Mission Statement

Guilty Pleasures: The Music Edition is intended as a forum to review songs that were once considered out-of-favor. Readers are asked to rate the songs using a 10 point voting system (10=strong like, 1=strong dislike) and provide their comments.

The objective is to review the songs offered here with a fresh listen for things like intent (objective), structure, influences (to or from), production value, and performances, all within the context of its musical time frame and while trying to forget past reactions. Hopefully we can hear something different in a song we once thought was less-than-pleasing.

So remember, valid reactions include:

1) None of my friends ever liked this song, but I always did.

2) I never liked this song, but listening to it again after all this time now it makes me want to: (a) tap my foot, or (b) shove a pencil in my ear.

All legit.

-Ken

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

"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
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