This song brings back memories. It was released in 1966, but I heard it first in 1985 when I graduated and life was great…so it’s a ’60s song that reminds me of 1985. It was prom time, and after we left, with my white tuxedo with tails and a purple cummerbund, this came on the radio. It will forever be linked to that moment in time for me.
There’s a certain kind of record that arrives like a grinning stranger at your doorstep, all sunshine and tambourines and no agenda. This was written by the great Edwin Starr. This song is pure pop joy with a Motown sound. When he wrote this song, Starr was working for a Detroit record label that was eventually bought out by Motown. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100 in 1966.
It doesn’t mess around. It goes straight to the chorus, like the song can’t wait to get to the part that matters. The lead vocal is flanked by a chorus of voices that sound like the world’s friendliest pep squad… cheering on a romance that actually worked out for once.
This was the only top ten hit for The Shades of Blue, who were a white Soul band from Detroit. The song came at a time when American Soul music influenced the British music industry, creating a genré called Northern Soul.
The lyrics won’t remind you of Bob Dylan or John Prine, but that doesn’t matter. They’d go on to release more singles, but none stuck like this one. Oh! How Happy is their legacy, and what a legacy to have: a song that never tries to be cool, only kind.
Oh How Happy
Do roo, do roo, do roo, do roo do…
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
I have kissed your lips
A thousand times
And more times than i can count
I have called you mine
You have stood by me
In my darkest hours
Sing
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
In our years together
We’ve got stormy weathers
But our love has been so strong
For some how we carry on
Sing
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me), ooh, ooh
You brought joy
To my empty life, yeah
And all that was wrong
You made it right
Our love (our love)
Our love (our love)
Our love, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (you have made me)
Oh how happy (oh how happy)
Oh how happy (oh how happy)
Oh how happy, ooh… You…
You have made me (you have made me)
You have made me (you have made me)
You have made me (you have made me)
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
wow, fine blast from the past. I knew the song instantly but hadn’t heard it for probably at least a couple of decades and I would never have known the group name, likely even if it was just a multiple choice question. Nice happy love song, nothing wrong with that
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I had a hell of a time a few years ago finding this song! I couldn’t think of the exact name of it and many songs have Happy in them.
It’s a fun song that connects me with a time.
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those memories make it all the better. I think it’s been used in several commercials, but I can’t even remember precisely which ones
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I was so relieved when I found it again. Even 10 years ago…songs were not as easy to find as now. The other song that had me baffled for years that I heard a few months after this song was Kathy Young and The Innocents – A Thousand Stars. It took me years to find out who it was.
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I honestly don’t think I know this song, and I listened to a lot of oldies radio in the 80s and 90’s. Very nice.
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The word happy means pregnant in Hawaiian.
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Wow…I would have never guessed that.
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You can hear the Motown parts in the song.
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Simple but effective. never heard it before. I’m going to sing this to the first person i run into today. Wish me luck.
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Well I won’t say break a leg…but good luck…it’s simple but fun.
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So fun! Don’t you love it when songs have such strong memories attached to them?
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Oh yes…and it is such an innocent song on top of that.
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Linda from the group used to call our radio station all the time.
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Oh cool Dude!!!! They are from there…that is wild.
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I had no idea this was sung by white guys. I remember the name Edwin Starr but cannot remember which hit he had. Interesting about the British influence and the term northern soul.
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I didn’t know either…but I’ve always liked it.
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Didn’t Caroline Carter do a cover of this with Paul Carrack?….I loved that blue nun album.
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Yes she did! I just heard it…a good version of this.
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That song was all new to me, Max. Very soulful and upbeat – almost impossible not to like!
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Thanks Christian…sorry….I fell asleep last night early for once.
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It was probably a sign you really needed to rest, so I’m glad you did. I constantly don’t get enough sleep. It’s not a good thing and it eventually catches up with you!
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I kept getting up Christian all night long. I’m not thinking about Paul directly but I got up at 12:30 and then 3:30 and have been up since but it probably is… that he is in my mind. Yea tonight I’m going to try to really sleep. This really sucks.
Anyway… I didn’t mean to make you wait.
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Great tune, could not have told you did it though. Love me some 60s music Max!
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Ah yes…it’s one that you don’t hear everyday.
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I remember it a bit, but I don’t think it was played here as much as in the USA. I do know what you mean, though, about songs being associated with particular events. I’ve got some of those, too! They bring the original event back emotionally. This song’s very ‘chirpy’!
I had to look something up, though – when you mentioned your graduation, I though you meant college. I hadn’t realised in the USA there’s a graduation ceremony from high school. So – now a lot of things make a lot more sense to me (apropos movies, particularly!) Unless things have changed a lot here in the uk in the past few decades, well, here, people pretty much just leave.
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Oh yea…we have a big thing at the end of high school here. I wanted just to “leave” but my mom wanted me to walk through that line!
Always an excuse but this time it’s more serious. I’m working on the first email…but this past week one of my best friends passed. He had been a diabetic…the insulin shot kind since he was a baby. He had a kidney transplant 4 years ago…but his body just kept rejecting. It threw me…I should have expected it…but I talked to him around a month or so ago. I’ve known him since 4th grade.
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Oh no, Max. I’m so sorry about your friend. Sending hugs, and don’t worry about the reply.
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No I am going to reply! Last weekend my cousin Mark came down and stayed the entire weekend… but thank you. Yea I’m still in shock…I shouldn’t be but I am. The funeral is Monday.
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Well, when you write you can talk about it some more in email. I’m a good listener.
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Thanks Val…thats wha I should have done to begin with…but I just wanted to let you know what was going on.
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I only knew the Garfunkel cover, but the original is way better.
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