Notting Hill Soundtrack Pt 2

Top: Notting Hill soundtrack cover. Clockwise: Spencer Davis Group; Shania Twain; Boyzone; and Elvis Costello.

While I was feeling under the weather yesterday, I watched a Hugh Grant mini-marathon, catching both 'Notting Hill' and 'Love Actually' on cable. It reminded me how much I liked the soundtrack to the former, and so I decided re-post my take on if from two years ago.

Last Monday, I posted the first of two installments featuring the music of 'Notting Hill', a charming movie with some great songs. If you missed the post featuring the music of Al Green, Ronan Keating, Lighthouse Family, and cuties 98 Degrees, click here. I couldn't find anywhere on to purchase the soundtrack, but you can buy import on used copies on Amazon. The soundtrack is a delightful cross-section of great Pop music, covering several decades. The first song in this post comes from 1966, and a band some may have forgotten about. British band Spencer Davis Group, featuring the talents of Spencer Davis, Peter York, and then unknown Steve Winwood and Steve's brother Muff Winwood had a hit with "Gimme Some Lovin'", written by Davis and the Winwood brothers. This was before Steve had been a member of supergroups Traffic and Blind Faith, and before he had his solo success. I love this song! This is the Spencer Davis Group singing "Gimme Some Lovin'".

1999 was a huge year for Canadian superstar Shania Twain. She was still riding high with the success of her third album, 'Come On Over', a follow-up to the smash 'The Woman In Me'. 'Come On Over' sold 20x Platinum in the US, and the eighth single was a part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack. The beautiful ballad "You've Got A Way", written by Twain and then husband/producer Mutt Lange, proved Shania was at the top of her game.

Well, the first installment had the first release from Ronan Keating as he embarked on his solo career. The soundtrack also included a huge hit for Keating's boyband, the mega-popular Boyzone. Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch, Ronan Keating, and the late Stephen Gately were the guys in this band, and they made sweet music throughout the 1990s for the UK and Europe. In 1998, the boys released a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman, originally from the 1996 musical 'Whistle Down the Wind'. "No Matter What" was a huge hit for Boyzone, topping the charts around the world. It went to #12 in the US Adult Contemporary chart. Boyzone featured Ronan Keating, who had also contributed as a solo artist on the soundtrack. But for this song, he shared the lead vocals with a favorite of mine, the late Stephen Gately. In 1999, it was part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack.

One of my favorites off the soundtrack was the stunning cover of a song by Frenchmen Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer by Elvis Costello. I remember first discovering Costello in the 1980s, a New Wave star of the highest magnitude with hit after hit. By the mid-1990s, he selling power had diminished, but certainly not his talent. He recorded the Aznavour hit "She" for the soundtrack, and made it current, popular, and showed off what a great song it was.

Notting Hill Soundtrack Pt 1

Clockwise: 'Notting Hill' soundtrack cover; Lighthouse Family; 98 Degrees; and Al Green; Ronan Keating.

While I was feeling under the weather yesterday, I watched a Hugh Grant mini-marathon, catching both 'Notting Hill' and 'Love Actually' on cable. It reminded me how much I liked the soundtrack to the former, and so I decided re-post my take on if from two years ago.

I will admit that I think 'Notting Hill' is my favorite Julia Roberts movie, and in the top 5 of Hugh Grant's film, although 'Maurice' remains my favorite. I also thought the movie had a wonderful soundtrack, and I've been wanting to do a post forever. Once I stated putting this together, I figured out I needed to make two posts, so this is the first installment, and the second will be coming later tonight. But I will start with the song from the boyband which gave us Nick Lachey and his brother Drew (long before he won on 'Dancing With The Stars'), 98 Degrees. The Lachey boys were joined by Justin Jeffre and Jeff Timmons, two more cuties. They were together in the 1990s, making a few hits. "I Do (Cherish You)" was a hit in 1998, making it to #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1999, it was in 'Notting Hill', adding sweetness to the soundtrack.

The next song had a rich and interesting history. It was written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, and first recorded by Country star Keith Whitley, released late in 1988. The song took a few weeks, but finally sat atop the Billboard Country chart for two weeks. In 1994, bluegrass band Union Station recorded the song for a tribute album for Keith Whitley, who had passed less than a year after releasing the song. The following year, Alison Krauss rerecorded the song as her first solo single, following her time with Union Station. It was Krauss' first Billboard Top 10. Finally, in 1999, Boyzone was calling it quits, and Ronan Keating was looking for his first single as a solo artist. He was invited to be a part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack, and he jumped at the chance. He recorded "When You Say Nothing At All", and became the second artist to make it their solo debut, and the third to take the song on to the Billboard chart.

