Olympic Games Hit Songs Since 1960's

Breaking News Today: 

Joseph Schooling won the first Gold Medal for Singapore for the Men's 100 Meters Butterfly (Swimming) Finals in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Friday 12th August.

It's done with lots of love," says his father.

                   John Lennon sings Imagine: London Olympics 2012

Songs I Love:

Even with sleepy eyes I enjoy watching champions compete during the present Olympics Games (5th of August - 21st August, 2016).  Nothing beats this arena of the best sports people in the world. 

But through the years, the event also reminds me of the many songs performed during the opening and closing ceremonies for both the Summer and Winter Meets. Some of these songs recorded by international artistes have been specially composed for the occasion while others are classic hits selected for their specific themes. 

                                         Vinyl Record Cover

The many top stars who contributed their songs and services include: Long John Baldry, Harry Chapin, John Williams, Whitney Houston, Sarah Brightman, Freddie Mercury, Celine Dion, Gloria Estafan, John Lennon and Brian May.

The ones I have listed below are those I personally like and taken from a site on the Net. I have started with songs from the 1960's, an appropriate year for this blog's listing.  

You may know some of them like, Nadia's Theme which is Theme from The Young and The Restless, Olympic Fanfare by John Williams, One Moment In Time by Whitney Houston, Amigo Para Siempre from Sarah Brightman. Then there's John Lennon's  Imagine, Vengelis' Chariots of Fire, Queen's, We Will Rock You and the Beatles, Come Together.

                               

             Sarah Brightman, Jose Carreras - Amigo Para Siempre - 1992

Please let me share my favourites with you.

1964 - Helmut Zacharias - Tokyo Melody

1968 - Leo Arnaud - Bugler's Dream

1968 - Long John Baldry - Mexico Theme Song

1972 - Harry Chapin - Circle

1976 - Barry DeVorzon, Perry Botkin Jr - Nadia's Theme

1984 - John Williams - Olympic Fanfare and Theme

1984 - Paul Engemann - Reach Out

1988 - Koreana - Hand in Hand

1988 - Whitney Houston - One Moment In Time

                                    Brian May - We Will Rock You

1992 - Sarah Brightman, Jose Carreras - Amigo Para Siempre (Friends For Life)
1992 - Freddie Mercury, Montserrat Caballe - Barcelona

1996 - Celine Dion - The Power Of The Dream

1996 - Gloria Estafan - Reach

2012 - John Lennon - Imagine

2012 - London Symphony Orchestra - Chariots of Fire

2012 - Brian May and Jessie J - We Will Rock You

2012 - Arctic Monkeys - Come Together

The list goes on, so check it out on the Net. Comment anyone?  Your favourite Olympics song?

Images Google: 1) Record Cover 1984 Olympic Games, Los Angeles, US.
                        2) Brian May, 2012 Olympic Games, London, England.

You Tube: 1) 2012 Olympic Games, London, England.
               2) 1988 Olympic Games, Seoul, South Korea.

Olympic British Pop Ends With A Blast: Part IV

Children's Choir Singing, 'Imagine' (own screen grab)

Sixties music stars and today's pop wonders performed on decorated lorry tops to celebrate the end of the Olympic Games 2012.  It included songs from 30 British hit singles in the past five decades. 



Annie Lennox who came in what looked like a slave ship was among the singing celebrities that gathered at the Wembly, the largest of the six Olympic stadiums, for the closing ceremony.  Ray Davies of The Kinks provided his pop majestic solo appearance with the London ballad Waterloo Sunset.

Ray Davies performed 'Waterloo Sunset'

One of the highlights was the video appearance of the late Freddie Mercury that lit up the crowd with guitarist Brian May on stage and provided the Queen classic We Will Rock You.  The Pet Shop Boys were there too. They were all the cream, dream team.


Brian May:  'We Will Rock You' (own screen grab)

What kept me awake for a while was the image of the late John Lennon singing Imagine accompanied by a children's choir appropriately dressed with the single-word title splashed across their white gowns. 

I guess the lyrics are appropriate enough, "Imagine there's no heaven, No hell below us, Above us only sky, Imagine there's no countries, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too, all the people living life in peace..."  More Olympic meets should do it. I guess I'm a dreamer too.


John Lennon Video (own screen grab)

George Michael sang his popular song Freedom to the roaring crowd of athletes and spectators. Dressed in a tight black outfit complete with moon-glasses he screamed, "Remember, right now, you are at the center of the universe." Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Spice Girls who yelled Wannabe and Spice Up Your Life from taxi tops and Muse all performed to the delight of 90s pop fans.


George Michael Singing 'Freedom' (own screen grab)

I dozed off.  I prefer the 60s chappies.

Information: Relevant Websites.
Images: Home Screen Grabs and Google.

