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Do you have a secret "guilty pleasure" recording?

You know...a recording that you would never play for anyone else because you are afraid they would think your nuts and snicker. I'll go ahead and admit mine - "The Carpenters Greatest Hits." Now stop that! I bet you have a guilty pleasure recording. What is it?
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bdp24
9,412 posts
 
tostadosunidos---It was precisely because of their surfing/cars/girls lyrics that The Beach Boys were considered so uncool to like in the late 60's-early 70's (though not by my friends and I, and perhaps you, if you're old enough!). They were viewed as an "Oldies" act by the hippies/counter-culture, about as relevant as any other pre-Beatles "entertainers" (as apposed to "artists", though Brian Wilson was the greatest artist of the time, unbeknownst to them), and Capitol Records was still promoting them as "America's No.1 Surf Group" as late as 1968. Even after their lyrics had caught up with the times (starting with Smiley Smile in '67), I could not get new musician acquaintances to give their new albums a serious listen. Their loss! To their credit, The Grateful Dead respected The Beach Boys enough to invite them to share the stage with them in the early 70's. By that time, TBB were actually a damn good live band. I saw them with Chicago, whom they thoroughly embarrassed. Bob Dylan saw them around that time, and said "Hey, these guys are really good".
jafant
18,798 posts
 
A pop masterpiece from the 80s' -
Tears for Fears "Songs from the big Chair".
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tostadosunidos
1,197 posts
 
bdp24, I saw them three times--best version was the BBs in white suits with a half-dozen sidemen in black.  Strawberry Alarm Clock and Buffalo Springfield opened the show.  It was real good.
I followed them through "Holland" and some of the early 70's stuff.
Then I got distracted by Zappa, British progressive rock and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.  It was hard for me to listen to the Beach Boys for a while after that.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,412 posts
 

The "white suit" era---that's what they are pictured in on the original U.K. pressing (there was no U.S. release at the time) of the "Live In London" LP (1968). After they signed to Reprise in 1970 they put out a few good albums (Sunflower, Surf's Up, Holland, So Tough), then came the horrid "Brian is Back" fiasco with the poor "15 Big Ones" album, an exercise in nostalgia, right up Mike Love's alley. Their final good album was "Love You" (1977), after which Brian again dropped out. That was the end of The Beach Boys for me.

I saw Brian on his first solo tour, and it was the most heartbreaking, sad, depressing, and pathetic spectacles I've ever witnessed. He obviously has brain damage from, I assume, his years of self-medication. I vowed to never again put myself through that, so avoided seeing a live performance of the "Smile" album, much as I would have loved to. I have so far avoided seeing the Love and Mercy movie, though I guess I eventually will. Rock n' Roll's most tragic figure, and it's most genius.

seasoned's avatar
seasoned OP
181 posts
 

I was the OP of this thread almost 8 years ago. I like how Audiogon has reconfigured its discussion forum to include recent posts to dead threads - neat to see the flame still burning.

Huh, I’m still listening to "The Carpenters Greatest Hits" to this day and it has become one of my references. Whodathunk! Oh, be sure to download the hi-rez version from HD Tracks; really good.

Now, to hear what dance music sounds like on my Wilson MAXX speakers, I sometimes play Lady Gaga "Just Dance". Sounds freakin’ incredible!

shhhhh...secret

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