As it happened: Giggles Radio Summertime Special

• 15:50

  Hello, good evening, how are you? This is a super special edition of Giggles Radio, and I'm here to guide you through every note of every tune.

• 15:51

  Well, I'll tell you what songs are playing, anyways.

• 15:52

  If you're in the UK, you'll be celebrating what a glorious Easter weekend it has been, and what better way than with a cool drink and some fab songs?

• 15:52

  Giggles has you covered.

• 15:52

  If you want to join in the fun and games in the comments, head on over to https://sidepodcast.com/dashboard

• 15:53

  You can see the video and chatter in the comments all in one place there. However, if you prefer the direct thread: https://sidepodcast.com/post/live-giggles-radio-summer-of-11

• 15:54

  And it would be wrong to miss an opportunity to plug: http://gigglesradio.com/

• 16:00

  Giggles Radio has begun.

• 16:01

  The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls by Tortoise.

• 16:01

  http://www.trts.com/

• 16:02

  Iguazu Falls are located on the border between Brazil and Argentina.

• 16:02

  Legend has it an all powerful god split the river and created the falls to stop his ladyfriend running off with someone else on a canoe. Make of that what you will.

• 16:03

  This Giggles Radio show will feature more instrumental songs than any show previously. This is the first.

• 16:04

  This track comes from the 1998 album TNT.

• 16:07

  Waiting for a Train by Flash and the Pan.

• 16:08

  I can find no website for this Australia duo.

• 16:10

  The pair, Harry Vanda and George Young, used to be in The Easybeats in the late 60s, before forming Flash and the Pan towards the end of the 1970s.

• 16:10

  This song reached number 7 in the UK charts.

• 16:11

  Low Rider by War.

• 16:12

  http://www.wartheband.com/home.html

• 16:14

  This song has been covered by many people, including Cypress Hill and Barry White.

• 16:16

  Green Onions by Booker T. & The MG's.

• 16:17

  http://www.bookert.com/

• 16:17

  Not sure the MG's have their own site.

• 16:18

  Green Onions appears on many a "Greatest Song of all time" list.

• 16:21

  Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles.

• 16:21

  http://www.beatles.com/

• 16:21

  You might be interested to know, the Beatles tracks are available on iTunes as well.

• 16:22

  George Harrison on part of the inspiration to this song: "...it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it."

• 16:24

  The song is the first track on the second side of the Abbey Road album.

• 16:25

  Lovely Day by Bill Withers.

• 16:25

  We are listening to the 7" Sunshine Mix.

• 16:26

  The original Lovely Day single reached number 7 in the UK charts, the first time it was released.

• 16:26

  This remix reached number 4. So, in your face, original song.

• 16:27

  http://www.billwithersmusic.com/

• 16:28

  Lovely Day features in the soundtrack to the film 127 Hours, where he is not having such a lovely day.

• 16:30

  Sunshine Superman by Donovan.

• 16:30

  http://www.donovan.ie/

• 16:31

  Mr Donovan.

• 16:32

  Sunshine Superman was released in December of 1966, reaching number 2 in the UK.

• 16:34

  Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks.

• 16:35

  http://www.thekinks.info/

• 16:37

  The Kinks were formed by Ray and Dave Davies. Isn't Dave Davies a great name?

• 16:37

  Comment from Pat W: To be filed under 'Good Covers': Stereophonics version of Sunny Afternoon

• 16:39

  Get a Move On by Mr. Scruff.

• 16:40

  Mr. Scruff was last spotted setting up a record label called Ninja Tuna, which was also the name of his 2008 album.

• 16:40

  http://www.mrscruff.com/

• 16:41

  The trouble with URLs is that could say Mr Scruff or Mrs Cruff. Who knows?

• 16:43

  Ah ha, closer inspection reveals the record label to be Ninja Tune ( http://ninjatune.net/ ) whilst the album was Tuna. A small but significant difference.

• 16:49

  She Said by Longpigs.

• 16:50

  I can't find a site for Longpigs either, but they split up in 2000 which may be why. Dee Boyle left the group and their record company went bust, so they called it a day.

• 16:51

  Richard Hawley, though, was in Longpigs, then joined Pulp, and has a pretty successful solo career... and a website! http://www.richardhawley.co.uk/

• 16:55

  Where is my Mind? by Pixies.

