"Our D-I-V-O-R-C-E becomes final today
Me and little J-O-E will be goin' away
I love you both and this will be pure H-E double L for me
Oh, I wish that we could stop this D-I-V-O-R-C-E."
A Number One country hit, the song also reached Number 63 in the Billboard Hot 100. The premise of the song was that Wynette was singing about a break-up of a marriage and was spellng out words so that a four-year-old boy would not undestand them.
Wynette could empathise with the woman: she was twice-divorced when the song was released in 1968 - and going through an annulment at the time.
Still, hope springs eternal in 1969 she had a hit with "Stand By Your Man".
2. That Don't Impress Me Much
Answer: Shania Twain
"Okay, so you're a rocket scientist
That don't impress me much
So you got the brain but have you got the touch
Don't get me wrong, yeah I think you're alright
But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night
That don't impress me much."
This was written by Twain and her husband Robert John Lange. It was a big country music hit and also crossed over to the pop charts. It reached Number Seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a Number Three in the UK. It topped the charts in New Zealand, Belgium, Ireland and Norway.
3. Don't Marry Her - Have Me
Answer: The Beautiful South
"And the Sunday sun shines down on San Francisco Bay
And you realise you can't make it anyway
You have to wash the car
Take the kids to the park
Don't marry her, have me."
The Beautiful South were noted for strong vocal performaces by lead singers, in this case Jacqui Abbot. However, it needed an, ahem, amendment to make it playable on radio. The original used a word other than "have" in the lyrics. It was a song about a woman trying to convince a former boyfriend not to marry a woman he was planning to walk down the aisle with and choose her instead. The song peaked at Number Eight in th UK charts in 1996 and regularly featured on the playlist of BBC Radio 2's "Wake Up To Wogan" morning show, then hosted by the genial Terry Wogan. A more 'middle-of-the-road' show would have been hard to find.
4. Please Release Me
Answer: Englebert Humperdinck
"Please release me, let me go
For I don't love you anymore
To waste our lives would be a sin
Release me and let me love again."
"Release Me (and Let Me Love Again)" dates back to the late 1940s. It was written by Eddie Miller, Bobby Gene Yount and Dub Williams. 'Eddie Miller and his Oklahomans', recorded the first version in about 1949 or 1950. It was subsequently recorded around 100 times, before it was picked up by Englebert Humperdinck and it provided him with a massive UK Number One in 1967.
In doing so, it kept "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever" from reachig the top, and spoiled the Beatles' chances of scoring18 consecutive Number Ones.
5. Don't You Want Me
Answer: Human League
"Don't Don't you want me?
You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me
Don't. Don't you want me?
You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me."
"Don't You Want" me is about a man who meets a cocktail waitress and turns her into a star before their love goes sour. Its lyrics follow the story from both points of view.
Released in January 1982, it was the first US single released by The Human League. It reached Number One in the Billboard charts in July 1982, and stayed there for three weeks. It also topped the UK charts: making it the first chart tpper for Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin label.
In a 2012 interview, Phil Oakey, who wrote it, said" "The key to that song is that we didn't spoil it, I think. With most songs you think of a couple of nice tunes and some words and then you start working and you work until they're not very good. We happened to stop before, stop while it was still all right. So in a strange way, it sounds complicated but it's a pretty simple sort of song."
6. You've Lost The Lovin' Feeling
Answer: Righteous Brothers
"You've lost that lovin' feelin'
Oh that lovin' feelin'
You've lost that lovin' feelin'
Not it's gone, gone, gone, oh, oh, oh."
In all releases, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was played on American radio and television more times than any other song in the 20th century. [Source: BMI Music Publishing.] That is an incredible eight million plays.
It was written by the husband and wife songwriting team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for the Righteous Brothers and it became the group's first Number One. (Phil Spector gave it his 'wall of sound' workings and, as he usually did, demanded, and got, a writing credit.)
Bill Medley, one of the RB, later told Rolling Stone magazine: "We had no idea if it would be a hit. It was too slow, too long, and right in the middle of The Beatles and the British Invasion."
7. Nothing Lasts Forever
Answer: Echo & The Bunnymen
"And I want more than I can get
Just trying to, trying to, trying to forget
Echo & The Bunnymen formed in 1978 but broke up in 1993.
Four years later they reformed and "Nothing Lasts Forever" was their first single. It reached Number Eight on the UK Singles Charts.
Ian McCulloch wrote the song, though his bandmates, Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson, were less sure of it.
"To me it's the most important song I've ever written, because it takes me back to being taken seriously, and it's one of the best songs of all time." he recalled in an interview.
Trivia note: Lam Gallagher, of Oasis, sang backing vocals and played tambourine.
8. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Answer: U2
"I have run I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for
But I still haven't found
What I'm looking for"
In 1998, U2's The Edge told Q Magazine: "We were listening to some Gospel during 'The Joshua Tree' sessions - I remember The Mighty Clouds and the Reverend Cleveland and The Staple Singers. The original was more loose, almost Jamaican. Bono hit on the melody and I had the title in a notebook. At first, no one took it that seriously because it sounded so unlike anything we'd ever done and it didn't gel until the mix, but when it was finished we all realized that we had something special. The reviewers didn't like it though..." The song won a Grammy that year.
The song was a Billboard Hot 100 Number One and also topped the charts - naturally - in their native Ireland.
9. Another One Bites The Dust
Answer: Queen
"Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust."
The song was a Number One in five territories, including the USA (Billboard Hot 100) but peaked at Number Seven in the UK.
It was written by bassist John Deacon. Initially when it was suggested the song should be released as a single, the band were not convinced but were talked into doing it.
Roger Taylor, the drummer, was said to have disliked the drum parts, though he later denied that and told Mojo magazine: "I was never against 'Another One Bites The Dust,' but I was against releasing it as a single."
Brian May told Mojo that Freddie Mercury loved the song: "Freddie sung until his throat bled on 'Another One Bites The Dust' . He was so into it. He wanted to make that song something special."
10. Love Is A Battlefield
Answer: Pat Benatar
"We are young
(Heartache to heartache)
Heartache to heartache
(We stand)
We stand
No promises
(No demands)
No demands
(Love is a battlefield)
Love is a battlefield."
"Love Is A Battlefield" was wrtten by Mike Chapman and Holly Knight. Benatar asked for a song for an album and they produced what they thought was very catchy and very commercial, but also weird. Initially they did not like what Benatarr did with it. Knight said in an interview: "When Mike and I first heard it we were horrified, we hated it, because it was so different. But then it became such a huge hit, and we had to step out and say, 'You know, they did a very good rendering of it, and that's how it was meant to be'. There's lots of ways you can hear that song, and they're all good."
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor kyleisalive before going online.
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