The magnitude of the remaining 20 hits cannot be overstated. The next 20 songs and the impact they had on not only their respective movies but our culture were massive. Sit back, relax, and enjoy these next 10!
#20--"Can't Buy Me Love" by the Beatles (from the movie A Hard Day's Night--1964)
Paul McCartney wrote this next giant hit, recorded by the Beatles on January 29, 1964 in Paris, France while the group was in the midst of an 18-day run at the Olympia Theatre and featured in the movie A Hard Day's Night.
The band began filming the movie, directed by Richard Lester, on March 2. The well-regarded film covers 36 hours in the lives of the band members as they get ready for a television performance. McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr run from a throng of fans while boarding a train for London to film the TV performance.
On the way to the location where they will perform, they meet up with Paul's grandfather John, which causes his own bit of trouble. They also play cards and upon arrival, are driven to their hotel. Although their manager, Norm, brings them fan mail to read and asks that they reply to each letter, the members feel too controlled and they sneak out to party. The group pulls various other antics before arriving at the studio shortly before airtime and putting on a great show before thousands of maniacal fans.
Phil Collins was in the audience when the Beatles performed "You Can't Do That", though that sequence was cut from the movie.
By presenting themselves on the big screen, the group further endeared themselves to their fans in ways they may not have realized. As BeatlesMusicHistory! says:
From seeing them interact and react to the circumstances that presented themselves in the movie, die-hard fans of their music got very familiar with their (perceived) personalities, idiosyncrasies and sense of humor. The youth of that time felt like they knew their favorite musicians and, therefore, grew ever more attached.
Famed movie critic Roger Ebert called A Hard Day's Night "one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies."
Lester wanted a song to be used during the "escape/fire escape" sequence in the movie, which was inspired by Lester's Running, Jumping & Standing Still Film of 1959. After the Beatles finished recording "I'll Cry Instead", they quickly sent it to Lester for possible inclusion in the film. The track was suggested to Lester, but he vetoed it because of its gloomy lyrics.
As another song that the Beatles had just recorded for the movie, "Can't Buy Me Love", had just been released as a single, Lester decided he would use that with the fire escape footage instead. Since his decision wasn't made before the American soundtrack album was being produced, both songs appear on the release.
"Can't Buy Me Love" set a Rock Era record for the biggest jump to #1 (27-1) that stood until 1991. By that time, competition had really dropped, so for all intents and purposes, the song still legitimately holds the record. It's rise to the top on April 4, 1964 set another mark when the Beatles owned all five of the Top Five songs on that date. Unless the competition is of the caliber of the Beach Boys, the Supremes, the Four Seasons and the Dave Clark Five all out at the same time, any breaking of that incredible record would be much cheapened.
The song hit #1 in the United States, the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden and sold 2 million in the U.S., 1.5 million in the U.K. and a worldwide total of 6 million back in 1964. That would be the equivalent of 61.9 million copies sold today in 2025 dollars.
The album A Hard Day's Night was a global #1--#1 in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Finland and has sold over four million copies, one of the biggest-selling albums to that point in the Rock Era. It contains four songs in this special, all of which are ranked very high.
The movie grossed $14 million at the box office, the equivalent of $144 million today. The film earned Academy Award nominations for Best Music Score and Best Screenplay at the Academy Awards and a Grammy nomination for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show.
#19--"(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" by Elvis Presley (from the movie Loving You--1957)
Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe wrote this 1957 song for Elvis Presley for his second movie, Loving You, which also starred Lizabeth Scott and Wendell Corey. Hal Kanter co-wrote the screenplay and directed it while Hal Wallis produced the movie.
In Loving You, a delivery man named Deke Rivers with an unusually strong singing voice (Presley) is discovered by Glenda Markle (Scott), a music publicist, and a Country musician--her love interest "Tex" Warner (Corey). They happen to work for a Texas gubernatorial candidate by the name of Jim Tallman.
