Musical Memories..........

"Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young, and sure to have our way"

God what a great old tune with a catchy, haunting sound. This was originally a Russian tune
called "Darogoi Dlimmoyo", which means "Dear To Me".The original artist was Alexander Wertinsky, who recorded in 1920..In the 50's, a Finnish singer translated it to her native language and recorded it. An American named Gene Raskin heard it and recorded it to English lyrics. It was popularized later by a Folk group named The Limelaters.. In 1965 Raskin and his wife performed the song in a London club called The Blue Angel. Paul McCartney was in the audience.

Three years later McCartney heard about a young Welsh singer named Mary Hopkins. The Beatles had just formed Apple Records and were looking for people to record-so Paul asked her to audition. She did, and when she she floored him with her high soprano voice, Paul immediately thought of "Those Were The Days". He bought the rights to the song, and Hopkins recorded it. Her record was specially boxed in a special introductory set of the first four Apple Releases. It became the second million-seller on Apple("Hey Jude" was the first). Worldwide it sold 5 million copies...

"Through the door there came familar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts our dreams are still the same....

Those were the days ".................