turmoil of failed relationships and so forth, strangely enjoyable. A bizarre kind of wallowing that is oddly pleasurable.
*Heads off to wallow in Walking Wounded by Everything But The Girl*
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 18, 2019 23:09:45 GMT
EBTG's "Walking Wounded" is one of the best albums of the 1990s.
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 19, 2019 0:07:37 GMT
So many to choose from.... Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell, It’s getting better by Mama Cass, the Rose by Bette Midler, The carnival is over by the Seekers, Black is Black by Labelle Epoque.
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Post by josef on Jun 19, 2019 15:27:10 GMT
I am the biggest fan of Julia Davis (Nighty Night, Hunderby, etc) and her most recent series was Sally4Ever -it's not for the faint-hearted but I love black humour. Anyway, I heard this song during one scene and now its a massive favourite- check it out!
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Post by Michal on Jun 19, 2019 18:40:30 GMT
Very interesting topic indeed.. Most of the songs you've named I've never heard before, many of the mentioned acts I've never heard of before. The list of my favourite tracks would be very long and most of the tracks are notorious. I was thinking hard if there is any song in the list of my all-time favourites that you probably never heard and finally I've come up with this one:
I don't expect any of you to know it as it is a Czech artist but the song itself is maybe not altogether unknown as it is a cover of Black Sabbath's She's Gone. However, this version is superior to the original version in my opinion and it actually is one of the best cover versions I've ever heard. Check it out, it sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it…
By the way - it would be interesting to start a thread where we would introduce some of our national artists not known abroad. What do you think?
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Post by josef on Jun 20, 2019 16:03:32 GMT
^I think that's a great idea.
One thing that I've noticed as I've got older is people being dismissive about modern music. I take umbrage with that. There's lots of good music out there if you look for it.
Exhibit A, your honour:
Some people may be familiar with this:
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Post by josef on Jun 20, 2019 16:11:44 GMT
I'm definitely more of a fan of the female voice but there are a few male vocalists who can reduce me to jelly.
His voice is divine. That crack in it. I listen to this song at least once a week. I'm not sure it means anything specific to me, I just love the sound, everything about it. I guess it's country? Not the biggest fan of that genre but there are exceptions.
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Post by HOMETIME on Jun 20, 2019 19:00:53 GMT
Chris Isaak is fantastic (and a total snack). I also love Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing.
I think Kiki Dee is a superb singer and deserved to be a much bigger star. Her new 3-disc Gold collection is a bargain at about £5-£6 on Amazon.
Love Makes The World Go Around
Chicago
Perfect Timing
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Post by richard on Jun 20, 2019 22:02:29 GMT
There's a video on YouTube of Kiki Dee performing Why Don't I Run Away From You? which I came across a while back. One of her first tv perfomances, I think. Very assured.
For my choice this time, the 'track' is actually a live performance.
Some time ago, I discovered on YouTube videos of live performances by some brilliant young musicians from a music academy in Barcelona. Already they have the confidence and capabilities of professionals who have played for decades!
Rita Payes is singing and then improvising on trombone. I think she was 16 at the time of this performance.She's about 20 now. Andrea Motis, harmonising, is another wonderful talent: she sings and plays trumpet.
Outstanding piano solo from Ignasi Terraza, also.
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Post by richard on Jun 21, 2019 13:06:41 GMT
I tried to provide just the clickable links - that is, just the hypertext - to a couple of YouTube videos by editing the code, but without success. When I was briefly on the old abba4ever forum back in 2009, it seemed easy enough. Maybe it was easier... or maybe It's because I'm ten years older! I need to check out how to do this. Can anyone describe the way, please?  |
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Post by richard on Jun 21, 2019 17:08:44 GMT
Well, here's another try.
This is a duet of Rita with her mother accompanying on guitar
,
No, still not working the way l want.
Surely, this forum doesn't preclude the possibility of embedding just clickable
hyperlinks to YouTube videos - with no preview images - which, I assume, would make for speedier loading of a thread?
Just seen madonabba in the URL for this video as I write this edit!
