At one point during this week's Vaughan Williams rehearsal, we were told that we needed to think of whatever had made us happiest so far that day, so that our singing would sound livelier. (Note to any non-singers reading this: this may sound ridiculous, but it does actually seem to work.) I was amused to realise that my happiest moment of the day was caused by a spreadsheet I'd created. It was the conditional formatting that did it, I love that :-)
Not much to say other than that, and I'm on my way out of the house, so let's see if I can quickly share a few links.
I'm very, very amused by The Choral Conductor's Flowchart (courtesy of ChoralBlog). Some of the language might be NSFW - be warned.
From the Guardian, a great article about why Guitar Hero is such fun. If you've never tried the game, and/or never heard of it, and/or think you would never enjoy a video game - read this.
Also from the Guardian, a great interview with Acker Bilk.
Tomorrow is Burns Night, and it's a special one this year, kicking off the Year of Homecoming. And here's a great article by the wonderful Jackie Kay about Burns.
If you've ever read the fabulous children's book Coraline (by Neil Gaiman), you will be delighted to know that an animated film of it is released next month. and here's a trailer featuring Neil himself talking about it. (This is one of the best books EVER to read aloud to kids; I did so for several classes when I was at Rydings Special School, and it went down very well.) (Also, after reading Coraline you will never think of buttons in the same way again.)
And finally, the Vendee Globe race is almost over - the leaders are in the North Atlantic, and Michel Desjoyeaux is still a long way ahead of the rest - but in the meantime the Big Picture has some great photos of recent sailing events.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Types of cadence
Quick quiz for any of you who have ever studied any music theory: Before reading any further, how many types of cadence can you name?
One of the things I love about choir rehearsals is that they very often remind me of things I once knew and ought to still know, so I have to go home and look them up. Tonight it was English cadences, of which there are many in the Vaughan Williams. When the term was first mentioned last night, I thought I knew what they were, but when the explanation was given I was wrong. Turned out I was getting them muddled with feminine cadences, which are basically cadences in which the final note is on a weak beat of the bar. And while I was looking this up, I got sidetracked and was reminded of Phrygian cadences, and discovered their link with Andalusian cadences - I'd never heard of those before! (Well, not by that name, although the sound of the cadence is very familiar.)
If you mentioned any of these in your list of cadences, you definitely win. However, the four standard ones (that I think are probably on the Grade 5 Theory syllabus, although I could be wrong about that) are Perfect (V-I); Plagal (IV-I); Imperfect (anything-V) and Interrupted (V-VI). If you got all four, give yourself a pat on the back! (Lots more info, as usual, at Wikipedia.)
(Oddly enough, Wikipedia doesn't have an entry for Phrygian cadences - maybe I will write one - but while checking my info elsewhere, I discovered this very useful dictionary of musical terms. Worth bookmarking, I think.)
Lots of singing this week - there was a full rehearsal last night and a ladies' sectional tonight, both concentrating on Vaughan Williams. It's very wonderful and I can't wait to perform it. (My favourite chord is at letter E on page 20 - I *know* you wanted to know that!) Two things I only noticed tonight, mainly because we looked at the Agnus Dei for the first time: The last page of the score is the first time all 12 parts sing at the same time, and the very last phrase of the piece (sung by the altos) is identical (well, apart from a tiny difference in rhythm) to the very first phrase of the piece (sung by the altos). How clever is that?!
I don't have many links for you this week, because I seem to have had no time to do anything. (Oh, and if you're one of the many people to whom I owe email, please be patient and I'll get to you in the end. I had a bit of an inbox explosion after that article appeared in the paper, and I haven't managed to summon the energy to reply to ANYONE yet - so it's not just you!) In fact, the only musical one is one that I saw a while ago (can't remember if I mentioned it at the time) but Dr Liz reminded me of: a load of monks performing the Hallelujah Chorus. (Note: they don't actually sing...) (Further note: it's entirely possible they're not actual monks...) I don't think I've ever been quite so amused by the word "and" - watch and you'll see what I mean! (Hint: fast forward to 1 minute 30, because it's boring until then.)
A totally different video is a physicist describing what it would be like to die in a black hole. (This is half an hour long, and it's all very entertaining, but the black hole bit is just the first seven minutes of it. If you listen to the rest, don't worry - that asteroid is NOT going to hit us!)
