Guilty Pleasures (Musically)

Mission Accomplished!

Just got back from watching a local band play at a local bar (of course.) It turned out to be a pretty neat night because 3/4 of my band were there. We were called to the stage to play a few numbers, and of course it was alot of fun! So I completed my assignment for the weekend - to do something fun. It was also fun to watch someone else tear down for a change. I ended up helping the guys a little bit though. Through the night I was helping the sound guy (my guitar player) as well. I guess I have an ear for good sound!


Guilty Pleasures (Musically)
OK. Where were we? Oh yeah, that's right; guilty musical pleasures. We all have music by certain bands or people that is considered obscure, weird, stupid, or even worse (fill in adjective here.) It's the stuff that you don't listen to when you're around your friends because you feel that A) they don't understand or B) they would just flat out make fun of you. I'm really taking a chance here, because some of my friends read my blog, and I'm sure I'll take some ribbing - but it's all in good fun. OK Here we go....My guilty pleasures are: (gasp)

Note: These are all song titles, unless otherwise noted.

Gilbert O' Sullivan - Alone Again, Naturally
Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman and Honey Come Back
Terry Jacks - Seasons in The Sun
America - I Need You and Tinman (love that bassline!)
Kraftwerk - Autobahn and Radioactivity (whole albums)
Barry Mannilow - Could It Be Magic
Eric Carmen - All By Myself
Andrew Gold - Lonely Boy
Pretty much any Apollo 100 song!
Chicago - Color My World
The first two Foreigner albums
Styx - Paradise Theater and The Grand Illusion (full albums)
Klaatu - Hope
Anything done by 10cc (Especially I'm Not In Love)
Convoy - C.W. McCall (yes, it's a country song, but...)
Earth, Wind, and Fire - After The Love Is Gone
Little River Band - Reminiscing and Lady
Firefall (self-titled, Elan, and Luna Sea) (full albums)
Camel - Rain Dances, and Mirage (full albums)
Bette Midler - Do You Wanna Dance
Captain and Tenille - Love Will Keep Us Together
Neil Sedaka - Laughter In The Rain
Ammon Duul II - Immigrant Song (NOT the Led Zeppelin Song!)
Duran Duran - Rio (full album)
Chick Corea and Return To Forever - Musicmagic (GREAT Jazz/Fusion LP)
Anything by ELO (HUGE fan of Jeff Lynne and anything he touches!)
S.O.S. Band - Take Your Time
Chic - Sao Paolo (B-Side to Dance, Dance, Dance single)
The Carpenters - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (originally done by Klaatu), We've Only Just Begun, and On Top of The World.
Dee Clark - Raindrops
The Casinos - A Million Years
Brian Hyland - Sealed With a Kiss
Roberta Flack - You Are Everything, Killing Me Softly, and The Closer I Get To You (with Donnie Hathaway)
Naked Eyes - Always Something There To Remind Me
The Hooters - All You Zombies
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
Barbara Mandrell - Sleeping Single in a Double Bed (yeah, that's ANOTHER country one...)
Roger Williams - Maria
John Denver - Rocky Mountain High, Annie's Song, and Thank God I'm a Country Boy
The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe
Kenny Loggins - Celebrate Me Home and Nightwatch (full albums)
Dan Fogelberg - Netherlands, Phoenix (full albums)
Gary Numan - Cars
John Lennon - Double Fantasy (full album, MINUS most of the Yoko songs.)
Billy Joel - The Stranger and The Bridge (full albums)
Exile's first Album (they didnt know if they were rock, disco, or country!)
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Stevie Wonder -Living For The City
Prince - Purple Rain (full album)
Elton John - Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me (guitarists will know why I like this song!) and Funeral for a Friend
New Order - Republic, Substance, and Technique (full albums)
The Orb - U.F. Orb
Portishead - Sour Times
Gordon Lightfoot - The Edmond Fitzgerald (nice pedal steel!)
Harry Chapin - Taxi and Cats In The Cradle
Jim Croce - Time In A Bottle
James Taylor - JT (full album), and Fire and Rain
Sugar Ray - Every Morning (based on Malo - Suavecito, which is a great song!)
Peter Frampton - I'm In You (full album)
Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds - Fallin' In Love and Barroom Blues
Bonnie Tyler - It's a Heartache and Total Eclipse of The Heart
Wings - London Town (full album) (note: With A Little Luck was one of the first 45's I owned.)
Bread - The Guitar Man, It Don't Matter To Me, Make It With You, and If
Starz - Violation (full album)
Gino Vanelli - I Just Wanna Stop and Living Inside Myself
The Dream Academy - Life In A Northern Town
Diesel - Sausolito Summernight
Tears for Fears - The Hurting, The Seeds of Love, and Songs From The Big Chair (full albums)
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, Fixed, and The Downward Spiral (full albums)
Anita Ward - Ring My Bell
The Church - Priest Equals Aura (full album)
Poco - Legend (full album)
Rod Stewart - Foot Loose and Fancy Free (full album)
Men At Work - Cargo (full album)
Patti Smith Group - Easter (full Album)
Velvet Underground and Nico - Andy Warhol (full album)
Lou Reed - Rock n Roll Animal (full album)
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, Goo, and Dirty (full albums)
Charlie Daniels Band - Fire On the Mountain and Whiskey (full albums)
The Platters - I Only Have Eyes for You
Little Anthony and The Imperials - Shimmy Shimmy Ko ko Bop
Peter Schilling - Major Tom
The Turtles - Happy Together
Friends of Distinction - Lover Let Me Be
Classics IV - Stormy, Spooky, Traces
Judas Priest - Unleashed in The East, British Steel, and Sin After Sin
Donald Fagen - The Nightfly (full album)
Harry Nilsson - Everybody's Talkin', You're Breaking My Heart, and Without You
Bob Ssger - Stranger in Town and Against The Wind (full albums)
Laidback - White Horse
K.C. and The Sunshine Band - Keep It Comin', I'm Your Boogie Man, and That's The Way I Like It.
Dave Edmunds - Slippin' Away and Girls Talk
Rachel Sweet - Tonight
Eddie Money - Self-Titled (full album)
Todd Rundgren - Something Anything (full album)
Ronnie Wood - Now Look (full album)
Randy Newman - I think I like pretty much anything he does; albums, soundtracks, etc.
Linda Ronstadt - When Will I Be Loved,You're No Good, and It's So Easy
Commodores - Easy, Sail On, Three Times a Lady, Brickhouse, Nightshift and Still
Diana Ross - Love Hangover (Groovy Bassline!)
Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge over Troubled Waters
Steve Forbert - Romeo's Tune
Boston - Self-Titled (full album)
ZZ Top - Eliminator and Afterburner (full albums)
808 state - Gorgeous (full album)
Nirvana -Nevermind (full album)
Loverboy - Only The Lucky Ones, Workin For The Weekend, Till It's Over, and Take Me To The Top
Hall and Oates - She's Gone, Maneater, Private Eyes, and Sarah Smile
Willy Nelson and Waylon Jennings - Good Timin' Woman (YEP! Country!)
The Beach Boys - God Only Knows
Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (full album) (OOH DISCO!)
George Benson - Weekend in L.A. (full album)
Roxy Music - Avalon
Elton John - Your Song
Eric Clapton with Bobby and Cecil Womack - Lead Me On
Phil Collins - Against All Odds, and No Jacket Required (full album)
Depeche Mode - 101, Violator and Songs of Faith and Devotion (full albums)
KMFDM - Money (full album)
Dave Brubeck - Take Five
Weather Report - Heavy Weather (full album - JACO IS GOD!)
Jaco Pastorius - Portrait of Tracy (honestly, anything he is featured on just SMOKES!)
Genesis - Trick of The Tail, ...And Then There Were Three, We Can't Dance, and Invisible Touch (full albums)
Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me
Bob Welch - Sentimental Lady and Ebony Eyes
Sugar Hill Gang - Rapper's Delight
Newcleus - Jam On It
George Clinton - Atomic Dog
Isley Brothers - Anything I've heard from them!
The Four Seasons - Oh What a Night (December 1963)

