THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

747-Franz Ferdinand-Take Me Out.

2004-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.55. The bit which hits you like a Glasgow kiss.

Franz Ferdinand were formed in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2002, by Alex Kapranos, (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Nick McCarthy, (rhythm guitar, keyboards, vocals), Bob Hardy, (bass guitar, percussion) and Paul Thomson (drums, percussion, and backing vocals.) Julian Corrie, (keyboards, lead guitar, backing vocals) and Dino Bardot, (rhythm guitar, backing vocals) joined the band in 2017, after Nick McCarthy left in 2016. Another founding member Paul Thompson left the group in 2021, and was replaced by Audrey Tait (drums, percussion.) In total there have been seven different members of Franz Ferdinand come and go, and at the time of writing they remain active. All of the bands original lineup had played in other various bands during the 1990’s, and when coming together they chose the stage name ‘Franz Ferdinand,’ after seeing a racehorse with that name in action on television. It got the band members discussing the horses namesake, the ‘Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, (1863-1914) whose assassination in 1914 was one of the main events leading up to the outbreak of ‘World War I.’ Their thinking was that his death had left a significant mark in history, and the bands goal was also to leave a significant mark in music’s history. The groups percussionist Paul Thomson has said,’I like the idea that, if we become popular, maybe the words Franz Ferdinand will make people think of the band instead of the historical figure.’

The discography of Franz Ferdinand includes five studio Albums released between 2004-2018, and 27 singles issued between 2003-2022, there are also two official compilation Albums, and two live Albums available. In the UK, nine of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Take Me Out,’ peaking the highest at Number 3. In America, they have made the Billboard Hot 100 on two occasions, with ‘Take Me Out’ charting the highest at Number 66. In 2015 Franz Ferdinand got together with the American Rock band ‘Sparks,’ (see also best songs 840) to form the ‘supergroup’ ‘FFS.’ together they released the critically acclaimed Album ‘FFS,’ which peaked at Number 15 in the UK, and there were also three singles released from the Album.

‘Take Me Out’ was co-written by Franz Ferdinand band members Alex Kapranos, and Nick McCarthy, with the production being by Tore Johansson. The song was the second of five singles issued from the groups self titled debut Album, from February 2004. The Album received universal critical acclaim, winning the 2004 British ‘ Mercury Music Prize,’ In the UK the Album has sold in excess of 1.2 million copies, and worldwide it has sold in excess of 3.6 million, with at least one million copies sold in America. Tore Johansson who produced ‘Take Me Out,’ and co-produced the Album with Franz Ferdinand, was born on November 6th, 1959, in Sweden. Prior to working with Franz Ferdinand, Johansson had been the producer for the Swedish Rock band ‘The Cardigans,’ having produced five of their six studio Albums between 1994-2005.

Alex Kapranos got the idea for ‘Take Me Out’ after watching the 2001 war film ‘Enemy At The Gates.’ The film is set during the Second World War, around the siege of Stalingrad. One of the themes of the film is this stand off between two snipers. Alex Kapranos has said,’Jude Law is the Soviet sniper, and Ed Harris is the evil Nazi. They’re both kind of tucked away, hidden from each other, waiting for the other to make a move and expose themselves. ‘Cause as soon as the other makes a move, the other will know where they are and will take them out. This image of the two snipers left quite an impact on me, it felt like a very good metaphor for the kind of romantic situations that we sometimes find ourselves in, you know, where you both know you’re into the other but no one wants to kind of, like, expose their vulnerability and make a move, and let the other know how they feel. And so I could write the song so you can’t really tell what I’m talking about. Am I talking about snipers or am I talking about some kind of romantic situation?’

‘Take Me Out’ appears to continue the theme of assassination, comparing lovers to snipers aiming at each other. Alex Kapranos told the ‘New Musical Express,’ It’s about how you’d rather be shot, than continue the tension.’

‘So if you’re lonely, you know I’m here waiting for you. I’m just a crosshair, I’m just a shot away from you. And if you leave here, you leave me broken, shattered, I lie. I’m just a crosshair, I’m just a shot, then we can die.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

748-Martha and the Muffins-Echo Beach.

