THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

226-Nat King Cole-Unforgettable.

1951-It has never charted in the UK. There was no UK chart until 1952.

Best Bit-At 2.21. In January 1964 Nat King Cole made one of his final television appearances on ‘The Jack Benny Program,’ where he was introduced as ‘The best friend a song ever had.’

Nat King Cole (see also best songs 988-327 and 161) was born Nathaniel Adams Coles on March 17, 1919, in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, he died of lung cancer, having been a heavy smoker all of his life at the age of 45, on February 15th, 1965. Shortly before his death Cole had vowed that if he recovered after having an entire lung removed, he would go on television to urge people to stop smoking.

‘Unforgettable’ was written by the American songwriter Irving Gordon, (1915-1996) Gordon had originally written the song with the working title ‘Undeniable,’ but the music publishing company persuaded Gordon to change it to ‘Unforgettable. Other well known songs written by Gordon include the Folk-style song ‘Allentown Jail,’ and the ‘almost novelty’ songs ‘Mister Mississippi,’ a hit for Patti Page, and ‘Delaware,’ made famous by Perry Como. In Gordon’s obituary it was claimed that he wrote the legendary baseball comedy routine performed by Abbott and Costello, ‘Who’s on First?’ The claim was never made by Gordon while he was alive, and there have been others who have also claimed authorship.

‘Unforgettable’ was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951, and went on to reach Number 14 on the United States Billboard Best-Selling Pop Singles in 1951. The song was later included in 1952 on Cole’s 10 inch LP, also titled ‘Unforgettable,’ which was the re-issued in 1954 as a 12 inch LP. ‘Unforgettable was produced by Lee Gillette (1912-1981) who had worked with many of the Country Music stars on the ‘Capitol Records’ label, of which Nat King Cole, who he worked with on several occasions was the labels best selling artist. In fact the ‘Capital Records Building’ which is a 13 story tower building on Vine Street, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, is nicknamed ‘The House That Nat Built,’ in recognition of Cole’s success ‘Unforgettable’ is also notable for it’s string arrangement by Nelson Riddle, (1921-1985) (see also best songs 877 and 73) the Nelson Riddle Orchestra also played alongside Nat King Cole on many other songs including Cole’s best seller ‘Mona Lisa’ in 1950.
In 1991 the musical director Joe Guercio (1928-2015) who had been the director and conductor for Elvis Presley’s concerts in the 1970’s, had the idea of editing Nat King Cole’s original 1951 recording of ‘Unforgettable,’ and remixing it with vocals provided by Cole’s daughter Natalie Cole (1950-2015) to create a duet between the two of them. This version reached Number 14 on Billboard in America, and Number 19 in the UK. The song also won three awards at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards in 1992, for ‘Song of the Year’, Record of the Year,’ and ‘Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance.’

‘Like a song of love that clings to me, how the thought of you does things to me, never before has someone been more unforgettable in every way.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

227-Rodney Franklin-The Groove.

1980-Number 7 single.

Best Bit-At 2.02. I remember the very short lived dance craze ‘The Freeze’ which accompanied this song. It was devised by the British Disc Jockey Chris Hill, with the idea being that every time that the music stops those that are on the dance floor have to freeze (the song has 11 breaks.) Needless to say it never caught on, but I hear that there is another very similar game normally played by children called musical statues.

Rodney Franklin was born on September 16th, 1958, in Berkeley, California, United States, he is a Jazz Pianist, and composer. In 1972 at the age of 14 as part of a Funk/Jazz band called ‘In One Piece,’ he made his first three recordings, but it wasn’t until 2003 that one of those tracks was made available. Prior to signing with ‘CBS Records’ in 1978, he had already worked with the American Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, (1938-2008) and the American Jazz singer Marlena Shaw (see also best songs 98.) Rodney Franklin has released 13 studio Albums between 1978-1998, with the first eight released through ‘CBS,’ and the other five being issued after he signed with ‘BMG Records’ in 1988. He has also released 14 singles between 1978-1988, with this song being his only chart hit in the UK, while in America on the Billboard Hot 100 he has never charted.

