THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
223-Ralph McTell-Streets Of London.
1974-Number 2 single.
Best Bit-At 0.38.Some people of a certain age may know him better for ‘Alphabet Zoo’ and ‘Tickle on the Tum.’
In the 1980’s Ralph McTell wrote and played songs for both of those children’s television programmes.
McTell was born Ralph May on December 3rd,1944 in Croydon,London.He modelled his guitar playing on Blues artists such as Robert Johnson which led a friend to suggest he change his professional name to McTell. He was also named Ralph after the acclaimed composer Ralph Vaughan Williams as his father Frank was employed as his gardener before World War 2.
McTell originally recorded Streets Of London in 1969 but left it off his debut Album ‘Eight Frames A Second’ because he considered it too gloomy,it was legendary producer Gus Dudgeon who persuaded him to include it on his second Album release,’Spiral Staircase.’
The song was inspired by McTell’s experiences busking and hitchhiking throughout Europe,especially in Paris.He was originally going to call the song Streets Of Paris,but there was already a song called ‘The Poor People Of Paris.’The song contrasts the common problems of everyday people with those of the homeless,lonely,elderly,ignored and forgotten members of society.
‘So how can you tell me you’re lonely and say for you that the sun don’t shine.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
224-Dionne Warwick-Walk On By.
1964-Number 9 single.
Best Bit-At 1.42.’I honestly believe that if I’d sneezed on my next record,then Cilla would have sneezed on hers too.’
The words of Dionne Warwick venting her frustration that UK record labels preferred to release Warwick’s American hits in Britain sung by British singers.
Marie Dionne Warwick was born December 12.1940 in Orange,New Jersey.Her sister is Dee Dee Warwick,her cousin was Whitney Houston and her aunt is Cissy Houston.She is second only to Aretha Franklin as the most charted female vocalist of all time with 56 of her singles making the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962-1998.
Her big breakthrough came after Burt Bacharach heard her singing backing vocals,he was impressed enough to ask her to sing lead on recently written Bacharach and Hal David compositions.(see also best songs 902-832-815-740-644-376.)
‘So let me hide the tears and the sadness you gave me when you said goodbye.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
225-Jennifer Holiday-And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.
1982-Number 32 single.
Best Bit-At 2.27.Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ is a song from the Broadway Musical ‘Dreamgirls’ with lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger.
In the musical the song was sung by Jennifer Holiday who was portraying the character of Effie White a singer with the girl group ‘The Dreams.’The song was regularly staged to thunderous applause and many critics cited it as the highlight of the show.
In 2006 the musical was made in to a film starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Eddie Murphy.In the film the song is performed by former American Idol winner Jennifer Hudson who also received critical acclaim for her rendition. Coincidentally both versions by Holiday and Hudson only reached a peak of Number 32 in the UK chart,Holiday in 1982 and Hudson in 2009.
‘Tear down the mountains,yell,scream and shout,like you can say what you want,I’m not walking out.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
226-Nat King Cole-Unforgettable.
1951-Has never charted,there was no UK chart until 1952.
Best Bit-At 2.21.In January 1964 Cole(see also best songs 988 and 327) made one of his final television appearances on The Jack Benny Program,he was introduced as ‘the best friend a song ever had.’
Unforgettable was written by Irving Gordon,his other hits include the ‘almost novelty’ songs ‘Mister Mississippi’ a hit for Patti Page and ‘Delaware’ recorded by Perry Como.Gordon has also been credited with writing the legendary baseball comedy routine performed by Abbott and Costello,’Who’s on First,’although others have also claimed authorship.
In 1991 musical director Joe Guercio had the idea of mixing Cole’s original 1951 recording with a new version recorded by Cole’s daughter Natalie.The remixed version reached Number 19 in the UK and at the ’34th Annual Grammy Awards’ won ‘Song Of The Year’
‘That’s why darling it’s incredible that someone so unforgettable thinks that I am unforgettable too.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
227-Rodney Franklin-The Groove.
1980-Number 7 single.
Best Bit-At 2.02.I always remember the very short lived dance craze ‘The Freeze’ which accompanied this song.It was invented by British DJ Chris Hill with the idea being that every time the music stops those on the dance floor have to freeze(the song has 11 breaks.) Needless to say it never caught on,but I hear there is a very similar game normally played by children called musical statues.
Rodney Franklin was born September 16th,1958 in Berkeley,California,he is an American Jazz Pianist and composer,he was professionally tutored from the age of six and cites Jazz legend Oscar Peterson as a major inspiration.
In 1978 at the age of twenty he signed a major record deal with CBS Records and ‘The Groove’ is taken from his second Album ‘You’ll Never Know.’The song was a hit at the height of the popularity of the ‘Jazz Funk’ genre and influenced future acts such as The Brand New Heavies and Shakatak.