The most entertaining bit of my week so far, though, was being at Old Trafford on Sunday to witness United thrashed Chelsea. The funniest part was the reception John Terry (the Chelsea captain) got. Unsurprisingly he is very popular at Old Trafford these days, because it was mainly due to him falling over in Moscow that we won the Champions' League. This meant that he was cheered when his name was read out (which is unusual for an opposing player) and every time he touched the ball. You probably had to be there to appreciate how funny this was!
One of the things I love about choir rehearsals is that they very often remind me of things I once knew and ought to still know, so I have to go home and look them up. Tonight it was English cadences, of which there are many in the Vaughan Williams. When the term was first mentioned last night, I thought I knew what they were, but when the explanation was given I was wrong. Turned out I was getting them muddled with feminine cadences, which are basically cadences in which the final note is on a weak beat of the bar. And while I was looking this up, I got sidetracked and was reminded of Phrygian cadences, and discovered their link with Andalusian cadences - I'd never heard of those before! (Well, not by that name, although the sound of the cadence is very familiar.)
If you mentioned any of these in your list of cadences, you definitely win. However, the four standard ones (that I think are probably on the Grade 5 Theory syllabus, although I could be wrong about that) are Perfect (V-I); Plagal (IV-I); Imperfect (anything-V) and Interrupted (V-VI). If you got all four, give yourself a pat on the back! (Lots more info, as usual, at Wikipedia.)
(Oddly enough, Wikipedia doesn't have an entry for Phrygian cadences - maybe I will write one - but while checking my info elsewhere, I discovered this very useful dictionary of musical terms. Worth bookmarking, I think.)
Lots of singing this week - there was a full rehearsal last night and a ladies' sectional tonight, both concentrating on Vaughan Williams. It's very wonderful and I can't wait to perform it. (My favourite chord is at letter E on page 20 - I *know* you wanted to know that!) Two things I only noticed tonight, mainly because we looked at the Agnus Dei for the first time: The last page of the score is the first time all 12 parts sing at the same time, and the very last phrase of the piece (sung by the altos) is identical (well, apart from a tiny difference in rhythm) to the very first phrase of the piece (sung by the altos). How clever is that?!
I don't have many links for you this week, because I seem to have had no time to do anything. (Oh, and if you're one of the many people to whom I owe email, please be patient and I'll get to you in the end. I had a bit of an inbox explosion after that article appeared in the paper, and I haven't managed to summon the energy to reply to ANYONE yet - so it's not just you!) In fact, the only musical one is one that I saw a while ago (can't remember if I mentioned it at the time) but Dr Liz reminded me of: a load of monks performing the Hallelujah Chorus. (Note: they don't actually sing...) (Further note: it's entirely possible they're not actual monks...) I don't think I've ever been quite so amused by the word "and" - watch and you'll see what I mean! (Hint: fast forward to 1 minute 30, because it's boring until then.)
A totally different video is a physicist describing what it would be like to die in a black hole. (This is half an hour long, and it's all very entertaining, but the black hole bit is just the first seven minutes of it. If you listen to the rest, don't worry - that asteroid is NOT going to hit us!)
The most entertaining bit of my week so far, though, was being at Old Trafford on Sunday to witness United thrashed Chelsea. The funniest part was the reception John Terry (the Chelsea captain) got. Unsurprisingly he is very popular at Old Trafford these days, because it was mainly due to him falling over in Moscow that we won the Champions' League. This meant that he was cheered when his name was read out (which is unusual for an opposing player) and every time he touched the ball. You probably had to be there to appreciate how funny this was!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
As good as ever
I suppose it's not ENTIRELY a bad thing if the only mention your role gets in a review is "as good as ever", especially if the reviewer in question has been known, in the past, not to mention you at all. But anyway, in case anyone missed it, the Manchester Evening News very belatedly reviewed our carol concerts.
I was still listening to Christmas music until yesterday, but that's because I have a playlist of "all the Christmas music there is" and once I've started to listen to it, it feels wrong not to finish. Plus, I really like the Zither Carol! This list has grown each year and currently contains 214 tracks (some pop, some classical), so it takes a while to listen to all of it.
