Santa Baby - Cynthia Basinet

I had to relearn something today: I always thought this version of Santa Baby was by Marilyn Monroe. My bad! Actually, Cynthia Basinet recorded it in 1997 as a gift for Jack Nicholson but somehow the rest of the world still credited Monroe. I wonder if this works to Basinet's advantage or whether it is just annoying?

This is a perfect song for Christmas Eve. After all, a girl's gotta dream, right? There are other less tolerable versions of Santa Baby which try to go for the cutesy pie appeal but they fall short of Basinet's smooth style and classy vocals. See what you think:

White Christmas - Bing Crosby

White Christmas by Bing Crosby has to go down as one of the greatest Christmas songs ever, even for those of us who celebrate Christmas in summer. I came across this montage of performances by Crosby and am amazed at the consistency of his singing. It makes me wonder how many times he performed this very song during his career and hope he still got pleasure from it after all those times.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas - Johnny Mathis

I'm not sure why I have a fondness for cheesy northern hemisphere Christmas music; things couldn't look more different to those snowy chocolate box scenes here in New Zealand at this time of the year. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas is another Christmas offering by Johnny Mathis. Once again, there are many, many versions around and this one was also made famous by a movie sequel - but I won't hold that against it. I actually think it's just Mathis' dulcet tones that could win me over with almost anything he sings - don't you agree?

Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms

Jingle Bell Rocks really does rock. This classic Christmas song from Bobby Helms has been around forever and was his biggest hit. I guess if you are going to have a hit, make it a Christmas one and that way you'll be remembered every year. A whole stack of other versions have been released since then but Bobby Helms' version is the one we all know and love. I'll bet you can't listen to it without a smile on your face!

Someday at Christmas - Stevie Wonder

Someday at Christmas is a beautiful song of hope and a wish for peace. Released by a young Stevie Wonder during the Vietnam War, it is of the first Christmas songs with a political message, one which is just as pertinent today. Someday at Christmas manages to combine Wonder's youthful sound with an important anti-war message, asking questions about what is important and putting into perspective what Christmas really means.

Driving Home for Christmas - Chris Rea

Christmas songs are largely about anticipation and looking forward to something, whether it it's a big meal, a family event, truckloads of presents or the whole holiday being over and done with as soon as possible. I quite like Driving Home for Christmas by Chris Rea, whose voice and musical sound is not so Christmassy and therefore conveys not only anticipation, but also impatience, tiredness and the feeling that time d r a g s  o u t  so very much at this time of the year - especially for those who have to work through or up until the last minute. Save driving, everyone!

When a Child is Born - Johnny Mathis

I am actually a traditionalist at heart. When a Child is Born is one of the most lovely, hopeful songs around and Johnny Mathis' version is sure to soften even the hardest of hearts at Christmas time. Even though the lyrics don't specifically mention Christmas, there are many references which allude to the hope, promise and expectation that surrounds the birth of a child, and one in particular. Simply beautiful.

Song for Guy - Elton John

Song for Guy

Elton John

Song for Adam

18/7/1974 - 9/11/1993

RIP

Life isn't everything.

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

Driving into town yesterday, Bill Withers' Lovely Day was playing on the radio. I was in a rush and thinking about my busy day ahead; that stress all melted away after hearing just a few bars. Simply by describing everyday life and seeing how wonderful even the simplest things are, these lyrics have the ability to instantly make things feel better in Withers' typically understated style.

While watching the news on tv last night, I saw a story about a flashmob in a London tube carriage that was actually an orchestrated marriage proposal. What did the choir sing? Lovely Day - a great choice and of course she said yes!

You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - Meat Loaf

I have been listening to Bat Out of Hell in preparation for Meat Loaf's Guilty Pleasures tour next week. Listening to an artist's music over and over before a concert is something I always do and really helps me enjoy the show more. I'm hoping for a show featuring lots of theatrics but am especially looking forward to my absolute favourite Meat Loaf song: You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night).

The song starts with one hell of a bang and scales up even further into a full blown attack on the senses in the best possible way. I love the piano lines, the rock guitar runs punctuating each third line and the in-your-face female backing vocals during the verses. The second verse goes on longer than expected but just prolongs the experience. The dynamics in the bridge and vocal ending contrast the intensity of the rest of the song, completing this celebration of sound.

Turn it up and sing it loud. I do.

Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis Bextor

Here's an earworm that has followed me around for years: Murder on the Dancefloor by Sophie Ellis Bextor. When I was backpacking around Italy back during 2002, there was a café that offered everyone staying at our hostel a daily breakfast deal. It was quite a trendy place and I'd start each morning in Rome with a strong coffee (standing up!) and pastry, contemplating the day ahead. Only a few of the staff spoke English so I was pretty much immersed in standard Italian each morning. It was a great way to rekindle the little Italian I remembered from my childhood.

I was always amused to hear English speaking songs dubbed into different languages. In nightclubs, the guys  singing along in English thought that made them god's gift to you. This song was playing on high rotate (in English) throughout Europe at the time and I could guarantee it would be playing every single morning in that trendy café. Just hearing it now instantly transports me back there - good times when I'd plan my day of sightseeing before setting off through the streets of Rome, assured that the very next morning, Sophie Ellis Bextor would be ready to greet me with a coffee once again.

Mary Had A Little Lamb - Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble

I was taught to enjoy Stevie Ray Vaughan by my musician father, who has every one of SRV's albums, copies of which have made it onto both of my iPods over the years. There is almost too much to say about Stevie Ray Vaughan, the roller coaster lifestyle he led and his massive contribution to modern blues guitar playing. Like many, I vividly remember being touched by the news that SRV had met an untimely death in 1990.

