THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

705-Example-Kickstarts.

2010-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 1.01.His real name is Elliot Gleave, and when as a youngster rapping in the playground, one of the kids gave him the nickname ‘Example,’ which are his initials.’E.G.’ is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ‘exempli gratia,’ meaning ‘for example.’

Elliot John Gleave was born June 29th, 1983, in Hammersmith, London, England, he is a music producer, songwriter, singer, and rapper.To date he has released six studio Albums, and has appeared on 17 UK top 40 singles,two of which have reached Number 1.

‘Kickstarts’ is taken from Example’s second studio Album ‘Won’t Go Quietly,’ from 2010, it was co-written by Example, and Nicolaas Douwma, who is better known by his stage name ‘Sub Focus,’ he has had a lot of success as a ‘Drum and Bass’ music producer. Example was on tour when Sub Focus sent him the ‘beat,’ Example explained what the song is about,’When your on tour non-stop for three weeks, you kind of get a bit lonely, and miss your loved ones.You miss your bed because you’re staying in hotels every night, and driving everyday.. I just started thinking about life without my girlfriend.

‘I realise what I got when I’m out of town, ’cause deep down you’re my girl in a golden crown,’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

706-Johnny Mathis-Misty.

1959-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 0.14.Hey Mr DJ,’Play Misty for me.’

‘Misty’ was written, and first recorded by the acclaimed Jazz pianist, and composer Erroll Garner (1921-1977) in 1954, as an instrumental,.on hearing the recording Johnny Mathis expressed an interest in recording the song if lyrics could be written. Johnny Burke (1908-1964) who was one one of the most successful, and prolific lyricists between the 1920’s, and 1950’s wrote the lyrics, and Mathis recorded his version for his 1959 Album ‘Heavenly.’ Burke was responsible for writing the lyrics to many songs that make up part of the ‘Great American Songbook’ including ‘Pennies From Heaven,’ ‘Swinging on a Star, and ‘Moonlight Becomes You.’

‘Misty’ has been recorded many times down the years, with versions by Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald, recorded in a similar style to that of Johnny Mathis, but the other hit cover of the song, was the 1975 Country rendition by Ray Stevens, who took his version to Number 2 in the UK. The original recording by Errol Garner was used by Clint Eastwood, for his 1971 film ‘Play Misty for Me,’ Eastwood is a fan of Mathis.

Johnny Mathis was born John Royce Mathis on September 30th, 1935, in Gilmer, Texas, United States.He has recorded in many different genres during his career, including Jazz, Pop, Soul, and Disco.His 1958 Album ‘Johnny’s Greatest Hits,’ which is often described as the ‘original greatest hits package,’ once held the record of most weeks on the Billboard chart, notching up 490, three of which were spent at Number 1.

‘Look at me, I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree, and I feel like I’m clinging to a cloud I can’t understand, I get misty just holding your hand.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

707-Ramones-Don’t Come Close.

1978-Number 39 single.

Best Bit-At 0.01. ‘1-2-3-4!’

The Ramones were formed in 1974, in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, United States, they were active until 1996.All four original members have now died, Joey Ramone, born Jeffrey Hyman (1951-2001) died from lymphoma, Johnny Ramone, born John Cummings (1948-2004) died from prostrate cancer, Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin (1951-2002) died from a drug overdose, and Tommy Ramone, born Thomas Erdelyi (1949-2014) died from bile duct cancer. Although no band members were related they all used the same surname ‘Ramone,’ which was inspired by Paul McCartney, who used the name ‘Paul Ramon’ when touring with an early incarnation of the Beatles, in Scotland in 1960.

The Ramones (see also best songs 102) are recognised as one of the most influential bands of all time, and forerunners of what was to become known as ‘Punk Rock.’ They did not achieve mainstream success in the early days, but have gained more and more recognition down the years.

‘Don’t Come Close’ is taken from the bands forth studio Album ‘Road to Ruin’ released in 1978, with many fans, and critics at the time saying the Ramones had sold out by going for a more commercial sound, and trying to gain mainstream acceptance, although in recent years, contemporary reviews have been far more positive

‘You know it’s generally known, you got everything at home, kisses out of desperation, bring you more aggravation.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

708-Jeannie C. Riley-Harper Valley PTA.

1968-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 2.47.’Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’

‘Harper Valley PTA’ became the first Country song to both top the official Billboard Hot 100, as well as the Billboard Country chart by a female artist, but on alternate weeks.

The original version of the song was recorded by Country singer Margie Singleton who had asked Tom T. Hall to write her a song similar to Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe.’ (see also best songs 18.) Jeannie C. Riley recorded her version of the song, which was rush released ahead of Singleton’s, which has since gone on to sell in excess of six million copies worldwide. Such was the popularity of the song that it inspired the 1978 comedy film ‘Harper Valley PTA,’ and the 1981 television series ‘Harper Valley,’ that ran for two seasons.

