Silly Love Songs

I'm about a week away from moving into my new apartment, which means finally having access once again to my computer/iTunes library as well as my vinyl. So, for today's selections I dug through my lovely companions' iTunes in hopes of finding something good to post. I noticed a playlist that I had made for her when we first started dating, charmingly called "Silly Love Songs." It was Valentine's day and we were falling in love and I had the clever idea of secretly sneaking on to her computer, loading a playlist that I had made and putting it on to her ipod without her knowing. She was leaving on a trip, so I made sure she had her freshly loaded ipod with her and then gave her a card as I dropped her off at the airport, telling her to check her ipod for something special. I have to say I was pretty proud of myself and wonder what I can do now, more than a year in to top that . . .

The whole mix is great and deliberately sentimental. Out of the many favorites are these two Motown tunes from 1970 (Stevie) and 1971 (Smokey) that are both unmistakably Stevie and Smokey, respectively, but also kina uncharacteristic of both of their styles.

Stevie Wonder - Sugar
This Stevie song rules! Those drums are so huge - I wonder if he played them. And that hook. The song is nothing BUT hook. Hearing it for the first time I immediately knew it was Stevie, but also I was also bewildered that I had never heard it before. The title is perfect as it's about the sweetest bit of pop confection that Stevie ever laid to wax.

Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Crazy About the La La La
I think my brother, Charlie, might have tipped me off to this one. Once again William Robinson is a genius with lyrics, telling the audience about this "thing" that he's crazy about without ever saying what it is, just "la la la." The way he sings you get the impression that the "la la la" might be something that the conservative Motown execs (himself being VP at this time, I think) wouldn't want uttered on the pop charts. Knowing Smokey's predilection for women and illict substances, it really could be either, or maybe he's talking about "toast and jam."