THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

676-Grace Jones-Slave to the Rhythm.

1985-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 3.51. It’s the teaming up of ‘The man who invented the 80’s,’ with the ‘Queen of the Gay Disco.’

Grace Beverly Jones was born on May 19th, 1948, in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, Jamaica, in October 2018, she received the ‘Order of Jamaica,’ from the Jamaican government, which is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system. Grace Jones who is a singer, songwriter, model, and an actress, began her career as a model, first in New York, and then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as ‘Yves St. Laurent,’ and ‘Kenzo,’ and appearing on the covers of ‘Elle,’ and ‘Vogue.’ She began her music career in 1977, when signing with ‘Island Records,’ and working with the legendary music producer Tom Moulton, in the ‘Disco’ genre, he would produce her first three Albums between 1977-1979. Grace Jones has also found great success as an actress, her career highlights include starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film ‘Conan the Destroyer,’ and appearing in the 1985 James Bond film ‘A View to a Kill.’

Grace Jones who became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features, has been cited as an inspiration for multiple artists, including Rihanna, Annie Lennox, and Lady Gaga. The French photographer Jean-Paul Goude, who worked with Grace Jones when she was a teenage model, and is also the father of Jones’ only child has said,’Grace was very open. We worked together to create this intimidating character. I mean, she’s naturally intimidating anyway with her body shape, very straight neck, prominent cheekbones, and clean-cut jawline. She’s feminine, no doubt about that, but I’ve always thought that she was far more beautiful without the artifices she employed to make herself more feminine. I tried to emphasise that body shape through a sort of minimalist German expressionism, with its games of shadows and its angular shapes. Grace is from Jamaica, so she speaks English in a quite thought-out way. I also advised her to address her audience – mostly composed of homosexuals – like a teacher would, with severity. All of that stuff contributed to the building of her image.’

The discography of Grace Jones includes 10 studio Albums released between 1977-2008, and 53 singles released between 1975-2011, there are also eight official compilation Albums available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, she has never charted within the top 40, but in the UK, five of her singles have reached the top 40, with both ‘Slave to the Rhythm,’ (1985) and ‘Pull Up to the Bumper, (1986) both peaking the highest at Number 12.

‘Slave to the Rhythm’ was the first of two singles released from Grace Jones’ seventh studio Album of the same name, from October 1985, the song was co-written by Bruce Woolley, Simon Darlow, Stephen Lipson, and Trevor Horn, with the songs production also being by Horn (see also best songs 751-455 and 19.) Both Trevor Horn, and Bruce Woolley had both been members of the English ‘New Wave’ group ‘The Buggles,’ who along with Geoff Downes, had co-written the 1979 UK Number 1 single ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’

When writing ‘Slave to the Rhythm,’ Trevor Horn originally had the English group ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’ (see also best songs 19) in mind, as the follow up to their UK Number 1 single ‘Relax.’ Horn had gone as far as recording a demo with the group, but in the end he changed his mind and offered the project to Grace Jones. ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ is a concept Album consisting of eight tracks which are all radical interpretations of the title track. Confusingly on the Album, ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ (track 8) is actually titled ‘Ladies and Gentlemen: Miss Grace Jones,’ while track 5 which is called ‘Slave to the Rhythm,’ is not the version, which was released as a single, but a different interpretation of the track.

‘Slave to the Rhythm’ has been interpreted as having two meanings, telling of slavery in Afro-American history, and it has also been suggested that the song is about the exploitation of musicians in the music industry.

‘Work to the rhythm, slave to the rhythm, live to the rhythm, love to the rhythm. And now Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s Grace.’