The list of best selling music artists includes artists with claims of 75 million or more record sales in multiple third-party reliable sources. The claimed sales figures and the total certified sales figures (for each country) within the provided sources include sales of albums, singles, compilation-albums, music videos as well as downloads of singles and full-length albums. The artists in the following tables are listed with both their claimed and certified sales figures and are ranked in descending order, with the highest claimed sales at the top. Artists with the same claimed sales are then ranked by certified units. Sales figures, such as those from Soundscan, which are sometimes published by Billboardmagazine, have not been included in the certified units column. Currently, The Beatles are listed at the top of the list as they are considered the highest-selling band based both on sales claims and certified units. Elvis Presley, who is listed the second on the list is considered the highest-selling individual artist based both on sales claims and certified units.
All artists included on this list, which have begun charting on official albums/singles charts have their available claimed figure(s) supported by at least 20% in certified units. That is why Cliff Richard, Diana Ross, Charles Aznavour, Bing Crosby, Nana Mouskouri, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Tom Jones, The Jackson 5, Dionne Warwick, The Andrews Sisters,Luciano Pavarotti and others have not been included on this list. The percentage amount of certified sales needed increases the newer the artist is, meaning, artists such as Rihanna are expected to have their claimed figures supported by over 60% in certified units. The certified units are sourced from available online databases of local music industry associations. Note that all certified units are converted from Gold/Platinum/Diamond certification awards based on criteria provided by certifying bodies.
The requirements of certified sales are designed to avoid inflated sales figures, which are frequently practiced by record companies for promotional purposes.
The claimed figures are sourced to articles that use the term records (singles, albums, videos) and not albums. However, if all available sources for an artist/band say albums, such sources can only be used if the certified album units of the said artist meet the required percentage amount. Note that this list uses claimed figures that are closer to artists’ available certified sales. In other words, inflated claimed figures that will meet the required certified sales amount but are unrealistically high from available certified sales, will not be used.
I am not surprised The Beatles are #1 but am a bit so that Elvis Presley is ahead of Michael Jackson, due to Michael Jackson’s global appeal. It is somewhat amazing that Led Zeppelin can be this high on Best Selling Music Artists of All-Time without a long history of hit singles, based solely on the strength of their album sales. These have been the most consistent hit producers of Pop Music and deserve their ranking. All are great artists for any professional Wedding DJ or Party DJ.
is there any artist(s) that you thought would be in the top five Best Selling Music Artists of All-Time that did not reach this level of sales?
After the horrific bombings yesterday, I thought it would be helpful to create a piece based on the great bands and great music from the city of Boston. Boston has a long history of producing great bands and great music, These are the most popular bands and great music from Boston.
Great Music of Boston
Aerosmith The stats alone would be enough to secure this spot for the Bad Boys of Boston – more than 100 million albums sold, worldwide stadium tours, enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a raft of awards from Grammys to MTV moon men. But numbers and trophies can’t possibly tell the whole glorious, raunchy, tumultuous, debauched, and defiantly rocking story of this quintet that synthesized the sounds of its ancestors – gritty blues, stomping Brit rock, classic pop – into a hard rock sound at once ferocious and irresistible. The band has flirted with implosion time and again, but 40 years, three acts, nine lives, and countless imitators later, fantastical frontman Steven Tyler, guitar ace Joe Perry, and the locomotive trio of guitarist Brad Whitford, bass player Tom Hamilton, and drummer Joey Kramer are still laying down attitude and fire with great music.
The Cars Every single song on the Cars’ debut album is still in rotation on rock radio – no small feat considering the competition for nostalgia programming. The Cars were utterly canny, expert at cherry-picking the most iconic and broadly appealing elements of new wave, hard rock, and Top 40 and fusing the parts into savvy anthems that were somehow as exhilarating as they were slick. Rigorously affectless, the band’s off-kilter, design-driven aesthetic made them MTV staples in the thrilling early days of the music video era. The result? For a few shining years, the Cars achieved that most attractive and elusive state of pop great music grace: a hit machine with credibility.
Boston From the fertile mind of an MIT whiz kid (Tom Scholtz) and an angelic vocalist from Danvers (the late Brad Delp) came an arena-rock band that broke ground in melding state of the art with state of the heart on its blockbuster debut. More than “just another band,” Boston, which included guitarist Barry Goudreau, drummer Sib Hashian, and bassist Fran Sheehan, expanded the vision of what rock music could look and sound like.
