- I don't know why my favorite song is Wakare No Isochidori. It is distinctly possible that of the 7.6 billion people living on Planet Earth, I am the only person who has it as #1. Someone sent me an email that this was also among his favorites, but not as #1. WNI is the only song that was written and first popular in Hawaii, then gained some fame in Japan. When? Not sure, but probably in the 1930's. In any case, you will note that emotion, not popularity, dominated as the reason for making this list. If you haven't had the same experiences as I have, yours will be totally different.
Some Enchanted Evening is my song #2. It takes me back to my grandfather, had a huge influence on my life and will carry me, with intrigue and mystery, into the future. South Pacific is probably my favorite film, and I'm at this moment I'm toying with developing my 100 favorite movies. The above photo is of Pearl and Pepper at our Kauai backyard, where the Happy Talk song production occurred.
Honolulu City Lights was written by Keola Beamer around 1970, and opened their album of the same name with brother Kapono. This is my anthem of living nearly four decades at two Craigside sites. I've had a view of Honolulu City Lights for that long.
My song #4 is Freddie Aguilar's Anak. He was studying to be an electrical engineer in the Philippines when he left home at the age of 18 to pursue an entertainment career. After five years of gambling and travails, in 1978 he wrote his first song, Anak (a more recent version) in remorse and apology to his parents. It is the best selling Filipino song in history and reached #1 in Japan. Billboard reported that the song was the #2 hit for the world in the 1980's.
#5 has two songs, both by The Chiffons: One Fine Day and He's So Fine. The Vietnam War was beginning, so to avoid the draft I joined the heralded 442 Regimental Combat Team Army Reserve group, and in 1963 entered basic training, without a doubt the most physically difficult 16 weeks of my life (but I neverless volunteered for the second eight-week period--I once liked challenges). These songs kept me going. Of course, at the end of this training period, I was in the best shape of my life, never again attained. Just realized that I picked those songs as #91, so they appear again here!
My favorite song #6 is Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and his Comets. Sociological reality what it was then, this effectively kicked-off rock and roll when it opened Blackboard Jungle in 1955. Rotten Tomatoes only gave it 76/77 ratings, and there certainly were other earlier songs of more historical relevance. Earlier this year I posted on the roots of Rock and Roll, and it was all Black.-
My favorite song #7 is Somewhere Over the Rainbow, by Judy Garland, a kind of repeat, for #23 was Israel Kamakawiwoole's Over the Rainbow, but paired with What a Wonderful World. My life is a collection dreams and rainbows. -
My favorite song #8 comes from the baroque period of classical music, and I settled on two: 8A Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel and 8B Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi -
My favorite song #9 is Ginza Kan Kan Musume, written by Ryoichi Hattori and Taka Saeki. I remember growing up with this song playing on the radio, sung by a local girl, Jane Itai. Fortunately enough, she is the one singing with Club Nisei. The original came from a 1949 film by that name with Hideko Takamine. Here is a short clip of her singing this song from that movie. She was born in Hakodate, Hokkaido, and was so popular that she was known as the Japanese Shirley Temple. Click on THIS to read an article of those days in Hawaii by George Tanabe, I believe a colleague of mind at the University of Hawaii who was a religion professor. Would have been nice if he had identified the photos. Maybe one of them was Jane Itai. 
Today, I enter my top ten with #10, Yei Lai Xiang by Yoshiko Yamaguchi (also known as Li Jianglan and Pan Shuhua in China) and Teresa Teng of Taiwan. The song has an interesting history, similar to Lili Marlene, a German love song from just before World War II, but more popularized by the exiled Marlene Dietrich on the allied side. In the USA Yamaguchi was better known as Shirley, who acted in a number of popular films like Japanese War Bride and House of Bamboo. The latter is the full production with Robert Stack in glorious CINEMASCOPE. She passed away six years ago at the age of 94.
Just after World War II, the first hit in Japan was Ringo no Uta, by Michiko Namiki, having to do with apples. Soon thereafter came Misora Hibari's first hit song at the age of 12 in 1949, Kappa Boogie Woogie, followed by Kanashiki Kuchibue. Sadly, my song #11 is Hibari's final, Kawa no Nagare no Yo ni, composed by Akira Mitake. She released this song in 1989 and soon passed away at the age of 52. Said to be the most popular song of all-time in Japan from a poll by NHK.
