Rate-O-Rama: One Love/People Get Ready

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Rate-O-Rama is a reader participation game.

Every Thursday evening I will publish a Rate-O-Rama article which will feature three versions of a popular song.

The object is to listen to each of the music videos provided within the post.

After listening to each video you can rate each song in the comments section below.

(You must be a member to comment. If you are not a member you can join Vocal Media for FREE. You don’t ever have to pay for membership unless you choose to upgrade your membership)

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The rating method is easy. Simply give each song a rating of 1 to 100.

(The more you like the song the higher the rating).

If possible, please provide a brief comment to let us now what you think of each song.

After a week (Thursday evening) I will tally the ratings and in the next Rate-O-Rama post, I will announce the average rating each song received.

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Last week we featured the Pop Music classic: "I Go To Pieces" as recorded by Peter and Gordon (1965), Cotton, Lloyd and Christian (1975), and Rachel Sweet (1979).

The following are the average ratings for each song as a result of the votes:

🥇 Peter and Gordon: 97

🥈 Rachel Sweet: 81.3

🥉 Cotton, Lloyd and Christian: 80

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The Twenty-Fifth Edition of Rate-O-Rama features three renditions of the Reggae classic: “One Love/People Get Ready."

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Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977)

The legendary Bob Marley wrote “One Love” which was released on Marley and the Wailers' first album The Walking Wailers in 1965. This early upbeat ska rendition of the song was also released as a single in the same year. In 1977 Marley re-recorded the song with a slower roots reggae tempo for the classic album Exodus. “One Love” quickly became a highlight of the album.

In this instance, we are reviewing the famous 1977 recording.

When Exodus was released “One Love” was retitled to “One Love / People Get Ready.” This confused people as they thought maybe it was a medley of two songs. This version gives songwriting credits to both Bob Marley and Curtis Mayfield (as Island Records wanted to avoid copyright problems), as it contains part of the melody of the Impressions' song "People Get Ready", written by Mayfield.

The song was released as a single in 1984, three years after Marley's untimely death from cancer in 1981 at the age of 36. This time, the song became a huge hit throughout Europe and Oceania. The song did not chart in the US, but it helped boost the sales of the compilation album Legend, which has sold more than 12 million copies in the US.

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Gipsy Kings (2001)

This popular Spanish-influenced French group recorded “One Love” in 2001. The song was released as a single in Europe and was added as a bonus track on the European and Japanese releases of their 2001 album Somos Gitanos.

The Gipsy Kings' rendition contains both English and Spanish lyrics.

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The Glee Cast (2010)

The musical comedy-drama Glee has released numerous albums and singles dating back to 2009.

One Love (People Get Ready) by Bob Marley & The Wailers is featured in Never Been Kissed, the sixth episode of Season Two of Glee. It was recorded as a duet and is sung by Artie (Kevin McHale) and Puck (Mark Salling).

Puck decides to help Artie as part of his community service, to which Artie agrees, so Puck decides the two of them should sing together to make money. Artie is unsure whether they are allowed to sing for money in the school and thinks that it's a "bad-ass" idea. They were successful, and both got good feedback and made three hundred dollars from the students at McKinley.

This version of “One Love” charted at #41 in the US, #32 in Canada, and #104 in the UK.

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My Thoughts

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Bob Marley and The Wailers:

Bob Marley experienced worldwide success with his music during his life. But it wasn't until after his death that he became an enduring legend throughout the world. His music has resonated with people from all ages and walks of life.

Marley's “One Love” is cherished around the world and is the song most identified with him.

When I hear this song I get feelings of inspiration and unconditional love flowing through my body. I hear so much of the Jamaican culture as Bob Marley sings his beautiful words. But it is so much more than just the Jamaican culture, Bob Marley was reaching out with a call for universal love and a call for unification of all the people of the world.

Marley's voice resonates with me as I hear him sing this song and I love the laid-back feeling of the musical arrangement.

There is only one rating for this inspirational song: 100

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The Gipsy Kings:

I really like how the Gipsy Kings incorporated Spanish language lyrics into this song which further heightens the universal language of love. The vocals are great and I love the joyous flamenco musical arrangement. 94

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The Glee Cast (Mark Salling and Kevin McHale):

When it comes to the Glee Cast you are going to expect nothing less than pitch-perfect vocals. We definitely get that with this rendition of “One Love.” But more importantly, both Mark Salling and Kevin McHale perform the song with a feeling of joy and inspired emotion. I also like the light reggae acoustic guitar strumming throughout. My score is 95.

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I will be back next week with the results of this Rate-O-Rama Edition.

Last Week's Rate-O-Rama:

With Love, RHC ❤️