30-Day Song Challenge, Day 12 - A Song from a Band you Hate, and a Bonus

I've had a curve ball thrown at me by a fellow music nerd (OK, maybe the only person reading these posts besides me). Instead of just linking a song from a band I hate, how about also linking a song that I really like from a band I (normally) hate?

Quick and easy, on both counts.

Not even gonna waste too much copy yabbering about how much I detest Huey Lewis and the News. Sanitized, ultra-slick gruel that I've hated, literally since the day I first heard "Do You Believe in Love?" on the radio nearly thirty years ago. Ick, ick, ick, ick.

Rather than dignify these blandoids with a link or an embed of a straight-up video, I'm attaching a link to a YouTube clip of a sequence in American Psycho, in which Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman character sings the praises of the band's most grating hit single, "Hip to be Square". And if you put a tableful of Huey Lewis CDs in front of me, you can bet I'd treat said tableaux in the same way that Bale treats Jared Leto in the clip.

Here's the link (embed is, sadly, disabled). It's funny, it's gruesome, and it's definitely NSFW.

Meantime, as a bonus, here's a link to a song that I love, by a band I hate. This appeared on the Petri Dish a couple of years ago in a post on songs I'd bought as MP3's, and my sentiments about it still hold true.

Chicago, "Wishing You Were Here": God, admitting to this one almost hurts. My virulent hatred for Chicago's brand of  mellow pop knows no bounds. It's Steely Dan slathered with cheesy horns, a bowl of mud with a spoonful of Cool Whip on top. Good thing downloading gives you the ultimate opportunity to indulge in those anomalous freak tracks by bands that you normally loathe. "Wishing You Were Here" is brilliant, a haunting song of longing with some of the most ethereal harmonies I've heard in a seventies ballad. Sole credit goes to the Beach Boys, who guest on the song and anchor Peter Cetera's treacly songwriting (that cheesy-ass Cetera-sung bridge has gotta go) with their luminous intertwining voices.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Just seeing the title of the song causes me to hold my breath in anticipation of the pang that I know will follow. It hit the airwaves when I was 14 and had such a crush on a boy. Oh my. Oh my, my. Yes, I think I love this song.
8:09 AM
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