Monday, February 12, 2018

Songs of Love - #MusicMovesMe

Today, on the blog hop Music Moves Me, we are asked to blog about "our favorite love songs", just in time for Valentine's Day.

Love Is Blue by Paul Mauriat is an instrumental cover of a French hit from 1967.  This rose to #1 on the American charts in 1968 and stayed there for five weeks, a fond memory of my teenaged years.

Mauriat, I was saddened to find, passed away in 2006.

Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers - this song is timeless and I fell in love with it the very first moment I heard it.  In researching the song, I found that this was actually a cover of a 1955 song that is considered one of the most recorded of the 20th century.

From 1967, Never My Love by the Association.  Speaking of love, there are so many songs by the Association that I love.  I almost inserted their song Cherish, although it is a song of lost love and a lover obsessing about his lost opportunity.  Still, I love the song.

Guess what.  I'm going to do it.  Cherish, by the Association, 1966.  I had this album, and there's a bit of trivia about this song I want to share with you.

Back in the 1960's, there was an "unofficial" rule that songs on the radio should not exceed three minutes.  This song clocked in about 3:25, so they decided to do a little edit.  At the end, you'll hear "and I do/cherish you" twice.  On the single, they removed one of the "and I do/cherish you" but the song still ran over three minutes. So, they lied about the length, labeling the record as exactly three minutes.

And finally, a song that, on the surface is an apology to a lover song, but this song has become a joke between my spouse and I because of a lyric he has misheard for years, and he still thinks his version is right.  (Ah, those mondegreens).

 So, presenting Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry".

And now, a little about Music Moves Me (aka "4M").

The Head 4M'er is XmasDolly.  Her co-4Mers are:  Callie of JAmerican Spice, and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   And last but certainly not least, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.

Will you join us today with some music of love?

18 comments:

  1. Those stupid radio rules ruined a lot of good songs. Nice selection today.

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  2. Alana,

    The Associations were a favorite of mine. I wish I thought to include Cherish on my playlist. When DH & I dated, Chicago was his favorite band and soon became mine. He used to play his drums with many of their hits back in the 70s. We had been married almost three years when "Hard To Say I'm Sorry" released 1982. I loved the song then and I still do. It's beautiful. Another, love song I wish I had included today but at least you shared it. Have a wonderful week and thanks for joining us on the dance floor, dearie!

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  3. We had the Association play for our school. The first song I herd from them was Windy- which I changed to Mindy. (That was the name of my girl back then.)

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  4. Ah, thanks for sharing this lovely list, Alana...love listening to music from the 60s. The very first one brought back such warm memories (Used to be very popular on the radio during my hostel days. One of my friends had this cassette player and we played popular instrumental numbers (this was one of them) almost on a loop all day on weekends to keep ourselves entertained. It was the pre-cellphone era back then.

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  5. Great songs. I love "Unchained Melody", thanks for playing it.

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  6. Some really beautiful melodies; isnt it surprising how the earlier songs used to be far more melodious and meaningful than say in comparison with today's trends in songwriting and composing?

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  7. Good list. I did iceskating and rollerskating dance to Unchained Melody. Every time I hear it I want to put on some sort of fast moving gliding boot and dance!

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  8. All great songs, though the Chicago one is a bit depressing: no horns!

    A good program director would have sped "Cherish" up to around 50 RPM and fit it in three minutes. A lot of them did just that.

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  9. That's such a lovely list of songs!

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  10. Great list! I think it's hilarious that you have an inside joke about the Chicago song. Another great Chicago song that is fitting would be 'You're The Inspiration'

    ~Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

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  11. Music is filled with memories and that's what I love most about it. One melody can send you down memory lane faster than any picture can do.

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  12. SUch great songs and memories. Thanks for the tunes.
    Come by when you can.
    goo.gl/7j5VTd

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  13. Lovin' each one and some I haven't heard in forever! A lot of my highschool days is here too! Luvin' it my friend. Thanks for sharin' and showin' your luvy side!!! hugs

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  14. You have great timing my friend. Unchained Melody is our song (hubby & me) and he just asked me to dance in our little office here! YOU'RE DUH BEST! THANKS MUCH! YOU HAVE ROCKED MY WORLD! `hehehehehe~ That's a first!!!! bwahahahaha

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  15. Hey Girl, I was here where's my comment... hmmmm was I? Well, I need your email address I cannot find it on your blog here because you have been chosen our Spotlight Dancer for February 26th and I need a theme from you ASAP! You can reach me at xmasdolly at comcast dot net WOO HOO CONGRATS GIRLFRIEND & GREAT TUNES HERE MAMA... YOU ROCK!

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  16. Hi Alana,
    Great song choices here! I LOVE The Association and it was so good to hear "Never My Love" -- the video is so adorable: love all the birds and affectionate animals!
    Very cool trivia about "Cherish" and their little 'white lie' about the song length.
    I really enjoyed the instrumental version of "Love Is Blue" by Paul Mauriat. If I'm not mistaken, back when I was 11/12 I was learning to play the organ and I think I learned to play that song. Although "learning to play" is a stretch: I was way more interested in being outside playing instead of being inside practicing so my organ playing days never got very far...

    Hope you had a wonderful Valentines Day. Enjoy your weekend,

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  17. Awesome selections, Alana! I especially love the Righteous Brothers. Brings back great memories! :) Thanks for the dance!

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  18. You shared some great classics!

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