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Top 1,000 Songs Everyone Should Hear in Their Lifetime The List
51. Arthur Gibbs And His Gang - The Charleston
Top 1,000 Songs Everyone Should Hear in Their Lifetime The List
51. Arthur Gibbs And His Gang - The Charleston
10.10.1923
The Charleston is a jazz composition that was written to accompany the Charleston dance. It was composed in 1923, with lyrics by Cecil Mack and music by James P. Johnson, who first introduced the stride piano method of playing. The song was featured in the American black Broadway musical comedy show Runnin' Wild. The music of the dockworkers from South Carolina inspired Johnson to compose the music. The dance known as the Charleston came to characterize the times. It was this song that propelled the dance to international popularity and a place in musical history. Lyrics, though rarely sung (an exception is Chubby Checker's 1961 recording), were penned by Cecil Mack, himself one of the most accomplished songwriters of the early 1900s.
52. Artie Shaw - Begin the Beguine
7.24.1938
Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter (1891–1964). Porter composed the song between Kalabahi, Indonesia, and Fiji during a 1935 Pacific cruise aboard Cunard's ocean liner Franconia. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee, produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.
A Beguine was originally a Christian lay woman of the 13th or 14th century living in a religious community without formal vows, but in the Creole of the Caribbean, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the term came to mean "white woman", and then to be applied to a style of music and dance, and in particular a slow, close couples' dance. This combination of French ballroom dance and Latin folk dance became popular in Paris and spread further abroad in the 1940s, largely due to the influence of the Porter song.
After signing a new recording contract with RCA Victor in the summer of 1938, Shaw chose "Beguine" to be the first of six tunes he would record at his initial recording session on July 24. Until then, Shaw's band had been having a tough time finding an identity and maintaining its existence without having had any popular hits of significance; his previous recording contract with Brunswick had lapsed at the end of 1937 without being renewed.
RCA's pessimism with the whole idea of recording the long tune "that nobody could remember from beginning to end anyway" resulted in it being released on the "B" side of the record "Artie Shaw and His Orchestra", issued by Bluebird Records as catalog number B-7746 B. Shaw's persistence paid off, though, when "Begin the Beguine" became a best-selling record in 1938, peaking at No. 3., skyrocketing Shaw and his band to fame and popularity. The recording became one of the most famous and popular anthems of the entire Swing Era.
A Beguine was originally a Christian lay woman of the 13th or 14th century living in a religious community without formal vows, but in the Creole of the Caribbean, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe, the term came to mean "white woman", and then to be applied to a style of music and dance, and in particular a slow, close couples' dance. This combination of French ballroom dance and Latin folk dance became popular in Paris and spread further abroad in the 1940s, largely due to the influence of the Porter song.
After signing a new recording contract with RCA Victor in the summer of 1938, Shaw chose "Beguine" to be the first of six tunes he would record at his initial recording session on July 24. Until then, Shaw's band had been having a tough time finding an identity and maintaining its existence without having had any popular hits of significance; his previous recording contract with Brunswick had lapsed at the end of 1937 without being renewed.
RCA's pessimism with the whole idea of recording the long tune "that nobody could remember from beginning to end anyway" resulted in it being released on the "B" side of the record "Artie Shaw and His Orchestra", issued by Bluebird Records as catalog number B-7746 B. Shaw's persistence paid off, though, when "Begin the Beguine" became a best-selling record in 1938, peaking at No. 3., skyrocketing Shaw and his band to fame and popularity. The recording became one of the most famous and popular anthems of the entire Swing Era.
53. Artist Stand Up to Cancer –
Just Stand Up! (Stand Up To Cancer)
8.21.2008 (digital)
9.30.2008 (CD single)
9.30.2008 (CD single)
Just Stand Up! is a song performed by an all-star charity supergroup of pop, R&B, rock, country artists during the live version during the telethon "Stand Up to Cancer". The group was purposely billed as Artists Stand Up to Cancer to the public.
American songwriter and producer Antonio "L.A." Reid conceived the collaboration after a meeting with the founder of Stand Up to Cancer, which will benefit from the proceeds of the record. Reid co-produced the track with American singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and the single was released on August 21, 2008.
The singers performed the song live on the "Stand Up to Cancer" show, which aired simultaneously on US TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC on September 5, 2008.
The single was re-released on September 30, 2008, with the original recording, as well as the audio of the live performance. The CD was enhanced so it had special features for a computer. A music video was not produced for the single.
On October 15, 2010, the song was confirmed to be double-Platinum by the RIAA, and the live music video included on the enhnaced CD single was confirmed to be Gold.
American songwriter and producer Antonio "L.A." Reid conceived the collaboration after a meeting with the founder of Stand Up to Cancer, which will benefit from the proceeds of the record. Reid co-produced the track with American singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, and the single was released on August 21, 2008.
The singers performed the song live on the "Stand Up to Cancer" show, which aired simultaneously on US TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC on September 5, 2008.
The single was re-released on September 30, 2008, with the original recording, as well as the audio of the live performance. The CD was enhanced so it had special features for a computer. A music video was not produced for the single.
On October 15, 2010, the song was confirmed to be double-Platinum by the RIAA, and the live music video included on the enhnaced CD single was confirmed to be Gold.
Nicole Scherzinger (only on live version) and not listed on single cover.
54. Artist United Against Apartheid - Sun City
10.25.1985
(Album cover and single cover are the same. The above photos has the entire list of artists who performed on the song.)
