I’ve promised a couple of times during my mini-series of sweet songs that I would do a post of candy tunes for my American friends, to recognise their misnaming of our delicious treats. I think it is about time that I did this, though as usual most of these are nothing to do with sweets, sorry, candy, but they all have the word in their titles. So let’s get going.

I’m starting with what I think is an obvious choice:

That was The Cars and Candy-O, the title track of their second album, which was released in June 1979 and peaked at #3 in the US, #4 in Canada, and #30 in the UK, and has since gone 4x Platinum in the US for 4m sales. The track wasn’t released as a single but did feature as the B-side to two others from the album that were – Let’s Go and It’s All I Can Do – in a variety of countries, including here in the UK. It didn’t matter to me: I already had the album!

And it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t take the opportunity to play another favourite band:

10,000 Maniacs released Candy Everybody Wants as a track on their fifth album, Our Time In Eden, in September 1992. The album charted modestly – at #28 in the US, #33 in the UK and #60 in Canada – but I loved it and it is one of my favourites of theirs. It has been a steady seller in the US, though, and has gone Double Platinum for selling more than 2m copies. This was the second single taken from the album, in March 1993, and it got to #47 in the UK, #67 in the US and #71 in Canada. I guess most of those who would have wanted it had the album by then. At the time of its release Rolling Stone magazine wrote that the song is about “the American appetite for televised sex and violence – and big business’s willingness to satisfy that craving.” I guess that might explain the slightly threatening, moralistic tone of the spoken intro to the video!

Another favourite band now. I’m spoiling myself with this candy! You may know this one:

That was Counting Crows with Hard Candy, the title track of their fourth album, which was released in July 2002 and peaked at #5 in the US and #9 in the UK, going Gold in both. It wasn’t released as a single, and that isn’t an official video – I don’t think there was one – but it was a clever mash up someone has made of the song with scenes from a 2005 movie also called Hard Candy, about which I can tell you nothing as I haven’t seen it, and judging from a couple of those scenes I may not bother finding it!

Yet another longtime favourite next. I think I’m in danger of overdosing:

Jackson Browne released Candy as a track on his eighth album, Lives In The Balance, in February 1986, which meant I just had time to buy it before our first daughter came along the following month and all listening had to be on the Walkman, so as not to disturb her fragile sleeping patterns! The record got to #23 in the US and #36 in the UK, though some of the critics were put off by its overtly political nature, with several songs criticising the Reagan presidency. I still liked it, though! This one wasn’t released as a single, but it did feature as the B-side to the single release of the album’s title track, which wasn’t a hit.

Having gone through a set of very familiar artists – if not tunes – I’m closing with one by someone I guess may be new to many of you. I like this guy and his song is a good fit for today’s theme – it does at least mention candy as we know it:

Paolo Nutini is a singer-songwriter from Paisley, in Scotland, who has been very successful in the UK and in many other countries – moderately so in the US. Candy was a track on his second album, Sunny Side Up, which was released in May 2009 and went straight to #1 in the UK, where it has gone 6x Platinum for 1.8m sales. It also made #1 in Ireland and made the charts across much of Europe, and even made #57 in the US. This was the first single taken from the album, a couple of weeks previously, reaching #19 in the UK, also making the charts in a number of other countries, and getting to #29 on the US Adult Alternative Airplay rankings. I’ve liked all of his records and have a full set in my Apple Music library – recommended, if you enjoyed this one.

Did I say that was my last tune for today? How about a little bonus one, that takes me back to my childhood when it was often on the radio:

The inimitable Burl Ives with The Big Rock Candy Mountain. This was a favourite on the Saturday breakfast radio show, Children’s Favourites, hosted by ‘Uncle Mac.’ Nowadays that name might seem dubious but he was anything but that: his real name was Derek McCulloch and he was a WW1 hero – you can read about him here if you’re interested. The song was written around 1895 by Harry McClintock, who made the first recording of it in 1928. The original lyrics were rather NSFW but it was cleaned up, and Burl’s version was the one we always enjoyed. Sorry for the self-indulgent detour, but I enjoyed this trip back to when I was around 8 or 9!

That is definitely it for today. As always, I leave you with a reminder of where I’ll be sharing this, at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop and at Cathy’s Monday’s Music Moves Me – both are recommended by me.

I’ll see you again in a couple of days, so until then stay safe and well. Take care 🤗