The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*: #270-261

If you haven't caught all the segments in The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, utilize the handy Checklists* that we provide to catch up.  Either click on Older Posts on the bottom of the website or find the posts you want to check out listed on the left-hand side of the website.

We began May 21 with our signature music special, and we're already up to #270*:

 

#270:
 
Twist And Shout
 Beatles
1964

"Great song by John Lennon and Sir Paul."

 

"AMAZING!"

 

"John Lennon's vocal performance is something else."

 

"My favorite song."

 

"Love the beat!"

 

"Still awesome."

Phil Medley and Bert Berns wrote this song in 1961, originally for an R&B group from Philadelphia called the Top Notes.  Berns went on to write songs for the Drifters, Ben E. King, and Van Morrison.  The Isley Brothers did a great cover of "Twist And Shout" in 1962, which is the version that the Beatles did.

 

The Beatles recorded this classic February 11, 1963 at EMI Studios in London.  Engineer Norman Smith related how the group came to remake the song:

Someone suggested they do 'Twist and Shout' with John taking the lead vocal. But by this time all their throats were sore; it was 12 hours since we had started working. John's, in particular, was almost completely gone so we really had to get it right the first time. The Beatles on the studio floor and us in the control room. John sucked a couple more Zubes (a brand of throat lozenges), had a bit of a gargle with milk and away we went.

Despite the effect on Lennon's voice, he gave a dynamic performance.  He later said that it took him a long time to recover, and every time he swallowed, his voice "felt like sandpaper". 

 

The Beatles released the song March 22 on their album Please Please Me in the U.K., and, after their invasion of the United States, on March 2, 1964 on the album Introducing...The Beatles in the United States.  The Beatles performed "Twist And Shout" on The Ed Sullivan Show February 23, 1964.  

 

"Twist And Shout" was #2 on the famous day of April 4, 1964, on which the Beatles became the only act in history to own each and every one of the Top Five songs.  Besides Song #270*, the group owned #1 ("Can't Buy Me Love"), #3 ("She Loves You"), #4 ("I Want To Hold Your Hand") and #5 ("Please Please Me").  Besides that lineup of heavy hitters, "Twist And Shout" competed with the group's songs "And I Love Her" and "Love Me Do", as well as "Where Did Our Love Go" by the Supremes, "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys, and "My Guy" from Mary Wells. 

"Twist And Shout" became the only Top 10 remake the group did.  It reached #2 for four weeks, and the Beatles captured the Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1964.  "Twist And Shout" sold 2 million singles and helped sell 17.5 million albums.  

 

The Beatles often ended their early concerts with "Twist And Shout", but they chose it to open their famous performance at Shea Stadium in 1965, the first rock concert ever in a stadium.

 

In 1986, the song became a hit all over again (at #23)--it was featured in the popular Matthew Broderick movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

 

 #269:

Macarena 
Los Del Rio (Bayside Boys mix)
1996

"This is fun stuff and a great expression from the creative human mind."

"Great song and dance!"

"I love this song💚"

"WOW!!!  What a great song!"

"A classic!"

"Great!"

 

Los Del Rio (Antonio Romeo Monge and Rafael Ruiz) are a Spanish flamenco-pop duo. They were inspired to record this on a trip to Venezuela when they spotted a beautiful flamenco dancer named Diana Patricia. When the song became a hit, she became known in Venezuela as "Macarena."  This was the first hit for Los Del Rio since 1962 and their only hit in the US.  

Los Del Rio originally recorded this song in 1992 as a rumba, the first of six versions of the song that they recorded.  A version with Spanish lyrics did well in Spain, Columbia and Mexico.  The song also was popular in Puerto Rico, as it was used as an unofficial campaign song for then-governor Pedro Rosselló .  As many cruise ships visited there, visitors to Puerto Rico became familiar with the song.  When American visitors returned home, the song spread to cities with significant Latino populations, such as New York City and Miami, Florida. 

In 1996, Jammin' Johnny Caride at Power 96 radio station in Miami, learned of the "Macarena" when dancers at a club where he worked requested the song.  He obtained a copy, and took it to his manager at Power 96, who asked him to create an English-language version of the song.  Caride recruited his partners at Bayside Records, Mike Triay and Carlos de Yarza, to help him remix the song.  Yarza and Triay wrote the English lyrics, and the Bayside Boys, as the trio named themselves, added a dance beat with the lyrics sung by Carla Vanessa.