Christmas for the choir is finished for ten months or so, though, and this week we started on the lovely Mass in G Minor by Vaughan Williams. (Wikipedia claims it is the first mass written in a distinctly English manner since the sixteenth century, and I must admit I can't think of a counterexample.) We'll be performing this on 12th February, at a late-night performance following an interesting-looking concert whose main work is Schumann's 3rd Symphony, although I love the title of the Colin Matthews piece! Last time we did one of these post-concert events, it was the Tippett Negro spirituals, and the atmosphere was absolutely magical - I hope this one's as good, and I suspect it might be. (That Tippett performance was recorded, and if memory serves I think we heard it in a rehearsal but there was some reason why we couldn't all have copies of it - can anyone remind me?)
Anyway, I enjoyed sight-reading the Vaughan Williams on Wednesday, and am looking forward to starting work on it properly. My favourite aspect so far is that it's for double choir, and the two choirs are sitting separately. This means that us 2nd altos feel even more special, because it's much more obvious how outnumbered we are by the 1sts (I think there were literally three times as many 1sts as 2nds, last time I counted). On Wednesday we ended up totally surrounded by 2nd sops - as in, there was a circle of them enclosing us! We'd been instructed to sit in wedges so that each row contained all eight parts, but the 2nd sops had already filled all the 2nd alto spaces on the second row before any of us got there, so we started at the third row... and then a load of 2nd sops arrived late and sat behind us (and to our right as well) because there were no more seats. As a result I now know the 2nd sop part quite well but couldn't hear the men at all. Still, it'll give me a new experience next week!
I may have posted these mp3s before (we did the Sanctus for last year's vocal assessments) but here they are again anyway for those who want to practise:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
I've acquired a load of links over the last few weeks - I didn't want to include any of them in my Twelve Days of Christmas song posts because I knew I was less likely to keep my vow of posting for twelve consecutive days if I did! (If you didn't read any of those, do go back and look - my readership dropped each day I did them, but I enjoyed doing them anyway so I don't really care!) So, here are some things for you to read.
I suspect there'll be quite a few things about Haydn this year (he died on 31st May 1809) and here are the first: The great Haydn road trip and Long live Papa Haydn; both from the Guardian, the first about a trip to places associated with Haydn while listening to all 106 of his symphonies, and the second specifically about his vocal works.
Also from the Guardian, an article about a new film about Carl Orff, and another about footballers' tastes in pop music.
You may well be aware of last year's story about Joshua Bell busking (I thought I'd mentioned it at the time, but it looks as if I didn't). I was recently reminded of it by, of all things, a Snopes post. (In case you haven't encountered Snopes before, it's an invaluable site for checking the truth of those emails you get that tell you "this is a true story, forward it to everyone you know!") The event was actually an experiment by the Washington Post, and the full story (including a link to the video of his performance) is a very thought-provoking read, as is the followup discussion with the writer, which explains how the experiment came about and why he waited three months to write about it!
Here's a not-entirely-serious Guardian artcile about the effect of Guitar Hero on guitar design.
And some double bass related T shirts.
Another VERY interesting article by David Griggs-Janower, this time about what conductors do in rehearsals and why it's so exhausting. (The followup post, about being a teacher, is also worth a read, and the two posts together explain very well the main reason I gave up teaching!)
From ChoralBlog, a piece about church congregations not being able to sing as high as they used to. (The full original post at Soho the Dog is interesting too.)
MIke Barnes writes in the Guardian about loud noise in music causing tinnitus.
From the J-Walk blog: apparently Microsoft are introducing a thing called Songsmith, which creates an instant accompaniment as you sing. If any of you tries this I would love to hear your reports!
That's the end of my music-related links, but I have a few more non-musical ones to share. Firstly, the Big Picture continues its excellence with some amazing photos from recent events in Gaza.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, so it's great timing for an announcement that there is to be a dark sky park in Scotland. I'll definitely be visiting that as soon as I can afford the trip. (Talking of astronomical things, if you've been wondering what that very bright "star" is that you can currently see in the south west in the early evenings, it's Venus, and it sets at 8pm.)
I'm currently teaching myself Spanish in preparation for our trip to Valencia in May, and I'm relieved it's not Portugal we're going to, because I imagine it would be VERY confusing to learn Portuguese at the moment - they're changing all their spellings!
Working at RNID for over a year showed me how much I had to learn about deafness, so it doesn't surprise me to find that there are aspects of blindness that I had no idea about. For example, I had no idea, until I read this, that children learning Braille used to have to do so backwards!
Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture ends tonight, so I thought I'd mention a new banner that's recently been put up at Old Trafford. (Thanks to Republik of Mancunia for the picture.)
