My Top 1000 Songs #848: Fun To Be Happy

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.]

Breaking another one of my not-so-hard-and-fast-after-all rules--in this case, my rule against including instrumentals, 'cuz, c'mon, rock & roll, lyrics matter. But this one's way up on the shortlist of instrumental tracks I absolutely adore (see also Brian Eno and Yo La Tengo and Uncle Tupelo; see also the Grateful Dead).

"Fun To Be Happy" is a jittery little surf-guitar-tinged ska-esque ditty, appearing on Athens, GA jangle-pop band Love Tractor's self-titled 1982 debut, back when they were primarily an instrumental act. Though I was first introduced to the track by The Feelies, who used to cover it (at a much faster clip) in concert. They didn't record a studio version--indeed, this is the second (mostly) instrumental on my list played live but never officially released by The Feelies--but frontman Glenn Mercer, with his post-Feelies band Wake Ooloo, finally got around to it on 1995's What About It (their second of 3 underrated LPs). That version has a little more punch than the Love Tractor original, but both are great and a nice way to vary the vibe on your next mixtape/playlist.

Love Tractor original (with a video that makes it, well, fun to be happy!):

Wake Ooloo cover:

The Feelies, live 1987: