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

Rebels
Kevin Rowland, the lead vocalist of Dexy's Midnight Runners, was born on this day in 1953. His band made an instant impact with their debut offering, 'Searching For The Young Soul Rebels'. The album was dripping with dance tunes and a brass accompaniment, reminiscent of Stax Records in the late 1960s. 'Geno' was the long player's most famous item, but other fine efforts included the brilliant instrumental, 'The Teams That Meet In Caffs' and 'I'm Only Looking'. However, a suitable finale comes in the guise of another hit single, 'There, There, My Dear'. There can be fewer better dance songs in music history than this three-minute delight. Here is a challenge for you: Can you sit still for the duration of this energetic number?
{Also on this day, Paul Williams of the Temptations dies at the age of 34 in 1973}

AUGUST 18TH
Blackberry Way by The Move (1968)
available on the album The Best Of The Move
Another Midlands' combo, the Move, promptly moved to the summit of the UK singles chart in early 1969 with the admirable 'Blackberry Way'. It is likely that this hit single owes its origin to the likes of 'Blueberry Hill' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever', but nobody could begrudge the Move this deserved chart-topper, eighteen months after 'Flowers In The Rain' had fallen just short of the coveted Number One position. One of the group members, Carl Wayne (the lead vocalist), was born this day back in 1943 in Winson Green, Birmingham.
{Also on this date, Jimi Hendrix performs at the last day of Woodstock in 1969}

AUGUST 19TH
White Room by Cream (1968)
from the album Wheels Of Fire
Cream's third album, 'Wheels Of Fire', yielded one of the ten greatest recordings of the 1960s in the guise of the monumental 'White Room'. Written by the Jack Bruce and Pete Brown songwriting partnership, the tune features Eric Clapton on wah-wah guitar, with Ginger Baker knocking out a peculiar drum rhythm. 'Sunshine Of Your Love' and 'Strange Brew' may have received more plaudits, but in my opinion they are dwarfed by the splendour of the 'White Room'. Sticksman Ginger Baker was born on this day in 1939 in Lewisham, two weeks before the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. Baker and Scottish bassist Jack Bruce had their very own conflict, which tragically prevented this formidable power trio from building upon the quality of the 'White Room'.
{Also on this day, in 1991 a coup attempts to depose Mikhail Gorbachev}

AUGUST 20TH
The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy (1976)
from the album Jailbreak
Today is the anniversary of the birth in 1949 of Phil Lynott in West Bromwich. Lynott's Thin Lizzy made their own mark on rock music with 'Whiskey In The Jar' and more particularly, 'The Boys Are Back In Town'. The latter is the ultimate rabble-rousing, lads' anthem. It had enough commercial appeal to ascend the pop charts, assisted by an infectious guitar sound that must surely have found favour with numerous air guitarists within the confines of their bedrooms. No pub jukebox is complete without this rocker.
{Also on this date, a cease-fire halts the 8-year Iran-Iraq War in 1988}

AUGUST 21ST
Know Your Rights by The Clash (1982)
from the album Combat Rock
Whilst their previous project, 'Sandinista', was regarded as a bit of an over-indulgent triple album, the Clash followed it with the outstanding 'Combat Rock'. After touring the stadiums of the United States in support of the Police (now there is an irony), the Clash recorded several new gems. Regrettably, although the long player is remembered for containing 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go?' and 'Rock The Casbah', there are better songs worthy of mention. 'Ghetto Defendant', 'Death Is A Star', and 'Sean Flynn' are marvellous tracks, but perhaps pride of place belongs with the stirring call to arms of the album opener. 'Know Your Rights' is a mighty recording, with the group pulling no punches with their political lyrics: "Murder is a crime/ Unless it's done by a policeman." "You have the right to remain silent/ So long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it." The singing comes courtesy of the late Joe Strummer, who was born on this date back in 1952 in Ankara, Turkey, under the name of John Mellor.
{Also on this day, in 1968 Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia}

AUGUST 22ND
Sowing The Seeds Of Love by Tears For Fears (1989)
from the album The Seeds Of Love
Today marks the anniversary of the birth in 1961 of Roland Orzabal in Portsmouth. Along with his musical partner, Curt Smith, Orzabal was responsible for several of the best songs to emanate from the under-rated 'eighties. 'Shout' is a superb single while 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World' was a huge transatlantic smash. However, at the end of the decade, the duo delivered a piece of magic that eclipsed anything that they had produced before. 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love' was clearly a throwback to Sergeant Pepper, although there are few Pepper items that stand favourable comparison. 'Sowing The Seeds Of Love' at the very least ought to be short-listed for one of the twenty best singles of the 1980s.
{Also on this date, the Devil's Island penal colony is permanently closed in 1952}