Sun City is a 1985 protest song written by Steven Van Zandt, produced by Van Zandt and Arthur Baker and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid. The primary means of that opposition is to declare that all the artists involved would refuse any and all offers to perform at Sun City, a resort which was located in Bantustan of Bophuthatswana, one of a number of internationally unrecognized supposed "independent" states created by the South African government to forcibly relocate its black population.
Van Zandt was interested in writing a song about South Africa's Sun City casino resort, to make parallels with the plight of Native Americans. Danny Schechter, a journalist who was then working with ABC News' 20/20, suggested turning the song into a different kind of "We Are the World", or as Schechter explains, "a song about change not charity, freedom not famine.
Van Zandt was interested in writing a song about South Africa's Sun City casino resort, to make parallels with the plight of Native Americans. Danny Schechter, a journalist who was then working with ABC News' 20/20, suggested turning the song into a different kind of "We Are the World", or as Schechter explains, "a song about change not charity, freedom not famine.
55. Artists For Haiti –
We Are The World 25 for Haiti
2.12.2010
Soloists (in order of appearance):
Justin Bieber/Nicole Scherzinger/
Jennifer Hudson/Jennifer Nettles/Josh Groban/ Tony Bennett/Mary J. Blige/Michael Jackson (stock footage)/Janet Jackson/Barbra Streisand/
Miley Cyrus/Enrique Iglesias/Jamie Foxx
Wyclef Jean/Adam Levine/P!nk/BeBe Winans/
Usher/Celine Dion/Orianthi (on guitar)/Fergie/
Nick Jonas/Toni Braxton/Mary Mary/Isaac Slade
Carlos Santana (on guitar)/Lil Wayne/Akon
T-Pain/LL Cool J (rap)/will.i.am (rap)/
Snoop Dogg (rap)/Nipsey Hussle (rap)/
Busta Rhymes (rap)/Swizz Beatz (rap)/
Wyclef Jean/Adam Levine/P!nk/BeBe Winans/
Usher/Celine Dion/Orianthi (on guitar)/Fergie/
Nick Jonas/Toni Braxton/Mary Mary/Isaac Slade
Carlos Santana (on guitar)/Lil Wayne/Akon
T-Pain/LL Cool J (rap)/will.i.am (rap)/
Snoop Dogg (rap)/Nipsey Hussle (rap)/
Busta Rhymes (rap)/Swizz Beatz (rap)/
Kid Cudi (rap)/Mann (rap)/Kanye West (rap)
Chorus:
Patti Austin/Philip Bailey/Piero Barone
Fonzworth Bentley/Ignazio Boschetto/Bizzy Bone
Shakira/Ethan Bortnick/Brandy/Jeff Bridges
Zac Brown/Kristian Bush/Natalie Cole
Harry Connick, Jr./Nikka Costa/Faith Evans
Melanie Fiona/Sean Garrett/Tyrese Gibson
Gianluca Ginoble/Anthony Hamilton/Keri Hilson
John Legend/Julianne Hough/India.Arie
Randy Jackson/Taj Jackson/Taryll Jackson
TJ Jackson/Al Jardine/Jimmy Jean-Louis
Ralph Johnson/Joe Jonas/Kevin Jonas
Rashida Jones/Gladys Knight/Benji Madden
Joel Madden/Katharine McPhee/Jason Mraz
Mýa/Freda Payne/A. R. Rahman/RedOne
Nicole Richie/Kelly Rowland/Raphael Saadiq
Carlos Santana/Trey Songz/Musiq Soulchild
Jordin Sparks/Robin Thicke/Rob Thomas/
Fonzworth Bentley/Ignazio Boschetto/Bizzy Bone
Shakira/Ethan Bortnick/Brandy/Jeff Bridges
Zac Brown/Kristian Bush/Natalie Cole
Harry Connick, Jr./Nikka Costa/Faith Evans
Melanie Fiona/Sean Garrett/Tyrese Gibson
Gianluca Ginoble/Anthony Hamilton/Keri Hilson
John Legend/Julianne Hough/India.Arie
Randy Jackson/Taj Jackson/Taryll Jackson
TJ Jackson/Al Jardine/Jimmy Jean-Louis
Ralph Johnson/Joe Jonas/Kevin Jonas
Rashida Jones/Gladys Knight/Benji Madden
Joel Madden/Katharine McPhee/Jason Mraz
Mýa/Freda Payne/A. R. Rahman/RedOne
Nicole Richie/Kelly Rowland/Raphael Saadiq
Carlos Santana/Trey Songz/Musiq Soulchild
Jordin Sparks/Robin Thicke/Rob Thomas/
Vince Vaughn/Mervyn Warren/Verdine White
Ann Wilson/Brian Wilson/Nancy Wilson
Ann Wilson/Brian Wilson/Nancy Wilson
We Are the World 25 for Haiti is a charity single recorded by the supergroup Artists for Haiti in 2010. It is a remake of the 1985 hit song "We Are the World", which was written by American musicians Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, and was recorded by USA for Africa to benefit famine relief in Africa. Initially, in late 2009, it had been suggested to Richie and Quincy Jones—producer of the original "We Are the World"—that a re-cut version of the song be re-released under the title "Live 25". Following the magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake in Haiti, which devastated the area and killed thousands of people, it was agreed that the song would be re-recorded by new artists, in the hope that it would reach a new generation and help benefit the people of Haiti.
