Current playlist (UK labels where available)

Roll Over Beethoven/Chuck Berry (Chess-US, 1956 now included on ’75 Pumpin Piano Greats’ released on the Fantastic Voyage label - see CD list below)

Love me Forever/Marion Ryan (Pye Nixa, 1958)

The Nearness of You/Matt Monro & the Ted Heath Orchestra (1963, recorded for the BBC and now issued as part of ‘Matt at the BBC’ on EMI Gold - see CD list below)

Yesterday’s Gone/Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde (Ember, 1963 now part of the CD ‘Tell Me – Ember Beat 1962-1964’ – see our CD list below)

Here it Comes Again/Fortunes (Decca, 1965)

Don’t Worry Baby/Ivy League (Piccadilly, 1965)

Heroes & Villains/Beach Boys (Capitol, 1966)

May Each Day/Andy Williams (CBS, 1966)

Bernadette/Four Tops (Tamla Motown, 1967)

Build me up Buttercup/Foundations (Pye, 1968)

Crystal Blue Persuasion/Tommy James & the Shondells (Roulette-US, 1969)

Boy Child/Scott Walker (Philips, 1970 from the LP ‘Scott 4’)

Did You Ever?/Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood (RCA, 1971)

Top Billing/Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire (United Artists, 1975)

Golden Brown/Stranglers (Liberty, 1982)

Dancing with Tears in my Eyes/Ultravox (Chrysalis, 1984 now part of an EMI Gold release ‘An 80’s Summer’ – see our CD list below)

Chasing Rainbows/Steve Larkman (Forever Records, recent release - www.foreverrecords.co.uk )

2-4-1 features the Springfields 1962 hit of ‘Island of Dreams’ and the later cover, again as a single in 1966, by the Seekers.

Recommended CDs

Here it is, the latest Sinatra release from Reprise. It features some of his best album tracks from the 60’s, 70’s & 80’s on ‘Seduction, Sinatra Sings Of Love’, some released only on vinyl up to now.

Above the Sinatra sleeve is a fine CD set from Future Noise on their Fantastic Voyage label by Mark Wirtz. ‘Wirtz and Music’  contains my signature tune, ‘Riviera Carnival’. Although Mark is probably best remembered for his work on the  ‘Excerpt From a Teenage Opera’ with Keith West, he also turned out two fine LP’s in the 60’s, collected now on this set. You can buy this release - and the Shirley Bassey, Carol Woods, and the ‘75 Pumpin Piano Greats’ we’re featuring this week  - at  www.futurenoisemusic.com

Now, a MUST CD for your collection is the latest from Lhasa de Sela. Living in Canada, Lhasa has written and produced the whole album, her first in English. All the tracks are gems and her style is so individual. We will be playing tracks throughout May and June. It’s on Warner Classics & Jazz. Also from Warners comes ‘Otro Mundo - Another World’ released on July 6. Listen out for tracks mid-July and visit  www.soundoftheworld.com

I have followed Glen Campbell’s career for more than 40 years and I think he’s rarely made a poor record. This really is the best of his work, spanning all those years from the classics such as ‘Wichita Lineman’ through to a couple of tracks from his most recent album. This one is released by EMI.

Then from Night Owl Music comes a 3-CD Johnny Mathis set containing the big 50’s US and UK hits and a half-hour interview with the star, recorded during a British visit in the 1970’s. Get this and other quality CD’s from raypurslow@blueyonder.co.uk 

Everyone surely remembers George McCrae’s chart run in the UK in the 1970s. Now Shout Records have issued George and Gwen McRae’s album ‘Together’ with George’s ‘I Ain’t Lyin’ as a bonus track. More at www.shoutrecords.co.uk and above you will see another Shout release from Randy Brown which couples two vinyl albums ‘Welcome To My Room’ and ‘Midnight Desire’.

Back to Future Noise’s Fantastic Voyage label and a CD called ‘Tell Me - Ember Beat Volume One 1962-64′. This contains tracks from artists like John Barry, Chad & Jeremy, Band of Angels and the Washington DC’s. A collection of 45s that - if you are lucky enough to get your hands on the original vinyl - get regularly valued at £50 or more.  There’s also a new compilation  from EMI Gold called ‘An 80’s Summer’ with tracks by Kim Wilde, Debbie Harry, Blondie, Spandau Ballet and the Stranglers. Listen out for tracks from both of these releases this week - and there’s a new Matt Monro collection from the same label out now as well.

Talking of Summer, from EMI Capitol comes a Beach Boys collection  of ‘Summer Love Songs’. This is NOT just a collection of previous hit singles….it contains some top album tracks from the 60’s and beyond, some new mixes and one previously unreleased track. And still with EMI, there’s Bert Jansch. Who can forget his ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’? EMI have a trio of his Charisma 70’s albums out right now and we start playing tracks July 12.

Our weekly regular programmes are broadcast over OMR:-

Sundays 1200 - 1320

Wednesdays 1300 - 1420

Thursdays 2000 - 2120

Saturdays 0800 - 0920

Isles FM to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland:-

Mondays 1005 - 1130

Thursdays 0000 - 0130

and you can now tune into Isles FM on the web - go to www.isles.fm

ALL times BST

Rodney Collins has worked in the media since the mid 1960’s and was responsible for Record Mirror’s coverage of the pirate radio stations for Billboard inc until 1970 when he joined the management at ATV, Stoll Moss Theatres and Pye Records. He later moved to BBC Radios 1 & 2 as Publicity and Presentation Officer then onto Radio Luxembourg as Director of News Programming. He’s also worked as Managing Director of several local radio stations in the British Isles. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1790935.stm and http://www.bridlingtonfreepress.co.uk/news/Broadcasting-to-the-world-.3702707.jp

Since 2000, he has operated small hotels with his wife and daughter (currently Radcliffe House in Bridlington) while continuing to broadcast and produce music CD’s. If you are interested in staying with the Collins family, see www.theradcliffeguesthouse.co.uk and, if they can’t fix you up, they will suggest other B&B’s or hotels nearby! And if you are planning meetings or conferences, contact us via our web-page and see how we can help.

Published Friday, July 03, 2009