Tomorrow, 2nd of July, musicblessing.blogspot.com celebrates one year of good music!
And what is a better way of celebrating but also through music. The best songs of all times and their meanings will be presented here in the next weeks. And that's not all: in August 2009, Woodstock '69 festival will be honoured on this blog.
Unfortunatelly, the first song posted in these celebration days is a commemorative one: Michael Jackson's Thriller, one of the most spectacular songs off all times, with one unforgatable video.
This is a rare Pop song with a horror theme. Halloween novelty songs like "The Monster Mash" had been around for a while, but this was the first hit song with year-round appeal containing lyrics about creatures of the night who terrify their victim. At the time, Michael Jackson was one of the least frightening people on Earth, so the video had to sell it. John Landis, who worked on the 1981 movie An American Werewolf In London, was brought in to direct. Landis had Jackson turn into a Werewolf in the video.
Vincent Price, an actor known for his work on horror films, did the narration at the end, including the evil laugh. Price's rap includes the line "Must stand and face the hounds of hell." This was inspired by the most popular Sherlock Holmes novel to date, The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in which Sir Henry Baskerville's family is supposedly cursed by a bloodthirsty, demonic hound. Price's personal friends, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee (who appeared in several Hammer horror films with him), starred in a loose 1959 film adaptation of it. It was the first Sherlock Holmes film shot in color.
The 14 minute video is one of the most popular ever. It started the trend of group dance scenes in pop videos, and was named the #1 video of all time in the VH1 100 Greatest Videos countdown.
Rod Temperton wrote this. Once a member of Disco group Heatwave, he also wrote Jackson's "Off The Wall" and "Rock With You." This won for Best Performance Video, Best Choreography, and Viewers Choice at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.
Thriller was the biggest-selling album ever until it was surpassed by The Eagles Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975. Both albums have sold over 26 million copies. These days, along with Michael's recent death, Thriller became again the best selling album of all times. The song Thriller was the last of 7 US Top 10 hits from the album.
Jackson, a Jehova's Witness, insisted on a disclaimer at the beginning of the video reading: "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult."
The UPC code on the album cover contained 7 digits that were rumored to be Jackson's telephone number. People with that number in many different area codes got swamped with annoying calls.
In 2008 Thriller 25, a special 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, was released. The re-recorded album debuted at #2 on the Top Comprehensive Albums chart, where catalog titles mix with current best-sellers. This made it the highest-charting catalog album in the history of the Top Comprehensive Albums survey. Despite selling 166,000 copies in its debut week, it was not eligible for the main album chart as Billboard considered it to be a catalog or oldies album, and Billboard publishes a special chart just for catalog albums. (source: Songfacts)
Few know that Thriller was very close to be named "Starlight love". Quincy Jones, the producer of the album, stated that they came across Thriller theme and they loved the ideea of a horror song and video.
Other songs of Michael Jacksons' and their meanings will follow on this blog so stay close.
British singer and guitarist Chris Rea has enjoyed a run of popularity in Europe during the late '80s and early '90s after almost a decade of previous recording.
Rea started out performing with a local group called Magdalene, taking David Coverdale's place; the band won a national talent contest in 1975 as the Beautiful Losers, but still failed to get a record contract. Rea left the band and recorded the album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini, which alluded to a discarded stage name, which went gold on the strength of the U.S. Top 20 hit "Fool (If You Think It's Over)."
Rea was not heard from again in the U.S. for some time, concentrating his efforts on his main fan base of Europe. A compilation of tracks from Rea's '80s albums, New Light Through Old Windows, was released in 1988 and sold well in the U.K. and Europe and charted in the U.S.
Rea followed it up with the critically acclaimed The Road to Hell, which many regarded as his best album. The image above represents the album's cover.
It and its follow-up, Auberge, went to the top of the U.K. album charts, but did not prove as successful in the U.S., where he has failed to chart with his subsequent releases. He released his most ambitious project in 2005, an eleven-album, 130-track box set of all new material inspired by the blues and his own paintings called Blue Guitars. The fun The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Blue Notes appeared in 2008.
