I first heard “Veinte Años” (Eng: Twenty Years) in the 1999 documentary celebrating Cuban music, Buena Vista Social Club (image inset). It’s hard to know where to begin with this iconic Cuban song, since it has been performed by many…
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Veinte Años (1956) – María Teresa Vera
Tagged with: Buena Vista Social Club, compay segundo, cuba, María Teresa Vera, omara portuondo, trova, Veinte años
Posted in Music
Posted in Music
More Than a Woman (1977) – Bee Gees
Barry certainly goes all out in his falsetto vocals here, but it never feels overdone. It’s strange how I didn’t like this light disco tune when I was young – perhaps dismissing it as cheesy, overly commercial pop that saturated…
Under The Red Sky (1990) – Bob Dylan
Under the Red Sky is the title track of one of Bob Dylan’s most scorned albums. I admit it’s not high on my pecking order either, but it does contain some good songs, including today’s featured track. Dylan certainly raised…
Van Diemen’s Land (1988) – U2
This short, meditative, hymn-like song from U2 never gets old. It sent chills down my spine when I first heard it, and it still does today. I also like how rare this kind of song is for U2 – a…
Cautious Man (1987) – Bruce Springsteen
I’m always partial to a Bruce Springsteen love ballad, and Cautious Man is one I listened to a lot in my youth. Since undertaking this music library project, I’ve rediscovered many of his songs that had fallen through the cracks…
Til My Heart Stops (2025) – The Beths
I’ve been looking forward to presenting another song from this talented New Zealand indie rock band The Beths. I was just singing their praises the other day here. They’re proof there’s still plenty of good music coming out these days.…
Tagged with: elizabeth stokes, Straight Line Was A Lie, the beths, til my heart stops
Posted in Music
Posted in Music
Vacation (1982) – The Go-Go’s
Turn back the clock with a little bit of bubblegum 80s pop from the American all-female rock band The Go-Go’s. Vacation was one of their biggest hit singles, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard, and it was the lead single…
Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra, K. 364 Mov. 1 (1779) – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Returning again to the Maestro, this time at 23 years of age, with this light and airy concertante symphony written for both violin and viola. Many will recognise the passage at (4:08), even if they haven’t heard the whole movement.…
Help! (1965) – The Beatles
I always enjoyed the melody and singing in the verses of The Beatles – “Help!” more than any other part of the song. It contains a sophisticated Lead-Lag-Lead-Synchronous pattern where backing vocals (Paul and George) move between anticipating, following, and…
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