The two manage to talk Rivers into signing a contract that gives half of the money to Markle. As they tour throughout Texas, Deke falls in love with one of the other singers, Susan Jessup, played by Dolores Hart.
In addition to "Teddy Bear", Mann also wrote "You Can't Sit Down" (which became a big hit for the Dovells), "Butterfly" for Charlie Gracie, "Wild One" for Bobby Rydell and "Limbo Rock" and "Let's Twist Again" for Chubby Checker.
Lowe, a songwriter, arranger, pianist and record producer, founded Cameo Records in 1956 and helped launch the careers of Rydell, Dee Dee Sharp, The Orlons, the Dovells and the Tymes.
Corey was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and a board member of the Screen Actors Guild. He played in several films--movie-lovers will most remember him for his role as Lieutenant Thomas Doyle in the classic Rear Window.
"Teddy Bear" hit #1 and stayed there for seven weeks to become one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*. It was also a #1 song for seven weeks in Canada.
The soundtrack has sold over 500,000 copies while the movie grossed $3.7 million.
#18--"The Way We Were" by Barbara Streisand (from the movie The Way We Were)
The talented songwriting team of Alan and Marilyn Bergman wrote Song #18* with Marvin Hamlisch for the 1973 movie The Way We Were. Sydney Pollack directed this sad but awesome film starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Arthur Laurents wrote a 1972 novel with the same name and adapted the film's screenplay from that novel.
Streisand is Katie Morosky while Redford plays Hubbell Gardiner. The film is set in 1937 as the two are college students who couldn't be more different. Katie is strongly against war while Hubbell is largely neutral. The two share a dance at the senior prom but don't meet again until near the end of World War II. Hubbell has returned to New York City from duty as a naval officer while Katie is working various jobs. The two get in a fight after Hubbell's friends show tremendous bad taste by making jokes after the best U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, died.
They get back together and move to Malibu in California as Hubbell pursues an offer to adapt his novel into a movie screenplay. The movie portrays two people who clearly love each other but have to overcome the many differences between them. The Way We Were co-stars Bradford Dillman, Lois Chiles, Patrick O'Neal, Murray Hamilton and James Woods.
Pollack was a respected director with a career of over 40 years. Sydney played a director in "The Trouble with Templeton", a 1960 Twilight Zone episode and also directed episodes of other popular television series, including The Fugitive and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Pollack met Robert Redford in Sydney's acting debut in the movie War Hunt, and Redford would go on to be the male lead in seven of Pollack's movies.
Pollack also appeared in several movies such as A Civil Action and Death Becomes Her as well as some he also directed, such as The Interpreter and Michael Clayton, and he was a recurring guest star on the television sitcom Will & Grace.
Sydney won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director for Out of Africa and was nominated for Tootsie, Michael Clayton and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Sydney also directed the all-time classic The Firm, Absence of Malice, Tootsie, Three Days of the Condor, Sense and Sensibility, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Electric Horseman, and Jeremiah Johnson and produced Presumed Innocent, The Quiet American, Searching for Bobby Fischer as well as Michael Clayton, Sense and Sensibility and The Fabulous Baker Boys mentioned above.
One of his most amazing accomplishments is that Pollack directed 12 actors to Oscar-nominated performances: Meryl Streep, Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, Holly Hunter, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Gig Young, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Susannah York.
"The Way We Were" landed at #1 in the United States and Canada and #6 in Australia, has sold over one million copies and received both a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar for Best Original Song. Its melancholy feel is one of the best in our special for evoking memories from the movie in which it is from.
The album reached #1 in the United States, #3 in Canada and #7 in Australia and has sold over two million units in the U.S. alone.
The movie raked in a gross of $50 million and was nominated for Best Actress for Streisand at the Golden Globes and Best Actress for Streisand, Best Cinematography, Best Music Score, Best Set Decoration and Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards.
Memories
Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were
Scattered pictures
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were
Can it be that it was all so simple then
Or has time rewritten every line
If we had the chance to do it all again
Tell me - Would we? Could we?
