| First posted 1/8/2021. |
 | Dave’s Music Database:Top Albums of 2007 |
Based on a combination of year-end lists and overall status in Dave’s Music Database, these are the top 25 albums of 2007:
Resources and Related Links:
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DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
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Monday, December 31, 2007
2007: Top 25 Albums
Don Tyler: Top 1000+ Songs, 1900-1955
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The Top 1000+ Songs |
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Author Don Tyler published Hit Parade 1920-1955 in 1985. It featured more than 800 songs, organized by year and listed by song title with the songwriters indicated. In 2007, he expanded the work in Hit Songs, 1900-1955 – this time with over 1200 titles. Between the two works, he cited more than 1400 titles. They are listed here in alphabetical order by song titles followed by the songwriters, the highest-ranked version of the song in Dave’s Music Database, and the year of its release. Click here to see other lists from critics and individuals and here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations. |
SONG | WRITER(S), | Performer with | Year |
| A – You’re Adorable (The Alphabet Song) | Sid Lippman, Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise | Perry Como & the Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra | 1949 |
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Resources/Related Links:
First posted 12/3/2022. |
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
50 years ago: The Music Man opened on Broadway
The Music Man |
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Opened on Broadway: December 19, 1957 Number of Performances: 1375 Opened at London’s West End: March 16, 1961 Number of Performances: 395 |
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Charted: February 24, 1958 Peak: 112 US Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Genre: show tunes |
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Charted: August 11, 1962 Peak: 2 US, 14 UK Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: show tunes |
Songs on Cast Album:
c indicates song that appears only on cast album. s indicates song that appears only on soundtrack. Singles/Hit Songs: As was common in the pre-rock era and early days of rock and roll, songs from musicals were often recorded by artists not associated with the musical and released as singles. Here are some of the most notable hit singles resulting from the show:
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Rating:  4.478 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings for cast album and soundtrack combined)
Awards (Cast Album and Soundtrack): (Click on award to learn more).
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About the Show: “The original Broadway cast of Meredith Willson’s most successful musical was headed by Robert Preston, who played the part of Harold Hill, a conman” R-C “intent on swindling the good people of River City, IA, by selling them on a fictitious boys' band.” R-S “Willson concentrates on percussive effects and rapid-fire spiels for Preston, though the musical standout is Barbara Cook as Marian the Librarian. Highlights of this perennial hit show include Seventy-Six Trombones and Till There Was You.” R-S “Coming along in the summer of 1962, four and a half years after the Broadway opening, the film version of The Music Man appeared in an era when Hollywood was more likely to be faithful to stage musicals, rather than dramatically altering them, as had been the practice in the past. R-S The movie version “found Robert Preston re-creating his starring role as conman Professor Harold Hill…and some minor roles were also filled by the Broadway originals. More important, Meredith Willson’s score was rendered intact, the only change being a revision of the song My White Knight into Being in Love.” R-S “The major casting change was the substitution of Shirley Jones, who had a box-office track record, for Barbara Cook, who did not, in the role of Marian the librarian. Cook may have been preferable, but Jones handled the part well, too.” R-S “Musically, the big change had to do with scale; the Broadway pit orchestra and original cast were replaced by a vast Hollywood orchestra and chorus, and musical director Ray Heindorf made the most of the larger effects on songs like ‘Seventy Six Trombones’.” R-S “Still, the music fan who already owned a copy of the original Broadway cast recording didn’t really need to plump for the original motion picture soundtrack, which didn’t keep the album from racing up the charts…as the film became one of the year’s top grossers. But it remains true; unless you are a Shirley Jones fan or want to hear future Andy Griffith Show co-star and film director Ronnie Howard sing Gary, Indiana with a lisp, stick to the Broadway version.” R-S |
Resources and Related Links:
First posted 5/19/2011; last updated 12/23/2021. |
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Alicia Keys hit #1 with “No One”
| Last updated 3/28/2020. |
 | No OneAlicia Keys |
Writer(s): Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers Jr., George M. Harry (see lyrics here) Released: September 11, 2007 First Charted: September 8, 2007 Peak: 15 US, 16 RR 9 AC, 9 A40, 110 RB, 6 UK, 2 CN, 3 AU (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.6 UK, 5.6 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.8 radio, 395.93 video, -- streaming |
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About the Song: Keys told Billboard magazine “This is one song that just wrote itself. A lot of the snogs didn’t happen like that. It was one of the last songs I wrote. I needed to say this. It’s full force, classical yet vintage, desperate yet triumphant. I want people to feel my soul.” BB100 She told MTV News Canada that the song is about “the way that so many things are around you all time to try to distract you” WK in relationships. While Keys sometimes had a tendency “towards bloat, overstuffing her songs and albums with not particularly original ideas; she’s pared down her vision since, becoming both more disciplined and more eccentric.” DS With “No One,” however, she created “perhaps the most straightforward, even basic pop this decade has seen, are so obvious as to convert even the most chart-skeptical.” DS Popjustice called it one of her best singles to date. WK Digital Spy’s Alex Fletcher called it a “simplistic yet beautiful, fluttering, piano-tinkling ballad.” WK Paste’s David Mead said it “showcases a new depth and width to the tone of her voice.” WK It was the most-listened-to song on American radio in 2008 with 3.08 billion listeners, SF as evidenced by the song topping multiple Billboard pop and R&B-oriented charts. For the week ending December 29, 2007, Keys became the first artist in the history of the R&B/hip-hop charts to have songs at #1 and #2 (“Like You’ll Never See Me Again”) without help from any duet partners or featured artists. SF The song did well internationally as well, hitting #1 in Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey. SF
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Friday, November 30, 2007
The Guardian – Top 100 Albums
| First posted 11/30/2007; updated 8/5/2020. |
 | The Guardian:The Top 100 Albums |
The Guardian is a UK newspaper which has published a few best-of lists over the years. Below are their top 100 albums, as determined by aggregating five album-focused lists published from 1997 to 2007. See links to those lists at bottom of page. Also, check out annual picks for album of the year.
