THIS IS THE DAY

THE THE

SONGWRITER: MATT JOHNSON.

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: SOUL MINING

LABEL: SOME BIZZARE

GENRE: SYNTH-POP

YEAR: 1983

The The (/ðəðə/) are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. The The achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles (seven reaching the Top 40), and their most successful album, Infected (1986), spent 30 weeks on the chart. They followed this with the Top Ten albums Mind Bomb(1989) and Dusk(1993).

For 2017's Record Store Day, after premiering the song on a Radio Cineola broadcast, the The released a new 7" record called "We Can't Stop What's Coming", collaborating once again with Johnny Marr. On 10 September, it was announced that Johnson would be touring as the The again for the first time in 17 years. Two dates were announced, in Denmark on 1 June 2018 and at Royal Albert Hall on 5 June 2018. The Royal Albert Hall tickets sold out, with two extra performances added at O2's Brixton Academy and The Troxy, both in London. Several more shows around the UK and Europe were subsequently added, as well as eight shows in the US. The The also played on 2 & 3 October 2018 in the Sydney Opera House.

The touring announcement came subsequent to the The announcing a new triple-vinyl limited-edition box set, Radio Cineola: Trilogy, to be released when they kick off their first gigs since 2002. Featuring three albums – The End of the Day, The Inertia Variations, and Midnight to Midnight – the triple box set package, available for pre-order from 6 October 2017, also comes with 48-page bound book which includes album lyrics and exclusive photos. The End of the Day contains interpretations of a selection of the The songs from singers across the globe and includes the The's recent single "We Can't Stop What's Coming". The Inertia Variations features Johnson narrating John Tottenham's epic poetic cycle. "Midnight To Midnight includes interviews and soundscapes taken from Johnson's 12-hour UK Election Day Radio Cineola shortwave broadcast plus the electronic score from The Inertia Variations documentary," said a spokesperson for the band, speaking to The Quietus.

Soul Mining is the debut album by British post-punk/synth-pop band the The (the 1981 album Burning Blue Soul was originally released by the band's frontman Matt Johnson as a solo album, but later reissues credited it to the The). After a bidding war between major record labels which resulted in the group signing with CBS Records, Johnson began recording the album in New York City, but the initial recording sessions were aborted after the album's first two singles and Johnson returned to London where he wrote and recorded the rest of the record. Musically, Soul Mining is a post-punk and synth-pop album with influences of the early 1980s New York club scene, while Johnson's lyrics focus on relationship insecurities and social alienation, with imagery derived from dreams.

Soul Mining was released in the United Kingdom on 21 October 1983 on Some Bizzare Records/Epic Records and included versions of the singles "Uncertain Smile", "Perfect", and "This Is the Day". Although the album received positive reviews, its initial sales were modest, reaching number 27 in the UK and charting in a number of other countries, but in 2019 the album was certified gold in the UK. Soul Mining was reissued in June 2014 as a two-disc 30th anniversary deluxe version on vinyl, attracting retrospective reviews which universally praised the record, with critics describing it as both Johnson's best work and one of the best albums of the 1980s.

Well, you didn't wake up this morning 'cause you didn't go to bed

You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red

The calendar on your wall

Is ticking the days off

You've been reading some old letters

You smile and think how much you've changed

All the money in the world

Couldn't buy back those days

You pull back the curtains

And the sun burns into your eyes

You watch a plane flying

Across the clear blue sky

This is the day

Your life will surely change

This is the day

When things fall into place

You could've done anything

If you'd wanted

And all your friends and family

Think that your lucky

But the side of you they'll never see

Is when you're left alone with the memories?

That hold your life

Together like glue

You pull back the curtains

And the sun burns into your eyes

You watch a plane flying

Across the clear blue sky

This is the day

Your life will surely change

This is the day

When things fall into place

This is the day (this is the day)

Your life will surely change

ALLIGATORS ALL AROUND

CAROLE KING

SONGWRITERS: CAROLE KING & MAURICE SENDAK

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: REALLY ROSIE

LABEL: ODE

GENRE: POP

YEAR: 1975

Carole King (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at the Brill Building and later as a solo artist. She is the most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the US, having written or co-written 118 pop hits on the Billboard Hot 100. King also wrote 61 hits that charted in the UK, making her the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts between 1952 and 2005.

