A Musical A-Z: R

After the problems with ‘Q’ I have the opposite with ‘R’. Far too many to choose from, so it is going to have to be a hefty post this time. Easy to play along with this letter; any album, artist, band, or song title. It just has too start with ‘R’. As I had such a short ‘Q’ post, I am going ahead with ‘R’ on the same day.

An old rocking track from Dutch band, Golden Earring. I’m not much of a Rock fan, as you know, but back in 1973, this one hit the spot. I never heard another record from them, so classify this as a ‘one-hit wonder’.
Radar Love

Deacon Blue is a Scottish group, formed in 1985. They ‘stole’ their name from the title of a Steely Dan song, so that got my interest. From the end of the 1980s until well into the 1990s, they were one of the most successful groups in the UK, selling large numbers of albums, and regularly appearing in the music charts. They still record and perform to this day, but rely on a loyal following of fans, as their later records almost all sunk without trace. But this was a good one.
Real Gone Kid

British band Mott The Hoople are mainly known for two things. Their crinkly-haired front man, Ian Hunter, and their big hit with the cover of David Bowie’s ‘All The Young Dudes’. But they did a lot more than that, and Ian Hunter later had a moderately successful solo career. In 1973, they released this sing-along pop classic.
Roll Away The Stone

Mac Rebennack is better known as Dr John. His New Orleans background gave him roots in Jazz, Blues, and the Cajun Zydeco style. His gravelly voice, unusual lyrics, and bizarre outfits also provided us with a singularly unique entertainer. One who consistently produced excellent records, and acquired legions of fans. Unbelievably, he is now 76 years old, and continues to record and perform regularly. I always liked this one.
Right Place, Wrong Time

Amy Winehouse is one of my favourite singers of all time. During her tragic and all-too short life, she produced just two albums. They left us with a tantalising glimpse of how great she would have been, had events taken a different turn. There will be others of hers in this series, but here is one for ‘R’.
Rehab

Clean bandit are a modern British group with a difference. This rather posh trio only play instruments, including a cello. They write some very unusual and catchy songs, and use ‘guest vocalists’ to sing them. One of these singers was the powerful Jess Glynne, who went on to carve out a solo career of great promise. In 2014, this song took the charts by storm, and set the band on the path to stardom in the UK. It’s really very good indeed.
Rather Be

I haven’t featured Otis Redding until today. I was waiting for ‘R’, but it won’t be the last time you see him here. When he was killed in a plane crash in 1967, a 15 year old Londoner (me) thought his world had ended. I was a huge fan, and still am. I could just add most of his hit songs, and leave it at that. But for today, here’s just one. His version of the Sam Cooke classic.
A Change Is Gonna Come

It will be no surprise to anyone who has followed this series, that Steely Dan once again feature as my top pick for ‘R’. I held out manfully with ‘P’, by not using their song ‘Peg’, but I really couldn’t leave this one out. (Did you think it would be Reelin’ In The Years?)
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number