The other day something someone said made me think, for an unknown reason, of the song Undercover Angel by Alan O’Day. I don’t know why. I remembered this song from when I was a kid and I remembered liking it when I was young.
So, I headed over TO MY LOCAL MUSIC STORE AND LEGALLY PURCHASED A COPY OF THE SONG and listened to it. My god this song is cheesy. It’s like the mixing board had a dial marked “cheese” and they kept it cranked the entire time. What makes it so cheesy? The silly key change at the end? The backup singers singing “UnderCOVer!”? The parts where he goes "“All right!” or “Ooo-ooo-ooo-wee!”? Oh, it’s ALL cheesy.
So now I’m on a hunt for the most god-awful cheese-fests of them all. I’m not tallking Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo Baggins or Shatner stuff - I’m talking about honest to gosh pop music offerings that were meant to be taken seriously - and in fact were - but now sound incredibly awful and outdated.
I heard this just yesterday on the radio and I decided to force myself to listen to it all the way through just to see if it was as terrible as I remember. It is:
The One that You Love Air Supply It Never Rains In Southern California Al Hammonds Wildfire Michael Murphy Sometimes When We Touch Dan Hill Alone Again, Naturally Gilbert O’Sullivan Don’t Give Up On Us Baby David Gates She’s Having My Baby Neil Sedaka Oh, What a Lonely Boy Andrew Gold
I actually like the song and think Jeff Lynne is a musical genius, but the whole “Doo wop. Shoo-be-de-be-wop. Doo-wa-do laaaaang”. That part’s a bit hard to swallow and sinks the song into cheesy-ness.
Yes!! I actually erased that song to put Heartbeat in. I wasn’t sure of the title so I looked it up on CDNow and all they sell now are his comedy recordings - no music. So for all of you collectors out there, hold on to your Eddie Murphy albums!
I hesitate to contribute, 'cause I happen to like cheesy songs (and indeed, many/most that have been named.) But here goes:
Rocky by Austin Roberts:
*And she said,
“Rocky, I’ve never been in love before
Don’t know if I can do it
But if you let me lean on you
Take my hand, I might get through it” (through it)
I said, “Baby, oh sweet baby
It’s love that sets us free
And God knows if the world should end
Your love is safe with me”
*
That Southern California song is indeed very annoying, sort of like southern California itself, or at least Hollywood.
I never really cared for Crocodile Rock either. It just seemed so typical of all that 1970s nostalgia for the 1950s, most of which was quite insipid and gave what was in some ways a false picture of the decade. Yes, to a certain extent things were pretty normal and conservative, yet at the same time there was the Beat Generation movement in literature as well as the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement.
