Category: Music

Hyde Family Jam

I’ve been clearing out a few CDs from my car and found a copy of York band Hyde Family Jam‘s 2018 album, It’s Alive!!

If you’ve not been to York (one of my favourite cities) then the trip to try and catch Hyde Family Jam busking is worth the visit alone.

You won’t find a band with as much energy and passion with such an eclectic repertoire of songs as these guys.

Take It’s Alive for example – there are covers of Rihanna, Britney Spears, Dolly Parton, The Crickets, Vance Joy, Blink-182 and The Undertones!

The one time I caught them live was in 2018 and we saw them perform Havana which was amazing. I bought the album hoping it would be there but it’s not on.

I want to try to track down all of their albums on CD as that’s the only way to buy the songs at the moment.

You can check out a few of their performances on YouTube!

Awesome 2!

20 devastatin’ hits feature on Awesome 2! This is one of my favourite compilations ever. Released in 1991, I caught on to it that year by borrowing it from a friend so that I could listen to The Wonder Stuff’s The Size Of A Cow.

If you can track down a copy of it, I would recommend that you do as it is amazing.

  • James – Sit Down: One of the best songs ever. So easy to sing along to. Everyone knows the words and it will still get a crowd singing along. Just brilliant!
  • R.E.M. – Shiny Happy People: One of the happiest songs ever! It will make you smile and you might even want to get your air guitar out to play along!
  • The Wonder Stuff – The Size Of A Cow: Me, I like to think that life is like a drink and I hope that it tastes like Bourbon. One of the most random songs ever, but an absolute classic. This deserved more success than it enjoyed, but people of a certain age will recall it fondly.
  • E.M.F – Unbelievable: This song is unbelievable! It still sounds brilliant, 29 years later!
  • The Shamen – Move Any Mountain: This hasn’t aged well, but at the time this was amazing as were most of The Shamen’s songs.
  • Blur – There’s No Other Way: Perhaps this was Blur’s finest song. Debatable, maybe, but it’s up there with their best.
  • Voice Of The Beehive – I Think I Love You: I was amazed when I found out that this was a cover version. Beehive’s version is infinitely better and it is awesome.
  • Deacon Blue – Twist And Shout: Deacon Blue had some great songs and this was one of them. A great song for the album.
  • Divinyls – I Touch Myself: As long as you don’t play this with the kids in the car, this is a cracker.
  • Salt-N-Pepa – Let’s Talk About Sex: In 1991 a song that mentioned sex was automatically brilliant!
  • Erasure – Love To Hate You: Erasure did so many amazing songs. Love To Hate You is great but it’s not one of their best, perhaps. Worth a listen though!
  • Oceanic – Insanity: One of the best dance tunes ever! Released in 1991 Insanity was way ahead of its time.
  • Utah Saints – What Can You Do For Me: It took me a few years to realise how amazing Utah Saints actually were.
  • Sabrina Johnston – Peace: This is the weakest song on the whole compilation. It just feels out of place somehow.
  • Brothers In Rhythm – Such A Good Feeling: Another classic dance tune. It is brilliant as it is, but sounds like a completely new tune when mashed up with Lola’s Theme (released thirteen years later).
  • O.M.D – Pandora’s Box: I love O.M.D and this is probably their best song!
  • Zoe – Sunshine On A Rainy Day: Another song that sounds a bit out of place. However, Sunshine is a great song so it’s allowed.
  • PM Dawn – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss: How brilliant is this?! The perfect chilled out summer song.
  • Lenny Kravitz – It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over: One of the best things about Awesome 2 is it’s attention to detail regarding punctuation. Sure, the graphic designer forgot that capital letters existed, but it gets every apostrophe spot on! This was the first time I had heard anything by Kravitz. This is great but nothing like anything else he’s ever released!

So many memories. I played this so many times that if I hear one of the songs I always expect the next one on the album to come on after. As I listen right now, I’m expecting Unbelievable to play in a minute!

Favourite Theme Tunes

Here’s a list of my favourite theme tunes ever!

