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"Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad"

Meat Loaf

Written by Jim Steinamn.

A track of Meat Loaf' s solo album "Bat out of Hell" and also a single, it was released in 1977 and it charted #11 at Billboard Hot 100. It was produced by Todd Rundgren

Jim Steinman said (from Wikipedia):

"I remember Mimi Kennedy, a cast member of Jim's then-current musical Rhinegold telling me, she said, you know, when I was probably complaining why no one liked my stuff and couldn't get a deal, she says, "Well Steiny, your stuff is so complicated. Can't you write something simple?" And while she was saying that the oldies station was on the radio and it was playing that old Elvis song, 'I Want You, I Need,' whatever it was. 'I Want You, I Need You, I Love You', you know. I just started singing my own song but it was 'I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.' She said, "Why don't you write something simple like that, 'I want you, I need you, I love you'?" I said, "Well I'll try." I don't try to make them complicated. I remember going home and I tried so hard but the best I could do was: I want you, I need you but there ain't no way I'm ever gonna love you, don't be sad, 'cause two out of three ain't bad. So it was still a twist but it was my closest to a simple song, and one Elvis could have done.
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SORRY I have been late with these updates for a while now. I've not been well, but I'm trying to get on here more. I miss my songfacts :)

and now...

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #169

TWO songs:

You Didn't Have To Be So Nice - The Lovin' Spoonful (1965)

Dandy - The Kinks (1966)

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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The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten

THREE songs missing:

Bloody Well Right - Supertramp (1974)

California Sun - The Rivieras (1964)

Teacher - Jethro Tull (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.

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"California Sun"

The Rivieras

Written by Morris Levy and Henry Glover. It was recorded and released by Joe Jones in 1961. The Rivieras covered it in 1964 and it went up to #5 in the U.S. charts. It was their first single and the B-side was "Played On".

From allmusic ; Another case of where the cover version of a song outstrips the original and navigates its way through history to become the definitive version, "California Sun" started life in the hands of R&B singer Joe Jones, who had a chart hit with it in the early '60s. Although all the key elements of the song's basic structure were there — the stop-time choruses, the instruments answering the vocal line — the package was wrapped up in a brassy, big band kind of arrangement, not unlike Freddy Cannon's version of "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans." It wasn't until a small-time South Bend, IN, combo, the Rivieras, recorded it in 1963 that the tune gained classic status. Fueled by one of the greatest gas'n'go drum intros ever etched into black vinyl, the horn riffs were translated to electric guitar and combo organ and the lyrics were changed enough to fit into the then-current trend of surf music. The net result was a version of the song that has endured, both as a staple of surf and garage bands, but earning new fans with a punk rock treatment by the Ramones as well.

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"Bloody Well Right"

Supertramp

Written by Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson, this song is a track of their 1974 album "Crime Of The Century" and also the second single from the LP. It reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1975 but didn´t get into the UK lists.

Wikipedia said:

Bloody Well Right" expresses the opinion that, in society at the time of the song's release, money and heritage seems to have more importance than education. This is clearly stated in the first stanza of "So you think your schoolings phoney" and later by "You say it all depends on money/ And who is in your family tree". Although Hodgson/Davies agree with these statements ("you're bloody well right"), they deem it unimportant to them with the statement of "Me, I dont care anyway!".

The song begins with an electric piano solo, approximately fifty seconds long, leading into the rest of the band joining in. There is then a guitar solo leading in the first spoken word at the 1:36 mark in the song. The first verse and chorus occur with a short instrumental bridge into the second verse and second, slightly modified, chorus. The rest of the song is different variations of the chorus with a saxophone solo in the background. The song slowly fades away to the sound of the saxophone.

This song became a staple in Supertramp concerts after its release. The song's length is extended live often reaching over seven minutes.

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From Wiki:

"You Didn't Have to Be So Nice" is the second single released by The Lovin' Spoonful, released in 1965. The song was featured on their 1966 album Daydream. It reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1966.