And from Manchester Confidential, news of an opportunity to become a hermit for two months at the Manchester Museum!
Finally, I know you've been wondering about the Vendee Globe. (I forgot to remind you about my other favourite yacht race, the Rolex Sydney Hobart race, which takes place every Boxing Day between Sydney and Hobart (Tasmania), but there were no big surprises in it this year.)
The leaders are now on the home stretch, having rounded Cape Horn and being well on their way up the Atlantic, to the east of South America. The leading British competitor is currently Samantha Davies (the one who didn't quite rescue that guy), who's in 4th place of the 12 who are still in the race, but 1800 miles behind the leader (Michel Desjoyeaux, who has won the race before - in fact, he was the winner in 2001 when Ellen MacArthur rose to fame by coming second). There's been more trauma recently, though - two more of the leading competitors have had to withdraw, because one of them (Jean Le Cam) capsized near Cape Horn (in one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world) and then the guy who rescued him (Vincent Riou) was dismasted as a result of damage caused during the rescue. Both sailors are now safely in Chile, but they might easily not have been - this is what happened to Jean Le Cam's boat...
I was still listening to Christmas music until yesterday, but that's because I have a playlist of "all the Christmas music there is" and once I've started to listen to it, it feels wrong not to finish. Plus, I really like the Zither Carol! This list has grown each year and currently contains 214 tracks (some pop, some classical), so it takes a while to listen to all of it.
Christmas for the choir is finished for ten months or so, though, and this week we started on the lovely Mass in G Minor by Vaughan Williams. (Wikipedia claims it is the first mass written in a distinctly English manner since the sixteenth century, and I must admit I can't think of a counterexample.) We'll be performing this on 12th February, at a late-night performance following an interesting-looking concert whose main work is Schumann's 3rd Symphony, although I love the title of the Colin Matthews piece! Last time we did one of these post-concert events, it was the Tippett Negro spirituals, and the atmosphere was absolutely magical - I hope this one's as good, and I suspect it might be. (That Tippett performance was recorded, and if memory serves I think we heard it in a rehearsal but there was some reason why we couldn't all have copies of it - can anyone remind me?)
Anyway, I enjoyed sight-reading the Vaughan Williams on Wednesday, and am looking forward to starting work on it properly. My favourite aspect so far is that it's for double choir, and the two choirs are sitting separately. This means that us 2nd altos feel even more special, because it's much more obvious how outnumbered we are by the 1sts (I think there were literally three times as many 1sts as 2nds, last time I counted). On Wednesday we ended up totally surrounded by 2nd sops - as in, there was a circle of them enclosing us! We'd been instructed to sit in wedges so that each row contained all eight parts, but the 2nd sops had already filled all the 2nd alto spaces on the second row before any of us got there, so we started at the third row... and then a load of 2nd sops arrived late and sat behind us (and to our right as well) because there were no more seats. As a result I now know the 2nd sop part quite well but couldn't hear the men at all. Still, it'll give me a new experience next week!
I may have posted these mp3s before (we did the Sanctus for last year's vocal assessments) but here they are again anyway for those who want to practise:
Kyrie
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
I've acquired a load of links over the last few weeks - I didn't want to include any of them in my Twelve Days of Christmas song posts because I knew I was less likely to keep my vow of posting for twelve consecutive days if I did! (If you didn't read any of those, do go back and look - my readership dropped each day I did them, but I enjoyed doing them anyway so I don't really care!) So, here are some things for you to read.
I suspect there'll be quite a few things about Haydn this year (he died on 31st May 1809) and here are the first: The great Haydn road trip and Long live Papa Haydn; both from the Guardian, the first about a trip to places associated with Haydn while listening to all 106 of his symphonies, and the second specifically about his vocal works.
Also from the Guardian, an article about a new film about Carl Orff, and another about footballers' tastes in pop music.
You may well be aware of last year's story about Joshua Bell busking (I thought I'd mentioned it at the time, but it looks as if I didn't). I was recently reminded of it by, of all things, a Snopes post. (In case you haven't encountered Snopes before, it's an invaluable site for checking the truth of those emails you get that tell you "this is a true story, forward it to everyone you know!") The event was actually an experiment by the Washington Post, and the full story (including a link to the video of his performance) is a very thought-provoking read, as is the followup discussion with the writer, which explains how the experiment came about and why he waited three months to write about it!
