82 I Saw Him Standing There (Tiffany) 115 Pts

 

I Saw Him Standing There (Tiffany album USA#7 UK#8)

 

"I Saw Him Standing There" by Tiffany was a cover version of The Beatles' song "I Saw Her Standing There" taken originally from their debut album "Please Please Me". She released it on her debut self-titled album, changing the lyrics to "him" instead of "her".

 

The music video was a live performance of the song in front of thousands of screaming fans. Like her previous videos, it got a lot of play from video stations such as MTV.

 

My goodness I forgot how awful this cover version was.

81 Only You (Ringo Starr) 120 Pts

 

Only You (Goodnight Vienna USA#6 UK#28)

 

In 1974, Ringo Starr covered this Platters song for his album Goodnight Vienna at the suggestion of John Lennon, and it became a #1 hit on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and a #6 hit on the US pop chart in early 1975. Lennon plays acoustic guitar on the track, and recorded a guide vocal which was kept by producer Richard Perry. Lennon's vocal version appears on his Anthology box set. The video features Ringo's & John's drinking partner Harry Nilsson.

82 I Saw Him Standing There (Tiffany) 115 Pts

 

I Saw Him Standing There (Tiffany album USA#7 UK#8)

 

"I Saw Him Standing There" by Tiffany was a cover version of The Beatles' song "I Saw Her Standing There" taken originally from their debut album "Please Please Me". She released it on her debut self-titled album, changing the lyrics to "him" instead of "her".

 

The music video was a live performance of the song in front of thousands of screaming fans. Like her previous videos, it got a lot of play from video stations such as MTV.

 

My goodness I forgot how awful this cover version was.

Great countdown so far Richard, and yes I had forgotten how bad this one was :D

80 Do You Want To Know A Secret? (Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas) 121 Pts

 

Do You Want To Know A Secret? (Billy J Kramer & The Dakotas single UK#2)

 

The Beatles' version was never released as a single in the United Kingdom, where a cover version by Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas (released b/w "I'll Be on My Way", Parlophone R5023, 26 April1963) reached number two in the Record Retailer chart, and hit number one in the NME chart (used by Radio Luxembourg) and the BBC's Pick of the Pops chart, which were more widely recognised at the time.

79 With A Little Help From My Friends (Wet Wet Wet) 122 Pts

 

With A Little Help From My Friends (Wet Wet Wet ChildLine charity single UK#1)

 

 

Wet Wet Wet's version was released on 9 May 1988. The proceeds from sales of the single, which spent four weeks at Number One in the UK chart, were around £600,000, all of which was donated to ChildLine, the UK-based charity for abused children. Billy Bragg's performance of "She's Leaving Home" was the joint A-side. Vocalist Marti Pellow recorded his own version of the song for inclusion on his 2002 album Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile.

 

78 Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (John Lennon) 125 Pts

 

Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (Walls & Bridges album USA#1 UK#36)

 

"Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" is a song on John Lennon's 1974 album Walls and Bridges. It was Lennon's only American solo number one song during his lifetime. The recording featured Elton John on harmony vocals and piano. While in the studio, Elton bet Lennon that the song would top the charts, and such was Lennon's skepticism that Elton secured from him a promise to appear on stage at one of his performances should the record indeed hit number one. When the record did achieve that feat, Lennon appeared at Elton John's Thanksgiving performance at Madison Square Garden on November 28, 1974 (1974-11-28). It would be his last major concert appearance. Lennon was the last member of The Beatles to achieve his first number one solo hit.

 

The inspiration for the song came from late-night television. In December, 2005, May Pang told Radio Times: "At night he (John Lennon) loved to channel-surf, and he would pick up phrases from all the shows. One time, he was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, "Let me tell you guys, it doesn't matter, it's whatever gets you through the night." John loved it and said, "I've got to write it down or I'll forget it." He always kept a pad and pen by the bed. That was the beginning of 'Whatever Gets You thru the Night'."

77 Do You Want To Know A Secret? (Beatles) 126 Pts

 

Do You Want To Know A Secret? (Please Please Me album USA#2)

 

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (see Lennon/McCartney), inspired by "I'm Wishing", a tune from Walt Disney’s 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which Lennon's mother, Julia Lennon, would sing to him as a child. The first two lines of the song in Disney's movie ("Want to know a secret? Promise not to tell?") come right after the opening lyrics ("You'll never know how much I really love you... You'll never know how much I really care..."). McCartney said it was a "50-50 collaboration written to order," i.e., for Harrison to sing. In 1980, Lennon said that he gave "Do You Want to Know a Secret" to Harrison to sing because "it only had three notes and he wasn't the best singer in the world," but added "he has improved a lot since then."

 

"Do You Want to Know a Secret" was released a year later as a single in the United States on 23 March 1964, reaching the number two spot behind another Beatles song, "Can't Buy Me Love" in Billboard, but reaching #1 for two weeks in the chart published by the Teletheatre Research Institute.

 

76 Nobody Told Me (John Lennon) 126 Pts

 

Nobody Told Me (Milk and Honey album USA#5 UK#6)

 

"Nobody Told Me" is a John Lennon song, featured as the first single released from John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Milk and Honey album in 1984. The song was originally written for Ringo Starr to include on his Stop and Smell the Roses album, but Lennon was killed before the song could be used. "Nobody Told Me" was Lennon's last single to reach the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, peaking at #5.

 

Another line in the song is "There's a UFO over New York and I ain't too surprised", apparently a reference to a UFO sighting Lennon had back in 1974. He made reference to this in the liner notes to his 1974 album Walls and Bridges with the message: "On the 23rd August 1974 at 9 o'clock I saw a U.F.O. - J.L.". The tag line "Nobody told me there'd be days like these..." is in contrast to the old saw "My mother told me there'd be days like this."

 

75 Eight Days A Week (Beatles) 130 Pts

 

Eight Days A Week (Beatles For Sale album USA#1)

 

"Eight Days a Week" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, which was recorded by The Beatles and released on their December 1964 album Beatles for Sale.

 

The song, along with two others from the album ("Baby's in Black" and "No Reply") was planned as a single release. In the end, it was released as a single only in the US on 15 February 1965 becoming a number-one hit. Its B-side was "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party". The single release in the US was the result of DJs playing the song from imported copies of the Beatles for Sale album as an exclusive since it was not included on the album's US counterpart Beatles '65. Later, it made a US album appearance on Beatles VI.

 

Although it was a huge American hit, the group didn't think highly of the song (Lennon called it "lousy"), and never performed it live.

 

 

74 Helen Wheels (Paul McCartney/Wings) 135 Pts

 

Helen Wheels (Band On The Run bonus track USA#10 UK#12)

 

"Helen Wheels" is a song by Paul McCartney and Wings. The song was named about Paul and Linda McCartney's Land Rover, which they nicknamed "Hell on Wheels".

 

The single had been released prior to Band on the Run and the song was not included on the original UK release of the album, but it was included on the US release and the 25th anniversary version. The song was also included on Wingspan. The song peaked at #10 in America on 12 January 1974.

 

73 The Long and Winding Road / For You Blue (Beatles) 135 Pts

 

 

 

The Long & Winding Road / For You Blue (Let It Be album USA#1)

 

"The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad written by Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon/McCartney) that originally appeared on The Beatles' album Let It Be. It became The Beatles' last number-one song in the United States on 23 May 1970, and was the last single released by the quartet. "The Long and Winding Road" was listed with "For You Blue" as a double-sided hit when the single hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1970.

 

While the released version of the song was very successful, the post-production modifications to the song by producer Phil Spector angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in court for breaking up The Beatles as a legal entity, McCartney cited the treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six reasons for doing so.

 

For You Blue is a song penned by George Harrison and features John Lennon playing lap steel guitar. Harrison makes a few spoken comments during the song, including, "Go, Johnny, go", "There go the twelve-bar blues", and "Elmore James got nothin' on this baby", referring to the legendary slide guitar player.

