Originally recorded by Kasey Cisyk (US #80 1977).
Other hit versions by Debby Boone (US #1/CAN #1/UK #48 1977), LeAnn Rimes (US#34/C&W #48 1997).
From the wiki: “Kasey Cisyk’s work singing commercial jingles brought her to the attention of Joe Brooks, who worked as a composer and arranger of jingles. Brooks, who wrote, directed and composed the score for the movie You Light Up My Life chose Cisyk to dub the singing voice of actress Didi Conn.
“Cisyk’s performance of the song appears on the original soundtrack album, and was released as a single, although she was not listed as the performing artist in the final credits of the film (for which she successfully sued the producers). Her single release of the song reached #80 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
First recorded by Featherbed feat. Barry Manilow (1971).
Based on “Prelude in C Minor” by Frederic Bach.
Hit versions by Barry Manilow (US #4/UK #25 1975), Donna Summer (US #52/Dance #3/UK #40 1976), Take That (UK #3 1992).
From the wiki: “‘Could It Be Magic’ was co-written by Barry Manilow and Tony Orlando (based on Chopin’s Prelude in C-Minor) and first recorded by Featherbed, a `ghost’ group consisting of session musicians led by the vocals of a very young Manilow. Manilow, in 1970, was unproven as a pop-song arranger and was therefore not permitted to arrange the original backing track himself upon the song’s first release in 1971. Instead, the original version of the song was produced under the hand of producer Tony Orlando.
“Manilow is said to have hated the Orlando arrangement so severely that he was appreciative of the fact that the song went absolutely nowhere on the music charts. Featuring a bubblegum pop beat, cowbells and a ‘Knock Three Times’ feel, the original lyrics have nothing in common with the subsequent 1973 hit version by Manilow (with its completely different meter and arrangement) although the chorus remained the same.
Based on “The Bad in Every Man” by Shirley Ross (1934).
First recorded by Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra (US #2 1934).
Other hit versions by Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra (US #1 1934), Connee Boswell (US #1 1935), Billy Eckstine (US #21 1949), Mel Tormé (US #20 1949), The Marcels (US #1/R&B #1/UK #1 1961).
Also recorded by Coleman Hawkins with the Michel Warlop Orchestra (1935), Elvis Presley (1954), Sam Cooke (1959).
From the wiki: “The melody to ‘Blue Moon’ goes back further than the first recorded version by Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra. Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart were contracted to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1933. They were soon commissioned to write the songs for Hollywood Party. ‘Prayer (Oh Lord, make me a movie star)’ was written for the movie but never recorded.
“Hart wrote new lyrics for the melody to create a title song for the 1934 film Manhattan Melodrama, but it was cut from the film before release. (Manhattan Melodrama wasn’t so much famous for having left what would become ‘Blue Moon’ on the edit room floor but for being the film John Dillinger went to see in the Chicago movie theater where he was gunned down by police bullets at the exit.) Rodgers still liked the melody so Hart wrote a third lyric, ‘The Bad in Every Man,’ which was sung by Shirley Ross. The song, which was also released as sheet music, was not a hit.
“Jack Robbins, the head of MGM studio’s publishing company, decided that the tune was suited to commercial release but needed more romantic lyrics and a punchier title. Hart was initially reluctant to write yet another lyric but was persuaded and the result – the FOURTH use of the melody – was ‘Blue moon/you saw me standing alone/without a dream in my heart/without a love of my own’.”
Written and originally recorded by The Bee Gees (1977).
Hit version by Yvonne Elliman (US #1/UK #4/CAN #1 1977).
From the wiki: “According to Maurice Gibb, this track was the first song they recorded while producing the other songs for the film Saturday Night Fever. ‘If I Can’t Have You’ was originally intended to be sung for the film soundtrack by The Bee Gees while Elliman’s contribution would be another ballad written by the Gibb brothers, ‘How Deep Is Your Love’.
First released by Lulu (UK #50 1964).
