Jump to content

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten Facts


Recommended Posts

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #120

THREE songs this week:

Sweet City Woman - The Stampeders (1971)

Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale (1979)

Let's Groove - Earth, Wind and Fire (1981

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 2.8k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

"Let´s Groove"

Earthh, Wind and Fire

Written by Maurice White, Wayne Vaughn

Released in 1981 as a single and as a track of their album "Raise". One of their biggest hits. It reached #3 both in American and UK charts.

From Wikipedia:

The song has been sampled in the 1991 single "Skat Strut" by MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob.

B5 also made a remix for the soundtrack of Kronk's New Groove in 2005.

The song was covered in 1995 by R&B band CDB in Australia, where it went platinum.

It makes an appearance in "Scarface: The World Is Yours" under 80's music.

The song has been sampled for the song Speed Disco Vol. 1 on DJ Sharpnel's SRPC-0017

-
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 3

U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 3

U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 1

UK Singles Chart 3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right Back Where We Started From" is a single by British R&B singer Maxine Nightingale released off her 1976 album of the same name. Released as Nightingale's debut single in 1976, the single was her biggest hit in the United States, reaching #2. The single also reached the top 10 in the UK and Canada.

The song is a favorite among hockey fans, as the song was played in many scenes of the Paul Newman film, Slap Shot.

A 1989 cover of "Right Back Where We Started From" by Sinitta made it to the #4 spot in the UK.

The girl group, Cleopatra, sang this song in the animated Disney film, An Extremely Goofy Movie.

First signed to Pye Records in the early 1970s, she recorded such singles as "Love on Borrowed Time" while appearing in the West End productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Savages. In 1975, she switched labels to United Artists, and with the collaboration of record producers J. Vincent Edwards and Pierre Tubbs, she recorded the album Right Back Where We Started From, which yielded the titular hit single. United Artists took time trying to gain her recognition in the United States (she was only moderately known in the UK), and scheduled her appearances on American Bandstand and The Mike Douglas Show. As a result, "Right Back Where We Started From" rose to #2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the beginning of May 1976, and peaked at #8 in the UK Singles Chart.

Other Top 40 hits followed, including the song "Love Hit Me" (which reached #11 in the UK in 1977) and a cover of the Delfonics' song "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", which entered the dance charts. In the U.S., however, Nightingale found it initially difficult to match the success of "Right Back Where We Started From". Then in 1979, Nightingale released the single "Lead Me On", which rose to #5 in the United States and spent seven weeks at number one on Billboard's Adult Contemporary singles chart. The follow-up, "(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me," was her last entry on the U.S. pop charts. Nightingale released one album a year until 1980, when she decided to retire from regular recordings. While compiling a greatest hits album in 1982, she performed a duet called "Turn to Me" with Jimmy Ruffin which entered the U.S. R&B Top 20.

Nightingale more recently recorded a jazz CD, based on her performances at B.B. King's Club at Universal Studios Hollywood.

She appears in the PBS music special My Music, alongside Patti LaBelle, the Commodores, Heatwave and many more. Her song, "Right Back Where We Started From", has appeared in numerous films including Slap Shot; Yours, Mine and Ours; Starsky and Hutch and most recently The Family Stone.

As of February 2008[1], Maxine Nightingale is touring to all parts of Australia to perform her 1970s hits. In May 2008 Nightingale rehearsed at Sydney's Stagedoor Studios to prepare for her upcoming gig with Guy Sebastian, who has penned the theme song for World Youth Day 2008.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Right Back Where We Started From (1975)

Night Life (1977)

Love Lines (1978)

Lead Me On (1979)

Bittersweet (1980)

It's a Beautiful Thing (1982)

Cry for Love (1986)

[edit] Singles

"Right Back Where We Started From" (UK #8, U.S. #2, Canada #5) (1976)

"Gotta Be the One" (U.S. #53) (1976)

"Love Hit Me" (UK #11) (1977)

"Lead Me On" (U.S. #5, U.S. #1 Adult Contemporary/7 wks.) (1979)

"(Bringing Out) The Girl in Me" (U.S. #73) (1979)

"Turn to Me" (U.S. R&B #19) (1982)

Wikipedia

Edited by Guest
Link to comment
Share on other sites

source

There was also an Audio CD "Sweet City Woman" Originaly Released in 1973.

source

In the summer of 1971, the banjo laced, country-rocker, "Sweet City Woman" raced up the charts to the Number One position across Canada, catching the attention of the American label, Bell Records. The band was signed immediately and Bell rush-released the single in the U.S. "Sweet City Woman" climbed the Billboard chart, reaching the number 8 spot on September 11th, 1971. The band would later recall the time they heard "Sweet City Woman" on radio station WABC in New York City, as the number one record of the week. They pulled over to the side of the road at four-o'clock in the morning, while enroute back to Toronto from a gig, and jumped around the car with excitement. Bell Records also promoted the "Against The Grain" album, renaming it "Sweet City Woman" for the U.S. market, to capitalize on the success of the single.

