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James Lileks: Worst Rock Song Ever? Give This a Spin
The Minneapolis/St Paul Star Tribune ^
| April 25, 2004
| James Lileks
Posted on 04/24/2004 3:46:43 PM PDT by quidnunc
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To: djf
Ah, but 'Afternoon Delight' has a nice piece of trivia:
"What musician performed for Miles Davis AND on 'Afternoon Delight' ?
To: -YYZ-
Yeah, I liked that song, too, but it was definitely a break from my generation (which was pretty much the same generation that the Who was talkin' about.)
In 1986, Reagan was President, and we were winning the Cold War.
To: blowfish
Wouldn't surprise me if it was Miles himself.
It could be chock full of trivia, that will never make up for the raunch. My skin still crawls!
583
posted on
04/26/2004 9:58:03 AM PDT
by
djf
To: CobaltBlue
"In 1986, Reagan was President, and we were winning the Cold War."
And it was an optimistic song that embraced science and technology and money in a positive way. I was in my first or second year of engineering at university. Which I subsequently dropped out of, but I resurrected it as my theme song when I returned to university.
"50 thou a year'll buy a lot of beer" :)
584
posted on
04/26/2004 10:02:40 AM PDT
by
-YYZ-
To: Physicist
"Saturday Night" by the Bay City RollersYES! What a stinker, as was anything by that band was. What a travesty that at the time, the Rollers were being compared to the Beatles. The thing that kills me about that song is that it's so muddled that unlike with most pre-1982 music, I can't imagine in my own mind musicians actually playing their instruments and having that come out of them.
However -- to moi, a worse song is the Rollers' string-laden pubescent lovey-dovey mush, "The Way I Feel Tonight." Get a load of these under-the-radar lyrics that teen girls swooned to:
Close the door and turn the key
Open up your heart to me
I can see your love light glowing
Let your body melt to mine
Let us taste each other's wine
Till the cup is overflowing
Not with my daughter, you plaid-wearing puke!
I'll give a dishonorable mention to "Don't Bring Me Down" by the Electric Light Orchestra. It's not that it's among the very worst songs ever; it's just that this grating travesty came from a group that produced so much genuinely brilliant material.
I liked that song musically, but I couldn't get past "You're looking good, just like a snake in the grass/One of these days you're gonna break your glass." From beginning to end, this verse makes no sense. It's as if Jeff Lynne just improvised lyrics, figured he'd have a chance to write something literate later, and discovered that the tape had to be delivered to the label that evening.
585
posted on
04/26/2004 10:16:08 AM PDT
by
L.N. Smithee
(Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
To: Tribune7
I like that song too. I always took it as a real middle-finger waved at anti-Reagan lefties. I'm afraid you've mistook the meaning of the song, but don't feel bad. It frustrated the married couple that was Timbuk 3 also. They meant it as a slap at the apathy of the young generation, whom they perceived as the type that would have no ethical conflicts about making big bucks building nukes -- nukes that would someday be used, causing us to be blinded, except in the event that we were...wearing shades.
There is a lot of music that was inspired by the supposed inevitability of a nuclear holocaust, some of it taking dead aim at President Reagan himself. "Seconds" by U2; "Strike Zone" by Loverboy; "Hammer To Fall" by Queen; "Walking In Your Footsteps" by The Police; "Wild Wild West" by Escape Club ("Waiting for the big boom...Gotta live it up...Ronnie's got a new gun!"), "The War Song" by Culture Club, "End of The Innocence" by Don Henley ("They're beating plowshares into swords for this tired old man that we elected king") just to name a few.
586
posted on
04/26/2004 10:38:31 AM PDT
by
L.N. Smithee
(Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
To: RightWingAtheist; Condor51
Oh, and I like "Don't Bring Me Down" :-)Just curious...do either of you consider yourself to be ELO fans, or do you just like the song?
I can see where the song might shine in comparison with "My Sharona" or "Do You Think I'm Sexy" or "In the Navy" (other hit songs of 1979). It's just that I'm comparing it to the Prog brilliance of "Queen of the Hours", "Kuiama", "In Old England Town", "Dreaming of 4000", "Eldorado"...
To: quidnunc
Tip toe thru the tulips.
To: quidnunc
"Losing My Religion", by R.E.M.
A song that makes no sense whatsoever (Stipe even said so himself...) performed by perhaps the single most overrated "band" in the history of popular music. Or would that title go to U2?
Wait - change that....I think "Stand" is even dumber. Also, by R.E.M.
Wait - no, I think maybe "Shiny, Happy People" by Michael Stipe (of R.E.M.) and a bunch of other shiny, happy people.
I think they're all ON THE DOPE!!!
What the hell ever happened to....(novel concept coming here)..........................GOOD, MEANINGFUL, WELL-CRAFTED FREAKIN' MUSIC??!??!??!??!?
Good lord, somebody shoot me now!
To: Don Simmons
What the hell ever happened to....(novel concept coming here)..........................GOOD, MEANINGFUL, WELL-CRAFTED FREAKIN' MUSIC??!??!??!??!? Like - oh, I don't know - "Blame It On The Bossa Nova", maybe?
590
posted on
04/26/2004 11:10:27 AM PDT
by
general_re
(Rehab is for quitters.)
To: Don Simmons
Wait - no, I think maybe "Shiny, Happy People" by Michael Stipe (of R.E.M.) and a bunch of other shiny, happy people."Shiny, Happy People" is on the Blender list.
591
posted on
04/26/2004 11:12:46 AM PDT
by
L.N. Smithee
(Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
To: blowfish
Ooooo that is a good one. But I gotta say.
House of the Rising Sun. Every bad high school garage band played this song to death and each time it sounded worse. The original was none too great.
Red
To: Hand em their arse
Not me...was never a fan of Fleetwood Mac to begin with.
Red
To: L.N. Smithee
I'm afraid you've mistook the meaning of the song, but don't feel bad. That's a bummer.
It frustrated the married couple that was Timbuk 3 also.
I got a hunch that the song's popularity might have to the preception of many that it was positive.
I remember all the anti-US/Reagan/we are going to blow up the world stuff.
Don't forget 99 Luftballoons which I actually liked. I tell lefties its a dire warning about the dangers of pointlessly symbolic acts for lefty causes.
594
posted on
04/26/2004 11:30:02 AM PDT
by
Tribune7
(Vote Toomey April 27)
To: Conservative4Ever
House of the Rising Sun. Every bad high school garage band played this song to death and each time it sounded worse. The original was none too great. Wanna laugh out loud? Check out Dolly Parton's disco-country version of the song.
595
posted on
04/26/2004 12:48:50 PM PDT
by
L.N. Smithee
(Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
To: quidnunc
any song by jethro tull
596
posted on
04/26/2004 12:52:35 PM PDT
by
petercooper
(I just discovered my family owns an SUV.)
To: quidnunc
Air Supply made me turn the channel more than any other band.
To: petercooper
any song by jethro tullJethro Tull? Naw, I'm not into "heavy metal." </sarcasm...Metallica fans will understand>
598
posted on
04/26/2004 1:04:14 PM PDT
by
L.N. Smithee
(Just because I don't think like you doesn't mean I don't think for myself)
To: Physicist
I just like the song :-) You have to admit, it's better than anything they recorded for the Xanadu soundtrack.
To: weegee
"I'm a Flapper in a Flivver" Is this supposed to be the predecessor of "Fever for the Flava"?
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