This episode is filled with a nice stack of classic records, good for about ninety minutes of sheer nostalgia.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Les play boys | Jacques Dutronc | Words by Jacques Lanzmann and music by Jacques Dutronc. The lyrics reflected Lanzmann’s experience as the editor of the French adult-entertainment magazine Lui. |
| Girls & Boys | Blur | Damon Albarn was inspired to write the song while on holiday in Magaluf, Spain, with then-girlfriend Justine Frischmann, lead singer of Elastica. According to Albarn, the city had “really tacky Essex nightclubs” and a rampant sexual scene among visitors, with “All these blokes and all these girls meeting at the watering hole and then just copulating. There’s no morality involved, I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t happen.” The music has a convergence of various pop and dance styles, summed up by bassist Alex James as “Disco drums, nasty guitars and Duran Duran bass.” Drummer Dave Rowntree admitted that he is not playing on the track, being replaced by a drum machine he programmed. |
| West End Girls | Pet Shop Boys | “West End Girls” is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. Written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, “about rough boys getting a bit of posh.” The song’s lyrics are concerned with class and the pressures of inner-city life which were inspired partly by T. S. Eliot’s poem The Waste Land. |
| Glamour Boys | Living Colour | Written by founder and guitarist Vernon Reid and produced by Mick Jagger. Lyrically, “Glamour Boys” discusses young men obsessed with aspects of high society such as clothing and parties. The chorus shouts “I ain’t no glamour boy – I’m fierce!” |
| Boys (Summertime Love) | Sabrina | The Italo disco track “Boys (Summertime Love)” by Italian singer, songwriter, and actress Sabrina Salerno, was written by composers Matteo Bonsanto and Roberto Rossi, alongside lyricists Claudio Cecchetto and Malcolm Charlton. |
| Boys Don’t Cry | The Cure | Written by band members Michael Dempsey, Robert Smith and Lol Tolhurst, the lyrics tell the story of a man who has given up trying to regain the love that he has lost, and tries to disguise his true emotional state. The 1999 American biographical film directed by Kimberly Peirce took its title from the song. |
| Big Girls Don’t Cry | The Four Seasons | The Four Seasons’ member and songwriter Bob Gaudio picked up the line “Big girls don’t cry” from Slightly Scarlet, a 1956 film noir. |
| Girls & Boys | Prince & The Revolution | “Girls & Boys” is written by Prince and performed by Prince and the Revolution. The lyrics speak of characters similar to Christopher and Mary from Under the Cherry Moon, although their actions are not seen in the film. The song includes a seduction spoken by Marie France in French, as well as an early attempt by Prince to deliver a short rap. Background vocals are Wendy & Lisa, and Susannah Melvoin. |
| Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon | Neil Diamond | Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” is a song written and performed by American musician Neil Diamond. The lyrics describe a narrator romantically interested in a young woman whose friends and family disprove of him (“They never get tired of putting me down”) while he urges the woman to reach her own conclusions about him (“Don’t let them make up your mind”). The song enjoyed a second life when it appeared on the 1994 Pulp Fiction soundtrack, performed by rock band Urge Overkill. |
| He Made a Woman Out of Me | Bobbie Gentry | Written by Dan Hill & Fred Burch and first released in December 1969 by Betty LaVette. Bobbie Gentrie covered the song on her 1970 album Fancy. |
| (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman | Carole King | This “natural woman” song for Aretha Franklin is written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1967. Carole King herself recorded the song for her 1971 album Tapestry. |
| She’s Always A Woman | Billy Joel | “She’s Always A Woman”, is a love song that Billy Joel wrote for his then-wife, Elizabeth Weber. Joel has said that he was influenced by Gordon Lightfoot and his mellow acoustic guitar ballads. |
| Just Like a Woman | Bob Dylan | “Just Like a Woman” is written and performed by Bob Dylan. To be noted that the key “delimitation” in the song is not between man and woman, but between woman and girl, so the issue is one “of maturity rather than gender” |
| What’s A Woman | Vaya Con Dios | “What’s a Woman?” is a 1990 pop-rock song recorded by Belgian band Vaya Con Dios, written by Dani Klein, Dirk Schoufs and Jean-Michel Gielen. In 2006, the band re-recorded the song as a duet with Aaron Neville |
| It’s A Man’s Man’s World | James Brown | This song, written by Burt Jones and James Brown, shows the constructed superiority of men over women, who have little power in societies. It also adds up the importance of women as the world won’t mean anything if women had no existence at all. |
| Woman | Neneh Cherry | “Woman” is Swedish Neneh Cherry’s take on American singer James Brown’s 1966 hit “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and a tribute to femininity and its loving, caring power written by Cherry, her husband Cameron McVey, and Jonathan Sharp. Born as Neneh Mariann Karlsson in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of Monika “Moki” Karlsson, a Swedish painter and textile artist, and the musician Ahmadu Jah, son of a tribal chief in Sierra Leone, she took her stepfather’s surname, American jazz musician, Don Cherry. Cherry also has a half-brother, musician Eagle-Eye Cherry. |
| Woman Is The Nigger Of The World | John Lennon | “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant’s Memory. The song describes women’s subservience to men and misogyny across all cultures. |
| I’m Every Woman | Chaka Khan | “I’m Every Woman” is written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The B-side of the single was “A Woman in a Man’s World”. |
| More Than A Woman | Bee Gees | “More Than a Woman” is a song written and performed by the Bee Gees (Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb) for the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever released in 1978. |
| My Man, A Sweet Man | Millie Jackson | Written by Raeford Gerald, it drew inspiration from personal experiences and observations of relationships. She wanted to convey the highs and lows, the pain and joy, and the complexity of love through her music. |
| Civilized Man | Joe Cocker | “Civilized Man” by Joe Cocker, composed by Richard Feldman and Pat Robinson, is the title song of his 1984 album. Backing vocals include Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney Houston, and the aunt of Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick. |
| I’m Your Man | Leonard Cohen | Written and performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, the song is a response to: “What does a woman want?”. It started off as a song called “I Cried Enough for You”. |
| I’m A Man | Smoove | “I’m a Man” is a song written by Steve Winwood and record producer Jimmy Miller recorded in 1967 by the Spencer Davis Group “I’m A Man” by Smoove was released in 2007 in Italy under the “Record Kicks” label. Smoove also goes by Jonathan Watson (his real name) and Ultragroove. |
| Hold On | Alabama Shakes | “Hold On”, written by Alabama Shakes’ lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, for their debut album, Boys & Girls, is a mantra offering the encouragement needed to get through life’s rough patches |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