OK....that's enough! I think I turned my brain inside out trying to think of guilty pleasures. For those of you thinking of blackmailing me, good luck. I can only hope that my closest friends will not think any less of me, nor will they persecute me for my choices. You know, I could lose sleep over this. Really.

Reasons
There are several reasons to cite as to why I like these songs. Being a musician I have always tended to listen to the overall tone of the song, and not necessarliy the words. For instance, Carol Kaye's 6-string bass solo (with tremlo) on "Wichita Lineman" to me is so cool! Yes, some of these songs on my list are corny as hell, but some of them also hold a very sentimental value for me. They are a memory of my childhood - what I was exposed to listening to the great Top 40 AM stations of the time ( I ALWAYS carried a transistor radio,) what was playing on my aunt's 8-track deck, and my dad's stereo.

No Limitations
I never really had set that many boundaries when it came to music; until the eighties! That's when I started to dig back into the old stuff - aka my dad's stash. I honestly got lost in his record collection. It was quite diverse and I gave everything an honest listen. Most of it I liked alot - however, some left alot to be desired (which I'm sure he was aware of!)

Your Turn!
Come on! You know that you have some tape or CD (or LP) that you bring out when no one else is around and you honestly love it! You'd absolutely DIE if anyone were to know that you liked a certain group (ABBA, anyone?) Yes, there was a time when I thought that Michael Jackson's Thriller album was good. As a matter of fact, my first concert was the Jacksons' Victory Tour (circa 1985.) So, don't be bashful, go on - post away. I have pretty much let my skeletons out of the closet (almost!) There might be a few more, but I'm really tired and I need to go to bed because I have lots of yard work to to today (YUCK!) Anyway, wish me luck, and I can't wait to see what you reply with. I hope that everyone can post. This way we can learn a little more about ourselves. Perhaps we could delve into the who's why's and what's. It's just an idea. Have Fun!