1980-Number 10 single.

Best Bit-At 1,58. There are blueberry muffins, apple muffins, cornmeal muffins, chocolate chip muffins, and if you venture in to the ‘Urban Dictionary,’ the meaning of ‘muffin’ may make you blush.

Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian Rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1977, by Mark Gane, (synthesizer, and guitar) and his fellow art student at that time David Millar (vocals.) They were soon joined by Martha Johnson, (keyboards, and vocals) with the initial lineup being completed by Mark Gane’s brother Tim, (drums) and Carl Finkle (bass.) Millar left the group before the recording of ‘Echo Beach,’ with both Martha Lady, (keyboards, and vocals) and Andy Haas, (saxophone) joining the group. In total there have been nine different members come and go, with Mark Gane, and Martha Johnson who are married, being the only two remaining members. The name ‘Martha and the Muffins’ was chosen to distance themselves from the aggressive sounding names adopted by many ‘Punk’ bands of that era. In 1983 when the group were a quartet they decided to change their name to ‘”M + M,’ but it never really caught on, with Martha Johnson saying,’The name change just never stuck, because our legacy was ‘Martha and the Muffins.’

The discography of Martha and the Muffins includes eight studio Albums released between 1980-2019, and 18 singles issued between 1978-2010, there are also two official compilation Albums available. In their native Canada, five of their singles have reached the Canadian top 40 singles chart, with ‘Echo Beach’ peaking the highest at Number 5, while in the UK, only ‘Echo Beach’ has charted, when reaching Number 10, and in America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, their only entry to date remains ‘Black Stations/White Stations,’ which peaked at Number 63 in 1984. Martha Johnson has also released two solo Albums, in 1995, and 2013.

‘Echo Beach’ was the first of three singles released from ‘Metro Music,’ the debut Album by Martha and the Muffins, from February 1980, it was written by Mark Gane, and produced by Mike Howlett. Echo Beach is the groups only international hit to date, finding success in the UK. and also Australia, where it reached Number 6. The songs producer Mike Howlett was born Michael John Gilmour Howlett, on April 27th, 1950, in Sydney, Australia. Howlett settled in England in the early 1970’s, and joined the ‘Progressive Rock’ group ‘Gong,’ with whom he remained a member until 1977, when he then formed the short lived ‘Pop/Rock’ group ‘Strontium 90,’ with Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, who would later go on to form ‘The Police’ (see also best songs 1020 and 727.) In the early 1980’s Mike Howlett became an in-demand music producer, with a string of hit singles and Albums, including ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, ‘Enola Gay.’ (see also best songs 720 ) and ‘A Flock of Seagulls,’ ‘Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You’) (see also best songs 996.)

‘Echo Beach’ was written by Mark Gane when he was a student at the ‘Ontario College of Art. He had a very dull part time job, where he had to check wallpaper for printing faults, and his mind would wander to a ‘happier place.’ Gane has said that ‘Echo Beach’ is a place that he made up, but it is based on ‘Sunnyside Beach,’ on the shoreline of ‘Lake Ontario,’ in Toronto, where he had spent time. Mark Gane has also said,’The lake and beach could have been in the middle of nowhere, while the city behind became a surrealistic sight.’ ‘Echo Beach’ is probably influenced by the lyrics to song ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour,’ by the British band ‘Ultravox,’ whose lyrics include,’Riding inter-city trains, dressed in European grey. Riding out to echo beach, a million memories in the trees and sands.’ Basically ‘Echo Beach’ is a place to escape to, when you let you’re imagination run wild.

‘From nine to five, I have to spend my time at work, my job is very boring, I’m an office clerk. The only thing that helps me pass the time away, is knowing I’ll be back at Echo Beach someday.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

749-Chubby Checker-The Twist.

1960-Number 44 single. When it was re-issued in 1962 it reached Number 14, and then when re-issued as a double ‘A’ side with ‘Let’s Twist Again’ in 1975, it peaked at Number 5.

Best Bit-At 0.06. Only two songs have reached the Number 1 spot on Billboard, with the same singer, with the same song, in the ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ era. Chubby Checker with ‘The Twist,’ in 1960, and 1962, and Mariah Carey with ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You,’ (see also best songs 822 ) in 2019-2020-2021, and 2022.

