3 February 2013 - Super Bowl Special - The 1985 Chicago Bears - The Super Bowl Shuffle

What better way to celebrate this Super Bowl than to enjoy this classic tune recorded before Super Bowl XX?  That day in 1986, when I was the only one in the room not rooting for the Patriots, is the first Super Bowl I actually remember.  And it was gleeful - arguably the greatest victory in Super Bowl history.

Which is why they have the greatest Super Bowl music video in history.  Sure, it looks like Walter Payton and Jim McMahon didn't show up for the original shoot, but it's still brilliant.  And, as the late, great Sweetness said, "We're not doing this because we're greedy.  The Bears are doing this to feed the needy."

So, watch the video and enjoy the game!

1 February 2013 - Miranda Cosgrove - Dancing Crazy

Sometimes, I'm even embarrassed to say I like a song.  But, this is Wicked Guilty Pleasures, right?

Miranda Cosgrove is best known as the titular Carly from the Nickelodeon television show iCarly.  I'm a little sad that I know that.  Like that show, this song is harmless, lighthearted fun. But it's more than that.  It's well-constructed, with a lot of different-sounding sections that all remain equally danceable.  She might have a long career in entertainment ahead of her.



Oh, and she ain't the best singer in the world - I get it.  That's not what this blog is about. She's not bad, though. Proof: here she is live, complete with a couple of pitchy spots.  It happens, but she holds it together, by not bailing on the song.  Even in the rough spots - mostly at high notes - she retains her stage presence and engages the audience.



And, since we're talking about iCarly, here's the famous Spaghetti Tacos scene. Enjoy.

31 January 2013 - Bon Jovi - Runaway

C'mon, I know you've all been missing it, so for one week only . . . IT'S THE RETURN OF HAIR METAL THURSDAY!!!

Here's some classic Bon Jovi for no good reason. I was going to post the Bad Medicine video if only because Sam Kinison is in it, but Runaway is a much cooler tune ("cooler" of course being a very relative term).

30 January 2012 - When In Rome - The Promise

Sometimes, a song is a pleasure from first listen.  Sometimes, it takes a little longer for me.

I hated - HATED - this song when it was new.  It was 1988.  I was 16.  And this song didn't connect to me and it didn't interest me and it bored me.  But, at the time, I was just starting to understand music outside the mainstream, and this was probably too close to the border between mainstream and alternative for me to understand.

But now, I appreciate song structure and lyrical creativity a little more.  This song starts with a piano melody that reprises throughout, but has a very contemporary-sounding (for 1988) electronic beat as the base of the song.  Two men - Clive Farrington and Andrew Mann, specifically - harmonize throughout.  It's considered a classic song, because it is structured just like this, combining electronica with harmonized vocals.

And that chorus! Intensely catchy (and a little creepy)!

29 January 2013 - Holly Throsby - A Heart Divided

As some of you may or may not know I'm a total tennis junkie (I even coach a high school team in my town). Needless to say I spent many a late night in the last two weeks watching the Australian Open. And if anyone else was watching they certainly heard today's song as it played during pretty much every commercial break in the form of a travel ad for the city of Melbourne. So while it's been a few days since Novak Djokovic took the Men's title, it's also been a few days since I've had my Holly Throsby fix. Luckily I found the video to feed my addiction.

28 January 2013 - Big Boi Featuring Phantogram - CPU

It was fun to surprise you during our American Idol weeks with posts like this, but it's time to get back to the business of Wicked Guilty Pleasures.

I never would have thought that Big Boi would be the groundbreaking member of Outkast.  And this song and performance are seriously, seriously cool.  I'm waiting to see what a video for this song will look like.

But what I love most about this performance?  That Big Boi is not afraid to share the stage, and the spotlight, with a really, really good artist.  Sarah Barthel doesn't waste her national exposure - I know Phantogram gained a lot of fans that night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.   Phantogram did three songs with Big Boi on his new album, which is interesting and different than just about anything out there right now, so I urge you to check it out.

UPDATE: The old video broke, so here's a new one, same performance.

25 January 2013 - Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs

And so the American Idol love comes to an end. I like how we bookended the two weeks with the two biggest Idols. Tony kicked things off with the original Idol Kelly Clarkson and I'm closing it with Season 4's winner Carrie Underwood.

When Carrie's most recent album Blown Away was released in May I posted a funny little tale about buying it at this here music blog. I enjoyed the record so much that she even found her way into my top Artists of 2012.

Yesterday, the third video off Blown Away was released. I thought the album's title track and video were pretty dark, but WOW, Two Black Cadillacs makes Blown Away seem like All-American Girl. See for yourself.



I know we've been posting Idol footage, but that All-American Girl "joke" makes absolutely no sense if you've never seen the super sweet cavity causing video. Also, it's a cheap excuse for me to watch the video for the bazillionth time.