THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

50-Eddie Cochran-C’mon Everybody.

1959-Number 6 single. When it was re-issued in 1988 it reached Number 14.

Best Bit-At 0.01. Teenagers must always have their own music that the previous generations will detest. Remember when a 75 year old tells a teenager that the music that they listen to is rubbish, they were told the same thing by someone 60 years earlier.

Eddie Cochran was born Ray Edward Cochran on October 3rd, 1938, in Albert Lea, Minnesota, United States, he was only 21 years old when he was killed in a car crash on April 17th, 1960. Eddie Cochran was on tour in the United Kingdom from January through until April 1960. He and his fellow performer Gene Vincent, (1935-1971) (see also best songs 757) had just finished performing at the ‘Bristol Hippodrome’ on April 16th, and were travelling along the ‘Bath Road’ in a taxi, with Cochran’s tour manager Patrick Tompkins, and Sharon Sheeley, (1940-2002) who was Cochran’s fiance. At about 11.50.pm, the taxi’s driver who was 19 year old George Martin lost control of the vehicle which crashed into a concrete lamppost at Rowden Hill in Chippenham. At the moment of impact, Cochran who was seated in the centre of the back seat threw himself over Sheeley to shield her. The force of the collision caused the left rear passenger door to open, and Cochran was ejected from the vehicle, sustaining a massive traumatic brain injury from blunt force trauma to the skull. The road was dry and the weather was good, but the vehicle was later determined to be travelling at an excessive speed. No other vehicle was involved in the incident. Sheeley suffered injuries to the back of her thigh, Vincent suffered a fractured collarbone, and severe injuries to his legs, and Tompkins sustained facial injuries, and a possible fracture of the base of the skull. The taxi driver Martin did not sustain any significant injuries. Eddie Cochran never regained consciousness, and died at 4.10.pm, the following day. For the discography of Eddie Cochran, see best songs 422.

‘C’mon Everybody’ was co-written by Eddie Cochran, and Jerry Capehart, (1928-1999) and produced by Cochran. Capehart who was also Eddie Cochran’s manager had previously written ‘Summertime Blues’ (1958) with Cochran, and had also provided Glen Campbell (1936-2017) (see also best songs 846 and 197) with his first hit single ‘Turn Around, Look at Me,’ a song he co-wrote with Campbell, that made Number 9 in Canada in 1961.

There are actually two studio recordings of ‘C’mon Everybody.’ When Cochran recorded his lead vocal for the song, he also created an alternate version of the track called ‘Let’s Get Together’. The only change to the lyrics was exactly that, the phrase ‘Let’s get together’ in place of ‘C’mon everybody’. This alternate version was eventually released on one of many compilation Album issued for Cochran in the 1960’s. Of the many cover versions of the song, perhaps the most notable is the one from The Sex Pistols, (see also best songs 576-92 and 27) who recorded the song for ‘The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle,’ their 1979 Album, and film of the same name. When it was issued as a single it reached Number 3 in the UK in 1979. In 1988 following it’s use by ‘Levi Strauss & Co,’ in one of their television adverts, the Eddie Cochran version of ‘C’mon Everybody’ was re-issued and returned to the UK top 40, 29 years after it had first charted, this time reaching Number 14.

‘Well we’ll really have a party but we gotta put a guard outside. If the folks come home I’m afraid they’re gonna have my hide. They’ll be no more movies for a week or two, no more runnin’ round with the usual crew, who cares, c’mon everybody.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

51-Beatles-Strawberry Fields Forever.

1967-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.10. Whenever the young John Lennon (1940-1980) (see also best songs solo 927-473-456-168 and 20) was stressed or needed a break, he would go to his ‘happy place’,’Strawberry Field.’

Strawberry Field was the name of the Salvation Army children’s home close to John Lennon’s childhood home in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. One of Lennon’s childhood treats was to attend the garden party held each summer, where a Salvation Army Brass Band played, but John’s Aunt Mimi (1906-1991) did not like him going there as she felt he would mix with the wrong crowd. When John and his Aunt would argue about him going John would say,’What are you going to do, hang me?’ Hence the line in the song ‘Nothing to get hung about.’