King's major success began in the 1960s when she and her first husband, Gerry Goffin, wrote more than two dozen chart hits, many of which have become standards, for numerous artists. She has continued writing for other artists since then. King's success as a performer in her own right did not come until the 1970s, when she sang her own songs, accompanying herself on the piano, in a series of albums and concerts. After experiencing commercial disappointment with her debut álbum Writer, King scored her breakthrough with the album Tapestry, which topped the U.S. album chart for 15 weeks in 1971 and remained on the charts for more than six years.

King has made 25 solo albums, the most successful being Tapestry, which held the record for most weeks at No. 1 by a female artist for more than 20 years. Her record sales were estimated at more than 75 million copies worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her songwriting. She is the recipient of the 2013 Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first woman to be so honored. She is also a 2015 Kennedy Center Honoree.

Really Rosie is a musical with a book and lyrics by Maurice Sendak and music by Carole King. The musical is based on Sendak's books Chicken Soup with Rice, Pierre, One was Johnny, Alligators All Around (which comprise 1962's The Nutshell Library), and The Sign on Rosie's Door (1960). Sendak based the story on a demonstrative little girl who used to sing and dance on the stoop of her building, whom he observed while he was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn. The show follows a typical summer day in the life of the Nutshell Kids, a group of several neighborhood friends, including Pierre, Alligator, Johnny, and Chicken Soup from the Nutshell Library books, and Rosie and Kathy from The Sign on Rosie's Door. Rosie, the self-proclaimed sassiest kid on her block of Brooklyn's Avenue P, entertains everyone by directing and starring in a movie based on the exciting, dramatic, funny (and slightly exaggerated) story of her life.

A half-hour animated television special aired on CBS TV on February 19, 1975. It was directed by Maurice Sendak, animated by Ronald Fritz and Dan Hunn of D&R Productions Inc., with Carole King voicing the title character. King was ultimately selected as the voice of Rosie when casting directors had difficulty selecting a child actor whose voice could complement the pre-recorded songs. An album of the songs by King and lyrics by Sendak is available on Ode/Epic/SME Records. In the animated special, only the first seven songs and Really Rosie (Reprise) were showcased.

Sendak expanded the piece for London and Washington, DC, stage productions in 1978, and na off-Broadway production, directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch with designs by Sendak, which opened on October 14, 1980, at the Westside Theatre, where it ran for 274 performances. During its off-Broadway run, the lead role of Rosie was first played by a then-12-year-old Tisha Campbell-Martin. Midway through the run, Tisha left the cast and was replaced by cast member and "Rosie" understudy Angela Coin, age 10. Angela also sang the role of "Rosie" on the cast recording.

The musical has become a mainstay of children's theater groups. It was also one of John Mulaney's main inspirations for his Netflix Special John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.

A - alligators all around

B - bursting balloons

C - catching colds

D - doing dishes

E - entertaining elephants

F - forever fooling

G - getting giggles

H - having headaches

I - imitating Indians

J - juggling jellybeans

K - keeping kangaroos

L - looking like lions

M - making macaroni

N - never napping

O - ordering oatmeal

P - pushing people

Q - quite quarrelsome

R - riding reindeer

S - shockingly spoiled

T - throwing tantrums

U - usually upside down

V - very vain

W - wearing wigs

X - x-ing x's

Y - yackety-yacking

Z - zippity zound

A - alligators ALL around!

ONE MORE TRY

GEORGE MICHAEL

SONGWRITER: GEORGE MICHAEL

COUNTRY: U.K.

