Pop Song 537 of 1000 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' Manfred Mann 1963
Pop Song 537 of 1000 'Do Wah Diddy Diddy' Manfred Mann 1963
Thanks to my friend Lonesome Aleks https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJCIEcCGfhWRl2O_dHQyhwA for the request!
MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooeRA8ZhcoQ
"Do Wah Diddy Diddy" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich and originally recorded in 1963, as "Do-Wah-Diddy", by the American vocal group the Exciters. Cash Box described the Exciters' version as "a sparkling rocker that bubbles over with coin-catching enthusiasm" and said that the "great lead job is backed by a fabulous instrumental arrangement."[3] It was made internationally famous by the British band Manfred Mann
There she was just a-walkin' down the street, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
Snappin' her fingers and shufflin' her feet, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
She looked good (Looked good)
She looked fine (Looked fine)
She looked good, she looked fine
And I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walkin' next to me, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
Holdin' my hand just as natural as can be, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
We walked on (Walked on)
To my door (My door)
We walked on to my door
Then we kissed a little more
Whoa-oh, I knew we was falling in love
Yes, I did
And so I told her all the things
I'd been dreamin' of
Now we're together nearly every single day, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
A-we're so happy, and that's how we're gonna stay, singin'
'Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do'
Well, I'm hers (I'm hers)
She's mine (She's mine)
I'm hers, she's mine
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Pop Song 334 of 500 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You' George Benson 1985
Pop Song 334 of 500 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You' George Benson 1985
"Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" is a song written by composers Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin. It was originally recorded by American singer and guitarist George Benson for his 1985 studio album 20/20, released by Warner Bros. Records. This original version was produced by co-writer Masser, and was released as a single in Europe only in 1985. Two years later, in 1987, Hawaiian singer Glenn Medeiros sang his version of the song which became a worldwide success.
If I had to live my life without you near me
The days would all be empty
The nights would seem so long
With you I see forever, oh, so clearly
I might have been in love before
But it never felt this strong
Our dreams are young and we both know
They'll take us where we want to go
Hold me now, touch me now
I don't want to live without you
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you
If the road ahead is not so easy
Our love will lead the way for us
Like a guiding star
I'll be there for you if you should need me
You don't have to change a thing
I love you just the way you are
So come with me and share the view
I'll help you see forever too
Hold me now, touch me now
I don't want to live without you
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love
Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you
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Pop Song 3 'Goodnight Saigon' Billy Joel 1982
Bring our boys back! Goodnight Saigon' Billy Joel Cyrus Saladin Ming October 10, 2020
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Pop Song 555 of 1000 'White Rabbit' Jefferson Airplane 1967
Pop Song 555 of 1000 'White Rabbit' Jefferson Airplane 1967
Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0
Official wonderful MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKZVUtvjBdM
"White Rabbit" is one of Grace Slick's earliest songs, written during December 1965 or January 1966.[10] It uses imagery found in the fantasy works of Lewis Carroll—1865's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass—such as changing size after taking pills or drinking an unknown liquid.
Slick wrote the lyrics first, then composed the music at a red upright piano she had bought for US$50 with eight or ten keys missing—"that was OK because I could hear in my head the notes that weren't there"[11] —moving between major chords for the verses and chorus. She said that the music was heavily influenced by Miles Davis's 1960 album Sketches of Spain, particularly Davis's treatment of the Concierto de Aranjuez (1939). She later said: "Writing weird stuff about Alice backed by a dark Spanish march was in step with what was going on in San Francisco then. We were all trying to get as far away from the expected as possible."[10]
Slick said the composition was supposed to be a wake-up call to parents who read their children novels such as these and then would wonder why their children used drugs.[12] She later commented that all fairytales read to little girls have a Prince Charming who comes and saves them. But Alice did not; she was "on her own...in a very strange place, but she kept on going and she followed her curiosity – that's the White Rabbit. A lot of women could have taken a message from that story about how you can push your own agenda." Slick added that "The line in the song 'feed your head' is both about reading and psychedelics...feeding your head by paying attention: read some books, pay attention."[11]
