Providing Disco & Karaoke Since 19770113 266 8963 0113 266 8963
Posted by: In: Other 21 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

491-Eddie Kendricks-Keep On Truckin’

1973-Number 18 single.

Best Bit-At 0-10. ‘Keep On Truckin” is a phrase of encouragement, meaning to continue to stay focused regardless of circumstances or setbacks.

Eddie James Kendrick was born on December 17th, 1939, in Union Springs, Alabama, United States, he died of lung cancer on October 5th, 1992 at the age of 52. Kendrick was one of the founding members of what would become Tamla Motown’s most successful male group, the Temptations (see also best songs 1031-1001-777 and 569.) He remained with the group from their formation in 1955, until leaving in bitter circumstances in 1971. Kendrick was noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, and can be heard singing lead on many of the Temptations hits including ‘Get Ready’, and ‘Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me.’)

Eddie Kendrick’s solo career got off to a slow start, with all five singles released from his first two solo Albums failing to break into the Billboard top 40, but things changed with the release of his third, and self titled studio Album in 1973, when ‘Keep On Truckin” released as the Albums second single made it all the way to Number 1 on Billboard. The song signified a change in style, moving towards a more dance oriented sound, and is considered to be one of ‘Disco’s’ first breakthrough hits.

‘Keep On Truckin” was co-written by Leonard Caston Jr. Anita Poree (1939-2018) and Frank Wilson (1940-2012) who also produced the song. Caston Jr. has written for many artists on the ‘Chess,’ and ‘Motown’ labels, including the 1971 top 20 hit for The Supremes,’Nathan Jones,’ he can also be heard playing the piano on the Fontella Bass hit ‘Rescue Me,’ from 1965. Frank Wilson who also worked with Kendrick on all of his first six solo Albums will always be best remembered for his ‘Northern Soul’ classic ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do’) (see also best songs 97.) He went to work for Motown in 1965, employed as a songwriter and producer for many of the labels top acts including The Supremes,(see also best songs 411) and The Four Tops. Wilson retired from music in 1976 to become a born again Christian Minister.

Eddie Kendricks released 12 solo studio Albums between 1971-1981. There were also two duet Albums with his fellow ex ‘Temptations’ band mate David Ruffin (1941-1991) and a live Album recorded with Ruffin, and Daryl Hall & John Oates in 1985,’Live at the Apollo.’In ‘Keep On Truckin’ the narrator is telling us of his love, and desire for another, and he will do whatever it takes to make that person his. The lyric ‘In old Temptation’s rain I’m duckin,’ is a dig at his former band mates, who had previously had a dig at him in their song ‘Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are’.)

‘I’m the red ball express of lovin,’ Diesel powered straight to you, I’m truckin.’ In old Temptation’s rain, I’m duckin,’ for your love through sleet and snow, I’m truckin.”

Posted by: In: Other 21 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

492-Jimi Hendrix Experience-Hey Joe.

1966-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 1.51. A warning to old ladies everywhere, don’t go messin’ round with another man. You might end up getting shot.

‘Hey Joe’ was originally written and performed in the mid 1950’s by Billy Roberts, who was born William Moses Roberts Jr., on August 16th, 1936, in Greenville, South Carolina, United States, he died on October 7th, 2017, at the age of 81. Roberts recorded the song himself, but never had it officially released, but he did have it copyrighted in 1962.Roberts was a folk singer, he was a member of the ‘Driftwood Singers’ between 1964-1965, who played on the same bill as artists such as Bill Cosby, Carmen McRae, and Johnny Cash. He released one studio Album in 1975 called ‘Thoughts of California’.It is thought that Robert’s got his inspiration for writing ‘Hey Joe’ from an earlier work by his then girlfriend Niela Horn, whose song ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go to Town’ uses the same chord progression. Also the 1953 US Country hit ‘Hey Joe’ written by Boudleaux & Bryant shares the same title, and ‘questioning’ format. There is also an early 20th Century traditional ballad called ‘Little Sadie’ that tells of a man on the run after he has shot his wife.

