NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

Simon & Garfunkel held the number one position on the pop charts during this week in 1970 with "Bridge Over Troubled Water". This single would remain in this top spot for a total of six weeks and has become the duo's signature song. Written by Paul Simon, he was inspired by the line, "I'll be your bridge over deep water if you trust me" from the spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep" made famous by the Swan Silvertones with their 1958 recording. Simon had convinced Art Garfunkel to sing the song alone although his partner felt that Simon's vocal on the demo was far more effective.

The almost five-minute length of "Bridge" was considered problematic as most pop songs at the time were no longer than three minutes. But the duo's label, Columbia went ahead and released the complete version to radio and successfully broke that unwritten rule. "Bridge Over Trouble Water" became ranked as the number one song of 1970 by Billboard magazine and would win Simon & Garfunkel Grammy Awards for Record and Song of The Year.

This song is certainly one of Simon & Garfunkel's biggest hits and has been covered by many artists over the years. One of the most notable versions was by Aretha Franklin who completely reworked "Bridge" by delivering a full-on gospel rendition. Franklin's take also became very successful, reaching number one on the r&b chart, number six on the pop chart, selling over two million copies and won her a Grammy for Best Female R&B Performance.

Here is a live version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" from Simon & Garfunkel during their 1981 New York performance in Central Park:



And as a bonus, here is Aretha doing a stirring live version of "Bridge" in 1971 in Switzerland:

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

Fifty years ago this week, "Mrs. Robinson" by the folk-rock duo, Simon & Garfunkel was the number one song in America. It is closely associated with the hit 1967 romantic-comedy drama,  "The Graduate" which it was included in the movie and soundtrack in a partial form. A full version of "Mrs. Robinson" was not recorded until after the film was released.

Theater turned movie director, Mike Nichols had been a fan of Simon and Garfunkel and decided he wanted to use their music for his upcoming second film, "The Graduate". Paul Simon had written a couple of original songs for the movie but Nichols wasn’t impressed with them and asked if he had anything else. He played a song that he had been working on but not yet completed called "Mrs Roosevelt". The director loved it and soon the song was changed to the name of the character in the film and "Mrs. Robinson" was born. Although it was heavily used to promote the movie, the single was not officially released until almost three months after the movie came out.

"Mrs. Robinson" was not eligible for an Academy Award nomination as it wasn't written expressly for the movie but it did go on to win two Grammy Awards for Best Contemporary-Pop Performance Vocal by a Duo or Group and Record of The Year. This is considered to be one of the first rock songs to win this prestigious prize.

This song and their popular 1968 album, "Bookends" made Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel one of the biggest acts of the day. But their relationship had always been contentious and complicated and the duo broke-up for the first time not long after the release of the biggest album in their career, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in 1971.

Simon and Garfunkel would reunite for recordings and tours off and on many times since then (including a free concert in Central Park in 1981 that was seen by over a half a million people) yet it would often end in an acrimonious manner. The last time they staged a major tour was in 2010 but Garfunkel was suffering from serious vocal issues and they had to cancel the remaining shows. Simon has recently stated that it's unlikely they will ever perform together again as he's retiring from live performing this year and for the basic fact that the duo just don't get along.

Let's listen to Simon and Garfunkel in less difficult times with their number one hit:

IT TAKES TWO

One great voice is good but two great voices can be so much better. I don't think there's anything more wonderful than that magical sound when two really terrific artists come together and harmonize. There have been many outstanding musical duos, professional acts and one-time collaborations, throughout pop music history.

Listen and enjoy a few of my favorites:

"I'd Really Love To See You Tonight" - England Dan and John Ford Coley (1976) mp3

"You Don't Have To Be a Star (To Be In My Show)" - Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. (1977) mp3

"It Takes Two" - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston (1966) mp3

"If I Could Build My World Around You" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967) mp3

"Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" - Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross (1973) mp3

"Leather & Lace" - Stevie Nicks & Don Henley (1981) mp3

"Walking With a Ghost" - Tegan and Sara (2004) mp3

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" - Deniece Williams & Johnny Mathis (1978) mp3

"(You're My) Soul And Inspiration" - The Righteous Brothers (1966) mp3

"The Sound of Silence" - Simon & Garfunkel (1965) mp3

MUSIC AND THE MOVIES: PART ONE

I heard the theme song from "Flashdance...What A Feeling" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder:

"When was the last time a song from a film became a hit and made it on the pop charts?"

I was struggling to come up with something and I think it might have been Eminem and his rap song, "Lose Yourself" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.

The right piece of music could be an important part of a film that helped create the perfect mood or feeling as well as being just a great song you want to listen to. There is an obvious hunger for this type of music considering the success of the television shows like, "High School Musical" and "Glee" and their multiple soundtracks.

Unfortunately, there is no longer much thought put into creating a distinguishable song for a movie anymore and the songs that are used today tend to be something you would never want to listen to again. It's too bad but maybe this will make a comeback.

For this post, I'm going to focus on movie songs from the 1960's and 1970's. I think this was the golden age of songs created specifically for a film and a time when people actually loved the music enough to buy the movie's soundtrack. These songs were played regularly on the radio and became pop hits.

Let's go back and enjoy a few of the tunes that became just as memorable as the films they were used in:

Alfie - Dionne Warwick (1966)

Theme From "Valley Of The Dolls" -  Dionne Warwick (1967)

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (1967)

Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) - Diana Ross (1975)

Night Fever - Bee Gees (1977)

"You're The One That I Want" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978)

And here is a selection of the theme songs from the James Bond, agent 007 films:

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey (1971)

Live And Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon (1977)