One and the same as the member here by any chance?
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Post by josef on Jun 21, 2019 19:43:15 GMT
It's so strange, the power of music. I'm not what you'd call a fan of Will Young but I love this song. For a very long time I couldn't listen to it without falling to pieces- same with Pink's Please Don't Leave Me. The reason being that the latter was playing in the background as I visited my dying mother and my partner at the time said, "This will remind you of your mum." Yes, he was an insensitive prick. I never really took any notice at the time, not of the song or of what he'd said (I had other things on my mind, naturally) but many months later I heard it somewhere and it floored me. Just those few opening bars/lyrics was all it took and I became a wreck. And even now it can make me struggle a little if I hear it unexpectedly. Not the lyrical content...it's simply the association. It was a similar situation with the Pink song.
Another one is the Queen song, I Want To Break Free. My mother was a big fan of Freddie Mercury and that song in particular meant a great deal to her personally.
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Post by richard on Jun 21, 2019 23:35:07 GMT
As you say, Josef, music is powerful, and your memory of your mother illustrates it so poignantly. I appreciate your sharing it.
The song that affects me that way sometimes is the Beatles' It Won't Be Long because my older sister, now dead, and I used to sing together the counter-melodies in the bridge of that song.
But of course the power of music can light up happy moments and memories in our lives, too! And sometimes it's a mixture. Bittersweet.
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Post by shoshin on Jun 22, 2019 0:48:01 GMT
One of my favourite non-Abba tracks just happens to have Abba in the title! |
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Post by shoshin on Jun 22, 2019 1:28:29 GMT
Surely, this forum doesn't preclude the possibility of embedding just clickable hyperlinks to YouTube videos - with no preview images - which, I assume, would make for speedier loading of a thread? There will be a forum admin parameter 'auto embed videos?'. At the moment this will be set to Yes on Abbachat. So even if a standard hyperlink is used rather than the video icon, the forum thinks that it is doing you a favour by recognising that the link is YouTube and embedding it. Roxy would be able to change this setting; maybe Mike too. |
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Post by shoshin on Jun 22, 2019 1:40:14 GMT
Suede's The Chemistry Between Us makes you feel nostalgic without knowing what you're feeling nostalgic about. Wonderful guitar riffs.
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 22, 2019 12:04:39 GMT
Just seen madonabba in the URL for this video as I write this edit!
One and the same as the member here by any chance?
[/quote]
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Post by madonnabba on Jun 22, 2019 12:09:18 GMT
Just seen madonabba in the URL for this video as I write this edit! One and the same as the member here by any chance? [/quote][br Hi there. No not me. But I can only guess the other person is a Madonna and Abba fan too who thought of the fusion and play on words too. 😀 |
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Post by richard on Jun 22, 2019 16:08:36 GMT
shoshin wrote: Thanks for the information, Martin. Although I wouldn't ask for this setting to to be changed - probably most members are happy with it as it is - I do think if someone is interested enough, they will click on a standard hyperlink to a video. But I accept that a YouTube video with icon makes it more attractive to check it out. madonnabba, what a pity! That would have been a wonderful, though admittedly unlikely, coincidence!
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Post by richard on Jun 25, 2019 13:49:11 GMT
Three of my favourites mainly for their melodic impact on me: Betcha By Golly Wow, The Stylistics. Lovely intro, too. Zoom, Fat Larry's Band Don't Worry Baby, The Beach Boys. Just pretend that the tender words aren't addressed to a motor vehicle. (Not really, but that's how I took the lyrics for a long time. ) |
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Post by josef on Jun 25, 2019 15:04:22 GMT
Like many people, I'm very fond of this kind of music. My mum played songs like this so yet again it can make me emotional 😥 😆 I can't help it, it's the way I'm made. I'm not a total misery guts, though. Lots of music makes me feel uplifted WITHOUT a melancholic edge.
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- but they are my one of my most favourite bands overall), Bryan Adams, Asia, Avantasia (mainly The Metal Opera), Eagles, Heart, Queen, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, U2...