ALBUM: FAITH

LABEL: COLUMBIA RECORDS

GENRE: SOFT ROCK

YEAR: 1987

George Michael(born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. Michael sold over 80 million records worldwide making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. He achieved seven number one songs on the UK Singles Chart and eight number one songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. He was widely known for his success in the 1980s and 1990s, including Wham! singles such as "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and "Last Christmas" and solo singles such as "Careless Whisper" and "Faith".

Michael formed the duo Wham! With Andrew Ridgeley in 1981. The band's first two albums, Fantastic(1983) and Make It Big(1984), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. Michael's first solo single "Careless Whisper" reached number one in over 20 countries, including the UK and US. Michael's debut solo album, Faith, was released in 1987, topping the UK Albums Chart and staying at number one on the Billboard 200 for 12 weeks. Four singles from the album--"Faith", "Father Figure", "One More Try", and "Monkey"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Faith was named Album of the Year at the 31st Grammy Awards. Three years after the release of Faith, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1(1990) was released; that album included the Billboard Hot 100 number one "Praying for Time". "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", a 1991 duet with Elton John, was also a transatlantic number one.

Michael, Who came out as gay in 1998, was an active LGBT rights campaigner and HIV/AIDS charity fundraiser. Michael's personal life and legal troubles made headlines during the late 1990s and 2000s, as he was arrested for public lewdness in 1998 and was arrested for multiple drug-related offenses after that time. The 2005 documentary A Different Story covered his career and personal life. Michael's first tour since 1991, the 25 Live tour, spanned three tours over the course of three years; 2006, 2007, and 2008. Four years later, he performed his final concert at London's Earls Court in 2012. In the early hours of 25 December 2016, Michael was found dead at his home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire aged 53. A coroner's report attributed his death to natural causes.

Michael won various music awards including two Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards and six Ivor Novello Awards. In 2004, the Radio Academy named Michael the most played artist on British radio during the period 1984–2004. In 2008, he was ranked 40th on Billboard's list of the Greatest Hot 100 Artists of All Time.

"One More Try" is a song recorded by the British Singer George Michael from his debut solo studio album, Faith(1987). It was released on 11 April 1988 as the album's fourth single by Columbia Records. The song hit number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

The song was the fourth of seven singles to be released from Michael's debut solo álbum Faith. A ballad at almost six minutes in length, the song lyrically explores a young man's hesitancy to enter/revisit a new relationship because he had been emotionally hurt so many times previously. The song concludes with temptation taking over, and Michael ends by singing the title for the only time.

"One More Try" remained a live favourite at Michael's concerts in the years which followed, although its radio airplay tends to be restricted to specific "Love Songs"–esque features because of both the tempo and the length.

I've had enough of danger

And people on the streets

I'm looking out for angels

Just trying to find some peace

Now I think it's time

That you let me know

So if you love me

Say you love me

But if you don't

Just let me go

Cause teacher

There are things that I don't want to learn

And the last one I had

Made me cry

So I don't want to learn to

Hold you, touch you

Think that you're mine

Because there ain't no joy

For an uptown boy

Whose teacher has told him goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

When you were just a stranger

And I was at your feet

I didn't feel the danger

Now I feel the heat

That look in your eyes

Telling me no

So you think that you love me

Know that you need me

I wrote the song, I know it's wrong

Just let me go

And teacher

There are things

That I don't want to learn

Oh the last one I had

Made me cry

So I don't want to learn to

Hold you, touch you

Think that you're mine

Because there ain't no joy

For an uptown boy

Whose teacher has told him goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

So when you say that you need me

That you'll never leave me

I know you're wrong, you're not that strong

Let me go

And teacher

There are things

That I still have to learn

But the one thing I have is my pride

Oh so I don't want to learn to

Hold you, touch you

Think that you're mine

Because there ain't no joy

For an uptown boy

Who just isn't willing to try

I'm so cold

Inside

Maybe just one more try.