‘The Groove’ was released as a single in 1980, being taken from Rodney Franklin’s second studio Album ‘You’ll Never Know,’ which was released earlier on in the same year. ‘The Groove’ was written by Rodney Franklin, and produced by Paul Buckmaster, (1946-2017) who had worked with many of the worlds top artists as an orchestral arranger, including David Bowie (1947-2016) (see also best songs 807-440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) on his 1969 Album ‘David Bowie,’ which has become more commonly known as ‘Space Oddity.’

‘The Groove’ can be filed under the genre of ‘Jazz Funk,’ which is a sub-genre of Jazz music reliant on a strong beat with electronic instruments. In the late 1970’s, and early 1980’s Jazz Funk was mainly associated with American bands, but the genre was also growing in Britain where the music papers dubbed it ‘Brit Funk,’ and it was DJ’s such as the aforementioned Chris Hill who would heavily promote it in his role at the influential ‘Ensign Records’ label. Among the ‘Brit Funk’ bands signed to ‘Ensign Records’ to taste chart success in the UK were ‘Beggar and Co,’ who reached Number 15 with (‘Somebody) Help Me Out’ in 1981, and ‘Light of the World,’ whose biggest hit was ‘I’m So Happy’ in 1980, which reached Number 35. Incidentally Chris Hill is the same Chris Hill who had two novelty Christmas hits, with ‘Renta Santa,’ in 1975 (UK Number 10) and ‘Bionic Santa’ in 1976 (also UK Number 10.)

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

228-Chaka Khan-I’m Every Woman.

1978-Number 11 single.

Best Bit-At 2.52.’Chaka, Chaka, Chaka, Chaka Khan, let me rock you Chaka Khan, that’s all I wanna do. Chaka Khan let me rock you, let me feel for you.’

Chaka Khan (see also best songs 703 and 85) was born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23rd, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, at the age of 13 she was given the name ‘Chaka Adunne Aduffe Hodarhi Karifi by a leader of the ‘Yoruba’ people of West Africa. She took the name ‘Khan’ in 1970, when marrying Hassan Khan at the age of 17. Chaka Khan first found success as a member of the American Funk band ‘Rufus,’ which she joined in 1972. The group came to the attention of Ike Turner, (1931-2007) (see also best songs 752-485 and 192) with whom Rufus made their first recordings, Turner wanted Chaka Khan to become an ‘Ikette,’ but she refused, stating that she was ‘Really happy to stay with Rufus, but Ike’s attention was certainly a boost.’

Although still officially a member of Rufus, Chaka Khan launched her solo career in 1978 with the release of her debut studio Album ‘Chaka,’ from where her debut solo single ‘I’m Every Woman’ was taken. The song was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Nickolas Ashford (1941-2011) and Valerie Simpson, (see also best songs 703-359 and 28) who had their greatest success as staff writers at Motown Records in the mid 1960’s, and early 1970’s. They have also had a long career as recording artists themselves, releasing 13 studio Albums between 1973-1996, and 47 singles between 1964-2001, with their best known hit single being ‘Solid’ from 1984, which reached Number 3 in the UK, and Number 12 in America, Valerie Simpson has also recorded three solo Albums in 1971-1972 and 2012.

In 1989 ‘I’m Every Woman’ was remixed for Chaka Khan’s remix Album ‘Life Is a Dance; The Remix Project,’ and when released as a single it made Number 8 in the UK. In 1992 Whitney Houston (1963-2012) (see also best songs 704) recorded ‘I’m Every Woman’ for the soundtrack Album for the film ‘The Bodyguard,’ it made Number 4 in America, and Number 4 also in the UK, as a tribute to Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston sings Chaka Khan’s name towards the end of the song. On the original recording of ‘I’m Every Woman’ back in 1978, Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston had sang backing vocals.

‘I’m Every Woman’ is a song about a confident strong woman who knows how to take care of her man, supporting him,and making him a better person, the lyrics were written by Nickolas Ashford. In 2021 Chaka Khan re-recorded the song as a duet with the American actress and singer Idina Menzel in honour of ‘International Women’s Day, Menzel has said of the song,’I think it’s about sisterhood. Often society tries to get us to compete and tear each other down. It’s about holding each other up, and giving each other an opportunity to be heard and to be seen.”

