Five Heartbeats

For anyone in their mid-teens in the mid-5Os, and into music, it had to be rock'n'roll - American rock'n roll. There was no British equivalent to the sound. In the UK, it was Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, The Platters, Alan Freed, Radio Luxembourg, Voice Of America.

Orkest de Volharding is one of the longest established European new music ensembles, created in 1972 by composers Louis Andriessen and Willem Breuker to perform one work, Andriessen's piece De Volharding. Its sister ensemble, Hoketus, has long fallen by the wayside, but Orkest de Volharding (literally the Perseverance Orchestra) presses on in a prodigious outpouring of concerts and recordings. They remain little known in the United States, despite having recorded works of Andriessen, Julia Wolfe, and Michael Torke for major labels distributed in America.

Doo-Wop has been called the forgotten third of Rock and Roll, but even a casual glance at the track listing of this splendid set will reassure listeners that they do indeed know many of the songs – some well enough to sing along to with all the vocal parts in place. Once a minority collector interest, Doo-Wop has since built up and maintained a place in our collective musical consciousness through exposure in films, TV and radio shows. Our compilation certainly boasts all the best-known songs.

In the late 1950s, the Doo Wop era began in a small subway arcade shop located beneath the Walgreen's Drug Store at Broadway and 42nd Street in New York City. Jerry Greene, a young teenager from Brooklyn, would travel to Times Square in search of records he heard on the Alan Freed radio show. One of his favorite stops was a costume jewelry store that strangely enough, also sold records - twenty for a dollar.

André Rieu, AKA ‘The King of the Waltz’, is raising women’s heartbeats with his new album ‘Romantic Moments II’ – to be released on 7 December. ‘Romantic Moments II’ features beautiful evergreen melodies, hits from the world’s famous movies, ballads and classical songs that have touched the hearts of millions for centuries. Romantic classics on the album range from ‘Strangers in the Night’, 'Sunrise, Sunset', ‘The Way Old Friends Do’ and ‘Red Roses for a Blue Lady’ to traditional songs like ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘El cóndor pasa’, classical melodies like the ‘Vilja Song’, beloved waltzes like ‘By the Beautiful Blue Danube’ as well as music from films like ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ or ‘The Sound of Music’.