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Two of the greats. Ray Charles, also a great arranger as well as performer, with composer and arranger Quincy Jones
From full orchestration to carefully stripped back, this week let's consider work where in originals or later versions, added instrumentals, vocal parts, melodic fills, changing tempo or keys, have made a great song even better
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It’s like dancing about architecture
Used in literature and everyday speech, it’s the verbal tool that compares one contrasting thing to another, by using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’. But where do they come up in song lyrics, and where, ideally, are they effective and original?
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Cream, with a heavy dose of Ginger
Collaborations, surprising or predictable, are of what music is made. But this week’s topic focuses on artists from different, already successful acts who collaborate not only on one song or performance, but a whole LP or more
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‘The morning is here and there’s work to be done': Who sings a story of the ‘navvies’ who built our railways?
Drivers to traders, craftsmen to carers, traffic wardens to roadies, this week’s superb playlists by guest writer ShivSidecar capture a huge spectrum of styles, emotions, toil and characters, and after so many nominations, it’s a job very well done indeed
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Panda nanny, anyone? Hours may be long …
Habitual to unusual, the professional or the manual, the skilled or the basic, gig economy to obscure and hidden, this week we look at a variety of job titles and what they all entail, all evoked through song
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The fabulous Supremes
It’s a group dynamic. This week we celebrate landmark, iconic or noteworthy songs by groups of exclusively female artists of three or more, spanning genres from early classical to jazz and swing, 60s soul, to 70s, 80s, 90s and 21st century pop
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Follow the eyes … Annette Hanshaw
Innocent following to sinister stalking, this week’s guest magicman has got all the exits covered across two excellent playlists chasing down last week’s topic to cover all musical streets from romantic threats to thrilling car chases
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Play Misty For Me? Be careful what records you choose … Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter in 1971
Do you follow? This week it could well be a creepy, but also complex topic, with tracking and pursuing people in all contexts, done or from the perspective of either party, for love or perhaps more sinister reasons
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Take a gallop through our musical landscape …
Will it be all white on the night? The time is certainly white to suggest songs relating in every way to this colour, from skin and race to ghosts, food, clothing, weddings, purity and innocence to noise and light …
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Little Richard
Feel the magnetism. It’ s a quality of presence, an aura, a warmth, an energy, eyes and voice. It inspires and attracts others to good, or sometimes bad effect. But it isn’t only in the famous, but also unknown people brought to light in song
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Betty Davis has got the boots
Sweet sole music! This week’s lists are talking the talk and walking the walk with beautiful steps brilliantly picked by this week’s guest DJ Bear, using as a platform the huge pile of footwear songs piled up from last week’s nominations
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Walk this way and press play …
Shoes, boots, slippers, high-heels, trainers, loafers, brothel creepers, brogues, to clogs to spats and a whole lot more, from the sexy to the silly, the stylish to the smart, let’s get the sole of this subject in this lyrical theme
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Michael Jackson had more than his fair share of changes. In one instance he takes a breath before sharpening his G
No technical knowledge required. Michael Jackson to the Beatles, they've all done it. From a single step up to lift or alter the mood, to more complex modulations, if you can feel or hear a significant change in the song, it could be a key one
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There is a light …
With this week’s topic cycle straddling two months, let’s capture both in songs that may be autumnal, seasonal, celebratory or mournful, during a time of year of change, activity and a strange red-tinged beauty
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Pick collection …
Galleries to grand libraries, public or private, unusual or colourful objects, from the oddball to unhealthy obsession, this week we enter the extraordinary world of collecting, listing and cataloguing and everything that motivates it
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High spirits … The Damned start early
It’s a rum do here at the Bar, and there’s no shortage of tequila or absinthe either. So take a seat, and pour yourself a stiff one and also enjoy a specially crafted cocktail of the tastiest playlists by guest Ravi Raman distilled down from all the nominations
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Smokin' Sabrinatini
Let’s distil down and mix: from brandy to gin, whisky, rum, absinthe, vodka, rum, baijiu, tequila, pisco, mezcal and more, and all the exotic, strong, elegant and sexy combinations are on offer in this week’s lyrical topic
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Shadow play. Where? On the square
This week we enter the world of the topsy-turvy and the back-to-front, all reflected in song lyrics, literally or metaphorically, here with a perspective on other work, from reversed or mirror images to the distorted or refracted
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His Master’s Voice
Pigeons to felines, canines to bigger hairy beasts, from humour to the historical, tales of cruelty and caring, to cartoons, this week’s magical menagerie, inspired by last week’s topic is an ark of excellence brought picked by guest writer Uncleben
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Cheeta with his co-stars Jane and Tarzan, aka Maureen O’Sullivan and Johnny Weissmuller
Dogs, cats, horses, apes, pigeons, elephants and more, stars of film, TV, science, history or art, in fact or fiction, this week we’re calling for songs that mention, or are chiefly about famous creatures, usually with a specific name
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