Memories
May be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
We simply to choose to forget
So it is the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
So it is the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember
The way we were
#17--"Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis Presley (from the movie Jailhouse Rock--1957)
The famous songwriting team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote this classic for Elvis Presley in 1957, the title song of his new movie.
Several of the characters mentioned in the song are real people--Shifty Henry was not a criminal but a popular musician, The Purple Gang was a real mob, and "Sad Sack" was a U.S. Army nickname for a loser.
Vince Everett (played by Presley) is a convict who learns to play the guitar while in prison and becomes a star after he is released. His leading lady, Judy Tyler, was killed in an automobile accident shortly after the film was completed. Elvis was reportedly so shook up that he never watched the movie or talked about it. Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaugn Taylor and Jennifer Holden co-star.
Leiber and Stoller wrote "Hound Dog", "Love Me", "Loving You" and "Don't" for Presley, "Kansas City" for Wilbert Harrison, "On Broadway" with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for the Drifters, "Stand By Me" with Ben E. King and "Searchin'", "Yakety Yak" and "Young Blood" for the Coasters.
The pair wrote or co-wrote over 70 hits and were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
"Jailhouse Rock" flew to #1 in the United States and U.K. and has sold over two million copies in the U.S. and over three million worldwide.
Jailhouse Rock was the #3 movie at the time and finished the year #14, grossing $4 million at the box office.
#16--"Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes (from the movie An Officer and a Gentleman--1982)
This song was so well placed in its movie An Officer and a Gentleman that it is one of the most impactful songs from a movie that you'll hear. Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Saint-Marie teamed up to write the music in 1982 with lyrics from Will Jennings. In the incredible ending scene, Zach Mayo (played by Richard Gere), walks into the factory where Paula Pokrifki (played by Debra Winger) is working, takes her in his arms, shares a kiss, and then carries her out of the workplace, right past her ecstatic and very proud mother while "Up Where You Belong" is playing.
An Officer and a Gentleman is certainly near the top in the best movies ever made. It's the captivating story of a young man who grows up in a situation where his father is an alcoholic, womanizing naval officer stationed at sea nearly all year who impregnated his mother and then abandoned her. His mother then committed suicide when Zach was just a young boy, so Zach was forced to live with his father, living in military bases around the world, most of the time with his father at sea. His "father" is nothing like it, as the only things he teaches his son is the same sorted lifestyle that he practices.
On his 18th birthday, however, Zach shocks his father by telling him he enrolled in U.S. Aviation Officer Candidate School. By this time, the two are near a navy base in Fort Rainier, where Zach meets Sid Worley (played by David Keith), a fellow officer candidate, who becomes his best friend, and eventually Paula (Winger), who becomes his girlfriend. Zach, however, has no real understanding of either what a friend or a girlfriend is, or how each is to be treated. Sid meets Lynette Pomeroy (Lisa Blount) at the same dance where Zach met and they become lovers as well.
The movie shows Zach's growth, slow but very real, in interpersonal relationships, through the help of Paula's sticktoitiveness and Sid's loyal friendship but also to his drill sergeant Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley, masterfully played by the late Louis Gossett, Jr.
One can always spot a great director by the career-best performances of the entire cast, and that is the case in An Officer and a Gentleman under director Taylor Hackford, who should have easily won Best Director for his job in this film. Gere, Winger, Keith, Gossett, Jr. and Blount are all amazing. Blount gives a fabulous performance as a very selfish Lynette who has only herself and her own personal goals in mind. The supporting cast--Robert Loggia as Byron Mayo (Zach's father), with Officer Candidates Lisa Eilbacher as Casey Seeger, Harold Sylvester as Lionel Perryman, Tony Plana as Emiliano Santos Della Serra, David Caruso as Topper Daniels and Grace Zabriskie as Esther Pokrifki, Paula's mother, is superb.
