Quincy Jones born: March 14, 1933 / His Top 40 Songs

image from haskellwexler.com

In honor of producer Quincy Jones’ 80th birthday, the March 16, 2013 issue of Billboard did an extensive cover story on him. Among the features was a list of his top 40 songs. Here they are (numbers in parentheses indicate peak position and year of peak on the Billboard Hot 100):

1. “Billie Jean”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1983)
2. “We Are the World”…U.S.A. for Africa (#1 – 1985)
3. “Beat It”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1983)
4. “Rock with You”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1980)
5. “Baby, Come to Me”…Patti Austin with James Ingram (#1 – 1983)

6. “Man in the Mirror”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1988)
7. “The Girl Is Mine”…Michael Jackson with Paul McCartney (#2 – 1983)
8. “The Way You Make Me Feel”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1988)
9. “It’s My Party”…Lesley Gore (#1 – 1963)
10. “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You”…Michael Jackson with Siedah Garrett (#1 – 1987)

11. “I’ll Be Good to You”…The Brothers Johnson (#3 – 1976)
12. “Bad”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1987)
13. “Dirty Diana”…Michael Jackson (#1 – 1988)
14. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (#1 – 1979)
15. “Give Me the Night”…George Benson (#4 – 1980)

16. “You Don’t Own Me”…Lesley Gore (#2 – 1964)
17. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’…Michael Jackson (#5 – 1983)
18. “Strawberry Letter 23”…The Brothers Johnson (#5 – 1977)
19. “Thriller”…Michael Jackson (#4 – 1984)
20. “She’s a Fool”…Lesley Gore (#5 – 1963)

21. “Judy’s Turn to Cry”…Lesley Gore (#5 – 1963)
22. “Smooth Criminal”…Michael Jackson (#7 – 1989)
23. “Human Nature”…Michael Jackson (#7 – 1983)
24. “Stomp!”…The Brothers Johnson (#7 – 1980)
25. “She’s Out of My Life”…Michael Jakcson (#10 – 1980)

26. “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)”…Donna Summer (#10 – 1982)
27. “Off the Wall”…Michael Jackson (#10 – 1980)
28. “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”…Michael Jackson (#10 – 1983)
29. “Just Once”…Quincy Jones with James Ingram (#17 – 1981)
30. “Another Part of Me”…Michael Jackson (#11 – 1988)

31. “One Hundred Ways”…Quincy Jones with James Ingram (#14 – 1982)
32. “Angel”…Aretha Franklin (#20 – 1973)
33. “I’ll Be Good to You”…Quincy Jones with Ray Charles & Chaka Khan (#18 – 1990)
34. “Yah Mo B There”…James Ingram with Michael McDonald (#19 – 1984)
35. “That’s the Way Boys Are”…Lesley Gore (#12 – 1964)

36. “Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows”…Lesley Gore (#13 – 1965)
37. “Maybe I Know”…Lesley Gore (#14 – 1964)
38. “Stuff Like That”…Quincy Jones (#21 – 1978)
39. “Get the Funk Out Ma Face”…The Brothers Johnson (#30 – 1976)
40. “We Are the World 25: For Haiti”…Artists for Haiti (#2 – 2010)

---

Awards:

---

---

The T.A.M.I. Show was taped for television broadcast: October 28-29, 1964

---

Check out these books by Dave Whitaker available through DavesMusicDatabase.com or Amazon.

Also check the Dave’s Music Database Facebook page for daily music-related posts.

---

The T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film. T.A.M.I. was an acronym for Teenage Awards Music International, sometimes for Teen Age Music International. Free tickets were given out to local high school students to see two live performances taped at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29. Director Quentin Tarantino has said it ranks “in the top three of all rock movies” ^AZ and Amazon.com’s Donald Leibenson says it is “arguably the very best rock-concert movie ever made.” ^AZ

Jan and Dean, who also performed, served as the hosts for a slew of significant rock ‘n’ roll and R&B acts from the time. Over two hours, audiences were treated to performances from The Beach Boys, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas, The Miracles, The Rolling Stones, and The Supremes.

However, the most-talked about performance from the show belonged to James Brown. Producer Rick Rubin has said it “may be the single greatest rock & roll performance ever captured on film.” ^WK The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards has said that performing after Brown may have been the biggest mistake his group ever made. ^WK

The movie gained legendary status because, after its original airing in December 1964, it was not officially released until 2010. Fans had to make do with bootlegs of the performances.

---

Awards:

• National Film Registry
  

Resources and Related Links:

• Amazon.com
  
• Wikipedia
  

---