THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

902-Sandie Shaw- (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me.

1964-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.28. I am a great believer in that, the first version of a song you hear, will nearly always remain as your favourite version.

Sandie Shaw MBE, was born Sandra Ann Goodrich, on February 26th, 1947, in Dagenham, Essex, England, her manager Eve Taylor, (1915-1983) who had organised her first contract with ‘Pye’ records, also gave Sandie Shaw her stage name. In 1967 Shaw represented the UK, in that years ‘Eurovision Song Contest,’ with ‘Puppet on a String,’ the song went on to win the contest, giving the UK it’s first win in the competition, and with estimated sales worldwide in excess of four million copies,’Puppet on a String’ is the best selling ‘Eurovision’ song of all time. The song also went on to top the UK top 40 singles chart, making Sandie Shaw the first female to have had three Number 1 hits on that chart.

Sandie Shaw who was appointed ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire,’ (MBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours, for her services to music, retired from the music industry in 2013. Her discography includes seven studio Albums released between 1965-1988, and 41 singles issued between 1964-1994, she has also released 10 ‘EPs’ in the UK, and 11 official compilation Albums, with several of her songs being sung by her in other languages as well as English. In the UK, 16 of her singles have reached the top 40, with three of those songs making Number 1, while in America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she has never reached the top 40, with this song peaking at Number 52, although it did reach Number 1 in Canada.

(‘There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ was co-written by the legendary songwriting team of Burt Bacharach, (1928-2023) and Hal David, (1921-2012) (see also best songs 832-815-740-640-376 and 224) with the Sandie Shaw version being produced by Tony Hatch (see also best songs 838.) The first charting version of the song was by the American Soul singer Lou Johnson, (1941-2019) whose recording reached Number 49 on Billboard in 1964. Other noteworthy versions include, R.B. Greaves, (1943-2012) who was an American R&B performer, whose version reached Number 27 on Billboard in 1970. Dionne Warwick, (see also best songs 224) who had recorded the song as a ‘demo’ in 1963, released a studio version as a ‘B’ side in 1968. The most successful recording of the song in America was by the British ‘Synth-Pop’ duo ‘Naked Eyes,’ who made Number 8 on Billboard in 1984, although in the UK the song stalled at Number 59. In 1995 the English ‘Electronic Dance Music’ duo ‘Tin Tin Out’ recorded a ‘Dance’ version, which peaked at Number 14 in the UK. As I stated at the start, I am a great believer in that the first recording of a song you hear, generally had the greatest impact.

‘(‘There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ was the second single released by Sandie Shaw, in September 1964, her manager Eve Taylor had heard the Lou Johnson version while in America scouting for new material for Sandie Shaw to record. The song was Shaw’s breakthrough hit, and spent three weeks at Number 1 in the UK. Her first single release had been the Chris Andrews penned ‘As Long as You’re Happy Baby,’ in July of 1964, but that song had failed to chart. After the success of ‘(‘There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,’ Sandie Shaw went on a run of scoring a further 14 top 40 hits, but after ‘Monsieur Dupont’ had made Number 6 in 1969, she failed to have a hit again in the UK until 1984, when the Johnny Marr, and Morrissey (see also best songs 940-673-222-167-72 and 42) track ‘Hand in Glove’ gave her one final top 40 hit, when peaking at Number 27. As a youth Morrissey had been a fan of Sandie Shaw, having being inspired by her 1969 song ‘Heaven Knows I’m Missing Him Now,’ which 15 years later would be an inspiration for the ‘Smiths’ 1984 Number 10 hit, ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now.’

‘(‘There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me’ is about someone who has lost the love of their life, but that love is constantly in the narrators thoughts, because everywhere she goes, is a reminder of when they were together.

‘I walk along the city streets you used to walk along with me, and every step I take recalls how much in love we used to be. Oh, how can I forget you? When there is always something there to remind me.’