The Song For Today by Jimmie Oliver (ebook reader with highlight function .TXT) 📕

Earth, Wind & Fire, Volume 1
As a September child myself, I grant my royal seal of approval to this splendid tune which penetrated the British Top Three. Featuring the outstanding vocals of Philip Bailey, this hit single is another outpouring of joy from a decade that has been unfairly labelled as one of doom and gloom. On this date in 2000, the majestic Earth, Wind & Fire arrived in Washington to perform at a White House function for a visiting dignitary. In a land of peculiar Presidents, Bailey and his accomplices would win my vote.
{Also on this date, in 1953 the spy pair, the Rosenbergs, are executed in New York}

JUNE 20TH
Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) by The Beach Boys (1966)
from the album Pet Sounds
Beach Boys' legend Brian Wilson was born two days after Paul McCartney. Their paths would cross at various times thereafter. Brian shouldered the burden of providing a group that could compete with the Beatles and fly the flag for the United States. As time passed, Wilson and McCartney evolved from rivals into a mutual appreciation society. Macca has claimed that some of the musical input into 'Sergeant Pepper' drew its inspiration from Wilson's breath-taking 'Pet Sounds' project. There simply isn't enough time nor space to pay homage to 'Pet Sounds', and besides Charles L Granata has already devoted an entire volume to dissecting its beauty. One particularly shining exhibit is the track 'Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)'. Though credited to 'the Beach Boys', this composition is essentially Brian accompanied by strings. Is this the best love song ever recorded? Play this tune to your partner, close each other's eyes and just embrace for the duration. Now try telling me that this wonder doesn't move you.
{Also on this day, Lawrence Payton of the Four Tops dies in 1997, at the age of 59}

JUNE 21ST
End Of The Season by The Kinks (1967)
from the album Something Else
This is not one of the Kinks' most celebrated recordings, yet it is arguably the best. It could easily be re-titled 'End Of The World', such is its sombre subject matter. Nevertheless, the song cruises along at a jaunty rhythm even if the curtain is descending on another summer. I do so love the line about being "down in the scrum on a wet afternoon/ Dreaming of flowers in June". I don't know how many rugby players in a ruck frantically trying to grab hold of the oval ball or a part of an opponent's anatomy are thinking of mother nature. Ray Davies's lyrics are as compelling as ever: "I just can't mix in all those clubs I know/ Now Labour's in, I've got no place to go." Set against the musical backdrop of a bird chirping its last summer melodies, this is one of the great undiscovered souvenirs of the 'swinging sixties'. Its author was born in Fortis Green, London, this day in 1944.
{Also on this date, in 1969 tennis legend Maureen Connolly dies of cancer, aged 34}

JUNE 22ND
True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (1986)
from the album True Colors
She burst onto the pop music scene with the colourful 'Girls Just Want To Have Fun', which was effectively 'girl power' a dozen years before the Spice Girls made it vogue, but eventually Cyndi Lauper demonstrated her true colours with this awesome romantic track. A definite candidate for the best love song of the 1980s, this hit single was drawn from an album which also boasted a courageous attempt at covering Marvin Gaye's classic composition 'What's Going On'. I remain perpetually perplexed as to why the repetitive 'Time After Time' continues to attract more airplay than this track which climbed to the summit of the Billboard Top 100 in 1986. Cyndi Lauper was born on this date in 1953 in New York. She emerged from obscurity around the same time as Madonna, but only enjoyed a fraction of the latter's success. Nevertheless, with tunes like 'True Colors' and 'All Through The Night' (which is arguably the finest ever pop song), Lauper had no need to envy Madonna's riches.
{Also on this day, Canada's parliament abolishes the death penalty in 1976}

JUNE 23RD
Wonderwall by Oasis (1995)
available on the album The Best...Album In The World...Ever!, Volume 2
'Wonderwall' maintained Oasis's bid for supremacy as the kings of britpop, in their continuous contest with Blur. I will remain neutral in assessing this media-fuelled bloodless battle. Oasis, like the true Mancunians that they are, had a deep liking for Manchester City. This latest anthem from the fab five found its way onto the terraces of Maine Road where the assembled faithful chanted "and after all, you're my Alan Ball" in support of their hapless manager. One of the Gallaghers' band, Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs was born on this day in Burnage back in 1965.
{Also on this date, 74 people are killed in an Argentine soccer stadium disaster in 1968}