I WAS PLANNING TO FEATURE Kokoni Sachi Ari twice, for this song attained popularity first in Japan, then in Hawaii. That was by Totsu Yoshikai of Japan However, I goobered and neglected to do this. Here is the Club Nisei version.-
Song #13 is Koko Ni Sachi Ari, or Here is Happiness, music by Saburo Iida and lyrics by Kikitaro Takahashi. I might have first heard it when I was in high school, sung by a McKinley High School classmate, Teddy Chinen. He was a year younger, and not quite yet famous. He later became Teddy Tanaka, met another singer at the Oasis night club in Honolulu, Nancy Lee Brown, and they entertained together for half a century until he passed away in 2014. 
My favorite song #14 is Anniversary Song by Al Jolson. Born Asa Yoelson in a Lithuanian Jewish village in 1886, his father, a rabbi and cantor, moved the family to Washington, D.C. in 1894. While his mother was portrayed as his supporter in films, she actually passed away in 1895 when he was nine years old. He moved to San Francisco to cheer up the earthquake-devastated community in 1906. In 1909 he became a blackface minstrel singer, particularly Stephen Foster songs. He made Swanee a hit in 1919, George Gershwins' initial success. Jazz Singer came in 1927, the first film to feature singing and speech. His wait a minute remark came here. The talkies arrived! He became the highest paid entertainer during this period and at the age of 35 had a theater named after him.
My favorite song #15 is Always by Deanna Durbin. This is one of those songs that sticks in my mind for unknown reasons.
I introduced my song #16 yesterday, It was a Very Good Year, by Frank Sinatra, which starts at the age of 17 and goes on into old age. Many think this was an ancient song made more famous by Sinatra. Actually, it was written by Ervin Drake in 1961 when I was still in college, and originally recorded by Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio. This is closer to why I picked this so high in my favorites list. Drake wrote it for a girl he was dating, who he finally married 20 years later.
My favorite song #17 is September Song by Walter Huston. Written by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson, it was introduced in the 1938 Broadway musical, Knickerbocker Holiday. That was a one hour plus radio presentation. Very interesting political explanation of those days, as portrayed in the show. Huston played the aging governor of New Netherland, Peter Stuyvesant, and the song came together in only a couple of hours to meet Huston's gruff voice and limited vocal range. The fact that he says, I have lost one tooth and and I walk a little lame, certainly applies to me today. Also used in the 1950 film, September Affair. The usual cast came along, with Bing Crosby in 1943 and Frank Sinatra in 1946, reaching #8 on Billboard. I was born in September, and much of the song applies to my life today. Here is Huston's tribute to Greta Garbo.
Aloha Oe andi Hawaii Ponoi are tied for this slot. If you were daily following this blog site, you might have missed it, because I did. The Royal Band director John Berger played a role in both in that he reported that Aloha Oe, attributed to Queen Liliuokalani, used a tune from Croatia, while he and King David Kalakaua actually wrote Hawaii Ponoi. The latter is the Hawaii state anthem.
Even with those stories, I chose Waipio as my song #19. Why? The toughest few weeks of my life was in Army boot camp at Helemano. Our sergeant insisted that we sing Waipio in Hawaiian, regularly. Says something about how life conditions can influence your consciousness. Of course, never recorded our platoon's version. This Waipio has nothing to do with Waipio Valley on the Big Island, Our Waipio song honors a place near Schofield Baracks on Oahu.
I select Hawaii Aloha as my favorite song #20 because it has become a people's anthem for memorable local events. Almost every worthy gathering today ends with participants holding hands and singing this tune. Here are 40 entertainers contributing to Hawaii Aloha. Of course IZ also sung it. Learn the following. You will someday soon be in the midst of Hawaii Aloha.
Favorite song #21 is Blue Hawaii, mainly because when I'm in Japan I tend to sing this song at karaoke bars. Why? They always want me to sing something from Hawaii. Usually the Elvis version. Written by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger for the 1937 Waikiki Wedding, starring Bing Crosby and Shirley Ross, Blue Hawaii reached #5 on the national charts.
My favorite song #22 is Hilo March, probably because my wife came from there. The song was written by Joseph Kapeau Ae'a of the Royal Hawaiian Band around 1880, and, according to Wikipedia, is associated with SpongeBob SquarePants. Huh? Appropriately enough, it is the school song of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.
