Day 218: I am sure everybody has them. Whether it's that TV show you know shouldn't like, but you do, that trashy novel that you just can't down, that movie where the acting is terrible and the plot is stupid… yet you secretly think it is awesome, or in this case if it Is that band that you just feel a little bad for liking... we all have our Guilty entertainment Pleasures. You are not alone. Even Alice Cooper in an interview for one of those count-down music documentaries mentioned how he would secretly turn up the Beach Boys in his car if no one else was around. Yup, we all have them. For me, the band that always comes to mind when I think about musical Guilty Pleasures is the Minneapolis act Semisonic. I guess objectively there is nothing really wrong with them per se, but for whatever reason they were the type of band that I always felt that I shouldn't like... but yet I do... kind of a lot. Like most people, my interest in Semisonic came about in 1998 with their album "Feeling Strangely Fine." I think that I must have resisted buying the album for several years, but I finally gave in during a trip to CD Land in Lafayette. Strangely, I felt pretty fine about the album after a few listens. And so, it only seems appropriate that I would select the song, "Secret Smile," for today's song. I think that's just fine.
05/07/2015
Day 219: You how you can tell that I'm awesome? Because I like Coldplay. It seems like there are two kinds of people in this world: those that like Coldplay and feel slightly bad about it, and those that make fun of other people for liking Coldplay. But, just like any other of those Guilty Pleasure acts out there, they have a pretty solid catalog of good to great songs. I originally became aware of Coldplay from the song "Don't Panic" on the Garden State soundtrack. But, when I started investigating the band a little further, I realized that I had heard them before, specifically today's song, "Yellow" from their 2000 album Parachutes. I have always been a little partial to their slightly more stripped down music on their first few albums. Plus, those songs were all recorded before Coldplay really hit it big and became the next U2. I guess it is just a thing to feel a little less guilty about.
I would be remiss if I did not also mention this totally awesome dance performance from SYTYCD by the League of Extrodanary Dancers to an instrumental version of Yellow. It is worth an additional 2 minutes of your day... I promise!
05/08/2015
Day 220: Yeah, this came up during the NCAA Tournament, but it bears repeating: I kind of like Smash Mouth. On the face of it, they don't seem that much different, then say, Sugar Ray (who is TERRIBLE), but Smash Mouth just is able to hit that perfect balance with catchy lyrics: "This is a love attack I know it went out but it's back. It's just like any fad it retracts before impact," super catchy tunes... and oh that organ. I tried to fight it, I really did, but at some point I just went ahead and bought their first two albums at CD Land in Lafayette. They are both tremendous fun. The best of the bunch, I believe, is today's song, "Walkin' On The Sun." I think it is the perfect example of why this band is so compelling.
05/09/2015
Day 221: Once upon a time, I heard of a band called "Soul Asylum." They released a album in 1990 called "And The Horse They Rode In On." I thought that it was a cute title, but other than that, it made very little impression on me. Then, a few years later, they put out another album called "Grave Dancers Union." The first single "Somebody To Shove" was pretty good, and then there was another one, "Black Gold," which was a little too poppy, but still pretty good, and then there was "Runaway Train"... and then all heck broke loose. They were probably the most famous band in the US (or maybe even the world) there for a little while. The complete and total over-saturation made them pretty hard to like, but at some point at some point I heard today's song, "Without a Trace" from the same album, and it basically restored my faith in the band. I love the feel to this song as well as the lyric that inspired the album title, "I tried to dance at a funeral, New Orleans style. I joined the Grave Dancer's Union, I had to file" I still feel a little bad about liking them, but you know, they're alright.