Shortly before his death in 1980 John Lennon said in an interview,’Strawberry Fields is a real place. After I stopped living at Penny Lane, I moved in with my Auntie who lived in the suburbs in a nice semi-detached place with a small garden, and doctors and lawyers, and that ilk living around… not the poor slummy kind of image that was projected in all the Beatles stories. In the class system, it was about half a class higher than Paul, George and Ringo, who lived in government-subsidised housing. We owned our house and had a garden. They didn’t have anything like that. Near that home was Strawberry Fields, a house near a boys’ reformatory where I used to go to garden parties as a kid with my friends Nigel and Pete, we would go there and hang out and sell lemonade bottles for a penny. We always had fun at Strawberry Fields. So that’s where I got the name, but I used it as an image. Strawberry Fields forever.’

John Lennon wrote ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ at a very difficult time in his life, the Beatles (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-141-80-10 and 5) had just agreed to quit touring, and there was no new Album planned. All four band members were pursuing solo projects, with Lennon in Spain filming for ‘How I Won the War,’ he was also having problems bonding with the other cast members.

‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ signified a major change in the Beatles musical style, which confused the contemporary Pop audience, many of the bands fans, and music critics alike. In time ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ would be seen as a landmark song, becoming highly influential on the emerging Psychedelic Rock genre. The songs promotional film which nowadays would be called a video, is also considered groundbreaking.

‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ was the first new song written after the Beatles seventh studio Album ‘Revolver,’ (1966) and just ahead of ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967.) The Beatles record label ‘Parlophone’ wanted something to release between Albums, so ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ which was written by John Lennon was issued as a double ‘A’ sided single, along with the Paul McCartney (see also best songs 646 and 107) composition ‘Penny Lane.’ The release stalled at Number 2 on the UK top 40, behind the Engelbert Humperdink song ‘Release Me,’ bringing to an end a run of 11 consecutive Number 1 singles in the UK. Although the Beatles easily outsold Humperdink, chart rules at that time stipulated that sales of double ‘A’ sided songs would only count as 50% of there total sales.

John Lennon considered ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ to be his finest work with the Beatles. The majority of the songs subject is about his thoughts during his childhood. Lennon has said,’I was different all my life. The second verse goes, ‘No one I think is in my tree.’ Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius – “I mean it must be high or low.”

‘No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low. That is you can’t, you know, tune in, but it’s all right that is, I think, it’s not too bad.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

52-Metallica-One.

1989-Number 13 single.

Best Bit-At 4.38. The song is about someone who has lost all four limbs, is blind and unable to speak, and is also in constant pain…but apart from that, mustn’t grumble.

Metallica were formed in 1981, in Los Angeles, California, United States, by James Hetfield, (vocals and guitar) and Lars Ulrich, (drums) in total there have been eight different members come and go, and they remain active as a four piece with Kirk Hammett, (lead guitar) who has been a band member since 1983, and Robert Trujillo, (bass) who joined in 2003 completing the current line up. Metallica along with the other mid to late 1980’s groups ‘Slayer,’ ‘Megadeth,’ and ‘Anthrax,’ are known as the ‘Big Four’ of the musical genre ‘Thrash metal,’ which is an extreme sub-genre of ‘Heavy Metal’ music. It was on hearing the 1984 track ‘Metal Thrashing Mad,’ that the term ‘Thrash metal’ was coined by Malcolm Dome, (1955-2021) who at that time was a journalist for the ‘Heavy Metal’ magazine ‘Kerrang!’ Up until that time Metallica referred to their sound as ‘power metal.’

Metallica (see also best songs 730) are one of the best selling groups of all time, with record sales in excess 125 million, which includes Album sales in America of over 58 million to date. Their discography includes 10 studio Albums released between 1983-2016, and 43 singles issued in the same time period. In America on Billboard their last six Albums have all made Number 1, and eight of their singles have reached the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles chart, with ‘Until It Sleeps’ from 1996 charting the highest at Number 10. In the UK, 19 of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Enter Sandman,’ (1991) and ‘Until It Sleeps,’ (1996) both reaching Number 5.

