BOARDSIES DECIDE: Best Song Ever By Black/Partly Black Music Act.

Declan A Walsh

quickbeam wrote: »

I'm genuinely gutted that Otis is gone

I gave the killer blow/punch - the eighth vote to the opposition (Bill Withers)! Sorry about that!

Reberetta

Score

Prince When Doves Cry 7-6 Eagle Eye Cherry Save Tonight

Please give a reason or your vote won't count. Voting closes 12pm.

Even though all his entries are gone now, this thread has made me realise that I really like James Brown; must listen to more of this stuff.

I didn't actually submit any nominations this time around (because I don't trust you lot to appreciate them properly! ) but overall I can't think of any glaring omissions, so well done all.

This thread has some really fantastic music in it with lots of really wonderful, talented artists.
(And Will Smith)

Reberetta

Prince When Doves Cry 7-6 Eagle Eye Cherry Save Tonight

The winner of the one-hit wonder competition has been eliminated. Stay tuned for the semi-finals, coming up shortly.


Fun Facts

Eagle Eye Cherry Save Tonight

The last song Cherry wrote for his debut album and he wanted it to be special, "something that would stand the test of time." He achieved his goal. "People point at me and say 'Save Tonight?' like it's my name," Cherry told GQ in 2017. "Which I guess it kind of is." Although "Save Tonight" was a big hit in Sweden, peaking at #2, the singer says he lives a quieter life in Stockholm, where he's rarely recognized and can work on music in peace.

At first Cherry thought the song was too good and was convinced he inadvertently ripped off another musician. "When I wrote the riff in the chorus, I was racking my brain, thinking I had stolen it," he explained. "I thought that someone must have used this because it was too good."

The single's success prompted a case of life imitating art as Cherry was suddenly leaving his quiet life behind to go on tour. "Once the song took off, my life became that: constantly having that last night before I leave."

The black-and-white music video was filmed in Sweden.

Cherry is actually a trained actor, having attended New York City's School of Performing Arts, with credits that include a bit part on The Cosby Show and a stint as an ex-con on the short-lived TV drama South Beach.He abandoned his aspirations as a thespian when he grew tired of playing the same old roles in support of white protagonists.

quickbeam

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I gave the killer blow/punch - the eighth vote to the opposition (Bill Withers)! Sorry about that!

If it was Lean on Me, I'd have coped. But Ain't No Sunshine doesn't really compare at all.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

quickbeam wrote: »

If it was Lean on Me, I'd have coped. But Ain't No Sunshine doesn't really compare at all.

Declan A Walsh

Deleted User wrote: »

Even though all his entries are gone now, this thread has made me realise that I really like James Brown; must listen to more of this stuff.

I didn't actually submit any nominations this time around (because I don't trust you lot to appreciate them properly! ) but overall I can't think of any glaring omissions, so well done all.

This thread has some really fantastic music in it with lots of really wonderful, talented artists.
(And Will Smith)

One surprising omission for James Brown was Living in America - a big hit for him in the '80s.

Reberetta

SEMI-FINALS

First to 9 votes or, failing that, most votes by 7pm tonight.

Please give a reason or your vote won't count.


Semi-final 1

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine v Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer

Semi-final 2

Prince  When Doves Cry v Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer v Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine
Prince When Doves Cry v Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine


First to 9 votes. Voting closes 7pm.

Please give a reason or your vote won't count.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine ; its a really beautiful song, the type of thing I'd expect to heat at an especially nice funeral service

Prince - When Doves Cry ; for me this is just one of those perfect songs, its the best Prince song, and up there with the best of them when it comes to my all time personal favourites

Necro

I refer to my previous reasoning and provide similar for the semis:

Bill Withers, easily the second best song left in the contest.

Marvin Gaye, easily the best song left in the contest.

Would be a good and fitting final.

Zaph

quickbeam wrote: »

If it was Lean on Me, I'd have coped. But Ain't No Sunshine doesn't really compare at all.

Totally agree, Bill Withers has plenty of better songs than Ain't No Sunshine.

Kolido

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine - Not partial to either but had a quick listen to both again and this one just shades it. It's decent at best.
Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - One of the best songs in the contest and the best left by a country mile imo.

quickbeam

Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer - better song
Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - MUCH better song.

Zaph

Going to abstain on the first one. I like both artists, but they're both songs of theirs that I only think are OK. I much prefer a lot of their others. If a vote is needed to break a tie later on I might reconsider.

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - an all time classic which would be a worthy overall winner.

Would have preferred a Marvin v Prince final, but sure:

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine
"I Say a Little Prayer" is a great song but could be sang by anybody with a half-decent voice. e.g. Dionne Warwick's version is just as good, if not better. I actually don't like how the backing vocalists do most of the heavy lifting in the chorus of Aretha's version; she sounds better on other songs.

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
"When Doves Cry" is a great song, undoubtedly. This one's just that bit better. Unmistakable intro, soaring vocal and I would say the "definitive" version (unlike Aretha's "I Say a Little Prayer")

Irish Aris

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine
Prince When Doves Cry

4 great songs remaining, my votes go to the 2 I like better.

My vote to Bill Withers is mainly because Aretha Franklin has at last 2 songs that I prefer more than I Say A Little Prayer, whereas Ain't No Sunshine is my favourite Bill Withers song.

As for When Doves Cry. I have already declared my love for Prince's music many times in this forum. When Doves Cry is one of his best, from what is arguably his best album - and the only good film he was involved in. I always preferred the long 6 minute version, the single edit finished way too quickly. And that groove!!!!

Declan A Walsh

Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer v Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine - Just a beautiful song: lyrically, musically and vocally.

Prince When Doves Cry v Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Memorable soul tune with good vocal delivery. This is not one of the better Prince songs - had it been Let's Go Crazy, I would have voted for it.

MG's song is definitely better than the other but I don't buy into this assertion that it is by the best song in the whole contest.

Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer

I adore Aretha Franklin and she should be in the final and up against....

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine

I love me a bit of Marvin and would show RESPECT to coming second to the above lady.

Sheridan81

Aretha-I Say a Little Prayer -the amount of times Bill says 'I know' is irksome. It's the better song and she and Marvin would be a fitting final.
Prince-When Doves Cry -doesn't matter as he's getting trounced-but one of his best.

JP Liz V1

Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer - what a voice, the legendary diva with an infectious tune that is so catchy

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - a uniquely great song delivered brilliantly by Marvin

Reberetta

Prince When Doves Cry 3-8 Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer 5-5 Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine

First to 9 votes. Voting closes 7pm.

Please give a reason or your vote won't count.

ShaneU

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine - There's more genuine emotion in this, the other is a good pop song but I'm going with Bill

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine - I've no idea how the Prince song got this far.

Reberetta

Prince When Doves Cry 3-9 Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer 5-6 Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine



Fun Facts

Prince When Doves Cry
Prince played all the instruments.Prince took out the bass track at the last minute to get a different sound, though he hated to see it go.

"Sometimes your brain kind of splits in two - your ego tells you one thing, and the rest of you says something else. You have to go with what you know is right," he told Bass Player magazine.

Peggy McCreary, Prince's engineer on this song, recalled: "He would run through [a song] with just a piano and a vocal. And sometimes he'd do the drums and then the bass... The room was always set up and you had to be ready to do whatever he felt like doing. It was real spontaneous. You had to be there with him, which was the hard part and the exciting part. But when you're exhausted, it's hard to be excited. It was the longest I ever worked with anybody in my life. I worked around the clock, 24 hours. He said sometimes the only reason he went home was so I could sleep."

In the US, this was the #1 song of 1984. It topped the charts for five weeks over the summer, and kept Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" at #2, preventing The Boss from ever having a #1 hit. Springsteen was a huge fan of Prince. "Whenever I would catch one of his shows, I would always leave humbled."

This is the only song with a kind of bird in the title to reach #1 on the Hot 100.

Prince's Paisley Park complex where he lived in Minneapolis was shrouded in secrecy, but visitors reported that he kept doves, and that they could get quite loud. Entertainment Weekly reporter Leah Greenblatt wrote: "Yes, he keeps doves. Yes, they cry."


Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer
Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this song and also produced it. The original was recorded by Dionne Warwick. Aretha Franklin recorded this song less than a year after Warwick's version was released. In the UK, Aretha's recording was the big hit, making #4 (her highest-charting UK single after "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)," which hit #1). In the US, Aretha's version - produced by Atlantic Records head Jerry Wexler - was first released as the B-side of "The House That Jack Built," but quickly flipped when it was apparent that "Prayer" was the hit. Her cover went to #10 in the US.  In Australia, "I Say a Little Prayer" and "The House That Jack Built" were assigned a joint chart ranking that saw the double-A-side hit reach No. 10 in November 1968. "I Say a Little Prayer" also gave Franklin a European hit with chartings in France (No. 12), Germany (No. 29) and the Netherlands (No. 4).

The thread connecting these two versions of the song is the backup singers, the Sweet Inspirations. After performing on the original, the singers found themselves working with Aretha Franklin, who started singing it with them during sessions for her Aretha Now album. She came up with an original arrangement, and when Wexler heard it, he insisted on recording the song. Burt Bacharach has said that he likes Aretha's version the best, describing it as "much better than the cut I did with Dionne."

In February 1987, UK music weekly New Musical Express published its critics' top 150 singles of all time, with Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer" ranked at No. 1.

Franklin recorded 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top-ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries, and 20 number-one R&B singles.Franklin is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 75 million records worldwide.

Franklin received numerous honors throughout her career. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In 1987, she became the first female performer to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She also was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 and into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2012. In 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked her number one on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" and number nine on its list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2019 awarded Franklin a posthumous special citation "for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades."


Stand by for the grand finale...

Reberetta

Send vote via PRIVATE MESSAGE to me, Reberetta.

REASON NOT REQUIRED but may be used in event of a tie.

Voting open until 9.30pm Tuesday

THE GRAND FINAL

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine

Road To Final
1R: 8-2 Carl Douglas Kung Fu Fighting
2R: 5-1 Missy Elliot Work It
3R: 6-1 Michael Jackson Beat It
4R: 6-5 Ben E. King Stand By Me
5R: 5-3 Jackie Wilson (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Hugher and Higher
QF: 8-4 Otis Redding  (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
SF: 6-5 Aretha Franklin I Say A Little Prayer

VS.

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Road To Final
1R: 4-2 The Pointer Sisters I'm So Excited
2R: 5-1 Sade No Ordinary Love
3R: 6-1 Fats Domino Blueberry Hill
4R: 6-4 Bill Withers Lean On Me
5R: 7-3 The Supremes You Can't Hurry Love
QF: 8-5 The Ronettes Be My Baby
SF: 9-3 Prince When Doves Cry

Send vote via PRIVATE MESSAGE to me, Reberetta.

REASON NOT REQUIRED but may be used in event of a tie.

Voting open until 9:30pm Tuesday

Declan A Walsh

Okay, they were not my top two favourite songs among all the songs we went through. However I'm happy that we ended up with two quality songs, both of which I like.

Thankfully, all the really bad songs were eliminated before the semi-finals and we ended up with two quality songs in the final. In fact, three of the semi-finalists were particularly good quality, the other being Aretha Franklin's I Say A Little Prayer. I would love to have seen that in the final and would have definitely voted for it as the winner, but I'm not too unhappy with what's left.

Reberetta

Fun Facts

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine
Withers spent nine years in the US Navy.He had a job at a factory making parts for airplanes when he was introduced to Booker T. Jones from Booker T. & the MG's. Booker was an elite session musician with Stax Records, where Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and many other soul legends recorded. He brought in some other top-notch musicians, including Stephen Stills on lead guitar, and produced the album Just As I Am for Withers, who was 32 when it was recorded.

Released as the B-side to another song called Harlem,  disc jockeys played Ain't No Sunshine as the single instead and it became his first hit. It won the Grammy for Best R&B Song in 1972. The part where Withers repeats "I know, I know," has become a very recognizable piece of the song, but it wasn't what he had in mind: "I wasn't going to do that, then Booker T. said, 'No, leave it like that.'

On its first release, this song did not chart in the UK, but Michael Jackson's cover hit #8 there in 1972. Withers' original version eventually made its first entry into the UK singles chart in May 2009 after being performed on Britain's Got Talent by contestant Shaun Smith.

It's been covered by many artists in a wide range of styles. Paul McCartney, Isaac Hayes, Lionel Hampton, Prince, Sting, Kenny Rogers, Tom Jones and Lighthouse Family have all recorded it. It was also interpolated by rapper DMX for his 2001 song "No Sunshine."

Sax player Grover Washington became the first person to cover one of Withers' songs when he did an instrumental version shortly after Withers released his. In 1981, Washington and Withers teamed up to record "Just The Two Of Us."

