This week, my favorite guilty pleasures. That requires a little explanation, because I don’t really feel all that guilty about them (I may be shameless, but that’s another issue). What makes something a guilty pleasure? It’s not just cheesiness; there’s not much that’s cheesier than Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, but nonetheless their music is so classic that liking it can’t really be held against anyone. Ditto just about any soul music, with one exception below. There are also certain genres – metal, prog-rock – that a lot of people try to make you feel guilty for listening to, but somehow that doesn’t count. Basically it’s an uncoolness factor, I guess, that puts something in this category.
-
Carpenters – Carpenters (A&M)
All the ballads that Karen sings on here are favorites. You should hear me karaoke “Rainy Days and Mondays.”
-
Bread – On the Water (Elektra)
This one has a brooding, pre-fame angstfulness that put its hooks in me at an early age. It’s also got “Make It With You.” David Gates eventually got even smarmier than that.
-
Donna Summer – The Very Best of Donna Summer (Casablanca)
In a few years, this may qualify under the classic soul rule, but enough backlash against Giorgio Morodor’s formulaic disco production and Summer’s cartoonish persona remains that this still makes the list.
-
Blackfoot – “Highway Song” (Atco)
The derivativeness of the style is what’s guilt-inducing, but this third-rate ‘70s Southern rock band managed one great moment.
-
Barry White – Greatest Hits (Casablanca)
What overwhelms the classic soul exemption is that Barry’s come-ons are so oleaginous.
-
Ambrosia – Life Beyond L.A. (Warner Bros.)
This Los Angeles band started as watered-down prog. Then they went for pop hits. This 1978 album caught them on the cusp; “How Much I Feel” reached #3 but it was another two years before they sunk to “Biggest Part of Me” (also #3).
-
Atlanta Rhythm Section – A Rock and Roll Alternative (Polydor)
Members of the Classics IV do Southern Rock-lite. “So In To You” was the hit.
-
Phil Collins – Face Value (Atlantic)
Just before he dragged down Genesis, Collins made his solo move. The only real sins here were placing “In the Air Tonight” on Miami Vice and later selling it for a beer commercial; the nadir of his Supremes cover/impersonation was still a year away.
-
Pat Benatar – Wide Awake in Dreamland (Chrysalis)
With her last hit, “All Fired Up.” I could’ve picked anything from her career and it would’ve qualified, but that song’s my fave.
-
Black Box – “Everybody Everybody” (RCA)
Kinda simple-minded, but effective in its own way. If it’d won a Grammy, it would’ve been as controversial as Milli Vanilli, for the same reason. Martha Wash (Weather Girls) sued when she didn’t get the vocal credit.
