Stay with me during the next ninety minutes for twenty-five popular songs, particularly touching about letters, words, numbers and figures.
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| ABC | Jackson 5 | “ABC” by the Jackson 5 was released in 1970 when Michael Jackson was just 11 years old and is written by the Motown writing team: “The Corporation”, including Freddie Perren, Fonce Mizell and Deke Richards with Berry Gordy. |
| Alphabet St. | Prince | “Alphabet St.” written and performed by Prince was released in 1988 where he encouraged listeners to follow him to a place where his spiritual and sexual sides could coexist in harmony. |
| Word Up | Cameo | “Word Up” by the funk band Cameo was released 1986. “Word Up” or “you bet” was a popular saying in New York. It features a reference to the opening notes of Ennio Morricone’s theme to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. |
| Prisencolinensinainciusol | Adriano Celentano | “Prisencolinensinainciusol” is a song composed by the Italian singer Adriano Celentano, and performed by Celentano and his wife Claudia Mori in 1972. The song is intended to sound to its Italian audience as if it is sung in English spoken with an American accent, however the lyrics are deliberately unintelligible gibberish with the exception of the words “all right”. Celentano is considered as the man who brought rock and roll to Italy. |
| Mah Na Mah Na | Mahna Mahna and The Two Snowths | “Mah Na Mah Na” was written by composer Piero Umiliani for an Italian “mondo” film (exploitative pseudo-documentaries) about life (mostly sex-related) in Sweden, titled Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). It is a nonsense song that achieved widespread fame as a classic Muppet sketch. |
| Sukiyaki | Kyu Sakamoto | The Japanese star Kyu Sakamoto had a number one hit in his country with this song, initially known as “Ue O Muite Aruko”, meaning “I look up when I walk” in 1961, written by lyricist Rokusuke Ei and composer Hachidai Nakamura. In 1962, Louis Benjamin, a British music executive, renamed it as “Sukiyaki” after a Japanese hot pot, meaning “Beef Stew”. |
| I Close My Eyes and Count To Ten | Dusty Springfield | I Close My Eyes and Count To Ten (Mono Version) is a song written by Clive Westlake and recorded by British singer Dusty Springfield. It was Springfield’s final release on the Phillips label. |
| 1234 | Feist | “1234” by Canadian artist Feist, is co-written by Feist and Sally Seltmann, an Australian singer-songwriter. On September 5, 2007, Apple started using the song’s video in ads for its iPod Nano. |
| Take Five | The Dave Brubeck Quartet | “Take Five” released in 1959 by The Dave Brubeck Quartet is written by Brubeck’s alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. The tune was written in an odd time signature, the 5/4 irregular meter, hence it’s title “Take Five”. This version comes from the 2020 album “Time OutTakes”, including brilliant alternate takes from the original 1959 sessions with Joe Morello on drums. Even alto saxophonist, Paul Desmond, had not yet settled on a consistent melody. Brubeck was playing the famous piano vamp in order to hold the piece together along with the glue provided by Gene Wright on bass. It was supposed to simply be a tune that would feature the drums. This version from Time OutTakes explodes with one hell of a drum solo, longer than the original hit single, proving why Joe was considered one of the very best drummers in jazz. Joe Morello’s father was a French emigrant from Nice and his mother hailed from French Canada. |
| Mambo N°5 | Lou Bega | German pop musician Lou Bega added lyrics to the Cuban-Mexican bandleader Perez Prado’s instrumental “King of the Mambo” or “Mambo No 5” one of a series of eight mambos. Rumor has it that all the girls he mentions are former girlfriends: Angela, Pamela, Sandra, Rita, Monica, Erica, Tina, Mary and Jessica. |
| Tea for Two (feat. Anita O’day) | Gene Krupa | Gene Krupa (1909-1973), the best drummer of all time, recorded “Tea for Two” from the Broadway musical “No, No, Nanette” with vocals by Anita O’Day (1919-2006). |
| Be My Number Two | Joe Jackson | The love ballad “Be My Number Two” by British singer-songwriter Joe Jackson, released in 1984, expresses “once bitten, twice shy”. |