‘I can cast a spell, of secrets you can’t tell. Mix a special brew, put fire inside of you. Anytime you feel danger or fear, then instantly I will appear.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

229-Noel Harrison-The Windmills of Your Mind.

1969-Number 8 single.

Best Bit-At 1.08. Don’t worry if you can’t make head or tail of these beautiful lyrics, they are meant to be just a series of random thoughts.

‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ was written for the 1968 American heist film ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ starring Steve McQueen, (1930-1980) and Faye Dunaway. In the film the song is heard, sung by Noel Harrison during the opening credits, and also during the film, in a scene where the character Thomas Crown flies his glider over New Hampshire, England. The songs lyrics are meant to be the thoughts of Thomas Crown, played by Steve McQueen, who while flying his glider, is planning the perfect crime.
The films producer/director Norman Jewison had originally contemplated using the Beatles ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’ (see also best songs 51) but instead decided on commissioning a brand new song. Jewison approached the French composer Michel Legrand (1932-2019) (see also best songs 942) who then approached the husband and wife writing team of Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman, (1928-2022) (see also best songs 214 and 145) who came up with these dreamy lyrics.

‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ was first offered to Andy Williams (1927-2012) (see also best songs 914 and 112) who turned it down, so it was then offered to Noel Harrison. Noel John Christoper Harrison was born on January 29th, 1934, in Exeter, Devon, England, he died on October 19th, 2013 after suffering a heart attack, at the age of 79, he was the son of the actor Rex Harrison (1908-1990.) Noel Harrison had a varied career having been a member of the British Olympic skiing team in the 1950’s. Harrison was also an actor, and spent many years touring in America, performing in productions, he also appeared as an actor in eight films between 1961-1999, and there are 13 official Albums of his music currently available, recorded between 1960-2010. In America Harrison is best remembered for co-starring in the 1960’s television spy series ‘The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.’ alongside Stephanie Powers.

‘The Windmills of Your Mind’ went on to win the Oscar for ‘Best Song From a Film’ in 1969, which proved to be a complete surprise to Noel Harrison who once said,’It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. I went to the studio one afternoon, sang it and pretty much forgot about it. I didn’t realise until later what a timeless, beautiful piece Michel Legrand and the Bergman’s had written. It turned out to be my most notable piece of work.’

In 1999 in the remake of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ the song was re-recorded, and performed by Sting (see also best song 1020 and 727.) Another notable version is by Dusty Springfield, (1939-1999) (see also best songs 882 and 171) who recorded the song for her debut ‘Atlantic Records’ Album ‘Dusty in Memphis,’ which when released as a single made Number 31 on Billboard, becoming the most successful version of the song in America, as the Noel Harrison recording had failed to chart there.

‘Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel, as the images unwind, like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

230-Beck-Loser.

1994-Number 15 single.

Best Bit-At 1.07. After many years of trying to incorporate ‘Rapping’ into his music Beck finally realised that he was no good at it, which is the inspiration for this songs chorus.

Beck (see also best songs 879) was born Bek David Campbell on July 8th, 1970, in Los Angeles, California, United States. Before achieving success, and also after receiving recognition, he has continually experimented in many different musical genres, including Alternative Rock, Anti-Folk, Hip-Hop, Psychedelia, Lo-Fi, and Art Pop, with many of his Album releases being a completely different genre to the previous one. To date Beck has released 14 studio Albums between 1993-2019, and 52 singles between 1993-2021, he has also issued official remixes for other artists including David Bowie, (‘Seven’) and Bjork (‘Alarm Call.’) In America on the Billboard singles chart this song remains his only top 40 hit, when reaching Number 10 in 1994, while in the UK, 10 of his singles have made the top 40, with ‘The New Pollution’ charting the highest when reaching Number 14 in 1997.

