"Come Sail Away" is a song by American progressive rock group Styx, featured on the band's seventh album The Grand Illusion (1977). Upon its release as the lead single from the album, "Come Sail Away" charted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and helped The Grand Illusion achieve multi-platinum sales in 1978. It is one of the biggest hits of Styx' career.
Musically, "Come Sail Away" combines a plaintive, ballad-like opening section (including piano and synthesizer interludes) with a bombastic, guitar-heavy second half. In the middle of the second half of the album version is a minute-long synthesizer instrumental.
Styx member Dennis DeYoung revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the making of The Grand Illusion), that he was depressed when he wrote the track after Styx's first two A&M offerings, Equinox and Crystal Ball, sold fewer units than expected after the success of the single "Lady".
The track became the regular closing track during the band's live set before the encore, and DeYoung now closes nearly all of his live concert performances with a rendition.
"Tenderness" is a song by General Public from their 1984 album All the Rage, produced by I.R.S. Records.
The song's lyrics tell about a man who really needs tenderness to feel like a man. It was one of the band's first singles. The single cover of the extended versions has a sentence reading "words like conviction can turn into a sentence".
It was used towards the end of the films Weird Science and Clueless, and featured on both soundtracks.
American mixed martial artist and former UFC fighter Dave Kaplan used the song as his entrance theme at TUF 8 Finale in 2008.
It was also used in the 2011 film Just Go with It, in the movie and in the trailer as a mash-up along with Umbrella by Rihanna (which was also heard in the movie).
Part of the instrumental was used in Target commercials in 2010-2011
David James Archuleta (born December 28, 1990) is an American pop singer-songwriter. At ten years old he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, Archuleta became the Junior Vocal Champion on Star Search 2. In 2007, at sixteen years old, he became one of the youngest contestants on the seventh season of American Idol. In May 2008 he finished as the runner-up, receiving 44 percent of over 97 million votes.
In August 2008 Archuleta released "Crush," the first single from his self-titled debut album. The album, released two months later, debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart; it has sold over 750,000 copies in the U.S. and over 900,000 Worldwide. In October 2010 he released a third album, The Other Side of Down featuring lead single "Something 'Bout Love".
"Human" is a song recorded by British synthpop band The Human League. It was released as the first single from their 1986 album Crash. The track was written and produced by US producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
In 1985 the recording sessions for the Human League's fifth album were not going well; and the band did not like the results which was causing internal conflict. Virgin Records executives, worried by the lack of progress from their at-the-time most-profitable signing, suggested the band accept an offer to work with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who already had material to work with; and had expressed an interest in the band from their U.S. releases. Jam and Lewis had recently emerged as in-demand talent due to their success with Janet Jackson and her Control album.
Of the ten songs on Crash, Jam and Lewis wrote three, "Human" being one of them. It is a mid-tempo ballad which lyrically is an exchange between a man and a woman in a relationship who have reunited after a separation. In the first two verses Philip Oakey is apologizing to his partner for being unfaithful during her absence, and in the song's breakdown Joanne Catherall's spoken-word confession reveals that she too was unfaithful. The song's title is derived from the chorus, in which both parties in the relationship explain that they are "only human" and "born to make mistakes".
"Human" became the second million-selling number-one single for The Human League on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (after "Don't You Want Me") and their second chart-topper on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart (after "(Keep Feeling) Fascination"). Jam and Lewis' R&B-based production was also popular on American urban radio, bringing the Human League into the top ten of the U.S. R&B chart for the first time. In the UK, where R&B was less popular "Human" peaked at number eight in the UK singles chart. However, it did hit #1 in 76 other countries making the single one of the biggest worldwide hits of the 1980s.
It was a welcome success for the Human League, who were starting to suffer from creative stagnation and a slight decline in fortunes after a hugely successful start to the 1980s.
The song was revived and remixed by U.S. producers Joel Dickinson & John Michael in 2010. This new club remix incorporated elements from Coldplay's hit, Viva La Vida. It was a favorite among NYC dj's including Junior Vasquez.
Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.
In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies. The record earned Jones five Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best New Artist. Her subsequent studio albums, Feels Like Home, released in 2004, Not Too Late, released in 2007, the same year she made her film debut in My Blueberry Nights, and her 2009 release The Fall, all gained Platinum status after selling over a million copies and were generally well received by critics.
Jones has won nine Grammy Awards and was Billboard magazine's 60th-best-selling music artist of the 2000–2009 decade. Throughout her career, Jones has won numerous awards and has sold over 37 million albums worldwide. Billboard magazine named her the top Jazz artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time.
