Top ten "Saturday night" songs

Little Richard once sang “ Well, it's Saturday night and I just got paid, Fool about my money, don't try to save, My heart says go go, have a time, Saturday night and I'm feelin' fine.” Indeed, many songwriters over the years have chosen to sing about the party night, Saturday night. Here is my top ten “Saturday Night” songs.

10 – Someday I’ll Be Saturday Night – Bon Jovi

Not often you will see a Bon Jovi track on these lists, but I like this one. I like the acoustic start to it, always like a hook that sucks me in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFNZXaBcXkA

 

9 – Saturday Night  - Skyhooks

Another typical Skyhooks song, where they are out trying to pick up chicks in their car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8QojJOhjcc

 

8 – Almost Saturday Night – John Fogerty

John’s getting excited about Saturday night too, but its not quite time yet  - he is almost there.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbRoEe0r1Xc

 

7 – Another Saturday Night – Cat Stevens

Many other tracks on this list are looking forward to Saturday night. Not this one, which dreads another Saturday night with no one to talk to. Originally a Sam Cooke song, I couldn’t make up my mind which version to go for, but decided to go with Cat’s cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvTVnX5PiVQ

 

6-  Forty Miles to Saturday Night – Paul Kelly

We usually associate Saturday night songs with the city and partying. But what would have happen if you lived in the middle of nowhere and you had to travel a long distance just to get to your party. Well, Paul describes it very well in this song  - the anticipation and excitement is just like the city songs, it just takes a bit longer. A great alternative perspective on Saturday nights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdzB03mA2ws

 

5 – Saturday Night – Cold Chisel

I love that moment in Cold Chisel songs when they transition from Barnesy to Mossy’s vocals (and vice versa) Their voices are so different, yet compliment each other so well.  Saturday Night is one of those songs where Ian starts off the lead vocals but Jimmy jumps in later on…great stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lelsyP9qL2I

 

4- Saturday Night at the Movies – The Drifters

Ah…they don’t make songs like this any more.  A whole lot of fun from beginning to end, talking up  a night out at the movies snuggling up to “..your baby in the last row of the balcony.” The attention to  detail in the lyrics is great, love the description of  popcorn smells from the candy stand and all the pretty girls. Sounds like a great Saturday night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRPBCQnMV0M

 

3 – (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night – Tom Waits

Tom Waits really did have some beautiful ballads, and his early career stuff is nothing like that later stuff with the rough voice.This track is just lovely.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7UHd7NVegE

 

2 – Saturday Night and Sunday Morning – Paul Kelly

Most lists that I make end up having a Paul Kelly track (or two) and I usually bang on about how great the songwriting is. So, its that time again. When a song opens with the line “she’s a screamer and no one knows, just me and her old boyfriend I suppose” you know you can’t go wrong. Especially when it rocks out in such a catchy way as this one does. “Words and Music” is probably not one of my favourite PK albums, but this would have to be one of the best tracks on that album.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5t1P8dFB6w

 

1 - Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting – Elton John

Here at musiclists.blogspot.com we don’t condone violence. We do condone great songs though, and this is a great song, worthy of the number one spot!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqpOxaUVWwA

 

 

So there it is, my top ten “Saturday night” songs….what gives you Saturday night fever?

 

Top ten road accident songs

A slightly morbid topic this week, but there have been some great songs written about road accidents so this was too good a topic to ignore. So let me run you through my top ten songs  - have have truck accidents, bus accidents car accidents, motorcycle accidents and  pedestrian accidents all through the list this week.

 

Please take care on the  roads though, don’t end up in one of these songs.

 

10 - Last Kiss – Wayne Cochran

“We were out on a date in my daddy's car,

 We hadn't driven very far.
 There in the road straight ahead,
 A car was stalled, the engine was dead.
 I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right,
 I'll never forget the sound that night.
 The screaming tires, the busting glass,
 The painful scream that I heard last.”

I was first introduced to this song via the Pearl Jam cover that became a hit a few years back. Personally, I am not a fan of the Pearl Jam cover, it’s a bit too pedestrian for my liking. So I have turned to Wayne Cochran’s version. You can’t deny it fits the theme though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebAjGHqa7Ig
 

 

9 - Car Crash – Eskimo Joe

“I don't wanna die
 In a car crash with you
 Tonight
The roads are wet
 And you're asleep at the wheel
 Open your eyes”

 Eskimo Joe are a good Australian rock band. Kav Temperley’s vocals are really suited to such dramatic songs like this one as he really portrays a lot of emotion in his lyrical delivery.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdjo43dIeLU

 

8 - Indisposed – Australian Crawl
“Wanna tell you 'bout my Frenda
 He got hit by a Fender
 But he'll soon be on the menda
 He's of the male genda”

 So the back story here – Australian Crawl are an up and coming band on the verge of making it, and they are booked to appear on “Countdown”, the music TV show you want to get on in Australia in the early 80’s. Their lead singer, James Reyne though, manages to get hit by a car and ends up having to do the Countdown performance with two broken arms.  This incident also inspired this song, a stomping rock song that is a lot of fun, in spite of, or maybe because of, the dodgy lyrical rhyming!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ9BDhvUwHM

 

7 - Stan – Eminem

“So this is my cassette I'm sending you, I hope you hear it

 I'm in the car right now, I'm doing 90 on the freeway
 Hey Slim, I drank a fifth of vodka, you dare me to drive?”

