Guilty Pleasures (Music)

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I don't care who you are, you own a CD or listen to a song that, if your friends saw you listening to it, would elicit a steady stream of derision. It's you shameful stash, the songs that you adamantly rail against in public, and then in the dark of night hum happily to yourself. And now, we order you to tell us what those songs are!

Here is where we separate the men from the boys. We know who the regulars are here, and if you're too much of a coward to say aloud, we'll know. Oh, bet on it!

Here are just a few of mine

I don't know why, but sometimes I'm just in the mood for a good soundtrack. Of them all, though, The Empire Strikes Back is just outstanding! But when I really want to get going, I listen to track 4 "The Imperial Probe/Aboard the Executioner". Simply the best build up to and execution of the Imperial March out there. This is not, however, something I would reveal to even close friends who would not, I think, understand the lure of John Williams.

I grew up in the 80s, so there is a part of me trapped permanently in an oscillating stream of time between 1982 and 1989, thus some of my worst (and best) music choices come from that decade. I don't know what it is I love about Styx's Mr. Roboto so much, but when I sing along, I only sing the robot parts. I do this, of course, in private.

Worse still, I have a strange affinity for One Night in Bangkok from the musical Chess. "I'd let you watch, I would invite you, but the queens we use would not excite you ... so you better go back to your bars, your temples. Your massage parlors!" Humiliating.

If you've never heard the epic song "Cows With Guns", then your life is ever so slightly worse than mine.

I know all the words to "I Will Survive". I've caught myself humming it to myself in the shower before really unpleasant days. You see, at first I was afraid. I was petrified ....

Your turn!

Oh yes... nothing like the ""Imperial Death March"" to get your blood stirring. I too often neglect the Star Wars soundtracks, and I don''t have mp3''s made for at-work listening. But just the sample from ""Irresistable Force"" by the 2 Skinnee J''s is enough to get me going.

Guilty pleasure number one: 2 Skinnee J''s. Love their quirky, alternative rapping. I try in vain to rap along and only manage to get a few verses from each song right... even though I''ve listened to the songs hundreds of times. Mrs. Wumpus dislikes them.

I know all the words to ""I Will Survive"". I''ve caught myself humming it to myself in the shower before really unpleasant days.

Really enjoy this song... who doesn''t? Makes me think of the Keven Klein movie ""In & Out"" which I also like. I also enjoy the Cake cover.

Guilty pleasure number two: Cake. I''m not sure what it is about them, but I really enjoy their songs. Mrs. Wumpus absolutely detests them. Is there a theme here?

It''s you shameful stash, the songs that you adamantly rail against in public, and then in the dark of night hum happily to yourself.

Guilty pleasure number three: Prince. I used to be a huge Prince fan. Had every album up through ""Emancipation"" and quite a few bootlegs. I used to always defend him in college as a ""musical genius despite what you heard about him and goats."" I just loved making compilation tapes from his huge catalog of songs. ""Here''s my Funky tape... my ballad tape... my Greatest Hits tape...."" He finally got a little too weird even for me (which is saying a good bit), and I stopped paying attention. I still sing along to all the songs though... even the ones you never heard on the radio. I think Mrs. Wumpus genuinely enjoys some of the songs. After all, it''s pretty much all I listened to for the first 10 years of our relationship.

I don''t think the ESB soundtrack would be a guilty pleasure... although I am a huge SW fan (original triliogy thank you) and like the score very much.

80''s music is pretty bad, but like most people, I do like some of it (can''t think of any particular tunes right his minute).

I like Missy Eliot too... I don''t know why.... I don''t any cd''s by her, but when she''s on the radio, it gets turned up.

Guilty pleasure: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Unacceptable when you are a High School student, although it doesn''t go as far as me being forced to listen to teeny-bopper music my rockin'' friends still won''t accept my love for decent love ballads and more frivolous music.

I can''t really think of too many I''m ashamed of except maybe that ""Come on over"" song by Christina Aguilera. I heard it on the radio and then in DOA: VB and it''s kind of catchy.

I would also like to mention that listening to Gaald sing ""Here I go again on my own"" over Gamevoice as we launch into a game of AOM is something we should all be ashamed of.

