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Most awarded songs #11

“unable to interpret any of the wording”

Creedence-Clearwater-Revival — Stu, John, Doug, Tom

Now the countdown begins in earnest. With the list of some of the most awarded songs #11, we’re talking about the songs pop music aficionados of the 20th century surely know. So do Grammy and Oscar voters, as well as those folks who create those lists for Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and more.

50. Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan. “Rolling Stone listed it at No. 1 on their 2004 and 2010 ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ lists.”

49. Louie Louie – The Kingsmen. Richard Berry wrote this in 1955 and released a recording in 1957. But it’s the Kingsmen version in 1963 that made its mark. It’s chaotic, raw, and sloppy, with the singer coming in too early after an instrumental break. “The FBI started a 31-month investigation into the matter and concluded they were ‘unable to interpret any of the wording in the record.'” That actually added to the song’s allure.

48. When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge. Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright were members of the Esquires, which Percy Sledge fronted. The two are credited with writing the song, but Sledge thought that his changes warranted a co-writing designation.

47. I Heard It Through The Grapevine – Marvin Gaye. The third version of the song from Motown. Berry Gordy nixed The Miracles’version. Gladys Knight and the Pips had a hit. But Marvin’s version became the monster. It became overplayed when the movie The Big Chill came out.

This is NOT a good wedding song

46. Every Breath You Take – The Police. This is a song about stalking and the breakup of Sting’s marriage. So the songwriter is bemused when people tell him they had the song played at their weddings.

45. Don’t Be Cruel – Elvis Presley. It was written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. A two-sided hit with Hound Dog.

44. In The Midnight Hour – Wilson Pickett. “The song was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis, later (April 1968) the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.” It might have been a bigger pop hit except that the powers that be thought it was too suggestive.

43. Earth Angel – The Penguins. “The original demo version became an unexpected hit.” Songwriting credits were in dispute for years. A vocal group from Canada named the Crew-Cuts did a cover and actually had the bigger pop hit.

42. Peggy Sue – Buddy Holly. The song was written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty, although they insisted Holly receive a credit after he had died in 1959.

41. Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival. This was the first of five singles by the band to peak at Number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1953: #1 hits the year I was born

Stalin died

Les.Roger.backporch — Les and Roger Green, back porch of 5 Gaines St, 2nd floor, 1953

It’s time for the #1 hits the year I was born, 1953, when I arranged the armistice which ended the Korean conflict and ordered Stalin to go away.

I’ve noticed that many of my friends who were born in the mid-1960s and later know the sensations of their natal year. I suppose a lot of that was them hearing the songs on oldies stations.

But the early 1950s was a bit of a neverland, neither the big band tunes of the 1930s and 1940s nor the rock and roll era that started c. 1955.

As it turned out, someone gave me a CD of the hits of that fateful annum. It came out in 2006 from SONY/BMG. Not all were #1s, but it did give me a more profound background about that year of music. The ones marked with an asterisk (*)were on the album.

All these #1s below, except No Other Love, were certified gold records. You will note there are 72 weeks represented because there were multiple charts involving sales, radio airplay, and jukebox play.

Songs

Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You) – Les Paul and Mary Ford, eleven weeks at #1

The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart) – Percy Faith with Fecilia Sanders on vocals, ten weeks at #1

*You You You – The Ames Brothers, eight weeks at #1 . I most remember Ed Ames from a hatchet demonstration he performed on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson

*RagsTo Riches – Tony Bennett with the Percy Faith Orchestra, eight weeks at #1

The Doggie In The Window – Patti Page, eight weeks at #1. My mother sang this novelty song around the house when I was growing up.

Till I Waltz With You Again – Teresa Brewer, seven weeks at #1

I’m Walking Behind You – Eddie Fisher, seven weeks at #1. That’s Sally Sweetland on harmony vocals

*Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes -Perry Como, five weeks at #1

No Other Love – Perry Como, four weeks at #1. From the musical Me and Juliet by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

St. George and the Dragonet – Stan Freburg, four weeks at #1, novelty

There were lower-charting songs I know quite well: Dean Martin’s That’s Amore (#2), Eh, Cumpare by Julius LaRosa (#2), and Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby (#3).

Familiar songs from the album include Satin Doll by Duke Ellington, Venezuela by Harry Belafonte, and The Four Lads’ version of Istanbul.

For all you 1953 enthusiasts, 161 songs.

May rambling: potential dangers

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Demographic Profiles for the New York Counties from the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics. Highlights: The median age in New York State was 39.0 in 2020, up 1 year from 2010 (38.0). Between 2010 and 2020, the median age in New York State rose 1.3 years for men (36.3 to 37.6) and 1.0 years for women (39.4 to 40.4).

Visualized: The Decline of Affordable Housing in the U.S.

Andy Warhol Ruling Limits Fair Use for Copyrighted Images, With Far-Reaching Hollywood Implications

These words made it into the African American English Dictionary

At 81, Martha Stewart is the oldest person to be featured in Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue

Unprepared Republicans Are Flooding Into the Presidential Race

Life and Death

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Tina Turner by THR, the New York Times, Gloria Reuben, Variety, CBS Sunday Morning profile (2018)

Kareem: Jim Brown and me.

JC Glindmyer of Earthworld Comics in Albany died on May 8 at 65. I had just seen him at Free Comic Book Day on May 6. He was always good to me. Here’s a 2004 profile by Alan David Doane

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MUSIC

Coverville 1442: Adele Cover Story and Coverville 1443: The Paul Weller (The Jam & Style Council) Cover Story and Coverville 1444: The Tina Turner Tribute

We Don’t Need Another HeroWe Don’t Need Another Hero – Tina Turner

Sentimental Me – Ames Brothers

Try To Remember (from “The Fantasticks”) – Ed Ames

The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakoff.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josh Groban, and the current casts of Hamilton and Sweeney Todd get together outside the Richard Rodgers Theater on W. 46th Street in New York to merge their musicals

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2

The Best TV Theme Songs of the Past 25 Years

Mtzyri – Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov,

DISNEY PRINCESS CELL BLOCK TANGO, a Disney princess parody

The Music Man excerpt in Japanese

Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna – Franz von Suppe

Most awarded songs #10

mondegreen of long duration

More fun with tunes that are among the most awarded songs #10. I own every one of them in some form. Here are some of your Grammy and Oscar winners. They’ve been touted by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, NPR, and others.

60. A Change Is Going To Come – Sam Cooke. If you saw the biopic One Night in Miami, you get a sense of the importance of this song on society at that point. He was inspired by Bob Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind. Cooke chose to share feelings he had from dealing with discrimination, at hotels, e.g., that he experienced. Unfortunately, he was killed on December 12, 1964, two weeks before the song was released as a single.

59. I Only Have Eyes For You – The Flamingoes. Quoting me: “I hear those first three or four chords and I am always surprised how it leads to such a lush tune. My first favorite song, probably for 30 years.”

58. Layla – Derek and the Dominoes. I loved this song when I was in college. My neighbors Howie and Debi had a cat named Layla, who was a sister to our cat Doris. It is, of course, about Clapton’s longing for his friend George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. Rita Coolidge has claimed credit for co-creating the piano part, a segment that her then-boyfriend Jim Gordon was playing the tune during the album sessions.

57. Losing My Religion – R.E.M. I could always relate to this song.

56. Imagine – John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. I’m on record of having overdosed on this recording and especially all of the covers. Still, I’m glad that John had a signature song by which he’ll be remembered. His son Julian sang it to support the Ukrainians recently.

“Picket lines and picket signs”

55. What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye. Berry Gordy famously wasn’t a fan at first.

54. You Send Me – Sam Cooke. Cooke took a lot of grief for abandoning the gospel music with the Soul Stirrers. Still, this song is pretty tame for such outrage.

53. I Walk The Line – Johnny Cash. as his first big hit – #1 country, #17 pop in 1957 – it is the song I most associate with him. A biopic about him and June Carter was titled Walk The Line.

52. Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison. Apparently, because of signing a bad contract with Bang Records, Morrison never made a cent on his first, and signature hit.

51. California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and The Papas. They were listed as The Mama’s and the Papa’s on their first big single. Here is was one of the mondegreens I lived with for the longest time:
Stopped into a church
I passed along the way
Well, I got down on my knees (got down on my knees)
And I pretend to pray (I pretend to pray)
but I heard
And I began to pray
Moreover, I’ve heard a number of cover versions that made the same mistake.

The most awarded songs #9

murder ballad about the 1866 death of Laura Foster

Hey, kids! I know you want even more of the most awarded songs #9. They’ve picked up Grammys and Oscars. They’ve been cited by Rolling Stone magazine, RIAA, ASCAP, CMA, and NPR. For all I know, maybe AARP.

70. I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Joan Jett heard The Arrows play their version on a UK TV show, a year after they recorded it in 1975. This I hadn’t heard: “She first recorded the song in 1979 with two of the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones and Paul Cook.” Then she re-recorded it with the Blackhearts two years later.

69. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival. John Fogerty said that the song “speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself. It’s the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them.” Got that right.

68. Stand By Your Man – Tammy Wynette. It was a crossover hit, #1 country for three weeks in 1968. In early ’69, it went to #11 adult contemporary and even #19 pop. Lyle Lovett did a cover, which shows up at the end of the 1992 movie The Crying Game.

67. Georgia On My Mind – Ray Charles. It was a Hoagy Carmichael song from 1930. Three decades later, Brother Ray had a #1 pop hit. In 1979, Ray Charles’s version was designated the official state song of the Peach State.

66. Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone – The Temptations. Dennis Edwards said in an interview that the long instrumental intro made him so angry that he barked out that first line, just the way producer Norman Whitfield wanted. This was the last of the Tempts’ four #1 pop hits.

A bad mother…

65. Theme from Shaft – Isaac Hayes. The movie Shaft had a black director, a primarily black cast, and music composed and performed by a black artist. In 1971, this was a BFD. The theme has entered the culture, from Sesame Street and The Simpsons to The Wire and The X-Files. “Damn right.”

64. I Can’t Stop Loving You – Ray Charles. The song was from a B-side by Don Gibson in 1958. Brother Ray’s take went to number one on the U.S. R and B (10 weeks!), pop (5 weeks), and Adult Contemporary (5 weeks) charts in 1962. It was a hit in the UK and Sweden too.

63. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley. His first hit on his new label RCA Victor in 1956. “Presley accepted [Mae Boren] Axton’s offer of a third of the royalties if he made the song his first single on his new label.”

62. The Thrill Is Gone – B.B. King. Roy Hawkins’ recording of the song got to #6 on the Billboard R and B chart in 1951. It was written by Hawkins and fellow West Coast blues musician Rick Darnell. But King’s version in 1970 went to #3 R and B, #15 pop, and became one of his signature songs.

61. Tom Dooley – The Kingston Trio. A lot Most of my father’s folk collection was of black musicians such as Leadbelly, Harry Belafonte, and Odetta. But surely the Kingston Trio was represented, for I recall hearing this song in my home. This is a murder ballad about the 1866 death of a woman named Laura Foster by a guy named Tom Dula, with a poem by Thomas Land written shortly thereafter. The first recording of the song was c. 1929.