Pixies The Pixies released only four albums in three years and never cracked the mainstream, but their artful embrace of musical extremes and radical subversion of conventions created a blueprint for the alternative rock explosion that would follow: whiplash dynamics, a ferocious collision of noise and melody, and cryptic lyricism that flirted with the primal and the surreal. How influential were they? Kurt Cobain was famously fond of saying that Nirvana was trying to rip off the Pixies, and interest in and regard for the band has only grown over the years. Their recent reunion shows, in venues larger and swanker than any they played the first time around, are filled with kids who genuflect at the altar of real musical heroes and great music.
James Taylor The Beatles saw so much potential in a barely-out-of-his-teens James Taylor that he was the first non-British signee to their Apple label. We can’t argue with them. They were likely impressed, as so many still are, by the warmth of his resonant tenor – still undimmed by age – his elegantly intricate guitar style, and his gift for delivering pathos, humor, and ruefulness, often all in one finely honed tune. No matter how personal the demons Taylor has wrestled in song, his voice has been the sound of solace, celebration, and sustenance. Along the way, he has racked up multi-platinum sales, immense peer respect, and a place alongside Aerosmith in the rock hall of fame of great music form Boston.
Peter Wolf & J. Geils Band Long before the No. 1 hit “Centerfold” catapulted the group onto a world stage, the J. Geils Band was known around here as something much more meaningful – New England’s blues-rock saviors. There’s a lot to be said for a band that sticks it out for 15 years before becoming famous, but you got the impression the guys weren’t initially hungry for just that. They were in it for the music, a down-and-dirty mix of R&B and rock that morphed into a more pop-oriented sound in the ’80s. Reunions have been sporadic since the group disbanded in 1985, and when frontman Peter Wolf left the lineup two years before that, he enjoyed a successful solo turn as a jive-talking hellcat who thinks the nighttime is the right time. Still a man about town, Wolf recently released his thoughtful seventh solo album, Midnight Souvenirs.
Donna Summer Disco was the genre that unleashed Donna Summer’s astonishing voice upon the masses, and she reigned supreme in the Studio 54 glory days. The woman born LaDonna Gaines transcended the ephemera of that era by bringing erotic heat and a beating heart to Giorgio Moroder’s icy synths and pulsating beats on hits like “Love to Love You Baby” and her powerhouse face-off with Barbra Streisand, “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).” But even as the mirror ball turned, Summer ambitiously looked beyond dance-floor catnip by exploring concept albums and new sonic frontiers. And long after the glitter faded she was still working hard for the money and scoring hits. Every big-voiced diva who has emerged since, from Whitney Houston to Alicia Keys, owes a debt to Summer and her great music.
Aimee Mann & Til Tuesday Til Tuesday, the band Aimee Mann formed in the early ’80s after dropping out of Berklee College of Music, enjoyed one big single with the moody new wave anthem “Voices Carry.” But it was Mann’s whip-smart songwriting that leapt off the page and became her stock in trade when the frontwoman set out as a solo artist. She stepped boldly into her role as proto-poster girl for independent musicians, fleeing the hits-obsessed major-label system to establish a thriving career on her own terms. More to the point, Mann became a master craftswoman, a cobbler of beautiful, barbed narratives that define a singer-songwriter’s task: to illuminate our deepest, darkest selves.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones This rowdy, plaid-clad bunch, led by mischievous carnival barker frontman Dicky Barrett, was a true DIY success story long before the major labels got hip to its blend of serrated metal guitar, buoyant rock-steady ska grooves, a jubilant horn section, and a whole lot of punk snarl. The band’s Top 40 breakthrough in 1997 was icing on a long-cooking cake.
Dropkick Murphys If the concept of working-class Boston could be scientifically translated into a musical equivalent, it would be the sound of this endearingly scruffy band of punks. Whether celebrating Celtic pride or the heart of the working man, rooting on our home teams, or lionizing misfits, barflies, and brawlers, the Dropkick Murphys manage to marry menace, mirth, and meaning into something brutal yet inviting.
Tracy Chapman (born March 30, 1964) is an Americansinger-songwriter, known for her singles “Fast Car“, “Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution“, “Baby Can I Hold You“, “Crossroads“, “Give Me One Reason” and “Telling Stories“. She is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. Chapman’s activism extends further than her lyrics. She has performed at numerous socially aware events, and continues to do so. In 1988, Tracy Chapman performed in London as part of a worldwide concert tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Amnesty International. The same year Chapman also performed in the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, an event which raised money for South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement and seven children’s charities. More recently, in 2004 Chapman performed (and rode) in the AIDSLifeCycle event. A true legendary artist producing great music with social impact and commentary.
