This is my cover of one of Supertramp's epic songs "School" which speaks a lot to me. There are several songs that just about sum up my childhood. This one is possibly the darkest reminding me of my first school a Roman Catholic school next door to its Church. As an infant at the age of five being picked up off the ground by my ears by a woman dressed as a Penguin (OK it was a Nun). My school report was never good but reported that I enjoyed singing. It was a horrible place like a Dickens story Oliver Twist workhouse. I remember standing as punishment for some minor misdemeanour facing a wall all day with a waste paper bin to pee in. Sometimes having to wear a pointed hat made of cardboard with a big D written on it. My brother was at the same school two years older and was canned for not answering his name to the school register. My mum was so angry that she went to school and gave that Nun responsible two black eyes. We were expelled from school left the area and started a new life and a new school. Pet Shop Boys - It's a sin that also reminds me of this school and then Andrew Golds - Lonely Boy just about sums up the rest of my Childhood. I have a real passion for music and remember sitting with my classmates crosslegged on the school stage of our new school whilst our music teacher played from a record player Peter and the Wolf and explained how the music told a story. It was wonderful...

Anyway if you like my cover please like and feel free to share as it encourages me to upload to the Soundcloud community.

Supertramp - School - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Calling All Stations" which is the fifteenth studio album by English rock band Genesis. It was released 1 September 1997 by Virgin Records and is their only album featuring Scottish singer Ray Wilson as frontman following the departure of longtime drummer/singer Phil Collins in 1996. Anyway, I hope you like it and as usual please feel free to share.

Genesis - Calling All Stations - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my pitiful cover attempt of Depeche Mode - "Barrel of a Gun" a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released as the first single from their ninth studio album, Ultra (1997), on 3rd February 1997. The song reached number one in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and Sweden while reaching the top 10 in several other countries, including Finland, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. In North America, the song reached number 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number five on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30. Regardless let me know if you like and as always please feel free to share.

Depeche Mode - Barrel Of A Gun - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my Cover of "Livin' La Vida Loca" (transl. "Livin' the Crazy Life") is a song recorded by Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin for his fifth studio album and English-language debut, Ricky Martin (1999). The song was written by Draco Rosa and Desmond Child, while the production was handled by the latter. It was released to radio stations by Columbia Records as the lead single from the album on March 23, 1999. A Latin pop song, it is about an irresistible, particularly sinister wild woman who lives on the edge, seducing others into her crazy world. The song received overwhelmingly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented its lyrics and danceable rhythm. It was ranked as the best 1990s pop song by Elle and was listed among the Best Latin Songs of All Time by Billboard.

"Livin' La Vida Loca" was also commercially successful, reaching number one in more than 20 countries. It is considered to be Martin's biggest hit and one of the best-selling singles of all time. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, becoming Martin's first number-one single on the chart. Additionally, it broke several records on Billboard charts. It also spent eight consecutive weeks atop the Canada Top Singles chart and topped the country's year-end chart. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number one and stayed there for three weeks, making Martin the first Puerto Rican artist in history to hit number one. It has received several certifications, including double platinum in the UK. The track was nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards.

Ricky Martin - Livin La Vida Loca - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Twilight Zone" a 1982 hit by Dutch band Golden Earring. It was written by the band's guitarist George Kooymans, who got the inspiration from a book by Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity. "Twilight Zone" appears on their 1982 album Cut and pays tribute to the 1960s television series The Twilight Zone. It spent more than half a year (27 weeks) on the U.S. Pop charts. It was the group's sole Top 10 Pop single on the US Billboard Hot 100 (the song reached 16 on the Cashbox chart) and hit No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Tracks chart, the band's only No. 1 hit in America.

