THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

771-The Chainsmokers-#Selfie.

2014-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 1.22. It’s not even summer, why does the DJ keep on playing Summertime Sadness.’ Footnote: Presumably this is a reference to the 2012 Cederic Gervais remix of ‘Summertime Sadness,’ and not the original version by Lana Del Rey, which would surely be far too slow to keep a crowd on the dance floor.

The Chainsmokers who are a Electronic Music production duo, were formed in New York City, United States, in 2012, by Alex Pall, and Rhett Bixler, Bixler would soon leave, and Pall would re-form The Chainsmokers with Drew Taggart. When the duo go on tour they are often joined by a third unofficial member, Matt McGuire, and at the time of writing The Chainsmokers remain active. When asked to explain why they chose the stage name ‘The Chainsmokers,’ Alex Pall said,’At the time of conception, it was… it was totally just like I was in college. You know I enjoyed smoking weed.’ Taggart added,’It’s just a name.’ Prior to their commercial breakthrough with ‘#Selfie,’ The Chainsmokers had started out in 2012 by providing remixes for ‘Alternative Rock’ groups, including The Killers, and Two Door Cinema Club.

The Chainsmokers discography includes four studio Albums released between 2017-2022, and 40 singles, issued between 2012-2023, there is also a 2020 Soundtrack Album of the music that they wrote for the American romantic drama film ‘Words on Bathroom Walls,’ also available, is a 2022 remix Album called ‘So Far So Good (Lofi Remixes.’) In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, seven of their tracks have reached the top 40, with ‘Closer’ from 2016 featuring Halsey, making the Number 1 spot, while on Billboard ‘#Selfie’ peaked at Number 16. On the UK top 40 singles chart, The Chainsmokers have charted on nine occasions, with ‘Closer’ also being their most successful song, when also reaching the Number 1 position.

‘#Selfie’ was the third single release by The Chainsmokers from January 2014, after their first two releases ‘Erase’ featuring Priyanka Chopra, (2012) and ‘The Rookie,’ (2013) had both failed to make any real commercial impact. ‘#Selfie’ was written by Drew Taggart, with the production credited to The Chainsmokers. The genre of music that ‘#Selfie’ should be filed under is ‘Big Room House,’ which is a sub-genre of ‘House Music’ that gained popularity in the early 2010’s, and is characterised by its simple instrumentation yet complex structure. ‘#Selfie’ was initially released as a free download by The Chainsmokers, until it got the attention, and then purchased by ‘Dim Mak Records,’ which had been founded by Steve Aoki in 1996, and the song took off from there.

A ‘selfie’ is a self portrait photograph which is normally taken from a digital camera or camera phone. The Chainsmokers while working in the nightclubs had realised how popular ‘selfie’s’ were becoming, and wanted to make a song to celebrate the new phenomenon. The female spoken vocals on the track are by the unaccredited Alexis Killacram, who finishes each verse with ‘Let me take a selfie.’ The Chainsmokers have said,’Well we aren’t really trying to celebrate the selfie or put it down. The notion of a selfie though perfectly embodies the nature of the song, this sort of selfish obsession with ourselves, and vanity and social media. So it made sense to us to use that as the jumping point. We don’t see anything wrong with selfies though, go for it.’

Music critics have pinpointed two songs which could have been an influence on ‘#Selfie.’ The 1982 song by Frank and Moon Zappa, called ‘Valley Girl,’ which reached Number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart is surely a major influence. ‘Valley Girl’ which contains spoken words by the then 14 year old daughter of Frank Zappa, (1940-1993) Moon Zappa, is a comical song about the stereotypical ‘Valley Girl,’ who was a character that originated in the early 1980’s, and is a materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley. The UK equivalent would probably be an ‘Essex Girl,’ or a ‘Dumb Blonde.’ Music critics also point to the 1992 Billboard Number 1 single ‘Baby Got Back,’ by the Rap artist Sir Mix-A-Lot, for that songs spoken intro.

