Tuesday Tunes 217: My Birthday

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Yesterday was my birthday, so I thought that this week I would mark that by playing some songs for my birthday event. I’ve used this as a theme before, for one of my daughters, but as that was three and a half years ago I think some of the songs I played then are due another airing. I’m playing a bumper set today – seven tunes, only three of which are repeats, a couple are fairly short, and the closer isn’t about birthdays at all but is an invitation to have a good time, which is all part of the day, isn’t it?

For someone of my ever-increasing vintage there can really only be one place to start:

As that was just an album track I haven’t been able to find a version with images, but it’s still a great song. As the video image showed, it was on the album The Beatles, known by most as The White Album. This was the band’s ninth studio album, released in November 1968, conveniently for me as it went on my Christmas present list, and I wasn’t disappointed. It is a double album, with a huge variety of styles across its thirty tracks. This was the one that opened side three (vinyl albums only in those days), and was co-written by Paul and John – something which was becoming a bit unusual for them, as they had tended to write on their own for some time, despite their songs always being credited as ‘Lennon/McCartney’ compositions. The album topped the charts in many countries, including both the UK and the US, and is still a favourite of mine to this day. It was also the album which brought to a head the simmering differences between the band members, and Ringo even left the band during recording, though he was brought back into the fold after a fortnight. As history shows, those tensions finally broke up The Beatles in 1970.

As I said last time I played this, my second tune this week is one that you might not expect from me, as it is very much a simple pop song. I loved it when it first came out, though, and still enjoy watching this video:

The fact that Clare Grogan is drop dead gorgeous has nothing to do with that enjoyment, of course! Altered Images were a bunch of friends from their schooldays, and were only around from 1981 to 1983. Happy Birthday was the title track of their first album, from September 1981, which reached #26 in the UK. The song had been released as a single the previous month, getting to #2 here and #3 in Ireland. As far as I can tell they had absolutely no impact on the US charts in their brief lifespan, which I think was a pity – this deserved to be successful over there.

There are some videos of live performances of this next one, but I’m sticking with the original recording, even if this is audio-only:

Happy Birthday was on Stevie Wonder’s September 1980 album, Hotter Than July, which I bought at the time. The song was written in an attempt to get a day named in honour of the late Martin Luther King Jr, and succeeded in its aim when President Reagan created Martin Luther King Day in 1986.The album reached #3 in the US and #2 here in the UK, and was #1 on the US R&B chart. This was also a #2 single here, but didn’t make the main US chart: that seemed strange to me so I looked it up and found that it wasn’t released as a single there. It would surely have been a big hit if it had.

That marks the end of the three I played previously. So let’s get down and dirty with this next one, which of course is way outside my own experiences of life:

Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of the five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama. The group also has roots in Richmond, Virginia. To my ears they are very much a southern rock band in the tradition of the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Little Feat. Those two guys started the band in 1996, and they have gone through several changes in membership since then, while developing a reputation as a live touring band and building a sizeable following. Birthday Boy is a track on their eighth album, The Big To-Do, which was released in March 2010, peaking at #22 in the US and #61 in the UK, though it made #1 on the US Indie Albums chart. In all their time they have only ever had one female member, bass player Shonna Tucker, who was in the band from 2003 to 2011, and can be seen in the video. They have made some great records, all of which are in my iTunes library, and this is typical of the wit they bring to their songs. A favourite of mine.

Two bits of light relief next. First, one of my favourite idiots:

Need I say more? In case you missed the clues, that was a Happy Birthday wish from the Muppets’ very own Swedish Chef.

And this next one is an all-time iconic moment:

That was, of course, Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr President for JFK in May 1962. Sadly, neither had a happy ending – she died just three months later and he, as everyone knows, was assassinated in November 1963.

I said at the outset that my closing track today isn’t a birthday song, but an invitation to have a good time. This is by one of my favourite bands – they make bonkers videos, like this one:

One of the best rock music videos ever made, in my view. The Darkness are a band that have never taken themselves too seriously and have been all the better for it. Everybody Have A Good Time was on their third album, Hot Cakes, which was released in August 2012, nearly seven years after their previous offering: a gap which was largely due to the addiction problems which had beset the band’s lead singer and songwriter, Justin Hawkins. It reached #4 here in the UK and #43 in the US. This was also released as a single, in June 2012, but doesn’t appear to have charted anywhere – in fact, whilst their albums since then have all attained high placings in the UK and have hit the charts in several other countries, including the US, they haven’t had a hit single since 2006! I still like them, though, and this is a great way to end my personal celebration.

See you again soon, I trust. Have a great week 😊🎶

72 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 217: My Birthday”

  1. Pingback: My September | Take It Easy

    • I’m pleased you enjoyed them, Colin. That Darkness video is fantastic, and I’m a big fan of theirs too. The Swedish Chef has always been one of my favourite Muppets, and that was typical of him 😊

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  10. Happy Birthday Clive. Glad you had a good day! I enjoyed your party songs – a nice mix! I agree about Clare Grogan. She was cute back then and I didn’t know about the scar. The Swedish Cook made me smile.

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  12. I only remembered the happy birthday songs of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Marilyn Monroe. My favorite of the rest I had never heard before was by The Darkness.

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    • Hi Robbie. Thank you, I did! Sorry about that one, but I’m afraid I disagree: I think it’s a cracking song and danced to it at many birthday parties in my youth! I played your suggestion when I ran a previous set on this theme, but it was one of the ones I dropped to make room for some new choices. Another time, maybe…

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