ADELE: Someone Like You

The organisers of The Brit Awards 2011 decided that the focus should be on music. Not exactly a revolutionary idea, you might think, but the show was a big improvemnet on last year's effort. Here is Adele's performance:

ELVIS PRESLEY: Hound Dog

This seems to be over-dubbed and out of sync, but still gives a sense of what a great performer Elvis and his backing musicians were back then:

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART: Upon The My Oh My

One of my favourite tracks by The Good Captain:

DIANA VICKERS: Run (Snow Patrol)

Not a good recording, probably done with a 'phone, but a great performance by Diana Vickers. I think this was in a club in Birmingham, after the Pride festival.

LADY GAGA: Poker Face

With added gratuitous screaming, from her performance on the Jonathan Ross show:

MOTORHEAD: Ace Of Spades

Don't forget the joker!

THE BEATLES: Some Other Guy

The Beatles perform "Some Other Guy" at The Cavern Club, 1962:

SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS: I Put A Spell On you

The original and the best:

N-DUBZ: Papa Can You hear Me?

A moving song and an excellent performance by N-Dubz:



Lyrics:

D A P's to the Y
N-Dubz

Yeah, i don't mean to bore, you know my name
Chill for a second, just hear my pain
If you've lost any loved ones you'll feel what i'm saying
All was peaceful, down here with the lane

When someone you loved, who put you up from the start
Built you up and made you into who you are
Who always believed, saying that you'll be a star
Then all of a sudden they just passed

Dash the reaper from ontop of ma wardrobe
Slap den crack, from side of the mouth
Put me on stage infront of a crowd
Now we're picking up awards whle he's under the ground

My Daddy this and my Daddy that
Well i found mine dead on a couch in ma flat
So much to say, i wish i coulda said bye
The only time i'll talk to him is when i look into the sky

Faze: YEAH!!

CHORUS!!:

All i've got is these pictures of ya
And your light blue crack down Nokia
Things in my house still smell of ya
All i wanna say is:

Papa if you can hear me...!!
I regret every bad thing that i saaaid
Please forgive me if you hear me...
Never knew how much i loved ya till you was dead...!!

Papa if you can hear me...
Dappy: If only youuu, knew what you went and done
Please forgive me if you hear me...
Dappy: See all i know is, i'm proud to be your Son
Papa if you can hear me...

Faze: We're getting away in the world, it's how i'm flowing with N-Dubz
If it wasn't for you B there wouldn't be N-Dubz
Kept us together never knowing we'd end up
Moving onto Mobo's pushing the bench up
You pushed and pushed when no-one wanted to believe
but back then it was all a dream

It's like you sacrificed your life
For the love of success and a life full of stress
I'm vexed cuz

First they love you, second they hate you
They talked about you, when they tried to play you
Behind your back they were tryna betray you
But B, i never had a chance to repay you
for the things you done for me
Put me on the right path, kept me from steering left
Yeah we had a right laugh
But i be feeling like Bruce Willis, each and everyday i really wanna Die Hard

CHORUS!!:

All i've got is these pictures of ya
And your light blue crack down Nokia
Things in my house still smell of ya
All i wanna say is:

Papa if you can hear me...!!
I regret every bad thing that i saaaid
Please forgive me if you hear me...!!
Never knew how much i loved ya till you was dead...!!

Tulisa: If only youuu
Dappy: Papa if you can hear me...!!
Dappy: If only youuu, knew what you went and done
Tulisa: Please forgive me if you hear me...!!
Dappy: Please forgive me if you hear me...!!
Dappy: See all i know is, i'm proud to be your Son
Papa if you can hear me...!!

Tulisa: I never ever hear what you said
The fights and the laughter
The success and disasters, No!
But nothing seems clearer..
Than the day you were gone..

You said, despite all the stress
You haveta fight to the death
Coz little girl your a star
Don't let em kill who you are....

You see you gave me a chance
And now look where i am
You are the reason, i can't wait to see you again...

CHORUS!!:

All i've got is these pictures of ya
And your light blue crack down Nokia
Things in my house still smell of ya
All i wanna say is:

Papa if you can hear me...!!
I regret every bad thing that i saaaid
Please forgive me if you hear me...!!
Never knew how much i loved ya till you was dead...!!

Tulisa: If only youuu
Dappy: Papa if you can hear me...!!
Dappy: If only youuu, knew what you went and done
Dappy: Please forgive me if you hear me...!!
Tulisa: See all i know is, i'm proud to be your Son
Dappy: See all i know is, i'm proud to be your Son
Papa if you can hear me...!!

(All doing backing vocals on the last chorus)

N-Dubz, Tealease, i haveta say i dropped a tear when i done this shhh..
Like they always say, you dunno what you got till you lose it
Nah Nah Frickin
B Yannar i'm gonna fulfill ya wish and take care of mum's in the yard
HAHA! PAPA IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!!

JOY DIVISION: Transmission

Ian Curtis's incredible performance on Joy Division's "Transmission" (1980). Fellow Mancunian John Cooper Clarke appears briefly:

DUFFY: Warwick Avenue

Simple ideas are often the best, and the official video for Duffy's "Warwick Avenue" is simple and very effective. Duffy sits in the back of a taxi and sings (or mimes to) her song. And that is it. But you can read the song in her face, and her tears...real tears, so she said...there was no-one sat next to her chopping onions:

PLAN B: No More Eatin

This is an outstanding performance by Plan B at the 2006 NME Music Awards. The song seems to be autobiographical, and is about how as a kid he learned to defend himself in the tough and violent streets of Forest Gate, East London, where he grew up ('eatin' means mugging). He performs with real conviction and aggression:



Some of the fans of Plan B's rap music have criticised his recent turn to a soul / RnB sound with "The Defamation Of Strickland Banks" as some kinfd of sell-out. I do not agree. It is a change of direction, which serves to demonstrate the breadth of his talent. Besides this his latest album still has a reall edge to it.

Lyrics:

No More Eatin' For Them Now,
No More Eatin' For Them Now,
No More Eatin' For Them Now,
All started when I was eight,
First time I ever got ate,
What a Piece of cake,
Mans eatin' off me like I was a plate,
Now I'm in the estate,
Walking the streets of Gate,
With eyes immersed with tears streaming down my bloodshot face
Because some irish kid just took my bike away,
Now my stepdad's pissed,
And he's looking for this pikey breh,
Asking me what he looked like,
I told him his clothes were nikey make,
I felt so ashamed,
When he asked me why
I let him take my bike
Without putting up a fight
All I could do was turn away,
Turn the page 6 years later
Now I'm 14 years of age,
Lifes a daze so my brain
Smoking too much purple haze... haze,
High is how I spend my days,
Still I feel to snap,
Coz though I'm holdin it down at school,
At street I'm still gettin jacked,
Still gettin attacked and ask why I can't find the balls to hit them back,
Hit em back,
Eat up these cats like I eat up a track,
It's only when I turned 16 that I start facin facts,
Saw how the weed made me act,
Kicked the habit like it was laced with crack.
No more thinkin too deep,
I aint who your crew eats,
Coz now I do peeps,
And it's worse than when I slew peeps,
Hit em hard like new beats,
Straight out the studio,
Got a dangerous mind that is spitting more dangerous rhyme than Coolio,
As I walk through the Valley,
Of the shadow of death,
Now I'm 18 years of age and I'm shottin the zest,
I still aint got no bucky or no bulletproof vest,
Just a world full of pain for the next cunt who tries test,
I'm 19 years to the day,
And it's been 3 since someones tried it,
As soon as they do imma knock their lights out like they ultraviolet,
They got their eyes on my stash,
But try to stand,
They know I'm makin cash though I look brass coz try to keep it quiet,
But I shot the choongest peng it aint no secret,
And given half a chance yo half these cats would wanna eat it,
Plus they know I don't get high so my supply builds up their appetite,
And now they wanna feed it,
Take me for a fuckin eji,
I always new it was gonna happen,
So when it did I beat the kid til he was blue n black n told him who you think your jackin?,
Packed a punch yes a punch yes that's what I was packin,
Hit the fuckin cunt so hard he already started blattin,
Before he hit the floor like a sack of potatoes,
Face plant- knocked the teeth right out his cake hole,
Then sent him on his way yo with somethin to say though,
Thought I was somethin to eat up you made a mistake bro,
You made a mistake bro,
You just made the biggest fuckin mistake of your sorry little fuckin life bro

MELODY GARDOT: Baby I'm A Fool

Melody Gardot's stunning performance of "Baby I'm A Fool" on Later With Jools Holland. Many musicians have been described as inspirational, but here the description is truly deserved, as this brief biography by Michael G. Nastos, from the "All Music Guide" shows:

"The story of vocalist Melody Gardot is as remarkable as any who perseveres against abject adversity. Born in New Jersey in 1985, she took up piano and played as a youngster on the nightclub scene of Philadelphia, influenced by jazz, folk, rock and pop musics. At age 19 she was a fashion student at the Community College of Philadelphia. But, on a fateful day, while riding her bicycle, the driver of a Jeep made an illegal turn, hurdling into Gardot and leaving her in the street for dead. Hospitalized for months with multiple head injuries and pelvic fractures, her love for music was the best therapy she could receive. While in her hospital bed, she wrote and recorded songs that would become the EP Some Lessons. Upon her eventual release from intensive care, Gardot found the strength and determination to further her career as an artist. Blessed with a beautiful voice and grand insight as a songwriter, her cognitive powers slowly but surely became pronounced, leading to the independent recording and release of her debut CD, Worrisome Heart, which was reissued in 2007 by Verve records. Her music could be described as a cross between Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell, Eva Cassidy, and Shania Twain, but goes deeper than mere pop convention. Gardot is hypersensitive to light and noise, thus she wears dark glasses, and uses a cane to walk. On-stage she requires a special seating unit, and wears a Transcutaneous Electro-Nerve Stimulator, a TENS device, to assist in alleviating her neuralgic muscle pain. As amazing as her story is, what is more evident is that she possesses a blue style and persona that reflects not only her afflictions, but conversely the hope and joy of making personalized music that marks her as an individual and original. Though touring is difficult, she has been performing in major cities on the East Coast to support her recordings. In 2009, working with producer Larry Klein and arranger Vince Mendoza -- both known for their work with Joni Mitchell -- Gardot followed up her Verve debut with My One and Only Thrill". ~

LAURA MARLING: What He Wrote

Laura Marling sings "What He Wrote" from her album "I Speak Because I Can", from an acoustic session for Virgin Music France. It is am incredibly mature album for such a young artist.

PETE DOHERTY: Music When The Lights Go Out

Pete Doherty performing during an interview for BBC4, in 2004. The whole interview (which is on YouTube) is well worth watching, showing that Doherty is a long way from the drunken drug-crazed monster that is presented to us in the tabloids. In fact we see a sensitive and vulnerable individual, a talented performer, and a writer of poignant and personal songs. Unfortunatey the interviewer (Kirsty Wark) once again dwells on the issues of drugs and relationships, and seems to have little appreciation of the music. My reaction was similar to that of bevyk777, who commented:

"I'm trying to figure out how she sat there and didn't acknowledge how lucky she was to have that song played so beautifully 2 feet away from her...and not even so much as a word or a toe tap...or a head sway. Maybe concentrating on her next question. I wonder if she rethought it after seeing it? How can you ignore that performance w/out a compliment of some sort???".

She is quite sensitive, however. It's touching at the end when she reads a letter frome Pete Doherty's mum.

GREAT PERFORMANCES: Jacques Brel, Tori Amos

Here are a couple of great performances - I could not embed the videos.

Tori Amos: "Daniel"

Jacques Brel: "Ne Me Quitte Pas"

PAVAROTTI: Nessun Dorma

REVD. GARY DAVIES: Death Don't Have No Mercy

NINA SIMONE

JAMES BROWN: Please Please Please