"Macarena" was released as a single and began getting radio airplay in September,1996.  During its chart run,  it faced songs such as "Candle In The Wind 1997" by Elton John, Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me", "Un-Break My Heart" from Toni Braxton, "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, "You Were Meant For Me" by Jewel, and "Quit Playing Games With My Heart" from the Backstreet Boys.

"Macarena" was #1 for 14 weeks and spent 22 inside the Top 10.  Even in an era of less competition, those are still impressive numbers.   "Macarena" stayed a best-seller for 60 weeks to set a new Rock Era record.  It was overtaken two years later by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live", which spent 69 weeks on the chart.  The 60 weeks was a record for #1 songs until Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" in 2011.  "Macarena" set another record by taking 33 weeks (over two separate chart runs) to reach #1, the longest journey to the summit. 

 "Macarena" was far from just a U.S. hit; it went to #1 in Germany, France, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, and #2 in the U.K., New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden, and #3 in Ireland.
 

Los Del Rio was named after the Virgin of Seville, the "Virgin Del Rocio", which is the equivalent to the Virgin Mary.  The members of the group, who don't speak English, were convinced it was a gift of the Virgin Del Rocio when "Macarena" became a worldwide hit.

The song was played at athletic games, rallies, conventions, and just about every other meeting of a substantial number of people. 

It sold 4 million singles in the U.S. and 11 million worldwide, and is one of the only songs in the last 20 years to top one million in radio airplay.  "Macarena" won the Billboard Award for Single of the Year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#268:

 

I'd Do Anything For Love 
Meat Loaf
1993

 

"One of my faves."

 

"Great song."

 

"Amazing song."

 

"Wow.  That's a classic."

 

"One of my all-time favorites.  Love the lyrics."

 

"Love this song!"

 



This artist's real name is Marvin Aday.  It is tough to pinpoint exactly when Marvin became Meat Loaf, although by 1966, he had formed a band alternately known as Meat Loaf Soul and Popcorn Blizzard.  They must have been pretty good, for in the next four years, they opened for acts such as the Who, Johnny and Edgar Winter, Ted Nugent, and the Stooges. 

After Meat's group broke up in 1969, he scored a part in the West Coast production of the musical Hair.  After recording an unsuccessful album, Meat Loaf appeared in the Off Broadway musical Rainbow in New York, then got a part in the play More Than You Deserve, written by Jim Steinman. 

Meat Loaf became famous as Eddie in the wildly popular cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Bringing producer Todd Rundgren into the fold, Meat Loaf and Steinman hooked up for Meat's breakthrough album, Bat Out of Hell, in 1977.  Besides playing piano, Steinman penned all of the successful songs on the album, which sold five million copies.       

But like yesterday's meat loaf, Aday had grown out of favor.  He hadn't had a hit since Bat Out of Hell.  When Meat Loaf and Steinman had a falling out, Mr. Loaf not only couldn't buy a hit; he experienced personal problems.   

Finally, Meat and Steinman patched things up, and reunited for the album Bat Out of Hell II:  Back Into Hell.  The first single from the album, "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)", included the last six verses by a female singer credited only as "Mrs. Loud".  She was Lorraine Crosby from New England, but Crosby neither appeared in the video (Dana Patrick lip-synched the performance) nor on tour, as Meat Loaf appeared with Patti Russo in live performances.  

Meat Loaf recorded "I'd Do Anything For Love" at Ocean Way Recording Studio in Los Angeles, and released the song in September, 1993.   It was a huge worldwide hit, going to #1 in 28 countries, and it finished the year as the top-selling single in the U.K.  "I'd Do Anything For Love" sold over 761,000 copies, and stayed at #1 for 7 weeks.  It remained at #1 for 5 weeks in the United States, and registered 14 weeks in the Top 10.  The song also went to #1 in Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland, among others, and #4 in France and Finland.    

"I'd Do Anything For Love" faced competition from "Dreamlover" and "Hero" by Mariah Carey, "All That She Wants" and "The Sign" by Ace of Base, "The Power Of Love" from Celine Dion, "That's The Way Love Goes" by Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton's "Breathe Again", and "All For Love",  the superstar pairing of Rod Stewart, Sting, and Bryan Adams. 