"Don't Know Why" is a jazz song written by Jesse Harris and originally appears on his 1999 album, Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos. It was the second single by Norah Jones from her breakthrough 2002 album Come Away with Me. Although Jones's version only peaked at number thirty on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, it was a critical success for her that helped established her as a respected new artist, and subsequently her album sold extremely well. The single went on to win three Grammy Awards in 2003 for "Record of the Year", "Song of the Year", and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance". It remains Jones's biggest hit single in the USA to date, and her only one to reach the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the single was a hit internationally where Top 10 in several countries. The song charted at 459 in Blender magazine's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" is a 1978 hit song for Rod Stewart. It was written by Stewart and Carmine Appice, and produced by Tom Dowd.
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" spent one week at the top of the British charts in December 1978 and four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, starting 10 February 1979. It also topped the charts in Australia for two weeks.
Royalties from the song were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Stewart performed the song at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979.
The song was criticized by many in the rock press as a betrayal of Stewart's blues-oriented rock roots due to its disco-like arrangement, but Stewart and others were quick to point out that other widely respected artists, such as Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones, had also released disco-flavoured songs. It was also alleged that Stewart created the song through partial musical plagiarism.
Carmine Appice, who played drums on this song told Songfacts: "This was a story of a guy meeting a chick in a club. At that time, that was a cool saying. If you listen to the lyrics, 'She sits alone, waiting for suggestions, he's so nervous...' it's the feelings of what was going on in a dance club. The guy sees a chick he digs, she's nervous and he's nervous and she's alone and doesn't know what's going on, then they end up at his place having sex, and then she's gone."
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked the song #301 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
"Shilo" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond.
It was originally recorded in 1967 for Bang Records, but Diamond and Bang founder Bert Berns disagreed over Diamond's career path. The singer wanted to move away from his early teen-oriented pop type of recordings that Berns favored, which led to Berns' refusal to release the more introspective "Shilo" as a single, even though Diamond felt it was part of his development as an artist. "Shilo" was instead relegated to an album track on 1967's Just for You. Shortly after what was said to be a "tense" confrontation with Berns, Diamond departed Bang for Uni Records in 1968.
Diamond went into a commercial slump, without hits. But by January 1970, his career had rebounded with "Sweet Caroline" and "Holly Holy" on Uni/MCA Records. Bang Records finally released "Shilo" as a single, albeit with a new backing track recorded to make it sound fresher and more like Diamond's current style. This reached number 24 on the U.S. pop singles chart in spring 1970, inspiring Bang to release a new Neil Diamond compilation album that year titled Shilo.
"Our Day Will Come" is a popular song composed by Bob Hilliard and Mort Garson which was a #1 hit in 1963 for Ruby & The Romantics. The song's composers were hoping to place "Our Day Will Come" with an established easy listening act and only agreed to let the new R&B group Ruby & the Romantics record the song after Kapp Records A&R director Al Stanton promised that if the Ruby & the Romantics' single failed Kapp would record the song with Jack Jones. Stanton cut two versions of "Our Day Will Come" with Ruby & the Romantics, one with a mid-tempo arrangement and the other in a bossa nova style; the latter version, featuring a classic Hammond organ solo, was selected for release as a single in December 1962 to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March. A #1 R&B hit, "Our Day Will Come" was also a chart item in Australia (#11) and the UK (#38).
"Baby I Need Your Loving" is a 1964 hit single recorded by the Four Tops for the Motown label. Written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was the group's first Motown single and their first pop Top 20 hit, making it to number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1964.
It was also their first million-selling hit single. British group The Fourmost released their version of this song, reaching #24 in November 1964. A surviving episode of the trendy '60's TV music series Ready Steady Go! shows them performing the song. The song was recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1967. His version, titled "Baby I Need Your Lovin'", was released as a single, and became a number-three hit on the Billboard pop chart. O.C. Smith covered it and took it to #52 in 1970, and yet again by Eric Carmen in 1979, who took it to #62.
Sandie Shaw has also recorded a version, as did Carl Carlton (1982), Gene Pitney, and British pop group Dreamhouse (1998). Rolling Stone ranked The Four Tops' original version of the song at #390 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2000, Westlife performed the song for the medley part of their Where the Dreams Come True Tour.
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles charts, "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge Over Troubled Water". In 1970, at the height of their popularity, the duo split, and Simon began a successful solo career, recording three highly-acclaimed albums over the next five years.[2] In 1986, he released Graceland, an album inspired by South African township music that helped fuel the anti-apartheid movement. Besides music, Simon wrote and starred in the film One-Trick Pony in 1980 and co-wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman in 1998.
Through his solo and collaborative work, Simon has earned 13 Grammys, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the "100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time magazine. Among many other honors, Simon was named the first recipient of the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007.