Song #23 is Over the Rainbow / What a Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwoole, or IZ. He was born at the Honolulu Kuakini Medical Center in 1959 and passed away at the age of 38. His brother Skippy died at 28 from obesity. Same for IZ. While 6'2", he weighed as much as 757 pounds. His ashes were scattered at Makua Beach. Iz's version pops up her and there around the world a lot more so than the Judy /Satchmo originals.
My favorite song #24 is E Ku'u Morning Dew by the Cazimero Brothers, Robert on bass/piano and Roland on a 12-string guitar. They started with Peter Moon's band, The Sunday Manoa, including Palani Vaughan and Cyril Pahinui. Guava Jam in 1969 re-sparked the Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance. Between Roland and Robert is Leinaala Kalama Heine, who was my McKinley High School classmate.
My favorite song countdown is now at #25, and I am entering a new genre, Hawaiian music. #25 is Kawaipunahele, by Keali'i Reichel. He was born on Maui when I graduated from college. At the age of 24 he was convicted of theft, which changed his life, as all he got was community service, and he dedicated his life for the promotion of Hawaiian culture. He has won 21 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Kawaipunahele was written for his life partner Punahele.
There are numerous best 100 classical music lists, but one shows 13 music works are from Bach, 11 Beethoven and 11 Mozart. Clearly, they can be considered at the top. Handel only had three, but for my purpose, all three Bach pieces are #26, while those three of Handel are #26B: Air, Toccata and FugueBrandenburg Concertos, by Bach, plus Messiah, Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks of Handel.
My song #27 is Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. From the age of 5 to his death at 35, he composed more than 600 pieces of music. You'd think, what a shame to have died so young. People don't realize that the life expectancy around 1800 was only between 30 and 40, depending where you lived. He actually had a full life, although never was very healthy (typhoid, rheumatism, gum disease, etc.), and his face was pitted from smallpox.
I chose Wellington's Victory as my #28 for a simple reason. When I learned I passed my written comprehensive, assuring a PhD, I happened to listen to this piece. Now, whenever I have a major victory, I play this 15-minute composition of Beethoven. Interestingly enough, when I ask Alexa to play this piece, she says, of course, but first I need to subscribe to the Prime monthly program.
Song #29 is Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. I did not realize that there were six Pomp and Circumstance Marches, the first published in 1901 and the sixth posthumously around 2005. For record, Alexa did play this song when asked, but it was not the one played at graduation ceremonies. So, after some questioning, she finally played the most popular version.
Song #30 is The William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini, which premiered in 1829 as the last of his 39 operas. No doubt the use as the theme for The Lone Ranger had a lot to do with this selection. Then there is the version by Spike Jones--aaand BEETLEBOMB--one of the greater novelty hits of all-time. The voice? ...Doodles Weaver in the style of the famous announcer Clem McCarthy. Sportscaster Billy Packer has called the third television time-out every second half at Indiana University basketball games as the greatest college timeout in the country.
Schubert's Ave Maria is my song #31. Here are all nine. Finally, 47 of them, one where you can sing like in a karaoke bar. I asked Alexa, and she played the the Josh Groban's version of the Schubert composition.
There are 19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, with No. 2 in C sharp minor by Franz Liszt the most famous. This is my favorite #32. Alexa quickly played the piano piece.
Song #33 is Polonaise in A, composed by Polish Frederic Chopin in 1842: On hearing Chopin's Polonaise, Sand was left with a deep symbolic impression which she communicated to Chopin in their private correspondence. In one of their letters, she wrote passionately, "L'inspiration! La force! La vigueur! Il est indéniable qu'un tel esprit doit être présent dans la Révolution française. Désormais cette polonaise devrait être un symbole, un symbole héroïque!" ("The inspiration! The force! The vigour! There is no doubt that such a spirit must be present in the French Revolution. George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin) was Chopin's soul mate, although six years younger than her. Alexa did well here again, for free.
I'm now down to #34, and Pyotr (Peter) Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto is it. He did so much for music, but the reason I select this particular piece is that in 1958 Van Cliburn played it, with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3, to win the first International Tchaikovsky Competition. That year I was on my way to Stanford and not all that much interested in classical music. Van Cliburn's victory changed that. I interrupted Alexa and asked her to play Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto by Van Cliburn, and she said she can't find it, and continued on with Chopin's Polonaise in A.
Song #35 is Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner, composed in 1851, and orchestrated in 1856. Wagner was controversial in his day, being vocally anti-Jewish.
