Dr Hook: Tonic for the Soul

Now that I know sloth is my deadly sin, I've decided to not bother with trying to fit in the housework and just spend more time doing other, more interesting things. After all, this is a self-indulgent blog - so why not transfer this concept to other areas of my life. ;-)

I've already shared the fact that my iPod is a mixed bag and has a range of great music, carefully selected crap, and lots of stuff in between. Dr Hook's Greatest Hits fits all of these categories beautifully. I gave it a whirl today.

Back in the days when they were still Dr Hook and the Medicine Show, the band came up with a clever gimmick by writing a dinky little song lamenting their inability to achieve every band's dream: to get their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Well, it worked (in caricature, anyway), and while the song reeks of cheese, it has a soft spot in many muso's hearts for its sheer cheekiness.

Cheese supreme:
When You're In Love With a Beautiful Woman: 70s pop-cum-disco. I like the short version - the extended keyboard break in the long version doesn't really fit and tries too hard to cash in on a good thing (the underlying rhythm/backing).
A Little Bit More: the ultimate sexy/loving song. Simply painful to listen to when you're single.
Sharing the Night Together: lovely, cuddly music.
Sexy Eyes: ditto.
Sylvia's Mother: ooh, we feel your pain!

You've just gotta smile at these songs:
Walk Right In: kick-ass with a cutesy harmonica rhythm.
Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk: for some reason, my budgie always starts chatting away loudly when I play this song.
Only Sixteen: a great version of Sam Cooke's original.

Some of the worst country-style crap ever written:
Sweetest of All: was this really necessary?
The Millionaire: was this meant to be funny??
You Make My Pants Wanna Get Up and Dance: are you serious??!