THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

386-T. Rex-Get It On.

1971-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 3.27. Can you name a song that is known by a different title in another country?

Marc Bolan (see also best songs 790 and 67) was born Mark Feld on September 30th, 1947, in Hackney, London, England, he died on September 16th, 1977, when the car he was travelling in as a passenger struck a fence post, and then a tree, killing him instantly. He chose his stage name ‘Bolan’ as a tribute to Bob Dylan, (see also best songs 792-621-358-103-36 and 7) choosing the first two letters in ‘Bob,’ and the last three letters in ‘Dylan’. Marc Bolan formed T. Rex (originally called Tyrannosaurus Rex) in 1967, the group remained active until his death in 1977, with Bolan being the one constant, in total there were 13 different members come and go, with the classic line up who played on this track being Marc Bolan, (lead vocals, and guitar) Steve Currie, (1947-1981) (bass guitar) and Bill Legend (drums.)

‘Get It On’ was the first of two singles released from ‘Electric Warrior,’ the sixth studio Album from T. Rex, from September 1971, the first four Album releases were as ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex.’ ‘Get It On’ was written by Marc Bolan, with the production being by Tony Visconti, (see also best songs 790-386-302-209-118 and 67) the other musicians who played on the track were Rick Wakeman, (piano, and Hammond organ) (see also best songs 203 and 5) Ian McDonald, (1946-2022) ( baritone and alto saxophones) and Mark Volman, and Howard Kaylan, (backing vocals) (see also best songs 790.) The ‘Electric Warrior’ Album is considered groundbreaking, acknowledged as the first fully fledged ‘Glam Rock’ Album, and an influence on future artists in their development of Hard Rock, to Punk, to New Wave.

‘Get It On’ should be filed under the musical genre of ‘Glam Rock.’ Glam Rock is a style of Rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970’s, and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and the hairstyles of its musicians. Glam Rock music primarily developed from the ‘Rock and Roll’ of the 1950’s, and the ‘Bubblegum Pop’ of the late 1960’s, with differing artists also incorporating ‘cabaret,’ ‘science fiction,’ and complex ‘Art Rock.’ ‘Glam Rock’s’ origins are associated with Marc Bolan, and it was his appearance on the ‘BBC’ music show ‘Top of the Pops’ in March 1971 wearing glitter and satins, to perform ‘Hot Love’ that is often cited as the moment of it’s inception.

When ‘Get It On’ was released in America it was re-titled ‘Bang a Gong’ as to avoid confusion with a current minor hit called ‘Get It On’ from the American Jazz Rock group ‘Chase.’ ‘Get It On’ is a song with clever obscure lyrics, it is probably about sex, but can also be interpreted as a song about drugs. ‘Bang the Gong’ is slang for snorting coke, and in the 1850’s it meant asking for Opium. ‘Get It On’ is the best selling single released by T. Rex and spent four weeks at Number 1 in the UK, it was the follow up to ‘Hot Love’ which had spent six weeks at Number 1. In America amazingly T. Rex are known as ‘one hit wonders’ with this song being their only charting record, when reaching Number 10 on Billboard. The songs producer was the legendary Tony Visconti who would work on a total of eight T. Rex Albums between 1968-1974,’ he has explained why he thinks that T. Rex had limited commercial success in the States, ‘When he came over, (Marc Bolan) he would play ‘Get It On’ with a 20-minute guitar solo, like he was Jimi Hendrix. The kids wanted to hear basic Rock ‘N’ Roll. His attendance at shows dropped immediately.’

In 1985 ‘Get It On’ was covered by the ‘supergroup’ ‘The Power Station,’ which was made up of Robert Palmer, (1949-2003) (see also best songs 432) members of the ‘Disco’ group ‘Chic,’ (see also best songs 175 and 17) and the ‘Pop/Rock’ group Duran Duran,’ (see also best songs 903) they took their version to Number 22 in the UK, and Number nine on Billboard in America, one place above the T. Rex original.

As for songs that are known by different titles in other countries, the two which come to mind with me are the Sheena Easton song ‘9 to 5’ (1981) which in America is known as ‘Morning Train,’ in order to avoid confusion with the Dolly Parton song (1980) of the same name. In 1967 the American Pop/Rock group The Monkees recorded a song written by band member Micky Dolenz called ‘Randy Scouse Git,’ the record company refused to release it in the UK under that title because of the offence it might cause, eventually both parties agreed on the track being called ‘Alternate Title.’

