Saturday, February 28, 2009

Mojo: Top 100 Songs

Mojo:

Top 100 Songs

Mojo is a monthly UK magazine first published in October 1993. They have published multiple best-of lists over the years. Below is an exclusive Dave’s Music Database list in which 15 song-based lists (see links at bottom of page) from Mojo hae been aggregated into one best-of list.

Click here to see other lists from publications and/or organizations.

1. Sex Pistols “God Save the Queen” (1977)
2. Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (1991)
3. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963)
4. Oasis “Live Forever” (1994)
5. Marvin Gaye “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968)
6. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966)
7. Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
8. Aretha Franklin “Respect” (1967)
9. The Miracles “The Tracks of My Tears” (1965)
10. Stevie Wonder “Superstition” (1972)

11. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five “The Message” (1982)
12. The Beach Boys “God Only Knows” (1966)
13. The La’s “There She Goes” (1990)
14. Pulp “Common People” (1995)
15. The Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (1963)
16. Bob Dylan “Like a Rolling Stone” (1965)
17. The Beatles “Revolution” (1968)
18. The Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (1965)
19. The Beatles “Hey Jude” (1968)
20. The Beatles “Penny Lane” (1967)

21. The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” (1968)
22. The Beatles “Paperback Writer” (1966)
23. The Beatles “Rain” (1966)
24. The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1965)
25. Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” (1939)
26. Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (1967)
27. The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1963)
28. Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode” (1958)
29. The Smiths “This Charming Man” (1983)
30. The Who “My Generation” (1966)

31. Ray Charles “What’d I Say” (1959)
32. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Purple Haze” (1967)
33. The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” (1967)
34. The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” (1966)
35. The Jackson 5 “I Want You Back” (1969)
36. Elvis Presley “Heartbreak Hotel” (1956)
37. Four Tops “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” (1966)
38. Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976)
39. The Byrds “Eight Miles High” (1966)
40. Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights” (1978)

41. Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968)
42. Blue Oyster Cult “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” (1976)
43. The Animals “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)
44. ? and the Mysterians “96 Tears” (1966)
45. The Specials “Ghost Town” (1981)
46. Squeeze “Up the Junction” (1979)
47. The Small Faces “Itchycoo Park” (1967)
48. Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (1970)
49. The Dils “I Hate the Rich” (1978)
50. Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” (1971)

51. Sex Pistols “Holidays in the Sun” (1977)
52. Martha & the Vandellas “Dancing in the Street” (1964)
53. Edwin Starr “War” (1970)
54. The Undertones “Teenage Kicks” (1978)
55. The Clash “White Riot” (1977)
56. The Poni Tails “Born Too Late” (1958)
57. The Byrds “Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965)
58. Sam Cooke “A Change Is Gonna Come” (1965)
59. Marvin Gaye “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” (1971)
60. Derek and the Dominos “Layla” (1971)

61. Stevie Wonder “Living for the City” (1973)
62. Don McLean “American Pie” (1971)
63. The Kinks “You Really Got Me” (1964)
64. Link Wray and His Men “Rumble” (1958)
65. R.E.M “.Losing My Religion” (1991)
66. James Brown “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965)
67. Booker T. & the MG’s “Green Onions” (1962)
68. The Rolling Stones “Sympathy for the Devil” (1968)
69. Del Shannon “Runaway” (1961)
70. Manic Street Preachers “A Design for Life” (1996)

71. David Bowie “Space Oddity” (1969)
72. John Lennon “Imagine” (1971)
73. This Mortal Coil “Song to the Siren” (1984)
74. The Small Faces “Tin Soldier” (1967)
75. The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset” (1967)
76. Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy” (1991)
77. Buddy Holly & the Crickets “That’ll Be the Day” (1957)
78. Eddie Cochran “Summertime Blues” (1958)
79. Mott the Hoople “All the Young Dudes” (1972)
80. Jimmy Ruffin “What Becomes of the Broken Hearted” (1966)

81. Primal Scream “Higher Than the Sun” (1991)
82. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Two Tribes” (1984)
83. Oasis “Wonderwall” (1995)
84. Oasis “Champagne Supernova” (1996)
85. Chic “Good Times” (1979)
86. McAlmont & Butler “Yes” (1995)
87. Radiohead “Creep” (1993)
88. The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Hey Joe” (1966)
89. The Temptations “My Girl” (1964)
90. Martha & the Vandellas “Heat Wave” (1963)

91. The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?” (1984)
92. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (1956)
93. Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” (1976)
94. Television Personalities “Part-Time Punks” (1978)
95. Pete Seeger “We Shall Overcome” (1963)
96. Kraftwerk “Autobahn” (1974)
97. Subway Sect “Ambition” (1978)
98. Ultravox “Vienna” (1981)
99. Fairport Convention “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” (1969)
100. R.E.M. “Everybody Hurts”” (1993)

Resources/Related Links:

First posted 12/10/2010; last updated 4/8/2021.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Flo Rida “Right Round” hit #1

Right Round

Flo Rida with Ke$ha

Writer(s): Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, Tramar Dillard, Peter Hernandez, Philip Lawrence, Justin Franks, Allan Grigg (see lyrics here)