‘One’ is an anti-war song, it was written by James Hetfield, and Lars Ulrich, with the production by Metallica, and Flemming Rasmussen, in total Rasmussen worked with Metallica on three of their studio Albums between 1984-1988. ‘One’ was the last of three singles released from Metallica’s fourth studio Album ‘…And Justice for All’ from September 1988, and tells the story of a soldier in World War 1 that is severely wounded when a landmine blows his arms and legs off, he is also blinded and left unable to speak. Lying helpless in a hospital bed his only way to communicate is by jolting, where he spells out ‘kill me’ in Morse Code.

The lyrics to ‘One’ are based on the 1939 novel ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ which was written by Dalton Trumbo, (1905-1976) who in 1971 wrote and directed the film ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ which was based on the novel about a young soldier hit by an artillery shell during World War 1. James Hetfield had been introduced to the book by his older half brother David Hale, and it was a specific passage from the book that inspired the song.’How could a man lose as much of himself as I have and still live? When a man buys a lottery ticket you never expect him to win because it’s a million to one shot, but if he does win, you’ll believe it because one in a million still leaves one. If I’d read about a guy like me in the paper I wouldn’t believe it, cos it’s a million to one, but a million to ONE always leaves one. I’d never expect it to happen to me because the odds of it happening are a million to one, but a million to one always leaves one. One.’

‘One’ was the first single that Metallica made a video for, and was directed by Bill Pope, and Michael Salomon. The video features dialogue and several scenes from the 1971 film adaptation of ‘Johnny Got His Gun,’ for which Metallica had to pay royalties for using the movies clips. This was proving to be very expensive, so instead of pulling the video or continuing to pay, when it came to re-negotiate the license they bought rights to it, which have since seen the original film being made available on DVD by Metallica.

James Hetfield has also said that he got inspiration for the songs intro from the 1982 song ‘Buried Alive,’ by the English Heavy Metal band ‘Venom,’ which is a song about being trapped in a casket while being buried alive. The intro to ‘One’ starts with battle themed sound effects including an artillery barrage, and a helicopter flying during a confrontation in World War 1, but this must be put down to artistic licence, as helicopters were not invented until 1936, which was 18 years after the end of that war.

‘Now that the war is through with me, I’m waking up, I cannot see that there’s not much left of me. Nothing is real but pain now, hold my breath as I wish for death, oh please, God, wake me.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

53-Chemical Brothers-Hey Boy Hey Girl.

1999-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.49. There are only nine words in this song, and the betting is that you’ve been getting them wrong all these years.

In Pop music the mishearing of lyrics is very commonplace (see also best songs 502) for probably the most famous of them. Because of this songs title you probably hear ‘Hey girl hey boy,’ but what is actually being sung is ‘Hey girl ‘B’ boy.’ A ‘B’ boy is someone who does breakdancing, which is an athletic style of ‘Street Dance’ which originated outside of dance studios, in any available open spaces such as parks and schoolyards. Breakdancing originated in the early 1970’s in New York City, and by the early 1980’s has become heavily associated with ‘Hip-Hop’ music.

The Chemical Brothers (see also best songs 300) were formed in Manchester, England, in 1989 by Tom Rowlands, and Ed Simons, they write and play ‘Electronic Music’ which incorporates the genres of ‘Big Beat,’ ‘Techno,’ Trip Hop,’ and ‘House Music.’ The discography of the Chemical Brothers includes nine studio Albums released between 1995-2019, of which six have reached the Number 1 spot in the UK, and 35 singles, of which 16 have made the top 40, with two of those singles making Number 1. They have also issued seven extended plays, (EP’s) with their 1996 ‘Loops of Fury’ EP, charting at Number 13 for one week, before leaving the chart the following week. In America on Billboard three of their Albums have reached the top 40, with ‘Did Your Own Hole’ from 1997 charting the highest at Number 14, while on the Billboard Hot 100 singles, only ‘Setting Sun’ featuring Noel Gallagher from 1996 has bothered the chart, when peaking at Number 80. The Chemical Brothers are also much sought after for remixing other artists songs, and their are currently 39 official remixes (some with more than one mix per release) available from artists of differing genres including Oasis, Daft Punk, and Mary J Blige.

‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ has seven songwriting credits, including Tom Rowlands, and Ed Simons. This is due to the tracks sampling of the 1984 ‘Old School’ Hip-Hop song ‘The Roof is on Fire,’ from ‘Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three,’ this is where the repeated vocal ‘Hey girls B boys superstar DJ’s here we go’ is taken from. The song was also produced by the Chemical Brothers, and was the first of four singles released from the Chemical Brothers third studio Album ‘Surrender’ from June 1999. The songs other major sample is the track ‘I Sit on Acid,’ from 1991, from ‘Lords on Acid,’ That bands founding member, who is the Belgium Electronic musician ‘Praga Khan’ confronted the Chemical Brothers over the drum programming used in ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl,’ which he claimed was identical to ‘I Sit on Acid.’ The Chemical Brothers response was,’Everyone steals from everyone.’

‘Hey girl, B boy. Superstar DJ’s, here we go.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

54-Sinead O’Connor-Nothing Compares 2 U.

1990-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.10. In the original version by Prince he sings,’It’s been 7 hours and 13 days,’ in Sinead’s version she has suffered two days longer.

Sinead O’Connor has said,’I did meet him (Prince) a couple of times. We didn’t get on at all, in fact we had a punch up. He summoned me to his house, and it’s foolish to do this to an Irish woman. He said he didn’t like me saying bad words in interviews, so I told him to f..k off. He got violent. I had to escape out of his house, he packed a bigger punch than me.’

Sinead Marie Bernadette O’Connor was born on December 8th, 1966, in Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland. In 1999 she was ordained as a priest by the ‘Latin Tridentine Church’, a sect that is not recognised by the mainstream Catholic Church, and then in 2017, she changed her name to Magda Davitt. In 2018 she converted to Islam, and she then changed to the Arabic name Shuhada’ Sadaqat.

Sinead O’Connor has led a very troubled life, having suffered with mental health issues since her childhood, and all through her adult life she has caused controversy. One of her most famous stunts was on October 3rd, 1992, when she was performing on the American ‘Saturday Night Live’ television programme. She presented a photo of Pope John Paul II to the camera while singing the word ‘evil’, after which she tore the photo into pieces and said, ‘Fight the real enemy’, and then threw the pieces towards the camera. This was in protest to the rumoured sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church, and occurred nine years before John Paul II finally acknowledged the sexual abuse within the Church in 2001.

The discography of Sinead O’Connor includes 10 studio Albums that have been released between 1987-2014, and 54 singles that have been issued between 1987-2020. In the UK, five of her singles have reached the top 40, with this song making Number 1, she has also appeared on five other top 40 hits as a featured artist. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 top 40, this song remains her only chart hit when reaching Number 1, which makes her a ‘one hit wonder’ in that country.

‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was written by Prince, (1958-2016) (see also best songs 884-487-269 and 85) in 1984, and the song remained relatively obscure until recommended to Sinead O’Connor by her then manager Fachtna O’Kelly as a possible track for her to record for her second studio Album ‘I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got,’ in 1990. By the mid 1980’s Prince had become a prolific songwriter and was wanting to release much more music than his record label would let him do, so in order to get around this he decided to create a new band which he called ‘The Family,’ and with musicians that he had hand picked he recorded an Album also called ‘The Family,’ on where ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ first appeared in 1985. Until the song became a hit for Sinead O’Connor, Prince never played it live, and his original studio version was not posthumously released until 2018. A live version of the song performed with one of his backing singers Rosie Gaines appeared on Prince’s 1993 compilation Album ‘The Hits/The B-Sides.’

The Sinead O’Connor recording of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ was produced by Nellee Hooper, who was born Paul Andrew Hooper on March 15th, 1963, in Bristol, England, his other significant productions include work with ‘Soul 11 Soul,’ (‘Back to Life’) and ‘U2.’ (‘How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb.’) The songs video which was directed by John Maybury is one of the most memorable in Pop music history. Towards the end of the song tears run down O’Connor’s face. She has said that the tears were real, she did not intend to cry but then thought,’I should let this happen.’ She explained that the tears were triggered by thoughts of her mother who had died in a car accident in 1985.

‘I went to the doctor and guess what he told me? Guess what he told me? He said, “Girl you better try to have fun no matter what you do, but he’s a fool,” ’cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

55-System of a Down-Chop Suey!

2001-Number 17 single.

