i think Britney Spears looks good.

It was probably cheesy pop in the '70s but I've always been mesmerized by the chorus of "Shannon" by Henry Gross.
That's about the only song I like that I've never fessed up to.

Well, I'm a big fan of Nelly Furtado and Ashlee Simpson. I've seen them both in concert, and both have some very cool sounding recordings....

Nelly- Turn Out The Light

Ashlee-LaLa, Pieces Of Me, Shadow

Another one is Kasey Chambers's "Captain" has a nice sound to it.


On the other side of the coin, I should and used to like Joan Jett, but I read an interview with her that totally turned me off. She came off as a really snotty bratty bitch."I'm a REAL rocker" and you're not, type attitude.

Hall and Oats and the latest Gwen Stephani album.

As has been mentioned, definitely the latest Kelly Clarkson stuff - esp. "Behind these Hazel Eyes". The drumming on that song kicks my ass!

It takes some balls to post something like this in GS, my respects to you.

I also like the song La-La of ashlee. Even though I dislike her personaly, her songwriting/production team is top notch.

I'm thinking the guilty pleasure of liking a "cheesy pop" song has more to do with the barb of the hook than how good the song is. "Hamster Dance" song anyone? Advertising is all about that. A lot of factors come to play for me... Nelly's a home town girl so I'm more likely to pay attention because of that, although I don't find myself listening to her that often because of the radio stations I tune to, places I go etc. A big acceptance factor for me is whether the artist(s) are taking themselves too seriously, like when they start to believe their own press releases. Loverboy was right on the bubble on that from my perpective, so I waffle back and forth on them. Sometimes they get a head nod or three, sometimes the channel gets changed.

Bottom line? It is what it is, and I don't have to buy if I don't want to. The big difference between the 60's and 70's stuff and today's cheez whiz is that the jar has been licked almost clean.

I like "Walking on Sunshine" too, BTW.

I`ll admit there were songs on both Brittney Spears, and Christina Aquilerra albums that I actually liked quite a bit. It was a shock to me.

At least Christina can sing but Britney ??? What`s wrong with me ?

She just does what she has to as a singer and the songwriters do the rest I guess. They write some catchy tunes.

Well, actually, I was really into exploring the Toronto music scene before Nelly broke and heard of her before her first cd became popular. So it was cool watching her go from an unknown, to top of the charts.......I knew she'd be popular right away. I heard a couple of cuts off the cd on Napster, a couple of weeks before it was released, and I had contacted her management company and told them how I felt, when her record first came out, and they responded, "We hope your right !!" heh

My first encounter with Ashlee was the Saturday Night Live goof-up, I tuned in just to check her out and didn't understand what was going on, as neither did she....I listened to her music on Yahoo, got into her video's, and she reminds me of a local girl I know here of the same age and has a similar attitude, so I identified with her right away......I saw Ashlee's concert in Cleveland and she really kicked it, and the audience reaction was like being at an old Beatles concert with all the teenage girls screaming ...it was deafening......for a 20 year old chick, she did a great job on stage, and I have to admire that....she also is doing a fine job in the studio, with a completed cd which indeed sound cool....and went on to sell 3 million+ copies....you gotta respect that.....

I've worked with other girls her age, and it's amazing to me that she did what she did do in the studio...
I expect both to have a very long successful careers.

I proudly own Christina's first album, as well as Justin's solo album Justifide.

Is this a new one?

Fountains of Wayne- Welcome Interstate Managers
I'm a sucker for "clever" and damn! that stuff is clever.

Also, I was at a wedding this weekend and the DJ played "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and, I'm embarrassed to say, my toe was tapping.

God I hate the name of that band, why couldn't they call it "Fountains of Ted" or
" Fountains of Bob", or something like that........very annoying....

They're named after a store in Wayne, NJ that sells outdoor garden stuff.

Yes I know, but still very annoying...so annoying I wrote a song just for them called "Stacey's Dad"..