Great Music from Boston – Tracy Chapman Revolution Live
New Edition The Roxbury group may have set a record for successful spinoffs, as Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and Brown replacement Johnny Gill all enjoyed solo careers, and Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe teamed up for the ’90s sensation Bell Biv DeVoe. But it was the ’80s R&B bubble gum confections like “Cool It Now” and “Candy Girl” that first had girls swooning. With five distinct personalities, voices, and styles, New Edition hewed to the familiar boy-band formula of predecessors like the Jackson 5. But the teens also injected a streetwise swagger into their sweet pop-soul nothings that became the modern template for harmonizing, synchronized-dancing heartthrobs everywhere, including another famous group of Boston kids.
Joan Baez, pop musician? Not exactly, but the folk matriarch ultimately transcended genre: She was the embodiment and lightning rod of her generation, a beacon of its hopes and indestructible spirit. New York had Dylan, but we could claim Baez, since she moved to Belmont when she was 17 and dropped out of BU soon after enrolling. With nothing more than an acoustic guitar and that sterling soprano, the so-called “barefoot Madonna” quickly established herself as a formidable talent around here, most notably at Cambridge’s Club 47 (now Club Passim). Some 50 years later, Baez is the grande dame of folk music and as committed as ever to activism. And her influence is still felt around the world every time a young woman steps up on stage with just a guitar and a mission.
New Kids on The Block If you attended high school anywhere in the country in the late 1980s, there’s a good chance you heard a familiar refrain in your lunchroom: Who do you love most, Jordan or Joey? New Kids on the Block were global pop stars, but you could tell from those accents that they were the pride of Boston. Assembled by producer Maurice Starr, who had previously discovered New Edition, the band rocketed up the charts with teen-pop anthems such as “Hangin’ Tough” and “You Got It (The Right Stuff).” Initially dismissed by critics, they were the blueprint for the boy-band revival in the early ’90s. And when NKOTB reunited in 2008 for a new album, it was as if time had stood still. The Block debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart that year, proving that they still had the right stuff, even if they weren’t kids anymore.
Great music and musicians from Boston. It does little to console the pain and sadness over the tragedy in Boston at the Boston Marathon yesterday, but it is still of value.
What great music and artists from Boston are your favorites?
I continue to be thrilled by the fact that The Motown Sound is still popular! I smile every request I receive whether at a Wedding, Party or Trivia Hosting Event. Motown Music seems to transcend age, race, gender or class. This has always been one of my attractions to Motown Music, its diverse and far-reaching audiences. I created the DJ Motown Mix for those who want a pre-made mix of Classic Motown hits from Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, Martha and The Vandellas, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye.
DJ Motown Mix
Motown Mix - DJ Mystical Michael
The Motown Story
With an $800 loan from his family, Berry Gordy Jr. established Motown Records in January 1959. Within a few years, this Detroit-based outfit was selling more singles and releasing more hits than any other record company.
Beyond the formidable music and sales figures, Motown itself became a cultural icon. As the most successful African-American owned and operated record company- and business-in the U.S., it symbolized a new day: its energetic product reflected the striving toward progress and optimism of a long-oppressed people and the nation as a whole. Just as Jackie Robinson’s integration of major league baseball had far wider implications, the embrace of Motown’s artists and recordings by the entire listening audience helped hurdle overt racial barriers that had plagued the country since its inception.
In its classic era, the seminal music scene of the 1960s, Motown’s artists were among the most popular, establishing a standard of excellence and sophistication that has never been surpassed. Calling itself “The Sound Of Young America,” the instantly recognizable and often-imitated Motown Sound blended distinctively passionate singers, the call and response vocal arrangements of the African-American church tradition, pop music sensibilities, jazz virtuosity and irresistible rhythms, overlaying them with timeless songwriting.
Prior to founding Motown, Gordy had attempted other professions, including boxer, record store owner and auto worker before finding success as a songwriter, particularly with the dynamic singer Jackie Wilson. A chance meeting in 1958 with an aspiring local singing group, the Miracles, led to his teaching songwriting to the quintet’s leader, William “Smokey” Robinson. Their partnership formed the basis of Motown-a name derived from a folksy version of Detroit’s nickname, “the Motor City”-with Robinson becoming a prolific and highly inventive composer for the Miracles and other acts Gordy brought into his orbit. Motown kicked off with the Tamla label, leasing Marv Johnson’s “Come To Me” to UA; Barrett Strong, who cut “Money (That’s What I Want),” had the company’s first national hit. The Official Website of Classic Motown
The Motown Sound
Motown specialized in a type of soul music it referred to with the trademark “The Motown Sound”. Crafted with an ear towards pop appeal, the Motown Sound typically used tambourines to accent the back beat, prominent and often melodic electric bass-guitar lines, distinctive melodic and chord structures, and a call-and-response singing style that originated in gospel music. Pop production techniques such as the use of orchestral string sections, charted horn sections, and carefully arranged background vocals were also used. Complex arrangements and elaborate, melismatic vocal riffs were avoided. Motown producers believed steadfastly in the “KISS principle” (keep it simple, stupid).