Golden Earring - Twilight Zone - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Lambada", also known as "Chorando Se Foi (Lambada)" or "Llorando Se Fue (Lambada)" (both meaning 'crying, he/she went away in Portuguese and Spanish, respectively), is a song by French-Brazilian pop group Kaoma. It featured guest vocals by Brazilian vocalist Loalwa Braz and was released as the first single from Kaoma's debut album Worldbeat. The video, filmed on Cocos beach in the city of Trancoso, in the state of Bahia, Brazil featured the Brazilian child duo, Chico & Roberta.

The song in Portuguese was a mix cover of the 1986 hit "Chorando Se Foi" by Márcia Ferreira (with lyrics translated to Portuguese) and the Cuarteto Continental hit "Llorando Se Fue" (the first upbeat version of the song introducing the accordion), released in 1984 through the Peruvian record label INFOPESA and produced by Alberto Maraví; both songs were adapted from the 1981 Bolivian song "Llorando se fue" by Los Kjarkas.

At the time of release, "Lambada" was regarded as the most successful European single in the history of CBS Records, with sales of 1.8 million copies in France and more than 4 million across Europe. Overall, "Lambada" sold 5 million copies worldwide in 1989 alone according to the New York Times. However, the Kaoma group did not credit the original song of Los Kjarkas, turning their version into plagiarism and ending with lawsuits that would be won by the original authors of the song, the Bolivian group and their Portuguese-language co-authors.

Please Like and feel free to share.

Kaoma - Lambada - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the second track from their 1987 album The Joshua Tree and was released as the album's second single in May 1987. The song was a hit, becoming the band's second consecutive number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 while peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart. In the recreation of this U2 masterpiece cover of mine, I decided upon less is more and must admit this song inspired me as I still do not know what I am looking for. However, it still ended up crazy loud, Please like and feel free to share.

U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of Simon and Garfunkel - Bright Eyes (Watership Down Version)which was done as a special request for my very good friend Graig Wilson and family, Why not follow me on Facebook: 
 https://www.facebook.com/stefan.lobuczek/videos/457853372958122

"Bright Eyes" is a song written by British songwriter Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1978 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. "Bright Eyes" topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and became Britain's biggest-selling single of 1979, selling over a million copies. Richard Adams, author of the original novel is reported to have hated the song. A cover of the song was later used in the Watership Down television series explicitly as its theme song.

Simon And Garfunkel - Bright Eyes - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my Cover of "Lodi" a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Recorded in March 1969, it was released in April, four months before the album, as the B-side of "Bad Moon Rising", the lead single from Green River.

The song describes the plight of a down-and-out musician whose career has landed him playing gigs in the town of Lodi (pronounced "low-die"), a small agricultural community in California's Central Valley, located around 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Sacramento and 75 miles (121 km) northeast of Fogerty's hometown of El Cerrito. After playing in local bars, the narrator finds himself stranded and unable to raise bus or train fare to leave. Fogerty later said he had never actually visited Lodi before writing this song, and simply picked it for the song because it had "the coolest sounding name." The song's chorus, "Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi again," has been the theme of several city events in Lodi.

The song's arrangement includes a change of key in the final verse of the track, emphasising the melancholy drama of the lyric, "If I only had a dollar for every song I sang...."

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Lodi - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my rather laid-back cover of "In the Air Tonight" by Philip David Charles Collins LVO (born 30 January 1951), an English drummer, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and 1990, Collins scored three UK and seven US number-one singles as a solo artist. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, he had more US top 40 singles than any other artist during the 1980s.[8] His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)", "One More Night", and "Another Day in Paradise".

Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Gimme All you Lovin" a song by ZZ Top, an American rock band that formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas. For 51 years, they comprised vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard and vocalist-bassist Dusty Hill, until Hill died in 2021. ZZ Top developed a signature sound based on Gibbons' blues guitar style and Hill and Beard's rhythm section. They are popular for their live performances, sly and humorous lyrics, and the matching appearances of Gibbons and Hill, who wore sunglasses, hats and long beards.