Characters Slick referenced include Alice, the White Rabbit, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight, the Red Queen, and the Dormouse.[13] Slick reportedly wrote the song after an acid trip.[14]
For Slick, "White Rabbit" "is about following your curiosity. The White Rabbit is your curiosity."[15] For her and others in the 1960s, drugs were a part of mind expansion and social experimentation. With its enigmatic lyrics, "White Rabbit" became one of the first songs to sneak drug references past censors on the radio. Marty Balin, Slick's former bandmate and co-founder of Jefferson Airplane (and later Jefferson Starship), regarded the song as a "masterpiece". In interviews, Slick has related that Alice in Wonderland was often read to her as a child and remained a vivid memory well into her adulthood.[6]
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Slick mentioned that, in addition to Alice in Wonderland, her other inspiration for the song was Ravel's Boléro. Like Boléro, "White Rabbit" is essentially one long crescendo. The music combined with the song's lyrics strongly suggests the sensory distortions experienced with hallucinogens, and the song was later used in pop culture to imply or accompany just such a state.[16]
The song was first played by the Great Society in a bar in San Francisco in early 1966, and later when they opened the bill for bigger bands like the Grateful Dead. They made a series of demo records for Autumn Records, for which they were assisted by Sly Stone. Grace Slick said: "We were so bad that Sly eventually played all the instruments so the demo would sound OK." When Slick joined Jefferson Airplane later in 1966, she taught the song to the band, who recorded it for their album Surrealistic Pillow.[10] "White Rabbit" is in the key of F-sharp which Slick acknowledges "is difficult for guitar players as it requires some intricate fingering"
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Pop Song 13 'Riders on the Storm' The Doors 1971
'Riders on the Storm' The Doors Cyrus Saladin Ming October 18, 2020
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Pop 20 'Separate Ways' Journey 1983
'Separate Ways' Journey Cyrus Saladin Ming October 18, 2020
Usually we don't write songs that far in advance of an album," observed Jonathan Cain, the band's keyboardist, as Andy Secher, in his article "Adventures in Frontierland," published in the June 1983 issue of Hit Parader Magazine, quoted him. "But on that occasion, Steve [Perry] and I were just working an idea backstage and it all came together. He was working on a bass and I had a guitar, and we just worked out the melody that night and the lyrics the next afternoon. Sometimes you can get lucky and have a song fall together like that."
Schon said that the song was, like many other songs by the band, "Motown mixed with R&B and blues ... that's pretty much where 'Separate Ways' is coming from. It's got a heavier guitar than an R&B song, but I think that's what makes it sound like Journey."
Cain said the same thing in 1983:
We wanted to write something rhythmic and still have a strong and haunting melody. We needed a main rhythm to run through the synthesizer and Steve Smith designed that kind of drum beat to let everything breathe. It's really a throwback to all of our roots and the Motown sound. Steve [Perry] has always listened to a lot of Motown records, songs with a strong chorus approach. Songs that were real urgent sounding, but still had rhythm and melody
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Pop Song 2 "Desperado" The Eagles 1973
"Desperado" The Eagles Cyrus Saladin Ming November 06,2020
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Pop Song 178 'Whiplash' Hank Levy 1973 Main Theme Film Whiplash
Pop Song 178 'Whiplash' Hank Levy 1973 Main Theme Film Whiplash
Whiplash is a 2014 American psychological drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle, and starring Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Paul Reiser, and Melissa Benoist. The story follows ambitious jazz drummer Andrew Neiman (Teller), who is pushed to his limit by his abusive and ruthlessly strict bandleader (Simmons) at the fictional Shaffer Conservatory.
After Chazelle completed the script of Whiplash, Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions helped him turn 15 pages of the script into an 18-minute short film, also titled Whiplash. The short film received acclaim after debuting at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, which attracted investors to produce the complete version of the script.
Whiplash premiered in competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2014, as the festival's opening film; it won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize for drama.[3] Sony Pictures acquired the worldwide distribution rights, releasing the film under its Sony Pictures Classics and Stage 6 Films banners for its North American and international releases respectively.[4] The film opened in limited release domestically in the United States and Canada on October 10, 2014, gradually expanding to over 500 screens and finally closing on March 26, 2015. The film grossed $49 million on a production budget of $3.3 million.
The film received critical acclaim with praise for its screenplay, direction, film editing, sound mixing, and Teller and Simmons' performances. Whiplash received multiple awards and nominations, winning Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and also being nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Simmons' portrayal of Fletcher won him the Academy, BAFTA, Critics' Choice, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards for Best Supporting Actor.