| Song 2 | Blur | “Song 2” by Blur, released in 1997 (originally just a working title) was written by the band to make fun of Grunge music, adding loud guitars and cryptic lyrics. This is the second track on the CD, the second single from the album, it hit #2 in the UK, and it is 2 minutes long. |
| 2-4-6-8 Motorway | Tom Robinson Band | “2-4-6-8 Motorway” by the Tom Robinson Band, released in 1978, was written by Tom Robinson, inspired by memories of driving back to London through the night after gigs with his band Café Society. |
| The Magnificent Seven | The Clash | The title “The Magnificent Seven” comes from John Sturgess’ 1960 Western movie of the same name. The Clash frontman Joe Strummer wrote the lyrics and Norman Watt-Roy (from Ian Dury and the Blockheads) ended up writing the bass line. |
| 96 Tears | The Stranglers | “96 Tears” by “? and the Mysterians”, released in 1966, is written by the band’s frontman. The band’s keyboard player Frank Rodriguez used a Vox Continental and would later become vintage to get a retro sound. “? and the Mysterians” are a garage band formed in 1962 in Michigan by three offspring of migrant farmers: Bobby Balderrama (lead guitar), Larry Borjas (rhythm guitar) and Robert Martinez (drums). Garland Jeffreys covered this in 1980 and The Stranglers released a version in 1990. |
| 99 | TOTO | “99” by Toto, released in 1979 was written by keyboard player David Paich and is inspired by the 1971 movie THX-1138, directed by George Lucas, where people are numbered drones. |
| 002.345.709 (That’s My Number) | Trinity | “002.345.709 (That’s My Number)” was the biggest hit for the Belgian band Trinity and was released in 1976. Written by band members Fred Bekky and Bob Baelemans with female vocals by Sofie Verbruggen. |
| Four to the Floor | Starsailor | The soothing ballad “Four Letter Word” by Kim Wilde is written by father Marty and younger brother Ricky Wilde and released in 1988. |
| Four Letter Word | Kim Wilde | “Four to the Floor” is a song by British band Starsailor, released in 2004. Four-on-the-floor (or four-to-the-floor) is a rhythm used primarily in dance genres such as disco and electronic dance music. It is a steady, uniformly accented beat in 4 4 time in which the bass drum is hit on every beat (1, 2, 3, 4). |
| Words | F.R. David | The plaintive ballad “Words” written and performed by French singer F.R. David was released in 1982. F.R. David (birth name Elli Robert Fitoussi) is a Tunisian-born French singer. |
| Les mots bleus | Christophe | “Les Mots bleus” by French singer Christophe was released in 1974. The lyrics are by Jean-Michel Jarre and music composed by Christophe, inspired by the sound of the Eminent 310 Unique, a home electronic organ and the first commercial polyphonic string synthesizer on the market at the time. Jean-Michel Jarre used the Eminent 310 Unique organ on his albums Oxygène (1977) and Équinoxe (1978). |
| Words | Arid | “Words” by Arid was released in 2008. Arid is a Belgian rock band, formed in the mid-1990s, made up of four members: Jasper Steverlinck (vocals and guitar), David Du Pré (guitar), Filip Ros (bass) and Steven Van Havere (drums). |
| Paroles, paroles (ft. Alain Delon) | Dalida | “Paroles, paroles” by French singer Dalida featuring French actor Alain Delon was released in 1973. It is a bosa nova remake by Chris Michaële (lyrics) and Gianni Ferrio (composition) of the 1972 original “Parole parole” (translated ”Words words”) duet performed by Italian singer Mina and actor Alberto Lupo as opening theme for the prime time Italian TV show Teatro 10. |
| If I Had Words | Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley | “If I Had Words” is a duet by Scottish singer Scott Fitzgerald and Dutch singer Yvonne Keeley with the backing of the St. Thomas More School Choir, released in 1977. The tune was taken from the main theme of the Maestoso from Saint-Saens Symphony No.3 in C minor (“Organ Symphony”) with a reggae beat added. The lyrics and arrangement were by Jonathan Hodge, a prolific writer of television jingles and film themes. |
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.
