10.25.2006
TOP 10 GUILTY MUSICAL PLEASURES
FROM HANSON HYSTERIA TO HAIR-METAL HIJINKS, DANISHA SISON TAKES US ON A TOUR OF MUSICAL EXPERIENCES BOTH UNCOOL AND IRRESISTIBLE
Given the multitude of musical genres that currently exist, I find it a bit disturbing that pop songs these days fall under only two general categories: cool and uncool.
While taste is purely subjective, and what’s cool to someone may be uncool to someone else, why must listening to “uncool” music inspire a certain amount of guilt on the listener’s part? Why can’t some people admit they (still) like Hanson?
I guess as it becomes clear what kind of musical taste you have, it becomes harder and harder to step out of that musical comfort zone. I discovered that most of the music I liked when I was younger, I still like now, even those that I may have renounced at some point. (Except for Yanni and Kenny G — that’s just taking it too far.) Perhaps it’s the nostalgia I’ve attached to the music that makes me miss Menudo every now and then; it becomes less about the actual music than about the memories it brings up when I do hear “Like a Cannonball” on FM radio (not often enough, in my opinion).
It’s a struggle – while I try to own up to some of the “uncool” music I like, (i.e. really liking the music as opposed to liking it in an “ironic” and post-modern way), sometimes I do feel kind of cheesy liking something so uncool.
8. Reality/Singing Contests - I love American Idol and the just recently concluded Rockstar Supernova. When I really get into a contestant, I download their performances onto my iPod! I make posts about episodes on my blog! When Taylor Hicks won on season 5 of American Idol, I wrote about it in my paper journal! While it isn’t likely that I’ll end up buying the winner’s album after the contest is through, I’m in thrall for that one disposable season.
5. Hanson – A late-bloomer when it comes to the boys from Tulsa, Oklahoma, I missed the whole Hanson hysteria back in 1997. Yes, at first I too thought that Taylor Hanson was a girl. Embarrassing as it is to admit this, what actually made me take them seriously as an actual band is first seeing Zac Hanson all grown up. Not that the sight of him post-growth spurt in the “Penny and Me” video provoked a musical epiphany or anything, but I liked the song, and wanted to hear more. One of the things I look forward to when listening to music is being proven wrong about what I had been too quick to dismiss in the past.
4. Hair Bands – When it came down to Bon Jovi or Guns n’ Roses, I picked Bon Jovi. That said, the only Bon Jovi album I ever had was the soundtrack to Young Guns 2 (which, for sure, would be on my top ten guilty movie pleasures). However, the soundtrack wasn’t strictly a Bon Jovi album, it was a Jon Bon Jovi album, so it barely counts. My favorite hair band is Aerosmith, but apart from them, I find myself liking individual songs by hair bands, as opposed to whole albums. For example, I really love “Talk Dirty to Me” by Poison and “Surrender” (those harmonies!) by Cheap Trick. They’re just so... melodic.
2. Billy Joel – It’s probably acceptable to like the classics like “The Longest Time,” “My Life,” or even “Uptown Girl,” but I remember really liking “I Go To Extremes.” In fact, I think I like “I Go to Extremes” far better than “Uptown Girl”.
1. Videoke – Where else can you reveal the guiltiest of guilty music pleasures and not have anyone take it against you? One of the joys of videoke is discovering that you knew all along the words to every Avril Lavigne, M2M, Britney Spears, or Michael Learns to Rock song ever released. In videoke, the cheesier the song, the bigger the audience reaction. Bonus points if you do Spandau Ballet’s “Gold” with the dance steps! Best of all, it makes liking the uncool fun.
Danisha Sison is a freelance producer whose music collection contains even more embarrassing artists than those cited in the above article. Read more about her guilty pleasures (musical or otherwise) here!
TAGS: guilty pleasures debbie gibson alanis morisette oasis sync bon jovi st. elmo hanson billy
