Favorite Little Songs: I Wish I Looked a Little Better (#6)

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I'll probably be busy tonight, so I might as well do a "little" posting this morning. That means giving you another one of my favorite songs that has the word "little" in the title. Rounding out the "bottom five" of the top is an 80s new wave classic. Here's today's song. #6: I Wish I Looked a Little Better - Sparks This band is a hoot, just for the visuals. Brothers Ron and Russell Mael are the nucleus of this group that has been around for over 45 years. And if you're a casual listener you're probably going, "nevvah hoid of them." Their "biggest success," such as it is, was "Cool Places," a duet with Go-Go's guitarist Jane Wiedlin. That's too bad. If you ask me, the cool places are here, not with the Go-Go's. (But hey, I'm a female, so I don't see the appeal of Belinda's...nah, never mind. ) From the same album that gave us "Cool Places" comes this hilarious, self-deprecating look at the truth of the matter: most of us are not pin-up model/hunky boys. With quips such as, "I guess I look slightly worse than the Elephant Man" and "I went to high school and majored in looking real bad," the Mael brothers elevate ugliness to a beautiful art. Then there's this line, which is one of my favorite lines from the 1980s: I went to Balboa Island and laid in the sand I may be ugly as sin, but at least I'm tanned Absolutely! I Wish I Looked a Little Better Written by Ron Mael and Russell Mael Recorded by Sparks From In Outer Space, 1983 There just ain't no way: