Tuesday Tunes 270: Numbers

Posted on by

 

Whilst thinking of what I could choose for a new theme for this series I happened to be reading another blog which posted a song with a number in its title. That got me thinking about how many I knew, and I decided to go with it. I made a quick list  and it already stands at thirty five, so this may be a series that I run with for a bit!

For my first selection I’m going with songs that I expect will be familiar to most – I’ll save the more obscure ones for later! I think I’ve only played a couple of these before, and this is one of the repeats to get us off to a rousing start:

As David ‘Kid’ Jensen obligingly tells us at the beginning of that clip, before the band drown him out, that was the Tom Robinson Band’s debut single, 2-4-6-8 Motorway, which peaked at #5 on the UK singles chart in October 1977. As far as I can tell it wasn’t a hit anywhere else, and the band had a couple of smaller UK hits before they split in 1979. Tom has established a long career as a broadcaster, and has continued making albums under his own name, but he has never enjoyed the same success as that debut. That’s a pity, as that was a guaranteed floor filler at the discos of the time.

The band that I have probably played more than any other is up next. I’m sure I’ve played this before but can’t work out when, but you already know the song anyway, don’t you:

The Beatles released Eight Days A Week in December 1964 as a track on their fourth UK album, Beatles For Sale. It went to #1 in the UK, Australia and several European countries, and later sold a million copies in the US after a re-release in 1987. Due to their record companies mucking around it wasn’t included on the American version of the album released at that time, Beatles ’65. That was a common thing, and we often got more tracks than they did! It did appear in June 1965 on their next US release, Beatles VI (their seventh US album, go figure), which also went to #1. The track wasn’t released as a single in the UK, but it was in the US, in February 1965, and of course it was a #1.

This next one is making its first appearance here. It was a one-off hit back in 1995 and I always liked it:

The Connells released 74-75 on their album Ring in September 1993. They had very little success with it in the US, where it only reached #199, but it became a sleeper hit across much of Europe in 1995, during which it got to #36 in the UK. This followed a similar story for this track as a single: it was released to coincide with the album but wasn’t a hit, but then enjoyed massive success throughout Europe in 1995, including a #14 placing in the UK (with a further brief stay at #21 in March 1996), though it made the top ten in fourteen countries and was actually #1 in both Norway and Sweden. The video is based on real people, sharing their class yearbook of 1975 with videos of how they looked twenty years on. It’s a gentle song and, as I said, I’ve always liked it.

Funnily enough, I played a version of this next one – by Ry Cooder – in the same post as Tom Robinson back in 2020. That one is copyright banned in loads of countries so I thought I’d go back to the guy who first recorded the song – Wilson Pickett – with added Blues Brothers. This one is only banned in Germany, for some unfathomable reason:

634-5789 (Soulsville, USA) – to give its full title – was written by Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd, and Wilson Pickett’s version was released as a single in January 1966, reaching #13 in the US and #36 in the UK. It did make #1 on the US R&B Chart, though. The song has since been recorded many times, including by Tina Turner as well as Ry Cooder, but sometimes it is good to revisit the original singer, albeit in a much later version. He still exuded style, though, didn’t he! This clip is from the movie Blues Brothers 2000, which of course came out in 1998, though sadly several of the cast members of the original 1980 movie were no longer with us. It is still fun, though.

I’m closing this first set of numbers songs with anther favourite of mine:

1999 was the title track of Prince’s fifth album, released in October 1982, a double album which became his first to reach the US top ten, peaking at #9, and making #30 in the UK. The song had been released the previous month as a single, and got to #12 in the US and #25 in the UK. The album was re-released in 2016 after Prince’s death, and fared slightly better second time around: #7 in the US and #28 in the UK. 1999 had also been re-released in January 1995 in the UK as a double A-side single with another track from the album, Little Red Corvette, and this peaked at #2 here. It’s a good one to close this set, I think.

So, there you have it, my first set of tunes with numbers in their titles. As I said at the beginning I have loads more of these so you’ll be getting some others next week. All suggestions gratefully received in the comments – and I’ll tell you if they are already on my list or not!