The Motown production process has been described as factory-like. The Hitsville studios remained open and active 22 hours a day, and artists would often go on tour for weeks, come back to Detroit to record as many songs as possible, and then promptly go on tour again. Berry Gordy held quality control meetings every Friday morning, and used veto power to ensure that only the very best material and performances would be released. The test was that every new release needed to fit into a sequence of the top five selling pop singles of the week. Several tracks that later became critical and commercial favorites were initially rejected by Gordy; the two most notable being the Marvin Gaye songs, “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and “What’s Going On“. In several cases, producers would re-work tracks in hopes of eventually getting them approved at a later Friday morning meeting, as producer Norman Whitfield did with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and The Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg“.
The style created by the Motown musicians was a major influence on several non-Motown artists of the mid-1960s, such as Dusty Springfield and The Foundations. In the United Kingdom, the Motown Sound became the basis of the northern soul movement. Smokey Robinson said the Motown Sound had little to do with Detroit:
“People would listen to it, and they’d say, ‘Aha, they use more bass. Or they use more drums.’ Bullshit. When we were first successful with it, people were coming from Germany, France, Italy, Mobile, Alabama. From New York, Chicago, California. From everywhere. Just to record in Detroit. They figured it was in the air, that if they came to Detroit and recorded on the freeway, they’d get the Motown sound. Listen, the Motown sound to me is not an audible sound. It’s spiritual, and it comes from the people that make it happen. What other people didn’t realize is that we just had one studio there, but we recorded in Chicago, Nashville, New York, L.A.—almost every big city. And we still got the sound.”
The Motown Museum
“Despite the passage of time since Motown Records’ establishment in 1959 by Berry Gordy, tens of thousands of visitors pass through Hitsville U.S.A., home to the Motown Museum, each year. Their presence is a testimony to Motown’s legacy and to the charisma, talent and staying power of the music and those who made it.
The Motown Museum, which was founded by Esther Gordy Edwards in 1985, is one of Southeast Michigan’s most popular tourist destinations. Visitors come from across America and throughout the world to stand in Studio A, where their favorite artists and groups recorded much-loved music, and to view the restored upper flat where Berry Gordy lived with his young family during the company’s earliest days.” The Motown Museum
Motown: The Musical
MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL is the real story of the one-of-a-kind sound that hit the airwaves in 1959 and changed our culture forever. This exhilarating show charts Motown founder Berry Gordy’s incredible journey from featherweight boxer to the heavyweight music mogul who launched the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and so many more.
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Featuring all the classics you love, MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL tells the story behind the hits as Diana, Smokey, Berry and the whole Motown family fight against the odds to create the soundtrack that changed America. Motown shattered barriers, shaped our lives and made us all move to the same beat. Now, it finally comes to the Broadway stage in the world premiere of MOTOWN: THE MUSICAL.
Motown Celebrating 50 Years!
If you would like a copy of the DJ Motown Mix, I invite you to write me and I will send you a copy free!
Tom Jones Hit or Miss is being rereleased from the Spirit In The Room album of 2012. It is amazing to me that Tom Jones is till churning out music after all these years! For those who don’t know, Tom Jones was releasing music in the early 60’s, like 1964. He seems to get grittier as he ages, when most artists are mellower with age.
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE (born 7 June 1940), known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer. He became one of the most popular vocalists to emerge from the British Invasion. Since the mid-1960s, Jones has sung nearly every form of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records.
Having been awarded an OBE in 1999, Jones received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for “services to music” in 2006. Jones has received numerous other awards throughout his career, including the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989 and two Brit Awards – winning Best British Male, in 2000, and Outstanding Contribution to Music, in 2003.
In 1988, Englishsynthpop group Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band’s biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country. The guitar and horns break in the middle of this cover musically references the themes to Dragnet and Peter Gunn (two songs the Art of Noise covered with much commercial success) as well as their own breakthrough hit, “Close (To the Edit)” and “Paranoimia“, their 1986 collaboration with Max Headroom. This cover was later included as part of an episode of the series Listed on MuchMoreMusic, which was on the Top 20 cover songs. It can also be heard during the main title sequence of the movie My Stepmother Is an Alien. Tom Jones later recorded a version of the song for his 2003 Reloaded: Greatest Hits album.
