Roy Rogers by Elton John. Story by Colin Ritchie
Colin Ritchie London, and motorway to Scotland 1974Elton looked across, smiled and waved and then he was gone. It was all over within a minute or so. The Mini was no match for the Roller.
Dumb Things by Paul Kelly Story by Tony Kelly
Tony Kelly Meredith Music Festival, December 2008Snug in my carousel I rose above the din and lights and looked out over the gloaming. I swung back down towards the crowd and the squalor and then back up again. It was hypnotic.
With A Bullet by Harry Nilsson
Hugh Jones Bonaventure Hotel Loa Angeles, July 1982“G’day Harry,” I began, “I’m from Tasmania …”
BAD MEDICINE by BON JOVI Story by Stephen Andrew
As James and I quietly reflect on the day’s pedalling, we are interrupted by the sound of something akin to a squealing, stuttering dentist’s drill a few thin tent walls away from us. Before you can say, ‘Hand me my hair gel’, Jon Bon Jovi and his Jersey boys are bellowing the song’s chorus, sixteen seconds in, no beg pardons.
Soma Mou (My Body Of Clay) by Notis Sfakianakis. Story by Phil Dimitriadis.
Phil Dimitriadis Patras, Greece September 1996I’m what some call a binge drinking alcoholic. I can go weeks, months and after hearing this song, seven years without having a drink.
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN Poem by Phil Dimitriadis
Phil Dimitriadis Watching YouTube in East Preston, March 2014Tom is but a spirit in the night/remembering the love of a Jersey girl.
HELLO DARLIN’ by CONWAY TWITTY Story by Damian Balassone
Damian Balassone Goondiwindi 1991After those rugby games we played music on an old cassette deck whilst going about our chores. It did not take long for me to realise that country music was the preferred genre amongst the cotton chippers.
The Sing by Bill Callahan
Rick Kane Preston West, Victoria November 2013I sat up in bed, scared by what I’d heard. I’m never quite prepared for a song that, by revealing the protagonist’s innermost demons, reveals my own.
Hymn To Freedom by The Oscar Peterson Trio
Stephen Andrew A funeral parlourPlease play Oscar Peterson’s Hymn To Freedom when I’m done. For me. For you. Send it into the silence after all the talk has stopped.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME by TALKING HEADS. Story by Nick Gadd.
Nick Gadd Wakefield, Yorkshire. February 1981You may ask yourself, Who is this skinny, nervous guy in a suit, twitching like a puppet, a crazed suburban salesman having a meltdown?