keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 135 Or Andy Williams RIP!

Sadly Andy Williams passed away yesterday at the age of 84 – Fashion Soundtrack, also followers of this Blog, posted a very good Tribute a wee while ago and the Shuffle Monkey & I would also like to pay our respects! A legendary talent, with a marvelous voice and a fair few Hits, along the way &, of course, we have many of his best songs at the wee shuffley thing’s Paws in the Good Old Mix!

Our first Track today though s from Amy Winehouse & its’, “You Know I’m No Good” – Now we agree that her passing was tragic – both in it’s manner and given her young age and all that she could have gone onto to achieve – but both the Shuffle Meister & I do rather feel that she was a Tad over-hyped! And we’ll never know what might have been – So, based on her output how does she rate against so many of the great female singers that the Shuffle Monkey has to hand – Of course, it’s subjective, a matter of taste, but does she go Toe-To-Toe with the much less lauded, yet brilliantly talented and versatile singers like Jean Carne, Phylis Hyman, Karen Pree, Dionne Warwick, Dusty Springfield, Patti Labelle, Melba Moore, Millie Jackson, Ann Pebbles, Ann Sexton, Kiki Dee (The Fontana Years), Carol Woods, Jackie Woods, Betty Swayne, Betty Everet, Donna McGee, Aretha & that’s just scratching the surface… Some will say we are not comparing Apples with Apples, others might say that Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse only had one song in them which they more or less did 7 or 8 times on the ‘Back To Black’ Album & it was a winning formula, shifted a lot of product, no denying – But here at Monkey Towers though we bet that she could have gone on to Surprise us and we really hope that if things had of been different that would have very much been very much what would have happend!

Anyway, next up is a visit from Robbie Dupree with, “Steal Away” – & not sounding unlike Malcolm Macdonald; & then we Blitz into some Swing from Bobby Darin with a scorching, “Long Ago & Far Away” – Oh Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!And then we are into some Soul Seduction from Mary Wells (Another great singer) with, “You Beat Me To The Punch”; Followed by Jack Jones with the Classic, “Who Can I Turn To” – So, as usual we are all over the Shop!!

Gil Scott-Heron next with the lovely & enigmatic, “A Very Precious Time” – from the Album, ‘Winter In America’; & then we have Merle Haggard no less swaggering in All Red Neck on us with, “Okie From Muskogee”; Followed once again by Mr Sammy Davis Jr with, “This Is My Life (Album Version)” – & it has to be said, whilst absolutely a Power House of a Song, it’s as Camp as, well a Coffee substitute!

“Wild Man On The Loose (Album Version)” swings for us next with Mose Alison tinkling the ivories; & then a righteous slab of Jazz Funk from Norman Conners & Aquarian Dream with, “East 6th Street”; & behind that lurks Todd Rundgren with, “We Gotta Get You A Woman”; Followed by Monk Higgins with the Blue Note Trip of, “Gotta Be Funky” – A Lotta Lotta Gotta in that there Mix, Msr Le Shuffle!

And Finally Today – Big Disco Alert, as Mascara – Chris Hills Super Soul/Disco Group – Fly in to the Hangar from Germany where they were originally recorded with, “I Feel So At Home Here (Featuring Ula Heldwig)” – & Another Awesome Female Vocalist!! And that track, is of course, from the Fantastic Album – ‘See You In LA’, which of course has Luther Vandross guesting on lead Vocals – So, Keep The Faith, &, Keep It On Shuffle, Just like the Shuffle Monkey & Me 🙂

keepitonshuffle@whateversinmyhead.com – Blog 89 or The Day The Olympic Torch Came To Town!

Honestly we didn’t realise – We just stopped this young Lass and asked her for Three 99’s with flakes – &, of course a Light for the Shuffle Monkey’s Cigar! Anyway, we kick off today with two Corkers – Firstly, “Travelling Band” by Creedance Clearwater Revival who are cutting up the Rug on this, Big Time – & secondly a complete slow-down with Fankie Valli &, “Without Your Love” from his 1978 Album ‘The Word’ – This had quite a Big Bee Gees influence on it with ‘Grease’ – Written by Barry Gibb of course – & if you look back at the record sales for 1978, Bee Gee songs – either sung by them, or written by them and sung by other Artists, including their little Brother Andy – dominated the charts and they had a Number One at the beginning of ’78 & a Number 2 at the end of the Year that became a Number One in the first week of ’79 – &, of course, Grease was Number One through the middle for Five Weeks!!

Another marvellous Track now from the Mayfield Singers & it’s one of three versions we have of this Track, “I’ve Been Trying” – The Reggie Sadler Revue version is Smoother, whilst this cut is Blues-ey-er with a Capital S.O.U.L running right through it – But what’s really distinctive about this particular version is that Jimi Hendrix is playing the intro & then the rhythm guitar part right through – A Soul Brother! Catch it if you can; & what could follow this? – Oh Yes, Bobby Darin & a brilliant version of, “Shadow Of Your Smile” – Sung for Liz Taylor, Of Course!

The beautiful Francoise Hardy follows with a track from her ‘Vogue Years’ Collection – The Majestic, “Je Changerais D’Avis” – Wonderful, &, we’ve established in an earlier Blog that she appeared in the Final ‘Registrars” scene in, ‘What’s New Pussycat’ – But I think she was also one of the two Girls rolling around in lots of paper in Antionni’s 60’s classic film, ‘Blow-up’? Or was it Jane Birkin?? Anyway, let’s “Spread Love” around the world courtesy of Brick & Dance Dance Dance – or Roll Roll Roll!

Willie Nelson follows with a sublime track called, “Overtime” from his recent Album, ‘It Will Always be’; & Paul McCartney drops by next with, “Goodnight Tonight” – & I don’t know about you, but I think Aztec Camera pilfered the opening guitar bit on this for ‘Oblivious’? But, oooh – some Righteous Jazz with a righteous Jazz Vocal comes up behind us & it’s a re-working of the Art Blakey classic, “Moaning” – set to words & delivered with brilliance by the Great Les McCann!

Next up another Classic from another Legend – Charlie Rich – singing one of the superlative versions we have in the Shuffle Monkey’s superlative hands of this superlative song – “Since I Fell For You”; & the Kinks – The Great & Greatly Versatile Kinks follow this with a song that starts off very Donna Summer & ‘Hot Stuff’ – & becomes Blur by way of that other great Jarvis Cocker side project, ‘The All Seeing Eye’ & ‘Walk Like A Panther’! The song by the way is, “(I Wish I Could Fly) Superman” – & Not to be confused with Laurie Anderson’s ‘Oh Superman‘ – But the really interesting thing is that the Kink’s track predates both Donna & Blur!!

And Finally today, we firstly have a classic track off the classic ‘Dirty Dancing’ Soundtrack Album – “Happy Eyes” – Sung of course, by Eric Carmen who’s not all by himself on this occasion; & lastly Kenny Dope presents, “Ha Cha Cha” by Brass Construction – Get Dancing & Keep The Faith Whilst We keep It On Shuffle 🙂