Alphabet of Songs

1. Reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. List (and upload, if you feel like it) 5 songs that start with that letter.
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions.

huskyteer has given me the letter "R".

1. Roll Over Beethoven – Electric Light Orchestra [Spotify] [YouTube]
   A cover version trumping the original artist (sorry, Chuck – tough choice, and you get all the credit for inspiration). ELO’s version is pretty much the definitive one.
2. Reward – The Teardrop Explodes [Spotify] [YouTube]
   How can you go wrong with lyrics that start Bless my cotton socks, I'm in the news! ? Add an insistent drum beat, a jeepful of brass and Julian Cope’s clear voice and this has nothing to apologise for thirty years later on.
3. Room Full Of Mirrors – The Pretenders [Spotify] [YouTube]
   Originally by Jimi Hendrix, of course, but to be honest Hendrix has never done it for me. Jimi’s chaos may be a better expression of a state of mind, but The Pretenders’ version has more drive and edge.  Anyway, I heard this version first, so naturally it’s better!
4. Revolution, Revolutions – Jean Michel Jarre [YouTube]
   Bit of a Middle-Eastern vibe going on, nice change of tempo if you listen to the album version, economic use of a vocoder, electronics all over the shop. Brilliant. Always a bit disappointing that the 1988 London Docklands concert in the YouTube video wasn't in Glasgow instead. Initially Jean Michel Jarre was pretty much told to get on his bike when he first explored staging a concert in London, due to Newham Council's concerns about crowd safety. It being the year that Glasgow was European City of Culture, they saw an opportunity and opened negotiations to hold the concert there instead. Unfortunately someone down south realised how badly they'd shot themselves in the foot, and they recanted.
5. Run, Rabbit, Run! – Harry Bidgood [YouTube]
   Flanagan and Allen's perfectly competent version seems to be more widely available, but I can picture Harry Bidgood as a nice old chap telling his story, whereas Flanagan and Allen just slightly tip over the edge into being showbiz.

This is probably cheating, but “bubbling under” in alphabetical order:

• Rabbit - Chas & Dave
• Radar Love - Golden Earring
• Radio Wall of Sound – Slade
• Ragtime Dance - Scott Joplin
• Rasputin - Boney M
• Rat Trap - Boomtown Rats
• Reasons to be Cheerful (Pt 3) - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
• Rebel Run – Toyah
• Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
• Relax - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
• Remember You’re A Womble – The Wombles
• Riding the Waves - Afro Celt Sound System
• Ring Ring – ABBA
• Rio - Duran Duran
• Riu Chiu - The Monkees
• River of Hope - Big Country
• Rock In This Pocket (Song of David) - Suzanne Vega
• Rock Lobster - The B-52s
• Rock 'N' Roll Is King – ELO
• Rockin' All Over The World - Status Quo
• Rubber Bullets – 10cc
• Run Runaway – Slade
• Run to the Hills - Iron Maiden
• Running Wild - Roxy Music
• Rupert Bear - Toy Dolls

These were all under consideration, but I picked the five main ones just because they were the ones that gave me most pleasure. Out of the also-rans, if you think you know what The Monkees and Big Country sound like, it might be worth checking out their respective tracks as neither of them are typical. I don’t guarantee you’ll like them, but if you don’t already know them they may not be what you expect.