05/10/2015
Day 222: I remember once asking Leo what he thought about the band Bush. His comment, and I quote, was "Everything Zen?... I don't think so." Well done, Leo. But, I have to admit, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for them. They were one of those bands that clearly rode the alternative rock wave to fame in the mid-90s, and as I remember, that seemed to take themselves WAY too seriously. But, when I sit down and listen to some of their stuff, I must admit it is pretty fun to listen to, especially today's song, "Machinehead" from their 1994 debut "Sixteen Stone." I really do think that it is better than the rest. So, breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy this little piece of 1994 once again. (But don't enjoy it too much... that might make you feel guilty)
05/11/2015
Day 223: I am pretty sure that I also first name across the Buffalo, NY band The Goo Goo Dolls on 120 Minutes in the early 90s when their song, "We Are the Normal" hit the air waves. I thought that it was OK, as was their single, "Name" that followed a few years later. In 1998, they released a little album called "Dizzy Up The Girl," which just happened to contain the song "Iris" which became a ridiculously popular song from the soundtrack to the Nicholas Cage film, "City of Angels." It was a good song, but it was also pretty clear at this point that The Goo Goo Dolls had crossed over into the realm of adult contemporary rock, and that made them a little hard to stomach. It was all just a little too polished and packaged, must like a lot of things on "alternative" radio those days. But somehow, whenever I heard today's song, "Slide" it always still put a smile on my face. For whatever reason, this sweet little love song seemed a bit more sincere to me. I am not proud of it, but I still really like this song. The hook just gets me every time, "Put your arms around me. What you feel is what you are, and what you are is beautiful. Oh, May. Do you wanna get married or run away?" Awwwwwww. :)
05/12/2015
Day 224: Like a few of the songs that I have featured along this journey, today's story has both a happy and a tragic side. First, the happy side: Perhaps some of you out there thought that my Guilty Pleasures couldn't get much worse. Well, you were wrong. I have already mentioned my previous love for American Idol. Well, you can't really talk about A.I. without mentioning the original American Idol: Kelly Clarkson. Yes, please feel free to read that sentence again. I kind of love Kelly Clarkson. Part of it is nostalgia, granted. I still remember those days in grad school sitting in Corrine's apartment with Jen watching that horrible low budget first season when Kelly took home the crown. But I can't say that I really sought Kelly out much after that, but I kept hearing her songs hear and there and I would also think "I am not sure who is singing this pop song, but it is kind of catchy." After a while, I just stopped fighting. So today, I offer up for your judgment one of Kelly's signature songs, "Breakaway." I usually scoff at songs like this that seem to ooze fake inspiration. But this one I just buy hook, line, and sinker. Considering American Idol was officially cancelled yesterday, the timing of today's song seems a bit ironic, but in any event I dare you: "make a wish, take a chance, make a change, and breakaway."
So, that is the happy part of this story. Unfortunately, there is a sad part as well. I spent several days between Christmas and New Years talking about songs that give me solace in times of mourning. I also spent a day a few weeks back talking about my friend Laurie. But there was one story that I almost didn't tell, and that is the story of my friend and co-worker Phuong Tran. It was not until a few months ago that I had a conversation with Kimber that I realized this ommission, and it took me a while for me to reallize why. You see, this story is almost a bit too tragic and sometimes it seems too tragic to even be real. The fact is, my friend Phuong didn't just pass away back in 2005, he was murdered. He has taken from us in an act of violence and the guilty party(s) have never brought to justice. When I think back now to the other losses that I have experienced, there was always some song that I could cling to to help me feel just a little bit better. But, in this case, it was like the day the music died. It was just pain and loss, and all we could do was to get through it. It was the exception to the rule. In addition to that, I did not really have a specific memory of Phuong that was tied to music. So, it was hard to connect him to any song in particular. But, I was reminded that Phuong always loved Kelly Clarkson. So Phuong, this one is for you. I am sorry that it is a bit late.
05/13/2015
Day 225: Did you think that Kelly Clarkson was as bad as it would get? Well, how about Lady Gaga? Yeah. That's right. I actually don't quite remember where I first ran across Lady Gaga, but I think that she was a bit of a mainstay on So You Think You Can Dance before she really hit it big. At first I didn't really "get" her, until one day it just dawned on me that she is simply a 21st century version of Madonna. Once I figured that out, her work just made sense to me, and you have to admit her songs have a great beat that you can really dance to. In that spirit, today's song is "Bad Romance," which you have to admit, is tremendous fun with a tremendously fun video that features some epic dancing. Come on, it's not that Bad.
05/14/2015
Day 226: Well, I hope that I have provided a little extra entertainment over the past nine days as I have laid bare the most embarrassing entries in my music library. I suppose that in reality none of them are really all that bad, and as an (almost) 40 year old man, I am pretty comfortable with all of my life choices at this point. So today I would like to close this chapter on my musical Guilty Pleasures with one final entry from the British R&B singer know as Seal. Now, Seal seems like kind of a weird dude to me, and I really don't like most of his songs, but today's selection, "Crazy," is actually one of my all time favorite songs. There is just something about that synthesizer line that the song opens with... and ultimately, the lyric, "But we're never gonna survive unless we get a little crazy," is just so freaking cool, that I just can't NOT love it. If you don't like this song, well, I think you might be a little cray cray.
So, with that, I bring this chapter to a close. As with today's song, you have probably noted by now that I really like to quote song lyrics. Well, that's true. After all, a great song is great music plus poetry, and so tomorrow I will open a new chapter that focuses on the poetry that helps to push some songs over the edge from good to great.
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