‘Hey Joe’ has been recorded in many different styles, by numerous artists over the years. The probable first commercially released ‘Rock’ version was in 1966 by the ‘Garage’ band the ‘Leaves’ who reached Number 31 on Billboard, the highest chart placing the song has reached in America. Jimi Hendrix (see also best songs 983) got to know about the song after seeing the Folk singer Tim Rose (1940-2002) perform a slower version. On the advice of Chas Chandler (see also best songs 851) (1938-1996) who was now Hendrix’s manager, the song became the first single release of the ‘Jimi Hendrix Experience.’ The song failed to chart in America, but made Number 6 in the UK.’Hey Joe’ is the story of a man who finds out his woman has been cheating on him, and he takes his revenge by purchasing a gun, and shooting the woman, and her lover.In order to not face a trial, and the hangman, he travels down south to Mexico. The Hendrix version omits the first verse. where ‘Joe’ buys the gun, and he also makes no mention of killing the woman’s lover, which is part of the original version by Roberts.

On May 12th, 2012, in the town square of Wroclaw, in Poland, a ‘Guinness Record’ was set when 7,273 guitarists played ‘Hey Joe’ simultaneously.

‘Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand. I’m goin’ down to shoot my old lady, you know I caught her messin’ ’round with another man.’

Posted by: In: Other 18 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

493-Hank Ballard & the Midnighters-Work With Me, Annie.

1954-Has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 1.42. Before ‘Je t’aime,Moi Non Plus,’God Save the Queen,’Relax,’ anything by Judge Dread, and loads of others, the radio wouldn’t play this in an attempt to save our youth from being corrupted.

This songs writer Hank Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks, on November 18th, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, he died on March 2nd, 2003, from throat cancer at the age of 75. Aside from this ground breaking song, he would achieve even greater success when his composition ‘The Twist’ was covered by Chubby Checker (see also best songs 749) reaching Number 1 on Billboard on two separate occasions.Ballard was the cousin of Florence Ballard (1943-1976) a founding member of The Supremes, and he was also the great uncle of NFL player Christian Ballard.

In 1953 Ballard joined the ‘Doo-Wop’ group the Royals, who after the release of early singles changed their name to the ‘Midnighters’ in order as to not cause confusion with another group called the ‘5 Royals.’ In 1954 Ballard wrote ‘Work With Me Annie,’ he was inspired to write it after hearing the sexually explicit song ‘Sixty Minute Man’ by the ‘Dominoes.’ The lyrics were extremely sexually explicit for the period, with many radio stations refusing to play the song, for example ‘work’ was ghetto slang for sexual intercourse. Peter Potter who was a judge on the ‘CBS’ television programme ‘Juke Box Jury’ said of the song,’All R&B records are dirty, and as bad for kids as dope.”Work With Me Annie’ is recognised as one of the most influential songs in the development of Rock music, because of it’s big bass beat, electric guitar, and sexually suggestive lyrics. The song spurned other songs about ‘Annie,’ such as ‘Annie Had a Baby,’ also recorded by the Midnighters, and also ‘answer songs’ such as ‘Roll with Me, Henry,’ notably recorded by Etta James, and also by Georgia Gibbs.

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters were active until the mid 1960’s, achieving eight Billboard top 40 singles. After the split, Ballard pursued a solo career, his 1969 Album ‘You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down’ was produced by James Brown. Ballard also appeared on two tracks on Brown’s 1972 Album ‘Get On the Good Foot.’ In 1979 he turned his hand to ‘Disco,’ recording the track ‘Freak Your Boom-Boom,’ before reforming the Midnighters, who performed together through until 2002.

‘Annie please don’t cheat, give me all my meat.Work with me Annie, now let’s get it, while the gettin’ is good.’