The song was recorded in fourteen and a half hours by over eighty artists on February 1, and was released on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" was released as a CD single and a music download. It was produced by Quincy Jones, and executively produced by Lionel Richie, and Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean. A music video directed by Paul Haggis was released to accompany and promote the song. The song was also recorded in Spanish by a Latin supergroup and was named Somos el Mundo. The song was directed by Emilio Estefan and his wife, Gloria Estefan.
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is musically structured similar to "We Are the World", but includes a rap verse which was written by some of the song's hip hop artists. Michael Jackson died months before the song's release, but his material from the 1985 recording sessions was incorporated into the song and music video, as per the request of his mother, Katherine. His sister Janet duets with him on the song, and his nephews Taj, TJ, and Taryll—collectively known as 3T—feature on the track's chorus. "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" received generally negative reviews by contemporary music critics, with criticism focused on the song's new musical additions, as well as the choice of artists who appear on the track. The song was commercially successful worldwide, charting within the top 20 in multiple countries.
The song was recorded in fourteen and a half hours by over eighty artists on February 1, and was released on February 12, 2010, during the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics. "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" was released as a CD single and a music download. It was produced by Quincy Jones, and executively produced by Lionel Richie, and Haitian-American musician Wyclef Jean. A music video directed by Paul Haggis was released to accompany and promote the song. The song was also recorded in Spanish by a Latin supergroup and was named Somos el Mundo. The song was directed by Emilio Estefan and his wife, Gloria Estefan.
"We Are the World 25 for Haiti" is musically structured similar to "We Are the World", but includes a rap verse which was written by some of the song's hip hop artists. Michael Jackson died months before the song's release, but his material from the 1985 recording sessions was incorporated into the song and music video, as per the request of his mother, Katherine. His sister Janet duets with him on the song, and his nephews Taj, TJ, and Taryll—collectively known as 3T—feature on the track's chorus. "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" received generally negative reviews by contemporary music critics, with criticism focused on the song's new musical additions, as well as the choice of artists who appear on the track. The song was commercially successful worldwide, charting within the top 20 in multiple countries.
Released as a CD Single other tracks were downloadable only
56. Association – Never My Love
8.26.1967
Never My Love is a pop standard written by American siblings Donald and Richard Addrisi and best known from a hit 1967 recording by The Association. The Addrisi Brothers had two Top 40 hits as recording artists, but their biggest success was as the songwriters of "Never My Love". Recorded by dozens of notable artists in the decades since, in late 1999 the Publishing Rights Organization Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) announced it was the second most-played song on radio and television of the 20th century.
Third most played song on radio of all time 7 million times.
57. B.B. King - Lucille
1968
Lucille is an album by blues artist B. B. King. It is named for his famous succession of Gibson guitars, currently the Signature ES-355.
Non single track.
58. B.J. Thomas -
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
10.14.1969
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head is B. J. Thomas's #1 song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. It was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six. In the film version of the song, B. J. Thomas had been recovering from laryngitis, which made his voice sound hoarser than in the 7" release. The film version featured a separate instrumental break when Paul Newman undertook stunts on a bicycle.
Ray Stevens was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film, but turned it down. He chose instead to record the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down", written by Kris Kristofferson. Bob Dylan is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he too reportedly declined.
The single by B. J. Thomas reached #1 on charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in January 1970 and was also the first American number-one hit of the 1970s. The song also spent seven weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 2008, Thomas's version was ranked as the 85th biggest song on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. His version reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart.
59. B.o.B – I’ll Be In The Sky
1.31.2011
I'll Be in the Sky is a song by American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer B.o.B. The single serves as the fourth international release from the album B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. The song was recorded in 2008 and was featured and originally released on his fourth mixtape Who the F#*k Is B.o.B?. It was released in the United Kingdom on 31 January 2011.
60. B.o.B. Feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore – Airplanes
4.27.2010
Airplanes is the second official and third overall single from B.o.B's debut studio album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray. The track features Hayley Williams and was produced by Alex da Kid with DJ Frank E receiving a co-production credit on the song. The music and chorus were written by Kinetics & One Love. The song was sent to urban radio on April 27, 2010.
Airplanes peaked at number one on the charts in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, as well as the top three in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United States. "Airplanes, Part II", the sequel to the song, features rapper Eminem as well as Williams. This collaboration led to a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
The original version had verses written by Lupe Fiasco. Later, the song was given to B.o.B by his label. Williams' appearance in the song was explained by herself and B.o.B in different interviews to MTV. Williams said Paramore was on tour when she was given the song and she "liked the part too much" and accepted to appear on it. B.o.B said he has "always been a Hayley fan" and he did not expect a collaboration between them too soon. The duo did not get in the studio together to record the song and had never even met each other in person, according to Williams. B.o.B and Williams first met during the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, when they performed "Airplanes" live for the first time together. The second time the song was performed together live was during Vanderbilt University's Fall 2010 "Commodore Quake" concert in Nashville, TN. During B.o.B.'s performance, Williams came out as a special guest to perform the song.
61. The Bachelors – I Believe
1964
I Believe is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953. I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV. Froman, troubled by the uprising of the Korean War in 1952 so soon after World War II, asked Drake, Graham, Shirl and Stillman to compose a song that would offer hope and faith to the populace. In addition to Froman, "I Believe" has been recorded by many others, and has become both a popular and religious standard.
Frankie Laine had the big hit version of the song, which still holds the record for the most weeks spent at number one in the UK Singles Chart.