‘Well you’re dirty and sweet, clad in black, don’t look back and I love you. Well you’re slim and your weak, you’ve got the teeth of a hydra upon you, you’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

387-The Housemartins-Happy Hour.

1986-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 1.57. If you were to replace the vocals of Paul Heaton for those of Morrissey, (see also best songs 940 and 72) then it probably wouldn’t be quite as happy an hour.

The Housemartins ‘Jangle Pop’ (see also best songs 616) was compared by many to The Smiths, however The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr (see also best songs 673-222-167 and 42) was not impressed. He complained that ‘Happy Hour’ was a complete rip off of ‘I Won’t the One I Can’t Have,’ ‘And they’ve nicked others too.’

The Housemartins were formed in 1983 in Hull, England, United Kingdom, by Paul Heaton (vocals) and Ian ‘Stan’ Cullimore, (guitar) throughout the bands lifetime Heaton went by the name of ‘P. d. Heaton.’ After the recording of their first demo they were joined by Ted Key, (bass) and Chris Lang, (drums) when Key left the band in 1985 he was replaced by Norman Cook (see also best songs 760 and 95.) Lang would be replaced by Hugh Whitaker, who in turn was replaced by Dave Hemingway, who along with Heaton would go on to form The Beautiful South in 1988 (see also best songs 862.) The Housemartins were active between 1983-1988, releasing two studio Albums, and nine singles, seven of which reached the UK top 40, with ‘Caravan of Love’ making Number 1 in December 1986, but not being the Xmas chart topper, having been kept off the top spot by Jackie Wilson’s ‘Reet Petite’ (see also best songs 449.) There are also five official compilation Albums available.

‘Happy Hour’ was the third of four singles released from ‘London 0 Hull 4,’ the debut studio Album by The Housemartins, from June 1986, the song was co-written by Paul Heaton, and Stan Cullimore, with the production being by John Williams. The Albums title refers to the band’s home town of Kingston upon Hull, and is written in the format of a football score. It refers to Paul Heaton’s assertion that The Housemartins were only the fourth best band in Hull, in other words Hull had four great bands, and London didn’t have any. The other three Hull based bands Heaton referred to were ‘Red Guitars,’ ‘The Gargoyles,’ and ‘Everything But the Girl’ (see also best songs 348.)

Stan Cullimore was born Ian Peter Cullimore, on May 6th, 1962, in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, England, prior to pursuing a music career he studied Maths at the University of Hull from 1980, and graduated in 1984. Cullimore first met Paul Heaton in 1983 when he responded to a local newspaper advertisement by The Housemartins seeking musicians. The majority of the songs recorded by The Housemartins, including ‘Happy Hour,’ were co-written by Heaton and Cullimore. After the group split, Cullimore went on to become a journalist and an author of over 120 children’s books, he also composes music and songs for children’s television. In 2009, he co-wrote and appeared in a preschool music series called ‘The Bopps,’ for ‘Nick Jr UK,’ which is part of the ‘Nickelodeon’ television network.

‘Happy Hour’ and it’s parent Album ‘London 0 Hull 4,’ were produced by John Williams, who was born John Owen Williams, in 1951, in Wolverhampton, England, he is an A&R executive, record producer, photographer, manager, recording artist, and songwriter. Williams has worked with numerous artists in differing capacities since the early 1970’s, being contracted to ‘Polydor,’ ‘Island,’ and ‘RAK Records,’ during that decade. In 1981 he became a session producer for ‘BBC Radio One.’ where over a five year period he produced sessions for John Peel, (1939-2004) (see also best songs 728-659-435-409 and 336) Kid Jensen, Janice Long, (1955-2021) and Peter Powell. Since the split of The Housemartins he has continued to produce several Albums for Paul Heaton, including the 2021 Album ‘Manchester Calling.’ and the 2022 Album ‘N K-Pop,’ which both reached Number 1 in the UK.

Many of Paul Heaton’s lyrics during his time with The Housemartins reflected his interest in Christianity, and Marxism, the back cover of ‘London 0 Hull 4’ contains the message ‘Take Jesus- Take Marx- Take Hope.’ Norman Cook who would go on to achieve even greater success as ‘Fatboy Slim’ has said, ‘Paul realised that he hated writing about love, and that writing politically came easier to him,’ Cook has described some of their songs as ‘angrily political.’

‘Happy Hour’ is a humorous but scathing look at life in the working man’s world, which involved most evenings down the local pub. A ‘Happy Hour’ is a promotional tool used by public houses when they discount their prices. The narrator in the song is on a night out with his boss, who he has to begrudgingly pretend he likes, but his boss is a ‘yuppie,’ and a misogynist. The memorable video to the song was set in a pub, featuring animated Plasticine figures of the band members. It was filmed in The Star Public House, in St. Johns Wood, London.

