Thread by @WyndhamWallace, My greatest musical regret is having turned down the opportunity, aged 12, [...]

My greatest musical regret is having turned down the opportunity, aged 12, to learn the oboe. In tribute, therefore, to possibly the most underused but poignant instrument in pop music - nay, ANY music - let me present my Top Dozen Oboe Pop Songs.
#oboeclassics

Sure, it& #39;s from a troubling soft-core lesbian schoolgirl porno (which I& #39;ve never seen, I assure you), but & #39;Bilitis Générique& #39;, the opening track to Francis Lai& #39;s score for David Hamilton& #39;s Bilitis, offers the oboe a gloriously sentimental backdrop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5jhIBkMQLA">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

This was @ChinaCrisisUK& #39;s only UK Top 10 hit, brought to mind recently by singer Gary Daly& #39;s wonderful debut solo album, & #39;Gone From Here& #39;. Though the oboe& #39;s essentially decorative, it& #39;s still integral. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldQpRMegYc0">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Thanks to Amanda Brown, this won& #39;t be the only time we see The @GoBetweens in this list. This is taken from what I consider to be their finest album, & #39;16 Lovers Lane& #39;. https://youtu.be/f04jDgwsK6s ">https://youtu.be/f04jDgwsK...

I& #39;m not sure this would be even half the song it is if it didn& #39;t have it& #39;s melancholic, oboe-fuelled coda... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-tiCXIkGLA">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

The second single from @tanita_tikaram& #39;s debut is overlooked too often these days, perhaps overshadowed by & #39;Good Tradition& #39;, but it& #39;s a subdued masterpiece whose masterstroke is the oboe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8glZ-efMg">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Those of a certain age will either be moved to tears or driven to rage by Art Garfunkel& #39;s & #39;Watership Down& #39; theme tune, but goddamnit, just let that oboe do its work... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGyQmH9NZcw">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

An oboe introduces this song, which to me always sounded like the end of the world, and that& #39;s just one of the reasons it remains one of my absolute favourite @JulianHCope tunes ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHxcafCFu8">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

@TheJudyCollins& #39; exquisite reading of Stephen Sondheim& #39;s & #39;Send In The Clowns& #39;, from & #39;A Little Night Music& #39;, puts the oboe centre stage, and rightly so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6KGuTr9TI">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Strictly speaking this may be cheating: I think the main reed instrument is the oboe& #39;s bigger sister, a cor anglais? Still, there& #39;s no good excuse not to play it, and face it: without @KateStJohn5, this list probably wouldn& #39;t exist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWMKAYRU9qE">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

You think Lee Hazlewood never needed an oboe? Think again: there& #39;s one all over the sublime & #39;Leather & Lace& #39;, almost certainly the second Hazlewood song I ever knowingly heard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkZjg4WJwrU">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

OK, I& #39;m no great fan of Madonna& #39;s, truth be told, but when she& #39;s good, she& #39;s fantastic. This is one of those songs, with the oboe a key factor in its favour... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHutZXREZ0E">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Ah, c& #39;mon. It& #39;s called & #39;Gabriel& #39;s Oboe& #39;, and it& #39;s by Ennio Morricone, and I don& #39;t care how many times you& #39;ve heard it: you& #39;re made of stone if this doesn& #39;t get you *right there*. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixby9BzJfEo">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

You thought I& #39;d peak with yet more melancholy, but you were wrong. Here come The @GoBetweens again, with Amanda Brown rightfully hogging the spotlight, making this my favourite-song-ever-with-an-oboe.

"Because the door is open wide..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBDe9BGNBnM">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Feel free to toss in oboe-embellished classics I& #39;ve missed. And, in the meantime, here& #39;s to all the folk who mastered the oboe, which, in the wrong hands, sounds like A Brutal Duck Massacre (though, to be fair, that& #39;s one of the best Fall albums ever).

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that, in my excitement, I made that a Baker& #39;s Dozen. So, because there& #39;s no room for bad luck, here& #39;s a 14th tune that probably have been included anyway, though what it would have squeezed out I can& #39;t imagine... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwEBzhEpr1M">https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Latest Threads Unrolled: