Written and first recorded by Bill LaBounty (US #65/MOR #46/CAN #81 1978).
Other hit versions by Michael Johnson (US #19/MOR #5/CAN #9 1979), Sawyer Brown (US #109/C&W #6/CAN #11 1997).
From the wiki: “‘This Night Won’t Last Forever’ was written by Bill LaBounty and was originally recorded by him in 1978, charting in the lower-third of the Billboard Hot 100. One year later, Michael Johnson covered the song and took it to #19 on the same chart.
“Sawyer Brown charted ‘This Night Won’t Last Forever’ Top-10 on the Country music chart in 1997.”
First recorded by Rod Stewart (1982).
Hit version by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Stevie Wonder & Gladys Knight (US #1/R&B #1/UK #16/CAN #1/AUS #1 1985).
From the wiki: “‘That’s What Friends Are For’ was written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (‘Everchanging Times‘) and was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film Night Shift.
“The Dionne Warwick & Friends cover recording in 1984 was a one-off collaboration featuring Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John and Stevie Wonder. It was released as a charity fund-raising single in the U.S. and U.K. to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Sales from the song raised over US$3 million for that cause.”
First recorded by Siedah Garrett (MOR #30/R&B #44 1987).
Other hit version by Aretha Franklin feat. Michael McDonald (MOR #11/R&B #19 1992).
From the wiki: “‘Everchanging Times’ was co-written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (‘That’s What Friends Are For‘) and was first recorded by Siedah Garrett for the Baby Boom movie soundtrack. Released as a single, Garrett’s arrangement peaked at #44 on the R&B singles chart.
“In 1992, ‘Everchanging Times’ was covered by Aretha Franklin for her thirty-sixth studio album What You See Is What You Sweat with Michael McDonald having featured vocals. The song served as the fourth single from the album. Franklin’s single did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 but did peaked at #11 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart and #19 on the Hot R&B chart.”
First recorded by Dionne Warwick (US #32/UK #20/CAN #15 1964).
Other hit version by The Stylistics (US #23/R&B #8 1973 |UK #24 1976).
From the wiki: “‘You’ll Never Get to Heaven’ was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and was first recorded in 1964 by Dionne Warwick for the album Make Way for Dionne Warwick (also notable for including an early production of ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You‘). In 1973, The Stylistics covered the song, reaching the Billboard Top 30 and R&B Top 10 charts in the US and the UK Top 30.”
Written and first recorded (as a demo) by Franke & The Knockouts (1987, released 1999).
Hit version by Eric Carmen (US #4/UK #82/CAN #2 1987).
From the wiki: “Songwriters Franke Previte and John De Nicola, of Franke & The Knockouts, wrote and first recorded the song as a demo that would find its way onto the Dirty Dancing movie soundtrack. (The pair also composed ‘(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life’ for the same movie.) Franke & The Knockouts recorded for Millenium Records, which was helmed by Jimmy Ienner, who asked Franke for songs when Ienner began producing the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Previte remembers: ‘Jimmy had closed his label and ‘Hungry Eyes’ was a song on my demo reel, because I was trying to get a new recording contract. No one thought the song had a chance. I guess history proves them wrong.’
First recorded by Tony Orlando (1961).
Hit versions by Bill Fury (UK #3 1961), Bobby Vinton (US #23 1968).
Also recorded by Nick Lowe (1977).
From the wiki: “‘Halfway to Paradise’ was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and was first recorded in 1961 by Tony Orlando in the United States, released as a single without any chart impact.
“The song had more success in the United Kingdom, recorded by Billy Fury where it reached a peak at #3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1961, and it remained on the UK charts for 23 weeks. ‘Halfway to Paradise’ also marked the beginning of Fury’s burst at the top of the charts that would only begin to slow down with the arrival of fellow Liverpudlian act, The Beatles.
“Bobby Vinton revived ‘Halfway to Paradise’ in 1968 in a mellow, more romantic version that charted in the Top 40. Nick Lowe released an arrangement of ‘Halfway to Paradise’ as a promotional single (from the album Jesus of Cool) in 1977, without any chart impact.”
Co-written and first recorded by Paul Williams (1974).
