Okay, there have been some references here and there as to some folk's musical guilty pleasures. Now - a thread dedicated to them! Any albums or groups you now or once listened to that brings red pangs of shame to your face?


I'll be the first:

In high-school: Depeche Mode, particularly Violator (ahh, the nights I savored the sweet scent of vagina on the lips to this little gem....utter poop at any other time, though)

In college: Rush, up to and including Signals (what WAS I thinking?)

Now:
-Bobby Darin, in particular the lounge stuff for Capitol. Much more fun than Sinatra. Billy May and Richard Wess had some kick-ass bands too....swank & swing'n!

-Bob Thompson; Mmm, Nice! Those who know this record also know it's cheesey as fuck, but hey, it reminds me of what would've been on the 'table at a Playboy Mansion party circa '59....swanky!



Now, confess to your guilt.....

In the Chuck Klosterman book I mentioned in another thread, he described "guilty pleasure" as "something I pretend to like ironically, but in reality I really like it".

Anyway, I feel that way about "My So Called Life".

That's a TV show....I don't feel guilty about any of the music that I like. And I won't, ever.

Yep. Violator!!! Still holds up. I believe I'm the only one I personally know who likes it, so I get to listen to it alone.

my guilty pleasures are out of my control these days....having a daughter that likes music is a big factor. When she likes something, I kinda have to start liking it too, just so I don't sit there and hate it..But, when flipping the radio station in the car, I have to avoid certain ones that play that popular alternative stuff, like green day and such, or I'll get stuck listening to it ...when we're at home I have a little more control...

she loves, and I'm starting to tolerate:
yeah yeah yeahs
hot hot heat
grandaddy
donnas
peaches (limited tracks)

I guess it could be a lot worse, and, sometimes it is, with the outcast and the fanny pack, and the rhcp, but, it's not about me anymore.. I just sing along and smile...

it kinda rules because at 7, she has no concept of good or bad music like I do...there's no thinking involved, just rocking enjoyment....

I'm glad other people here are coming out of the closet re: Violator.

That record was on heavy rotation for me through much of high school, and a couple of years ago a roommate of mine got really into it. It wasn't so bad, even 10 years after the fact!

Haven't listened to it in about three years, but I'm sure I would still enjoy it to this day. And that's something I can't say about too many records I loved in high school.

child porn

geiginni wrote:-Bobby Darin, in particular the lounge stuff for Capitol.

If you wanna hear some Bobby Darin stuff that is definitely NOT a guilty pleasure but genuinely great surreal Dylanesque folk-rock, check out the two albums he put out (and wrote and produced) on Direction: 'Born Walden Robert Cassotto' and 'Commitment.' They will blow your mind AND give you plenty of laughs. Amazing fucking stuff! Also, check out the album he did on Motown right before he died. Finally, there are some Motown outtakes on a cheapo album (I've seen it on disc, too) titled with his birth/death dates that has a cover of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" that may just be the best thing the guy ever did. Darin's the bridge between Mom's music and ours, definitely.

That one song by the Proclaimers, "500 Miles." I like that song. I should consider it a guilty pleasure, but I feel no guilt, because it is genuinely great.

My girlfriend, the beautiful Heather Whinna, likes a lot of crap. Benatar, Journey, REO, Aguilera... Crap, all of it. She doesn't have "guilty" pleasures, though, and I admire her for it. If it's crap and she likes it, she admits that it's crap, but she likes it.

I guess I wouldn't think anything was crap if I liked it, and that's my problem.

Like this Finley Quaye song I like, "Your Love Gets Sweeter." First time I heard it, I thought it was Desmond Dekker and I liked it. Then I found out it was Finley Quaye, and it didn't matter -- I already liked it.

But for-real guilt... I had a couple of James Taylor records in high school. I think I had Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty" as well. And I had a Fabulous Poodles record. And a Tim Curry record. That's probably about it.

Jeff Buckley - Grace

its the closest ive come to a for-real guilty pleasure, meaning i cant help listening to it alone, but i wouldnt stand up for the record in an argument about its crapness.

I kind of feel guilty for liking Paw as much as I do, still, to this day. I've mentioned elsewhere my undying love for Rick Springfield's "Jesse's Girl". I totally dug Huey Lewis and the News when I was a kid. Totally. And I still think back fondly on Lionel Ritchie's video for "Hello". Oh, and after a boss at a shitty job made me listen to Boyz II Men "II" one-to-two times-per-day for a year, I actually kinda started to dig them. "I'll make love to you, like you want me to, and I'll hold you tight, baby all through the night..." See, that was right off the top of my head.

God this is like therapy. I really feel like curling up under a blanket and watching "On Golden Pond". And crying a little...