Songs By "Magic"-al Artists

My son is going to a magic show at the library today with his daycare. In honor of that (and also because I really wanted to post the first song in this list), here's a small collection of songs by bands with the word "Magic" in their names. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  MAGIC!  ~  "Rude"  (This song is all over the radio right now, and for good reason. It's quite infectious!)

2)  Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band  ~  "Sure 'Nuff 'N' Yes I Do"

3)  Blue Magic  ~  "Sideshow"

4)  Ministry Of Magic  ~  "This Town"  (You'd have to be oblivious not to catch the multiple Harry Potter references in this song, as well as in the band's name. Apparently, this falls under the category of "Wizard Rock," a sub-genre of rock-n-roll consisting entirely of songs about the Harry Potter universe. Brilliant!)

5)  Young Magic  ~  "Sparkly"

6)  Here We Go Magic  ~  "How Do I Know?"

7)  Yellow Magic Orchestra  ~  "Firecracker"

8)  Computer Magic  ~  "The End Of Time"

9)  Monkey Majik  ~  "Together"  (This is a unique band, Comprised of two Canadian guys and two Japanese guys. The two Canadian lead singers sing two-thirds of the lyrics in Japanese and the rest in English. The strange thing is, it works quite well. They sound awesome! Go figure..)

10)  Magic Wands  ~  "Space"

11)  The Magic Numbers  ~  "Love Me Like You"  (The members of this band are not traditionally beautiful, and they aren't skinny little waifs or svelte model types. They just play music really well. And they have more than half a million views on YouTube! Maybe there's hope for the music industry after all!)

12)  Magic Sam  ~  "All Your Love" / "Lookin' Good"  (Here's two classic blues numbers for the price of one. Don't say I never gave you anything!)

13)  Magic Dirt  ~  "All My Crushes"

14)  Magic Dick ft. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers  ~  "Whammer Jammer"  (Despite his laughably inappropriate name, this guy can play the mess out of a harmonica!)

15)  Magic Bullets  ~  "Yesterday's Seen Better Days"

"Human" Songs

I recently posted a bunch of songs with "People" in the title, so I figured why not a collection of "Human" songs as well. Besides that, one of my new favorite songs is called "Human" and I was actively looking for an excuse to post it here. Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Christina Perri  ~  "Human"  (Here's the song that inspired this post. And it's simply gorgeous!)

2)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Human Nature"

3)  Björk  ~  "Human Behavior"  (Call me a dork, but I love Björk!)

4)  The Killers  ~  "Human"

5)  ILSE  ~  "I Am Human"

6)  Kamelot  ~  "The Human Stain"  (I'm including this one for my friend Don, who's a big Kamelot fan. But also because it's a really good song!)

7)  Regina Spektor  ~  "Human Of The Year"  (I love, love, love Regina Spektor's music! That is all.)

8)  Jon McLaughlin  ~  "Human"

9)  Nico Vega  ~  "Human Animal"

10)  Manafest  ~  "Human"

11)  Ellie Goulding  ~  "Human"

12)  Billy Joel  ~  "You're Only Human (Second Wind)"  (If you ever feel like jumping off a bridge, Billy Joel will be there to talk you down.)

13)  Skye Sweetnam  ~  "Human"

14)  The Human League  ~  "Human"  (Here's one of those ubiquitous songs we'll still be hearing in fifty years.)

15)  Divinyls  ~  "Human On The Inside"

16)  Bruce Springsteen  ~  "Human Touch"

17)  Beauty And The Beast Cast  ~  "Human Again"  (Apparently, this song was cut from the original film, but was later restored for either DVD or Blu-ray.)

18)  Scorpions  ~  "Humanity"

19)  Lady Sovereign  ~  "So Human"

20)  Sam Roberts Band  ~  "Human Heat"

21)  Seal  ~  "Human Beings"

22)  Civil Twilight  ~  "Human"

23)  Jason Mraz  ~  "Only Human"

24)  Switchfoot  ~  "New Way To Be Human"

25)  Betty Boop  ~  "Be Human"  (As if one cartoon song wasn't enough for one post…here's another. Apparently, Betty Boop was a card-carrying member of PETA. LOL!)

Songs About "People"

If you're a chronic Wax & Tracks visitor with decent long-term memory, you're probably thinking, "Wait a second, didn't he just do a series of posts of songs with people's names in it? Isn't this the same thing?" If that's what you're thinking, first of all, I must thank you for being a chronic Wax & Tracks visitor, and secondly, you are dead wrong. This is a post featuring songs with the actual word "People" in their titles. For those of you to whom this is important, commentary is included with each song. Enjoy it, people!  ~  JH

1)  R.E.M. ft. Kate Pierson  ~  "Shiny Happy People"  (This oddball song falls in the so-bad-it's-actually-kind-of-good department.)

