Polyphonic Spree: a sonic tonic
Winter is depressing, so as an antidote I'd like to assemble a playlist of the most upbeat, life-affirming, hooray-for-everything music possible. All varieties of sonic tonic welcome, from the Polyphonic Spree to Motown to knees-up ska. If the lyrics are explicitly about happiness, all the better, but instrumentals count too. It's hard to write an unabashedly happy song that doesn't make listeners want to throw up, so this might not be as easy it looks. First person to mention REM's hideous Shiny Happy People wins the Readers Recommend wooden spoon.
Before we get started, a quick grumble. For last week's songs-about-famous-people playlist I asked for no songs about musicians; people suggested songs about musicians. I asked for no protest songs; people suggested protest songs. I asked for no Candle in the Wind; I got Candle in the Wind. Every week I am cheered by the enthusiasm and erudition of this column's readers but it does work best when people read the bit at the top.
And if I can bitch and moan so can you. If there's any artist or genre that you think has been unfairly under-represented over the last five months (they're all accessible via the website archive), feel free to comment and I'll see what I can do. Or get touchy and defensive. One of those.
Deadline for recommendations is 6pm Monday.
