Humming Along to Your Private Shame
Inspired by the great WFMU blog's Have You Heard About the Lonesome Losers? posting today, I'm going to make my secret shames public and list a few 70's AM radio hits that I really, truly enjoy...far more than any sensible man should.
While I cannot state with any hint of sincerity that the following songs merit such repeat attention, I can say that each reminds me of my halcyon elementary-school days, when I engaged in vicious acorn wars with neighborhood kids; played drums--actually a "Gunsmoke" lunchbox and Duraflame crate--in "Coach," the worst band ever to cover both the Ramones and Styx exclusively on blank 8-track tapes; tried unsuccessfully to convince a friend that an X-acto knife and a Bic pen spring do not a "bionic frog" make; tried unsuccessfully to convince same friend that the soul of his "pet robot"--an inverted wastebasket on wheels with Owens Corning insulation for hair and a "mouth" to eat "magic pellets" made out of different-color napkins--did not have its soul captured by the Viet Cong; got the briefest glimpse of Penthouse models lying spread-eagle on my family's glass dining room table; and lived in a trailer home in our own driveway with a large pipe that ran into the bathroom in the basement for a full year because my mother had heard a kid crying, assumed that I had been beaned during another acorn war, and fled the kitchen to save me, only to leave the stove on, burn half our house down and later learn that I had spent the whole afternoon playing Sorry! at a friend's house. Ahh, the days before the Internet and regular adult supervision...
Anyway, here are the aforementioned songs, listed in no particular order (and, sadly, sans mp3 links...unless someone knows of such a source, he asked quite slyly):
America--"Sister Golden Hair"
England Dan and John Ford Coley--"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"
Jim Croce--"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song"
John Denver--"Take Me Home Country Roads"
Billy Joel--"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
Orleans--"Dance with Me"
Partridge Family--"I Think I Love You"
Rod Stewart--"You're in My Heart" and "Maggie May"
Stephen Stills--"Love the One You're With"
Three Dog Night--"Shambala"
Supertramp--"Take the Long Way Home"
10CC--"The Things We Do for Love"
And now that I've pissed away whatever coolness the writer for "Sally Forth" could ever have possibly possessed, I ask you--what are your "private shame" favorite songs?
While I cannot state with any hint of sincerity that the following songs merit such repeat attention, I can say that each reminds me of my halcyon elementary-school days, when I engaged in vicious acorn wars with neighborhood kids; played drums--actually a "Gunsmoke" lunchbox and Duraflame crate--in "Coach," the worst band ever to cover both the Ramones and Styx exclusively on blank 8-track tapes; tried unsuccessfully to convince a friend that an X-acto knife and a Bic pen spring do not a "bionic frog" make; tried unsuccessfully to convince same friend that the soul of his "pet robot"--an inverted wastebasket on wheels with Owens Corning insulation for hair and a "mouth" to eat "magic pellets" made out of different-color napkins--did not have its soul captured by the Viet Cong; got the briefest glimpse of Penthouse models lying spread-eagle on my family's glass dining room table; and lived in a trailer home in our own driveway with a large pipe that ran into the bathroom in the basement for a full year because my mother had heard a kid crying, assumed that I had been beaned during another acorn war, and fled the kitchen to save me, only to leave the stove on, burn half our house down and later learn that I had spent the whole afternoon playing Sorry! at a friend's house. Ahh, the days before the Internet and regular adult supervision...
Anyway, here are the aforementioned songs, listed in no particular order (and, sadly, sans mp3 links...unless someone knows of such a source, he asked quite slyly):
America--"Sister Golden Hair"
England Dan and John Ford Coley--"I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"
Jim Croce--"I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song"
John Denver--"Take Me Home Country Roads"
Billy Joel--"Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
Orleans--"Dance with Me"
Partridge Family--"I Think I Love You"
Rod Stewart--"You're in My Heart" and "Maggie May"
Stephen Stills--"Love the One You're With"
Three Dog Night--"Shambala"
Supertramp--"Take the Long Way Home"
10CC--"The Things We Do for Love"
And now that I've pissed away whatever coolness the writer for "Sally Forth" could ever have possibly possessed, I ask you--what are your "private shame" favorite songs?
posted by Francesco Marciuliano at 4:37 PM
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28 Comments:
I frown upon the concept of the guilty pleasure -- I say that if you like something, then you should shout it from the rooftops -- but some goodies from that time period that you don't mention:
"Moonlight Feels Right" -- Starbuck (This song sounds to me like it was recorded by space aliens like Bowie in THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, who had studied the earth's pop music for years in preparation but didn't get it *quite* right. I mean, really, a MARIMBA solo?)
