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Favourites:
POPULAR SONGS
WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
(Pete Townshend/1971) The Who
 A stunning, powerful protest song written by The Who's Pete Townshend about how the more things change the more they stay the same. It sounds like no other song ever written - except perhaps Townshend's other classic, "Who Are You", written a few years later - with its dynamic pulsating rhythm, scorching vocals by Roger Daltry, simple but clever organ solo by guest artist Al Kooper and Peter Moon's frantic drumming which burst in and out of John Entwhistle's incredibly complex bass lines. If there was ever a song to get me hyper, it was this one. It was first released as the final track on the album, Who's Next, released in August 1971, and then as a single. The album was the remains of an abortive rock opera, 'Lifehouse'. Who's Next set a hard rock standard that even its creators struggled to emulate. The song was originally eight minutes long but was cut to 3 1/2 minutes for its single release.
WHEN YOU WALK IN THE ROOM
(Jackie De Shannon/1964) The Searchers; Jackie de Shannon (right)
 A plaintiff cry from the heart of a guy/girl who is besotted by someone yet that person doesn't even know he/she exists. I first heard this song in 1965 when I had feelings for someone who didn't know how I felt about them. At that time Jackie de Shannon's lyrics expressed exactly what was going on inside my head. It was this song that introduced me to a musical instrument I came to adore, the Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar. The introduction and fills throughout the song are played by Mike Pender on his cherry red 360/12 Rose Morris Model 1993 (that's the model number, not the year of manufacture) which is the electric 12-string played on all The Searchers' recordings. That guitar, one of Mike's dearest possessions, was stolen in the 1990s and was never recovered. At last count this song has been recorded by no less than 58 artists. Besides the version by The Searchers, I like Jackie DeShannon's original recording, Paul Carrick's (lead singer of of Mike And The Mechanics) 1987 hit and a particularly likeable rendition by former ABBA lead singer, Agnetha F?ltskog, which appeared on her 2004 album, My Colouring Book.
SECOND CUP OF COFFEE
(Gordon Lightfoot/1972) Gordon Lightfoot
 This song indirectly tells a story of broken marriage with a typically clever refrain about reaching for the phone. It's the kind of song that sounds so immediate and familiar that you're certain you must have heard it before, the only question being where. But still it's as original as everything else Lightfoot did, fresh and unique behind a familiar-sounding facade. I just don't know how he does it. The song was featured on Gordon's 1972 album, Don Quixote, which showcases this talented Canadian songwriter/singer at a time when he was about to reach his zenith. Besides Gord's excellent voice and lyrics, the song's main appeal to me is the simple guitar accompaniment with Gordon on 12-sting acoustic (capo on 2nd fret), Terry Clements on lead acoustic high string guitar, Red Shea on 6 string acoustic and Rick Haynes on electric bass holding it all together with not a drum kit in sight! So simple yet so effective. What a combination and what I'd do to have a jam session with those guys!
LIKE A ROLLING STONE
(Bob Dylan/1965) Bob Dylan
 This is probably the quintessential Bob Dylan song, and in 1976, New Musical Express rightly called it "the top rock single of all time". Some have called it the ultimate rock song which defines the genre, others describe it as the benchmark by which all others that followed are judged. I agree. The simple, relentless and repetitive refrain of "How does it feel" is brilliantly complimented by some of Dylan's most caustic and biting lyrics. It is a defiant, angry and plugged-in Dylan in all his glory, all the while sneering at the fall from grace of the main female character. Like all of Dylan's work in the '60s, "Like A Rolling Stone" is more impressive when you connect the almost amateur-sounding melodic rock to his indisputable mastery of poetry and words. "Napoleon in rags", "Once upon a time, you dressed so fine, threw the bums a dime, in your prime", such marvellous imagery that is still remarkably unrivalled. I continue to find it very interesting that Dylan would have the organ part played by somebody who'd never before played organ. The song opened the Dylan album, Highway 61 Revisited, released in August 1965, which is regarded as one of the all-time classic, landmark rock albums of all time.