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'Open Arms' Journey
'Open Arms' Journey in memory of Hookfang our cat. Cyrus Saladin Ming April 12, 2020
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Pop Song 1 'Jump' Van Halen 1983
'Jump' Van Halen Cyrus Saladin Ming November 6, 2020
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Pop Song 323 of 500 'Imagine' John Lennon 1971
Pop Song 323 of 500 'Imagine' John Lennon 1971
"Imagine" is a song by British rock musician John Lennon from his 1971 album of the same name. The best-selling single of his solo career, the lyrics encourage listeners to imagine a world of peace, without materialism, without borders separating nations and without religion.
Several poems from Yoko Ono's 1964 book Grapefruit inspired Lennon to write the lyrics for "Imagine"—in particular, one which Capitol Records reproduced on the back cover of the original Imagine LP titled "Cloud Piece", reads: "Imagine the clouds dripping, dig a hole in your garden to put them in."Lennon later said the composition "should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of it—the lyric and the concept—came from Yoko, but in those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted her contribution, but it was right out of Grapefruit." When asked about the song's meaning during a December 1980 interview with David Sheff for Playboy magazine, Lennon told Sheff that Dick Gregory had given Ono and him a Christian prayer book, which inspired him the concept behind "Imagine".
The concept of positive prayer ... If you can imagine a world at peace, with no denominations of religion—not without religion but without this my God-is-bigger-than-your-God thing—then it can be true ... the World Church called me once and asked, "Can we use the lyrics to 'Imagine' and just change it to 'Imagine one religion'?" That showed [me] they didn't understand it at all. It would defeat the whole purpose of the song, the whole idea.
Lennon stated: "'Imagine', which says: 'Imagine that there was no more religion, no more country, no more politics,' is virtually The Communist Manifesto, even though I'm not particularly a Communist and I do not belong to any movement." He told NME: "There is no real Communist state in the world; you must realise that. The Socialism I speak about ... [is] not the way some daft Russian might do it, or the Chinese might do it. That might suit them. Us, we should have a nice ... British socialism." Ono described the lyrical statement of "Imagine" as "just what John believed: that we are all one country, one world, one people." Rolling Stone described its lyrics as "22 lines of graceful, plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in purpose, to repair and change itself".
An original piano musical motif, later called "John's Piano Piece", close to the final one was created in January 1969 during the Let It Be sessions.Lennon finished composing "Imagine" one morning in early 1971, on a Steinway piano, in a bedroom at his Tittenhurst Park estate in Ascot, Berkshire, England. Ono watched as he composed the melody, chord structure and almost all the lyrics, nearly completing the song in one brief writing session.Described as a piano ballad
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
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Song 45 'Three Little Birds' Bob Marley
Song 45 'Three Little Birds' Bob Marley
February 27, 2021 Living in Hilton Hotel San Francisco. 3rd floor Chinese culture center ball room. Stuck for 3 weeks so far waiting for CN Embassy approval to go to Shanghai
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'Shenandoah' Traditional American
'Shenandoah' Traditional American Cyrus Saladin Ming October 19, 2020
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Pop Song 545 of 1000 'Layla' Derek and the Dominos Eric Clapton 1970
Pop Song 545 of 1000 'Layla' Derek and the Dominos Eric Clapton 1970
Watch Clapton live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX5USg8_1gA
The song was inspired by a love story that originated in 7th-century persian and later formed the basis of The Story of Layla and Majnun by the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi,[1] a copy of which Ian Dallas had given to Clapton. The book moved Clapton profoundly, because it was the tale of a young man who fell hopelessly in love with a beautiful young girl, went crazy and so could not marry her.[2][3][4] The song was further inspired by Clapton's secret love for Pattie Boyd, the wife of his friend and fellow musician George Harrison. After Harrison and Boyd divorced, Clapton and Boyd eventually married.
See if you can spot this one
What will you do when you get lonely?
No one waiting by your side
You've been running hiding much too long
You know it's just your foolish pride
Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
Begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
Tried to give you consolation
When your old man had let you down
Like a fool I fell in love with you
You turned my whole world upside down, Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
Begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
Make the best of the situation
'Fore I finally go insane
Please don't say we'll never find a way
Tell me all my love's in vain
Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
I'm begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
(Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
Begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
(Yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah)
Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
Begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
Layla
Got me on my knees
Layla
Begging darling please
Layla
Darling won't you ease my worried mind?
