This is a line that I keep rolling out whenever I hear the term “guilty pleasures”. I hate the term. Why would anyone feel guilt or shame in listening to music they love?
It’s a particularly 21st century phenomenon whereby people who like to think of themselves as music aficionados declare that it’s okay to listen to music that doesn’t fit in their pantheon of the greats, as long as it’s done with a wink.
“I may be dancing to Katy Perry here but I’d like you to know that when I get home I’ll be digging out the old Bowie b-sides and Fugazi demos.”
It comes down to these notions of what’s acceptable that seem to have been set for us by the leading figures in music print media. These people are invariably white, middle-aged, middle-class males.
They have a notion that happy pop music is easy to churn out. Not so. Pop songwriters are paid a lot of money to come up with the hits. It’s a craft. Downbeat songs are much much easier to write; whereas it’s in fact very difficult to write something happy that doesn’t sound twee.
But to me, that’s what music is – it’s the way it makes you feel. It’s about forgetting your troubles, singing at the top of your voice, dancing (even though I can’t) and becoming immersed in great melodies.
And that’s why I will take New Radicals over Bob Dylan any day.
By Ben Haynes