Monday, December 31, 2007

2007: Top 25 Albums

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:

  1. Radiohead In Rainbows
  2. LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver
  3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Raising Sand
  4. Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad
  5. Bruce Springsteen Magic
  6. Kanye West Graduation
  7. High School Musical 2 (TV soundtrack)
  8. M.I.A. Kala
  9. Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare
  10. Alicia Keys As I Am

  11. Arcade Fire Neon Bible
  12. Eagles Long Road Out of Eden
  13. Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
  14. Norah Jones Not Too Late
  15. Burial Untrue
  16. The White Stripes Icky Thump
  17. The National Boxer
  18. Leona Lewis Spirit
  19. Miranda Lambert Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
  20. Britney Spears Blackout

  21. Michael Bublé Call Me Irresponsible
  22. Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight
  23. Mika Life in Cartoon Motion
  24. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
  25. Josh Groban Noel

Resources and Related Links:

Don Tyler: Top 1000+ Songs, 1900-1955

The Top 1000+ Songs
from 1900 to 1955

According to Don Tyler

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.

A

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

Performer with
Highest Rated Version

Year

A – You’re Adorable (The Alphabet Song)Sid Lippman, Buddy Kaye, Fred WisePerry Como & the Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres Orchestra1949
B

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

Performer with
Highest Rated Version

Year

SongSongwritersArtistYear
C

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

Performer with
Highest Rated Version

Year

SongSongwritersArtistYear
D

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

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Highest Rated Version

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
E

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

Performer with
Highest Rated Version

Year

SongSongwritersArtistYear
F

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

Performer with
Highest Rated Version

Year

SongSongwritersArtistYear
G

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

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Highest Rated Version

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
H

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
I

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
J

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
K

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WRITER(S),
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Highest Rated Version

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
L

SONG

WRITER(S),
m = music, w = words

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Highest Rated Version

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
M

SONG

WRITER(S),
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
N

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WRITER(S),
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
O

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
P

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m = music, w = words

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
Q

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Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
R

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
S

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
T

SONG

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
U

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SongSongwritersArtistYear
V

SONG

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Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
W

SONG

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Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
X

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Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
Y

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Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear
Z

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m = music, w = words

Performer with
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SongSongwritersArtistYear


Resources/Related Links:


First posted 12/3/2022.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

50 years ago: The Music Man opened on Broadway

The Music Man

Meredith Willson (music & lyrics)

The Musical

Opened on Broadway: December 19, 1957


Number of Performances: 1375


Opened at London’s West End: March 16, 1961


Number of Performances: 395

Cast Album


Charted: February 24, 1958


Peak: 112 US


Sales (in millions): 1.0 US


Genre: show tunes


Soundtrack


Charted: August 11, 1962


Peak: 2 US, 14 UK


Sales (in millions): 0.5 US


Genre: show tunes


Songs on Cast Album:

  1. Main Title/ Rock Island
  2. Iowa Stubborn
  3. Ya Got Trouble
  4. Piano Lesson
  5. If You Don’t Mind My Saying So s
  6. Goodnight, My Someone
  7. Ya Got Trouble s
  8. Seventy Six Trombones
  9. Sincere
  10. The Sadder But Wiser Girl for Me
  11. Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little
  12. Goodnight Ladies c
  13. Marian the Librarian
  14. My White Knight c
  15. Being in Love s
  16. Gary, Indiana s
  17. The Wells Fargo Wagon
  18. It’s You c
  19. Shipoopi *
  20. Lida Rose/ Will I Ever Tell You?
  21. Gary, Indiana
  22. Till There Was You
  23. Goodnight, My Someone s
  24. Seventy Six Trombones s
  25. Finale c
* Track comes right before “Till There Was You” on soundtrack.
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:

  • “Till There Was You” – Anita Bryant (#30, 1959), Valjean (#100, 1962)

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).

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 One

Alicia 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

Awards:

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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