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For those of you struggling on Christmas Eve to find a suitable present for your family or friends, fear not - there is still time yet to add to the Christmas stocking. "Captain Choonage" might just have some musical answers for you.
Please scroll down for gift ideas for your parents, brothers/sisters and friends etc.
THE GRANDPARENTS
Artist: Andy Williams
Genres: Country/Pop.
This legendary vocalist, who is known to possess a voice which is a "national treasure" to the American nation and beyond, has racked up the hits over his career. Born in 1927, in Iowa, USA, Williams' most famous hits are collected in Andy Williams - Andy which features his greatest classics that are bound to get your grannies grooving.
Williams' silky smooth vocal combined with a mixture of subtle balladry pop and country tinged material helped give the world formidable US top 10 hits which travelled East to England, in Can't Get Used To Losing You, God Only Knows and Can't Take My Eyes Off You.
Although this album features live performances and bizarrely doesn't feature Can't Get Used To Losing You and Can't Take My Eyes Off You, there are other great alternatives in the songs, Alfie and Can't Help Falling In Love With You to savour for the older generation.
Available in Zavvi alongside his Love Songs compilaton, it's an opportunity to be snapped up by those wanting a quick purchase. Just prepare for endless repeats of the tracks on Christmas Day once Great Auntie Beattie has opened her new present.
Alternatively try Andy Williams' Love Songs compilation as a back-up for those older folks.
THE PARENTS
Artist: Motown 50 (Various Artists)
Genres: R&B, Soul, Pop.
HMV price: £14.99
Motown has its right to be called, "Hitsville USA" for numerous important reasons. Berry Gordy's American label which featured some of the greatest soulful, rhythm and blues talents between the 1960s and late 1980s, in Diana Ross & The Supremes, the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie & The Commodores and The Four Tops, helped develop and shape modern R n B and pop music today.
Helped by slick pop hook writing from Brian and Edward Holland, and Lamont Dozier, who produced a string of US #1 hits in the 1960s and 70s under the title "Holland-Dozier-Holland" and harnessed by string sections and horn laden arrangements, the perfect pop feel was achieved.
But it wasn't just artistic, dancey and sweet vocal elements comprised in the Tamla Motown label, founded in 1959 in Detroit. This 50 year hits collection contains Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On, a reaction to the Vietnam War, whilst Edwin Starr's War (What Is It Good For) questions the debatable ethics of war against Afro-Caribbeans including himself and fellow Motown artists during the American Civil Rights period.
The hits rack up here though on this slice of reminiscing with Martha (Reeves) & The Vandellas' Dancing In The Street, Stevie Wonder's Superstition through to Smokey Robinson's Being With You.
Motown's 50 hits collection doesn't fail to disappoint with its catchy singalong tunes and heart-warming lyrics adept for those parents who grew up during the Motown phenomenon.
A must have, with 61 tracks (including 11 cover versions by Motown artists) on 3 CDs worth of entertainment, priced at just £14.99 in HMV.
ALTERNATIVELY TRY:
Chicago - The Chicago Story: The Complete Greatest Hits
Genres: Jazz Rock, Pop.
US group Chicago produced a string of raunchy rock songs and hit ballads during the 1970s and 1980s which through Peter Cetera's crisp vocal and the group's swift awareness on production value through horns, guitars and synthesizers, helped capture US and UK audiences.
If You Leave Me Now, Hard To Say I'm Sorry, You're The Inspiration, Hard Habit To Break, Will You Still Love Me? have that R&B, jazzy and soulful tinge to their wonderfully structured compositions and are bound to be a fruitful trip down memory lane for your parents.
The album Chicago 17 produced by renowned composer David Foster in 1982, is also a must have 80s CD to add to the collection, comprised of hits including Along Comes A Woman and Stay The Night, filled with loveable lyrics and slick synthetic textures bound to enlighten your parents.
THE BROTHER/SISTER/FRIENDS
Artists: Taio Cruz, Justin Timberlake.
Genres:Â R n B, Pop, Dance.
Albums: Taio Cruz - Departure, Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds.
Rising stars in the R n B and pop fields during the past decade, with Justin Timberlake already cemented as a teen favourite, Taio Cruz and Timberlake offer a valuable purchase for a keen bargain hunter.
Their uptempo and soft mixtures contained within their respective albums, Departure and Futuresex/Lovesounds are available in HMV for just £10 combined in their two for one offer.
Cruz burst on to the scene in 2006 with his debut single, I Just Wanna Know in the UK, filled with romance and bassy drum, setting a precedent for his intellectual R n B songs which he's since delivered in 2007 and 2008.
The English born star, of Nigerian and Brazilian parentage, is a dab hand at producing, writing and singing and his tracks, Come On Girl and She's Like A Star both reached the UK Top 20 thanks to their heartfelt lyricism and immaculate synthesized production, by Cruz.
Timberlake meanwhile returned to our attention with his 2006 album, a stark contrast from his earlier hits, Cry Me A River and Senorita on his debut 2002 record, Justified. Futuresex/Lovesounds is co-produced by Timbaland and Black Eyed Peas star, Wil I Am, stars of the R n B and Hip-Hop scene and offered the charts catchy pop hit singles in SexyBack, My Love and Love Stoned.
An upbeat offering from the pretentious young talent, Timberlake's album still lasts the distance two years on from its release and is bound to engineer appreciation from your peers.
Both albums are a must have for that friend or relative with a penchant for a commercial pop hit.
I don't like Andy Williams by the way! My grandparents on the other hand (as would most people's) love him!
When you were little, my parents would threaten to take my football away or later on my playstation... did yours threaten to take your CD's by any chance? :) haha.
You're knowledge is overwhelming
Hilarious Rob, thank you haha.
To be honest it used to be my toy cars when I was aged between 5-10, then my football between 10-12 (sad, I know :) ). But actually when I was little I wasn't too bothered about music, I've only really been bothered since about 2002/3ish onwards. Surprising eh, even though I obviously heard a lot of it before then, but it didn't register as much.
Thank you Rob - perhaps my knowledge is spookily overwhelming and worryingly overwhelming - but it's a combination of knowledge and research haha. I'm not quite the information machine you imagine.
Anyway, Rob and everyone else, have a good xmas filled with cold turkey sanis and endless comedy repeats...and the grandmother who hasn't seen you in years and calls you Stuey (well, in my case that's applicable).
MERRY CHRISTMAS