Music you like that embarrasses you...

Digi-G · « **on:** 24 May 2005, 11:38 am »

Okay, time to fess up. We all have music we listen to that we would never tell anyone about. Guilty pleasures; maybe music that your mom used to listen to... whatever. Most of these I wouldn't confess to friends or coworkers, let alone (gasp!) another audiophile. Fortunately, these boards offer some anonymity, so I'll spill my guts.

Okay, here goes. (Deep breath) Occasionally I'll listen to the likes of Bread (no excuse here, really) and the Carpenters - I can't help it, she has the voice of an angel.

C'mon spill, I promise you'll feel better.

KT · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 May 2005, 11:51 am »

The Carpenters! So touching, so moving, so cheesy! Karen Carpenter has an absolutely amazing voice. A lot of the songs are classics. Everything just drips with sap (or sappy).

Britney. I wouldn't be embarassed if I were a 14 year old girl, but... let's just say it's catchy pop music that's fun to listen to.

The Bee Gees. Nuff said.

The Xanadu soundtrack is great, too.

KT

woodsyi · « **Reply #2 on:** 24 May 2005, 12:00 pm »

ABBA, Carpenters and John Denver.

konut · « **Reply #3 on:** 24 May 2005, 02:44 pm »

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought Carpenters! It seems i'm not alone. There was a PBS show about the Carpenters about a month ago that detailed the evolution of the group that was facinating. Karen was a musician's musician. She thought of herself as a drummer that could also sing. When she finally did step out from behind the drums to front the group, her mic technique was the best I have ever seen. Virtuocity has no genre.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #4 on:** 24 May 2005, 02:52 pm »

Spice Girls. My 3 year old daughter loves their CD, and it has grown on me after repeated play. And...its surprisingly well-recorded...

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 May 2005, 03:47 pm »

Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Neil Diamond, Christina Aguilera, Carpenters, Grease Soundtrack....... Should I go on?

John Ashman · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 May 2005, 03:50 pm »

Wang Chung, Tom Jones. Hey, at least it's not Soft Cell or Wayne Newton.

MaxCast · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 May 2005, 03:51 pm »

John Denver is pretty good IMO. I don't have any CD's, well the wife has the greatest hits, but I did see most of his Red Rocks (i think that was the title) concert DVD and it was great.

Okay, now for the embarassing part......

barry manilow and it is a boxed set but I only listened to it once....really!

woodsyi · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:09 pm »

I forgot to mention soundtreks to Hair and Rocky Horror!

Anybody else still listen to these?

Soundbitten · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:11 pm »

the only disco record I own ( I think )...Saturday Night Fever soundtrack

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:23 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi

I forgot to mention soundtreks to Hair and Rocky Horror! Anybody else still listen to these?

I like the Hair soundtrack as well- have a minty fresh vinyl copy. Oh, I have Rick Astley on vinyl. Rock ON!!!!

JoshK · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:24 pm »

Neil Diamond, Stevie Nicks era Fleetwood Mac, Heart, George Michaels

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:26 pm »

WHAM.

fabaudio · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:45 pm »

Judging by some of the answers here I think I'll start a thread that goes-GUYS I WOULD BE EMBARRASSED TO HANG OUT WITH BECAUSE OF THE MUSIC THEY LISTEN TO.

nathanm · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 May 2005, 04:58 pm »

Thanks to the movie Office Space I really love the tune "Still" by the Geto Boys. But I am embarassed to play it because I don't want people to overhear some lame white guy listening to gansta rap. Plus it has clearly audible profanity, which can also be embarassing if you think others are overhearing.

woodsyi · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 May 2005, 05:02 pm »

Quote from: mcrespo71

Oh, I have Rick Astley on vinyl. Rock ON!!!!

I am sorry, but I am drawing the line here. No Rick Astley for me!

What's next? Air Supply? Toto?

chadh · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 May 2005, 05:27 pm »

I don't know...I think some of these "embarrassments" are far from embarrassing. Fleetwood Mac with Stevie Nicks? The Bee Gees?

Let me tell you about embarrassing.

Unlike many here, I have no dedicated listening room. The stereo sits in the family room, and I face intense competition for listening rights. In particular, my first-born son (at two and a half years of age) proves to be a tyrant when it comes to musical offerings. I managed to get him to listen to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers ("Free For All") the other day, but only by telling him that track two was named "Hammerhead." His love of sharks convinced him to listen.

Most of the time, though, he insists that we listen to one of three things:
(1) Leonard Bernstein's "Peter and the Wolf";
(2) "African Playground", a Putomayo collection of modern African tunes for kids; and
(3) Anything by Raffi.

It's an interesting facet of human nature, but if you're forced to listen to something sufficiently often, you often grow to like it. Maybe it's the familiarity, or maybe it's associations with other things going on with the repeated experiences. But whatever the reason, I now find myself singing Raffi tunes throughout the day. And when the music is actually playing, I will stop and admire the way he can simultaneously show some real musical creativity with a well known tune and still stay true to its musical origins.

I can feel the embarrassment pouring out of my ears.

If it weren't for my headphone rig at work, I fear I'd be a slavering idiot by now.

Chad

p.s. For those blissfully unaware of Raffi, contemplate a short, jovial, bearded Canadian man with a guitar. He's probably singing something like:

Six little ducks that I once knew
Fat ones, skinny ones, fair ones too
But the one little duck with the feather on his back
He led the others with a quack quack quack
Quack quack quack; quack quack quack;
He led the others with a quack quack quack

etc.

Dave G · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 May 2005, 05:30 pm »

Woodsyi wrote:

Quote

What's next? Toto?

Yup. "Africa," "Roseanna," "Toe the Line" -- great stuff

I also like some of the girl groups my 13 year-old daughter listens to.

Dave

chadh · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 May 2005, 05:33 pm »

Quote from: woodsyi

Quote from: mcrespo71
Oh, I have Rick Astley on vinyl. Rock ON!!!!

I am sorry, but I am drawing the line here. No Rick Astley for me! What's next? Air Supply? Toto?

I had a friend late in high school and early in college who was officially the biggest Toto fan of all time. He owned a CD player that would accommodate ten CDs. This seemed excessive as he owned only eight CDs: Toto 1, Toto 2, Toto 3, Toto 4, Toto 5, Toto 6, Toto 7 and the Steve Lukather solo album.

Needless to say, they were in heavy rotation.

Chad

PhilNYC · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 May 2005, 05:42 pm »

Quote from: chadh

(3) Anything by Raffi.
...

I can feel the embarrassment pouring out of my ears.
...

C'mon...Raffi rocks.