Everywhere you look these days in entertainment circles, you see the word “help.”
The movie “The Help” sits at No. 1 at the box office, topping $125 million in receipts in the four weeks since its release. (However, it looks like it may be dethroned this weekend by, of all things, “Contagion,” a film with Twin Cities connections.)
“The Help” score is doing well, too, at No. 175 on the Billboard 200 list of top-selling albums and at No. 10 on its soundtrack list.
Meanwhile, after 28 weeks, Kathryn Stockett’s book still resides at No. 1 on The New York Times Best Sellers list for Combined Print & E-book Fiction.
So much for “The Help” juggernaut.
Anyway, I’m focusing on something else — songs with the word “help” in the title — and I started on my musical list long before the movie ever surfaced. So, bear with me while I share a heapin’ helpin’ of “Help” songs.
And we’ll start with the song that was No. 1 on this date in 1965 — “Help!” — the title song from the Beatles’ second movie.
The Beatles did another “Help” song, too — “With A Little Help From My Friends” — covered in fabulous fashion by rock wildman Joe Cocker.
Three other “Help” songs also hit No. 1 on Billboard, including two others from 1965:
• The Beach Boys’ “Help Me, Rhonda.”
• The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).”
• Then, nine years later, Billy Swan hit No. 1 with “I Can Help.”
And Elvis came close, stopping at No. 2 in 1962 with his romantic classic “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
Country music contributions
Country songs also lent a helping hand:
• Sammi Smith’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.”
• Johnny Tillotson’s version of the oft-recorded “I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love with You).”
• And a two-fer: Hank Locklin’s “Please Help Me, I’m Falling” and …
… an “answer record” by Skeeter Davis: “(I Can’t Help You) I’m Falling Too.”
One more big musical helping
To wrap up, here’s a wide range of other “Help” songs:
• Two with the same name: “I Can’t Help It” — here by Michael Jackson and here by Andy Gibb and Olivia Newton John.
• And two more with the same title: “Girl Can’t Help It” — here by Journey and here the legendary Little Richard with the title track from the 1956 rock ‘n’ roll film.
• Stevie Wonder’s “Heaven Help Us All.”
• Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me.”
• The Little River Band’s “Help Is On Its Way.”
• The Outsiders’ “Help Me Girl.”
• B.J. Thomas’ “Help Me Make It (To My Rocking Chair).”
And we’ll end with some self-help advice from an upbeat Tom Jones, “Help Yourself.”