Johannes Brahms is a German composer and pianist born in Hamburg in 1833. He practiced mainly in Vienna and was a friend of Johann Strauss II, who was eight years older. He is sometimes grouped with Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethovan as one of the Three B's of music. Here is his top ten, and note that Lullaby (8 hours long) is missing. #1 is Symphony no. 4 in E minor, Op.98. While that might have been obscure for some, surely you are familiar with his Hungarian Dance No. 5. His Lullaby (Wiegenlied) is my #36. I asked Alexa to play all of Brahm's Lullaby she could find, and did only one.
Song #37 is The Blue Danube, On (or By) the Beautiful Blue Danube in German, was composed by Johann Strauss II in 1866 for the Paris World Fair the following year. A typical performance lasts 10 minutes. It has become the Austrian national anthem. The most popular waltz ever? Aptly used in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Alexa and I had had a long discussion when I asked her to play The Blue Danube from the 2001 film. She first said yes, but I needed to subscribe to a Prime package for $3/month, which must refer to a mid-plan, for the $8/month list has 200 million songs. I said no, but could she just play any Blue Danube. She could, but ended up with something else. Her first mistake. But it was free.- However, the reason I select Bolero as #38 is because of the film 10, starring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore. I actually talked to her once on a United flight back to Honolulu. Sitting next to her was a grouch, her husband, John Derek, 30 years her senior.
My favorite #39 is the 1896 Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. While the typical performance lasts for half an hour, you only remember the first few seconds. Of course, Stanley Kubrich's 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is the reason why.
My favorite song #40 is La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France. I was captivated by a scene in Casablanca, with Paul Henreid. In 1945, Charles de Gaulle leading the singing.
The Anthem of the European Union from 1972 is based on Ode to Joy, the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, composed in 1823. We'll see Ludwig van Beethoven again, but for now, this is my favorite song #41.
Kimigayo in 1888 became the national anthem of Japan. The lyrics are among the oldest in the world, coming from a poem of the Heian period (794-1185). The original national theme was written by Britisher John William Fenton early in the Meiji Period. However, it was unpopular, so Hiromori Hayashi, an Imperial Court musician, in 1880 composed what we have today, enhanced by Franz Eckert, a German bandmaster, into a Gregorian mode. With a length of 32 characters, it is the world's shortest national anthem. The regality and rich tone make Kimigayo my song #42.
My favorite song #43 is Hail to the Chief. Who knows that the composer is James Sanderson. He wrote this in 1812, and was first played in 1815 to honor George Washington and the end of the war. You never sing the lyrics, but it was recently written by Albert Gamse, a re-worked version of The Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott in 1810.
O Canada has been the national anthem of Canada since 1939. The song was composed by Caliza Lavallee, with words by poet Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. Originally, the song was French. The English translation is different in meaning. This my song #44.
Beautiful Dreamer was posthumously published in 1864 as the last song written by Stephen Foster, completed just before his death. This is my pick for #45 for its calmness and evocative reminiscence. Again, Bing Crosby probably sold the most records, but Marty Robbins' version came after his death, and so was Bobby Darin's release.
Someday I'll return to include the latest official Armed Forces Medley, which is song #46. Ah, finally found it, this performance includes the Space Force. Then again, maybe not, as groups seem to just be proposing the Space Force anthem.
I've been listening to Django Reinhardt most of my adult life, and can't quite identify a song worthy of gaining #47 status. So what I'll do for now is just list him as my #47, and return later with a definitive tune. Here is a full hour of this greatest hits.
You know, it's possible that I completely missed #48. The finalists were supposed to be: Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofe, Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin, Rodeo and Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copeland. My heart is with Gershwin, but something truly classical might be warranted. So #48 might as well be all of them.
I guess I identify most with it because I lived in the Bay Area several times, and actually missed the devastating 1989 San Francisco earthquake by only by a few hours. So much damage from only a 6.9 scale earthquake, for the 1906 version was measured at a moment magnitude of 7.9, or thirty-two times more severe. Thus, San Francisco is my #49.
Who can forget Casablanca? As Time Goes By, my song #50, epitomized the movie and times. Rotten Tomatoes bestowed 99/95 ratings. La Marseillaise, led by Paul Henreid, was particularly memorable. Oh, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart also were there.
