Friday 29 April 2011

Top 5 Songs with whistling

Hmm. I think I said I wasn't going to do a top five this week but my brain got fried by the shere quantity of Bank Holidays and I've done one anyway. It's another Cerys Matthews inspired topic. If you're a similar age to me, the mention of whistling probably makes you think of Roger Whittaker and "Winds of Change" by the Scorpions. I've managed to avoid both though I was slightly disappointed that Jethro Tull's perfectly monikered "The Whistler", despite featuring some pretty mean penny-whistle playing, doesn't have any proper whistling and so fails to qualify.

Listen to Cerys' BBC 6Music show at 10:00 on Sunday to hear a whole bunch of songs with whistling on.

1. "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" Otis Redding - Should I ever pluck up the courage to compile a list of my favourite ever songs this will be a strong contender for the top ten. Recorded shortly before his death in 1968 and becoming the first posthumous single to reach number one in the US. It's a real summer song with a sumptious vocal from Otis backed by a typically subtle performance from the Bar-Kays.





2. "La La Love You" Pixies - Couldn't miss the opportunity to pick my favourite band. This track is one of the less well known songs from "Doolittle" and is crooned by drummer David Lovering. A bit of an anti-love song with a mild wolf-whistle refrain.





3. "Young Folks" Peter, Bjorn and John - I really know very little about these guys but this is an impossibly catchy song that has a really memorable whistling intro that has been used by many an advertiser. I suspect they can live of the proceeds from this song for the rest of their lives.





4. "Games Without Frontiers" Peter Gabriel - Probably my favourite post-Genesis Gabriel song and featuring another fine piece of whistling as well as the beautiful "Jeux sans frontier" backing vocal from Kate Bush.





5. "Golden Years" David Bowie - You have to wait till almost the fade out section of the song and when it comes the whistling is brief but this is a rather fine single from Bowie's soul/funk period.





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