I just heard “What A Fool Believes” by Michael McDonald for the millionth time on my regular oldies station, and I just thought, “God, this song is cheesy, but it’s fucking badass!” I’m even thinking of covering it with my band. Man I could lay down some great bass grooves on this song, and it’s just asking for a post-punk distortion treatment in place of those synth strings.
I’ve got a lot of other guilty pleasure songs:
Paula Cole: Where Have All The Cowboys Gone
Sixpence None the Richer: Kiss Me (love the rhythm guitar chords and the sound of the singer’s voice.)
Wings: Band On The Run. Cheesy assed lyrics (“the jailer man and sailor Sam?”) but I like it anyway, I especially dig its weird three-part structure.
Coheed and Cambria - I don’t give a damn how high that guy’s voice is, I still think this band kicks ass and I would see them live any day.
Everclear - Santa Monica. Something about this band really irritates me, but I can’t help but admit that this song is good and everytime it plays I sing along. Maroon 5 - Wakeup Call. Much like Everclear, I just dont like this band at all. However, this song is so damn catchy I can’t help myself. Everything - Hooch. Such a lame song but I can’t help but groove out every time I hear it.
I like a lot of “top 40” rap, like 50 Cent and that “Milkshake” song.
I mean, I like a lot of what would be called “good rap” (Tribe Called Quest, for example) but when I’m working out or just goofing around, I like that shit they play on the radio.
Everyone I know IRL is all “I like all music but rap!” so I try to keep it on the DL. They just wouldn’t understand…
My Chemical Romance, a band clearly intended for disillusioned 15-year-olds, impresses the hell out of me.
Same with Linkin’ Park (dear Og yes, I said it)
and I think Maroon 5 is pretty flippin’ sweet. I absolutely adore ‘‘Harder to Breathe’’ and ‘‘Makes Me Wonder.’’
BTW, I listen to the country music radio station on the way to work. That’s a guilty pleasure in and of itself. Though I am unashamed to say George Straight rocks my face off.
I don’t usually admit this, but I have the majority of Depeche Mode’s catalog. Not that having such is a really big deal, but I’m a pretty metal head kind of guy and this would not be an admission I’d want to make in certain social circles in which I travel.
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is a guilty pleasure of mine.
As is the aforementioned Coheed and Cambria’s Second Stage Turbine Blade.
But their later works, The Black Parade and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, respectively, are complex and mature enough that they rise above the “guilty pleasure” plane for me. (TBP less so, but at least they’re trying.)
I am so ashamed. I spent years and years making fun of anyone who listened to those two bands, and then kept hearing a certain couple of songs by each until they drilled their catchy, stupid, pretty ways into my brain and I couldn’t get them out and had to download them.
I looked for Snow Patrol’s stuff for a bit, wasn’t going to buy based on one song, even if it seemed good, I still wanted to hear the rest of their stuff before I buy it.
And now I’m afraid I will never get into them because whenever I hear them they sound like a Keane clone to me.
I’m kind of fond of old '60s and '70s bubblegum. No sex and drugs in this kind of rock 'n roll–not that those are bad things necessarily, but I find that it’s kind of refreshing not to have them at times. Usually, bubblegum songs have catchy, jingle-esque melodies and light themes that don’t require much in the way of thought. They’re a nice break.
Generally, anything written by the Kasenatz-Katz team and/or on the Buddah Records label in those days qualifies, as do a number of songs by such pre-made bands as the Archies, the Monkees, and the Partridge Family; and certain songs by old teen idols such as Bobby Sherman. But if I had to pin down some particular favourites, I’d have to say the following:
Tracy, by the Cuff Links
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes), by Edison Lighthouse
I Think We’re Alone Now, by Tommy James and the Shondells (this is the original; Tiffany’s was a cover of this)
Dancin’ (On a Saturday Night), by Barry Blue; or the Cancon version by Bond
My Baby Loves Lovin’, by White Plains
I have the Top Gun soundtrack on CD (and on my iPod). Loverboy. Berlin. Cheap Trick (after they started to suck). And a double dose of Kenny Loggins. And I totally dig its cheesiness. Everyone knows “Danger Zone” and the Steve Stevens/Harlod Faltermeyer theme music, but the real gem is Loggins’ “Playing With The Boys.” Oh, the sublime, sublimated, subtextual gayness, how it burns.