72 Something (Shirley Bassey) 138 Pts

 

Something (Something album USA#55 UK#4)

 

With the Welsh singer' career having been in decline for some years during the 1960s, Something proved to be Shirley Bassey's comeback when it was released in August 1970. The title track single became her biggest UK hit for many years, reaching No.4 and spending 22 weeks on the chart. This was actually the second single featured on the album, "The Sea and Sand" having already been released earlier. The album was similarly her biggest hit for many years in the album charts, reaching No.5 and spending 28 weeks in the top 50.

71 Take It Away (Paul McCartney) 140 Pts

 

Take It Away (Tug Of War album USA#10 UK#15)

 

"Take It Away" is a hit single from Paul McCartney's 1982 album Tug of War. The single spent five weeks at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The music video features former Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr and long-time producer George Martin, both of whom played on the track, as well as actor John Hurt. The single version can also be found on the "History" disc of McCartney's compilation album, Wingspan: Hits and History.

 

70 Hi Hi Hi / C Moon (Paul McCartney/Wings) 141 Pts

 

 

 

Hi Hi Hi / C Moon (stand alone single USA#10 UK#5)

 

"Hi, Hi, Hi" was a single by Wings that was banned by the BBC for its supposedly suggestive lyrics. The BBC also assumed that the title phrase, "We're gonna get hi, hi, hi" was a drug reference.

 

The specific sexual line objected to is the apparent phrase "get you ready for my body gun"; McCartney has said that the correct lyrics are "get you ready for my polygon", an abstract image, and later, "The BBC got some of the words wrong. But I suppose it is a bit of a dirty song if sex is dirty and naughty. I was in a sensuous mood in Spain when I wrote it.". It became a concert favourite in the Wings' live shows. The B-side, "C Moon" was an early faux ska tune, complete with a missed-cue intro that was kept in the released version. "C Moon" is meant to represent a circle, or the opposite of "L7," which was the sign for "square" or "unhip."

 

The single hit #5 in the UK in late-1972, and peaked at #10 in the US in January of 1973.

69 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (John & Yoko) 141 Pts

 

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (Seasonal single UK#4 in 1972, UK#2 UK#1 in 1980)

 

The single was released on December 6, 1971, in the US, but never charted on the Billboard Hot 100 charts; the UK release was delayed until the following November due to a publishing dispute. Upon release, it reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart. Directly following John Lennon's death on December 8, 1980, the song was re-released in the UK on December 20, 1980. It is known as the "secret number one", as it featured top in the UK Singles Chart for the week ending January 3, 1981, which was unpublished, as was usual for the Christmas week at that time. Thus, it is rarely, if ever, credited as a number one single.

 

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a Christmas song by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York City in late October of 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector. It features soaring, heavily echoed vocals, and a sing-along chorus. The children singing in the background were from the Harlem Community Choir and are credited on the song's single. This song was John Lennon's reaction to the war in Vietnam.

 

Although the song is a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.

68 Spies Like Us (Paul McCartney) 142 Pts

 

Spies Like Us (title track of 1985 movie USA#7 UK#13)

 

"Spies Like Us" is the title song to the 1985 Warner Bros. motion picture of the same name, starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Donna Dixon. It was written and performed by Paul McCartney, and was a top-ten hit in the United States in early 1986, reaching #7 on the singles chart, making it McCartney's final top-10 hit in the U.S. to date.

 

The video for the song, directed by John Landis (who also directed the movie), was banned by the BBC because Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase appeared in it playing instruments. British labour rules prohibit non-musicians from performing in videos; however, Aykroyd was a proficient harmonica player in the Blues Brothers, and Chase was an accomplished drummer.

 

"Spies Like Us" was released on CD in 1993, as part of the release of The Paul McCartney Collection, as a bonus track on the album Press to Play.

