KEY TO MY LIFE

BOYZONE

SONGWRITERS: RONAN KEATING; MARTIN SEAN BRANNIGAN; RAY HEDGES; STEPHEN GATELY & MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER CHARLES

COUNTRY: IRELAND

ALBUM: SAID AND DONE

LABEL: UNIVERSAL MUSIC IRELAND

GENRE: POP MUSIC

YEAR: 1995

 

           Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manger Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's The Late Late Show. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating, and Shane Lynch. As of 2018, Boyzone have released seven studio albums and nine compilation albums.

         In 2012, the Official Charts Company revealed the biggest selling singles artists in British music chart history, with Boyzone currently placed at 29th and the second most successful boy band in Britain, behind Take That. According to the British Phonographic Industry(BPI), Boyzone has been certified for six million albums and over seven million singles in the UK, with 25 million records sold by 2013 worldwide.

          Boyzone have had six UK Nº 1 singles and nine Nº 1 singles in Ireland. Of the 24 singles they released in the UK, 21 entered the top 40 (including 18 in the top 10 and 12 in the top 2) in the UK charts and 22 singles (including 19 in the top 5) in the Irish charts. They have had five Nº 1 albums in the UK.

         The group split in 1999. Boyzone made a comeback in 2007, originally with the intention of just touring. Gately died on 10 October 2009 of natural causes while on holiday in the Spanish island of Majorca.

            Boyzone went on tour in late 2018 to celebrate their 25th anniversary. An album to celebrate the anniversary was released on 16 November 2018. On 28 April 2018, it was announced that the band would split for good after their anniversary celebrations, which ended in 2019.

          Said and Done is the debut album by Irish boy band Boyzone. The album was released on 21 August 1995 by Polydor Records and went straight to Nº 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The album sold 1.2 million copies in the first year of its release. As of December 1997, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide.

You're the key to my life...

Rain on the window covers the trace

Of all the tears that I've had to waste

And now I'm missing you so

And I won't let you go away

Stain on the desktop where coffee cups lay

And memories of you forever will stay

And the scent of your perfume

And the smile on your face will remain...

And I never gave up hope when things got me down

But I just bit on my lip and my face began to frown

Cos that was just my pride and I've nothing else to hide

And now the way is clear and all I want to say is.

All of my life the doors have been closed now

And all of my dreams have been locked up inside

But you came along and captured my heart, girl

You're the key to my life

Yeah

Year after year, was blaming myself (blaming myself.)

For what I'd done, just thought of myself

I know that you'll understand (you'll understand...)

This was all my own fault, don't go away.

And I never gave up hope when things got me down

But I just bit on my lip

And my face began to frown

Cos that was just my pride and I've nothing left to hide

And now the way is clear and all I want to say is...

 

All of my life the doors have been closed now

And all of my dreams have been locked up inside

But you came along and captured my heart, girl

You're the key to my life

 

Girl you know that I feel for you

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do

Stop the thunder and the pouring rain

You're the one that's going to stop the pain

Girl you know that I feel for you

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do

Stop the thunder and the pouring rain

Listen to me can't you hear what I say...

 

All of my life the doors have been closed now

And all of my dreams have been locked up inside

But you came along and captured my heart, girl

You're the key to my life.

LOVE ME FOR A REASON

THE OSMONDS

SONGWRITERS: BRISTOL JOHNNY WILLIAM & BROWN WADE

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: LOVE ME FOR REASON

LABEL: UNIVERSAL RECORDS

GENRE: POP MUSIC

YEAR: 1974

 

           The Osmonds are an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid- 1970s. Currently consisting of a duo of original members Merrill Osmond and Jay Osmond, the group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group has comprised siblings who are all members of a family of musicians from Ogden, Utah and have been in the public eye since the 1960s.

                The Osmond Brothers began as a barbershop quartet consisting of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny and Jimmy, both of whom enjoyed success as solo artists. With the addition of Donny, the group became known as the Osmonds; performing both as teen idols and as a soft rock band, their peak lasted from 1971 to 1975. Their only sister Marie, who rarely sang with her brothers at that time, launched a successful career in 1973, both as a solo artist and as Donny's duet partner. By 1976, the band was no longer producing hit singles; that year, they transitioned into television with Donny & Marie, a popular variety show that ran until 1979.