Best Bit-At 2.11. As the old Heavy Metal saying goes,’It’s heads down and I’ll see you at the other end.’ Presumably that old saying also applies to Alternative Metal. Progressive Metal. and Nu Metal.

System of a Down are a quartet of whom all the musical genres above apply. The band was formed in Glendale, California, United States, in 1994 by Serj Tankian, (lead vocals, and keyboards) Daron Malakian, (lead guitar) Shavo Odadjian, (bass) and Andy Khachaturian, (drums) Khachaturian left in 1997 and was replaced by John Dolmayan (drums.) They remained active until 2006, but re-united again in 2010, there has been no new Album since 2005, but in 2020 they did release two singles, a full 14 years after their latest Album. All of the bands members are of Armenian descent, being born to Armenian immigrants, or being immigrants themselves.

The discography of System of a Down includes five studio Albums released between 1998-2005, three of which have made the Number 1 spot on the American Billboard Album chart, and 19 singles issued between 1998-2020, of which the 2005 release ‘B.Y.O.B.’ remains their only charting single on the Billboard Hot 100 top 40, having made Number 27. In the UK four of their singles have reached the top 40, with this song being the most successful, in total worldwide System of a Down have sold in excess of 13 million records to date.

‘Chop Suey!’ is considered to be the signature song of System of a Down although it only reached Number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100. The likely explanation for it’s poor chart showing is that is was released only a month before the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the twin towers, and was one of many songs that radio stations were advised against playing for having inappropriate titles, or lyrics at that time. ‘Chop Suey was co-written by the bands members Daron Malakian, and Serj Tankian, they also produced the song with Rick Rubin, (see also best songs 977-610 and 305) who was a big supporter of the band, having signed them to his ‘American/Columbia’ record label in 1997.

‘Chop Suey!’ was the first single issued from ‘Toxicity,’ which was the second studio Album release from System of a Down in September 2001. The songs co-writer Daron Malakian has said,’The song is about how we are regarded differently depending on how we pass. Everyone deserves to die. Like, if I were now to die from drug abuse, they might say I deserved it because I abused dangerous drugs. Hence the line, ‘I cry when angels deserve to die.’ The lyrics,’Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,’ and ‘Why have you forsaken me,’ are a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross, as according to the Gospels, it was one of the seven things Jesus said while he was dying.

‘Chop Suey!’ was originally titled ‘Suicide,’ but the band realising that they would receive very little airplay with that title, came up with ‘Chop Suey.’ The songs title is a play on words,’Suey’ is ‘suicide’ ‘chopped’ in half. The songs producer Rick Rubin has said,’It’s an unusual song because the verse is so frantic. The style is so broken up and unusual. It’s both difficult to sing, and arguably difficult to listen to, but then the chorus is this big, soaring, emotional, surging, beautiful thing, and then it’s got this incredible bridge. It’s just real heavy, biblical and grand. It’s so unusual that it goes between these crazy rhythmic explosive verses into this emotional, anthemic ending.’

‘Wake up, grab a brush and put on a little makeup. Hide the scars that fade away the shake up. Why’d you leave the keys upon the table? Here you go create another fable. You wanted to.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

56-Bob Marley and the Wailers-No Woman, No Cry.

1975-Number 22 single. When it was re-issued in 1981 following Bob Marley’s death it peaked at Number 8.

Best Bit-At 3.19. There are 996 studio recordings in this countdown, but only four live tracks, (see also best songs 924-214 and 155) and here is the highest placed of them.

Bob Marley (see also best songs 618) was born Robert Nesta Marley on February 6th, 1945, in Nile Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Colony of Jamaica, he died from skin cancer on May 11th, 1981, at the age of 36. The discography of Bob Marley and the Wailers includes 13 studio Albums released between 1965-1983, and 133 singles issued between 1962-2016. In the UK, 16 of those singles have reached the top 40, with the 1999 ‘Funkstar De Luxe’ remix of ‘Sun is Shining’ charting the highest at Number 3. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart he has never had a top 100 chart entry. In 1984, around three years after Marley’s death a compilation Album called ‘Legend’ was posthumously issued, which has gone on to become the best selling Reggae Album of all time, with sales worldwide currently in excess of 25 million copies.