Thank you
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Pop Song 198 'Ain't no mountain high enough' Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson 1966
Pop Song 198 'Ain't no mountain high enough' Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson 1966
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" is a pop/soul song written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown. The composition was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and became a hit again in 1970 when recorded by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross. The song became Ross's first solo number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The song was written by Ashford and Simpson prior to joining Motown. British soul singer Dusty Springfield wanted to record the song but the duo declined, hoping it would give them access to the Detroit-based label. As Valerie Simpson later recalled, "We played that song for her (Springfield) but wouldn't give it to her, because we wanted to hold that back. We felt like that could be our entry to Motown. Nick called it the 'golden egg'."
The original 1967 version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was a top twenty hit. According to record producers, Terrell was a little nervous and intimidated during the recording sessions because she did not rehearse the lyrics. Terrell recorded her vocals alone with producers Harvey Fuqua and Johnny Bristol, who added Gaye's vocal at a later date. "Ain't No Mountain" peaked at number nineteen on the Billboard pop charts, and went to number three on the R&B charts. Billboard's original review of the single stated "Chalk up another pulsating fast smash for Gaye with his new partner Tammi Terrell. The electricity of the duo combined with the blockbuster rhythm material grooves all the way."
This original version of "Ain't No Mountain", produced by Fuqua and Bristol, was a care-free, danceable, and romantic love song that became the signature duet between Gaye and Terrell. Its success led to a string of more Ashford/Simpson penned duets (including "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Your Precious Love"). In 1999, the Gaye/Terrell version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The Gaye/Terrell version was included in the soundtrack for the 2000 film Remember the Titans as well as the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy.
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Pop Song 415 of 500 'Black Hole Sun' Soundgarden 1994
Pop Song 415 of 500 'Black Hole Sun' Soundgarden 1994
I wrote it in my head driving home from Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville, a 35–40 minute drive from Seattle. It sparked from something a news anchor said on TV and I heard wrong. I heard 'blah blah blah black hole sun blah blah blah'. I thought that would make an amazing song title, but what would it sound like? It all came together, pretty much the whole arrangement including the guitar solo that's played beneath the riff. I spent a lot of time spinning those melodies in my head so I wouldn't forget them. I got home and whistled it into a Dictaphone. The next day I brought it into the real world, assigning a couple of key changes in the verse to make the melodies more interesting. Then I wrote the lyrics and that was similar, a stream of consciousness based on the feeling I got from the chorus and title.
Cornell said that he wrote the song in about 15 minutes
In my eyes
Indisposed
In disguise
As no one knows
Hides the face
Lies the snake
And the sun
In my disgrace
Boiling heat
Summer stench
'Neath the black
The sky looks dead
Call my name
Through the cream
And I'll hear you
Scream again
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Stuttering
Cold and damp
Steal the warm wind
Tired friend
Times are gone
For honest men
And sometimes
Far too long
For snakes
In my shoes
A walking sleep
And my youth
I pray to keep
Heaven send
Hell away
No one sings
Like you anymore
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Hang my head
Drown my fear
'Til you all just disappear
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Black hole sun
Won't you come
And wash away the rain?
Black hole sun
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
(Black hole sun,
Black hole sun)
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
Won't you come?
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Pop Song 15 'Yesterday' Beatles 1965
'Yesterday' Beatles Cyrus Saladin Ming March 31, 2020
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Song 49 ' Man in Motion from St. Elmo's Fire John Parr and David Foster
Song 49 ' Man in Motion from St. Elmo's Fire John Parr and David Foster
March 5, 2021 Living in Hilton Hotel San Francisco. 3rd floor Chinese culture center ball room. Stuck for 5 weeks so far waiting for CN Embassy approval to go to Shanghai
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Pop Song 543 of 1000 'Centerfold' J. Geils Band 1981
Pop Song 543 of 1000 'Centerfold' J. Geils Band 1981
Watch the MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqDjMZKf-wg
The song is about a man who is shocked to discover that his high school crush appeared in a centerfold spread for an unspecified men's magazine. The song's narrator is torn between conflicting feelings: his disappointment due to her loss of innocence, and his lust until the end of the song.
Come on!
Does she walk? Does she talk? Does she come complete?