Simon became less productive during the second half of the 1970s. He dabbled in various projects, including writing music for the film Shampoo and acting (he was cast as Tony Lacey in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall). He achieved another hit in this decade, with the lead single of his 1977 compilation, Greatest Hits, Etc., "Slip Slidin' Away", reaching No. 5 in the United States.
When I see this video I realize--NOW--why I had the same haircut and the blond highlights back in 1989. I was quite influenced by this band and their soothing sound.
Camouflage is a German New Wave trio consisting of Marcus Meyn, Heiko Maile and Oliver Kreyssig. Their only Billboard Hot 100 hit was "The Great Commandment" which climbed to #59 in 1988, though it did spend three weeks at #1 on the US dance chart. They also had two additional minor dance hits in 1989 (including "Love Is A Shield").
With producer Dan Lacksman of Telex, the band recorded a new album Methods of Silence at Synsound Studio in Brussels that following year. Now left to experiment more freely after the commercial success of their first album, Dan's recording work revealed an interesting mix of digital high-tech and out-dated studio equipment. Single "Love is a Shield" (position 9 in German charts) stayed in the charts for over six months, and the album reached 13. After follow-up single "One Fine Day", the band embarked on their first live concert tour to great financial success.
"Lovesong" (sometimes listed as "Love Song") is a song originally recorded by the English alternative rock band The Cure, released as the third single from their eighth studio album Disintegration in 1989. The song saw considerable success in the United States, where it was the band's only top ten pop hit; in the United Kingdom, however, the single only charted in the top twenty.
Though the song has been covered by several artists, the most famous and successful cover is the 2004 version by American reggae rock band 311, recorded for the soundtrack for the film 50 First Dates and also released as a single. This version actually charted higher on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart (reaching #1) than the Cure original (which peaked at #2).
Clara Ann Fowler (born November 8, 1927), known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s,[1] and has sold over 100 million records.[2] Her nickname is The Singin' Rage.
Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, starting with 1948's "Confess." In 1950, she had her first million-selling single with "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965.
Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz," recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the twentieth century, and is also one of the two official state songs of Tennessee. "Tennessee Waltz" spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard magazine's Best-Sellers List in 1950. Page had three additional #1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, with "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding," and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window."
Unlike most pop music singers, Page blended the styles of country music into many of her most popular songs. By doing this, many of Page's singles also made the Billboard Country Chart. Towards the 1970s, Page shifted her career towards country music, and she began charting on the country charts, up until 1982. Page is one of the few vocalists who have made the country charts in five separate decades.
When rock & roll music became popular during the second half of the 1950s, traditional pop music was becoming less popular. Page was one of the few traditional pop music singers who was able to sustain her success, continuing to have major hits into the mid-1960s with "Old Cape Cod," "Allegheny Moon," "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)," and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte." In 1997, Patti Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. In 2007 Patti Page was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Henry Mancini (music) in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists. The song also won the 1962 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
The Classics IV were a band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, in 1965, given credit for beginning the "soft southern rock" sound. The band and its lead singer Dennis Yost are principally known for the hits "Spooky", "Stormy", and "Traces", released in 1968 and 1969, which have become cover standards.
On July 11, 2006, Yost fell down a flight of stairs and suffered serious brain trauma. To assist Yost and his wife with their medical bills, a benefit concert was held on March 25, 2007, at Rhino's Live in Cincinnati, Ohio. The benefit was originally conceived by Yost's close friend Jon "Bowser" Bauman, former vocalist with Sha Na Na. Many musical entertainers and some surprise guests from the 1950s through the 1970s performed some of their biggest chart-topping hits in tribute to Yost. Some of the artists performing that day were Denny Laine (The Moody Blues and Wings), Chuck Negron (previously of Three Dog Night), Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers), Pat Upton (Spiral Staircase), "Diamond" Dave Somerville, The Skyliners, Buzz Cason, Carl Dobkins Jr., Mark Vollman (The Turtles), and Classics IV guitarist Brian Correll. The concert did not significantly benefit Yost or his wife financially, as was hoped; expenses far exceeded the money raised, leaving the event in the red. However, it was a huge boost for Yost to visit with so many old friends.
After Dennis' accident, he chose Tom Garrett to replace him as lead singer for The Classics IV. The plan was for Dennis to make a few yearly "special appearances," and gradually have Tom take over as the leader of the band. However, Dennis was able to perform with them for only one appearance in 2008. Tom and Dennis worked closely together to develop the current lineup. He chose Tom to help him keep The Classics IV music going in the Classics IV tradition. Dennis would listen to the band on recorded CDs, and during that time Tom and Dennis became close friends. The band Dennis chose three years ago to continue with The Classics IV trademark consist of Tom Garrett as lead vocalist, Kevin Lloyd on bass, Tim Ridgeway on drums, Joe Sadler on guitar, Garard Motague III on flute and saxophone, and James Yoder on keyboards. Dennis Yost died of respiratory failure, on December 7, 2008, at the age of 65.
