Musical A-Z - J

Jack Johnson

An Egyptian holiday with my sister. Sunshine. Summer. Love Jack Johnson.

Jackson 5

So I always thought this was the song playing when you first see Selma Hayek in Dogma. Turns out that's Candy Girl by New Edition. Ah well. I got picked on at school with this song because my gym bag had 'abc' and '123' written all over it. Also remember dancing to Blame it on the Boogie at numerous school discos and similar events. And of course, that moment at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy with Want You Back                                      

The Jam

 

I used to work in a pub/nightclub that catered to more alternative music, and this song played frequently on the jukebox.

James

When my little niece was even littler, she used to sit down at your feet and sulk if she didn't get what she wanted, so I used to sing the chorus of this to her. I remember the confused look on her face the first time: she's still barely talking so I'm not sure if she understood the lyrics then, but she has always loved singing and I found it a useful distraction. These days I more often sing her Chili Pepper songs, but I always think of her when I hear this.

Jamiroquai

Jamiroquai is another fun and upbeat artist. Also, this song is my ultimate mis-heard lyrics: I spent years believing it was about having "candy in my heels tonight". Mind you, I'm not entirely sure "canned heat in my ears" makes that much more sense...

Japan

Another from the pub's jukebox - one of our regulars used to put this on quite a lot, and I really liked it. He warned me not to bother listening to the rest of their stuff cos it's not the same, and of course I ignored him and was disappointed, but I still like this song.

Jet

So it's my memory that this was released around the same time as Somebody Told Me by the Killers, and in my mind is the far superior song, yet Jet seem to have sunk into obscurity whilst the Killers are still all over the radio. But just listen to that bouncy bassline and tell me this isn't a fun song.

Johnny Cash

I love Nine Inch Nails but didn't really know Johnny Cash - just that he was a country singer and I emphatically disliked country music (you can blame a school dance class where we were forced to hear Achey Breaky Heart more or less on repeat for a term), so I wasn't exactly happy when I heard he'd covered Hurt. When I heard it, I was blown away and immediately reassessed my opinions. I was still annoyed when my late brother-in-law complained that NIN had covered this and destroyed it in the process, though!

Johnny Cash has the most incredible voice and there is something wondeful about the entire composition here.