Stevie Wonder inducted Bill Withers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. At the ceremony, Wonder performed this song with Withers sitting next to him on stage. Withers decided not to perform at the ceremony, although he appeared midway through Wonder and John Legend's performance of "Lean On Me" to join on vocals.

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine

The classic about a man who finds out his woman is cheating on him was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. Strong asked Motown writers Holland-Dozier-Holland to work on it with him. They refused to credit another writer, so Strong took it to Whitfield, who helped complete it. It was the first collaboration for the writers. 

Strong got the idea for the song when he was living in Chicago and heard lots of people using the phrase "I heard it through the grapevine." Said Strong, "Nobody wrote a song about it, so I sat at a piano and came up with the bass line."  Along with "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone," he considers this the best song he wrote with Norman Whitfield. Other hits they wrote together include "Ain't Too Proud To Beg," "Just My Imagination," and "Money (That's What I Want)."

The song eventually became a Motown classic, but it had a rough start, as executives at the company thought it was too bluesy and lacked hit potential.

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were the first to record the song, but their version wasn't released until years later on an album called Special Occasion. The Isley Brothers then took a crack at it, but their version wasn't released. Whitfield and Strong then had Marvin Gaye record the song but still no luck: It was presented for consideration at one of the famous Friday morning meetings held at the Motown offices where Berry Gordy would decide which songs to release as singles. Gordy usually went by staff vote, but even though "Grapevine" had the votes, he went instead with a song written by Holland-Dozier-Holland called "Your Unchanging Love." "I personally liked 'Grapevine' better," Gordy said in his autobiography. "But I felt the other record was more in the romantic vein of what Marvin needed."

Finally, a new Motown act Gladys Knight and the Pips recorded the song as a gospel rocker. Their version was a hit, entering the Top 40 in November 1967 and going to #2 in America.

Marvin Gaye's version was included on his 1968 album In The Groove (later re-titled I Heard It Through The Grapevine). After E. Rodney Jones, a Chicago disc jockey, started playing it on the air, Berry Gordy reconsidered and released Gaye's version as a single, which became even more popular and known as the definitive version of the song. Gaye's "Grapevine" pounded the charts about a year after Knight's, going to #1 in America on December 14, 1968. Until the Lionel Richie/Diana Ross duet "Endless Love" bested it with a 9-week run in 1981, this was the longest-running Motown #1 Hot 100 hit, topping the chart for seven weeks. It was a sensation in the UK as well, where it was #1 for three weeks.  Until The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" 20 months later, it was the biggest hit single of all time on the Motown label.

Whitfield had Gaye sing slightly higher than his normal range, which created the strained vocal, and he made him do it over and over until he got it right. Gaye explained: "I simply took direction, as I felt the direction he was expounding was a proper one. Had I done it myself I would not have sung it at all like that, but y'see there are many benefits in just singing other people's material and taking directions. The job of interpreting is quite an important one, because when people are not able to express what is in their souls if there is an artist who can... then I think that is very valuable."

It was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for "historical, artistic and significant" value.


Send vote via PRIVATE MESSAGE to me, Reberetta.

REASON NOT REQUIRED but may be used in event of a tie.

Voting open until 9:30pm.

It's a close final so get your vote in if you haven't already!

Reberetta

Voting is now closed.
Thanks to everyone who participated. 
Stand by for the winner of the most epic all-black contest since Muhammed Ali and Joe Frazier did battle...

Reberetta

The Greatest Song By A Black Music Act As Decided By Boardsies is...

















Jim Croce Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown!














MARVIN GAYE I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE


7-6

Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Homer J. Fong
Sheridan81
Jp Liz V1
Zaph
Strawberry Milkshake
Kolido
Declan A. Walsh

Bill Withers Ain't No Sunshine
Necro
Also Starring LeVar Burton
Irish Aris
JohnGreenFan
ShaneU
Sawduck





Thanks for playing everyone.

Check out my next game if you haven't already.Boardsies decide best music albums of all-time.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Great game Reberetta.

Hoped it had gone the other way, but 7-6 split is pretty good, nice to see at least it was close. Heard It Through The Grapevine is a worthy winner, just would've been nice to see something that hadn't previously won a tournament take home the crown.

JP Liz V1

Marvin still has it going on, worthy winner, two good finalists, great game Reberetta