• 16:55

  http://www.pixiesmusic.com/

• 16:56

  Pixies are an American four-piece, who formed in 1986, split in '93, but reunited in 2004.

• 16:56

  They are creating a rather fabulous digital archive: http://www.pixiesmusic.com/tour-archive/ saying: Help us create a complete multimedia gigography - add your videos, photos and tweets to the site with tags!

• 17:00

  5 Years Time (Sun Sun Sun) by Noah and the Whale.

• 17:00

  Phew. If it was that L-I-F-E nonsense, I might have to go on strike.

• 17:00

  Eh-hem.

• 17:00

  http://www.noahandthewhale.com/

• 17:02

  This was released in 2007, but re-released in 2008 wherein it improved to the top ten of the UK charts.

• 17:05

  Steal My Sunshine by Len.

• 17:06

  Single cover.

• 17:07

  Len was founded by brother and sister combo Marc and Sharon Costanzo.

• 17:08

  A fact from Wikipedia for you: "The group used a $100,000 budget to make the video. They flew to Daytona Beach, Florida with two dozen friends while the area was crowded with people on their spring vacations. They spent much of the budget on alcohol, buying so much that they broke their hotel's elevator trying to lift it."

• 17:10

  Summer Grof by The Spinto Band.

• 17:10

  http://www.spintoband.com/

• 17:12

  The Spinto Band recorded a cover of Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) in the hopes it would be used in the new Arthur movie, but never heard back from the producers.

• 17:14

  Don't Steal Our Sun by The Thrills.

• 17:14

  http://www.thethrills.com/

• 17:15

  It looks like the site hasn't been updated since 2008, which could be related to the fact The Thrills were dropped by record label EMI after poor performance.

• 17:15

  Don't Steal Our Sun was the fourth single off their debut album So Much for the City, but only charted at 45 in the UK.

• 17:19

  Island in the Sun by Weezer.

• 17:19

  http://www.weezer.com/

• 17:20

  You can't have anything against a band who put Hurley on the cover of their album.

• 17:21

  This song wasn't originally planned to be on the album - Weezer (The Green Album) - but the producer fought for it and it became one of the band's most popular, and most-licensed tracks.

• 17:27

  Dakota by Stereophonics.

• 17:27

  http://www.stereophonics.com/

• 17:28

  Dakota hit number 1 in the UK charts in March 2005, but stayed in the charts for 23 weeks altogether.

• 17:29

  Just to cheer you up, this was knocked off the top spot by McFly.

• 17:32

  12:51 by The Strokes.

• 17:33

  Single cover.

• 17:33

  http://thestrokes.com/

• 17:35

  The Strokes formed in 1998 and their fourth album Angles came out this year.

• 17:35

  They are busy working on a fifth.

• 17:38

  Summer of Their Dreams by Virginia Astley.

• 17:38

  http://www.virginiaastley.com/

• 17:38

  Virginia Astley's sister Karen married Pete Townshend of The Who.

• 17:43

  Quiet Talks and Summer Walks by Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

• 17:44

  http://www.bonzodog.co.uk/

• 17:45

  The name comes from Bonzo the Dog, a cartoon character in the 1920s, and Dada after the cultural movement that began in Switzerland.

• 17:46

  They started in the 1960s, and have split and reunited three times so far.

• 17:48

  Summer Wind by Frank Sinatra.

• 17:48

  http://www.sinatra.com/

• 17:48

  Summer Wind has been covered by Shirley Bassey, Barry Manilow, and yes, you guessed it... Westlife.

• 17:49

  Don't tell Giggles, but James Dean Bradfield of Manics fame also recorded this as a B-side for one of his solo singles.

• 17:50

  Did you know Frank Sinatra won a total of 11 Grammy Awards? That's quite a lot.

• 17:52

  Strawberry Letter 23 by Shuggie Otis.

• 17:53

  Supposedly, the title comes from strawberry-scented letters sent to Otis by a girlfriend.

• 17:53

  If I had paper that smelled like strawberries, I think I would want to eat it.

• 17:54

  This song is sampled in Outkast's Ms Jackson.

• 17:56

  Shuggie is reported to be working on his fourth studio album to be released this year, on his own record label.

• 17:57

  Sunday Sermon by Booker T. & The MG's.

