A compendium of musical delights by Alan and Margaret Ashworth
This was written by Graham Nash when he was a member of the Hollies, but it was rejected as not commercial enough. Here is a clip of the group trying … Continue readingCrosby, Stills and Nash: Marrakesh Express
Based on the tune to Auld Lang Syne, this was written by Pat Best and recorded by the group of which he was a member, the Four Tunes. It reached No … Continue readingI Understand (Just How You Feel)
This was written by the group’s founder John Sebastian. It was released as their first single in July 1965 and reached No 9 in America. It does not seem to … Continue readingThe Lovin’ Spoonful: Do You Believe in Magic
This was written by group members Bob Spickard and Brian Carman and recorded and released in December 1962. It reached No 4 in the US in May 1963 and No … Continue readingThe Chantays: Pipeline
A classic teen tragedy single. It was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and George ‘Shadow’ Morton. It topped the US charts in November 1964 and reached No 11 in … Continue readingThe Shangri-Las: Leader of the Pack
I KNOW it’s not a laughing matter, but I found it hard to suppress a snort when I read this in the i newspaper on Monday: ‘Heartbreaking scenes are playing out at … Continue readingMenace in a mink coat
THE last verse of this hymn is well known in its own right as the Doxology (an expression of praise to God): Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;Praise him, … Continue readingAwake, My Soul, and with the Sun
The authorship of this instrumental is a tangled tale involving transposed labels and titles, with the result that the credit is shared between String-A-Longs members Richard Stephens and Jimmy Torres … Continue readingThe String-A-Longs: Wheels
IN my ignorance I thought there was only one type of wasp in this country. Amazingly there are 9,000 species here, and 200,000 have been identified worldwide, with possibly another … Continue readingIn defence of wasps
Sedaka co-wrote this with regular collaborator Howard Greenfield and released it in 1962. It topped the American charts and reached No 7 in Britain. Later Sedaka recalled that the intro … Continue readingNeil Sedaka: Breaking Up is Hard to Do