Hit version by Them (US #24/UK #2 1965).
From the wiki: “‘Here Comes the Night’ was written by Bert Berns. Them had intended this song to be the follow-up to ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go‘ but Decca rush-released a recording of the song by Lulu (‘To Sir With Love’, ‘I Could Never Miss You More Than I Do‘) in November 1964.
“The band members of Them were said to be bitterly disappointed by this decision made by Decca and Decca Records co-owner (and Radio Caroline co-director) Phil Solomon. Session musician and songwriter Phil Coulter (‘Puppet on a String’, ‘Saturday Night‘) remarked: ‘They bitched to me a lot but they wouldn’t dare to have said anything to Solomon.’
“Them was said to have a ‘certain grim satisfaction’ as Lulu’s recording reached #50 and then dropped off the charts. Jimmy Page played guitar on Them’s arrangement. Andy White (best known for replacing Ringo Starr on drums on The Beatles’ first single, ‘Love Me Do’) and Tommy Scott performed backing vocals with Coulter on keyboards.
“Them’s ‘Here Comes the Night’ became the group’s second UK Top-10 and their first US Top-40 hit.”
First recorded by Petula Clark (1965).
Hit version by Chris Montez (US #22/MOR #2 1966).
From the wiki: “‘Call Me’ was composed by Tony Hatch for Petula Clark (although some suggest he had written the song with Keely Smith in mind), and first appeared as the title cut on Clark’s EP, Call Me, released in 1965 by Pye in the UK and in the US on the album I Know a Place (1965) but was not released as a promotional single.
“Chris Montez, who had scored the hit ‘Let’s Dance’ in 1962 and subsequently dropped out of the music business, was invited to resume recording by A&M Records’ founder Herb Alpert. Alpert was unhappy when Montez began recording for A&M in his previous Chicano rock style and personally suggested Montez shift to easy listening, choosing ‘Call Me’ as the song to be Montez’s debut single in 1966 on A&M.
Originally recorded by Robert Knight (US #13/UK #40 1967 |UK reissue #19 1974).
Hit versions by Love Affair (UK #1 1968), Carl Carlton (US #6/R&B #11 1974), Narvel Felts (C&W #14 1979), Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet (US #32/UK #35 1981), U2 (AUS #2/POL #3/NETH #10 1989), Gloria Estefan (US #28/UK #19 1994).
Also recorded by David Ruffin (1969).
From the wiki: “‘Everlasting Love’ is one of two songs (the other being ‘The Way You Do the Things You Do’, by The Temptations, Rita Coolidge, Hall & Oates & UB40) to become a Top 40 hit in the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. The original version of ‘Everlasting Love’ was recorded by Robert Knight, at Fred Foster Sound Studio, Nashville. His producers, Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden, aimed to record him in a Motown style with an especial reference to the Four Tops and the Temptations, intending the song to serve as B-side for another titled ‘The Weeper’.
“Cason believes he may have drawn the phrase ‘everlasting love’ from the Biblical verse Jeremiah 31.3 which begins: ‘Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love’. According to Cason, the recording ‘had some different sounds on it that, for the time period, were kind of innovative. The string sound is actually an organ and we used a lot of echo.’ Ultimately, ‘Everlasting Love’ was released as an A-side for Knight, and it peaked at #13 in 1967 on the Billboard Hot 100.
First recorded by Gloria Jones (1964).
Hit version by Soft Cell (US #8/UK #1 1981).
From the wiki: “‘Tainted Love’is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of American group The Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1964. It was a commercial flop, failing to chart in either the US or the UK. Before Jones recorded the song, Cobb had offered it to The Standells, which he managed and produced, but they rejected it.
Original English-language recording by The Limeliters (1962).
Hit versions by Sandie Shaw (UK #51 1968), Mary Hopkin (US #2/UK #1/CAN #1/JPN #1/FRA #1/SWE #1 1968).