This song was titled after the James Joyce novel of the same name, which chronicled a day in its protagonist's life. It also references the Greek Mythological hero Ulysses who was the hero of Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Frontman Alex Kapranos told Mojo magazine May 2008: "I like the idea of the gods blowing you away for 10 years. I like the idea of being out in the Aegean - of being lost but embracing it."
Kapranos referred to this song when interviewed by Rolling Stone as, "quite an odd one," adding, "It's got the immediacy of a Pop song but it's an abstract construction too. Having the immediacy of pop without the conventions of pop is something that we still aim for."
This song was previously used as part of a sound art exhibition by the Albanian artist Anri Sala that was held in London.
Kapranos told Mojo December 2008 that Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is, "a night time record, about different elements of a full-on night out, from being charged up for decadence to being on the dancefloor, to freaking out, to rocking yourself to sleep in your bedsit at the end of it. The title is about the sense of anticipation that something big's about to happen."
The cover art for the single was photographed in Brooklyn by Guy Eppel. It is part of a series of photos of the band that are of, according to Franz Ferdinand's blog, "imaginary crime scenes."
The Moody Blues recorded this with The London Festival Orchestra (Which never actually existed. It is the name given to the musicians put together to make this album.) The original idea was for the group and orchestra to record a Rock version of Dvorak's "New World Symphony," which their record company would use to demonstrate enhanced stereo sound technology.
"Days of Future Passed" is a concept album based around different times of day. For example, "Dawn Is a Feeling" and "Tuesday Afternoon." This song was last on the album because it represented nighttime.
Justin Hayward was inspired by Moody Blues keyboard player Mike Pinder's composition "Dawn Is A Feeling." Since Pinder had done 'The Morning' for the concept album, Hayward tried to do 'The Night.'
Justin Hayward, who joined the band the previous year. He got the idea for the song after someone gave him a set of white satin sheets, and wrote it in his bed-sit at Bayswater. Haywood told the Daily Express Saturday magazine May 3, 2008: "I wrote our most famous song, 'Nights in White Satin' when I was 19. It was a series of random thoughts and was quite autobiographical. It was a very emotional time as I was at the end of one big love affair and the start of another. A lot of that came out in the song."
This was a new sound for the band. When they formed, they were more of a Blues band, and had a hit in 1965 with a cover of Bessie Banks' "Go Now." With this album, they became more of a psychedelic/orchestral band and did very well.
This was originally released in 1967, but it didn't do very well in the US because the song was over 6 minutes long and a lot of people never heard of the band. In 1972, after songs like "Hey Jude " and "Layla" paved the way for long, dramatic songs and the band became well known, this was re-released in the US and became a hit.
Even though this didn't have chart success when it was first released, the album did very well. It was commercially successful in countries across the world, staying on many charts for nearly two years.
The poem at the end was recorded separately. It is called Late Lament and was written by their drummer, Graeme Edge. The poem was read by keyboard player Mike Pinder. Edge wrote another poem that appeared early on the album called Morning Glory.
This is the first song from Led Zeppelin's debut album, Led Zeppelin I from 1968. As the title clearly states, the meaning of the song is simple, expressing the downs and ups of a person's life.
The instrumentation of this song is what makes it special: Jimmy Page passed his guitar through a Leslie Speaker to create a swirling effect. The Leslie contains a rotating paddle and was designed for organs, but some musicians used it to process guitars and vocals. Eric Clapton used it on "Badge." John Bonham used a device called a "Triplet" on his bass drum for this song to get a double bass pedal sound. He used the tip of his toe to flick the bass pedal back fast, creating an effect many drummers tried to copy. Page put microphones all over the studio to capture a live sound when they recorded this.
Led Zeppelin played this at their live shows until 1970. When the band reformed for a benefit show on December 10, 2007 with Jason Bonham playing drums in place of his father, this was the first song in the set.
