100 Best Songs from Musicals

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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. An utterly tragic love story of two doomed lovers from rival American Indian tribes who drown in each other’s arms. It should be a swooning country ballad, instead it’s a jaunty jive, under-laid with some comical “natives American tribal chanting” (sung, in part, by the whiter than white George Jones). 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. From its brassy train whistle to the evocative lyrics, few tunes encapsulate a sense of travel and wonder as this early ‘50s classic. Where’s it coming from? Where’s it going? It remains a mystery but we’re very much on board for the ride. Last week we asked you to vote for your favourite musical theatre numbers. After thousands of submissions, we've compiled your top 100 showtunes of all time below.

Decades after it was released, ‘Walkin’ After Midnight’ would be referred to as “David Lynch-esque”. The gossamer tones of Cline’s voice and honky tonk rhythms were paired with the creepy undercurrents of the lyrics, that suggested insomnia or even some sort of psychotic, night-time mania. It was a beautiful duality. Sam Cooke said ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ came to him in a dream, but it was a natural product of the times too – in particular Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, delivered just a few months before Cooke recorded the song. Whether it inspired Cooke or not, ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ is infused with the belief and determination of the civil rights movement. That towering riff – for one thing, it came to Keith Richards in a moment of clarity after briefly coming round from an alcoholic stupor; for another, Richards always planned to replace it with a horn section. In the meantime he hepped up his riff with a fuzzbox to keep it warm until the real players came along. Well, thank goodness they never did. Sometimes ‘The Sounds Of Silence’, sometimes ‘The Sound Of Silence’, depending on which year you’re standing in, Simon And Garfunkel’s first US No.1 started life on the flop debut album ‘Wednesday Morning, 3am’ before being retooled for success without the duo’s permission by producer Tom Wilson. They didn’t complain about the results, and the song found its true resonance in 1967’s The Graduate.Creedence Clearwater Revival’s sprightly Cajun blues was apparently a bit of soothsaying inspired by recent political occurrences. Singer John Fogerty claims he wrote it the day Richard Nixon won the presidency, and that it was designed to reflect the unease in the air. Prescient indeed. Over here record buyers saw it as a jolly pop tune and sent it to No.1. 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. Proclaimed as a watershed moment in musical theatre history, Show Boat (originally staged in 1927) with a score by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on Edna Ferber’s novel, was the first time that the music worked together with the play driving the story, rather than being a review. It’s themes of racial prejudice and tragic enduring love and its score that included songs like Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man, Make Believe and Ol’Man River made it a hit that continues to entertain audiences today. 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. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

The songwriting team of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman wrote the music for "Mary Poppins," winning two Academy Awards and a Grammy. A supremely talented cast brought their melodies and lyrics to life, with memorable songs like '"A Spoonful of Sugar,""Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," and "Chim Chim Cher-ee." The result is pure whimsical magic.

92 Runaway

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). This was the second song Robert Johnson ever recorded, but its creation has also been attributed to Elmore James. Either way, it’s the latter’s version that rules, and proves beyond dispute why the guy was dubbed “the king of slide guitar”. You can credit (or, occasionally, blame?) The Shirelles for the invention of the girl group. They would score their signature No.1 in 1960 with ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’, but ‘I Met Him On A Sunday’ was the first single, a laconic, gorgeous doo-wop call and response that got them signed to Tiara before a Decca licensing deal sent them national. Fresh from persuading Serge Gainsbourg not to release their version of ‘Je T’Aime…Moi Non Plus’, Brigitte Bardot again teamed up with the oily old goat to release this wonderfully louche, hypnotic (and occasionally tuneless) tribute to the gun-toting outlaw couple. It’s been covered by sometime Go-Go Belinda Carlisle and sampled by Kylie Minogue. This one came from the end of Graham Gouldman, later one quarter of 10cc, who was inspired by gazing at the – yes – bus stop on his way to work. It’s performed on a bleak scale by Manchester’s finest The Hollies but is an ever-turning song of hope about the nice young lady in the queue who, by August, “ was mine“.

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. 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 Hard to re-appraise objectively after its use and abuse on films and adverts – from Hot Shots to So I Married An Axe Murderer, Alvin And The Chipmunks and beyond – over the years, The Platters’ sweetly harmonised ballad is nevertheless a total classic. 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.The late, great Etta James had hit the skids by the late-60s, frittering away a decent career with a devastating heroin addiction – but there was enough faith in her voice to give her another go on her recovery. Working at Muscle Shoals in Alabama, James delivered ‘At Last’ and this, a real body blow of a standard that loses none of its emotional heft no matter how often it’s covered. Written as a pledge of marital devotion and penned as a ballad, it was producer Sam Phillips who suggested the breezy, arrangement. Although Cash’s music and career would inhabit darker, more complicated and ornate territory, the simplicity of ‘I Walk The Line’ is one of his most memorable moments. 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.

Once and For All" from Newsies. 62. "Revolting Children" from Matilda. 63. "Santa Fe" from Newsies. 64. "Satisfied" from Hamilton. 65. "She Used To Be Mine" from Waitress. 66. "Singin' in the Rain" from Singin' in the Rain. 67. "Til I Hear You Sing" from Love Never Dies. 68. "Tomorrow" from Annie. 69. "The Room Where it Happens" from Hamilton. 70. "Gold" from Once. 71-80 Elaine Paige says:“I wasn’t at all surprised to see ‘One Day More’ take the top spot. It’s the ultimate, ultimate Les Misérables show tune; a superb ensemble number that leaves you with goosebumps because you get to hear so many refrains from the show in this one song.”

44 Venus In Furs

Nina Simone’s hepcat jazz cut was a cover of a number from the 1930 musical Whoopee! that appeared on her debut album but only made megahit status when it was used for a 1987 Chanel No.5 advert. The walking bass and skipping keys found favour with the late 80s jazz vampires who sent it top 5 in the UK. Now most famous for the combination of Ray Charles sample and Jamie Foxx impression that cooked up the gold dust for Kanye West’s stupendous ‘Gold Digger’ in 2005, ‘I Got A Woman’ itself takes inspiration from gospel song ‘It Must Be Jesus’, in the process marking out the territory for what would become soul music. A hymn-like universal anthem which King penned with songwriting legends Leiber and Stoller, that was not only later to be covered by Jimi Hendrix but also used for the classic coming of age film of the same name and would become a by-word for 50s nostalgia.