At The Juno Awards, Canada's equivalent of the Grammys, The Stampeders won 'Best Vocal- Instrumental Group', 'Best Single', 'Best Composer' as well as 'Best Producer' for "Sweet City Woman". At the request of their UK label, EMI, The Stampeders toured The United Kingdom in 1972. Upon their arrival however, they discovered that their American hit, "Sweet City Woman," had already been covered by The Dave Clark Five. Despite this, the band played at the Marquee in London, the Hard-Rock Theatre in Manchester and appearances on BBC Radio and "Top Of The Pops". A short European tour followed.

In November, 2005, it was announced that "Sweet City Woman" would be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Toronto in February, 2006.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #121

Three songs not on Songfacts this week:

I've Gotta Get A Message To You - Bee Gees (1968)

Woman From Tokyo - Deep Purple (1973)

I Wish - Stevie Wonder (1976)

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Woman From Tokyo

From the album “Who Do We Think We Are?†Released January 1973. It peaked at #15 in the US, #4 in the UK, Finland and Germany and went to #1 in both Sweden & Norway and went Gold. In March they released “Woman From Tokyo†backed by “Black Night (live 1972)†in Germany that peaked at #16. In the US they released “Woman From Tokyo†backed with “Super Trouper†that peaked at #60

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I´ve Gotta Get A Message To You"

The Bee Gees

Written by Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb/Maurice Gibb. Released in July 198 as a track of their album "Idea" and also as a single. The B-side was "Kitty Can".

Wikiepedia:

...it became their second #1 single on the UK Singles Chart, and reached #8 in the U.S. charts.

The song is about a man who, condemned to die in the electric chair, begs the prison chaplain to pass a final message on to his wife. Robin Gibb, who wrote the lyrics, said that the man's crime was the murder of his wife's lover. He came up with the idea following a row with his wife and originally conceived the song with Percy Sledge in mind.

The song appeared on the US edition of the Bee Gees' third album Idea. The Vince Melouney track "Such A Shame" appeared instead in the UK but both songs feature on the CD.

It was #1 for a week, being replaced by "Hey Jude".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"I Wish"

Stevie Wonder

Written by Stevie Wonder

Released as a single in 1976 with "You and I" as the B-side.

A track of his LP "Songs In The Key Of Life".

It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on Billboard's Hot Soul Singles in January, 1977 and on the United World Chart in February.

Wiki:

The song focuses on his childhood. It evolves around an 8 note bass line, which is repeated throughout the whole song (although the specific octave of the bass line does change). The key of the piece, like several other of Wonder's hits, is Eb Minor, although the bridge of the piece is slightly different. The keyboard part consists of two chords during the chorus and verse: E-flat minor 7th (third inversion) and A-flat 7 (first inversion). Stevie Wonder also created a multi-layered monophonic synthesizer part which runs through the song's entirety. Throughout the chorus and verse, this varied Minor pentatonic scale (which can be played using just the black notes on a keyboard) is repeated and adds depth to the song. This piece has a syncopated horn section, as well.

In the TV series Classic Albums, Wonder recreated a small section from the song to demonstrate how he composed and arranged it. He played the keyboards and drums himself, and used most of the musicians that appeared on the original recording.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #123

THREE songs needing facts this week:

Good Morning Starshine - Oliver (1969)

Would I Lie To You? - Eurythmics (1985)

Green-Eyed Lady - Sugarloaf (1970)

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Good Morning Starshine"

Oliver

Galt McDermott/Jerome Ragni/James Rado

from allmusic:

His first big hit was a song from the Broadway musical Hair. Released on Jubilee, "Good Morning Starshine" b/w "Can't You See" went to number three pop in spring 1969.

:help:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ the song is featured in the Simpson's Episode the Springfield Files

;)

If any one knows where to find screen shots of animated Leonard Nimoy from this ep or the monorail ep, please let me know.

Now to the task at hand~

This is a little bit of info on Oliver.