My homeroom, homeroom angel always pulled me from my seat
She was pure like snowflakes no one could ever stain
The memory of my angel could never cause me pain
Years go by, I'm lookin' through a girly magazine
And there's my homeroom angel on the pages in-between
My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold, angel is the centerfold
My blood runs cold, woo, my memory has just been sold
Angel is the centerfold
Slipped me notes under the desk while I was thinkin' about her dress
I was shy, I turned away before she caught my eye
I was shakin' in my shoes whenever she flashed those baby blues
Something had a hold on me when angel passed close by
Those soft, fuzzy sweaters, too magical to touch
To see her in that négligée is really just too much
My blood runs cold, yeah, my memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold, angel is the centerfold
My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold
Oh yeah, angel is the centerfold
Now listen, it's okay, I understand, this ain't no never-never land
I hope that when this issue's gone, I'll see you when your clothes are on
Take your car, yes we will, we'll take your car and drive it
We'll take it to a motel room and take 'em off in private
A part of me has just been ripped, the pages from my mind are stripped
Oh no, I can't deny it, oh yeah, I guess I gotta buy it
My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold
My angel is the centerfold, angel is the centerfold
My blood runs cold, woo, my memory has just been sold
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Redo Pop Song 214 of 500 'Bette Davis Eyes' Kim Carnes 1981
Redo Pop Song 214 of 500 'Bette Davis Eyes' Kim Carnes 1981
My first version Yamaha Digital acoustic piano:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc1hGb_Oa78
"Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album New Arrangement, but it was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981
Actress Bette Davis was 73 years old when Kim Carnes's version became a hit. She wrote letters to Carnes, Weiss, and DeShannon to thank all three of them for making her "a part of modern times" and stated that her grandson now looked up to her. After their Grammy wins, Davis sent them roses as well.
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips, a sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll turn the music on you
You won't have to think twice
She's pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo stand-off sighs
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She'll lay you on a throne
She got Bette Davis eyes
She'll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come up blue
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll expose you
When she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She's ferocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll tease you
She'll unease you
Just to please you
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll expose you
When she snows you
'Cause she knows you
She's got Bette Davis eyes
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Pop Song 206 'True' Spandau Ballet 1983
Pop Song 206 'True' Spandau Ballet 1983
"True" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet. It was released on 15 April 1983 as the third single from their third studio album of the same name. The song was written by band member Gary Kemp.
"True" was composed by group leader Gary Kemp, who wrote the song at his parents' house while living there. It is a six-minute (in its original album version) song that in part pays tribute to the Motown artist Marvin Gaye, who is mentioned in the lyrics, and the sound he helped to establish. According to Kemp, "I think I wanted to write a song that was a bit like a Marvin Gaye, Al Green song, a blue-eyed soul song. It was at a time when it was me concentrating on melody first rather than the sort of riff and the groove." Kemp also said, "'True' became a song about writing a love song. Why 'Why do I find it hard to write the next line? I want the truth to be said?' Because I didn't want to write it down—because there's nothing more embarrassing."
The song was partly about Kemp's platonic relationship with (and unrequited love for) Altered Images singer Clare Grogan. Some phrases in the lyrics (including the much-quoted reference to "seaside arms") were adapted from Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, a copy of which Grogan had given Kemp. The song is written in the key of G major. It has a tempo of 98 BPM and a chord progression of G, Em9, CMaj9, Bm7. The song modulates to the key of E♭ major for the instrumental break, after which it re-modulates the key of G Major for the remainder of the song.
In 2009, Tim Rice wrote in The Spectator that the song was "a giant of its time and remains a standard today". In 2014, Ian Gittins described it in The Guardian as a "juggernaut power ballad". In 2015, Peter Larsen wrote for the Orange County Register that the band's formula of mining "a vein of soulfulness tinged with nostalgia and romance" had "reached perfection" on the track, describing it as "the one Spandau Ballet song everyone knows... It's truly a perfect song, as moving today as ever it was. "It has been characterized as a "karaoke staple". In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's tenth-favorite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
"Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a song by American hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, released in August 1991 as the second single from their debut album, Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience (1991). It is built around samples of Spandau Ballet's "True", The Soul Searchers' "Ashley's Roachclip", and the Bob James version of Paul Simon's "Take Me to the Mardi Gras", with the remainder of the song written by P.M. Dawn vocalist Attrell "Prince Be" Cordes; only Prince Be and "True" writer Gary Kemp were credited for writing the tune.
The song was P.M. Dawn's first (and only) number-one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100
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Pop Song 222 'Sailing' Sutherland Brothers 1972
Pop Song 222 'Sailing' Sutherland Brothers 1972
Gavin Sutherland said of the song, "Most people take the song to be about a young guy telling his girl that he's crossing the Atlantic to be with her." and with a grin, continued "In fact the song's got nothing to do with romance or ships; it's an account of mankind's spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfillment with the Supreme Being."