THOSE WERE THE DAYS
(Gene Raskin/1968) Mary Hopkin
 Welsh songstress Mary Hopkin (right) was one of the most talented finds of the Beatles' Apple Corporation. The story goes that Paul McCartney and model Twiggy saw her performing Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn" on a TV talent show, Paul rang her up straight away and offered her a recording contract. She agreed and within a month she had recorded "Those were The Days". She became an international celebrity when it went to No. One of the hit charts. Like ABBA's "Our Last Summer", it is a reflective ballad about lost love, sung with a great depth of feeling by Mary. To give "Those Were the Days" that "old country" feel, Apple's arranger Richard Hewson concocted a simple arrangement consisting of an acoustic guitar, upright bass, tuba, banjo, drums, a clarinet section, violins & violas, trumpets and an Hungarian instrument called a "cembalon". "It was an unusual instrument played with hammers, like a dulcimer. There was only one guy in England who could play one - one of my professors, Gilbert Webster. That's who's on that recording." The song was topped off by the addition of a boys choir. Hewson began working regularly for Apple through 1969, scoring Hopkin's album, Post Card, as well as her next single, "Goodbye," written and produced by Paul. The latter featured "all violas, 12 of them in fact, with no other classical instruments. That was a first!" recalls Paul.
At just over 5 minutes, "Those were The Days" is one of the longest songs to ever to make No. One and sell over eight million copies. The origins of the melody are strongly claimed by the Russians and Russian gypsies consider it their song. The name of this song seems to be "Dorogoj dlinnoju'. The first known recording of it was by Alexander Vertinsky in the 1920's. The English lyrics were written by American composer Gene Raskin in the early 1960's. The first known recording was by The Limelighters in 1963. It has been covered by many artists since, including Sandie Shaw and more recently The Three Tenors did an incredible performance of it. Paul McCartney heard Gene and Francesca Raskin singing the song in a club called the Blue Lamp in London in the mid 1960's, and after 'discovering' Mary Hopkin he remembered this song and suggested it to her, the rest as they say is history, although apparently he did offer the song to others such as Donovan, but nobody thought it suited them, that is until Mary came along.
ELEANOR RIGBY
(John Lennon - Paul McCartney/1966) The Beatles
 I'd love to know how the Fab Four had intended performing this song before George Martin decided to give everyone but Paul the day off and got him to sing it over a pre-recorded octet of four violins, two violas and two cellos. Nevertheless, I'm forever grateful that Martin did what he did as the result is just brilliant. Penned by Paul (right), this song about loneliness is for me the greatest, most cherished two minutes and eleven seconds ever recorded by The Beatles. It was featured on their 1966 album, Revolver. The "story" is typical of Paul with its two characters who seem to be unrelated to each other when introduced respectively in the first two verses, only to be brought into ironic proximity to each other in the final scene. The backing arrangement for small string ensemble is well crafted by someone who clearly understood the string quartet idiom. Though eight players are used, the writing is in essentially four parts where, except for brief flashes of solo playing, each is doubled for strength. George Martin credits the influence upon him of Bernard Hermann's score for the film, "Fahrenheit 451". It takes either a genius or a fool to tamper with a classic and that's exactly what Aussie band Zoot did with "Eleanor Rigby" in 1971. Zoot probably played it how The Beatles might have done had they not been under George Martin's influence - loud and rocky - and it works a treat, hat's off to you, guys! It reached No. 3 in the Aussie top 5 in 1971.
HERE COMES THE SUN
(George Harrison/1969) The Beatles
 For me, the two best songs on The Beatles' superb Abbey Road album were George's two contributions, this one and "Something". Written in Eric Clapton's garden one morning after George (right) sought refuge there during one of The Beatles' infamous squabbles after the death of their manager, Brian Epstein, it is one of the brightest, feel-good songs George ever wrote. I've always loved George's rendition of it on the Abbey Road album and never thought it would ever be matched, but Joe Brown's version at the memorial concert to George Harrison, Concert For George, comes pretty close. Very few mistakes have made it onto Beatles albums, as generally the best and most perfect of a number of takes were chosen for publishing. Such is not the case hear as George fluffs a word in the last verse. Unsure whether to sing "seems" or "feels" he ends up singing "seels". His acoustic 12-string guitar playing, however, is impeccable. For the recording, Harrison provided lead vocal, backing vocal and played guitar (a mandolin-sized Vox Mando V257 12-string), harmonium, Moog synthesiser and handclaps. Paul McCartney provided backing vocal, bass and handclaps. Ringo Starr played drums and provided handclaps. John Lennon did not perform on the recording. Four violas, four cellos, one double-bass, two piccolos, two flutes, two alto flutes and two clarinets were played by uncredited session musicians.
