THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

136-Lonnie Donegan-Cumberland Gap.

1957-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.04. Previous versions of the song probably didn’t include the lyrics ‘Two old ladies sitting in the sand, each one wishing the other was a man.’

Lonnie Donegan MBE (see also best songs 484) was born Anthony James Donegan on April 29th, 1931, in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland, he died on November 3rd, 2002, after a heart attack at the age of 71. Although born in Scotland, he moved with his family to East Ham, in East London, England, at the age of two in 1933, Donegan took his stage name ‘Lonnie’ in tribute of the American Jazz and Blues artist Lonnie Johnson. (1899-1970)

Lonnie Donegan is perhaps Britain’s most underrated artist, and generally goes under the radar when ‘the best and most influential’ are discussed by the general public, but there is no doubting the influence he has had on some of the all time greats. Paul McCartney has said,’He was the first person we had heard of from Britain to get to the coveted No. 1 in the charts, and we studied his records avidly. We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man.’ Brian May said,’He really was at the very cornerstone of English Blues and Rock. Roger Daltrey has been quoted as saying,’I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up, I knew that. But the man who really made me feel like I could actually go out and do it was a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan. At the ‘Brit’ awards when giving his speech, Jack White of the ‘White Stripes’ (see also best songs 324) said.’Remember, Lonnie Donegan started it for you.’

‘Cumberland Gap’ is a traditional Folk song which originated from the Eastern United States, and dates back to the latter half of the 19th Century. The songs title refers to the Cumberland Gap, which is a mountain pass in the Appalachian Mountains at the juncture of the States of Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky. The gap was used in the latter half of the 18th Century by westward-bound migrants travelling from the original 13 American colonies to the Trans-Appalachian frontier. During the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865), Union and Confederate armies engaged in a year-long back-and-forth struggle for control of the gap.

The earliest known recording of ‘Cumberland Gap’ is the 1924 instrumental version by the American fiddler Ambrose G. ‘Uncle Am’ Stuart. (1853-1926) Other notable recordings include Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) who covered the song in the mid 1940’s, and a live version performed by Earl Scruggs (1924-2012) at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Lonnie Donegan took his ‘Skiffle’ version to Number 1 for five weeks in the UK in 1957, but in America the song failed to make the Billboard chart. For his version Donegan made the song ‘Rock’ orientated, and wrote many new lyrics, some in a ‘Music Hall’ style, such as ‘Well, I got a girl six feet tall, sleeps in the kitchen with her feet in the hall.’ This type of ‘humour’ would prove to be a precursor for some of Donegan’s most successful songs including ‘Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?’) (1959 UK Number 3) and ‘My Old Man’s a Dustman’ (1960 UK Number 1.) In my opinion songs such as those are novelty songs, and that is why I think Lonnie Donegan is not thought of as one of the great innovators of Pop Music with the general public.

‘Well a dollar is a dollar, and a dime is a dime, and I love you baby most all the time, Cumberland gap, Cumberland gap, fifteen miles on the Cumberland gap.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

137-The Jackson 5-I Want You Back.

1969-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.02. For most artists to have recorded their best song (obviously a matter of opinion) by the age of 11, it should have been the career highlight, but Michael went onto even greater things…as I’m sure your aware.

The Jackson 5 were formed in Gary, Indiana, United States, in 1964, and would remain active until 1989. They reformed to tour in 2001, and again in 2012, and at the time of writing they remain active with the four band members being Jackie Jackson, Tito Jackson, Marlon Jackson, and Jermaine Jackson (see also best songs 570.) The discography of The Jackson 5 on Motown Records consists of 10 studio Albums issued between 1969-1975, and 22 singles released in the same time period, for the discography of The Jacksons after Motown (see best songs 249.) The Jackson 5 achieved 16 top 40 hit singles on Billboard in America, of which their first four Motown releases all made the Number 1 spot. In the UK they charted on 11 occasions, with this song being the most successful when peaking at Number 2 in 1970. Both Michael Jackson, (1958-2009) (see also best songs 812-511 and 191) and Jermaine Jackson had solo careers with Motown running concurrently at the same time that they were also performing with The Jackson 5.