‘Harper Valley PTA’ tells the story of the widowed wife Mrs Johnson, who is frowned upon by the members of the local schools PTA,who accuse her of wearing her skirts too short, drinking, and being seen with many men. Mrs Johnson addresses the PTA, and puts them in their place by pointing out their indiscretions.

Jeannie C. Riley was born Jeanne Carolyn Stephenson on October 19th, 1945, in Stamford, Texas, United States, this song would prove to be her only Billboard top 40 hit, but on the Country chart she has charted 13 times in the top 40.

Tom T. Hall, the songs writer was born on May 25th, 1936, in Olive Hill, Kentucky, United States, he has written 12 Country Number 1 hits, and has become known to his fans as ‘The Storyteller,’ due to his storytelling skills in his songs.

‘Well there’s Bobby Taylor sittin’ there, and seven times he’s asked me for a date, and Mrs Taylor sure seems to use a lot of ice when he’s away.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

709-Cliff Richard and the Drifters-Move It.

1958-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 1.16.John Lennon said,’Before Cliff and The Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music.’As you probably know, he didn’t live long enough to hear ‘The Millennium Prayer.

‘Sir Cliff Richard OBE, was born Harry Roger Webb, October 14th, 1940, in Lucknow, British India. In 1948 following Indian independence, he emigrated to Carshalton, South London, England, with his parents, and three sisters. His stage name Cliff was chosen as it sounds like ‘cliff face,’ suggesting ‘Rock,’ and ‘Richard’ is in tribute to Webb’s musical hero, Little Richard.In the UK, only the Beatles, and Elvis Presley have sold more records, he has achieved 14 UK Number 1 singles, and is the only artist to have had Number 1 songs in five consecutive decades.

‘Move It’ was written by Ian Samwell, (1937-2003) who also played rhythm guitar on the track, Samwell only wrote one verse, so on the song Cliff sings the first verse twice. Finally in 1995 Samwell wrote a second verse, which appears on the Album ‘Hank Plays Cliff.’ Samwell’s other notable work includes co-writing the Small Faces 1965 song ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It,’ and producing the debut Album by the band ‘America,’ which included ‘A Horse With No Name,’ in 1971.

Cliff Richard has re-recorded the song on several occasions throughout his career, notably in 2006, as part of a ‘double ‘A’ side’ with ’21st Century Christmas’, with Brian May of Queen, and Brian Bennett of The Shadows, the song reached Number 2 in the UK again.

‘The rhythm that gets into your heart and soul, well let me tell you baby, it’s called ‘Rock N’ Roll.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

710-R.E.M.-It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine.)

1987-It did not chart until it was re-released in 1991, when reaching Number 39.

Best Bit-At 2.25.Because of the corona virus pandemic in March 2020, the song received an increase in downloads, and streaming, alongside other apocalypse, and sickness themed songs.Online downloads increased by 184 per cent, and streams rose by 48 per cent.

R.E.M. were formed in 1980, in Athens, Georgia, United States, by Michael Stipe (vocals,) Peter Buck (guitar,) Bill Berry (drums,) and Mike Mills (bass.) Berry left the band in 1997, and the other three continued until retiring the group in 2011. R.E.M. are considered pivotal in the development of ‘Alternative Rock,’ offering something different at the time when ‘Post Punk,’ and ‘New Wave’ was at it’s peak, R.E.M. were an inspiration for acts such as Nirvana, and Sonic Youth, and other ‘Alternative Rock’ bands of the following generations.

‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine’) is taken from the bands fifth studio Album ‘Document,’ released in 1987, it is heavily influenced by Bob Dylan’s 1965 song ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues,’ (see also best songs 792) and although he has never admitted it (as far as I know,) Billy Joel probably got his inspiration for his 1989 song ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire,’ (see also best songs 810) after hearing this.Michael Stipe has said of the songs lyrics,’The words come from everywhere, I’m extremely aware of everything around me, whether I am in a sleeping state, awake,dream state, or just in day to day life, so that ended up in the song along with a lot of stuff I’d seen when I was flipping TV channels.It’s a collection of streams of consciousness.’

‘That’s great,it starts with an earthquake. Birds and snakes, and aeroplanes, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

711-The Real Roxanne-Bang Zoom (Let’s Go Go.’)

1986-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 4.18.This is ‘Old School Hip-Hop,’ where the female rappers, unlike today’s generation, such as Cardi B, and Megan Thee Stallion, didn’t have to brag about how athletic their private parts were, to make a record successful.

The Real Roxanne is the stage name of Adelaida Martinez, who was born January 11th, 1967, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States.She initially made her mark when recording an ‘Answer Record’ to the critically acclaimed song ‘Roxanne, Roxanne,’ by the Hip-Hop group UTFO. At the same time another answer record to the same song was released by Roxanne Shante, and this led to, what is believed to be somewhere between 30, to 100 different artists jumping on the bandwagon, and recording answer songs, this was to become known as the ‘Roxanne Wars.’

