Music from the UK – Joe Cocker R.I.P.

The British rock singer Joe Cocker has died at the age of 70 years.(* 20. May 1944 in Sheffield, Yorkshire; † 22. December 2014 in Crawford, Colorado, USA) His hits include songs like “Unchain My Heart” and “You Are so Beautiful” and this one he performed on the legendary Woodstock Festival

Music from Canada – Buffy Sainte-Marie

Buffy Sainte-Marie (born 20 February 1941, real first name: Beverly) is a Canadian musician, composer, performing artist, educator and social activist of Indian descent. Between 1976 and 1981 Buffy appeared regularly in the children’s show Sesame Street, and gave younger, mainly North American, television viewers an idea of ​​the lifestyle of the Plains and Pueblo Indians. For The song ” Up Where We Belong “, sung by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes for the film” an officer and a gentleman “she received an  Oscar in 1982.  Her album “Illuminations ” has been added to the “Wire´s List “

Music from Norway: Dance with a Stranger

I first came across this excellent Norwegian band when my band worked with them at a theme park near Stavanger in Norway when we were touring over there back in the 80’s. I was struck by how much like Joe Cocker the singer sounded. In fact, perhaps a cross between Joe and Italian singer Zucchero. When you listen to the fretless bass playing, one is also reminded of Pino Palladino’s work on Paul Young’s ‘No Parlez’ album (Not the Mike and the mechanics Paul Young, the other one!)  I was always puzzled as to why this band didn’t achieve greater acclaim outside their native land. They broke up in the mid-90’s but occasionally re-form for reunion shows. This is ‘Everyone needs a friend’ – listen to the lovely bass work!

Kev Moore