Posted by: In: Other 18 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

494-Womack & Womack-Teardrops.

1988-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.58. If future generations of the Womack family appear on the television programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are,’ they will have their work cut out sorting this family tree.

Womack & Womack were the husband and wife duo of Cecil Womack (1947-2013) and his wife Linda. Together they released 10 studio Albums between 1983-2006, none of their singles broke into the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but they did achieve four UK top 40 hits.After travelling to Nigeria in the early 1990’s the couple discovered that they had ancestral ties to the ‘Zekkariyas’ tribe, and from then on they adopted African names. Cecil became known as ‘Zek,’ and Linda became known as ‘Zerilya’, and for the release of their last four studio Albums they were issued under the name ‘Zek,’ or ‘The Greater House of Zekkariyas.’

Cecil Dale Womack was born on September 25th, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he died of unknown causes on January 25th, 2013, at the age of 65. Womack was born into a very religious family, and he and his brothers Bobby (1944-2013) Harry (1945-1974) Friendly, and Curtis, formed a Gospel group in their informative years. In the mid 1950’s they came to the attention of Sam Cooke (1931-1964) (see also best songs 156) and in 1961 Cooke signed them to his record label ‘SAR,’ changing their name to the ‘Valentinos,’ recording ‘the devils music,’rather than sticking with their Gospel roots. In 1965, 77 days after the death of Sam Cooke, Cecil’s brother Bobby (see also best songs 221) married Cooke’s widow Barbara who was 10 years his senior, which both the Womack, and Cooke family both bitterly opposed.

Linda Womack was born on April 25th, 1953, in Chicago Illinois, United States, she is the daughter of Sam Cooke, and Barbra Cooke. Linda married Cecil in the late 1970’s, and they had seven children together. This was Cecil’s second marriage, as he had previously been married to the Tamla Motown singer Mary Wells (1943-1992.) Cecil was also a songwriter, and producer for other artists, having been employed by ‘Philadelphia International Records’ for a period, with his best known song being the 1980 Teddy Pendergrass hit, co-written with Gip Noble Jr., ‘Love T.K.O.’

‘Teardrops’ was the first single released from Womack & Womack’s fourth studio Album ‘Conscience’ from 1988, and was co-written by both Linda and Cecil, who also produced the track, along with Chris Blackwell the founder of ‘Island Records.’ In 1998 the song was covered by the ‘UK Garage’ band ‘Lovestation,’ who took their version to Number 14 in the UK. Other notable remakes of the song are by the German girl group ‘No Angels’ whose version as part of a medley with a track called ‘Amaze Me’ reached Number 25 in their home country in 2007, and the Australian singer Kate Alexa featuring Baby Bash, who made Number 26 on the Aria’ singles chart in 2008.

‘Teardrops’ is a song of regret, with the narrator having taken her partner for granted, and maybe even cheated on them, now wishing things could get back to the way they used to be.

‘And the music don’t feel like it did when I felt it with you.Nothing that I do or feel, ever feels like I felt it with you.’

Posted by: In: Other 16 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

495-Jax Jones featuring Mike Dunn and MNEK-House Work.

2016-Number 85 single.

Best Bit-At 1.18. This House Work is most definitely not a chore.

Jax Jones is the stage name of Timucin Lan, who was born on July 25th, 1987, in London, England, his father is Turkish, and his mother is Malaysian.Jones is a producer of ‘House Music,’ and first found chart success as the co-writer, and co-producer of the 2014 UK Number 1 single ‘I Got U,’ with Duke Dumont.'(see also best songs 779.) In 2018 Jones released his debut ‘EP’ called ‘Snacks’ which featured six of his single releases, and in an unusual piece of marketing, as each new single was released it was added to the ‘EP’ for the public to download, eventually expanding into Jones’ first full length Album ‘Snacks (Supersize.’)The Album was in and around the UK top 100 for over two years, peaking at Number 9, and has sold over 100,000 copies to date. In total Jax Jones has achieved 11 UK top 40 singles to date as the main artist, and a further one as the featured artist. All 11 hits feature at least one guest vocalist, these artists include Jess Glynne,(see also best songs 504) and Years & Years.