Here's a not-entirely-serious Guardian artcile about the effect of Guitar Hero on guitar design.
And some double bass related T shirts.
Another VERY interesting article by David Griggs-Janower, this time about what conductors do in rehearsals and why it's so exhausting. (The followup post, about being a teacher, is also worth a read, and the two posts together explain very well the main reason I gave up teaching!)
From ChoralBlog, a piece about church congregations not being able to sing as high as they used to. (The full original post at Soho the Dog is interesting too.)
MIke Barnes writes in the Guardian about loud noise in music causing tinnitus.
From the J-Walk blog: apparently Microsoft are introducing a thing called Songsmith, which creates an instant accompaniment as you sing. If any of you tries this I would love to hear your reports!
That's the end of my music-related links, but I have a few more non-musical ones to share. Firstly, the Big Picture continues its excellence with some amazing photos from recent events in Gaza.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, so it's great timing for an announcement that there is to be a dark sky park in Scotland. I'll definitely be visiting that as soon as I can afford the trip. (Talking of astronomical things, if you've been wondering what that very bright "star" is that you can currently see in the south west in the early evenings, it's Venus, and it sets at 8pm.)
I'm currently teaching myself Spanish in preparation for our trip to Valencia in May, and I'm relieved it's not Portugal we're going to, because I imagine it would be VERY confusing to learn Portuguese at the moment - they're changing all their spellings!
Working at RNID for over a year showed me how much I had to learn about deafness, so it doesn't surprise me to find that there are aspects of blindness that I had no idea about. For example, I had no idea, until I read this, that children learning Braille used to have to do so backwards!
Liverpool's year as European Capital of Culture ends tonight, so I thought I'd mention a new banner that's recently been put up at Old Trafford. (Thanks to Republik of Mancunia for the picture.)
And from Manchester Confidential, news of an opportunity to become a hermit for two months at the Manchester Museum!
Finally, I know you've been wondering about the Vendee Globe. (I forgot to remind you about my other favourite yacht race, the Rolex Sydney Hobart race, which takes place every Boxing Day between Sydney and Hobart (Tasmania), but there were no big surprises in it this year.)
The leaders are now on the home stretch, having rounded Cape Horn and being well on their way up the Atlantic, to the east of South America. The leading British competitor is currently Samantha Davies (the one who didn't quite rescue that guy), who's in 4th place of the 12 who are still in the race, but 1800 miles behind the leader (Michel Desjoyeaux, who has won the race before - in fact, he was the winner in 2001 when Ellen MacArthur rose to fame by coming second). There's been more trauma recently, though - two more of the leading competitors have had to withdraw, because one of them (Jean Le Cam) capsized near Cape Horn (in one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world) and then the guy who rescued him (Vincent Riou) was dismasted as a result of damage caused during the rescue. Both sailors are now safely in Chile, but they might easily not have been - this is what happened to Jean Le Cam's boat...
Monday, January 05, 2009
The twelfth day of Christmas: Manchester Rap
To finish with, a song that was never a hit, and was never (as far as I recall) performed on TOTP. If there was a video, I never saw it (and I can't find one on YouTube). It's not on Wikipedia, and googling it merely turns up a few people trying to find a copy of the mp3. (This being the case, I can't guarantee what year it was released - I could dig out my 7" vinyl copy, but that would require more energy than I currently have - but I think it was 1989.) I don't think it was ever even played on the radio... except on Manchester local radio!
The Bosnians - Manchester Rap
It's entirely possible that this song will do nothing for you if you're not from Manchester. It has the same chord - and in fact more or less the same backing entirely - all the way through. The vocal line has no tune - it's all spoken. That being the case, there is obviously no vocal harmony. There are no interesting instruments. Nothing musical of note happens at all.
And yet.... this song makes me giggle every time I think of it. "MAXEEEEENE!"
Anyway, tomorrow, back to normal - I could continue this series forever, but I suspect no-one wants me to (my readership has gone down each day for the last twelve!)
The Bosnians - Manchester Rap
It's entirely possible that this song will do nothing for you if you're not from Manchester. It has the same chord - and in fact more or less the same backing entirely - all the way through. The vocal line has no tune - it's all spoken. That being the case, there is obviously no vocal harmony. There are no interesting instruments. Nothing musical of note happens at all.
