Many thanks for the detailed explanation, Jürgen. The word “theremin” sound more like a drug than a musical instrument to me, but it possibly is for those who play it!

Jürgen, thanks for those. Both of them are really nice, but, for me, the Hotel California one is both brilliant and beautiful.

And “The Whale” from their Out Of The Blue album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nWulNjTR2U&list=RD5nWulNjTR2U&start_radio=1

Secondly, Jeff Lynne’s take on Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” from ELO’s third album On The Third Day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytHimKBPy1U&list=RDytHimKBPy1U&start_radio=1

Three from ELO next. Firstly “First Movement (Jumping Biz) from their debut album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=052rgp4_POw&list=RD052rgp4_POw&start_radio=1

Another British TV theme, this time from the crime series The Saint, featuring the wonderful Roger Moore as Simon Templar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP9pKQ5N6Qg&list=RDEP9pKQ5N6Qg&start_radio=1

That’s very nice, Jürgen. What’s that fascinating “Instrument” that she’s playing?

I’ve always liked the theme tune from British private detective TV series of the late 60s and early 70s, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) which, for some reason, was renamed My Partner The Ghost for the US audience:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrEwN4-tsQ4&list=RDUrEwN4-tsQ4&start_radio=1

Zorba’s dance from “Zorba The Greek”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG12C1oX5Eo&list=RDkG12C1oX5Eo&start_radio=1

Ennio Morricone’s iconic theme song from The Good, the Bad and The Ugly:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9EZGHcu3E8&list=RDJ9EZGHcu3E8&start_radio=1

Or, an alternative version with some added words and noises:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s&list=RDpLgJ7pk0X-s&start_radio=1

Chris, that’s a great and wholly appropriate tune for the subject matter.

Jürgen, I’m sure that I saw this YT video a year or two ago, so it may not have been via your original post, but it’s a truly amazing video and must have taken ages to set up. Howard sums it up nicely – WOW!

A great film and an iconic tune on the zither.

My secret’s out, Jürgen, but what you didn’t know is that I also wear lederhosen most days.

Seriously, though, this is the only song of Helmut’s that I know and I actually had no idea that it was him until I bought it from Amazon a few years back as I remembered it from the Tokyo games. And I have no idea what he looks like and, after your…

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Yay! You’ve made my day!!

Sticking with 1963 for a minute, English musicians Jet Harris and Tony Meehan had a chart-topping single in the UK with “Diamonds”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbOFdQoPMwQ&list=RDpbOFdQoPMwQ&start_radio=1

“Maria Elena” was a transatlantic hit for Los Indios Trabajaras in 1963, reaching the top 10 in both the US and the UK:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS_c7gHC3WQ&list=RDaS_c7gHC3WQ&start_radio=1

“Tokyo Melody” by Helmut Zacharias, which was chosen to be the BBC’s theme music for the Summer Olympics in 1964:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZgK8fcA5p0&list=RDfZgK8fcA5p0&start_radio=1

“Song For Guy”, by Elton John, which is dedicated to a young messenger boy who worked for Reg’s company and died very young in a motorbike accident.

If I don’t mention that he says “Life isn’t everything” and “Life” a few times near the end, I think I’ll get away with…

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Jürgen, I knew that “Wonderful Land” was also a cover, having been previously recorded by The Shadows in the 60s, but I was unaware that “Portsmouth” was also a cover, but presumably it was a traditional folk song(?)

I do. Do I get a bonus point? 😉

Tim, I’m not surprised that you don’t know it as that track, along with the track “Thin Line”, was only included as a late bonus track on their 2006 album Taking The Long Way.

Thanks for the link to the WOTT, Tim. I particularly liked the “sugar” story! 😆

That’s a very harsh punishment for a minor infringement, Jürgen, 😉but I’ll take my medicine and hopefully learn to keep my mouth shut next time 😄

Actually Sailor also had another instrumental on their third album, called “Melancholy”, but I always preferred…

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Yes, Jürgen, “Vivaldi” is the other track from the album that stands out for me too.

