10 Favorite Guilty Pleasures (IMHO)

[Scott]

In the Hidden Treasure #27 post I let you all in on a Guilty Pleasure of mine and that's The Goo Goo Dolls.  I've stewed on this topic a couple times but never really put together a list.  So here it is...

My Ten Favorite Guilty Music Pleasures (IMHO)

The Bee Gees:  Come on, I know with a high degree of certainty that at one time or another these guys were in your personal collection in one form or another, whether it was a 45 single or an entire album.  Then your friends gave you crap about it and you moved the album to the back of your collection and bought a "Disco Sucks" t-shirt to "prove" you didn't like them.  hmmm...  Bet you still pop it in every now and then.

KISS:  All KISS Fans lived through a period of ridicule for liking this band.  No one took them seriously and KISS fans took a beating.  But alas we lost many battles, but won the war, at least until The Elder was released and then we had to fight again.  Lick it Up, at least for me, was the bands return to respectability and the one that put these battles to rest.

England Dan and John Ford Coley:  Their catchy pop choruses and smooth melodies worked at dance after dance after dance, so much so that you had to buy them for those anticipated "alone times".  And out of the collection they came when the the time was right.  Probably still works to...

Allison Krauss:  Admit it, when you hear her voice you stop and listen.  Even if you don't like the genre, her voice is stunning! And you took notice when she partnered with the likes of Robert Plant several other Classic Rock artists.

Earth Wind and Fire:  Maurice White is one of the coolest lead singers ever.  Great stage presence great entertainer and songwriter.  Samarian/Egyptian costumes, stage sets, and spiritual lyrics that many think of as strange.  To make the claim of being a "Rocker" and then pop in Boogie Wonderland was a hard lesson in ridicule we've all had to learn whether this was your scenario or not.  But get a friend out of the crowd and they would ask you to put in Fantasy or Serpentine Fire and crank it, of which I gladly obliged!

Huey Lewis and the News:  I bought their "Sports" release and quickly got tired of them and the cheesy videos and overplayed songs.  Also got tired of hearing about how not cool they were. Then they came to town.  I was given a ticket and forced to go see them because I really didn't want to, but man they were good!  Really good!  I heard more than I Wanna New Drug and watched as they jammed!  I have a new respect for these guys that I still have to this day

Rick Springfield:  A soap opera actor?  No way he could be taken seriously!  Until you heard Jesses Girl, and then you still tried to resist, and then you heard Sammy Hagar wrote Ive Done Everything For You, and then you relented, but only a little bit!  And then he released Living In Oz.

Ambrosia:  I could never like this crap!  Too sensitive, too wimpy.  Ya, they suck!  And then I went and bought Life Beyond L.A. and heard what wasn't on the radio.  I still play How Much I Feel also, I admitted it in a therapy session years later and it still feels good to look in the mirror and say "I'm an Ambrosia fan because I'm good enough, smart enough and doggonit, people like me!"  (I kid... maybe?)

Chuck Mangione:  Jazz?  Freakin really?  Yup!  And while I am very particular about liking jazz, it is only certain selections that really strike me as listenable.  George Benson is another artist who I really appreciate.  But I wanted to express my Chuck Mangione guilty pleasure because (ok don't throw anything at me) ... because it Feels So Good.

Coldplay:  Their artsy fartsy, the dude married Gwyneth Paltrow their rhythms are repetitive, and on and on...  but they are so damn good!  My son got me hooked and I pop them in every now and them.


Come now, confession time!  Or ridicule away, Ive heard it all before.  hahahaha.

 

Who are your guilty pleasures?

Heres a playlist of selections from my guilty pleasures....
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/cd988f628e02aa18f074cbdd0a191008

 

 

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay, so I just finished your playlist and I enjoyed it very much.  The Bee Gees song we matched up on, so you know I liked it.  Tell me that Ace doesn't smoke on Let Me Go, Rock And Roll...that's a great example of his vastly underated guitar work.

 

The Allison Krause song is really good.  I'm gonna have to pick up some of her work.  I love her voice.

 

The Ambrosia song is freakin' great.  I've never heard that but I'm gonna get their greatest hits, I hope it's on there.  The bass work and guitar work are fantastic. 

 

Lastly, did you realize 2 songs on this list had that woka woka 70's guitar sound that you and Jon were talking about a while back.  That would be Nights On Broadway and the Chuck Mangione song.  Speaking of Mangione, I didn't realize how cool the guitar work was on that song until now.

 

Great list and absolutely great topic.  By the way, I'm working on another list of different guilty pleasures right now.  I hope that's okay?

 

 

[Scott]

Fire away!~  Love to see your list...

 

I actually did think about thew wocka wocka geetar Jon loves so much.  I think you'd like Ambrosia, Jon was right though, Im second guessing my inclusion of them on here, maybe not a "real" guilty pleasure...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Yep, just a pleasure.

[Jon]

I can't wait for you to listen to the greatest hits disc from Ambrosia...can almost guarantee it'll throw you for a loop, I think Scott will agree??

[Scott]

100% agree!  Life Beyond LA is cool too

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay, I like this post so much, I thought I would post 10 more.  Listen if you want by clicking the picture:

1. 70's Soft Rock - Jay Ferguson - Thunder Island

2. Barry Manilow - Weekend In New England

3. KC & The Sunshine Band - Please Don't Go

4. Duran Duran - Come Undone

5. Ronnie Milsap - It Was Almost Like A Song

6. Linkin Park - In The End

7. Restless Heart - Tell Me What You Dream

8. John Denver - Rocky Mountain High

9. Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time

10. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

 

I really wanted to list the Grease Soundtrack and play Sandy by John Travolta, but I have lost that somewhere along the line.  It's full of cool music though.  This one may not get much positive response because I included Duran Duran and Linkin Park, but I guess we'll see.

 

Again, this was a great topic and a lot of fun coming up with responses.  Thanks for the idea Scott.

[Scott]

Actually this is a very cool list.  I have that Jay Ferguson tune on a 70's compilation somewhere.  He was one of those guys who was in the inner circle of Joe Walsh and the Eagles.  Cool tune...

 

You wont be to upset if I skip Barry and Linkin Park would you?  hahahahaha.

 

I get a kick out of KC and the Sunshine band everytime that Disco Explosion Infomercial comes on. I remember how HUGE of a star he was. And people still respond.  Love Please Dont Go!

 

Kinda liked that Duran Duran track, whats that from?

 

And Rocky Mountain High has a place of high esteem in my catalog.  Thats just a cool song!

 

Is Cash a Guilty Pleasure?  He seems to be in vogue now!

 

Cool list, I may have to try this again sometime in the next few days

[RJhog (Admin)]

You are probably right on Cash.  But that song just kills me...in a great way.  I love the end of it.  The DD track is on their greatest hits, which is all that I own.  But I didn't discover it until a few years ago.  I have a cover of it by a band that will be in my next NMC that's very decent.