THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

493-Hank Ballard & the Midnighters-Work with Me, Annie.

1954-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 1.39. Before ‘Je t’aime, Moi Non Plus,’ (see also best songs 467) God Save the Queen,’ (see also best songs 576) ‘Relax,’ anything by Judge Dread, and loads of others, the radio wouldn’t play this, in an attempt to save our youth from being corrupted.

Hank Ballard was born John Henry Kendricks Ballard, on November 18th, 1927, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, he died of throat cancer, on March 2nd, 2003, at the age of 75. Aside from this groundbreaking song, he would achieve even greater commercial success when his composition ‘The Twist,’ (see also best songs 749) was covered by Chubby Checker, reaching Number 1 on the American Billboard Hot 100 on two separate occasions (1960 & 1962.) Hank Ballard was the cousin of Florence Ballard (1943-1976) a founding member of the Supremes, (see also best songs 1001-411-21 and 148) and the great uncle of the former ‘NFL’ American footballer Christian Ballard.

In 1953, Hank Ballard joined the ‘Doo-Wop’ group the ‘Royals,’ who after the release of their single ‘Get It,’ in 1953, changed their name to the ‘Midnighters,’ in order to not cause confusion with another group called the ‘5 Royals.’ In 1954 Hank Ballard wrote ‘Work with Me, Annie,’ which was influenced by ‘Get It,’ he was also inspired after hearing the sexually explicit 1951 song ‘Sixty Minute Man’ by the American R&B group the ‘Dominoes.’ The lyrics to ‘Work with Me, Annie’ were extremely sexually explicit for the period, with many radio stations refusing to play the song, for example ‘Work’ was ghetto slang for sexual intercourse. Peter Potter who was a judge on the American ‘CBS’ television programme ‘Juke Box Jury,’ said of the song ‘All R&B records are dirty, and as bad for kids as dope.’ As with many songs that have been banned by the authorities down the years, it only helps to draw publicity, and in the case of ”Work with Me, Annie,’ the song become a favourite with white teenagers, and went to Number 1 on the ‘Billboard R&B’ chart, staying at the peak position for seven weeks.

‘Work with Me, Annie’ was the 10th single release by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, and the first with that name, as their previous nine releases were as the ‘Royals.’ In total as a group, or as Hank Ballard solo, there were 89 singles issued between 1952-1979, with eight of those tracks reaching the Billboard Hot 100 top 40, with ‘Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go,’ from 1960, peaking the highest at Number 6, while ‘Work with Me, Annie,’ reached Number 22. There are also at least 15 Albums available, that were released between 1952-1974.

‘Work with Me, Annie’ which was written by Hank Ballard, and produced by Henry Glover (1021-1991) is recognised as one of the most influential songs in the development of ‘Rock’ music, because of it’s big bass beat, electric guitar, and sexually suggestive lyrics. The song spurned other songs about ‘Annie,’ such as ‘Annie Had a Baby, (1954) also recorded by ‘The Midnighters,’ and also ‘answer songs’ such as ‘Roll With Me Henry’ (Wallflower’) notably recorded by Etta James, (1938-2012) in 1954, and also by Georgia Gibbs, (1918-2006) who took her version to Number 1 on Billboard in 1955.

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters split in 1965, after over three years without any real commercial success, with Hank Ballard going on to pursue a solo career. His 1969 Album ‘You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down,’ was produced by James Brown, (1933-2006) (see also best songs 880-349-270 and 88) and Ballard then appeared on two tracks on Brown’s 1972 Album ‘Get on the Good Foot.’ James Brown has cited Hank Ballard & the Midnighters as a major influence on his early career. Hank Ballard continued to record during the 1970’s, and in 1979 he turned his hand to ‘Disco,’ recording his final single release ‘Freak Your Boom-Boom,’ he then reformed ‘The Midnighters,’ and they performed together until 2002.