‘Wait, pause, Jason just liked my selfie, what a creep. Is that guy sleeping over there? Yeah, the one next to the girl with no shoes on,that’s so ratchet. That girl is such a fake model, she definitely bought all her Instagram followers.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

772-Gary Numan-We Are Glass.

1980-Number 5 single.

Best Bit-At 3.42. His first stage name was ‘Valerian,’ but after seeing the name of a plumber called Arthur Neumann in the ads in the ‘Yellow Pages,’ he decided on a change….that’s ‘Rock ‘N Roll.’

Gary Numan (see also best songs 232 and 177) was born Gary Anthony James Webb, on March 8th, 1958, in London, England. In his mid teenage years he played in various bands, and after looking through the advertisements in the ‘Melody Maker’ music magazine, he claims to have unsuccessfully auditioned as guitarist for the then unknown band the Jam (see also best songs 670-94 and 59.) Gary Numan first found success as a member of ‘Tubeway Army,’ who in their early days played ‘Punk Rock’ music, but with Numan, who was the groups singer, songwriter, and producer, soon discovering ‘Electronic Music,’ the musical direction of the band swiftly changed, After the release of the Tubeway Army’s first two studio Albums in 1978 and 1979, the ‘Tubeway Army’ name was dropped, with all future material released under the ‘Gary Numan’ name.

As Tubeway Army there were two studio Albums released, and two official compilation Albums issued, along with four singles, which included their 1979 UK Number 1 ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ With Tubeway Army, and as Gary Numan, he has released 22 studio Albums between 1978-2021, there are also 29 official live Albums, and 17 compilations available. He has also released 51 singles between 1978-2021, with 18 of those tracks reaching the UK top 40, with two of those songs making Number 1. Gary Numan has also charted in the UK top 40 on a further five occasions, as either a featured artist, or as a collaboration. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, only ‘Cars’ in 1979, has ever charted, when making Number 9.

At the age of 18 Gary Numan had joined a group called ‘The Lasers,’ as their lead guitarist, which was where he first met that bands bassist Paul Gardiner (1958-1984.) The Lasers soon became ‘Tubeway Army,’ and it was Gardiner, along with Cedric Sharpley, (1952-2012) (drums) and Chris Payne, (synthesizers) who stayed with Numan after he effectively went solo. Paul Gardiner was born on May 1st, 1958, in Hayes, Middlesex, England, he died on February 18th, 1984, after struggling with Heroin addiction in his last years, he died from an overdose of Valium and Diconal, at the age of 25. Gardiner performed on both Tubeway Army studio Albums, and also the first two Gary Numan solo Albums, he also released two solo singles ‘Stormtrooper in Drag’ in 1981, and ‘Venus in Furs’ in 1984. During the 2009 ‘Pleasure Principle’ tour, Gary Numan paid tribute to Gardiner on the 25th anniversary of his death by playing ‘Complex,’ (the demo version) with a picture of Gardiner displayed on the large screen background.

‘We Are Glass’ was the first of three singles added to the re-issue of ‘Telekon,’ the second solo studio Album by Gary Numan, from May 1980. ‘We Are Glass’ was written and produced by Numan, with Russell Bell, (guitar) Dennis Haines, (piano) and John Webb, (percussion) playing on the track, along with those mentioned above. According to Numan the song was inspired by a comment from a writer in the ‘Omni’ magazine (the Omni was a science fiction publication.) ‘He said that he thought I’d been put here by something…. aliens, or something to carry out a cause, which I thought was very flattering, but a little silly.’ In We Are Glass’ Gary Numan is saying that just because he is a Pop star, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t fragile, like everyone else, he can also be broken.

‘We are young we can break, watch us fall. We can take some train down to the sea, we are glass. We are glass, we are real you can touch just for now, and I say: ‘Hey you, which way is down?’ We are glass.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

773-Mud-Tiger Feet.

1974-Number 1 single.

Best Bit At 0.01. Not every song can boast it’s own dance moves that everyone of a certain age knows how to do, but this one does. ‘Yeah, Yeah!’

