At last, the skies above are blue
Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.
1960 : At Last - Etta James
I know Etta James has a cracking voice and has a track that everyone knows, but doesn't necessarily know it's by Etta - but I don't believe that this is that track, which I don't think I've previously heard. I have a sneaking suspicion that social media may be involved again...
Ah - when I load the track on my streaming service of choice, I see I've not only heard this track before but I've written about the album it's the title track of (although, to be fair, I don't mention the track at all). And yeah, it's a good track, a nice round three minutes with her strong voice over some lovely strings but I struggle to imagine it would be the most streamed song without some shenanigans at play (which I currently have no idea about). Coincidentally, "I Just Want To Make Love To You", which is the Etta track I was thinking of that everyone knows was actually the original B side to this.
Wikipedia has a surprisingly lengthy entry on the song, only part of which is dedicated to Etta's version. It was originally written in 1941 for the film Sun Valley Serenade (no, me neither!) and was originally released by Glenn Miller in 1942. Etta's version followed along some 18 years later and, well, it did OK. It was then re-released in 2011 after "Something's Got A Hold On Me" was sampled by both Flo Rida and Avicii). And, again, it did OK. And it was also re-re-released after her death in 2012 (Christina Aguilera sang it at her funeral). And, well, it did slightly better. Yes, it reached the dizzy heights of #39 in the UK singles chart. All of which goes no way to explaining who's been listening to it.
The other cover versions listed by Wikipedia are Celene Dion and Beyoncé, who sang it at Obama's inauguration ceremony and Etta was NOT pleased not to be asked to sing it herself. And I can imagine an unpleased Etta was something to behold. Other cover versions mentioned on the internet are Nat King Cole, Ben E. King, Stevie Wonder, Randy Crawford, Stevie Nicks, Joni Mitchell, Eva Cassidy, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bolton and Aretha Franklin - there's some fine voices in there. And Michael Bolton, as well - meow!
Digging a little deeper to try and understand how this has the top spot, I can tell you it was used in Rain Man and Wall-E and it featured in an episode of Casualty - but I'm not sure that's the reason. Maybe it was the lack of competition - were there any other records released in 1960?
The UK's best selling single of the year was Elvis with "It's Now Or Never" (or "Just One Cornetto" if you are of a certain age) and other tracks that jumped out at me from the UK charts were The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown", Eddie Cochran's "Three Steps To Heaven", Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang", Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren's "Goodness Gracious Me" (which I'm sure sounds v dodgy these days) and Brian Hyland's magnificent "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". And Rolf's "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", but we won't mention that. And from the US, Chubby Checker's "The Twist", Paul Anka's "Puppy Love", The Drifters' "Save The Last Dance For Me" and Sam Cooke's "Wonderful World" all offer further options.
All of which suggests there was plenty of competition out there (and I actually think the track I mentioned last stood probably the best chance of winning) but somehow, Etta came through to take the crown - I've got no issues with her having it because it's a beautiful track but it still surprises me somewhat.
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