THE CAFFE` LATTE`

TOP 10 ALBUMS – DEC. 2016

1 STARBOY The Weeknd      NEW

2 24K MAGIC Bruno Mars      1 2

3 LADIES & GENTLEMEN... THE BEST OF George Michael      NEW

4 HERE Alicia Keys      2 2

5 DARKNESS AND LIGHT John Legend      NEW

6 JOANNE Lady Gaga      4 3

7 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac      8 11

8 GREATEST HITS Queen      7 5

9 LONG LIVE THE ANGELS Emeli Sandé      3 2          

10 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST STOCKHOLM 2016 Various Artists    10 9
 

The Caffe` Latte` Top 10 Tracks this week

1 I Feel It Coming THE WEEKND ftg. DAFT PUNK  2wks                                                        1 4

2 Last Christmas WHAM!                                                                                             2 2

3 Just Hold On LOUIS TOMLINSON & STEVE AOKI                                                         7 2

4 I Don't Wanna Live Forever ZAYN & TAYLOR SWIFT                                                      8 2

5 Penthouse Floor JOHN LEGEND                                                                           NEW

6 Black Beatles RAE SREMMURD ftg. GUCCI MANE                                                          NEW

7 Tears CLEAN BANDIT ftg. LOUISE JOHNSON                                                              NEW

8 Faith STEVIE WONDER ftg. ARIANA GRANDE                                                               3 4

9 Body Moves DNCE                                                                                              NEW

10 Chunky BRUNO MARS                                                                                                    6 6

Hear this week's Top 10 songs (now with more hot tracks) as well as other special playlists on spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/user/alanrosscaffelatte

 

2016 MUSICAL GREATS IN MEMORIAM

The Caffé Latté

REVIEW

2016

Here are some of the musical greats the world lost during 2016, listed in chronological order:

ROBERT STIGWOOD

Helmed the RSO record label; managed Eric Clapton, Cream & The Bee Gees. Produced films  'Grease' and 'Saturday Night Fever'.

DAVID BOWIE
Highly influential singer/ songwriter and musical visionary.
 
GLENN FREY
Founding member of Eagles; singer/ songwriter & musician.
 
PAUL KANTNER
Founding member of Jefferson Airplane/ Jefferson Starship.
 
MAURICE WHITE
Pivotal lead singer/ writer & producer of Earth, Wind & Fire.

GEORGE MARTIN
Produced The Beatles' albums, "Candle In The Wind 1997" & countless other pop hits.
 
JON ENGLISH
Australian singer / songwriter. Acted in TV series "Against The Wind" & musicals including "Jesus Christ Superstar".

KEITH EMERSON
Prog-rock musician; member of The Nice & Emerson, Lake & Palmer.

MERLE HAGGARD
Country music veteran.

PRINCE
Prolific musical genius; singer / songwriter / musician.

BILLY PAUL
R&B singer with US #1 hit "Me And Mrs. Jones".

SCOTTY MOORE
Guitarist on seminal Elvis Presley recordings including: "That's All Right", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock".

TOOTS THIELEMANS
Jazz musician & session player on songs by Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Julian Lennon & Quincy Jones.
 
KASHIF
Singer/ songwriter/ producer. 


NEVILLE MARRINER
Violinist / conductor.

ROD TEMPERTON
Member of R&B group Heatwave. Wrote hits: "Rock With You", "Thriller", "Give Me The Night", "Baby Come To Me" and "Stomp".

PHIL CHESS 
With his brother, co-founder of legendary Chess Records label.

 
BOBBY VEE 
Teen idol with hits: "Take Good Care Of My Baby", "Rubber Ball" and "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes".

PETE BURNS 
Androgynous lead singer of Dead Or Alive with UK #1 "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)".

LEON RUSSELL 
Singer / songwriter. Collaborated recently with Elton John. Wrote songs: "Superstar" (Carpenters); "Delta Lady"; "A Song For You" and "This Masquerade".

LEONARD COHEN 
Singer / songwriter. Wrote "Hallelujah".

GREG LAKE 
The second member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer to pass away in 2016.
 
RICK PARFITT 
Singer/ songwriter and rhythm guitarist for Status Quo.

GEORGE MICHAEL 
Singer/ songwriter soloist & former member of Wham!

EUROVISION 2017: The 43 Countries. This instalment. III-FRANCE. Continues next week.

Caffe` Latte` previews…

EUROVISION

2017

As countries begin selecting their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest in May, this blog will look back on the stats and the best from each of the 43 participating nations.

UKRAINE

ITALY

FRANCE

French songs dominated the early years of the Eurovision Song Contest. Despite a strong start, France has not secured a win since 1977. As 1 of 'The Big 5', the proud nation has the advantage of not needing to qualify. It is already locked in for the Grand Final in Kiev.

WINS: 5

BEST ENTRY EVER:

UN JOUR, UN ENFANT - Frida Boccara

HONOURABLE MENTION(S):

UN, DEUX, TROIS - Catherine Ferry

SOGNU - Amaury Vassili

To get you in the mood for Eurovision in Kiev, check out Caffé Latté’s special ESC playlist on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/user/alanrosscaffelatte

spotify:user:alanrosscaffelatte

2016- THE TOP 100 SINGLES #60-51. Continues next week.

The Caffé Latté

TOP 100

SONGS OF

2016

It was the year David Bowie and Prince left this mortal coil; Trump was elected President of America and the planet faced the continuing refugee crisis as terrorists continued to strike in numerous locations. Here are 100 songs that were the favourites on this blog during the past 12 months.

60

COULDN'T BELIEVE

 BROODS

Dance pop duo Broods hail from New Zealand. "Couldn't Believe" is a track included on the 'Conscious' album which was issued during 2016 and topped the Kiwi chart as well as peaking at #2 in Australia.

59

HEY GIRL

 LADY GAGA

"Hey Girl" features a guest vocal from Florence Welch (Florence & The Machine). She and Lady Gaga co-wrote the track with Mark Ronson. It was included on Gaga's 'Joanne' album.

58

FANTASY

 ANTHONY CALLEA

The brilliant 1978 hit "Fantasy" from Earth, Wind and Fire was covered by Australian entertainer Anthony Callea. His interpretation is a stripped back remake in the tradition of the 1990 Black Box version. Callea's take is featured on his Australian #1 album 'Backbone'. It was 1 of 2 EW&F songs that were released during the year in which the group's founder and principal songwriter / producer Maurice White passed away on February 4. He was aged 74.

57

STARBOY

 THE WEEKND featuring DAFT PUNK

The title track from The Weeknd's 2016 album 'Starboy' is a collaboration with Daft Punk. The song was a global hit, topping charts in Canada, parts of Europe, Israel and New Zealand. It reached #2 in America and the U.K. Later follow-up track "I Feel It Coming" will feature among the Top 100 of 2017.

56

DELIRIUM

 CASE / LANG/ VIERS

The all-female collaborative project brought together Neko Case, K.D. Lang and Laura Veirs. "Delirium" is a track from their 2016 eponymous album.

55

HOOPS

 THE RUBENS

In 2015, Australian alternative band The Rubens reached #2 in Australia with the album 'Hoops'. Its title track was voted #1 on radio station Triple J's annual voter poll which is made up of the previous year's music. The song peaked at #9 on the Australian pop chart.

54

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS NIGHT

 DONNY MONTELL

Donny Montell represented Lithuania at Eurovision in May 2016 with the upbeat "I've Been Waiting For this Night". This was his 2nd appearance and the singer finished impressively at #9.

53

TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU

 LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga tackled the serious issue of campus rape with the moving "Til It Happens To You". She wrote the song with Diane Warren. It was featured in the film 'The Hunting Ground' and nominated for an Academy Award. 

52

FIFTY PERCENT

 BARBRA STREISAND with JAMES BROLIN

The December 2016 edition of W Magazine features a sultry photo of Barbra Streisand. Not bad for a film and music veteran aged 74! She enlisted husband James Brolin on "Fifty Percent" a track on which she portrays 'the other woman' in a love triangle. It is included on her #1 album 'Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway'.

51

ALL THAT SHE WANTS 
[Mowlo Remix]

 ACE OF BASE

Ace Of Base enjoyed worldwide success with the 1992 single "All That She Wants". A Mowlo remix of the hit was released in 2016.

 

EUROVISION 2017: The 43 Countries. This instalment. II-ITALY. Continues tomorrow.

Caffe` Latte` previews…

EUROVISION

2017

As countries begin selecting their entries for the Eurovision Song Contest in May, this blog will look back on the stats and the best from each of the 43 participating nations.