‘It’s another night out with the boss, following in footsteps overgrown with moss. And he tells me women grow on trees, and if you catch them right they will land upon their knees.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

388-Nilsson-‘Everybody’s Talkin”

1969-Number 23 single.

Best Bit-At 2.21. During a 1968 press conference the Beatles were asked what their favourite American group were, and they answered ‘Nilsson.’

The original version of ‘Everybody’s Talkin” was written, and first recorded by Fred Neil in 1966, for his self titled second studio Album. Evidently the song was the last recorded for the Album, with Neil anxious to wrap things up quickly so he could return home to Miami, Florida, the songs lyrics reflect Neil’s feelings at that time.

Fred Neil was born Frederick Ralph Morlock Jr. on March 16th, 1936, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, he died of cancer on July 7th, 2001, at the age of 65. Neil was one of the pioneers of ‘Folk Rock,’ and a major influence on the careers of such artists as Joni Mitchell, (see also best songs 637 and 558) David Crosby, (1941-2023) (see also best songs 621 and 417) and Tim Buckley (1947-1975.) Some of Neil’s early compositions were recorded by Buddy Holly, (1936-1959) (see also best songs 898 and 264) and Roy Orbison, (1936-1988) (see also best songs 657) most famously ‘Candy Man’ which he co-wrote with Beverly Ross, (1934-2022) and was the ‘B’ side of Orbison’s 1961 Billboard Number 2 single ‘Crying.’ Fred Neil shunned the limelight, and had no interest in being a performer, and retired in 1971, only rarely making guest appearances in public. He issued five studio Albums between 1964-1971, and there are six official compilation Albums available. Fred Neil released his original version of ‘Everybody’s Talkin” as titled ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ (Echoes,’) the Nilsson version omits (‘Echoes’)

‘Everybody’s Talkin” was the second of two singles released from ‘Aerial Ballet,’ the third studio Album from Harry Nilsson, from July 1968, the song was written by Fred Neil, with the production being by Rick Jarrard (1939-2021) (see also best songs 512.) The Album’s title, ‘Aerial Ballet,’ was inspired by the aerial ballet act performed by Nilsson’s Swedish grandparents, who were circus performers and dancers. The American Rock group ‘Aerosmith’ (see also best songs 305) took their name after seeing the Album’s sleeve art which features a circus performer jumping out of a biplane.

Harry Edward Nilsson III (see also best songs 39) was born on June 15th, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He was born with congenital heart problems, and eventually suffered a heart attack in February 1993, he died of heart failure on January 15th, 1994, at the age of 52, Both of Nilsson’s songs featured in this ‘1000 Best Songs’ list are both cover versions, though he was a critically acclaimed songwriter, and also a major influence on future artists in his own right. Nilsson was looking for a song to record for his third studio Album ‘Aerial Bandit,’ from 1968, all the Album’s other 12 tracks are original compositions by Nilsson. The Album’s producer Rick Jarrard played Nilsson the Fred Neil song, and he decided to record it, adding strings, and vocal harmony. The song was released as a single in North America, but initially made little impact on the charts. It was the Beatles (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-141-80-51-10 and 5) press officer Derek Taylor (1932-1997) who recommended the song for the 1969 American drama film ‘Midnight Cowboy’s’ film soundtrack to it’s director John Schlesinger, (1926-2003) who used the song over the films opening titles. The song was re-issued and reached Number 6 on Billboard, Number 1 in Canada, and Number 23 in the UK, giving Nilsson his commercial path to success.

‘Everybody’s Talkin” has at least 100 known cover versions by many respected artists, including Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, and Glen Campbell (1936-2017.) The other top 40 hit recording of the song in the UK is by the British group ‘The Beautiful South,’ who reached Number 12 in 1994. ‘Everybody’s Talkin” is probably about the way Fred Neil was feeling when he wrote the song, and in later years he did go and live that life he was singing about. The lyrics also sit well with the opening sequence of the ‘Midnight Cowboy’ film. Ric O’Barry who was a close friend of Fred Neil has revealed Neil’s favourite version, ‘One time Fred and I were driving over the Seven Mile Bridge heading to Miami, and he told me about he and this other kid who went to see Louis Armstrong as teenagers. Fred was a huge Satchmo fan. Suddenly he whipped out the CD in the car and its Satchmo singing ‘Everybody’s Talkin”. Fred was just so honoured by that.’

