“Unforgettable” won Grammys for Song and Record of the Year

Unforgettable Nat “King” Cole with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra

Writer(s): Irving Gordon (music and lyrics) (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 3, 1951 Peak: 12 US, 116 UK, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 28.10 video, 139.86 streaming

Unforgettable Natalie Cole with Nat “King” Cole

First Charted: June 15, 1991 Peak: 14 BB, 23 CB, 16 GR, 20 RR, 3 AC, 10 RB, 19 UK, 15 CN, 2 AU, 6 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.55 US, -- UK, 0.63 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 3.28 video, 85.79 streaming

Awards (Nat “King” Cole): Click on award for more details. Awards (Natalie Cole):

About the Song: Irving Gordon was a songwriter born Israel Goldener in New York City in 1915. He wrote many comedic and parody songs SF and had songs recorded by Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Patti Page. His best-known song, however, was “Unforgettable” – a song which netted him a Grammy for Song of the Year forty years after he wrote it. Nat “King” Cole was the first to chart with the song. He started his career as a jazz pianist and rose to become “one of the most popular singers in recording history.” PM He charted more than 120 times from 1943 to his death in 1965, most notably with “Straighten Up and Fly Right” (1944), “The Christmas Song” (1946), and #1 hits “I Love You for Sentimental Reasons” (1946), “Nature Boy” (1948), “Mona Lisa” (1950), and “Too Young” (1951). Cole recorded “Unforgettable” in 1951 with an arrangement by Nelson Riddle. He recorded a non-orchestrated version a year later. WK It reached #12 in the U.S. and topped the UK charts for 16 weeks. In 1954, the Dick Hyman Trio brought it back, getting to #29. PM Others to record it over the years include George Benson, Andrea Bocelli, Captain & Tennille, Sammy Davis Jr., Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Merle Haggard, Englebert Humperdinck, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Oscar Peterson, Kenny Rogers, and Dinah Washington. WK 40 years after Cole first recorded the song, his version was edited and reworked into a duet with his daughter, Natalie. She’s already had a successful career herself, winning the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1975 and having top-ten hits with “This Will Be an Everlasting Love” (1975), I’ve Got Love on My Mind” (1977), “Our Love” (1978), “Pink Cadillac” (1988), and “Miss You Like Crazy” (1989). HT Her version of “Unforgettable” with her father, however, cemented her legacy. It was a surprise hit, reaching #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the adult contemporary chart. Her version was recorded as part of a full album tribute to her father. At a time when “grunge and gangsta rap were the big trends…an album of jazz standards seemed the perfect way to keep a contemporary artist off the charts” SF but the public and Grammy voters embraced it wholeheartedly. The album, Unforgettable…With Love, topped the Billboard album chart and sold 11 million copies worldwide. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year while the song won Grammys for Song and Record of the Year. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Natalie Cole SF Songfacts TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Page 323. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Pages 87-89, 601. HT Joel Whitburn (2016). Top Pop Singles 1955-2015. Menomonee Falls, WI; Record Research, Inc. Page 189. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 4/16/2024.

Crowded House “Weather with You” charted

Weather with You Crowded House

Writer(s): Neil Finn, Tim Finn (see lyrics here) Released: February 17, 1992 First Charted: February 20, 1992 Peak: 7 UK, 34 CN, 27 AU, 3 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.4 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 14.0 video, 197.28 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: In 1977, Neil Finn joined Split Enz, the New Zealand-based new wave group which was led by his brother Tim. They reached their peak commercially with 1980’s “I Got You,” which was written and sung by Neil. When the group broke up in 1984, Neil and Split Enz drummer Paul Hester formed Crowded House. The group found success with their self-titled debum and its top-10 hits “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong.” The follow-up album, Temple of Low Men, failed to generate any top-40 hits in the U.S., although singles “Better Be Home Soon” and “Into Temptation” were more than worthy. When it came time to record their third album, Neil experienced chronic writer’s block and turned to his brother Tim for help. TC Tim ended up joining the band, infusing the subsequent Woodface album with a welcome dose of quirkiness. The brothers penned most of the album’s songs together. “Weather with You,” the fourth single from the album, showcased the Finns at their best. They tended to “write sweet songs that generally disguise enormous turmoil” TC and “Weather with You” proved to be a perfect representation of one of their “dark and deeply personal songs.” TC Neil said, “the theme of the song is…that you are creating your own weather, you are making your own environment.” WK Tim initiated the song with the opening chords and the lyric “Walking round the room singing ‘Stormy Weather.’” Neil responded with the line “at 57 Mount Pleasant Street.” As Tim said, now “We had this place and we had this feeling of some guy walking around singing ‘Story Weather’ so things weren’t that great. We had a mood and then Neil came up with, ‘Things ain’t cookin’ in my kitchen.’” TC Tim thought it might end up being the chorus until they came up with the line “always take the weather with you.” TC Tim also praised his brother’s guitar as “one of the most memorable parts of the song.” TC Resources: TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 455. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 2/8/2024.

Red Hot Chili Peppers chart with “Under the Bridge”

Under the Bridge Red Hot Chili Peppers

Writer(s): Anthony Kiedis, Flea, John Frusciante, Chad Smith (see lyrics here) First Charted: February 15, 1992 Peak: 2 US, 11 CB, 13 GR, 12 RR, 2 AR, 6 MR, 13 UK, 3 CN, 14 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.4 UK, 1.47 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 253.8 video, 1154.30 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Prior to this song, the Red Hot Chili Peppers built a following with four albums in the 1980s, but largely amongst the alternative rock crowd. They’d reached the top 20 of that chart four times, but never reached the top 40 of the pop chart. Their only previous song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 was “Give It Away” (#73), the first single from Blood Sugar Sex Magik. As Rolling Stone’s David Fricke said, the song “unexpectedly drop-kicked the band into the Top 10.” WK Lead singer Anthony Kiedis wrote the song about the “loneliness and despondency” WK he’d experienced from heroin and cocaine addiction roughly three years earlier. WK He commented that instead of appreciating the love of his then-girlfriend, actress Ione Skye, he “was downtown with fucking gangsters shooting speedballs under a bridge.” WK It was initially a poem he thought was “too emotional and did not fit the Chili Peppers’ style.” WK However, producer Rick Rubin saw the band as more than “a funk band with rapping” SF and convinced Kiedis to share the song with the band. “Under the Bridge” became the second single from the Magik album after Warners Bros. Record representatives saw the Peppers in concert. Kiedis missed his cue to start singing and the audience jumped in. He apologizied to the record company people afterward, but they said, “Are you kidding me? When every single kid at the show sings a song, that’s our next single.” WK The song has been called “a seminal component of the alternative rock movement of the early and mid-1990s.” WK Journalist Jeff Apter called it “the bona fide, across-all-formats radio hit that the band had been working towards for seven years.” WK All Music Guide’s Amy Hanson called it “an integral part of the 1990s alterna-landscape.” WK Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/24/2021; last updated 7/14/2023.