2017: Top 25 Albums

First posted 1/8/2021.

Dave’s Music Database: Top Albums of 2017

Based on a combination of year-end lists and overall status in Dave’s Music Database, these are the top 25 albums of 2017: Kendrick Lamar Damn. Ed Sheeran ÷ (Divide) Lorde Melodrama The Greatest Showman soundtrack Taylor Swift Reputation Jay-Z 4:44 SZA CTRL Luke Combs This One’s for You Beck Colors LCD Soundsystem American Dream Drake More Life The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding Chris Stapleton From a Room: Volume 1 The National Sleep Well Beast Roger Waters Is This the Life We Really Want? Tyler, the Creator Flower Boy St. Vincent Mass Education Khalid American Teen U2 Songs of Experience Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile Lotta Sea Lice Harry Styles Harry Styles Bob Dylan Triplicate Pink Beautiful Trauma H.E.R. H.E.R. Lana Del Rey Lust for Life Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Year-End Album Awards”

Top 50 Songs of 2017

Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Songs of 2017

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists. Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here. DMDB Top 1%: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You” Luis Fonsi with Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber “Despacito” Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé “Perfect” Maroon 5 with Cardi B “Girls Like You” Camila Cabello with Young Thug “Havana” Post Malone with 21 Savage “Rockstar” The Chainsmokers with Coldplay “Something Just Like This” Bebe Rexha with Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be” Cardi B “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)” Kendrick Lamar “Humble” DMDB Top 2%: Lizzo “Truth Hurts” Portugal.the Man “Feel It Still” Imagine Dragons “Thunder” Imagine Dragons “Believer” DJ Khaled with Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, & Lil Wayne “I’m the One” Sam Hunt “Body Like a Back Road” DMDB Top 5%: Dua Lipa “New Rules” Taylor Swift “Look What You Made Me Do” Charlie Puth “Attention” DJ Khaled with Rihanna & Bryson Tiller “Wild Thoughts” Lil Uzi Vert “XO Tour Llif3” Logic with Alessia Cara & Khalid “1-800-273-8255” Future “Mask Off” Harry Styles “Sign of the Times” Sam Smith “Too Good at Goodbyes” French Montana & Swae Lee “Unforgettable” NF “Let You Down” Ed Sheeran “Castle on the Hill” Taylor Swift “Delicate” Demi Lovato “Sorry Not Sorry” Imagine Dragons “Whatever It Takes” Camila Cabello “Never Be the Same” Zedd with Alessia Cara “Stay” Keala Settle & the Greatest Showman Cast “This Is Me” Julia Michaels “Issues” Måneskin “Beggin’” Brandi Carlile “The Joke” Kendrick Lamar “DNA” Lorde “Green Light” Khalid “Location” Khalid “Young, Dumb & Broke” G-Eazy with Halsey “Him & I” G-Eazy with A$AP Rocky & Cardi B “No Limit” Bazzi “Mine” Niall Horan “Slow Hands” U2 “You’re the Best Thing About Me” Arcade Fire “Everything Now” Beck “Up All Night” Kendrick Lamar with Zacari “Love” Taylor Swift “Ready for It?” Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Top Songs and Albums by Year lists Dave’s Music Database: Songs of the Year lists First posted 12/26/2021; last updated 1/17/2023.

Phil Spector: Top 50 Songs

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Phil Spector Top 50 Songs

Phil Spector was born December 26, 1939 in the Bronx, New York. He is best known as a record producer who developed what has been called “the Wall of Sound,” an approach to producing a dense orchestral asthetic within studio recordings. His personal life was troubled by a history with gun violence and in 2003 he was convicted of second degree murder. In honor of his birthday, here are his 50 biggest hits as a writer and/or producer: Click here to see other best-of lists from performers and here to see other best-of lists from songwriters and/or producers.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. 1. John Lennon “Imagine” 1971) 2. The Beatles “Let It Be” (1970) 3. The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1964) 4. The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” (1965) 5. George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” (1970) 6. The Ronettes “Be My Baby” (1963) 7. Ike & Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High” (1966) 8. The Crystals “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” (1963) 9. John Lennon “Instant Karma (We All Shine On)” (1970) 10. The Dixie Cups “Chapel of Love” (1964) 11. The Crystals “He’s a Rebel” (1962) 12. The Beatles “The Long and Winding Road” (1970) 13. Ben E. King “Spanish Harlem” (1960) 14. The Teddy Bears “To Know Him Is to Love Him” (1958) 15. John Lennon “Jealous Guy” (1971) 16. John Lennon “Stand by Me” (1975) 17. The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me” (1963) 18. John Lennon “Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)” (1971) 19. George Harrison “Give Me Love, Give Me Peace on Earth” (1973) 20. George Harrison “What Is Life” (1971) 21. John Lennon “Mother” (1970) 22. John Lennon “Working Class Hero” (1970) 23. Paris Sisters “I Love How You Love Me” (1961) 24. John Lennon “God” (1970) 25. Ramones “Rock and Roll High School” (1979) 26. The Beatles “Across the Universe” (1970) 27. The Ronettes “Baby I Love You” (1963) 28. John Lennon “Power to the People” (1971) 29. The Ronettes “Walking in the Rain” (1964) 30. Curtis Lee & the Halos “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” (1961) 31. The Crystals “There’s No Other Like My Baby” (1961) 32. The Righteous Brothers “Just Once in My Life” (1965) 33. The Crystals “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (1962) 34. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” (1962) 35. Sonny Charles & the Checkmates Ltd. “Black Pearl” (1969) 36. The Ronettes “Do I Love You?” (1964) 37. The Righteous Brothers “Ebb Tide” (1965) 38. Connie Francis “Second Hand Love” (1962) 39. Ray Peterson “Corrine, Corrina” (1960) 40. The Crystals “Uptown” (1962) 41. George Harrison “Bangla-Desh” (1971) 42. The Ronettes “Born to Be Together” (1965) 43. Darlene Love “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry” (1963) 44. Darlene Love “A Fine, Fine Boy” (1963) 45. John Lennon “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” (1972) 46. Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans “Why Do Lovers Break Each Others’ Hearts” (1963) 47. Gene Pitney “Every Breath I Take” (1961) 48. Ramones “Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio” (1980) 49. George Harrison “Isn’t It a Pity” (1970) 50. The Ronettes “The Best Part of Breakin’ Up” (1964) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Phil Spector Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Performers” Dave’s Music Database: “Best-of Lists for Songwriters and/or Producers First posted 12/26/2017; updated 7/19/2021.

