Salut! Live

Song of the Day: Del Shannon ... Runaway

The stories of Del Shannon, Runaway and - no point being modest - Salut! Live come together in a strange way.

As a young lad trying to avoid such meaningful activity as homework, I regarded the arrival on Radio Luxembourg of this big hit from the States as a significant event. It was as good a single as I remember from the year, and I briefly wanted to be Del Shannon.

Later that year, or maybe the next, I was in Blackpool on a family trip. The amusement arcades had make-your-own record booths and in I went to give Runaway my best shot.

Song of the Day: Christy Moore ... Smoke and Strong Whiskey

It was only a matter of time before Salut! Live's Song of the Day series reached Christy Moore. Today's the day ...

Salut! Live readers with long memories, and readers of The Daily Telegraph with even longer ones, will know of my "sleeping with Christy Moore" confessions.

My story was topped the other day when the American harper Bonnie Shaljean, who lives in Ireland, added this comment to a threat at Mudcat after talking to the Irish singer Packie Byrne about the rotten news that Mike Waterson had died:

Packie ... reminisced about some of his early memories of the Watersons, whom he first met in the mid or late 60s. During one festival they were all being put up in the same house. Not only the same house, but the same BED, as it turned out. For years afterwards Packie boasted about how he had "slept with the Watersons" and there were those who added up two and two and got five.

Song of the Day: Eric Clapton ... Rambling on My Mind

What do you make of it so far? I am quite enjoying this series, picking a clip each day - as I will for as long as I can keep it going - to share the bits and pieces of music I regard as special.

We've had the Unthanks, Dessie O'Halloran with Sharon Shannon, Joan Baez, Steeleye Span and the Dubliners. Not a bad start - and you can see the full series by clicking here - but now it is time for something different.

Song of the Day: Sharon Shannon/ Dessie O'Halloran ... Say You Love Me

"I could listen to that girl all night." Those words, or similar, were spoken to me in a Belfast bar 15 years or more ago, and the conversation probably forces itself back into my mind about as often as I dream that I have resumed smoking after decades of abstinence.

Sharon Shannon - look for the seated musician with ear-to-ear smile - is indeed an artist whose accordion and fiddle-playing, and free-thinking choice of material, I could never tire of hearing.

But this is not a Song of the Day about Sharon. I could devote a Tune of the Day series to her work and not run out of material for a month or more. But one of her many gifts is an ability to assemble exceptional musicians, from any genre, in the cause of inventive, magical music. Musical collaboration has become an essential part of the Sharon Shannon story.

June Tabor: the power and consuming passion of the sea

June Tabor Ashore (Topic)

How often have you played a June Tabor album, given it the attention it needed and reached the conclusion that you have been listening to a wonderful work of art from start to end?

It has certainly happened to me, and I am glad to say that with Ashore, a collection songs reflecting was Tabor describes as "wariness, respect and admiration" for the sea, it has happened again.

Song of the Day: Joan Baez ... Don't Think Twice It's All Right

I may be on autodrive at the start of this little series. Rest assured it won't last.

But while I am thus engaged, the songs will come thick and fast. Then, it is fair to assume, it will become occasional rather than daily.

Time for a little controversy. I was a great admirer of early Bob Dylan. In that context, most people who use the adjective - early, not great - are probably "sneaking regarders"; they wouldn't necessarily have tossed coins themselves on the tour when Dylan went electric, but they understood the sense of betrayal of those who did.

Song of the Day: Luke Kelly ... The Town I Loved So Well

Uniquely, so far as this series is concerned, today brings a second Song of the Day. I explain why later ...

Immediately after I started what will almost certainly turn into a haphazard rather than daily series, plucking clips of musical treasures to be reposted at Salut! Live, it struck me that I had at least two subconscious influences.

One was the Musical Monday feature my friend Julian Young includes at his site, The Other Side of Paris. Our tastes only rarely coincide but I invariably find his selections interesting even when the music does little for me.

Song of the Day: Steeleye Span ... Bonnie Prince Charlie

The road between Le Lavandou and La Seyne-sur-Mer is straightforward. Finding the campsite where inlaws were staying in La Forêt de Janas was a little more complicated, enough to confuse my out-of-date SatNav on more than one occasion.

But the twists and turns, and even the traffic jam coming back through Toulon (west-east, so no tunnel), were made all the more bearable by reacquaintance with a few pearls from my vast garage collection of old CDs.

Song of the Day: The Unthanks ... The Testament of Patience Kershaw

Most of us like to dip into YouTube for handy reminders of our favourite music. Salut! Live is no exception.

This powerfully moving song, performed by the excellent Unthanks of Newcastle upon Tyne, was written by Frank Higgins as an adaptation of an illiterate teenage girl's evidence to the Mines Commission of 1842. The inquiry was conducted by one Lord Ashley and led to Parliament prohibiting the employment in the pits of all women and of boys under 13.

RIP Mike Waterson: solid man, great voice, proper soul

I have felt reduced to unaccustomed speechlessness by news of the death this week of Mike Waterson, whose voice as part of the wonderful Yorkshire singing family I hear ringing in my ears as I write.

In common with many, I had no idea Mike was ill until I saw mention of his passing at the indispensable Mudcat folk music forum. Then I explored further and there had been much comment and encouragement in earlier threads at the site.