 

I was debating whether to include this song, because this accident is no accident if you know what I mean. Eminem’s signature tune, it’s the story of an obsessed fan who locks his pregnant partner in the trunk of the car and drives off a bridge. Charming I know, but it is a well constructed song.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLZFdqwh7E

 

6 - There is a Light and it Never goes Out – The Smiths

“And if a double-decker bus
Crashes into us
To die by your side
Is such a heavenly way to die
And if a ten-ton truck
Kills the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine”

 Its only a fleeting reference to an accident, but too good a lyric to overlook for this list. I am not really a Smith’s fan, but “The Queen is Dead” album which features this track is brilliant and was a contender for my favourite albums list.  A great song, and a wonderful lyric that is sweet and morbid simultaneously.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtW1MAZ32M

 

5- Anytime – Neil Finn

“see a dog upon the road
 Running hard to catch a cat
 My car is pulling to a halt
 The truck behind me doesn't know
 Everything is in the balance
 Of a moment I can't control
 And your sympathetic strings
 Are like the stirrings in my soul
 I could go at anytime”

 

In “Anytime”, Neil just sets up the accident, doesn’t tell us what happens, and then reflects on how quickly a small thing can change your life forever. Not a bad achievement in a short pop song!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpUcz8xhqvI

 

4- Leader of the Pack – The Shangri -Las
“The tears were beginning to show
As he drove away on that rainy night
I begged him to go slow
But whether he heard, I'll never know
Look out! Look out! Look out! Look out!”

 Well let this be a warning to school girls all over. Mess with the cool guys and this is what happens. No one approved of her hanging out with the leader of the pack and it ended with devastating consequences.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UKf65NOzM

 

3- Bat Out of Hell  - Meatloaf
“And I never see the sudden curve until it's way too late.
Then I'm down in the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun,
Torn and twisted at the foot of a burning bike,
And I think somebody somewhere must be tolling a bell.
And the last thing I see is my heart, still beating,
Breaking out of my body and flying away
Like a bat out of hell.”

 From one motorcycle accident to another, but a lot heavier this time. According to Wikipedia, Jim Steinman had a desire to write the most extreme crash song of all time. Did he succeed? Well I only put it third on the list, but there is no denying it is more extreme than the next song so maybe he did. As  usual, Meatloaf carries the song with his dramatic vocal delivery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QGMCSCFoKA
 

 

2 - Don’t Pass Me By – The Beatles

“I'm sorry that I doubted you

I was so unfair
 You were in a car crash
 And you lost your hair”

 Hehehe…I cannot explain to you how much I love this song, when I think it would be safe to say that most people, including Beatles fans, think it’s a load of rubbish. Ringo’s contribution to the “White Album”, it’s a magnificent piece of faux-country with Ringo wondering where his darling is, and contemplating the fact that she might not love him any more. It turns out that she was in a car crash though. I love it, it’s a great track.

 You are probably wondering why I chose this and not a genuine Beatles masterpiece “A Day in the Life”, which also makes reference to a car crash. Well I felt the reference was too fleeting (and yet I included the Smiths song, hypocritical I know) whereas with “Don’t Pass Me By”, the car crash really underpins the whole song. Although it is only mentioned in the lyrics once, it explains why the darling didn’t arrive and leads to Ringo’s paranoia about whether his loved one still likes him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsZjHeQRX-M
 

 

1- Lights on the Hill – Slim Dusty

“So it's down through the gears, she's a-startin' to pull

The gauge on the tank is a-showin' they're full
 And the lights comin' over the hill are a-blindin' me
There's rain on the road and I can feel the load start a-shiftin
 In a dance
 Too late, I see the post and I haven't got a ghost of a chance”

So for today’s number one track, I also turn to country music, and Slim’s masterpiece “Lights on the Hill”. Written by his wife, it’s the happiest sad song you will ever hear. But underneath that cheery melody, the lyrics are the story of a truck crash. Brilliant stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCKZ-EKg0AY
 

 

So there it is, my top ten list – what other songs make you want to crash?

Top ten "soul" songs

So, after the countdown of my favourite albums, its time to return to normal programming!

This time the list theme is top "soul" songs, well, songs that have soul in the title at least rather than the genre or the thing on the bottom of your shoe..

Hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think, always like hearing thoughts, comments and alternative suggestions.

thanks

10 – Its All About Soul – Billy Joel

 Well yes, Billy, you are quite right, that is exactly what this list is about.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSvomXlbTUM

 

9 – Soul Kitchen – The Doors

 From the Doors debut album, this is a great track with those trademark Doors keyboard sounds and Jim’s great vocals.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxizIrbcSuU

 

 

8 – Soul Man – Sam and Dave

Does anyone remember a short lived TV sitcom called “Soul Man” where Dan Ackroyd played a priest? Its not really relevant, just had a memory, although I am pretty sure that the theme music was a version of this song. Great piece of soul from the sixties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVx2i6jGzf8

 

7 – Awake My Soul – Mumford & Sons

I do like Mumford & Sons, although it is probably fair to say that there is a certain formula that a lot of their songs seem to be written to. This is another trademark Mumfords song, a really enjoyable listen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzM69btqtYI

 

6 – You Can’t Make Love Without a Soul – Jimmy Barnes

On Barnesy’s “Flesh and Wood” album, he went all acoustic, and the results were surprisingly good (for example, I love his “Love Me Tender” cover, not the sort of song you would immediately think  would suit his screaming but he handles it well) . “You Can’t Make Love Without a Soul” comes from this album and has some back up vocals from Ross Wilson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cttp1zzCcKQ

 

5 – Soul to Squeeze – Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Wouldn’t call myself a Chilli Peppers fan, but I do enjoying giving their best of a spin every now and then, so I had to make room for their “soul” song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XcN12uVHeQ

 

4 – Soul Bossa Nova – Quincy Jones

This one might be better known to you as the theme from Austin Powers. I never really got into the films in a big way, but hey, what a great piece of music!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ALPzS0QfQ

 

3- Who Will Save Your Soul – Jewel

I liked the Jewel songs that I heard on the radio – this one, “You Were Meant For Me”, “Foolish Games” and really wanted to get the album. When I did though, I was disappointed, it just didn’t stack up for me apart from the singles. This is her finest moment though. A great track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wBDDAZkNtk

 

2- Soul Kind of Feeling – Dynamic Hepnotics

You gotta love the 80’s because it produced such moments of pure enjoyment like this song. So catchy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUbxaSw1yiM

 

1- Sweet Soul Music – Arthur Conley

Could this be the greatest one hit wonder of all time? I can’t describe what it is about this song, but I really love it. Its catchy, enjoyable, it name drops great soul artists – what’s not to like!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grE0lwTsSPg

 

So that is my top soul songs...what gives you a soul kind of feeling?

Dean’s favourite albums – the number one place – Abbey Road – The Beatles

 

So, its come to this, the number on spot one my list, and well, it really had to go to one of the biggest bands of all time. The reality is, just about all of their albums probably could have made it to my list , (except for “Please Please Me”, “Yellow Submarine” and maybe  “Beatles for Sale”). The “White Album” and “Rubber Soul” in particular were very close to making it, but just missed out.  But “Abbey Road” was the first album picked for the list, and was always going to be my number one.
 

A fun album, it effortlessly mixes up classic rock tracks with more whimsical tracks (and I do love a good novelty song), and then just to show off, produces a killer medley of short tracks that blend in and reprise each other with the end result being a masterpiece.

The rock on the album is fantastic, getting underway with “Come Together”, and continuing through with several other fine tracks like “Oh Darling” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. But my favourite on the album is, in my opinion, George’s best Beatles track (sounds like a great topic for a future list by the way), namely “Something” (see link). I don’t have the words to describe how wonderful this track is, and I really think that George’s songwriting really came to the fore for this album. His other contribution is “Here Comes the Sun”, a fine track that adds to a great contribution to the album.

I mentioned the whimsical tracks earlier, and how can you go past “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”?  According to Wikipedia, both Ringo and John described this as “Granny music”, but I still like it, it’s a bit of fun. As too is the Ringo contribution to the album, “Octopus’s Garden”.

The second half of the album largely consists of the medley, and what an arrangement of short snippets of songs – “Mean Mr Mustard”, “You Never Give Me Your Money”, “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”, “Golden Slumbers”, “The End”, I could go on. I still haven’t really figured out what it is that I like about this, but I suspect it’s the fast pace of it all, moving from song to song  quickly.  Yet, having said that, its not like all of them are quick tracks, with stunning ballads like “Golden Slumbers”  being perfectly showcased amongst it all.

So there you go, the Beatles take the top spot on my list. For those of you that have read my list, provided comments etc, I hope you have enjoyed reading it, it was fun putting it together. I am very interested in your thoughts though – you have now seen my musical tastes, so perhaps you might like to share some recommendations about albums I might like, and indeed, what your favourite albums are, I would be interested in hearing from you!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrW7dlDHH28