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One of Rachmaninov's most famous pieces, this prelude, one of a set of five, was written when he was nineteen. Rachmaninov was himself a very accomplished pianist (he had very large hands which no doubt helped). He also loved fast cars and speedboats. 

And for the classical music buffs among you, on 16 January 1910 no lesser a figure than Gustav Mahler conducted Rachmaninov playing his own third piano concerto at Carnegie Hall, New York.

Bernadine, Joanne, Fern,  Martha (later of the 'Dancing in the Street' Martha and the Vandellas fame) and Shirley were the Fascinations, probably long forgotten. But Song of the Week never forgets.

Previous Songs of the Week

At the same time as Kurt Gödel was publishing his completeness theorem (1929) and working on incompleteness (see Short 1 above), Louis Armstrong was working tirelessly in Chicago, refining his trumpet playing and his scat style singing and producing some of the most influential records in early jazz. This is a Fats Waller-Andy Razaf song from the Broadway revue, 'Connie’s Hot Chocolates.'

'Like Jack Horner/In the corner/Don't go nowhere'. 

To welcome in the new academic year there is a 10% discount on all our merchandise. Take your pick from fleeces, hoodies, sweaters, t-shirts, pens, mugs and more more more.

Neal Street Rewards - The first lunch of term is on us from 5 October – 30 November. Download the Neal Street Rewards app, sign up and enjoy your first lunch free.

Autumn Main Meal Refresh - Available Monday to Friday, 12 - 2 p.m. Enjoy warming seasonal favourites including sausage & mash in Yorkshire pudding, premium pies, katsu style burgers and more.

Dr Robert, leader of the Blow Monkeys, took his name from a Beatles song. The comparison with the Fab Four ends there, but this is also fab.

You may think it sounds a like a pop/soul love song, but in fact it is a critique of the socio-economic conditions in Britain at the time.

Sometimes you have to let rip.

What happens when you combine writer's block, African polyrhythms, funk, electronics, stream of consciousness lyrics and Brian Eno as producer?

This happens. It was pretty crazy (and fantastic) for those of us just listening to punk and new wave.

Louis Thomas Hardin, better known as Moondog, was a blind avant-garde American musician who worked in a variety of genres including jazz and classical, invented a series of his own instruments, influenced a bunch of other composers including the American minimalists, made a lot of his living by begging and briefly appeared in a cloak and horned helmet (he loved Norse mythology) on Sixth Avenue in New York. 

But never mind that.

Every song needs a hook and rapper KRS-One nailed it with his siren whoops. Careful or you'll be 'whooping' too.

The song, with its attack on generations of police behaviour, is part of a rap tradition which arguably began with NWA's 'Fuk tha Police' in 1989. Not that all police were offended. Apparently in 2014 two Essex policemen were caught blasting it out of their patrol car.