‘Loser’ was initially released as Beck’s second single on the small independent record label ‘Bong Load Custom Records,’ and when it began receiving airplay on various Modern Rock Radio stations, it came to the attention of the bigger labels who began a bidding war for Beck’s signature. ‘Loser’ was written by Beck, and Carl Stephenson, whom Beck had met in 1990 in Los Angeles when Stephenson had been a member of the Modern Rock band ‘Forest for the Trees.’ The pair of them are also credited as the songs producers, along with Tom Rothrock, who is the owner of ‘Bong Load Records,’ and has gone on to produce for several other artists.

When Beck was a struggling musician trying to make a name for himself, if he saw the audience losing interest during a performance, and start chatting among themselves, he would make up nonsensical lyrics to try to grab back their attention. This led to the early development of ‘Loser,’ as the songs verses are just a stream of unrelated sentences strung together. As stated at the top of this article, the chorus of ‘Loser’ is Beck admitting that he hasn’t got the required skills to be a ‘Rapper.’

In the chorus Beck sings ‘Soy un perdedor,’ which is Spanish for ‘I’m a loser,’ this harks back to when Beck was growing up in the Latin section of Los Angeles, where most of his schoolmates were of Mexican descent, and he felt the odd one out. Beck has acknowledged how his eclectic taste in different musical genres impacted on the making of ‘Loser,’ including ‘Folk Music.’ Beck has said, ‘I’d realised that a lot of what Folk Music is about is taking a tradition and reflecting your own time. I knew my folk music would take off, if I put Hip-Hop beats behind it.’ He has also spoken about the similarities between Delta Blues, and Hip-Hop, which he has said helped to inspire the song.

‘In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey, Butane in my veins so I’m out to cut the junkie. With the plastic eyeballs, spray paint the vegetables, dog food stalls, with the beefcake pantyhose. Kill the headlights and put it in neutral.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

231-Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong-Summertime.

1958-It has never been released as a single in the UK.
Best Bit-At 0.27. Probably the best vocal pairing in the world ever. Surely even Simon Cowell and his X-Factor expert mates would be able to recognise that!

Between 1956-1957 the ‘First Lady of Song,’ Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) (see also best songs 944-702-286 and 100) and ‘Satchmo,’ Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) (see also best songs 1039-767-286 and 100) collaborated on, and released three studio Albums together. The three Albums were ‘Ella and Louis,’ (1956) ‘Ella and Louis Again,’ (1957) and ‘Porgy and Bess,’ (1957) which is where ‘Summertime’ can be found. The Album ‘Porgy and Bess’ is made up of songs that were originally written for the George Gershwin (1898-1937) (see also best songs 286) opera ‘Porgy and Bess,’ which had received it’s premier in 1935.

The opera Porgy and Bess was adapted by George Gershwin from the 1925 novel ‘Porgy’ written by Edwin DuBose Heyward (1885-1940.) It was Gershwin who approached Heyward, having read the novel, and seen the Broadway play based on the book, written by Heyward and his wife, (without music) to propose that they should collaborate on an opera based on his novel, which they did, along with Heyward’s wife Dorothy (1890-1961) who was a playwright. George Gershwin wrote the music, while Heyward and Gershwin’s brother Ira Gershwin (1896-1983) collaborated on the lyrics. In 1959 ‘Porgy and Bess’ was made into a musical film starring Sidney Poitier, Pearl Bailey, and Sammy Davis Jr.

The novel ‘Porgy’ tells the story of Porgy, a crippled beggar living in the black tenements of Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1920’s. The lyrics to ‘Summertime’ are open to interpretation, the song was introduced as a lullaby that could be sung as a mother to their child, or as a slave/nanny to a white baby. The nanny is telling the child that they are assured of a good life with parents to love them, and wealth to protect them. The slave/nanny knows that she and her race have none of these privileges to look forward to.

According to the ‘Guinness World Records’ ‘Summertime’ is the most covered song of all time, with over 25,000 recordings. It was first recorded in 1935 by the American soprano opera singer Abbie Mitchell, (1884-1960) with George Gershwin playing the piano, and conducting the orchestra. The first hit version was recorded by Billie Holiday, (see also best songs 624) who took the song to Number 12 in America in 1936. The most commercially successful version was by Billy Stewart, (1937-1970) who reached Number 10 on Billboard in 1966, and Number 39 in the UK. While in the UK, the highest charting version of the song was by the ‘Fun Boy Three,’ who made Number 18 in 1982. Both George Gershwin and Edwin DuBose Heyward died young so never knew of the great success, longevity, and significance of this song,

‘Your daddy’s rich, and your ma is so good-looking, baby. She’s looking good now, hush, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, No, no, no, no, don’t you cry, don’t you cry.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

232-Gary Numan-Cars.