Notice the final two chords of the instrumental song, in which in the second to last, Winger reaches out and touches Gere's hat as the note sounds, and as the final one plays, she puts it on her head as the view switches to a still frame as the closing credits roll. A perfect ending to a perfect movie. And a great use of a song in the final scene.
Gossett, who we lost just last March, debuted on the stage at the age of 18 and appeared in the Broadway play Take a Giant Step. About this time, Louis was invited to play for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association but he turned it down to accept a role in the play A Raisin in the Sun. Gossett also starred onstage in The Blacks, Tambourines to Glory and The Zulu and the Zayda.
Gossett appeared in the popular television miniseries Roots, which earned him Outstanding Lead Actor for a Single Appearance in a Drama or Comedy Series at the Emmy Awards.
Gossett's performance as Gunnery Sergeant Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman will always be remembered, but he was also Emmy-nominated for The Sentry Collection Presents Ben Vereen: His Roots, Backstairs at the White House, Palmerstown, U.S.A., Sadat, A Gathering of Old Men, Touched by an Angel and Watchman.
Gossett also appeared in the movies Iron Eagle, Iron Eagle II, The Landlord, The Guardian, Skin Game, The Deep and Enemy Mine and the television shows Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, The Rockford Files and The Jeffersons.
Keith, who played early roles in the movie Brubaker and The Rose, definitely saw an uptick in his career following his outstanding performance in An Officer and a Gentleman. Keith landed roles in The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, U-571, Firestarter, Major League II, The Indian in the Cupboard, Men of Honor, Behind Enemy Lines and Daredevil.
"Up Where We Belong" catapulted to #1 in the United States, Canada and Australia, #2 in Spain, #3 in Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden and #7 in the U.S. and Switzerland, sold over one million copies and won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Pop (Rock) Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The Recording Industry Association of America recognized the tune as one of the Songs of the Century. We are glad they agree with us that it is firmly entrenched in The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*.
An Officer and a Gentleman grossed $190 million in 1982 (the equivalent of $629 million today), with many critics calling it the best movie of the year. Gossett, Jr. gave not only an Oscar and Golden Globe-winning performance for Best Actor in a Supporting Role but one for the ages that is a must-see by itself.
Besides the wins for Gossett Jr. and Best Original Song, the film received six other Golden Globe and five other Academy Award nominations: Best Motion Picture - Drama from the Golden Globes, Best Actress for Winger from both organizations, Best Actor for Gere at the Golden Globes, Best Supporting Actor for Keith from the Golden Globes, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Original Score at the Academy Awards and Best New Star in a Motion Picture - Female for Blount and Best New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture - Male for Keith at the Golden Globes.
#15--"Night Fever" by the Bee Gees (from the movie Saturday Night Fever--1978)
Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb wrote and recorded "Night Fever" in April and September of 1997 for the Robert Stigwood-produced 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever. It is used during two key moments in the film: 1) as Tony is standing in front of a mirror getting ready to go dancing and 2) as dancers on the disco floor did a line dance to the song.
Many Americans were familiar with John Travolta, who played a bratty teenager on the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. With this movie, Travolta was a household name in every corner of the globe; it was his vehicle to superstardom.
Saturday Night Fever is the story of Tony Manero (Travolta), a young man who works at a hardware store and endures verbal abuse from his father and regular family fights at the dinner table. He puts up with both, but longs for a better life. He finds he is an exceptional dancer at the disco and that is where he spends his weekends. He increasingly is annoyed by his friends and their immaturity, racism and promiscuity.
One night he meets Stephanie Mangano and the two pair to practice for an upcoming dance contest. Tony has more in mind than just dancing but Stephanie doesn't, at least initially. Even in the famous closing scene, Stephanie's feelings are ambiguous. Martin Shakar plays Frank Jr., Tony's brother with Julie Bovasso particularly good as Flo, Tony's mother. Joseph Cali (as Joey), Paul Pape as Double J, Bruce Ornstein as Gus and Barry Miller as Bobby C. are Tony's friends.