‘I Want You Back’ was the debut single on Motown by The Jackson 5, but prior to signing with Motown they had recorded a single called ‘Big Boy,’ on ‘Steeltown Records,’ in their hometown of Gary, Indiana, that had been distributed only locally. The Jackson 5 signing with Motown coincided with Diana Ross (see also best songs 900-519-365 and 28) leaving the Supremes to start her solo career. In order to promote both acts Motown supremo Berry Gordy came up with the brilliant idea of telling the world that Diana Ross had discovered The Jacksons, and called The Jacksons debut Album ‘Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5,’ this misleading promotion was believed by many for decades. The truth was that it had been Bobby Taylor (1934-2017) who was employed at Motown at the time who informed Gladys Knight (see also best songs 667 and 214) of his discovery of the brothers, and it was Knight who told Gordy.

‘I Want You Back’ was produced by Bobby Taylor, and written by ‘The Corporation,’ a group of musicians and record producers assembled in 1969 by Berry Gordy to create hits, as the replacements for the recently departed ‘Holland-Dozier-Holland.’ The four writers of this song were Berry Gordy, Fonce Mizell, (1943-2011) Freddie Perren, (1943-2004) and Deke Richards (1944-2013.) Perren would go on to write the 1979 Disco classic ‘I Will Survive’ for Gloria Gaynor, while Richards had previously been a member of another Motown songwriting team called ‘The Clan’ (see also best songs 365.) ‘The Corporation’ were also responsible for writing two other of The Jackson 5’s Billboard Number 1 songs,’ ABC,’ and ‘The Love You Save,’ both in 1970.

‘When I had you to myself, I didn’t want you around, those pretty faces always make you stand out in a crowd, but someone picked you from the bunch, one glance is all it took, now it’s much too late for me to take a second look.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

138-Dizzee Rascal and Armand van Helden-Bonkers.

2009-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.01. During the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections Dizzee Rascal gave a live interview to Jeremy Paxman on the BBC2 television programme Newsnight. At one point Paxman addressed his interviewee as ‘Mr Rascal’….now that’s ‘Bonkers!’

Dizzee Rascal MBE (see also best songs 652) was born Dylan Kwabena Mills on September 18th, 1984, in London, England, his father who was Nigerian died when he was very young leaving his Ghanaian mother Priscilla to bring him up in a single parent family. Mills had a troubled childhood, and was expelled from four schools, about which he has said,’I had issues as a kid. I was violent and disruptive. The way my mum helped was by finding me a different school every time I got kicked out, always fighting to keep me in the school system. He received part of his stage name from one of his teachers who would call him ‘Rascal,’ which stuck with him through school. In 2020 he was appointed ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire’ (MBE) in the’ Birthday Honours’ for services to music. The discography of Dizzee Rascal includes seven studio Albums released between 2003-2020, and 32 singles issued between 2003-2020, of which 26 have made the UK top 40, with six of those including him featuring on two charity singles, having reached the Number 1 spot.

Armand van Helden was born on February 16th, 1970, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, he is one of ‘House Music’s’ leading figures, and has been remixing tracks for other artists since 1990, as well as writing and producing for himself and others. His major breakthrough occurred in 1996 when he remixed the song ‘Professional Widow,’ which went to Number 1 in the UK in January 1997 for the American singer Tori Amos. He would also top the UK chart again in 1999 with ‘You Don’t Know Me,’ which featured the vocals of Duane Harden. Armand van Helden has released nine studio Albums between 1996-2016, and 62 singles. He has released music under 12 different stage names including as one half of the duo ‘Duck Sauce,’ who had great success with their ‘Dance Music’ track called ‘Barbra Streisand’ in 2010.