B-side "My Gal"

Writer(s) Steve Boone, John Sebastian

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"Dandy"

The Kinks (1966)

Written by Ray Davies, thius single wasreleased in October 1966 with "Party Line" as the B-side. It' s also a track from the Kins album "Face To Face".

It reached the charts in Europe (#1 in Germany and also a hit in Holland and Belgium)

From wiki:...Ray Davies skewered the would-be master lover of the title. There is speculation that Davies wrote the song in reference to the wild lifestyle of his younger brother, Kinks guitarist Dave Davies.

"Dandy" was a hit in the US by The Herman Hermitts.

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"Teacher" would become a staple of U.S. classic rock radio yet Anderson loathes it. (Taken from Jethro Tulls official website.)

Taken from Jethro Tull: A History of the Band.

Link

Teacher tells the story of a young man who quickly becomes disillusioned with formal education, realizing that what he is being taught is not necessarily rue. Anderson's voice is at it's best on the latter track (Recorded exclusively for the US LP), and the fusion of the flute with Barrie's single note riff creates a chanting, "ancient" blues ambiance that recalls the introduction of "To Cry You A Song." Glen Cornick reveled how this trick came about:

Teacher was a throw away song for us. I don't think anybody in the band ever liked it.It was the B-side of a British 45. Ian wrote it as a B-side. "Better write something, get it off." And it was never taken anymore seriously then that, until American Reprise said, "Well we want something thats more like a rock 'n' roll song to put on the radio." I suspect it was them who picked the song. We completely re-recorded it. The album version is a completely different recording. It's rearranged, and the British version doesn't have the flute in it. And the main reason we had to re-record it was that they needed something that was a pop song that featured the flute. And so we did it and said " Fair Enough," and put it on the Benefit album. We didn't think it was as good a track as "Alive and Well and Living In," the track that was taken off the album. We much preferred the English album but, I suppose, looking back at it over the years, on the oldies stations in L.A., "Teacher" is played almost everyday. You won't find it popular in Europe. "Living In The Past," would be the one people know in Britain or anywhere in Europe .

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A very big THANKYOU to the people who contribute facts to this thread :D

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #171

THREE songs in need of facts:

Black Steel - Tricky (1995)

What Have They Done To My Song, Ma - Melanie (1970)

Baby, I Love You - Aretha Franklin (1967)

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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"Baby I Love You" is a classic song by R&B singer Aretha Franklin. Released from her Aretha Arrives album in 1967, the song was a huge hit. It peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart and spent two weeks at number-one on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. It was written by Ronnie Shannon and produced by Jerry Wexler on Atlantic Records.

Wikipedia

Edited by Guest
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"What Have They Done To My Song, Ma"

Melanie

Written by Melanie Safka. A track of her third LP "Candles In The Rain", released in 1970. As a single, it was released in the UK as the B-side of her cover of "Ruby Tuesday" and it went to #39 in the charts..

In "What Have They Done to My Song Ma?" she accuses the music business, as it can be easily heard in the lyrics.

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THANKS to our contributors, gold stars for you all!

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #172

Just the two songs without facts this week:

Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson (1961)

Hawaii Five - O - The Ventures (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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Hawaii Five - O - The Ventures (1968)

From Wikipedia:

Theme song

Another legacy of the show is the popularity of the Hawaii Five-O theme song. The song was composed by Morton Stevens, who also composed numerous episode scores. The song has been covered by The Ventures, and also by Radio Birdman, a punk-era band from Sydney. A short cover can be seen at the end of the Massacre Palestina´s song, "Madamme X". The song is particularly popular with college and high school marching bands, especially at the University of Hawai'i, where it has become the unofficial fight song.

Although the theme song is most widely known as an instrumental, it has been released with at least two different sets of lyrics. The first, by Don Ho, starts with the familiar tempo, then settles into a ballad style. The second, by Sammy Davis, Jr., titled "You Can Count on Me (Theme from Hawaii Five-O)," maintains the driving style of the original instrumental throughout.

“Hawaii Five-O†, peaked at No. 4 in 1969.