Hit version by Helen Reddy (US #9 1974).
From the wiki: “‘You and Me Against the World’ was the first song written together by Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams and began as a gag song: Williams and Ascher, a member of Williams’s band, had a discussion about their favorite songwriters which led to the spontaneous composition of a song on the subject whose tune, Ascher then realized, had real hit potential. Williams himself debuted ‘You and Me Against the World’ on his 1974 album Here Comes Inspiration, singing it as a traditional love ballad.
First performed by Paul Williams (TV commercial 1969).
First commercial release by Freddie Allen (1970).
Hit versions by The Carpenters (US #2/MOR #1/CAN #1/UK #28 1970), Curtis Mayfield (US ALBUM #21/R&B #3/JAZZ #9 1971).
From the wiki: “‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ was written by Roger Nichols (music) and Paul Williams (lyrics). The song debuted in a wedding-themed TV commercial for Crocker National Bank in California with Williams on vocals. The first commercial single release was originally recorded by Smokey Roberds under the name ‘Freddie Allen’. Roberds had had previous hit song experience, with the group The Parade who charted ‘Sunshine Girl’ into the US Top-20 in 1967.
“When Roberds had heard the ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ TV commercial, he phoned Nichols, his friend, ascertained that Nichols had indeed co-written it, and then asked Nichols to create a full-length version. Nichols and Williams did so, with Roberds intending to produce it for a band he had just signed to White Whale Records. The band deal fell through; Roberds decided to record the song himself, but couldn’t do so under his stage name for contractual reasons. According to Roberds, his Country-Pop recording of ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ did well in California but not nationally – which he attributed to promotion and distribution problems.
First recorded by The Doobie Brothers (1977).
Hit version by Carly Simon (US #6 1978), The Doobie Brothers (US #79 1983).
From the wiki: “‘You Belong to Me’ is a song written by singer-songwriters Carly Simon and Michael McDonald. Originally recorded by McDonald’s rock group The Doobie Brothers for their seventh studio album, Livin’ on the Fault Line, the song was made famous by Simon herself when recorded for her seventh studio album, Boys in the Trees.
Written and first recorded by Laura Nyro (US #103 1966).
Also recorded by Lesley Gore (1969).
Hit version by The 5th Dimension (US #1/R&B #23/UK #16/CAN #3 1969).
From the wiki: “‘Wedding Bell Blues’ was written and first recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966 that would go to become a #1 hit for The 5th Dimension in 1969 and, subsequently, a popular phrase in American culture.
“Nyro wrote ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ at the age of 18 as a ‘mini-suite’, conveying the dual themes of adoring love and frustrated lament, and featuring several dramatic rhythmic changes.
“When Nyro first recorded ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ in 1966, she had arranged it in a spare, almost demo-like form*, intending this version to be a part of what would become her More Than a New Discovery album. However, producer Herb Bernstein would not allow Nyro use the arrangement, which ultimately led her to more or less disown the entire album.
First recorded (as a demo) by Paul McCartney (1983).
Hit version by The Everly Brothers (US #50/MOR #9/UK #41/CAN #10/SA #6 1984).
From The Beatles Rarity: “After a long break from recording together, the Everly Brothers got back together in 1983. They began with a reunion concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall in September of that year and then recorded another album together titled EB84 – their first album together in seven years. The lead single was a Paul McCartney composition that he not only contributed for the record, but also plays guitar on, called ‘On the Wings of a Nightingale’ and it went to #9 in the U.S. (Other contributors to the LP included Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, and producer Dave Edmunds.) McCarthey presented his song to the Everlys in demo form prior to the album recording sessions.
First released by Charles Hart (1927).
Also recorded by Vaughn DeLeath (1927), Henry Burr (1927), The Carter Family (1936), Al Jolson (1950).
Hit versions by Blue Barron Orchestra (US #19 1950), Jaye P. Morgan (US #65 1959), Elvis Presley (US #1/C&W #22/R&B #3 1960).