A newcomer, Oliver, scored with Hair's Good Morning Starshine. As William Swofford (Oliver was his middle name), the North Carolinian had sung with a couple of country-rock units before hooking up with New York producer Bob Crewe. Oliver charted twice more in 1969 and then returned to anonymity

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wikipedia:

"Would I Lie to You?" is a song recorded by British pop duo Eurythmics. It was written by band members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart. Released in the UK and the U.S. from Eurythmics' fifth album Be Yourself Tonight, the song was the first by the duo to feature their change in musical direction from synthpop to rock and R&B. The song, and its accompanying album, featured a full backing band and relied less on electronic programming.

Lyrically, the song features Lennox confronting a cheating lover as she leaves him for good. As she declares that she is "walking out the door" and he doubts her, Lennox's response is "would I lie to you honey? / now would I say something that wasn't true?" The music video was heavily shown on MTV, the clip beginning with an angry confrontation between Lennox and her boyfriend (during which he calls her a "bitch"), just prior to a Eurythmics performance.

After some friendly encouragement backstage from bandmate Stewart, the full band performs the song, only to have Lennox's boyfriend return to the venue, climb up onto the stage, and get pushed off into the audience by Lennox. Steven Bauer played the part of the boyfriend. The cover photo of the Be Yourself Tonight album is a screenshot from the music video during the argument scene.

"Would I Lie to You?" is one of Eurythmics' most recognized tunes. Although only a modest hit in the UK, peaking at number seventeen, it peaked at number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming their third Top 10 hit in the U.S., and is the duo's biggest ever hit in Australia, where it topped the singles chart for two weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If any one knows where to find screen shots of animated Leonard Nimoy from this ep or the monorail ep, please let me know.

Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy.

The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies.

But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth?

The answer is: No.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mayor Quimby: And now, I'd like to turn things over to our Grand Marshall, Mr. Leonard Nimoy.

Leonard Nimoy: [referring to the monorail] I'd say this vessel could do at least Warp Five.

[crowd laughs]

Mayor Quimby: And let me say, "May the Force be with you."

Leonard Nimoy: [annoyed] Do you even know who I am?

Mayor Quimby: I think I do. Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Green-Eyed Lady"

Sugaloaf

Written by Jerry Corbetta/Philips, J.C./Dave Riordan

Released in 1970 as a track of their first album "Sugarloaf" and also as a single. It reached #3 on the Billboard Charts and #7 in the US charts. It was their biggest hit

Sugarloaf's "Green-Eyed Lady" sits alongside the likes of Argent's "Hold Your Head Up" as one of those early '70s AM pop hits that aspires to FM rock status. The song's extended solo section (the LP version runs nearly seven minutes) features a fleet-fingered organ solo by singer-songwriter Jerry Corbetta, followed by two separate exhibitions of tasty chops by guitarists Bob Webber and the truly excellently-named Veeder Van Dorn. The single version, the one that hit the Top 5 and which is the version on nearly all of the many CD compilations that feature the tune, choppily but wisely condenses this section of the song to not quite a minute of its trim 3:37 running time, putting the focus squarely on Corbetta's appealing blue-eyed-soul vocals and the catchy unison guitar-bass riff that underpins the verses and thereby highlighting the song's boogie-tinged catchiness instead of the band's instrumental prowess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #123

FIVE big songs missing from the Songfacts database this week:

Wasted On The Way - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1982)

Uptight (Everything's Alright) Stevie Wonder (1965)

Janie Jones - The Clash (1977)

20th Century Boy - T Rex (1973)

Listen To Her Heart - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1978)

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.

Special thanks to the regular contributors - The Songfish loves you :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Uptight (Everything's Alright)"

Stevie Wonder

Written by Stevie Wonder, Henry Cosby and Sylvia Moy.

Released in 1965.

Wikipedia:

The single was a watershed in Wonder's career for several reasons. Aside from the number-one hit "Fingertips", none of Wonder's singles had reached the Top 40 of Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and the fifteen-year-old artist was in danger of being let go. In addition, Wonder's voice had begun to change, and Motown CEO Berry Gordy was worried that he would no longer be a commercially viable artist. As it turned out, however, producer Clarence Paul found it easier to work with Wonder's now-mature tenor voice, and he and Sylvia Moy set about writing a new song for the artist, based upon an instrumental riff Wonder had devised.

The resulting song, "Uptight (Everything's Alright)", features lyrics which depict a poor young man's appreciation for a rich girl's seeing beyond his poverty to his true worth. A notable success, "Uptight" peaked at number-three on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in early 1966, at the same time reaching the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart for five weeks. An accompanying album, Up-Tight, was rushed into production to capitalize on the single's success.

