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The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten Facts


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Just a bit more from wikipedia:

Released May, 1978

Recorded February-March 1978

Written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott.

Producer Harry Vanda, George Young, Angus Young.

"Sin City" was the fifth track on the American release and the sixth track on the European release of AC/DC's eighth album, Powerage. The song is four minutes and forty five seconds long on the American release, and four minutes and forty seconds on the European release. The lyrics were written by Ronald (Bon) Scott. The music was written by Angus Young and Malcolm Young. In the song, the term "Sin City" refers to the city of Las Vegas. This song includes Cliff Williams' first bass solo in an AC/DC song.

This song was also covered by the punk rock band The Offspring and Bruce Dickinson did a cover on his solo album Tattooed Millionaire.

The producers are Harry Vanda (from Holland) and George Young (from Scottland), the most important songwriters/producers in Australia. They met in 1964 in Sydney, working in a hotel, and formed The Easybeats.

The Vanda-Young team formed Flash and The Pan in the late seventies.

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The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #106

A massive FIVE songs are missing from the songfacts database this week!

Spinning Wheel - Blood, Sweat & Tears (1969)

My Back Pages - Bob Dylan & Friends (1993)

Mighty Quinn, The - Manfred Mann (1968)

Every Planet We Reach Is Dead - Gorillaz (2005)

Tight Rope - Leon Russell (1972)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

The Songfish thanks you.

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"Spinning Wheel"

"Blood, Sweat and Tears"

Written by David Clayton-Tomas.

Released in 1969 in their second album, "Blood, Sweat and Tears"

from allmusic:

A simple, funky piano riff drives this excellent karmic period piece, which combines pop, soul, rock and a hint of psychedelic color together to create one of Blood, Sweat & Tears' most lasting classics. According to drummer Bobby Colomby, "Stylistically, [it] was simple enough for us to have fun with it, and make an almost comedic, overblown arrangement of a very simple tune." It is a deceptively simple song, but like their previous hit, "And When I Die," the arrangement creates a mini-suite, and it fit the progressive airwaves like a glove in summer of 1969.

Charts: #1 Adult Contemporary

#2 Pop Singles

"My Back pages"

Bob Dylan and friends

Written by Bob Dylan. From his second album, "Another Side of Bob Dylan", 1964.

from wiki: ...its lyrics and in particular the refrain ("Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now.") seem intended to mark a rejection of much of Dylan's earlier personal idealism, and disillusionment with the "protest scene" he was associated with.

Bob Dylan said:

"My God, did I write that line? I was in my New York phase then, or at least, I was just coming out of it. I was still keeping the things that are really really real out of my songs, for fear they'd be misunderstood. Now I don't care if they are."

From wikipedia: A memorable live version was performed by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn and Tom Petty during Bob Dylan's 30th anniversary concert celebration in New York City, October 1992. The recording includes vocals from McGuinn, Tom Petty, Young, Clapton, Dylan and George Harrison (with guitar solos by Clapton and Young).

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"Tight Rope"

Leon Russell

Written by Leon Russell. Released in 1972 in his third solo studio album "Carney" and also as a single. It was his only pop hit and it reached #11.

From allmusic:

A jaunty, almost ragtime feel surrounds this song, which became Leon Russell's first hit as a solo artist. Utilizing the metaphor of a circus to relate to the life of a rock musician, it's a unique and accurate parable. Multiple keyboards and slide guitar create a retro-1920s feel, which was unusual for an early-'70s record, but it remains a fine piece of craftsmanship and indeed has aged well. Several piano solos by Russell underline his awesome command of the instrument, as usual. The song went to number 11 on the pop charts in Autumn of 1971.

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The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #7

THREE songs we don't have on Songfacts as yet:

Guitar Man, The - Bread (1972)

Junior's Farm - Paul McCartney & Wings (1974)

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - The Pogues (1985)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

The Songfish thanks you.

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From Wikipedia:

"Junior's Farm" is a song written by Paul McCartney and recorded by Paul McCartney and Wings. A #3 hit single in the US, it was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1974, while the band was staying at the farm of Curly Putman Jr., which accounts for the title. The song continued McCartney and Wings' success after the Band on the Run album. However it only made #16 on the British charts.

A special full-colour photo was taken for this single's sleeve, which featured the members of Wings dressed in appropriate costumes from the song's lyrics (for example, Geoff Britton as a poker dealer and Denny Laine as the "Eskimo"). However, the photo only appeared on the picture sleeve of the single in Spain (see alternate cover Here ). In the UK, a black-and-white photo of Wings was used instead, and in the US, Apple Records released the single without any picture sleeve.

