# Artists who hate their biggest hit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874 "2009-07-31T15:33:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/41 "2009-07-31T20:19:53Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > So yeah, anyone who thinks of\* Star Wars\* as the peak–as little more than a blip gone horribly awry–of Guinness’s career is blindlingly culturally illiterate. Good Lord. In the first place, she referred to someone who _only_ \*knew \*Guinness from Star Wars, not someone who thought it was the peak of his career. It’s possible to only know him from Star wars and have no other thoughts about his career whatsoever. More importantly, however, it’s possible to care little for movies at all without being blindingly culturally illiterate. It’s a bit of tunnel vision to suggest otherwise. You may as well say that anyone who doesn’t know who Cecil Taylor is is culturally illiterate. Or Ornette Coleman. There is more to culture than movies. Much more. And saying that not knowing about one actor proves blinding cultural illiteracy is a statement of staggering snobbishness, elitism, and self centeredness. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/42 "2009-07-31T20:24:20Z")
For those who want to continue the Alec Guiness/cultural illiteracy discussion, there’s a [Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526514). ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/43 "2009-07-31T21:04:50Z")
Bono considers “Where The Streets Have No Name” to be inane. [Link](http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/02/27/651504.aspx?id=) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/44 "2009-07-31T21:10:18Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > John Mellencamp did not want to include _Jack and Diane_ on the original album, didn’t like the song. I’m not disputing you, but he apparently made peace enough with the song to include it on his recent greatest hits release. ---
**Author:** ![Spiff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiff/32/9852_2.png) [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/45 "2009-07-31T21:12:56Z")
Van Morrison doesn’t like to sing “Brown-Eyed Girl.” Jonathan Richman won’t play “Roadrunner” any more, but that might be because he doesn’t like the way it sounds without a full band (he tours with just a drummer). ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/46 "2009-07-31T21:14:05Z")
I recall from a tv rockumentary that Styx came to loath Mr Roboto. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/47 "2009-07-31T21:18:57Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > A lot of bands and artists who are “album artists” and not single artists, were often required by their labels to put out a commerical single. > > The Motels “Only The Lonely” was a good example. They were told if they wanted to keep their contract they better record a hit single, even though the band wasn’t a singles type act. > > Andy Kim of “Rock Me Gently” fame said while he didn’t dislike the single it set him on the wrong path. People kept expecting him to make more songs like that and that song was a fluke. > > I like what Pat Benetar had to say in an interview in _Rolling Stone_ magazine. She said that she often gets tired to playing her old music but then she remembers that her fans haven’t heard the songs as much as she has. And to each fan, each of her songs probably holds a special meaning, to them alone. And then she’s quite happy to perform her songs again. > > I like that attitude Slight hijack: JUST as I was reading this post… and I mean EXACTLY as I was reading it… ‘Only the Lonely’ came on the radio. The hair stood up on my arms. To have the words sang as I was reading them… very creepy. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/48 "2009-07-31T21:35:23Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Harrison Ford was also known to have said to George Lucas about some dialog: “George, you can write this stuff, but ya sure can’t say it.” That’s the “G” rated version. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/49 "2009-07-31T21:41:16Z")
Vanilla Ice grew to rue ever recording “Ice Ice Baby.” He destroyed MTV’s master copy of the video on some show one time. However, he did make a nu-metal-style version of “Ice Ice Baby” called “Too Cold” in the late 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/50 "2009-07-31T21:54:52Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I recall from a tv rockumentary that Styx came to loath Mr Roboto. I think EVERYBODY in the band except Dennis DeYoung hated the entire “Kilroy Was Here” album and tour. Dennis has always been a theater buff, and he conceived the album as a theater piece. The rest of the band wasn’t keen on the idea, and they REALLY hated the stage show that DeYoung conceived to go with it. The stage show that accompanied “Kilroy” was wordy, and had long stretches with no music. Audiences can get VERY bored and antsy during shows like that. And when they performed the show in front of crowds that came to rock out… well, not surprisingly, they heard a lot of boos, and had to dodge a lot of thrown debris. Tommy Shaw and J.Y. were furious at DeYoung for alienating the fans (and putting the rest of the bad in danger) to put on a mini-Broadway show, when the band and the audience just wanted a normal rock show. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/51 "2009-07-31T22:10:08Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Tommy Shaw and J.Y. were furious at DeYoung for alienating the fans (and putting the rest of the bad in danger) to put on a mini-Broadway show, when the band and the audience just wanted a normal rock show. Sounds a bit like what happened with The Kinks during the mid-70s. ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/52 "2009-07-31T22:11:10Z")
