Thursday, January 17, 2008

Rock Revivial's Top 20 'Guilty Pleasures'

Ok, Rock Revival has formally challenged 2 great rock sites, Rock of Ages and Layla's Classic Rock Faves (see blogroll below) to come out of the closet with their list of their favourite 'guilty pleasures'. Music that they LOVE but is embarrassing to admit. Here's mine..............

1. Sailing: Christopher Cross (that one hurts to admit)

2. What the World Needs Now: Burt Bacharach (brilliant song writer)

3. Frank Sinatra, whole album In the Wee Small Hours (there is definitely no shame in liking
Frank)

4. Just Remember I love You: Firefall (an automatic route back to certain memories)

5. Jolene: Dolly Paron (me and the White Stripes can't be wrong)

6. I Started a Joke: The Bee Gees (plus New York Mining Disaster)

7. Anything by the Dixie Chicks (please come back to the site if yor a first time visitor! also
listen to their version of Landslide)

8. Bless the Broken Road: Rascal Flatts (most of their music is rubbish but for some reason i
cant stop liking this one)

9. Tim McGraw (but i stress, only for his version of Tiny Dancer)

10. Tiger Feet: Mud (we were all 8 years old once)

11. Any doo wop music from the 50's (me and the kids have a ball going to schol in the car)

12. Autumn in New York: Dawn Upshaw (schmaltzy jazz)

13. The Lion Sleeps Tonite: Harry Belafonte (see 8)

14. Mas Que Nada: Sergio Mendes (your crazy if you dont like this)

15. Joy: Teddy Pendegrass (ouch! who'se idea was this !)

16. oh god i can't bring myself to do it, Close to You: The Carpenters

17. Dont Stop Til You Get Enough: Michael Jackson

18. Jessie's Girl: Rick Springfield (oh dear, 2 to go)

19. Everything by Supertramp (maybe that's the easiest to admit)

20. American Pie: Don McClean (the lyrics trace the history of rock from Buddy Holly's death
to Altamont)

Ok I did it, it's painful but quite cleansing, over to you Barbara and Bill

Also Readers please leave your own list too, it's good for you !

6 comments:

Bill said...

Oooh that's good! I'm gonna have to think about this - I'll let you know when the post goes up!

Bill

http://rockofages.wordpress.com

Perplexio said...

Top 20 Guilty Pleasures:

1) Milli Vanilli - Girl You Know It's True (lip synced or not it was a catchy song)
2) The Archies - Jingle Jangle (so what if it's by a "fake band" based off a cheesy comic book, the song is infectiously catchy)
3) Air Supply - Making Love Out of Nothing At All (their music is largely cavity inducing, but this song is anthemic)
4) Jim Steinman (his songs have been performed by Air Supply, Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler, and heck even Barbra Streisand. All of his songs are rather bombastic and over-the-top and I love just about every one of them)
5) Queen - Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen really isn't a "guilty" pleasure, but Fat Bottomed Girls is a far cry from Bohemian Rhapsody or Under Pressure)
6) Chicago Hot Streets - Chicago is one of the top-selling American bands, liking them isn't really a guilty pleasure. But this album with some serious disco influences from the late 70s is certainly not the pinnacle of the band's creative energies... But I still can't get enough of songs like Alive Again and No Tell Lover.
7) Dream Theater When Dream and Day Unite - Their debut album with former lead singer Charlie Domenici. Many find Domenici to be a bit "unlistenable" but I quite enjoy his vocals.
8) Syd Barrett - Syd's material tempered by his bandmates in Pink Floyd was strange enough. Without the rest of Pink Floyd to tame his eccentricities you get songs like Birdie Hop that are truly bizarre.
9) Def Leppard - I've continued listening to these guys long after many others have stopped. And I don't just mean their classics, I listen to their new stuff too.
10) Survivor - Eye of the Tiger, Burning Heart, The Search Is Over... I can't get enough of these blokes.
11) REO Speedwagon - do I really have to explain?
12) Matthew Wilder - Break My Stride - A one hit wonder and I'm still listening 25 years later.
13) Joey Scarbury - Believe It Or Not a TV theme song that was far more popular than the show it was the theme to (The Greatest American Hero), over 25 years later and I still dig it.
14) Toto - I don't really feel guilty about loving this band, they're solid musicians and play some great music. They just are generally forgotten here in their home country.
15) John Farnham-era Little River Band - While I prefer John Farnham solo over his time with LRB and I prefer LRB with Glenn Shorrock over LRB with John Farnham I do still enjoy this brief anomaly in LRB's history.
16) Fergie Frederiksen - This guy is almost a musical footnote and not much else. He was the lead singer for a band called LeRoux for 1 album, replacing their original lead singer-- Jeff Pollard... only to leave LeRoux to join Toto for one album. He has a tweeter-frying stratospheric tenor voice and tremendous range.
17) Peter Cetera - Chicago's former frontman. Most of what he sings is saccharine love drivel but man his voice... His voice is so distinct and really sets him apart from other singers. I'm not crazy about what he chooses to sing but I still love the way he sings it!
18) Michael Jackson - Thriller (Michael is bat guano crazy, but in his day he sure knew how to craft one killer pop album... there's not a bad song on this album!)
19) Saturday Night Fever soundtrack - I was still in diapers when this movie and soundtrack came out but with 5 older siblings it's indelibly stamped in my memory
20) England Dan & John Ford Coley - These guys really made some great cheezy schmaltz in the tradition of bands like Firefall but there was/is something quite catchy about songs like Nights Are Forever Without You and I'd Really Love To See You Tonight that I can't help but like.

Bill said...

and my post is now up at http://rockofages.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/the-guilty-pleasures-challenge/

please be gentle with your criticism!!

best wishes

Bill

Bar L. said...

Ok boys, I did not hold back. I bared my soul and dished out some true guilty pleasures! I'm already embarrassed.

Now about your list...do I detect a bit of a taste for American COUNTRY music???? ;)

WeightStaff said...

I've posted my own list as well. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm not sure what my co-team at The Weight would say about my selections, but what the hell...

http://theweightonline.blogspot.com/2008/01/guilty-pleasures.html

DL
The Weight

Charlie Ricci said...

Since when is Frank Sinatra a guilty pleasure? Guilty pleasures are things you are not suppose to like.