Quite unlike most of Nina Simone�s work the beautifully smooth jazz of �please don�t let me be misunderstood� and sometimes slightly sleazy orchestral numbers �feeling good�, �I put a spell on you�.

For me, Sinnerman� is out on its own, a 10+ minute opus, based around a rolling piano and double bass and often frantic cymbal accompanying Nina�s rueful voice tinged with desperation as she recounts the tale. Searching for somewhere to hide, from what is not explained, a man first runs to the rocks, the river, and the Lord, who all refuse him, the music booming louder and with more urgency following each rejection. The Lord even tells him to go to the waiting Devil, and the situation looks bleak, until the rhythm running alongside him suddenly clatters into a tree, and the sinner throws himself before the Lord once more, �Don�t you see me prayin�?� he cries, �Not nearly enough� replies the Lord, until the chasing evil presumably sniffs him out, the drums and bass pick themselves up and we�re off and running again, into the sunset together.

Borderline,Big City, Piano led MOL orchestral with that extra little something that lifts it out of the bland. Girl backing singers ' wooo -ooo" and Sing the title.

dramatic orchestral pop noir from the sunshine people.
unexpected dept, maybe because Dennis Wilson sings it

Dinah Washington was known as "queen of the blues" but she also had a great flare for jazz singing. This is a remarkable example of her phrasing ability and exquisite style. Quincy Jones' genius shines in his musical arrangement and orchestral conduction.

A really beautiful arrangement of this classic film number which I just found out was written in 1944, not the 1950s as I had always thought. Superb orchestral parts move in and out of the texture, through which a lot of harmonic interest not present in other versions is heard. Shearing's divine pianistic touch is shown at several key moments. I don't always like Shearing's recordings, but this one is special.

Beautiful summery easy-bossa arrangement of this Villa-Lobos orchestral piece. The tempo floats along at a lazy pace, augmented by gorgeous piano and flute solos, then comes to an abrupt end with a very cool bass riff. Apparently, Schifrin recorded another version of this song in 1996 on the "Gillespiana" album, and that features Karlheinz Stockhausen's son Markus playing trumpet!

A classic 60s girl pop vocal, produced by the legendary Joe Meek. It's a heartbreaking tale of infidelity with a typical 60s pop-orchestral backing. Apparently this song never even charted, which is astonishing in view of how catchy and generally wonderful it is.

A beautiful piece of soft pop. Ok, it's corny - the chord sequence is kind of soppy and the lyrics are kind of obvious, but the arrangement and singing are so lovely that I can listen to this song again and again. Opening with a catchy picked acoustic guitar riff, the arrangement soon thickens with with a full orchestra. The singing is deadly serious and amusingly precious throughout the song, and the orchestral arrangement, heavy on oboes and flutes as well as strings, is anything but hip. Still, the song’s simplicity and innocence are really quite charming. I never really got into any of Chad and Jeremy's other songs nearly so much as this one, so any recommendations for similar songs would be welcome. Do me a favor and listen to this and tell me if I’m crazy to love it so much.

Interesting early composition/production work from Axelrod. Vaguely calypso-inspired orchestral pop with a very prominent piccolo and what sounds like a French horn solo...I think that I hear a glockenspiel in there, as well. All layered over trademark Axelrod drums and a cool walking bassline.

It's Enoch Light, you know what to expect! Kooky orchestral arrangement of the Yardbirds' classic with a...get this...simulated bagpipe intro! I have no idea why anybody would want to hear real bagpipes, let alone simulated ones, but there you have it. Features blistering work by Project 3 regulars like Tony Mottola and Dick Hyman. Excellent stuff. The same album also yields a terrific version of Lee Dorsey's "Workin' in a Coalmine"!

It's a sad fact that the Bee Gees are a group primarily remembered for only one thing. If this were a perfect world, people would realize what an jaw-droppingly amazing group they once were. To me, their first LP is an orchestral psychedelic pop masterpiece easily the equal of the Kinks' "Village Green" or Billy Nicholls' "Would You Believe", and also just about as close at Britain ever got to replicating "Pet Sounds". On this track, listen for the insane rubber-band bassline, the staccato organ fills, the odd timbre of the voices or the occassional flute bit. It's a song bursting with an enthusiam the likes of which people only had during the middle 60s.