"Venus" is the name of a song written by Ed Marshall and Peter DeAngelis. The most successful and well-known recording of it was done by Frankie Avalon and released in 1959 (see 1959 in music). It became Avalon's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it spent five weeks atop the survey. The song also reached number ten on the R&B chart. The song's lyrics detail a man's plea to Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, to send him a girl to love and one who will love him as well.
The song was covered in the United Kingdom by Dickie Valentine who spent a week at number 20 in the Singles Chart in May 1959, the week before Frankie Avalon reached the Top 20 with his original version.
In 1976, Avalon released a new disco version of "Venus". This helped revive the singer's career, as his success had been waning prior to its release. The re-recording of "Venus" was Avalon's last Hot 100 hit, peaking at number 46. It did reach number one on the easy listening chart. Avalon was quoted describing the remake: "It was all right, but I still prefer the original." Johnny Mathis released a cover version of the song in 1968, where it "bubbled under" the Hot 100 chart at #111 in 1968. Barry Manilow covered the song in 2006 on his album The Greatest Songs of the Fifties.
Despite being one of Europe's most sought after performers, her destructive addictions led to her dropping out of sight for years. She never found the love she had sought for so long and died in 1951, alone in a hotel in Pigalle. She was interred in the Cimetière de Pantin, near Paris.
Love Potion No. 9" is a song written in 1959 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. It was originally performed by The Clovers.
The song describes a man seeking help finding love, so he talks to a Gypsy, who determines through palm reading that he needs "love potion number 9". The potion causes him to fall in love with everything he sees, kissing whatever is in front of him, eventually kissing the policeman on the corner, who breaks his bottle.
In an alternate version of the ending of the Clover's song, they recorded the alternate lyrics: "I had so much fun, that I'm going back again, I wonder what happens with Love Potion Number Ten?" That version was used on the soundtrack to "American Graffiti".
Some radio stations banned the song, due to the lyrics involving "Kissing a cop". The lyrics mention being "a flop with chicks" since 1956; this is often changed to a later year such as 1996 or 2006 when performed by singers who weren't even born in that year.
"Garden Party" is a 1972 hit song for Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band from the album Garden Party. The song tells the story of Nelson being booed off the stage at Madison Square Garden, seemingly because he was playing his newer, country-tinged music instead of the 1950s-era rock that he had been successful with earlier, and his realization that "you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself".
On October 15, 1971, a Rock 'n Roll Revival concert was given at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The playbill included many greats of the early rock era, including Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Bobby Rydell.
Nelson came on stage dressed in the then-current fashion, wearing bell-bottoms and a purple velvet shirt, with his hair hanging down to his shoulders. He started playing his older songs "Hello Mary Lou" and "She Belongs to Me", but then he played The Rolling Stones' "Country Honk" (a country version of their hit song "Honky Tonk Women") and the crowd began to boo. While some reports say that the booing was caused by police action in the back of the audience, Nelson took it personally and left the stage. He watched the rest of the concert backstage and did not reappear on stage for the finale.
The "Garden Party" song tells of various people who were present, frequently in an oblique manner ("Yoko brought her Walrus", referring to Yoko Ono and John Lennon), with a chorus:
But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well You see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself
One more reference in the lyrics pertains to a particularly mysterious and legendary audience member: "Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes, wearing his disguise". The Mr. Hughes in question was not a Howard Hughes reference, as is widely believed, but refers to ex-Beatle, George Harrison, who was a good friend and next-door neighbor to Nelson. Harrison used Hughes as his traveling alias, and "hid in Dylan's shoes" is most likely in reference to an album of Bob Dylan covers Harrison was planning, but never recorded. "Wearing his disguise" fits in with the fact that Harrison traveled incognito.
The lines "Out stepped Johnny B. Goode / Playing guitar, like a-ringing a bell" refer to Chuck Berry and his song "Johnny B. Goode". In the final verse of his song, Nelson sang, "But if memories were all I sang / I'd rather drive a truck."
"Millennium" is a song by Robbie Williams, released as the first single from his second album, I've Been Expecting You. The song was released in 1998.
The song heavily borrows the musical arrangement from John Barry's "You Only Live Twice", the title track for the James Bond film of the same name, reported to be one of Williams' favourite Bond films.
The song was the 30th best selling of 1998 in the UK.
"Millennium" was Williams' first solo single to top the UK Singles Chart. In 1999, the song also received extensive airplay in Canada and the USA, where it was the lead single for Williams' North American compilation album, The Ego Has Landed.
To date Millennium its his third-best selling Single in the UK with 480,000 copies sold.