‘House Work’ was co-written by Jones, and Uzoechi Emenike, who is better known by his stage name ‘MNEK,’ the stage name is a gramogran of his surname. Emenike was born on November 9th, 1994, in Lewisham, London, England, he has written and produced for many of the worlds top artists including Madonna, Beyonce, and Kylie Minogue. His list of writing credits include co-writing the two UK Number 1 songs, ‘Gecko (Overdrive’) for Oliver Heldens in 2014, and ‘Head & Heart’ for Joel Corry in 2020.

‘I call it house work, ’cause it’s light work. I’ma throw shapes, feeling the bass,’till my feet hurt (what you, what you gon’ do.’)

Posted by: In: Other 16 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

496-Mr. Oizo-Flat Beat.

1999-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.51. It’s Daft Punk for the primary school kids.

Mr. Oizo is the stage name of Quentin Dupieux who was born on April 14th, 1974, in Paris, France, he derived his stage name from the French ‘oiseau,’ meaning bird.As well as writing, producing, and remixing music, Dupieux also works in the film, and the video making industry, to date he is the director of 10 movies released between 2001-2020, he also has many writing, composing, and editorial credits to his name. Dupieux has released six studio Albums between 1999-2016, and three soundtrack Albums, for films he has directed.

‘Flat Beat’ was added to Mr. Oizo’s debut studio Album ‘Analog Worms Attack’ as a bonus track when released in October 1999. Dupieux said it only took him two hours to compose the song, with the heavily repeated bassline being sampled from the ‘Fatback Band’s’ 1975 track ‘Put Your Love In My Tender Care.’ (see also best songs 798) The song went to Number 1 in seven European countries, making him a ‘One Hit Wonder,’ as this remains his only charting song to date, apart from in his home country of France where his song ‘Pharmacist’ reached Number 8, in 2020. Surprisingly ‘Flat Beat’ only reached Number 5 in France, as it didn’t receive a great deal of air play on it’s initial release.

Undoubtedly the songs great success can be put down to it being commissioned by ‘Levi Jeans’ for one of their commercials, which featured the yellow puppet character ‘Flat Eric,’ who was created by Quentn Dupieux. ‘Flat Eric’ was based on a dog-like puppet, but with hands, and originally called ‘Stephane,’ but ‘Levi Jeans’ insisted on renaming the character to ‘Eric’ as that was more of a ‘international name.’ The original idea for the commercial was to have ‘Eric’ being involved in a car accident, and having his head flattened, but that idea was dropped, but the name ‘Flat Eric’ stuck.

‘Levi’ are no strangers to commissioning music for their advertising, having made 40 commercials between 1985-2007, with some other of the songs used, also featuring in this countdown.

‘Oh yeah, I know Quinnan, he’s a real, a real jerk.’

Posted by: In: Other 14 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

497-Stephen Bishop-On and On.

1976-Has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.56. Although the song’s subject is fictional, Bishop has stated ,’ I write much better when I’m heartbroken, and sad, or melancholy.’

Earl Stephen Bishop was born on November 14th, 1951, in San Diego, California, United States. His first venture in the music business occurred in 1967, when he was part of a ‘British Invasion’ styled group called the ‘Weeds.’ After many years of struggling as a singer/songwriter he got his big break when Art Garfunkel chose to record two of his compositions for his 1975 second solo studio Album ‘Breakaway,’ which went onto become the best selling solo Album of Garfunkel’s career.With that success behind him Bishop signed with ABC Records’ in 1976, and has since released 19 Albums, and five compilations, between 1976-2019. Bishop’s songs have appeared in many movies over the years, with perhaps the most notable being ‘Separate Lives’ sung by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin in the 1985 film ‘White Nights.’ Bishop has also had small parts in several movies, including an appearance in ‘The Blues Brothers’ in 1980.