IIRC from the Styx _Behind the Music_, the band wanted to ROCK…and instead, they found themselves doing this odd rock opera. Tommy Shaw in particular despised “Babe” (from an earlier album, 1979’s _Cornerstone_). One of his bits from when he would tour with Damn Yankees involved someone playing the opening keyboard lines to that despised #1 pop hit, and for it to be either smashed or played off stage (I don’t recall–been a while since I saw that BTM). The impression I got from that entire episode was the Dennis DeYoung had an ego beyond rationality. I recall Styx got back together and went on tour, without Dennis who was being his diva-self, and he lamented “But there IS no Styx without me!” Now, back to the topic at hand: Outkast seemed to grow tired of, then loathe, “Hey Ya.” I saw it performed live on some award show, and then lead singer opened it by saying, “And now, for the _last time_…'Hey Ya,” goddammit!" ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/53 "2009-07-31T22:19:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I think EVERYBODY in the band except Dennis DeYoung hated the entire “Kilroy Was Here” album and tour. _[snip]_ Tommy Shaw and J.Y. were furious at DeYoung for alienating the fans (and putting the rest of the bad in danger) to put on a mini-Broadway show, when the band and the audience just wanted a normal rock show. Indeed, Tommy Shaw claims his alcohol & drug problems (thankfully a thing of the past) were directly triggered by the _Kilroy Was Here_ fiasco. Too bad, really, because I’ve seen the show on DVD and I kinda like it, in a lame & campy sort of way. 😉 In other classic rock news, Journey guitarist Neal Schon was no fan of “Open Arms” – he would often refer to the song as, “Sounds like Mary Poppins!” ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/54 "2009-07-31T22:22:30Z")
> [@KSO](#): > > Bono considers “Where The Streets Have No Name” to be inane. > > [Link](http://www.pollstar.com/blogs/news/archive/2009/02/27/651504.aspx?id=) Well, he says his lyrics were inane and could have used refining, but he didn’t say he hated the song. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/55 "2009-08-01T00:38:35Z")
Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum indicated how tired he was playing “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” that he wrote “Going for a Song” to indicate his displeasure (“Please don’t make me play that song again”). Though maybe he changed his (Oh, hell. I can’t avoid it) tune when he tried to get songwriter credit. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/56 "2009-08-01T01:07:32Z")
I think The Who’s Pete Townshend kind of hated _Tommy_ for a while, although he got over it. The massive success of the album saved the band from otherwise near-certain financial ruin, but I’m sure they all eventually got tired of playing the whole thing in concert. (IIRC, John Entwistle once referred to _Tommy_ as a little deaf, dumb, and blind albatross around their necks.) But Townshend in particular was frustrated that his later projects couldn’t match _Tommy_’s success. His planned follow-up rock opera _Lifehouse_ fell apart (most of the songs wound up on _Who’s Next_). _Quadrophenia_ sold well but not as well as _Tommy_, and it proved difficult to perform live at the time due to the need to have all the sound effects on tape. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/57 "2009-08-01T02:12:54Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Even if this adds more fuel to the fire, I agree. It wasn’t like Guiness was almost entirely a stage actor who only got into movies with the \*\*Star Wars \*\*films. Prior to them, he’d been making movies for over 30 years and had won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in **Bridge on the River Kwai** (not exactly an obscure flick). > > Anyway, I think stories about Guiness’ dislike of the **Star Wars** movies have gotten a bit exaggerated over time. He did the first movie as a lark for which he’d be well-paid and get to work with a promising young director, George Lucas (who was just coming off his success with **American Graffiti** ). \*Nobody \*(including Lucas) thought the movie would become a gigantic blockbuster that would lead to five other films and spark a quasi-religion. I think what Guiness disliked was spending the last 25 years of his life dealing with obsessed **Star Wars** uber-geek fanboys who thought he was some sort of mystic and knew nothing about the rest of his career. If you want a very charming book to read [My Name Escapes Me](http://www.amazon.com/My-Name-Escapes-Alec-Guinness/dp/0140277455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249092657&sr=8-1) by Guiness. He kept a diary in his later years in life for a newspaper and in it, touches upon his Obi Wan part just a little bit. I totally fell in lurve with him over this book and about two months later he died. It bummed me out. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/58 "2009-08-01T02:21:53Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > **correction:** … who is now best-remembered _by cultural illiterates_ as that one role. The thread is about biggest hits. If you don’t think Star Wars was his biggest hit, you are not… informed. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/59 "2009-08-01T02:33:38Z")
I’ve heard that R.E.M. (or maybe just Michael Stipe) hates one of their really popular songs. “Stand” maybe? Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874/60 "2009-08-01T03:44:58Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > I’ve heard that R.E.M. (or maybe just Michael Stipe) hates one of their really popular songs. “Stand” maybe? Anyone know? “Shiny Happy People”, I believe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/artists-who-hate-their-biggest-hit/504874.md?page=4)