Chubby Checker was born Ernest Evans on October 3rd, 1941, in Spring Gully, South Carolina, United States. A a child he entertained his school classmates by performing vocal impressions of popular entertainers of the day, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. This eventually led to him being signed by ‘Cameo-Parkway Records,’ who released his first single ‘The Class,’ in 1959, which was a novelty song of Chubby Checker doing impressions of various musicians, the song reached Number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was as a youngster that he acquired the nickname ‘Chubby,’ because of his weight, and the ‘Checker’ was added as his stage name, as a nod to the then current ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ star Fats Domino (see also best songs 617 and 272.)

Chubby Checker has had many hit singles whose subject has been about performing dance moves, these include ‘The Hucklebuck,’ (1960) ‘Pony Time.’ (1961) ‘The Fly,’ (1961) and ‘Limbo Rock’ (1963.) The discography of Chubby Checker includes 16 studio Albums released between 1960-2001, and 51 singles issued between 1959-2013, there are also three official compilation Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 he has had 23 top 40 hits, (including re-issues) with two of those songs reaching Number 1, the other being ‘Pony Time,’ in 1961. In the UK Chubby Checker has had 10 top 40 hits, with two of his tracks peaking at Number 2, ‘Let’s Twist Again,’ in 1961, and also his final chart entry to date ‘The Twist’ (“Yo, Twist!” version) with the ‘Fat Boys’ in 1988.

The original version of ‘The Twist’ was written by Hank Ballard, and first recorded by ‘Hank Ballard and the Midnighters,’ as the ‘B’ side to their 1958 single ‘Teardrops on Your Letter,’ which stalled at Number 87 on Billboard. When it was re-issued as the ‘A’ side in 1960 on the back of the success of the Chubby Checker version, it made Number 28 on Billboard. Hank Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks, on November 18th, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, he died of throat cancer on March 2nd, 2003, at the age of 75. Hank Ballard is remembered as playing a leading role in the development of ‘Rock ‘N Roll,’ with songs such as ‘Work With Me, Annie,’ (1954) and it’s answer song Annie Had a Baby’ (1954.) Hank Ballard who was the cousin of Florence Ballard (1943-1976) of the ‘Supremes,’ had nine top 40 hit singles on Billboard, with ”Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go,’ charting the highest at Number 6 in 1960.

Hank Ballard got the idea for ‘The Twist’ when watching his group the ‘Midnighters’ perform, Ballard has said,’The group often moved onstage like they were trying to put a cigarette out. In a sense, they were twisting. Thus, the title of the song.’ ‘The Twist’ developed from a previous song written by Hank Ballard, and his fellow band member Cal Green (1937-2004) called ‘Is Your Love for Real.’ which was based on Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters 1955 song ‘What’cha Gonna Do.’ Ballard wrote new lyrics, and ‘Is Your Love for Real,’ became ‘The Twist.’

‘Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, performed ‘The Twist’ on a Baltimore television dance show hosted by local DJ Buddy Deane (1924-2003.) Deane then recommended the song to Dick Clark, (1929-2012) host of the national ‘American Bandstand’ television show. Clark attempted to book Ballard to perform, but he was unavailable, which led to Clark searching for someone else. He settled on Chubby Checker whose voice was very similar to Hank Ballard’s, and after Checker’s appearance on ‘American Bandstand,’ ‘The Twist’ became a national hit.

When Hank Ballard first heard Chubby Checker’s version of ‘The Twist’ on the radio he thought it was himself, saying,’They cloned it.’ Hank Ballard was not bitter towards Chubby Checker, or Dick Clark, as he earned massive royalties from the song. Chubby Checker has explained how to dance ‘The Twist,’ ‘It’s like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and coming out of a shower and wiping your bottom with a towel to the beat.’

When the song first got to Number 1 in 1960, it was the youth who bought the song, but after the dance moves became more and more popular, and with celebrities also latching on to the fad, the older generation also grew to love it, leading to it’s re-release, and it once again made Number 1 in 1962. ‘The Twist’ was a dance where the participants didn’t touch each other, which was unusual at the time, becoming a new trend, peaking with ‘Disco Dancing’ over a decade later.

