Boogie to Animal Song Titles & Band Names

Hop over to see Sandee for more Awww Mondays fun-spiration!

Good morning, Kittens and Dawgs! It’s fabulous to see you.  Alrighty, here it is another Monday and it’s time to put the groove in our move with today’s theme (see side menu).  There are lots of song titles with ‘animals’ and there are plenty of animal name bands but I wanted to make my choices purrrsonal.  You know songs that connect with my past and perhaps yours, too.   Click play (all) to dance with me!


I spent a week or two during the summers with my uncle and his wife.  Every night, they played mewsic to help me fall asleep and I enjoyed listening to the band America on the turntable.  Every time I hear A Horse with No Name I get a good ole warm feeling of summer days past.  Manfred Mann released the original Fox on the Run in 1969.  I don’t remember it.  I recall hearing only the bluegrass version, maybe by The Country Gentlemen.  I had no clue that it was a crossover tune. 🙂  Elton John registered with me around the age of 10.  His flamboyant dress code and lifestyle didn’t really mean a lot to me.  What’s this talk of homosexuality?  I had no clue what it all meant.  The only thing I did know is I liked his mewsic. Honky Cat released in 1972 and probably one of his first hits to reach my ears. DH mentioned the other day, you just don’t hear many love songs anymore and he’s right.  In the 70s there were plenty of sappy, feel good songs about love.  In 1976, I was more into boys….in fact, I began dating DH that fall when Captain & Tennille took Muskrat Love to #4 on the pop charts.  I’m winding my playlist up with a song I hadn’t thought about until I stumbled across it on Songfact.  I’m not sure who introduced this song to me but I know I was just a girl when the Indian tom-toms beating and Johnny Preston’s lyrical verses captured my ear with Running Bear. 🙂  Okay, I thought I was finishing things up with my mewsic picks for today but then last week, fellow 4M dancer, Holley from Chasing Destino introduced Birds of Chicago to me.  The Americana or folk-style is the kind of mellow mewsic releases my easy-going spirit. It was fun to discover three tracks from their 2016 Real Midnight album with animals in the song titles.

Wasn’t that fun?  Now I invite you join my fellow co-hosts: XmasDolly (Party Coordinator), Stacy, Alana, Colette (taking semi-blog hiatus due to eye issues), and this month’s honorary co-host Mary from Jingle, Jangle, Jungle on the dance floor (ONLY link mewsic posts) below.


I think the 4M gang is breaking down, as most of us are in need of some repair this month and would certainly appreciate your prayers.  Colette may have eye surgery this month.  I’m unsure about the date.  I am having tubes and balloon dilation (to stretch the Eustachian tubes) this Thursday and Marie is scheduled for back surgery (4-hour procedure) next Tuesday or Wednesday.  I’m placing all these concerns at the feet of Jesus to guide our physicians/surgeons hands.  Thanks a bunch!   One more thing, cause I don’t want y’all to miss out on the fun to come back on Wednesday for my newest Battle of the Bands.

Keep those tunes playing, your body swaying, and I’ll be boogieing over to see you soon. X💋X 💋,Cathy

McGuffy’s Reader is the brain-child behind “SPARKS” inspiration. Have a sparkletastic day! 😉

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35 comments

  2. Excellent song choices, Cathy! Horse With No Name is great, of course – and I remember as a kid hearing “Muskrat Love” when I had my little radio hidden under my pillow with one ear bud listening to music to fall asleep at night – Captain and Tennille caught my ear for sure! My sister and I shared a room with bunk beds, I remember the ear bud fell out while I was sleeping, and the next morning my sister asked me if I heard that ‘strange noise’ during the night…heh!

    1. Stacy,
      Yes WP put you comment in my SPAM folder. What a funny memory linked to “Muskrat Love”. Did you let your sister in on the secret of that strange noise or leave her hanging? Lol

  3. I had to call my husband over when I heard “Running Bear” because this was a childhood favorite of mine. I owned America’s Greatest Hits album (on an LP, dating me) which had both “A Horse with No Name” and their “Muskrat Love”. Like several of your other commenters, I thought I was going to listen to an original version of “Fox on the Run” and was so excited – nope! But that’s OK. I can’t remember where else I heard songs from Birds of Chicago recently – I listened to several selections on that blog and two of your songs – ah well, at least I gave it a try. I hope for your continued recovery; having arrived here several days late.

  5. Wow! Great animal songs. A Horse with No Name caught my attention. Between you and John Holton, you’ve highlighted some of the best animal mewsic there is. Have a great week!

