Tag Archives: Cocktail Hour Music

Mumford & Sons I Will Wait

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It has taken nearly a year since its original release but Mumford & Sons I Will Wait is finally getting the commercial success it deserves!

“We wanted to do something unashamed,” says Ben Lovett. “We’re confident and happy to be where we are as a band — everything that’s happened with us has exceeded expectations, and it’s all been a surprise, it’s all much bigger than what we were prepared for. So when we came to recording this record we had a choice: to shy away from that, or to realise that people dig what we’re doing, and make something robust, with that energy.” Mumford & Sons Website

Mumford & Sons I Will Wait with Rhode Island Wedding DJ

Mumford & Sons I Will Wait Critical Response

The song has received generally favourable reviews. Grady Smith of Entertainment Weekly gave the song a positive review, saying how the song “hearkens back to their Grammy-nomination-festooned single “The Cave” with its shouted refrain, triumphant horns, a driving kick drum, and an earnest lyric about a relationship so perfect it has Marcus Mumford kneeling down in reverence, raising his hands, and wishing for his mind to be “freed from the lies.”” Stephanie Middleton of The Celebrity Cafe said, “With untouched vocals and harmonies, the boys manage to create yet another genuine Mumford & Sons track.”

Katie Hasty of HitFix gave the song a B+, saying “Marcus is a softie, but he’s got a problem with repetition,” but also said “they bring it home when they jump up an octave and beat the hell out of the chorus.” She concluded with, “This song could be really huge.” Liv Carter of Urban Country News awarded the song a ‘thumbs-up’. Reviewing the song after it started receiving airplay at country radio, she called it “a perfect piece of folk-rock that more than deserves to be introduced to the wider country radio audience.” Rolling Stone magazine named the song the 13th best song of 2012.

Mumford & Sons I Will Wait Music Video

The Mumford & Sons I Will Wait Story

During the year, the band had been releasing new songs from their second album online or performing them at concerts. Marcus Mumford told MTV that the song “reflects the band’s hectic life on the road – which shaped the new album’s sound.” Ted Dwane told Rolling Stone, “Being away so much for the last couple of years is inevitably a theme on the record, because it’s something that we’ve all shared.” The song was played live in various forms through 2010-2011 under the working title ‘Nothing Is Written’.

What is your favorite part of Mumford & Sons I Will Wait?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

973.908.8147

Karley & Dan Wedding

Gallery

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This gallery contains 32 photos.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ 973.908.8147

Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs

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I was doing some research today and thought it would be fun to review the Billboard All-Time Hot 100 top songs of Billboard’s 50th Anniversary.

The songs in the “50th Anniversary” charts had to appear on the Hot 100 in order to be counted. This may create some confusion (for example: many great country artists and songs are not on the “50th Anniversary” chart because, while very popular on the country charts they didn’t cross over to the Hot 100). Also, keep in mind the Hot 100 started in August 1958 so any prior songs are not listed, including some popular Elvis Presley songs.

The “50th Anniversary” chart is based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100. The artist chart utilizes the same methodology, with weighted points applied to all titles charted by each artist during that 50-year span. They are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at number one earning the greatest value and weeks at number one hundred earning the least.

Hot 100’s 50th Anniversary award relative points for every week that a title spent on the chart, regardless of rank. For the Hot 100’s 50th Anniversary, Billboard’s charts department ensured a more balanced representation of hits from all 50 years, by analyzing the length of chart runs in earlier decades, as well as the average weeks that titles spent in the top 10 and at number one. Weights for earlier spans were then formulated, to compensate for the shorter chart runs that titles experienced before the 1991 conversion to precise and objective sales and radio data from Nielsen Music.

