Today’s Top 5 Music Obsessions delivers a collection of the Best Songs to break free from a case of the “Monday-blahs”. It starts off with Dusty Springfield belting out a Northern Soul Stomper, which seems fitting since it is Northern Soul Monday. Jimmy Cliff brings the Sunshine on Track 2 with a Tune that’s far less glaring than that early morning alarm was. Song number 3 travels to us from mid-90’s Liverpool via The Lightning Seeds, and number 4 arrives from the harmonic duo Lucius, with a Tune that always has me longing for a road trip. And the Last Track? That one comes from another mid-90’s Album, Viva! La Woman, by the incomparable Cibo Matto.
TOP 5 MUSIC OBSESSIONS OF THE DAY FOR AUGUST 7, 2017
Are you ready to Turn Up the Volume and Listen to August 7th’s Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day? You can Stream all 5 at Spotify and YouTube. Each day’s 5 Songs will be added as we go.
TOP 5 MUSIC OBSESSIONS OF THE DAY:
1. “Live It Up” by Dusty Springfield
“Now, you work all week just to make that money, yeah.
A-waitin’ for the weekend to finally come, yeah, yea.h
So, now that the weekend is finally here,
there’s nothing but music in the atmosphere.”
Though the weekend is over now, this Stomper of a Northern Soul Song keeps some of that weekend “High Voltage” energy alive.
“Live It Up” is from Dusty’s 2nd Album, Dusty, which was released on Philips Records in 1964. The Album had multiple Hit Singles, “All Cried Out’, “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself”, and This Song – which was released as a Double A-Side, with “Guess Who?”.
2. “Hello Sunshine” by Jimmy Cliff
“Hello sunshine!
Will old darkness be my friend?
Hello sunshine!
To this you can put an end.
Hello sunshine!
Why don’t you please come around.”
The weekend is behind us, but the Sun is up and this Song brings with us a heaping dose of hope for the new day. It’s hard to be full of Monday-misery when this Track is playing.
It comes from the Album Wonderful World, Beautiful People, released in 1970. The Album was originally to be released as Self-Titled until the Title Track, “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” became a Hit in the U.S. If you need more of a boost than this Song provides, I recommend you give the whole Album a try.
3. “Change” by The Lightning Seeds
“The world is full of fools,
who never get it right.
You don’t know what to do,
so you do anything you like.”
As Heard in the Movies – Clueless (1995) – “Change” hit number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in the mid-90’s, becoming the Band’s 2nd UK Top 20 Hit.
This Track feels full of hope to me, too. Something we could all use a lot of on a Monday.
4. “Two of Us on the Run” by Lucius
“Our favorite parts are what we’ll keep,
ornamental parts of love and parts of memories.
So, everything else has room to grow,
cause in better light,
everything changes.”
A Must Have on any Road Trip Mix, this Track makes me want to break out a real map (not my phone’s GPS) and hit the highway.
Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig create such amazing harmonies in this Song. This Track comes off of their 2013 released Debut Album which launched Lucius’ career, garnering the duo comparisons to 1960’s Girl Groups.
5. “Sugar Water” from Cibo Matto
“I’m on a concrete way,
the wind is blowing to the north-northwest,
it smells like sands of the southern island,
when a black cat crosses my path.”
The Song was co-written by Cibo Matto and Ennio Morricone, and the Video was directed by Michel Gondry, who went on to help write my favorite movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I hope you enjoy Today’s Top 5 featuring Dusty Springfield, Jimmy Cliff, The Lightning Seeds, Lucius and Cibo Matto.
Be sure to Tune in tomorrow for the next round of Top 5 Music Obsessions of the Day.