AUGUST 23RD
God's Cop by The Happy Mondays (1990)
from the album Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches
'God's Cop' hails from the album 'Pills 'n' Thrills And Bellyaches' and features a majestic guitar input from Mark Day. However, aside from this, it is the epitome of the Happy Mondays' intention to perform indie music that could be danced to. The song itself is based on the controversial Manchester senior police officer, James Anderton, whose outspokenness earned him regular news coverage. Whether or not he really was 'God's cop', we have him to thank for this excellent track which belongs among the ten best recordings of the 1990s. Born on this day in 1963 near Salford was the group's main vocalist, Mr. Shaun Ryder. Ryder, a product of the scandal-ridden summer of 1963, would himself be no stranger to controversy. Ryder's curriculum vitae includes the jobs of postman and 'pharmaceuticals salesman'.
{Also on this day, in 1990 Armenia declares its independence from the USSR}

AUGUST 24TH
Oxygene (Part IV) by Jean Michel Jarre (1976)
from the album Oxygene
Jean Michel Jarre was born on this date back in 1948 in Lyon in France. Although he will go down in music history as something of a one hit wonder, he sure did leave us all with a remarkable hit single. Surely a candidate for one of the best instruments of all time, Oxygene (Part IV) is overflowing with stunning synthesizer sounds. Well, if you're only going to invade the singles chart once, you might as well ensure that it is a memorable splash. Oxygene (Part IV) deservedly took its place beside nineteen other special tracks on the compilation album: 'Milestones: Twenty Rock Operas'. Jarre was named as 'Personality Of The Year' in 1976 by the American 'People' magazine.
{Also on this date, France explodes its first hydrogen bomb in 1968}

AUGUST 25TH
Video Killed The Radio Star by Buggles (1979)
from the album The Age Of Plastic
This British chart-topper was appropriately used to provide the first video shown on the new music television channel, MTV. It is open to question as to whether or not video (or DVD) has killed the radio star, but what is not in doubt is the attraction of this majestic pop song. The band followed up with a lesser hit, 'Living In the Plastic Age', which I always had a liking for as well. Geoff Downes, from the group (and the co-composer) was born this day in 1952 in Stockport. His partner and the song's producer Trevor Horn apparently named the short-lived outfit after his dog. While Downes faded into obscurity, Horn would go on to produce Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
{Also on this day, in 1991 Belarus declares its independence from the USSR}

AUGUST 26TH
Heroin by The Velvet Underground (1967)
from the album The Velvet Underground And Nico
Maureen Tucker of the Velvet Underground was unique in a couple of ways. Born this day in 1944 in New York, she was that rarest of commodities: a female drummer, and secondly she must have been one of the first lesbians in the history of rock and pop. Anyhow, Mo Tucker provided the percussion for the cult group's ground-breaking debut album. One of the standout cuts has to be 'Heroin'. The song is not a favourite of mine by any stretch of the imagination, but it perfectly encapsulates the band's desire to produce a cacophony of sound to complement subject matter that was a far cry from the tiresome pop formula that everyone else seemingly relied upon. With such lyrics as "Heroin, you'll be the death of me", be under no illusion that this composition is an advertisement for this sinister substance.
{Also on this date, Albino Luciani is chosen to be Pope John Paul I in 1978}

AUGUST 27TH
Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols (1977)
from the album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
Glen Matlock was the chief composer of music for the beloved Sex Pistols, before he was evicted in favour of what Nick Kent has described as "the self-imploding dimwit", Sid Vicious. With Matlock out of the picture, there may have been more camaraderie and high jinx in the combo, but the well of tunes dried up as a consequence. One of Matlock's notable successes was 'Pretty Vacant', which followed 'God Save The Queen' into the British Top Ten in the Jubilee summer of 1977. Matlock is not shy in admitting that he borrowed the riff for this fine song from the unlikeliest of sources: 'SOS' by Abba. Johnny Rotten chipped in with the lyrics for this single, with the feeling of being 'pretty vacant' a recurring theme in the increasingly bored Rotten. Matlock's dud replacement Sid might have struck the perfect rock pose whilst miming on bass to a televised broadcast of 'Pretty Vacant', but this remained the absent Matlock's recording. The de-commissioned Pistol songsmith was born on this date in 1956. He later re-joined the band for reunion gigs in 1996, 2002 and 2007.
{Also on this day, 18 soldiers are killed in the Warrenpoint Massacre in 1979}