Miller also appeared in the movies Fame, Peggy Sue Got Married (as Richard Norvik) and The Last Temptation of Christ as well as TV shows such as NYPD Blue, The Practice, Adam-12, Kojak and Equal Justice.
Bovasso appeared in several films, including as Nurse Maureen Rooney in the classic The Verdict as well a Moonstruck and Betsy's Wedding.
"Night Fever" went on to record eight weeks at #1 during one of the most competitive times of the Rock Era, one of the longest-running #1's during that time period (1955-present). The Bee Gees in March owned four of the top five and five of the Top Ten positions on the chart that they had written and/or recorded. The song also topped charts in the U.K., Canada, Ireland and Spain, reached #2 in New Zealand, Norway and Mexico, #3 in Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland, #4 in Austria and Portugal, #5 in Sweden and Italy and #6 in Finland, the lowest chart position of all major countries. "Night Fever" has sold over 2.5 million copies in the U.S. alone and over 4 million globally.
The soundtrack album dominated the U.S. charts for 24 consecutive weeks and remained a best-seller for 120 weeks (over two years) while it topped the U.K. chart for 18 straight weeks and dominated all worldwide Album charts in every major country. This feat is virtually unheard of. Until Michael Jackson's Thriller in 1980, Saturday Night Fever was the best-selling in history. The two have switched places several times, but Fever is still #2 next to "The Bodyguard" Soundtrack as the top-selling soundtrack album of all-time with 40 million copies sold.
The album won six Grammy Awards, one of the biggest hauls ever, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group (nearly always awarded for a specific song but in this case bestowed on the Bee Gees for the entire album), Producer of the Year and a Hall of Fame Award won in 2004. The soundtrack received a lone win for Favorite Soul/R&B Album with just a nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Album to show for one of the greatest albums and collection of great songs of all-time, with voters ignorant of the unprecedented impact the soundtrack had and eventual place in history that it would hold. The 1979 American Music Awards and this glaring failure was perhaps the biggest blunder in awards history.
In 2012, the U.S. Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant".
Saturday Night Fever wasn't just a global phenomenon; it changed the popular culture and brought people, young and old, to the dance floors in numbers never seen before or since. The movie made Disco dancing elegant, and people everywhere spent a good deal of time (and money) picking out clothes that fit that image. The music was vibrant, people were classy, and it was very fun and entertaining to go to discos in the 70's.
Saturday Night Fever grossed $237 million, the equivalent of $1.162 billion today. Travolta was nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globe Awards, one of four nominations that also included Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and Best Original Score.
#14--"She Loves You" by the Beatles (from the movie A Hard Day's Night--1964)
"She Loves You", written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, was one of the five songs by the Beatles to occupy each of the Top 5 spots on the charts on April 4, 1964. It was included in the movie A Hard Day's Night, which depicts 36 hours of the Beatles as they get ready for a television performance.
A Hard Day's Night is the most-respected of the Beatles' movies. The film opens as the four members of the Beatles run from their overzealous fans to board a train for London to film a television variety show. The members are distracted by many people and events, but finally arrive just in time to film the show.
George Martin, producer of the song, is often referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his involvement in the studio and in the technological innovations that he helped the group come up with.
Martin joined EMI Records in 1950 and managed Parlophone's Classical records. In 1955, George was promoted to the leader of Parlophone. He signed Dick James to a contract, who later became a music publisher for the Beatles and Elton John.
By late in 1962, Martin and Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, began a tight working relationship. In addition to the Beatles, Martin produced Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and Cilia Black. In 1963 in the U.K., Martin-produced and Epstein-managed acts chalked up 37 weeks of #1 songs, making Parlophone the top EMI label.
EMI had purchased Capitol Records back in 1955, but Capitol released few British records in America and didn't spend much on promoting the ones they did. Dave Dexter, Jr., head of Capitol's international A&R, would not issue any of the first four Beatles singles in the United States, leading Martin to issue "She Loves You" on the small, independent Swan Records.
