Today’s selection of tunes is very self-indulgent, as it marks a personal milestone for my blog. Cue fanfare: this is my one thousandth post, and it felt right for me to play a set of thousand songs – that’s songs with thousand in their title, I don’t mean that’s how many I’m playing, in case you got a little worried for a moment. As I have often said, I began the blog all the way back in 2012 to share my experience of mental health issues, and it has kind of grown from there. I still run the occasional mental health post and some others too, but the great majority of what I do is play music and today is no exception. On with the tunes!

I’m going way, way back for my first song today:

What a great video! From the days when things felt much more innocent, even to the point where girls danced on the beach in their nighties – or so it seems on this evidence. Bobby Vee released The Night Has a Thousand Eyes as a single in December 1962, and it then became the title track of an album in February 1963. The single reached #3 in both the US and the UK, though the album – his ninth in three years – did less well, making only #102 in the US and not charting at all in the UK. He had a run of hit singles in the early Sixties, and I think that was how the record buying public saw him. His career began when he and his brother started a band in 1959: they volunteered to step in for Buddy Holly and the others who died in the plane crash, and were well-received. Out of that his career was born. He was only fifteen at the time, and was still just nineteen when this one was released: very much the innocence of youth! Bobby continued performing until 2011 when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, and died from complications of the illness in October 2016, at the age of 73.

I played this next one six months ago in my tribute to Shane McGowan, but I like it so you’re getting it again:

Thousands Are Sailing was written by Philip Chevron, who had joined The Pogues in 1985 and, unlike several other band members, was actually Irish. It featured on their third album, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, which was released in January 1988 and reached #3 in the UK, #4 in New Zealand, #9 in both Sweden and Switzerland, and was their first to make the US Albums Chart, where it got to #88. For some reason Wikipedia doesn’t include Ireland in its list of countries for The Pogues’ albums discography, but I think it a safe bet that this one sold well in Ireland too, as its three singles reached #1, #4 and #11 there. In my view, that video is a very good fit for the meaning of Thousands Are Sailing. The song opens by setting its place and tone: “The island, it is silent now….” The torch referred to is that of the Statue of Liberty, and “the island” is Ellis Island, where the federal immigration station opened on 1 January 1892 and was closed in 1954, having processed twelve million immigrants. This is a powerful retelling of history, as there was a documented 30% mortality rate on those ships, which gave rise to them being called ‘coffin ships.’ The final chorus references the conflicted feelings of Irish emigrants – “where’er we go we celebrate the land that makes us refugees” – and is still sadly so relevant today for many who have been displaced from their countries.

Today’s next tune is another long time favourite of mine. It was originally released in 1968, but this is a 1994 performance on the BBC’s Later… With Jools Holland show:

Traffic released Forty Thousand Headmen, or to give it its full original title Roamin’ Thru The Gloamin’ With 40,000 Headmen, on their eponymous second album in October 1968. The album reached #9 in the UK and #17 in the US, and is still one of my favourites from that time. This track was the B-side of the band’s single release of No Face, No Name And No Number earlier that year – it peaked at #40 in the UK but didn’t make the charts anywhere else. The band had a bit of a history of splitting and reforming, and this performance is from the touring band Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi put together to support the May 1994 release of their final studio album, Far From Home, which reached #29 in the UK and #33 in the US. This wasn’t included on the album but as a band classic it was included in the live shows. I love this performance: the flute is played by Randell Bramblett, in case you were wondering.

I’m dipping into the UK Country scene for this next one. Yes, we do have one, and this is by one of the prime movers in it:

The Shires are a duo of singer-songwriters Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes. Ben sings harmony and some lead vocals, plays piano and guitar, and Crissie is lead singer. They formed in 2013 and have to date released five albums, all of which have got to #1 in the UK Country Albums chart and have reached the top ten in the main UK Albums listings. A Thousand Hallelujahs was on their second album, My Universe, which came out in September 2016 and made #3 in the UK, as well, of course, as being #1 in the Country chart. This ‘live in studio’ performance dates from November 2016, and shows what a good voice Crissie has, and how well they harmonise together. The additional guitarist is Charles Macdonald, who has accompanied them on tour as well as doing studio gigs like this one.

[I’ve been advised that this video doesn’t work for some in the States. It’s a shame to lose the live performance, but you can find the studio version of the song here]

British readers may recall my closing tune for today, though I doubt it will be known to many others:

Tenpole Tudor are an English punk band fronted by Edward Tudor-Pole. They first came to prominence when he appeared in the Sex Pistols’ film The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle and on three of the singles released from the soundtrack. The band then had a couple of hit singles in 1979 and several more throughout 1981, of which Swords Of A Thousand Men was the equal highest placed, at #6. It also featured as the opening track on their debut album, Eddie, Old Bob, Dick and Gary, which was released in April 1981 and peaked at #44 in the UK. Eddie is nothing if not persistent, having reconstituted various versions of the band since then, and was just setting out on tour with the most recent incarnation when the pandemic struck in 2020, since when he has reportedly been working on an autobiography. As far as I can see it hasn’t yet made the light of day, though judging by this video I’m guessing he has a few wild tales to tell. They were fun, and perhaps rather surprisingly no one was injured or killed in the making of it.

That’s all for today – one of my weeks of less well-known tunes, but I wanted to play a few favourites for my blogging milestone. I’ll see you again in a few days – on to the next thousand!

Have a great week 😊