OUR LAST SUMMER
(Benny Andersson - Bjorn Ulvaeus/1980) ABBA
 If I had to pick a favourite ABBA album, it would have to be Super Trouper, and if I had to pick a favourite song from it, then it would be a toss-up between this one and "The Winner Takes It All". "Our Last Summer", which is essentially the reminiscings of a lady who had a brief love affair in Paris with a banker when they were young, paints a poignant, lyrical picture of lost love. Bj?rn's lyrics were inspired by a teenage romance he had experienced long ago in France. "It was that kind of melancholy memory of 'the last summer of innocence'," he recalled. As always, the musical arrangement and production is excellent and the guitar solo by Lasse Wellander and Frida's smooth vibrato, while holding her note on "I still feel it a.......ll" are both magical ABBA moments. The song and album were recorded and mixed at Polar Music Studios, Stockholm.
THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
(Benny Andersson - Bjorn Ulvaeus/1980) ABBA
 This song was always destined to go down as a true ABBA classic, and is arguably the best recording the super-Swedes ever made. It features Agnetha (right) in the solo performance of her ABBA career. Even at the writing stage, sitting together head to head, Benny at the piano and Bj?rn with his acoustic guitar, they sensed they were on to something special. The first attempt at a backing track was an up-tempo arrangement with a regular, insistent beat. It sounded fine, but the songwriters felt it wasn't exactly what they were after so they let the song rest for a few days. Four days later, and Benny came up with a "chanson-style", descending piano line, loosening up the structure considerably and giving the song a better flow. As a guide demo for this new arrangement, Bj?rn put down a vocal track with a France nonsense lyric. The layers of French chanson in the arrangement suggested something that called for a touch of the melodramatic: strong feelings about an emotional subject. On this particular night Bj?rn opened a bottle of whisky , and drank freely during the writing process. The alcohol went to his head and fuelled his creativity; it was the quickest lyric he ever wrote and also one of the best. The lyric dealt, of course, with the break-up of a relationship, always a subject Bj?rn excelled in writing about during his years with ABBA. He would freely admit that the heartbreak with Agnetha inspired "The Winner Takes It All", although the words weren't meant to be taken literally. "Neither Agnetha nor I were winners in our divorce", he pointed out. Anyone wanting a lesson in pop song structure, and a near-perfect blend of music, lyrics, arrangement and vocal performance, need look no further than this recording. It was a song and recording that had truly evolved from the heart.
INDIAN SUNSET
(Elton John - Bernie Taupin/1971) Elton John
 The album upon which this song appears - Madman Across The Water - is quite innovative as Elton's albums go, in that it has a theme. It's an account, sometimes photographic, sometimes emotional, often metaphorical and nearly always darkly introspective, of Elton John in America - the madman across the water. The album is a more cynical observation of America following Elton John and Bernie Taupin's first tour of America and is in stark contrast to the more idealistic Tumbleweed Connection. Evocatively sung by Elton, "Indian Sunset" is an almost anthemic track about the plight of native Americans in their historic war against the white settlers. The opening features Elton John a capella for close to a minute. As the song progresses, the dynamics change, building to a crescendo, falling away for the verses and building again to the tragic close. Taupin combines the situations of different tribes throughout these wars, culminating in Geronimo "laying down his weapons as they filled him full of lead." Paul Buckmaster's arrangement has the orchestra successfully pounding out a great tribal setting. Taupin was not entirely accurate historically (the term "squaw" was purportedly never used by real native Americans), relying on pure atmosphere, but he gets the message across loud and clear.
WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN
(John Fogerty/1970) Creedence Clearwater Revival
 If, as many contend, Creedence Clearwater Revival was the foremost singles rock band of its time, Cosmo's Factory is the ultimate end-of-the-'60s singles album. John Fogerty wrote some of his best songs for it and it became a best seller which produced no fewer than six top-5 hit singles - "Who'll Stop The Rain", "Up Around The Bend", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", "Long As I Can See The Light' and "Travellin' Band". A wonderfully uncomplicated folk-rock song with thoughtful lyrics and a great melody, "Who'll Stop The Rain" became almost transcendental as 1970 saw one of the most terrible and traumatic periods of the Vietnam War. The song makes a debatable political statement that still sends shivers down my spine. My favourite part of the song musically is the delicate tap on the cymbals by Doug 'Cosmo' Clifford in between the fading a-capella vocals of the last verse and the instrumental outro. Drummers take note - the gentlest tap can be the most effective note you play. The similarly titled and themed "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" is another great Creedence classic. It features an organ being pumped through a Leslie speaker, an effect that was very popular in the late 60s/early 70s when the organ was the most used keyboard instrument among rock musicians. The Leslie effect was used by many artists, including Simon & Garfunkel on their hit, "America".
AMERICA
(Paul Simon/1968) Simon & Garfunkel
 In this song, Paul Simon and his long time girlfriend Kathy Chitty (about whom "Kathy's song" was written) are pictured as touring America. Simon had split from Art Garfunkel after recording two albums; only one had been released and it had flopped. Simon had moved to England but had then received a call to return to the States and re-form the duo as their second album had been re-worked and released and was selling well. Kathy was reluctant to go with him - she eventually stayed in England - because she knew that their relationship would be destroyed if Simon and his singing partner had finally hit the big time. The song was written after Simon's return to the US during such a journey as the one told in the song, but minus Kathy. The lyric contains Simon's thoughts on what that journey would have been like had Kathy joined him, yet he is struggling to come to terms with the empty, aching feeling that came with the fame and success, and the price he had to pay (losing Kathy) to achieve it.
This song displays perfectly Simon's talent for fitting dialogue into song - it takes a talented writer to write an unrhyming poem such as this while maintaining such perfect rhythm, a skill he deonstrated on more than one occasion. The conversation is natural, yet rhythmic, flowing with the music. The song as a whole captures the mood of the time - the late sixties, the hippies and other countercultures trying to find their place in the world. The musical arrangement is superb, with exquisite interplay between bass guitar, organ (through a Leslie speaker), clarinet, drums and acoustic guitar. First released on the Simon & Garfunkel album, Bookends, it stands as one of the finest works of one of America's most intellectual songwriters.
THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK
(Paul Simon/1970) Simon & Garfunkel
If Paul Simon ever hinted that things were far from right with Art Garfunkel before they broke up after making this album, this song is it. Before the folk duo became famous, they were known as Tom and Jerry. At the time they were recording the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, Art was trying to kick off his acting career and scored a role in the movie, Carnal Knowledge. Art had to fly back and forth between New York and Mexico to fulfil his commitments to the film, often missing recording sessions, which frustrated Simon and led him to feel left high and dry by his singing partner. Knowning ths, lines like "Tom get your plane right on time", "I know that your eager to fly now" and "Half of the time you're gone and I don't know where" take on new meaning. I love the tune, the arrangements, the instrumentation, the vocals - everything about the song. In regards to the album, the title song is actually a rip-off of a Christian song called "Jesus Is A Bridge Over Troubled Water", a great rip-off I might add, but a rip-off nonetheless. "The Boxer" is a very listenable mini symphony but gets the chop because the 1 minute 50 seconds of Li-le-Li's at the end are too long by about 1 minute 50 seconds! "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is a clever song but was a bit too arty for me. "El Condor Pasa" is a great Andean folk song I'm not sure what's it doing on this album.