2)  Steve Aoki ft. Rivers Cuomo  ~  "Earthquakey People"  (I didn't know the guy from Weezer could rap…well, it's kinda half-rapping, half-talking, and half-singing – I know, one too many halves. Whatever you call it, Rivers does it well.)

3)  Jemina Pearl ft. Iggy Pop  ~  "I Hate People"  (So do I. Sometimes…)

4)  Common  ~  "The People"  (Not sure what this song's really about, but Common's got a nice flow and he doesn't curse any here, so…yeah.)

5)  Montgomery Gentry  ~  "Some People Change"  (Thankfully, this is true. And it's especially sweet when it's a change for the better.)

6)  Jessica Frech  ~  "People Of Walmart"  (If you've shopped at Walmart lately, you know what to expect to see here…so proceed with caution! And feel free to LOL!)

7)  Portugal. The Man  ~  "People Say"  (This guy's a little left of center in his videos, but he's undeniably a good musician and songwriter.)

8)  The Doors  ~  "People Are Strange"  (They sure are, Jim. See # 6 above.)

9)  Birdy  ~  "People Help The People"  (A beautiful song by a lovely and talented young singer from the UK.)

10)  Jack Johnson  ~  "Good People"  (Excellent question, Jack. Where ARE all the good people these days?)

11)  Depeche Mode  ~  "People Are People"  ('80s flashback time…again! You're welcome!)

12)  Cher Lloyd  ~  "Beautiful People"  (I've never seen Cher Lloyd this subdued before. That's a good thing, actually.)

13)  dc Talk  ~  "Colored People"  (Probably the best song this band ever did. They've all gone their separate ways now – and all successfully – but they left behind some really good music. And some really lame stuff in their early years.)

14)  Pulp  ~  "Common People"  (This is cheeky Brit-pop at its cheekiest and Brit-poppiest.)

15)  Les Misérables Cast  ~  "Do You Hear The People Sing?"  (Die-hard Les Miz fans may disagree, but I thought this was an extremely well-made film all the way around.)

16)  Rod Stewart ft. Jeff Beck  ~  "People Get Ready"  (I'm not the biggest fan of Rod Stewart, but he pretty much kills it on this one. And Jeff Beck is amazing on guitar, as always.)

17)  for KING & COUNTRY  ~  "People Change"  (I've seen this band in concert, and have even shared an elevator with the shaggy-haired lead singer – purely coincidentally – and they are every bit as good live as they are in the studio.)

18)  Ida Maria  ~  "Quite Nice People"  (What a beautifully cynical song this is! She sings quite nicely, too.)

19)  Dawes  ~  "Most People"  (I was not familiar with this band previously, but they have a nice, smooth sound and the catchiness of the song sticks with you long after it's ended.) 

20)  Dr. Dog  ~  "Shadow People"  (This guy's sorta indie rock and sorta Bob Dylan. A strange mix, I know. But the result is a smooth, contemporary sound that's actually quite infectious.)

BONUS TRACK:  Sly And The Family Stone  ~  "Everyday People"  (Thanks for pointing out its glaring omission, Daniel!)

"Innocent" Songs

Here's the follow-up to yesterday's "Guilty" songs post. These are all pretty good – take a listen!  ~  JH

1)  Our Lady Peace  ~  "Innocent"

2)  Delerium ft. Leigh Nash  ~  "Innocente (Falling In Love)"

3)  Billy Joel  ~  "An Innocent Man"

4)  Victoria Beckham ~  "Not Such An Innocent Girl"

5)  Stereophonics  ~  "Innocent"

6)  Feathers  ~  "Land Of The Innocent"

7)  Donny Osmond  ~  "Sweet And Innocent"

8)  Gogol Bordello  ~  "Lost Innocent World"

9)  Stellar Kart  ~  "Innocent"

10)  Alexander O'Neal ft. Cherrelle  ~  "Innocent"

11)  Giant  ~  "Innocent Days"

12)  Mike Oldfield ft. Anita Hegerland  ~  "Innocent"

13)  Groove Coverage  ~  "Innocent"

14)  Delta Goodrem  ~  "Innocent Eyes"

15)  Small Mercies  ~  "Innocent"