🎧Episode 134: Monkey House Yacht Rock, James Taylor Warmth & Earth, Wind & Fire Joy

<p>Episode 134 brings together modern yacht rock polish, classic singer-songwriter comfort, original-version history, and one of the most joyful records ever to miss the top spot.</p><p>Curtis opens with Monkey House, bringing sleek AOR production, studio-musician detail, and that throwback West Coast sound that feels custom-built for deep cut obsessives. Jonathan follows with James Taylor, adding warm soft rock, gentle craftsmanship, and the kind of understated songwriting that sneaks up on you.</p><p>For the category songs, Jonathan brings <strong>Original Version</strong> with The La’s, digging into a jangly pop classic before it became part of the larger musical bloodstream. Curtis then takes <strong>#1 In Our Hearts</strong> straight to Earth, Wind &amp; Fire, because some songs do not need a number-one chart position to feel permanently undefeated.</p><p>Smooth grooves, thoughtful songwriting, original-version detective work, and a soul-funk celebration for the ages—Episode 134 is easy to love.</p><p><br></p><p>Curtis Gross is a self-employed video editor.</p><p>Jonathan Workman is an adult learning consultant based in Wichita, KS.</p><p>---</p><p>Make sure you are subscribed to Why Is This So Hard For You. Type Why Is This So Hard For You in your podcast provider, hit that subscription button, and leave us a five-star review. This will make it easier for other podcast listeners to find the podcast.</p><p>---</p><p>The intro music is the first 30 seconds of the Ornette Coleman tune &quot;Song X&quot; fed into AI software that attempts to output the song to a solo piano transcription. The outro music is the first 30 seconds of Sonny Rollins&#39; version of the tune &quot;St. Thomas&quot; fed into the same software.</p>