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CHIQUITITA
(Benny Andersson - Bjorn Ulvaeus/1979) ABBA
A wonderful song, given as a fundraiser to UNICEF, which expresses the thoughts of love and support from a person towards a friend who is feeling low. The lyrics of the entire second verse in particular - "Chiquitita, tell me the truth, I'm a shoulder you can cry on, your best friend I'm the one you must rely on, you were always sure of yourself, now I see you've broken a feather, I hope we can patch it up together" - are very moving and Agnetha's diction and delivery is crystal clear. The Benny Andersson's piano intro at the beginning of the second verse is one of the most fluent, beautiful recorded examples of this instrument being played that I've ever heard. "Chiquitita" was featured on ABBA's 1979 album, Voulez-Vous. Under the working titles "Kalsupare" and "Three Wise Guys", the song was put together in the Polar Music Studios, Stockholm, in December 1978. A first attempt was made at recording a backing track for "Chiquitita". The arrangement of this backing track was much too heavy to suit the melody . Frida and Agnetha shared the lead vocals on this first attempt, but when the the song turned into "Chiquitita" on 13th December, Agnetha took the more prominent role. An interim version of the song with different lyrics , entitled "Chiquitita Angelina", was also recorded along the way. A day later a more Spanish-flavoured backing track was completed. Apparently, at least two other complete sets of lyrics were tried out before Bjorn settled on the final version. Vocals for a Spanish version were overdubbed in March 1979.
LOSING YOU
(Jean Renard - Pierre Havet - Carl Sigman/1950) Brenda Lee
 Don't ask me why but I loved all those tear jerkers by the likes of Brenda Lee ("Losing You", "Fool Number One", "I'm sorry", "As Usual"), Connie Francis ("Among My Souvenirs") and Skeeter Davis ("End Of The world") during the early 1960s. This one, from Brenda Lee's album Let Me Sing, was released just before Christmas 1962 and it made the top 10 around the world as a single in May 1963. It's short and sweet, not to mention quite sad, and typifies the style of song made so popular by white female singers of that era. Listening to her husky, powerful voice and her incredible vocal control on this song, it is hard to believe that she was only 15 when she recorded it.
'Losing You' was the first song composed in his youth by French producer/composer/singer Jean Renard (b. 1933) under the name of 'Rosaline'. It was later recorded as Connais-tu?, meaning Losing You?, by Tino Rossi 1961, Jean Renard 1961, Collette Dereal 1963 and Un Ange Mario Candido 1962. The English lyrics were written by Carl Sigman. Doris Day had a version of the song on her 1962 album, Love Him. Lynne Fletcher recorded about a dozen tracks in Sydney for HMV, 1965-67, including "Losing You" which reached No. 26 on the Sydney singles charts.
DANIEL
(Elton John - Bernie Taupin/1973) Elton John
 I couldn't really put together a list of my favourite songs without having something from Britain's most successful and talented songwriting duo, lyricist Bernie Taupin and composer/performer, Elton John (right). "Daniel", about a guy who has just come back from the Vietnam War, was written when they were at their most creative (the 1970s) and it looks at a social issue rather than being just a pop-oriented love song like "Crocodile Rock". The arrangement of Elton's version on his 1973 album "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player" which was released as a single and made No 2, is simple and to all intents and purposes fine. But the 1991 release, Two Rooms, A Tribute to Elton John & Bernie Taupin, which features a collection of their compositions sung by other artists, has a fabulous version of "Daniel" performed by the female vocal trio, Wilson Phillips. It was the last thing they recorded together before breaking up (they reunited again in 2004) and their tight three part vocals give the song an all-together different feel to the original and for me is the better version of the song. Sorry about that, Reggie.
WHEN I FALL IN LOVE
(Victor Young - Edward Heyman/1952) Nat King Cole
 Just about everybody who is anybody in the world of popular music has recorded this evergreen. The first one I recall hearing, and the one which introduced the song to millions around the world, is by Nat King Cole. Interestingly enough, it was never released by him as a single, having been recorded on 18th December 1956 for and placed as the opening number of Cole's 1957 album, Love Is The Thing (Capitol). I have versions in my record collection by a host of artists, including Doris Day (1952), Marilyn Monroe (1955) and The Carpenters but a favourite of mine is by The Lettermen (1962) with its scrumptious three part harmonies. It was written by American composer Victor Young and lyricist Edward Heyman. I know it's a well worn, over-used phrase, but they really don't write songs like that any more. Oh to have been able to write a classic like this!