‘Bonkers’ was co-written by Dizzee Rascal, (lyrics) and Armand van Helden who provided the music, and was the second single released from Dizzee Rascal’s fourth studio Album ‘Tongue n’ Cheek’ from 2009. Dizzee Rascal has explained how his collaboration with Armand van Helden came about,’Armand approached me and sent me an email saying he wanted to work together, as soon as I heard the name I was on to it. The song came with the ‘bonkers’ bit on it so it was almost a no-brainer for me, the song needed to be about being bonkers.’

‘I wake up everyday it’s a daydream, everythin’ in my life ain’t what it seems. I wake up just to go back to sleep, I act real shallow but I’m in too deep.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

139-Prince Buster-One Step Beyond.

1964-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.02. ‘Hey you, don’t watch that, watch this! This is the heavy heavy monster sound.’

Prince Buster (see also best songs 734) was born on May 24th, 1938, in Kingston, Jamaica, he died on September 8th, 2016, after suffering heart problems at the age of 78, he had been in poor health for some time after a series of strokes, including one in 2009 that left him unable to walk. Prince Buster will be best remembered as being the main figure in the development of the musical genre ‘Ska,’ which would later develop into ‘Rocksteady,’ and ‘Reggae.’ I can find no complete comprehensive discography for Prince Buster, but it will run into dozens of Albums and single releases, starting with his first single release ‘Little Honey’ in 1961. He recorded prolifically during the 1960’s, but by the early 1970’s with musical tastes changing his output slowed down, and in 1973 he retired from the music business. Only two of his singles have charted in the UK top 40,’Al Capone,’ which made Number 13 in 1967, and ‘Whine and Grine,’ which reached Number 21 in 1998, which had captured the public’s imagination after being used in nationwide television advertising campaign.

In the UK Prince Buster will be best remembered for being a major influence on the UK Ska revival of the late 1970’s, which was to become known as ‘The Second Coming of Ska,’ with bands such as ‘The Specials,’ (see also best songs 924 and 372) ‘Madness,’ (see also best songs 801 and 69) and ‘The (British) Beat’ all incorporating the music of Prince Buster in to their own. The music that these bands and others played fused traditional Jamaican Ska music with elements of ‘Punk Rock’ and ‘New Wave’ music. It’s roots were in the English city of Coventry which is in the midlands, and it’s appeal was largely limited to the UK. The British musician, and one of the co-founders of ‘The Specials’ Jerry Dammers set up the record label ‘2 Tone Records’ in 1979, and the label was the major player in the promotion of the ‘Ska’ revival.

It was the British band ‘Madness’ who brought ‘One Step Beyond’ to the attention of a whole new generation when recording the largely instrumental track as their second single, their first had been ‘The Prince’ which was a tribute to Prince Buster, written by band member Lee Thompson in 1979. ‘One Step Beyond’ which was also the title of the debut studio Album by Madness was produced by Clive Langer, and Alan Winstanley, and according to Winstanley the song in it’s original form only lasted 1 minute and 10 seconds, so they repeated the track, with the second half treated with an ‘Eventide Harmoniser’ to make it sound slightly different. The Madness version features a spoken intro by Chas Smith, who at the time of recording wasn’t an official member of the band, he joined as the seventh and final member in 1980. The spoken line, “Don’t watch that, watch this’ in the intro, is from another Prince Buster song called ‘Scorcher,’ and is also used at the start of the Dave and Ansell Collins’ ‘Funky Funky Reggae.’ Whilst the next line ‘This is the heavy heavy monster sound,’ is taken from another Dave and Ansell Collins song called ‘Monkey Spanner.”

‘So if you’ve come in off the street, and you’re beginning to feel the heat. Well listen buster, you better start to move your feet, to the rockinest, rock-steady beat.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

140-Daft Punk-Da Funk.

1996-Number 7 single.

Best Bit-At 1.00. Ever wondered how Daft Punk got their name? (probably not) well now you can find out.