“She’s a Lady” is a song written by Paul Anka and performed by Tom Jones, and released in 1971. In the United States (released by London imprint Parrot Records), it is Jones’ highest-charting single to date peaking at #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart. In Canada, the single reached #1 on the RPM 100 national singles chart. Paul Anka’s recording of the song was released on his album Paul Anka ’70s (RCA 4309, 1970)
“It’s Not Unusual” is a song written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones’ delivery that she declined the song and recommended that Jones release it himself. The record was the second Decca single Jones released, reaching number one in the UK charts in 1965. It was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at #10 in May of that year. The single was released in the US on the Parrot label and also reached #3 on Billboard‘s easy listening chart. Jones used this song as the theme for his late 1960s-early 1970s musical variety series This Is Tom Jones. It has since become Jones’ signature song.
Like I said, I am amazed he is still pumping hard-hitting, powerful music after all these years. Tom Jones Hit or Miss will probably not be a hit but that does not take from its value or importance. Sales and radio airplay are just one measurement of music and its success or failure. Tom Jones Hit or Miss shows Tom Jones is still a rocker and is alive and well!
I have wanted to post on Hunter Hayes Wanted for quite a while. Finally get around to doing so and feel bad that its popularity has already dissipated. I played Hunter Hayes Wanted for the first time at a Wedding in Rhode Island last Summer. I had just downloaded Hunter Hayes Wanted the day before from PrimeCuts Music and was excited to find an opportunity to play it. It was not yet being played on radio but I knew this was going to be a very successful song. I did not see it would be such a crossover hit though, I only saw its Country Music potential.
I have enjoyed the current phenomenon of Country Music hits being included in Weddings that have Brides and Grooms that are not Country Music fans. I am always pleased when experiencing people expanding their listening palettes and growing their musical tastes outside of what they consider normal and favorite. Hunter Hayes Wanted is one of those songs. I have been Wedding DJ several times where Hunter Hayes Wanted has been requested in advance by the Bride or Groom or at the Wedding itself from guests.
Hunter told Taste of Country about writing the song “At the time, I was trying to tell somebody something, but I couldn’t figure out how to say it. So I wanted to say it in music because I knew it would be a little more impactful. I wanted to say we are great in this relationship together, and I feel like it could even get better.
Hunter Hayes Wanted Music Video
Hunter Hayes Wanted debuted at number 57 on the U.S. BillboardHot Country Songs chart for the week of February 27, 2012. It also debuted at number 99 on the U.S. BillboardHot 100 chart for the week of May 12, 2012. It also debuted at number 100 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of September 15, 2012. On the country chart dated September 29, 2012, “Wanted” became Hayes’ first number one single. Twenty-one weeks later, it returned to number one on the same chart. The song’s appearance at number one also made Hayes the youngest solo male artist (by three months and one week) to top the Hot Country Songs chart, surpassing a record held in 1973 by Johnny Rodriguez‘s “You Always Come Back to Hurting Me“. It also debuted at number 40 on the U.S. BillboardAdult Pop Songs chart for the week of November 17, 2012. It has sold over 2,170,000 copies in USA so far.
Hunter Easton Hayes (born September 9, 1991) is an Americancountry music singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is signed to Atlantic Records Nashville, and released his self-titled debut album in October 2011. The album includes the Top 15 country single “Storm Warning” and the number 1 singles “Wanted” and “Somebody’s Heartbreak”
Hayes was born on September 9, 1991, at Larniurg Hospital in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, as the only child to Lynette and Leo Hayes. He has Cajun ancestry. He began his musical career at the age of two when his grandmother gave him a toy accordion. At the age of four, he began making appearances at local performances and on national television, including showings on Maury, Rosie O’Donnell, and Nickelodeon‘s game show Figure It Out, where he performed Jambalaya (On the Bayou). American Songwriter writes that “Hayes received his first guitar from actor Robert Duvall at age six” At seven years old, Hunter was invited to perform for President Bill Clinton for a White House lawn party. At the age of 13, Hayes appeared on America’s Most Talented Kids, a show hosted by Dave Coulier. He performed the hit Hank Williams song, “Hey Good Lookin’.”
“The Country Music Association’s choice as the best New Artist of 2012 earned his trophy because of his intense, single-minded dedication to his music.
Hunter Hayes works at his craft virtually every waking hour. In his world, there are no days off. There are no hobbies or outside interests. Everything is focused on musical self-improvement.
“With me, it’s always going to be music,” he states. “That’s the one thing I know. That is my thing. That is my place. I make music because it’s the only way I can breathe. This is how I want to spend the rest of my life.”