Martin eventually got so frustrated with Capitol that he formed his own production team that signed the Hollies, Peter and Gordon, Manfred Mann, Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.
After the Beatles split, Martin produced several records for Paul McCartney & Wings and later worked with Celine Dion, Kenny Rogers, Little River Band, Neil Sedaka, Cheap Trick, Jeff Beck and John Williams and produced several albums for America (including the hits "Sister Golden Hair", "Tin Man" and "Lonely People".
"She Loves You" hit #1 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, #2 in Ireland, #3 in Australia, #4 in Finland and #7 in the Netherlands.
The album was a universal #1 that has sold over four million copies.
A Hard Day's Night was nominated for Best Music Score and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay--Written Directly for the Screen at the Academy Awards and Best Original Score for a Motion Picture or Television Show at the Grammy Awards.
#13--"Help!" by the Beatles (from the movie Help!--1965)
John Lennon wrote most of this song with some help from Paul McCartney. No one, not even his fellow Beatles, realized that John was calling out for help with the lyrics. Lennon said in 1980, "The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help."
In this film, a sinister eastern cult and a duo of mad scientists are out to get a sacrificial ring sent to Ringo Starr by a fan, and the Beatles must protect Ringo.
Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, John Bluthal, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill co-star.
"Help!" reached #1 for three weeks in both the U.S. and United Kingdom. and also hit the top in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. It has sold over two million copies worldwide.
The "Help" Soundtrack was a #1 album all over the world and has sold over four million copies. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special.
The movie grossed $12 million.
Help, not just anybody
Help, you know I need someone
Help!
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone I'm not so self-assured
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I've never done before
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?
When I was younger, so much younger than today
I never needed anybody's help in any way
But now these days are gone I'm not so self-assured
Now I find I've changed my mind, I've opened up the doors
Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being 'round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won't you please, please help me?
Help me, help me, ooo
#12--"Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & the Comets (from the movie Blackboard Jungle--1955)
Get ready for history with Song #12*--it became an anthem for youth in the 1950's, especially after its inclusion in the movie Blackboard Jungle, and its popularity signaled the beginning of what we now know as the Rock Era.
Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers wrote this song in 1952, with Bill Haley & His Comets recording it and kicking off the Rock Era with "(We're Gonna') Rock Around The Clock".
Haley had left Essex Records in early 1954 and after signing with Decca, the group scheduled its first recording session for April 12, 1954 in New York City. Once the group got to the studio, producer Milt Gabler, the uncle of Billy Crystal, wanted the group to record "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)", which Gabler wanted to be the group's Decca debut.
Late in the session, the band recorded "Rock Around The Clock" but Haley's vocals were drowned out. While Sammy Davis Jr. waited outside for his session, Haley & the Comets recorded a second take. The two takes were later combined.
In May, the song was indeed on the B-side of the single and although it too received airplay, it wasn't until Blackboard Jungle featured the song over its opening credits and four other times in the movie that the song took off.
Producers of the film were looking for a song that was typical of what young people in 1955 were listening to. Star Glenn Ford borrowed some songs from his son Peter, one of which was "Rock Around The Clock", and that was the one that was chosen.
There is a slight difference between the song used in the movie and the single; the record features the guitar solo first and then the sax solo later, while the film has those two solos reversed. We allowed this slight difference, not only because it is such an iconic and historic song, but also because the song wouldn't be the all-time hit it is today if not for its inclusion in the movie.
Blackboard Jungle is based on the 1954 novel by Evan Hunter, starring Ford, Anne Francis (Dadier's wife), Louis Calhern (Jim Murdock, a teaching associate), Margaret Hayes and Sidney Poitier in his breakout role of Gregory Miller. Richard Dadier (Ford) is a new teacher at North Manual Trades High School in the inner city. Principal Mr. Warneke refuses to acknowledge that there are discipline issues with students, but other teachers tell Dadier otherwise.