‘On and On’ is taken from Stephen Bishop’s debut studio Album ‘Careless’ from 1976, and is one of three songs he has recorded to have reached the Billboard top 40. The song finished the year as the 30th best selling song of 1976 in America even so it only reached Number 11, this was due to it’s longevity of spending nearly six months on the chart. ‘On and On’ features Andrew Gold (1951-2011) on electric guitar, and it’s parent Album features contributions from artists such as Chaka Khan, and Eric Clapton. In Clapton’s autobiography he mentions Bishop as one of his favourite singer/songwriters.

‘On and On’ is a tale of how cruel love can be. The narrator tells us of two unrelated couples, where in both cases one of the partners ends up heartbroken, and then in the final verse he gets personal and tells of his own heartbreak, brought on by his partners infidelity. In the end he says that no matter how tough things get we must soldier on.The song has been covered like many of Bishop’s songs by other artists. I would highly recommend the 1989 Number 25 UK hit,12 inch version by British Reggae band Aswad, who work the song into a medley, with the Temptations song ‘My Girl,'(see also best songs 1031.)

‘Poor ol’ Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight, saw his woman kiss another man. So he takes a ladder, steals the stars from the sky, puts on Sinatra and starts to cry.’

Posted by: In: Other 14 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

498-Timmy Thomas-Why Can’t We Live Together.

1972-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 1.35. The message on the ‘Hotline Bling’ remains the same as it did back in 1972.

Timothy E. Thomas was born on November 13th, 1944, in Evansville, Indiana, United States. Before finding success with this song he had released a number of singles in the late 1960’s, both as as a solo artist, and as part of a group called ‘Phillip & the Faithfuls’ with no commercial success.

‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ is taken from Timmy Thomas’ debut Album of the same name, and was released on ‘Glades Records’ a subsidiary of ‘TK Records’ the home of artists such as ‘KC & The Sunshine Band,’ and George McCrae.(see also best songs 893-375 and 64.)Thomas has explained how the song came about, ‘I was sitting in my study, and I heard Walter Cronkite (1916-2009,American broadcaster.) I’ll never forget this, he said, ‘35,000 Viet Cong died today, 15.000 American.’ I said ‘what,’ you mean that many mothers children died today? In a war that we can’t come to the table and sit down and talk about this, without so many families losing their loved ones, I said ‘Why can’t we live together.”

‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ was released in it’s original ‘demo’ form. The idea was to take the song into the studio and add a full band, but after listening to it ‘TK Records’ staff producer Steve Alaimo suggested that the song would be best released without any further work. Timmy Thomas had recorded the song in mono, and played every instrument on the track, predominantly using a ‘Lowrey organ.’ He also used an early version of a drum machine, which was unusual at that time. He played a guitar with his left hand, and said that he played bass with his foot. Thomas has said,’I did it as a one man band.’

In 2015 the song was heavily sampled with different lyrics by the Canadian Rapper Drake (see also best songs 1043-921 and 858) as ‘Hotline Bling,’ taking the song to Number 2 on Billboard, a place higher than Thomas’ original. Timmy Thomas has said he was pleased that Drake had chosen his track, and that his kids were very impressed.

‘No matter, no matter what colour, you are still my brother.’

Posted by: In: Other 12 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

499-The Rays-Silhouettes.

1957-Has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 1.55. A farcical case of mistaken identity (silly sod) but thankfully a happy ending.

