Happy Furry Puppy Story Time with Norbizness

I loathe Exile with every ounce of energy I possess. My husband discovered Exile was a "crossover band" when he was a kid and, for some reason, insists on bringing it up ALL. THE. TIME. Even now, 97 years later. And he really likes "I Want to Kiss You All Over" to boot. It's awful.

Don't tell me to get a divorce, because I know that already.

Really liking The Association is one of my major vices.

But "Cherish" is a crime against humanity. Some fine candy-coated, lollypop-studded line is crossed somewhere there, and I want to kill when I hear it.

Surprised at no mention of Christopher Cross yet, and how sailing takes him away.

you're right, Chris DeBurgh's foul corpse haunts this category. I'd kvetch about the Association (more pre-wuss, last of the vocal groups), Al Stewart (a pretty serious catalogue done in by late wuss) and the Carpenters (pop, not any kind of rock at all), but where else are you going to put them in the taxonomy?

Ambrosia actually started out doing Styx-like prog before they hit gold, er, shit.

Hoh boy, where to begin!

Al Stewart: like I said in the other thread, go see this guy do a one man acoustic show, you'll be impressed. Lyrically, he's not really a wuss rock kinda guy, he's way to erudite for that. But I'm sure I'm pissing into the wind in this crowd making these statements.

Exile: Aaaaieeeeeeeeeee. A great example of a One Hit Wonder. I've got a good ten years on Norby so I'm surprised he dredged up this piece of pop dreck from the 70s AM airwaves. This song fucking dominated the radio back then and was one reason I fled to FM. Ugh, now I can't get the hook out of my head. You bastards!

Chris de Burgh: A lot of Project fans like his 1979 release "Crusader" cuz long time Project guitarist Ian Bairnson is on it as well as Stuart Elliot and Dave Paton. It's way too smooth and easy for me so put away the torches and pitchforks for now.

Ambrosia: I've actually met Dave Pack and Joe Puerta a number of times, they're both very nice although Pack's "found Jesus" over the years. As PP said, their earlier work is pretty proggy (not "Yes Proggy" which is why Norby probably won't like em or even consider it prog--it's deja vu all over again, I remember having this exact same conversation in 1979). As Pack took over more of the writing and "creative direction" duties, yeah, they definitely went mega pop, with resulting unit sales to prove at least the commercial success of such creativity. Pack's got a helluva voice, listen to him live sometime, assuming you can get past the treacle-laden lyrical content of those hits.

America: Omifuckinggod, that song is awful. Of course if you cull thru much of America's back catalogue, you'll find a surprising amount of this stuff, just back then they had the decency to not play it where people could hear it. Ventura Highway in surround sound is a great piece. It's actually a great pop song, oxymoronic as that may sound to some.

Sigh.

I didn't want to do this, but I have to admit to one of my guilty pleasures: Firefall.

Yes, they fill every one of the criteria of a Wuss Rock band. Yes, their discography is full of insipid hits that can best be described as 'namby-pamby'. But: they are a schizophrenic band, and for every flute-adorned ballad about warm breezy evenings, there's songs like "Sharp Shooting at the Senator". They exist at a bizarre crossroads between southern rock and the Lovin' Spoonfull, as witnessed through a valium haze.

I could not find any live performanced on Youtube, and for that you all owe me twenty dollars.

Aw, shit, I forgot Bob Lind ("Elusive Butterfly of Love").

For the record, I said Bobby Goldsboro was the Godfather of Wuss Rock, and the Association its pinnacle--they had, like, four monster hits including "Never My Love" which I remember as being #1 from Labor Day until Spring Training. "Rock" being defined here as "anything played on Top 40 radio". I think the unholy crossroads of Late Hootenanny, leftover doo-wop soloists, and R&B Lite and Wite is a more useful starting point than if we require a backbeat, in which case it all traces directly to "Chewy Chewy" by the 1910 Fruitgum Company.

Where does "Brandy" fit in the taxonomy?

Such a fine girl.

let's not get stuck on whether it's live, HW. Just lipsynched.

In lieu of my $20, please accept England Dan and John Ford Coley.

Brandy (by Looking Glass) is, I imagine, more of a one-hit wonder than anything. Certainly, on its own merits, it meets all the criteria. Plus, the lead singer looks like a thrift store equivalent of Alice Cooper (HE'S TIED HIS SHIRT LIKE DAISY DUKE! HOLY SHIT!!!), and the drummer is a dead ringer for Weird Al Yankovic.

Brandy is a tough one - it clearly does not exemplify the parameters of true wuss; there is a lack of over-production, sweetened guitars and feathered hair. However, it does employ an electric piano. As such, it requires its own category, one which includes other one-hit wonders from the 1972-73 space-time continuum such as "How Long," "Chevy Van" and "Ride Captain Ride."

oh hell, now I owe you a fizzy drink.

Don't forget Sugarloaf! I didn't!

OK, I may be getting far afield. Concentrate, man, concentrate!

Ummmm ...obviously Jefferson Starship's "We Built This City" perfectly meets the "Shit Rock" criteria of a "band who had a good late 60s/early 70s run, only to be phased into obsolescence by the advent of disco, punk, and later metal. Usually characterized by the now coked-up, debt-ridden bands trying to appropriate new musical styles."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFtW0WKT0Tw

I'm late coming in to this but has anyone documented Electric Light Orchestra's crimes against humanity?

Seals and Croft, "Summer Breeze," boy-ee!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXquzDYLMhw

BDR: See the last post.

MT: I'll have to think long and hard about ELO's place in the pantheon.

I could claim I was reiterating, but I can only claim Doh!

I read wuss rock and flashed to S&C. My apologies.

I am going to try and defend ELO, but god knows what I have for good arguments. I mean for the love of all that's holy I have to try and excuse their involvement in the Oliva Newton John movie Xanadu.

Damn, I got nothing. Let the stoning begin.
Sigh.

I was waiting for someone to crawl out from under a rock and start slamming ELO.

Don't make me hunt y'all all down and maim you.

Debby Harry & Blondie and the Clash saved my life. Literally.

College, for me, as 2400 white kids from Long Island and Duchess County named Mary Kate or Tony and every single living one of them had either Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album or "Captured Angel" by Dan Fogleberg on the turntable, all the time.

New Wave came like the monsoon in Pather Panchali

Scott is right about Al Stewart - his lyrics are too educated for real Wuss Rock and he's an actual musician. But the voice is just too wimpy. He did have this thing about bizarre non sequitur introductions in concert. I heard him once introduce "Time Passages" by describing a conversation between two Uzbekis over a bowl of onion soup.