2) Michael Franks
Why he gets scorn
Like Gino, Franks is a pseudo-jazz crooner, singing silly, sappy love songs. You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love songs (eh, Sir Paul?). But at least Gino has gears in his voice. Franks goes at one speed: a dull monotone.
Why I dig him, anyway
Franks' dull monotone singing can be appealing if it's applied wisely to soft romantic songs — like Chet Baker did with his similarly thin warble — and it often was. What's more, sometimes his compositions are so consciously silly they actually become charming. Part of the charm, though, was Franks clever use of double entendres that could sometimes do 1930's country blues naughty boy Bo Carter proud.
"Popsicle Toes" is a classic of bouncy, lightly naughty ditties. But where Vannelli brought in his fare share of noted sessionists, the credits list on Franks' albums often read like Warren Zevon's or Steely Dan's: Joe Sample, Michael Brecker, Larry Carlton, David Sanborn, Wilton Felder, with Tommy LiPuma and Al Schmitt behind the boards... and that was all from his first release.
3) Heatwave
Why they get scorn
They were disco. Nuff said.
Why I dig 'em, anyway
Sometimes I think they got the disco label only because the word "boogie" got mentioned forty of fifty times on each of their dance numbers. Musically, they were a lot closer to Earth, Wind & Fire than the Village People. There were guys in the band who actually played instruments and they had good chops. And Rod Temperton's songwriting ("Boogie Nights," "Always & Forever," "Groove Line") was a couple of cuts above everyone else's, whether you wanted to call it disco, r & b, or funk.
This isn't the first time I've raved on Heatwave, so I won't go any further, here. Suffice to say, they managed to give disco a good name. That in itself is worthy of somebody's lifetime achievement award, don't you think?
4) Hall & Oates
This is the one act where I agree with Rolling Stone's list.
Why they get scorn
They ruled the pop world in the first half of the eighties. That doesn't exactly carry the same weight as saying "Elton John ruled the pop world in the first half of the seventies." And have you ever seen the album cover of their 1975 self-titled release? *shudder*
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
Michael Franks?!! yeesh. i guy a worked for a long time ago found out i was into jazz. he sez, really? you should check out Michael Franks.
so i bought Skin Dive. gross.
love Hall & Oates.
hmmm, i think i wrote a guilty pleasures post many moons ago...
2 - Mark Saleski
...and here it is
3 - JC Mosquito
Urk. Guilty as charged.
Gentlemen, the confessional is over on the culture page. Ask for forgiveness and pull out some pre-1975 Stone's albums.
4 - Pico
So before listening you bought an album with a picture of a guy who put too much sculpting gel in his hair? Tak, tak, you've got only yourself to blame for that one, Mark.
Notice the Michael Franks at the top of this article; he looks a member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Franks. Now that's the kind of dude who's likely to have some good music inside ;&)
5 - Mark Saleski
hey, i think it was his most recent release at the time. i pull it out (vinyl) every once in a while....and it's still not very good.
6 - Mark Saleski
Now that's the kind of dude who's likely to have some good music inside ;&)
yea, yea...sez the guy who listens to Jeff Lorber.
7 - Heatshield
Hall & Oates have been consistently outstanding for decades. What's there to feel guilty about?
8 - JANK
I have NO guilt over liking Michael Franks very much thank you. Check out "The Lady Wants to Know", "Tiger in the Rain", "The Cookie Jar is Empty"....
9 - Tom Johnson
"The Cookie Jar Is Empty"? Seriously? That's a real song?
10 - Tom Johnson
And that RS list is completely ridiculous with Rush at the top. And that's not just me being a huge fan. I've seen non-fans even saying that's stupid of them to say they're a guilty pleasure.
What's funny is that RS wouldn't publish my comment on their site - I suggested that they used lists like this only to generate traffic for their advertisers (and it sure works!) and they really don't care what the lists actually say. See if you can find it - it's under my name, but it ain't there! Hitting a little too close to home, perhaps?
11 - sean Paul Mahoney
Bananarama are totally my guilty pleasure! But Hall and Oates rock too.
12 - Pico
so sez Tom Johnson:
"And that RS list is completely ridiculous with Rush at the top. And that's not just me being a huge fan. I've seen non-fans even saying that's stupid of them to say they're a guilty pleasure."
That was my thought, too, when I first saw Rolling Stone's list. And even though I consider Moving Pictures to be a classic, I'm not really a Rush fan. But even if you might disagree with the number of times they've struck out, Rush always seem to be swinging for the fences. Yet, they're being put in the same company as some acts who are content to bunt every time out.
13 - Barend and Trees
Never ever feel guilty about being a music-lover, especially when you LOVE GINO VANNELLI's voice and music!!!
Thanks for your opinion but for us GINO VANNELLI is the Master of Music and we do not feel ashamed for writing this...
Our apologies for our English/American writing but we do the best we can.
GINO VANNELLI created 15 albums and each album has a vibe for certain emotions and feelings, so you can grab a Gino Vannelli album for 15 different moods or states you are in at that moment...
14 - Glen Boyd
I've always dug Hall and Oates. G.E. Smith, who played on a number of their records is one bad ass guitar player for one thing (he was also in the old Saturday Night Live band).
Speaking of SNL, I'm reminded of an old skit from Second City with Eugene Levy (I think) doing "I Just Wanna Stop" as Gino V. Every time he turns around, his chest is just a little harrier.
But for guilty pleasures, nothing tops Abba.
Fun read, Pico---and thanx for the link and the props.
-Glen
15 - Mark Saleski
i'm a pretty big G.E. Smith fan....even have his Smith Band record. cool stuff. hey, come to think of it, i have an album made back in the 70's that Smith was a part of: The Scratch Band.
nothin' guilty about Hall & Oates either.
16 - Pico
Thanks for the comments and the inspiration for this article, Glen.
I also dig seeing someone represent for good ol' Gino. His fans really get behind him; just go to Amazon to find all the five star ratings on his records. You can't fault a guy too much for bringing that kind of happiness to so much folks' lives, can you?
As to the the question posed in the title "If It Sounds Good, Should You Feel Guilty?", the answer I'm getting from most everyone is NO. So I won't. I just won't play it around certain company, that's all ;&)