DJ Ponyboy Guilty Pleasures Theme Mix Tape: Side B can be found on Spotify. Listen in-blog below for a more rich experience, or on Spotify for uninterrupted music. Please note below each song is a link to song lyrics for accessibility. Check out more details on how to best enjoy mix tapes.
Good day! I’m DJ Ponyboy on KMTJ-DB Denver. Welcome to Side B of my Guilty Pleasures Theme Mix Tape. I’m really excited to share with you ten more songs along with their reasons for shame and fame.
If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out Side A of this mix tape!
I define a guilty pleasure as something you enjoy, but feel shame about enjoying, and I believe the best way to combat unwarranted shame is to bring the “shameful” things into the light.
For each song, I will examine the reason(s) for shame (why I’m ashamed to admit I like it) and the reason(s) for fame (why I like it anyway).
From their album Bankrupt, here is Dr. Hook with “Levitate” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
What a silly song. My reasons for shame are exactly that: it’s goofy, and it’s trolling; ironically, my reasons for fame are the same – it’s fun, it’s silly, and it trolls the audience!
Up next, two songs that share the same reasons for shame: they are country music (see Side A for more on that), and they are from a children’s album.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and this is John Denver on KMTJ-DB, Denver, Colorado.
I have a confession to make: I have a personal playlist of songs that make me feel better when I’m down and both songs we just heard are on it.
Additionally, my inner child (and outer adult) loves trains. Those are my claims to fame: songs about trains that make me feel good.
From country to rap, here is an outdated early hip-hop sound, and from a Christian artist nonetheless.
Here is DC Talk with “I Luv Rap Music” on KMTJ-DB, Denver.
That track’s claim to fame is the memorable rhymes that still stick in my head thirty years later, even when I haven’t listened to the track in years.
I find it interesting that silly and fun songs are looked down on and relegated to the realm of “children’s music”. Not too many years ago, everyone old and young enjoyed gathering around to participate dancing to and singing songs like our next one.
With a tune you might remember making the rounds on TikTok a while ago, here is The Irish Descendants with “Rattlin’ Bog”.
I confess that song gets stuck in my head pretty easily – sometimes for days at a time. Again, the claims to fame are the same as the shame: it’s silly and fun and gets faster and faster – try to sing along and not smile – I dare you!
Sappy, schlocky, and a bit melodramatic are our next number’s claims to shame.
I would like to dedicate this song to my very favourite florist, Indianapolis’ Amy Watts of Watts Blooming, whose beautiful floral arrangements can chase even the dreariest blues away.
I’m DJ Ponyboy and here is Vic Dana with “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” on KMTJ-DB – Your Mix Tape Journey – Denver, Colorado.
“Red Roses for a Blue Lady”.
Sappy, sure, but to paraphrase the legendary Paul McCartney, “what’s wrong with silly love songs?”
Continuing in the vein of the silly love song, please enjoy Chris Andrews’ simple, repetitive tune, 1969’s “Pretty Belinda”.
Now isn’t that a fun song? Not a lot of depth or complexity, but who cares?! I enjoy listening to it and singing along; it always makes me want to get jiggy with it.
I grew up in a conservative religious household and was never allowed to listen to our next artist. On top of that, many folks like to dismiss this composer’s artistry.
I first heard Enya’s hit “Only Time” on the radio while driving with friends late at night and it leapt into my soul. I hoped that someday I would hear it again and be able to learn the title and artist.
A few months later I got my wish, and about a year after that I purchased the album on compact disc.
From that album (A Day Without Rain), please enjoy the Celtic new age stylings of Enya on KMTJ-DB Denver.
Enya with “Flora’s Secret”; before that, off the same album (2000’s A Day Without Rain), we heard “One by One”.
Say what you want about Enya, but her music is gorgeous, well-crafted, and was incredibly innovative for its time. I really enjoy the way some of her lyrics make me think, and others become like an instrument of their own.
I’m DJ Ponyboy. Thank you so much for joining me today as we listened through Side B of my Guilty Pleasures Mix Tape. I hope you have had as much fun as I have.
Closing out our mix tape is a song that is silly, goofy, and kind of a joke, but I can’t stop listening. Here is blackbear and Tiny Meat Gang with “Short Kings Anthem” on KMTJ-DB, Denver,
The fame of that song is that it makes me smile, and we can all use more smiles.
Thank you again for joining me on KMTJ-DB – Denver, Colorado.
Until next week, I’m DJ Ponyboy urging you to stay gold.