by Katrina and the Waves.

When the horns kick in after "...and don't it feel GOOD!!" is a truly uplifting moment in a summery, throw your hands in the air kind of way.

Plus, it obliquely refers to Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner" on the run-out as well. Which is always a good thing.

by the Teardrop Explodes - also due largely to the horns

These were the first few songs of purest joy that came into my head:
"Reet Petite" - Jackie Wilson
"Double Dutch" - Malcolm McLaren
"Hittin' the Hi Spots" - Joe Brown (or George Formby...)
"It Must Be Love" - Labi Siffre

I think Bono's problem is that he tries too hard to be profound and anthemic. Let go of that, be more instinctive and the joy will flow onto the page (and joy is just as profound as any other emotion). That would be my wise, expert advice to U2 should they ever ask me for it.

....not necessarily joyous lyrically, but musically very much so!

Young At Heart is another one full of the joys of spring...

Tom Jones It's Not Unusual. Surely the essence of 'joy'?

by Stevie Wonder
If I were ever asked to put music on to make someone else happy that's the song I'd choose, it soars.

Dancing in the Streets - can't get much more up.

Also Monkees - I'm a Believer - Neil Diamond's lyrics, and his Sweet Caroline isn't bad either.

Even more seemingly dark rock stuff like Jimi Hendrix - 'Voodoo Chile (slight return)' can be joyous in the sense that it's also 'giddily transcendent', as one of the greatest guitar solos ever takes off. See also 'Bold As Love' for more ecstasy.

...first 2 records can do this for me, which together with most of the list above seems to suggest that maybe it actually is the glory of brass, as trumpet, trombone and sax combine, or at least 2 of that sublime trio, that propels the good in feelgood. For me, I have come to feel it is the trombone that is king.
P.S. Young at Heart/Bluebells suceeds as it is a brass riff that the fiddle is playing. Imagine it in your head: it works, doesn't it?

Bottle Rocket by the Go! Team makes me grin like a loon. Walking around New York City instilled in three and a half minutes, I love it.

But it is impossible NOT to start singing along to Happy Together by The Turtles.

We're All in This Together by Ben Lee also has the same effect with me

but the one that starts HAPPY and takes it to DELIRIOUS is:

Mobali Na ngai Wana by the Congolese singer Mbilia Bel. Its almost eleven minutes long and, apart from horns as tight as PJ Proby's trews and Mbilia's sweet as sugar voice, it has the archetype for ALL soukous guitar breaks on it.

Check it out here:

Listening to The Beatles over the weekend, and this stood out as a good example of joy in music. But it could just have been that German speed....

Uptight - of course. I'd go for another one, though, and an obvious one for any parents: Isn't She Lovely is pure, unalloyed joy and wonder. Even before I became a father, it never sounded schmaltzy; now, I can't think how that particular joy could be conveyed any better or any more plainly.