Embarrassing Musical Moments

I was 10.  In my hands I held an 8-track I was supremely excited to own.  The Christmas Gods had bestowed it upon me.  I wanted it for ELO.  Years later, looking back on it, the Xanadu soundtrack is probably a lot better than I give it credit for now.

We all have these releases we were thrilled to get and then, as time passes, we wonder what the hell we were thinking.  If you don't have some embarrassing musical tragedy, you are lying.  I'm laying mine out on the table, like an autopsy gone haywire.  Xanadu 8-track.  A soundtrack to a movie that I found to be god-awful even back then.  (I know it has developed a fevered fan/cult following, but that doesn't give the film any real kind of value or integrity.)  I wouldn't buy this now.  I shouldn't have wanted it then, but I wasn't the only one who wanted it, either.  That thing sold like GHB at a frat party.

There are other albums I've owned that are equally perplexing.  This one, however, takes the cake.  I can't explain it, other than I've always had a soft spot for ELO.  I can't justify it.  And, if put under torture, I can't remember any songs other than the popular ones (and even those memories are sketchy).  I loved it, though.  I played that thing over and over on my stereo and portable 8-track player.  I whispered its name as I fell asleep.  "Xanadu ..."  It sounds almost like a spell or a DC comic book.  (In reality, Marvel put out the comic book, and DC has a character called "Madame Xanadu."  Tell me, though, that it doesn't sound like it should be a DC comic.)

I've come clean on my shameful moment.  Now I'd like to hear from some of my readers.  What releases are/were you embarrassed to own?


Mandatory FTC Disclaimer: Clicking on a link could get me a small commission.  I promise to use my money to only buy worthy releases that I won't mock thirty years from now.