‘Work with Me, Annie’ was produced by Henry Bernard Glover, who was born on May 21st, 1921, in Hot Springs, Arkansas, United States, he died of a heart attack on April 7th, 1991, at the age of 69. Glover began his music career playing the trumpet in the ‘Jump Blues’ band led by Buddy Johnson (1915-1977) in 1944. He soon was hired as an ‘A&R man at ‘King Records,’ and helped to construct the labels first recording studio. During the mid 1940’s Glover became a music producer for many ‘Country Music’ musicians, and then moved on to ‘Rhythm and Blues,’ notably producing the original version of ‘Fever,’ (see also best songs 468) for Little Willie John (1937-1968.) Henry Glover was also a songwriter, with two of his most successful compositions being ‘Let the Little Girl Dance,’ (1960-Billboard Number 11 & UK Number 15) for Billy Bland, (1932-2017) and ‘Peppermint Twist,’ his co-write with Joey Dee, (1962-Billboard Number 1 & UK Number 33) for Joey Dee and the Starliters. In 1986 Henry Glover was inducted into the ‘Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.’

Annie, please don’t cheat give me all my meat, ooo! Ooo-hoo-wee, so good to me. Work with me Ann-ie-e, now, let’s get it while the gettin’ is good.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

494-Womack & Womack-Teardrops.

1988-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 0.58. If future generations of the Womack family appear on the television programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are,’ they will have their work cut out sorting this family tree.

Womack & Womack were the singing and songwriting partnership of Linda Womack, and her husband Cecil Womack, (1947-2013) they were musically active between 1983-2004, in the genres of ‘R&B,’ ‘Soul,’ ‘Funk,’ and ‘Dance.’ After travelling to Nigeria in the early 1990’s, the couple discovered that they had ancestral ties to the ‘Zekkariyas’ tribe, and from then on they both adopted African names. Cecil became known as ‘Zek,’ and Linda became known as ‘Zerilya,’ and for the release of their last five studio Albums, they were issued under the name ‘Zek,’ or ‘The Greater House of Zekkariyas.’ The discography of Womack & Womack includes 10 studio Albums released between 1983-2006, and 19 singles released between 1984-1997, there are also three official compilation Albums available. In America on Billboard, none of their Albums or singles have ever reached the top 100, although their debut studio Album ‘Love Wars’ did reach Number 34 on the Billboard ‘Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums’ chart. In the UK, their 1988 Album ‘Conscience’ is their only charting top 40 Album, making Number 4, while four of their singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Teardrops,’ peaking the highest at Number 3.

Cecil Dale Womack was born on September 25th, 1947, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he died of unknown causes in Johannesburg, South Africa, on January 25th, 2013, at the age 65. Cecil Womack was born into a very religious family, and he and his brothers, Bobby, (1944-2013) Harry, (1945-1974) Friendly, and Curtis, formed a ‘Gospel’ group in their formative years. In the mid 1950’s, they came to the attention of the American singer/songwriter Sam Cooke, (1931-1964) (see also best songs 156) and then in 1961 Cooke signed then to his record label ‘SAR,’ changing their name to the ‘Valentinos,’ and recording ‘the devils music,’ rather than sticking with their ‘Gospel’ roots. In 1965, 77 days after the death of Sam Cooke, Cecil’s brother Bobby Womack (see also best songs 221) married Cooke’s widow Barbra, who was 10 years his senior, which both the Womack and Cooke family both bitterly opposed. During the 1960’s, Cecil Womack made himself a name as a songwriter, forming a partnership with his first wife Mary Wells, (1943-1992) whom he had married in 1966, and co-writing many of the songs from around that period with her, that she sang on, including the Billboard R&B Number 22 hit ‘The Doctor,’ which Womack also sang backing vocals on. They divorced in 1977, after he discovered that she was having an affair with his brother Curtis Womack. Prior to ‘Teardrops,’ Cecil’s biggest success as a songwriter was with the song ‘Love T.K.O,’ which he co-wrote with Gip Noble Jr. and when recorded by Teddy Pendergrass, (1950-2010) reached Number 2 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1980. When Cecil married Linda Cooke, the daughter of Sam Cooke, this created an interesting family tree, because Cecil’s brother Bobby Womack had married Sam Cooke’s widow, who was Linda’s mother Barbara Campbell. Cecil and Linda had seven children together, and had homes in Africa and Thailand. After 1994, Cecil was known professionally and personally by the name ‘Zekkariyas,’ and he spent the final years of his life travelling the world with his wife and children, using his time to explore his African heritage, spirituality, and knowledge of the continent, as well as making music.

