I dedicate my song today to my niece, Sharon Jones who lives in Hightown, Liversedge.
My song today is ‘Rocking Good Way’. This song was first recorded in 1958 by Priscilla Bowman Bowman was given vocal backing by ‘The Spaniels’.
In 1960, the song was recorded as a pop and R&B duet by Dinah Washington and Brook Benton. The single was the second pairing for the singers and, like their first single together, it went to Number 1 on the R&B chart and was a top ten pop single as well. The song was written by Benton, Clyde Otis and Luchi de Jesus.
A cover version of the duet by the UK's Shakin’ Stevens and Bonnie Tyler was released on 30 December 1983 and reached Number 5 in the ‘UK Singles Chart’ and Number 1 in Ireland. It was included on Stevens' 1984 album ‘The Bop Won’t Stop’.
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I dedicate my song today to my favourite of all nieces, Sharon who presently lives within a quarter of a mile where I grew up with her husband and children. Like most of my nieces and nephews, the nature of my terminal blood cancer and the absence of any effective immune system has prevented me contacting them over the past seven years. In truth, the extended Forde family is so large that were I to stand next to every one of my nephew and nieces in the bus queue today, I would not be able to recognise more than a fifth of them, The Forde family meet up every Christmas Eve for an annual meal and a drink and this is usually the occasion when we met the newcomers to the extended Forde family, like grandnieces, grandnephews and their recent children, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends with benefits, partners, live-in-lovers, husbands and wives (both old and new) of Forde grand-nephews and grand-nieces.
I suppose we are no different than other large families, insomuch as we too experience our ups and downs, who’s in or out this year, and whose cupboard has the newest skeleton to rattle and gossip about. I would love to be able to come back in a hundred years and trace the family tree back to my own grandparents.
From the family tree my daughter, Rebecca had traced, I know that my paternal English grandfather spent some time in an Irish prison and when he was released, he had changed his surname by knocking the ‘e’ off the end of ‘Forde’, resulting in a line of ‘Fordes’ and ‘Fords’ thereafter emanating from the same bloodline. I know that my maternal grandfather was ‘on the run’ after the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916 before getting married and going to ground as a bicycle repairer in Portlaw, County Waterford and having seven children. And it is highly suspected by those Fordes who seek the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that there have been a number of distant past Fordes (before my parent’s birth) who were brought up by a woman who they believed to be an aunt, and who was, in fact, their unmarried mother posing as their aunt!
There are some Fordes who are 'badder' or 'better' than other Fordes at this or that and some who will undoubtedly make successes of their lives and others who will probably struggle to make anything at all worthwhile out of their lives. In short; the extended Forde family is not much different than most other large families in the land, perhaps with one exception: from the Queen Bee down to the humblest of workers, everyone has a rebel streak running through them.
I dedicate today’s song to my favourite niece, Sharon. Have a lovely day, Sharon and have a drink for me if/when you open the wine bottle. Lots of love from your Uncle Billy and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
My song today is ‘Rocking Good Way’. This song was first recorded in 1958 by Priscilla Bowman Bowman was given vocal backing by ‘The Spaniels’.
In 1960, the song was recorded as a pop and R&B duet by Dinah Washington and Brook Benton. The single was the second pairing for the singers and, like their first single together, it went to Number 1 on the R&B chart and was a top ten pop single as well. The song was written by Benton, Clyde Otis and Luchi de Jesus.
A cover version of the duet by the UK's Shakin’ Stevens and Bonnie Tyler was released on 30 December 1983 and reached Number 5 in the ‘UK Singles Chart’ and Number 1 in Ireland. It was included on Stevens' 1984 album ‘The Bop Won’t Stop’.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I dedicate my song today to my favourite of all nieces, Sharon who presently lives within a quarter of a mile where I grew up with her husband and children. Like most of my nieces and nephews, the nature of my terminal blood cancer and the absence of any effective immune system has prevented me contacting them over the past seven years. In truth, the extended Forde family is so large that were I to stand next to every one of my nephew and nieces in the bus queue today, I would not be able to recognise more than a fifth of them, The Forde family meet up every Christmas Eve for an annual meal and a drink and this is usually the occasion when we met the newcomers to the extended Forde family, like grandnieces, grandnephews and their recent children, boyfriends, girlfriends, friends with benefits, partners, live-in-lovers, husbands and wives (both old and new) of Forde grand-nephews and grand-nieces.
I suppose we are no different than other large families, insomuch as we too experience our ups and downs, who’s in or out this year, and whose cupboard has the newest skeleton to rattle and gossip about. I would love to be able to come back in a hundred years and trace the family tree back to my own grandparents.
From the family tree my daughter, Rebecca had traced, I know that my paternal English grandfather spent some time in an Irish prison and when he was released, he had changed his surname by knocking the ‘e’ off the end of ‘Forde’, resulting in a line of ‘Fordes’ and ‘Fords’ thereafter emanating from the same bloodline. I know that my maternal grandfather was ‘on the run’ after the Easter Uprising in Dublin in 1916 before getting married and going to ground as a bicycle repairer in Portlaw, County Waterford and having seven children. And it is highly suspected by those Fordes who seek the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, that there have been a number of distant past Fordes (before my parent’s birth) who were brought up by a woman who they believed to be an aunt, and who was, in fact, their unmarried mother posing as their aunt!
There are some Fordes who are 'badder' or 'better' than other Fordes at this or that and some who will undoubtedly make successes of their lives and others who will probably struggle to make anything at all worthwhile out of their lives. In short; the extended Forde family is not much different than most other large families in the land, perhaps with one exception: from the Queen Bee down to the humblest of workers, everyone has a rebel streak running through them.
I dedicate today’s song to my favourite niece, Sharon. Have a lovely day, Sharon and have a drink for me if/when you open the wine bottle. Lots of love from your Uncle Billy and Sheila x
Love and peace Bill xxx