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Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson (1961)

From Wikipedia:

"Hello Mary Lou" is a song written by U.S. singer Gene Pitney and Cayet Mangiaracina and performed by Ricky Nelson in 1961. It reached #9 on the Billboard music charts on May 28, 1961, although the other side of the single, "Travelin' Man", hit #1. In the United Kingdom, where it was the unrivalled A-side, it hit #2, and it was a hit in much of Europe, particularly Norway, where it spent 14 weeks at #1. The song features an influential guitar solo by James Burton, often cited by modern guitarists such as Brian May.

Covers:

* The Seekers on their 1968 live album The Seekers Live at the Talk of the Town.

* Led Zeppelin on their How the West Was Won live triple album (recorded 1972, released 2003)

* Creedence Clearwater Revival's last album Mardi Gras (1972),

* New Riders of the Purple Sage's 1972 album Powerglide

* The Statler Brothers' Partners in Rhyme (1985)

* Queen on their Live at Wembley (1986).

* Bobby Lewis remade the song in 1970, reaching the US Country Top 15. This singer should not be confused with the "Tossin' And Turnin'" artist.

It has also been recorded in French by Petula Clark (as "Bye Bye Mon Amour"), and it was also covered by LMP on their album A Century of Song as their selection for 1961.

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Thanks edna and Lea!

The Songfactor's Choice Top Ten #173

FOUR songs without facts this week:

Message, The - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (1982)

Old Friends (Bookends) - Simon and Garfunkel (1968)

I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James & The Shondells (1967)

Cherry Bomb - John Cougar Mellencamp (1987)

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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"I Think We're Alone Now"

Tommy James & The Shondells

Written by Ritchie Cordell and released in 1967 by Tommy James & The Shondells. It's B-side was "Run, Run, Baby, Run" (also written by Cordell) According to rock critic Lester bangs, it' s "the apotheosis of bubblegum"

It was on the charts for three months, reaching #4.

It has been covered many times. Tiffany' s version was #1 in manyt countries in 1987. The Rubinoos also had a hit with this song.

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"I Think We're Alone Now"

Tommy James & The Shondells

It has been covered many times. Tiffany' s version was #1 in manyt countries in 1987. The Rubinoos also had a hit with this song.

It has also been covered (and recorded) by legendary UK punk band, Snuff and by late 70s avant-garde new-waver Lene Lovich: the Japanese version is boss.

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Old Friends (Bookends) is from the 1968 album Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel.

From All Music:

Perfectly seguing out of "Voices of Old People," "Old Friends" -- which makes references to "Bookends Theme" -- is a unifying link on the Bookends album. The lyrics look into old age and the changes that may come to be. An elegant and ornate classical string section dominates the melody along with Paul Simon's acoustic guitar. There is also a frightening, dissonant passage, which is very reminiscent of Van Dyke Parks' Song Cycle orchestrations, which in turn were influenced by Charles Ives.

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"The Message" is an old school hip hop song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Sugar Hill Records released it as a single in 1982 and it was later featured on an album named The Message.

Though not the first in the genre of rap to talk about the struggles and the frustrations of living in the ghetto, the song was unique in that it was set to a slower beat, refocusing the song on the lyrics over the music[2]. The song was written by Sugar Hill session musician Ed "Duke Bootee" Fletcher and Furious Five MC Melle Mel. Flash and the other members of The Furious Five, although credited on the record, were uninterested in recording the song and are not found on the finished record.

Rolling Stone ranked "The Message" #51 in its List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (the highest placing for any song released in the 1980s, and highest ranking hip-hop song on the list).

It was voted #3 on About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs, after Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." and The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight".

In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry,[5] the first hip hop recording ever to receive this honor.

It was used in a British Government commissioned public information film on road safety.

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"Cherry Bomb"

John Cougar Mellencamp

Written by John Cougar Mellencamp and a track of his 1987 LP, "The Lonesome Jubille".

It was also released a a single and it reached #1 in the Mainsteram Charts and #8 in the Hot 100.

That' s all I know... :help:

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