Another one of my faves... grrrrrrrreat orchestration, unbelievably well produced and heavenly
vocals in perfect harmony. A song to bring me on my knees... hoping it won't stop... so sweet, yet goes very crescendo... a definite 'two thumbs up' for this one... This group never made an album. It's one of those typical 'studio groups' who produced a sound that could knock you KO (IF you like the positive sound of the late 60s). It takes a genius to arrange a song like that: 'And may my heart be cast into stone" (immediately followed by two short orchestral outbursts pa-taa pa-taa) "And may the world go deaf when I roar" (pa-taa pa-taa)... One word: d e l i g h t f u l

For me this is Youngs most delectible ballad. It makes me shiver. Orchestral country is a seam which has not been mined enough. The spirit of the song will strike a deep resonance with anyone young enough to feel childlike wonder but old enough to feel regret.

This is another great, great pop song from the 1966-68 era, that made it to the top of the charts and has since been more or less forgotten.

Absolutely superb arrangement by Mike Leander.

Tremendous and mighty orchestral backing creating a great wall of sound.

It was Paul Jones second (& last) big hit after leaving Manfred Mann in 1966.

It was also part of the soundtrack to the film 'Privilege' (1967).

This is another great British pop song that never made it in the USA.

I never get bored of it & I've known it all my life.

Great, great pop music.

A nicely groovy easy listening instrumental from an album which is a very common item in British charity shops. It's nicely percussive from the start, with some nicely strummed guitar and Helmut's bizarre sounding low solo violin. It builds up to a full and funky orchestral sound - a real stomper...

This probably sounds like an odd thing to recommend, but the more I hear this track, the more I love it. It's as if the arranger didn't actually like the song that much - he has changed it a great deal, but for better. Mixed with the trademark Mystic Moods sound effects, it begins lush and gentle. However, after the sound effects fade away, the quality of the arrangement and recording come through, with crisp drums, a nice bass and some great piano. It has a very cool funk-orchestral feel, recalling some of Pete Moore's best work.

The lady may have left the stage, but her spirit lives on in her recordings, and this is among her finest!! Sadly unreleased in the US for 28 years, this gloriously somber song was included in the 1995 anthology box set. Dusty sings with a sadness in her voice as she vocally paints a picture of a dreary day. While the overcast sky fails to crush her spirit, it does provide an opportunity for introspection and reflection. She is accompanied only by piano and orchestral strings which give this song a beautifully sad sound that make it perfect for playing on a rainy day.

The prolific and always entertaining Ramsey Lewis.This track is one of my favorite from his collaborations with the legendary fusionist,Charles Stepney.It has all the best elements from their work,lush orchestral textures,rock steady soul jazz,and the siren calls of Miss Minnie Riperton.It sounds like this recording was done during the same sessions as Minnie's incredible solo album,Come To My Garden.In fact,the record contains a version of "Les Fluer" that has the same istrumentation, except Ramsey plays the lead vocal melody in his typical style.

This piece is almost like some kind of lost soundtrack work,impressionistic in a spiritual way,like a cosmic gospel.Travelling the silver thread of consciousness back to the source...An Eternal Journey indeed,and a must for fans of spooky jazz and 60's soundtracks.

A great song that almost defies explanation. Suffice it to say there is a lot of the WB influence here. An incredible mix of young male melodrama and orchestral excess, but as genuine as it gets. I read mixed reviews of Don Gants voice from most people when they hear this album, but if he nails it, it's on this track for me, no question. The more I listen to this stuff the more timeless it becomes. My favorite line : "I turned on the today show and wished it was yesterday..."

This is one of the best British pop singles of 1968.

Love Affair had already had a Number One hit with 'Everlasting Love' & a top five hit with 'Rainbow Valley' and went on to have a few more hits, including this one, before changing their lead singer from Steve Ellis in 1970 and slipping into oblivion.

Their sound was quite influenced by 'The Phil Spector Wall Of Sound', but with a 'Swinging London' slant.

Great melody. Great lyric. Tremendous pop orchestral arrangement. Wonderful lead vocals from Steve Ellis, who sounded like a sort of British Len Barry.

I think this song is probably one of the best pop singles I've ever heard.

It never happened in the USA and after it fell from the charts was rather forgotten in the UK, overshadowed by the groups more famous 'Everlasting Love', but, in fact, this was their strongest single.

Very much of its time, but what a tremendous time it was, musically and otherwise.

It's another doomy orchestral vocal masterpiece! A devastating piece, this would be a depressing song if it weren't for the incredible string arrangement, which is like warm sunlight. I can't recommend this (and the album it's taken from) highly enough.

