Playlist 28.11.11

Edith Piaf didn't do subtle in her singing - not when a passionate bleat was acceptable. True, there's a bit of tenderness and quiet observation in a tune like 'Les Amants d'un Jour', but Edith was at her best when she gave it socks. And on 'Hymne A L'Amour' she's emoting like no other, sending out love and pure testimony to the boxer Marcel Cerdan.

The song was first performed in 1949, a month before Marcel was killed in an air crash. The recorded version appeared in 1950 and thereafter it became a thunderous adieu to the guy. It rouses you still.

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Blog: https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/stuartbailie/

Mondays, ten - midnight

David Bowie - Sorrow (EMI)

The Lost Brothers - Pale Moon (white)

Martin John Henry - Ribbon On A Bough (Gargleblast)

Liz Green - French Singer (PIAS)

Edith Piaf - Hymne A L'Amour (EMI)

Nada Surf - Waiting For Something (City Slang)

Runaway Go - Delicate Man (white)

The Dream Academy - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (Warner)

Jackie Leven - Elegy For Johnny Cash (Cooking Vinyl)

Our Krypton Son - Catalonian Love Song (Small Town America)

Kate Bush - Snowed In At Wheeler St (Fish People)

U2 - So Cruel (Island)

Emmy The Great, Tim Wheeler - Sleigh Me (Infectious)

Rebecca Prousky - Give Up Too Easily (NMR)

The Lost Brothers - Bells They Won't Ring (white)

Martin John Henry - I Love Maps (Gargleblast)

Levon Helm - You'll Never Again Be Mine (Columbia)

Robbie Robertson - When The Night Was Young (Fontana)

DJ Shadow - Scale It Back (Island)

Jackie Leven - Birds Leave Shadows (Cooking Vinyl)

Ruth Moody - Winter Waltz (Factor)

Kate Bush - 50 Words For Snow (Fish People)