THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

655-Gary Shearston-I Get a Kick Out of You.

1974-Number 7 single.

Best Bit-At 3.10. It is not uncommon for comedians to perform in a ‘deadpan’ manner, but it appears that there are singers who do as well.

Gary Rhett Shearston was born on January 9th, 1939, in Inverell, New South Wales, Australia, he died on July 1st, 2013, after suffering a stroke, at the age of 74. It was at the age of 19 that Gary Shearston became a professional singer, having learned to play the guitar, he studied English, American, and Australian Folk songs. This led to him signing with ‘Leedon Records’ in 1962, and then in 1963 he was signed to the Australian division of ‘CBS Records.’ In 1965 radio stations in Sydney started playing the song ‘Sydney Town,’ from his Album ‘Australian Broadside,’ which reached the top 10 in Sydney, and then a year later it reached Number 33 nationally. This success led to him becoming Australia’s biggest record seller of Folk music, and hosting his own national television show called ‘Just Folk,’ After several years of touring, in 1989 Gary Shearston became a cleric in the Anglican Church of Australia, in rural New South Wales. He was ordained a deacon in 1991, and a priest in 1992.

The discography of Gary Shearston includes 18 Albums released between 1964-2013, and five singles released between 1965-1975. In Australia two of his singles reached the ‘Kent Music Report’ top 40 singles chart, (the ‘ARIA’ chart since 1988) with ‘Sydney Town’ reaching Number 33, and ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ peaking at Number 19. His only international hit was ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ which reached Number 7 in the UK in 1974.

‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ was written by Cole Porter (1891-1964) (see also best songs 944-295 and 73) and was covered by Gary Shearston in 1974 for his eighth Album ‘Dingo,’ with the production being by Hugh Murphy (1946-1998) (see also best songs 61.) ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ which has countless cover versions, has never charted in America on Billboard by any artist, and in the UK only Gary Shearston has had a hit with the song. Cole Porter wrote ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ in 1931 for the musical ‘Star Dust,’ but it wasn’t used. It was first introduced in the 1934 musical ‘Anything Goes,’ (another Cole Porter musical) and then sung by the American actress Ethel Merman (1908-1984) in the 1936 film version.

Cole Porter’s lyrics to ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ have caused more than their fair share of controversy over the years. The line ‘Some get a kick from cocaine,’ had to be re-written by Porter as ‘Some like the perfume from Spain,’ for the 1936 movie version, as a reference to drugs was not allowed at that time by the ‘Hollywood Production Code’ of 1934. Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) (see also best songs 877-567-469-120 and 73) recorded ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ without the drug reference in 1953, and then with the drug reference on a recording live in Paris in 1962, which was not commercially released until 1994.

‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ originally included the lyrics ‘I get no kick in a plane, I shouldn’t care for those nights in the air that the fair Mrs. Lindbergh goes through, but I get a kick out of you.’ These lyrics were changed by Cole Porter to ‘Flying too high with some guy in the sky, is my idea of nothing to do.’ The change was made due to the tragic kidnapping, and murder of Anne Lindbergh’s (1906-2001) infant child in 1932.

In ‘I Get a Kick Out of You,’ Cole Porter is stating that cocaine, or alcohol, or even flying in an aeroplane, are just plain boring, when compared to the kick he gets out of the one he yearns for.

‘I get a kick every time I see you’re standing there before me. I get a kick though it’s clear to me you obviously do not adore me.’