Linda Womack was born on April 25th, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, she is the daughter of Sam Cooke. In December 1964, when she was 11 years old, her father was killed, and soon after, her mother married Sam Cooke’s protege Bobby Womack. In 1970, her mother Barbara shot at him after she discovered he was having an affair with Linda, who was 17-years-old at the time. According to Bobby Womack, Linda never spoke to her mother again after that incident.

‘Teardrops’ was the first of six singles released from Womack & Womack’s fourth studio Album ‘Conscience,’ from June 1988, the song was co-written by Cecil Womack, and Linda Womack, with the production being by them, and the legendary British record producer, and the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell (see also best songs 291 and 56.) In 1998 the British ‘UK Garage’ group ‘Lovestation’ took their cover version of ‘Teardrops’ to Number 14 on the UK top 40, in 2000 they issued several remixes, and it charted again at Number 24. Other notable remakes of the song are by the German girl group ‘No Angels,’ whose version as part of a medley with a track called ‘Amaze Me,’ reached Number 25 in their home country in 2007, and the Australian singer Kate Alexa featuring Baby Bash, who made Number 26 on the ‘Aria’ singles chart in 2008.

‘Teardrops’ is a song of regret, with the narrator having taken her partner for granted, and maybe even cheated on them, now wishing things could get back to the way that they used to be.

‘And the music don’t feel like it did when I felt it with you. Nothing that I do or feel, ever feels like I felt it with you.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

495-Jax Jones featuring Mike Dunn and MNEK-House Work.

2016-Number 85 single.

Best Bit-At 1.18. This House Work is most definitely not a chore.

Jax Jones is the stage name of Timucin Fabian Kwong Wah Ozluer, who was born on July 25th, 1987, in London, England, United Kingdom, his father is Turkish, and his mother is Chinese-Malaysian. Jax Jones showed an interest in music from a young age, initially studying classical guitar, and listening to artists such as the Notorious B.I.G. (1972-1997) (see also best songs 955 and 307) The Neptunes, and Timberland (see also best songs 691.) Prior to his mainstream breakthrough, he worked on some of the early ‘mixtapes’ released by the British ‘Grime’ artist Big Narstie. It was after meeting the English music producer Duke Dumont (see also best songs 779) in 2014 that Jax Jones got into ‘House Music,’ and together they co-wrote and produced ‘I Got U,’ (2014-UK-Number 1) ‘Won’t Look Back,’ (2014-UK-Number 2) and ‘Ocean Drive,’ (2015-UK-Number 42.)

The discography of Jax Jones includes one studio Album, ‘Snacks (Supersize’) released in 2019, and 29 singles released between 2013-2024, there are also three extended plays (EP’s) available. As the lead artist he has had 15 top 40 hit singles in the UK, with each one of them having at least one featured artist appearing, with ‘You Don’t Know Me’ featuring Raye, from 2016, charting the highest at Number 3, he has also had a UK Number 1 single as the featured artist on ‘I Got U,’ by Duke Dumont, in 2014. Jax Jones also has several remixes, production, and songwriting credits, for other artists.

‘House Work’ was co-written by Jax Jones, and MNEK, and features the vocals of both MNEK, and Mike Dunn, with the production being by Jax Jones. The song is one of the tracks that appears on Jax Jones’ debut extended play ‘Snacks,’ from November 2018, and later also appears on his debut studio Album ‘Snacks (Supersize’) from September 2019. In an innovative piece of advertising by ‘Polydor Records,’ every time a new single by Jax Jones was released, it would be added to the ‘Snacks’ EP. Stephen Hallowes the head of marketing at the label explained, ‘The main purpose was to create one destination for fans to listen to all of Jax’s hits, but it also enabled us to start building an Album story with him over time, which felt like a good strategy for an artist much stronger in the singles market than Albums. Jax Jones has said that he did not anticipate releasing an Album, ‘Because I don’t sing my music, some people might only be a fan of one or two of my songs. It is so exciting to have an Album with all my hits and new songs in one place. When you work with the names I did on the Album, it makes you bring your A-game.’ The Album ‘Snacks (Supersize’) has spent over 100 weeks in the UK top 100 Album chart, selling in excess of 100,000 copies, and peaking at Number 9.

