Let's Show Tom Jones a Little Respect!!!

I don’t write a lot about music, mostly because my preferences tend toward the obscure, and not in a hip way. I’m not interested in anything experimental or underground or important or whatever else people with good taste get off on. The musical genres I enjoy – northern soul, yé-yé, 60’s baroque pop, Hi-NRG – just happen to be favored by essentially no one in 21st century America, so I generally avoid discussing, and as a corollary writing, about music.

There are, however, select areas in which I feel compelled to contribute to the discourse, as I consider myself something of a connoisseur of lightweight pop music. From the Archies to Debbie Gibson, fans and critics invariably shit all over great pop songs, and it’s absolutely infuriating. What follows is a list of artists, most of them well-known, who are vastly underappreciated. With hindsight working in their favor, some have earned a degree of respect since their salad days of fame, but they deserve so much more.

Duran Duran
My mother once told me that I was pretty, but not as pretty as Simon LeBon. She may or may not have been kidding, but either way it’s probably true; I suspect that if it weren’t, Duran Duran would have been taken seriously. After all, they’ve successfully written and performed dance songs (“Planet Earth), pop songs (“Rio”), and ballads (“Ordinary World”). In an astonishing twist they actually managed to branch into FUNK (“Notorious”) without coming off as ridiculous. All that, and they looked good doing it.

Johnnie Ray
My father is shitting himself wondering if I’m talking about THE Johnnie Ray. Weepy, effeminate, long-dead Johnnie Ray. The answer is yes, I’m talking about THE Johnnie Ray. A semi-closeted alcoholic, his tortured soul somehow failed to permeate the public’s consciousness, perhaps because his performances seemed a tad overwrought. Cast instead as every pre-pubescent girl’s dream, he was really a great proto-soul singer. Unlike, say, Perry Como, Ray belted it out and made you feel it, so let’s show the guy a little posthumous respect.

Donovan
I will concede that Donovan has written some of the stupidest lyrics in the history of popular music; the spoken intro to “Atlantis” is positively cringe-inducing. That being said, “Jersey Thursday,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Season of the Witch” are simultaneously catchy and outré, just like 60’s classics should be. That smug bitch, Bob Dylan, may have regarded Donovan as a colossal joke, but at least Donovan’s never gone on TV to endorse bras.

Tom Jones
The guy clearly has a sense of humor, as evidenced by his decision to join the William Shatner school of ironic self-deprecation, a good move for anyone who finds himself adorned with granny panties during concerts. But let’s not forget that with the possible exception of Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones is the best voice ever to come out of Wales. Actually, maybe the only voice…

The Monkees
Despite their made-for-TV status, these days the Monkees are considered a bona fide band, but are still not thought of as being on par with most of their peers. This is just retarded. They worked with some great songwriters – Neil Diamond and Carole King probably being the most famous – and actually wrote some decent songs themselves; in addition to composing “Mary, Mary” and several other Monkees singles, guitarist Mike Nesmith also penned Linda Ronstadt’s first hit, “Different Drum.” Anyway, I would way rather listen to the Monkees than the Beatles.

Speaking of the Beatles, stay tuned for my next blog, the subject of which will be overrated artists. *Spoiler Alert* John, Paul, George, and Ringo come in at number 1.