67 Jet (Paul McCartney/Wings) 144 Pts

 

Jet (Band On The Run album USA#7 UK#7)

 

"Jet" is a song from Paul McCartney and Wings' Band on the Run album. The song peaked at #7 in both the UK and US charts on 30 March 1974. Along with "Helen Wheels" and "Junior's Farm", it is another McCartney song where his primary inspiration for composing the song arose in daily life. It was recorded mainly at EMI's studio in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

When first released, the single's B-side was "Mamunia", another track from Band on the Run. However, it was soon replaced with "Let Me Roll It".

Reviewers have reported that the song is about McCartney's Labrador Retriever named "Jet".

 

The Australian rock band Jet took their name from this McCartney rocker.

 

66 Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (Paul & Linda McCartney) 144 Pts

 

Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (Ram album USA#1)

 

"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney on the album Ram. It hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in August 1971. The song is probably the most ambitious and experimental track on Ram, and is less a song and more a collection of melodic fragments pieced together, in a similar way to the song-cycle on the second half of The Beatles' Abbey Road. Paul McCartney won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1972 for the song.

 

The melody and lyrics are upbeat and nonsensical (Albert was an uncle of McCartney's). It is unclear, however, which of two "Admiral Halseys" he refers to. American listeners will probably think of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey of World War II fame while British listeners may think of Admiral Lionel Halsey who had a notable career with the Royal Navy. At any rate, the sophisticated arrangement, production, sound effects, and vocal treatments strongly recall The Beatles during their psychedelic phase.

 

65 Pipes Of Peace / So Bad (Paul McCartney) 146 Pts

 

 

 

Pipes Of Peace / So Bad (Pipes Of Peace album USA#23 UK#1)

 

"Pipes of Peace" is a song written by Paul McCartney, which was first released on his album also called Pipes of Peace on 31 October 1983. It was also released as a single on 5 December 1983 and reached #1 in the UK singles chart for two weeks. "Pipes of Peace" was originally recorded during September/October 1982.

In the United States, "Pipes of Peace" was issued as the B-Side, and its British B-Side, "So Bad," was issued as the A-Side. "So Bad" climbed to No. 23 on the US Billboard charts.

 

At Chobham Common, Surrey, a video was shot for "Pipes of Peace", depicting the famous 1914 Christmas truce between British and German troops. It portrays a British and a German soldier, both played by McCartney, who meet up in No Man's Land and exchange photos of their loved ones while other soldiers fraternise and play football. When a shell blast forces the two armies to retreat to their own trenches both men realise that they still have each-other's pictures. The video was produced by Hugh Symonds, featured more than 100 extras, and for added realism McCartney had his hair cut short especially for the shoot. The same story is told in the French film Joyeux Noel.

 

Despite featuring on 22 UK number one singles (as a member of the Beatles and Wings), this was his only number one as an entirely solo artist. Subsequently he had number ones as a member of Ferry Aid and Band Aid 20.

 

64 Back Off Boogaloo (Ringo Starr) 147 Pts

 

Back Off Boogaloo (stand alone single USA#9 UK#2)

 

Back Off Boogaloo is a 1972 single released by Ringo Starr. The song was a hit in the U.S. reaching #9 on the US Hot 100 and achieving Starr's best position in the UK Singles Chart - it reached #2 there, only blocked by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards version of "Amazing Grace"

 

This is one of the few songs that Starr solely wrote. He wrote and composed the song himself and George Harrison produced it. The single was put on the re-issue of Ringo Starr's 1974 album Goodnight Vienna.

 

In a 1977 interview, Starr explained that the phrase "Back Off Boogaloo" was inspired when he and fellow musician and close friend Marc Bolan had dinner one night, and Bolan used the word "boogaloo" multiple times in his sentences. Starr said that after dinner, during a time when he was half awake and half asleep, he had gotten the beat and tune for the song in his head and went to find a tape recorder to record the song but had trouble when all his tape recorders either were broken or had no batteries, adding, "So, I stole batteries from the kids toys and I got the song down."