THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

398-Isaac Hayes-Shaft.

1971-Number 4 single.

Best Bit-At 2.40. Isaac Hayes’ utterance of the word ‘damn,’ made this the first Number 1 song on Billboard to include a curse word.

Isaac Hayes (see also best songs 530 and 1) was born Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. on August 20th, 1942, in Covington, Tennessee, United States, he died on August 10th, 2008, at the age of 65, medical examiners listed a recurrence of stroke, (he had a minor one in 2006) as the cause of death. As well as having a prolific musical career, (for the discography of Isaac Hayes see best songs 1) Hayes was also an actor appearing in many films and television series. In 1997 he joined the founding cast of Comedy Central’s animated television series ‘South Park.’ He provided the voice for the character of ‘Chef,’ the amorous elementary-school lunchroom cook, from the show’s debut on August 13, 1997, through until the end of its ninth season in 2006, where he voiced over 136 episodes. A song from the series performed by Chef called ‘Chocolate Salty Balls (P.S. I Love You’) became an international hit in 1999, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart. Isaac Hayes had taken a great interest in ‘Scientology’ in 1993, and after the makers of ‘South Park’ had made an episode that satirised ‘Scientology,’ Isaac Hayes felt that he couldn’t work on the show anymore, and asked to be released from his contract with Comedy Central.

‘Theme from Shaft’ was the first of two singles released from ‘Shaft,’ the soundtrack double Album for the 1971 film of the same name, by Isaac Hayes, from July 1971, the song was written and produced by Isaac Hayes, with the rhythm, horn, and string arrangements by Johnny Allen (1917-2914.) Isaac Hayes was asked by Joel Freeman (1922-2018) the producer of the ‘Metro Goldwyn Mayer’ film ‘Shaft’ to write the films soundtrack. Hayes agreed but only on the condition that he could audition for the lead role of ‘John Shaft,’ even after finding out the part had been given to Richard Roundtree, (1942-2023) Hayes kept his end of the deal. The ‘Theme from Shaft’ proved to be a groundbreaking song both musically and culturally. In 1972 the song won the ‘Acadamy Award for Best Original Song,’ with Isaac Hayes becoming the first African/American to win that honour, and in 2014 the Album was added to the ‘National Recording Registry,’ by the ‘Library of Congress’ for being ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.’ With sales in excess of 500,000 in America, the Album is the best selling ever on the ‘Stax’ record label. The film ‘Shaft,’ and it’s soundtrack are also an early example of what was to become known as a ‘Blaxploitation’ film, blaxploitation is the mix of the two words ‘black’ and ‘exploitation, and was coined by the African/American Civil Rights activist Junius Griffin (1925-2009.) Blaxploitation films were initially aimed at the African/American audience, but due to their popularity, soon found favour with audiences across racial and ethnic lines. The films were also the first to feature ‘Funk’ and ‘Soul Music,’ and there are many film soundtracks available. The ‘Theme from Shaft’ is also recognised by many music critics as an early influence on the soon to be coming ‘Disco’ era, with this song cited as one of the very first ‘Disco’ tracks.

The musicians and vocalists who appear on the ‘Shaft’ Album soundtrack include James Alexander, (bass) who was a member of the ‘Bar-Kays, (see also best songs 831 and 1) Charles Pitts, (1947-2012) whose distinctive ‘wah-wah’ guitar style would become very influential in ‘Soul’ and ‘R&B,’ and Willie Hall, (drums) who has played with many of the worlds top artists, and was the drummer on Isaac Hayes’ ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ Album (see also best songs 1.) The three female vocalists on the ‘Theme from Shaft’ are Pat Lewis, (1947-2024) Rose Williams, and Telma Hopkins. Soon after recording this song Hopkins would become a member of the female duo ‘Dawn,’ as part of Tony Orlando’s backing group (see also best songs 886.) It was Hopkins who famously exclaims ‘Shut your mouth’ on the ‘Theme from Shaft.’ Hopkins went on to become an actress on the television shows ‘Bosom Buddies,’ and ‘Family Matters,’ where she was often prompted to say ‘Shut Your Mouth!’ which became a catchphrase for her.

‘You see this cat Shaft is a bad mother, (shut your mouth) but I’m talkin’ about Shaft (then we can dig it.) He’s a complicated man, but no one understands him but his woman (John Shaft.’)