The New Guilty Pleasures Item

May 5 12:08 UTC 2002

I figured it was time to revive an old item from the previous 
conference, and maybe get in some good-natured ribbing of Ken and 
others who are able and/or willing to follow mostly music that is 
somewhat obscure to the masses.

What music and artists do you secretly enjoy, even though they may be 
gross and crass examples of commercialistic drivel, pop media, 
business machine slaves, or the latest incarnation of adolescent 
trends?

Me--

I love the Spice Girls, and I thought their movie, Spice World, was 
hilarious.  It is ruefully ironic that their popularity plummeted 
after Geri Halliwell ("Ginger") left, as she was generally considered 
the sexiest of the Spice Hoochies.  Although they claimed to write 
their own songs, I think they just came up with melodies working with 
studio professionals.  They are a clear-cut example of what studio 
magic and careful choosing can do, and the Brits have gotten very good 
at it.

Speaking of Brits, S Club 7 is another group I just love to watch and 
listen to.  They are just kids, and for the most part too young to 
really be sexually appealing in their skimpy attire, and the group is 
strengthened by the show, which serves as their promotion instead of 
music video.  Even though the show is an old concept, it works-- there 
is a sense that the members are all just good buddies.

I also love htv, which is a Miami Hispanic version of MTV.  A lot of 
lesser-known Miami and Argentine artists are really fun to watch in 
their videos; they are still doing a lot of the old techniques that 
MTV considers rather cliche now.  It is a different music scene that I 
don't expect many of my Causasian friends (like me) to understand much.

Many Grexers in another item think Abba just sucks pond scum.  Lousy 
lyrics, but I do not put them in the "bad disco" category (that's 
reserved for songs like Boogie Oogie Oogie).  I deliver a large 
raspberry to them, although I will admit Electric Light Orchestra will 
earn a larger share of my listening time.  In that vein, I just loved 
Xanadu, although much of the script was bad there, too.  ELO, Olivia 
Newton John, *and* Gene Kelly in the same movie =)  heh.