His laser-like focus has resulted in an album that is the talk of the country-music community. He wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on Hunter Hayes. He co-produced it. He sings all the vocals, and he plays all of the 30-some instruments heard on the record.” Hunter Hayes Website
There are few musicians that have held my attention and appreciation from childhood, teens, college, adulthood and today, Marvin Gaye is one of them. His sweet music, soulful lyrics and need to grow and experiment still impress me today. In some respects, he is a professional DJ dream artist because his music crosses so many genres and demographics to reach diverse audiences and environments. His activism for equality, poverty, politics, discrimination, war and the environments as well as his own bout with drug addiction, were pioneering, especially for a Person of Color producing many Billboard Hits at that time. Like Stevie Wonder, he was able to integrate political and socially conscious messages into Pop and Dance songs like few others have or can. I have missed him since his death and am reminded of this today, the anniversary of his birth and yesterday being the memorial of his death.
‘I think I’ve got a real thing going. I love people. I love life and I love nature, and I can’t see why other people can’t be like that.’ Marvin Gaye
“As one of the pioneers of Motown, singer-songwriter and producer Marvin Gaye helped shape the sound of R & B music and is considered one of the greatest artists of all time.” The Marvin Gaye Page
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. was born to Marvin Gay, Sr., a preacher, and Alberta Gay, a housewife and schoolteacher. The middle child of three children, Marvin Gaye’s childhood can be characterized by developing an early love of music in the face of an abusive relationship with his father. Marvin Gaye’s introduction to music began by singing in his father’s church choir when he was only three years old. He expanded his musical abilities by learning how to play the piano and drums. To escape the repeated beatings he endured at the hands of his father, Marvin Gaye dropped out of high school and enlisted in the Air Force.
Never losing his love of music, he began singing in doo-wop groups when he was honorably discharged from the Air Force. He joined a local Washington D.C. band, and their song, “Wyatt Earp”, recorded with Okeh Records, led to an invitation to join Harvey Fuqua’s group, The Moonglows, in 1958. The group moved to Chicago and began recording for Chess Records. Marvin Gaye then caught the attention of Barry Gordy Jr. during a Motown Christmas party where Gaye played the piano. Gordy signed him to Motown Records in 1961.
Gaye’s career began slowly with Motown, working as a session drummer while trying to build a solo career. He played drums with such artists as The Miracles, The Contours, and Martha and the Vandellas.
Marvin Gaye Sexual Healing Music Video
With the release of 1969’s “Too Busy Thinking About My Baby” and “That’s the Way Love Is”, Gaye became increasingly frustrated with the type of music he was making with Motown, even though his songs kept making the charts. He wanted to make more socially relevant music, so in 1971 What’s Going On was released; the first song Marvin Gaye produced himself. The album explored topics such as poverty, discrimination, politics, drug abuse and the environment. Barry Gordy was reluctant to release the album because he doubted its potential commercial success. Despite the reservations, What’s Going On was an instant hit and groundbreaking work in the soul music genre.
Marvin Gaye Mercy Mercy Me Live at Montreaux
The last two years of Marvin Gaye’s life were filled with a combination of successful music and increasing drug problems. He signed with Columbia Records in 1982 and released Midnight Love. It included the hit “Sexual Healing” which earned him his only Grammy Award and topped the charts in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Then in 1983 he reconciled with Barry Gordy on a televised appearance celebrating Motown’s 50th anniversary. His last public appearance was in 1983 when he sang his memorable rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the NBA All-Star game.
Cocaine addiction forced Marvin Gaye to move in with his parents to try to straighten out his life. His strained relationship with his father, though, led him to sink even deeper into depression and thoughts of suicide. During an intense argument on April 1, 1984, Marvin Gaye was shot in the head by his father, only hours before his 45th birthday. Claiming self-defense, Marvin Gay Sr. plead no contest to voluntary manslaughter. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered across the Pacific Ocean.
Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine (A Capella)
Thank you Brother Marvin for the Love, Vision and Grooves.
For more than half a century, Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful voice and electrifying rhythm garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions, multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY awards and four Latin GRAMMY awards, as well as a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Her boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer … and the world’s most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture. Celia Cruz Website
On Saturday Night, I was the DJ & MC for a very fun 50th Birthday Party at Iberia Peninsula Restaurant in Newark, New Jersey. Of course, the music was fabulous with the diverse party guests from New Jersey and New York City from all cultures and walks of life. I find it such a fun challenge to provide music for dancing for diverse audiences that don’t all enjoy the same music. It reminds if my days as a community organizer bringing groups together to create a common positive goal as one.