NOTHING COMPARES 2 U

PRINCE

SONGWRITER: PRINCE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: 4EVER

LABEL: WARNER BROS RECORDS

GENRE: ROCK

YEAR: 2016

4Ever, also known as Prince 4Ever, is a greatest hits album by American recording artist Prince, released on November 22, 2016, by NPG Records and Warner Bros. Records. It is the first Prince release following the musician's death on April 21, 2016.

The two-disc set features 40 songs from Prince's tenure with Warner Bros. Records and features recordings from all of his albums between 1978's For You and 1993's The Hits/The B-Sides. It is the first Prince collection to include his number-one hit single "Batdance" from the soundtrack album to the 1989 film Batman.

4Ever features the first official release of the song "Moonbeam Levels", which had previously circulated on bootlegs of Prince's unreleased material in a low-quality form. The song had been recorded in 1982 during the sessions for 1999 and was subsequently considered for the unreleased 1989 album Rave unto the Joy Fantastic.

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, actor, and filmmaker. A guitar virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist known for his eclectic genre-crossing work, flamboyant and androgynous persona, energetic live shows and wide-ranging singing voice, in particular his far reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams, Prince is regarded as one of the most talented popular music artists of his generation. His innovative music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, R&B, rock, new wave, soul, psychedelia, and pop. Prince pioneered the late 1970s Minneapolis sound, a funk rock subgenre drawing from synth-pop and new wave.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Prince developed an interest in music as a young child and wrote his first song, "Funk Machine", at the age of seven. He signed a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records at the age of 19, and released his debut album For You in 1978. Following up with his next four albums—Prince (1979), Dirty Mind(1980), Controversy(1981), and 1999 (1982)—Prince gained critical success, prominently showcasing his explicit lyrics as well as his blending of funk, dance, and rock music. In 1984, he began referring to his backup band as The Revolution and released his sixth album Purple Rain, which was also the soundtrack to his hugely successful film acting debut of the same name. It quickly became his most commercially successful record, spending 24 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200. The film itself was critically and commercially successful and also won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, the last film to receive the award.

Following the disbandment of The Revolution, Prince released the critically acclaimed double album Sign o' the Times(1987). He released three more solo albums—Lovesexy(1988), the Batman soundtrack(1989), and the Graffiti Bridge soundtrack(1990)—before debuting his New Power Generation backing band in 1991. In the midst of a contractual dispute with Warner Bros. in 1993, Prince changed his stage name to the unpronounceable symbol, known to fans as the "Love Symbol", and began releasing new albums at a faster rate in order to quickly meet his contract quota and release himself from further obligations to the record label. He released five records between 1994 and 1996 before he signed with Arista Records in 1998. He began referring to himself as "Prince" again in 2000 and subsequently released 16 albums, including Musicology(2004), his most successful album of that decade. His final album, Hit n Run Phase Two, was first released on the Tidal streaming service in 2015.

In April 2016, at the age of 57, Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park home and recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He sold over 100 million records worldwide, ranking him among the best-selling music artists of all time. He won seven Grammy Awards, seven Brit Awards, six American Music Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He was also honored with special awards including the Grammy President's Merit Award, American Music Awards for Achievement and of Merit, and the Billboard Icon Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2016, he was posthumously honored with a Doctor of Humane Letters by the University of Minnesota. Rolling Stone placed him among its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He is also ranked among Billboard's Top 100 Artists of All Time list. 

It's been seven hours and fifteen days

Since u took your love away

I go out every night and sleep all day

Since u took your love away

Since u been gone I can do whatever I want

I can see whomever I choose

I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant

But nothing

I said nothing can take away these blues

'Cause nothing compares

Nothing compares to you

It's been so lonely without u here

Like a bird without a song

Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling

Tell me baby where did I go wrong

I could put my arms around every boy I see

But they'd only remind me of you

I went to the doctor guess what he told me

Guess what he told me

He said girl u better have fun

No matter what u do

But he's a fool

'Cause nothing compares

Nothing compares to you

All the flowers that u planted mama

In the back yard

All died when u went away

I know that living with u baby was sometimes hard

But I'm willing to give it another try

'Cause nothing compares

Nothing compares to you.