R.I.P. Dave Bartholomew/ His Top 50 songs

Fats Domino with Dave Bartholomew, image from New York Times

Dave Bartholomew Top 50 Songs

R.I.P. to Dave Bartholomew, who died June 23, 2019 at 100 years old. The R&B songwriter and producer was born 12/24/1918 in Edgard, LA. He was best known for his collaborations on the majority of Fats Domino’s hits. Between 1949 and 1963, he co-wrote over a hundred entries on the pop and R&B charts. NPR called him “one of the primary architects of the sound now known as rock and roll.” For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) DMDB Top 1%: 1. Ain’t That a Shame (Fats Domino, 1955) #1 RB DMDB Top 5%: 2. One Night (Elvis Presley, 1958) #1 UK, CN 3. My Ding-a-Ling (Chuck Berry, 1972) #1 US, CB, HR, UK, CN 4. I’m Walkin’ (Fats Domino, 1957) #1 RB 5. I’m in Love Again (Fats Domino, 1956) #1 RB 6. Ain’t That a Shame (Pat Boone, 1955) #1 US, HR 7. Walking to New Orleans (Fats Domino, 1960) 8. Blue Monday (Fats Domino, 1956) #1 RB DMDB Top 10%: 9. I Hear You Knocking (Dave Edmunds, 1970) #1 UK 10. The Fat Man (Fats Domino, 1950) 11. Whole Lotta Lovin’ (Fats Domino, 1958) 12. Ain’t That a Shame (Cheap Trick, 1979) DMDB Top 20%: 13. The Big Beat (Fats Domino, 1957) 14. Valley of Tears (Fats Domino, 1957) 15. I’m Gonna Be a Wheel Someday (Fats Domino, 1959) 16. My Girl Josephine (Fats Domino, 1960) 17. Ain’t That a Shame (The Four Seasons, 1963) 18. It Keeps Rainin’ (Fats Domino, 1961) 19. Let the Four Winds Blow (Fats Domino, 1961) 20. It’s You I Love (Fats Domino, 1957) 21. Wait and See (Fats Domino, 1957) 22. Sick and Tired (Fats Domino, 1958) 23. Country Boy (Fats Domino, 1960) 24. So Long (Fats Domino, 1956) 25. Yes, My Darling (Fats Domino, 1958) 26. Natural Born Lover (Fats Domino, 1960) 27. When I See You (Fats Domino, 1957) 28. Poor Me (Fats Domino, 1955) #1 RB 29. I’m Walkin’ (Ricky Nelson, 1957) 30. What a Party (Fats Domino, 1961) 31. I Hear You Knocking (Gale Storm, 1955) 32. Bo Weevil (Fats Domino, 1956) 33. Honey Chile (Fats Domino, 1956) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 34. I Want You to Know (Fats Domino, 1957) 35. Tell Me That You Love Me (Fats Domino, 1960) 36. I Still Love You (Fats Domino, 1960) 37. Before I Grow Too Old (Fats Domino, 1960) 38. Bo Weevil (Teresa Brewer, 1956) 39. Let the Four Winds Blow (Roy Brown, 1957) 40. Goin’ to the River (Fats Domino, 1953) 41. Shu Rah (Fats Domino, 1961) 42. Little Mary (Fats Domino, 1958) 43. Don’t Blame It on Me (Fats Domino, 1956) 44. Young School Girl (Fats Domino, 1958) 45. No No (Fats Domino, 1958) 46. Witchcraft (Elvis Presley, 1963) 47. All by Myself (Fats Domino, 1955) #1 RB 48. I Hear You Knocking (Fats Domino, 1961) 49. Nothing New (Same Old Thing) (Fats Domino, 1962) 50. Every Night About This Time (Fats Domino, 1950) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Dave Bartholomew DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Fats Domino Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 12/21/2019; last updated 6/5/2022.

Nick Lowe “Cruel to Be Kind” charted

Cruel to Be Kind Nick Lowe

Writer(s): Nick Lowe, Ian Gomm (see lyrics here) Released: August 17, 1979 First Charted: July 21, 1979 Peak: 12 US, 12 CB, 10 GR, 15 HR, 6 RR, 36 AC, 5 CL, 2 CO, 12 UK, 12 CN, 12 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.41 video, 23.18 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Singer/songwriter, musician, and producer Nick Lowe was born in 1949 in England. He started his career in 1967 with the band Kippington Lodge, which later became Brinsley Schwarz. He left that group in 1975 and started playing bass in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds. He released his first solo single, “So It Goes,” in 1976. The next year, he had his first UK chart entry with the top-10 song “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass.” In 1977, Edmunds had a top-30 UK hit with a cover of Lowe’s “I Knew the Bride When She Used to Rock and Roll.” Two years later, Elvis Costello recorded “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding,” a song Lowe wrote in 1974 while in Brinsley Schwarz. In 1979, Lowe finally had an international hit of his own with “Cruel to Be Kind.” It was his only top-40 hit in the United States. It reached #12 there – the same peak it achieved in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Lowe wrote the song with Ian Gomm while the two were in Brinsley Schwarz and recorded it as a demo. It was intented for the final Brinsley Schwarz album, It’s All Over Now, but it was never released. WK Once Lowe was a solo artist at Columbia Records, A&R man Gregg Geller convinced Lowe to re-record the song, whose title comes from a line in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. SF Lowe said, “I didn’t think it would do anything, but he kind of bullied me into it.” WK He recorded it with Rockpile and it appeared on Lowe’s second solo album, Labour of Lust. Musically, it was inspired by “The Love I Lost” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Lowe said, “We loved that Philly disco stuff from the ‘70s, the O’Jays, all that stuff.” WK He originally said “Cruel to Be Kind” was a pop sell-out song and “wimpy,” SF but later said, “It’s a pretty good little song…I really love it. It cheers people up.” WK A video for the song featured actual footage of Lowe’s marriage to singer Carlene Carter, the daughter of June Carter Cash. Dave Edmunds appears in the video as their limo driver. It was one of the videos aired on MTV on their first broadcast day on August 1, 1981. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Nick Lowe SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 1/15/2023.