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Bo Diddley
Jerome Green's maracas, a tremolo guitar shaking like heat haze, and the beat that took Bo Diddley's name.
Take Me Out
Two songs welded together, the tempo dropping a minute in, and a sniper film lending Kapranos his double-edged title.
Hey Good Lookin'
Williams wrote it for Little Jimmy Dickens, recorded it first himself, and held country number one for eight weeks.
Bonita Applebum
Q-Tip read Miles Davis on space, then rapped conversationally over a Rotary Connection loop and made desire sound utterly relaxed.
Time of the Season
Argent and Blunstone rowed over the vocal at Abbey Road, and the band had broken up before America noticed.
Electric Relaxation
Q-Tip built the beat in his grandmother's basement from a Ronnie Foster loop, and Phife traded lines with him.
Then He Kissed Me
Larry Levine stumbled onto that echo by accident, and LaLa Brooks sings a whole courtship in under three minutes.
Da Doo Ron Ron
Nonsense syllables meant to be replaced by real words, La La Brooks on lead, and Spector's Gold Star thunder.
Who Do You Love
Jerome Green's maracas, Jody Williams on lead guitar, graveyard imagery, and a shuffle that skips the Bo Diddley beat.
Shop Around
Motown's first million-seller, recut at three in the morning with Gordy at the piano chasing a poppier hit.
Come Fly With Me
Cahn and Van Heusen wrote it to order, and Billy May's first Sinatra arrangement made travel sound like swagger.
Wannabe
Seven weeks at UK number one for a debut single, and a chorus that puts her friends before any suitor.
The Way You Make Me Feel
Cut at Westlake with Quincy Jones, a shuffle Jackson wrote himself, and Bad's third straight Hot 100 number one.
Get Ready
Smokey's song, Kendricks singing lead, number one R&B but only twenty-nine pop, which handed the group to Whitfield.
Somebody Told Me
Flowers called it the story of trying to meet someone in a club; Keuning's hook does the flirting.
Take a Chance on Me
Ulvaeus chanted "tck-a-ch" to pace his jogging; it became the a cappella hook on ABBA's seventh UK number one.
If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time
Jim Beck offered a free demo in his Dallas studio; Frizzell's stretched phrasing became the template Haggard and Jones inherited.