ZZ Top was formed after Moving Sidewalks, Gibbons' previous band, demise in 1969. They signed with London Records within a year and released ZZ Top's First Album (1971). Subsequent releases, such as Tres Hombres (1973) and Fandango! (1975), and the singles "La Grange" and "Tush", gained extensive radio airplay. By the mid-1970s, ZZ Top had become renowned in North America for its live act, including the Worldwide Texas Tour (1976— 1977), which was a critical and commercial success.

I'd like to dedicate this cover of mine to my newfound friend Angel Rose.

ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin - Stefan Lobuczek

For my Good Friend Craig Wilson as a special request. This is my Cover of Bad Wolves - Zombie in memory of Dolores O'Riordan. The Bad Wolves band was set to record their version of Zombie with vocals by Cranberries' frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan, but tragically she died just before those sessions were scheduled. Bad Wolves is an American heavy metal band formed in 2017. Initially finding fame from their first single, a cover of the Cranberries' 1994 hit "Zombie", the band proceeded to find further success with several songs topping the Billboard Mainstream Rock songs chart, including "Remember When", "Killing Me Slowly", and "Sober". The band has released three studio albums, Disobey (2018), N.A.T.I.O.N. (2019) and Dear Monsters (2021). In January 2021, original lead vocalist Tommy Vext left the band and was replaced by Daniel "DL" Laskiewicz.

Bad Wolves - Zombie - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of Boney M - "Ma Baker" a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's official line-up were Liz Mitchell and Marcia Barrett from Jamaica, Maizie Williams from Montserrat, and Bobby Farrell from Aruba. The group was formed in 1976 and achieved popularity during the disco era of the late 1970s. Since the 1980s, various line-ups of the band have performed with differing personnel.

The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and is known for international hits including "Daddy Cool", "Ma Baker", "Belfast", "Sunny", "Rasputin", "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" and "Rivers of Babylon".

Boney M - Ma Baker - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Kids in America" a song recorded by English pop singer Kim Wilde. It was released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the United States in the spring of 1982, later appearing on her self-titled debut studio album. Primarily inspired by the synth-pop style of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Gary Numan, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and number one in Finland and South Africa, and charted in the top 10 of many European charts as well as Australia and New Zealand. In North America, the song reached the top 40 in Canada and the United States. It was certified gold in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Sweden; and has sold over three million copies worldwide. Many artists have covered the song from different genres.

Kim Wilde - Kids In America - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Eye of the Tiger"  a song by the American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film Rocky III, which was released a day before the single. The song was written by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik, and it was recorded at the request of Rocky III star, writer, and director Sylvester Stallone, after Queen denied him permission to use "Another One Bites the Dust", the song Stallone intended as the Rocky III theme. The version of the music that appears in the film is the demo version of the song. The film version also contained tiger growls, which did not appear in the album version. It features original Survivor singer Dave Bickler on lead vocals. The song is also the title of the 1986 film of the same name. "Eye of the Tiger" is written in the key of C minor.

It gained tremendous MTV and radio airplay and topped the charts worldwide in 1982. In the United States, it held No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for six consecutive weeks (the band's only song to top the chart) and was the No. 2 single of 1982, behind Olivia Newton-John's "Physical". It spent fifteen consecutive weeks in the top ten, the second-longest run of 1982, behind "Hurts So Good" by John Mellencamp (which was prevented from reaching the top of the Hot 100 by "Eye of the Tiger"). This top ten run is tied with the aforementioned "Another One Bites the Dust" as well as "Physical" as the longest run in the top ten for a number one song during the entire 1980s decade. The band won an award for "Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group with Vocal" at the 25th Annual Grammy Awards. In September 1982, it peaked at No. 1 in the United Kingdom, remaining at the top of the UK Singles Chart for four consecutive weeks. The single sold 956,000 copies in the United Kingdom in 1982.

It was certified platinum in August 1982 by the RIAA, signifying sales of 2 million vinyl copies. The song had sold over 4.1 million digital downloads in the United States alone by February 2015. It was voted VH1's 63rd-greatest hard rock song.

