THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
486-Bob Lind-Elusive Butterfly.
1966-Number 5 single.
Best Bit-At 0.56.Don’t be concerned,it will not harm you.It’s poetry put to music.
Bob Lind wrote Elusive Butterfly around sunrise sometime in 1964.Lind credits the song’s inspiration as coming from the W.B.Yeats poem ‘The Song Of The Wandering Aengus.’In the song Lind sees himself as a butterfly hunter,he is looking for romance but he finds it as elusive as butterflies are to capture.
The original version of the song is more guitar based and acoustic and is nearly six minutes long.It wasn’t until Lind was introduced to producer Jack Nitzsche who added strings to the song that it became a big hit.
Had it not been for a rival cover version from Irish singer Val Doonican who also took the song to Number 5 in the UK,it would have probably been even more successful.
‘You might have seen me runnin’ through the long abandoned ruins of your dreams you left behind.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
487-Prince-Sign O’ The Times.
1987-Number 10 single.
Best Bit-At 2.36.See what Prince was capable of writing about when he wasn’t just thinking about sex.
There are not many more talented musicians than Prince Rogers Nelson(see also best songs 884.) On this song he played all the instruments,did all the vocals and he was also the producer.Sign O’ The Times was reportedly written and composed on a Sunday when Prince usually wrote his most introspective songs.
The song deals with mid to late 1980’s social problems including Aids,gang warfare,the Cold War and drugs.The final verse is telling you to enjoy life while you can and just ignore the bad times.
‘Hurry before it’s too late lets fall in love get married have a baby,we’ll call him Nate,if it’s a boy.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
488-Wilson Pickett-Land Of 1000 Dances.
1966-Number 22 single.
Best Bit-At 0.40.The Pony,Chicken,Mashed Potato,Alligator,Watusi,Twist,Fly,Jerk,Tango,Yo-Yo,Sweet Pea,Hand Jive,Slop,Bop,Fish and the Popeye.I could mention the other 884 dances but i haven’t got enough room.
Land Of 1000 Dances was originally written and recorded in 1962 by Chris Kenner,his version peaked at Number 77 on Billboard.The ‘Na na na na na’ hook happened by accident when Frankie Garcia lead singer of Cannibal and the Headhunters forgot the lyrics during a recording of their version.It stuck and nearly all recordings since have kept it including the most famous version by Wilson Pickett.
This song gave Pickett his biggest chart hit on Billboard peaking at Number 6.It has featured in three major films over the years,Soul To Soul in 1971,Forrest Gump in 1994 and The Full Monty in 1997.
‘Put your hands on your hips,yeah,let your backbone slip.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
489-Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine-Sheriff Fatman.
1989-Did not chart until re-released in 1991 reaching Number 23.
Best Bit-At 3.19.I don’t want to start a lawsuit but this sounds a lot like The Waterboys ‘The Whole Of The Moon'(see best songs 755.)
Carter USM were formed in 1987 by Jim ‘Jim Bob’ Morrison and Les Carter,they were active together until 1998.They have played live together on occasions since,as recently as 2017.
Sheriff Fatman is about slum landlords and the threatening/violent ways used.Nicholas Van Wotsisface is Nicholas Van Hoogstraten a slum landlord who was later imprisoned for manslaughter.Also name checked in the song are notorious 1950’s landlord Peter Rachman and head of the Gestapo in Lyon,Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie.
‘There’s bats in the belfry the windows are jammed,the toilets ain’t healthy he don’t give a damn.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
490-James-Sit Down.
1991-Number 2 single.
Best Bit-At 3.03.The second most popular song in the world ever for sitting on the floor to dance to.’Oops upside your head say oops upside your head.’
Sit Down has been released three times between 1989-1998.The original 7 minutes plus version was released in 1989 on Rough Trade Records peaking at Number 77.When James became part of the upcoming ‘Madchester’ music scene a shorter and more radio friendly version became their most successful and best known song when peaking at Number 2 in 1991.In 1998 Liverpool Electronic Rock group Apollo 440 did a remix and this time the song reached Number 7 on the UK top 40.
Lead singer Tim Booth says he wrote the song during a difficult time when he was feeling lonely and depressed.He said he took inspiration for the song from the late author Doris Lessing and the Rock musician Patti Smith.
‘If I hadn’t seen such riches I could live with being poor.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
491-Eddie Kendricks-Keep On Truckin’
1973-Number 18 single.
Best Bit-At 0.59.’Keep On Truckin’ is a phrase of encouragement meaning to continue to stay focused regardless of circumstances or setbacks.
This was one of the very first big hits of the Disco era,becoming a Billboard Number 1 single.
Eddie Kendricks was a founding member of the Tamla Motown group The Temptations and was lead vocalist on such classics as ‘Get Ready’ and ‘Just My Imagination'(see best songs 777,) he left the group in 1971 in bitter circumstances.The line from this song ‘In old Temptation’s rain,I’m duckin’ is a dig at his former bandmates.
Eddie Kendricks died of lung cancer in 1992 at the age of 52.The American Rapper Kendrick Lamar was named by his mother after Kendricks.
‘I’ve got a fever rising with desire It’s my love Jones and I feel like I’m on fire.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
492-The Jimi Hendrix Experience-Hey Joe.
1966-Number 6 single.
Best Bit-At 1.56.A warning to old ladies,don’t go messin’ ’round with another man,you might end up getting shot.
Hey Joe has been recorded hundreds of times in many different musical styles.It was written in the early 1960’s by Billy Roberts,who copyrighted it in 1962 but never released it.This led to many artists thinking that the song was ‘traditional’ and therefore there would be no royalties to pay,but when recordings of the song came to Roberts attention he soon got his lawyers onto it.
Hey Joe was the breakthrough hit for Jimi Hendrix(see also best songs 983.)On hearing the song Chas Chandler,the ex bassist with The Animals who was now focusing on management thought it was the perfect song for his new act to record,Chandler also produced the track.
‘Ain’t no hangman gonna,he ain’t gonna put a rope around me.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
493-The Midnighters-Work With Me, Annie.
1954-Has never charted in the UK.
Best Bit-At 1.38.’Relax’,’God Save The Queen’,’Je t’aime, Moi Non Plus’ or anything by Judge Dread.The radio wouldn’t play them and ‘saved’ the youth from being corrupted.
This song is recognised as one of the most influential in the development of Rock music because of it’s big bass beat,electric guitar and sexually suggestive lyrics.
The lyrics 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 host of CBS’s ‘Juke Box Jury’ said ‘All R&B records are dirty and as bad for kids as dope.’
The song was written by Hank Ballard(born John Henry Kendricks,November 18,1927-died March 2, 2003,) he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’ in 1990.
In 1959 he wrote and recorded the original version of ‘The Twist'(see best songs 749.)He was the cousin of Florence Ballard,one of the founding members of The Supremes.
‘Annie please don’t cheat give me all your meat.’
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THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
494-Womack & Womack-Teardrops.
1988-Number 3 single.
Best Bit-At 2.45.When future generations of Womack’s appear on ‘Who Do You Think You Are,’they will have their work cut out sorting out this family tree.
Womack & Womack were husband and wife musical duo and songwriters Cecil(he died in 2013) and Linda.They wrote for many top artists and were also employed by ‘Philadelphia International Records.’
When Cecil Womack the youngest of the Womack brothers married Linda Cooke daughter of Sam Cooke it created an interesting family tree because Cecil’s brother Bobby Womack had married Sam Cooke’s widow Barbara in 1965 soon after Cooke’s death.
‘Footsteps on the dancefloor remind me baby of you.’
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