80 Days Around The World
The Big Bang Theory theme song is instantly recognisable and one of the most memorable.
Although I didn’t watch the show until I was in my thirties, I remember the theme song from when I was a child. I would love to go to a pub like the Cheers bar.
If you can do this rap then you are cool. There is absolutely no doubt about this.
One of the few theme tunes to actually cross over into the charts. I’ll Be There For You is such a great song.
Maybe it;s because I loved the show. But sitting through the full intro was vital to understanding the show and this is non-negotiable.
What a theme song! I remember the show a little bit, but the theme tune will be forever etched into my brain!
Such nostalgia. Neighbours was always the better programme, but Home And Away had the better theme music.
Howard’s Way is probably the best theme tune ever!…
And the jazzy end song version is bloody brilliant! The full version of this is called Barracuda by Simon May.
An absolute classic theme! I’m not a fan of dogs, but I’m a fan of this theme song.
How has this show not had a film remake?
Just brilliant!
Lots of love for the theme song!
The Raccoons. You can run with us!
The best show that was ever on in the school holidays!

The Wonder Years

I remember that Scott Mills used to have a feature on his Friday afternoon Radio 1 show called The Wonder Years. Each week he would play tunes from each year to get you in the mood for the weekend. I’m going to try to create and share my own Wonder Years playlist each month.

I use Apple Music so will embed the playlist here. Hope it works and that you love it!

On my own playlist I may have added songs that don’t appear on the public version. This is annoying, so sorry.

Music Flashback: 2015

Over the year I’m going to share ten songs from years in the past. I am going to pick the songs based on the ten most played songs on my Apple Music account from that year. First up is the year 2015.

My favourite song from 2015 is Faded by Alan Walker. There is something about this which makes it feel familiar and yet completely different to everything else. The various remixes are good, including the Luke Christopher remix where someone raps over the top. I love this!
This song is here due to the number of times that our daughter has asked for it to be played. To be fair, it’s a great tune. It proved that a great tune with a strong melody can be a smash hit.
Jess Glynne with another fantastic song. Very uplifting, fun and catchy. I’m not surprised I’ve played it loads.
I thought this was a bit cheesy when it was first out (in fact, that’s still true) but it really grew on me. A great song to sing along to.
Hopefully this IS the radio edit like it says because the full version is pure filth. The dirtiest song I’ve ever heard. And it’s amazing!
Such an amazing song. I felt that it didn’t get the recognition it deserved in 2015. It’s a shame because it is amazing.
Although the producer probably asked their young child to spell the name of it, this is a great song. Check out the Pep & Rash Remix.
Probably the most financially responsible song ever. A classic.
There is something amazing about this. One of the best cover versions ever.
Just fantastic! I really wanted to include Peanut Butter Jelly too, but it ended at Number 11.

Songs of the Decade (2010s)

The 2010s has been a decade of two halves. It began with some unbelievable music which seemed to become popular organically – because people liked it and chose to buy it. Later in the decade the whole chart scene changed because people didn’t need to choose what to buy as it was streamed instead. People began to simply subscribe to a playlist which chose the music for you. So for large amounts of the year the chart has been slow paced and full of tuneless dirge.

But there have been some fantastic tunes:

Avicii – Wake Me Up (2013)

Sigma – Nobody To Love (2014)

Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams – Get Lucky (2013)

Rudimental featuring John Newman – Feel The Love (2012)

Route 94 featuring Jess Glynee – My Love (2014)

Disclosure featuring Sam Smith – Latch (2012)

Coldplay – Sky Full Of Stars (2014)

Florence + The Machine – Spectrum (Say My Name) (Calvin Harris Remix) (2012)

Neiked featuring Dyo – Sexual (2016)

Pharrell Williams – Happy (2013)

David Guetta featuring Sia – Titanium (2011)

Armin Van Buuren featuring Trevor Guthrie – This Is What It Feels Like (2013)

Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud (2014)

Justin Timberlake – Can’t Stop The Feeling! (2016)

Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk (2014)

DJ Fresh featuring Rita Ora – Hot Right Now (2012)

Alan Walker – Faded (2015)

Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin – Don’t You Worry Child (2012)

OneRepublic – Counting Stars (2013)

Carly Rae Jepson – Call Me Maybe (2011)

Rihanna & Calvin Harris – We Found Love (2011)

Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynee – Rather Be (2014)

George Ezra – Shotgun (2018)

Walk The Moon – Shut Up And Dance (2014)

Pitbull & Ke$ha – Timber (2013)

Gary Barlow – Let Me Go (2013)

Alesso featuring Tove Lo – Heroes (we could be) (2014)

McFly featuring Taio Cruz – Shine A Light (2010)

Omi – Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix) (2015)

Matoma featuring Ja Rule and The Notorious B.I.G. – Old Thing Back (2015)

