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.’