"She Kissed Me" by Leagues, Tuesday, February 8, 2022 + Romantic Mix 2022: YouTube Edition

Leagues has long since broken up. Lead singer Thad Cockrell has a solo project. He appeared on Jimmy Fallon with The Roots after the late-night host Shazam-ed one of Cockrell's songs while he was at a hardware store. "She Kissed Me" appears on the deluxe edition of Leagues's debut, You Belong Here. Unfortunately, the songs on the deluxe edition do not appear on streaming services. Thanks to iTunes Match, I can enjoy this song whenever I want. The overwhelming '60s wall of sound can build in my AirPods, baptizing me with the sweet guitars of Tyler Burkum and the falsetto of Cockrell, anytime I want.

I WAS TAKEN BY THE LUXURY. The problem is what about everyone else? I'm left with this gap in my main-feed playlists for Spotify and Apple Music. Fortunately YouTube has several live performances of this song, so 1/3 of the problem solved. Last year, when I researched this song, I realized it was a cover of The Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me," and the song was covered by The Beach Boys and KISS. I decided to go with the original Crystals' version in my main playlists. But that's a jarring leap coming from yesterday's Underoath track. I realize that jumping from Underoath to Leagues is also a bit of a jump. I could pick KISS's version because KISS is at least related to hard music, even though they never sound as heavy as you expect them to sound. But then I think about the playlist I'm making today. Romantic Mix 2022: YouTube Edition. Leagues wrote many romantic songs on You Belong Here. I could chose their down-and-out track "Lost It All," which I talked about last year. However, I think I'll go with their first single, "Spotlight." It's upbeat, fun, and romantic. Happy early Indie Valentine's Day, y'all.

Below is the YouTube Playlist. I might release a Spotify edition before Valentine's Day, but until then enjoy this romantic gesture:


Alternate track: "Spotlight":



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