Daft Punk were the French electronic House music duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, they formed in Paris, France, in 1993, and remained active until they went their separate ways in 2021. Bangalter, and Homem-Christo first met in 1987 while attending the Lycee-Carnot secondary school in Paris. In 1992 they formed a Rock band along with Laurent Brancowitz called ‘Darlin,’ taking the name from the 1967 Beach Boys song of the same name. ‘Darlin’ was to prove a short lived project with Brancowitz leaving after six months, and Bangalter and Homem-Christo changing musical direction and starting to experiment with drum machines and synthesizers. It was a negative review in ‘Melody Maker’ magazine by the journalist Dave Jennings who called the music of ‘Darlin,’ ‘A daft punky thrash,’ this amused Bangalter and Homem-Christo who decided it was a good name for their new project. The discography of Daft Punk consists of four studio Albums released between 1997-2013, and 23 singles issued between 1994-2016. In France 14 of those singles reached the top 40, with four of those songs making Number 1, while in the UK they have made the top 40 on 11 occasions, with ‘Get Lucky’ from 2013 reaching the top spot. In America on Billboard they have charted on three occasions, with their collaboration with ‘The Weeknd,’ Starboy,’ in 2016, being a Number 1 hit. Thomas Bangalter who was born on January 3rd, 1975, in Paris, France, is the son of Daniel Bangalter who works under the name of Daniel Vangarde. Vangarde is a songwriter and producer, and his best known compositions include co-writing Bananarama’s debut single ‘Aie a Mwana,’ ‘D.I.S.C.O.’ which made Number 2 in the UK in 1980 for Ottowan, and ‘Cuba’ for the Gibson Brothers, which made Number 12 also in 1980.

‘Da Funk’ is one of four singles released from Daft Punk’s critically acclaimed debut Album ‘Homework’ from 1997, this song and the Album are considered to be very important in the development of Dance Music, and particularly ‘French House Music.’ ‘Da Funk’ was initially released in 1995 to little success, but it did receive a boost when ‘The Chemical Brothers’ (see also best songs 300 and 53) incorporated the song into their live shows. This led to a bidding war amongst several record labels, with ‘Virgin’ signing them, and releasing their debut Album ‘Homework.’

‘Da Funk’ has a very memorable video which was directed by Spike Jonze, it focuses on the character Charles, played by Tony Maxwell, as a anthropomorphic dog in a leg cast with a crutch. Charles, who has lived in New York City for only one month, is shown walking around with a boombox blasting out “Da Funk” at a high volume. Many have tried to find a hidden meaning as to what the video’s story is about but Thomas Bangalter has stated,’There’s no story. It is just a man-dog walking with a ghetto blaster in New York. The rest is not meant to say anything. People are trying to explain it: Is it about human tolerance? Integration? Urbanism? There’s really no message. There will be a sequel someday.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

141-Beatles-All You Need Is Love.

1967-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 1.02. At the time of writing the most viewed YouTube video in a 24 hour period was achieved by the South Korean band ‘BTS’, with the video for their single ‘Butter,’ that was watched 108,200,000 times. On June 25th, 1967, the Beatles were asked to take part in the very first ever live international satellite television programme called ‘Our World,’ alongside other creative artists such as Opera singer Maria Callas, and the painter Pablo Picasso. They were some of the performers representing 19 nations over a two and a half hour live broadcast fed to 24 counties around the world.’All You Need Is Love’ was performed for the first time to an estimated audience of somewhere between 400-700 million people.

On May 18th, 1967, the Beatles (see also best songs 599-319-238-218-157-80-51-10 and 5) signed a contract to appear as Britain’s representatives on ‘Our World.’The Beatles were asked to provide a song with a message that could be easily understood by everyone, and using “basic English” terms. John Lennon who was the writer of ‘All You Need Is Love’ (1940-1980) (see also best songs 927-473-456-168 and 20) realised that he could send out a message to the world, and he made the lyrics as simple as possible so every nation could understand them.

‘All You Need Is Love’ was written by John Lennon, but as always was contractually attributed to ‘Lennon/McCartney, with the production credited to George Martin. (1926-2016) The song was released as a stand alone single, but later was included on the United States version of the ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Album, and also featured in the 1968 animated film ‘Yellow Submarine.’ The song was released at the height of the ‘Summer of Love’ social phenomenon, when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behaviour, converged in San Francisco’s neighbourhood of Haight-Ashbury, where ‘All You Need Is Love’ became the theme song of the ‘Summer of Love’ movement.

‘All You Need Is Love’ opens with a few bars of the French National Anthem ‘La Marseillaise,’ and also includes elements of the traditional English Folk song ‘Greensleeves,’ and also Glen Miller’s 1939 hit ‘In the Mood’ (see also best songs 146.) Towards the end of the song Lennon can be heard saying ‘Yesterday,’ (see also best songs 319) and Lennon and McCartney can be heard breaking out into a rendition of their 1964 hit ‘She Loves You.’

The Beatles performed ‘All You Need Is Love’ on ‘Our World’ with a pre recorded backing track, with Lennon singing live, McCartney (see also best songs 646 and 107) played double bass, George Harrison (1943-2001) (see also best songs 737 and 726) played the violin, and Ringo Starr was on the drums. There was also a specially invited selection of friends and acquaintances who were seated on the floor for the ‘Our World’ recording, that included Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, and Keith Moon, (1946-1978) and they and others can be heard singing on the song as it fades out.

‘There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done, nothing you can sing that can’t be sung. Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game, it’s easy.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

142-Wham!-Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.

1984-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.36. If your a DJ playing to the 40-60 age group, and you can’t think what to play, try this, and if they don’t dance, it’s not your fault.

Wham! (see also best songs 991) were formed in Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, in 1981 by George Michael, (1963-2016) (see also best songs 342) and Andrew Ridgeley. The pair had first met at school and played in a band called ‘The Executive,’ with four others, before splitting to form Wham! in 1982, they remained active as a duo until 1986. Andrew Ridgeley has explained how the name ‘Wham!’ came about, saying it originated from a need for,’Something that captured the essence of what set us apart, our energy and our friendship, and then it came to us, Wham! Wham! was snappy, immediate, fun and boisterous too.’ It was the British design studio ‘Stylorouge’ who created the exclamation mark to the name of the band. The discography of Wham! consists of two studio Albums,’Fantastic’ from 1983, and ‘Make It Big’ from 1984, and 12 singles, all of which made the UK top 40, with six of those reaching Number 1. While in America on Billboard they have charted on seven occasions, with three of those songs making the top spot, Wham! have sold in excess of 30 million records worldwide.

‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ was the first of four singles released from the second and final studio Album from Wham!, ‘Make It Big,’ from 1984, and was written and produced by George Michael. The story goes that Andrew Ridgeley needed a wake up call, so he left a note for his mother on his door, he wrote, ‘Wake me up up, and then realising that he had duplicated a word, finished the sentence with ‘Before you go go.’ George Michael on hearing the tale thought that it was very funny, and decided to use it for a song title.

‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ has a retro feel to it, opening with the word ‘Jitterbug,’ which is repeated four times, the ‘Jitterbug’ was a very popular dance in America in the 1930’s, and was still performed regularly at the onset of the Rock N’ Roll’ era. Another nod to the past comes with the name checking of the late great Doris Day (1922-2019) (see also best songs 333.) A ‘Go-Go’ is the name used to describe a club where people would go to dance, and it is dancing which is partly the theme of this song. The lyrics tell the story of someone who sleeps while his girlfriend goes out dancing, he is upset by this and insists that next time she takes him with her as he doesn’t want to miss the fun. He has also heard rumours that she may not be being faithful to him, but he is so smitten, so he will ignore that.