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From Wikipedia:

([smallest]of course[/smallest])

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song, written by Eric Bogle in 1972, describing the futility, gruesome reality and the destruction of war, while criticising those who seek to glorify it. This is exemplified in the song by the account of a young Australian soldier on his maiming during the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.

The song incorporates the melody and a few lines of "Waltzing Matilda's" lyrics at its conclusion. Many cover versions of the song have been performed and recorded.

The song is often praised for its haunting imagery of the devastation at Gallipoli. The protagonist, a rover before the war, in the story loses his legs in the battle, and later notes the passing of other veterans with time, as younger generations become apathetic to the veterans and their cause.

Larrikin Publishing is the copyright holder of the song.

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Yes Martin, their version was released as "Mighty Quinn" in the U.K. :thumbsup:

Then early pressings of the 45 in the U.S. showed it as "Quinn The Eskimo", but it was changed to "Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo)" (no The at the start). As Songfacts is a U.S. site, I'd suggest going with that title.

Confusing ! Like Fats Domino's "Ain't IT A Shame", which became known as "Aint THAT A Shame" when Pat Boone covered it - like a wet blanket.

:)

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Thanks Lea, Farin & Darryl.

I check for alternate titles when I know them, but I often don't.

As for the Bread song that was already on here, I don't know how I missed it. Anyway...

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #108

THREE songs this week:

Rock'n'Roll High School - Ramones (1979)

Darkness, Darkness - The Youngbloods (1969)

Gimme Gimme Good Lovin' - Crazy Elephant (1968)

If you have any info on any of the songs mentioned anywhere in this thread, please feel free to post your knowledge here. Submissions on songs will be collated and sent to the main site and you will receive credit for your contribution.

The Songfish thanks you.

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"Gimme Gimme Good Lovin´"

Crazy Elephant

Written by Richie Cordell and Joey Levine.

from wiki, some artistfacts:

Crazy Elephant was a short-lived American bubblegum pop band noted for their 1969 hit single, "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'". Crazy Elephant was a studio concoction, created by Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz of Super K Productions. Ex Cadillac member Robert Spencer was widely utilised on lead vocals, though future 10cc member Kevin Godley took lead vocals on "There Ain't No Umbopo", recorded at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, and released on the Bell label in May 1970. A touring group was formed later for promotional purposes. The bassist on "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" was Gary Gaynor,a local studio musician.

allmusic:

Crazy Elephant was one of the seemingly endless aliases employed by the Kasenetz-Katz production duo to market their bubblegum hits of the late 1960s. Primarily a vehicle for session vocalist Robert Spencer — previously known for his performance with the Cadillacs' post "Speedo" — Crazy Elephant was the name appended to the Kasenetz-Katz production of the song "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'"; after the master was rejected by Buddah Records, the Super K Productions duo's primary outlet, they instead shopped the track to the Bell label, for whom it fell just shy of the U.S. Top Ten in 1969. Despite the single's success, however, Crazy Elephant failed to reach the charts again, instead becoming yet another interchangeable cog in the Kasenetz-Katz hit machine.

...and some songfacts:

Crazy Elephant's "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin'" (b/w "The Dark Part of My Mind") was a transatlantic one-hit wonder, making #12 both on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the UK Singles Chart.

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"Darkness, Darkness"

The Youngbloods

Written by Jesse Colin Young in 1969. Released in their album "Elephant Mountain"

According wikipedia:

During the Vietnam War it was also considered an "anthem" to the soldiers for it described what they felt while in the jungles.

Allmusic´s review:

One of the Youngbloods finest artistic statements, "Darkness, Darkness" utilizes the title to cast an atmosphere that was prevalent at the time of its recording in the late '60s. The social/political atmosphere was indeed dark by 1969, and the 1960s youth culture dream was slipping fast; this song communicates these emotions perfectly. A dark, folkish minor-chord melody guides the song along with some mellow chord changes. Aside from writer/singer Jessie Colin Young's clear tenor, the song's guitar work shows off lead guitarists Banana's fabulous, almost Jerry Garcia-inspired chops, with a fabulously compressed mix. An FM radio staple, it's available on almost any Youngbloods compilation on RCA as well as DCC's excellent The Golden Age of Underground Radio, Vol. 1.

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From Wikipedia:

Rock 'n' Roll High School" is a song by the punk rock group, The Ramones. It was featured in the soundtrack for the movie, Rock 'n' Roll High School. It was ranked number 67 on the UK Singles Chart.

Most of the stuff I found is about the movie. This is all I can find about the song it's self.

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