…for some embarrasssingly cheesy corny goodness?
Okay! Welcome to your Friday night DUAN. Following last weeks theme of a dirty little secret song confessional, this week I want to hear what embarrassing, lame-ass, cheesy, corny, oh-my-gawd-I-can’t-believe-I’m-admitting-this songs you’re listening to!
Old favorites or new obsessions are equally welcome. Whether you’re indulging your lounge singer fantasies at karaoke, imagining you’re a sexy rockstar playing air guitar with headphones, or belting along with the blaring broadway showtunes in the safety of your car, today is the day to step out of hiding and let the sunshine in!
Thanks for joining us in completely embarrassing ourselves for tonight’s DUAN, courtesy of Deadsplinter!
Two songs. One because it is exquisitely recorded and I’m a sucker for great audio. The Wallflowers – One Headlight.
This one just because it’s fun as hell. Tom Jones – It’s Not Unusual.
There is no universe where Tom Jones would be considered a guilty pleasure.
These are both awesome choices
BTW I promise you that Jakob didn’t sing into an SM57 when they cut that tune.
Thanks to homophobia (on my part and my peers in my rockabilly rural area) any male admitting to liking anything WhAM! was basically asking for mockery. BUT, no one minded when they made out with a girl to this song… George Michael would be a large part of the soundtrack to my sex life.
I’m not sure how bad anything Stan Getz can be:
But here is a Herb Alpert song with a very cheesy intro…still a sweet song?
Love Stan Getz and Herb Albert. Fun fact: Herb Alpert was the “A” in A&M Records.
It’s not something I’ll admit very often, but I like some C&W. I once made out with a woman thanks to my knowledge of 70s/80s C&W songs.
@ManchuCandidate
Huh, My knowledge of 60’s Bluegrass never worked for me.
Rhinestone Cowboy reminds me of my childhood. I loved that song so much.
I love Hank Williams
I was raised Catholic and was taught by nuns, so all my pleasures are guilty pleasures.
I was oft ridiculed, in high school, for my appreciation of the Go-Go’s.
@MemeWeaver
This is one of the best pop songs ever.
Savage Garden Truly Madly Deeply dooooooOooooooooOOOoooo! and the rest of the whole damn album.
My favorite roller skating songs from my early pre teen years –
I have so many. So, so many. Songs that I like and make me tear up (tear, like cry, not tear, like go all Smash Hulk) a little include:
As mentioned in the Happy Hour post, I am a Pisces and I think we are given to cheap sentimentality.
@MatthewCrawley, fun fact, Duncan Sheik is now a Tony award winning composer for Spring Awakening (featuring local boy Johnathan Groff who went on to play the King in fan favorite Hamilton).
Oh, I know all about Duncan Sheik. A really good friend of mine went to Phillips Andover with him and they’re still chums. I’ve never met him though.
Lol I was really fond of Bailamos
Yeah, this was another one that was all over the radio when I was living in Spain, as was (speaking of Tom Jones up there):
“Hero” was released in early September, 2001. It was just supposed to be a love song, one of thousands. But due to its timing it was one of the only songs played in the aftermath of 9/11, at least in NYC. Often it was remixed with snippets of audio footage of first responder calls, rousing political addresses, on-the-spot media coverage. It was a very strange time to be alive and living in downtown Manhattan.
Here’s the other unofficial NYC 9/11 anthem. This was released on 9/11/2001.
Apparently the rest of the country got Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” I don’t remember hearing that one very much, but after 9/11 I finally left the Isle of Manahtta and it was everywhere, and in the least expected places, along with all the American flag decals and flag printouts scotch-taped to every conceivable window and surface. I was in another state for Thanksgiving and a couple of days before we went to this ye olde faux colonial tavern for lunch. Flags galore. There was some ambient instrumental music playing and at one point the “Star Spangled Banner” came on. The restaurant patrons rose as one, put their right hands on their hearts, and sang along. I muttered to my companions, “This is a little much, isn’t it? It reminds me of the beer garden scene in ‘Cabaret’.” A very weird time. And again, I lived in downtown Manhattan, lived there for many years before and after. We didn’t do this.
Corny? Check. Cheesy? Check. Extra points for being the product of Madison Avenue to drive sales for giant corporations? Check.
(Although I have to admit a soft spot for the second one)
Good choices @blue dogcollar! I remember both while growing up. The first made Coke feel very cool to me; my grandparents where not impressed by the “singing hippies”. Fans of Lawence Welk, they were…loved a bit of accordion.
But to plumb the true depths of Your Dear Cousin Matthew’s Self-Abasement, I LOVE this version of Katy Perry’s “California Girls.” I snuck this into a video rotation during one of our holiday parties. Maybe about 80 people watched it. Men and women, gay and straight, young and old, were appalled. I DID NOT CARE. These New Yorkers were eating my food and drinking my liquor and goddamit, they will put up with my California dreaming’ for five minutes:
OK, you win.
In my defense, my house does have a catwalk!
Okay so I have to say that “Show Yourself” from Frozen 2 is WAY BETTER THAN “Let It Go”
So not only is the musicality awesome, but the concept of singing “Show yourself” thinking to meet someone/something you thing will change your life and then the big reveal that “show yourself” means showing your own awesomeness to the world? I fucking love this song.
I really had a hard time choosing between the two! I really love both.
@brightersideoflife
1. Your lede image reminds me of the credits for Coupling (the BBC2 original, not the American abomination).
2. I remember unearthing this in the early aughts and thinking, “what the hell is this?”
Carl Lewis, “Break It Up” (Official Music Video)
I think it was a Corny Collins (Hairspray the Musical) Zoom backdrop, if I remember my google image search description correctly
I can’t help but love this song as much now as when I was a pre-teen, possibly more now than when I was a kid.