Put Your Records On

This morning after early morning routines and chores, I called up an episode of Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour on the BBC Sounds app (January 22, 2023: “Elbow’s Lead Singer Broadcasts from Cloaky Studios,” recorded in Garvey’s newly-built home studio).

Early on in the playlist was a recommendation from the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Simon Armitage, a weekly guest segment presenter on the show. His suggestion was a song that, around his home, is called “Guy, Put the Kettle On,” but elsewhere in the world is English neo-soul/rhythm & blues singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae’s (b. 1979) best-known song, “Put Your Records On.”

I last listened to Garvey’s program a few weeks ago. So today, it was great to hear some of his selections again, introduced with his inimitable banter and sometimes interspersed with the occasional archive interview clips, as he did with a 2006 clip of former Roxy Music keyboardist and singer Brian Eno before spinning the band’s magnificent 1972 track, “If There Is Something.” (I’ll have to post that one sometime… it’s a banger, as Garvey calls excellent songs.)

“Put Your Records On” is, as one of my followers put it so well in his comment a few weeks ago on James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “…one of those songs that it is impossible to listen to and not feel good, it just makes you want to sing and dance, wherever you may be.”

“Three little birds sat on my window
And they told me I don’t need to worry
Summer came like cinnamon
So sweet
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete

Maybe sometimes we’ve got it wrong, but it’s alright
The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same
Oh, don’t you hesitate

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down

You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow

Blue as the sky, sunburnt and lonely
Sipping tea in a bar by the roadside
(Just relax, just relax)
Don’t you let those other boys fool you
Got to love that afro hairdo

Maybe sometimes we feel afraid, but it’s alright
The more you stay the same, the more they seem to change
Don’t you think it’s strange?

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down

You’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow

‘Twas more than I could take, pity for pity’s sake
Some nights kept me awake, I thought that I was stronger
When you gonna realise, that you don’t even have to try any longer?
Do what you want to

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down

Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song
You go ahead, let your hair down
Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams
Just go ahead, let your hair down

Oh, you’re gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow”

“Put Your Records On,” by John Beck, Steven Chrisanthou and Corinne Bailey Rae.
Lyrics retrieved from AZLyrics.com.

The song has such a happy vibe and one of nostalgia, too, so much so that I thought it was a much older song. It’s the kind of tune that attracts (and builds) positive memories. (It might just be on the kitchen dance card tonight while making Saturday pizza!)

“Put Your Records On” is the second single from Bailey Rae’s 2006 self-titled debut studio album. The artist, song and record earned several nominations and industry awards, and Bailey Rae became the fourth British musical act to have her first album hit the charts at number one. In a 2016 video interview introducing a live session on her YouTube channel, Bailey Rae recalls days before his death, Prince (1958-2016) took to Twitter to urge his followers to “Stop everything and listen to this song…” referring to “Stop Right Now” from Bailey Rae’s then-just-released second album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers.

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here, and please enjoy.

Here’s the video from the Corinne Bailey Rae YouTube channel:

With my best wishes,

Steve