Friday, July 24, 2009

Number 379 - Amii Stewart


Number 379

Amii Stewart

"Knock On Wood"

(1979)
.
.
................Genre: Disco...............
Since the last entry, i have written about the "Fake Moon Landing in '69", my disaster using "FireFox" .. and also my metaphoric rise [kaff] in "Twitter" only to be dumped by a facetious report i made about Jeff Lynne getting a blood transfusion from George Harrison so he could become the "legitimate" 5th Beatle. As i always say in Digg.com .... don't drink and comment!!! [I lost 7 friends with that remark about George ~ sniff]. It's OK, I'm thick skinned or as other people remind me "Thick skulled" I am sure it means the same thing.
Now, Amii Stewart's song will probably come at a surprise to you entering at #379, after all it is Disco and most people find this genre at best, awkward, unless your name is Uncle Bert living in Michigan, who likes duck bill shoes and has every vinyl issue of Abba records in mint condition. But ... "Knock on Wood" was not just any disco song, like Donna Summer's song "I Feel Love" [#420] it was to be the beginning of Techno/Trance/Dance music that appeared in the late 80s to now. Is is not Amii Stewart's fault she has been over looked by critics and Rolling Stone magazine. At least here, Amii is recognised.
Anyway, if you disagree, you can always vote her off. $^&$%#^@
Amii Stewart
Washington, D.C., vocalist Amii Stewart came whooping and shouting into the spotlight with an amazing though unconventional cover of Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood." Her boisterous vocal, coupled with a non-stop arrangement and equally unrestrained backing vocals, topped the pop charts in 1979 and reached number six on the R&B side. Stewart, who was in the Broadway musical +Bubbling Brown Sugar, did another remake as a follow-up, the Doors' "Light My Fire," backed by "137 Disco Heaven." It dissipated the initial momentum of the lead single, and things went downhill from there. Stewart later moved to Italy and had some singles issued on international labels before trying again in America on RCA in the mid-'80s. Her 1985 single "Friends" for Emergency just missed the R&B Top 40. ~ [Ron Wynn All Music Guide]
But, not just Amii ... Guess who else sung it ..
No, Who?
~ Otis Redding and Carla Thomas in a duet (1967)
~ Alton Ellis featured on The Best of Alton Ellis (1969)
~ David Bowie recorded live and released later that year (1974) as a single
~ Eric Clapton on his album Behind the Sun (1985) [WTF?]
~ Michael Bolton on the album Timeless:The Classics (1992) [OMG .. ewwww?]
~ Seal on the album Soul (2008) [huh?]
~ James Taylor in concert over the years and on his 2008 album Covers [double huh?]
~ And the original ... "Knock on Wood" is a hit 1966 song written by Eddie Floyd and Steve Cropper and originally performed by Eddie Floyd. The Eddie Floyd version peaked at number twenty-eight on the Hot 100, and spent one week at number one on the soul singles.
Amii Stewart's version reached #1 in the U.S. charts in April 1979, as well as charting on the soul singles and disco charts, becoming the most well-known version of the song. ~ [Source: Wikipedia]
For Jeff Lynne see Number 384, #790, #969
For George Harrison see Number 806
For Abba see Number 919
For Donna Summer see Number 420
For the Doors see Number 729, #746
For Otis Redding see Number 623
For Cher see Number 889, MM Vol 1 #088
For Eric Clapton see Number 537
For Seal see Number 503
For James Taylor see Number 820
What does Rolling Stone think? [oh boy] er well ... not one mention anywhere, not even on rhapsody.com [crowbarred is on his own with this one.. oh dear]
Rolling Stone magazine deemed their '379th Song of all Time' was "Radio Free Europe" by R.E.M. REM has appeared in The Definitive 1000 of All Time @ #597, #712
Rolling Stone Top 500 Songs ranked this song at Number (Oh dear, oh dear) and the Album ranked at (You seem to be in a pickle now crowbarred -no-one is going to vote for this)
This song has a Definitive 1000 rating of 79.5 out of 108
Search Artist here:1-2-3-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

crowbarred.com, greatest songs in the world, best 1000 songs of all time, top 1000 songs of all time, best 1000 songs, alltime 1000 songs, the best songs of all time, worlds best songs, greatest songs of all time, the all time greatest songs, 1000 top songs of all time, best 1000 songs, top 1000 pop songs, best rock songs of all time, 1000 classic rock songs,

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posted by crowbarred at 7:05 pm

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