From the wiki: “‘Are You Lonesome Tonight?’ was written by Lou Handman and Roy Turk in 1926, and first published in 1927. A number of artists first recorded the song in 1927, most notably by Ned Jakobs on May 8 but the first released recording belongs to Charles Hart whose production was released on May 9, 1927. (Jakobs’ version was released on May 17.)
“Vaughn De Leath (also known as ‘The Original Radio Girl’) recorded two versions of the song in 1927, the second as vocalist for The Colonial Club Orchestra. Another version was released later that year by famed tenor Henry Burr.
First recorded by Keely Smith (1967).
Hit versions by Rosemary Clooney (MOR #28 1968), The 5th Dimension (US #2/MOR #1/R&B #4 1970).
From the wiki: “‘One Less Bell to Answer’ is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“The Look of Love“, “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again“, “Alfie“), originally written for and recorded in 1967 by Keely Smith (‘I’m a Gigolo‘, with Louis Prima).
“The song was rediscovered in late 1969 by Bones Howe, the producer for the 5th Dimension, and the song was included on the group’s 1970 debut album for Bell Records, Portrait. Rosemary Clooney had, a year earlier, in 1968, first charted the song on the Billboard Easy Listening chart – one of her two last recordings before leaving show business.”
First recorded (as an instrumental) by Paul Whiteman & His Concert Orchestra (1934).
Hit vocal versions Larry Clinton & His Orchestra with Bea Wain (US #1 1939), Artie Shaw with Helen Forrest (US #17 1939), Billy Ward & His Dominoes (US #18/UK #30 1957), Nino Tempo & April Stevens (US #1/UK #17 1963), Donny & Marie Osmond (US #14/UK #25 1976).
From the wiki: “‘Deep Purple’ was the biggest hit written by pianist Peter DeRose, who broadcast from 1923 to 1939 with May Singhi as ‘The Sweethearts of the Air’ on the NBC radio network. ‘Deep Purple’ was first published in 1933 as a piano composition. The following year, Paul Whiteman had ‘Deep Purple’ scored for his suave orchestra that was ‘making a lady out of jazz’ and the song became so popular in sheet music sales that Mitchell Parish added lyrics in 1938.
First recorded by Nanci Griffith (1987).
Also recorded by Judy Collins (1989), The Byrds (1990).
Hit versions by Cliff Richard (UK #11/IRE #16 1990), Bette Midler (US #2/UK #6/AUS #8 1990).
From the wiki: “‘From a Distance’ was written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Gold was working as a secretary at the time for Home Box Office and writing songs in her free time. Gold’s friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith who was the first singer to record it, for her 1987 album Lone Star State of Mind. Griffith remembers Gold had sent her the song asking Griffith what was wrong with it, as Gold had already sent it to so many artists and record companies but no one wanted to produce a recording. Griffith answered that she loved it so much the moment she heard it that she wanted to record it ‘right then and there’.
Written and first recorded by Laura Nyro (1968).
Also recorded by The Magnificent Men (1969), Brian Auger & the Trinity (1969), Thelma Houston (1970).
Hit version by The 5th Dimension (US #27/MOR #10/CAN #24/AUS #79 1970).
From the wiki: “Laura Nyro wrote ‘Save the Country’ as her reaction to Robert Kennedy’s assassination in June, 1968, and recorded the original version of the song with just a piano accompaniment. It was released as a single in 1968 and did not chart, but would later be included on Nyro’s 1969 album New York Tendaberry, her most commercially-successful album. (‘Time and Love’ from the album would also see commercial release as a single in 1970, by Barbra Streisand.)
Written and first recorded by Robert Hazard (1979).
Hit version by Cyndi Lauper (US #2/UK #2/CAN #1/AUS #1/NZ #1/IRE #1/JPN #1 1983).
From the wiki: “The song was written by Robert Hazard, who first recorded it in 1979, writing it from a male point of view. Hazard was the son of an opera singer. He was profiled in a 1981 Rolling Stone magazine article by Kurt Loder. In the piece, Loder describes Hazard’s musical history as a musician ‘… who started out as a Dylan-era folkie, then spent eight years singing country & western. ‘I just love country music,’ he explains — which of course explains nothing, least of all the two years he subsequently spent with a reggae band … or his current electro-pop approach, which owes little to any of the above.’ Hazard also composed the 1980s New Wave and MTV hits ‘Escalator of Life’ and ‘Change Reaction’ which he performed with his band, Robert Hazard and the Heroes, popular in the Philadelphia club scene during the 1980s.