From the wiki: “‘Those Were the Days’ is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian romance song ‘Dorogoi dlinnoyu’ (‘Дорогой длинною’, lit. ‘By the long road’), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. First recorded in 1926, by Alexander Vertinsky, the song was featured in the 1953 British/French movie Innocents in Paris, in which it was sung with its original Russian lyrics by the Russian tzigane chanteuse Ludmila Lopato.
First recorded (as a demo) by The Bee Gees (1983).
Hit version by Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers (US #1/C&W #1/UK #7/CAN #1/AUS #1/NZ #2/SWE #3 1983).
“Islands in the Stream” is a timeless song penned by the Bee Gees, taking its name from the classic Ernest Hemingway novel. Originally conceived in an R&B style for Diana Ross (or Marvin Gaye, depending upon which Gibb brother tells you the story), the Gibbs later adapted it for inclusion in Kenny Rogers’ album, Eyes That See in the Dark.
In a candid revelation on Good Morning America, Kenny Rogers shared his initial aversion to ‘Islands in the Stream’. Despite his reservations, the transformative moment came when producer and co-writer Barry Gibb recognized the missing piece. After days of experimentation in the studio, Gibb declared, ‘We need Dolly Parton to make this thing pop.’ Serendipitously, Ken Kragen, Kenny’s manager, encountered Dolly at a grocery store, swiftly bringing her into the project.
The magic unfolded after Dolly joined the session. Kenny Rogers, who had previously harbored doubts, experienced a change of heart, declaring, “Now, I like the song.” The collaboration between Rogers and Parton not only elevated “Islands in the Stream” to legendary status but also stands as a testament to the unpredictable and serendipitous nature of musical alchemy.
“Islands in the Stream” knocked Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” out of the #1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100, also topping the Country and Adult Contemporary listings. In December of that year, it was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling over two million physical copies in the US.
The song was equally an international success, topping the Australian music chart one for one week in December 1983, and peaking at #7 on the UK Singles Chart.
Robin Gibb, interviewed re: “Islands in the Stream”:
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton, “Islands in the Stream” (1983):
Written and originally recorded by The Crickets (UK #42 1960).
Other hit versions by Bobby Vee (US #61/UK #4 1961), Leo Sayer (US #2/UK #2 1980).
“‘More Than I Can Say’ is a tune penned by Sonny Curtis (‘I Fought the Law‘) and Jerry Allison, who were both part of Buddy Holly’s former supporting ensemble, The Crickets. This heartfelt composition was recorded in 1959, shortly after Holly’s tragic passing, and subsequently released in 1960. This original rendition of the song managed to climb to #42 on the British Record Retailer Chart, marking its chart debut on May 12, 1960.
“The following year Bobby Vee, known for his other chart-toppers like ‘Take Good Care of My Baby’ and ‘The Night Has a Thousand Eyes,’ decided to lend his voice to ‘More Than I Can Say.’ This rendition found its place at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. However, across the Atlantic Ocean in the United Kingdom, the song and its B-side, ‘Staying In,’ ascended to an impressive #4 on the UK Singles Chart.
“Meanwhile, in a twist of fate, Leo Sayer stumbled upon the song while searching for a classic track to record for his album ‘Living in a Fantasy’ in 1980. It all began with a TV commercial promoting a greatest hits collection by Bobby Vee. Captivated by ‘More Than I Can Say,’ Sayer promptly decided to give it a go, recalling: ‘We walked into a record store that very afternoon, bought the record, and had the song recorded that very night.’
“Prior to this, Sayer had already enjoyed significant success with two number-one singles in the U.S., namely ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’ and ‘When I Need You,’ both released in 1977. The cover version of ‘More Than I Can Say’ came close to claiming the top spot as well, lingering at the second position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five weeks during December 1980 and January 1981. Unfortunately, it was unable to snatch the crown, as ‘Lady’ by Kenny Rogers and ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ by John Lennon held onto the coveted top positions respectively over the course of those five weeks.”