‘Bang Zoom (Let’s Go Go’) was co-written by The Real Roxanne, Howie Tee, and Full Force. It is a very good example of the development of Hip-Hop music, for it’s use of sampling, and scratching, not only does it use several samples from other records, it has also been sampled many times, and influenced artists such as De La Soul, The Jungle Brothers, and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

The songs co-writer Hitman Howie Tee would go on to remix for many of the world’s top artists, with his biggest success being co-producer of the Billboard Number 1 single ‘I Wanna Sex You Up,’ for Color Me Badd in 1991.The song was also co-written, and co-produced by the American R&B group Full Force, who had a top 10 hit in the UK in 1985 with ‘Alice, I Want You, Just For Me,’

‘It was little mosquit’a, in a yellow tuxed’a, freakin’ inside the speaker’s tweeter.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER

712-Otis Redding-(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.

1968- Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 2.21.Pucker Up.

Otis Ray Redding was born September 9th, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, United States, he died in a aeroplane crash on December 10th, 1967 (see also best songs 831.)

(‘Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay’ was the last song Otis Redding (see also best songs 377) had been working on before his death. While on tour in August 1967, he was sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California, which gave him the idea for the song, as he watched ships going in and out of the bay. Redding never had time to complete the song, and it was Steve Cropper (see also best songs 906 and 828,) who had been working on the song previously with Redding, just days prior to his death, who completed the song.As well as writing extra lyrics, Cropper also added the sound of seagulls, and waves, as Redding had requested, recalling the sounds he had heard when staying on the houseboat.The song is also notable for some of the most famous whistling in pop music. Redding was well known for ad-libing at the end of his songs in the studio, but with this being a more mellow track than what was his usual, it is possible that Redding couldn’t think of anything appropriate, so decided to whistle.

The song was completed quickly after Redding’s death, and rush released by the record label, it became the first ever posthumous Number 1 single on Billboard, and the Album of the same name, would become the first ever posthumous Number 1 in the UK.

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes, watchin’ the ships roll in, then I watch ’em roll away again.

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

713-Herbie Hancock-I Thought It Was You.

1978-Number 15 single.

Best Bit-At 5.10. Probably the reason why 12 inch singles were invented, so that we can enjoy the next 3.54 seconds.

Herbie Hancock was born Herbert Jeffrey Hancock on April 12th, 1940, in Chicago,Illinois, United States, he is one of Jazz/Funk, and Electronic music’s most respected artists.His best known compositions, which have now become Jazz standards include ‘Cantaloupe Island’ from 1964, and ‘Watermelon Man,’ from 1962.Between 1962-2010 he has released 41 studio Albums, 12 live Albums, 62 compilations, and five soundtrack Albums.

‘I Thought It Was You’ is taken from Hancock’s 19th studio Album,’Sunlight,’ released in 1978. By that time Hancock was influenced by Disco, and Funk music, and the Album’s release helped promote the genre of Jazz Funk. The song is noted for Hancock’s unusual vocal delivery, as he sings through a ‘Sennheiser VSM-201 vocoder,’ which distorts the voice. Other artists to use a variant of the device include The Alan Parsons Project, Kraftwerk, and Daft Punk. Some notable names who played on this track include Ray Parker Jr. (guitar,) Melvin ‘Wah Wah Watson’ Ragin (1950-2018,) who was a member of The Funk Brothers (guitar,) and Leon ‘Ndugu’ Chancler (1952-2018) who played drums, Chancler’s most instantly recognised work is probably the intro to Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean'(see also best songs 191.)

‘Just glance from behind, happened by chance or design. The perfume she wore, took me back through a door, I had closed long ago.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

714-Sidney Samson feat, Wizard Sleeve-Riverside (Let’s Go!)

2010-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 1.16. I have always wondered why the Middlesborough football team never chose this song to walk out to on match days.

Sidney Samson was born on October 2nd, 1981, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, he is a writer, and producer of Electronic Dance Music.In his home country he has had four top 40 singles, but elsewhere worldwide this song remains his only hit. He has provided remixes for many of the pop music’s biggest names, including Kylie Minogue, and David Guetta. He is married to Eva Simons, who was the featured vocalist on Will.i.am’s 2012 UK Number 1 single, ‘This Is Love.’

‘Riverside’ was originally written, and released by Sidney Samson in 2009, reaching Number 8 in Holland, Number 13 in Belgium, and Number 10 in Australia, but didn’t chart in the UK until vocals were added by the American Hip-Hop group Wizard Sleeve in 2010.They had originally performed the rap on a track called ‘Me Plus You’ from 2008, (making this song a Mashup?) and those lyrics were added to the original version of this song, and renamed ‘Riverside (Let’s Go!’)The sample ‘Riverside Motherf…..’ which also appears on the original version of the song, is the voice of Tupac Shakur, lifted from the film ‘Juice,’ (playtime 1.10.25) which is an American crime thriller, from 1992.

‘Me plus you that equals better equations, we must do, do subtraction of your clothes.’