For many the change of season brings an urge to get healthy and hit the gym or even the road. I may not be an expert on what makes people run faster or gym harder, but I can tell you which songs put me in a good mood instantly and will make even the laziest person get up and have a 30 second dance party, I refer to these as feel good tunes.
According to a blog post I read recently, there is a real life formula for feel good tunes, and they even gave the equation to prove it. I’m not a mathematician or scientist, so I am unable to access or prove whether this is correct, but I reckon that if a song makes you tap your feet to the beat, that may be a good indication.
Although feel good tunes are most probably a rather personal choice, I find that when playing to a crowd there are always more than a few songs guaranteed to make any person of any age get up and dance. I am not usually prone to sharing all my DJ secrets, but…
Here are my 10 favourite Oldies that have stood the test of time as far as feel good tunes go:
- Get Around – Beach Boys
- Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis
- Jive Bunny – Swing in the Mood
- La Bamba – Richie Valens
- Bamboleo Gipsy Kings
- Mango Groove – Dance Some More
- Vulindlela – Brenda Fassie
- Does your Mother Know – Abba
- Don’t Stop me now – Queen
- Valerie – Amy Winehouse feat Mark Ronson
Next up my favourite feel good songs of late, five songs over five years, small problem is that I couldn’t choose only one favourite feel good tune from 2014, so I’m sharing two. Will these tunes will stand the test of time? Who knows? All I know is that if these don’t get you moving you might not have a heart or beat:
Magpie’s Top 5 Feel Good Tunes 2012-2016
2012: On Top of the World – Imagine Dragons
2013: Happy – Pharell
2014: Shut up and Dance – Walk the Moon
2014: Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars feat Mark Ronson
2015: Cheerleader – OMI
2016: Me Too – Meghan Trainor
So whether these playlists motivate you to power walk to the printer, get up and dance, or run to the gym is irrelevant, my only hope is that they make you feel good and put that Spring back in your step!
Written by Margaret Whitfield • DJ Magpie • our in-house Music Maven