JUNE 24TH
Sara by Fleetwood Mac (1979)
from the album Tusk
Mick Fleetwood reached a height of six foot and six inches. This likeable drummer could also walk tall on the back of a string of memorable singles and albums, some of which were giants too. Born in 1947 in Cornwall, Fleetwood produced a formidable rhythm to the Stevie Nicks composition, entitled 'Sara'. This magnificent song hailed from the 'Tusk' project, which faced the unenviable task of trying to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the 'Rumours' album. For me, 'Sara' is one of my five favourite pieces of popular music. It may not have made a huge impact upon the singles chart, but the Mac had long since earned enough dollars to finance their consumption of cocaine. Cath Carroll in her study of 'Rumours' expresses little affection for 'Sara'. I beg to differ, preferring instead to drown "in the sea of love where everyone would love to drown". Distant vocals, fine acoustic picking, enigmatic lyrics and Fleetwood's drums each contribute to a magnum opus which I cannot hear enough of.
{Also on this day, South Africa defeat New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final}

JUNE 25TH
Go Now by The Moody Blues (1964)
from the album The Magnificent Moodies
Before the Moody Blues started taking themselves very seriously and releasing artistic statements, they were able to prove that they could hit the spot with a commercial tune. 'Go Now' is a deserved British chart-topper, assisted by tremendous vocal harmonies in tandem with the piano. No 'sixties compilation is complete without this smash hit. One of the band members, Clint Warwick, the bass player, was born in Aston in Birmingham on this day in that strife-torn summer of 1940 when the assembled Germans on the French coast were preparing to 'go now'.
{Also on this date, the broadcast of 'Our World' is televised around the globe in 1967}

JUNE 26TH
Stay Free by The Clash (1978)
from the album Give 'Em Enough Rope
Michael Geoffrey Jones came into this world on this date in 1955. Michael who? Subsequently known as Mick Jones and bearing an uncanny resemblance to a young, heroin-free Keith Richards, Jones formed one half of punk rock's greatest song-writing partnership with the late Joe Strummer. While critics scoffed at how the combo drifted away from their punk origins, the defence counsel pointed out that here was a group of self-taught musicians who dared to embrace different genres such as funk and reggae, the latter of which was hitherto regarded as the exclusive domain of the (Jamaican) black man. Following on from the critical acclaim of their debut album, Jones and the gang were really beginning to hit their stride with 'Stay Free', an adolescent love story. Not just content with singing lead vocals here, Mick delivers an excellent guitar accompaniment. What a pity that this is another of those great recordings that is overlooked by disc jockeys in favour of inferior product.
{Also on this day, John F.Kennedy declares "Ich bin ein Berliner" in 1963 in West Berlin}

JUNE 27TH
Behind Blue Eyes by The Who (1981)
from the album Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea
What has been the greatest-ever live recording? Well folks, here is a frontrunner. Featured on the album 'Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea', 'Behind Blue Eyes' hails from a Who fund-raising appearance that took place on the 28th of December 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The group's reputation for thrilling gigs was well-established, but how would the foursome fare in the enforced absence of the recently departed Keith Moon? Well, they passed the audition with flying colours. The song itself is a menacing portrait of a psychopath. The performance does justice to this superb track. On a sadder note, the act's bass guitarist John Entwistle died on this day in 2002 at the age of fifty-seven in Las Vegas.
{Also on this date, President Nixon visits the Soviet Union in 1974}

JUNE 28TH
A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum (1967)
from the album Procol Harum
David Knights was born on this date in 1945 in Islington during that bizarre summer when Britain expressed relief at the termination of hostilities in Europe whilst war continued to rage in the Far East. Fast-forwarding twenty-two years, Knights contributed bass guitar to a composition which must surely rival 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' for the best Number One of the 1960s and 'I Can See For Miles' for the finest song of the decade. Decorated by that memorable organ from Matthew Fisher, this smash hit is one of the British highlights from that 'summer of love', when for the youth generation everything seemed possible.
{Also on this day, in 1950 Seoul is seized by the forces of North Korea}

JUNE 29TH
2,000 Light Years From Home by The Rolling Stones (1967)
from the album Their Satanic Majesties Request
The summer of love was a season that Mick and his merry men would prefer to forget. After a drugs bust at Keef's house in February