100 Best Songs from Musicals

Product Information

Featuring Curtis Mayfield on glorious lead vocals and sparing, funky guitar, ‘People Get Ready’ is a calm and spiritual call to join the fight – be it for civil rights or simple religious salvation. Trading lines with Mayfield is tenor Fred Cash, and there are strings and brass arranged by Chicago soul producer Johnny Pate to create a gorgeous love train that’s leaving today.

Over the course of six seasons, the hit TV show "Glee" paid tribute to a slew of popular artists, including Madonna. On the adjoining EP release—which reached #1 on the Billboard 200—the cast covered classic tunes "Like a Prayer,""Express Yourself,""Vogue," and "Like a Virgin." It was the first EP released from the show, followed by 10 others.

51 People Get Ready

LA vocal group The Platters made their name with this – their second and biggest hit, a US No.1 and UK No.5. A showy and expansive number, ‘The Great Pretender’ inevitably found favour with Freddie Mercury who once more took it into the UK top 5 in 1987, out-camping The Platters no doubt but possibly not wringing out similar emotion.

Over the past few months, we’ve invited you to take part in our first poll to choose the Top 100 Greatest Musicals. Tens of thousands of votes were made and the competition was fierce. Votes came in from musical lovers around the globe, some of you were extremely specific even going down to the productions you liked. In many cases, just a single vote separated each show.

Elisabeth is one of the most successful German-language musicals of all time. The musical is the story of Empress Elizabeth of Austria, with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. Translated into seven languages, the musical has played around the world including tours of Japan, Korea, China and cities across Europe. It has no less than 6 cast albums! 98. The Wizard Of Oz

Beggars Banquet’’s opener was Jagger and Richards at their finest; the former swiping bits of Baudelaire for a dance with the devil and the latter suggesting it be set to a samba rhythm. “ Please allow me to introduce myself / I’m a man of wealth and taste”. As invitations to the dancefloor go, they don’t come more compelling. The Stax house band found themselves with an iconic record themselves here, a simple 12-bar blues that thrives on in-built cool. Against the walking bass, it’s Booker T. Jones’s Hammond organ that steals the show, providing a slink that habitually pops up in adverts and movies including Get Shorty and American Graffiti. Anything that requires a swagger, basically. Inspired in part by a guy’s precious love for his suede shoes over the girl he was dancing with, Perkins’ big hit went on to sell a million records in the first three months (no mean feat in ’55) and climb the country, rhythm and blues, and pop charts simultaneously. Not bad for a tune about footwear. The new addition of a stage version of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic Charlie And The Chocolate Factory pushed the Gene Wilder movie version of the musical by Bricusse and Newley, out of the Top 100 by just a few votes. The stage adaptation which is currently playing in the West End, and opens on Broadway in 2017, features a score by Marc Shaiman and Lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman with a book by David Greig. The production opened in London in 2013 starring Douglas Hodge.

PinkPantheress: “Just for Me”

It’s nearly impossible tocreatea list of something so subjective, but we’re here to try. With that in mind, we've come up with these 50 Broadway bangers: a mix of classic musical-theater numbers from 1927 through today.Many ofthese come from the best Broadway musicals the Great White Wayhas ever known; to narrow the field a bit, we've limited ourselves to asingle song per show. (And sorry, jukebox musicals and movie adaptations: Only songs written for the stage are eigible.) The best-selling album of 2007 was this chart-topping behemoth from the Disney Channel. Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, and the rest of the "High School Musical" cast belted out a number of instant hits. More than just a stateside stunner, the album was a massive success around the world. In fact, India's Times Music released its own Hindi language two-disc special edition, which contained extra songs inspired by the film performed by trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Fun Home is a relatively new show on the musical theatre scene. Adapted by Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron from Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel of the same name, Fun Home was nominated for twelve 2015 Tony Awards, winning five including Best Musical. 99. Elisabeth

Recorded by several obscure artists before and numerous big names after (from Little Richard, Eddie Cochran and Gerry & The Pacemakers to Elton John and Ten Years After), this raucous ditty was made most famous by Lewis, who less tinkles the ivories than spanks them remorselessly.On the heels of the Madonna EP came "Glee: The Music, Journey To Regionals," which included six songs from the season one finale. Released on the same day the episode aired, the album contains covers of three Journey songs, one Queen song, a Lulu song, and "Over the Rainbow" from the "The Wizard of Oz." Needless to say, fans were all over it. Bette Midler lent her acting talent and vocal chops to 1988's "Beaches," a film about the on-and-off relationship between two close friends. While her cover of oldies tune "Under the Boardwalk" was used to promote the film in advance, it was "Wind Beneath My Wings" that took the world by storm, peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's still considered one of Bette Midler's most popular songs. Like an American version of Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot, Nancy and Lee were a sultry pairing who radiated with danger and mysterious sexual allure. No less than on the mythology referencing ‘Some Velvet Morning’ which has gone on to become a much covered alternative duet (perhaps most famously by Primal Scream and Kate Moss). Based on the counter-culture novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the VU’s tale of S&M curdled with its own bedraggled charm, thrusting forth with John Cale’s droning viola and Lou Reed’s dully ceremonial vocal. Gothic before “goth” existed.