Hello, my friends, old and new! The weekend is here, which means it's time for our countdown...
At #225 we find one of the world's biggest superstars... and he's singing background vocals - since the lead singer is his brother. Daddy's Home is credited to Jermaine Jackson as a solo hit, although his brothers, the rest of the Jackson 5 - including Michael, provide backing vocals. The single peaked at #9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1973. Here it is:
The original version of Daddy's Home was written and recorded by Shep and the Limelites on February 1, 1961. It became a huge hit, peaking at #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song's lead singer and chief composer, James "Shep" Sheppard, had sadly died, at age 35, almost 3 years before Jermaine Jackson gave the song a new lease of life. This is the original:
The Shep and the Limelites version also appeared on a very popular 1980's movie, Look Who's Talking (1989).
Cliff Richard also had a very big hit with the song in 1981-82. It peaked at #2 in the UK (and was certified gold), as well as hitting the top 10 in Ireland, Belgium, Australia, and New Zealand. It peaked at #23 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Here it is:
At #224 is a song from one of the best albums of all-time - certainly among the top 10 of the 1970s. The album was Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life (1976), which held the honor of debuting straight to #1 on the US album charts, becoming only the third album in history to achieve that feat and the first by an American artist (after British singer/composer Elton John's [link] albums Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy and Rock of the Westies, both in 1975). The album spent 13 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.
Songs in the Key of Life became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of Wonder's career. In 2003, it was ranked number 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2005, it was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, which deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
The song at #224 is Another Star. The final track on the double LP was the album's third single, peaking at #32 on the US Hot 100, #18 on the R&B chart, and #2 on the Dance/Disco chart. A timely fact: The song featured as the theme tune to the BBC's TV coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The amazing flute solo is by Bobbi Humphrey, who was a college student at the time. This is the original album version:
This is a live version in Paris, Bercy, in 2010:
This is a cover version by world-famous DJ Bob Sinclar, featuring Salomé de Bahia, a Brazilian vocalist, living in Paris, France:
And this is a cover version of our very own - and very dear - George Michael. This is live in Manchester, England:
At #223 is the second song that was originally released by Gladys Knight & The Pips and then by Marvin Gaye, a few months later. While I Heard It Through The Grapevine was a win for Marvin, who had a huge #1 hit with it, The End of Our Road (the song at #223) was a win for Gladys: Her version peaked at #15 on the US Hot 100 and at #5 on the R&B chart, while Marvin's peaked at #40 on the Hot 100 and at #7 on the R&B chart.
The End of Our Road was written by Roger Penzabene, Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1967 and talked about the demise of a couple's relationship. As with the last two songs in Penzabene's trilogy for The Temptations, I Wish It Would Rain and I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You), there is real sentiment behind the song's words, as lyricist Penzabene wrote his songs as personal statements to his wife, publicizing the pain of his own marriage falling apart. Unable to handle the extreme pain and hurt caused by this, he wrote the songs, drawing from his real-life heartbreak. After all three songs were completed and recorded, Penzabene committed suicide.
This is the best audio version of Gladys' single, although the ending is rather abrupt:
This is a live version by Gladys Knight & The Pips:
There's a special event linked with Marvin Gaye's version, which means a lot to me, as I'm sure it does to many other people. It was the first song counted down on the first show of the syndicated radio countdown program, American Top 40, on the weekend of July 4, 1970. The show, hosted by Casey Kasem, was, for many of us, the window to American Pop Culture in the 70s. I can still remember Casey's closing words on every show, "Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars." Honestly, that's great advice... This is Marvin's version:
This is the Staple Singers' version:
... And this is the Temptations' version:
At #222 is a song by The Supremes post-Diana Ross, called Floy Joy (1971). It was written by Smokey Robinson and built on a retro sixties vibe reminiscent of past Supremes songs. This was the last Supremes' song to reach the US Top 20, peaking at #16. It also reached the top 5 on the R&B chart and the top 10 in the UK.
Although Lynda Laurence is featured on the album's cover, she is not featured on any of the songs. She replaced Cindy Birdsong in the Supremes just after the recordings were finished. For this song, the lead vocals were shared with Jean Terrell by Mary Wilson.
This is the best audio version:
This is live on TV's Soul Train, 1972:
Finally for today, at #221, is a #1 song, both on the Hot 100, as well as on the US R&B chart. It also peaked at #4 in the UK. The song in question is Still by the Commodores, released on September 14, 1979. The song is notable for being the Commodores' last US #1 hit before Lionel Richie went solo.
This was written by Lionel Richie for a couple who decided to end their marriage in order to save their friendship. Richie got the idea for this song from the failing marriage of his childhood friend William "Smitty" Smith. After Smith's marriage broke up the two buddies had a long conversation from 9pm to sunrise in which they agreed that it's better to divorce as friends rather than stay married and hate each other.
Explaining why he wrote so many ballads for the Commodores, Richie said that there was competition in the group to write songs, and every member would present songs for each album. Since his bandmates usually wrote up-tempo songs, he would counter with ballads, as they would inevitably need a slow song or two to balance out the album.
This is the song's original version:
This is a live version of the song:
In 1981, actor-singer John Schneider took a cover version to #69 on the pop chart. It was the b-side to his country single Them Good Ol' Boys Are Bad, which reached #13 on the country chart:
Now, let's continue with last week's statistics; there was a 10% rise in the weekly number of visits, which makes this week the best of the last two months. The second part of the Barbra Streisand story did even better than the very successful first and last week's Motown story also better than the previous one; it is, in fact, the most visited of the lot, so far. It was a good week...
As far as countries are concerned, the United States was the week's big winner, followed by Greece and Spain. France lost as much as the US gained, while the United Kingdom also suffered minor losses. The other major players kept their percentages more or less stable.
Here are this week's Top 10 countries:
1. the United States
2. Greece
3. the United Kingdom
4. Canada
5. Australia
6. France
7. Germany
8. Brazil
9. Spain
10. Cyprus
Here are the other countries that graced us with their presence since our last statistics (alphabetically): Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Beliz, Bermuda, Botswana, Cambodia, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Gabon, Ghana, Greenland, Guam, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Turks & Caicos Islands, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Happy to have you all!
And here's the all-time Top 10:
1. the United States = 29.4%
2. France = 21.9%
3. the United Kingdom = 12.8%
4. Greece = 6.9%
5. Russia = 2.5%
6. Germany = 1.8%
7. Canada = 1.6%
8. Italy = 1.2%
9. Turkey = 0.92%
10. Cyprus = 0.86%
That's all for today, folks. Till the next one!
♥♥♥
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