(Love) On The Radio
By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 8, 2005 6:30PM
Do you love love songs? Sure, we all do (except for you Mr. Drinking Jack Daniels In The Dark). So does the Sun-Times. Just in time for your Valentine’s Day mix tape, they’ve published a list of great and not-so-great love songs. How’d they do? Well…the whole idea of lists like this is to spur discussion right? Then spur we will!
It’s their Best of the Best list that we have the biggest quibbles over. Now Timmy…there are many different kinds of love: there’s romantic love, friendship love, and crazy-psycho-wacked-in-the-head love. And that’s where "White Flag" by Dido comes in. “I know I left too much mess and destruction to come back again/And I caused nothing but trouble.” Ooh yeah, talk about the one that got away. Maybe that’s love to some but we just call it Plantiff’s Exhibit A.
Then there’s "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton, which up until a couple weeks ago was the most misunderstood love song of all time until an ad for SBC Yahoo put the song’s meaning in vivid relief. “Yes, you look wonderful tonight. No, that dress doesn’t make you look "hippy." Baby, please! We’re twenty minutes late as it is!”
We’re also pretty sure that this is the first time Phil Collins has ever been called “quirky” with the possible exception of the time he played Uncle Ernie at a live show by The Who. And though you can’t go wrong with the seductive powers of Shatner, if Patrick Swayze (rightly) gets lumped into the cheesy love song category then shouldn’t the grade school poetry of Eric Carmen’s "Hungry Eyes" (I’ve got this feelin’ that won’t subside/I look at you and I fantasize”) end up there too?
But in all fairness we need to give bonus points to the Sun-Times for including a Sade number and for “Nothing Compares 2 U” which is hands-down the best breakup song ever (though we prefer some of the classics from the Anger Stage like Ugly Kid Joe’s “Everything About You” or Rod Stewart’s cover of “I Know I’m Losing You.”) We just can’t believe they left out the greatest wedding love song of all time: "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC.
More of our favorite and cringe-inducing tracks after the jump.
Pretty Damn Good (we’re not so foolish as to call these “the best”)
* I Could Write A Book – Harry Connick Jr. among others (we’re partial to the version by Chicago’s own Anita O’Day)
* That’s How Strong My Love Is by Otis Redding
* Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by Dean Martin
* True Love Ways by Buddy Holly
* She’s The One by Robbie Williams
* The Luckiest by Ben Folds
* Anything off Carole King’s Tapestry album
Pretty Damn Cheesy Love Songs
* I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz To Men
* From This Moment by Shania Twain
* Butterfly Kisses by Countless Singers Who Should Have Known Better
* Any love song written by Journey, REO Speedwagon or Chicago from 1983-1989
Pretty Damn Good Breakup Songs
* Foolish Games by Jewel
* She’s Got You by Patsy Cline
* It’s Probably Me by Sting
* Hope You Never by Tom Petty
* The Thrill Is Gone by B.B. King
* Every Breath You Take by the Police (bonus creepy points!)
Pretty Damn Quirky Love Songs
* Kate by Ben Folds
* Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot
* Mickey by Toni Basile
* She Bop by Cyndi Lauper
* Heebie Jeebies by Little Richard
That’s our list, what’s yours?