The other co-writer of ‘House Work’ is MNEK, who was born Uzoechi Osisioma Emenike, on November 9th, 1994, in Lewisham, London, England, his stage name ‘MNEK’ is a gramogran of his surname. He is a singer, songwriter, and music producer, in the genres of ‘Pop, ‘House Music,’ ‘UK Garage,’ and ‘R&B.’ ‘MNEK’ has spoken about his introduction into music, ‘I started writing poems and writing songs around the age of 8 or 7, and I started playing around with production software from really young as well. I then put some stuff up on Myspace finally when I was 14. There were two songs I had. I sent them out to all my favourite artists on Myspace and it just landed on this artist at the time called CocknBullKid, but she’s now Anita Blay, and she’s an amazing songwriter. She was like ‘Okay, cool. I’m just gonna send this to my publisher,’ and at the time I had no idea what a publisher was. So she sent it, and that was that and it became this flurry of people wanting to be my publisher, and then that was me in the industry.’

MNEK has an extensive discography, and production discography, which includes his one studio Album ‘Language’ from 2018, and 22 singles released as the lead artist between 2011-2023, and a further 12 as a featured artist between 2014-2022. In the UK, he has charted on seven top 40 singles, with ‘Head & Heart,’ by Joel Corry, featuring MNEK, reaching Number 1 in 2020, while his only entry to date on the American Billboard Hot 100 singles chart is ‘Never Forget You,’ with Zara Larsson, which made Number 13 in 2015. His production work includes 47 UK top hit singles, with three of those tracks reaching the Number 1 position.

Some of the vocals on ‘House Work’ are provided by Mike Dunn, who is a ‘Rapper,’ and ‘House Music’ producer, who hails from Englewood, Chicago, United States. He is a leading light in the genre of ‘Hip-House,’ (see also best songs 805) which is the gelling together of ‘Rapping’ over a ‘House Music’ track. Mike Dunn can be heard to great effect doing this on his 1994 song ‘God Made Me Phunky.’

‘I call it house work (Woop) ’cause it’s light work (What you, what you gon’ do?) I’ma throw shapes, feeling the bass, ’til my feet hurt. I call it house work (Woop) ’cause it’s light work (What you, what you gon’ do?) I’ma throw shade, if I don’t get paid for this housework.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

496-Mr. Oiso-Flat Beat.

1999-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.51. It’s Daft Punk for the primary school kids.

Mr. Oiso is the stage name of Quentin Dupieux, who was born on April 14th, 1974, in Paris, France, he has explained how he came about his stage name, ‘Oiseau means ‘bird’ in French. A long time ago I was with a bunch of friends, we were all high, and one of my friends saw me as a bird, so it became my nickname.’ As well as writing, producing, and remixing music, Quentin Dupieux also works in the film, and the video making industry. To date he is the director and writer of 15 movies released between 2001-2024, he has also composed the music for five of them. He has produced 14 music video’s between 1997-2019, including the video for ‘Flat Beat,’ and he has worked for other artists as well. Quentin Dupieux who records in the musical genres of ‘Electronic Music,’ and ‘Experimental,’ uses the name ‘Mr. Oiso’ for releasing his music, but uses his birth name for his film work. In 2019 he was promoted to ‘Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres,’ by the French ‘Ministry of Culture.’

The discography of Mr. Oiso includes seven studio Albums released between 1999-2022, and eight singles released between 1999-2023, there are also three soundtrack Albums, and two official compilation Albums available. He has remixed many tracks for some of the worlds top artists, including, Calvin Harris, and the Scissor Sisters. His only top 40 single chart entry to date (apart from in France) remains ‘Flat Beat,’ which reached Number 1 in seven European countries in 1999, making him a ‘one hit wonder’ in those territories. ‘Flat Beat’ has sold in excess of 3 million copies worldwide, although surprisingly in his home country of France it only reached Number 5, as it didn’t receive a great deal of air play on it’s initial release. In 2020, Mr. Oiso finally had a second top 40 hit in France, when his track ‘Pharmacist,’ featuring the Francophone Belgian rapper Roméo Elvis, reached Number 8 on the ‘SNEP,’ official French singles chart.