1979-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.22. In Britain 33.3 million people hold a driving licence, but there are only 30,000 active pilots, one of which is Gary Numan.

Gary Numan (see also best songs 772 and 177) was born Gary Anthony James Webb on March 8th, 1958, in London, England, he has written around 400 songs, and sold in excess of 10 million records.

‘Cars’ was written and produced by Gary Numan, and was the first of two singles released from his Album ‘The Pleasure Principle’ from 1979, the other single release was ‘Complex’ which reached Number 6 on the UK top 40, also in 1979. ‘The Pleasure Principle’ is considered to be the first solo studio Album release from Gary Numan, although there were two previous releases in 1978, (‘Tubeway Army’) and in 1979 (‘Replicas’) which although credited to the band ‘Tubeway Army,’ were in fact both written and produced by Numan, and has a similar line up of musicians on all three Albums.

Gary Numan has said that his inspiration for the songs lyrics were inspired by an incident of road rage, Numan said,’I was in traffic in London once, and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It’s kind of to do with that, it explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world… When you’re in it, your whole mentality is different… It’s like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it.’ As far as the music is concerned Numan has said,’I have only written two songs on bass guitar, and the first one was ‘Cars.’ I had just been to London to buy a bass and when I got home the first thing I played was that intro riff. I thought, ‘Hey, that’s not bad!’ In 10 minutes, I had the whole song. The quickest one I ever wrote. And the most famous one I’d ever written. More people should learn from that.’

In America Gary Numan is known as a ‘one hit wonder’ as ‘Cars’ remains his only Billboard Hot 100 hit, when reaching Number 9. In the UK ‘Cars’ went to Number 1, giving Numan his second, and consecutive chart topper, following on from ‘Are Friends Electric’ from earlier on in 1979. In 1987 ‘Cars’ was remixed and titled ‘Cars (E Reg Model’) and became a hit all over again, this time reaching Number 16. The song became a hit for a third decade running when making Number 17 in 1996, following it’s use in an advertisement for ‘Carling Premier’ beer.

‘Here in my car I feel safest of all, I can lock all my doors, it’s the only way to live in cars. Here in my car I can only receive, I can listen to you, it keeps me stable for days in cars.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

233-Rose Royce-Wishing on a Star.

1978-Number 3 single.

Best Bit-At 1.47. The ancient Greeks believed that Greek deities would look down on you, and as they did stars would sometimes slip down to the earth. If you were to make a wish at that moment it would ensure that the deities would watch over you, and therefore hear your requests.

In 1975 the legendary songwriter, record producer, and arranger Norman Whitfield (1940-2008) (see also best songs 911-569-533-480 and 346) left Motown Records, following it’s move from Detroit, setting up his own record label ‘Whitfield Records,’ among the labels first signings were the ex Motown acts The Undisputed Truth, and Yvonne Fair (see also best songs 480.) It was Edwin Starr, (1942-2003) (see also best songs 429) another ex Motown artist who recommended his touring backing band then called ‘Total Concept Unlimited’ to Whitfield, who signed them, and renamed them ‘Rose Royce’ (see also best songs 533.) It was Joe Harris of The Undisputed Truth who during a trip to Miami, had heard Gwen Dickey singing, and it was on his recommendation that she auditioned for Whitfield, who changed her stage name to Rose Norwait, and made her the lead singer of Rose Royce for the recording of the soundtrack to the film ‘Carwash’ in 1976.

The original line up of what was to become Rose Royce were formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1973, there have been 10 members come and go over the years, and at the time of writing they remain active. They have released 11 studio Albums between 1976-1989, there is also rumoured to be an unreleased Album in the vaults recorded in 1985. They have achieved four top 40 singles on Billboard in America, including their debut single ‘Carwash,’ which made Number 1. In the UK, seven of their singles have made the top 40, with ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ charting the highest when reaching Number 2 in 1978.

