Money, Money, Money
ABBA could not have said it any more times when they wrote their song Money, Money, Money. Although, by its lyrics ‘I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay,’ does not suggest that money comes easily to anyone. In the 1970s, ABBA were one of Sweden’s highest exports, second only to car producer Volvo. They are still selling one million records per year. Mia Segolsson, their manager at Polar Music, has said that ABBA has been estimated to have sold something like 385 million records. There is certainly money to be made from the record industry. Particularly by artists who write their own songs. The ABBA songs were written by the two Bs in ABBA. That is, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The group’s name is an acronym for all their names. Benny plays piano and Björn the guitar. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were singers in the group. The group was formed in Stockholm in 1972 and remains one of music’s success stories.
Money Make Her Smile
Money surely makes everyone smile. This was a hit for Bruno Mars. His real name is Peter Gene Bayot Hernandez. His nickname of Bruno was given to him by his dad, who named him after professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino. At just 4 years old, he would impersonate Elvis Presley. Michael Jackson was an influence, too. He is a multi-talented artist in that he does not just sing but also plays keyboard, bass, guitar, and drums. If you can do all of this then surely success must be assured. For a start, you do not have to pay so many other band members to create your music. Bruno has had numerous number ones and is very popular among younger fans.
Money For Nothing
This was a hit for the rock band Dire Straits, whose lead guitarist was Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE. As a songwriter, composer of film scores, guitarist, and record producer, Mark Knopfler is thought to have a net worth of $95 million. Diversification in music may well be the answer to greater riches. He went solo in 1987, after leaving the band, to then reunite with them in 1991. The band broke up again in 1995. Originally left-handed, Mark plays his guitar right-handed. This apparently helps him bend evenly together 2 strings by 2-3 semitones. He has played on more than 130 guitars, including a 1961 Fender Stat.
Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
Pop duo The Pet Shop Boys sang this one. Initially, the group had called themselves West End, perhaps explaining their hit West End Girls, but they would later come up with Pet Shop Boys as their name, after some friends who worked in a pet shop in Ealing, West London. Favorite instruments, or synthesizers, used by the group were the EMU Emulator, Emulator II, and Emulator II+. All Emulators, really. It was the strings on the Emulator II that featured on many of their early hits. Still together, Neil Tennant sings while Chris Lowe plays the keyboard. To date, they have sold over 100 million records since the 80s. In the Guinness Book of Records for 1999, they were listed as the UK’s most successful duo in music history.
Brother, Can you Spare a Dime?
I think this still counts. A dime is a ten-cent coin and one-tenth of a US dollar. This denomination of coin dates to 1792. The song has been sung by Christmas legend Bing Crosby and covered by George Michael in 1999. It was originally written in 1932 for the musical Americana. It became something of a soundtrack to the Great Depression. The song is sung from the point of view of a beggar who has not been treated well by the system. I know, perhaps I should not have ended with a song so depressing.
This is just to name a few money-related songs but there is something in most of their titles that relates to the success that their artists and composers have had.
