Days of Lore

Not guilty! I’ve been called a music snob, and you know what? That is completely false, inaccurate and, to be quite honest with you, a tad bit hurtful.

Sure, I’m not afraid to say that cool-hair-flavor-of-the-month-MTV-Hot Topic ass rock is utter crap. But that’s because it is utter crap … not because I’m an asshole. (Do college students really listen to that? I wanna know.) See the difference? Go to the BMU on Oct. 10, if you enjoy shitty music.

OK … guilty as charged That said I am now going to expose my own shortcomings … leave myself open to comments like, “Go to Mark Lore’s house this Friday night if you want to hear some shitty music.”

The following bands have made my top-five guilty pleasures list. I love these bands with all my heart. I will defend them to the grave. And if you talk shit about any of these bands, I will kill you.

Not really … I’d just proceed to shamelessly justify how great they really are, then make fun of something you like.

Mac daddy My parents were pretty hip back in the day. When I was a wee lad riding shotgun in a 1977 two-tone poop-brown Ranchero, my dad, with cool sideburns and an even cooler moustache, would tap his wedding band on the steering wheel to bands like The Eagles, ABBA and one Fleetwood Mac. The Rumours 8-track was a staple … and to this day, it’s still a staple in my rock ’n’ roll diet—a little bitter, a little bit sweet and it could definitely be considered bad for my health.

Rumours … great record, but fast forward two years to 1979’s double-album Tusk, and it was an entirely different Mac world. Stranger songs like “The Ledge” and “Save Me a Place” mixed well with some more poppy numbers from Stevie Nicks and a few clunkers from Christine McVie. Great production. Great songs. Fun fact/cred points: The entirety of Tusk was recorded by Camper Van Beethoven in 1987 before finally being released in 2003.

I listen to the same music as 11-year-old boys Green Day started out as a guilty pleasure. I worked at a record store and we got a used copy of Dookie. I threw it on and I was hooked. I didn’t want to become hooked. Years later I became OK with liking Green Day. Now it’s a guilty pleasure again because I’m 33 years old … and still listening to Green Day. But they have aged gracefully. One word. Insomniac. OK, two more words … “Panic Song.” Billie Joe Armstrong’s side project Pinhead Gunpowder is equally rad—a more raw version of Green Day.

Round and round I celebrate Ratt’s entire catalog. Wait … did I actually just say that? I purchased Invasion of Your Privacy on vinyl for $2.79 at the Pay-N-Save in Red Bluff. Worth every penny then and worth about a buck less now. Ratt was my first favorite post-KISS band. I got a shirt that had a giant tank on it for my birthday when I was in junior high. Still have it. Still fits. Not telling how I know it still fits. Ratt was definitely one of the bright spots in the decade of butt rock and not afraid to mix great pop hooks with metal. I still play the hell out of their self-titled EP and Out of the Cellar, I saw them at LaSalles and then vocalist Stephen Pearcy a few years later. Ratt ’n’ Roll in 2007, bro!

Christians rock Sometimes girlfriends are cool because they turn you on to new music, books, whatnots and what-have-yous. One girl introduced me to bad Drew Barrymore flicks, Harold and Maude, Aretha Franklin … and Sixpense None the Richer. Well, two out of four ain’t bad. Plus she gave great … advice. I saw the video for the group’s single,“Kiss Me,” on, where else, VH1, and with it vocalist Leigh Nash in all of her nerdy Christian splendor. That was all it took. Remember? Of course you do … and you loved it. I still love it, and sometimes I’ll clamp a capo on the ol’ guitar and strum it for my friends. They don’t seem to love it all that much.

Get me outta here! My relationship with the brothers Finn goes way back to 1982 when I saw the video for Split Enz’s “Six Months in a Leaky Boat” on MTV. It kind of freaked me out with its new-wave weirdness. Well, I grew up and moved on to other things, as did Neil Finn (and later Tim), who formed a band that provided the soundtrack for white middle-America in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Even if you don’t think you’ve ever listened to Crowded House, you probably have: “Don’t Dream It’s Over” (ironically later covered by Sixpense None the Richer) and “Something So Strong.” Brilliant songwriter, that Neil Finn. Check out “Chocolate Cake” from 1991’s Woodface album.

Please? ¿No? Whatever.

Send me your top five guilty pleasures—<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript"> </script>