‘Flat Beat’ was the second of three singles released from ‘Analog Worms Attack,’ which was the debut studio Album from Mr. Oiso, from October 1999, the song was written and produced by Mr. Oiso. ‘Flat Beat’ wasn’t one of the 14 original tracks recorded for ‘Analog Worms Attack,’ but was added to the Album as a ‘hidden’ bonus track, appearing five minutes after track 14 ‘Analog Wormz Sequel.’ Mr. Oiso has said that it only took him two hours to compose ‘Flat Beat,’ on the monophonic analog synthesizer, ‘Korg MS-20.’ The song has few lyrics, and is regarded as an instrumental, with the heavily repeated bass-line being sampled from the American Funk group the ‘Fatback Band’s,’ (see also best songs 798 and 217) 1975 song ‘Put Your Love In My Tender Care.’

Undoubtedly the songs great success can be put down to it being commissioned by ‘Levi Jeans’ for one of their commercials, which featured the yellow puppet character ‘Flat Eric,’ who was created by Quentin Dupieux. ‘Flat Eric’ was based on a dog-like puppet, but with hands, and originally called ‘Stephane,’ but Levi Jeans’ insisted on re-naming the character ‘Eric,’ as that was more of a ‘international name.’ The original idea for the commercial was to have Eric being involved in a car accident, and having his head flattened, but that idea was dropped, but the name ‘Flat Eric’ stuck.

‘Levi Jeans’ are no strangers to commissioning music for their advertising campaigns, having made 40 commercials between 1985-2007. Other songs on this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list that have been used in ‘Levi Jean’s’ adverts include, Ben E King, with ‘Stand by Me,’ (1987-UK Number 1 single) (see also best songs 804) Eddie Cochran, with ‘C’Mon Everybody,’ (1988-UK Number 14 single) (see also best songs 50) and the Steve Miller Band, with ‘The Joker,’ (1990-UK Number 1 single) (see also best songs 715.) The puppet ‘Flat Eric’ was created by Quentin Dupieux, and built by Janet Knechtel, for the ‘Jim Henson’s Creature Shop,’ who are the special/visual effects company, founded in 1979, in Hampstead, England, by the puppeteer Jim Henson, (1936-1990) who was the creator of ‘The Muppets.’ ‘Flat Eric’ was performed by the American puppeteer Drew Massey for both of the adverts commissioned by ‘Levi Jeans’ to feature the song ‘Flat Beat,’ Massey had previously worked extensively with the ‘Muppets.’

Because of the ‘Flat Eric’ puppet it is not surprising that ‘Flat Beat’ is looked down upon as a ‘novelty’ record, but that could not be further from the truth. ‘Flat Eric’ can be filed under the genre of ‘French Electronic Music,’ which in modern times dates back to the French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, who became famous worldwide with the Album ‘Oxygene’ in 1976. Other notable French innovators from the 1970’s include the group ‘Space,’ and ‘Cerrone’ (see also best songs 547.) In the following decades, up to the present, other names in ‘French Electronic Music’ who feature in this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list include, ‘BBE,’ (see also best songs 510) DJ Snake,’ (see also best songs 943) ‘David Guetta,’ (see also best songs 909-260 and 234) and ‘Daft Punk’ (see also best songs 140.)

‘Oh yeah, I know Quinnan, he’s a real, a real jerk.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

497-Stephen Bishop-On and On.

1976-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.56. Although the song’s subject is fictional, Bishop has stated, ‘I write much better when I’n heartbroken, and sad, or melancholy.’

Earl Stephen Bishop, was born on November 14th, 1951, in San Diego, California, United States, he is a singer/songwriter, actor, and guitarist. His first venture in to the music business occurred in 1967, when he was a member of a ‘British Invasion’ styled group called the ‘Weeds.’ After the ‘Weeds’ came to an end, he moved to Los Angeles, to pursue a solo career. Although he failed to land a solo recording contract over the next eight years, he continued to write songs, eventually landing a $50-a-week job with a publishing house. His big break came when his friend Leah Kunkel, who is the younger sister of Mama Cass Elliot (1941-1974) (see also best songs 660 and 274) gave Art Garfunkel (see also best songs 529-200-96 and 71) one of Bishop’s demo tapes, from which Garfunkel chose two of his songs ‘Looking for the Right One,’ and ‘The Same Old Tears on a New Background,’ for his second solo studio Album ‘Breakaway’ in 1975, which would go on to become Garfunkel’s best solo selling Album. Stephen Bishop finally secured a recording contract with ‘ABC Records’ in 1976, because of Art Garfunkel’s patronage. As well as having a career as a singer/songwriter Bishop has also appeared in many films, including ‘The Kentucky Fried Movie, (1977) and ‘The Blues Brothers (1980.) His songs have also appeared in many movies over the years, with perhaps the most notable being ‘Separate Lives,’ (Billboard Number 1 & UK Number 4) sung by Phil Collins, and Marilyn Martin, in the 1985 film ‘White Nights.’