The Rays were an American ‘Doo-Wop’ group formed in New York City in 1955 by Harold Miller (lead singer) Walter Ford (tenor) David Jones (tenor) and Harry James (baritone) they remained active into the early 1960’s. They recorded the original version of ‘Silhouettes,’ which reached Number 3 on Billboard in 1957, giving them their only Pop hit.’Silhouettes’ was co-written by Bob Crewe (1930-2014) and Frank Slay (1930-2017) who both also co-owned the small independent record label ‘XYZ,’ in Philadelphia, United States, also the label the Rays were signed to. This song went on to become the first million seller for Crewe who in later years would go on to great success with the Four Seasons, and others. Other notable songs written by Frank Slay include ‘Daddy Cool,’ and ‘Tallahassee Lassie.’ As a producer he was responsible for the 1967 Billboard Number 1 single ‘Incense and Peppermints’ by Strawberry Alarm Clock.

The version by the Rays had competition from a version by the Canadian band ‘The Diamonds’ who made Number 10 on Billboard, when released concurrently in 1957. The song became a hit in the UK when covered by Herman’s Hermits in 1965, reaching Number 3, and in 1990 a live version by Cliff Richard made Number 10 in the UK. John Lennon has stated that the Beatles song ‘No Reply’ was inspired by him hearing ‘Silhouettes’.

Bob Crewe (see also best songs 1007-914-863-739-393-284-164-112 and 83) has said that he was travelling by train when he spotted a silhouette of a couple embracing inside a house at one of the stops. The song tells of someone who sees his sweetheart in an embrace with another behind closed curtains, in a dimmed light. He is overcome with dismay, until he realises that he is in the wrong street, and it is not his sweetheart after all.

‘Lost control; and rang your bell, I was sore. Let me in, or else I’ll beat down your door. When two strangers who have been two silhouettes on the shade said to my shock,’You’re on the wrong block.”

Posted by: In: Other 12 Nov 2021 Comments: 0

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

500-Tenacious D-Tribute.

2002-The song has never been released as a single in the UK, but did reach Number 84 on downloads in 2012.

Best Bit-At 1.56. Yes I am well aware this is not the best song in the world, it’s not even the 499th best.

Tenacious D are the duo of Jack Black, and Kyle Gass who first met in 1986, and then again in the early 1990’s, when both were members of ‘The Actor’s Gang’ theatre company. They both connected musically and formed the duo in 1994, taking their stage name from ‘tenacious defence,’ which is a well known phrase used by ‘NBA’ basketball sports presenter Marv Albert. As Tenacious D the duo have achieved great success, hosting their own three season television series between 1997-2000, released by ‘HBO,’ and in 2006 they starred in their own film’Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.’ They have released four studio Albums between 2001-2018, two of which reached the Billboard 200 Album chart top 10, there has also been one live Album as well to date.

Jack Black was born on August 28th, 1969, in Santa Monica, California, United States, he has been even more successful as an actor, with two of his many starring roles coming in the films ‘Shallow Hal,'(2001,) and ‘School of Rock'(2003.) Kyle Gass was born on July 14th, 1960, in Castro Valley, California, United States, he too has appeared in movies, as well as performing in two other bands, the ‘Kyle Gass Band,’ and ‘Trainwreck,’ releasing studio Albums with both.

‘Tribute’ was the first single released by Tenacious D, and can be filed under the musical genre of ‘Comedy Rock,’ but don’t be fooled into thinking that they are just a novelty comic act. They have toured, opening for acts including The Foo Fighters, and Beck, and have used many top musicians to accompany them on their Albums. David Grohl played on the duo’s self titled debut Album, as well as this single, playing guitar, and drums, he also appears in the songs famous video, playing the part of the devil.

‘Tribute’ finds Black and Gass hitchhiking down the road when Satan appears and tells them to play the best song in the world, or he will eat their souls. Having nothing to lose by trying, the duo play the first thing that comes into their heads,the devil is impressed thinking it is the best song in the world, but the duo having panicked and forgotten what the best song was, playing another song instead as a tribute.

‘And the peculiar thing is this my friends, the song we sang on that fateful night, it didn’t actually sound anything like this song.’