Saturday, June 25, 2011

My Top Songs of All Time 826-850

826. I Started a Joke                                                        Bee Gees
827. Kings                                                                       Steely Dan
828. Don't Stop Believin'                                                  Journey
829. Complicated                                                            Avril Lavigne
830. Golden Years                                                          David Bowie
831. Jimmy Mack                                                            Martha and the Vandellas
832. You Can't Hurry Love                                              Supremes
833. Call Me                                                                   Blondie
834. Treat Her Like a Lady                                             Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose
835. Summer Sand                                                          Tony Orlando & Dawn
836. Play That Funky Music                                            Wild Cherry
837. Miss Me Blind                                                         Culture Club  
838. I Was Made to Love Her                                         Stevie Wonder
839. Silhouettes                                                               Herman's Hermits
840. Hold On (I'm Comin')                                              Sam & Dave
841. Party All the Time                                                    Eddie Murphy
842. Gangster's Paradise                                                  Coolio
843. Wishing Well                                                            Terence Trent D'arby
844. The Weight                                                              Band
845. Oh Shiela                                                                 Ready for the World
846. You Made Me So Very Happy                                Blood, Sweat & Tears
847. Goin' Up in Smoke                                                   Eddie Kendricks
848.. My Happy Ending                                                   Avril Lavigne
849. If You Don't Know Me By Now                              Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
850. One Night in Bangkok                                              Murray Head

Kings is the 23rd highest ranking song(of 30) by my favorite band of all time--Steely Dan. Once again Steely Dan's upcoming tour will have them performing an entire album and other hits and their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" which includes Kings, Reelin' in the Years and Do It Again will be performed. I will be going. Now is Kings about Richard the Lionhearter and King John of Magna Carta fame or Nixon and Kennedy?? hmmmm.

Blood, Sweat and Tears has had over 130 people in the band over the years. Its most famous member is David Clayton Thomas and even he is not a founding member. It had three songs hit #2--You Made Me So Very Happy(the only BS&T song to hit my list), Spinning Wheel and And When I Die. Under founding member Bob Columby, the band still tours--recently with Chuck Negron of 3 Dog Night fame. I saw them at St. Lawrence Univ. in 1972 and they refused to play Spinning Wheel and called it a dumb, meaningless song.

I Started a Joke is the second of 6 Bee Gees songs on my list. With 49 Top 100 songs, the Bee Gees(Brothers Gibb) habe to be considered among the greatest bands of all time. They had 8 number one songs--mostly from the Disco era and many from Saturday Night Live. Most of my favorite Bee Gees songs are from the 1960s with "I Gotta Get a Message to You" my favorite. The two surviving members of the Bee Gees occasionally perform today.

The Corrnelius Brothers & Sister Rose had 5 hits in 1971-73 and Treat Her Like a Lady(which peaked at #3) was their second biggest(Too Late to Turn Back Now hit #2 and is further up my survey. After the group broke up in 1976, Carter Cornelius joined a black Hebrew sect and adopted the name of Prince Gideon Israel. He died at age 43. Edward Cornelius became a born again Christian and a pastor. Rose still performs today.

Herman's Hermits formed in 1963 when lead singer Peter Noone was only 15. They had 19 hits including two#1 hits Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter(sung previously in a British TV play) and I'm Herry the 8th I Am(song in a music hall previously). The band didn't like either of these songs and didn't record either in England. Peter Noone left the band in 1971 and still tours today. A competing Herman's Hermits band also tours(mainly in Europe) led by one of its founding members. There continues to be controversy around the group as to how many of their songs employed session museums. Jimmy Page played on at least a couple I believe including this song Silhouettes. This is the 2nd of 6 HH sonhs on my list--the highest being No Milk Today.

1 comment:

  1. Great info here Jim. No idea BST had so many members, nor that Jimmy Page played with Hermans. Time and go back and revisted all the entries here. Many thanks for taking the time to write this. - Anthony

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