Mud were formed in Carshalton, Greater London, England, in 1966, by Rob Davies, (lead guitar) (see also best songs 928) Les Gray, (1946-2004) (vocals) Dave Mount, (1947-2006) (drums) and Ray Stiles (bass.) Mud were first signed to ‘CBS Records’ in 1967, and released four singles without any success between 1967-1970. It was when signing with Mickie Most, (1938-2003) and his ‘RAK Records’ label in 1973, and being introduced to the legendary songwriting team of Nicky Chinn, (see also best songs 860 and 686) and Mike Chapman, (see also best songs 860-686 and 402) that Mud finally made their commercial breakthrough. Mud would work with Chinn and Chapman through until 1976, when they then left ‘RAK Records’ to join ‘Private Stock Records,’ where they enjoyed two more top 20 singles. When ‘Private Stock’ went bankrupt, Mud signed with ‘RCA Records,’ but they were soon dropped by that label, when the hits died up.

After Mud split in 1980, Les Grey reformed the band with new members, calling the group ‘Les Gray’s Mud.’ With Gray as the one constant the group with differing members would remain active until Gray’s death in 2004. Following his death, the three remaining members of ‘Les Gray’s Mud’ were given permission by the other founding members of Mud, plus that of Gray’s family, to continue using the band’s name, which they rechristened ‘Mud II,’ which at the time of writing remain active with changing membership. Also since 2015, Rob Davis and Ray Stiles, who are the two surviving founding members of Mud, have been performing together again under the band name ‘Mud’, alongside new members Keith Read and Pete Phipps. In total there have been 24 different members of all the variations of ‘Mud’ between 1967 to the present day.

The discography of Mud includes seven studio Albums released between 1974-1982, and 36 singles issued between 1967-1985, there are also 10 official compilation Albums available. In the UK, Mud achieved 15 top 40 singles, with three of them, ‘Tiger Feet,’ (1974) ‘Lonely This Christmas,’ (1974) and ‘Oh Boy,’ (1975) all making the Number 1 spot. ‘Oh Boy’ remains as the only song that ‘Chinn and Chapman produced, that got to Number 1, but wasn’t a song that they hadn’t written as well. Outside of the UK, Mud had their greatest success in the Netherlands, where five of their singles all reached the Number 1 position.

Les Gray was born Thomas Leslie Gray, on April 9th, 1946, in Carshalton, Surrey, England, he died on February 21st, 2004, of a heart attack, whilst fighting throat cancer, at the age of 57. Les Gray released two solo studio Albums, and five singles between 1977-1982, with his cover version of ‘A Groovy Kind of Love,’ reaching Number 32 in the UK in 1977. In 1992 Gray moved with his wife Carol to live in the Algarve region of Portugal, where he lived out the rest of his life. He was well known for his distinctive vocal impersonation of Elvis Presley, (1935-1977) particularly on Mud’s Christmas Number 1 single ‘Lonely This Christmas.’

‘Tiger Feet’ was the first of five singles released from Mud’s debut studio Album ‘Mud Rock,’ from September 1974, with the song being co-written, and co-produced by Nicky Chinn, and Mike Chapman. In the UK ‘Tiger Feet’ was the best selling single of 1974, with over 700,000 copies sold, and over a million sold worldwide. Mike Chapman has credited Mud’s bassist Ray Stiles for his input, particularly for the songs ‘memorable bass lick.”Tiger Feet’ is a song about someone who is attracted to a person whom they see dancing. The narrator feels a strong connection to this person, and says that they have ‘Tiger Feet,’ because they move so swiftly and gracefully like a tiger.

‘Yeah, yeah. All night long, you’ve been looking at me. Well, you know you’re the dance hall cutie that you longed to be. Oh well now, you’ve been laying it down. you’ve got your hip swinging out of bounds, and I like the way you do what you’re doin’ to me.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

774-Madonna-Like a Prayer.