Bassist John Paul Jones told Rolling Stone magazine after they opened with this song at their December 10, 2007 benefit show: "That's the hardest riff I ever wrote, the hardest to play." (Songfacts)
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Bob Dylan wrote this song as it is in fact a very simple performance with meaningfull lyrics. It was originally released in 1969 on his album Nashville Skyline. The words of the song are sung by Dylan in a low, soft-sounding voice instead of his familiar high-pitched nasal-sounding voice. Dylan credited his "new" voice to quitting smoking before recording the song, but some unreleased bootleg tapes from the early '60s reveal that this was an aspect of his vocal persona that he had actually possessed since at least that time.
Released as a single in July of 1969, it became one of Dylan's biggest US Pop chart hits, peaking at number seven. The single did even better on the UK Singles Chart, reaching the number five spot. It is often performed live by Dylan, and was included on the Hard Rain and Before the Flood albums. It also appears on his quintuple-platinum Greatest Hits, Volume II album, as well as on compilations Biograph and The Essential Bob Dylan (Wiki).
Dylan wrote this for the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy. Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'," which was released the year before, was chosen for the theme song instead.
Many radio stations refused to play this simply because of the use of the word "lay" in the title, assuming it referred to sex (i.e. "get laid"). Despite the accusation of being "Sexually Titled", Dylan denied any sexual terminology. (SongFacts)
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Wonderwall was the first single Oasis released in the US, and is their biggest hit in that country. The album is the second-best selling in British history. The best selling album in UK history is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles.
The general consensus was that this song is about Noel Gallagher's then girlfriend Meg Matthews, who is compared with a schoolboy's wall to which posters of footballers and Pop stars are attached. Noel later married then divorced Meg Matthews. However, according to Q magazines 1001 Best Songs Ever, this was not about Matthews. Noel is quoted as saying, "The meaning of that song was taken away from me by the media who jumped on it. And how do you tell your Mrs. it's not about her once she's read it is? It's about an imaginary friend who's going to come and save you from yourself."
Others say that The concept of the "Wonderwall" is based on a '60s film called Wonderwall - from Psychedelia to Surrealism, starring Jane Birkin. She lives next door to a man who becomes fascinated with her,so he slowly makes holes in his wall so he can watch her through it. This is the "Wonderwall." Also there are some voices stating that the music is based on Wonderwall Music, an instrumental album George Harrison wrote for the movie Wonderwall in 1968. This was the first solo album released by any of The Beatles.
Initially Noel wanted to sing this song, but he gave his brother Liam Gallagher the choice, and Noel ended up singing "Don't Look Back In Anger." What sounds like a cello was played on a Mellotron tape-playback keyboard, although the video features shows someone playing the cello. At live shows Noel plays his acoustic guitar on a Fender Telecaster. It's one of the few songs where he uses a Fender guitar rather than a Gibson.
In an interview conducted in Australia around the time of the release of Be Here Now, when asked which 3 songs he would like to be remembered for, Noel immediately responded with "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall" and then proceeded to list several others, including "Champagne Supernova," "Magic Pie" and "Cigarettes & Alcohol."
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- Biographies - The Beatles
- Famous Album Covers: Abbey Road - The Beatles
- Music Dictionary - Soft Rock
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
April is a very complex music composition bringing toghether elements from symphonic, acoustic, rock in one piece of what is going to be called progresive rock.
This is part from 1969 album "Deep Purple". This is a record that even those who aren't Deep Purple fans can listen to two or three times in one sitting -- but then, this wasn't much like any other album that the group ever issued. Actually, Deep Purple was highly prized for many years by fans of progressive rock, and for good reason.
"April," a three-part suite with orchestral accompaniment, is overall a match for such similar efforts by the Nice as the "Five Bridges Suite," and gets extra points for crediting its audience with the patience for a relatively long, moody developmental section and for including a serious orchestral interlude that does more than feature a pretty tune, exploiting the timbre of various instruments as well as the characteristics of the full ensemble. (All Music Guide)
A Ritchie Blackmore/Jon Lord composition, the first section is played solely by Lord and Blackmore; Lord plays piano and organ; Blackmore plays electric and acoustic guitars. The second section, orchestrated by Lord, uses flutes, clarinets, a string section and other instruments; the third section adds vocals. As the band wrote in the liner notes, "As a whole we hope April hangs together as a personal evocation of a beautiful, but sad (to us) month." (Songfacts)
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This song is about rock star excess and the easy life it brings compared with real work. Mark Knopfler wrote it after overhearing delivery men in a New York department store complain about their jobs while watching MTV. He wrote the song in the store sitting at a kitchen display they had set up. Many of the lyrics were things they actually said.
