Stardust

This is my end-of-2012 compilation. To my ears, all of the songs on this compilation have in common the quality of “cheesiness.” The term is generally considered to be pejorative. The dictionary definition suggests the term refers to something cheap or inauthentic; I think the more common use is a variation on the notion of authenticity, referring to something tacky and too emotionally obvious. To me, however, “cheesiness” is simply a subjective descriptive term that, like any other descriptor, can be applied both to music (and other media) that the listener likes and dislikes. I want to develop the point here more in the future but, for the moment, as an argument for use of the term in its positive sense, I present this collection of “cheesy” songs I love.

Please note that I have posted some extensive musings on the notion of cheesiness here!

Click the links below to stream the compilation; the songlist follows.

1. Kevin Ayers “Joy Of A Toy Continued”
2. The Free Design “Happy Together”
3. Captain & Tennille “Por Amor Viviremos”
4. Engelbert Humperdinck “Quando, Quando, Quando”
5. Rhoma Irama “Begadang”
6. Andre Toussaint “Gondolier”
7. Sandie Shaw “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me”
8. Françoise Hardy “Comment te dire adieu”
9. Lennie Hibbert “Can’t Take My Mind Off You”
10. Gal Costa “Baby”
11. Donnie And Joe Emerson “Baby”
12. The Flamingos “I Only Have Eyes For You”
13. Steve Miller Band “One In A Million”
14. George Harrison “Pure Smokey”
15. The Beach Boys “Disney Girls”
16. The Mills Brothers “Stardust”
17. Lata Mangeshkar and chorus “Ajib Dastan Hai Yeh”
18. Waldjinah/Gesang “Bengawan Solo”
19. Caetano Veloso “Lamento Borincano”
20. The Harptones “Life Is But A Dream”
21. David Bowie “An Occasional Dream”
22. Mark Bernes “Temnaya Noch”
23. Nancy Sinatra “You Only Live Twice”