Music you sing along to - in the car, bath, when hoovering..

[michduncg]

WE all do it - or I hope we do! Singing is good for you, and as we are all lovers of all sorts of music I though it would be fun to hear what YOU like to sing along to. I'll kick off:

Driving: Some 'classic' rock songs are always good. My faves for that are 'Since you've been gone' by Rainbow and 'Crazy Crazy Crazy nights'. I also downloaded 'Don't stop me now' the other day only to find that I'd clicked on the McFly version, and not Queen - but in fact the new version was pretty good! Also like a lesser known track from the 90s called 'The day before yesterdays man', by the Supernaturals. Not forgetting some easy listening - 'Avenues and Alleyways' by Tony Christie, 'Fireball XL5 end theme (I wish I was a spaceman! - its a 'Love, Honour & Obey' thing), as well as some Matt 'From Russia with Love', 'Born Free' and 'Walk away'

Don't know why, but singing in the shower is a bit different! A little bit more gentle - if I do sing, then its usually a Bobby Darin song or such like - 'More', 'Mack the knife' or 'Dream lover' is my normal repetoir!

Karaoke -if I have had enough to drink, then it can be hard to get the microphone out of my hand! 'Classics' in the past have been 'Beyond the sea', 'Mack the knife', 'Daydream believer', 'Especially for you (part of a duet obviously''and 'on the street where you live'

[mariana44]

I do not drive myself, but when George, my husband drove us anywhere, we would always have a 60's compilation tape [made up by me].

A couple of our favourites were David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and Simon and Garfunkels "The Boxer"---not the most obvious sing-a-long-songs--but we enjoyed them !

[paul jh]

Shower: I can't get any music stations in my bathroom, so I only listen to news in the shower.

Driving: I've written frequently about listening to (and singing along to) anything by Matt Monro when driving. His music is the best for driving, especially On Days Like These, You're Gonna Hear From Me, This Is The Life, The Happening, I Have Dreamed, and We're Gonna Change The World. I could go on and on! But I also enjoy many other artists while driving, especially American soul music from 1966 - 1985, Robbie Williams, Gabrielle, Doris Day, Frank Stallone, Dinah Washington, Imagination, Coldplay, Oasis, Lemar, The Magic Numbers, Jamiroquai, Kaiser Chiefs, Jamie Cullum, and my all-time second favourite singer, Lisa Stansfield. I create a real spectacle of myself when I sing along with And I Am Telling I'm Not Going by Jennifer Holliday. I just hope no one I know sees me. I really get into this song!

Vacuuming: Elgar marches, Mussoursky's Pictures At An Exhibition, Orff's Carmina Burana, Broadway musicals, and anything by Ray Conniff or Artie Shaw. Vacuuming gives me the opportunity to turn up the music really loud and no one will complain!

Window washing: anything by Matt Monro, Lisa Stansfield, Doris Day, or Pia Zadora

[ROBERT M.]

Pia Zadora ?? also is that our Lisa Stansfield from Rochdale, Lancashire ??

[paul jh]

Or course, Robert, that is your very own Lisa Stansfield from Rochdale! When I prepared my list of 1000 favourite songs of the 1900s, only Matt Monro had more selections on my list than Lisa Stansfield. And her second album Real Love was my favourite album of the 1900s and it remains my favourite album of the 20th and 21st centuries. Her song All Woman was my number 3 song of the 1900s.

Another reason why I love the UK so much, is that your singers and groups have the ability to take everything that is good about American music and make it even better, especially soul music, e.g., Dusty Springfield, Lisa Stansfield, Gabrielle, Lemar, Texas (Sharleen Spiteri), and Robbie Williams.

You haven't had the pleasure of listening to the two albums of standards Pia Zadora recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s? They are excellent, especially the first one. Pia Zadora is a beautiful petite woman who just couldn't make it in any part of the entertainment business in the 1980s: stage, TV, film, music, dance. She tried everything and all she got was bad reviews. So she married a tycoon and he hired the LSO to accompany her on two albums of standards. They are actually quite good!

[Anita]

I have just brought `The Very best of Gloria Estefan` at my local supermarket, and I played it on the way home in the car. I am sure other drivers thought I was mouthing at them, singing along to Dr Beat and Rhythm is Gonna Get You. I think they must have thought I had lost the plot, but I was enjoying it.

[ROBERT M.]

I thought the thing I remember Pia Zadora from was from the "porn" industry anyone else remember.

