I’m not a great fan of J. Geils Band. They have all the elements of a band I should love: Jagger-esque singer, tough guitars, all the swagger rock ‘n roll can handle, but usually their songs leave me flat. “One Last Kiss” is a giant exception…at least for me. I love this song. When I was a kid and it was a very minor hit on FM radio I used to wonder why I didn’t hear it more often, like as regularly as one of Blue Oyster Cult‘s hits. It’s the only song by them beside their super-charged cover of “I’m Lookin’ for a Love,” that holds my interest and doesn’t get bogged down in Peter Wolf‘s jive act. It sounds like any number of anthemic Graham Parker & the Rumour songs that I love. Passion is no ordinary word, but I don’t think I’ve ever run into another rock nerd who will go to the mats for “One Last Kiss.” Does anyone like this song as much as I do?
What song do you possibly like more than anyone else you know? What typically unheralded song do you suspect you like more than anyone else on the planet?
For me it’s usually 80s radio hits. I didn’t get much support when I posted John Waite’s Missing You on Facebook recently. I think it’s a brilliant record, but no one I know agrees with me. I also love The System’s Don’t Disturb This Groove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qis6VhHWuA
I suspect I love that one more than anyone else on the planet.
Two Winters Long by Irma Thomas.
I’ll go through spells of listening to this song over and over. I’m sure townsfolks like Bigsteve and Hank Fan appreciate this song, but I love it so much I want to take it out behind the middle school and get it pregnant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD6mUFcG4DY
I like One Last Kiss well enough, but not as much as you.
I could list dozens of those. Here are the first 3 that popped into my head.
Hearts by The Gun Club
Voyer by Kim Karnes
My New Career by Japan
I’m with shawnkilroy: we could do a whole separate post on Your Mixtape of Guilty Pleasures. Mine would include:
Rush – YYZ
Shocking Blue – Venus
Abba – Waterloo
Boy George – I’ll Tumble 4 You
Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
Human League – Love Action
ABC – Tears are Not Enough
Suicidal Tendencies – Institutionalized
But to attempt to be faithful to this post, I’ll go with a song I don’t think I’d heard in 30 years until I was reacquainted with it earlier this week. When I told Mr. Royale about it, he didn’t even recall it (until I started to play it on YouTube and he ran screaming from the room). Once hearing it, it brought me back to my teenage years, and I could distinctly see the album cover (most likely covered with seeds and rolling papers). What makes me laugh is that I heard this song again at work: one of the buildings in my school district is leased in portion to a local church group. I was walking down the hall and heard this blaring from behind the church area doors:
The Scorpions – The Zoo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chlyvXcPuRI&feature=fvst
As someone who revels in prog obscurities, there are probably hundreds of songs I like that none of my acquaintances have ever even heard. However, if we mean pop/rock guilty pleasures, I’ll throw in “Holiday” by The Other Ones. Yeah, the song is really, really dumb ’80s-synth-cheese, but the chorus hooks me every time. I can’t help it, so there. I agree that guilty pleasures would make a great topic, but we need to at least break it down some – perhaps by decade or style.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3DsfGffOdM
I would see how The System song might be underappreciated and loved by you above all other people on the planet:) On the other hand, for what it’s worth, “Since You’ve Been Gone” makes my short list of ’80s hits that I like.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood the subject of this thread. We’re not looking for guilty pleasures, but rather a seemingly innocent song that ONLY you think is brilliant. If that’s the case, I’m not sure anyone on the planet loves this song as much as I do…
Men At Work – Overkill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcu7OCIqlqE
and by the way Mr Mod, what is your deal with J. Geils Band. Yes, I’m aware a roommate of yours ruined them for you. But, can’t you admit that they were talented and energetic group well beyond their bar-band blues shtick. Yes, I realize Peter Wolfe is handful, but he’s is the frontman. He’s got to move it, and if he ain’t gonna move it, you best just go on home. I appreciate a band that goes all out and puts on a great show.
I’m pretty sure that’s a mid-west thing. A blue collar ethic of hard work and showmanship should be rewarded. Even if the band is mediocre, which I don’t think the j.Geils Band are, they can still have make a show out of it.
i love Overkill more than you do. What do I need to do to prove it?
here are the links to my jams:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFEN6ADEujo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8NYYMREofs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qjwH2aSK9s
cliff, it’s amazing to me that you remember the story of my roommate freshman year who ruined that band for me! I do try to explain myself, and I’m glad someone’s paying attention.
I tried to explain that I feel all the elements are there for me, but I rarely hear a song by them that I *love* for the song itself. “Must of Got Lost” is one of the better ones, for instance, but almost everything I do like by them sounds like a slightly lesser version of a song by another artist, often the Stones. Or the songs I like most sound like the 3 good songs on the Stones’ Black and Blue.
They’re good. Peter Wolf earned his check. The other guys are good too, although that harmonica honking away incessantly does sneak up and annoy me. I never saw them live. I bet they were pretty great live.