Sting sings on this and helped write it. That's him at the beginning singing "I want my MTV." Sting did not want a songwriting credit, but his record company did because they would have earned royalties from it. They claimed it sounded very similar to a song Sting wrote for The Police: "Don't Stand So Close To Me."
The innovative video was one of the first to feature computer generated animation. The characters were supposed to have more detail, like buttons on their shirts, but they used up the budget and had to leave it as is. It won Best Video at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.
The video was directed by Steve Barron, who also directed the famous a-ha video for "Take On Me" and Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science."
This was the first video played on MTV Europe. The network went on the air August 1, 1987, 6 years after MTV in the US. In the US, this stayed at #1 for 3 weeks. It also won a Grammy in 1986 for best Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.
Even though "Brown Sugar" was recorded in December, 1969, The Stones did not release it until April, 1971 because of a legal dispute with their former manager, Allen Klein, over royalties. Recording technology had advanced by then, but they didn't re-record it because the original version was such a powerful take.
Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics. They were inspired by Claudia Lennear, one of Ike Turner's backup singers (Ikettes) who he had an affair with. They met when The Stones toured with Turner in 1969. Originally, Jagger wrote this as "Black Pussy." He decided that was a little too direct and changed it to "Brown Sugar."
Some say that the lyrics are about slaves from Africa who were sold in New Orleans and raped by their white masters. The subject matter is quite serious, but the way the song is structured, it comes off as a fun rocker about a white guy having sex with a black girl.
A year after this was first recorded, The Stones cut another version at Olympic Studios in London with Eric Clapton on guitar and Al Kooper on keyboards. It was considered for release as the single. The bootleg version which has Eric Clapton playing lead slide guitar was recorded at a birthday party for Keith Richards. It is widely considered to have been part of an informal audition by Clapton to become The Stones second guitarist. The bootleg version shows why Clapton likely did not get offered the job, or withdrew himself from consideration. While Clapton plays a million notes a minute, his lead has almost no interaction with the rest of the band. It is like a studio musician simply playing along with a CD that has already been recorded. In many interviews, Richards has spoken admiringly of his good friend Clapton's musicianship, but has always commented that the 2-guitar sound he and Ron Wood have developed is not Eric's cup of tea.
This was one of 4 songs The Stones had to agree not to play when they were allowed to perform in China. After getting approval to play in China for the first time in 2003, they canceled because of SARS, a respiratory illness that was going around the country. The other banned songs were "Honky Tonk Women," "Beast of Burden," and "Let's Spend the Night Together." (songfacts)
This is a version from "A Bigger Bang Tour" (2007), one of the greatest live tours in music history.
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This was System Of A Down's first single from their second album, and their breakout hit. The band feels they evolved a great deal between albums and did things on this that they wouldn't have thought of before. They named the album Toxicity in honor of Los Angeles, which they considered a "Toxic City." They grew up in a bad section and wanted people to know that it wasn't all glamorous.
Literally, Chop Suey is a Chinese stew made with meat or fish, plus bamboo sprouts, onions, rice and water chestnuts. They used it for the name of the song because it describes their musical style, with lots of stuff thrown together. The title is not in the lyrics.
The original name of the song is "Suicide," but they had to change the name to make it radio friendly. In the beginning of the song, you hear Serj say "we're rolling suicide." The title is a bit of a play on words - "Suey-cide."
This was climbing the charts when it was silenced by the events of September 11, 2001. Just about every radio station pulled this from their playlists in an effort to be as sensitive as possible after the tragedy. Even though the song had nothing to do with terrorism, it was considered much too aggressive. The line "I cry when angels deserve to die" was a little too heavy for most program directors. When things settled down, it returned to the airwaves pretty much where it left off, since there weren't many songs released in the weeks after 9/11.