1989-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.30.’Once your a Catholic, your always a Catholic, in terms of feelings, or guilt, and remorse, and whether you’ve sinned or not.Sometimes I’m wracked with guilt when I needn’t be, and that to me, is left over from my Catholic upbringing. Because in Catholicism you are born a sinner, and you are a sinner all of your life. No matter how you try to get away from it, the sin is within you, all the time.’ MADONNA.

By 1989 Madonna’s career was in the balance, she had just had two films spectacularly fail, both critically, and commercially, it was three years since her last successful Album ‘True Blue,’ and her marriage had broken down. She realised that her fan base were growing up, and if she was to survive, she would have to take her career in a different direction (see also best songs 587.)

‘Like a Prayer’ was the first of six singles released from Madonna’s fourth studio Album of the same name, from March 1989. The song was written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, with the production also being by them. Notable other names to play on the track were ‘Prince,’ (1958-2016) (see also best songs 884-487-269-85 and 54) who played guitar, although on the Albums liner notes he was not credited. Prince was also the co-writer, and co-producer with Madonna, on the Albums third track ‘Love Song.’ The choir that can be heard on ‘Like a Prayer’ was the Andraé Crouch Choir, led by the Gospel, contemporary Christian performer Andraé Crouch (1942-2015.) After realising that ‘Like a Prayer’ had lyrical content that could be construed as sexual, the Andraé Crouch Choir refused to appear in the songs now famous promotional video, so actors were used, who can be seen miming their parts.

Patrick Ray Leonard was born on March 14th, 1956, in Crystal Falls, Michigan, United States, he is best known for his longtime collaboration with Madonna. In total Patrick Leonard has worked with Madonna on five of her studio Albums between 1986-1998, with the other four Albums being ‘True Blue.’ (1986) ‘Who’s That Girl,’ (1987) ‘I’m Breathless,’ (1990) and ‘Ray of Light’ (1998.) Leonard has also played keyboards with Madonna at the 1985 ‘Live Aid’ concert. and he was the ,musical director and keyboardist on ‘The Virgin Tour,’ in 1985 and the ‘Who’s That Girl World Tour,’ in 1987. Away from Madonna, Leonard has worked with many of the worlds top artists, including Elton John, Pink Floyd, and Leonard Cohen. Madonna has always held Patrick Leonard in the highest esteem, and has said about their working relationship,’We’re both from the Midwest, and deep down at our core, we’re both geeks. He’s melancholic, and he is a classically trained musician with an incredible sense of melody. We just hit it off from the start. We always come up with something interesting. We usually don’t write frivolous songs, although we’ve done that, too. There’s something magical about our writing.’

Before ‘Like a Prayer’ was officially released ‘Pepsi’ signed Madonna to a $5 million endorsement deal, which included a two minute commercial that would debut this song.The song was released the day after it aired worldwide to approximately 250 million viewers. It was also added to the ‘MTV’ playlist, but instead of using scenes from the commercial, it showed Madonna witnessing a brutal crime, and taking refuge in a church. She shares an interracial kiss, gets stigmata on her hands, and dances in front of burning crosses.The Vatican condemned it, while religious groups protested it’s broadcast. They boycotted products by ‘Pepsi,’ forcing them to drop Madonna from their promotions, but still having to pay her.

‘Like a Prayer’ is a song about a passionate young girl in love with God, who becomes the only male figure in her life. The song is controversial because the lyrics can be interpreted by some people to have dual meanings of sexual innuendo, and religion. Madonna has said,’Like a Prayer’ is a very important song to me. I felt the impact that it was going to make. That song means a lot more to me than ‘Like a Virgin’. I wrote it, and it’s from my heart. It’s a very spiritual song. I think I was much more spiritually in touch with the power of words and music by the time I started recording the song and the Album.’

‘I hear your voice, it’s like an angel sighing. I have no choice, I hear your voice, feels like flying. I close my eyes, oh God, I think I’m falling. Out of the sky, I close my eyes, heaven help me.’