| Author | Message | ||
     Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 990 Registered: 03-2006 |
This is a little bit like the Guilty Pleasures thread, but focusing a bit more on songs. We all have one - a song you know you shouldn't love, that's a little bit naff, but still, you love it, it strikes a chord. Mine is..."Rainbow Connection", sung first by one Kermit the Frog, but covered quite memorably and ably by Willie Nelson. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 865 Registered: 05-2005 |
Wired for Sound - Cliff Richard | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 53 Registered: 09-2006 |
The one that comes immediately to mind (both because of Keith's post and because I just heard it twice yesterday) is the song played over the end credits of "My Neighbor Totoro." Written by Miyazaki himself, sung (in the English version) by some anonymous-voiced woman, it's got lines like "You only see him when you're very young/A magical adventure for yooooooou." and thumps along to a generic 80s beat. Repetition (the kids love the movie as much as I do) has pounded it into my brain, though, and I catch myself humming and even singing it for about a day after seeing the movie (when the kids aren't around I change the above lyric to "You only see him when you're very drunk." | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 751 Registered: 05-2005 |
I love Wired For Sound too Spence. I always thought it would make a great cover for Girls Against Boys. I also love Keep On Moving by boy band Five. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 27 Registered: 08-2006 |
There was a song - it wasn't that popular here in the States - called "I've Been Thinking About You," by Londonbeat. I love it, it's on my iPod, and every time it comes on in company I catch hell for it. I don't think it's dorky but lots of other people appear to, so there you go. Oh, and I heard "The Joker" by Steve Miller the other day and was surprised how great it sounded. I'd go so far as to say I'd like to hear it again, perhaps soon. So you have two to choose from. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 867 Registered: 05-2005 |
Rob yeah I know the tune, loads of synthetic delayed guitar a very 'black' vocal, its good apart from the production. It is a bit dorky in the credibility stakes! Padraig, funny how you thought of someone coevring that, i could see/hear the Manic Street Preachers doing it! | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 275 Registered: 01-2005 |
"Look With Care For The Shape of A Square" from the movie Close Encounters of The Third Kind. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 780 Registered: 04-2005 |
I don't know if this is dorky enough, but it's the first thing that comes to mind: Dee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 276 Registered: 01-2005 |
How about Voice of The Beehive - Beat Of Love? Pretty dorky, even though I like it back in the day. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 57 Registered: 09-2006 |
The dorkiest song on the album (the attempt at rap especially), but most of the rest of the songs are fine indeed, IMO | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 752 Registered: 05-2005 |
Kurt, I had a passionate hatred of Dee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart from the moment I heard it. And I used to go clubbing most Thursday nights back tben so I heard it a lot. It still raises my hackles. Ugh. Spence, yeah, I can very easily see the Manics doing Wired For Sound. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 781 Registered: 04-2005 |
I'm sorry Padraig, but I have to insist that "Groove is in the Heart" is the superior dorky song to "I'm Too Sexy" (you knew touting that one would come back to haunt you!). | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 753 Registered: 05-2005 |
Here's some more ammo Kurt: I love Aqua's I'm A Barbie Girl. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 754 Registered: 05-2005 |
And Star Trekkin' by The Firm. | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 27 Registered: 10-2006 |
Padraig: Barbie Girl??????????? My goodness.... My wife caught me last year humming along to Robbie's "Advertising Space," my reputation at home has suffered. And then there is..........Foreigner - I want know what love is. *duckandcover* | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 758 Registered: 05-2005 |
I stand by my choices! | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 1043 Registered: 05-2005 |
I believe Padraig. So much so, that I bet he gets Barbie Girl played on the radio show this evening  | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 196 Registered: 11-2004 |
What A Fool Believes - Doobie Brothers | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 284 Registered: 01-2005 |
I dare anyone to step up to the plate and confess love for: Starship "We Built This City". And admiring it for the dough that it raked in to help finance Jefferson Airplane's last tour of 1989 doesn't count!!! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 674 Registered: 03-2005 |
Straight from Lake Como before I go off to dinner. The single worst I can think of right now is "Paloma Blanca" by George Baker Selection. I even bought the single. But there are so many candidates. Hi everybody. Rob, thanks for your nice comments on another thread. I'll check out your link when I get home. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 60 Registered: 09-2006 |
John, No slings and arrows from this corner...not a Foreigner fan at all, but that insidious little tune you mention brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it, and I end up singing the chorus for the rest of the day | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 32 Registered: 10-2006 |
