Monday, March 08, 2010

Ten out of ten and a gold star

One part of the reason for Tom Jones huge popularity in the 1960s was that many Caribbean women felt that he sang just like ‘one of ours.’

Sometime back in the middle of January I heard a song on the radio which I thought must be from the 1960s, from the period somewhere between Millicent & Marley. That same day I tried to get the artist on Last FM only to be told that they did not have enough of his work to give him his own radio station. Not a big surprise, though they are remarkably good at finding a lot of 1960s Caribbean music which long ago disappeared from the shops (if it were ever there in the first place).

So it was, in a way, disconcerting to find that it is sung by a young man, only 23 years old, & a Scot of Italian descent.

Wikipedia informs me that the song peaked at #51 on the UK singles charts, but it is still popular on Radio 2 as well as our rural local radio station, so I think it is probably one of those very slow burners.

The rhythm is perfect, whatever your age. Gives you a lift, which is sorely needed.

It is, of course, 10/10 by Paolo Nutini

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