The video was shot in the parking lot of a cheap hotel near where the band grew up in Los Angeles. Before the shoot, they posted a note on their website inviting fans to come down and participate. Since they were not well known, they thought they would get about 500, but instead 1500 fans showed up. The fans (mostly kids) were instructed to swarm the stage so they could help capture the energy of their live shows.
Many interprated this song to be about drug addiction, but it doesn't have the somber tone that many songs about addiction have. The band describes it as "a little quacky." The song was also interpreted to be about how society views death or about Christ.
In fact, Guitarist Daron Malakian stated: "The song is about how when people die, they will be regarded differently depending on the way they pass. Like, if I were to die from a drug overdose, everyone would say I deserved it because I abused drugs, hence the line 'Angels deserve to die.'"
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Part from the same titled album of 1984, "Born in the USA" was written by Sprengsteen thinking about Vietnam veterans. As this was the first war that the US actually dindn't win, and while veterans of other wars received a hero's welcome, those who fought in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to the states.
This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. Most people thought it was a patriotic song about American pride, when it actually cast a shameful eye on how America treated its Vietnam veterans. Springsteen considers it one of his best songs, but it bothers him that it is so widely misinterpreted. With the rollicking rhythm, enthusiastic chorus, and patriotic album cover, it is easy to think this has more to do with American pride than Vietnam shame.
The original title was "Vietnam." Director Paul Schrader sent Springsteen a script for a movie called Born In The U.S.A., about a Rock band struggling with life and religion. This gave Bruce the idea for the new title. Unfortunately for Schrader, when he was finally ready to make the movie in 1985, the title "Born In The U.S.A." was too associated with the song. Springsteen helped him out however, providing the song "Light Of Day," which became the new title for Schrader's movie and the feature song in the film.
This is the first song and title track to one of the most popular albums ever - Born In The U.S.A. sold over 18 million copies. The single was released in England as a double A-side with "I'm On Fire." It was the first song Springsteen wrote for the album. He first recorded it on January 3, 1982 on the tape that became his album Nebraska later that year.
While campaigning in New Jersey in 1984, Ronald Reagan said in his speech: "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in songs so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about."
Springsteen talked about this in a 2005 interview with National Public Radio. Said Bruce: "This was when the Republicans first mastered the art of co-opting anything and everything that seemed fundamentally American, and if you were on the other side, you were somehow unpatriotic. I make American music, and I write about the place I live and who I am in my lifetime. Those are the things I'm going to struggle for and fight for."
Speaking of how the song was misinterpreted, he added: "In my songs, the spiritual part, the hope part is in the choruses. The blues, and your daily realities are in the details of the verses. The spiritual comes out in the choruses, which I got from Gospel music and the church."
Chrysler offered Springsteen $12 million to use this in an ad campaign with Bruce. Springsteen turned them down so they used "The Pride Is Back" by Kenny Rogers instead. Springsteen has never let his music be used to sell products.
This song inspired the famous Annie Leibowitz photo of Springsteen's butt against the backdrop of an American flag. Bruce had to be convinced to use it as the album's cover. Some people thought it depicted Springsteen urinating on the flag.
The drum solo towards the end of the song was completely improvised. Drummer Max Weinberg said that the band was recording in an oval-shaped studio, with the musicians separated into different parts. Springsteen, at the front, suddenly turned towards Weinberg (at the back) after singing and waved his hands in the air frantically to signal drumming. Weinberg then nailed it.
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- Don Mclean - American Pie (first part & second part)
- Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
- Guns n' Roses - November Rain
"Phantom of the Opera" is part of the 1980 Iron Maiden's self titled album which is certainly one of heavy metal's all-time best debuts. Surfacing from the underground along with a host of other New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands (e.g., Def Leppard, Motörhead), Maiden's debut proved to be incredibly influential for future metal bands -- it was one of the first to merge heavy metal's power with punk's riffing and attitude, forging a blueprint for such genres as thrash, speed, and death metal.
While the band would branch out musically on future releases, Iron Maiden contains some of their most straight-ahead compositions, such as "Prowler," "Sanctuary," "Charlotte the Harlot," and the title track. The group's more progressive direction is signaled by the seven-and-a-half-minute epic "Phantom of the Opera," as well as by the breakneck instrumental "Transylvania." Also featured was Maiden's first Top 40 U.K. single, the anthemic "Running Free," plus several calmer compositions like "Remember Tomorrow" and "Strange World," which showed that there was more to this young band than just bashing away.