Roberta (RT: 86/65), the film, came in 1935, starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Randolph Scott. Dunne not only sang my #51 song, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, but also Yesterdays and Lovely to Look At.
Even though this song made the finalist list two days ago, #51 is a different Begin the Beguine, from Broadway Melody of 1940 mainly because of the best tap-dancing performance ever, plus, the Powell-Astaire team never again danced together. Eleanor held her own against the dashing Astaire, and he decided to move on. It was said that Eleanor was so talented she scared off male partners, for females were then, and perhaps maybe even today, still considered to be of secondary importance. But she persevered and became a true star. Here is a final clip of really amazing quality showing them dancing for the first and last time.
I'm reserving this whole slot for all the Christmas songs.
Moonlight Serenade, Glenn Miller's theme song, and first effort at composing, is my song #54. This was almost always the last song played at a dance in my early days, and occupies a soft spot in my heart.
Stardust was composed in 1927 by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. There are 1500 recordings. With such universality, how can I not pick Stardust as #55?- Tommy Dorsey had 286 Billboard chart hits, with 17 reaching #1. The biggest was I'll Never Smile Again with Frank Sinatra, which stayed at #1 in 1940 for twelve weeks. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (1935) was his theme song and is my #56. Haunting and sad, I get emotional.
I've stayed at the Tokyo Westin maybe 50 different times, from when it first opened in 1994. In Japan the song is also informally known as the Ebisu Beer Theme, still used in Japan today. The tune is used at Ebisu Station to inform passengers of departing trains. This Westin is located at the shopping center adjacent to the station. The background music made the movie and I can't get it out of my mind. The Third Man Theme deserves to be #57.
When You Wish Upon a Star was written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for the film. It is the representative song of The Walt Disney Company and won the Academy Award for best song in 1940, the year I was born. Combined with what has driven my life, wishing upon stars and regularly dreaming impossible dreams--like the Hydrogen Society, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Blue Revolution--in many ways this song could well by my life anthem. So, of course, it is #58.
The movie Lili was released in 1953 with Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer. Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave it a 100% rating, with 81% from the audience. The song Hi-Lili Hi-Lo was written by Bronislaw Kaper for the film, and the performance by Caron and Ferrer only reached #30 on Billboard. The production won six Academy Award nominations, with the music gaining an Oscar. Mostly for nostalgic reasons, Hi-Li Hi-Lo is my #59.
Ethel Merman played Annie Oakley in the 1946 production of Annie Get Your Gun by Irvin Berlin. Hits were aplenty. Then came the film of that show in 1950 film featuring Betty Hutton singing There's No Business Like Show Business. Here are eight performances from 1953 to 1981 of There's No Business Like Show Busines by Ethel Merman. This, after all, is the ultimate show business song and deserves to be #60.
Carousel ran on Broadway so long that the primary performers included John Raitt, Howard Keel, Jan Clayton, Barbara Cook, Audra McDonald, Renee Fleming, Jerry Orbach, Fisher Stevens and Edward Everett Horton. Christine Johnson Smith was the original Nettie Fowler who sang my #61 song, You'll Never Walk Alone. She died a decade ago at the age of 98. Rene Fleming sang that song on Broadway and here again two years ago.
If I did not watch Classic Arts Showcase this morning, Wunderbar would not have been #62. Here were Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison, and I was enchanted. Kiss Me Kate, (Rotten Tomatoes: 91/67) with lyrics by Cole Porter, opened on Broadway in 1949 and won the Tony for Best Musical. The show was inspired by Alfed Lunt and Lyn Fontanne in their 1935 production of Shrew. In 1953 Kiss Me Kate became a film, with Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel.
I have at #63, Impossible Dream, with no performer. Just the song. This will happen a lot when I get to classical music.
Rotten Tomatoes gave West Side Story 92/84 ratings. Tonight from the film sung by Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood (voice of Marni Nixon). Somewhere from the play also was close to being #64. The movie won ten academy awards. Interestingly enough, Moon River won an Oscar in 1962 and none of songs from WST were even nominated.
There is something in my heart for both songs --Put a Little Love in Your Heart and What the World Needs Now is Love: Jackie DeShannon--(so they are duo #65), as for some reason, they were somehow connected to a summer workshop for teachers I co-directed at the University of Hawaii in 1973. Earth 2020, Visions for Our Children's Children, was sponsored by NASA Ames Research Center, and the whole project involved a lot of traveling, opening up my eyes to the environment and future of our planet. This led to me teaching Environmental Engineering, directing the campus Environmental Center and prepared me for the energy crisis, which came in the fall of 1973, and started me off into an entire career on renewable energy and climate change remediation.
