I think it’s fair to say that most people think of me as a highbrow-egghead type whose tastes in pop music are meticulously consistent with his tastes in the other arts. For this reason, I thought you might possibly enjoy perusing the following non-comprehensive but nonetheless suggestive list of fifteen pop singles that you’ll almost certainly be surprised to learn that I like—a lot.
Don’t ask why. The reasons vary widely and in some cases inexplicably. Suffice it to say that I like the musical aspect of all these songs very much:
• Blue Öyster Cult, Before the Kiss, a Redcap
• Kim Carnes, Bette Davis Eyes
• Pixies, Gigantic
• Huey Lewis and the News, I Want a New Drug
• Right Said Fred, I’m Too Sexy
• Olivia Newton-John, Magic
• Maria Muldaur, Midnight at the Oasis
• The Pointer Sisters, Neutron Dance
• Melissa Manchester, Nice Girls
• Alice Cooper, No More Mr. Nice Guy
• Chesney Hawkes, The One and Only (best known in this country as the theme from Doc Hollywood, which is where I first heard it)
• Murray Head, One Night in Bangkok
• Hall & Oates, Private Eyes
• The Bangles, Walk Like an Egyptian
• Toto, 99