58: Life's Really Worth Living When We Are Mirth Giving

58. "I Want to be Happy" by Sammy Davis, Jr. [Video: No official video, but since this version of the song is a hard one to wrangle up, here's a video that features the version of the song that I have and like. I Want To Be Happy.]

Look out!

Oh, Sammy! This song is full-on, dig it, groovy-time Sammy Davis, Jr.! Are you hip with that? Can you dig it? This is one righteous dude! He's really with it. Right on!

I first discovered this song from my thrift store record collecting days. When I saw this album at Deseret Industries, I had to buy it:

I had to buy it, and I had to buy it NOW!

And then I discovered that when you unfold the album cover, you get this:

Your very own giant fold-out poster of Sammy Davis, Jr.!

The song itself is a hoot from start to finish. Literally. The very first sound is Sammy saying, "Look out!" And then, it rivals "I'm Too Sexy" with one of the best song endings ever. How does this song end? It ends with Sammy singing, "Right on! That's the end of this song!" Brilliant! (And super groovy, too!)

Plus, the lyrics are about being happy, and making other people happy. How can you not smile at that? As the song says, "Life's really worth living when we are mirth giving. Why can't I give some to you?"

I learned a few things about this song in doing "research" for this post. (Can it really be called "research" if it takes less than ten minutes?) First of all, this song was the B-side to Sammy's biggest hit ever, "The Candy Man." (Which is a bit odd because this song is waaaayyyyyy better than "The Candy Man.") (I mean, seriously, who ever had childhood dreams of eating their dishes?)

Also, I learned that "I Want To Be Happy" originated as a song from a musical called "No, No, Nanette" way back in 1925. That has to make this one of the oldest songs on the HondoJoe Top 200, along with "Maple Leaf Rag."

So, there you have it. I hope this post about this song made you smile, and possibly even a little happy. Because I'm all about the mirth giving.

COMING UP NEXT: A Million to One.

59: Now, I Run From You

59. "Tainted Love/Where Did Our Love Go" by Soft Cell {#8; 1/82} [Video: Tainted Love. (I never saw this video before. I'm not sure how it would have been received by the masses back in 1982. Even in 2015 I'm thinking, "Smile, Marc! You have a wonderful hit song, no one wants to see you throw a tissy fit.")]

This song has a lot of similarities with the song before it on this list, "Safety Dance." Both songs are definite "wheelhouse" songs. Both feature a lot of synthesizer. And, both songs have multiple versions, with one version being far superior to the others.

In this case, it has to be the extended version with the "Where Did Our Love Go" fade ending. Sometimes I'll hear the shorter, "Tainted Love" only version, and I'll be supremely disappointed when, after the second "Touch me baby, tainted love" it continues to fade without diverting to "Where Did Our Love Go." Without it, it might make the HondoJoe Top 200. With it, it's firmly ensconced in the Top 100.

I knew the "Where Did Our Love Go" part of the song was a remake of a song by the Supremes, but I didn't know until today that the "Tainted Love" portion of the song was originally released by a woman named Gloria Jones back in 1964. You learn something new-ish every day!

COMING UP NEXT: Happy, happy, joy, joy!

60: I Can Act Like an Imbecile

60. "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats {#3; 6/83} [Video: Safety Dance.]

First of all, let's be clear about one thing: I'm talking here about the long version of the song. (On the cd I got it from, it's called the "Original Aussie version.") Why does it have to be the long version? Because only the long version features the spelling out of the word S-A-F-E-T-Y. Also, only the long version features the nice little repetitive synthesizer riff. It's gotta be the long version.

Men Without Hats are a Canadian group featuring three brothers, Ivan, Stefan and Colin Dodoschuk. Yes, that's right, I said Dodoschuk! For a time there was some confusion between Men At Work and Men Without Hats. Maybe they should have just called themselves Dodoschuk or The Dodoschuk Brothers.

This is most definitely a "wheelhouse" song. The summer of 1983? That's right in my wheelhouse.

If I were ever in charge of the music at a major NFL stadium (it could happen), I'd be sure to play "Safety Dance" every time the home team scored a safety. I'd also instruct the cheerleaders to try to lead the crowd into doing a dance featuring the NFL signal for a safety. (The fact that not every NFL stadium music coordinator does this is a sad statement on the state of our American culture.)