Survivor - Eye Of The Tiger - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "A Spaceman Came Travelling"  a song by Chris de Burgh. It first appeared on his second studio album, Spanish Train and Other Stories, which was released in 1975. It has been released numerous times as a single, becoming a popular Christmas song, and has appeared on many festive compilation albums.

Single release
The song was not an initial success in the UK and failed to chart. After its first release in 1975, it reached the top position of the Irish single charts staying 15 weeks in the Irish charts and climbed to number 22 in the Canadian airplay charts. However, in 1986, following de Burgh's massive success with "The Lady in Red", its reissue reached number 15 in Ireland charting for only 1 week. The song was also issued as a double A-side with the song "The Ballroom of Romance" and charted for the first time in the UK in 1986, reaching number 40 and staying on the chart for five weeks.

Composition
De Burgh, who had just signed his first recording contract with A&M Records, was broke and "staying at a friend's flat" when he read Chariots of the Gods? by Erich von Däniken. The book made him think "what if the star of Bethlehem was a spacecraft and what if there is a benevolent being or entity in the universe keeping an eye on the world and the foolish things that we do to each other?" A fan of Irish poet William Butler Yeats, whose work "The Second Coming" avers that every 2,000 years or so there would be a major cataclysmic event happening, de Burgh saw the birth of Christ as "such an event and then 2,000 years later there would be a similar" one. He imagined "the nativity scene, the thing hovering over and I could see the shepherds in the fields and this weird, ethereal music was drifting into the air and they were 'what the heck is that'?" But he "had no ideas about trying to write a hit record." The song failed to chart when it was first released as a single, but de Burgh says it's been "much better to have a regular recurring song than a hit for three weeks."

The space angle is reflected by using a string synthesizer on the track.

Chris De Burgh - A Spaceman Came Travelling - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Walk of Life" a song by the British rock band Dire Straits, the third track on their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms (1985). It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night (1993). It was released as a single in October 1985 but had first been available as the B-side of "So Far Away" released in advance of Brothers in Arms.

The track peaked at number seven in the US charts, becoming their third and last top ten hits. It was their biggest commercial hit in the UK (along with "Private Investigations"), peaking at number two. The track also appeared on three compilation albums: 1988's Money for Nothing, 1998's Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, and 2005's The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler: Private Investigations.

History
Mark Knopfler had not originally intended "Walk of Life" for the album, but rather as a B-side to one of the singles. Dire Strait's manager Ed Bicknell heard it when it was being mixed and convinced Knopfler to include it on the album at the last minute.

A simple rock and roll rhythm is used, with chord changes limited to I, IV and V chords. The long introduction has become iconic in some circles, with an instantly recognisable riff played on a synthesizer-driven keyboard with hints of the blues. The singer mentioned in the lyrics, "Johnny", is said to perform "down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay", a reference to busking in the subway. The songs he plays are oldies, including "I Got a Woman", "Be-Bop-A-Lula", "What'd I Say", "My Sweet Lovin' Woman", and "Mack the Knife". He also plays talking blues.

Two music videos were produced for "Walk of Life", the first video features the band playing the song in concert while the character Johnny is playing 1950s songs in a tunnel, and the second video features the band playing with clips of sports bloopers.

Dire Straits - Walk Of Life - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Walking in Memphis" a song written and originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Marc Cohn, for whom it remains his signature song. It received a Song of the Year nomination at the 34th Grammy Awards in 1992, the same year that the 32-year-old Cohn won the Grammy for Best New Artist.

The song's lyrics are autobiographical, chronicling a 1985 trip that Cohn, then a struggling songwriter and singer, took to Memphis to overcome a bout of writer's block. After visiting the church where former soul singer Al Green was preaching, Elvis Presley's former home of Graceland, and a small nightclub in nearby Mississippi, as well as wandering various streets of downtown Memphis, he returned to New York and began composing the song. While writing and recording sessions continued through the late 1980s, his debut album, on which the song was the lead single, was not released until 1991.