First released by The Beatles (1966).
First hit version by Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers (UK #6 1966).
Other hit versions by Stitch in Tyme (CAN #9 1967), The Beatles (US #7 1976), Earth Wind & Fire (US #9/R&B #1 1978).
From the wiki: “‘Got to Get You Into My Life’ was written by Paul McCartney (though officially credited to Lennon–McCartney), and first released in 1966 on The Beatles’ album Revolver but was never released then as a promotional single. It was the second song, after ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, to be recorded for the album. John Lennon is said to have particularly admired the lyrics of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’, interpreting them as being about LSD. In fact, the song was about marijuana, as McCartney later explained:
“‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ was one I wrote when I had first been introduced to pot. I’d been a rather straight working-class lad but when we started to get into pot it seemed to me to be quite uplifting … I didn’t have a hard time with it and to me it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.
“‘So Got To Get You Into My Life is really a song about that, it’s not to a person, it’s actually about pot. It’s saying, I’m going to do this. This is not a bad idea. So it’s actually an ode to pot, like someone else might write an ode to chocolate or a good claret.'”
“The song took some time to get right in the studio – the Anthology 2 album has a version from the first day’s recording, 7 April, played on a harmonium and sounding quite different to the final arrangement heard on Revolver. The next day The Beatles tried a different arrangement, ending up with the rhythm track they settled on. On 11 April they overdubbed a guitar part, but the song remained untouched again until 18 May. On that day they added the song’s distinctive brass and woodwind parts, plus two lead vocal parts, tambourine and organ.
“In early 1966, Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers was the opening act for The Beatles on their final European tour. Bennett got the opportunity to hear the song during the tour and ask McCartney if his group could record it. McCartney was producer for the session. The Rebel Rousers’ single, backed by Bennett’s own composition, ‘Baby Each Day’, reached #6 on the UK Singles chart.
First recorded (as a demo) by Apollonia 6 & Prince (1984).
Hit version by The Bangles (US #2/UK #2/CAN #2/IRE #2/GER #2/AUS #3 1986).
From the wiki: “‘Manic Monday’ was written by Prince, using the pseudonym ‘Christopher’. Originally intended for the group Apollonia 6 in 1984, he recorded it as a duet for Apollonia 6’s self-titled album. However, Prince eventually pulled the song. Two years later, he offered the song to The Bangles.
First recorded (as “Flamingo”) by Gene Pitney (1966).
Hit versions by Tommy Vann & the Echoes (US #125 1966), Manfred Mann (US #29/UK #1/CAN #2/AUS #3/NZ #1/IRE #1 1966).
Also performed by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band (1975).
“‘Pretty Flamingo’ was written by American songwriter and producer Mark Barkan. His first major success as a writer was with ‘The Writing on the Wall’, a 1961 U.S. Top-5 hit for Adam Wade which he co-wrote with Sandy Baron and George Paxton (credited as George Eddy). Barkan had further success with Lesley Gore’s Top-5 hit ‘She’s a Fool’ (co-written with Ben Raleigh). He would later go on to write material for The Monkees, The Archies, and, perhaps most notoriously, The Banana Splits whose theme song — ‘The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana)’ — Barkan co-wrote with Ritchie Adams (‘Tossin’ and Turnin”, ‘After the Lovin”) and with whom he was the music director for the two seasons The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was televised.
“‘Pretty Flamingo’ describes a woman — whom ‘all of the guys call […] ‘Flamingo’, ’cause her hair glows like the sun and her eyes can light the sky’ — for whom the singer has fallen and his plans to win her affection. Barkan’s daughter said that it was based on a girl who lived above a parking lot in his neighborhood: Barkan and his friends used to call out to her.
First recorded by Vicki Sue Robinson (US #10 1976).
Also recorded by Laura Branigan (1990).