Canadian-American Glenn Ford was one of the top box office draws of Hollywood's Golden Age. He was a great-nephew of Sir John McDonald, Canada's first Prime Minister and also related to U.S. President Martin Van Buren. Ford and his family emigrated to the U.S. and while on a nationwide tour to sell war bonds to fight fascism in Germany, Ford met Eleanor Powell. The two fell in love and were married. Ford volunteered for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Corps.
He received a Golden Globe Award for Pocketful of Miracles and was nominated for Don't Go Near the Water and In the Teahouse of the August Moon. Ford also starred in many other great movies, including Gilda, The Big Heat, The Lady in Question, So Ends Our Night, Texas, A Stolen Life, Interrupted Melody, Trial, Ransom!, In the Teahouse of the August Moon, Don't Go Near the Water, Cowboy, The Sheepman, The Fastest Gun Alive, Superman (as Clark Kent's adoptive father Jonathan) and many more.
Five of Ford's films have been designated as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress--Gilda, The Big Heat, Blackboard Jungle, 3:10 to Yuma and Superman.
Dadier experiences first-hand the problems referred to above as his unruly class, including Miller and Artie West, a gang leader, show no respect for him. Those students cause numerous problems for Dadier, his wife, and other teachers, and Dadier considers quitting. A fellow teacher encourages him to stay and believes he is making progress.
Haley & the Comets had a stranglehold on the #1 position for two months with the first Rock song to reach #1 (#1 in the U.S., U.K. and Australia). And there was no looking back after that. The single has sold over 25 million copies, one of the biggest of all-time.
In 2018, the United States Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
Blackboard Jungle, which made $8 million, scored Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Best Film Editing. It was also chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
#11--"Let It Be" by the Beatles (from the movie Let It Be--1970)
Paul McCartney also wrote this all-time smash, recorded by the Beatles on January 31, April 30, 1969 and finished on January 4, 1970. Paul announced that he was leaving the group shortly after the single was released. It is the title song to the Beatles' final film Let It Be, once again directed by and produced by Neil Aspinall.
McCartney told biographer Barry Miles for the book Many Years From Now that the idea for the song came after a dream about his mother Mary, who had died of cancer in 1956 when Paul was just fourteen. The album version is different in that it features a second guitar solo from George Harrison and its orchestration is much more featured.
The project was originally conceived as a documentary, but when the group decided it would be a feature film, they finished work on the accompanying songs. Rehearsals were dampened by much tension, with Harrison leaving the group briefly.
The movie portrays fascinating insight into the group's psyche at the time, a little over a year before they split up. The group began their rehearsals at Twickenham Film Studios, itself an object of contention and when Harrison voiced his demands for rejoining the others, changing the location from Twickenham to Apple Corps (the Beatles' company) was one of them.
The film ends with the historic unannounced concert on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building as the shocked onlookers stop in the street to listen.
Aspinall was a childhood friend of both McCartney and Harrison. Neal started out as the group's road manager and in addition to producing their films, Neal became CEO of Apple Corps. Aspinall filed three lawsuits against Apple Computer for trademark violation, winning the first two with an agreement that Apple Computer did not enter the music business. Surprisingly, Aspinall lost the third when a judge said that Apple's iTunes Music Store (a business that is 100% in the music business) did not infringe on Apple Corps.
Aspinall also played harmonica on "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!", percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour", sang backing vocals on "Yellow Submarine" and played a tamboura on "Within You Without You".
"Let It Be" set a record when it debuted at #6, another record "broken" but cheapened by the quality of music later in the Rock Era, beginning with the mid-80's and continuing to this day. The single hit #1 in the U.S., the U.K., Norway, Switzerland and Italy, #3 in West Germany and the Netherlands, #8 in France and #9 in Sweden and has sold over 6 million copies.
The Let It Be album reached #1 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway and Italy, #2 in Japan and Sweden, #3 in West Germany and #4 in Finland and has sold four million in the U.S. and over five million across the world. The album won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score and a Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.