UKRAINE

ITALY

The concept of a European song contest came from Italy. The country participated in the inaugural Eurovision event in 1956. Just 2 years later, an Italian entry proved the contest could produce a major international hit. "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" by Domenico Modugno curiously did not claim the top prize (it claimed 3rd place), but it reached #1 in America and Australia. The foreign language hit also collected Grammy Awards for Song and Record of the Year. It remains the most covered Eurovision song of all-time. 
As 1 of the 'Big 5' countries, Italy is already assured a place in the 2017 Grand Final. The last Italian victory was back in 1990 with "Insieme: 1992" by Toto Cotugno.

WINS: 2

BEST ENTRY EVER:

VOLARE (NEL BLU DIPINTO DI BLU) - Domenico Modugno

HONOURABLE MENTION(S): 
                                                     GRANDE AMORE - Il Volo
                                                     RAPSODIA - Mia Martini

To get you in the mood for Eurovision in Kiev, check out Caffé Latté’s special ESC playlist on Spotify.

https://open.spotify.com/user/alanrosscaffelatte

spotify:user:alanrosscaffelatte

2016- THE TOP 100 SINGLES #70-61. Continues tomorrow.

The Caffé Latté

TOP 100

SONGS OF

2016

It was the year David Bowie and Prince left this mortal coil; Trump was elected President of America and the planet faced the continuing refugee crisis as terrorists continued to strike in numerous locations. Here are 100 songs that were the favourites on this blog during the past 12 months.

70

TIMEBOMB

 TOVE LO

In 2015, Tove Lo took "Timebomb" up to #4 on the Swedish chart. The catchy song, co-written by Lo, deserved to fare better outside of her homeland. Fortunately, the Swede scored hits during 2016 with the tracks "Cool Girl" and "True Disaster".

69

#WHERESTHELOVE

 BLACK EYED PEAS featuring THE WORLD

The Black Eyed Peas revisited its hip hop anthem from 2003 with guest appearances this time from Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, Diddy, Jessie J, Cassie, Usher and Nicole Scherzinger. It raised funds for will.i.am's charity i.am.angel.

 

68

PLEASE DON'T GO

 JOEL ADAMS

Australian singer/ songwriter Joel Adams dropped a strong single in "Please Don't Go". It performed best in Sweden, where his song climbed to #6. He wrote and co-produced the hit.

67

TILTED

 CHRISTINA AND THE QUEENS

In 2015, a song entitled "Christine" reached #1 in Belgium and peaked at #3 in France for art-pop act Christine and the Queens. An English version re-titled "Tilted" was issued internationally the following year. It made inroads in Australia and New Zealand and went Top 20 in Britain.

66

SAVE ME

 WIKTORIA

Swedish pop singer Wiktoria has a country-pop approach to her songs. She ended up in 4th position in the Swedish selections for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Me". The single peaked at #3 on the Swedish chart.

65

PERFECT ILLUSION

 LADY GAGA

"Perfect Illusion" was the lead single from Lady Gaga's 2016 album release 'Joanne'. She co-wrote and co-produced the track with Mark Ronson, Kevin Parker and BloodPop (Michael Tucker). The track reached #1 in some European countries and went Top 20 in America, Britain, Canada and Australia.

64

LOSING MY MIND

 BARBRA STREISAND

Streisand offered some bonus tracks on the Deluxe Edition of her 2016 album 'Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway'. "Losing My Mind" was one of these additional songs. It was penned by Stephen Sondheim for the musical "Follies". Streisand's remake is a solo recording.

63

LEAVE YOUR LOVER

 SAM SMITH

Although unleashed back in 2014, Sam Smith's 'In The Lonely Hour' album has enjoyed a lengthy presence on the charts around the world. "Leave Your Lover" is a touching ballad included among its tracks.

62

SOME OTHER SUMMER

 ROXETTE

"Some Other Summer" was a single lifted off the Roxette album 'Good Karma'. Marie Fredriksson's deteriorating health has led to the end of the duo's touring days. This album proves they can still serve up some fun new material.

61

HURTS

 EMELI SANDE`

Emeli Sandé packs a punch on "Hurts", a single that was first heard on her 'Long Live the Angels' album. The single climbed to #22 in the U.K.