Revisiting the Top 100 Songs of the Last Century

 

The Association performing "Never My Love"

on the Ed Sullivan Show (1967)

 

Watching a recent re-run of the Ed Sullivan Show on PBS made me think of the top songs of the last several decades. There are, of course, many different kinds of statistics on music, but this one caught my eye when I searched around: the BMI Top 100 Songs of the Century. The interesting thing about this list is that it doesn't have anything to do with sales, but performances. The BMI list contains the most played songs of the last century. Here are the top 10:

 

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', Barry Mann, Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil
2. Never My Love, Donald & Richard Addrisi
3. Yesterday, John Lennon & Paul McCartney
4. Stand By Me, Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
5. Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, Bob Crewe & Bob Gaudio
6. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, Steve Cropper & Otis Redding
7. Mrs. Robinson, Paul Simon
8. Baby, I Need Your Loving, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland & Eddie Holland
9. Rhythm of the Rain, John Gummoe
10. Georgia on My Mind, Hoagy Carmichael & Stuart Gorrell

 

I would have thought that Yesterday might have been number 1, but it was beat out by You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' and Never My Love. I'm featuring the video above for Never My Love because that one really surprised me, but after listening to it, I realize how touching the song really is. So, it makes sense that it struck a chord with many listeners - it's a very tender song. Here's the full list of the top 100 most played songs.