Bassist/leader Steve Harris proved to be the band's main songwriter/wordsmith early on, with lyrics that often proved thought-provoking -- a sharp detour from the expected topic of sex, drugs, and rock & roll that most metal bands relied on, while vocalist Paul Di'Anno's oft-rough vocals were also a main ingredient.
This was inspired by the novel by Gaston Leroux, and the popular musical adaptation. Bass player Steve Harris: "This is a very long song that was done in sections. The middle part was totally separate but it fit in very well. It felt right to go from the slow part into the middle section. Phantom is one of the best pieces I've ever written, and certainly one of the most enjoyable to play. It's got all these intricate guitar lines which keep it interesting. Then there's the slow middle part which creates quite a good mood. It's also got fast heavy parts which are really rockin'. And it's also got areas for crowd participation. It pretty much covers all the bases for the band. It was also a good example of what I wanted to get across."
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Pete Townshend originally wrote this about a character in his "Lifehouse" project, which was going to be a film similar to The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia. Townshend never finished "Lifehouse," but the songs ended up on the album Who's Next.
Actually the lyrics are a first-person lament from a man in the Lifehouse story, variously identified as 'Brick' or 'Jumbo', who is always angry and full of angst because of all the pressure and temptation that surrounds him, and the song was intended to be his "theme song" had the project been successful. (The lyrics of the rocking section near the end were actually written by Townshend as a prayer when he was a disciple of Meher Baba after being tempted by a groupie, and incorporated into the song when it was written.) In the incarnation of Lifehouse that was officially released as a part of Pete Townshend's solo box set,
The version of "Behind Blue Eyes" on the original Who's Next album was actually the second version the band recorded; the earlier version appears as a bonus track on the remastered CD release, which features Al Kooper on Hammond Organ. Pete Townshend has also recorded two solo versions, one (the original demo of the song) was featured on the Scoop album. The demo along with a newer recording of the song featuring an orchestral backing was featured in The Lifehouse Chronicles.
Limp Bizkit covered this in 2003 on their album Results May Vary. Their version was used in the Halle Berry movie Gothika. Berry appeared in the video, which was directed by Bizkit front man Fred Durst. Conveniently enough, Durst included a scene where he kisses Berry in the video. As the song is rather difficult to be performed, Durst digitally changed his voice for this song and he almost never played it live (Songfacts).
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A songwriter named Arthur Altman wrote the music for this in 1939. The song needed lyrics, so music publishing mogul Lou Levy asked his friend Jack Lawrence to help out. Lawrence had written many popular songs, including "Foolin' Myself" for Billie Holiday, "What Will I Tell My Heart?" for Bing Crosby, and "If I Didn't Care" for The Ink Spots. He agreed and added lyrics to the song. Altman made a few changes to the melody to accommodate the lyrics.
After this was written, Lou Levy found 3 prominent orchestras to record it. One of the orchestras was led by Freddy Martin, another by Jimmy Dorsey (with vocals by Bob Eberly), and the third by Harry James. James had recently discovered a 23-year-old vocalist from Hoboken, New Jersey named Frank Sinatra, who sang this in his version. Despite strong renditions from big-name orchestras, all 3 singles disappeared without a hint of public interest. Even though this was a flop, Sinatra's career took off. He joined Tommy Dorsey, the most successful bandleader of the early '40s, and became the featured vocalist on 39 Top-20 singles. He was a heartthrob sensation, headliner and show business icon. He was the most talked-about performer in the music industry, and signed a deal with Columbia Records, one of the biggest labels in the business.
his remains one of the most recorded American song standards. It has been recorded by vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Perry Como, as well as Jazz musicians like John Coltrane, George Shearing, Count Basie and Chet Baker. Other artists to record it include Barry Manilow, Diana Krall, Little Jimmy Scott, Al Jarreau and Little Anthony And The Imperials (Songfacts).
