Staff Picks: Guilty Pleasure Songs

Everyone’s got ’em. Those songs we dare to blast only when we triple-check that no one’s home and/or around for miles. The ones we crank in the car on long drives, or belt out in the shower. We’re talking guilty pleasures. Not that there’s anything wrong with a secret tryst with an embarrassing tune; in fact, it shouldn’t be secret at all. Love what you love, no matter how uncool or embarrassing. We certainly do.

1) “Trickle Trickle,” The Videos (1958)

Picked by: Rick Simmons

A guilty pleasure? My problem is limiting it to one! I thought a lot about this and figured my main requirement would be that I pick a song I’d be embarrassed for even my friends to know I like. I’m afraid that doesn’t narrow it down too much. Barry Manilow’s “Mandy,” the Partridge Family’s “I Think I Love You,” Abba’s “The Name of the Game” and others all qualify. These all charted pretty high though, so that tells me a lot of people liked those songs, so maybe I shouldn’t be too ashamed. No, instead I took the approach that I needed to pick a song I like that wasn’t successful, and therefore, my fondness for the song puts me clearly in the minority.

I present to you “Trickle, Trickle” by the Videos, which, despite the group’s ’80s-ish sounding name, was actually recorded in 1958. It was one of only two singles the group recorded and, though it was popular regionally, it was not a national hit and did not chart. Yet for all of that, if you listen to this song a couple of times, it will stick in your head and stay there. It’s peppy, upbeat, cheerful — which all somehow translate into a song that’s a bit embarrassing to admit I like. The Manhattan Transfer covered the song in 1980 and if I liked that version, I’d really have something to be ashamed of – their music tends to be little better than the stuff you hear piped in at a department store. But the Videos’ original will haunt you. Listen to it – it’s infectious. And after you hear it, you’ll be singing it and cursing me all day.

2) “I’m Gonna Knock on Your Door,” Eddie Hodges (1961)

Picked by: AJB

If I told you how often this song gets lodged in my brain, you might have me committed. Eddie Hodges was a child actor when he recorded this tune, originally released by the Isley Brothers, at age 14, and, unlike other children subjected to early stardom, he went on to have a relatively normalized adulthood. As simple and somewhat annoying as it is, there’s something infuriatingly catchy about its dumb come-a-courtin’ lyrics, bike bells, and rocks-on-glass sound effects that, in some strange way, make me love it. (Stockholm Syndrome perhaps?)

3) “My Boy Lollipop,” Millie Small (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYj9J4UH8ck

Picked by: Pam Sosnowski

Nineteen-sixty-four gave the American music charts hits by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks… and a Jamaican cutie-patootie singer named Millie Small. Her cover of “My Boy Lollipop” reached #2 on both the US and UK charts that year, proving that she could go head-to-head with any British Invasion band. (She also appeared with the Fab Four on their TV special Around the Beatles.) The song had been recorded before, first by the Cadillacs (as “My Girl Lollipop”) and Barbie Gaye (who altered the title to “My Boy Lollipop”) both in 1956, but Small’s version updated the composition to give it a more pronounced ska influence. I’m sure for some people “My Boy Lollipop” in repeat mode would drive them to jump out of a high-rise window, but personally I think it’s a bouncy, happy, groovy lil’ tune that makes me want to dance and sing along with Small. Isn’t that what a guilty pleasure song is all about?

4) “I’m in Love with a Big Blue Frog,” Peter, Paul and Mary (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaUcB0dFbLM

Picked by: Erika Abrams

Peter, Paul and Mary released an album of children’s songs called Peter, Paul and Mommy in 1969. Amazingly, this song doesn’t appear there. “Big Blue Frog” comes from 1967’s Album 1700, set alongside serious folk songs like “The Great Mandella (The Wheel of Life)” and their cover of “Leaving on a Jet Plane,” which might be the saddest song on earth. So its silliness is a surprising and much needed comic relief from a pretty big downer of an album. Mary Travers sings with total sincerity about her new boyfriend, who, despite being a blue frog, is 6’7″ and has a PhD (nice!). Of course, the neighbors aren’t happy that “the family next door is blue.” But no objection will get in her way, and as proof, she’s got his name — Phrog — tattooed on her chest. Now that’s commitment! The song is enhanced by the silly kazoo solo, water splash, and frog gulp backgrounds courtesy of Noel Paul Stookey, who’s a master of comedy and impressions. It’s bounciness and silliness is so contagious that I can’t stop myself from putting it on repeat it when it shows up on my playlist… though I may not reveal exactly what I’m listening to that’s making me smile so much.

5) “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies (1969)

Picked by: Lindsay Stamhuis

Not gonna lie — my biggest guilty pleasures are bad synth pop and New Wave tracks from the early ’80s, so this was a bit of a toughie. It’s so hard to go back to an era of music that is so classic and find a song that you feel guilty listening to! But here goes: I first became aware of this catchy but totally guilt-inducing song back in the halcyon days of 1996 when I first watched the film Now and Then in theatres with my mom, and of course I ran out and bought the soundtrack almost immediately afterward (with my hard-earned babysitting money, thankyouverymuch.) It’s not an example of fine songwriting; it’s not particularly melodically important. It wasn’t even expected to be a hit song; promo guys were forced to play it for radio DJs without telling them that it was recorded by a cartoon music group. But damn if it doesn’t make me want to sing along every time I hear it! It spent four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and garnered an induction into the Canadian Songwriters’ Hall of Fame for one of its writers, who was a native of Montreal, and it’s been covered by everyone from Bob Marley and the Wailers to Wilson Pickett — not bad for a garage band from Riverdale!

6) “Lay A Little Lovin’ On Me,” Robin McNamara (1970)

http://youtu.be/bk9wH9Tx-_c

Picked by: Carey Farrell

For those days when Andy Kim and Austin Roberts are just too hard-rockin’, there’s Robin McNamara. Music to chase cartoon ghosts by, in the best possible sense.

7) “Only Yesterday,” The Carpenters (1975)

Picked by: Susan Ryan

Yeah, it’s really easy to dismiss the Carpenters as nothing more than cheesy soft pop. That said, though, very few people would deny that the late Karen Carpenter had a voice like an angel, and that even if their style of music isn’t your cup of tea, it can be a sublime experience to listen to her. While many of their bigger hits were, and remain, overplayed (“We’ve Only Just Begun” at every wedding ever, anyone?), this song is a perfect little pop gem, with a catchy hook, a cheerful chorus of love found and life affirmed, and a theme of true love at long last. If you’ve ever been that person waiting for “the one” to come along, it’s hard not to like this tune. Hearing this beautiful, sweet song and the unmistakable harmonies of Karen and Richard just serve to make everyone aware of what the world lost with her untimely death. I’ve been known to play this song several times over on repeat when it pops up on my iPod, and I’ll never apologize for this not-so-guilty pleasure!

 

We showed you ours, now show us yours! Leave your guiltiest pleasure tune in the comments.