The playlist we created in advance included lots of Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, 80’s Dance Music, Thrift Shop and a significant chunk of Salsa, Merengue and Flamenco songs. Of course, Celia Cruz La Vida Es Un Carnaval was near the top of the DJ song list, in the “must-play” category, and we did. As usual, the response was great and the dance floor was packed with dancers smiling with joy. I thought it was time for me to pay tribute to Celia Cruz and her greatness, especially since she is somewhat of a local legend living many years in New Jersey.
“I feel very fortunate to have called Celia Cruz my friend. She was an inspiration not only as an artist but as a woman and a remarkable human being.” Gloria Estefan
(Celia Cruz) Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad (October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban-Americansalsa performer. One of the most popular salsa artists of the 20th century, she earned twenty-three gold albums and was renowned internationally as the “Queen of Salsa” as well as “La Guarachera de Cuba.”
She spent much of her career living in New Jersey, and working in the United States and several Latin American countries. Leila Cobo of Billboard Magazine once said “Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban music.”
“Celia Cruz was an absolute pillar as a human being and one of the most unselfish humanitarians I have ever met and am sure I will ever have known.” Marc Anthony
Celia Cruz Legacy
In February 2004, Celia Cruz last album, Regalo del Alma, won a posthumous award at the Premios Lo Nuestro for best Salsa release of the year. It was announced in December 2005 that a musical called “Assuca” would open in Tenerife before touring the world. The name comes from Cruz’s well-known catch phrase of “¡Azúcar!”
On June 4, 2004, the heavily Cuban-American community of Union City, New Jersey heralded its annual Cuban Day Parade by dedicating its new Celia Cruz Park (also known as Celia Cruz Plaza), which features a sidewalk star in her honor, at 31st Street and Bergenline Avenue, with Celia Cruz’s widower, Pedro Knight, present. There are four other similar dedications to Cruz around the world. Celia Cruz’s star has expanded into Union City’s “Walk of Fame”, as new marble stars are added each spring to honor Latin entertainment and media personalities, such as merengue singer Joseíto Mateo, salsa singer La India, Cuban musician Israel “Cachao” Lopez, Cuban tenorBeny Moré, Tito Puente, Spanish language television news anchor Rafael Pineda, salsa pioneer Johnny Pacheco, singer/bandleader Gilberto Santa Rosa and music promoter Ralph Mercado.
On May 18, 2005, the National Museum of American History, administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., opened “¡Azúcar!”, an exhibit celebrating the life and music of Celia Cruz. The exhibit highlights important moments in Cruz’s life and career through photographs, personal documents, costumes, videos, and music.
On September 26, 2007, through May 25, 2008, Celia, a musical based on the life of Celia Cruz, played at the off-Broadway venue, New World Stages. Some performances were in Spanish and some in English. The show won four 2008 HOLA awards from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.
“I had the honor and pleasure of photographing Celia for twelve years. I’ll never forget her smile and her amazing energy. The biggest thing about Celia is that she never knew how great she truly was. She always made me feel so proud to be Cuban.”
I was doing some research today and thought it would be fun to review the Billboard All-Time Hot 100 top songs of Billboard’s 50th Anniversary.
The songs in the “50th Anniversary” charts had to appear on the Hot 100 in order to be counted. This may create some confusion (for example: many great country artists and songs are not on the “50th Anniversary” chart because, while very popular on the country charts they didn’t cross over to the Hot 100). Also, keep in mind the Hot 100 started in August 1958 so any prior songs are not listed, including some popular Elvis Presley songs.
The “50th Anniversary” chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100. The artist chart utilizes the same methodology, with weighted points applied to all titles charted by each artist during that 50-year span. They are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at number one earning the greatest value and weeks at number one hundred earning the least.
Hot 100’s 50th Anniversary award relative points for every week that a title spent on the chart, regardless of rank. For the Hot 100’s 50th Anniversary, Billboard’s charts department ensured a more balanced representation of hits from all 50 years, by analyzing the length of chart runs in earlier decades, as well as the average weeks that titles spent in the top 10 and at number one. Weights for earlier spans were then formulated, to compensate for the shorter chart runs that titles experienced before the 1991 conversion to precise and objective sales and radio data from Nielsen Music.
I am very surprised by all of the top ten, except maybe “Hey Jude” by The Beatles. It is not that I think they are not good or popular songs, I just did not conceptualize them as the ones that have had the most success on Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts of all time.
At the other end, I would have thought Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” would have been near the top of the list. The exclusion of songs like “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, as described below, stand out as clear missing by popularity over time.
Prior to December 1998, songs did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100 until a retail single became available (which, incidentally, is why hits like Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” and No Doubt‘s “Don’t Speak” never appeared on the Hot 100). In earlier years, retail singles came to market fairly early in a song’s life-usually shortly after, or even before, a song came to radio.