thanks a million Allen, you made my day - I thought it was just me (and the 25 million people who actually bought the record). Michael, seeing your Starship entry reminds me of Asia's Heat of the Moment - there were days when I considered the riff catchy. Those were the days when a friend of mine actually owned a record by Angel - the band with the worst ever songs, worst ever hairdos and worst ever clothes. | ||
| abigail law Member Username: Abigail Post Number: 93 Registered: 06-2005 |
glory of love by pete cetera from the karate kid 2 soundtrack i also have a soft spot for tiffany's i think we're alone now | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 463 Registered: 08-2004 |
DJ Casper - Cha Cha Slide & Doop - Doop, anything that gets the elderly dancing really. | ||
| Donat Member Username: Donat Post Number: 197 Registered: 11-2004 |
As a Saturday night DJ at Ric's Bar here in Brisbane, might I say that you've given me some great songs to play in the future. I have 'busted out' tunes like Tiffany's 'I Think We're Alone Now' and Cliff Richard's 'Wired For Sound' among your typical indie favourites of the last 30 or so years. It's amazing how the same people dance to Belle & Sebastian and Carl Douglas's 'Kung-Fu Fighting' - it has to be seen to be believed. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1014 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kung Fu Fighting might be one of those songs that is so god-awful that it comes back out the other side and is cool again... Wasn't it used in a Tarantino movie? If not, it should've been. I actually think "I Think We're Alone Now" is a great song. Maybe not the Tiffany version, but Lene Lovich had a nice take on it, and whoever sang the original, Tommy James (where's Randy when you need him?) did too.... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 293 Registered: 01-2005 |
LK, Kung Fu Fighting does come back out the other side to be cool. Robyn Hitchcock has played it live. How many times you ask? Ask The Asking Tree! Results: Known to have been played live at 22 gigs! | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1018 Registered: 03-2006 |
That's great. I can see why - it must be a great joy to sing the line, "Them cats was fast as lightning" on stage! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 466 Registered: 08-2004 |
Crazy Horses the most rocking sound ever recorded. Spirit In The Sky is another good one to grab the air guitar for. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 65 Registered: 09-2006 |
I forgot...my favorite dorky song is a 40-way tie between all the songs on "The American Song-Poem Anthology" and the songs on a second Song-Poem comp I put together from songs on their website. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 677 Registered: 03-2005 |
Tommy James & the Shondells, Hardin. They did LOTS of embarrassing songs. My personal favorite is their attempt at psychedelia, "Crimson and Clover." While in Europe I heard somebody doing a new version of "Spirit in the Sky." I also chickened out from buying a 3CD anthology of some Italian guy who looked awfully like Yanni with a violin but whose music--if the store clerk was understanding me correctly and pointed me to the right thing--was pretty good. I think his last name started with a "P" and the badly translated notes on the CD box seemed to indicate that he did a lot of film music. But what i was hearing was a good Italian take on guitar pop. I was concerned that the store clerk did not understand that I was asking for what was being played in the store at the time. Cichli? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1040 Registered: 03-2006 |
Oh sure...I like that song, too. Even though I started this thread, I get confused as to what's legitimately dorky. That song seems...okay-ish... Does this mean we're back in the good old US of A? Having those post-vacation letdown blues? It's always tough coming back... | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 679 Registered: 03-2005 |
Yeah I'm back. To keep a positive spin on it, let's just say I like my little house jammed up with oddball Randy Adams-type crap. But I haven't gone outside yet to see the oversize people in their monster trucks. The line between legitimately dorky and okayish will be fuzzy at times. You can probably find people who will argue passionately for the Archies' (Andy Kim's) "Sugar Sugar." In fact, I might raise a glass to it. Will anyone argue for Duran Duran? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 888 Registered: 05-2005 |
The funny thing with odd/dorky tunes is that in the here and now hardly anything is dorky/odd/unsavoury - true? Like Matt Monroe was dorky 20 years ago, but now cool, and folk / new age/experimental, even country is now universally accepted. I suppose save for the Birdy Song! | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 423 Registered: 10-2004 |
i have a long list of dorky songs that i love. here's one that comes to mind: hewy lewis and the news - heart and soul | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1043 Registered: 03-2006 |
"Magnet and Steel" - Walter Egan | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 820 Registered: 04-2005 |
Never heard of that one, LK. Was that a big U.S. hit? I remember the name Walter Egan, though. Did he have some other song that was a bigger hit? | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1055 Registered: 03-2006 |
It was a pretty big hit. Do you remember when Stevie Nicks was every place, all over everything? Her voice seemed to represent every thing good and every thing worth attaining: money, true love, sex and summer. Walter Egan was, I think, a hanger-on of Fleetwood Mac, and hence, got Stevie to sing background vocals on "Magnet", in a big, larger than life, way...I think the style of music was called "stroll" - maybe Randy knows more about it...But it was a very affecting song, in the same way "Crimson and Clover" and "I Think We're Alone Now" are... I was shocked years later, after I had long relegated Egan to the ranks of one trick ponies, to discover that he co-wrote the beautiful heartbreak ballad, "Hearts On Fire", featured on that immortal classic, "Grievous Angel". | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 688 Registered: 03-2005 |
