Mathematical Institute Bulletin: Song of the Week

'Garage' was a largely American phenomenon in the 1960s (presumably they had more garages per capita). It was 'amateur', guitar based and largely commercially unsuccessful though there was a lot of it, in every garage, so to speak. 

It was mainly male, but there were also female groups such as the Pleasure Seekers (featuring a young Suzi Quatro) and The Debutantes, both from Detroit and two of the first all female rock bands, as opposed to 'girl groups' who sang but didn't play the instruments.

Check out that guitar sound - more from the garages in coming weeks.

This song, written by Ray Davies of the Kinks, was never properly recorded by the band - this is Davies' demo version. There have been plenty of covers, notably by the Pretenders whose lead singer Chrissie Hynde was dating Davies at the time.

But there's something about demos.

The key lesson from the digital age is don't leave the best bit of your song or film until the end. In which case the Stone Roses would have had no chance. Standing Here is far from their best song (it was a B-Side) but the outro from 3.07 turns it in to gold. Skip the first 3.06 if you wish though it ain't so bad.

Mah Na Mah Na

One to kick off the new year in high spirits. Apparently it cost about £100 to make and sold millions.

A bonus track for those of you who like carols. Here is the daddy of modern carols, the great John Rutter. Music critics have said he overdoes 'tunes'. Yep, he does. Thankfully.

A Christmas classic...

Written for the Russian film Lieutenant Kijé in 1934, it has become synonymous with the festive season, though in fact it depicts a cart being pulled by horses in the summer. Christmas wasn't big in the Soviet Union.

You often hear it without the first, slower 30 seconds or so, but here it is in full. Well worth the wait.

You know those songs from your early childhood that you liked at the time, but suspect were probably a bit rubbish. So after years of silence you nervously play them again and..

Turns out they were actually a bit fab. This video is from a Dutch tv show.

Roy Wood is best known for Wizard's I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday, as well as being a member of the Move and ELO - and for being very underrated (it turns out).

What's that sound? Yes, it's Christmas waiting round the corner. So here is an early taster from one of Tchaikovsky's three ballet score masterpieces.

Joe is probably best known for this pop song and It's Different for Girls but in fact he has spent much of his career in the world of jazz and classical music. Then again Paul McCartney got the idea for the trumpet in Penny Lane from Bach's Brandenberg Concerto No.2.

Full Song of the Week list

One of music's most honourable traditions is getting your own back on the ex who is ghosting you. Over to David and Bernard.

Great live version here as well.

Happy Halloween

The great man theory of history is back in vogue: the idea that it is individuals not wider forces that shape the world, both by their own actions and the way they influence others. In music, Beethoven has long been a member of the club. Here's why (it starts very quietly).

Conducted by Paavo Järvi with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen

Full list of Songs of the Week

This track is from the soundtrack to the Louis Malle 1958 film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud. Apparently Davis only gave the musicians a few rudimentary harmonic sequences, and, once the plot was explained, the band improvised without any precomposed theme, while edited loops of the relevant film sequences were projected in the background.

Makes you want to go to the movies.

Taken from his Berlin period when Bowie decamped to the then divided city (east and west), hired Brian Eno as producer and made three cracking albums. 

Songs about other singers...

John Martyn wrote this in 1972 about his friend, the songwriter Nick Drake (1948-1974). The lyrics are here.

Full list of Songs of the Week

In the Short Story above, we asked Josh what he would be if he weren't a mathematician and Josh says he'd have liked to have been a musician. In Tom Lehrer's case it really was true and mathematics became part of his musical routine. This song is about plagiarism in maths. Many of you might know it. And even if you don't, you might recognise it.

Lehrer gave up music in the early 70s to concentrate on teaching maths. He died earlier this year at the age of 97.

Here are the lyrics. Thanks to Gillian Grindstaff for the suggestion.

Dolly Mixture were a few years too early. Around at the time of post-punk, they sound like they were from the late eighties or nineties, or, frankly, any time since. Debsey, Rachel and Hester never really made it, but Debsey Wykes has just told the tale in an autobiography.

Sometimes artists become better known for their lifestyle or fashion tastes than the work without which we wouldn't know or care about them - Van Gogh, Bowie, even Taylor Swift. Jim Morrison of the Doors fits that bill, in his case for his death and grave as much as his life. But he and the band wrote some songs. That's where it all starts and ends.

Irving Berlin's masterpiece from the 1935 film Top Hat. Fred sings Cheek to Cheek to Ginger Rogers as they grace the dance floor. You can watch plenty of footage of that on YouTube, but today let's concentrate on the song: lyrics, music and, of course, Fred.

On January 17th 1967 the Hollies were recording their latest single, On A Carousel, in Abbey Road Studios when a Granada Television crew burst in with Beatles producer George Martin who was making a film with Granada on advancing music technology (The Beatles were recording Penny Lane next door). A surprise no doubt, but the boys were pros. The brilliant three part vocal harmony that was filmed proved to be the one used on the song, But maybe the star of the show is Bobby Elliott, as cool as drummer as ever there was.

You can watch a longer film of the making of the song here.

There has been a resurgence of interest and performance in recent years of the work of American 20th century composer Florence Price, helped by the discovery in 2009 of a vast collection of her works and papers found in her abandoned summer home in St Anne, Illinois. 

Florence Price was the first African-American woman to have a work played by a major orchestra.

Captain's log, star date 1968

William Shatner was the original Captain Kirk in Star Trek. But he also had a side line in singing; or rather talking his way through popular songs and Shakespeare plays. What was he up to? Who knows, but here's a song written by Bob Dylan, made famous by the Byrds and then beamed up to the USS Enterprise in Shatner's head. Enjoy.

Time to spin a classic. Happy weekend.

In the week the Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne died, here's a nocturne by Chopin. Actually Ozzy has been due to feature in the Bulletin for some time, but not necessarily in Song of the Week. Watch this space. 

RIP Ozzy (if appropriate in your case).

The pianist is Canadian Jan Lisiecki.