William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Sky 2 ; Year: 1980; Genre: Progressive Rock/classical Here's quite a comical piece that features legendary bassist Herbie Flowers playing a lively tune on the tuba with drummer Tristan Frye on trumpet with some sparse accompaniment. I guess songs like this one is wot you get when you get a group of nerdy and accomplished musicians together; I guess it got played quite a bit live as an encore.   Hear Tuba Smarties on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Focus - Focus 11   My song pick 2 years ago today: Fleet Foxes - Can I Believe You   My song pick 3 years ago today: Pearl Jam - Retrograde   My song pick 4 years ago today: King Crimson - Epitaph My song pick 5 years ago today: Heart - Bad Animals My song pick 6 years ago today: Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence My song pick 7 years ago today: Lawrence Gowan - (You're a) Strange Animal My song pick 8 years ago today: Sly and the Family Stone - Frisky My song pic...

From: Sky ; Year: 1979; Genre: Classical/Progressive Rock This one's a take on the Romance Period classical piece for piano originally written by Erik Satie, of course in the style Sky is known for.   Hear Gymnopedie No. 1 on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Lawrence Gowan - A Criminal Mind   My song pick 2 years ago today: R.E.O. Speedwagon - In Your Letter My song pick 3 years ago today: Tom Petty - A Face in the Crowd My song pick 4 years ago today: John Fogerty - You Got the Magic My song pick 5 years ago today: Pink Floyd - Pigs (Three Different Ones) My song pick 6 years ago today: Larry Graham and Graham Central Station - Boogie Witcha, Baby My song pick 7 years ago today: Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet My song pick 8 years ago today: The Moody Blues - Don't You Feel Small My song pick 9 years ago today: Depeche Mode - Stripped My song pick 10 years ago today: Sammy Davis Jr. - Mr. Bojangles...

From: Sky 4: Forthcoming ; Year: 1982; Genre: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Rock Had some ideas for my song pick today and chose another neat track from the band Sky. This is another one of their songs that has an excellent balance of classical music and driving rock. Hear My Giselle on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) - From the End of the World My song pick 2 years ago today: The Midnight - Days of Thunder My song pick 3 years ago today: Ohio Players - Fopp My song pick 4 years ago today: Asia - Go My song pick 5 years ago today: Pallas - March on Atlantis My song pick 6 years ago today: Mastodon - Oblivion My song pick 7 years ago today: Van Morrison - Wavelength My song pick 8 years ago today: Lee Michaels - Do You Know What I Mean? My song pick 9 years ago today: The Who - The Ox My song pick 10 years ago today: Rush - Cygnus X-1 My song pick 11 years ago today: Joni Mitchell - Amelia

From: Sky 2 ; Year: 1980; Genre: Symphonic Rock/Progressive Rock Drawing a total blank again... there's some obvious ones I'm forgetting about, but with a lot on your mind it's bound to happen. Sky is another band that I've been meaning to pick one from, so I will. Anyway, this one has a killer groove underneath with both electronica and classical over the top; it's another one of those unique songs from early '80s prog. Hear Hotta on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Jethro Tull - Farm on the Freeway My song pick two years ago today: Quasar - The Loreli My song pick three years ago today: Def Leppard - Rock On My song pick four years ago today: The Cosmic Sound Orchestra - Fly Some Funk Up to the Moon My song pick five years ago today: Laura Branigan - Self Control My song pick six years ago today: Yes - Starship Trooper My song pick seven years ago today: Buffalo Springfield - Mr. Soul My song pick eight years ago today: Chuc...

From: Sky ; Year: 1979; Genre: Progressive Rock Been thinking about Sky and their first album since the other day. This is Francis Monkman's 20 minute opus, which he seems to have one like this on each record; it's always a highlight for me. Hear Where Opposites Meet on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Jigsaw - Cry ('Til The Tears Run Dry) My song pick two years ago today: Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Piano Concerto No. 1 My song pick three years ago today: Jim Reeves & Patsy Cline - Have You Ever Been Lonely (Have You Ever Been Blue?) My song pick four years ago today: Soundgarden - Worse Dreams My song pick five years ago today: Hawkwind - Quark, Strangeness and Charm My song pick six years ago today: Steve Vai - Call it Sleep My song pick seven years ago today: John Denver - Calypso My song pick eight years ago today: What Made Milwaukee Famous - Idecide My song pick nine years ago today: Soft Cell - Tainted Love

From: Sky 3 ; Year: 1981; Genre: Progressive Rock I had this track on my mind this morning, so I thought I would pick it. Chiropodie No.1 is pretty song with some great guitar leads on both the electric and classical. Hear Chiropodie No.1 on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Queen - Headlong My song pick two years ago today: The Chakachas - Jungle Fever My song pick three years ago today: The Outlaws - The Valley of the Sioux My song pick four years ago today: Candlebox - Far Behind My song pick five years ago today: Buckethead - Final Wars My song pick six years ago today: Megaherz - Heuchler My song pick seven years ago today: Wilson Pickett - Funky Broadway My song pick eight years ago today: Oasis - Wonderwall

From: Sky 2 ; Year: 1980; Genre: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Rock/Flamenco Rock Starting my foray into the 3000s of songs picked with this rather astounding and interesting song from the band Sky. As the title, Sahara , would suggest this one has a lot of the Arabic style of Flamenco all through it mixed with some classical and good 'ol hard rock. The classical guitar is amazing along with the rest of the band. Hear Sahara on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: The Allman Brothers Band - Trouble No More My song pick two years ago today: Simon & Garfunkle - Mrs. Robinson My song pick three years ago today: Rare Earth - Get Ready My song pick four years ago today: Trio of Doom - Continuum My song pick five years ago today: Jethro Tull - Aqualung My song pick six years ago today: Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys - Wayfaring Stranger My song pick seven years ago today: Billy Squier - In The Dark My song pick eight years ago today: Jethro Tull - S...

From: Sky ; Year: 1979; Genre: Progressive Rock This morning I had nothing in mind to pick, but I started to have some of Sky's music start to play in my mind and it felt like a great idea to pick another one of their songs. Anyway, this was a track only seen on Sky's CD re-release/version of their debut album as a bonus track; it is one of the best songs on the album and one of my favourites from the disc. If you like large productions and progressive rock then you'll love this track; even if you like classical or instrumental music you'll probably love this one. Hear Dies Irae on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Buddy Holly - Crying, Waiting, Hoping My song pick two years ago today: Waylander - Erdath My song pick three years ago today: Jim Croce - Workin' at the Car Wash Blues My song pick four years ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Flaming Telepaths My song pick five years ago today: AC/DC - Carry Me Home My song pick six years ago t...

From: Sky 2 ; Year: 1980; Genre: Progressive Rock I had music from the band Sky on my mind this morning. This is a four part suite of neoclassical/rock music from the pen of Francis Monkman: FIFO; Adagio; Scherzo; and Watching Areoplanes. It's a great nerdfest for those who like different music. Hear the full suite on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Faith No More - Easy My song pick two years ago today: Pallas - Rise and Fall, Part 1 My song pick three years ago today: Counting Crows - Mr. Jones My song pick four years ago today: Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lookin Out My Back Door My song pick five years ago today: The Grass Roots - Midnight Confessions My song pick six years ago today: The Tornadoes - Telstar

From: Sky ; Year: 1979; Genre: Progressive Rock This morning I woke up with a couple of songs from Sky running through my mind; I of course took it as a sign that I should pick one of their songs. This was the first song from their first album, so back in '79 if you just "dropped the needle" this classical guitar meets electronic groove/funk track would've been there to greet you. While it's not even close to my favourite from the band, it's a very interestingly arranged track. Hear Westway on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Asia - Wildest Dreams My song pick two years ago today: Don Henley - Dirty Laundry My song pick three years ago today: The Scorpions - Big City Nights My song pick four years ago today: Graham Central Station - Earthquake My song pick five years ago today: John Denver - Season Suite - Fall My song pick six years ago today: Kyu Sakamoto - Sukiyaki ( Ue o Muite Aruko )

From: Sky ; Year: 1979; Genre: Progressive Rock/Electronic Rock After listening to a couple of their songs the other day I thought I would pick another from the great band that was Sky. If you've heard the band before you should know what to expect from this track, which comes off of their debut album. It's a real nice mix of progressive rock with a lot of classical influence. Hear Cannonball on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Muse - United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) My song pick two years ago today: Alice in Chains - Would? My song pick three years ago today: Rammstein - Jeder lacht My song pick four years ago today: Rammstein - Ein Leid My song pick five years ago today: Eric Clapton - My Father's Eyes

From: Sky 4 Forthcoming ; Year: 1982; Genre: Progressive Rock I absolutely had no song in mind for today's pick; the few that I thought of I'd either already picked or just didn't fit. After a bit of pondering I remembered I hadn't picked one from the classical/progressive rock band Sky in a while. This one is their electronic rock rendition of Hector Berlioz's March to the Scaffold from his epic Symphonie Fantastique . Enjoy! Hear March to the Scaffold on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rhapsody of Fire - Holy Thunderforce My song pick two years ago today: Guided by Voices - Everybody Thinks I’m a Raincloud (When I'm Not Looking) My song pick three years ago today: Gorō Yamaguchi - Tsuru No Sugomori (Crane's Nest) My song pick four years ago today: M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames My song pick five years ago today: Heart - Dreamboat Annie

1515 Sky - Troika From: Cadmium... , Year: 1983 Genre: Progressive Rock Today Max chose Muse's adaptation of Gershon Kingsley's Popcorn on his Song-a-Day blog and it got me thinking about a couple songs in particular. This is Sky's Rock adaptation of the fourth movement of Sergei Prokofiev's suite: Lieutenant Kijé called Troika . Prokofiev originally composed the music for the score of the 1933 film of the same name , later the music was assembled into a suite: Op. 60. The original piece can be heard here on YouTube. Anyway, as always, Sky did an awesome job in their arrangement of this classical track. Hear Sky's arrangement of Troika on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Mason Williams - Classical Gas My song pick two years ago today: Alexi Murdoch - Breathe My song pick three years ago today: Bad Company - Shooting Star My song pick four years ago today: Ella Fitzgerald - Blue Skies +

1095 Sky - Sarabande Felt like adding another Rock interpretation of a classic; this one, of course, was originally composed by Handel . Quite a few of the songs in Sky's catalogue are these Rock arrangements of classical music. This one actually stays somewhat traditional sounding until about 3/4 of the way through the track, then becomes a bit more raucous. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance circa '81 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Lynyrd Skynyrd - On The Hunt My song pick two years ago today: Ian Anderson - A Better Moon +

881 ( Sky - Toccata ) I have been meaning to pick this one from the British Prog/Rock band Sky for a bit now. This is a real neat interpretation of Johan Sebastian Bach's famous piece: Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor , BWV 565. In this one they actually just cover the Toccata section and turn it into a Electronic Progressive Rock song with some Disco influence in the beat. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Watch the music video on YouTube. Here is a performance from Top of the Pops on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Journey - Who's Crying Now My song pick two years ago today: Billy Joel - Only the Good Die Young +