Your Custom Text Here
Elizabeth Fraser singing Teardrop on tour with Massive Attack in 2006
Song of the Day: After yesterday's Amy Winehouse, tears of another taste from another enthralling voice – Elizabeth Fraser formerly of the Cocteau Twins
Read more
Amy Winehouse
Song of the Day: The voice, the lyrics and the timing – tears don't get much more moving than this – a double from the much missed singer who had many downs, but undoubtedly hit the heights with her Back to Black album of 2006
Read more
Tindersticks
Song of the Day: Following yesterday's Prince of Tears by Baxter Dury, let's move onto another deep-voiced, orchestral-backed song of wonderful melancholy by the Nottingham band from their second album in 1995
Read more
Baxter Dury … a different chip of the old blockhead
Song of the Day: Sounding uncannily like his dad Ian in the speaking department, but producing entirely different music and his own, more relaxed style, the opening and title tracks from his 2017 album are deeply personal and still laced with aggression, irony, self-loathing and dark humour
Read more
The mischievous Weaves
Song of the Day: How do you create music that's brilliantly clever but also accessible, deeply meaningful but tongue-in-cheek shallow? The indefinably wonderful Canadian band seem to have the recipe
Read more
The Moody Blues in 1965
Song of the Day: As time goes on, this heartbreak song grows in meaning as we say farewell to more and more pop and rock stars, and there's none better than to pay tribute the recently departed Moody Blues frontman Ray Thomas
Read more
Big Demis and friends: Aphrodite's Child back in the day
Song of the Day: Why the hell not? Let's delve deep into darkest psychedelia and prog-rock, do deep in fact, that we go Greek, in the company of Demis Roussos before be became a tent-wearing behemoth solo artist, and Vangelis Papathanassiou before his film score fame
Read more
Funk-jazz fusion kings Weather Report
Song of the Day: The opening track to the jazz-funk fusion band's 1977 album Heavy Weather is not only a tribute to the legendary New York jazz club inspired by Charlie Parker, but a wonderfully evocative instrumental conjuring up sights and sounds of the city streets
Read more
Frank Zappa: masterful, mischievous invention
Song of the Day: How could there a more joyful, eccentric, evocative and infinitely inventive opener than this, on album described by Zappa as "a movie for the ears" – 1969's Hot Rats?
Read more
Rick Hall with Wilson Pickett and the great Muscle Shoals guitarist Jimmy Johnson
Song of the Day: Today's song could be one of many masterpieces, because it's really a tribute to its co-writer, the recently departed Rick Hall, who founded the magical musical well known as Fame Studios at 603 East Avalon Avenue in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Read more
Into the woods … from the cover of Midlake's The Trials of Van Occupanther
Song of the Day: To kick off the new year proper, two beautifully wintry and otherworldly album openers from the Texan folk rock band, both of which take a broad, historic perspective
Read more
Ella Fitzgerald
Song of the Day: It had to be this for 31 December, with that divine voice in a 1960 recording, originally written by Frank Loesser in 1947. Looking forward and back, in gorgeous melancholy. Happy 2018, everyone.
Read more
The Spinners, also known as he Detroit Spinners, not to be confused with the skiffle and folk group from Liverpool
Song of the Day: As relatives and lovers continue their post-Christmas journeys to and from their homes in hazardous weather, two versions of another classic that might help the journey
Read more
From Atlantic single cover, 1962.
Song of the Day: For those facing what is often an arduous, weather-affected journey, travelling home after a Christmas visit, or waiting for their beloved to return with this 1962 classic
Read more
Pete Seeger
Song of the Day: A Boxing Day special - less about putting your gifts into boxes, but the boxes people put themselves into, with a satirical song performed by Seeger, but originally written by the folk singer Malvina Reynolds in 1962
Read more
Few people do Christmas like Sufjan Stevens
Song of the Day: Christmas is a time of tradition and cliches, but if there's one artist who manages to address the festive season with full enthusiasm but in a altogether alternative manner, it is the Detroit-born, Brooklyn-based singer
Read more
Song of the Day: Christmas is many things – merriment, sharing, giving, receiving, a joyful coming together, but it is also full of apprehension and difficulty, and not wanting to do things conventionally on SOTD, here's a double-edged number from the Brooklyn band
Read more
Unstoppable … !!! work up a sweat on stage
Song of the Day: It is hard to find any material more energising than the music of the New York dance-postpunk band originally from Sacramento, California, who have been delivering blistering live performances for more than 20 years
Read more
Vulpeck: unbridled joy.
Song of the Day: Continuing a mini-theme of upbeat, get-things-done music prior to Christmas, it's time to enjoy some effervescently catchy material from the US funk band formed in Michigan in 2011
Read more
Human Pyramids: Paul Russell and friends
Song of the Day: Surviving the hectic regime that runs up to Xmas? For those struggling to get through that to-do list, keep up with socialising and stave off illness, after a short break, this week on SOTD we're embarking on a series of songs to invigorate the body, mind and spirit
Read more