The discography of Stephen Bishop includes 19 Albums released between 1976-2019, and five official compilation Albums released between 1988-2002, he has also released 16 singles between 1977-1991. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, four of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘On and On,’ peaking the highest at Number 11. Although it failed to make the top 10, it still finished the year as Billboard’s 30th best selling single, due to it’s longevity of spending 28 weeks on the chart. ‘On and On’ was also very successful in Canada, where it reached Number 6. In the UK, Stephen Bishop’s only entry on the singles chart is ‘It Might Be You,’ which made Number 99 in 1983.

‘On and On’ was the second of two singles released from ‘Careless,’ the debut studio Album from Stephen Bishop, from October 1976, the song was written by Stephen Bishop, with the production being by Bishop, and Henry Lewis. ‘On and On’ features the American multi-instrumentalist Andrew Gold (1951-2011) on electric guitar, while it’s parent Album ‘Careless’ can boast many famous musical contributions, including backing vocals from Art Garfunkel, Chaka Khan, and Leah Kunkel. Other big names who appear on the Album include Eric Clapton, (electric guitar) Larry Knechtel, (1940-2009) (electric piano) and Jim Gordon (1945-2023) (drums.) In Eric Clapton’s (see also best songs 726 and 361) autobiography he mentions Stephen Bishop as one of his favourite singer/songwriters.

‘On and On’ and it’s parent Album ‘Careless’ was co-produced by Henry Lewy, who was born Heinz Lewy, on May 31st, 1926, in Magdeburg, Germany, after a period of declining health, which included a stroke and heart surgery, he died on April 8th, 2006, at the age of 79. At the age of 13 in 1939, Lewy, who was born to a Jewish family, left Germany, initially travelling to England, but eventually settling in Los Angeles. After graduating from high school in 1945, he served in the United States Army before working in radio stations in San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, as an audio engineer and announcer. During the 1950’s he studied engineering, and gained employment at ‘Liberty Records.’ In 1967 he moved to ‘A&M Records,’ and worked on songs with the Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes. While working with Crosby, Stills and Nash, (see also best songs 417) he was introduced by David Crosby (1941-2023) to Joni Mitchell, (see also best songs 637 and 558) thus beginning a long collaboration with the Canadian singer-songwriter. Henry Lewy worked on many of the world’s top artists Albums, including Neil Young, (Harvest, 1972) Leonard Cohen, (Recent Songs, 1979) and Minnie Riperton (Minnie, 1979.) Lewy retired from music in the late 1980’s.

‘On and On’ is a tale of how cruel love can be. The narrator tells us of two unrelated couples, where in both cases one of the partners ends up heartbroken, and then in the final verse he gets personal, and tells of his own heartbreak, brought on by his partners infidelity. In the end he says that no matter how tough things get we must soldier on. ‘On and On’ has been covered, like many of Bishop’s songs, by other artists. I would highly recommend the 1989 Number 25 UK hit, 12 inch version, by the British Reggae group ‘Aswad,’ who work the song into a medley, along with ‘The Temptations’ song ‘My Girl’ (see also best songs 1031.)

‘Poor ol’ Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight, saw his woman kiss another man. So he takes a ladder, steals the stars from the sky, puts on Sinatra and starts to cry.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

498-Timmy Thomas-Why Can’t We Live Together.

1972-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 1.35. The message on the ‘Hotline Bling’ remains the same as it did back in 1972.

Timothy Earle Thomas was born on November 13th, 1944, in Evansville, Indiana, United States, he died of cancer on March 11th, 2022, at the age of 77. Thomas who was born one of 12 siblings, was a singer, songwriter, musician, and music producer. Prior to finding commercial success with this song, he had started his career as a session musician, and also released a few unsuccessful solo singles on the ‘Goldwax Records’ label. His fledgling career also included being a member of a group called ‘Phillip & the Faithfuls,’ whom he also released music with on ‘Goldwax Records,’ in Memphis, Tennessee. He found success when relocating to Miami Florida, in 1972, initially playing sessions for the artists on ‘TK Records,’ and then signing to the ‘TK’ subsidiary label ‘Glades Records,’ where he recorded this song ‘Why Can’t We Live Together.’