"I'd Do Anything For Love" went Gold and helped Loaf sell 5.5 million albums.  Meat Loaf captured the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.
It has now been played over one million times.  

Humorously, in the Spice Girls movie Spiceworld, Meat Loaf played the group's bus driver.  When there is a problem with the toilets always being clogged, the girls' manager asked Meat Loaf to fix them.  To which he replies, "Listen, I love these girls, and I'll do anything for them...but I won't do that."  

 

#267:

Annie's Song 

John Denver

1974
 

 

 

 

 "Beautiful!!!!!"

 

"My favorite song ever."

 

"Got goose bumps listening to it while watching the gorgeous photos moving by -- John Denver was so amazing.  He put such emotion into his songs, and had such a beautiful voice, great pitch, everything."

 

"One of the best love songs of all-time."

 

"One of the best love songs ever written.  Simply beautiful."

 

"One of the most beautiful songs.  Ever.
 

 

 

 

John Denver wrote this song as an ode to his wife at the time, Annie.  None of us could begin to come up with a classic song like this, but when you're one of the amazing talents of all-time, this is how it goes.

 

  Denver wrote "Annie's Song" in July of 1973 in the time it takes to ride a chairlift to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado (about 10 1/2 minutes).  Denver said he wrote the song "as the physical exhilaration of having just skied down a very difficult run and the feeling of total immersion in the beauty of the colors and sounds that filled all senses inspired me to write a song about my wife."  Annie gave her impressions of the song:

 

 

It was written after John and I had gone through a pretty intense time together and things were pretty good for us.  He left to go skiing and he got on the Ajax chair on Aspen mountain and the song just came to him.  He skied down and came home and wrote it down... Initially it was a love song and it was given to me through him, and yet for him it became a bit like a prayer.

 

 

Denver gave the demo to producer Milt Okun, who said:

 

 

 The first time I heard "Annie's Song," I told John it had the same melody as Tchakovsky's "Fifth Symphony, Second Movement".   He walked over to the piano, sat for an hour and came back, and the only thing remaining from Tchaikovsky was the first five notes.  It was fantastic."

 

Denver released the single in June of 1974 from John's album Back Home Again.  "Annie's Song" had better chart numbers than some of the songs in this range, but it was against lesser competition.  "Bennie And The Jets" and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John, Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You", "Band On The Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings, "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk, and "Rock Your Baby" from George McCrae were the only other Top 500* songs out at the time.

"Annie's Song" rose to #1 for two weeks on the Popular chart and #1 for three weeks on the Adult chart, and also reached #9 on the Country chart for Denver.  The song also peaked at #1 in the U.K., where unbelievably, it became his only major hit there.  Up to that point, Denver's songs were covered by other artists, and it is those covers that became hits.  "Annie's Song" also went to #1 in Canada and Ireland. 

To date, "Annie's Song" has sold over one million singles and helped sell 12.5 million albums.

 

 

 

 

#266:

Stuck On You
Elvis Presley
1960

 

"One of my favorites."

Classic Elvis."

"Love this song!"

"Perfect."

"Super!"

"Superb classic."

 

 

Song #266* was written by Aaron Schroeder and J. Leslie McFarland.

After his two-year duty in the United States Army, Elvis couldn't get wait to back into the studio.  On March 1, 1960, Presley's unit threw a farewell party for him.  Captain Marion Keisker, the woman who was Sam Phillips' assistant when Elvis entered the Memphis Recording Company in Tennessee in 1953 to record two songs for his mother.  At the time, Keisker was working with the Armed Forces Television Network in Germany.

 

Presley flew home, arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey.  Elvis wasn't the only one antsy to record a new song.  While he was in the service, it seems his legions of fans greatly anticipated the next release, as, without knowing what the song title would be, consumers had placed advance orders of 1,275, 077 with RCA Records--the highest advance sale of any single to that point in history.

 

Presley recorded this classic on March 21, 1960 at the RCA Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.  He released it as a single on March 23.