Billboard All-Time Hot 100 top songs

  1. “The Twist” – Chubby Checker
  2. “Smooth” – Santana featuring Rob Thomas
  3. “Mack the Knife” – Bobby Darin
  4. “How Do I Live” – LeAnn Rimes
  5. “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)” – Los del Río
  6. “Physical” – Olivia Newton-John
  7. “You Light Up My Life” – Debby Boone
  8. “Hey Jude” – The Beatles
  9. “We Belong Together” – Mariah Carey
  10. “Un-Break My Heart” – Toni Braxton
  11. “Yeah!” – Usher featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
  12. “Bette Davis Eyes” – Kim Carnes
  13. “Endless Love” – Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
  14. “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)” – Rod Stewart
  15. “Foolish Games” / “You Were Meant for Me” – Jewel
  16. “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” – Bryan Adams
  17. “I’ll Make Love to You” – Boyz II Men
  18. “Theme from A Summer Place” – Percy Faith & His Orchestra
  19. “Le Freak” – Chic
  20. “How Deep Is Your Love” – The Bee Gees
  21. “Eye of the Tiger” – Survivor
  22. “I Just Want to Be Your Everything” – Andy Gibb
  23. “Low” – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
  24. “Too Close” – Next
  25. “Every Breath You Take” – The Police
  26. “Flashdance… What a Feeling” – Irene Cara
  27. “Tossin’ and Turnin’” – Bobby Lewis
  28. “The Battle of New Orleans” – Johnny Horton
  29. “One Sweet Day” – Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
  30. “Truly Madly Deeply” – Savage Garden
  31. “Silly Love Songs” – Paul McCartney & Wings
  32. “Let’s Get It On” – Marvin Gaye
  33. “Night Fever” – The Bee Gees
  34. “Another One Bites the Dust” – Queen
  35. “Say Say Say” – Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson
  36. “How You Remind Me” – Nickelback
  37. “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” – Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando
  38. “It’s All in the Game” – Tommy Edwards
  39. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – The Beatles
  40. “Shadow Dancing” – Andy Gibb
  41. “Candle in the Wind 1997” / “Something About the Way You Look Tonight” – Elton John
  42. “No One” – Alicia Keys
  43. “End of the Road” – Boyz II Men
  44. “Call Me” – Blondie
  45. “Let Me Love You” – Mario
  46. “Stayin’ Alive” – The Bee Gees
  47. “Lady” – Kenny Rogers
  48. “I’m a Believer” – The Monkees
  49. “Gold Digger” – Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx
  50. “Apologize” – Timbaland featuring OneRepublic
  51. “The Sign” – Ace Of Base
  52. “Centerfold” – The J. Geils Band
  53. “(Just Like) Starting Over” – John Lennon
  54. “The Boy Is Mine” – Brandy & Monica
  55. “Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” – Stevie B
  56. “I Love Rock N’ Roll” – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
  57. “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” – The 5th Dimension
  58. “Whoomp! (There It Is)” – Tag Team
  59. “Ebony and Ivory” – Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
  60. “Rush, Rush” – Paula Abdul
  61. “That’s What Friends Are For” – Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder
  62. “Upside Down” – Diana Ross
  63. “Sugar, Sugar” – The Archies
  64. “Dilemma” – Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland
  65. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye
  66. “You’re Still the One” – Shania Twain
  67. “Hot Stuff” – Donna Summer
  68. “I Will Always Love You” – Whitney Houston
  69. “Gangsta’s Paradise” – Coolio featuring L.V.
  70. “Abracadabra” – Steve Miller Band
  71. “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
  72. “You’re So Vain” – Carly Simon
  73. “Play That Funky Music” – Wild Cherry
  74. “Say You, Say Me” – Lionel Richie
  75. “My Sharona” – The Knack
  76. “All Night Long (All Night)” – Lionel Richie
  77. “Nothing Compares 2 U” – Sinéad O’Connor
  78. “I Swear” – All-4-One
  79. “Family Affair” – Mary J. Blige
  80. “Waiting for a Girl Like You” – Foreigner
  81. “Are You Lonesome Tonight” – Elvis Presley
  82. “Killing Me Softly with His Song” – Roberta Flack
  83. “Hurts So Good” – John Mellencamp
  84. “I’ll Be Missing You” – Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112
  85. “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” – B.J. Thomas
  86. “Another Day in Paradise” – Phil Collins
  87. “Best of My Love” – The Emotions
  88. “You Make Me Wanna…” – Usher
  89. “Big Girls Don’t Cry” – Fergie
  90. “The Way We Were” – Barbra Streisand
  91. “Another Night” – The Real McCoy
  92. “It’s Now or Never” – Elvis Presley
  93. “Do That to Me One More Time” – Captain & Tennille
  94. “A Fifth of Beethoven” – Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band
  95. “Like a Virgin” – Madonna
  96. “Maria Maria” (Album Version) – Santana featuring The Product G&B
  97. “I Will Survive” – Gloria Gaynor
  98. “I Can’t Stop Loving You” – Ray Charles
  99. “U Got It Bad” – Usher
  100. “Joy to the World” – Three Dog Night

Elvis Presley Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs with Rhode Island DJ

I am very surprised by all of the top ten, except maybe “Hey Jude” by The Beatles. It is not that I think they are not good or popular songs, I just did not conceptualize them as the ones that have had the most success on Billboard’s Hot 100 Charts of all time.

