Romantic pain was lightened by a frolicsome beat and amusing lyrics, as in the raucous "Bad Medicine," and life crises were clad in Western garb and made epic, as in the soaring "Blaze of Glory" and the solemnly grand "Wanted Dead or Alive".
"Gangnam Style" received mixed reviews, with praise going to its catchy beat and Psy's amusing dance moves (which themselves have become a phenomenon) in the music video and during live performances in various locations around the world.
Guy Ritchie makes amusing, off-beat and quirky films that always laugh at themselves and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is no different.
With a body-rocking sound based on mixing boisterous samples with live drums, the Propellerheads have taken the "big beat" movement in England to amusing extremes.
"None of my aspirations went beyond becoming an underground, bedroom beat-maker, so some of it I found amusing, some of it painful, because I found myself in this pop world where some people behaved like pigs in shit.
When he returns, his friends now call him Mr. Golf... a reference to the beating he took... which for some reason, they find amusing.
All seemed to find it amusing that the launch was staged in Thurrock, "the beating and belching heart of Essex", according to the Times's Ann Treneman.
It sure beats, "May I speak with Mr. Rejection?" Defensiveness melts like butter in the face of an amusing remark.
One can't dismiss the inter-media gamesmanship that's involved, but it is highly amusing to see Frank turned loose in this manner -- the money-maven WSJ beating up on the Post for going soft on corporate interests.
Alas, the amusing (and enlightening) dialogue does not stop here; Emmy does have a way of going on a beat too long.
