Desmond Child: Top 50 Songs

Desmond Child Top 50 Songs

Songwriter Desmond Child was born John Carles Barrett on 10/28/1953 in Gainesville, Florida. He got his start with Desmond Child & Rouge in 1975, reaching #51 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Our Love Is Insane” in 1979. The group disbanded a year later. Child has subsequently worked with multiple artists as a songwriter and producer, including Aerosmith, Clay Aiken, Jimmy Barnes, Michael Bolton, Bon Jovi, Cher, Chicago, Kelly Clarkson, Alice Cooper, Dream Theater, Hilary Duff, Selena Gomez, Hall & Oates, Hanson, INXS, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Jonas Brothers, Kiss, Cyndi Lauper, Ricky Martin, Jesse McCartney, Meat Loaf, Billie Myers, Allanah Myles, Katy Perry, Ratt, LeAnn Rimes, Roxette, Scorpions, Shakira, Billy Squier, Joss Stone, Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Tyler, Carrie Underwood, Steve Vai, John Waite, Weezer, Robbie Williams, Winger, Trisha Yearwood, and Zedd. 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 Written/Co-Written by Desmond Child 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. DMDB Top 1%: 1. Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” (1986) 2. Ricky Martin “Livin’ La Vida Loca” (1999) DMDB Top 2%: 3. Bon Jovi “You Give Love a Bad Name” (1986) DMDB Top 5%: 4. Aerosmith “Dude Looks Like a Lady” (1987) 5. Kiss “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” (1979) 6. Sisqó “Thong Song” (2000) 7. Bon Jovi “Bad Medicine” (1988) 8. Aerosmith “What It Takes” (1989) 9. Alice Cooper “Poison” (1989) 10. Ava Max “Kings & Queens” (2020) DMDB Top 10%: 11. Aerosmith “Angel” (1987) 12. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I Hate Myself for Loving You” (1988) 13. Billie Myers “Kiss the Rain” (1997) 14. Katy Perry “Waking Up in Vegas” (2008) 15. Aerosmith “Crazy” (1993) 16. Kiss “Heaven’s on Fire” (1984) 17. Ricky Martin with Christina Aguilera “Nobody Wants to Be Lonely” (2001) DMDB Top 20%: 18. Michael Bolton “How Can We Be Lovers” (1989) 19. Bon Jovi “Keep the Faith” (1992) 20. Ricky Martin “She Bangs” (2000) 21. Ricky Martin “The Cup of Life” (1998) 22. Aerosmith “Hole in My Soul” (1997) 23. Kiss “Reason to Live” (1987) 24. Bon Jovi “Born to Be My Baby” (1988) 25. Cher “Just Like Jesse James” (1989) 26. Bon Jovi “This Ain’t a Love Song” (1995) 27. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “Little Liar” (1988) 28. Bon Jovi “You Want to Make a Memory” (2007) 29. Cher “We All Sleep Alone” (1987) 30. Cher “Save Up All Your Tears” (1991) 31. Kiss “Hide Your Heart” (1989) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 32. Bon Jovi “Misunderstood” (2002) 33. Bon Jovi “Something for the Pain” (1995) 34. Alice Cooper “House of Fire” (1989) 35. Bon Jovi “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” (1992) 36. Kiss “Let’s Put the X in Sex” (1988) 37. Clay Aiken “Invisible” (2003) 38. Ricky Martin “Shake Your Bon-Bon” (1999) 39. Bon Jovi “Real Life” (1999) 40. John Waite “These Times Are Hard for Lovers” (1987) 41. Hanson “Weird” (1997) 42. Desmond Child “Love on a Rooftop” (1991) 43. Desmond Child & Rouge “Our Love Is Insane” (1979) 44. Ratt “Lovin’ You’s a Dirty Job” (1990) 45. Desmond Child “Youre the Story of My Life” (1991) 46. Zedd with Jon Bellion “Beautiful Now” (2015) 47. Alice Cooper “Bed of Nails” (1989) 48. Bon Jovi “All About Lovin’ You” (2002) 49. INXS “Afterglow” (2005) 50. Aerosmith “F.I.N.E.” (1989) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Desmond Child Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 10/21/2023.

 

50 years ago: Percy Sledge hit #1 with “When a Man Loves a Woman"

When a Man Loves a Woman Percy Sledge

Writer(s): Cameron Lewis, Arthur Wright (see lyrics here) First Charted: April 9, 1966 Peak: 12 US, 12 CB, 13 GR, 12 HR, 14 RB, 2 UK, 11 CN, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 7.0 radio, 121.5 video, 104.91 streaming

When a Man Loves a Woman Michael Bolton

First Charted: August 31, 1991 Peak: 13 US, 12 CB, 13 GR, 13 RR, 14 AC, 8 UK, 4 CN, 100 AU, 10 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 7.0 radio, 195.5 video, 174.13 streaming

Awards (Sledge):

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Awards (Bolton):

About the Song: Percy Sledge was born in 1940 in Alabama. He had been an amateur boxer and was working as a hospital orderly when he got his music break. SS After his music teacher asked him to sing at a Christmas party, he resumed singing at local clubs as part of the Esquires Combo. SS One night, thanks to what Sledge called “a happy accident,” FB the song “When a Man Loves a Woman” was born. The group was touring the South RS500 and Sledge was so distraught from a break-up that one night he couldn’t do the regular setlist. HL He asked bassist Cameron Lewis and organist Andrew Wright to improvise something to which he could sing along. SJ The descending riff created by the pair HL gave Sledge an outlet from which to pour out his soul HL over his “real-life romantic woes.” SS Percy later polished up the song (originally called “Why Did You Leave Me”) SS and won over Quin Ivy, who was “one of the movers and shakers in the music industry in Alabama.” FB Ivy was a DJ who owned a record store and a recording studio. SS Percy recorded the song – his first recording ever – SS at Fame studios under producer Rick Hall, who would put Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on the map, establishing it as the world headquarters for deep soul music. PA Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler was sent a copy. He called it “a holy love hymn” SS but wanted a new recording done at the expense of Atlantic TB because Sledge was off-key and the horn section was out of tune on the original. TB After much time and expense, a new version was created, but a mix-up led to Atlantic releasing the original version instead. TB It didn’t matter. The “soulful to the max” KX song was a hit in any rendition. Sledge “works himself into such an ecstasy of passion that, until a full horn section jumps in at the last moment, it’s easy to forget that there’s anybody on earth except him, his girl, and you.” DM It was the song that put Muscle Shoals on the map. SS Thanks to its use in a UK TV commercial for Levi’s,” HL the song recharted in England in 1987 at #2, besting its original #4 peak. In 1991, Michael Bolton topped the U.S. pop & AC charts and won a Grammy with his version. When Bolton’s version hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it marked only the seventh time in chart history that two different recording acts took the same song to the pinnacle. Although this “titanic soul ballad” SS has generated millions in royalties, Percy has likely seen very little of it TB having given the writing credit to Lewis & Wright. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Percy Sledge DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Michael Bolton FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 199. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. London, England: Blandford Books. Page 25. KX KXXO Mixx 96, Olympia, WA. Top 96 Soft Rock Songs of All Time DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Page 28. PA Robert Palmer. (1995). Rock & Roll: An Unruly History. Page 92. RS500 Rolling Stone (2011). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 182. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 225-6. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 81. First posted 4/9/2013; last updated 4/5/2023.