I Dreamed a Dream came from the 1980 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, which opened in Paris. Rose Laurens was the original Fantine, with Patti LuPone taking over when the show moved to London in 1985. The movie was crucified by RT reviewers with a 33 score, but audiences bestowed an 84. Ann Hathaway actually did the singing in the film. But the version I most identify with, earning #66, is the audition by Susan Boyle in 2009.
Thanks for the Memory was composed by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin for The Big Broadcast of 1938 (this is the whole film), where this tune was sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross. The song won an Oscar and became Hope's signature tune. He hosted the Academy Award Ceremony 19 times, solo and in a team. Dorothy Lamour also released her version and is many times mistaken as the female voice on Bob's record. Bing Crosby also released this song, in 1956.
#68 is Johnny Cash's I Walk the Line, which he wrote in 1956, becoming his first #1 hit on Billboard C&W. In 1970 came a film I Walk the Line, with Gregory Peck and Tuesday Weld, which had nothing to do with Cash's life, but featured a soundtrack of his songs.
Mr. Sandman reached #1 in an unusual way. It was recorded in 1954 by the Chordettes, Four Aces, Buddy Morrow, Vaughn Monroe, Les Elgart, and others, and all charted in some way. My favorite was by the Chordettes, with Cadence's founder Archie Bleyer's orchestra providing the rhythmic beat. It is Archie himself that says "Yes." Liberace is mentioned as is the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. So Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes is my #69. They reached #2 with Lollipop in 1958.
My #70 song is Kitty Kallen's Little Things Mean a Lot, recorded in 1954, which became #1 for the year, probably because it was also one my wife's favorites, and wanted me to act as accordingly. A follow-up hit for Kallen was In the Chapel in the Moonlight.
#71 is Tennessee Waltz, written by Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King in 1946. I loved the song when it came out in 1950 by Patti Page. Like many hits, this was the B-side, where Boogie Woogie Santa Claus showed more promise. It became #1 late in 1950 and stayed there for nine weeks. If you find that record with that combination, buy or try to sell it, for a fortune, as soon after becoming a hit, BWSC was replaced with Long Long Ago. In 1974 it was the best-selling song ever in Japan. My one personal encounter was that I was there when she sang the song at the Fairmont on Nob Hill in San Francisco. That was 45 years ago.
My selection for #72 is Tiger Rag by Les Paul and Mary Ford, which was recorded in 1951. The original was copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917. This song was essentially the national anthem of LSU when I was there, for our mascot was a tiger. Can't ever forget Tiger Rag at a football game in Baton Rouge, for that song is played at the beginning, and after every touchdown. The Chemical Engineering building was adjacent to Tiger Stadium. Auburn and Clemson also are known for this song.
I was not even aware of the Obernkirchen version until I looked into the song. Frankly, I'm torn, because my heart now is with the children's choir. However, I grew up with the 1954 Frank Weir record, and every time I hear it, I want to go hiking. I never do, but I need to maintain some loyalty to my memories, so this latter release, The Happy Wanderer, is my #73. Weir, incidentally, is a British orchestra leader who reached #1 in the UK in that same year, with Vera Lynn, of My Son, My Son.
#74 is Sh-boom by the Crew-Cuts, released in 1954. It was a cover of the song by The Chords, who wrote it, and is said to the first doo-wop song to reach the top ten. It's ranked #215 in the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The Chords were a one-hit group. There is even some contention that Sh-Boom ranks up there with Rocket 88 as the first rock and roll song in history. Then there was the Stan Freburg re-cover spoof.
#75 on my favorite list is Born Too Late by the Poni-Tails. Nothing much to this song. It was released the year I graduated from high school in 1958, so the transition factor must have been dominant. This was the B-side of one of their records, which enabled them to join the list of other one-hit wonders. All three girls grew up in Ohio and enjoyed fruitful family lives. Amazingly enough, they actually still have a tour schedule, with one replacement for death.