You can dance if you want to. (And feel free to smile, too.)

And now, because nobody asked for it, my Top 8 songs that spell out words:

8. "Method of Modern Love" by Hall and Oates. (It gets demerits for not spelling out the word "Modern.")

7. "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole.

6. "ROCK In the USA" by John Cougar Mellencamp.

5. "Lola" by The Kinks.

4. "RESPECT" by Aretha Franklin. (Sock it to me, sock it to me.)

3. "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers.

2. "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats.

1. "Pocatello" by the Parrish Sisters. (It's an obscure song known probably only by the Parrish Sisters, their immediate families, and me. The lyrics go, "P-O-C-A-T-E-L-L-O in I-D-A-H-O, Pocatello is the place for you and me…Every heart returns to Pocatello.")

COMING UP NEXT: Love: What's wrong with that?

61: And I Can Do Anything

61. "Superman" by REM {Video: none}

A while back I made a mix tape cd featuring a bunch of songs about Superman. This became a very popular playlist around my household. The wife and the kids all enjoyed the Superman songs, and it got played over and over and over again.

That's how this song got so high on this list.

(There's something especially entertaining about having your two-year old son singing a song he sorta knows, but getting the words a little bit wrong. Buzz: "I am, I am Superman, and I can do what I want.")

I like some REM, but I don't really love them. So, it seems strange to me that REM would have as many songs on the HondoJoe Top 200 as The Cars, Weezer, Hall and Oates, The Outfield, Alan Parsons Project, Barry Manilow, Ed Ames, Robert Goulet, Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Huey Lewis and the News, Taco, Falco, Chilliwack, Neon Trees, and Frank Sinatra combined.

(Don't worry. It's not the end of the world as we know it. Because I am Superman, and I can do what I want.)

COMING UP NEXT: Do I have to spell it out for you?

62: We Never Shall Fall

62. "United" by Judas Priest [Video: United.]

I used to use this song to pump (clap) myself up.

I credit this song for my most successful year of church basketball in high school. I used to listen to this song before leaving the house every time we had a game my senior year. And, we had a kick-butt year of churchball! So, of course, I credit this song for its ability to get me pumped up.

(I'm sure our kick-butt year of churchball had nothing to do with the fact we had a senior-laden team and we were crushing a bunch of sophomores and freshmen. It's all because of Judas Priest!)

[Side note: Even though it is spelled "Judas Priest," the name of this group was pronounced, at least in Southeast Idaho, as "Judast Priest."]

I never actually owned this song. I had to listen to "United" on a cassette I had recorded off of the radio. Ah, the halcyon innocent days of music piracy! And, oh how I hated disc jockeys who would talk over the end of songs, or talk too long over the beginning of songs.

Of course, I couldn't have owned anything by this band back in those days, because I would not have been allowed to have anything named "Judas Priest" in the house. ("Judast Priest, either.)

As I think about those old recorded-off-the-radio cassettes, most of the songs on them were pretty mainstream. This ("United") was one of the few songs I didn't end up having on regular store-bought cassettes, records or cds.


Now, for a somewhat off-topic ramble:

I'm remembering one other song that I never owned in any other form besides the recorded-off-the-radio cassette. In the darkest reaches of my memory, I recall a song by a group from Preston, Idaho named Ace. I couldn't remember the name of the song, only that the group's name was Ace and that they were from Preston, Idaho.

But then, through the magic of Google, YouTube, and the internets, I found the song! (Sort of.) The song was called "Doing the Best That We Can," and I found a shoddy cover of it by some other band, named either Camden or Millington, from some kind of church dance. And you know, it's still a pretty good song. Here's the link: Doing the Best That We Can. (Yes, it's a crappy video, but if you can picture the song being played by actual talented musicians, it's a pretty good song.)

COMING UP NEXT: Meanwhile, back in the Hall of Justice….

63: I Found a Piece of Happiness to Call My Own

63. "One In a Million You" by Larry Graham {#9; 6/80} [Video: One In a Million You.]

Ah, the deep, resonant voice of Larry Graham!