Ellie Goulding – Burn (2013)

Naugty Boy featuring Beyonce & Arrow Benjamin – Runnin’ (Lose It All) (2015)

Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill (2017)

Ed Sheeran – Sing (2014)

Pink and Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason (2012)

The Script – If You Could See Me Now (2013)

SecondCity – I Wanna Feel (2014)

The 1975 – Chocolate (2013)

Bruno Mars – Just The Way You Are (Amazing) (2010)

fun. featuring Janelle Monae – We Are Young (2011)

Keala Settle & The Greatest Showman – This Is Me (2018)

Kygo featuring Conrad Sewell – Firestone (2014)

Adele – Rolling In The Deep (2011)

Passenger – Let Her Go (2014)

Plan B – She Said (2010)

Tinie Tempah featuring Eric Turner – Written In The Stars (2010)

Imany – Don’t Be So Shy (Filatov & Karas Remix) (2016)

Sigala – Easy Love (2015)

Ed Sheeran – Perfect (2017)

The Chainsmokers & Coldpay – Something Just Like This (2017)

Christina Perri – A Thousand Years (2011)

Disturbed – Sound Of Silence (2015)

Imagine Dragons – Radioactive (2013)

Maroon 5 featuring SZA – What Loves Do (2017)

Ella Henderson – Ghost (2014)

Best songs of 2019

I’m not sure that 2019 has been a vintage year for music, but there have been some crackers. Here are my favourites:

Lewis Capaldi – Someone You Loved

Calvin Harris & Rag’n’Bone Man – Giant

Meduza featuring Goodboys – Piece Of Your Heart

Becky Hill & Weiss – I Could Get Used To This

Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love

Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road

Sam Feldt featuring Rani – Post Malone

Tones & I – Dance Monkey

Avicii – Heaven

Coldplay – Orphans

Ed Sheeran & Justin Bieber – I Don’t Care

Galantis & Dolly Parton featuring Mr. Probz – Faith

Lizzo – Juice

What are your favourite songs of the year?

8 Underrated Christmas Songs

Everyone likes the big ones – you know, the same ones we play every year. But here are the eight most underrated seasonal songs!

Gwen Stefani & Blake Shelton – You Make It Feel Like Christmas -An absolute belter – why don’t more people know this?

Bryan Adams – Christmas Time – a big sing along Christmas song that you never get to sing along to because no one ever plays it!

Kelly Clarkson – Underneath The Tree – surely this would get you up and dancing – if it was ever played!

Coldplay – Christmas Lights – Another Coldplay anthem. Well, it would be if it was played more.

Sheena Easton – Christmas All Over The World – A Christmas song from one of the best ever Christmas movies – Santa Clause: The Movie

Leona Lewis – One More Sleep – Ok, so this is finally picking up traction (peaking at Number 8 in 2018). But this deserves to be a classic and one of the most played on your Christmas playlist. Check out the awesome Cahill Remix!

Cliff Richard – Mistletoe And Wine – So it’s perhaps a bit odd that a Christmas Number 1 is on this list. But M&W gets tarred with the same ‘Cliff Richard is not cool’ brush. And it’s not fair as this is a classic.

The Waterbabies – Under The Tree – Originally used in a Vodafone advert, this will make you feel Christmassy – if you ever get to hear it!

Biggest albums of the 21st Century

The Official Charts Company have published a list of the biggest selling studio albums of the 21st century.

I love lists like these as it’s great to see how musical tastes have changed over the years. This particular list is a sign of how musical consumption has changed. Of course, the last six years or so has seen a massive move away from purchasing towards streaming. This is reflected by the fact that only eleven of the Top 40 albums have been released since 2010.

Having said that, four of the top five were released in the 2010s. This could be an indicator of how a great album will still sell, but it is possibly more of an indicator of the massive star appeal of Adele and Ed Sheeran who each have two of the top five.

Adele’s 2011 release, 21, has sold 5.1 million copies and is one of the biggest selling albums ever!

I seem to hate current music as they seem to have forgotten the importance of a tune. And the best thing about the albums in the list is that they are full of great tunes. For instance, there’s nothing by Drake on this list – fantastic news.

I’ve never really been someone who buys albums. I tend to like tunes and so have always purchased and streamed singles. My favourite album on the list is Ed Sheeran’s Divide is incredible. Every song could be a single – there are no fillers. I probably have songs from every album on the list (with the exception of Norah Jones(!)