Tuesday Tunes 261: Moon

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I’ll let you into a little secret, if you haven’t already guessed it. Although these posts appear on a Tuesday (the clue is in the title) I actually prepare them the day before. So while you’re reading this tomorrow it is actually today for me, yesterday. All clear? Good. The reason for saying that is that yesterday (in the UK, Sunday in the US) was the 56th anniversary of the first landing on the Moon and the first moonwalk, long before Michael Jackson misappropriated the name. I have previously written (and reprised) about how I greeted the day – Summer Of ’69, if you want to see it – and this seems like too good an opportunity to miss for a theme. So today I’m playing songs with moon in their title.

I quickly realised that I knew some good ones for this, which gave me a hard time in whittling them down to the standard five songs that I play. So I’m afraid I’m having to leave out Cat Stevens, Thin Lizzy and The Waterboys, amongst others I could have played. But I’m definitely not sorry to be omitting Toploader!

So, after that odd preamble through the depths of my mind, here’s today’s first tune:

Creedence Clearwater Revival, of course, with Bad Moon Rising. In all their time CCR never had a #1 single in the US, but they did here in the UK: this one. It was the lead single from their third album, Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. It peaked at #2 in the US in June 1969 and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in September of that year. This was CCR’s second (of five) US #2 singles, and has since gone 2x Platinum in the US (2m sales) and Platinum in the UK (600k), and in 2010 Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #364 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. What kept it off the top? That would be Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet by Henry Mancini. I kid you not! The Green River album came out that August: it got to #1 in the US, #2 in Canada, and #20 in the UK, and went 3x Platinum in the US for 3m sales.

Sometimes I steer clear of playing the obvious tune for a theme. Not today:

The Police released Walking On The Moon as the second single from their second album, Regatta De Blanc. The album came out in October 1979 and the single in November, and both went to #1 in the UK, and also in Australia and The Netherlands, #3 in Canada and #25 in the US. It went Platinum in many countries including the UK and the US, selling more than a million in both. It was one of those albums I played to bits! As well as in the UK the single went to #1 in Ireland, but didn’t make the US chart, which feels strange to my mind.

Despite the competition for places in today’s setlist, this one was never going to miss out:

Moondance was the title track of Van Morrison’s third album, released in January 1970, which peaked at #32 in the UK and #29 in the US. The song later reached #92 in the US singles chart in 1977, after Van the Man decided that seven years was long enough for his fans to wait for a single version of the song. I’m not sure what the video is about – it isn’t official – but at least it gives you something to look at while you enjoy the music!

And another old favourite next, also never in danger of making the cut:

After his early days with Tubular Bells and several other instrumental albums, by the 1980s Mike Oldfield was developing his shorter form songwriting, and included many vocal performances of his songs on later albums. Moonlight Shadow was one such: it was released on his 1983 album, Crises. This was a six track album – back in those vinyl days, the first side comprised just the title track, which came in at around 20 minutes, and then side two had five shorter songs, of which this was the first. Maggie Reilly sang on three of these, and I’ve always thought her voice was lovely – her own solo recordings bear this out, too, despite her not having had even one chart hit here in the UK, although other European countries have been kinder to her. The Crises album reached #6 in the UK, but didn’t chart in the US: after the success there of his first album, Tubular Bells, he had very little in the way of US chart placings. You guys have been missing out on some great music. This song was the lead single from the album, released in May 1983, and got to #4 here, #6 in Australia, #3 in New Zealand, and #1 in the Netherlands and Austria. Needless to say, it didn’t make the US charts.

Previously when I’ve played this I’ve been advised that the official video for it isn’t available in the US. So this time I’m using a Top Of The Pops performance of it in the hope that works. And if all else fails, a good blogging friend has tested out this alternative, which does work. It is an audio-only version, but that’s better than nothing, right? https://youtu.be/9uYF95jR_ME

We now arrive at our fifth song for today. I would have put money on having played this before but can’t find it in my records of posts, so I guess this is its debut. And it is probably another obvious choice:

R.E.M. released Man on the Moon on their eighth album, Automatic For The People, in October 1992. The album was a huge success, selling more than 18m copies worldwide, and getting to #1 in the UK, #2 in the US, and #4 in Canada. It has gone 4x Platinum in the US, for 3.5m sales, and 8x Platinum here in the UK for 2.4m – a phenomenal figure in our much smaller market. I bought the album the day it came out, and as the family were away at the time I had the pleasure of listening to it without interruption: I knew straightaway that it was destined to become a favourite, and it still is. Man On The Moon was the second single taken from the album, in November 1992, though it didn’t chart all that well: #30 in the US and #18 in the UK, though that was enough for it to earn a Gold disc here for 400k sales. It did best in Canada, peaking there at #3, and in Iceland, where it made #1. Sadly, Wikipedia doesn’t say how many it sold there. I’m playing this one today as its lyrics, which are wide-ranging, make reference to the conspiracy theories about the validity of the moon landing. If I had written it I think the word ‘bollocks’ might have featured in that part of the song!

That would normally be my full quota for the day, but as this is marking a special event in history I thought I’d add in a bonus song for you. This is delightful, and where else can you get one of my favourite singer-songwriters with a Muppet:

I came across I Don’t Want To Live On The Moon in Apple Music in a list of Shawn’s songs, but hadn’t previously known it. As far as I can tell she has never officially released it herself, though it does appear on a Sesame Street album called Elmopalooza! – which was released in March 1998 as the soundtrack to the Elmopalooza television special which commemorated Sesame Street‘s 30th anniversary. The album won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children, and contains songs from a number of special guests, including Numpty’s current favourite comedian, Rosie O’Donnell. This song was written by Jeff Moss in 1978, and was first aired on Sesame Street as a solo by Ernie, subsequently being revisited with Aaron Neville and then, as here, with Shawn Colvin. I think it’s a lovely song for kids, and a nice way to end a post of celebration.

That’s it for today’s slightly bigger edition of Tuesday Tunes, and I hope you enjoyed them. I’ll see you again soon, and until then stay safe and enjoy your week 😊

 

52 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 261: Moon”

  1. Pingback: A New View Of July | Take It Easy

  3. Good theme for remembering such an important date in history. I was 8 years old the summer Armstrong stepped on the moon. I don’t recall it seeing footage or nothing. Maybe, we didn’t have a TV at that time. My folks didn’t have a lot of extras when I was young. I knew all of your songs except for the last one and “Moonlight Shadow”.

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    • It seemed a good opportunity for a theme! My story of that time is in the post I linked to – I am a bit older than you!

      Glad you knew most of the songs – I wasn’t going for obscure ones this week, apart from the last one 😊

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  5. I remember the moon landing well, sitting in my grandparents’ back room in Germany, watching it on TV. Pretty exciting for this 14-year-old! 😀 R.E.M.’s “Man on the Moon” is my favourite from your set as well. Thanks for the introduction to the Shawn Colvin Tune. It was cute.

    P.S. If you ever want to check if a video is blacked out anywhere in the world, paste your YouTube link here:
    https://polsy.org.uk/stuff/ytrestrict.cgi

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    • My story about it is in the post I linked to. I was coming up to 16 when it happened, and remember Dad waking me up in the middle of the night to watch it.

      I’m pleased you liked some of these – that Shawn Colvin one is charming, isn’t it.

      Many thanks for that link. I didn’t know of the site so I’ve saved the link and will try it out. Much appreciated 😊

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  6. Five out of six for me today, Clive. A good score. The only one that didn’t do it for me was the Shawn Colvin tune. Despite loving my career as an elementary teacher, I actually don’t like most children’s songs. I know you like CCR more than I do, but I like this one. It could also fit into your past post about instantly recognizable songs.

    It’s hard to pick a favorite today, but I’d probably go with The Police.

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  10. You started out with one of my all time favourites by CCR, so I was hooked. I never heard the one by The Police, or “Moonlight Shadow” or “Man on the Moon”! I liked the latter two, but not so fond of The Police! And you just know I LOVED the final one with Elmo! I hadn’t ever heard the song, but I love anything with the Muppets! All in all, a post that brought a smile to my face! Thanks, Clive!

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    • Good to see you here, Jill. I’m pleased you enjoyed so many of these, even if you didn’t know many of them! I wouldn’t have expected The Police to be your thing, but for a couple of years they were the biggest band on the planet.

      That Muppets one is a real treasure, isn’t it. I found it quite by chance looking through my Apple Music library: Shawn Colvin is a big favourite of mine. Glad to have put a smile on your face – I have one too, for a reason which will become clear with my next post, in a couple of days 😊

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