Stacey's dad was really bad,
A little crazy, a little mad,
He used to play drums in a rock and roll band,
Then he got fat, then he got canned. heh

"Torn" that Natalie Imbruglia covered from some Swedish band.
"1000 Miles" Vanessa Carlton.
"Somebody to Care" Michelle Branch
Boy that's spilling my guts!

"Warning" Green Day


Oh yeah .......weren't the Beatles considered cheesy pop at first?

George Michael's "Faith" is an all time masterpiece of commercial pop. Not an easy thing to do. And his voice is without a doubt one of the best voices in pop history. The moment he starts singing you know who is it. Really personal.

In my opinion, the key elements to classify a song as "cheesy commercial pop" are the arrangement and the lyrics. But what really interests me is the melody (I am a songwriter). And some of the melodies that you quote in this thread are simply great melodies, no need to be ashamed of liking them.

Just my opinion...

Agreed.


Like The "Macarena,Rico Suave,Love Shack,Don't Worry be Happy and the ubiquitous Livin La Vida Loca".

"Like The "Macarena,Rico Suave,Love Shack and the ubiquitous Livin La Vida Loca".

Back when I was dj'ing I had to play these songs, as people demanded it.

I guess I had a cheesy audience. Thinking back, yes they were all cheesy, but they loved to do the Macrena

.....club owners demanded it. If you didn't play it, the people would leave.

http://www.yhbtm.com/ heh

Nowegian artist Trine Rein (english songwriter, though)
We're picky about this in our parts..


ruudman

No, not just your opinion

I never turn up TV or radio to listen to music. German radio sounds like overcompressed dog****. I can´t listen to that. But it´s still better than german music TV (MTV, Viva) - in order to fit hree stations into one frequency they compress the hell out of picture and sound even more (I worked at MTV for a couple of years). You don´t hear anything under 80 Hz and over 8kHz. Sounds like a ****ing blanket all over the TV screen. I told people, but they said "Yeah, it´s awesome digital technology - we get three times as much commercials than on analog program"

Ah yeah, another thing that happens in german radio more often in recent years is that they cut and rearrange the songs as if they were Frank Zappa. They began with cutting the guitar solo of "Sweet child o´ mine" and nowadays they just go mad : we dont need any kind of instrumental in there, we don´t need the third verse, we need CHOOOORUUUUSS !!!!!! I tried to call the most famous radiostation in my hometown today because I heard "California" (by god-knows-who ; I like the song though) , but didn´t get through to the right guy...

Strange times. Have a nice evening,
Bill

i also agree.
i can't get their harmonies out of my head.

FM

FM is calling occupants of interplanetary craft.

If Carpenters ain't cheesy (and they're not), then ABBA ain't either.
"Dancing Queen", when it hits the chords under "having the time of her life,
see that girl..." it gives me the chills sometimes.

ruudman

Thanks for the correction Ruudman. I always wanted to hear the original. Never found it.

What about "99 Red Ballons" by that German girl (I can't remember her name? Nena or something?)...I loved her voice with her sexy lisp...ooooh baby!!!

I have no clue what she looks like in person, I can't remember if I ever saw the video, but she sounds hot!

No it's the only one he has out.

Alright,

Since we're on the topic of Norway/Scandinavia and since we're spilling our guts, I'm going to state, for the record, that A-ha have written some brilliant songs and recorded some great albums. I'm a big fan and I'm not ashamed!

It's really easy to write off any band that is or was popular for one big, highly stylized song (or, in this case, video) at one time, but A-ha recorded a lot more than "Take on Me." IMO, Americans tend to discard pop stars faster than the rest of the world. A-ha are still big in other parts of the world and they're playing their first U.S. concert in many years this summer.

Check out the title track to their first album, "Hunting High and Low" or their tasteful remake of Carole King's "Crying In the Rain." If you have your doubts, pick up a copy of 1990's "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and see if it doesn't change your mind.

Also in the same the vein, lead singer Morten Harket's English-language solo album is very good. It's called "Wild Seed" from ~1995.

Let the chips fall...

-Synth80s

I'm just busting on you bro. heh


Its spelled "Justified".