Reasons To Be Cheerful Part. 3

Happy Saturday! Today the weather has been great so far in the city and that's plenty enough "Reasons To Be Cheerful".    This brilliant song is by legendary English rock and roll singer, lyricist, bandleader and actor, the late Ian Dury.  Mr. Dury rose to fame during the late 1970's, during the punk and New Wave era of rock music.  He is best known as founder, frontman, and lead singer of the British band Ian Dury and the Blockheads.  My friend Wiki  told me a great story of this song.  It was initially released as a single in 1979 and quickly reached number 3 in the UK singles chart.  It was the last single to be released by the band in their original line-up.  It was recorded in Rome during a break from their long European tour.   According to Mr. Dury, the song was inspired by the near fatal accident involving a lighting roady who almost got electrocuted by a microphone stand while leaning over a mixing deck.  Another roady saved his life, hence why 'no electric shocks' is included in the song's lyrics.  The song was written in the bands hotel during the aftermath of this  and a fight that broke out at the venue when the band were forced to cancel the show because of the safety issues.  The song is different from other Ian Dury's work owing much to Disco and soft funk with rapped lyrics.  It has been described as a 'shopping-list song' since it is a simple list of a number of reasons to be cheerful. The list includes: Rock 'n' Roll singe Buddy Holly, Little Richard's 1956 hit "Good Golly Miss Molly"; Equal voting rights for men and women; Piccadilly Circus, London; Generosity and politeness, carrot juice, wine, Elvis, going to the toilet, sex; the popular song "Volare", Smokey Robinson and self education ("something nice to study").   Mr. Dury's have resonated with the working man. He is also known for dance classics, "Spasticus Autisticus" and "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick".  Sadly this musical genius passed away of complications with cancer in 2000, however, his music live on!

Reasons To Be Cheerful Part. 3 (12" Extended) - Ian Dury