THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

398-Isaac Hayes-Shaft.

1971-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 2.40. Isaac Hayes’ utterance of the word ‘damn’ made this the first Number 1 song on Billboard to include a curse word.

Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) (see also best songs 530 and 1) was asked by Joel Freeman (1922-2018) the producer of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film ‘Shaft’ to write the films soundtrack.Hayes agreed but only on the condition that he could audition for the lead role of ‘John Shaft,’ even after finding out the part had been given to Richard Roundtree, Hayes kept his end of the deal.

The ‘Theme from Shaft’ proved to be a groundbreaking song both musically and culturally. In 1972 the song won the ‘Acadamy Award for Best Original Song,’ with Isaac Hayes becoming the first African/American to win that honour, and in 2014 the Album was added to the ‘National Recording Registry,’ by the ‘Library of Congress’ for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’ The film ‘Shaft,’ and it’s soundtrack are also an early example of what was to become known as a ‘Blaxploitation’ film, blaxploitation is the mix of the two words ‘black’ and ‘exploitation, and was coined by Junius Griffin. Blaxploitation films were initially aimed at the African/American audience, but due to their popularity, soon found favour with audiences across racial and ethnic lines. The films were also the first to feature ‘Funk’ and ‘Soul Music,’ and there are many film soundtracks available. The ‘Theme from Shaft’ is also recognised by many music critics as an early influence on the soon to be coming ‘Disco’ era, with this song cited as one of the very first ‘Disco’ tracks.

The ‘Theme from Shaft’ and the accompanying 14 track double Album soundtrack ‘Shaft’ was written and produced by Isaac Hayes, 11 of the tracks are instrumentals. The musicians and vocalists who appear on the Album include James Alexander, (bass) who was a member of the ‘Bar-Kays.(see also best songs 831 and 1) Charles Pitts, (1947-2012) whose distinctive ‘wah-wah’ guitar style would become very influential in ‘Soul’ and ‘R&B,’ and Willie Hall (drums) who has played with many of the worlds top artists, and was the drummer on Isaac Hayes’ ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ Album (see also best songs 1.) The three female vocalists on the ‘Theme from Shaft’ are Pat Lewis, Rose Williams, and Telma Hopkins. Soon after recording this song Hopkins would become a member of the female duo ‘Dawn,’ as part of Tony Orlando’s backing group.(see also best songs 886) It was Hopkins who famously exclaims ‘Shut your mouth’ on the ‘Theme from Shaft.’ Hopkins went on to become an actress on the TV shows ‘Bosom Buddies,’ and ‘Family Matters,’ where she was often prompted to say ‘Shut Your Mouth!’ which became a catchphrase for her.

‘You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother (shut your mouth,) but I’m talkin’ about Shaft (then we can dig it.) He’s a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman (John Shaft.)