A surprisingly hip easy-listening orchestral version from the decidedly unhip Kirshner. Very funky drumming and a cool girl chorus make this my favorite version of this song.

Best known for "Where Do You Go To My Lovely", which is a sad French or Italian-sounding song, the followup "Frozen Orange Juice" is a delightfully happy Spanish-sounding song, i.e. the exact opposite (lyrics of both songs reference the European nations listed above). It lopes along in 6/8 time with orchestral flourishes galore, particularly on strings, although horns, woodwinds and harp are also evident. Brilliant!

This is Mendes' take on Viola Enluarada, one of my favourite Marcos Valle tunes, and what a beautiful interpretation this one is: starting of with just electric piano it later comes into full gear with a wonderful Dave Grusin orchestral arrangement including lush strings, flutes, trumpets and some harp embellishments.

When I first started actively listening to Mancini, I guess it was in '94 or '95, I was put off by his work from the late '60s/early '70s. I guess my impression was that he wrote these brilliant pop scores until the mid-'60s and then just starting doing mediocre orchestral Beatles medleys and stuff like that. Well, lately I've been realizing how misinformed my first impression was. In fact, it seems i've been enjoying Mancini's work from this era even more than much of his older stuff. "Giovanna" is a great, jaunty little instrumental from Vittorio De Sica's 1970 film "Sunflower." The very Italian-sounding arrangement is carried by the organ and accordion. I think the "Sunflower" soundtrack is too often compared to Morricone. While I can maybe hear the influence, the sound is distinctly Mancini. Another good track from the album is "Love In The Sand" which features, uh, some very nice harpsichord work.

Don Ellis is a often overlooked trumpeter/bandleader. His style of jazz was most well recieved in CA, and he's most famous for his Fillmore appearances opening for people like Janis Joplin and Frank Zappa. This is a demonstration of his prowess and his ability to construct an amazing band, and take them to new heights. Recorded hot on the heels of his French Connection score, and more than a decade into his career.

The piece is a sprawling morphilogical journey, full of orchestral passages and time/tempo changes, and blissful rests. He utilizes an "Electric String Quartet", which, through the magic of studio production, sounds like a full string ensemble! Making the wole track just bristle with dark energy.

Produced by the great Teo Macero, who had been doing great work at Columbia for a long time. He did some stuff with Ramsey Lewis around the same time, as well as Miles Davis. This record also has a great version of his "French ConnectionTheme" and really entertaining versions of "Alone Again (Naturally)" & Yes's "Roundabout"!

An incredibly perfect easy listening piece, this opens with an other-worldly, John-Barry-ish synth sound, and then leads into a groovy, lightly funky piano riff, with shimmering strings. Francis Lai's signature organ sound carries the tune as the song builds into a dramatic orchestral pop masterpiece. A standout track, with superb wistful, lazy, summer day feel, rather like some of the best tracks on the 'Sound Gallery' compilation of a few years ago.

this entire soundtrack to the film la planete sauvage comes highly recommended. never seen the film, but it can�t possibly be as good as the soundtrack suggests.
chilly, funky instrumental orchestral music. there�s a really haunting recurring theme through the album, nice use of choirs and twangy guitar too.

Usually I'm bored to tears with Mr. Muriat's over the top orchestral take on stuff... but this track is a total exception. Starts out with this reeling Beethovenesque orchestral intro, and then lays flat into this funky latin workout, almost in a Deodato meets Zarathustra way. Really nuts. Just a great dancefloor track for loungecore types.

The quirkiest and most eclectic of the Two Tone bands taking a giant leap from their ska origins.A majestc jangling guitar kicks off the first of many layers which build to an almost droning orchestral climax which should have sent them global .They split shortlt after

An eighties incarnation of the epic sadness and yearning that the Walker Brothers did so well with the songs of Jaques Brel and Bob Gaudio(Sun aint gonna shine Anymore).This band was a rare thing at this point ,they had aspirations to write great timeless songs when drum machines ruled the world.On this ,they suceeded ,the songs heartbreaking climax could make a man cry,awash with brave brass and orchestral tears leaving a man broken in two and drowning in his own tears by the time the song fades into an eerie percussive silence .