This is one of the best sing-along songs on the entire HondoJoe Top 200. But, it's not a song you can kinda sorta sing along with. If you are going to sing "One In a Million You," you have to fully commit to it. Singing along to this song demands some volume and some intensity.

When I lived in an apartment I couldn't sing along to this song, for fear of disturbing the neighbors. It wasn't until I bought my first house that I could unleash my full Larry Graham. But then, when my oldest child turned three I had to stop singing it again, for fear that seeing her daddy attempt to hit some of those last intense notes would make her think that I had lost my mind.

So now I can only sing it when I am in my car, preferably with little traffic around.

You see, I love singing to this song! That's probably because of that deep, resonant voice of Larry Graham. With my deep-ish voice, I can actually hit some of the same notes he hits! No, I can't hit all of the notes he hits. I probably don't even hit most of the notes he hits. But, a guy can pretend, right? (And sometimes at a very high rate of volume.)

(It also helps that the lyrics cut a little close to home for me:
     "I was a lonely man with empty arms to fill."
     "I started to believe I'd never find anyone."
     "Doubt had tried to convince me to give in. Said you can't win.")

COMING UP NEXT: We are here to pump (clap) you up!

64: One of These Days You're Gonna Break Your Glass

64. "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra {#4; 8/79} [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Don't Bring Me Down. (The video is pretty straightforward, although I'm not sure what to make of the pulsating neon frankfurter.)}

The Minnesota Vikings aren't going to win the Super Bowl this year. The Utah Jazz aren't winning the NBA Championship, either. And the Electric Light Orchestra is not going to have a #1 hit.

This was the biggest hit ELO ever had, making it up to #4 on the Hot 100. It was also the first song recorded by ELO to not feature any violins. It was their biggest hit, and also kinda marked the beginning of the downfall of ELO. (Without the Orchestra, they're just the Spanish word for "the.")

(What the "EL?")

It's a rocking tune with pounding drums, pounding piano, and pounding vocals.

Jeff Lynne filled in the chorus with a nonsense sound, "grooosss." (I'm not sure if I have the correct amount of "o's" or "s's" in there or not.) People generally don't like nonsense sounds that they can't understand in their songs, so they tried to make sense of it. People will line up for days to sing "Ooga-chocka, ooga-ooga," even if they don't know what it means, because they can understand the sounds that are being said. But they weren't sure if Jeff was singing "grooosss," or "Bruce."

Apparently, enough people thought it was "Bruce" that in concert Jeff would actually sing "Bruce" himself. No wonder people were getting the "lyrics" confused!

The chorus repeats more often than in some songs, but Jeff does a great job of spicing things up a bit at the end with some hand-claps, and some extra "no-nos" and some extra "don'ts." Good stuff.

I tell you once more….

COMING UP NEXT: What are the odds?

65: I Know Who I Want To Take Me Home

65. "Closing Time" by Semisonic {#11; 3/98} [iTunes? Yes.] {Video: Closing Time.}

Some songs have a certain specific memory attached to them.

When I first moved to Utah, I worked and drove truck out of a warehouse for a large regional grocery store chain. (For the sake of anonymity, I'll refer to it by the generic name of "Smith's.")

I had happily been working for "Smith's" for over eight and a half years when one day management called all of the workers together for a meeting on the shipping dock. The corporate office was going to close down our warehouse, putting almost 200 people out of work.

They slowly phased out our warehouse over a period of six months. A lot of people left that first week. And then, as the six months progressed, a few more people would leave every week until the workforce dwindled down to about 15 of us. It was kind of morbid to keep working there all those months, every week saying goodbye to friends and co-workers. (And yes, the occasional cretin.)

At some point during this period I remember hearing this song being played over the intercom and thinking how fitting it was. "Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

Of course, it helps that this is a very catchy song with lots of memorable lyrics. It is very high on the "sing-along-ability" scale.

"Closing time: Open all the doors and let you out into the world."
"Closing time: One last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer."
"Closing time: You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here."
"So gather up your jacket, move it to the exits, I hope you have found a friend."
"I know who I want to take me home."
And, of course: "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

COMING UP NEXT: Is that you, Bruce?