One of the most impressive things the song accomplished was that it knocked the classic "Theme From 'A Summer Place'" by Percy Faith off its perch at #1, ending its nine-week reign at the top.  "Stuck On You" remained at the top for four weeks, reached #3 on the Adult chart, and peaked at #6 on the R&B chart. 

 

Other songs encountered along its chart run were his own "It's Now Or Never" (the follow-up release), "Cathy's Clown" by the Everly Brothers, and "El Paso" from Marty Robbins.

"Stuck On You" gave Elvis 13 #1 songs, far and away the class of the early Rock Era.  The Platters, as great as they were, trailed with 4 #1's, while the Everly Brothers had 3.  Those were the top three artists to that point in the Rock Era.  The song also landed at #6 on the R&B chart, and #3 in the U.K.

 

"Stuck On You" has sold over two million singles and helped sell over 27 million albums in the U.S. alone.

 

#265:

Save The Best For Last 
Vanessa Williams
1992

 
 



"Beautiful voice."

"Such as timeless classic." 

"Beautiful love song."

 

"Amazing."

 

"It's great."

 

"Forever a fave and a classic."

 

Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman, and Jon Lind wrote this song.  They offered it to many other singers who turned it down.  Vanessa said "I'll take it, thank you very much!"  Then those other singers had to stand by and watch Vanessa make it The #265 Song of the Rock Era*.  A big blunder, to put it lightly.
 

Williams was in the process of recording her album The Comfort Zone, when, at the last minute, one of the tracks had to be replaced.  This song was played for her, to which Williams replied, "I can't believe nobody wants this song.  I have to have this song."

"Save The Best For Last" debuted on the charts in February, 1992, when it faced "End Of The Road" by Boyz II Men, Michael Jackson's "Black Or White", "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton, "Under The Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and "Can't Let Go" by Mariah Carey.

"Save The Best For Last" soared to #1 for 5 weeks, with 13 weeks in the Top 10.  It also was the class of the Adult Contemporary (#1 for 3 weeks) and R&B charts (also #1 for 3 weeks), making it one of the most mass-appeal songs of its time.  The song also rose to #1 in Australia,
#2 in Ireland, #3 in the U.K., #4 in the Netherlands, #5 in Canada, and #6 in Switzerland.

"Save The Best For Last" sold half a million singles, helped sell three million albums, and is one of the only songs in the last 25 years to top one million in radio airplay.

#264:

Eleanor Rigby
 Beatles
1966

 

 

"This song is pure genius."

 

"'Eleanor Rigby' really shows the maturity of the Beatles--greatest group ever."

 

"Such a great song."

 

"One of the best songs I've ever heard."

 

"Amazing!  Very deep and meaningful song."

 

"Simply the greatest song ever written.  I am pretty sure God gave us this song."

 

Paul McCartney wrote most of this classic.  "Rigby" was the name of a store in Bristol, England (Rigby and Evens Ltd. Wine and Spirit Shippers), while "Eleanor" was from actress Eleanor Bron, a co-star in the Beatles movie Help.  McCartney didn't really know what he had, until he came up with the line "Picks up the rice in a church were a wedding has been".  Once that line entered the song, McCartney wrote about an old, lonely woman.  The lyrics, "Wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door" refer to the cold-cream she wears in an attempt to look younger.

The original name of the lady was not Eleanor Rigby but Miss Daisy Hawkins, as McCartney explained in a 1966 interview:  

I was sitting at the piano when I thought of it.  The first few bars just came to me, and I got this name in my head ... "Daisy Hawkins picks up the rice in the church".  I don't know why. I couldn't think of much more so I put it away for a day. Then the name Father McCartney came to me, and all the lonely people.  But I thought that people would think it was supposed to be about my Dad sitting knitting his socks.  Dad's a happy lad.  So I went through the telephone book and I got the name "McKenzie".

McCartney wrote the first verse, and the Beatles and friend Pete Shotton finished the song at John Lennon's home.  George Harrison came up with the line, "Ah, look at all the lonely people", while Starr contributed the line "writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear". 

McCartney could not decide how to end the song, and Shotton finally suggested that the two lonely people come together too late as Father McKenzie conducts Eleanor Rigby's funeral.  John Lennon didn't like the idea, but McCartney later used it to finish the song, and later acknowledged Shotton's help.  As for the melody, McCartney came up with it on his piano. 