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
(Bob Dylan/1962) Peter, Paul & Mary
 This was the song that gave the Baby Boomer generation its conscience and became an early anthem for the 1960s peace movement. It is a simple song which asked nine questions but leaves the listener to ponder on the answers, hence the song's title. Peter, Paul & Mary's version, with its close harmonies and simple dual guitar backing rocketed them to fame and single-handedly brought folk-style music back into vogue. The song was first heard by an audience on 16th April 1962 when Dylan performed it to riotous applause at Gerde's in Greenwich Village, New York. The next day Dave Van Ronk, who had been working the Village scene far longer than Dylan, recalled telling him it was an incredibly dumb song. "I mean, what the hell is blowing in the wind?" A few weeks later he had the answer. He was walking through Washington Square Park and heard a kid singing, "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind". At that point he knew Bob had a smash on his hands. Of this number, Mary Travers of PP&M says, "If I had to pick one song, my softest spot, it would be "Blowing in the Wind." If you could imagine the March on Washington with Martin Luther King and singing that song in front of a quarter of a million people, black and white, who believed they could make America more generous and compassionate in a non-violent way, you begin to know how incredible that belief was".
LOVE MINUS ZERO/NO LIMIT
(Bob Dylan/1965) Joan Baez
 Apart from a handful of classics like "Desolation Row", "Like A Rolling Stone" and "Just Like A Woman" I'd much rather hear other people sing Dylan's music than him. Peter, Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, The Byrds and Manfred Mann have recorded just about every 1960s Dylan composition between them. Most of these recording are to me the definitive versions of these songs. Such is the case with this one in which Baez gets right inside Dylan's head and interprets so eloquently what he is trying to say. The song opens her 1968 double album of Dylan songs, Any Day Now. "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", "North Country Blues" and "Boots of Spanish Leather" are also favourites from this album which, after 35 years, is still one of the most played in my collection. Dylan first released his version of the song in March 1965 on his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" features some of the best melodies from Dylan's 1960s songbook and some of his best similes. It tells of his quest for the perfect lover who "... speaks like silence/Without ideals or violence" and who "Valentines can't buy". For all the self-opinionated people who "Draw conclusions on the wall", she "... speaks softly" and "She knows too much to argue or to judge". As with everything on Bringing It All Back Home, marvellous images like "The bridge at midnight trembles" and "The wind howls like a hammer" abound. This song is a perfect example of Dylan's ability to portray so much in so few words.
YESTERDAY
(John Lennon - Paul McCartney/1966) The Beatles
 As with Eleanor Rigby, John Lennon should get no songwriting credits for this song as he not only had nothing to do with it, he was incapable of writing a song of this calibre, irrespective of what Yoko Ono might say. Again, the other Beatles were sent home for the day by George Martin, leaving Paul to perform the song solo with his acoustic guitar in front of a string quartet. First appearing on the 1965 Beatle album, Help!, "Yesterday" is one of the most recorded songs ever written, with over 150 versions available on the CDs of a variety of artists. After The Beatles' original recording, the one by Ray Charles is my favourite. In terms of the Beatles' version, the scoring for string quartet and acoustic guitar is truly inspired. By the time this song appeared, the Beatles had well established their flair for creating stylistic hybrids from surprisingly diverse elements; yet this one is more than just another crossover. In this case, there is an ironic tension drawn between the schmaltzy content of what is played by the quartet and the restrained, spare nature of the medium in which it is played. Looking beyond the self-pitying lyrics, one sees this song is along the same compositional lines of the other hymn or anthem-like ballads which so vividly characterise some of Paul's highest achievements, particularly in the post-Sgt. Pepper period, such as 'Let It Be' and 'The Long And Winding Road'.
HOLD AN OLD FRIEND'S HAND
(Donna Weiss/1988) Tiffany
 Appearing on Tiffany's 1988 album, Hold An Old Friend's Hand, this very listenable ballad comes from the pen of Donna Weiss, a little known Nashville based songwriter whose main claim to fame was co-writing Kim Carnes' hit, "Bette Davis Eyes" with Jackie de Shannon. The song suits Tiffany (right) whose vocal range is limited but here was able to inject a little Stevie Nicks-like gruffness into her performance. John Duarte's arrangement is excellent and I never tire of hearing the sax solo performed by Richard Elliot. According to Tiffany, repertoire is a problem for a 17 year-old, the age she was when she recorded the song which would give its name to Tiffany's second album, on which it appeared. "I got my record deal when I was 14. What should you let a 14 year-old sing about? Dozens of songwriters have been approached at the time, but they couldn't put themselves in the place of a girl my age, so they always came up with something too risky or too childish. Only Donna Weiss, mother of a teen-daughter herself, set the right tone. She is my favourite songwriter".
