Having searched through all the various threads here I have yet to find one that deals with cheese.

When I say cheese I am referring to the stuff you find in bargain bins for ridiculously low prices. Music like Chas 'n' Dave, The Nolan Sisters, Status Quo and the Village People.

This form of music is far and away the most prejudiced and ignored of all genres. Deemed too trivial for so-called 'serious' critics and too dated for mainstream media attention. You sometimes catch the videos on late night TV and they are nothing less than a laugh riot. Hugely entertaining for all the wrong reasons.

The thing is, most critics completely ignore this music. They don't even raise an eyebrow when a new release comes out. This is snobbery of the highest order because amongst these records there is the occasional gem waiting to be unearthed.

I found a 'Best of George Formby' album the other day (for £1!) and I think the man was a genius. Additionally, The Proclaimers are one of the most underrated bands from the UK (although they made a shit-load of cash from Shrek)

So that is what this thread is for. Feel free to discuss anything that is deemed too shabby and tacky for the high standards of various publications and websites - The so-called cheesey stuff.

Like most generic terms, I think cheese is in the eye of the beholder.

Dexy's Midnight Runners?

Dexy's were massively underrated.

They performed acts of industry terrorism on their record label by kidnapping master tapes and making huge demands on their label before they would give them back. This is a strategy that the Happy Mondays would use years later much to the amusement of the music press. Dexy's Midnight Runners received little coverage by comparison.

Like The Proclaimers, Dexy's Midnight Runners were highly competent in making well observed social commentary, but the public preferred stuff like The Smiths and The Stone Roses because they had more 'street cred'. Then Kevin Rowland released that ill-conceived solo album with the cross dressing theme and got bottled off at Glastonbury. Maybe someone will rediscover them one day...

Speaking of industry terrorism, how about the KLF?

Now you're talking! I love KLF. I had 3AM Eternal played at my wedding.

It was an inspired move to have Extreme Noise Terror perform their songs at award ceremonies and fire guns at the audience. And then there was that thing where they set fire to £1,000,000. Rumour has it they will not release another record until world peace is declared.

And they are considered cheesey. Some people don't know anything!

Even putting aside the brilliant antics though, their albums are genius.

If world peace is ever declared, I will definitely be picking up the 'CHILL OUT' re-release.

Never heard of KLF before - I'll have to look em up...thanks!

My favorite cheese:
The Pointer Sisters
The Ink Spots
ABBA
Tommy James and the Shondells
Neil Diamond

If you strip away the image and listen solely to the songs, ABBA can never qualify as anything except a top class pop act.

See:
The gods may throw a dice
Their minds as cold as ice
And someone way down here
Loses someone dear
The winner takes it all
The loser has to fall
It's simple and it's plain
Why should I complain.

Fatalism, existentialism and theological musings all in one verse.

We will never see their like again.

I understand all the respect ABBA get for their perfect pop music, but I can never feel anything but irritation and hatred when I hear their songs.

Well that's odd!

It's probably because I hated hearing them as a child, and also associate them with Muriel's Wedding, an Australian movie that I dislike.

I also think that ABBA deserves some more respect. They were very good musicians, and were making something that was fresh and original at the time. It sounds dated now perhaps, but so does a lot of other stuff that still gets respect.

...anyway...back to Rick Astley and Stock Aitken & Waterman.

quote:

Originally posted by Kulturtrager:
...anyway...back to Rick Astley and Stock Aitken & Waterman.

That's one area of music I never quite understood. I remember a quote from Pete Waterman saying something about only writing music for the general public (people bought bucket-loads of the stuff). I remember thinking that it was a very bleak outlook for the UK that so many could be impressed by so little.

As an interesting sideline, there was a rumour that if you slowed Kylie Minogue's Stock, Aitken & Waterman vinyl down to 33rpm it sounded identical to Rick Astley. I remember trying this with one of my sister's 12 inch singles and I can reveal it's completely true. This oddity sparked unfounded rumours that none of their artists actually sang on their own records.

Years later the world would discover Milli Vanilli...

Benny & Bjorn from ABBA were and are absolute geniuses. As silly as the plot is Chess is a massively underrated musical - I should have included "One Night in Bangkok" on my favorite songs list.

I'm not sure if this would qualify, since she's still so massively popular: Barbra Streisand. Liking her is extremely uncool, and no hip reviewer would ever come near her, but holy shit, this woman can really sing. I highly recommend picking up one of her Broadway/standards albums if you're into that at all.

Stand up, Daniel Boone

Sunday morning, up with the lark
I think I'll take a walk in the park
Hey, hey, hey, it's a beautiful day

What, no mention of Barry Manilow? I'm sure Hellboy would give him a plug.

A one-time king of cheese and a favorite of mine is Tony Burrows who sang lead vocals on the hit singles, "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by Edison Lighthouse, White Plains' "My Baby Loves Lovin'", The Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding" and First Class' "Beach Baby".

Did I see a nod to Daniel Boone above? I'll nod back and give a nod to Mouth & McNeil's cheesefest, "How Do You Do"-

"How do you do? mm hmm
I though why not na na na na
Just me and you and then we can na na na na
Just like before and you will say na na na na
Please give me more and you will think na na na na
Hey that's what I'm livin' for"

quote:

Originally posted by Duncan Black:
Years later the world would discover Milli Vanilli...

This is pretty much how every history lesson should conclude.

quote:

I'm not sure if this would qualify, since she's still so massively popular: Barbra Streisand.

I would add Bette Middler next to Barbara, although I'm not too impressed by her.

However. I will shoot myself in the leg in broad daylight by saying, I am really fond of Yanni. I'm serious.

I got Paul Williams' self-titled greatest hits for $3 at HMV. The guy wrote "Old Fashioned Love Song" (made big by Three Dog Night) as well as the score for a couple Muppet films. It's weak sauce that I'm one of the few who still remembers him.

quote:

Originally posted by Shadrach:
However. I will shoot myself in the leg in broad daylight by saying, I am really fond of Yanni. I'm serious.

I had a friend who always confused Yanni and Raffi. I'd really love it if they did an album together.

Along those lines, I think Loreena McKennitt is the bomb. And I have every single Blackmore's Night album. If you're not familiar with them, it's Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple prancing around in tights and pretending that it's the 15th century. It's exactly as awesome as that sounds.