"Rhinestone Cowboy" -- Glen Campbell (Hell, I even give it up for "Southern Nights," the first country-disco song!)
"Listen To What The Man Said" -- Wings (This song is why people hate Paul McCartney, because he was capable of writing a song this catchy and making it sound like he tossed it off in ten minutes in the back of the car on the way to the studio. However, no quarter is given to "Let 'Em In." My wife, who largely missed the '70s, had never heard this song, so I described it to her once: "Well, it's basically just a shuffle beat, a piano and a bass, and the lyrics are 'Someone's knockin' at the door/Somebody's ringin' the bell/Do me a favor/Open the door and let 'em in,' repeated over and over for five minutes, interspersed with the names of McCartney's family and friends. Oh, and there's this fife-and-drum corps that comes in a couple of times." There was a long pause, and then she said, "You're joking, right?")
Damn - I really do have to go and pick up the Wings catalog. I mean, at some level "Let 'Em In" is every bit as insubstantial as you imply - but it's also (a) catchy as hell, (b) fun as hell, and (c) gleefully weird. No marketing director in the world would ever have approved it - which is why, after appropriate marketing surveys as to design and features, a new circle of hell has been designated exclusively for marketers.
I could make a list (maybe I will later) but I'll simply say: "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" by Andy Gibb.
Anything Neil Diamond.
I'll see your John Denver "Take me Home Country Roads" and raise you "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." I'm from Colorado, we had the entire JD catalog.
Blood, Sweat and Tears - Spinning Wheel
Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
That's all I can think of right now. But I know there are more. I used to lie awake at night and listen to my little clock radio, when I was little.
"Timothy" by the Buoys. Great song about cannibalism.
"Vehicle" and "Get it On" - from the power horn era.
Most of "Jesus Christ Superstar"
"Sara Smile" and a whole bunch more - Hall & Oates (their "Along the Red Ledge" album has George Harrison, Todd Rundgren, Rick Neilsen, and Robert Fripp on it. These guys were cooler than they appeared.)
I actually saw "Moonlight Feels Right" performed live on Midnight Special in the 70s. Not only did the guy do a marimba solo - that same percussionist eventually went on during that break into a spoons/hitting on body parts/tapdance sort of thing that was mesmerizingly bad.
Some of this can be heard at dmaxRadio - my personal collection streaming over the net, most of the time.
Little River Band - Reminiscing
Ces: this is just wrong. Many of your guilty pleasure songs were on my college make-out tapes! So was "Moonlight Feels Right" which I really want on itunes someday. I still have a warm spot for Donna Summer because I briefly dated a girl who got so turned on by "Love to Love You Baby" that my disco cut of the somg (which lasted like 20 minutes or so) almost never left my turntable for a couple of weeks.
Where do I start...
"Play that Funky Music" by Wild Cherry.
"Born to be Alive" by Patrick Hernandez.
Most things by Earth, Wind, and Fire.
"Philadelphia Freedom" and "Rocket Man" by Elton John. I still remember where I was when I first heard the former.
"The Year of the Cat," by Alan Stewart. Ok, I'm cheating -- this is my wife's guilty fave.
"Jive Talkin'," Bee Gees.
Ditto, Nidrian. Great song.
And I used to love "Undercover Angel" by Alan O'Day until I heard it again a couple of years ago. What was I thinking?
Ok, stopping now.
Listening to dmaxRadio right now...currently playing Phillip Glass. Hey, Misterrrrr Bojangles.
"Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" by Fire Inc. — a band made up for the "Streets of Fire" soundtrack. I listen to it about five times a day and pretend that it really is Diane Lane singing.
"Blinded By the Light" as performed by Manfred Mann
"Mountain Music" by Alabama
"Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
Years ago I burnt a CD of all number one hits from the seventies. Every now and then I pull it out and put it on shuffle play and it's like listening to WHLL-AM.
