With the release of 'Good Morning Sunday', a new compilation featuring some of the classic and favourite tracks played on Aled Jones' Radio 2 show, we thought we'd take a look at the role of Sunday in pop music. Not, perhaps, the most pop of days; Saturday being the preferred choice for most musical exuberance (with Monday always there to pick up the pieces). But it's had some significant mentions along the way.
The first UK hit to mention Sunday was 'Never On Sunday', the theme from the movie of the same name that proved so popular it charted for four different artists in 1960, including Don Costa, Lynne Cornell and Makadopoulos & His Greek Serenaders. But Sundays didn't really come into their own until the Monkees smash 'Pleasant Valley Sunday' and the Small Faces 'Lazy Sunday', towards the end of the decade.
Now we know you're probably expecting The Commodores to make an appearance in the 1970s but they called their single 'Easy', leaving the "like Sunday morning" bit off the title, so they don't qualify. But Blondie's 'Sunday Girl' took them to number one way back in 1979. You may also remember they recorded a version in French. The French for Sunday is Dimanche.
U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' followed in 1983, though you might be surprised to know that Bono's classic anti-violence anthem was not released as a single in the UK, where 'Two Hearts Beat As One' was the preferred choice.
It wasn't until 1988 that Morrissey brought the day back into vogue by summing up what so many of us felt as teenagers in 'Everyday Is Like Sunday'.
Then it's not till 1993 that Sunday gets another glimpse of the Top 40, with Blur's first step into what would become Brtipop with 'Sunday Sunday'.
Finley Quaye (remember him) lit up the summer of '97 with 'Sunday Shining', followed three years later with the poorly received 'Sunday Morning Call', from Oasis' fourth album 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'. Maroon 5 also had a go at that time when no decent person should be awake: 'Sunday Morning' at the end of 2004. And to round things off nicely, Erasure scored a hit 'Sunday Girl' last year. Not the Blondie song, however, but an original composition in which singer Andy Bell promises to dance with someone "till Sunday morning". We've all had nights like those.
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