Have a good week and keep well 😊

48 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 270: Numbers”

  1. Pingback: September Fields | Take It Easy

  2. Brilliant songs as always. Always love seeing Prince and remeniscing about what an extraordinary artist (and sadly underrated guitarist) he was. Guess I might have gone for ’25 or 6 to 4′ by Chicago, or Bowie’s ‘1984’

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. Pingback: ♫ Take It Easy ♫ | Filosofa's Word

  6. That’s a good start to the ‘Numbers’ selections, Clive. Looking forward to more. I thought I hadn’t heard the Connells one before until I played it. It’s a great song and video! Also I enjoyed Prince’s 1999 although not my favourite one of his. He’s a great guitar player!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Excellent picks this week, Clive. I especially liked the two I had never heard before. (Tom Robinson Band and The Connells.) I remember first learning about The Beatles when one of my older brothers bought the 45 for Eight Days a Week.

    It’s funny that the first tune that popped into my head with numbers in it was the one Jim commented on. Tommy Tutone (dumb name). He was a one-hit wonder, but that song became a familiar bar tune. I remember reading an article about people with 867-5309 who had to change their numbers because of all the prank calls they were receiving. Their video was lame (so I included just the audio version). I hope you like the song.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I knew the Beatles song and the Prince song, and the others were new to me. Loved the 74/75 song. Had to listen more than once. Such a nice song with the people before and after video. Saved it to my favorites. The first one I liked a lot, and the Wilson Pickett Blues Bros. one was fun! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. Some cool songs this morning, Clive. I know three out of five, which isn’t too bad; I bet you can guess which ones they are! 😎
    Public schools are closed to allow our Jewish friends to celebrate Rosh Hashanah so we’re back to babysitting today and tomorrow …. just in time because I need my sweetness fix! 🤗
    Hope you’re having a great day. 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  15. like Ernie, I’d never heard that first song, or of Tom Robinson, but it’s a nice upbeat song.

    funny how the Beatles song made it to Number 1 in the US, but never released as a single in the UK. You would think after such success in the US, they would have done so.

    not familiar with the third song either, but I like the concept of the video taking a look at people twenty years after graduation.

    the next one’s a fun video; this might be the second most famous song based on a phone number…

    I have to admit while I have certainly heard of the last song, I’m really not familiar with it.

    I’m looking forward to the next batch of numbers-based songs. This is a theme that’s right up my alley!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • The TRB were good, while they lasted.

      I guess the record companies decided they knew what was best. But when you look at the singles they did release here it’s hard to see room for it!

      74-75 had a strange history, so I’m not surprised you didn’t know it. It’s a gentle song with a nice video.

      And the most famous song based on a phone number is…..?

      I guess that last song isn’t one of Prince’s best known.

      I knew there would be a market for number songs 🤣

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I’m not sure if the phone number is technically in the title, but I think it’s how most people refer to it: 867 5309 Jenny by Tommy Tutone

        and I am sure there are more people like me who are fascinated by numbers 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Someone referred to that recently in a post. It may be the best known over there but we’ve never heard of it, or him!

        You’re right on that, of course. I’ve always been good at mental arithmetic and so is my younger daughter. We used to play a game where I asked the two of them to add two numbers, like 37 and 24 for example. The little one always got it more quickly than her sister (five years older)! The older one is now a Senior Lecturer in Sociology, and the little one is a team admin for a wealth management company, doing their budgets and those of their clients. Some very big numbers there! They are both working to their strengths.

        Liked by 1 person

      • WHAT!!?? It was such a popular tune here. I’ve even used the number when I had to my phone number, but I didn’t really want to.

        And it’s amazing that you could have predicted what kind of jobs each of your daughters would have gone into at an early age.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Sorry! I looked it up on the Official Charts Company website, and it has no mention of him at all.

        Not so much a prediction as a helping hand to guide them as their abilities suited.

        Liked by 1 person

      • How dare you! It’s impeccable! I’ve looked the band up on Wikipedia and it agrees with the total lack of chart placings in the UK. I also watched the video of the song: the best part was the incredibly beautiful blonde lady in it.

        Liked by 1 person

Please leave a reply, I'd like to know what you think