THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

786-Anthony Newley-Why.

1960-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.09. Anthony Newley was an early influence on the singing style of a young David Bowie, which can clearly be heard on Bowie’s mid 1960’s songs, so now you know who is to blame for ‘The Laughing Gnome.’

Anthony Newley was born on September 24th, 1931, in Homerton, London, England, he died on April 14th, 1999, from renal cancer at the age of 67. During his long and successful career, Anthony Newley was a singer, songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He appeared in 49 films between 1944-1992, making a seamless transition from a child actor to an adult actor in the 1950’s, where he made 27 movies for ‘J. Arthur Rank,’ (1888-1972) who was the founder of the ‘Rank Organisation.’ In 1960, Newley created and starred in the British ‘ATV’ six part comedy series ‘The Strange World of Gurney Slade,’ which has over the years received a cult following, in the show, Newley’s character escapes from a television programme which is Gurney Slade itself, and the concept is now considered ahead of its time.

The discography of Anthony Newley includes 18 studio Albums that have been issued between 1955-2012, and there are also 25 official compilation Albums available. Anthony Newley has also released nine Albums of the recordings of the musicals that he was either the writer or the performer on, or both, between 1961-1994. He also released 23 singles, and four extended plays (EP’s) between 1959-1976. In the UK, 11 of those singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Why,’ (1960) and the follow up single ‘Do You Mind,’ (1960) both making the Number 1 spot. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, none of his songs ever reached the top 40, with ‘If She Should Come to You,’ from 1960, charting the highest at Number 67. Musically, Anthony Newley had even greater success as a songwriter, with his writing partner Leslie Bricusse, (1931-2021) among their many successes were when teaming up with John Barry, (1933-2011) to write the title theme for the 1964 ‘James Bond’ film ‘Goldfinger,’ which was performed by Shirley Bassey. Another notable song for the duo was ‘Feeling Good,’ which Newley co-wrote with Bricusse for the 1964 musical ‘The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd.’ ‘Feelin Good’ was recorded by Nina Simone (1933-2003) in 1965, becoming one of her signature tunes, the song was also recorded by the English Rock band ‘Muse,’ in 2001, reaching Number 24 on the UK top 40. In 1963 Newley, and Bricusse won the ‘Grammy Award for Song of the Year,’ for having penned ‘What Kind of Fool Am I?’ which had been written for the 1962 musical ‘Stop the World – I Want to Get Off.’ The pair also wrote the music for the 1971 musical fantasy film ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,’ from which the song ‘Candy Man’ first appeared, and when it was recorded as a single by Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) in 1972, it became a Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 in America.

‘Why’ was co-written by Bob Marcucci, (1930-2011) and Peter De Angelis (1929-1982) and was originally recorded by the American singer Frankie Avalon in 1959, the song was the last Billboard Number 1 single of the 1950’s. and the first of the 1960’s. In the UK, Avalon’s version stalled at Number 20, with the recording by Anthony Newley proving far more successful by going all the way to Number 1 in February 1960. ‘Why’ was also covered by the American singer Donny Osmond in 1972, who at the age of 15, took his recording to Number 13 on Billboard, and Number 3 in the UK.

Bob Marcucci was born Robert Phillip Marcucci, on February 28, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, he died on March 9th, 2011, of respiratory complications and severe infections, at the age of 81. Marcucci was the owner of ‘Chancellor Records,’ and his two big signings were Frankie Avalon, and later Fabian Forte, both of whom Marcucci turned in to ‘teen idols’ for a while. The 1980 musical drama film ‘The Idolmaker,’ is loosely based on Marcucci’s life in the music industry.

‘No broken hearts for us, ’cause we love each other, and with our faith and trust there could be no other. Why? ‘Cause I love you, Why? ‘Cause you love me.’