Can't Get it Out of My Head

After a long day that included a 90-minute dentist appointment, a 3-hour drive to Elk Mound, and almost 3 hours of mowing the lawn, I was collapsed in a chair last night watching the Will Ferrell movie "Anchorman" with Katie. When the characters started singing "Afternoon Delight," I thought , Great! Now I'll have one of the worst songs of the '70s stuck in my head for the rest of the night!
Why is it that the bad songs are the ones that stay with us? There were plenty of them during my teenage years, when I would faithfully listen to Kasey Kasem's Top 40 every week and write down the titles. (I apparently had no life!) I hope you realize that by writing this blog, I'll be thinking about them all day--but here goes.
10. "I Shot the Sheriff" by Eric Clapton. I hate the lyrics, melody, and the way he sings it. "I shot the sheriff....but I did not shoot the deputy." Does he think that shows he's not a bad guy?
9."Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon. I like the music, but it's a dumb song. Werewolves??!!
8. "Disco Duck" by Rick Dees. The title says it all.
7. "Let's Get it On" by Marvin Gaye. This song was used in one of the Austin Powers movies and made the scene a lot funnier. What real woman could keep a straight face if a guy looked at her intensely and used that line??!
6. "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon. I don't like the simple rhymes that lodge in my brain and won't get out: "Just slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. Hop on the bus, Gus." With today's new technology, he could probably add "Send her a text, Rex! Give her a Tweet, Pete!" How about being a man and breaking it off face-to-face instead of sneaking off?
5. "Lovin' You" by Minnie Riperton. The sound of her higher-than-Mariah voice could shatter glass and your eardrums.
4. "Havin' My Baby" by Paul Anka. "Havin' my baby! What a lovely way of sayin' how much you love me..." Would a guy really say that??
3. The aforementioned "Afternoon Delight" by Starland Vocal Band."Gonna find my baby gonna hold her tight, gonna grab some afternoon delight..." Isn't that romantic? "Gonna grab some." Just what every girl wants to hear.
2. "Midnight at the Oasis" by Maria Muldaur. This one seemed to be on the radio 20 times a day and it drove me nuts. "Midnight at the oasis....send your camel to bed."
1. And finally, the dumbest song of the '70s...(drumroll)..."Muskrat Love" by the Captain and Tennille. "Muskrat Susie and Muskrat Sam do the jitterbug in Muskrat Land..." The Disco Generation did not want to hear about two muskrats whirling, twirling, and tangoing. How did this ever get to the Top 40?!
That's my list. To those of you who are my age or older and will recognize these tunes, I apologize for planting them in your heads. I'll leave you with something better:
"Ooga chucka, ooga ooga. Ooga chucka , ooga ooga, I can't stop this feeling deep inside of me. Girl you just don't realize what you do to me. When you hold me in your arms so tight, you let me know everything's all right. I'm hooked on a feeling, high on believing that you're in love with me..." Take that, Paul Simon.