The guitarist in my former band was the ultimate SRV fan and it showed in his playing. On the tragic day of SRV's death, his wife set up his guitar in the lounge, arranged candles, flowers and all his SRV albums around it, creating a little shrine for the man. Apparently that was going a step or two too far (the emotions were pretty raw) but it's a story we've all dined out on for years. However, thanks to him and my father, I have an ongoing love of all his music today.

There's another story in our musical circles about the time that SRV played a concert in Wellington several years ago (still the loudest concert my father has ever been to). Another guitarist from our band insists he was jamming in The Rock Shop, or whatever it was called in those days, alongside an American guitarist who had wandered in. It turned out to be SRV himself. How cool is that!

Mary Had A Little Lamb, released in 1983, is not my favourite Stevie Ray Vaughan song but is incredibly memorable for me, my family and our bands. We played this version of Buddy Guy's arrangement as part of our fourth bracket for years for purely indulgent reasons; it was our excuse to play long and loud, with each of us enjoying a solo or two on a simple bed of twelve bar blues. Hearing it again today takes me right back to those late nights and good times. Once again, listen to this one loudly.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Elton John

A group of workmates get together at 3 o'clock every afternoon to do the Capital Day quiz from the Dompost. One of today's questions was about a #1 Beatles song released by Elton John in 1974. Easy: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. "No way!" someone said. "Yes way!" I replied. "It can't be," they retorted. "Why not?" I asked. They gave up, accepted my answer and we got it right.

This is an excellent cover version of an already excellent song. Elton John not only does it justice but his arrangement adds both strength and originality. It naturally features a dominant piano underlined by some pretty decisive drumming and flavoured with distinctive guitar riffs. The verses, chorus and bridge provide a range of dynamics and variation that beautifully exploits the original song's structure and phrasing.

Rumour has it that when John Lennon was playing on this recording, he had to ask Elton John's guitarist what some of the chords were, even though he wrote the song himself. (And you still think the song was about a girl in a little boy's painting?)

She Believes In Me - Kenny Rogers

I have always said that if you're doing to do country music, there are only two ways to do it: Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. I stand by that statement and you'll come to see why I have such respect for these two musicians as this blog evolves.

She Believes In Me was released by Kenny Rogers in 1979. It's technically not a country song and more of a pop ballad in style but, for me, almost anything associated with Kenny Rogers becomes synonymous with country music. From the gentle piano introduction to the sad, heartfelt vocals, this is a love story of the sincerest kind and that is the essence of country music. A woman supports her man night after night to achieve his dream of being a musician, even though success is constantly eluding him. I know first hand how hard it is to be in a relationship with a musician so this is truly admirable. Even when he begins to secretly doubt himself, her faith in him keeps him going. Isn't that the stuff dreams are made of?

Why is this song playing on Café Chick's Jukebox today? I was catching up on some tv this afternoon and watched Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years. I'm not usually big on tribute shows (give me the original any day, I say) but was really impressed with Tim McGraw's version of She Believes In Me. McGraw captured the sincerity of Rogers' original while adding his own stamp to it. Hear for yourself:

Rolling in the Deep - Adele

Today's song is more of an earworm than a favourite, although I am growing increasingly fond of it. I have had Rolling in the Deep by Adele on high rotate in my head this morning, probably because 21 is the current album in my car's CD player. It is a poignant breakup album with soaring emotions set to a quality soundtrack but without the anger and bitterness of Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill.

Adele's sound is unique and I hope it remains that way. Even at just 21, she already shows excellent mastery of her voice as an instrument. Personally, I think Adele is still too young to have her style categorised, even though labels like soul, blues and country roots have been applied. While she credits the late Amy Winehouse with helping to make her style of vocals acceptable, she is thankfully not another Amy but is certainly an artist to watch in the next few years.

The Ballad of Lucy Jordan - Marianne Faithfull

At a social function the other day, a workmate commented that "at the age of 47" he had his first child. "Isn't that a song?" someone asked, half in jest. She was out by ten years but, in amongst all the blank stares, we shared a sly smile; I knew exactly what she meant.

Written by Shel Silverstein and originally recorded by Dr Hook, I love Marianne Faithfull's 1979 take on The Ballad of Lucy Jordan. This haunting song is so very different to almost any other that I like and I was hooked (pardon the pun) the very first time I heard it; it was appealing and grotesque all at the same time. Faithfull's voice broke at the most crucial parts and the unusual instrumentation leave an air of mystery about this song. I wonder how many housewives can relate to the lyrics and have dreamed similar dreams of escape for themselves?

At the age of 37, she realised she'd never ride
Through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair

What happened to Lucy Jordan? The unfinished cadence leaves open endless possibilities. Did she actually jump from that rooftop? Was her eventual ride through Paris in a sports car actually a hearse? (I know it wasn't, but the question remains). Did the stranger that helped her down and release her back to the very life she'd been trying to escape, or was she about to start another life sentence altogether?

Lucy eventually got her ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair, but it remained in her imagination. Tragic, haunting and ever so poignant.

War - Edwin Starr

I was watching a dreadful version of Gulliver's Travels (2010) last night and heard an equally dreadful version of a song I absolutely love. I had to banish that version from my mind with the original. Here is the result.

War is a protest song released by Edwin Starr in 1969 under the Motown label. A less intense version was originally recorded by The Temptations but, in response to public demand, was instead released as a single by Starr in order to not risk the image of Motown's most popular male vocal group.

I was first introduced to War via the first (and best) Tour of Duty soundtrack album; it opened my eyes and ears to a whole genre of music from a very specific era. The lyrics speak for themselves, but so does the instrumentation. Listen to the busy rhythm section kept in line by a repeated horn theme and punctuated by a baritone sax.

War is another song best enjoyed loud.