A Song For Each Year Of My Life - Part One

This is for the "Melodic Milestone Playlist" Vocal Challenge which you can read about below.

The Prompt

Create a personalized soundtrack to your life.

In 2015 I created a project to pick a song for every one of the 58 or 59 years of my life. I am now in my 66th year so will create six eleven-year playlists and link them together.

This is Part One.

1957 - Little Richard - "The Girl Can't Help It"

This was the original mixed-up concept

OK here's the thing today I'm 58, well my body is, and my brain/personality/curiosity etc is still in the 14 - 16 age group. I still have wonder, I still love it in others, I still crave love, knowledge, attention, friendship and happiness.

Maybe my caring, love and valuing of friends have grown over the years. I do look out for people and when times are bad I am there for them it does spread me thin,

Some people need me more than others. I need some people more than others.

Anyway here's the thing, here's the task. You know I love music so there will be 58 posts, one a day, each with a record from a year in my life. They may mean something, they may mean nothing, they may be relevant to the post or not.

So what's, number one, this originally was going to be Harry Nilsson's One a very sad song, but I was just going to base it on the day number, but this gives me a chance to play something uplifting and worthy, and the words to this resonate so well Little Richard's "The Girl Can't Help It " from 1957

1958 - Perry Como - "Catch A Falling Star"

It's quite amazing how much dross hits the charts, but I always loved this song, and while never an avid Perry Como fan I still like this. I will never forget Bryan Ferry's riposte to an interviewer who asked him his opinion on Cockney Rebel's Judy Teen, he said he preferred the Perry Como version.

But my favourite take on it was the wonderful Anthony Moore.

1959 - The Coasters - "Charlie Brown"

This song is from the third year of my life. Actually, the charts had lots of great music, but I always loved the Coasters with their atmospheric mostly Lieber/Stoller penned songs which still stand strong today combined with a wickedly knowing sense of humour delivered with street-born panache.

1960 - Sam Cooke - "Chain Gang"

For my fourth year, I have chosen the bittersweetly beautiful Chain Gang by Sam Cooke for you to enjoy.

1961 - The Everly Brothers - "Temptation"

Released in the year that I turned five, this was a hit but was not your standard Everly Brothers fare with an almost vicious descending guitar riff sequence, but, of course, their amazing harmonies were all over this.

1962 - Dave Brubeck - "Unsquare Dance"

I've chosen Dave Brubeck's "Unsquare Dance", because although I was completely unaware of it at the time, being that progressive jazz rubbish, and me being five. This is a piece I have come to love over the years due to its weird seeming timing and being just rather excellent. I found this wonderful version with the LSO so had to share, didn't I?

1963 - Heinz - "Just Like Eddie"

1963 was the year the Beatles first hit the chart but I have chosen "Just Like Eddie", Heinz ' Joe Meek produced tribute to Eddie Cochran. This was a favourite of mine from the first time I heard it, though it would be a while before I could buy my own copy. You can read more about Joe Meek in the piece I wrote here.

1964 - Millie - "My Boy Lollipop"

So I'm in my eighth year, 1964, and have chosen "My Boy Lollipop" by Millie Small because it was one of my mum's favourites and remember her playing it all the time and it was a contributory factor in the foundation for Chris Blackwell's Island Records.

1965 - The Who - "My Generation"

Into my ninth year, the first song I remember seeing on Top of the Pops was The Who singing My Generation, so I am finally getting to the period where I started making my own musical choices.

1966 - Roy C - "Shotgun Wedding"

Anyway to my tenth year on this mortal coil and it's the year England won the World Cup and a song I remember was this really racy one according to an acquaintance of the time. Roy 'C's "Shotgun Wedding", ironically not too far removed from today's attitudes almost sixty years on, but nonetheless a wonderful record.

1967 - Sandy Posey - "Single Girl"

I have to be honest 1967 was a stunning year for music, so I could have chosen anything, but I definitely loved Sandy Posey's "Single Girl", love the fragility of her delivery. The song is probably sexist and misogynist as hell, but is a product of its time and I can choose anything I want.

End Of Part One

There will be five more of these playlists covering every year of my life so this leaves me at the age of ten in my eleventh year.

The music of my life continues here with music from my teenage years in the seventies.