Guilty as charged

     In last night's blog, I mentioned a few artists that might come under the heading of "Guilty Pleasures." Before we can continue, we've got to define the term. A guilty pleasure is something (in this case a band or a song) that you would be severely mocked for loving by all your cooler, hipster friends. 
     For instance, if you're in a group of your friends (and that group is made up mostly of people 45+) and you say something like "They just don't make bands like The Clash anymore. No one makes music that matters like they did," everyone is likely to nod sagely and agree with you. On the other hand, if you say "You know who I miss? The Carpenters, that's who I miss," you're likely to be met with snickers and raised eyebrows, as though you might have lost your mind.
     So, let's get this out of the way: I like a lot of bands and songs that other people make fun of. Let's take The Carpenter's for instance. They were one of the largest selling bands of the 70s and believe it or not, there was a time when teenagers bought their music. A lot of their music. One of my favorite piece of trivia is this: In one of Playboy magazine's famous Music Polls, Karen Carpenter outpolled Led Zeppelin's John Bonham. As a drummer. While you're letting that sink in, here's what The Carpenter's really had: Karen's voice. If you have any doubt about that, check out this clip of Karen singing Leon Russell's Superstar live on The BBC. No autotuner there, just perfect pitch. The dress and the hairstyle were pretty indefensible, but it was the 70s.
     Before we go any further, let me drop this bomb on you: I like Barry Manilow. If you're not a dyed-in-the-wool Fanilow (yeah, that's a thing) you probably snickered at that. It's easy to mock his over the top theatrical style and the fact that many of his biggest hits have... a certain similarity to each other. I get that. To me, though, there's poignancy in so many of his songs. Looks Like We Made It for one. Could It Be Magic for another. And Weekend in New England for the trifecta. If you can listen to those three songs and not feel a stirring of emotion, well, you're a harder-hearted person than I am.
     Next, consider this threesome: James Taylor, Jim Croce and John Denver. All three were guitar-playing singer/songwriters that had great careers in the 70s, although Croce's was cut tragically short when he died in a plane crash in 1973. Somehow, Sweet Baby James and Croce managed to retain a certain cachet despite their commercial success. Not so, John Denver, but man, I love his songs. Maybe not Thank God I'm a Country Boy, or even Take me Home, Country Roads. But how about Annie's Song or the moving I'm Sorry or Goodbye Again. I've never figured why he's put down so often. Maybe it's because of the sunny sincerity he radiated so naturally. That's not an attribute that's cool or hip. What a voice, though, and what a songwriter.
     The truth is, if I wrote about all my Guilty Pleasures, this would be The Blog That Doesn't End  (go ahead, click that link, I dare ya.) The truth is, nobody seems to respect Billy Joel much these days, but I still love him, especially Songs From an Italian Restaurant and Until the Night. Don't even get me started on The Bee Gees. Even with two of them gone off this planet, they still get no respect. To Love Somebody, indeed. 
     I can think of whole genres that no one else will admit to listening to, but I love, like 60s bubblegum music from Crazy Elephant, The Archies or The Ohio Express. Just because music was originally aimed at eight year olds doesn't mean it's bad does it? OK, maybe it does.
     What about you?  Who do you unabashedly love no matter what anyone else thinks?