Allmusic says:

During a brainstorming session, Wonder pulled out a few lines of a song he was working on. All the singer/songwriter had was the line "everything's alright, uptight." Paul, seeing the beginnings of a hit song, teamed Wonder with songwriter Sylvia Moy and Motown staff arranger/producer Henry Cosby. Co-written by Wonder, Cosby, and Moy, and co-produced by the label's A&R head, William "Mickey" Stevenson, the dynamic "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" parked at number one R&B for five weeks and made it to number three pop in early 1966. The stereo version spotlights the dynamic drum work of Benny Benjamin in one speaker.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"20th Century Boy"

T Rex

Written by Marc Bolan and released as a single in March 1973, with "Free Angel" as the B-side, reaching #3 in the charts in the UK. It was also a bonus track in the reissue of "Tanx", their 1973 album

From Wikipedia:

It later returned to the UK Top 20 in 1991, fourteen years after Bolan's death, when it was used in a Chris Hartwill-directed commercial for Levi's starring Brad Pitt. A slightly different segment of the song, with the addition of a harp, was used in a Jameson's Whisky television advertisement.

Since its release it has been covered by artists such as Placebo featuring David Bowie, Def Leppard, Drain STH, Chalk Circle, The Replacements, Girlschool, Pink Cream 69, The Three Johns and Siouxsie and the Banshees. It has also been covered live by X Japan, playing the song in most of their performances. On 29 September 2007, Moby joined Richard Barone onstage for "20th Century Boy" at the T.Rex tribute in Central Park, NYC, with Tony Visconti on bass. Also covered in the 1998 film "The Truman Show" by the Rockabilly band Big 6. Avant-garde metal guitarist Buckethead also covered it on a 1997 tribute, Great Jewish Music: Marc Bolan.

It inspired the sci-fi-mystery manga 20th Century Boys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Janie Jones"

The Clash

Written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones. This song was released in April 1977 as a track of "The Clash", their debut album.

Wikipedia:

The subject of the song, Janie Jones, was a famous madam in London during the 1970s and had been a pop singer during the 1960s.

The live performance of the song at The Apollo in Glasgow on July 4, 1978, features on Rude Boy, a 1980 film directed by Jack Hazan and David Mingay, starring Ray Grange and The Clash. The track was re-recorded at Wessex Studios by engineer Bill Price and tape operator Jerry Green.The song also features on The Clash: Westway to the World, a 2000 documentary film about the British punk rock band The Clash, directed by Don Letts

"Janie Jones" features on their compilation albums: The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 (1988) (disc two); Clash on Broadway (1991) (disc one; demo version); The Essential Clash (2003) (disc one). A live live version recorded on June 4, 1981 at Bond's Casino, New York City, features on the live bootleg Live at Bond's Casino (2000).

In December 1982, Jones herself, backed by members of the Clash and the Blockheads and credited as Janie Jones & the Lash, recorded a 7" single, "House of the Ju-Ju Queen", which was written and produced by Joe Strummer and released on Big Beat in 1983. Strummer as well as Mick Jones also played guitar on the record, together with Paul Simonon on bass, Mickey Gallagher on keyboards, Mel Collins on saxophone, and Charley Charles on drums. The B-side of the single was a cover of James Brown's "Sex Machine".

Legendary film maker, Martin Scorsese, well known as an ardent fan of The Clash, claimed in the book "Scorsese on Scorsese", that he considers "Janie Jones" to be the greatest British rock and roll song. He also used the song in the film Bringing Out The Dead

Allmusic says:

...the Clash captured the mood of one regular Joe who's ready for some kind of a revolt, even if he's not sure what kind, in the song "Janie Jones," the lead-off track from the original version of the group's first album. As it turns out, Janie herself hasn't much to do in this song; instead, it's about some low-level working stiff with a job in an office. As the chorus tells us, "He's in love with rock & roll.../He's in love with getting stoned.../He's in love with Janie Jones/But he don't like his boring job, NO!" Our protagonist just wants to get through the day, put some gas in his car (a Ford Cortina, the prototypical British working class automobile), hang out with his girl, and have fun. But he hates his job, he hates his boss, and one day, when he's forced to juggle the books in order to make the accounts balance, he decides to "really tell the boss/Gonna really let him know/Exactly how he feels/It's pretty bad!" Did our hero suddenly storm out of the office, shear off his hair, rip his jeans, and swear new fealty to the anarchist fervor of punk? Joe Strummer doesn' t tell us, and I suppose we'll never know, but "Janie Jones" does offer a potent example of the simmering resentment that made such things possible.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...