"Walking in Memphis" reached number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1991, becoming Cohn's only top-forty hit on the chart. The song reached number three in Canada, number seven in Ireland, and number 11 in Australia. "Walking in Memphis" has since been covered several times, notably in 1995 by Cher and in 2003 by Lonestar.

Cher - Walking In Memphis - Stefan Lobuczek

A Facebook Friend of mine had his birthday a few days ago his name is Anthony Peake an author of a number of books, One of his books called "Cheating the Ferryman" inspired me to do this very fitting cover of Chris de Burgh's "Don't Pay the ferryman". In 2006 Antony Peake introduced his revolutionary model of life after death, "Cheating the Ferryman", in the bestselling book Is There Life After After Death? The Extraordinary Science of What Happens When We Die.

Since then, Antony has broadened and deepened the Model in Ten further volumes.

The book can be ordered from any bookshop and/or via Amazon and all online retailers and is in all formats including Audible. But if people want to purchase a signed copy, with a dedication they can use the link below...
Anthony
Anthony Peake

https://www.anthonypeake.com/product/cheating-the-ferryman/
 
This is my cover of  "Don't Pay the Ferryman" a song by Irish artist Chris de  Burgh. It was released in September 1982 as the lead single from his album The Getaway.

AllMusic critic Sharon Mawer states the song has become "a standard art-rock classic" and one of de Burgh's most frequently played songs on radio, despite not reaching the Top 40 on its original UK release.

Background
The song tells the story of a man who boards a ferryboat and sets off. A storm approaches and the ferryman demands payment. The song's narrator warns the passenger not to pay the ferryman until the boat arrives at its destination on the other side.

The repetitive lyrics are believed to have a connection with mythology. The song describes the ferryman as "the hooded old man at the rudder", and seems to connect to the classic image of the Grim Reaper, a hooded being (usually a skeleton) who leads lost souls to "the other side", also a lyric in the song. The ferryman demanding his payment is also similar to the Greek ferryman of the dead, Charon. He demanded an obolus (coin) to ferry dead souls across the River Styx. Those who did not pay were doomed to remain as ghosts, remaining on the plane of the mare, the restless dead.

In the bridge of the song, lines from Shakespeare's The Tempest can be heard, spoken very low by British actor Anthony Head.
[Act 5, Scene 1, lines 230 - 237]
BOATSWAIN: I'd strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep
And (how we know not) all clapp'd under hatches;
Where, but even now, with strange and several noises
Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains,
And moe diversity of sounds, all horrible,
We were awak'd; straightway at liberty;
Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld
Our royal, good, and gallant ship;

This section of the song is omitted from the version of the song released as a single, which is approximately 20 seconds shorter than the album version.

Music video
The music video for "Don't Pay the Ferryman" was directed by Maurice Phillips.
Chart positions

It became Chris de Burgh's first UK hit single almost eight years into his recording career when it entered the chart on 23 October 1982 and peaked at number 48, staying on the chart for five weeks. In 1983, the single reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. It was a major hit on the Australian Kent Music Report chart, where it reached the Top 5 and spent 25 weeks in the Top 100.

Chris De Burgh - Don't Pay The Ferryman - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "I'm Still Standing"  a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, from John's 1983 album Too Low for Zero. It was the second single released from the album in the UK, and the first single released in the United States.

Helped by a video promoting the song on MTV, "I'm Still Standing" became a big hit for John on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No. 1 in Canada and Switzerland, No. 4 in the UK and No. 12 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Elton John - I'm Still Standing - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "The Final Countdown"  a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by lead singer Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made in the early 1980s, with lyrics inspired by David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Originally made to just be a concert opener, it is the first single and title track from the band's third studio album. The music video by Nick Morris, made to promote the single, has received 1 billion views on YouTube. The video features footage from the band's two concerts at Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks and footage from Stockholm. The song Pictures, from the 2017 album Walk the Earth, is a sequel to this.