Joan Weber, too, had an awful life. She had the voice of a girl behind the counter of a five and dime store, said Mitch Miller. In 1954 she was a 105-pound waif, pregnant and auditioning in New York City. Through incredible circumstances she somehow recorded Let Me Go, Lover (which was a remake of a country and western song--Let Me Go, Devil, here by Tex Ritter). It played for the first time on 15 November 1954 and overnight shot into becoming a national hit. Was immediately covered by Theresa Brewer, Patti Page and Sunny Gale, but Joan's rendition was the the one that skyrocked to #1 in four weeks. On that day, she prematurely gave birth. A week later she sang Let Me Go, Lover on the Ed Sullivan Show. A year and a half later this one-hit wonder lost her contract, did some entertainment, worked as a library clerk and later was confined to a mental hospital where she died of a heart attack at the age of 45. There was a mystery to her life, as her royalty checks came back as return to sender with address unknown. Why is this my #76? It makes me sad.
I'll pick Mr. Wonderful, maybe because Mr. reminds me of me. Whoops, I've been writing so much about Donald Trump that I'm beginning to sound like him. The song was written in 1955 for the Broadway musical of that name starring Sammy Davis Jr.
Song #78 is Maybellene by Chuck Berry, released in 1955. While Rock Around the Clock in 1954 became the first popular rock and roll song, in many ways Maybellene epitomized the emotion of those days. He could well have been the original poet of R&R.
My #79 favorite song is Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel. He received writing credits and only sung this tune on the Ed Sullivan Show, three different times. The record was released in 1956 with Hound Dog on the B-side. No personal relationship nor transition meaning. Just liked the song then, as I do now.
#80 is It's Almost Tomorrow by the Dreamweavers.
I'm now at #81 of my favorite tunes, and it is To Know Him is to Love Him, by the Teddy Bears. The song was released just when I was starting my freshman year in college, and transitions tend to be emotional. My roommate thought the Him was God or Jesus. Only when researching for this posting did I learn that TNHitLH is on the gravestone of Phil Spector's dad, who committed suicide. Phil not only wrote the music, but was one of the three Teddy Bears, the only group he ever joined.
I'll end with Rainbow by Russ Hamilton as #81, and only because I love rainbows. He is from Liverpool and was the first of his breed to score a hit in the USA. That was in 1957. This is from where the Beatles came.
This is a roundabout way to say that my #83 song is Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu. As I said, what a life. You can read the rest of the story here.
#84 has two songs: Wooly Boolly by Sam the Shams and the Pharaohs and Louie Louie by the Kingsmen.
Scotch and Soda similarly needs the original songwriters name. How the trio began singing it is that Dave Guard was dating Tom Seaver's (the baseball pitcher) sister, and their parents remembered hearing the song as far back as 1932, and liked it so much that they got the lyrics. Guard subsequently copyrighted the song in 1959. Scotch and Soda is my pick for #84, for whenever I drink scotch, this song comes to mind, especially when I add some soda.-
#86 is Pink Shoelaces by Dodi Stevens. 
A Certain Smile was the title of a movie where the lead actress looked just like the person I knew. I haven't seen this film since college, but will need to look for it in Netflix or Amazon Prime. Not a favorable relationship, but still meaningful. I more deeply react to A Certain Smile, so that is #87.- Patricia is my choice for #88. Before I even showed up in Palo Alto, I spent the summer in Oxnard working at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory. One afternoon my brother took me to a party in Los Angeles hosted by a radio DJ. He was a very successful Hispanic who wore ten wrist watches and said, pick one, it's yours, with Patricia blaring in the background. I didn't, but can say he got them from companies bribing him to play their records. This was the era of payola. The song itself is seared in my mind because of this experience.
- In my favorite music countdown, I'm now at #89. This one is simple. Will You Love Me Tomorrow by the Shirelles. Has nothing to do with title itself. Just symbolically, it kept getting played during memorable periods when I was on the Stanford campus. The Shirelles came to the Garden of Allah, our favorite Friday night hangout. My girlfriend during that period had this song at her top, from when she was still in high school in 1960. I recall my eating club had a champagne party the night before, where this song must have been played a couple id times, but when we woke up the following morning, January 20, 1962, the whole campus was covered with snow.
