One 2 Three
Patrick Sherring
Helen spoke about how important bell ringing has been in her life. She has been ringing regularly from her teenage years and met her husband Richard in the London University bell ringers. Their son Harry is an enthusiastic bell ringer. Helen said that bell ringing “is part of the sound-scape of the country”. Whilst everyone is different, she felt it would take a few months of practice for someone to have acquired the skills to be able to ring confidently as the member of a group. Churches have different numbers of bells and consequently different numbers of ringers. For example, Margaretting church has five bells, Chelmsford Cathedral has twelve. Though the bells range in size, larger bells have bigger wheels, so this compensates for the difference in weight. Bell ringing provides some physical exercise. Helen noted, “if you can climb the stairs, you can manage the ringing”. She spoke of the regular social side of ringing, recalling outings to ring in various locations. Following the pandemic, there is a national shortage of bell ringers. Anyone interested in the possibility of participating could contact their local church. At the moment there is a desire to recruit bell ringers for the coronation weekend, to ‘Ring for the king’. More information can be found at https://www.ccbr.org.uk/bellringing/learn Also from the Essex Association of Change Ringers https://eacr.org.uk
Playlist
U2 – Still haven’t found what I’m looking for – 1987 USA no 1, UK no6. From the album – Joshua Tree – which has sold over 25 million copies. Grammy awards Album of the year and Rock performance of the year.
Tom Bright – Please don’t forget me.
The Beautiful South – Artificial flowers – from the album – Blue is the colour – UK no 1 in 1996. Helen chose this track as she feels it is a beautiful song. It was written by the same composer as Fiddler on the roof.
Bluebells – Young at heart – UK no 8 in 1984. UK no 1 1993 after featuring in a Volkswagen commercial. Helen chose this track as an example of her relationship with radio. She used to daily listen to Terry Wogan. He regularly played this track after the 8 a.m. news summary.
David Essex – Hold me close. UK no 1, Ireland no 1, Australia no 6. From the album – All the fun of the fair. UK no 3, Australia no 6. Helen has always been a big fan of David Essex, starting with the release of this track in October 1974. She saw him recently in Ipswich. To quote her, “he has still got it”.
Birthdays quiz.
Chas Smash (Cathal Joseph Smyth) joined Madness in the late 1970, originally as a dancer on stage at their concerts. He became secondary vocalist and trumpet player, as well as continuing to dance. He recently celebrated his 64th birthday. We heard – Wings of a dove – no 2, Ireland no 1, on which he is singing the vocals.
Above – Neil Diamond in 1979.
Below in 2023.
Neil Diamond has sold over 130 million records in his career. He is 82 years old. We heard his 1979 UK no 16 and USA no 23. Despite this modest chart position, the 45RPM sold 400,000 in the UK.
Alicia Keys celebrated her 42nd birthday. We heard her 2009 track – Empire State of mind part 2. It sold 1.2 million copies in the UK and peaked at no 4.
Thanks to Chris, Bob and Sarah in Harlow, along with their friend Paul who was with them mending a fence Helen in the studio took part as did regular contestant, Chris in Guildford. There were correct answers for each artist this week. Chris and Sarah were joint winners with two correct answers each. Chris in Guildford had one correct answer. Thanks to everyone for taking part.
Patrick wanted to hear Elvis Pre4sley – Always on my mind. This track reached no 9 in the UK in January 1973. It was not released as an A side in USA.
Mary Chapin Carpenter – Why walk when you can fly? – from the 1994 album –Stones in the road – UK no 26, USA no 10. Grammy Award – Country album of the year.
Chart this week in
No 1 Georgie Fame – Yeh, Yeh. Also no 1 in Canada, no 3 Ireland, no 6 Sweden, no 19 Belgium and no 21 in USA.
No 8 Gerry and the Pacemakers – Ferry across the Mersey. This was its highest UK chart position. USA no 6, Sweden no 7. Charity version was released in 1989 and was a UK no 1.
No 20 The Righteous Brothers – You’ve lost that lovin feelin – No 1 UK, USA, Canada. No 34 Rolling Stone 500 Greatest songs of all time.
Regent – Let me in. New release from the band who are based in Southampton.
Hilary Scott & the Scott family – Beautiful messes. From the 2016 album – Love remains –winner of the Grammy Award for best contemporary Christian album in 2016.
Mike Townsend – Hawaii 5-O theme. The show ran from 1968-1980 with 281 episodes.
Join me next week for two hours of music for your Friday lunchtime listening.
