School Bus Rock – Happy

This is a playlist with tunes that could be considered happy, fun, and/or upbeat.

NOTABLE TRACKS

Mr. Blue Sky

Mr. Blue Sky from Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) has to be, in my opinion, the happiest song in rock! It is very upbeat and there is a reason for that. You will need to read the Wikipedia notes to find out why that is. Mr. Blue Sky was featured at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 so that Baby Groot could dance around, having fun, while the others were doing battle. The song is from ELO’s Out of the Blue album which was released as a 2 vinyl record set. Mr. Blue Sky is the last song on Side 3. Actually, it is the last song what what is known as Concerto for a Rainy Day which is all the songs on Side 3.

Steal My Sunshine

This was a massive One Hit Wonder for the band, Len. The sister and brother that created Len used to visit a music store in Toronto in what was known as Mirvish Village. They were looking for musical inspiration. How do I know that? A friend of mine was the owner of that store and he helped the duo find that inspiration. My friend, who is also a musician (drummer), is extremely knowledgable of music and they tapped into that knowledge. They would tell him what kind of sound they were looking for and he would introduce them to music based on what they said. One of those pieces of music that he showed them contained a segment which was sampled to become the foundation of Steal My Sunshine! Sadly, my friend got no credit from Len for his invaluable help.

Here is the song from which the sample was taken from. If you listen to the whole song you hear exactly what was sampled. If you’re in a rush then go directly to the 2:20 mark to hear it!

Walking on Sunshine

Walking on Sunshine from Katrina and the Waves is a very happy, energentic tune. This band was based in the U.K., but they did record their first album in Toronto, Canada! In 1985, I was lucky to see them live at the Ontario Place Forum. The cool thing about the Forum was that it had a revolving stage. You could be anywhere in the forum and would end up facing the band numerous times during the show. The encore of the show was Walking On Sunshine. What happened with the encore is still vivid in my memory. Katrina invited audience members to come down onto the stage and they did! That stage was filled with people dancing to Walking on Sunshine and the energy was through the roof! What a thing to experience.

Here is a pic of The Monkees at the Ontario Place Forum. This does a good job at showing what the venue was like.