And, secondly, “Clog Dance” by Violinski (aka Mik Kaminski from ELO):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwdM9jw47ms&list=RDjwdM9jw47ms&start_radio=1

Here are a couple of instrumentals form the 70s. Firstly, ELP’s reworking of Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7c6IZ7I4dQ&list=RDv7c6IZ7I4dQ&start_radio=1

I always liked the theme tune from the TV series “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” that was aired in the UK in the 1960s. This is the extended version of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE10msGsCn4&list=RDOE10msGsCn4&startradio=1

English pianist/composer Russ Conway was a popular performer who had many hits in the late 50s and early 60s, who my mum rather liked. “Side Saddle” was one of his hits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJpCzQC2sG4&list=RDGJpCzQC2sG4&start_radio=1

Is it time for some piano instrumentals now? Well, here’s a couple of pianists/composers who had many hit singles between them.

Firstly Winifred Atwell, who was born in Trindad and emigrated to England and became very popular in the 50s. This was her first ever hit single in 1952 (how times have changed!), so it’s a bit before my time. But…

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Some great banjo picking in that one, Tim.

I have a compilation album of theirs on which this instrumental appears, but whenever I hear the song “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” or hear it mentioned, I always think of English comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse as DJs Smashy and Nicey because they always play that song at the end of all of their sketches,…

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And this one by The Dixie Chicks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ym_pRR3A40&list=RD0ym_pRR3A40&start_radio=1

BTW, did you know that The Thunder from Down Under is also the nickname of Australian professional snooker player Neil Robertson?

Bad luck, Tim! The Masters golf was a close run thing, with the lead changing hands a few times on the last day, but once Rory got the lead back, he managed to hold on JUST, despite an errant shot off the last tee.

Or, if you were the English comedian Eric Morecambe, you could have said “I’m playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPEUcVyJsc

“Jacaranda” by Sailor is ALMOST an instrumental, although they do say the title twice near the end. I’m hoping that this one will be allowed through. If so, I promise to write out “I must try harder next time” 500 times…..:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50sa0_xPjIk&list=RD50sa0_xPjIk&start_radio=1

“Toss the Feathers” by The Corrs is an instrumental that they have often played at their live shows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_edkn7Qd9Zg&list=RD_edkn7Qd9Zg&start_radio=1

Jürgen, did you know that MO’s “Arrival” was a cover of Abba’s instrumental from their album of the same name?

Enjoy the Nascar race, Tim!

😃 I’m sure that you’re being very modest, David!

I think that you’re right about Monica Seles, David. By comparison, in today’s game, her noise would be considered a mere whisper to the noise coming out of Aryna Sabalenka’s mouth! Luckily, though, I’ve never seen her live. Also, fortunately, there are still a number of other players in the women’s game who don’t or barely grunt at all.

Yes, it’s a very pleasant song, isn’t it, Howard? And yes, he is indeed playing the clarinet. I’m glad that I’ve been able to find an instrumental that will potentially make you so relaxed that you’ll fall asleep at the drop of a hat!

Tom, I usually do what David has already posted but, if I’m preparing a longish answer, I often use Word to prepare my post and in Word you can find all foreign accents under “Insert” and then “Symbol”.

Jürgen, in answer to your query, I would say that instrumentals were very popular in the early and mid 60s in the UK, and this song was played a lot on the radio at the time, resulting in it getting as high as no. 3 in the UK charts.

Many thanks, Jürgen. Your help is greatly appreciated. I’ll check out the links as soon as I can and if I have any more questions, I’ll be in touch! Thanks again.

I’m with you, Tim. I detest all the hype that goes with many sports these days and I also normally only start watching any televised coverage from just before the game/match is due to start.

David, I fully understand why you dislike all of the fist pumping in golf as I’m not a fan of it either, and It seems to be even more prevalent in tennis these days, occurring almost after every winning shot from many players. I also dislike all the grunting that goes on in tennis, to the extent that I sometimes turn the volume down if…

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Tim, I’m not a huge fan of golf (I prefer soccer, cricket and tennis), but I like watching the 4 golf Majors if I can, especially if players from the British Isles are in contention 😃. This time there are three in with a chance of winning, but anyone in the top 20 at the end of round 3 could potentially win, so it should be a very interesting…

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“Midnight in Moscow” by Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGo_NTk5dGw&list=RDGGo_NTk5dGw&start_radio=1

And “March of The Siamese Children” by the same band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCA8NeLvES4&list=RDsCA8NeLvES4&start_radio=1

“Stranger on the Shore” by Acker Bilk, which was the theme tune to a children’s TV series of the same name that was aired in the UK in the early 60s, which I still vaguely remember. The song ended up topping the UK charts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jzx664u5DA