- The first two actually did not become popular until after 1962, so Johnny Get Angry is #90. Why I remember this song is that I had just met Pearl, and lived in a cottage with a trainee from Sudan. His name was Johnny. One night I cooked, the next him and third to a restaurant. The problem is that he tended to prepare brains, kidneys and other organs. Ever been in a kitchen with kidney being boiled? The whole place smells of urine. But my memory of Johnny is otherwise all good. I expected him to become president of his country when he returned. I recall driving from Naalehu to Kona with Pearl and Johnny, Johnny Get Angry came on as we were reaching our destination (during the daytime, Naalehu was too far from Hilo and Honolulu signals were blocked off by Mauna Loa, so radio reception only came on near Kona). He was the happiest person on Planet Earth when that song played.
He's So Fine and One Fine Day by The Chiffons: Now how could these two songs rate higher than something from the Beatles? The overriding factor is meaningfulness and emotion. They were released early in 1963 when I was in boot camp. To recap, I got married late in 1962, worried about being drafted, so joined the Army Reserves, where they sent me to 8 weeks of sheer agony at their Helemano Military Reservation. I had never before been so physically challenged. Maybe because of these songs, I survived, and even volunteered for another 8-weeks of advanced infantry training. After 16 weeks I was in the best condition of my life.
I'm now down to #92, which is one of the most derided tunes of all time, You Light Up My Life, by Debby Boone. Saccharine and reprehensible, no wonder, as I quote from an earlier blog:Here, there are good reasons for hating the tune, for Debbie in 1977 was inserted into overvoicing it only after Kasey Cisyk (left), who performed the original, rebuffed Joe Brooks, who wrote the song for a film of the same name. Boone was told to mimic the Cisyk version. Oh, Brooks in 2009 was indicting on 91 counts of casting-couch rapes. He was never really convicted, for he committed suicide in 2011. I should note that You Light Up My Life broke the BillBoard Hot 100 record by staying #1 for ten consecutive weeks.
#93 is Hanohano Hanalei (The Glory of Hanalei) by Bunny Brown and the Hilo Hawaiians. Ideal link to #94 yesterday about a mythical Hanalei. In many ways epitomized the one year period I spent on Kauai with Pearl and Pepper.
For an imaginative reason, my pick for #94 is Puff the Magic Dragon. The song has nothing to do with Hawaii, but the mythical Honalee, as I heard it, was, to me, Hanalei, close to where my father was born. I once lived on Kauai and remember those days at Hanalei with Pearl and Pepper. What I recall most had to do with our dog, Pepper. Had to show this photo one more time.
My #95 favorite song is Hotel California by the Eagles. First released in 1976 and earned a Grammy the following year. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #49 in its list of 500 greatest songs of all time. While the meaning is just life in Los Angeles, and more specifically, The Beverly Hills Hotel, Don Henley, one of those who wrote the lyrics, indicated that this was about a journey from innocence to experience. They've played this song more than a thousand times in their tours. Here is a remix version.
In any case, from all that, I still need to choose a number 96. Again, for no reason I can point to, my choice is Venus, not the Frankie Avalon release, but two groups from Europe. Here is the Shocking Blue version, the original in 1969 from the Netherlands. Bananarama from the UK came in 1986. I'll make both of them #96
Which leads to my #97 song, My Way. I do a semi-decent version of Sinatra, but I rarely get to sing it in Japan because someone always beats me to it. Why? In this country, there is the company way or university way or the government way. There is no my way. Individuality is verboten if you want to be successful. But singing this song is allowed.
I notice that many, if not most, are like Martian astronaut Matt Damon, who hate disco music. I travelled througouth the Orient a lot in the 80's and 90's, and discotheques remained popular through that whole period, especially in South Korea. So many memories...the Taipei Hilton, Seoul Lotte...but I can't seem to pick a favorite tune. Let me just say Gloria by Laura Branigan as #98. That was the lengthy concert version.
But about my favorite, I was leaning towards Uptown Funk with Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson. especially with all those dancing enhancements, but if I had to pick one, #99 is Girl on Fire, not by Alicia Keys, but 9-year Angelica Hale, from her America's Got Talent audition.
It came down to two: Monster Mash (1962) and Gregorian Chant. Love MM, but GC prevailed, for one major reason. In my senior year at Stanford's annual singing contest, which draws a crowd of thousands, El Capitan, my eating club, wore hair shirts and sung a Gregorian Chant. WE WON!!! The monks first released their compilation in 1972, but did not gain popularity until 1994. We should have put out an album, for our award came in 1962. Thus, Gregorian Chant is #100.
You know how difficult it was to pick and list my favorite 100 songs? You try it someday. I was thinking about doing this for my 100 favorite films.
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