THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
247-Mama Cass Eliott-Make Your Own Kind Of Music.
1969-Has never charted in the UK.
Best Bit-At 0.47.’I’ll see you in another life brother.’
Make Your Own Kind Of Music was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil(see also best songs 782.) The song was first recorded by the American Folk Rock trio the ‘Will-O-Bees in 1968,who regularly recorded Mann/Weil’s compositions.
Mama Cass Eliott had already had previous chart success with the Mann/Weil’s ‘It’s Getting Better'(Billboard Number 30,1969) and chose this in the hope it would take her back to the top of the charts,but it only made Number 36 on Billboard.It would also be the last hit single for her before her death.
In 2018 Paloma Faith released a very similar sounding version of the song which featured in a TV commercial for Skoda cars,her version peaked at Number 28 in the UK.
In 2005 the American TV series ‘Lost’ used the Mama Cass version for the opening scene of series 2,episode 1 called ‘Man Of Science,Man Of Faith.’
‘Make your own kind of music,even if nobody else sings along.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
248-Manic Street Preachers-Motorcycle Emptiness.
1992-Number 17 single.
Best Bit-At 5.20.It might not be totally true but the bands founding member James Dean Bradfield relates that while busking one day in Cardiff he got in to an altercation with someone(sometimes said to be a homeless man) who asked him,’What are you,boyo,some kind of manic street preacher.’
‘The Manics'(see also best songs 901) formed in 1986 at Oakdale Comprehensive School,Blackwood,South Wales.The original lineup was James Dean Bradfield,Nicky Wire and Sean Moore,they were soon joined by Richey Edwards who was a band member until his mysterious disappearance in 1995,he has never been found and was declared dead in 2008.
Motorcycle Emptiness has been interpreted by the band as an attack on the hollowness of the consumer lifestyle offered by capitalism,describing how society expects young people to conform.
‘Each day living out a lie,life sold cheaply forever,ever,ever.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
249-The Jacksons-Blame It On The Boogie.
1978-Number 8 single.
Best Bit-At 2.43.Michael Jackson wasn’t an astronaut,but at least we know for a fact he did do The Moonwalk.
The songs author was a different Mick Jackson,he was born in Germany but raised in England.He wrote the song with hopes of selling it to Stevie Wonder, but The Jacksons producer Bobby Colomby got to hear it first and got The Jacksons to record it.
In the UK both the Mick Jackson and The Jacksons(see also best songs 812 and 511) version were released within a few days of each other in September 1978.The UK music press had a field day declaring it ‘A Battle of the Boogie.’The Jacksons version was the winner peaking at Number 8 while Mick Jackson’s version reached Number 15.
Mick Jackson wasn’t a one hit wonder because his follow up song ‘Weekend’ charted at Number 39 in 1979.
In 1989 the Stock,Aitken and Waterman produced version of the song by English Boy Band Big Fun reached Number 4 and in 1998 Dance Music act Clock took their version to Number 16.
I’m full of funky fever a fire burns inside me,boogie’s got me in a super trance.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
250-Frankie Lymon &The Teenagers-Why Do Fools Falls In Love.
1956-Number 1 single.
Best Bit-At 3.14.The founder of Motown records Berry Gordy based much of the sound of this band on the development of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5.
Frankie Lymon was only 13 years old when this song made him the youngest person up until that time to have a UK Number 1 single,he was surpassed in 1972 by Little Jimmy Osmond with Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.
Like many youngsters thrust into the limelight at such a young age he had a troubled life,he became addicted to Heroin at the age of 15 and died of an overdose aged 25 in 1968.
In 1981 Diana Ross covered the song for her first release since leaving Tamla Motown Records taking the song to Number 4 in the UK and earning in excess of another 1 Million in royalties worldwide.This led to many years of legal disputes in the courts between the family of Frankie Lymon and the other names credited or making a challenge as authors of this ‘Doo-Wop-Rock ‘N’ Roll’ classic.
‘Why do birds sing so gay and lovers await the break of day.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
251-Roberta Flack-The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.
1972-Number 14 single.
Best Bit-At 3.32.It is said that the songs writer Ewan MacColl disliked the many cover versions of his song.He had a special section in his record collection for them entitled ‘The Chamber of Horrors.’
MacColl(1915-1989) wrote the song in 1957 for(and probably about) his future wife Folk singer Peggy Seeger,MacColl is the father of the late Kirsty MacColl.
The song was brought to the attention of a much wider audience in 1971 when Clint Eastwood used it in the first film he made as a director,’Play Misty For Me'(see also best songs 706.) Eastwood had heard the Roberta Flack version on the radio and wanted to use it for the films love scene(I have posted the film scene here,) he paid $2000 for the songs rights.
Roberta Flack(see also best songs 541) originally recorded the song for her debut Album ‘The First Time’ in 1969,after the success of the film Atlantic Records released the song which went on to become the best selling song on Billboard in 1972, spending six weeks at Number 1.
‘The first time ever I lay with you and felt your heart beat close to mine.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
252-The Andrews Sisters-Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.
1941-Has never charted,there was no UK chart until 1952.
Best Bit-At 0.13.’Girl Power’ that helped win World War 2.
The Andrew Sisters(see also best songs 934) were three sisters LaVerne(1911-1967,) Maxene(1916-1965) and Patty(1918-2013.) During World War 2 they entertained the Allied forces extensively in Africa and Italy as well as visiting Army,Navy,Marine and Coast Guard bases in the U.S.
Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy was written by Don Raye and Hughie Prince for the 1941 Abbott and Costello film ‘Buck Privates.’It was written nearly a year before the United States entered World War 2,but after the start of a peacetime draft to expand the armed forces in anticipation of American involvement.
In 1973 a cover version by Bette Midler brought the song to the attention of a whole new generation when reaching Number 8 on Billboard.
In 2007 Christina Aguilera and Linda Perry co-wrote ‘Candyman’ as a tribute to this song and also The Andrews Sisters,it peaked at Number 17 in the UK.
‘They made him blow a bugle for his Uncle Sam,it really brought him down because he couldn’t jam.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
253-The Stone Roses-Fools Gold.
1989-Number 8 single.
Best Bit-At 4.04.I still feel that if Ian Brown had stood closer to the microphone we would have heard him a little clearer.
The Stone Roses(see also best songs 979) were formed in Manchester in 1983 by vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire,bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield and drummer Alan ‘Reni’ Wren, they were active until they split in 1996,but reformed in 2011.
The music to Fools Gold is based around a loop from the James Brown 1969 song ‘Funky Drummer,’ a song John Squire had heard after picking up a compilation Album in a Manchester record store.’Funky Drummer’ is one of the most sampled songs in the history of Pop,especially in the Hip-Hop community.
Fools Gold is a song about greed.Ian Brown had seen the 1948 Humphrey Bogart film ‘The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.’ In the film friends go up a mountain looking for gold,but as they go on they start turning on one another.Brown said,’that’s how it felt once the Roses started getting successful,suddenly everyone was after their piece of gold.’
‘Sometimes you have to try to get along dear,I know the truth and I know what you’re thinking.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
254-Peter Gabriel-Games Without Frontiers.
1980-Number 4 single.
Best Bit-At 0.16.One of Pop Music’s most misheard lyrics,some people hear ‘she’s so popular,’ I always thought she was saying ‘she’s so funky yeah.’
The actual lyrics are Jeux Sans Frontieres’ and were sung by Kate Bush(see also best songs 866,) who would go on to record the 1986 Number 9 hit single duet with Gabriel called ‘Don’t Give Up.’
Peter Gabriel was born on February 13,1950 in Chobham,Surrey,England.In 1967 he was one of the co-founders of the rock band Genesis(see also best songs 741,) remaining with them until embarking on a solo career in 1975.
Games Without Frontiers is an anti-war song,comparing world leaders squabbling with each other like children in the school playground
Jeux Sans Frontieres was a Europe-wide television game show,in England it was known as ‘It’s A Knockout.’The shows concept was for members of the public from each European country to compete against each other playing bizarre games while wearing outlandish costumes.
‘If looks could kill they probably will,in games without frontiers,war without tears.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
255-Buffy Sainte-Marie-Universal Soldier.
1964-Has never been released as a single in the UK.
Best Bit-At 2.01.One of the great anti war songs,but perhaps the most controversial of them all.
Buffy Sainte-Marie was born February 20,1941 in Qu’Appelle Valley,Saskatchewan,Canada,her birth name is Beverley Sainte-Marie.Throughout her life she has focused on many different issues including the indigenous peoples of the America’s.During the 1970’s she appeared regularly on the children’s television programme Sesame Street and in 1997 she founded the ‘Cradleboard Teaching Project,’ an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans.
Written during the ‘Vietnam War’ Universal Soldier is very controversial because it says that the soldier is the one to blame,he or she is the one who has the choice to fire or not fire their weapon,he or she has the choice to follow or not follow the politicians orders.
‘He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon to a war and without him all this killing can’t go on.
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