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
228-Chaka Khan-I’m Every Woman.
1978-Number 11 single.
Best Bit-At 2.52.’Chaka,Chaka,Chaka,Chaka Khan,let me rock you Chaka Khan,that’s all I wanna do. Chaka Khan let me rock you,let me feel for you.’
Chaka Khan was born Yvette Marie Stevens in 1953 in Chicago,Illinois,U.S.Her breakthrough occurred in 1973 as lead singer with the Funk band Rufus.In 1978 she released her first solo Album ‘Chaka’ from which this song was taken.
I’m Every Woman’ was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson (see also best songs 703 and 359) who had already had success as writers for the Tamla Motown label in the 1960’s and 70’s.
In 1992 Whitney Houston recorded the song as part of the ‘Bodyguard’ soundtrack,it was released as a single and peaked at Number 4 in the UK in 1993.Houston’s mother Cissy had sang backing vocals on the Chaka Khan original and makes a cameo appearance in the songs video along with Khan and Valerie Simpson.
‘I can cast a spell of secrets you can tell, mix a special brew put fire inside of you.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
229-Noel Harrison-The Windmills Of Your Mind.
1969-Number 8 single.
Best Bit-At 1.39.Don’t worry if you can’t make head nor tail of these beautiful lyrics,they are meant to be a series of random thoughts.
The song was commissioned for the 1968 film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair.’ It was first offered to Andy Williams who turned it down,second choice Noel Harrison(1934-2013) who was the son of actor Rex Harrison later said he quickly forgot about the recording and it wasn’t until it’s great success(won the ‘Academy Award for Best Original Song) that he realised what he had achieved.
The music for the song was written by Michel Legrand(1932-2019,) with English lyrics by husband and wife songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman.The films producers wanted an original song to play over the scene where Steve McQueen(Thomas Crown) fly’s his glider while contemplating the major robbery he is planning to commit.
‘When you knew that it was over,were you suddenly aware that the Autumn leaves were turning to the colour of her hair.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
230-Beck-Loser.
1994-Number 15 single.
Best Bit-At 1.08.After many years of trying to incorporate ‘Rapping’ into his music Beck finally realised he was no good at it,which is the inspiration for this songs chorus.
Beck(see also best songs 879) was born,Bek David Campbell in 1970 in Los Angeles,California.During his formative years he would experiment with many different types of music which he would play to audiences wherever and whenever he could.On occasions when he saw people getting bored or losing interest he would make up nonsensical lyrics in order to try to attract their attention again,which explains the origins of the verses of this song.
Success finally came after Beck was introduced to record producer Karl Stephenson who on hearing his songs added his own ideas such as Sitar Guitar and samples and told him to drop the Rapping.
In the chorus Beck sings ‘Soy un perdedor,’ which is Spanish for ‘I’m a loser.’
‘In the times of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey,Butane in my veins and I’m out to cut the junkie.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

COMING NEXT THE BEST 230.

Well here I go,here I,here I go,yo
Dance in the isle when the Prince steps to it
The rhyme is a football y’all and I went and threw it
Out in the crowd and yo it was a good throw
How do I know?
Because the crowd went ‘HHAAOOO!’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
231-Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong-Summertime.
1958-Never released as a single in the UK.
Best Bit-At 0.27.Probably the best vocal pairing in the world ever. Surely even Simon Cowell and his X-Factor mates would be able to recognise that!
Between 1956-1957 the ‘First Lady of Song’ and ‘Satchmo’ recorded three Albums together,’Ella and Louis,’Ella and Louis Again’ and the Album this song is taken from ‘Porgy and Bess.'(see also best songs 944-767-702 and 286.)
The opera Porgy and Bess was adapted from the novel ‘Porgy’ written by DuBose Heywood and published in 1925.It tells of a crippled street beggar living in the black tenements of Charleston,South Carolina.
‘Summertime was composed by George Gershwin(see also best songs 286) (1898-1937) with lyrics by DuBose Heywood(1885-1940,) both died young so never knew of the success and significance of this song or the opera it was part of.
The lyrics are open to interpretation.It is a lullaby that could be sang as a mother to their child,or as a slave/nanny to a white baby.The nanny is telling the child that they are assured of a good life with parents to love them and wealth to protect them.The slave/nanny knows that she and her race have none of these privileges to look forward to.
‘Oh,your daddy’s rich and your ma is good lookin,’so hush little baby don’t you cry.’
PLEASE SHARE TO REACH A WIDER AUDIENCE.
The countdown continues tomorrow at 1.0.pm.