62. The Band - The Weight
8.31.1968
The Weight is a song originally by the Canadian-American group The Band that was released as Capitol Records single 2269 in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. Credited to The Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town called Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as #41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004.Pitchfork Media named it the thirteenth best song of the Sixties, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[3] PBS, which broadcasted performances of the song in "Ramble at the Ryman" (2011), "Austin City Limits" (2012), and "Quick Hits" (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."
The inspiration for and influences affecting the composition of "The Weight" came from the music of the American South, the life experiences of band members, particularly Levon Helm, and movies of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.
The original members of The Band performed the "The Weight" as an American Southern folk song with country music (vocals, guitars and drums) and gospel music (piano and organ) elements. The lyrics, written in the first-person, are about a traveler's experiences arriving, visiting, and departing a town called Nazareth. The singers, led by Helm, vocalize the traveler's encounters with people in the town from the perspective of a Bible Belt American Southerner, like Helm himself, a native of rural Arkansas. After Helm's death in 2012, Robertson, who was raised in Canada, described how visits to the Memphis, Tennessee area, around which Helm grew up, affected him and influenced his songwriting:
"To me ... going there was like going to the source. Because I was at such a vulnerable age then, it made a really big impact on me. Just that I had the honor joining up with this group and then even going to this place, which was close to a religious experience – even being able to put my feet on the ground there, because I was from Canada, right? So it was like, 'Woah, this is where this music grows in the ground, and [flows from] the Mississippi river. My goodness.' It very much affected my songwriting and, because I knew Levon's musicality so well, I wanted to write songs that I thought he could sing better than anybody in the world.
"While I was there, I was just gathering images and names, and ideas and rhythms, and I was storing all of these things ... in my mind somewhere. And when it was time to sit down and write songs, when I reached into the attic to see what I was gonna write about, that's what was there. I just felt a strong passion toward the discovery of going there, and it opened my eyes, and all my senses were overwhelmed by the feeling of that place. When I sat down to write songs, that's all I could think of at the time."
The colorful characters in "The Weight" were based on real people members of The Band knew, as Levon Helm explained in his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire. In particular, "young Anna Lee" mentioned in the third verse is Helm's longtime friend Anna Lee Amsden, and, according to her, "Carmen" and "Crazy Chester" were people from Helm's hometown, Turkey Scratch, Arkansas.
According to Robertson, "The Weight" was inspired by the movies of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. Buñuel's films are known for their surreal imagery and criticism of organized religion, particularly Roman Catholicism. While the song's lyrics and music invoke vivid imagery and the main character's perspective is influenced by the Bible, the song's episodic story was inspired by the predicaments Buñuel's film characters faced that undermined their goals for maintaining or improving their moral character. Of this, Robertson once stated:
"(Buñuel) did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood. People trying to be good in Viridiana and Nazarin, people trying to do their thing. In "The Weight" it's the same thing. People like Buñuel would make films that had these religious connotations to them but it wasn't necessarily a religious meaning. In Buñuel there were these people trying to be good and it's impossible to be good. In "The Weight" it was this very simple thing. Someone says, "Listen, would you do me this favour? When you get there will you say 'hello' to somebody or will you give somebody this or will you pick up one of these for me? Oh? You're going to Nazareth, that's where the Martin guitar factory is. Do me a favour when you're there." This is what it's all about. So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it's like "Holy shit, what's this turned into? I've only come here to say 'hello' for somebody and I've got myself in this incredible predicament." It was very Buñuelish to me at the time."
The traveler begins "The Weight" by giving the impression that he is visiting the Holy Land. The traveler is weary from his long journey alone in a truck or automobile (e.g., "feelin' half past dead"), and is refused a place to stay and sleep, as in the New Testament Gospel of Luke story of Joseph and Mary prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem. In the town, the traveler encounters people with names taken from Biblical characters – the Devil, Miss Moses, and Luke. The traveler encounters others, including Carmen walking with the Devil, who the traveler meets while trying to find a hidden place to sleep. The traveler asks Carmen to go downtown with him. She responds by telling the traveler that she has something else to do but the Devil "can stick around" with him. The traveler wrecks his vehicle (e.g. "rack" which is also spelled "wrack"). and meets Crazy Chester, who offers to repair it if the traveler takes his vicious dog named Jack. The chorus and last verse mention Miss Fanny (not intended to be sung as "Annie"). who had charged the traveler the responsibility (e.g., "The Weight" or "load") for giving "her regards to everyone" in the town. In the final verse, the traveler leaves Nazareth, dispirited by his experiences (e.g. "my bag is sinking low"). Having failed to have his vehicle repaired, the traveler catches a "cannon ball" (e.g., a train, as in the American folk song "Wabash Cannonball") to go back to see Miss Fanny.
The traveler's apparent visit to a holy city was a goal of the writer and composer, Robbie Robertson, who located the story in Nazareth, because Nazareth, Pennsylvania is the hometown of the C.F. Martin & Company, a famed, long-time producer of guitars and other musical instruments. Such a city might be considered "holy" to American musicians and their friends. In the third verse, the traveler characterizes, using only Biblical references, a disagreement between two friends, Miss Moses and Luke. The traveler tells Miss Moses, "Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say" to Luke, using the Negro spiritual song of liberation "Go Down Moses" to associate her with the African-American civil rights struggle, a crisis that transformed America throughout the 1960s. (In the spiritual, Moses's God commands him to "Tell old Pharaoh, 'Let my people go.'") In doing so, the traveler tells Miss Moses that it is futile to persuade Luke to join or support the movement since his friend is preoccupied with "waitin' on the Judgement Day." Though Luke refuses to participate, he is so concerned that he asks the traveler to stay in Nazareth to take care of the young girl, Anna Lee. In addition, the song's characters have high spiritual meaning to the traveler because the earthly characters mentioned in the song were based on real people The Band knew. However, the traveler's mission, that started with a religious-like fervor, fails to uplift him. At each turn, the people Miss Fanny asks him to meet disappoint him. At the end, by leaving Nazareth, the traveler abandons Anna Lee, his broken vehicle, and his commitment to Fanny, though he is not so disaffected that he travels back to return to Fanny, an indicator of the strength of their relationship that is an uplifting experience to the listener.
63. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?
11.28.1984
The original Band Aid ensemble consisted of (in sleeve order):
Adam Clayton (U2)/Phil Collins (Genesis)/Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)/Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)/Chris Cross (Ultravox)/John Taylor (Duran Duran)/Paul Young/Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)/Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)/Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)/Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)/Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)/Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)/Jody Watley (Shalamar)/Bono (U2)/Paul Weller (The Style Council)/James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang)/George Michael (Wham!)/Midge Ure (Ultravox)/Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)/Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)/Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)/Sara Dallin (Bananarama)/Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)/Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)/Francis Rossi (Status Quo)/Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)/
Dennis J. T. Thomas (Kool & the Gang)/Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)/Jon Moss (Culture Club)/Sting (The Police)/Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)/Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)/Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)/David Bowie/Boy George (Culture Club)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)/Paul McCartney/Stuart Adamson (Big Country)/Bruce Watson (Big Country)/Tony Butler (Big Country)/Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
Musicians:
John Taylor (Duran Duran) - bass
Phil Collins (Genesis) - drums
Midge Ure (Ultravox) - keyboards
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) - guitar
Jon Moss (Culture Club) - Percussion/Bells
Tears for Fears - Drum Samples from the track 'The Hurting'
Do They Know It's Christmas? is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia.
In October 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired in the UK, which highlighted the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject. Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading British and Irish musicians who were among the most popular of the era. The 1984 original became the biggest selling single in UK Singles Chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one, and has sold 3.7 million copies domestically. It remained the highest selling single in UK chart history until 1997, when Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" was released in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, which sold almost 5 million copies in Britain. Worldwide, the single had sold 11.8 million copies by 1989.
64. Band Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas?
12.11.1989
The line up for the Band Aid II project consisted of (in alphabetical order):
Bananarama/Big Fun/Bros/Cathy Dennis/D Mob/Jason Donovan/Kevin Godley/Glen Goldsmith/Kylie Minogue/The Pasadenas/Chris Rea/Cliff Richard/Jimmy Somerville/
Sonia/Lisa Stansfield/Technotronic/Wet Wet Wet
Musicians:
Mike Stock - keyboards
Matt Aitken - keyboards & guitar
Chris Rea - guitar
Luke Goss (Bros) - drums
This version, released in 1989 was produced by British songwriting and production team formed of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman. The only artists from the original Band Aid to be featured again on this version were Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of Bananarama. This version topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, but ultimately achieved far less historical significance and status than its predecessor.
On Friday 1 December 1989, Bob Geldof called Pete Waterman to ask if he would consider producing a new version of the song featuring the big stars from that time. Waterman immediately cancelled his wedding (planned for that very day) and began calling up the artists. With just two days' notice, on Sunday 3 December, recording took place at PWL Studios in South London. Present in the studio was Bob Geldof, wife Paula Yates and six-year-old daughter, Fifi Trixiebelle, who was eager to meet Jason Donovan.
Production continued through the Monday, and by Tuesday 5 December the song was aired for the first time on London's Capital Radio. Advance sales of the record reached 500,000 and a number-one was inevitable. The song was released the following week on 11 December and spent three weeks at number one, becoming the 9th biggest selling song of the year, outselling Madonna's "Like a Prayer".
65. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?
11.29.2004
Vocals:
Bono (U2)/Daniel Bedingfield/Natasha Bedingfield/Busted/Chris Martin (Coldplay)/Dido – performed separately from a studio in Melbourne/Dizzee Rascal – the only artist to add lyrics to the song/Ms Dynamite/Skye Edwards (Morcheeba)/Estelle/Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy)/Justin Hawkins (The Darkness)/Jamelia/Tom Chaplin (Keane)/Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)/Beverley Knight/ Lemar/Shaznay Lewis (formerly of All Saints)/Katie Melua/Róisín Murphy (Moloko)
Feeder/Snow Patrol/Rachel Stevens/Joss Stone/Sugababes/The Thrills/Turin Brakes/Robbie Williams – performed separately from a studio in Los Angeles/ Will Young/Fran Healy (Travis)
Musicians:
Danny Goffey (Supergrass) – (drums)
Thom Yorke – (piano) and
Jonny Greenwood – (guitar) – (Radiohead)
Sir Paul McCartney – (bass guitar)
Justin Hawkins and Dan Hawkins (The Darkness) – (guitar)
The Band Aid 20 single was actually doubled when it was first played simultaneously on The Chris Moyles Show (on BBC Radio 1) and the breakfast shows on Virgin and Capital radio, at 8am on 16 November 2004. The video was first broadcast in the UK simultaneously over multiple channels, including the five UK terrestrial channels, at 5.55pm on 18 November 2004, with an introduction by Madonna.