The original version of ‘No Woman, No Cry’ first appeared on Bob Marley and the Wailers seventh studio Album ‘Natty Dread,’ released in October 1974. In it’s original form ‘No Woman, No Cry’ runs for 3.46, and is a far more uptempo recording than the live version which runs for 7.07. In 1975 Bob Marley went on tour to promote the Album, which was called the ‘Natty Dread Tour,’ the tour dates took place in America, Canada, and England, which included two dates at the ‘Lyceum Theatre’ in London. On July 17th, 1975, the Lyceum concert was recorded for a future Album release. The Album which was issued on December 5th, 1975, was called ‘Live,’ and ‘No Woman, No Cry’ was chosen for release as a single in all of it’s seven minutes performance, it is this live recording which is also the version chosen for inclusion on the ‘Legends’ Album.

‘No Woman, No Cry’ was co-written by Bob Marley, and Vincent Ford, (1940-2008) and produced by Bob Marley and the Wailers, Steve Smith, and Chris Blackwell. Vincent Ford probably had very little input in to the writing of the song, but he and Marley had been life long friends, and when Marley had been a child, he and his family had been recipients at a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, that had been run by Ford, so the royalties from the song could go to help in his charitable works. Chris Blackwell who was born on June 22nd, 1937, was the founder of ‘Island’ records in 1969, and is the single person most responsible for introducing ‘Reggae’ music to the masses (see also best songs 291.)

‘No Woman, No Cry’ is actually pronounced ‘no woman ‘nuh’ cry’ in ‘Jamaican Patois,’ the ‘nuh’ actually means ‘don’t.’ In the song the narrator is telling his woman not to cry and not to worry because he has to go, but things will turn out better in the end. Marley mentions the ‘Government Yards’ of ‘Trench Town’, which is a public housing project in Kingston where he grew up. The lyrics also mention cornmeal porridge, which is a popular breakfast in Jamaica. Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett who was one of the ‘Wailers,’ and played bass on the song has said,’The song is about the strength in the mama of course, strength in the ladies, and we love a woman with a backbone, something like a wishbone! They have to be like a she lion! Woman strong, you know, not depending on the man. Of course the man is there to help you, then for every successful man, there is a good woman.’

‘Seh, seh, seh I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Trenchtown Oba observing the ‘ypocrites, as they would mingle with the good people we meet. Good friends we have, oh, good friends we’ve lost along the way. In this great future, you can’t forget your past, so dry your tears, I seh.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

57-Roxy Music-Virginia Plain.

1972-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 2.37. Before becoming a Pop superstar, back in 1964 Bryan Ferry had been an art student in Newcastle, England. He took the title ‘Virginia Plain’ from one of his own paintings featuring an image of a cigarette packet in the same style as that of the artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987) (see also best songs 58.)

Bryan Ferry (see also best songs 721 and 316) was born on September 26th, 1945, in Washington, County Durham, England, as well as co-founding Roxy Music in 1970, he has also enjoyed a long and successful solo career, selling in excess of 30 million records worldwide. With Roxy Music he has released eight studio Albums between 1972-1982, and 26 singles between 1972-1996, of which 18 have made the UK top 40, with ‘Jealous Guy’ giving Roxy Music their only UK Number 1 single in 1981. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, only ‘Love is the Drug’ from 1975 has charted, reaching Number 30. The solo discography of Bryan Ferry includes 16 studio Albums released between 1973-2018, and 45 singles issued between 1973-2014, of which 16 have made the UK top, with ‘Let’s Stick Together’ from 1976 charting the highest at Number 4. In America on Billboard his only charting solo single is ‘Kiss and Tell, which reached Number 31 in 1988.

‘Virginia Plain’ was the debut single from Roxy Music which was released two months after the bands self titled debut Album from June 1972. ‘Virginia Plain was written by Bryan Ferry, and produced by Peter Sinfield, who had been the co-founder of the English Rock band ‘King Crimson’ in 1968, who were leading lights in the development of ‘Progressive Rock’ music. Seeing the success of Roxy Music’s debut Album, the bands record label was keen to continue the momentum, and requested a single as they didn’t think that their was anything commercial enough for radio airplay on the Album.

