Songs that get me pumped up even though they are kind of weird

Blame it on my sisters for exposing me to the evil that is New Kids on the Block, but whenever I hear the song "Step by Step", my head starts moving with the music, the world fades away and the catchy disco violins transport me to a 70's movie where I'm in a high speed chase, and I'm taking my full size Oldsmobile Cutlass sideways around a corner either running from or chasing the bad guys.

Fact of the matter is, there are a whole lot gay songs out there (and being a child of the 80's, I am using the word 'gay' in that period's general context) that I kinda dig.

I still remember the first time I heard Vanilla Ice on the radio. I was at home, listening to one of the local Hip Hop stations, when the announcer got on and said that he was gonna play this new song by this Vanilla Ice character. He was raving about how hot the song was and how cool Vanilla was. I don't think that he knew that Ice was white, originally named Rob Van Winkle, and that he grew up in the suburbs, not Miami beach. All he knew is that it was a good song. And we all listened to it. And everyone started wearing Miami Hurricanes gear and convertible 5.0 Mustang GT's became the coolest car on the planet. Then, one day, someone somewhere decided that Ice wasn't cool. And we took off our Miami caps, buried our newfangled Vanilla Ice "CD's" under Red Hot Chili Peppers and Nirvana "CD's" and tried to erase him from our minds. How many people proudly cranked "Ice Ice Baby" and "Play that Funky Music" for all to hear and then quietly turned down the volume, still ,quietly and shamefully, enjoying it after his fall from grace....?

Want another example? Despite the fact that it's a cheesy song, with a terrible music video, sung by malnourished english geek who, for some reason has the voice of a black R&B singer, I love "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley. You can't even Rick-roll me because I Rick-roll myself (by the way, I think it would be awesome to Rick-roll everyone at my funeral).

It happens that because of the opinion of some bitter, lonely writer at some pop culture magazine, or because of a DJ or because it belongs to a particular genre, good songs are often labeled as being gay, or cheesy, or lame and are forced to bear a stigma that should not be theirs. Critics, who are these people, get it so wrong so often and nobody has the guts to stand up and call it like it is. I wish someone would have the guts to stand up and say that some of Beyonce's music blows, or Uma Thurman is really not that hot, or Quentin Tarantino makes as many good movies as the Detroit Lions win football games.

Yet, despite my pleas, we continue to faun over the mediocre and suppress greatness. It's a pipe dream to wish that one day, people will wake up and admit that Kurt Cobain only really made one good song, the Doors were over-rated, and the Olive Garden serves better food than most "Mom and Pop" Italian restaurants.

With that, I give you an ever-expanding list of songs, singers, movies, and shows that are awesome even though MTV or my trendy friends are too insecure to admit it.

SONGS, SINGERS, MOVIES AND SHOWS THAT, DESPITE WHAT THE TRENDIES SAY, ARE AWESOME:

1. "Step by Step" - New Kids on the Block
2. "Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley
3. the Thundercats theme song
4. The entire Rocky soundtrack
5. Cloak and Dagger
6. "MMMmmm Bop" - Hansen
7. Theme song from the cartoon "Silver Hawks"
8. "Ice Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice
9. Star Trek Deep Space Nine
10. Condorman
11. Jersey Girl
12. Bobby Brown
13. Iron Eagle
14. Theme song to Neverending Story
15. Naughty Girls Need Love - Samantha Fox (although her hotness supersedes any cheese or gayness)