[paul jh]

Robert - You were right about the 1910 Fruitgum Co recording Simon Says, but I believe you're mistaken about Pia Zadora.

Also, I got confused with the London orchestras. Pia Zadora recorded her two albums with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

[michduncg]

Robert - is Lisa Stansfield a common name in your part of Yorkshire?! Is Rochdale like the rest of Lancs I wonder - wall to wall pie shops?! What is with Lancashire and pies? They even make pies just filled with butter, potato and onion, to eat on Fridays! (being good Catholics!) I have never seen so many branches of Greggs the Bakers as in Preston - 8 at the last count, everyone with a queue!

Paul - Had kind of forgotten about Lisa! Lisa has indeed got a wonderful voice, and made the transition from pop singer to serious soul/rnb vocalist. 'A Little bit of heaven' is still my favourite of hers I think. She seems to have faded away like the other talented 90s UK diva, Dina Caroll. Have you heard any of her music? She had a few hits with 'Aint no man', 'Don't be a stranger' and 'A perfect year'. A beautiful voice but I think she got swept away in the tide of Britpop in the mid 90s

Marian - did you sing along to 'Major Tom'?! I can't imagine that would be easy - like 'The Boxer', its got real spirit

[michduncg]

Wikipedia mentions that Pia Zadora bared her bottom at the Cannes Film Festival and has this little story:

'An urban legend has frequently been circulated that Zadora once starred in a stage production of The Diary of Anne Frank, in which her performance was so bad that an audience member yelled "She's in the attic!" when the Nazis showed up. Zadora has, in fact, never acted in a production of The Diary of Anne Frank. ['

Never really heard of her to be honest except in a bizarre lyric. Debbie Harry made a cover of a 'Well did you ever (what a swell party this is!)' Think the duet was with the 80s TV Celebrity Max Headroom. Anyway, they ad lib a bit, and mention going to Pia Zadoras house. Thats it. Its on the best of Blondie album

Anyway. back to music to sing along to........

Vacuuming does give you the excuse to 'crank it up' as Dr Fox used to say on Londons Capital FM. Thats usually when I play ABBA!

Also listen a lot to the Rare Monro album in the car, 'Some people', 'Let me choose life' and 'All of sudden' are fantastic to sing along too. 'On days like these' is only for sunny days in the Alps or Dolomites in an open top car! Doris Day - 'Perhaps,perhaps, perhaps' and 'Move over darling' are all approved for singing loudly at 70 miles per hour!

[mariana44]

I certainly did sing along to "Major Tom"

For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do

"The Boxer" was a lot more difficult--till it got to the end---
"La,la,la--la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la,la la."

That part was easy--even George could sing that bit

[jon]

Interesting to see Lisa Stansfield mentioned. I think in some ways she is an underrated singer. True, her chart days may seem a long time ago but I believe she has forged something of a reputation in the jazz field and has performed at Ronnie Scott's in London on occasion. She featured on an album of Gershwin songs that were recorded a few years ago by modern pop/rock singers and performed "They Can't Take That Away From Me', in one of the better versions I've heard. Other singers on this album included Sting performing "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and Cher with what I felt was a very good version of "It Ain't Necessarily So".

[paul jh]

I have heard a few songs by Dina Carroll, but I didn't find her to be special.

Yes, Lisa Stansfield is very underrated. I hardly ever hear her songs on Radio 2 and she has so many songs that still sound fresh today. She has sung Gershwin, and has also recorded Cole Porter's Down In The Depths. I always wanted to get her Swing album, but it's hard to find in the shops. She's quite versatile and can do standards, dance, blues, rock, pop, and jazz, but her best is R & B/soul.

She releases a new album every few years, but they don't sell too well. She lives in Dublin now with her husband Ian Devaney who produced and co-wrote all her huge hits. She recently had a role in GoldPlated, a miniseries on Channel 4.

Michael mentions A Little Bit Of Heaven from her third album, So Natural. It's a great album. One of my favourites from it is In All The Right Places. I thought it was featured in a James Bond movie, but since it wasn't included in the recent James Bond TV program, it was probably from some other film.

[Lena & Harry Smith]

We did hear Lisa Stansfield just a couple of days ago in a local shop., singing ! Someday, !! The lass from Rochdale Lancashire, quite a good singer and from the same territory as Gracie Fields and the portly and ex Liberal MP Cyril Smith.
We sing to anything at any time of day here, the word hoovering brings me out in a rash.

[ROBERT M.]

Did your hear Gracie Fields on "String of Pearls" today L&H. I'm listening to it at the moment