Stupidly Happy

Growing up, music was ever present in my house. To my father, Franco Bolelli, listening to music was no less important than breathing. The notes coming from the record player filled our apartment for many hours every day. This means I was exposed to music from every conceivable genre and time period. It took me long to realize this wasn’t normal. I was puzzled by the fact that most of my friends and acquaintances were familiar with whatever was popular at the moment, but seemed to have no clue about the music I was fed on a daily basis. Their parents didn’t bring them to concerts by Miles Davis or Brian Eno… or whoever else my father happened to be obsessed with at the time.

This reminds me of a funny dialogue I heard when my daughter was little. She must have been seven or eight years old, and one of her classmates asked her, “Who are these people you always talk about? Muddy Waters… Howling Wolf… Billie Holliday… Bo Diddly?” After patiently explaining to her classmate who these artists were, she later turned to me in horror suggesting we should adopt some of the kids in her class since they were clearly not being raised right. I guess that without realizing it I was raising my daughter much in the way my father did—exposing her to a ton of music that kids rarely get to hear.

In any case… my point being, the range of my father’s musical interests was rather wide. You never knew what he may be into at any particular point. This reminds me of a particular winter when he put together a cassette (yes, we were still listening to audio-cassettes) of music from the late 50s and early 60s. He called that playlist “stupidly happy.” I was intrigued with the concept and asked him about it. He told me so much of the music he loved was intense, or deep, or heartbreaking, but there was something wonderfully refreshing about listening to music that didn’t take itself so seriously; lighthearted music that had the power to bring a smile to your face. I was sold on the concept so I listened. Then I listened again. And then again. I remember how that whole winter was one of the happiest of my life. So, in spirit of spreading a little bit of happiness, I’ll paste below links to some of the songs from his ‘Stupidly Happy’ compilation. I hope you enjoy it!

The Shirelles: “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”

Bobby Vee: “More than I Can Say”

The Drifters: “Save the Last Dance”

The Crystals: “Then He Kissed Me”

Buddy Holly: “Not Fade Away”

Fats Domino: “Ain’t That a Shame”

Dion: “Dream Lover”

The Ronettes: “Be My Baby”

Sam Cook: “Cupid”

The Drifters: “There Goes My Baby”

The Marvelettes: “Please, Mr. Postman”

Richie Valens: “Come On, Let’s Go”