But, during the 1990s, when labels would strategize number-one chart bows by significant hits, the retail release of some priority singles were withheld until radio audience reached maximum levels. Although some of these songs spent significant numbers of weeks at number one or in the top ten, the delay of the sales component ultimately shortened the spans these songs would spend on the chart. With the new methodology rewarding points for a song’s entire chart run, rather than confining points to weeks spent in the top ten, the shorter chart lives recorded by the songs that debuted at number one impact their all-time standings.
Which songs are you most surprised about high, low or omitted on the Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs?
Gerry Rafferty Baker Street was released in 1978, some consider one of the great years for Pop Music. This was three years after the dissolving of his previous band, Stealers Wheel due to contract disputes with the recording company. It reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and stayed there for six weeks. Rafferty was born and raised in Scotland.
Gerry Rafferty Baker Street featured saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft was mostly known for his work with Pink Floyd that earned him critical success. There is an urban legend that Ravenscroft was never paid for his session work on Gerry Rafferty Baker Street. This is significant since Gerry Rafferty Baker Street was number 1 in the U.K. and number two in The U.S.A., and the royalties and sales that came with an international hit even in these days. When asked about this, Ravenscroft stated this is not true and that he was paid but there are still many who believe he was just not wanting to shed a bad light on Rafferty after his passing in 2011.
The single version of Gerry Rafferty Baker Street was recorded with the tape of the album version sped up slightly to raise the tempo to be more radio-friendly. This also had the result of raising the key by a half tone.
Gerry Rafferty Baker Street Lyrics
Winding your way down on Baker Street
Light in your head and dead on your feet
Well another crazy day, you’ll drink the night away
And forget about everything
This city desert makes you feel so cold
It’s got so many people but it’s got no soul
And it’s taken you so long to find out you were wrong
When you thought it held everything
You used to think that it was so easy
You used to say that it was so easy
But you’re tryin’, you’re tryin’ now
Another year and then you’d be happy
Just one more year and then you’d be happy
But you’re cryin’, you’re cryin’ now
Way down the street there’s a lad in his place
He opens the door, he’s got that look on his face
And he asks you where you’ve been, you tell him who you’ve seen
And you talk about anything
He’s got this dream about buyin’ some land
He’s gonna give up the booze and the one night stands
And then he’ll settle down in some quiet little town
And forget about everything
But you know he’ll always keep movin’
You know he’s never gonna stop movin’
Cause he’s rollin’, he’s the rollin’ stone
And when you wake up it’s a new morning
The sun is shining, it’s a new morning
And you’re going, you’re going home
Ellie Goulding Lights was released in North America on August 20, 2011. One year later it is finally at the top of the charts. Ellie Goulding Lights was the third slowest song to reach the Top 40 by a female artist. Ellie Goulding Lights took nineteen weeks to make it to #40 and the longest ever to reach the top five.
Ellie Goulding Lights Music Video
Elena Jane “Ellie” Goulding is a British singer-songwriter who has enjoyed significant success in the U.K. and finally in The USA and Canada. She has won many awards in the U.K. and achieved critical acclaim to match her popularity. The music video was filmed nearly two years ago before the release of the single “Your Song”, a cover of the Elton John classic, “Lights” was released as a single months later. At one point it was not included in the album titled Lights and then the eventual EP Bright Lights in the U.K. The North American version does include the song on the album.
Ellie Goulding Lights Story
Ellie Goulding Lights received mostly positive reviews from critics. Horatia Harrod of The Daily Telegraph commented that the song is “threaded with dark thoughts, but set to an airy pop production bordering on polite. Her voice is the real star. She has the magical ability, not unlike her heroine, Björk, to sing with a sort of controlled tremulousness: her voice aches with vulnerability but never breaks.” The Guardian reviewer Johnny Dee described the song as “a welcome return to her patented folky-pop-with-some-tasteful-drum-and-bass-wobble sound”. Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club was also positive of the song, giving it an A− and praising the song’s “organic-sounding” production and Goulding’s “ethereal, restrained” vocals, while Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club gave it a C, claiming that Goulding sounds too “restrained” and “aloof to the point of emotional constipation”.[15]About.com‘s Bill Lamb rated the song three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it “a pleasing, catchy slice of electro-pop” and noting that “Goulding’s voice has an edge of sadness and vulnerability that sets the song apart from standard dance pop”, but concluded, “In a pop music world dominated by distinctive vocalists, it is too easy for a song like ‘Lights’ to feel polite and get lost in the shuffle.”[
Professional DJs can play Ellie Goulding Lights in many different situations since it matches several genre and demographics.