            A revival of the original Osmond Brothers lineup in the 1980s achieved moderate success in country music, and both Donny and Marie separately made comebacks in their respective fields in the late-1980s. The Osmonds have sold over 77 million records worldwide. The quartet continued to perform through their 50th anniversary in 2007, at which point Alan and later Wayne retired due to health issues; Jimmy was recruited after Alan's retirement, with the group performing as a trio until Jimmy suffered a stroke and retired in 2018. Alan's son David Osmond performed with the group in 2019. On October 14, 2019, the original Osmond Brothers quartet reunited for CBS' The Talk for their sister Marie's 60th birthday, billed as the last appearance for the lineup. The brothers performed "The Last Chapter," written as a farewell song and introduced in 2018. Donny & Marie ended an 11-year Las Vegas residency on November 16, 2019. Merrill and Jay continue to perform and tour, as does Donny as a solo artist.

              Love Me for a Reason is the sixth studio album by The Osmonds, released in 1974. The album peaked at Nº 47 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Two singles were released from the album: the title track "Love Me for a Reason" (Nº 1 UK, Nº 10 US) and "Having a Party" (Nº 28 UK).

            After a string of three albums (Phase III, Crazy Horses and The Plan) in which the Osmonds performed mostly their own material and focused on rock music, Love Me for a Reason consisted mostly of the work of professional songwriters, most prominently H. B. Barnum, who arranged all of the songs on the album and co-wrote three. The title track in particular was aimed at the easy listening market, continuing a string of easy listening hits for the quintet (it peaked at Nº 2 on the Billboard easy listening chart). The retrenchment, reuniting with former producer Mike Curb, and focus on pop was an effort to regain some popularity the group had lost in 1973, driven by brief but intense competition from The DeFranco Family, Donny's voice changing, and the less commercially friendly content of The Plan. 

Girl when you hold me

How you control me

You bend and you fold me

Any way you please

 

It must be easy for you

To love the things that you do

But just a pastime for you

I could never be

 

And I never know, girl

If I should stay or go

Cos the games that you play

Keep driving me away...

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

 

Kisses and caresses

Are only minor tests, babe

Of love turned to stresses

Between a woman and a man

So if love everlasting

Isn't what you're asking

I'll have to pass, girl

I'm proud to take a stand

 

I can't continue guessing

Because it's only messing

With my pride, and my mind

So write down this time to time

 

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

 

I'm just a little old-fashioned

It takes more than a physical attraction

My initial reaction is

Honey give me a love

Not a fascimile of

 

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

Don't love me for fun, girl

Let me be the one, girl

Love Me For a Reason

Let the reason be love

(Repeat to fade).

SUMMER BREEZE

AL JARREAU & GEORGE BENSON

SONGWRITERS: JIMMY SEALS & DARRELL CROFTS

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: GIVIN’IT UP

LABEL: CONCORD RECORDS

GENRE: JAZZ

YEAR: 2006

 

           Alwin Lopez Jarreau(March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album Breakin' Away spent two years on the Billboard 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R&B sound. The album won Jarreau the 1982 Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. In all, he won seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more during his career.

            Jarreau also sang the theme song of the 1980s television series Moonlighting, and was among the performers on the 1985 charity song "We Are the World."

             George Washington Benson(born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.

           A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, playing soul jazz with Jack McDuff and others. He then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat singing. His álbum Breezin' was certified triple-platinum, hitting nº 1 on the Billboard album chart in 1976. His concerts were well attended through the 1980s, and he still has a large following. Benson has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

          Givin' It Up is a collaborative album by American musicians George Benson and Al Jarreau, released on October 24, 2006, by Concord Records. It contains songs previously recorded by both artists (Benson's "Breezin" and Jarreau's "Mornin") and original music. Other vocalists and musicians featured are Jill Scott, Patti Austin, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, Abe Laboriel, Chris Botti, Marcus Miller, and Paul McCartney. This project also includes standards by Billie Holiday ("God Bless the Child") and Sam Cooke("Bring It On Home to Me"), pop songs by Seals and Crofts("Summer Breeze") and Daryl Hall("Everytime You Go Away") along with the jazz-swing "Four" by Miles Davis, and "Ordinary People" by John Legend.

