There's a 2014 Wall Street Journal video interview in which Aretha Franklin, when asked for her quick-take opinions on the pop stars of today, boils down Taylor Swift's entire career to: "OK, great, er, great gowns. Beautiful gowns." She'd just shouted out Alicia Keys as a good writer and producer, was about to name Whitney Houston a talent and would then decide to "pass on that one" when asked about Nicki Minaj. But in her estimation, Swift's main contribution to music has been the dresses she wears. That's it. This is a moment so pure it has to be treasured.
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The people who devote their lives to making music and selling it to us can also, often unwittingly, sometimes be funnier than your favourite washed-out standup comedian. Meek Mill, tumbling down some stairs; Iggy Azalea forgetting the length of her own stage and decking it off the edge; Sarah Harding just bombing the fuck out of a long note on GMTV during Girls Aloud's halcyon days. They're all examples of times when musicians have tickled a slapstick rib that most of us thought had fallen out of our bodies somewhere near the end of primary school. On this fine day, the International Day of Happiness, we're going back through the very best moments of musicians giving us joy when they didn't mean to. Enjoy.Listen, I love music as much as the next girl. I work for a music website, ffs. But when All Your Famous Faves "dropped" the launch video for Tidal almost two years ago, sitting around a conference table like they were at the UN General Assembly making a final call on Iran's nuclear plan, I gagged. The idea of ownership in art is obviously important, and in principle I am on board with Tidal being a streaming platform created by the very people whose music we all consume. But, like, lads. Jack White's stony, pale face. Daft Punk STILL NOT TAKING THEIR HELMETS OFF IN THE BOARDROOM because not even this seismic moment calls for the common courtesy of eye contact. Beyonce looking off into the middle distance, like she's already imagining how many tweets are going to mock this video. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. — Tshepo Mokoena
THE INCREDIBLY SERIOUS TIDAL LAUNCH VIDEO
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JESY NELSON FROM LITTLE MIX DOING "BALEGDEH"
THE OFFSPRING'S "CRUISING CALIFORNIA" SESH BUS
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BoB ARGUING THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT
GERI HALLIWELL EMERGING FROM A GIANT CROTCH
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And then – and then – she violently stomps across a line of men's backs like stepping stones made from skin, rips off her blouse and shouts, "SHOW ME YER BOOBS!" lf you saw this in your hometown's local – which we all have, haven't we – it would surely fill you with a deep and complicated sense of elation. So the fact this was on national British television and has been uploaded to YouTube for future generations is just a fucking blessed gift. — Daisy JonesOn this International Day of Happiness 2017 nothing makes me happier than knowing I have the passion of music blazing through my veins like a shot of glucose straight to my heart. Cut me open and I will bleed everything from DJ Detweiler's infamous #flutedrops straight out of 2013 to U2's disastrous b-side "Xanax and Red Wine" and weird images of Birdman whenever he pops up in one of Lil Wayne's rap videos looking like a bulldog that's just been given a sniff of some low-grade MDMA. I do not take pleasure in knowing these things today more so than I do on any other day of the year, for I know nothing more than these feelings. Music is me and I am music. "When the night is falling/ You cannot find the light/ You feel your dreams are dying/ Hold tight/ You've got the music in you" – and I believe that too. Let's get it. — Ryan BassilIf you hate happiness then I feel sorry for you, you semi-ironic and deeply sad inside fuck. — Ryan BassilHonourable mentions from this year go to Jessie J's a cappella Instagram videos, Bradley Walsh trying to grasp the concepts of Stormzy and Bruno Mars at the NME Awards, Travis Scott falling down a hole onstage during one of Drake's O2 shows and the GOAT vocalist scream-singing Green Day over his housemate's attempts to play acoustic guitar. Happiness to one and all.You can find Emma, Tshepo, Ryan and Daisy on Twitter.