And yes, you did get where I was coming from on the thread. People can start their own “Guilty Pleasures” thread and go for it, but I’m usually of the belief that there’s no need to feel guilty over a song you like. I know shawnmangione would agree!
How about two from both ends of range:
Wishbone Ash “Warrior” for dual guitar fury http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJN-wrtuWOg
Nick Kershaw “Wouldn’t It Be Good” for New Wave cheese-tasity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvC2LRTR8UI
Mmm, cheese.
Ladymiss, I think Venus is a classic, so no shame there.
And I’ve considered doing a crunched-up guitar cover of Waterloo before (but there should probably be shame attached to that).
I like the original “Venus” without shame too. As for ABC and “Tears Are Not Enough”, I’ve said before that the album this came from, Lexicon of Love, is one of the best synth-pop albums of the 1980s.
Hahahahaha!
I should clarify that I don’t think J. Geils Band are blues. Definitely soul, but even that doesn’t sound right.
I’ll forever label Mangione as “restaurant jazz” because when I lived in Gainesville, Florida in the early 1980s, a local “fine dining” eatery would pepper late night TV with their ads and “Feels So Good” was their soundtrack.
Yeah that singer from The Outfield had one of the worst Look’s in rock history, but those guys were pros. That one and Your Love are very high level cheese product.
“It’s a long way there” by “The Little River Band”. I love that song.
Maybe more for a guilty pleasure thread (I don’t feel guilty, though – I’ll go to the mat for this one) but I have always loved Missing Persons – Mental Hopscotch.
http://youtu.be/eXOun5bdlW8
For a song I thought I might be the only person in the world that loves I’d pick Paris – Big Towne 2061, the title track from the second album by the band Bob Welch formed after he left Fleetwood Mac.
http://youtu.be/mjQKESka-BY
Based on 8000 views in two years, I wasn’t far off. I have a feeling I’d be a lousy program director, but at least my radio station wouldn’t sound like any of the other ones.
John Waite sure has gotten a lot of mileage out of Missing You.
Another fan is Alison Krauss — who did a duet of it with him.
Yes — a wonderful album — and Beauty Stab and How to Be a Zillionaire have a few moments.
I am one of the few who still hold a torch for Carlene Carter — and the album Musical Shapes she did with Nick Lowe and elements of Rockpile is one of my “roots of alt-country” favorites. My favorite song on it is this duet with Dave Edmunds — Baby Ride Easy.
http://youtu.be/YSv1Fa1Ek1Y
You’re not alone there. Musical Shapes and it’s follow-up The Blue Nun totally rule.
Mark White, that’s right! Mark White!
Mod, we REACH on “One Last Kiss.” I’ve always had an outsized heart full of love for that song. Even today, I could go all kinds of songwriting nerd in describing the reasons why — in other words, it’s not just “subjectively good.” It’s — yes, you’ve guessed, OBJECTIVELY EXCELLENT. This, of course, means there are RIGHT and WRONG answers to the question “Is ‘One Last Kiss’ any good?” The answer to that question is YES!
As for my own lonely loves, here’s the first of many:
“Magic” by Pilot — http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iiryJwvDtc
Yeah, I know there aren’t many people on this list who would disagree with the notion that this is a good enough little song — but I happen to think it’s Great. In addition to all the music nerdy factors I could point out, the fact is it totally rings the inner 13 year-old bell for me. There was a time when new love *was* “magic,” and this song seems to make the case for an enthusiastic embrace of that wonderful mystery. I just love it.
WTF?! I just listened to the words of this song for pretty much the first time, and it has nothing to do with love at all! As far as I can tell, the song is about waking up in the morning. Seriously! How weird that I always thought it was about new love or something. This song sucks!
Just kidding — it’s still Great, idiotic lyric and all.
I hear the lyric like this:
Ho ho ho
It’s magic?
Never believe.
It’s not so.
I didn’t know till I looked it up that a couple of these guys are former Bay City Rollers.
white boogie is more like it.
that’s awesome! restaurant jazz-a genre is born.
Testify!
That time in life and that type of song related to something I’ve been digging down to write.
Mr. Royale sheds a tear every time he hears “Wildfire” by Michael Murphey. That song continues to be a favorite of his, but he has to be judicial in listening to it because it can upset his day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4TNGG3XIIY
Like all right-thinking people, I recognize that the Rolling Stones are The Greatest Rock and Roll Band of All Time. But I dislike “Satisfaction,” “Paint It Black,” “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” and “Midnight Rambler.” It’s not that I’ve heard them too much. I disliked them from the start. If I were to make my list of five best Stones songs, it would include two obscure gems, “Think” from Aftermath and “Sittin’ On A Fence” from Flowers. I never heard either of them on the radio.
I’m a big “Think” fan too! It sounds like an authentic Stax song, but I don’t know that someone like Otis or Wilson Pickett ever covered it. I didn’t know until now that Jagger and Richards wrote the song for Chris Farlowe. His version picks up on the song’s soul aspirations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR69pU80QCY
We’re going to have to put aside our differences on “Satisfacton.” What am I going to learn about you next, that you don’t like pizza?