            In 2007, Benson was awarded his ninth (or tenth) and Jarreau was awarded his sixth Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance on "God Bless the Child" with Scott. Benson also won his tenth (or ninth) Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance on "Mornin'", while "Breezin'" received a nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

See the curtains hanging in the window

In the evening on a Friday night

A little light shining through the window

Let me know everything is alright, sing this song

 

Summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

Hear me sing, summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

 

See the paper lying on the sidewalk

A little music from the house next door

So I walk on up to the doorstep

Through the screen and across the floor

 

Summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

Sing it, summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind, yeah

 

When I come home from a hard day's work

And you're waitin' there not a care in the world

 

See the smile a waitin' in the kitchen

Food cooking and the plates for two

Feel the arms that reach out to hold me

In the evenin' when the day is through

 

Summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

Summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

 

Here we go, summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind

Come on, summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin' through the jasmine in my mind.

CAKE

MELANIE MARTINEZ

SONGWRITERS: MELANIE MARTINEZ; CHRISTOPHER J. BARAN & KARA DIOGUARDI

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: CRY BABY

LABEL: ATLANTIC RECORDS

GENRE: INDIE

YEAR: 2015

 

           Melanie Adele Martinez(born April 28, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, photographer, screenwriter, and visual artist. Born in Astoria, Queens, and raised in Baldwin, New York, Martinez rose to prominence in 2012 after appearing on the American television vocal talent show The Voice. Following the show, she released her debut single "Dollhouse", followed by her debut EP of the same name(2014), through Atlantic Records.

        Martinez later released her debut studio album, Cry Baby(2015), which went on to be certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Martinez's songs "Sippy Cup", "Mad Hatter", "Mrs. Potato Head", "Cry Baby", "Pacify Her" and "Soap", were all certified gold in the U.S., and her songs "Dollhouse" and "Pity Party" received platinum certification from the RIAA.

        Martinez released her second studio album, K-12(2019), alongside its accompanying film, as a follow up to the storyline of Cry Baby. Her EP was released a year later in 2020, called After School.

           Cry Baby is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Melanie Martinez. It was released on August 14, 2015, by Atlantic Records through digital download, CD, vinyl and audio cassette. The album was supported by the release of three singles. Two singles preceded the album's release: lead single "Pity Party", was released on June 2, 2015, while the second single, "Soap", was released on July 10, 2015. The third and final single from the album, "Sippy Cup" was released July 31, 2015. Cry Baby is a visual concept album. The album is labeled as na alternative pop, electropop, and indie pop release, and received generally positive reviews from critics. In 2021 the album was certified double platinum, after earning 2 million album-equivalent units (sales, streaming, and track sales).

On November 25, 2016, Martinez released an EP titled Cry Baby's Extra Clutter. The EP, released exclusively on vinyl, consisted of the three bonus tracks from Cry Baby, and "Gingerbread Man", which was released on December 23, 2015, as a single. The album was promoted by the Cry Baby Tour (2015–2017).

Your skin is warm like an oven

Your kiss is sugary sweet

Your fingers feel like cotton

When you put your arms around me

 

I feel like I'm just missing

Something whenever you leave

We've got all the ingredients

Except you loving me

And respectfully

 

I'm not a piece of cake

For you to just discard

While you walk away

With the frosting of my heart

So I'm taking back what's mine, you'll miss

The slice of heaven that I gave to you last night

 

You smell just like vanilla

You taste like buttercream

You're filling up my senses

With empty calories

 

I feel like I'm just missing

Something whenever you leave

You've got all the ingredients

Except you needing me

So respectfully

 

I'm not a piece of cake

For you to just discard

While you walk away

With the frosting of my heart

So I'm taking back what's mine, you'll miss

The slice of heaven that I gave to you last night

 

If I am just a piece of cake

I am just a piece of cake (cake)

Then, you're just a piece of meat

You're just a piece of meat to me

 

If I am just a piece of cake

I am just a piece of cake (cake)

Then, you're just a piece of meat

You're just a piece of meat to me

 

I'm not a piece of cake

For you to just discard

While you walk away

With the frosting of my heart

So I'm taking back what's mine, you'll miss

The slice of heaven that I gave to you last night

 

The slice of heaven that I gave

Sli-li-li-ce of heaven that I gave to you

Slice of heaven that I gave to you last night.