‘I’m going where the sun keeps shining through the pouring rain, going where the weather suits my clothes. Banking off of the North East wind, sailing on a summer breeze, and skipping over the ocean like a stone.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

389-Supergrass-Moving.

1999-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 3.34. What does Supergrass lead singer and songwriter Gaz Coombes have in common with Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Liam Gallagher, Liberace, Lemmy, Paul Weller, and Country singer Don Williams? All will be revealed after you have read through until the end.

Supergrass were formed in Oxford, England, in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, (vocals, and guitar) Danny Goffey, (drums) and Mick Quinn, (bass) they were officially joined by Rob Coombes (keyboards, and piano) the older brother of Gaz in 2002, although he had been an unofficial member of the band for the majority of it’s career to that point. Supergrass, started out life as ‘Theodore Supergrass,’ for about two months, until as in the words of Mick Quinn, ‘We realised that Theodore was a bit rubbish so we took that off.’ Supergrass are recognised as being part of the UK ‘Britpop’ scene (see also best songs 256 ) of the 1990’s, and also as an ‘Alternative Rock’ group. They split in 2010, sighting musical differences, but did reunite between 2019-2022, to tour, and again in 2024, to tour once more, but they have stated that they will not be recording any new music together.

The discography of Supergrass includes six studio Albums released between 1995-2008, and 26 singles released between 1994-2015, there are also three extended plays, (EP’s) three official compilation Albums, and one live Album available. A seventh studio Album, tentatively titled ‘Release the Drones’ was announced in early 2010, Gaz Coombes stated that the Album was ‘nearly finished,’ and it was scheduled for release in May, at the time of writing the Album remains unfinished and unreleased. In the UK, their debut studio Album ‘I Should Coco,’ from 1995 reached Number 1, with all of their other studio Albums peaking within the top 20. When ‘I Should Coco’ made Number 1, it was the first debut Album by a ‘Parlophone’ recording artist to reach Number 1 since the Beatles with ‘Please Please Me’ in 1963. Also in the UK, 14 of their singles have reached the top 40, with the double ‘A’ sided ‘Alright’ and ‘Time,’ (1995) and ‘Richard III,’ (1997) both peaking the highest at Number 2. In America on Billboard, they have never charted on the Hot 100 singles chart, or the 200 Album chart, but ‘Cheapskate,’ from 1997, did make Number 35 on the Billboard ‘Modern Rock Tracks’ chart, which since 2009 has been known as the ‘Alternative Airplay’ chart.

Gaz Coombes was born Gareth Michael Coombes, on March 8th, 1976, in Oxford, England, he is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Alternative Rock band Supergrass. Between the ages of five to nine he lived with his family in San Francisco, California, United States, before returning to Oxford. Gaz Coombes and fellow future Supergrass member Danny Goffey co-formed, along with others ‘The Jennifers,’ whilst attending ‘Wheatley Park School,’ just outside Oxford in 1990. The Jennifers released one single called ‘Just Got Back Today,’ on ‘Nude Records’ in 1992, before they disbanded, that single is now a highly sought-after rarity. Gaz Coombes has released four solo studio Albums between 2012-2023, two extended plays, (EP’s) and 14 singles between 2012-2022.

‘Moving’ was the second of three singles released from Supergrass’ self titled third studio Album, from September 1999, the song was written by Supergrass and Rob Coombes, with the production credited to Supergrass and John Cornfield. Nine other musicians provided extra percussion, violin, viola, and cello on the track, with the British violinist and orchestra leader Gavyn Wright of the ‘London Session Orchestra,’ and the ‘Penguin Cafe Orchestra,’ providing strings. The Album is often referred to as ‘the X-ray album,’ due to the picture on the sleeve of the three band members represented as skeletons.

‘Moving’ tells the story of how difficult life on the road touring can be, the songs official video is intended to depict the tedium. The passing of time is shown by the change of outfits the band are wearing, and also by the selection of different hotel rooms that they are seen in, the footage is sped up and slowed down to add to that effect.

What does Supergrass lead singer and songwriter Gaz Coombes have in common with Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Liam Gallagher, Liberace, Lemmy, Paul Weller, and Country singer Don Williams? Along with all those other superstars of Pop music, Gaz Coombes also sports ‘side whiskers,’ ‘side burns,’ ‘furry face huggers,’ ‘sidies,’ or even ‘mutton chops.’

‘Got a mow, low feeling around me, and a cold stone feeling inside. I’ve got to find somebody to help me, I keep you in mind.’