At the other end, I would have thought Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” would have been near the top of the list. The exclusion of songs like “Stairway To Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, as described below, stand out as clear missing by popularity over time.

The Beatles Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs with Rhode Island DJ

Prior to December 1998, songs did not appear on the Billboard Hot 100 until a retail single became available (which, incidentally, is why hits like Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven” and No Doubt‘s “Don’t Speak” never appeared on the Hot 100). In earlier years, retail singles came to market fairly early in a song’s life-usually shortly after, or even before, a song came to radio.

But, during the 1990s, when labels would strategize number-one chart bows by significant hits, the retail release of some priority singles were withheld until radio audience reached maximum levels. Although some of these songs spent significant numbers of weeks at number one or in the top ten, the delay of the sales component ultimately shortened the spans these songs would spend on the chart. With the new methodology rewarding points for a song’s entire chart run, rather than confining points to weeks spent in the top ten, the shorter chart lives recorded by the songs that debuted at number one impact their all-time standings.

Motown Records Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs with Rhode Island DJ

Which songs are you most surprised about high, low or omitted on the Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Top Songs?

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Your Party, Your Music, Your DJ

973.908.8147

DJMysticalMichael@gmail.com

Vitamin String Quartet

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I was first turned-on to Vitamin String Quartet when the older sister of a Bride was helping me prepare for her sister’s wedding and requested that four of the Vitamin String Quartet’s songs were to be played during the ceremony, “God Only Knows”, “Don’t Stop Believin'”, Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Clocks”.

Vitamin String Quartet Sweet Child O’ Mine

      Vitamin String Quartet - Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns and Roses Cover)

I did some research on Vitamin String Quartet and began to explore Vitamin String Quartet library. It turns out they have over fifty albums with the majority of them as tributes to an artist or band exclusively. Vitamin String Quartet music has been featured on Dancing With The Stars several times and an episode of The Vampire Diaries included three of their tunes.

Vitamin String Quartet Rolling In The Deep Adele

      Vitamin String Quartet - Rolling In The Deep

Vitamin String Quartet is a group of musicians in the Los Angeles area that record string arranged covers of Rock and Pop music to offer listeners, “Vitamin String Quartet is about applying rock n’ roll attitude to classical technique,” says Tom Tally, a violist and arranger who has performed on and produced over fifty Vitamin String Quartet albums.  They do use non-string instruments occasionally.

Beautiful Wedding with Vitamin String Quartet Rhode Island Wedding DJ

I find Vitamin String Quartet covers often very original and unique with passion and clarity. I enjoy Vitamin String Quartet Music while driving on road trips as well as dancing. As a professional DJ, Vitamin String Quartet are an excellent resource for music for ceremonies, cocktails hours and special circumstances that a Rock audience will appreciate in a setting that harder music is not properly suited.

Vitamin String Quartet Under The Bridge Red Hot Chili Peppers Mp3

      Vitamin String Quartet - Under The Bridge

“Remember the scene in This Is Spinal Tap where singer David St. Hubbins mulls his prospects after the breakup of his heavy metal band? ”I’ve always wanted to do a collection of my acoustic numbers with the London Philharmonic,” he sighs. For nearly six years, Vitamin Records has tapped that same symphonic spine with its String Quartet Tribute series, which takes rock music and puts it through an orchestral filter. Aimed at collectors, completists, and fans open to reworkings of their favorite songs, the Vitamin catalog includes 140 classically gassed homages to every three-chord wonder from Metallica to the Darkness. ”I like the tribute to us,” says Nickelback guitarist Chad Kroeger. ”When your music is taken to a different place, it’s an honor.” EW.com

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

DJ Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix

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The DJ Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix was created for Brides and Grooms when hiring their professional Wedding DJ who are lost when it comes to choosing music for the Cocktail Hour for their wedding. All professional Wedding DJs have several options to offer couples, one of them is the classic  and stylish ‘smooth’ Jazz, R&B and Rat Pack mix of music to set a perfect mood after the Ceremony, setting up the Reception.

