# Songs/bands that are your "guilty pleasure" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502 "2007-11-15T06:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/1 "2007-11-15T06:03:06Z")
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. So…what are yours? I know you’ve got them! ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/2 "2007-11-15T06:44:19Z")
**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. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/3 "2007-11-15T07:22:03Z")
The [_Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey_ original motion picture soundtrack.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Ted%27s_Bogus_Journey:_Music_from_the_Motion_Picture) Winger + Slaughter on the same record = the deepest of shameful pleasures. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/4 "2007-11-15T07:32:09Z")
Ooh! The album version of “Make Me Smile” by Chicago. I could listen to it on a loop for an hour and play air-tambourine the entire time. “Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Album” from South Park is always wonderful, regardless of the season. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/5 "2007-11-15T15:01:29Z")
I do not hate blink-182. ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_No_Saint)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/6 "2007-11-15T15:04:36Z")
I have no shame in admitting I love The Final Countdown by Europe. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/7 "2007-11-15T15:07:30Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/8 "2007-11-15T15:25:59Z")
_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. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/9 "2007-11-15T15:30:04Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/10 "2007-11-15T15:54:24Z")
I have a few Justin Timberlake and Timbaland songs on my iPod. I can’t help it, those dudes are catchy-hit _machines_. And I still think the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want it That Way” is a great song, although I have no idea what it’s about. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/11 "2007-11-15T15:59:33Z")
Meatloaf – “Bat Out of Hell” ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/12 "2007-11-15T16:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] Same with **Linkin’ Park** (dear Og yes, I said it) [/QUOTE] ::shamefacedly goes and stands next to **olives** :: I may also own an _A Perfect Circle_ CD. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/13 "2007-11-15T16:14:16Z")
[QUOTE=olivesmarch4th] _My Chemical Romance_, a band clearly intended for disillusioned 15-year-olds, impresses the hell out of me. [/QUOTE] 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.) ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/14 "2007-11-15T16:16:56Z")
_sigh_ **Snow Patrol** and **Coldplay**. 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. Mind you, it’s only two or three songs from each. My husband teases me mercilessly about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/15 "2007-11-15T16:19:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/16 "2007-11-15T16:22:44Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/17 "2007-11-15T16:23:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/18 "2007-11-15T16:36:01Z")
I love a huge chunk of 80s New Wave / New Romantic goodness, especially Duran Duran. I think this genre and that band is unfairly maligned by many. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/19 "2007-11-15T16:44:17Z")
On my iPod I got a secret playlist containing: Christmas music, primarily country Christmas music. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502/20 "2007-11-15T17:22:28Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] ::shamefacedly goes and stands next to **olives** :: I may also own an _A Perfect Circle_ CD. [/QUOTE] ..whaaa? APC is a guilty pleasure? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-bands-that-are-your-guilty-pleasure/426502.md?page=2)