Awfully quiet in this topic lately.

Here's a fun progressive rock version of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue" from 1980. This was a big hit in the UK and also hit the top 20 in The Netherlands and Germany.

A classic that was a big hit on both sides of the pond. This hit #3 in the US and #2 in the UK.

A medley of two classic 60s songs with the same title (one by Roy Orbison from 1962, the other by Jimmie Rodgers from 1966). Gene Pitney was all over the charts in the US throughout the 1960s, with his last big hit here being 1968's "She's A Heartbreaker", which peaked at #16. His last hit anywhere was a duet with Marc Almond of Gene's 1968 "Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart". Released only in Australia and Europe, that hit #1 in the UK and #24 in Australia. Gene died suddenly from a heart attack at the age of 66 in 2006.

A fun rendition of an old British music hall song. This was first recorded in 1934 and this version is from 1968. Clinton Ford was apparently pretty popular in the 50s and 60s, and seemed to enjoy recording older songs as well ("Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday on Saturday Night", "Oh Johnny! Oh Johnny! Oh!", "He Played His Ukulele as the Ship Went Down" and more). He had a few minor hits in the UK in the 1960s, with the biggest being "Fanlight Fanny", which hit #22 in 1962.

A fun one from Burl Ives. He first recorded this song for his 1953 album Folk Songs Dramatic and Humorous. This version was recorded in late 1954 and released in early 1955.

Can't resist posting another song by one of my old favorite singing groups, The Ink Spots.    This song, "Street of Dreams", was recorded by dozens of vocalists and bands during the 1930's and '40's. 

My Dad, who never seemed to be "into music", loved the Ink Spots.  Everytime the radio would play a song by them, he'd as us to turn it up.

Here's a fun rendition of a classic Ink Spots song. I've shared these guys here before, but don't think I've shared this particular song. These guys were actors from the British show It Ain't Half Hot Mum. They hit #1 in the UK in 1975 with a cover of "Whispering Grass", another song recorded by the Ink Spots. Don Estelle is the one singing lead here, with Windsor Davies doing the spoken-word part.

A light one ---

Rick, I only see a black box that says "Video Unavailable"

At the bottom of that box it says "Watch on YouTube"

I wanted the one with lyrics.

Got it!      Always good to hear Burl Ives . . . a nice cheerful song to start the day.   

Burl Ives singing the classic "Wolverton Mountain" live on TV in 1969. He never recorded this to my knowledge. It was a big hit for Claude King in 1962 and was written about a real person and place. Woolverton Mountain is in central Arkansas, about 70 miles (112km) north of Little Rock. Clifton Clowers lived on a farm near the mountain and was the uncle of songwriter Merle Kilgore. The events depicted in the song are fictitious though.

Here is a favourite of mine done by Burl Ives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zu94teKwW8

So ends another day ---

Lovely!

A funny one from The Mitchell Trio, which at the time included John Denver before anyone knew who he was.

The followup to The Four Preps' 1962 hit "More Money For You and Me Medley", also from 1962. Not quite as funny as the first medley but it still shows the band's talent and sense of humor. This one wasn't a hit but still managed to peak at #61 on the pop chart.

"Why don't you draft all the other groups? Give them a chance to see the world! Shoot them into the open spaces, we can think of a hundred places ..." 

A lesser-known version of that song by the guy who wrote the lyrics

Another satirical song from The Mitchell Trio. Not as relevant today as it was at the time, but still funny

A lesser-known song from The Royal Guardsmen. This was written by Marty Cooper and originally recorded by his group The Shacklefords in 1966. This version is from 1968. This was also recorded by The Irish Rovers in 1968 and the songwriter himself in 2012.

This looks like the perfect place to enjoy a cup of coffee this morning.  Calm and beautiful, with background music from 1947.

A 1960s classic. The unusual thing about this group was that the lone female member was their drummer. This song was a huge international hit, but unfortunately also the only hit the group ever had.

From the brilliant mind of voice actor John Mondelli, a cover of The Partridge Family's big hit "I Think I Love You", done in the style of a Disney villain song...

A funny version of the classic "Ebb Tide". I still think The Righteous Brothers did the best version of this though.

A lively tune from the 1938 movie Garden of the Moon. Featuring vocals from John Payne, Jerry Colonna, Johhnie Davis, Ray Mayer and Joe Venutti.

Michael . . . you must be getting tired of  'holding down the fort'  all by yourself for the past week or so in here?  We haven't deserted you, and will all return.   I've listened to some your  Jerry Colonna, selections, and enjoyed them.   He was a very funny comedian back in the days of radio.    He was a side-kick of Bob Hope's, and accompanied him on USO tours overseas, to entertain the  troops during WWII.

I found out about Colonna from a "Music of Looney Tunes" channel I follow on YouTube. They posted a compilation video showing clips of all the cartoons where he was impersonated. Interesting guy.

Back to "The Cog is Dead" (see the post of "I Think I Love You" above), this is the video that got me started down their rabbit hole (and, thanks to them, I've now got "It's a B Movie" from The Brave Little Toaster stuck in my head )

Love that old song, whether it's a spoof, or whether its the real thing!  This one is my favorite - the original I think?