Guilty Pleasures




garfish’s recent thread on c/w music brought to mind the “guilty pleasures” admissions recently submitted by TAS writers and reviewers. a “guilty pleasure,” roughly speaking, is a musical selection one adores but plays only in secret, fearing its publication as an audiophile’s favorite might elicit ridicule or, at least, laughter. so, fellow a-goners, are you willing to confess to a couple of your guilty pleasures? I’ll start with two and add others if this thread gets going: (1) “not for kids only,” j. garcia & d. grisman; (2) ‘the little mermaid,” OST.
cornfedboy
I like Disney sountracks, too. How about Beauty and the Beast? My most guilty pleasure, though, is Michael Jackson's Thriller. I can't hear it too many times.
i just found that there was a similar thread started in 5/00. hope this one doesn't degenerate as that one did.
I have an original 45 RPM local Athens, Georgia recording of the B52s singing "Rock Lobster". It was made before they were famous and is 1000% better than the glossy over-produced version made later, that is on their first big album, that you all may be familiar with. I love to play it once in a while, and then usually three times in a row. I also have an old 45 RPM record of Ernie from Sesame Street singing "Rubber Duckie". Cute stuff !!!
I am big on Henry Mancicni though the only CD that I have now is "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I remember my mother dancing to the Cha Cha Cha number and my father and sister playing Moon River on the piano as a duet with my father heavily improvising. I also like the theme song to "Exodus" as well as many others. Everyone in my family played the piano, with the exception of my mother, and I grew up with a lot of soundtrack music of the 50's and 60's.
Sheesh, I almost feel like I have to fess up to Sharon, Lois, and Bram...Oops! Oh darn, cats outta the bag. ;?)

My real undercover fave is Hall and Oates "Abandoned Luncheonette". Those soaring harmonies get to me every time. An SACD of this disc would be wonderful, my LP is almost worn out!
dekay: yeah, i remember the henry mancini stuff. i even bought some in the late-50's, early 60's. my family was pretty much from blue collar roots, of which i am quite proud. my dad was big on harmonica bands. i still think of him when i play some old albums by the harmonicats.
gbeard: believe it or not, there's an mfsl lp of "abandoned luncheonette" (mfsl-069). this was not a big seller, so you should be able to find a sealed cutout on eBay. (i still have a sealed copy i bought many years ago). i don't think mfsl did a cd of this one.
dekay: i have the very same 45 rpm of rock lobster. found it at a used record store in ft. collins, colo in about 1985. i also have a 12" 45 of the record done for radio broadcast. my older son, who's 31, went to numerous b-52 concerts at the late great rainbow music hall in denver. wish i'd been wise enough to have accompanied him.
sugarbrie: sorry about mixing my posts re the b-52's. the last was obviously meant for you.
I am big on Henry Mancicni though the only CD that I have now is "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I remember my mother dancing to the Cha Cha Cha number and my father and sister playing Moon River on the piano as a duet with my father heavily improvising. I also like the theme song to "Exodus" as well as many others. Everyone in my family played the piano, with the exception of my mother, and I grew up with a lot of soundtrack music of the 50's and 60's.
dekay: man, you must be a really big henry mancini fan to have posted twice. ;~)
Not quite that big. I was trying to tie my shoe and made the second entry with my forehead.
Hi Cornfed; now that the C/W stuff is out of the way, I have less to confess too. Emotionally, I think I stopped maturing at about age 15, so sometimes I put either Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue" or "Rave On" on infinite repeat and groove for about 1/2 an hour on each-- also do this with Three Dog Night's "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress". There are some other roots rockers such as carefully selected Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard tunes that I can also do this with. It's hard to find good recordings of early rock on CD though. I also have a high NRG rock recording by Rick Nelson that does it for me-- it's on a cheap label and is some of his later stuff. Cheers. Craig.
garfish: here's one that's true, but hard to believe. the night before buddy holly, richie valens and the big bopper died (after performing at the surfer ballroom in northwest iowa), i saw them all in concert at the orpheum theatre in davenport, iowa. ".....the day the music died," indeed. and another: one of my wife's goood friends was a cheerleader at the highschool in lubbuck, texas when buddy and peggy sue were there; she was a friend of peggy sue's, but barely knew buddy holly.
Long Tall Woman---- Hollies.(and BusStop) I never mahe any mistakes, so I go around correcting for everybody. "Uniquely Mancini" is my fav. by Henry. Such a version of C-Jam Blues. But ,hey I can't type with my head or feet. Herb Alpert's Beat of the Brass-Johna Jones/ Louie Prima are the ones that qualify.Oh,add "French Carousel Music" on MHS. Kinda un-cool.