Other hit version by Gloria Estefan (US #13/UK #21 1994).
https://youtu.be/devNnEA0AdU
From the wiki: “”Turn the Beat Around” was written by brothers Gerald and Peter Jackson of the R&B outfit Touch of Class. Vicki Sue Robinson recorded her version on September 26, 1975 cutting her lead vocal in a single take after recording her own multi-tracked chorale vocals.
“Like the other cuts on Robinsons’s debut album Never Gonna Let You Go, ‘Turn the Beat Around’ was recorded at RCA Studios with producer Warren Schatz who recalls the basic master of the song was recorded ‘on a Friday after a very depressing week of rain [and] I hated [the track]! I listened to it in my office and I just couldn’t get it. It had been such a bad week that I just couldn’t hear anything with an open mind. Then David Todd, the head of disco promotion at RCA, came into my office and he went crazy over the track! He convinced me to finish it as soon as possible.’
Written and first recorded by Van Morrison (UK #74/IRE #12 1989).
Hit version by Rod Stewart (US #5/UK #5 1993).
Also recorded by The Chieftains & Van Morrison (1996).
From the wiki: “‘Have I Told You Lately’ was written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and recorded for his 1989 album Avalon Sunset. Although it was originally written also as a prayer, and built on the same framework as Morrison’s ‘Someone Like You’, ‘Have I Told You Lately’ quickly became a romantic ballad often played at weddings. ‘Have I Told You Lately’ was listed as #261 on the ‘All Time 885 Greatest Songs’ compiled by Philadelphia radio station WXPN; in 2006, Van Morrison’s original recording was voted #6 on a list of the Top 10 ‘First Dance Wedding Songs’, based on a poll of 1,300 DJs in the UK. The song was awarded a Grammy in 1996, for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals, for the recording produced by The Chieftains and Van Morrison.”
Written and first single release by Paul Williams (1973).
Hit versions by Maureen McGovern (US #84/MOR #19 1973), Diana Ross (B-side US #1 1973), The Carpenters (1972 |US #11/MOR #1/UK #9/CAN #7/JPN #40 1974).
Also recorded by Mel Tormé & Buddy Rich (1978).
From the wiki: “‘I Won’t Last a Day Without You’ was co-written by Paul Williams (‘We’ve Only Just Begun’) and Roger Nichols. He released his version as a single in 1973, but generated no chart success.
“Maureen McGovern covered the song and also released it as a single in 1973 (and included on her album The Morning After), with her arrangement peaking at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100. Diana Ross also covered the song for her 1973 album Touch Me in the Morning, and it was released as the B-side of the title track single release, ‘Touch Me in the Morning’, which became a #1 hit.
“It was in 1972 when Richard Carpenter first learned of the new song from Williams and Nichols, who had already contributed ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and ‘Rainy Days and Mondays’ to the Carpenters. Carpenter produced the recording that was included it on the Carpenters’ 1972 album A Song for You, but it would not be released as a single until 1974 when it would go US Top-20 and Top-10 in the UK and Canada.
First recorded by Ethel Waters (US #1 1933).
Also recorded by Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra (1933), Frances Langford (1933).
Other popular versions by Leo Reisman & His Orchestra (US #1 1933), Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (US #2 1933), Lena Horne (1941|US #21 1943), Kay Starr (1945), Billie Holiday (1952), Fats Comet (UK #17 1985).
From the wiki: “‘Stormy Weather’ was a 1933 song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Ethel Waters first sang it at The Cotton Club night club in Harlem in 1933 as part of The Cotton Club Parade of 1933 where, according to her autobiography, she ‘sang ‘Stormy Weather’ from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated.’
“When I got out there in the middle of the Cotton Club floor, I was telling things I couldn’t frame in words. I was singing the story of my misery and confusion, of the misunderstandings in my life I couldn’t straighten out, the story of wrongs and outrages done to me by people I had loved and trusted.”
“Leo Reisman’s orchestra arrangement was one of the biggest hit on records in 1933 (with co-author Arlen himself as vocalist); Waters’ recorded version was also a top-seller. And it was Waters’ recording that would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003, with the Library of Congress additionally honoring the song by adding it in 2004 to the National Recording Registry.