"Eleanor Rigby" is one of the few Beatles songs in which the group doesn't play any instruments.  Strings are the background for the entire song, with a string section scored by producer George Martin that features four violins, two violas and two cellos.  The backing track was recorded April 28 and 29 and June 6, 1966 at EMI Studios in London.

 

The Beatles released the song as a double A-side single with "Yellow Submarine" from the album Revolver on August 5.  The song encountered competition from their own "Paperback Writer", "Strangers In The Night" by Frank Sinatra, "Cherish" by the Association, "You Can't Hurry Love" from the Supremes, "Sunny" by Bobby Hebb, "Summer In The City" by Lovin' Spoonful, Donovan's "Sunshine Superman", and "Reach Out I'll Be There" by the Four Tops.  

The Beatles took "Eleanor Rigby" to #1 for four weeks in the U.K., but only #11 in the U.S.  Stay with us. 

"Eleanor Rigby" won a Grammy Award for Rock & Roll Solo Performance (for McCartney), and was nominated for Best Arrangement Accompanying A Vocalist Or Instrumentalist, Male Vocal Performance, and Rock & Roll Recording, and Revolver was nominated for Album of the Year.  The song has helped sell 28 million albums and has achieved four million in radio airplay. 

Pete Townshend of the Who was quoted as saying "I think 'Eleanor Rigby' was a very important musical move forward."  Classical composer Howard Goodall said that the Beatles works are "a stunning roll-call of sublime melodies that perhaps only Mozart can match in European musical history" and that they "almost single-handedly rescued the Western musical system".

There's an interesting footnote to the song.  In the 1980s, the grave of a person named Eleanor Rigby was "discovered" in the graveyard of St. Peter's Parish Church in Liverpool, and a few yards away from that, another tombstone with the last name "McKenzie".  Rigby died on October 10, 1939 at age 44.

During their teenage years, McCartney and Lennon spent time sunbathing near the gravesite.  Several years later, McCartney said that the coincidence between reality and the lyrics could be a product of his subconscious, rather than just being a meaningless fluke.




There is a statue of Eleanor Rigby on Stanley Street in Liverpool, with a plaque above it that says "Dedicated to all the lonely people." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#263:

Sunshine On My Shoulders 
John Denver

1974

"So incredibly beautiful!

 

"Love him forevermore."

"I miss his music.  Timeless."

"This is the most beautiful song ever."

"The sweetest song ever written."

"Fantastic song from a legend." 

 

Fourteen songs from 1974 make The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*, including this great one. 

This artist was so popular that every one of his 21 studio albums went Gold.  His music featured a unique mix of Folk Rock and Country Rock.  John Denver's fans were said to range in age from 3 to 99.  Denver asked Dick Kniss and Mike Taylor to collaborate with him on this classic.  John wrote the song while scoring the television drama "Sunshine".   

Denver described his inspiration for writing it:

I wrote the song in Minnesota during the time when the season was changing from winter to spring.  It was a dreary day, gray and slushy. The snow was melting and it was too cold to go outside and have fun, but you're ready for spring. You want to get outdoors again and you're waiting for that sun to shine, and you remember how sometimes just the sun itself can make you feel good.  And in that very melancholy frame of mind I wrote "Sunshine on My Shoulders".

The song was originally included on the album Poems, Prayers and Promises, but was re-issued on his compilation John Denver's Greatest Hits in November, 1973.  The latter album went Gold within two weeks of release.  "Sunshine On My Shoulders", meanwhile, began to receive so much airplay that Denver released it as a single.

"Sunshine On My Shoulders" fended off competition from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Bennie And The Jets" by Elton John, "The Way We Were" by Barbra Streisand, "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich, "Love's Theme" from the Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Seasons In The Sun" by Terry Jacks, "Midnight Train To Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips, "Band On The Run" from Paul McCartney & Wings, Jim Croce's "Time In A Bottle", "The Loco-Motion" by Grand Funk, and Chicago's "Just You 'N Me" to reach #1 on the Popular chart, and #1 for two weeks on the Adult chart.  "Sunshine On My Shoulders" also went to #1 in Canada.

The song sold over one million singles and helped sell 11.5 million albums for Denver.