‘Wishing on a Star’ was the fourth and final single released from Rose Royce’s second studio Album ‘In Full Bloom’ from 1977, although reaching Number 3 in the UK, it failed to make the Billboard Hot 100 chart at all. The song was written by Billy Rae Calvin, and produced by Norman Whitfield. Calvin who had been a forming member of The Undisputed Truth in 1970, had originally been hired by Motown Records to sing backing vocals. One of the notable songs she can be heard on is ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,’ (see also best songs 28) which reached Number 1 on Billboard, and Number 6 in the UK for Diana Ross in 1970.

Although ‘Wishing on a Star’ was not a hit for Rose Royce in America, the song did reach Number 9 on Billboard (Number 38 in the UK) in 1992 when recorded by ‘The Cover Girls.’ In the UK, in 1998 the American rapper Jay-Z (see also best songs 636-477 and 23) took his version to Number 13, with re-recorded vocals from Gwen Dickie, and in 2004 a version by Paul Weller (see also best songs 670-94 and 59) made Number 11. The song saw it’s greatest success when recorded by ‘The X Factor Contestants 2011,’ which included One Direction, and JLS. The song was a charity single for ‘Together for Short Lives,’ and reached Number 1 in November 2011.

‘I feel it’s time we should make up baby, I feel it’s time for us to get back together, and make the best of things, oh, baby when we’re together, whether or never.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

234-Black Eyed Peas-I Gotta Feeling.

2009-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 3.46. Will.i.am appears to have acquired an extra Saturday. In this wonderful world of Pop Music, I wonder if he might have taken one from ‘The Diary of Horace Wimp,’ because he hasn’t got any.

The Black Eyed Peas were formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1995, (see also best songs 899) with Will.i.am, Apl.de.ap, and Taboo, being the groups three constants. There have also been three female vocalists, Kim Hill, from 1995-2000, Fergie (see also best songs 909) from 2002 to 2016, and J. Rey Soul, from 2018, to the present. The Black Eyed Peas have released eight studio Albums between 1998-2020, and 39 singles, of which 16 have made the American Billboard top 40 singles chart, with three of those reaching Number 1. In the UK 18 of their singles have made the top 40, with five of them making Number 1.

‘I Gotta Feeling’ was the second of six singles released from The Black Eyed Peas fifth studio Album ‘The E.N.D.’ (an abbreviation for ‘The Energy Never Dies’) All four band members at that time, along with the songs two producers David Guetta (see also best songs 909 and 260) and Frederic Riesterer, are all credited as the songs writers. On it’s release ‘I Gotta Feeling’ entered the Billboard Hot 100 at Number 2, behind the bands previous single ‘Boom Boom Pow,’ making The Black Eyed Peas only the 11th act to have the top two songs on the chart simultaneously. ‘Boom Boom Pow’ spent 12 weeks ant Number 1, before ‘I Gotta Feeling’ took over for a further 14 weeks. With over nine million downloads in America, ‘I Gotta Feeling’ holds the ‘iTunes’ record for being the most downloaded song of all time in that country.

‘I Gotta Feeling samples the 2007 song ‘Love Is Gone,’ originally co-written and performed by David Guetta, while according to Jimmy Iovine of the A&M Record label group, the melody was inspired by the U2 song “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.’ Iovine has said, “I sent Will.i.am over to the studio to do some remixes on ‘I’ll Go Crazy,’ he works on them for two weeks, comes back and writes ‘I Gotta Feeling,’ the chords are U2 chords, 100 per cent. Will even told them.’ The song also samples the ‘woo-hoo’ from The Police’s 1983 hit ‘Every Breath You Take’ (listen at 3.28.)

The Black Eyed Peas had toured Israel, and played in Tel Aviv in 2006, which might explain the use of the ‘Yiddish’ phrases in the song. Will.i.am sings ‘Fill up my cup…Mazel Tov,’ to which Fergie replies ‘L’chaim.’ ‘Mazel Tov’ is a Hebrew expression of good cheer, often used as a toast to congratulate someone, while ‘L’chaim’ is more esoteric meaning ‘to life,’ and is also a traditional Hebrew toast.