‘Yeah, you should see my little sis, you should see my, my little sis. She really knows how to rock, she knows how to twist. Come on and twist, yeah, baby twist, ooh yeah, just like this. Come on, little miss, and do the twist.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

750-Barry Manilow-Copacabana (At the Copa.)

1978-Number 42 single.

Best Bit-At 3.23. The story line to the song is so depressing, that it would make for a good episode of the soap Eastenders.

Barry Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus, on June 17th, 1943, in New York City, United States, shortly before his 13th birthday, his grandfather had his name changed to ‘Manilow,’ the maiden name of his mother, his parents had been divorced when he was a baby. Barry Manilow got his grounding in the music industry during the 1960’s, writing, singing, and recording hit jingles for business corporations which included ‘Kentucky Fried Chicken, ‘Pepsi,’ and ‘McDonalds.’ In 1969 Manilow signed with ‘Columbia/CBS Music’ vice-president and recording artist, Tony Orlando, (see also best songs 886) and Orlando worked with Manilow on some of his early recordings.

With record sales in excess of 85 million, Barry Manilow is one of the best selling artists of all time. He has released 31 studio Albums between 1973-2020, and 57 singles between 1973-2022, there are also 17 official compilation Albums, six live Albums, and four soundtrack Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, he has had 25 top 40 hits, with three of those tracks ‘Mandy,’ (1974) ‘I Write the Songs,’ (1975) and ‘Looks Like We Made It,’ (1977) all making the Number 1 spot, with ‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) reaching Number 8. In the UK he has charted within the top 40 on 13 occasions, with ‘I Wanna Do It With You,’ being his only top 10 hit, when peaking at Number 8 in 1982.

‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) was the third of four singles released from ‘Even Now,’ the fifth studio Album from Barry Manilow, from February 1978. ‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) was co-written by Barry Manilow (music) and Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, who both wrote the lyrics, the song was produced by Manilow, and Ron Dante. ‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) was inspired by a conversation between Barry Manilow, and Bruce Sussman, at the ‘Copacabana Hotel,’ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when they discussed whether there had ever been a song written about the ‘Copacabana.’ Barry Manilow had been a regular visitor to the ‘Copacabana’ nightclub in New York City (named after the hotel) in the 1960’s. Bruce Sussman who co-wrote the songs lyrics has said,’We thought we were writing the ‘novelty’ cut for Barry’s ‘Even Now’ Album. ‘Copacabana’ surprised everyone, certainly us, and especially ‘Arista Records,’ for they were faced with the first of Barry’s hits that was forced off an Album. This put Barry in the unique position of having three hit records in the Top 40 at once. It earned for him his first, and believe it or not, only ‘Grammy’ award, his first gold single for a song he composed, his first international hit record, and the first song to inspire projects in other media. So much for novelty cuts.’

In 1985 Barry Manilow, along with Bruce Sussman, and Jack Feldman, expanded ‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) into a full length, made for television musical, also called ‘Copacabana,’ writing many additional songs, and expanding the plot. In 1994 the television version was further expanded by the three writers, and made in to a full length, two act musical, again titled ‘Copacabana,’ which ran initially in London’s West End, an American production was later developed, that toured the United States. Over 200 productions of the show have since been staged worldwide.

‘Copacabana (At the Copa’) tells the story of a showgirl (Lola) and her bartender boyfriend (Tony.) A gangster called Rico takes a fancy to Lola, but he oversteps the mark, Tony comes to her aid, but in the ensuing brawl, Tony is shot, and killed. In the final verse we find Lola, sat in the same club, which is now a disco, drunk, and still grieving for Tony, while dressed in her glamorous showgirl attire she wore from 30 years earlier. According to the songs narrator,’Lola lost her youth, and she lost her Tony, and now she’s lost her mind.

‘Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl, with yellow feathers in her hair, and a dress cut down to there. She would Merengue and do the Cha-Cha, and while she tried to be a star Tony always tended bar. Across the crowded floor, they worked from eight til four, they were young and they had each other, who could ask for more.’