• 17:59

  Booker T and friends have made a total of 15 albums between 1962 and 1994.

• 18:00

  That includes one Christmas album in 1966.

• 18:03

  Soul Man by Sam & Dave.

• 18:04

  Sam has the higher voice, with Dave the lower, and the duo were together between 1961 and 1981.

• 18:05

  Sam & Dave were famed for their live performances, full of energy.

• 18:07

  Duke of Earl by Gene Chandler.

• 18:07

  Gene Chandler's real name was Eugene Dixon but that matters not as he was forever known as Duke of Earl, or more simply The Duke.

• 18:10

  Mr. Big Stuff by Jean Knight.

• 18:12

  Mr Big Stuff was released on Stax Records and was up for a Grammy but lost out to Aretha Franklin's cover of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

• 18:13

  The single was from the album of the same name, with a nicely purple cover.

• 18:13

  In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry.

• 18:14

  http://www.mungojerry.com/

• 18:14

  In the Summertime went to number 1 in the UK charts for seven whole weeks in 1970.

• 18:16

  The track was covered by Shaggy, who only managed to reach number 5.

• 18:16

  Shaggy changed the "have a drink, have a drive" to "I'm going to ride and drive."

• 18:18

  Summer in the City by The Lovin' Spoonful.

• 18:19

  http://www.lovinspoonful.com/

• 18:21

  Cruel Summer by Bananarama.

• 18:21

  http://www.bananarama.co.uk/

• 18:22

  Cruel Summer single cover. That is some epic '80s styling.

• 18:22

  Cruel Summer was released in 1983, and covered by Ace of Base in 1998.

• 18:23

  Sara Dallin says of the song: "It looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We've all been there!"

• 18:23

  Is it wrong I want a pair of dungarees now?

• 18:26

  Comment from Steven Roy: Dungarees are always wrong. I blame the cocktails

• 18:26

  Summer Girls - LFO.

• 18:27

  This is the best I can do on the website front: http://warp.net/records/lfo

• 18:28

  Apparently, the song was never meant for release, recorded simply for a demo tape but was leaked to a radio station. That's why it's full of cultural references and inside jokes.

• 18:28

  As is always the way, it turned out to be their most popular song.

• 18:29

  I have never worn Abercrombie & Fitch, I should probably rectify that. I wonder if they do dungarees?

• 18:31

  Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

• 18:32

  Jazzy and Will did four albums together. Four! I had no idea.

• 18:33

  It all ended when Will Smith started looking for full-time acting work, then he recorded the theme to Men in Black, and the rest is history.

• 18:33

  Summertime was originally released in 1991, but re-released in 1998 to coincide with the duo's Greatest Hits album.

• 18:36

  Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams.

• 18:36

  http://www.bryanadams.com/

• 18:37

  Bryan is on tour in Europe in June, stopping in the UK on the 8th, if you've got a hankering to see him do his stuff.

• 18:38

  He's also coming back in November for a specific UK jaunt - Waking Up The Neighbours 20th Anniversary Tour.

• 18:39

  This song was almost called Best Days of my Life but they decided against it.

• 18:41

  Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran.

• 18:42

  This came out originally in 1958, but has also been covered by The Beach Boys, The Who, Blue Cheer, Olivia Newton-John and Alan Jackson.

• 18:45

  I Get Around by The Beach Boys.

• 18:45

  http://thebeachboys.com/

• 18:46

  I Get Around reached number 7 in the UK, and was the band's first top-ten hit here. It also was their first number 1 in the US.

• 18:47

  The B-Side was Don't Worry Baby.

• 18:48

  Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves.

• 18:48

  http://www.katrinaandthewaves.net/

• 18:50

  This was Katrina and her waves best known single in the UK until the Eurovision entry in 1997.

• 18:50

  Walking on Sunshine was released in 1983 and then again in 1985, when it reached 8 in the UK charts.

• 18:51

  This track is an advertiser's favourite.

• 18:52

  Bring Me Sunshine by Morecambe & Wise.

• 18:54

  I don't know how official it is, but this is a pretty darn good tribute site: http://www.morecambeandwise.com/

• 18:55

  Giggles Radio Summer Special is done!

• 18:55

  Thank you for joining Giggles, and of course myself, this fine evening. There'll be more from the Factbyte Factbox soon!