‘Virginia Plain’ is based on Bryan Ferry’s 1964 painting of the same title, which features a large packet of ‘Virginia Slims’ cigarettes, with a picture of one of Andy Warhol’s ‘Superstar’ actresses ‘Baby Jane Holzer’ on the front. Speaking in 1972 Bryan Ferry said,’The painting was a sort of throwaway watercolour, and the song has lots of little images and throwaway lines. The painting was done in 1964, and although the song was written this year, it reflects the feeling of that time.I was up in Newcastle, living with a guy who’d helped Warhol to make the Marilyn Monroe silkscreens. It’s a whole American Dream thing, living up there yet constantly thinking about Warhol’s Factory and Baby Jane Holzer. It’s got some other things in it now. Vegas, Nevada, Route 66.’ Ferry went on to say,’I liked the phrase Virginia Plain, so it later became the title of the first single I put out with Roxy Music, with a slightly imponderable lyric.’

The songs first verse mentions ‘Robert E. Lee, (not the American Confederate general) who at that time was the lawyer for Roxy Music. Ferry is telling him not to mess things up as it has taken them many years to get to where they are now. The tracks guitar solo was played by Roxy Music band member Phil Manzanera, who claims that at the recording of ‘Virginia Plain’ he had nothing ready, so he improvised and played the first thing that came in to his head.

‘Far beyond the pale horizon, some place near the desert strand. Where my Studebaker takes me, that’s where I’ll make my stand, but wait. Can’t you see that Holzer mane? What’s her name, Virginia Plain?’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

58-Lou Reed-Walk on the Wild Side.

1972-Number 10 single.

Best Bit-At 3.38. If I said to you, ‘Can I kick it?’ What would you answer?

Lou Reed (see also best songs 401-165 and 131) was born Lewis Allan Reed on March 2nd, 1942, in New York City, United States, he died from liver disease on October 27th, 2013, at the age of 71. Lou Reed had been a founding member of the Velvet Underground in 1964, (see also best songs 401 and 165) and remained a member until 1970 when he then began to pursue his solo career. The discography of Lou Reed includes four studio Albums with the Velvet Underground, which were issued between 1967-1970, then a further 22 studio Albums as a solo artist, which have been issued between 1972-2022, As a solo artist he has also released 46 singles between 1972-2011, of which only this song has made the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, when reaching Number 16. While in the UK, five of his singles have made the top 40, with the 1997 re-recording of ‘Perfect Day’ for the ‘Children in Need’ charity reaching Number 1 in 1997.

‘Walk on the Wild Side’ was the first of three singles released from Lou Reed’s second solo studio Album ‘Transformer’ from 1972, and was released as a double ‘A’ sided single with ‘Perfect Day,’ (see also best songs 131) which was also a track from ‘Transformer.’ ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ was written by Lou Reed, and produced by David Bowie, (1947-2016) (see also best songs 807-701-440-334-302-209-186-131-118-47 and 31) and Mick Ronson, (1946-1993) (see also best songs 661-405 and 131) as was the whole of the’Transformer’ Album. On ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ David Bowie plays the acoustic guitar, while Mick Ronson received a special mention from Lou Reed for the songs string arrangement. The baritone saxophone solo was provided by Ronnie Ross (1933-1991) at the request of Bowie, as he had been a saxophone tutor to Bowie in his youth. Others to appear on the track included Herbie Flowers, (bass) and the British female vocal group ‘Thunderthighs.’

Lyrically ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ was groundbreaking and exceptionally risque for it’s time, as it contained references to prostitution, transgender people, and oral sex. There are many songs in this countdown that were banned from being played on the radio and television, often for very little reason, but because Lou Reed disguised the lyrics, much of the media in their naivety let it go under the radar, although the term ‘coloured girls’ was an issue in America, so ‘RCA’ records provided radio stations with a version changing ‘coloured girls’ to ‘and the girls.’