We all know a song whose brilliance seemed to avoid the rest of the worlds attention but "You Used To" is genuinely brilliant .Released at the start of the 90,s in the midst of Mad-chester and all that!,this soulful,mournful swirling orchestral epic sank without trace soon after .I found a copy a few weeks ago and its brilliance has not been dimmed by the passing of time in fact it now seems more relevant in the wake of Massive Attack,Morcheba and Duffy .You may find it hard to find but if you have it let someone else hear it NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Another song that needs no introduction. This is a classic rock ballad known to all, by one of the greatest bands ever. The music has this grand, anthemic feel to it which I really like. I don't think it's trying to be pretentious at all, as some people might think. It's a great ballad that uses orchestral music, with an amazing guitar running through it.

I saw Global Communication play live in a church and they were, err, heavenly. This song probably showcases their celestial sound best. Weighing in at a mighty 14-plus minutes, it certainly takes time to get going. But that's the beauty. Like current darlings of the ambient music scene Boards of Canada and geniuses of the past such as Bowie and Eno, the wonder of the sound is in its slow-building intensity. Orchestral-like chords and heavy bass make this song an ambient must-have. But the whole album is a winner. Sell the fridge and let your food rot to own this one.

After the prologue of Baz Luhrmann's controversial, modern retelling of William Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet," the audience is blasted away by a hoard of harmonious voices chanting a loud, haunting song to the beat of an angry drum. This song, in which a narrator begins "Two households, both alike in dignity...", is called "O Verona," the song which Baz Luhrmann himself calls "an almighty orchestral chord." Its sister song, "O Verona (Reprise)" is uninterrupted by the narrator, and the listener is able to appreciate its musical quality in a fuller fashion. Personally, I couldn't decide whether to recommend "O Verona" or "O Verona (Reprise)" to you. They are both extraordinary recordings on what is, I believe, one of the greatest musical scores to a motion picture ever produced.

The opening track of Edwyn's usually-overlooked follow-up to 1994's "Gorgeous George", this song is a perfect example of what orchestral pop should be.

A short and sweet orchestral piece featuring harpsichord and some sort of mallet instrument (is that just a vibraphone???). It has sort of a subdued Burt Bacharach sound especially in the harpsichord. I'm noticing that many of my recommendations feature harpsichord... Strange.

The first line says it all: "I've gone as far/as I can go with this crap". A classically lush pop tale of infidelity. This bitter duet featuring Emma Pollock of the Delgados has a brooding feel reminiscent of great orchestral pop of the past, especially that of Barry and Bacharach.

A long track (23 min) with orchestral sound. About the album: "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven is unusual in being structurally and conceptually closer to a symphony than a conventional pop or rock album. The four tracks are composed of internal movements, with different sub-titles, that fade into each other. The whole album is instrumental, except for sampled voice inserts, and starts with an almost orchestral crescendo somewhat reminiscent of Ravel's Bolero." (http://en.wikipedia.org/) <- basically the same goes for the track.

I like it because of the dark and powerful feeling it conveys.

Due to the constant everyday trippings, one learns to walk looking down, watching the cracks, watching the steps, watching the pebbles. That's how I found this track. I took a dive recently and came back to the surface with this song.
One little tune, one refrence and one image, these three combined make a lonely humming of this indie tune almost orchestral, de description of the saddest episodes or maybe just the most difficult ones, the unexplainable feeling, translated into a postcard of the big ocean, the clouds, the sun, the isolation, the danger, the sharks down by the surface surrounding your tiny boat, a breeze, a guitar, however you dive, always assured that seasons come and go.

Am i the only one disappointed Goldfrapp by now almost completely abandoned their "Felt Mountain"-style and are now solely winding down on the glam-electro route? Anyway, "Time Out From The World" could easily have been on the first album, it sounds like a follow up to "Pilots": Gently flowing, nocturnal in texture, floating through a vast open space with delicate electronica and synths building up to a lush finale with an orchestral armada of strings. Despite the electronics it still has this late-60s-John-Barry feeling all over it.

The song is a remake of one of Vai's most famous pieces. The first part of the song is solo oboe (or maybe soprano sax) with harp accompaniment followed by a louder section where the guitar (played by Steve himself) takes over.

Hard hittin philosophical rap and sublime orchestral sample combine with crisp machine beats .The track exists for its languid summer chant of "Coastin,Im Coastin".Its beauty is in its amazing choice of lyrics and music which you can chose to drop in and out of at random with equally rewarding results .

eO's through-composed, symphotronic poem incorporates exotic world-fusion compositions with heavy post-dubstep beats, evocative vocals, and elegant instrumentation.