JUKE BOX

Almost Paradise by Ann Wilson and Mike Reno

Almost Paradise, the love theme from Footloose sung by Mike Reno (the lead singer of rock band Loverboy) and Ann Wilson (a vocalist for the band Heart), has been one of my all-time favourite love songs. I have been listening to this popular number since Footloose, starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer, hit the theatres in 1984. I was in college then and I used to watch the musical video on state-run channels on our black-and-white television set. If you and your girlfriend (or boyfriend) are on a patch-up then this beautiful song is just for you. It will inspire you to run right across the street and re-proclaim your undying love for the woman (or man) of your dreams. That's a little mushy, I know, but go ahead, listen to it...

I thought that dreams belonged to other men

'Cuz each time I got close

They'd fall apart again

I feared my heart would beat in secrecy

I faced the nights alone

Oh, how could I have known

That all my life I only needed you

Chorus

Whoa-oa

ALMOST PARADISE

We're knocking on heaven's door

ALMOST PARADISE

How could we ask for more?

I swear that I can see forever in your eyes

Paradise

It seems like perfect love's so hard to find

I'd almost given up

You must've read my mind

And all these dreams I saved for a rainy day

They're finally comin' true

I'll share them all with you

'Now we hold the future in our hands

Chorus

And in your arms salvation's not so far away

We're getting closer, closer every day

Chorus

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)

© United Artists

Blondie, the Good (Clint Eastwood) to Tuco, the Ugly (Eli Wallach): You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

WISDOM FROM BOOKS & COMICS

Agatha Christie in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd 

'The essence of a detective story,' I said, 'is to have a rare poison—if possible something from South America, that nobody has ever heard of—something that one obscure tribe of savages use to poison their arrows with. Death is instantaneous, and Western science is powerless to detect it. Is that the kind of thing you mean?

Spooky

Stamp of a Writer: Arthur Conan Doyle

“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs, and and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and leading to the most outer results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.”

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people do not know.” 

                                                                                   Courtesy: Guernsey Post

Best-sellers Indians love to read 

Indians are fond of popular fiction which used to include potboilers like Harold Robbins and Irving Wallace. If you ask the average reader in India what books he or she has read or enjoys reading, you're most likely to hear a list that’s as predictable as can be.



Jeffrey Archer is a particular favourite and gets a rousing welcome every time he comes to India where his books are sold in no time.
 
On his last trip in March 2010, the British author visited a bookstore in Chennai, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, to release his latest five-book series Only Time Will Tell and was moved by the large crowd waiting for him. "I am often asked why I keep returning to India. This is the answer," he smiled. By the time Archer left, the bookstore had sold nearly 1,500 copies. His publisher, I’m sure, was ecstatic. 

The chief reason why best-selling fiction flies off the shelves in Indian bookstores is because they are easy to read and quick to finish, which makes sense, for the urban reader spends more time commuting, be it day or night, and has little time for such luxuries as sitting down in a quiet place and reading a good book. The last thing he or she needs is a “heavy book” and a headache. 

So what would a predictable list of, say, Top 12 best-selling authors and their most popular novels in India read like? Here it is...

01. Jack Higgins: The Eagle Has Landed, The Savage Day and The Last Place God Made

02. Sidney Sheldon: The Other Side of Midnight, Bloodline and Rage of Angels 

03. Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Trilogy

04. Jeffrey Archer: Kane and Abel and everything else by him

05. Alistair MacLean: The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra, Where Eagles Dare and Force 10 From Navarone

06. Robin Cook: Coma, Fever and Outbreak

07. Arthur Hailey: Airport, Wheels and Hotel

08. Mario Puzo: The Godfather and The Sicilian

09. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal, The Dogs of War and The Fourth Protocol

10. Ken Follett: Eye of the Needle and The Key of Rebecca

11. John Grisham: The Firm, A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, The Client and The Chamber

12. Dan Brown: The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons

I've read a few books by all twelve authors but my favourite thriller writer from the list is Jack Higgins.

Jeffrey Archer photo: www.thehindu.com

JUKE BOX

If I Had A Hammer by Trini Lopez

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between
My brothers and my sisters ah-aaah
All over this land

If I had a bell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring out danger
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between
My brothers and my sisters ah-aaah
All over this land...

The original version of If I Had A Hammer was part of Trini Lopez's debut album Trini Lopez Live which was released in 1963. This hit single was top of the charts in nearly 40 countries and sold over a million copies worldwide. If you are listening to this song, remember, Lopez expects you to sing with him.