Nick Roberts: My favorite 5 Chicago guilty pleasure songs

Forty years ago — May 14, 1984 — the band Chicago released what would become the bestselling album of their career, Chicago 17. With help from both MTV and producer David Foster, it produced a string of memorable hits and won three Grammy Awards.

“Hard Habit to Break,” “Stay the Night,” “You’re the Inspiration” and “Along Comes a Woman” were all top-20 smashes, and MTV’s constant rotation of the videos for “Habit,” “Inspiration” and “Stay the Night” propelled the album to sales of more than 6 million copies.

This story made me dig deep and think about my 5 favorite Chicago “guilty pleasure” songs. What does this mean? A song that may have been more mellow than rock, and wasn’t as big of a hit but my personal favorites.

Here are the top 5:

Number 5: Love Me Tomorrow: This was a Peter Cetera and David Foster collaboration from Chicago 16 in 1982. It was a bigger Adult hit than it was Top 40, only reaching #22 on the hot 100 charts. Why do I like this? The song is a ballad but has a great amount of intensity. In fact, the farther you get into the record the more intense it gets. It’s a shining gem in the Chicago catalog. Also, Steve Lukather from Toto played guitar as an added bonus.

Number 4: If You Leave Me Now: Granted, this was #1 and one of the biggest songs of 1976, but one you just don’t hear that much anymore. One of the best ballads of all time, hands down.

Number 3: Will You Still Love Me? This song was released during the latter part of the band’s hit making career in 1986 and not as big as past hits was as memorable. Again, alot of intensity. Did I mention that David Foster also wrote this one?

Number 2: Beginnings: The older I get, the more I rediscover old songs that I didn’t like in my youth. This is one of those songs. Going back with fresh ears now, the song is very complex. It’s a masterpiece!

Number 1: Hard Habit To Break: This was a major hit that peaked at #3 on the charts in 1984. This is another song that when you hear it again, like a fine wine has detailed complexities to it that make it special. It’s not just a typical 80′s ballad, but something more.