Will.i.am has explained his interpretation of ‘I Gotta Feeling’, he has said, ‘What is the easiest emotion to act? Anger. What is the hardest? Joy. That’s ’cause joy is complex. It’s sombre, sad, happy, heartbroken, hopeful, it’s all these emotions in one. What you hear in ‘I Got A Feeling’? To me, that’s joy. You’re in pain, but tonight’s going to be a good night. You can’t feel happy when you’ve been p….d off the whole week. You have to go straight to joy.” Will.i.am has also said that he wrote the song within an hour after standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the inauguration of President Obama. ‘Nobody asked me to write ‘I Gotta Feeling.’ It just came.’

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Saturday to Sunday. Get, get, get, get, get with us, you know what we say, say, party every day, p-p-p-party every day.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

235-The Doors-Light My Fire.

1967-Number 49 single. When it was re-issued in 1991 it reached Number 7.

Best Bit-At 3.12.The band took their name from the title of Aldous Huxley’s 1954 book ‘The Doors of Perception,’ itself derived from a line in William Blake’s ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,’ a work written between 1790-1793. “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.”

The Doors (see also best songs 133) were formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1965 by Jim Morrison. (1943-1971) (lead vocals) and Ray Manzarek, (1939-2013) (keyboards) who had known of each other from having earlier attended the ‘UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.’ The classic line up was completed in the same year by Robby Krieger, (guitar) and John Densmore, (drums) both of them were also local musicians from Los Angeles. Up until the death of Jim Morrison in 1971, The Doors had released six studio Albums, and following his death the remaining three band members released a further two studio Albums in 1971, (‘Other Voices’) and in 1972 (‘Full Circle.’) The Doors officially split in 1973, but in 1978 a ninth and final studio Album (‘An American Prayer’) was put together by the three remaining members which featured Morrison’s poetry, recorded by Morrison, from around 1969-1971, and performed by Morrison in spoken word form.

‘Light My Fire’ was the second single released by The Doors in January 1967, and later added to their debut studio Album ‘The Doors’ in April 1967. Most of ‘Light My Fire’ was written by Robby Krieger, but all four band members received the writing credits, which was what they always did at that time. Morrison had been the bands main writer, but he asked the other members to contribute, Krieger has said,’ I asked Jim what I should write about? He said,’Something universal, which wont disappear two years from now. Something that people can interpret themselves.’ I said to myself I’d write about the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water, I picked fire as I loved the Stones song ‘Play With Fire,’ (side ‘B’ of The Rolling Stones 1965 UK Number 1 single ‘The Last Time’) Krieger came up with the melody and wrote the majority of the lyrics, but it was Morrison who added the second verse ‘Our love become a funeral pyre,’ It was Manzarek who developed the the songs Organ part, and the drummer Densmore came up with the rhythm. The theme of the song is about leaving your inhibitions behind in flames of passion.

‘Light My Fire’ was the breakthrough song for The Doors spending three weeks at Number 1 on Billboard in America in 1967, and has bone on to sell in excess of 1 million copies. On initial release it failed to reach the UK top 40, but did finally become a hit in 1991, when reaching Number 7, after revived interest in the band following the Oliver Stone film biopic ‘The Doors.’

‘Light My Fire’ has been covered many times, including as early as 1968, when the Puero Rican vocalist Jose Feliciano took his ‘Latin’ influenced version to Number 3 on Billboard, just a year after The Doors, the song also peaked at Number 6 in the UK. In 1979 the American singer Ami Stewart released a Disco version of ‘Light My Fire’ as part of a medley titled ‘137 Disco Heaven,’ which reached Number 5 in the UK, but only made Number 69 on Billboard. The most successful UK hit version of the song was in 2002 when the English singer Will Young topped the UK chart for two weeks with his rendition that was in the same style as the Jose Feliciano version.

‘You know that it would be untrue, you know that I would be a liar, if I was to say to you, girl we couldn’t get much higher.’