Tuned up Thursday: Guilty pleasures

Guilty pleasures. Those songs you listen to that you know you probably shouldn’t like, for whatever reason, but which you end up giving a spin every so often. Now I am never one to think I shouldn’t listen to something. Just like I don’t care about what I read and watch, if I enjoy it, that is good enough of reason for me to like it.  I’m pretty sure that I listen to quite a few songs that some people will frown upon. But I simply don’t care. I love myself some cheesy, feel good songs.

Backstreet Boys – If You Stay

This post would simply be incomplete without a BSB song. Having been a fan for years, it is my ultimate musical guilty pleasure. This song in particular isn’t just one of my favorites it’s also one of those cheesy 90s R&B songs that were so hot and happening come 1997. And this song, in this rendition has it all: from a capella, to a dance routine, to screaming fans.

Bastian – You’ve Got My Love

When it comes to the cheesiest of cheese, this 1998 track will win hands down. The lyrics are just terrible, but this is one of those ‘remember when’ songs for me. This is an instant throw back to the late 90s and everything that was going on in my life at the time. I was a blissfully ignorant 14 year old, at the height of my BSB fandom and the only worry in the world to deal with were my school grades.

Blur – Song 2

Not necessarily a cheesy song, but still a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s one of those, let’s get crazy and jump around songs, that remind me of late nights on festival fields while beer is being flung around. The song in itself is great, but was intended to be a spoof of grunge music. From the riff to the incomprehensible lyrics, this track piles on every grunge song cliché in under 2 minutes.

Britney Spears – Selfish

Nothing says guilty pleasure than a pop track from the Princess of Pop. This bonus track from Femme Fatale, probably takes the cake, but who cares? This song never fails to put a smile on my face and dance around the room. Just don’t ever try to listen to the lyrics, because that may just as well ruin all the fun.

Bronski Beat – Why

The first song I ever liked. I was so young I only know this because my parents told me. This quintessential 80s track is about as catchy as they come. But there isn’t much else to it. Needless to say, I bought the album on vinyl simply because of this song. And as it happens to be the first track on there, if I’m in a nostalgic mood, I play this as loud as I can.

Cameo – Word Up

The 80s were quite a good decade when it comes to songs that could potentially make it onto anyone’s guilty pleasure list. This gem by Cameo isn’t too bad in itself. Until you watch the video that is. What the ????! It’s been covered into oblivion too, which only ranks it higher.

Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know

I have a weak spot for anything Duran Duran. No matter how many songs of them I play and hear, this one is still my favorite. I even saw these guys live when they had their come back a few years ago. And in the end everything sounds kind of similar, but still I love a bit of Duran Duran to brighten up my day.

Eruption – I Can’t Stand The Rain

Ah let’s go further back in time. To this disco gem from the 70s. And if there is one type of music that reeks of guilty pleasure it’s disco. When I found out the producer behind this version of the song was  Frank Farian, who was also behind many Boney M songs, it finally clicked. Because any Boney M song could easily have gone into this list as well.

Franz Ferdinand – Erdbeer Mund

I already posted this a few months ago, but I just can’t get enough of this cheesy track by Franz Ferdinand. The English band with the German sounding name recorded a song in German as a b-side for Fresh Strawberries of their latest album Right Thoughts… I think it’s hilarious and the video is just, just… well just watch it. In any case it features one of the band members dressing up as his sister with tons of badly done eye make up and red lipstick.

Gigi D’Agostino – La Passion

Gigi D’Agostino used to be all the range when I was in highschool. I remember one of his other tracks going number 1 way back in the day. This song however always stuck with me. It’s vacations in Spain, first time going to clubs and staying up all night, all thrown into one. In any case, this song takes me back to the time I was 16 – 18 years old.

Lady Gaga – Do What U Want (feat. R. Kelly)

I liked the first Lady Gaga album. Thought the second was mwah and the third I didn’t even bother to buy anymore. But this song stands out for it’s cheesy 80s galore. And it has R Kelly. Just listen to Gotham City or any track he released in the 90s and you’ll understand why having R Kelly on any track would instantly make a song a guilty pleasure track.

Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop

Two words why this is a guilty pleasure: Miley. Cyrus. But still I really like this track.

Netsky – Puppy

This track reminds me of summer festival and hanging out with friends. In itself not much of a reason to find it a guilty pleasure perhaps, but this thing was EVERYWHERE that summer. And it’s not as if it’s the most ingenious dance track ever produced. I still can’t stop listening to it though.

Savage Garden – I Want You

I HAD to feature the 90s with some pop music somehow in this post. And so I went with Savage Garden. This song was all the rage in my group of friends when we were 14. Quite possibly the first track to be played compulsively in my teenage bedroom besides Backstreet Boys.

Snow Patrol – Run

On to quite possibly my biggest guilty pleasure: Snow Patrol. I had quite an obsession with them a few years ago. And at times I like myself some fairly middle of the road music. Until you start listening to a lot of their lyrics and just have this ‘huh, what’ feeling every time. Not only do they not make much sense, they are trying too hard to come off as these great poetic lyricists. Nevertheless they’ve made some songs that I sang along to at the top of my lungs when I saw them live from front row in the Heineken Music Hall.

What music/ songs are your guilty pleasures?