"Merry Christmas Darling" by The Carpenters

Well, I guess if you do something once a year you can call it an Annual Tradition (no jokes about bathing, please). It occurred to me that I posted this song during the holidays last year prior to the establishment of the Guilty Pleasures: The Music Edition postings, but after further review, think it is an ideal candidate for this years Christmas selection.

Much has been chronicled about the Karen Carpenter story, and all would agree that her death was a tragic and untimely waste of an extraordinary talent. But as wonderful as her singing was, I always use this song to call attention the the incredible vocal arrangements and overdubs created by her brother Richard Carpenter, and respectfully suggest that the last four bars of Merry Christmas Darling is stunningly perfect music.

Sure, the schmaltz factor on this tune hits an all-time high (or low, depending on your view), but realizing how few 'new' Christmas songs have been successfully added to the genre can put the impact of this song into perspective. Let's use this song to remind us to be thankful for the privilege of spending time with our family and friends during the holidays.

All the best,

KO

"I'll Never Smile Again" by The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Maybe it's the time of year when we wear our feelings on our sleeve, or maybe I'm letting the world know that I am a "rank sentimentalist" by selecting this song. Or, just maybe, it's a beautiful and sad love song sung by some young kid named Sinatra.

I can imagine how couples separated during WWII must have felt listening to "I'll Never Smile Again" by Tommy Dorsey; consoled and heartbroken at the same time. Wonderful group singing,  a sparse and delicate arrangement for a big band, and there is something about the tone of Tommy Dorsey's trombone that, for me, is magical.

The guilt?  The lyrics are light-weight, the music is fairly pedestrian, and I suppose a guy my age getting sappy over a tune that was done 20 years before he was born is bad enough. But hey, it's a classic, and it deserves 3 minutes of your time while you drink a nice glass of wine and remember that special someone.

Good Night, Mrs. Calabash (wherever you are).

Regards,

Ken

"Diamond Girl" by Seals and Crofts

Seems the World Series hangovers are finally subsiding and votes for The Musical Guilty Pleasures are returning; "What's My Age Again" by Blink-182 scored a slim 26 points but generated a better response than some recent selections and included some nice commentary from the younger (more relevant?) demographic of the Guilty Pleasure audience (thanks, kids!).

This weeks selection is more music from the Dentist office (what better place to lay back and "drill" for for forgotten musical  treasures?).  A pair of excellent singer/song writers from Texas, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts crafted some nice stuff that, coming out of the psychedelic era, made you believe you were listening to jazz when, really, they were helping create the easy listening/soft rock genre you've since grown to hate.

A call-and-response melody riff that everyone knows, a totally swinging bass line over the verses, congas and flutes makes this a swinging jazz/pop tune as there was at the time. "Summer Breeze" was a great single for your days in junior high (was that really a sitar or a fuzz tone guitar?), and "We Will Never Pass This Way Again" was their song of substance, but "Diamond Girl" by Seals and Crofts  was their pop hit that stands the test of time.

Enjoy!

KO

"What's My Age Again?" by Blink-182

I first heard this song while doing my Daddy-Cab duties of driving my son and his pals home from school. Trying to keep my mouth shut and cease with the attempts at being cool (they always failed) I just put on Live-105 and listened to the music, and this song caught my ear. It's sounds like a fun song to play on each instrument, the break-down in the middle section is well played and a good idea, the combined guitar power chords and melody line in the ending are a nice touch for dynamics, and the energy is like a bit of chaos controlled just enough to make a hit single.

Of course, the lyrics are light-weight and the vocals are not stand-out, and imagine my surprise (not) when I found the video on youtube. Perfect, in a way, for what the song is about; just a newer version of "I hope I die before I get old", a message that, in rock and roll, never seems to get old.

The guilt? Liking light-hearted but well produced and played pop metal on a teenage radio station while driving kids to high school at my age. Man I'm old, but "What's My Age Again" by Blink-182 rocked pretty darn good.

Enjoy!

KO

"Denise" by Randy and The Rainbows

My apologies for the delay in recent postings, but something tells me we've all been a bit distracted by the current events of our local ball club...!!! Also had some technical difficulties of late (not sure how many folks actually saw The Monkees post I did), so I thought I'd try out a new format: Guilty Pleasures: The Music Edition Blog. Seems it may be easier to keep track of postings and results using Blogger (see "Voting Results: Master Song List" at top of this page), but unsure about the interaction between Blogger and Facebook. You can add your votes and comments either here or in Facebook, but Facebook may be easier for everyone to see. Let's see what happens...

And now for something on the easy side to get us going again?

There is an extensive catalog of Doo Woop vocal music from the 50s that we all know and love, but this song has always been one that I turn up.  The heavy 1/8 notes create a real moving feel that isn't in most of these songs, and I love the way they keep dropping the bass line out. The guilt? It's 50s Doo Wop, perhaps the most over-played music genre on the planet.

"Come Go With Me" was more popular, "Blue Moon" rocked more, but Denise by Randy and The Rainbows is a nice example of what skinny Italian guys from Queens can accomplish once they put their mind to it.

Enjoy!

KO

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees

As expected, submiting Barbershop Quartet music for review last week yielded less than enthusiastic voting results, with a mere 4 votes for 23 points for "Sincere" by The Buffalo Bills. However, kudos to the folks in the gallery who referenced "Lida Rose" from The Music Man, a wonderful barberhsop standard and definitely worth a listen on YouTube.

Plenty of GPs to choose from lately, but in honor of Los Gigantes and our general euphoria, I thought I'd pick something "up beat", and this should do it. Sure, their vocals and Mike Nesmith's guitar playing were the only thing "real" about this group, but with all those great Boyce and Hart tunes how could they go wrong?

"Last Train to Clarksville" was peppy, "Stepping Stone" showed some backbone, and "I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog" showed what happened when America's Beatles got "recreational" in the studio, but "Pleasant Valley Sunday", with its almost "I Want To Tell You" guitar line, was always the song I wanted to cover.

Here's to Peter Tork, the luckiest guy on the planet. Enjoy! -KO

 

"Pleasant Valley Sunday" by The Monkees