Today in Music (1915): “Home Sweet Home” hit #1

Home Sweet Home Alice Nielsen

Writer(s): John Howard Payne (lyrics), Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (arranged) (see lyrics here) Introduced: May 8, 1823 First Charted: October 17, 1891 (John Yorke Atlee) Peak: 12 PM (Alice Nielsen) (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.1 million (sheet music) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.68 video, -- streaming

Awards (Payne): Click on award for more details. Awards (John Yorke Atlee): Click on award for more details. Awards (Alice Nielsen): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: John Howard Payne was a descendent of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence TY2 and a poet in New York City. SS He went to London to pursue acting, writing, and drama production. He teamed with Sir Henry Rowley Bishop to write an operetta called Clari or The Maid of Milan. It premiered on May 8, 1823, at Covent Garden. The production introduced the world to the song “Home, Sweet Home.” Maria Tree sang it at the end of the first act. TY2 It quickly became one of the most famous songs of the 19th century, spreading throughout England and the rest of Western civilization. TY2 Charles Hamm called it, “the most popular song of the entire century.” SS It definitely “cast an imposing shadow over all other sentimental ballads of the 1800s as perhaps the definitive symbol of nostalgia for one’s roots.” SS During the Civil War, the song was reportedly banned from Union Army camps because it might incite desertion. WK In 1821 and 1822, Bishop published several volumes of folk songs and was known to create tunes of his own based on authentic melodies. He created a tune called “A Sicilian Air” that became the basis of the melody for “Home, Sweet Home.” TY2 Another source says Bishop first used the melody for a piece called ‘To the Home of My Childhood,” published in the collection Melodies of Other Nations. SS The song charted multiple times in the pre-rock era with versions by John Yorke Atlee (#2, 1891), Harry MacDonough (#3, 1902), Richard Jose (#3, 1906), Alma Gluck (#6, 1912), Alice Nielsen (#1, 1915), and Elsie Baker (#10, 1915). PM The song has appeared in the musicals The Prodigal (1931), Let Freedom Ring (1938), First Love (1939), and Cairo (1942). In the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, Anna teaches her students to sing the song. WK Disney’s 1958 animated film Lady and the Tramp features a “dog-howling rendition” of the song. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Howard Payne DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Yorke Atlee DMDB encyclopedia entry for Alice Nielsen SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 733-4. TY2 Don Tyler (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955. McFarland & Company, Inc.: Jefferson, North Carolina. Pages 78-9. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 510. WK Wikipedia First posted 6/27/2024.

OMI “Cheerleader” hit #1

Cheerleader (Felix Jaehn Remix) OMI

Writer(s): Omar Samuel Pasley, Clifton Dillon, Mark Bradford, Ryan Dillon, Sly Dunbar (see lyrics here) Released: May 19, 2014 First Charted: May 3, 2015 Peak: 16 US, 14 DG, 11 RR, 11 AC, 6 A40, 14 UK, 111 CN, 1 AU, 17 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 1.92 UK, 8.3 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1705.42 video, 1447.79 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer Omar Samuel Pasley (stage name: OMI – a nickname his father called him SF) was born in 1986 in Jamaica. He loved American hip-hop but also developed a taste for singers like John Legend, Nat “King” Cole, and Sam Cooke. WK So far, he has only released one album, 2015’s Me 4 U. it featured his sole hit in the United States, the chart-topping “Cheerleader.” The song dates back to 2008 when OMI first created its melody. WK He said, “It was like a little Jamaican nursery rhyme, like ‘one, two, buckle my shoe,’ that kind of thing – ‘ring game’ is what we’d call it. The rest of the song just fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle.” WK The lyrics focus on “the protaganist’s joy at finding a ‘cheerleader’ – a romantic companion that will be a support system.” WK Jamaican producer Clifton Dillon then refined it over several years and it was finally recorded with veteran session musicians Sly & Robbie as the rhythm section and Dean Fraser on saxophone. WK The song was released in 2012 and topped the charts in Jamaica. Patrick Moxey, the president of Ultra Music, an American electronic music label, heard the song while on vacation and signed OMI to a contract in 2013. WK German DJ Felix Jaehn then remixed the song in early 2014. He explained that he was mainly putting out bootlegs online and record companies started contacting him to do official remixes – one of which was “Cheerleader.” SF He took an acapella version of the song, sped up the vocal, and built a new track around the vocal. SF It “eschews much of the original rhythm” WK in favor of a “tropical-flavored deep house rendition.” WK It was released in 2014 and found success the next year, topping the charts in 20 countries. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for OMI SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 7/30/2023.

50 years ago: Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” charted

Like a Rolling Stone Bob Dylan

Writer(s): Bob Dylan (see lyrics here) Released: July 20, 1965 First Charted: July 24, 1965 Peak: 2 US, 11 CB, 2, HR, 1 CL, 4 UK, 2 CN, 7 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.2 UK, 0.2 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 36.84 video, 245.95 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: It was only Bob Dylan’s second appearance on the Billboard Hot 100. His maiden hit on the chart was “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, just a few months earlier. This one, however, would be his biggest hit. Music critic Toby Creswell said it “was so different, so sophisticated, that it shaped the future of rock & roll.” TC “No other pop song has so thoroughly challenged and transformed the commercial laws and artistic conventions of its time.” RS500 Regarding Dylan’s 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance of this song, Joni Mitchell said, “The American folk song has grown up.” NPR Folk music fans had seen their genre as carrying intellectual import while rock-n-roll was “adolescent trash.” TB This song, however, proved that lyrical prowess need not be an impediment to commercial success BBC and suddenly rock was not just teen music, but an art form on par with any other. TB Dylan wrote this not initially as a song, but, by varying accounts, “as a prose poem,” PW “extended piece of verse,” RS500 or a short story about a society girl who loses her status, BBC possibly even Andy Warhol protégé Edie Sedgwick. SF It was, he says, “just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred.” RS500 The “mighty, stream-of-consciousness, rock ballad” JA owes a debt to Al Kooper, for the signature “garage-gospel organ.” RS500 The usual guitarist snuck into Columbia Studios for the chance to play with Dylan, but when Mike Bloomfield arrived with his guitar, Kooper knew he couldn’t compete so he took up a position behind the Hammond organ, which he hadn’t played before. TC Dylan liked what he heard and even had it turned up in the mix, despite the opening being an 1/8 note behind everyone else. SF Guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix liked what he heard as well – regarding Dylan’s voice, that is. Reportedly, Dylan’s unconventional vocals, “nasal and nasty, raw as barbed wire,” MA served as an inspiration to the legendary musician to see himself as more than just a guitarist. SF Resources: BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 533-4. JA David A. Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 119. MA Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New York, NY; New American Library. Page 9. NPR National Public Radio web site (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” RS500 Rolling Stone (12/04). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SF Songfacts.com TB Thunder Bay Press. (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 79. PW Paul Williams (1993). Rock and Roll: The Best 100 Singles. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc. Page 90. Related Links: First posted 7/24/2011; last updated 8/24/2022.