good music

I have what you might call an eclectic taste in music.

It's much easier to say what I don't like, than to try listing what I do like.
Don't like:
Hip-hop, dance club DJ house or any of the senselessly repetitive stuff you might here in a place like that.
Heavy post-grunge guttural screaming.

But there are all kinds of music that add to my happiness.

1) Fun Happy Music. Barenaked Ladies is some of the most fun I've had listening to music over my lifetime. Now that's not to say that the wackiness of Weird Al, or Kip Adotta doesn't tickle me, but BNL makes me smile musically and lyrically.

2) The Blues. Now you might think that blues isn't an uplifting genre, but I'd say you're wrong about that from the same perspective that country music isn't all sad (train ran over my dog when my wife left and I lost my job) music. So much of it is just plain fun and so interesting to join in on. Examples include Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, ZZ Topp, Blues Traveler, Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, The Beatles, Dire Straits, and Lou Reed.

3) Big Band and Jazz. I could separate those, but I'm not gonna. Don't like it? Get your own blog. I'm talking about Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald, Gerry Mulligan, anyone with the last name Marsalis, Diane Reeves, Lou Rawls, Michael Bublé, and of course the Chairman of the Board - Frank Sinatra. But more fun has been listening to Paul Anka, from his album, Rock Swings. Here's one of my favorites.

Jump
Written by: Eddie Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony, Alex Van Halen
First release: Jump by Van Halen on audio album MCMLXXXIV (1984)

Performed by: Paul Anka
First release: Rock Swings (November 2005)


How do you listen to that and keep from smiling?