Rhinofy-Guilty Pleasures
"I Love You Always Forever"
Donna Lewis
Some tracks you’re not supposed to like, but you LOVE THEM!
And this is one of them…
It’s that sound that begins at :39, like a synth running over the hills. It excites you, takes you out of this world and puts a smile on your face.
And the lyrics are such non sequiturs and so stupid that they work. Phrases are indelibly stuck in my brain…PALE AMBER ROSE?
And then there’s the line:
You’ve got the most unbelievable blue eyes…
Love is not something you see in magazines, it’s between two people when no one else is looking. You get close to another human being and marvel at their humanity, their uniqueness, their beauty.
And when the song explodes at 2:40…
Say you’ll love, love me forever
Never stop, never whatever
Near and far and always
And everywhere and everything
YOU’RE HOOKED!
As Donna Lewis sings this chorus again and again, the keyboard pounds, the electronic drums chirp, the vocals are doubled and tripled and you can’t help but smile and sing along.
And when it all breaks down, you realize you love this song always forever and need to play it again. And again.
"Just Another Day"
Jon Secada
By this time, we were sick of the SBK hit-making machine, infecting our brains with songs that were hooky but substandard, like "Ice Ice Baby" and "Pump Up The Jam".
But this is the best thing SBK ever released, except maybe for "Hold On" by Wilson Philips.
I, I don’t want to say it
I don’t want to find another way
Make it through the day without you
Whoa! That’s the most powerful pain in the universe, love lost. How do you get through? What distraction is gonna work, how can you trick your brain today, or should you just stay in bed and wallow in the pain?
I, I, I can’t resist
Trying to find exactly what I miss
It’s just another day without you
You keep turning it over in your mind. If only they’d come back and stop your brain from racing.
But they never do. You endure the pain until you find someone new.
"Smile A Little Smile For Me"
The Flying Machine
Sure, it’s sappy, almost bubble gum, but we’re all sentimental at heart. And this song has got a great singalong chorus. And even if you’re too self-conscious to sing along, you can’t help but nod your head.
Smile a little smile for me, Rose Marie
(And to be honest, I can’t help but think of the real Rose Marie, from "The Dick Van Dyke Show", every time I hear this track, both then and now.)
"The Letter"
The Arbors
It had already been a smash hit in the under two minute original by the Box Tops. But merely two years later this soft, psychedelicized version was a hit too.
Sure, it was toned down for the airwaves, but you could hear the drugs in the track. In an era where people wore flower shirts and everything was up for grabs, revolutionary was the norm. The spacy effect at the end is straight out of "Itchycoo Park", yet fully original.
"Some Kind Of Friend"
Barry Manilow
Once upon a time I hated everything he stood for. He started out with the Divine Miss M, but then he made it with endless bland numbers that were so saccharine, they gave listeners cavities.
But this one I liked…
Because of the reference to the Beachwood Cafe. Where I used to go for tuna melts and chocolate shakes. I didn’t think Barry could be that hip, I identified.
This could pass for the work of an English soft rocker.
It’s been completely forgotten, but it’s a magical record with none of the bombast Manilow was famous for.
"The Pied Piper"
Crispian St. Peters
We didn’t hate this back then, and we knew it, enduring all kinds of things waiting for the next Beatles song.
All these years later it brings back a ton of memories.
"I Love You"
The People
If it sounds like a Zombies record, it IS!
But the original was a bit too dark, a bit too left of center for American radio. We like our hits obvious and in the pocket, which the People version, released in ’68 as opposed to the original’s ’65, was.
The Zombies take is positively British. You see dark skies and skinny ties. Whereas the People version sounds like California. It’s made to be listened to in a windowless room by a group of people high on drugs.
The original was an exponent of the now faded British Invasion, the remake was made to fit into the canon of San Francisco.
But the Zombies take is better. It may be almost fifty years old, but it still sounds vital, as if the story the singer is telling just happened yesterday.
"Green Tambourine"
The Lemon Pipers
This was ersatz, straight people trying to be hip, but it was 1967, not 1969, and it contains so many hooks that it can’t be denied.
They say it’s the first bubble gum record. I’d argue it’s much more serious than that, not really lowest common denominator like the bubble gum crap, then again, I bought "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy". You can’t think about these things too long, you can’t be so proud you deny your instinct to jump up and dance when you hear these records. The lyrics might appear to be simple, but there are tons of changes, endearing vocals…if you’re too hip to like the records above you’re no friend of mine!