The discography of Timmy Thomas includes seven Albums released between 1972-1994, and 23 singles released between 1972-1991. His only charting Album was his debut ‘Why Can’t We Live Together,’ which reached Number 53 in America on Billboard, in 1972. He achieved three Billboard Hot 100 entries, with ‘Why Can’t We Live Together,’ being his only top 40 hit single, when reaching Number 3, while in the UK, ‘Why Can’t We Live Together,’ is also his only top 40 entry, although ‘New York Eyes,’ with the American R&B singer Nicole, just missed out, when peaking at Number 41 in 1985. As well as working as a session musician for ‘TK Records,’ in later years he also turned his hand to producing, most notably the ‘TK’ artist Gwen McCrae. In the 1990’s he worked as a producer for ‘LaFace Records,’ and released his final Album ‘With Heart and Soul.’

‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ was the only single released from Timmy Thomas’ debut Album of the same name from 1972. It was written and produced by Timmy Thomas, who also played all of the musical instruments on the track. Timmy Thomas has explained how the idea for the song came about, ‘I was sitting in my study, and I heard Walter Cronkite (1916-2009, American broadcaster.) I’ll never forget this, he said, ‘35,000 Viet Cong died today, 15,000 Americans.’ I said ‘WHAT,’ you mean that many mothers’ children died today. In a war that we can’t come to the table and sit down and talk about this, without so many families losing their loved ones, I said, ‘Why can’t we live together?’ And I did it as a one-man band. That was my foot playing bass, that was my left-hand playing guitar. Could never believe that as a one-man band, something like that would’ve been played that much. But I do believe that the world was ready to start changing a little bit, and that song made the change.’

‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ was released in it’s original ‘demo’ form. The idea was to take the song into the studio and add a full band, but after listening to it, the ‘TK Records’ staff producer Steve Alaimo suggested that the song would be best released without any further work. Timmy Thomas had recorded the song in mono, and had played every instrument on the track, predominantly using a ‘Lowrey organ.’ He also used an early version of a drum machine, which was highly unusual at that time. He recorded the track in around 15 minutes, and it went on to sell over two million copies worldwide.

Steve Alaimo whose idea it was to release ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ in it’s original ‘demo’ form, was born Charles Stephen Alaimo, on December 6th, 1939. He joined ‘TK Records’ in 1969, and in 1974 formed a business partnership with Harry Casey, Richard Finch, and ‘TK Records’ label owner Henry Stone, (1921-2014) to oversee the career of ‘KC & the Sunshine Band’ (see also best songs 893.) Prior to joining ‘TK Records,’ Steve Alaimo had a career as a singer, releasing seven studio Albums between 1961-1966, and 25 singles between 1962-1972, where he was promoted as a ‘teen idol.’ He had nine of his singles reach the Billboard Hot 100, charting between Number 46 to Number 100, which is a record amount of chart entries for an artist, without ever reaching the top 40.

‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ has been covered on many occasions, with the English R&B group ‘Sade’ recording a version for their 1984 debut Album ‘Diamond Life,’ they later played the song at the 1985 ‘Live Aid’ concert. In 1982 the American music producer Mike Anthony recorded a ‘Disco’ version which became a hit in Belgium, and Holland. He was sued by the owners of the original Timmy Thomas recording for using elements from the original recording. A judge ordered a re-recording of the song with all the original parts removed. This ruling marked one of the first court cases in which the use of original samples in new recordings played a role, as a precursor to the many court cases in the 1990’s and 2000’s. In 2015 the Canadian Rapper Drake (see also best songs 1043-921 and 858) heavily sampled ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ with different lyrics, as ‘Hotline Bling,’ reaching Number 2 on Billboard, and Number 3 in the UK. Timmy Thomas admitted that he had no idea what Drake was rapping about. He recalled: ‘I was excited that my kids had to say ‘Daddy, here’s what he’s saying.’ It’s like I had to get into a rap dictionary to find out some of the things he was saying.’

‘Everybody wants to live together,why can’t we be together. No matter, no matter what colour, you are still my brother.