It includes:
The Nights The Lights Went Out In Georgia -Vick Lawrence (yes that Vicki Lawrence)
Saturday Night - Bay City Rollers
Billy Don't Be A Hero - Bo Donaldson
Indian Reservation - The Raiders
Delta Dawn - Helen Reddy
The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
Boogie Oogie Oogie - (the Grammy award winning) Taste of Honey
And as they say on K-tel Records - "Plus 10 More Big Hits!!"
Well - I'm not too ashamed to say Journey forever! Where I work, someone's always playing XM 70's. Kinda sad, I know, but I still love those guys.
You may have had neighborhood acorn wars, but where I lived, everyone had these cheap (inedible) olive trees, and there were full out olive assaults. I remember my mom even helped us gather olives for them.
Someone wrote "Vehicle" and that is not a guilty pleasure song. That's an awesome, cool song - it was even covered by Bo Bice on "American Idol" (OK, never mind - I've lost all credibility).
"I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me" - Debbie Gibson (in my head all week, sadly)
"On the Wings of Love"
"Waiting to Take a Chance Again" - Barry Manilow (an awesome, awesome song from the movie, Foul Play)
"Superstar" - Carpenters
"500 Miles" - The Proclaimers
"100 Miles", "Lemon Tree", "Leaving on a Jet Plane" - Peter Paul and Mary
"Something Good", "I Am Sixteen Going on Seventeen" - "The Sound of Music"
A million Depeche Mode songs
I did Sister Golden Hair at karaoke just last Saturday, and I don't think you should feel guilty about that one at all. Some of the others, maybe. I'd love to do an Aggro cover of I Think I Love You for the humor value.
"2 Become 1," the Spice Girls
"CU When U Get There," Coolio
"Black and White," Three Dog Night - because of my name, it is federal law that I be familiar with Three Dog Night, and I actually like most of their stuff - but there's too much cowbell in this one even for Walken.
The song that was the theme for "Bosom Buddies". I don't know its name or who does it, but I hear it on radio every once in a while.
We used to watch "Bosom Buddies" in syndication when I was a kid. Little did I know that that show would launch the incredible acting career of the legendary, unforgettable Peter Scolari.
Dunno whatever happened to the other guy, though. I heard he was in a movie a while back?
I have a secret passion for...ABBA!
*dun-dun-duuuuuuhn*
"Secret" passion? Hell, I have asserted, in print, that "Dancing Queen" is the single greatest pop record ever made! There is no shame in loving ABBA.
For that matter, "Dancing Queen" was my ringtone for a long time. But now my phone's got Kate Bush's "Babooshka," which is basically Rupert Holmes' "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" with a more realistic ending.
Pretty much anything by:
Nu Shooz
Debbie Gibson
and
Swing Out Sister
(okay, that last one wasn't too shameful).
Why is "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" by Fire Inc. not on iTunes yet? I still have the 45 of it!
Why is it that All of the songs on ces' list are all the songs that lately have become the soundtrack of my life?
hmph.
Oh, and my shame song -
"Into the Night" by Benny Mardones
woodrowfan: I was responsible for the Streets of Fire soundtrack being removed from the jukebox of my favorite bar, after playing "Tonight Is What it Means to be Young" four times in a row and singing at the top of my lungs each and every time.
"Mandy" by Barry Manilow
"Ballroom Blitz," Sweet
"Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast" by Wayne Newton
"Black Water" by Doobie Bros.
"Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band (as a kid I had no idea what it was about)
"Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," BJ Thomas (ditto)
I'd better stop there.
I'm so ashamed...
"Black Water" is a classic. No shame necessary.
How could I forget Exile's "Kiss you all over"? Now I'm really ashamed...
"Philadelphia Freedom", Elton John
Couldn't be worse, and I still love to hear it.
"Hold On Loosely", .38 Special
"Ah! Leah!", Donnie Iris
"Uneasy Rider," Charlie Daniels
The playlist for WHLL-AM is posted.
for the "moonlight feels right" trash talkers... too bad it was the best marimba solo EVER played in the history of music thus far. it's a lyrical masterpiece as well. and, the lead singer wore an all white suit with a white kangol cap for all the performances. it does not get any cooler than that.
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