Song 151 - The Life of Riley by the Lightning Seeds

Keeping with Liverpool based bands, I have chosen this 1992 hit by the Lightening Seeds for today's songs. Written by Ian Broudie for his son with the same name, the song only reached number 28 in the charts, but since then has gained popularity through being used on  Match of the day and on a TV sitcom of the same name. The song came off the band's 1992 album Sense and then use as the title of their greatest hits.

Music by the Lightening Seeds always make me smile as it is generally upbeat and cheerful to listen to. They are another band that I have seen live (!) and I have watched a very proud (Stubborn) Scottish Girl refuse to dance to their football anthem. She is always very brave as we were surrounded by English Football Fans!! True story.

What I love about this song is that in the seriousness of life it captures the importance of  sometimes being  able to break free from all the practicalities of day-to-day and go out there and smile with good friends and family. I am saying this today because this year (to date) seems to have thrown a lot of sadness around and although I can't control or stem the sadness  I can stand stubbornly and smile vowing that I refuse not to smile and make every moment count because we don't have endless tomorrows but every today can be magical. There is no such things as dress rehearsals in life.

Enjoy the song and live!!

Life of Riley

Written by: Ian Broudie

Album: Sense

Release: 1992

Song 145 - Good enough by Dodgy

Written by band member Nigel Clark, Good Enough was Dodgy's biggest hit in the 1990s, reaching number 4 in July 1996.  Taken from the album Free Peace Sweet, the song became a summer  anthem and was used in the film Sliding Doors.

Free Peace Sweet was released in June 1996 and debut at number 7 in the charts and in its first year of release sold in the region of 400,000 copies. It was Dodgy's third album and released by their new record label A&M. The band had previously worked with Mercury but due to difference between the label and the band's outlook, the two parted company before the album was released.

The band was formed in the late 1980s, when Nigel Clark and Matthew Priest joined up with David Griffith and became famous for their live performances. Their debut album The Dodgy Album was produced by Ian Broudie, from the Lightning Seeds, charted at number 75. Concerned with the social issues around them, they supported causes like youth democracy campaigns and War Child. They were the second UK band to return to Sarajevo after the lifting of the siege, giving a concert at Kuk Club in August 1996. They returned to Bosnia in 1997 to film.

Between 1998 - 2007, Clark took a break from the band to pursue solo projects but returned in 2007, where the band has continued to play live to raise awareness of social issues around the UK, including taking part in the Shelter campaign of hidden gigs in 2009.

They have always been a band Good Enough for me.

To listen to their 1996,
Good Enough by Dodgy

Written by Nigel Clark
Released: July 1996
Album: Free Peace Sweet.