According to Iain Sutherland the connection between the Sutherland Brothers and Rod Stewart which led to Stewart's recording of "Sailing" began when Stewart's live-in girlfriend Dee Harrington saw the Sutherland Brothers on the 20 June 1972 broadcast of the BBC2 music program The Old Grey Whistle Test: Harrington recommended the Sutherland Brothers as a musical act that would interest Stewart, and Stewart did indeed become a Sutherland Brothers fan after seeing them perform at the Marquee Club. According to Gavin Sutherland, the Sutherland Brothers co-wrote two original songs with Stewart which Stewart hoped to record for Atlantic Crossing: however the only Sutherland Brothers tune Stewart would record for the album would be "Sailing" whose seemingly nautical theme complemented the album's title.
Stewart would recall the recording of "Sailing" being a challenge: he was awoken in his hotel room by a 10 am phone call from Dowd at Muscles Shoals, in which Dowd said "Get down here in half an hour; we've mixed the track and need the vocal"; Stewart (quote): "I was like: 'You're joking, recording at 10:30 in the morning. I need a drink to calm the old nerves'...There was nothing [alcoholic] to be had anywhere and I was terrified to sing without [a drink]"..."I'd never sung anything in a studio without having a drink – let alone a big old anthem. And I'd never sung anything, anywhere that early in the morning. Got it in six or seven takes though.
Despite his enthusiasm for the Sutherland Brothers, Stewart said that he "argued vehemently" against the release of "Sailing" as the lead single from Atlantic Crossing,[6] instead advocating his own composition "Three Time Loser".[6] Gavin Sutherland concurs: "I don't think Rod personally wanted ["Sailing"] put out as a single. He just saw it as a big ballady-kind of last track, side two, finish to Atlantic Crossing which had several other great tracks on it."[5] However "Sailing" had an August 1975 UK single release parallel with the album release of Atlantic Crossing: reaching No. 2 UK in its second week of release, Stewart's "Sailing" would have a four-week tenure at No. 1 UK.
Stewart's "Sailing" had a UK chart revival in 1976 as a result of the track being utilized as theme song for Sailor a documentary series on HMS Ark Royal which BBC1 aired for ten weeks from 5 August 1976: "Sailing" ranked at No. 50 on the UK chart dated 4 September 1976 and the track's renewed popularity continued even after the 7 October 1976 finale of the Sailor TV series, as "Sailing" reached its 1976 chart peak of No. 3 on the UK charts dated 16 – 23 October 1976, with the track remaining in the UK Top 50 into January 1977.[7] Stewart performed "Sailing" live on the Top of the Pops broadcast of 23 September 1976. "Sailing" remains Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK: in November 2012 it was reported that "Sailing" by Rod Stewart had sold 1.12 million units in the UK with a resultant ranking at No. 112 of the 123 UK million-selling singles.[8]
In the US, where Atlantic Crossing had been issued in August 1975 without a single release, "Sailing" was issued as the album's lead single in October 1975 but failed to reach the Top 40 of Billboard, attaining a Hot 100 peak of No. 58.[9] Overall "Sailing" did afford Stewart a major international success reaching No.1 in Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway; No. 2 in Australia, Belgium's Flemish Region, South Africa and Switzerland; No. 3 in New Zealand; No. 4 in Germany; No. 7 in Austria; No. 13 in Sweden.
