One commenter wrote in regard to yesterday’s Bell Bottom Bliss, “Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty, that I’ve been employing the term “cheesy” too liberally in my song descriptions. I’d like to address that comment—specifically, the touchy and subjective word “cheesy” itself. My initial response was “Cheese is like porn: I’m not sure what its defining characteristic is, but I know it when I hear it. And a lot of times I like it.”

I’ve given it further thought, and here’s what I came up with.

One man’s cheesey pop song is another man’s showtune is another man’s heartfelt soul ballad. The common threads here are twofold: 1. sheen, polish, a studio-buffed smoothness that removes any rough edges from a song and adds a sense of grandeur and melodrama, and 2. earnest effort, some attempt at passion or soul. Unless provided in an overwhelming dose, neither of these threads on its own is enough to cheese out a song (or movie, or painting, or suit of clothes). However, as soon as both threads are present, even in trace amounts, the risk of cheesitude increases exponentially. Cheese is almost always the result of excess.

Cheese carries a negative connotation; cheese gets a bum rap. But listen: Cheese is not necessarily a bad thing. Cheese can be, in many cases, quite endearing. I point to examples like disco, “Baker Street,” and “Kiss You All Over” from the ’70s; anything by Journey or Dio or The Little Mermaid soundtrack from the ’80s; the entire New Jack Swing movement of the ’90s; and My Chemical Romance and Kelly Clarkson today. There are too many to mention here.

Which brings us to today’s edition of Bell Bottom Bliss.

The 1975 #1 hit “I’m Not in Love,” by British quartet 10CC, is responsible for the entire existence of the French band Air.

Seriously, listen to this song—which is presented here in a version edited down from its original six-minute length—and tell me you don’t hear everything Air wants to be. It’s ethereal but organic, wounded but bold, moody but evocative. It’s got an acoustic guitar and piano and synthesizers, as well as a barely-there beat that you can’t deny. It breaks into a downtempo interlude with a vocal oversample that sounds so very European. There’s a whole lot going on here: The song was a marvel of innovative recording techniques at the time and is, quite simply, beautiful. And cheesy in a wonderful, wonderful way.

Don’t worry. Tomorrow’s edition will be dairy-free.