Hey, good one''s so far, folks. My musical guilty pleasures include:

1. Gaming Soundtracks: I listen to a lot of PC gaming soundtracks, from Mechwarrior 2 to Total Annihilation. I''ve gotten a lot of, ""you''re listening to what?"" questions from inquisitive friends and coworkers.

2. A Charlie Brown Christmas Soundtrack: I''ve been a fan of this album ever since I was a child, and have owned multiple CD copies because I keep wearing them out. I listen to this when I''m working, driving, or relaxing. Vince Guaraldi is a piano GOD because of this album.

I''m ashamed to admit that I actually can listen to the three anti-Britneys (Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne) and derive enjoyment from the songs.

I find myself listening to songs in my car that I would be horrified if anyone heard me.

""We are the World"". How can I possibly still like this song? I think it''s fun to sing along as the different people, but I still embarrass myself.

That Osmonds song ""I think I love you"" or whatever the title is.

I''ve also found these orchestra versions of popular songs like ""Space Oddity"" and ""Learning to Fly"" that I thought were awesome, so I played one in the car with a friend of mine...bad idea.

""Love Hurts"" by Nazareth
""Lady in Red"" by Chris DeBurgh

These are probably two of the most embarassing songs I still love!

I don''t know, Gaald. Singing Whitesnake over Gamevoice trumps both of those songs, which, incidentally, I would not turn off if they played on the radio.

Five hundred bonus points if you can, without Googling or cheating, name the girl from that Whitesnake video and what television show she briefly hosted.

Any song that is played so much that you turn it up when you hear it come on the radio and then turn it back down when you remember what it is.

Breakfast at Tiffany''s.

Nuff said.

Twany Kitean

You mean Tawny Kitaen

Mmmm....Tawny Kitaen in the ""Is this love"" video...Drool

Guilty pleasure number 1

Almost every 80,s 90''s hair matal or otherwise metal band, you name it especially Poison, Whitesnake, Motley Crue, Skid Row, oh I could go on but I hear the screams of ""Please don''t!"" already!

EDIT: Actually don''t know why I put this down as a guilty pleasure as i''ll stand up and say yeah I like all that metal stuff!

Guilty pleasure number 1 would therefore have to be enjoying Neil Diamonds music.
Guilty pleasure number 2 would be enjoying Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals and occasionally actually going to have seen them.
(oooh you have no idea of how long I debated with myself about wether to post that or not!, It was all very Gollum like!)

I love Michelle Branch! Too bad her album only has about 3-4 good songs on it. They are good though!

*gasp* I like Justin Timberlakes ""Dont it make you cry"" or whatever its called. Its catchy, but really a man of my age! For shame!

DO Do Do, DO Do Do, DO Do Do, Do DO Do - Duran Duran is still one of my all time favorite bands along with INXS, U2, ABC and Depeche Mode.

""I Want Candy"" - Bow Wow Wow
""Desperate, but not Serious"" - Adam Ant
""Time, a Clock of the Heart"" - Culture Club
""Wild Side"" ""Girls, Girls, Girls"" - Motley Crue

""Wild Side"" is the best fire-you-up music ever! Imangine that as a movie heros entrance theme as he''s/she''s about to kick some ass! Mmmmm, bullet time tuned to Tommy Lee''s drum beat! Heh, its giving me goose bumps! Here comes the cavalry!

""Cherry, Cherry"" and ""Sweet Caroline"" by Neil Diamond (thanks for reminding me, kegboy!) Is there anyone out there who doesn''t sing ""Baam, baam, baaam"" with the horns in the chorus of ""Sweet Caroline""?

--

""Behind the Wheel"" and ""Master and Servant"" - Depeche Mode
""Goody Two Shoes"" - Adam Ant
""Tainted Love"" - Soft Cell
""Relax"" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
""Save a Prayer"" and ""The Chauffeur"" - Duran Duran

and the most embarassing of all:
almost anything by George Michael (hangs her head in shame)

Guess who was a teenage girl (seething with hormones), during the 80s? For years I couldn''t resist a guy in eyeliner...

I too was once a big Duran Duran fan. I even saw them in concert once. Every once in a while, I still get the urge to listen to one of their albums, but then I''d have to try to find my casettes. As for more current stuff, I find myself really enjoying the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge.

Ok, and this is gonna get me banned.

I like all those songs that Elysium mentioned, and I just don''t think he is trying hard enough.

I will listen to Celine Dion without experiencing pain. If it is on the radio I won''t change the station. In fact I just might turn it up.

Yes this is true. Now you all know my secret shame.

::runs crying from the room::

My guilty music pleasures:

In between bouts of Slayer and Mr.Bungle, I like to unwind with:

Abba
Fleetwood Mac
and Sade.

Oh man, my cd collection is so varied, it''s hard to tell what are guilty pleasures and what are accepted.

Let''s see, I do like Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch (seems to be popular among the GWJ crowd). Journey''s Greatest Hits, Boston, Rage Against The Machine (I don''t know why!), and a ton of classical music.

My first tape ever - Billy Ray Cyrus. Beat that.

"asands2" wrote:

Let''s see, I do like Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch (seems to be popular among the GWJ crowd)

From what I hear, Vanessa does well in the early 20''s to early 40''s crowd.

I enjoy a great deal of the pop music currently on the radio, and I realize that I always have, it''s just high school made me suppress it. This includes Britney, Christina, Justin, N''SYNC, the whole bit. f*ck you if you don''t like it.

I listen to anything I can steal off the net.

As far as guilty pleasures:
""Bad Boys""
""Wild Thing""
""Summer in the City""
plus lots of 80''s stuff and the Beach Boys

I will listen to Celine Dion without experiencing pain. If it is on the radio I won''t change the station. In fact I just might turn it up.

I was too afraid to put this one. It happened quickly too, not to long ago I hated her, then all of a sudden, bam...it happened, I actually turned her up in the car yesterday.

I found a new one while watching MTV: t.a.t.u. All right, only because of what they do in their videos (and supposdely while on stage). There''ve been rumors that this was an act they were told to do by they''re handlers in Russia to push CDs, but who knows...

""You two go on stage and kiss so we sell records. I am Lugash!""

Thing is, I don''t really consider anything I listen to to be a guilty pleasure...they all have redeeming musical value, from Abba and Erasure through to those Meatloaf-esque Goth overlords the Sisters of Mercy. While my tastes these days veer towards abstract post-rock and electronica (Sigur Ros, Boards of Canada etc.) and various flavors of british pop music (Beatles to Pulp to the Cure to Elvis Costello), I still have an untarnished love for each of the genres I''ve patronized at one time or another, from goth and punk (Killing Joke = most underrated band ever) to grindcore (Obituary = actually pretty damn good) and NWOBHM stuff (still love Iron Maiden...and how can you not?).

With that said, I do have one shameful confession to make, that being my deep and unabiding affection for pretty much anything by Escape/Frontiers era Journey, a group that meant neither jack nor shiznit in my limey homeland. Ya'' just can''t deny ""Seperate Ways"" or ""Don''t Stop Believing""...

I''d hate to consider how many times ""Just a small town girl, livin'' in a loooonely woohoorld. She took the midnight train goin'' anywhere"" slipped past my lips in tuneless falseto during my formative years.

""Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroiiit. Took a midnight train going nooowhere...""

ChCHANG!

they all have redeeming musical value, from Abba and Erasure through to those Meatloaf-esque Goth overlords the Sisters of Mercy.

I still pull out my Sisters of Mercy and Nine Inch Nails CDs and turn them up when I''m by myself in the car. I ride along, singling at the top of my lungs...""Hey, now, hey now, now, sing this corrosion to me."" I could never inflict this on others. (Especially the singing.)

For me, it was always ""Lucretia, My Reflection""...ahh, hot metal and methedrine...

Strangers
Waiting
Up down the boulevard.
Their shadows
Searchin in the night
Streetlight
People
Living to find emotion
Hiding
Somewhere in the night

My personal fav:

Send her my love
Memories remain
Send her my love
Roses never fade

Underneath the sugar coated corporate shlock of Journey,
Steve Perry was a pretty dam good poet

I could never inflict this on others. (Especially the singing.)

Aint that just the biggest crime in the world?

Feeling the emotion, getting into the rhythm, belting out the tune you love and having a voice that makes cat hair stand straight!

I''ve also taken a shine to that song by Evanescence off of the Daredevil soundtrack, Bring Me To Life. We need more women in rock.

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