Released: January 27, 2009

First Charted: January 18, 2009

Peak: 16 US, 16 DG, 12 RR, 31 A40, 63 RB, 11 UK, 19 CN, 16 6 (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 7.5 US, 0.6 UK, 12.0 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 0.4 radio, 261.3 video, 490.81 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“’Right Round’ was never supposed to be an artistic statement…’Right Round’ is a party song, and it’s not really supposed to do anything other than facilitate dancing and singing along. Its commercial success is proof of concept; the song did what it was intended to do.” SG The song sold 636,000 downloads WK the week of February 19, 2009, leaping from #58 to #1 WK and shattering the single-week record (418,000) set just a week earlier by “Crack a Bottle” by Eminem, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent. WK

“A year before ‘Right Round,’ the previously unknown Dade County rapper Flo Rida scored an out-of-nowhere monster hit with his club-rap jam ‘Low.’” SG “T-Pain’s unforgettable earworm of a hook was the real star.” SG Similarly, “Right Round” owed a great deal of its success to a sample of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round Like a Record” and production by the Smeezingtons. The production team was comprised of Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, and a then-unknown Bruno Mars. Lawrence said the idea came about when he and Mars “were sitting in a car, listening to beats and ‘throwing out ’80s ideas.’” SG

Songwriter and producer Dr. Luke also played a significant role. He “started off in the rap world” SG but got famous from “the glittering centrist pop baubles that he made with mentor Max Martin.” SG “When Dr. Luke worked with rappers, he didn’t really make rap songs. Instead, he crafted sleek, gleaming electronic pop tracks that crowded rappers’ voices over to the corners of the mix…When electro-pop took over the Hot 100, a savvy but personality-free rapper like Flo Rida could make a whole lot of money with a Dr. Luke beat.” SG

“Over that beat, Flo Rida singsongs his boilerplate strip-club gibberish like an AI version of Nelly.” SG He said the song is “about a young lady, she might be in the strip club and she’s got my head spinning round.” WK “If you don’t listen to what he’s saying, Flo Rida’s ‘Right Round’ flow is pretty impressive…but…his lyrics don’t even make sense: ‘Lil mama, I owe you just like the flowers/ Girl, you the truth, with all of that goody power.’” SG

The song also introduced pop singer Ke$ha, who “sings something like 10 words” SG on the song. Within the year, she would top the charts on her own with “Tik Tok.” She had signed a deal four years earlier with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe label and wrote songs for other artists as well as providing backup vocals. On “Right Round” her “raspy, horny voice sounds cool on the song, and her interplay with Flo Rida turns it into more of a reciprocal oral-sex thing, but her whole personality doesn’t exactly shine through.” SG

Resources:

Related Links:

First posted 7/28/2023.

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Monday, February 23, 2009

50 years ago: Henry Mancini hit #1 for 1st of 10 weeks with Music from Peter Gunn

First posted 3/25/2008; updated 10/2/2020.

Music from Peter Gunn

Henry Mancini

Charted: February 9, 1959

Peak: 110 US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU

Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, -- UK, 0.5 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: jazz/ TV soundtrack

Tracks:

  1. Peter Gunn
  2. Sorta Blue
  3. The Brothers Go to Mother’s
  4. Dreamsville
  5. Session at Pete’s Pad
  6. Soft Sounds
  7. Fallout!
  8. The Floater
  9. Slow and Easy
  10. A Profound Gass
  11. Brief and Breezy
  12. Not from Dixie

Total Running Time: 39:52

Rating:

4.304 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

Quotable: “A key piece of jazz and pop music history” – Bruce Eder, All Music Guide

Awards:

About the Album:

This is “a key piece of jazz and pop music history.” AMG The television soundtrack for Peter Gunn was the first recipient of the Grammy for Album of the Year. In 1958, the show was “one of the unexpected hits of the new television season, capturing the imagination of millions of viewers by mixing private eye action with a jazz setting. Composer Henry Mancini was more than fluent in jazz, and his music nailed down the popularity of the series.” AMG The soundtrack did so well that RCA Victor released a second volume, More Music From Peter Gunn.

The main title theme is “a driving, ominous, exciting piece of music” AMG “notable for its combination of jazz orchestration with a straightforward rock ‘n roll beat.” WK In his autobiography, Did They Mention the Music?, Mancini explained that he “used guitar and piano in unison…It was sustained throughout the piece, giving it a sinister effect, with some frightened saxophone sounds and some shouting brass.” WK

As to other songs on the collection, “the music holds up: Session at Pete’s Pad is a superb workout for the trumpets of Pete Candoli, Uan Rasey, Conrad Gozzo, and Frank Beach, while Barney Kessel's electric guitar gets the spotlight during Dreamsville; and Sorta Blue and Fallout are full-ensemble pieces that constitute quintessential ‘cool’ West Coast jazz of the period. In other words, it’s all virtuoso orchestral jazz, presented in its optimum form.” AMG “This a doubly valuable addition to any jazz or soundtrack collection of the era.” AMG

Notes: This was rereleased in 1998 with four bonus tracks (“Walkin’ Bass,” “Blue Steel,” “Spook!,” and “Blues for Mother’s”) originally featured on More Music from Peter Gunn.

Resources and Related Links:

at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)