And yet.... this song makes me giggle every time I think of it. "MAXEEEEENE!"
Anyway, tomorrow, back to normal - I could continue this series forever, but I suspect no-one wants me to (my readership has gone down each day for the last twelve!)
Saturday, January 03, 2009
The tenth day of Christmas: Mansize Rooster
Well, yesterday's song was slightly silly. Today's is a bit sillier. (And, just to warn you, tomorrow's is very silly, and the last one is totally ridiculous!)
Supergrass - Mansize Rooster
Supergrass became a very big band, but this was their first (minor) hit; it got to number 20 in 1995. To me, though, none of their subsequent songs was a patch on this one. This song has just about everything! And I must admit I never knew what it was supposed to be about until I looked it up on Wikipedia - and now I know, I still can't see what the lyrics have to do with that!
Apart from the slight silliness, this song does have something else in common with Johnny Remember Me: a galloping horse rhythm on the guitar. But I love the fact that it doesn't do this all the way through - there are different sections with quite different accompanying rhythms, and I particularly like the way the song moves from one to another. For example, in the intro, the drums play on every beat (which makes for a very powerful intro!) but then the drums start galloping to bring us to the first verse.
There's also one bit where all the backing stops totally, leaving the vocals alone briefly - very exciting. My only complaint is that they should have made the end as definitive and exciting as that - they actually fade out... but I can't have everything! However, there are some Jellyfish triplets :-)
As for the vocals - well! Vocal harmony throughout, obviously (and all the harmony is interesting - some unexpected chords! I always love that) but there's also a high howling bit of BV that comes several times. And I also love the way that the last time he sings "crazy" the glissando is twice as long. And he even shouts "ROOSTER!" in a silly voice in the middle! Perfection.
Supergrass - Mansize Rooster
Supergrass became a very big band, but this was their first (minor) hit; it got to number 20 in 1995. To me, though, none of their subsequent songs was a patch on this one. This song has just about everything! And I must admit I never knew what it was supposed to be about until I looked it up on Wikipedia - and now I know, I still can't see what the lyrics have to do with that!
Apart from the slight silliness, this song does have something else in common with Johnny Remember Me: a galloping horse rhythm on the guitar. But I love the fact that it doesn't do this all the way through - there are different sections with quite different accompanying rhythms, and I particularly like the way the song moves from one to another. For example, in the intro, the drums play on every beat (which makes for a very powerful intro!) but then the drums start galloping to bring us to the first verse.
There's also one bit where all the backing stops totally, leaving the vocals alone briefly - very exciting. My only complaint is that they should have made the end as definitive and exciting as that - they actually fade out... but I can't have everything! However, there are some Jellyfish triplets :-)
As for the vocals - well! Vocal harmony throughout, obviously (and all the harmony is interesting - some unexpected chords! I always love that) but there's also a high howling bit of BV that comes several times. And I also love the way that the last time he sings "crazy" the glissando is twice as long. And he even shouts "ROOSTER!" in a silly voice in the middle! Perfection.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
The eighth day of Christmas: My resistance is low
This one was actually written by the wonderful Hoagy Carmichael and was a big hit in the UK in 1976.
Robin Sarstedt - My resistance is low
The singer, Robin Sarstedt, is the younger brother of both Peter Sarstedt ("Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?") and Eden Kane ("Well, I Ask You") This song was his only hit. I could only find one version of it on YouTube, but it doesn't show any of the performers other than Robin, and it misses out the very end!
The end (both the singer's very low note, and the fact that it ends with a whispered "yeah!") is possibly my favourite bit of the song, but there are also fabulous Disneyesque backing vocals, and a full orchestra which has all sorts of interjections to contribute. Also, the intro is one of the best intros ever, and I defy you not to start swaying by the end of it!
Robin Sarstedt - My resistance is low
The singer, Robin Sarstedt, is the younger brother of both Peter Sarstedt ("Where Do You Go To, My Lovely?") and Eden Kane ("Well, I Ask You") This song was his only hit. I could only find one version of it on YouTube, but it doesn't show any of the performers other than Robin, and it misses out the very end!
The end (both the singer's very low note, and the fact that it ends with a whispered "yeah!") is possibly my favourite bit of the song, but there are also fabulous Disneyesque backing vocals, and a full orchestra which has all sorts of interjections to contribute. Also, the intro is one of the best intros ever, and I defy you not to start swaying by the end of it!
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