DJ Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix

      Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

Fun Rhode Island Multicultural Wedding DJ Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix

Let me know what you think of DJ Smooth Cocktail Hour Mix!

Here is The DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix  and Vitamin String Quartet for Cocktail Hour for ideas

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

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I gratefully continue to receive calls from Brides and Grooms requesting their professional Wedding DJ to play Rock Music at the Cocktail Hour and Reception of their Wedding. This makes me happy since Rock Music is not as popular today among younger people as it was before the rise of Hip Hop, Rap and R&B. Of course, just like Hip Hop and Rap, the professional Wedding DJ needs to be mindful of not playing music that is too hyped-up or loud during the Cocktail Hour of Weddings and make sure those who are elderly or want to enjoy conversation and relaxation during the Cocktail Hour, are not overpowered by the music. This is what I created the DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix for.

 

It is hard for me as an ‘old school’ professional DJ to make mixes that cut songs short and segue to songs that maybe do not belong together in order to include enough tunes to offer Brides and Grooms a large enough sample of what we can play at their Cocktail Hour or Reception in a mix like this. I even struggle when doing this with Dance mixes but when it comes to Rock, I struggle greater due to the nature of Rock Music and the integrity of the lyrical content and musicians talent. I guess we all have to make some concessions as professional Wedding DJs to serve our Brides and Grooms best and help them decide what music they want at their weddings.

DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

      Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

This same mix would also work well as a sample for a Birthday, Anniversary or Reunion Party for those whom would like Rock Music played during Dinner at their event too!

Beautiful Rhode Island Wedding DJ with DJ Soft Rock Cocktail Hour Mix

Let me know what you think.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & Boston DJ

Ask about my Rhode Island Wedding DJ & Rhode Island Party DJ Guarantee!

DJ World Music Party Mix

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I really enjoy music from varied cultures and places throughout the world, one of the reasons I appreciate travel as much as I do.  However, I find the term, ‘World Music’ annoying and condescending. It speaks to The American mindset that there is the American way and everybody else is one big category called ‘other’. In India alone, there are enough musical genre to make this an obsolete term. The same is true for the continents of Africa, South America and Asia. It is sad to me that we glop them all together as one genre, ‘World Music’. Unfortunately, it is some of my favorite sources of music and I do not have a better name for the DJ World Music Party Mix.

DJ World Music Party Mix

mp3j track= “World-Music-Party-Mix.mp3”]

I am a true fan of music from many places globally, some I have had the opportunity to visit, others I hope to make it there someday soon.  This particular mix of music includes music from India, The Middle East, Bulgaria, Northwest Africa, Japan, Latin America, Jamaica and other great sources of music. Let me know what you think of the DJ World Music Party Mix!

Fun Rhode Island Wedding DJ with DJ World Music Party Mix

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about World Music:

“World music is a musical category encompassing many different styles of music from around the world, including traditional music, quasi-traditional music, and music where more than one cultural tradition intermingle. World music’s inclusive nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in fRoots magazine’s description of the genre as “local music from out there”. The term originated in the late 20th century as a marketing category and academic classification for non-Western traditional music. Globalization has facilitated the expansion of world music’s audiences and scope. It has grown to include hybrid sub-genres such as world fusion, global fusion, ethnic fusion and worldbeat.”

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Mix

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As DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Music rise in popularity and acceptance, it made sense for me to as a professional DJ create a DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Mix for you to listen and enjoy.  I have enjoyed a significant segment of this mixed genre for many years and appreciate every opportunity to share the music with new listeners as a fan and professional DJ.

 DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Mix

      Buddha Bar & Global Lounge Mix - DJ Mystical Michael

I have been hired for a few Weddings that the Bride and Groom have requested Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Music for their Cocktail Hour music and worked very well. More often I am requested to play these genre as a professional DJ in situations where the event planner wants to create a diverse, intimate and creative atmosphere and mood for mixed crowds when neither dancing or sitting are preferred but still want it to be fun and alive.

Claude Challe (born Claude Chalom in 1945 in Tunisia) is a French DJ and club owner, the creator of the Buddha Bar restaurant/clubs and music compilations.

Challe moved to France at age three. He attended Rabbinical school as a young man. At the age of 19, he opened a hair salon in Paris, and became known as “the man with the golden scissors”.