The next song in this post is another cover song. "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" was a huge hit in 1971 for the Bee Gees, who were worldwide Pop stars by this time. The song was credited to Barry and Robin Gibb, although in 2009, Maurice was added to the credits. In 1972, the great Al Green covered the song for his 'Let's Stay Together' album. The Reverend Al's version made it to the soundtrack to 1997's 'Good Will Hunting', 1999's 'The Virgin Suicides' as well as 'Notting Hill', and 2010's 'The Book of Eli'. In 2008, Green recorded it as a duet with Joss Stone for the soundtrack of 'Sex In The City'. But here is Al's solo version as it appeared in 'Notting Hill'.

To be honest, I wasn't really familiar with out next group, Lighthouse Family. The British duo was made up by singer Tunde Baiyewu and keyboardist Paul Tucker. From their debut album in the UK, Lighthouse Family were huge hits, both in England and across Europe. So they were asked to be a part of the of 'Notting Hill', and they recorded a cover of Bill Wither's iconic song, "Ain't No Sunshine".

Hope you enjoyed it, and will be back tonight for the second part!

Notting Hill Soundtrack Pt2

Top: Notting Hill Soundtrack cover. Clockwise: Spencer Davis Group; Shania Twain; Boyzone; and Elvis Costello.

Last Monday, I posted the first of two installments featuring the music of 'Notting Hill', a charming movie with some great songs. If you missed the post featuring the music of Al Green, Ronan Keating, Lighthouse Family, and Americans 98 Degrees, click here. I couldn't find anywhere on to purchase the soundtrack, but you can buy import on used copies on Amazon. The soundtrack is a delightful cross-section of great Pop music, covering several decades. The first song in this post comes from 1966, and a band some may have forgotten about. British band Spencer Davis Group, featuring the talents of Spencer Davis, Peter York, and then unknown Steve Winwood and Steve's brother Muff Winwood had a hit with "Gimme Some Lovin'", written by Davis and the Winwood brothers. This was before Steve had been a member of supergroups Traffic and Blind Faith, and before he had his solo success. This is the Spencer Davis Group singing "Gimme Some Lovin'".



1999 was a huge year for Canadian superstar Shania Twain. She was still riding high with the success of her third album, 'Come On Over', a follow-up to the smash 'The Woman In Me'. 'Come On Over' sold 20x Platinum in the US, and the eighth single was a part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack. The beautiful ballad "You've Got A Way", written by Twain and then husband/producer Mutt Lange, proved Shania was at the top of her game.



Well, the first installment had the first release from Ronan Keating as he embarked on his solo career. The soundtrack also included a huge hit for Keating's boyband, the mega-popular Boyzone. Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch, Ronan Keating, and the late Stephen Gately were the guys in this band, and they made sweet music throughout the 1990s for the UK and Europe. In 1998, the boys released a song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman, originally from the 1996 musical 'Whistle Down the Wind'. "No Matter What" was a huge hit for Boyzone, topping the charts around the world. It went to #12 in the US Adult Contemporary chart. In 1999, it was part of the 'Notting Hill' soundtrack.



One of my favorites off the soundtrack was the stunning cover of a song by Frenchmen Charles Aznavour and Herbert Kretzmer by Elvis Costello. I remember first discovering Costello in the 1980s, a New Wave star of the highest magnitude with hit after hit. By the mid-1990s, he selling power had diminished, but certainly not his talent. He recorded the Aznavour hit "She" for the soundtrack, and made it current, popular, and showed off what a great song it was.

Cover Boys • Ronan Keating

As Cover Boys go, Ronan Keating is pretty damn easy on the eyes, and a lovely listen as well. The Irishman came to the forefront as a member of Boyzone, the boyband that also included the late Stephen Gately. Boyzone started making hits in 1994, and by 2000, he made his debut as a solo artist. But in 1997, Boyzone recorded Tracy Chapman's Baby Can I Hold You in the UK to much success. In fact, they brought the song to #2 on the UK Pop chart. Then, in 2006, he rerecorded it for a personal Greatest Hits album.



In 2002, Ronan released a version of Bob Seger's 1978 hit, We've Got Tonight, with the amazing Lulu. Their duet was quite nice, and made it to #4 on the UK Pop charts.



When You've Said Nothing At All was originally written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, and released in 1988 by Keith Whitley, where it topped the Country charts for two consecutive weeks. And while others have covered it, Ronan recorded it to be on his first album, as well as part of the soundtrack for Notting Hill.



For more about Ronan Keating, you can visit his official website here, and find him on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.