Aren’t headphones great? You can listen to whatever you want without bothering anybody else. That’s not the only reason they are great, is it? You can listen to whatever music you like, and nobody has to know what you are listening to. So, what would happen if you are listening to your iPod, and some nosy person came up to you and said “Hey, what are you listening to?”, and then they grab your headphones and put them on. Would you be embarrased by what you were listening to? But, you can’t help it! “Dancing Queen” makes you feel good and puts a smile on your face! [Personally, I can’t stand “Dancing Queen”. But, it is a classic guilty pleasure. I won’t judge though. I’m more of a “Take a Chance on Me” and “Mamma Mia” guy myself, as far as Abba goes.] Ah, the Guilty Pleasure. They are so wrong, but they feel so right!

And so begins the new Guilty Pleasure Series – the Music Edition. Let’s take a look at some Guilty Pleasure artists/songs of the ’80s. So, after the nosy jerk took your headphones, and you hurried up and skipped to the first Beatles song you could find (everybody likes the Beatles, right?), grab your headphones back, disinfect them (greasy eared bastard!), and put on a song you really feel like listening to. It could be a song from today’s Guilty Pleasure:

Air Supply

The Australian duo ruled the early ’80s soft rock world. If their songs weren’t about falling in love, they were about falling out of love. Love, Love, Love. That’s what they were all about. And boy, did we enjoy that big time or what?! Most of the songs were sappy, but they were the best romantic game in town.

In Junior High, I went to a private school. Our class dances were not in an auditorium with a DJ. They were held in a classroom. Before the dance, we had to move the desks to the sides of the room. And our “DJ” was the mother of a classmate. She brought in a stereo that played cassettes and albums. The day of the first dance, she came in and told us that we could bring in any tapes or records for the dance. She said that she just did not want us to bring in “asinine” music. I still remember that as clear as day, because that was the first time I ever heard that word (hehe. She said “ass”. hehe) Anyway, I brought in my AC/DC Back in Black tape.
That’s not asinine! “Let Me Put My Love Into You” is a slow song! I still have the tape with my name written in pencil on the inside sleeve.

Anyway, I don’t believe we heard any AC/DC that night. But, every single slow song for the dance was Air Supply. I can’t remember who the first girl I ever danced with was. But I can tell you that it was to an Air Supply song.

They may be a guilty pleasure, but I don’t mind announcing to the world that I love Air Supply!! Well, love may be too strong, but I do really like them a lot.

With that, here is a list of my top 5 Air Supply songs:

5. The One That You Love

This was always one of my favorites. They had another song called “Here I Am“, and I would get confused with “The One That You Love”. Then I would be let down when it never got to the hook where Russell Hitchcock would sing “Here I am, the one that you love”. Am I the only one that got the 2 songs confused. I prefer this one much more:

4. All Out of Love

Powerful song. Graham Russell does an incredible job singing in this one. And then Russell Hitchcock kicks it up a notch with the chorus.

3. I Can Wait Forever

This song came out in 1984, and was in the movie Ghostbusters, and was on the Ghostbusters soundtrack. I never heard the song until a few years later, but I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it when I did hear it. The song was written by David Foster who produced songs by Chicago, Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams, and Olivia Newton John. I still love this song today:

2. Just As I Am

This song and the next are basically 1 and 1A for me. I had a hard time deciding on this one. The music is powerful, and the vocals are soaring and powerful.

1. Making Love Out of Nothing At All

Yeah, this has to be #1. Yet another powerful song. It starts slow and builds up. This song was written by musical genius Jim Steinman, who basically wrote all of Meat Loaf’s hits. Meat Loaf was actually offered this song along with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. He turned them both down because they were not able to reach an agreement over finances. So Air supply got this song, and Bonnie Tyler got “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Tyler actually recorded this on her 1996 album Free Spirit.

So what do you think? Should Air Supply be considered a “Guilty Pleasure”? Am I alone in liking them, or are there other fans out there? What are your favorite Air Supply songs? And do you have any guilty pleasures you would like to see featured?