Challe then abandoned the salon and lived as an expatriate on the island of Sardinia, in a hippie commune. He subsequently traveled to India, Nepal and Indonesia. He uses Buddha statues for the interior design of his bar and restaurant.

Challe returned to France and was introduced to New Age music by the likes of Andreas Vollenweider and Ennio Morricone. He became involved in Parisian nightlife. He managed a series of French clubs, including Le Prive (1974), Le Centre Ville in Les Halles (1979), Les Bains-Douches (1984), El Divino in Ibiza (1992), and Buddha Bar (1996). The restaurant/club became a popular destination and led to Challe’s Buddha Bar mix compilations.

Challe produced the “Reveillon de Mondes”, attended by 50,000 people, and held at Vincennes, in conjunction with Radio Nova.

Challe produces his music and others’ on his Chall’o Music label. He has said, “I consider the art of DJ-ing to be the passion of [my] life. When I’m DJ-ing, I give myself to the people. When I play, I’m in the music.”

Fun Multicultural Wedding DJ DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Mix

The “Buddha Bar” music series is a compilation of lounge and chill out music with touch of world music released by George V records.

The Buddha Bar series was Created by the DJ Claude Challe who compiled and produced the first two albums. The series continues with different DJs including DJ Ravin, Sam Popat, David Visan. Later, The first original Buddha Bar came out “Buddha Bar Nature” composed and produced by Arno Elias (also composer of Amor Amor, Buddha Bar 2) included also a DVD of Nature footage directed by Allain Bourgoin Dubourg.

Enjoy DJ Buddha Bar and Global Lounge Mix and let me know what you think.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight

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It occurred to me recently at a wedding that I have not added many slow songs to the list of music videos reviewed. This, Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight, was the song I was playing when it hit me and figured that would be a great place to start. I know it is more fun and ‘sexier’ to only include the fast and hot songs but Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight and many other great artists have recorded such a wealth of outstanding classic slow songs for the professional Wedding DJ.

Rhode Island Wedding DJ Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight

More than any other artist, I grew-up listening to Frank Sinatra. I felt like he was a member of the family at times. His records were always on or close to the record player waiting to be played. Old Blue Eyes as he was called, would sing to us about love and life in the New Jersey/New York City region. I cannot count the number of times I heard my father and other friends and family members arguing over when they saw Sinatra and who he was with. His legendary connections, whether true or false, were part of the Sinatra lore. After all, he was a Jersey Boy from Hoboken.

 

He learned to sing by ear and never learned how to read music. At age eight he would illegally sing standing on the bar for tips to help his family pay their bills. His success peaked in the late 40’s and early 50’s. His acting career helped him to regain fame in the 60’s and was notorious for hanging with the Rat Pack, his friends Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, which originally centered around Humphrey Bogart. Sinatra, Martin and Davis were the three ‘core members’. They all starred in the original film, Oceans Eleven.

Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight Music Video

I smile every time I am co-creating a professional Wedding DJ playlist for an event and the planner asks me to play Sinatra, especially Frank Sinatra The Way You Look Tonight.

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith

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John Hiatt Have A Little Faith has been featured in the films Benny & Joon, Phenomenon, Love Happens, Look Who’s Talking and My Best Friend’s Girl. John Hiatt Have A Little Faith has been covered by many artists including  Joe Cocker, Delbert McClinton, Chaka Kahn and my favorite, Van Morrison. Jewel’s version is the one featured in Phenomenon. 

 

Really this is just a beautiful song- the lyrics, the melody and intensity. It certainly carries a message we all can appreciate.

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Rhode Island Wedding DJ

 John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Lyrics

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark
And have a little faith in me
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these loving arms a try
And have a little faith in me

Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

And when your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darling, from a whisper start
And have a little faith in me
And when your back’s against the wall
Just turn around and you, you will see
I will catch you, I will catch your fall
Just have a little faith in me

Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

‘Cause I’ve been loving you, for such a long, long time
Expecting nothing in return
Just for you to have a little faith in me
You see time, time is our friend
‘Cause for us, there is no end
And all you gotta do, is have a little faith in me
I will hold you up, I will hold you up
And your love, gives me strength enough to
Have a little faith in me
Hey hey
All you gotta do for me girl
Is have a little faith in me

John Hiatt Have A Little Faith Music Video

DJ Mystical Michael Rhode Island DJ & NY DJ