10-Day Music Challenge: Day 7 - my 4 Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures? I tend to be fairly open about my musical tastes, even when some of them are a bit embarrassing!

My musical tastes are fairly broad and include classical and pop, rock and musicals, choral music, operas, brass bands, dance music.... the list could go on. There are some styles I'm not keen on and I could draw up quite a long list of songs that I wish had never been written (this would include Unchained Melody, Memory (from "Cats"), that song from The Bodyguard in which Whitney Houston breaths in all the wrong places, and THAT song from Titanic!

So, what might count as guilty pleasures? Things that someone with a music degree probably shouldn't like?

Here goes:

1. Cheesy pop
Yes, I know it can be cringeworthy but sometimes you do just want to listen to a well-crafted cheesy pop song by the likes of Steps or Kylie. Or is it just me?



I have a soft spot for Stock, Aitken & Waterman when they were at the height of the powers, In the late 80s/early 90s, and even though some of the songs were awful, they certainly knew what the public wanted - and some of the songs were actually quite good!



2. Andrew Lloyd Webber
I know, as a supposedly "serious musician" I'm meant to tut and sneer at the good Lord but... why? Yes, he's written some shows that aren't as good as others but, let's be honest, dud Stravinsky or Mozart never have an off day? Aren't SOME of their pieces not as good as some of their greater achievements?

Jesus Christ Superstar is surely one of the greatest pieces of Twentieth Century musical theatre - right up there with West Side Story and Sweeney Todd.



ALW is a magnificent tunesmith: Joseph is just a string of fantastic melodies (and the original 20-minute cantata is fantastic, a masterpiece of that genre.



I particularly like Tell Me In A Sunday, Variations (though it does sound a little dated now, a new version is needed), and his Requiem. Yes, I like Lloyd Webber's Requiem and would love to conduct it one day.



3. A Very Ally Christmas
Yes, it's getting to that time of year again when this collection of Christmas songs from Ally McBeal (the goofy female lawyer in Boston) gets added to my iPhone playlists.



I'm not sure what it is about this album: the arrangements and performances are good; it's a good selection of songs; I liked the tv series (and in one series, I forget which one, they somehow managed to make Christmas last for several months).



It doesn't do anything than countless other Christmas albums do, but what it does it does well. Definitely worth a listen during the run-in to December 25th.

4. Ludovico Einaudi
It's typically played on Classic FM, it tends to go nowhere, a sort of musical wallpaper... but it's soothing and pleasant!



Simple piano music, minimalistic... Ahhhhh!


This is the plan of my 10-Day Music Challenge - I'm currently on Day Seven:

Day 1 - My 10 favourite albums
Day 2 - My 9 favourite songs
Day 3 - The first 8 songs to come on shuffle
Day 4 - My 7 favourite bands
Day 5 - My 6 favourite song covers
Day 6 - 5 Bands for my dream gig line-up
Day 7 - My 4 guilty pleasures (artists or songs)
Day 8 - My 3 favourite vocalists
Day 9 - My 2 favourite music videos
Day 10 - My all time favourite gig