 

 

 

 

 

#262:

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 
Police
1981

 "Sweet melody."

"I love this.  Pure feel good music."

"Such a classic...Love it."

"Pure awesomeness."

"CLASSIC."

"Great song!"

 

 

 

This classic began as an acoustic ballad written by Sting when the Police were called Strontium 90.  You can check out the first recording of the song if you can find the rare 1997 CD, Strontium 90:  Police Academy.  

Sting kept the song, but it seemed too soft for the Police.  He nevertheless presented it to the other members of the group, who felt that it indeed did not fit their style.  After Sting did some maneuvering, he finally got guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland to participate.  Sting also invited Jean Roussel to play the piano part, which didn't go over well with his bandmates. 

At the time of release, music in the Rock Era was at a crossroads.  Disco, which had dominated the latter half of the '70s, was dying out.  Hard Rock, which had essentially been dormant during the Disco Era, was trying to make a comeback.  It seemed fans of each genre didn't like the other, and music in general had splintered into dozens of pieces.  

New Wave was what served as a transition between Disco and what followed, and may very well have saved the Rock Era itself.  Groups such as Blondie, the Pretenders, and the Cars paved the way for the genre that also included the Police, the Talking Heads, and the Stray Cats. 

The Police included the song on their album Ghost in the Machine.  In September of 1981, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" competed for attention with "Endless Love" by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie, "Waiting For A Girl Like You" from Foreigner, Journey's "Open Arms" "Don't Stop Believin'", and "Who's Crying Now", "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John, "I Can't Go For That" by Hall & Oates, and "Arthur's Theme" by Christopher Cross.  

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" went to #3 for two weeks in the U.S.  It reached #1 in the U.K., Canada, and the Netherlands, #2 in Australia, #5 in Norway, and #7 in New Zealand.  The song helped sell 9.5 million albums, and is among the most-played songs of the Rock Era, with over six million plays to date.

 

 

 #261:

I Just Called To Say I Love You
Stevie Wonder

1984

"Amazing song."

 

"Very romantic!"

 

"My favorite song."

 

"One of the most beautiful songs ever."

 

Pure brill--a classic."

 

"Fantabulous!"

 

 

Song #261* was first featured in the comedy The Woman in Red.  Dionne Warwick, who was working on the soundtrack to the film, suggested Wonder to the producers.  Even Warwick was amazed at what transpired, as she told Dick Clark:

 

 

Stevie Wonder is in every sense of the word...an absolute genius.  We're quite aware of the fact that Steveland is blind.  He came in to 'watch' the film, to see it.  And I tell you, he saw the film.  There's no way in the world that you can write the pieces of music that he wrote, for the sequences he wrote for, so directly.
 

 

In August of 1984, "I Just Called To Say I Love You" began its chart run, facing competition from great songs such as "What's Love Got To Do With It" by Tina Turner, Madonna's "Like A Virgin", "When Doves Cry" and "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince, "Time After Time" from Cyndi Lauper, "Missing You" by John Waite, REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling", Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen, "Let's Hear It For The Boy" by Deniece Williams, and "Caribbean Queen" by Billy Ocean.    

"I Just Called To Say I Loved You" went to #1 in every single major country in the world, something few songs in the Rock Era can claim.  In the United States, it reached #1 for 3 weeks with 10 weeks in the Top 10 on the Popular chart, #1 for 3 weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart, and #1 for 3 weeks on the  R&B chart--see a pattern here.  The simple way of saying it is that "I Just Called To Say I Love You" was a universal, mass-appeal smash.

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" became Stevie's 8th #1 song, his 10th #1 on the R&B chart and his 4th on the Adult Contemporary chart.  The song also reached #1 for six weeks in the U.K. to become the biggest-selling single ever from Motown in the U.K.

 

 

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" won a Golden Globe for Best Original Song--Motion Picture, an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and helped Wonder win the Billboard Century Award, the World Music Legend Award and the Soul Train Heritage Award for Career Achievement.  The song was also nominated for Song of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Instrumental Performance at the Grammy Awards.

"I Just Called To Say I Love You" has sold over one million singles and helped sell over 3.5 million albums.

 

 

 

Some great songs in that group.  Join us tomorrow for another group!