    1. Eugenia,

      John always does a thorough job coming up with appropriate songs to fit our weekly theme. There are few others on the dance floor who equally clever coming up with mewsic, too. I love Monday’s Mewsic Moves Me!! Thanks for dancing with me today. 🙂

  6. Oh my gosh, you really took me back with that horse with no name… turn up the radio in the car and let it rip… great job… and I’m laggin’ behind once again. It’s really a lot of work to change all passwords on every program you have on your computer and save them etc. ughhhhhhh my brain hurts… hahaha if I had one. YOU ROCKED THE HOUSE YET ONCE AGAIN MY FRIEND. BIG HUGS & you did a great job with those ladies without tunes… I thought it better I say nothing… one of us is good enough… don’t you think??? If not, I’ll go say something too… whatcha think?

    1. Marie,

      I know you’re super busy not only with your upcoming surgery but with making your computer secure once again. Stupid hackers! If only these geniuses used their talent for good. 🙁 I’m delighted to spark some memories with ‘A Horse With No Name”. I think the only person saying something about the no mewsic is good enough but then you know my stance on the subject, I usually just let this stuff roll off my back. However, I do get how annoying it can be for others who don’t want to waste his/her time scrolling through a post looking for mewsic. That’s time that could be used dancing with active 4Mers. We’ll see what these folks do next week. Have a blessed and boogietastic week, dearie! {{hugs}}

  7. Hi Cathy,
    GREAT set of songs here. Several that are new to me and I am really enjoying them. I so appreciate being introduced to Birds of Chicago! I especially liked their “Remember Wild Horses”. Great song!
    That “Running Bear” song by Johnny Preston is very catchy. I never heard that one either.
    And I used Fox on the Run too but a totally different song! I played your Manfred Man song and expected it to be a cover of the Sweet song but it’s totally different. That was cool.

    Hey, best wishes for a successful procedure this week. I hope it all goes well. Do you have trouble with your hearing? I don’t know anything about why one would need to dilate or open/stretch those tubes. I don’t know much about ear issues. Will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, especially on Thursday. Be sure to call on your angels too. 🙂

    Have a great week,

    Michele at Angels Bark

    1. Michele,

      I came across Sweet’s ‘Fox On The Run’ and thought it was a cover of Manfred Mann’s song but it’s not. Like you said, it’s totally different. I’m perplexed about why they didn’t use a different title to keep the confusion down.

      Thanks for the good wishes for my ear surgery. My eustachian tubes aren’t doing a proper job equalizing the pressing on both sides of the eardrum which means there’s a vacuum effect going on and it’s causing my eardrum to get sucked inward. If left untreated a whole lot of things can go wrong and a more complicated surgery is required plus the risk of losing my hearing and some other unfavorable things happening. As a child, I suffered from chronic ear infections, which I now know is caused partially by my small eustachian tubes, that lead to scarring of the eardrums. My hearing loss has gone downhill over the years a little. With the onset of the inner ear infection in 2015 until now, I have this annoying stuffy, muffledness in my ears. I think this surgery may correct this problem and hopefully, it’ll be a near permanent fix. One unknown is will tubes only need to be put in this one time or will it be a repeat process for the rest of my life or will something else need to be done. I probably won’t know anything for sure until the doctor has evaluated me for a year. This is probably something that should’ve been done when I was little. I have no clue if the doctor suggested this treatment to my parents. Maybe they did but they didn’t have much money, so I can’t fault them. It’s hard to know what to do as parents when you live from paycheck to paycheck. Thanks for sharing a dance with me, my friend!

    1. Patrick,

      It’s a popular oldie and a good one at that. It seems someone else may have used it but that’s okay by me. 🙂 Thanks for the dance and have a boogietastic week!

    1. Astrid,

      Welcome to the dance floor! I do believe I remember seeing Tom T. Hall among the list of covers. That’s a name from the past, huh? Thanks for boogieing with me and I hope to see you back next week!;)

  11. “Lions, tigers and bears..Oh MY!” Funny, I am just listening to “Born Free” on the radio which is a wonderful song. I watched The Captain & Tenille variety show which was…sad and never understood why he dressed like that. Muskrat Love has to be one of the strangest titles. “How much is that doggie in the window.” a song that my dad loved. “Talk to the Animals from Doctor Doolittle. “Wish upon a star sung by Bing Crosby reminds me of grade school when our tone deaf music teacher tried to teach us to sing this. Bing does it much, much better:)

  12. Hi Cathy!

    This has been a really fun post! Loved Elton John, and enjoyed hearing the other version of Running Bear 🙂 I think we don’t hear as many love songs any more because young people are not so much into love any more. They are more about skipping romance and that really makes me a bit sad.