Stan Freberg's "History of the United States, Part One" which myself and 2 amigos knew all the dialogue AND songs at age 14. Still do and play it (and laugh) all the time.
......what a goof. Thanks for the correction Avguy. I REALLY did know that the Hollies did "Long Cool Woman...". Seems I had it right next to Three Dog Night, who did "Never Been to Spain",-- that song is another guilty pleasure of mine. Thanks. Craig
Cornfed; I too remember the night that those guys died. They were headed for Moorehead, Minn. (just across the river from Fargo, ND)-- I lived about 90 miles north of Fargo. It's fair to say Buddy Holly was a hero of mine. Not only did I like his music, but he wore horn rimmed glasses, which made wearing them acceptable to me and to society. Cheers. Craig.
captain & tenille, come in from the rain and wedding song. beautiful, but people laugh and say you like what!?!?!?!--
What a great thread, we can imberass our selves but we do not know each other(for the most part). That being said I enjoy listening to Thomas Dolby a lot! and even on a bad day I like Bon Jovi but the condition's have to be right for the latter of the two. As for Thomas Dolby most all of his music ANY time is just fantastic.
tireguy: man, there's some wierd stuff goin' on here. one of the lp's i use as a "test" when auditioning new equipment is "aliens ate my buick" ; best track, of course, is "it don't mean a thing, if you ain't got...." here's another example of a "rock" record that's well recorded, despite what one might expect from the "musical profiling" of the genre.
Don't ya' just love it when one of your freinds/or visiting relatives is flipping thru the albums,picking some of those old ones,holding them up in a crowded living room,"What's this?"/"with no place to hide."
Great topic Cornfedboy. Most of my guilty pleasures came from listening to my parents music as a child. The Browns, Mills Bros, Jim Reeves, Marty Robbins, Johnny Horton, Johnny Rivers and a few more that I am too embaressed to share. Although I do not consider Tom waits a guilty pleasure, I am made to feel that way (r u reading this Jctubes) from neighbors and some of my audio buddies. Hows your head Dekay? Avguygeorge, when someone asks me "whats this?"/"with no place to hide" I say it's my girlfriends.
Yeah, my wife and I have our own guilty pleasure music. Buster Poindexter... "Who Through the Whiskey in the Well" is great.
That is wierd cornfed. did you know that "Alien's ate my Buick" has been out of print for several years. Some times you can find it as an import, or it is ALWAYS at used CD stores for around $3. The cheapest audiophile like CD I have ever purchased. Though my favorite is "Astronauts & Heritcs" My favorite song is "Silk Pyjamas", but what a line up on Astronauts. It features Eddie Reader, Eddie Van Halen, Karry Treadwell, Bob Weir(which I believe was mentioned on the best guitar thread) and Jerry Garcia. ENJOY!
Sometimes I like the Stones "trippy" stuff, like , "She's a Rainbow", "Child of the Moon", "Dandelion", "Cool Calm Collected", "2000 Light Years From Home", Mother's Little Helper", "Play With Fire", and my favorite "Ruby Tuesday". Also, anything by Hank Snow, (my dad used to play Hank a lot when I was between two and eight years old, so it's somewhere deep in my subconscience)
Damn that was a typo it's suppose to be Larry Treadwell not Karry treadwell. Sorry.
OK, Brulee. Point taken. However, you remember that the next time I assail you with recordings of fingernails on a chaulkboard. (For the record, I like Tom Waits as a "live act" and as an actor, but I find that most of his recordings are an acquired taste to say the least). Just MHO.
Good thread, though I'm afraid that I don't have much to offer. I occasionally like to listen to early Elton John, Til Tuesday, early Kansas, and Elvis Costello (with the Brodsky Quartet). Also, Collective Soul, Green Day, and Ben Folds Five. Now, I'll go hang my head in shame.
Dittos with Thomas Dolby. Great recordings and totally upbeat. Found a Aliens Ate My Buick in vinyl awhile back. If you don't feel to guilty check tdolby.com
Jctubes, Try track 13 on "Mule Variations", that song can stir the coldest heart . I certainly can understand calling Tom Waits an aquired taste, but not in "the least". Any songwriter knows that his writing can be stunning, even if his personal interpretation can be rough, the content of so many of his songs rings so true and deep, that even Springsteen wished he wrote "Jersey Girl".
Much of what you guys have listed I consider to be music of rather good taste. Captain and Tenille, though, that is a good one! My confession would include the album Risque, by Chic. I also have a record by Kool and the Gang that's really groovy.