One of the new ways to buy the song, by downloading it from the internet, hit a problem when Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store initially refused to supply it, due to their fixed-pricing policy. A partial solution was reached after a few days, enabling UK users to download the song at the standard iTunes price, with Apple donating an extra amount (equivalent to the price difference) to the Band Aid Trust.
The single sold 72,000 copies in the first 24 hours when it was released on 29 November 2004, and went straight in at No. 1 in the UK charts on 5 December 2004. The CD version sold over 200,000 copies in the first week, and became the fastest-selling single of the year. It stayed at No. 1 for Christmas and the week after, all in all holding onto the top spot for four weeks, just one week shorter than the original had done in 1984.
66. Barry Manilow - I Write the Songs
11.15.1975
Third most played song on radio of all time 7 million times.
57. B.B. King - Lucille
1968
Non single track.
58. B.J. Thomas -
Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
10.14.1969
Ray Stevens was first offered the opportunity to record it for the film, but turned it down. He chose instead to record the song "Sunday Morning Coming Down", written by Kris Kristofferson. Bob Dylan is supposed to have been approached for the song, but he too reportedly declined.
The single by B. J. Thomas reached #1 on charts in the United States, Canada, and Norway. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in January 1970 and was also the first American number-one hit of the 1970s. The song also spent seven weeks atop the Billboard adult contemporary chart. In 2008, Thomas's version was ranked as the 85th biggest song on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. His version reached #38 in the UK Singles Chart.
59. B.o.B – I’ll Be In The Sky
1.31.2011
60. B.o.B. Feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore – Airplanes
4.27.2010
Airplanes peaked at number one on the charts in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, as well as the top three in Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United States. "Airplanes, Part II", the sequel to the song, features rapper Eminem as well as Williams. This collaboration led to a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals.
The original version had verses written by Lupe Fiasco. Later, the song was given to B.o.B by his label. Williams' appearance in the song was explained by herself and B.o.B in different interviews to MTV. Williams said Paramore was on tour when she was given the song and she "liked the part too much" and accepted to appear on it. B.o.B said he has "always been a Hayley fan" and he did not expect a collaboration between them too soon. The duo did not get in the studio together to record the song and had never even met each other in person, according to Williams. B.o.B and Williams first met during the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, when they performed "Airplanes" live for the first time together. The second time the song was performed together live was during Vanderbilt University's Fall 2010 "Commodore Quake" concert in Nashville, TN. During B.o.B.'s performance, Williams came out as a special guest to perform the song.
61. The Bachelors – I Believe
1964
I Believe is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953. I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV. Froman, troubled by the uprising of the Korean War in 1952 so soon after World War II, asked Drake, Graham, Shirl and Stillman to compose a song that would offer hope and faith to the populace. In addition to Froman, "I Believe" has been recorded by many others, and has become both a popular and religious standard.
Frankie Laine had the big hit version of the song, which still holds the record for the most weeks spent at number one in the UK Singles Chart.
62. The Band - The Weight
8.31.1968
The inspiration for and influences affecting the composition of "The Weight" came from the music of the American South, the life experiences of band members, particularly Levon Helm, and movies of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel.
The original members of The Band performed the "The Weight" as an American Southern folk song with country music (vocals, guitars and drums) and gospel music (piano and organ) elements. The lyrics, written in the first-person, are about a traveler's experiences arriving, visiting, and departing a town called Nazareth. The singers, led by Helm, vocalize the traveler's encounters with people in the town from the perspective of a Bible Belt American Southerner, like Helm himself, a native of rural Arkansas. After Helm's death in 2012, Robertson, who was raised in Canada, described how visits to the Memphis, Tennessee area, around which Helm grew up, affected him and influenced his songwriting:
"To me ... going there was like going to the source. Because I was at such a vulnerable age then, it made a really big impact on me. Just that I had the honor joining up with this group and then even going to this place, which was close to a religious experience – even being able to put my feet on the ground there, because I was from Canada, right? So it was like, 'Woah, this is where this music grows in the ground, and [flows from] the Mississippi river. My goodness.' It very much affected my songwriting and, because I knew Levon's musicality so well, I wanted to write songs that I thought he could sing better than anybody in the world.
"While I was there, I was just gathering images and names, and ideas and rhythms, and I was storing all of these things ... in my mind somewhere. And when it was time to sit down and write songs, when I reached into the attic to see what I was gonna write about, that's what was there. I just felt a strong passion toward the discovery of going there, and it opened my eyes, and all my senses were overwhelmed by the feeling of that place. When I sat down to write songs, that's all I could think of at the time."
The colorful characters in "The Weight" were based on real people members of The Band knew, as Levon Helm explained in his autobiography, This Wheel's on Fire. In particular, "young Anna Lee" mentioned in the third verse is Helm's longtime friend Anna Lee Amsden, and, according to her, "Carmen" and "Crazy Chester" were people from Helm's hometown, Turkey Scratch, Arkansas.
According to Robertson, "The Weight" was inspired by the movies of Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel. Buñuel's films are known for their surreal imagery and criticism of organized religion, particularly Roman Catholicism. While the song's lyrics and music invoke vivid imagery and the main character's perspective is influenced by the Bible, the song's episodic story was inspired by the predicaments Buñuel's film characters faced that undermined their goals for maintaining or improving their moral character. Of this, Robertson once stated:
"(Buñuel) did so many films on the impossibility of sainthood. People trying to be good in Viridiana and Nazarin, people trying to do their thing. In "The Weight" it's the same thing. People like Buñuel would make films that had these religious connotations to them but it wasn't necessarily a religious meaning. In Buñuel there were these people trying to be good and it's impossible to be good. In "The Weight" it was this very simple thing. Someone says, "Listen, would you do me this favour? When you get there will you say 'hello' to somebody or will you give somebody this or will you pick up one of these for me? Oh? You're going to Nazareth, that's where the Martin guitar factory is. Do me a favour when you're there." This is what it's all about. So the guy goes and one thing leads to another and it's like "Holy shit, what's this turned into? I've only come here to say 'hello' for somebody and I've got myself in this incredible predicament." It was very Buñuelish to me at the time."
