The use of numbers in song is not limited to the number itself, quite often the writer includes a date in the title of the song,either to set it in a period or because that date might be of significance. So in our final, final numerically inspired post we are going to seek out some song dates.
“In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)” is a 1969 hit song by the American pop-rock duo of Zager and Evans. It reached number one on the Billboard for six weeks in July 1969. It peaked at number one in the UK for three weeks in August and September that year. The song was written and composed by Rick Evans in 1964 and originally released on a small regional record label (Truth Records) in 1968. It was later picked up by RCA Records. Zager and Evans disbanded in 1971.
“December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” is a song originally performed by The Four Seasons, written by original Four Seasons keyboard player Bob Gaudio and his future wife Judy Parker, produced by Gaudio, and included on the group’s album, Who Loves You (1975). The song features drummer Gerry Polci on lead vocals, with Frankie Valli, the group’s usual lead vocalist, singing the bridge sections and backing vocals, and bass player Don Ciccone – former lead singer of The Critters – singing the falsetto part (“And I felt a rush like a rolling ball of thunder / Spinning my head around and taking my body under”).
“1999” is a song by American musician Prince, the title track from his 1982 album of the same name. Originally peaking at number 44 on the Billboard, in December 1982 a re-release later peaked at number 12 in the US, while a January 1985 re-release, a double A side with “Little Rad Corvette”, later peaked at number 2 in the UK.
“Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)” is a song written and performed by the British duo Eurythmics. It was released as the first single from their album 1984 For the Love of Big Brother, which served as the soundtrack to the film 1984, an adaptation of the novel by George Orwell. The song was produced by Dave Stewart.
“1959” is a track taken from ‘Floodland’ the second studio album by the Sisters of Mercy. It was released in November 1987, through Merciful Release internationally and distributed by WEA with Elektra Records handling the United States release. “1959” is a partially-autobiographical song, which takes its title from Eldritch’s birth year. He thought that the song regards “innocence–inherited as opposed to environmental.”
“1985” is a 2004 song that was written and recorded by SR-71. It was also covered by American band Bowling for Soup whose version reached number 23 on the Billboard and was featured on the band’s album A Hangover You Don’t Deserve. The song is about a middle-aged woman who is stuck in the 1980s due to being in denial that her life is zooming by so fast and the fact that she never got to live out her ideal life before settling down and starting a family.