1. John Coltrane A Love Supreme (1965)
11. Jeff Buckley Grace (1994)
21. The Beatles Revolver (1966)
31. U2 The Joshua Tree (1987)
41. The Pixies Doolittle (1989)
51. Nick Drake Five Leaves Left (1969)
61. Tricky Maxinquaye (1995)
71. The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland (1968)
81. Dire Straits Brothers in Arms (1985)
91. Beck Odelay (1996) Resources and Related Links:
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Friday, November 23, 2007
50 years ago: “Great Balls of Fire” charted
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-12803909-1542272337-7214.jpeg.jpg) | Great Balls of FireJerry Lee Lewis |
Writer(s): Otis Blackwell, Jack Hammer (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 23, 1957 Peak: 2 US, 2 CB, 2 HR, 12 CW, 3 RB, 12 UK, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK, 5.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 1.0 radio, 0.51 video, 98.8 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:Some of rock ‘n’ roll’s earliest architects walked a fine line between their religious Southern upbringings and the shockingly sexual and aggressive style that defined early rock music. With a musical prowess birthed as much from the black honky-tonks as the Assembly of God Church, AC Lewis concocted an uncomfortable blend of music inspired by God and the devil. He got booted from Bible college AC for “playing hymns boogie-woogie style.” TB His “onstage terrorization of the piano” FR earned him the nickname “The Killer.” Nowhere was Lewis’ musical dichotomy more on display than with “Great Balls of Fire,” a song that “transcends everything doctrinaire and theoretical.” DM This is “nerve shaking, frame rattling, brain charring – rock ‘n’ roll at its most primal.” DT Jerry Lee’s signature song was “full of Southern Baptist hellfire turned into a near-blasphemous ode to pure lust.” RS500 Lewis realized the shock in 1957 of such sexual innuendo coming from a Southern music man SF and initially refused to sing the song. RS500 He argued with Sun Records’ founder Sam Phillips that “recording the song would send him straight to hell.” SS Phillips eventually won out, thanks to the ever-flowing liquor during the session. RS500 The song came to Lewis via songwriter Otis Blackwell. He was a poor kid from Brooklyn, New York, the first black man to really tap into the Nashville sound, dominating the country and rock charts in the mid to late-‘50s. AC He wrote “Don’t Be Cruel” and “All Shook Up” for Elvis Presley. After seeing Lewis perform on TV, he sent a demo of “Great Balls of Fire” to Sun Records. Both Phillips and Lewis knew it was a hit AH worthy of following Lewis’ breathrough hit “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.” Regarding Blackwell’s writing partner, Jack Hammer, several accounts say his sole contribution is coming up with the title and selling it to Blackwell. LW The song was a “refinement of the ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’’ formula but it has a few differences that give the song far more impact.” AH “Great Balls of Fire” “has a much more dynamic opening, one that sets the tone for the whole record with its stop-start exclamations” AH that are reminiscent of Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes.” It wouldn’t be much longer before Lewis’ career would come crashing down in flames. In May 1958, he was in the UK for a tour and the press asked who the girl was with him. It emerged that it was his thirteen-year-old cousin Myra – and his bride. The tour was cancelled and Lewis returned home in disgrace. He would revive his career years later on the country charts, but would never again reclaim the pop and rock glory he had in the 1950s. Resources:
Last updated 3/30/2023. |
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