The Darkness | Take It Easy

As the big day draws ever closer, I’m continually amazed that there are so many of you keeping up with these posts. Thank you to all of you! Let’s get things off to a rousing start, shall we?

That one will no doubt be unfamiliar outside these shores, unless anyone remembers me posting it last year too. As I’ve said before, the fact that Status Quo have had so little chart success in the US is mystifying to me, as I’d have thought they were ideally suited to that market, but it has just never happened for them: a couple of hits with their very early singles, then nothing for the more than fifty years since then. This one was released in December 2008 and reached #40 in the UK singles chart – it will never go down as a classic, but I rather like it.

Update: rather proving my point about the Quo’s lack of US success, it seems this video isn’t available there. If you want to try it, someone has uploaded a copy of it here, and there is also a live tv appearance here. Hopefully one or both of those will work for you!

Today’s second song is another that I played last year, from another British band who have achieved the square root of diddly squat in the US:

The Darkness have been very successful in the UK, parts of Europe, and the Antipodes, and though they have had some moderate album chart placings in the US they haven’t had a hit single there. This one was released as a standalone single in December 2003, and reached #2 in the UK. It was later added to a ‘Christmas’ re-release of their first album, Permission To Land – by when I’d already bought the album without it! Everything the band does is totally OTT, like this video, and they are loads of fun. Again, USA, you are missing out.

Another band whose singer was given to the occasional OTT moment is Queen. I’ve surprised myself in finding that I’d never played this one before, so it seems time to put that right:

This one was released in November 1984, and the animated ‘official video’ I’m giving you here was published two years ago, to mark the song’s 35th anniversary. It was written by Brian May and Roger Taylor, and gave Freddie Mercury a chance to share his usual emotive vocals. It is a simple song, telling of the pleasure we can have in reaching Christmas after a hard year, and the feelings of joy that friends and family can bring. The animation recreates that spirit well, and enhances the song, I think. On its original release this spent six weeks in the UK singles chart over the festive period, peaking at #21.

Today’s (almost) final song is one that I’ve shared every year, since way back before I brought these to the blog. It isn’t a Christmas song per se, but to me it is a modern day retelling of the Nativity story. And it is lovely, so I’m always happy to play it – it even featured as one of my former #SaturdaySongs series:

That isn’t an official video, and most of the images have nothing to do with the song, but I thought it was marginally preferable to giving you a static picture of the album sleeve. The song speaks for itself, though – it is a beautiful piece. It was on Cat’s Catch Bull At Four album, which was released in late September 1972, just in time for me to buy it and then have to leave it at home for my first five weeks at university, until I could get a lift back to pick up my record player and my collection. In those days, everything was on vinyl, which was heavy to shift around! The album reached #2 in the UK and spent three weeks at #1 in the US.

As it is getting so close to Christmas I thought I’d add in another bonus one today. This is the spirit which we all need:

Having said that, I’m not sure which spirits some of them were on, but I always enjoy watching them. I’ve shared the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain before, and they have made a number of videos like this since the pandemic began and playing live – which is their forte – became impossible. If you ever get the chance to see one of their shows, take it! I can recommend it.

A bit of a mixture today, but I hope you’ve enjoyed them nonetheless. Time for me to share an image with you, I think – a favourite, as it’s all about me: