April 18, 2012

Your most guilty pleasure song?

Mine is "Toy Soldiers" by Martika:



It's a total chick song, and a pretty melodramatic one to boot. Plus she got her start on Kids Incorporated, a TV show where mostly pre-teens sang hit songs and acted cheesy skits in between.

But that melody is just so damn catchy, and since it isn't repetitive, it should be harder to remember than the average pop song. Still I always find myself singing it the rest of the day whenever I hear it. And it's got the right amount of variety, novelty, and distinctness in the sound textures -- unlike the faggy indie, techno, etc., songs that become so self-absorbed in their exploration of texture that they neglect basic things like melody and harmony. Just an overall really well crafted pop song.

8 comments:

  1. "My Heart Will Go On." - Celine Dion, and I am a man.

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  2. thanks for asking, cause i hadn't played it in a while:

    "the goonies R good enough"

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scu81EW4UC8

    I wouldn't consider the movie a guilty pleasure though, just a pleasure.

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  3. Don't have a specific one, but any of the poppier numbers off "Coral Fang". I even like singing along to the mispronounciation in the title track. The songs I like off their eponymous album I don't feel guilty at all about though, still retaining a punk sound with the catchiness. At the same time liking folky girl songs like "A Sailor's Life" or "Streets of Derry" seems less embarrassing than any kind of european symphonic metal with rasps and death-grunts thrown in. Finally, I'm embarrassed just because of the extent that I get into "Like a Goddamn Rat" by Early Man.

    Another punk-ish band that sounds terrible live is Stiff Little Fingers. Which I'm mentioning because I was reminded of the song title "Tin Soldiers". Youtube seems to screen off uploads of the studio recording, and what they've got there pales in comparison.

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  4. Doh, it was the Distillers' first album that was eponymous and most of it sounds too raw & amateurish to me. "Sing Sing Death House" had the relatively balanced sound.

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  5. MC Hammer

    Can't Touch This

    I like the music video too. Love the dancing.

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  6. I know the "correct" answer is to say "SuperFreak" rather than "Can't Touch This."

    I like both.

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  7. Carly Simon. "Itsy bitsy spider," live at Martha's Vineyard. See it on YouTube. Haunting.

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