SOMETHING
(George Harrison/1969) The Beatles
On 25th February 1969, his twenty-sixth birthday, George Harrison recorded three demos at EMI Studios in London, singing and playing guitar and piano. He did two takes each of "Old Brown Shoe," soon to be cut by the Beatles for a B side, and "All Things Must Pass," the title song of his 1970 solo album. He also took a single pass at a winsome ballad that he had written on piano the previous year during a break in the White Album sessions: "Something." Harrison and the other Beatles would labour on the song for the next six months, repeatedly coming back to it during the making of Abbey Road, editing, arranging and rerecording it to perfection. John Lennon would later confess that "Something" was the best song on Abbey Road. Coupled with Lennon's "Come Together," "Something" went to Number Three on Billboard's Top 100 and spawned a major industry in cover versions, second only in number to those of Paul McCartney's "Yesterday." Frank Sinatra recorded "Something" in the 1970s, describing it as "the greatest love song of the past fifty years". It marked Harrison's commercial and artistic coming-of-age as a pop songwriter, earning him the respect he had long been denied. "It took my breath away," Martin later said, "mainly because I never thought that George could do it. He wrote some pretty rotten songs in the beginning, but he gradually developed. I first recognised that he really had a great talent when he did 'Here Comes the Sun.' But when he brought in 'Something,' it was something else. . . . It was a tremendous work - and so simple." On the final day of recording, Harrison shared the conductor's podium with Martin during the string overdubs and recut his elegant guitar solo, a sparkling combination of dirty blues-like slide and soaring romanticism. "He actually did it live with the orchestra," engineer Geoff Emerick says of that guitar break. "It was almost the same solo [as before] - note for note. The only reason I feel he wanted to redo it was emotion."
WHERE DO YOU GO TO [MY LOVELY]
(Peter Sarstedt/1966) Peter Sarstedt
 A wry, offbeat song from a wry, offbeat singer songwriter who enjoyed a brief period of popularity with a couple of hits - this one (1969) and the pleasant "Frozen Orange Juice" (1970). This sardonic song, which drops names like a Who's Who of the 1960s, has been described by one critic as a "perfect distillation of middle class angst that temporarily fitted the mood of the times". Peter (right) wrote it for a girl he fell madly in love with in Vienna in 1965. She died tragically in a hotel fire and he took a year to recover. Writing this song in Copenhagen, more for her than about her, helped him pull through. When first released as a single, the song was censored and a verse describing her body as being firm and inviting was cut as it was deemed to be too suggestive. So much for the swinging, liberated sixties! Apart from a string quartet which is heard during the last verse, the only accompaniment to Peter's vocals is the guitar he strummed as he sang and an accordion playing the introduction and the fills between verses. Its all very simple, totally effective and quite unforgettable.
CRUNCHY GRANOLA SUITE
(Neil Diamond/1971) Neil Diamond
 Choosing a favourite song from Neil Diamond's self penned portfolio of songs is a difficult task. "Crunchy Granola Suite" was one of his biggest hits from the time of his creative peak and it's the song I think of when I think of Diamond. It is a simple, fun song about, well, let Neil tell us: "When I wrote 'Crunchy Granola Suite' I was newly transplanted to California and was impressed by the health food consciousness there. I actually thought 'Crunchy Granola Suite' might change people's eating habits!" Anyway, when he performed it live, he added an introduction that sounded remarkably like the theme of Glenn Miller's "In The Mood". It was this version of the song that helped make Neil's live album of 1974, Hot August Night, the biggest selling album in Australia, an honour it held for years, even though he sings off key and rather forced for some of it. This wasn't to be the first or last time that Neil "borrowed" an idea or theme from another piece of music. "Song Sung Blue" sounds remarkably like a Beethoven Piano Sonata. "Crunchy Granola Suite" first appeared on the Neil Diamond album, Stones, in 1971.