The first music video for "Sailing" was filmed in the Port of Dublin and also featured footage shot on the major Dublin thoroughfare Moore Street: featuring Stewart and his partner Britt Ekland, the video aired on the Top of the Pops broadcast of 28 August 1975. Another music video for "Sailing" was shot in New York Harbor in 1978, and would become one of the first to be aired on MTV when it launched on 1 August 1981
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Pop Song 24 'The Sound of Silence' Simon and Garfunkel 1964
'The Sound of Silence' Simon and Garfunkel Cyrus Saladin Ming April 1, 2020
Simon wrote "The Sound of Silence" when he was 21 years old,[9][10] with Simon explaining that the song was written in his bathroom, where he turned off the lights to better concentrate. "The main thing about playing the guitar, though, was that I was able to sit by myself and play and dream. And I was always happy doing that. I used to go off in the bathroom, because the bathroom had tiles, so it was a slight echo chamber. I'd turn on the faucet so that water would run (I like that sound, it's very soothing to me) and I'd play. In the dark. 'Hello darkness, my old friend / I've come to talk with you again.' According to Garfunkel, the song was first developed in November, but Simon took three months to perfect the lyrics, which he claims were entirely written on February 19, 1964.[13] Garfunkel, introducing the song at a live performance (with Simon) in Harlem, June 1966, summed up the song's meaning as "the inability of people to communicate with each other, not particularly intentionally but especially emotionally, so what you see around you are people unable to love each other." In a recent memoir by Sandy Greenberg, as reviewed in People magazine in December 2020, the song reflected the strong bond he had with his college buddy and best friend, Garfunkel, who adopted the special epithet 'Darkness' so as to empathise with Greenberg's sudden-onset blindness while in college. The first stanza presents the singer as taking some relative solace in the peacefulness he associates with "darkness" which is submerged "within" the ambiguous sound of silence. The second stanza has the effect of breaking into the silence with "the flash of a neon light" which leaves the singer "touched" by the enduring ambiguity of the sound of silence. In the third stanza, a "naked light" emerges as a vision of 10,000 people all caught within their own solitude and alienation without any one of them being able to "disturb" the recurring sound of silence.
In the fourth stanza, the singer proclaims in a declarative voice that "silence like a cancer grows", though his words "like silent raindrops fell" without ever being heard against the by now cancerous sound of silence. The fifth stanza appears to culminate with the urgency raised by the declarative voice in the fourth stanza through the apparent triumph of a false "neon god". The false neon god is only challenged when a "sign flashed out its warning" that only the words of the indigent written on "subway walls and tenement halls" could still "whisper" their truth against the recurring and ambiguous form of "the sound of silence"
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Pop Song 182 Ain't Misbehavin' 1929 lyrics Andy Razaf score Thomas "Fats" Waller & Harry Brooks
Pop Song 182 Ain't Misbehavin' 1929 lyrics Andy Razaf score Thomas "Fats" Waller & Harry Brooks
"Ain't Misbehavin'" is a 1929 stride jazz/early swing song. Andy Razaf wrote the lyrics to a score by Thomas "Fats" Waller and Harry Brooks for the Broadway musical comedy play Connie's Hot Chocolates
The song was first performed at the premiere of Connie's Hot Chocolates in Harlem at Connie's Inn as an opening song by Paul Bass and Margaret Simms, and repeated later in the musical by Russell Wooding's Hallelujah Singers. Connie's Hot Chocolates was transferred to the Hudson Theatre on Broadway during June 1929, where it was renamed to Hot Chocolates and where Louis Armstrong became the orchestra director. The script also required Armstrong to play "Ain't Misbehavin'" in a trumpet solo, and although this was initially slated only to be a reprise of the opening song, Armstrong's performance was so well received that the trumpeter was asked to climb out of the orchestra pit and play the piece on stage. As noted by Thomas Brothers in his book Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism, Armstrong was first taught "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Waller himself, "woodshedding" it until he could "play all around it"; he cherished it "because it was 'one of those songs you could cut loose and swing with.
Ain't Misbehavin' has been recorded by many other performers over the years, including Seger Ellis, Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughan (for "Sarah Vaughan in Hi-Fi"; 1950), Bing Crosby (for "Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around"), Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Ella Fitzgerald, Carol Channing, Django Reinhardt, Harry James, Miles Davis, Kay Starr, Frankie Laine, Art Tatum, Floyd Pepper, Sonny Stitt, Sam Cooke, Johnnie Ray, Sidney Bechet, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Elkie Brooks, Eyran Katsenelenbogen, Willie Nelson, Kermit Ruffins, Leon Redbone, Freddie White, Dave Brubeck, Johnny Hartman, Hank Williams Jr., Robson Green and Jerome Flynn (Mini TV series UK, 1997), and Bill Haley & His Comets (who recorded a rock and roll version during 1957). Johnnie Ray's version scored number 17 in the UK Singles Chart during May 1956.
In 1960, Tommy Bruce and the Bruisers had a number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart with their cover version of the song.[5] During 1976, Leon Redbone performed the song on Saturday Night Live. It served as the title song of the successful 1978 musical Ain't Misbehavin'. Country music artist Hank Williams Jr. recorded a version for his 1985 studio album Five-O. Released as a single, the song peaked at #1 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart and earned Williams a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance, Male.
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Pop Song 103 'Mr. Blue Sky' Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
Pop Song 103 'Mr. Blue Sky' Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
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