THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

443-Ray Noble and his Orchestra with Al Bowlly on vocals-The Very Thought of You.

1934-It has never charted in the UK, there was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 2.45. Back in the old days I used to get a little embarrassed playing well worn vinyl on my turntable with the sound of static crackling through the speakers, but I must admit in these days of sterile clear audio I do miss it a bit (but only a bit.)

In the 1920’s and 1930’s the real Pop stars were the ‘Dance Band’ leaders, and one of the major stars of the era was Ray Noble. He was born Raymond Stanley Noble on December 17th, 1903, in Brighton, Sussex, England, he died on April 2nd, 1978, at the age of 74 from cancer. Noble was a bandleader, composer, arranger, radio comedian, and an actor, five of his recordings reached Number 1 on the American music charts between 1933-1935, just prior to the advent of Billboard.

Al Bowlly was born Albert Allick Bowlly on January 7th, 1898, in Lourenco Marquues, Portuguese Mozambique, but was initially brought up by his parents in Johannesburg, South Africa. He made his first recording in 1927, a cover version of ‘Blue Skies,’ by Irving Berlin, which he recorded in Germany. It was in 1930 that he signed a recording contract with Ray Noble, and over the course of the next four years he recorded over 500 songs. In 1933 Bowlly also began working with the band leader Lew Stone (1898-1969) (see also best songs 288) splitting his time between Nobel and Stone. Bowlly was one of the the most sought after vocalists of the period recording approximately 1000 songs, he is considered to be a pioneer of the art of ‘crooning.’ (see also best songs 457) Bowlly recorded his last song two weeks before his death, a satirical song written by Irving Berlin (see also best songs 731-457-358 and 100) about Adolf Hitler called ‘When That Man Is Dead and Gone.’ On April 17th, 1941, he was killed by a Luftwaffe parachute mine that detonated outside his flat at 3.10.am, his body was unmarked, but the mine had blown his bedroom doors off it’s hinges, and the impact against his head was fatal.

‘The Very Thought of You’ was written by Ray Noble, and first recorded in 1934 with Al Bowlly providing the vocals, it went on to become an American Number 1 single the same year. The song has become a Pop standard, and has been covered by hundreds of artists through the years. In 2005 the song received the ‘Grammy Hall of Fame’ award which honours musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance.

‘I see your face in every flower, your eyes in stars above. It’s just the thought of you, the very thought of you, my love.’