The traveler begins "The Weight" by giving the impression that he is visiting the Holy Land. The traveler is weary from his long journey alone in a truck or automobile (e.g., "feelin' half past dead"), and is refused a place to stay and sleep, as in the New Testament Gospel of Luke story of Joseph and Mary prior to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Bethlehem. In the town, the traveler encounters people with names taken from Biblical characters – the Devil, Miss Moses, and Luke. The traveler encounters others, including Carmen walking with the Devil, who the traveler meets while trying to find a hidden place to sleep. The traveler asks Carmen to go downtown with him. She responds by telling the traveler that she has something else to do but the Devil "can stick around" with him. The traveler wrecks his vehicle (e.g. "rack" which is also spelled "wrack"). and meets Crazy Chester, who offers to repair it if the traveler takes his vicious dog named Jack. The chorus and last verse mention Miss Fanny (not intended to be sung as "Annie"). who had charged the traveler the responsibility (e.g., "The Weight" or "load") for giving "her regards to everyone" in the town. In the final verse, the traveler leaves Nazareth, dispirited by his experiences (e.g. "my bag is sinking low"). Having failed to have his vehicle repaired, the traveler catches a "cannon ball" (e.g., a train, as in the American folk song "Wabash Cannonball") to go back to see Miss Fanny.
The traveler's apparent visit to a holy city was a goal of the writer and composer, Robbie Robertson, who located the story in Nazareth, because Nazareth, Pennsylvania is the hometown of the C.F. Martin & Company, a famed, long-time producer of guitars and other musical instruments. Such a city might be considered "holy" to American musicians and their friends. In the third verse, the traveler characterizes, using only Biblical references, a disagreement between two friends, Miss Moses and Luke. The traveler tells Miss Moses, "Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say" to Luke, using the Negro spiritual song of liberation "Go Down Moses" to associate her with the African-American civil rights struggle, a crisis that transformed America throughout the 1960s. (In the spiritual, Moses's God commands him to "Tell old Pharaoh, 'Let my people go.'") In doing so, the traveler tells Miss Moses that it is futile to persuade Luke to join or support the movement since his friend is preoccupied with "waitin' on the Judgement Day." Though Luke refuses to participate, he is so concerned that he asks the traveler to stay in Nazareth to take care of the young girl, Anna Lee. In addition, the song's characters have high spiritual meaning to the traveler because the earthly characters mentioned in the song were based on real people The Band knew. However, the traveler's mission, that started with a religious-like fervor, fails to uplift him. At each turn, the people Miss Fanny asks him to meet disappoint him. At the end, by leaving Nazareth, the traveler abandons Anna Lee, his broken vehicle, and his commitment to Fanny, though he is not so disaffected that he travels back to return to Fanny, an indicator of the strength of their relationship that is an uplifting experience to the listener.
63. Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?
11.28.1984
Adam Clayton (U2)/Phil Collins (Genesis)/Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)/Steve Norman (Spandau Ballet)/Chris Cross (Ultravox)/John Taylor (Duran Duran)/Paul Young/Tony Hadley (Spandau Ballet)/Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17)/Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran)/Simon Crowe (The Boomtown Rats)/Marilyn
Keren Woodward (Bananarama)/Martin Kemp (Spandau Ballet)/Jody Watley (Shalamar)/Bono (U2)/Paul Weller (The Style Council)/James "J.T." Taylor (Kool & the Gang)/George Michael (Wham!)/Midge Ure (Ultravox)/Martyn Ware (Heaven 17)
John Keeble (Spandau Ballet)/Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet)/Roger Taylor (Duran Duran)/Sara Dallin (Bananarama)/Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama)/Pete Briquette (The Boomtown Rats)/Francis Rossi (Status Quo)/Robert 'Kool' Bell (Kool & the Gang)/
Dennis J. T. Thomas (Kool & the Gang)/Andy Taylor (Duran Duran)/Jon Moss (Culture Club)/Sting (The Police)/Rick Parfitt (Status Quo)/Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran)/Johnny Fingers (The Boomtown Rats)/David Bowie/Boy George (Culture Club)
Holly Johnson (Frankie Goes to Hollywood)/Paul McCartney/Stuart Adamson (Big Country)/Bruce Watson (Big Country)/Tony Butler (Big Country)/Mark Brzezicki (Big Country)
Musicians:
John Taylor (Duran Duran) - bass
Phil Collins (Genesis) - drums
Midge Ure (Ultravox) - keyboards
Gary Kemp (Spandau Ballet) - guitar
Jon Moss (Culture Club) - Percussion/Bells
Tears for Fears - Drum Samples from the track 'The Hurting'
Do They Know It's Christmas? is a song written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise money for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia.
