And we've got nothing to be guilty of . .

Has this ever happened to you? You dismiss something out of hand as a flash in the pan, one-hit-wonder, not worth the time thinking about, only to discover, to your dismay/shock/horror that you actually like it, but did know they were one in the same? Now, don't lie, of course it has! How do I know? Because it has happened to me too many times to be a singular phenomenon.

No Julian, just you, you say. Bulls**t, I say.

I am referring to my guilty pleasures, one of which is . . .

wait for it . . .

BOY BANDS!

OK, here's the back story: Before it was boy bands, it was . . . Madonna! Way back when, you know, in the olden days, the '80s, I heard about this person named Madonna. Now, I had actually met, & worked with, a lovely lady with that name, in my first job, as a telephone operator for Ma Bell. She was African-American, & I had already experienced the phenomenon that African-Americans sometimes had names that were, to my not-yet-too-open mind, well, unusual. But for a white girl to be sporting that name was, to me, just an attention-grabber, & something she was obviously capitalizing on, just like with the wacky way she dressed. Am I right? Flash in the pan, not to be taken seriously, some no-talent bimbo that would be old news by yesterday, right? Well, imagine my shock/horror/embarrassment to discover that every weekend I was hitting the dance floor as fast as I could when "I'm Burning Up" I was in fact dancing to this no-talent bimbo's music. Which would continue, of course, through all of her hits of the 80's, into the 90's, & so on until I pretty much quit dancing, because I was no longer going out to clubs at those kinds of hours.

Well, so it was with the boy bands. I only knew the names, but not the music that went with them (HA!) so whenever one of their songs came on, I dismissed it as by those "Back-In-Sync-Take-That-Street-Boys," which is what I called them. Again, imagine my shock/horror/embarrassment to discover that one of my favorite songs, "Back for Good," was by Take That, that I really, really liked "I Want You Back" by N'Sync, & that I really REALLY liked "Larger Than Life" by BSB. I had no idea who this (studly but brain-dead) Nick Leshay who was married to that blond ditz Jessica Simpson was married to was, but boy I really liked that song that was by, guess who? 98 degrees! And so on, and so on, and so on . . . Michael indulged my tastes on this score big time, which was lucky, because this couple we hung out with a lot shared my insanity as well. And wouldn't you know it? My wife's college roommate worked for the PR company who represented BSB, so she could get us REALLY, REALLY good seats at REALLY cheap prices! The four of us saw BSB in concert two or three times as a result. Oh BOY!

Now, I agree, it's more than a little ridiculous for a man who is closer to 50 than 40 going apes**t over boy bands the way I continue to do. Case in point: Westlife, this Irish boy band I was recently turned on to (did you remember to check my faves list for today's update? They're there). Total fluke; some dude on one of my Yahoo groups which is actually supposed to be geared toward more, shall we say, adult entertainment, brought them up, posted some of their music, along with some pics of the group (another bunch of pretty boys), & I downloaded the music to get a taste, & was hooked!

Do you begin to understand the important role that music plays in my life? Almost all of my CD's are currently in storage, pending the sale of my house & subsequent relocation to god-knows-where, so I have had to make do with what I can get via music sharing, which, needless to say, is subject to the whims of others. Am I complaining? Obviously not; I am always open to new music, & new artists, and obviously even more open now than in the past. But this groupie act is beginning to wear on me.

On the other hand, while my vocal range is still pretty broad, it's easier to hit those lower notes than those of say, Barbra, Celine, or well, you get my drift.

So, what are your guilty pleasures, kids? Dare ya to share;-)

'Night!