George Michael has said about writing the song,’I just wanted to make a really energetic pop record that had all the best elements of fifties and sixties records, combined with our attitude and our approach, which is obviously more uptempo and a lot younger than some of those records. It’s one of those tracks that gets rid of a lot of your own personal influences, it reminds me of so many different records that I couldn’t actually nail them down. I’d done a demo at home that just had a bass line and a vocal on it. Usually, I write the record in my head, I know what all the parts are going to be and I sing them to all our musicians, and it was great, we actually did it as a rehearsal. We used a LinnDrum, (drum machine) because the drummer was late, and it was such a good track that we kept it.’

‘You take the grey skies out of my way, you make the sun shine brighter than Doris Day. Turned a bright spark into a flame, my beats per minute never been the same.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

143-Parliament-Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’)

1978-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 0.36. If music is a universal language then ‘A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’ is a bit hard to fathom.

In 1968 George Clinton formed two bands simultaneously due to contractual problems with his record label, they were the ‘Funk,’ ‘R&B,’ and ‘Psychedelic Soul’ orientated ‘Parliament,’ (see also best songs 612) and the more ‘Rock’ based ‘Funkadelic,’ (see also best songs 340 and 26) their sound was to become known as ‘P-Funk,’ achieving a large following. ‘Funkadelic’ were active between 1968-1982, and reformed again in 2014, while ‘Parliament’ were active from 1968-1970, and then again between 1974-1980, and then reformed again in 2018. In total there have been 41 different members come and go during those time periods.

‘Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’) was the first of two singles released from Parliament’s seventh studio Album ‘Motor Booty Affair’ from 1978, and although only reaching Number 89 on America’s Billboard Hot 100, it did achieve four weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart. The song was co-written by the band members George Clinton, Bootsy Collins (see also best songs 850-612-340 and 88) and Bernie Worrell, (1944-2016) who had also been a founding member of ‘Parliament-Funkadelic.’

Worrell who was considered a child musical prodigy had begun formal piano lessons at the age of three, and had already written a concerto by the age of eight. One of his first musical collaborations was as a college student where he played with a group called ‘Chubby & The Turnpikes,’ which would eventually evolve into ‘Tavares’ (see also best songs 514.) When Parliament-Funkadelic went on hiatus in 1982 Worrell recorded and played live with the American Rock band ‘Talking Heads,’ (see also best songs 540) although he never became an official member. He also released 12 solo Albums between 1978-2016, as well as contributing to many more artists work including the Funk band ‘Mtume,’ where he played keyboards on their 1983 Billboard R&B Number 1 song ‘Juicy Fruit.’ In 1997 along with 14 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic, he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.’

A ‘Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop’ is actually (not surprisingly) a word made up by George Clinton, in an attempt to create his own ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, as heard in the 1964 film ‘Mary Poppins,’ as Clinton is telling us that the life that you are living is like a movie, and you are starring in it. Although many people think that ‘Aqua Boogie’ is a song about having a party, or dancing underwater, it isn’t, the water imagery is actually a metaphor for how people have to bend and jump through hoops in order to deal with everyday life.

‘Aqua boogie baby, never learned to swim. Underwater boogie baby, can’t catch the rhythm of the stroke. Aqua boogie baby, why should I hold my breath, underwater boogie baby, feelin’ that I might choke.’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

144-Scooter-Move Your Ass!1995-Number 23 single.

Best Bit-At 4.02. ‘It’s important to be nice, but it’s more nice to be important’….Oh silly me, I’ve got it the wrong way around again.

Scooter were formed in 1993 by H.P. Baxxter, who was born Hans Peter Geedes on March 16th, 1964, in Leer, West Germany, and Rick J, Jordan, who was born Hendrik Stedler, on January 1st, 1968, in Hanover, West Germany. The pair first met in 1985 after they both replied to a classified advertisement, together they formed the Synth-Pop/New Wave band ‘Celebrate the Nun,’ along with Britt Maxine, and Slin Tompson. The band achieved initial success, but as musical tastes changed they would take their sound in a different direction, hence the move to ‘Techno,’ and ‘Happy Hardcore.’ ‘Celebrate the Nun’ would continue with other members, but Baxxter and Jordan would leave to form ‘Scooter’ in 1993 along with Ferris Bueller who would a remain member until 1998, Jordan would leave in 2014, with Baxxter remaining as the bands one constant. In total there have been nine different members come and go and they remain active. Scooter (see also best songs 1033 and 437) have sold in excess of 30 million records worldwide, and are Germany’s most successful singles act with 23 top 10 hits in that country.