OUR LAST SONG TOGETHER
(Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield/1972) Neil Sedaka
 This touching ballad was written by Neil Sedaka as a salute to his songwriting partner of over 20 years, Howard Greenfield, when they went their separate ways in 1972. The pair were neighbours as children, Greenfield 's mother heard the thirteen year old Neil Sedaka playing Chopin and sent the then sixteen year old Howard to say, "My mother heard you play and thought we could write a song together". They went on to write many songs which were hits for Sedaka and many other artists in the 1960s. The lyrics of "Our Last Song Together" recall the subjects of many of their collaborations, including little Devils, Sweet Sixteens, Calendar Girls, Cathy's Clown and that "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do", a reference to their biggest hit. This song has a special place in my heart as it recalls a special lady I used to sing with in my younger days and the last song we sang together. Like Neil, I, too, found breaking up was hard to do.
COUNTRY LANES
(Barry, Maurice & Robin Gibb/ 1975) The Bee Gees
 The brothers Gibb have written some absolutely wonderful songs over the years in a variety of styles and on a myriad subjects and it is not easy to have to pick out one or two for a list like this. "Country Lanes" was chosen in part because it is my favourite song on Main Course (1975), which is the Bee Gees album I have played the most and that has given me the most listening enjoyment. The album features "Nights On Broadway" and "Jive Taking" that heralded the Bee Gees' move into their disco era and the decade when I stopped listening to them. I stayed away until they returned to making music with substance again. Another reason for "Country Lanes" being among my favourites is because it was recorded by The Seekers when Louisa Wesseling was the group's female singer. Until "I Am Australian" came along, this song was to me the best thing they'd ever recorded, except perhaps for "A Part Of You", which was also featured on the Giving And Taking album (released June 1976) with "Country Lanes". Louisa has a beautiful voice, every bit as good as Judith Durham's though distinctively different, and she runs rings around Judith when it comes to diction. It's a shame that the two albums she recorded with the boys weren't more successful. I am sure they would have sold much better had she not walking in Judith's shadow.
WHITE FLAG
(Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong/2002) Dido
 Dido wrote her early hit song "Thank You" for her boyfriend Bob Page. The pair were engaged at the time, but by 2002 they had split up. This song, which is full of finely articulated emotion, is about their split and its effect on her. It won the award for Best Single at the 2004 Brit Awards. The video clip features actor David Boreneaz, best known for playing the title role in the TV series Angel, a spin-off from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. "White Flag" is the biggest hit of Dido's career. It is considered one of her signature songs, and helped the album Life for Rent sell over ten million copies worldwide. Dido's lyrics have been described as "not having been written in a poetic way, with a view to the art of songwriting, where you use metaphor, analogy and poetic turns of phrase. You write them down, they're exactly like a conversation."
Dido is a leading player in a musical trend some call "soft girls singing sad songs". Among them are the likes of Delta Goodrem, Norah Jones, Missy Higgins and Katie Melau. Unlike Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, there's no rampant sexuality in this new breed, nor is there the anger and aggression that accompanied the biggest female star of the '90s, Alanis Morissette. These ladies share a mellowness of tone, often will be found at a piano or strumming an acoustic guitar and tend not to be all that successful at either finding or keeping a man.
THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN
(Marianne Faithfull/1979) Marianne Faithfull
 Ms Faithfull burst onto the pop music scene as the darling of 1960s swinging London with a top hit, a famous boyfriend (Mick Jagger), and extreme beauty and style. But when the sixties came crashing down so did Marianne as she succumbed to heroin addiction that left her living on the streets, with nowhere to turn. Luckily, she came out of her drug-induced haze, pulled her life and career back together and is today one of popular music's true survivors. This songs tells the story of a suburban housewife who is literally is driven crazy by the boredom of her life. Having been to hell and back herself, she knows her subject matter well and gives a compelling, stark rendition of a very powerful and thought provoking song about a place she has been.
The song is one of the more serious compositions of author and magazine writer Shel Silverstein, who contributed songs like 'Cover of Rolling Stone', Sylvia's Mother' and 'I Got Stones And I Missed It' to the country-rock group Dr Hook's repertoire. It was not written for Faithfull as is often thought to be the case - hers is in fact a cover, the original being by Dr Hook on their self-titled second album; they make unusual musical befellows.
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