Ed Sheeran hit #1 with "Perfect"

Perfect Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé

Writer(s): Ed Sheeran (see lyrics here) Released: September 26, 2017 First Charted: March 25, 2017 Peak: 16 US, 19 BA, 18 DG, 11 ST, 12 RR, 122 AC, 19 A40, 16 UK, 16 CN, 18 AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 2.4 UK, 21.4 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 4807.0 video, 2548.03 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Perfect” first hit the charts in March 2017 when Ed Sheeran’s third studio album, Divide (÷) was released. All sixteen of the album’s tracks debuted in the top 20 in the UK and Sheeran occupied nine of the top 10 slots that week, with “Perfect” coming in at #4. WK In the U.S., ten of the album’s songs debuted on the charts with “Perfect” launching at #37. WK Six months later it was officially released as a single and in December an acoustic duet version with Beyoncé was released. The latter pushed the song to #1 on the pop charts in the U.S. The song also topped the charts in the UK and nineteen other countries. WK The song became Sheeran’s third to spend more than a year on the Billboard Hot 100, following “Shape of You” and “Thinking Out Loud.” He was the first solo artist to do so with three separate singles. SF “Perfect” was the first Sheeran wrote for his third album, was a romantic ballad about his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn. He initially met her in school and then then reconnected when she was working in New York. He said the lyrical inspiration came from a visit to fellow singer James Blunt’s house in Ibiza, where they listened to the music of rapper Future, WK specifically “March Madness.” SF After he wrote it, he sent it to Cherry in New York, but didn’t get to see her reaction to the song. SF He told Zane Lowe in an interview that he wanted to outdo previous ballad “Thinking Out Loud” because “I know that song was going to define me.” WK As a final wish of his grandmother, Sheeran collaborated with his brother Matthew, who provided string orchestration on the song. WK The full orchestration was used in a third version of the song, known as “Perfect Symphony,” which featured Andrea Bocelli. Parts of the instrumentation were used in the original version. WK The video was directed by Jason Koenig, who also helmed Sheeran’s chart-topping “Shape of You.” It was filmed at an Austrian ski resort and depicted Sheeran and actress Zoey Deutch on a ski trip, dancing in the snow, and ending up in a cabin together. MTV UK’s Ross McNeilage called the video a “Christmas dream.” WK It wasn’t actually a Christmas song or video, but the snow gave it a wintery theme. Resources: SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 7/25/2023.

90 Years Ago Today: "My Blue Heaven" hit #1

My Blue Heaven Gene Austin

Writer(s): Walter Donaldson (music), George Whiting (lyrics) (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 3, 1927 Peak: 113 US, 18 GA, 18 SM, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US (includes 1 million in sheet music sales) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.15 video, -- streaming

My Blue Heaven Fats Domino

First Charted: March 31, 1956 Peak: 19 US, 14 CB, 18 HR, 5 RB, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 2.0 US (includes 1 million in sheet music sales) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.9 video, -- streaming

Awards (Gene Austin): Click on award for more details.

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Awards (Fats Domino): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Eddie Cantor introduced this song in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. DJ Austin and Paul Whiteman both had #1 versions of the song that year; two more top ten versions came the next year. The song was also a notable hit for New Orleans R&B singer and pianist Fats Domino nearly 30 years later when he had a #5 R&B hit and #19 pop hit with it. “The song was revived as a title theme song for a minor musical drama starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey in 1950, and forty years later for a Steve Martin comedy about a small-time gangster who is relocated as part of a witness protection program.” DJ However, Austin’s version is the biggest, selling over 5 million copies, making it one of the ten best sellers of the first half of the century, PM-631 the biggest song of 1927, CPM and the second biggest non-holiday record seller of the entire pre-1955 era. PM In the wake of the song’s initial success, Gene Austin reportedly bought a yacht which he named ‘My Blue Heaven’. Sales of the song skyrocketed when, on his first trek out, the boat was caught in a hurricane and rumor had it that he’d drowned. DS His tenor voice has been credited as the onset of the crooner revolution. DS Blogger Jonathan Bogart called Austin “the stuffiest, squarest popular singer around,” DS saying that Austin would serve up “unimaginative…but serviceable” DS “standard-issue Tin Pan Alley…fluff.” DS For “Heaven,” Austin demonstrated “how deeply jazz had soaked into the collective unconscious of popular entertainment” DS with his “wordless warble…in the middle of the song.” DS The producers also tacked some fake birdsong on to the last chorus, a hint of the “the future of artificial sound in pop music.” DS Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Walter Donaldson DS Don’t Stay Up Too Late (blog) DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 631. CPM Joel Whitburn (1999). A Century of Pop Music. Record Research, Inc.: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 42. Related Links: First posted 12/17/2013; last updated 3/20/2023.