‘Walk on the Wild Side’ is about the people who worked for the American artist, director and producer Andy Warhol (1928-1987) in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, they were referred to as ‘Superstars,’ and were well known to Lou Reed from his days with the Velvet Underground. For example ‘Holly’ is based on Holly Woodlawn (1946-2015) who was a transgender actress. ‘Candy’ is based on Candy Darling, (1944-1974) another transgender actress, who was also the basis for an earlier Lou Reed song ‘Candy Says.’ Little Joe’ was the nickname of Joe D’Allesandro who claims that he had not yet met Reed at the time of the songs release. ‘Sugar Plum Fairy’ is a reference to the actor Joe Campbell, (1936-2005) who played a drug dealer in Andy Warhol’s 1965 film ‘My Hustler, and ‘Jackie’ is based on Jackie Curtis, (1947-1985) who was another actress employed by Warhol.’

‘Holly came from Miami, F.L.A. Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A. Plucked her eyebrows on the way, shaved her legs and then he was a she,she says, ‘Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side,’ said, ‘Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side.”

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

59-Jam-Town Called Malice.

1982-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.59. When Roland Orzabel of Tears For Fears (see also best songs 640 and 24) wrote,’Politician granny with your high ideals have you know idea how the majority feels? So without love and a promised land, we’re fools to the rules of a government plan,’ I reckon he was probably thinking about Paul Weller, and this song.

Many of the Paul Weller songs that he wrote for the Jam reflected his anger with the political landscape at that time, so what was his reaction when the ex Conservative party Prime Minister, David Cameron told the Guardian newspaper that he had attended Jam gigs in the 1980’s, and that ‘The music of the Jam meant a lot.’ Weller said,’I’d have been really, really surprised. I think I pretty much nailed where I was at to the mast, but people come to gigs for different reasons, it isn’t necessarily about what the person on stage is singing, but at the same time, you do think, ‘Well, maybe this’ll change their minds.”

Paul Weller was born John William Weller on May 25th, 1958, in Woking, England, He was the principal figure of the 1970’s, and 1980’s ‘Mod’ revival, and is often referred to as ‘The Modfather,’ and he was also a major influence on the rise of ‘Britpop’ in the mid 1990’s. In 1972 Paul Weller was one of the founding members of the Jam, and they remained active until Weller announced he was leaving the group in 1982 while they were still at the height of their success, in order to explore other music genres as a solo artist and also with others. The discography of the Jam (see also best songs 670 and 94) includes six studio Albums released between 1977-1982, and 18 singles issued in the same time period. In the UK all 18 of those singles reached the top 40, with four of them making Number 1, while in America the Jam never managed to reach the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the explanation probably being that they were quintessentially too English for an American audience. For the discography of Paul Weller away from the Jam (see best songs 94.)

‘Town Called Malice’ was the first of two singles released from the Jam’s sixth and final studio Album ‘The Gift’ from March 1982, the song was written by Paul Weller, and produced by Peter Wilson, and the Jam.’The song was released as a double ‘A’ side together with another track from ‘The Gift’ called ‘Precious,’ Although ‘Precious’ was largely ignored when it came to airplay, the Jam did perform the track on the British music programme ‘Top of the Pops’ along with ‘Town Called Malice,’ making them the first act since the Beatles (‘Day Tripper,’ and ‘We Can Work it Out’) to perform both tracks from the same single on the same programme.

‘Town Called Malice’ is a play on words of the 1950 Nevil Shute (1899-1960) novel ‘A Town Like Alice,’ but the song has nothing to do with the book, in fact Weller has said that he hadn’t read the novel when he wrote this song. ‘Town Called Malice’ is about unemployment in a working town, Weller has said,’It could have been written about any suburban town, but it was in fact written about my hometown of Woking.’The UK was more than three years into Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) being the Prime Minister, the country was in recession, and unemployment had passed the two and a half million mark.Weller also recalled,’I was trying to capture a sense of the anger that I felt that a lot of people felt about ‘Thatcherism’ and the way that she and the ‘Tory Party’ at that time were trying to dismantle the communities of the working classes.’

‘Town Called Malice’ has been described as a ‘Northern Soul,’ ‘Soul,’ Post Punk,’Rock,’ and ‘New Wave’ influenced song. As always I wouldn’t want to start any legal disputes, but if you take a listen to the 1966 ‘Motown’ song from Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, (see also best songs 948) called ‘I’m Ready for Love,’….it’s got a lovely bass guitar intro.

‘A whole street’s belief in Sunday’s roast beef gets dashed against the Co-op. To either cut down on beer or the kid’s new gear, it’s a big decision in a town called malice, ooh yeah.’