‘Out There’

Click/tap on the play button just above this text to hear FA Productions partner Charlie Macdonald sing the poignant operatic-style hit from the 1996 Disney film musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (The song was composed by Alan Menken, and it was sung in the film by Tony Jay and Tom Hulce.)

The song is in fact a clever combination of two songs (“Out There”, voiced by Quasimodo, and “Stay in Here”, voiced by Judge Claude Frollo) in which Quasimodo, trapped in Notre Dame Cathedral, longs for just a few minutes of freedom in the outside world, while Frollo seeks to gaslight him to remain inside the cathedral. In this version, Charlie sings both parts.

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Crazy Little Thing Called Love

This rockabilly song by Queen, composed and originally sung by Freddie Mercury as a tribute to the recently deceased Elvis Presley, reached second spot in the UK charts in 1979. Freddie said he composed it in ten minutes using just the few chords he knew on the guitar because “I can’t play for nuts”.

This version is sung by Charlie Macdonald, a partner in FA Productions. Click/top the play button above to hear it.

To Be With You

The American rock band Mr Big has been around, on and off, for over 30 years. They enjoyed their biggest success in the 90s, when they became a notable example of the Big Japan trend.

The sing-along clappy rock track TO BE WITH YOU was released in 1991, written by Eric Martin and David Grahame. Untypical of their usual headbanger rock style, it became a slow-burn huge hit.

Martin said the lyrics were inspired by a girl he knew who had a lot of boyfriends. He wanted to be with her, but it never came to pass.

Listen to it now sung by Charlie Macdonald: just click/tap the play button below the image above.

‘I need a Dollar’

Originally released in 2010, this soul song by American Aloe Blacc about a guy down on his luck sold over half a million certified sales in the UK alone.

‘Don’t Stop Me Now’

Don’t Stop Me Now was written by Freddie Mercury and released in 1978. It is generally regarded as one of the top five Queen songs of all time, and perhaps the greatest of them all. A classic high-energy rock song, it has been featured in countless commercials.

Listen now to Charlie Macdonald singing Don’t Stop Me Now (click/tap the play button below the header image)

‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’

‘Summer of ’69’

The Summer of ’69 was written by Canadian Bryan Adams and Jim Wallace. The two songwriters dispute the meaning of the title: Vallance mischievously maintains it refers to a sexual position whilst Adams asserts that it simply refers to the year 1969. Said to be inspired by the Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever, about young people aspiring to becoming musicians, this is seen as a quintessential summer song and remains popular today.

Click/tap the play button below the image to hear Charlie Macdonald reviving that great 1985 song: Summer of ’69.

‘Somebody to Love’

This Queen song, written By Freddie Mercury and first released in 1976, shows some similarity in style to their earlier hit Bohemian Rhapsody, with its complex harmonics and guitar solos featuring Brian May, but this time Queen turned to a gospel choir style, rather than an operatic choir, partly inspired by Mercury’s admiration of Aretha Franklin. It uses a deep layering of vocal tracks, with three singers passing themselves off as a complete gospel choir.

The piece questions life without love, exploring soul searching and desperation. Listen to FA Productions partner Charlie Macdonald lead-singing this vocally challenging song by clicking/tapping the play button just below the image above.

‘Before You Go’

This heart-tugging belter by Scottish singer/songwriter Lewis Capaldi reached #1 in 2020. The song concerns the emotional aftermath of the suicide of his aunt when he was a child. He was with his mother when she discovered her dead sister, and Capaldi describes it as the most personal song he has ever written.

Click/tap the play button below the image to hear Charlie Macdonald’s rendition of this emotional song.

‘My Girl’

My Girl is a 1964 song recorded for the Motown label by the Temptations, with David Ruffin singing lead vocal. Written by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White, it was the first Temptations #1 single. Over half century later, in 2017, it was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. The song gained more recent prominence when New York Mets baseball player Francisco Lindor used it as his walk-up song in 2024 and 2025.

Click/tap the play button just beneath the image above to hear FA Productions partner Charlie Macdonald sing this sweet and slow tribute to a teen angel from over 60 years ago.