Origin and recording
The song was based on a keyboard riff which Joey Tempest had written, as early as 1981 or 1982, with a Korg Polysix keyboard which he had borrowed from keyboardist Mic Michaeli.  In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested that Tempest should write a song based on that riff. Tempest recorded a demo version of the song and played it for the other band members. At first, the members expressed mixed reactions to it, including guitarist John Norum who was put off by the synth intro but said that he was glad that they didn't listen to him. Tempest described their uncertainty: "Some of the guys in the band thought it was too different for a rock band. But in the end, I fought hard to make sure it got used."

The song's lyrics were inspired by David Bowie's song "Space Oddity". The sound of the keyboard riff used in the recording was achieved by using a Yamaha TX-816 rack unit and a Roland JX-8P synthesizer, as described by Michaeli: "I made a brassy sound from the JX-8P and used a factory sound from the Yamaha, and just layered them together."

When it was time to choose the first single from the album The Final Countdown, Tempest suggested the song "The Final Countdown". The band had not originally planned to release the song as a single, and some members wanted "Rock the Night" to be the first single. "The Final Countdown" was written to be an opening song for concerts, and they never thought it would be a hit. When their record company Epic Records suggested, however, that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it.

As Tempest stated in 2005:

Europe - Final Countdown - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Brothers in Arms" a song by British rock band Dire Straits, the closing track on their fifth studio album of the same name, released on 18 October 1985. It was written in 1982, the year of Britain's involvement in the Falklands War.

In 2007, the 25th anniversary of the war, Mark Knopfler recorded a new version of the song at Abbey Road Studios to raise funds for British veterans who he said are still suffering from the effects of that conflict. The "Brothers in Arms" song has become popular at military funerals.

Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Spirit in the Sky" a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in late 1969 from the album of the same name. The single became a gold record in the United States, selling two million copies from 1969 to 1970, and reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 where it lasted for 15 weeks in the Top 100. Billboard ranked the record the No. 22 song of 1970. It also climbed to No. 1 on the UK, Australian and Canadian charts in 1970. Rolling Stone ranked "Spirit in the Sky" No. 333 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Cover versions by Doctor and the Medics and Gareth Gates have also made the No. 1 spot in the UK.

The song was voted one of the top ten one-hit wonders in a Rolling Stone reader's poll.

Original version by Norman Greenbaum
"Spirit in the Sky" makes several religious references to Jesus, although Greenbaum himself is Jewish. In a 2006 interview with The New York Times, Greenbaum told a reporter he was inspired to write the song after watching Porter Wagoner singing a gospel song on TV. Greenbaum said: "I thought, 'Yeah, I could do that,' knowing nothing about gospel music, so I sat down and wrote my gospel song. It came easy. I wrote the words in 15 minutes."

Anyway, I hope you like my take on this one-hit wonder.

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" a song written and recorded by the American music group Charlie Daniels Band and released on their 1979 album Million Mile Reflections.

The song is written in the key of D minor. Although uncredited, Vassar Clements originally wrote the basic melody an octave lower, in a tune called "Lonesome Fiddle Blues" released on Clements' self-titled 1975 album on which Charlie Daniels played guitar. The Charlie Daniels Band moved it up an octave and put words to it. The song's verses are closer to being spoken rather than sung (i.e., recitation), and tell the story of a young man named Johnny, in a variant on the classic deal with the Devil. The performances of the Devil and Johnny are played as instrumental bridges. The song was the band's biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, prevented from further chart movement by "After the Love Has Gone" by Earth, Wind and Fire and "My Sharona" by The Knack.

Content
The song tells a story about the Devil's failure to gain a young man's soul through a fiddle-playing contest. The song begins as a disappointed Devil arrives in Georgia, apparently "way behind" on stealing souls, when he comes upon a young man named Johnny who is playing a fiddle, and quite well. Out of desperation, the Devil, who claims to also be a fiddle player, wagers a fiddle of gold against Johnny's soul to see who is the better fiddler. Although Johnny believes taking the Devil's bet might be a sin, he fearlessly accepts, confidently boasting "I'm the best that's ever been."

The Devil plays first, backed by a band of demon musicians. When he has finished, Johnny compliments him ("Well, you're pretty good, old son.") and takes his turn, rendering at least four old-time songs, named (though not played) in the Charlie Daniels Band recording—the third of the four being identified not by title, but by an excerpt of its lyrics:

"Fire on the Mountain," the name of an early 19th-century fiddle tune, and also the name of Daniels' 1974 album,
"The House of the Rising Sun," a traditional American southern folk song,
"Chicken in the bread pan pickin' out dough," which was famously used in Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys' song "Ida Red," and
"Granny Will Your Dog Bite."

Realizing he has been defeated, the devil lays his golden fiddle at Johnny's feet. Johnny then invites the devil to "c'mon back if y'ever wanna try again" before repeating his claim to be "the best that's ever been".

Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of "Angels" a song by the English singer-songwriter Robbie Williams. It was included on Williams's debut solo album, Life through a Lens (1997), and released as a single on 1 December 1997 by Chrysalis. "Angels" was written by Williams and Guy Chambers, based on an earlier song written by Ray Heffernan.

Williams said he wrote "Angels" with Chambers about his aunt and uncle. Heffernan asserts that he wrote the first version in 1996 and finished it with Williams in Dublin. Williams confirmed that he recorded a demo with Heffernan but said he rewrote the song significantly with Chambers. To avoid a lawsuit, Williams bought the song rights from Heffernan before it was released. Vaughan Arnell directed its music video, which was shot in black and white.

"Angels" is Williams's best-selling single, and the 34th-bestselling UK single of the 1990s. It was voted the best song of the previous 25 years at the 2005 Brit Awards, and in 2005 Britons voted it the song they most wanted played at their funeral. It has been covered by artists including Jessica Simpson, David Archuleta, Beverley Knight, All Angels, Declan Galbraith and Josh Groban. It was recorded in Spanish (as "Ángel") by the Mexican singers Yuridia and Marco Moré, in Italian (as "Un Angelo") by Patrizio Buanne and in Brazilian Portuguese (as "Um Anjo") by KLB. Williams also recorded a Spanish version.

Robbie Williams - Angels - Stefan Lobuczek

Mainly Music I like to cover. Drums and Guitars are my kinds of favourites. I hope you like.

Boston - Amanda - Final Master (Stefan Lobuczek)

I've been building and flying model aircraft for over 15 years. I own some commercial-grade UAV aircraft my DJI Inspire is featured in the cover image. New legislation requires all such aircraft above 250g to be flown under strict guidelines having qualified for an Operator Id and license. I have my Operator Id and license so I'm now a Smooth Operator. :) Hence my cover of this really cool song by Sade.

Sade - Smooth Operator - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of the Eagles song "Take it Easy" one of my favourites. I hope you like it too?

The Eagles - Take It Easy - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of Smokin by Boston which is one of my favourites. Keyboards used Korg EK-50, Yamaha PSR-E463 and Casio CT-X5000 mastered exclusively on my Tascam DP-32SD - 32 Channel PortaStudio.

Boston - Smokin - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover of Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water a real classic almost reminds me of my school days. I would have been thirteen years old when Deep Purple released this track in 1972. I hope you like and if so please share.

Deep Purple  - Smoke On The Water - Stefan Lobuczek

This is my cover to chillout too "Peaceful Easy Feeling" a song written by Jack Tempchin and recorded by the Eagles. It was the third single from the band's 1972 debut album Eagles. The single reached No. 22 on the charts and is one of the band's most popular songs.

Stefan Lobuczek

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