Formed in Manchester in 2000, Simian enjoyed a brief period of success with this song due largely to its appearance in numerous 2003 TV commercials. The band broke up in 2005, but members still continue to make music. The song is solid and I never understood why the band wasn’t more popular.
“When you feel down and out, sing a song!” It’s hard to not do just that listening to this up-beat, happy-go-lucky funk melody. Earth, Wind & Fire is the ultimate funk-pop band. Their hit “Sing a Song” reached #5 on the U.S. Billboard Charts in 1976 and it’s regarded as one of the band’s most popular songs. Founded in 1969 by Maurice White, EWF has sold over 90 million albums and enjoy continued success, performing songs to this day.
Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator, philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.
His early 1970s albums Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat went Triple Platinum in the United States. His album Catch Bull at Four sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release and was Billboard’s number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years, for “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, which has been a hit single for four different artists.
Cat Stevens converted to Islam at the height of his fame in December, 1977, and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam, the following year. In 1979, he left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003’s World Award, the 2004 Man for Peace Award and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace. In 2006, he returned to pop music under the name Yusuf, with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled An Other Cup. His newest album, Roadsinger, was released on May 5, 2009.
Taj Mahal is one of my favorite musicians and song writers. I was lucky enough to get back stage passes to his show at the Fillmore in San Francisco a few months ago where I heard him perform Queen Bee live.
Originally by Mick Jackson, this upbeat disco song was reinvented by the Jackson Five.
If you have any interest, check out the original version here.
I have always been a big fan of this song released by Manitoba on the album Up In Flames in 2003. Manitoba, code name for Dan Snaith’s one man band, has since been renamed to Caribou due to legal issues.
Twitter: @dailysongfix