From Allan Thompson: On London Olympics Part 3

Allan Thompson has been contributing many articles about Singapore 60s music on this blog because he was at RAF Changi in the 1960s.  I asked his opinion about the current Games. Here's his letter:

Mike Oldfield

Dear Andy,

Like many people over here, I was sceptical about the Olympic opening ceremony.  But as it progressed, I was amazed at the wonderful, well planned, well executed history of Britain which unfolded. All the amateur performers and participants were excellent and the way each episode slid effortlessly into the next was fantastic. 

The pop music sampling section wasn't bad, although they missed out the influential popular music of the 50s in their typical eagerness to get to the Beatles.  [Poor old Tommy Steele, Marty Wilde, Billy Fury (deceased), etc. always seem to suffer in this way]. 

I thought Mike Oldfield's music was just right for the section in which it was used, but I thought the other group (The Killers?) were a pointless inclusion, and Paul McCartney's ragged Hey Jude at the end was even more pointless.  What significance did that particular song have? 

The James Bond and The Queen piece could have been cringeworthy but because they used Her Majesty and not a lookalike, everyone was impressed by her decision to have some fun and take part.  It's a shame that so many of the team members during the parade were waving cameras about and some of them looked quite awkward.

Paul McCartney

Over here, the BBC coverage was pretty naff at times, almost as bad as it was for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, but we have come to expect that now - everything is being dumbed-down and trivialised.  (Not like in our day,  hmmmm??!!)

Hope this is of some help.

Best wishes,
Allan.
U.K.


Images: Google.

Shakespeare Musings Amidst Ol' London: Part II

I am no Shakespeare expert nor a music guru and whether the lines below are appropriate for the London Olympics 2012 Opening is debatable but Sir Kenneth Branagh's reading of it is enough to please any true Englishman. The lines, actually taken out of context, were probably describing how magical the British Isles are today:

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices
That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again; and then in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open, and show riches
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked
I cried to dream again.

(The Tempest, 3.2.135-43)

Have the organisers selected the right lines for the international event?  Or is it inappropriate?

Here's another.

Mark how one string, sweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each by mutual ordering;
Resembling sire and child and happy mother,
Who, all in one, one pleasing note do sing.

(Sonnet 8 - For full version click comments below)

Would the above Sonnet be more suitable then? Give us your view.

Image: Google.

London Olympics 2012 Plays 60s+ UK Pops: Part I

The grand opening at the London Olympics 2012 was also a celebration of 60s  music and the selection featured songs from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, Queen, Eurythmics, and many more. From the folksy Danny Boy at the beginning to Paul McCartney singing, Hey Jude at The End, the stadium lit up to a 21st Century UK return of its own popular music in ol' London town.

Some of my favourite songs that could be heard that night were Vangelis: Chariots of Fire, Lionel Bart: Food Glorious Food, Eric Clapton: Wonderful Tonight, The Who: My Generation, The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction, Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop, Kinks: All Day and All Of the Night,  Led Zeppelin: Trampled Under Foot, David Bowie: Starman.

The list also included the Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams,  The Beatles: She Loves You, The End and Hey Jude, David Bowie: Heroes. 

If you had been watching the TV series in the 60s like Coronation Street, Doctor Who and Monty Python Theme/The Liberty Bell, the melodies were played that evening.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Monty Norman's The James Bond Theme were performed too and if it wasn't for the site below I couldn't have known about the songs presented. I fell asheep after the sleep appeared, I mean, asleep after the sheep appeared, counting them as I dozed off.

What interested me and Singaporeans were some comments from oversea readers below and overleaf:

1) Victor from London, UK believed Cliff Richard had more UK No.1 song hits than The Beatles, perhaps second only to his former idol, Elvis Presley. It would have been great to see a film clip of the young Cliff singing Living Doll..

2) According to cardiffflo from Cardiff McCartney was dreadful and it was time someone told him that his voice had gone and isn't coming back. After a wonderful night of entertainment he was the only low point.

My comment:

We had the four knights of the sound table Elton John, Cliff  Richard, Tom Jones and McCartney performing at the Queen's Anniversary concert earlier this year. I guess McCartney could have been replaced by another pop star? But I need to watch the show again and listen to the melodies, especially the ones from the 60s and 70s. Have you seen the show? What do you think?

(Aside: For the record and heritage: Feng Tian Wei won the Bronze for Table Tennis in the London Olympics 2012, the second individual medal won since Tan Howe Liang won the first individual Silver Medal for weightlifting during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Don't forget to read Part II above.)

Images: from Google.

Information and Comments from various websites about the Games have been edited.
For the full song list and comments check out: MailOnlineNews:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2180131/Sir-Paul-McCartney-Songwriter-leads-Olympic-crowd-singing-The-Beatles-Hey-Jude-Opening-Ceremony.html