In October 1984, a BBC report by Michael Buerk was aired in the UK, which highlighted the famine that had hit the people of Ethiopia. Irish singer Bob Geldof saw the report and wanted to raise money. He called Midge Ure from Ultravox and together they quickly co-wrote the song, "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
Geldof kept a November appointment with BBC Radio 1 DJ Richard Skinner to appear on his show, but instead of discussing his new album (the original reason for his booking), he used his airtime to publicise the idea for the charity single, so by the time the musicians were recruited there was intense media interest in the subject. Geldof put together a group called Band Aid, consisting of leading British and Irish musicians who were among the most popular of the era. The 1984 original became the biggest selling single in UK Singles Chart history, selling a million copies in the first week alone. It stayed at Number 1 for five weeks, becoming Christmas number one, and has sold 3.7 million copies domestically. It remained the highest selling single in UK chart history until 1997, when Elton John's "Candle in the Wind 1997" was released in tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, which sold almost 5 million copies in Britain. Worldwide, the single had sold 11.8 million copies by 1989.
64. Band Aid II - Do They Know It's Christmas?
12.11.1989
Bananarama/Big Fun/Bros/Cathy Dennis/D Mob/Jason Donovan/Kevin Godley/Glen Goldsmith/Kylie Minogue/The Pasadenas/Chris Rea/Cliff Richard/Jimmy Somerville/
Sonia/Lisa Stansfield/Technotronic/Wet Wet Wet
Musicians:
Mike Stock - keyboards
Matt Aitken - keyboards & guitar
Chris Rea - guitar
Luke Goss (Bros) - drums
This version, released in 1989 was produced by British songwriting and production team formed of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman known as Stock Aitken Waterman. The only artists from the original Band Aid to be featured again on this version were Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward of Bananarama. This version topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, but ultimately achieved far less historical significance and status than its predecessor.
On Friday 1 December 1989, Bob Geldof called Pete Waterman to ask if he would consider producing a new version of the song featuring the big stars from that time. Waterman immediately cancelled his wedding (planned for that very day) and began calling up the artists. With just two days' notice, on Sunday 3 December, recording took place at PWL Studios in South London. Present in the studio was Bob Geldof, wife Paula Yates and six-year-old daughter, Fifi Trixiebelle, who was eager to meet Jason Donovan.
Production continued through the Monday, and by Tuesday 5 December the song was aired for the first time on London's Capital Radio. Advance sales of the record reached 500,000 and a number-one was inevitable. The song was released the following week on 11 December and spent three weeks at number one, becoming the 9th biggest selling song of the year, outselling Madonna's "Like a Prayer".
65. Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas?
11.29.2004
Bono (U2)/Daniel Bedingfield/Natasha Bedingfield/Busted/Chris Martin (Coldplay)/Dido – performed separately from a studio in Melbourne/Dizzee Rascal – the only artist to add lyrics to the song/Ms Dynamite/Skye Edwards (Morcheeba)/Estelle/Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy)/Justin Hawkins (The Darkness)/Jamelia/Tom Chaplin (Keane)/Tim Rice-Oxley (Keane)/Beverley Knight/ Lemar/Shaznay Lewis (formerly of All Saints)/Katie Melua/Róisín Murphy (Moloko)
Feeder/Snow Patrol/Rachel Stevens/Joss Stone/Sugababes/The Thrills/Turin Brakes/Robbie Williams – performed separately from a studio in Los Angeles/ Will Young/Fran Healy (Travis)
Musicians:
Danny Goffey (Supergrass) – (drums)
Thom Yorke – (piano) and
Jonny Greenwood – (guitar) – (Radiohead)
Sir Paul McCartney – (bass guitar)
Justin Hawkins and Dan Hawkins (The Darkness) – (guitar)
The Band Aid 20 single was actually doubled when it was first played simultaneously on The Chris Moyles Show (on BBC Radio 1) and the breakfast shows on Virgin and Capital radio, at 8am on 16 November 2004. The video was first broadcast in the UK simultaneously over multiple channels, including the five UK terrestrial channels, at 5.55pm on 18 November 2004, with an introduction by Madonna.
One of the new ways to buy the song, by downloading it from the internet, hit a problem when Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store initially refused to supply it, due to their fixed-pricing policy. A partial solution was reached after a few days, enabling UK users to download the song at the standard iTunes price, with Apple donating an extra amount (equivalent to the price difference) to the Band Aid Trust.
The single sold 72,000 copies in the first 24 hours when it was released on 29 November 2004, and went straight in at No. 1 in the UK charts on 5 December 2004. The CD version sold over 200,000 copies in the first week, and became the fastest-selling single of the year. It stayed at No. 1 for Christmas and the week after, all in all holding onto the top spot for four weeks, just one week shorter than the original had done in 1984.
66. Barry Manilow - I Write the Songs
11.15.1975
The original version was recorded by The Captain & Tennille, who worked with Johnston in the early 1970s with The Beach Boys. It appears on their 1975 album, Love Will Keep Us Together. The first release of I Write the Songs as a single was by then teen-idol David Cassidy from his 1975 solo album The Higher They Climb, which was also produced by Bruce Johnston. Cassidy's version reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart in August of that year.
(Captain and Tennile Version)
Manilow was initially reluctant to record the song, stating in his autobiography Sweet Life: "The problem with the song was that if you didn't listen carefully to the lyric, you would think that the singer was singing about himself. It could be misinterpreted as a monumental ego trip." After persuasion by Clive Davis, then president of Arista Records, Manilow recorded the song, and his version of "I Write the Songs" was the first single taken from the album Tryin' to Get the Feeling. It first charted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15, 1975, reaching the top of the chart nine weeks later, on January 17, 1976.
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