On this day in 1943, Frank Sinatra made his debut as vocalist on radio's "Your Hit Parade."
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"Every Breath You Take" was released on Police' 1983 album Synchronicity. The single was one of the biggest of 1983, topping the UK charts for four weeks and the Billboard Music Charts (North America) for eight weeks. Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards of 1984 for "Every Breath You Take". The song ranks #84 on the Rolling Stone list of the
This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. Although considered a very romantic song by the most, in fact is about an obsessive stalker, but it sounds like a love song. Some people even used it as their wedding song. Sting wrote it after separating from his first wife, Frances Tomelty.
The recording process created a great deal of tension in the studio. Sting was very particular about his song and would not let the other members of The Police (Andy Summers and Stuart Copeland) do much with it. The Police broke up after this album.
The middle of the song was finished last. They didn't know what to do with it until Sting sat at a piano and started hitting the same key over and over. That became the basis for the missing section.
Sting knew this would be the band's biggest hit when he wrote it, even if he didn't think he was breaking new ground. In Rolling Stone magazine, he said: "'Every Breath You Take' is an archetypal song. If you have a major chord followed by a relative minor, you're not original."
"Every Breath You Take" was included in several movie soundtracks (Ally Mcbeal, The Runaway Bride, The Replacements) and was covered by many artists and music bands in the last 20 years (Sources: Songfacts, Wiki )
This is a live version from 2007 in Rio, in front of 70,000 spectators.
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- Bob Dylan - Hurricane
- Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
- Album Cover Art - Hotel California (The Eagles)
"Back in Black" contains one guitar riff that is simply unforgetable. It was recorded in The Bahamas and produced in New York by Mutt Lange, who also later went on to work with Def Leppard, Celine Dion, and Shania Twain (who he married).
The band got the idea for the title before writing any of the song, although Malcolm Young had the main guitar riff for years and used to play it frequently as a warm-up tune. Bon Scott had several lyrical ideas for the album, but those were abandoned by the band in favor of new lyrics by Brian, Malcolm and Angus. Former AC/DC manager Ian Jeffrey claims to still have a folder that contains lyrics of 15 songs written for Back In Black by Bon.
This was released 5 months after lead singer Bon Scott died. The song is a tribute to Scott, and they lyrics, "Forget the hearse 'cause I never die" imply that he will live on forever through his music. With Brian Johnson on lead vocals, the Back In Black album proved that AC/DC could carry on without Scott.
Actually the album sold over 19 million copies in the US, the 6th highest ever. Worldwide, it has sold over 40 million. The album had a black cover with the band's logo on it. It was a tributed of course to Bon Scott.
Years before passing away, Bon Scott saw Brian Johnson singing for another band in a pub, and was so impressed by his vocals, when he met back up with AC/DC he told them to get Johnson if anything should ever happen to him. After Bon's death, Angus Young called Johnson up and offered him the position of lead vocalist. Johnson told him where he could put it and hung up (he thought someone was pranking him). Eventually, of course, it worked out.
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"Suspicious Minds" is one of the most apreciated hits of "the king". In fact, the song is not from his best period; this actually was a big comeback song for Elvis. It was 7 years since his last #1 hit. Moreover, this was the last #1 hit for Elvis during his lifetime. A remixed version of "A Little Less Conversation" hit #1 in the UK in 2002.
Memphis singer Mark James wrote this. He recorded and released his own version, but it didn't go anywhere. Memphis Soul producer Chips Moman brought this to Presley in 1969, and Elvis immediately fell in love with it and decided he could turn it into a hit, even though it had flopped for James.
"Suspicious Minds" was recorded between 4-7 in the morning, during the landmark Memphis session that helped Elvis reclaim his title of "The King." Elvis' publishing company, along with his manager Col. Tom Parker, tried to get their usual cut of the royalties from this and threatened to stop the recording if they didn't. Elvis insisted on recording the song regardless.
This song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Yesterday, 8th January 2009 Elvis would have had his 74th anniversary. Long live the King!