    Thanks so much for boogieing with me today!

    ~Mary
    Jingle Jangle Jungle

    1. Mary,

      To listen to today’s younger artists then you might be on something there. If they aren’t singing about love then I say the group as a whole are feeling the same way. It really is sad. Thanks for reminiscing with my oldies and sharing the dance floor with me today!

  13. Awww, I want that kitty. Thanks for linking up to Awww Mondays. Most appreciated.

    Love all the animal songs. There are so many.

    Have a purrfect Awww Monday filled with wonderful music. ♥

  14. This is a good list, although I really didn’t care much for Birds of Chicago, the name notwithstanding. With the exception of “Muskrat Love,” these never occurred to me. Or they might have, but I probably decided they weren’t sufficiently obscure enough. You know me…

    1. John,

      “Muskrat Love” was an instant first choice for me. I’m not sure if I’ve seen it elsewhere today or maybe I’m forgetting but then I have been by your place yet. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow. 🙂

  16. I was a HUGE fan of Sir Elton John and Honky Cat never crossed my mind. It seemed like Horse with No Name was on the charts forever and it never crossed my mind. Oh well, maybe next time. Have a blessed week.

    1. Driller,

      I find when coming up with songs for themes sometimes certain tunes just pop into my brain automatically and everything else is forgotten until someone shares them. Thanks for the return visit and dance. Have a great week!

  17. Great choices! I am so mad that I didn’t think of Honky Cat 🙂 Great spark too. Thanks for hosting. I hope you have a great week! XO

    1. Ellen,

      Don’t be mad, get Glad! 🙂 Seriously, don’t beat yourself up because “Honky Cat” failed to register when you were coming up with your song choices. Part of the fun is discovering what others think of that you don’t. Thanks for sharing this dance! 😉

    1. Alex,

      “Fox on the Run” by Sweet is a different song from Manfred Mann’s original. I didn’t even know about Sweet’s song until I began looking for the country version I grew up listening to. Thanks for the return visit and dance. Have a boogietastic week!

  19. Hi, Cathy!

    It’s interesting that your aunt and his wife played mewsic to enable you to fall asleep. That would probably have kept me awake. On hot summer nights I fell asleep to the white noise of a window fan and the fresh aroma of outdoor blossoms drawn into the room by the air flow.

    I enjoyed this second batch of animal song titles and band names. Some are familiar favorites and some are new to my ears. “Running Bear” is a song from my childhood contained on the 1960 volume of the Cruisin’ album series I have been featuring on my blogs. I think it might have been the last big hit about the American Indian for more than a decade. As you might recall The Raiders topped the chart in 1971 with the much more somber song “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian).”

    Whenever I listen to Captain & Tennille I remember how popular and ubiquitous they were. They had their own TV show in the mid 70s and appeared on a number of other music variety TV shows including Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, American Bandstand and even Soul Train. It is jarring to listen to innocent love songs recorded by acts like C & T and Neil Sedaka during this period and then listen to modern dance-pop songs that totally lack innocence and leave little to the imagination. I read that the original trend away from “silly love songs” can be traced to March 1966 when The Beatles released the single “Nowhere Man.” It was the superstar band’s first hit record that did not deal entirely with romantic love. Influential as the Beatles were, many other acts followed suit and released introspective material for the thinking man. From that point on, love songs faced stiff competition on the chart from recordings in other categories including war protest, social consciousness and songs that referenced psychedelic drug experiences. And so, 1966 was a pivotal year in popular mewsic. As radio listeners and record buyers embraced mewsic with more serious themes, songs about love, romance and having fun in the sun were rendered obsolete. Of course, love songs made a big comeback during the disco 70s.

    Wow, I never heard of the Americana folk band Birds of Chicago before. I love their bluesy, soulful, secular gospel sound! They are a very exciting discovery and I thank you for the introduction!

    Thank you very much for another great set of animal songs and bands, dear friend Cathy. I hope your medical procedure goes well this Thursday. I will be thinking about you and I will be back here again Wednesday to wish you well.

    1. Tom,

      I’m afraid the age of innocence is long gone in mewsic and movies. I recall the Captain N’ Tennille variety show of the 70s and as you probably guessed I watched it. I’m glad you enjoyed the introduction to Birds of Chicago. It was a nice little discovery thanks to Holley. I appreciate your well wishes for my upcoming procedure on Thursday. I’ll try to give everyone an update asap. Have a boogietastic week and thanks for stopping by, my friend!

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