No, Hardin, the name "Walter Egan" draws a total blank for me. | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 7 Registered: 09-2006 |
Thank god for those "sophisticated" dorky songs: Keith West - Grocer Jack, Grocer Jack, get off your bed,go into town, don't let them down, oh no, no. Hotlegs - Neandertal Man Plastic Bertrand - Ca plane pour moi Jimmy Castor Bunch - Troglodyte Christie - Yellow River and though Randy made a good point with Sugar Sugar and Spirit in the Sky (the Greenbaum-Version): by mentioning the infamous George Baker Selection a long forgotten horror came to my mind: Mouth & McNeal's How do you do? Sounds like it spells... and Popcorn ... and me and you and a dog named Boo... the pits of dorkyness and sometimes I'm just grateful about the gaps in memory. Yes Sir; I can boogie ... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1068 Registered: 03-2006 |
I'm Easy - Keith Carradine | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 829 Registered: 04-2005 |
No, LK. Sorry, no. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1069 Registered: 03-2006 |
Have you never been mellow? | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 690 Registered: 03-2005 |
Wolfgang, I love "Yellow River!" | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 834 Registered: 04-2005 |
Well, actually, now that you mention it, LK, "Mellow Yellow" is a dorky song I kind of like... And this is extremely shameful to admit, but picking up on the Olivia Newton-John reference: I kind of liked her version of "If Not for You." I'm sure Dylan liked the royalty checks he got from it. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 57 Registered: 08-2006 |
Whoa, man, Olivia Newton-John! Someone was asking earlier in the thread about the definition of "dorky." I think we're getting there as this thread moves on. | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 836 Registered: 04-2005 |
Next, someone is going to confess an undying secret love for the Osmonds, I just know it... | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 1072 Registered: 03-2006 |
Unless I'm mistaken, I think that somewhere above someone admits to liking a song by the famous apple-cheeked Mormons... | ||
| John B. Member Username: John_b Post Number: 43 Registered: 10-2006 |
...but hid it quite well. but, LK, I am surprised for days that no one has jumped on that confession so far. Does John Miles - Music fulfil the dorky-criteria as well? Or is the Wham-rap better? | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 9 Registered: 09-2006 |
Randy: me too (and San Bernardino too)... Maybe I haven't quiet understood the meaning of the term dorky - it's not in my dictionary and I thought it meant sth like actually embarrassing but fun: like reading Ross McDonald under the table of Trinity-College library... the love ends with the aftermentioned songs (George Baker and so on...)which are for me even now unlistenable. If there's a thin line I've overseen: take some time for explanation take some time to lose Tomorrow night you'll find me Sleeping underneath the moon at yellow river...(but I will be online there) | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 691 Registered: 03-2005 |
Nope, you've got it right Wolfgang. I think I've mentioned before to a weakness for the catalogue of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. As for the Osmonds, maybe their early ersatz Jackson 5 number, "One Bad Apple." Weren't the Osmonds really big in the UK? That would have been a useful spear to pitch back in that thread when people were arguing about the respective musical taste of the U.K. and U.S. public. But what is dorky changes. I still remember in the late 70s finding a copy of an Australian Monkees antho (put together by the great Glenn Baker) which included some rarities. I was very excited about it but it was at an uber-cool indie record shop (Rhino Records back when it was just a record store) and I felt the need to accompany that purchase with something more acceptable. I can't even remember what the "more acceptable" purchase was. | ||
| Wolfgang Steinhardt Member Username: Berbatov Post Number: 10 Registered: 09-2006 |
I'm glad I got it - cause I share my language-complexes with Andreas (greetings to Berlin!). So maybe the whole of Lemmys, Danzigs and Slayers output is dorky enuff too, especially on this board ? Coming home at night after a couple of beers... b.t.w. my re-bought eponymous Christies LP is a polish pressing from around '89 - they must have been great in Poland at that time. Sounds as if they recycled some vinyl from old Bulgarian folk Lp's. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 779 Registered: 05-2005 |
I recently bought what seems like a very comprehensive Monkees anthology Randy. Haven't played it yet, but I don't think Glen A Baker did the sleevenotes. He has a record shop just a bus ride away from me on the Northerb Beaches which I keep meaning to go to, but haven't yet. I feel I owe it to him after he made a flight from Singapore to Sydney far less taxing for me with the wonderful Beach Boys audio documentary of his they had on one of the channels. Oh, this all reminds me of a conversation my five-year-old had with one of her dolls last weekend. (She was playing a parent) "We're going to Bondi Junction and we're going to four, maybe five, record shops. If there's no complaints maybe you can have an icecream afterwards." I, of course, had had just that conversation with her the previous weekend! And, just for the record, there were no complaints and she did get a treat! | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 695 Registered: 03-2005 |
Oh, Padraig, your poor daughter . . . . | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 783 Registered: 05-2005 |
I know, I know! But I did take her to her favourite park afterwards... |