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The Scottish band Pilot were formed by former Bay City Rollers members David Paton (bass and vocals) and Billy Lyall (synthesizer, flute and vocals). They were joined by drummer Stuart Tosh and session guitarist Ian Bairnson. They achieved transatlantic success with their single "Magic" in 1974, before "January" topped the UK chart the following year. The band followed it up with their only other UK single chart hits "Call Me Round" and "Just A Smile." After that they achieved little success and after the band disbanded in 1978 Tosh, Paton and Bairnson became part of the Alan Parsons Project and Tosh also worked with 10cc. Lyall died of an AIDS-related illness in 1989.
"January" was written by the band's bassist David Paton and produced by Alan Parsons. It arrived at #1 in the UK on 28th January 1975, spending 3 weeks at the top.
David Paton recalls in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: My wife was reading a book and the main character was called January. She told me this and I wrote the chorus with that in mind. The verse was about how I felt at the time with the success of 'Magic'. I didn't write the song in January, it was in October, just after the release of 'Magic.' It was quickly recorded as the next single. We were recording the album, Second Flight, in Air Studios in London when 'January' got to #1. I didn't know the song was #1 until I arrived at the studio where I was greeted with handshakes and congratulations." (Source)
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American Pie I and II
Music dictionary: Soft Rock - Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
Christmas time tends to be one of the most inspitational moments of the year for the musicians. From 1930's to our days, from Judy Garland to George Michael artists all over the world felt that they had to sing about the Christmas and the way they saw it.
Merry Christmas everyone ... and enjoy it.
10. Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Madonna brought this one out of obscurity in 1987 for the Very Special Christmas album, and it's become a holiday standard for any diva who craves a special sugar daddy this time of year. Eartha Kitt's original helped make the future Catwoman a star.
9. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
Garland was much more than Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. In 1944 she starred in the film Meet Me In St. Louis, which featured this song. It was a big hit with soldiers fighting overseas during World War II.
8. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Darlene Love
Phil Spector wrote this for his 1963 Christmas album, which had the misfortune of being released on November 22, 1963 - the day US president John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. The album was pulled, but the song eventually became a Christmas classic, thanks in no small part to U2's cover in 1987 for A Very Special Christmas.
7. Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
A rare Elctro-Pop Christmas song, McCartney used a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synth, which you also hear in Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" and the Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes." All four members of The Beatles released Christmas songs as solo artists.
6. Father Christmas - The Kinks
This isn't your typical Christmas song, it's about a kid who gets mugged by performing as St. Nick, then asks for a machine gun and a job for his dad for Christmas. Where the Kinks come from, Santa Claus is known as "Father Christmas."
5. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
Written by the same guy who wrote "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," Lee was 13 when she recorded this song in 1958. Something not a lot of people think about - Christmas songs are usually recorded in the summer. That was the case here, as Lee recorded it on a hot July day in Nashville. Her producer turned up the air conditioning and set up a Christmas tree to get her in the mood.
4. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band-Aid
The first big group charity song, this was organized by Bob Geldof to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The next year, Geldof got much more ambitious, organizing "We Are The World" and Live Aid. Appearing on this song, in order: Paul Young, Boy George, George Michael, Simon Le Bon, and Bono. The chorus included David Bowie, Phil Collins, and Paul McCartney.
3. You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch - Thurl Ravenscroft
Written for the 1966 Dr. Seuss TV Holiday Special How The Grinch Stole Christmas, this is one of those songs that you gotta love even if you're burned out on Christmas music. Ravenscroft was the voice of Tony the Tiger, who said of Frosted Flakes cereal: "They're Great." In 2000, the movie was remade, and this song recorded by Jim Carrey and Busta Rhymes.
2. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
Originally recorded by Ernest Tubb in 1950, Elvis sang the definitive version in 1957. After all, you can't have a White Christmas without that special someone, and who better than Elvis to express the pain of longing?
1. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennon
In 1969, John and Yoko bought billboard advertisements in major cities around the world that said, "War is over! (If you want it)." Two years later they turned the slogan into this Christmas song with an anti-war message. This is the second entry on the list produced by Phil Spector, who also worked on Lennon's "Instant Karma." Listen at the beginning as John and Yoko whisper to their children Kyoko and Julian.
and two special ones: Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song and Wham - Last Christmas
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