‘Move Your Ass!’ was the third single release from Scooter, and the second track released from their debut studio Album ‘….and the Beat Goes On,’ from January 1995, all four band members at that time all receive the songwriting, and producing credits. In total four singles were issued from that debut Album, and in order to promote the band in the UK all of those singles were issued together on an ‘Extended Play,’ with ‘Move Your Ass!’ bringing the band to the attention of the British public for the first time. The other three tracks were their breakthrough hit in Germany ‘Hyper Hyper,’ along with ‘Friends,’ and ‘Endless Summer.’

Initially in the UK ‘Move Your Ass!’ failed to garner much interest, as it stalled at Number 98 in April 1995, but with further promotion of the ‘EP,’ the song took off, and on re-release it peaked at Number 23. The song was a top 20 hit in many European countries, where it’s highest chart positions were in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland where it made Number 3.

‘Scooter, back in the house, get off your shirts and wait for further instructions. Starting the microphone business, I’ve got one message for the next decade,’Move Your Ass!’

THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

145-Barbra Streisand-The Way We Were.

1974-Number 34 single.

Best Bit-At 1.30. This is one of three songs that appear twice in some form on this countdown. They are recorded in radically different ways by different artists, and are therefore worthy of inclusion (see also best songs 931 and 560, and also 863 and 112, and also 214.)

Barbara Joan Streisand was born on April 24th, 1942, in New York City, United States, she has said that she was never a big fan of her first name, so when taking up singing professionally she dropped an ‘A’ from Barbara. Barbra Streisand has had two highly successful careers in music, and acting, running concurrently side by side, and reaching the very top in both professions. She has released 36 studio Albums between 1963-2018, and is the only artist to have had a Number 1 Album on Billboard in each of the last six decades. Streisand has also released 117 singles between 1962-2018, of which five have reached Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, including this song, while in the UK her sole Number 1 record is the Barry, and Robin Gibb penned ‘Woman in Love’ from 1980. With sales in excess of 150 million records she is the second best selling female artist of all time behind Mariah Carey (see also best songs 822.) On the acting front Barbra Streisand has won numerous awards including the ‘Academy Award for Best Actress’ for ‘Funny Girl,’ (1968) and a second ‘Academy Award’ for writing the love theme from ‘A Star Is Born,’ (1976) making her the first woman to be honoured as a composer. Also in 1983 with the release of ‘Yentl,’ Barbra Streisand became the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a major studio film. The film went on to win an Oscar for ‘Best Score,’ and a ‘Golden Globe’ for ‘Best Motion Picture Musical.’ Streisand also received the ‘Golden Globe Award’ for Best Director, becoming the first woman to win that award.

‘The Way We Were’ was written for the 1973 film ‘The Way We Were’ by the husband and wife songwriting team of Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman, (1928-2022) (see also best songs 229 and 214) who provided the lyrics, and Marvin Hamlisch, (1944-2012) who wrote the music, it was produced by Marty Paich (1925-1995.) ‘The Way We Were’ is the opening song on the soundtrack Album to the film which starred Barbra Streisand as Katie Morosky, and Robert Redford as Hubbell Gardiner, it was also released as the lead single from Barbra Streisand’s 15th studio Album from 1974, which was also called ‘The Way We Were Were.’ The single went on to spend three non consecutive weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and was also the best selling single in America in 1974. The song is about a couple who fell deeply in love despite being the complete opposites, in the song they are reminiscing their memories of their time together.

‘Mem’ries light the corners of my mind, misty water-coloured mem’ries of the way we were. Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind, smiles we gave to one another for the way we were.’