I dig that one a lot, and love Ride On Baby from that Stones era too. Probably the anh anh anh’s in it.
Richard Davies, “Chips Rafferty”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh_hZetV7Sc
I had a college roommate who had that album (and Bonnie Raitt’s Sweet Forgiveness) in heavy rotation. I was in full New Wave mode then, but did kind of like Murphey’s “Carolina In the Pines.”
Ahh David Sylvian of Japan — I still listen to his first solo album — Brilliant Trees. Pre-Chill goodness!
Geez, after about 15 seconds of the youtube clip, I am so glad I don’t remember that song.
I always liked “Look of Love” quite a bit but I was always totally perplexed by the reverence towards this record. It wasn’t until I started reading Q and Mojo in the 1990s that I realized that I was supposed to regard Lexicon of Love is the greatest record ever.
Since the Italian for “to eat” is mangiare, I would speculate that Mangione means “to eat while bland pseudo-jazz is playing.” See also, pollo Marsalis a la Sting.
H., your praise of Think, in particular, is as well founded as your denigration of those other songs is inexplicable. But let’s accentuate the positive: Think is one of the great lesser known Stones songs.
Farlowe’s version is not bad, better than the other versions of Jagger-Richards songs that I’ve heard. Have you heard his grim reading of Yesterday’s Papers? Yucky. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TB67v-C_4M&feature=related
So many possibilities here. But I’ll go with a song that is often put down in this forum as the nadir of it’s writer/performer but which I think, and always thought, is glorious: Paul McCartney’s “With a Little Luck.”
High five! That song is picked on unmercifully. We may have to institute anti-bullyling laws to prevent the abuse.
Ride On Baby is another great one. Unlike Think and Sittin’ On A Fence, it did, however, get some airplay.
Let’s not forget “What To Do,” another great song from those sessions that was a rarity in the U.S.
Erk, that is pretty bad. Farlowe is an early example of the Michael Bolton let’s-oversing-everything syndrome. How about his gypsy version of “Paint It Black”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CIqx9wIQQU&feature=related
Far from the nadir — that’s everything since 1980. I will defend “Luck” as well as the entire London Town album, which is the first Wings album I ever scraped together $6.99 to buy at Target. I love Back to the Egg too. Both are loaded with good songs — and he hasn’t touched either of them since.
Good! Basically I like London Town, it is a decent record though it is a little thin on high quality songs (like With a Little Luck) and the production is pretty lackluster. The “wussy” sound works well on With a Little Luck, though, I think. As for Back to the Egg, I think it is Paul’s Street Legal: a record that gets very little love except among the cognoscenti.
I’ll tell you the problem with “Luck” – it’s a mildly-pleasant 1:50 song that’s been artlessly and thinly stretched to over five minutes. There are random and go-nowhere instrumental breaks that sound like backing tracks as well as overly-cutesy “with a little luck with a little luck” choruses. It’s like Paul ran out of any real ideas once he got the basic verse/chorus structure down.
Shoot, there’s a nice single version just over 3:00 for those of you with short little attention spans.
Even the single version struggles to justify its 3:13 length. It’s pretty slight even by Paul standards.
Liar!
Never… need… hear… “The Zoo” again.
That Gun Club track rocks!
If they were a modern day band they’d be Roots Rock.
God help me, but I really love “MMM-Bop” by Hanson….Hey, where’d everybody go?
Bobby, I have a very discrete high-five coming your way, but I will deny it if anyone notices.
Yeah that’s a good one.
I love “Magic” too. Loved it when I ws 9 years old and still love it today.
I really love “Jackie Blue” by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. Everything else I’ve heard by them is third-rate southern rock, so “Jackie Blue” just came out of nowhere. Effeminate, slightly creepy, but beautiful lead vocal and melody. And the use of the slide guitar is more psychedelic than southern. Came out about the same time as “Magic” by Pilot, and both songs have stayed with me all this time.
I remember one of those VH1 “I Love the ’90s” nostalgia shows where they bring in third rate comics amongst others to poke fun at people and events. Naturally, the lame comics had a field day with Hanson. However, Scott Ian of Anthrax said that he refused to put down Hanson because they were kids who wrote their own songs, played their own instruments, and sang the songs themselves. For that, he said, they deserved respect. That’s class, Scott.
How Do You Do by Mouth & McNeal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPwDqFf4NJI
Dick, with all due respect, I like that song more than you do.
Yeah, to a point I agree with Mr. Anthrax. But if the song sucks the fact that they wrote it themselves, play it themselves, and sing it themselves doesn’t get them too far in my book. But as far as that goes, I thought and still think the song is no worse than a lot of disposable pop of other eras, so I never quite understood all the grief they got.
That is some obscure shit, dude!
I love the YouTube description for this:
Clearly this song has a “Dutch” sound!
Wow, that was really awful. My brother had that 45 when we were kids. One of us had Beautiful Sunday by Daniel Boone, too. Right now my brain has it so those two songs are interchangeable, and that Mouth and MacNeil video you linked to has a Daniel Boone video in the corner but I don’t think I can take three more minutes of something like that.