Bands ruined by one song

Cafe Society
21

Itchycoo Park - Small Faces.

The song was a piss take of the hippy attitude but although it was popular, many thought it was representative of their work and it lost them a lot of airplay, being banned for the line about
‘We’ll get high, yeah’

Hi Ho silver lining - Jeff Beck. One of the most innovative guitarists of his time and is best remembered for a party singalong number, that lost him oodles of respect in the eyes of ‘those who are really cool’

Personally I think Micheal Jackson should have quit after Thriller, after that it has been a steady decline.

Without You - Badfinger, the song made famous by Nilsson was written by the them and arguments over royalties destroyed them.
It was inspired by a failed relationship breakup of Pete Ham’s who was pretty much a depressive, and the wrangling, lawsuits and contractual difficulties pushed him over the edge, he hanged himself.
The other co-writer Tom Evans hardly did much better himself, taking his own life some years later, believing that he was destitute and having been swindled out of his share of royalties by the good old music industry.

22

Great topic!!

How about Country Joe & The Fish? All anyone remembers of them is their infamous “F.U.C.K” cheer followed by their polemic I Feel Like I’m Fixin To Die Rag, as seen in Woodstock. While that was their most notorious moment, it was hardly representative of their solid blues-based psychedelic style.

23

Hotel California - Always worried about the Eagles being close to becoming a piece of crap. then it happened. they come out with this opus.

maybe this thread should be "songs that marked the end of the band as good ". then the WHO, STONES, and LEDs songs would fit in perfectly.

24

Wall of Voodoo made some interesting music, but I think the novelty of “Mexican Radio” sorta killed any chance they had at being taken seriously.

25

I second Bobby McFerrin. Poor guy.

The one that springs immediately to my mind, if we are talking about bands that had the one song that was unlike anything they normally do make it onto the airwaves, would be Len and “Steal My Sunshine.” Poor Canadians are only known for that piece of happy pop crap when the rest of their repertoire is stripped down breaker beats with old school rhymes.

26

In the same vein, this was off the first post-Moon album “Face Dances.” I like the song, but I know I’m in the minority of Who fans when I say that.

27

Speaking as someone who has a lot of respect for Aretha Franklin, and who admires most of her music, I really, really, REALLY wish she’d never recored Respect. Not only because it’s the most overplayed Aretha Franklin song ever, it’s also unquestionably the most annoying. A body of work that includes some of my favorite slow-dance songs, and on the radio, at the ballgame, on the commercial, it’s always “arr ee ess pee EEEE see tee!! Find out what it means to me!!”…repeat, of course. Bleck.

Same deal with Neil Diamond and Proud To Be An American. Even more so considering the unbelievable airplay it got during Desert Storm, not to mention in recent days. I have a hard enough time dealing with national crises without having to listen to this sappy rah-rah patriotism.

Concur on Bobby McFerrin and Don’t Worry Be Happy. His a capaella rendition of Good Lovin’ alone ran circles around it.

And, why, why, WHY did Aqua’s big hit have to be Barbie Girl?? Hey, I have about nine of their songs, and they ALL blow that smarmy piece of bubblegum crap out of the water. (Go listen to Aquarius, Turn Back Time, or In The Heat of The Night and try to convince yourself that this is the same band.)

In the near future, I think we’ll be able to look at I Will Always Love You as the song that torpedoed Whitney Houston’s career. My god, I can’t even think about that one anymore. The fact that it’s been a popular wedding song certainly doesn’t help.

My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion. 'Nuff said. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she has some good songs, but considering that everyone knew that Titanic was going to be big, coudln’t they have chosen someone easier on the ears than a former opera singer? Come to think of it, Kiss From a Rose (Seal), which seemed so totally out of place in a Batman movie, would have been more appropriate.

Not totally sure about Chris Deburgh, but I think Lady In Red pretty much sealed his fate. (Oh yeah, he then had an affair. :))

Re. Dire Straits, I wholeheartedly recommend Twisting By The Pool. It’s a rock and roll song, and also completely unlike anything else they’ve done.

Neurotik - Unfortunately, it’s even worse than that. Their other big hit was Kids In America. Which 1) was originally done by someone else (Kim Wilde) and 2) makes Steal My Sunshine sound like friggin goth rock.

Someday I’m going to have to buy some of those albums just to clear my head. It’s truly astonishing what becomes a hit sometimes.

28

“Sugar, Sugar”.

The Archies’ music cred was completely shot after that.

29

“Bye, Bye, Bye” was a crushing blow for *Nsync. Oh wait, all of their songs are crushing blows…

Plato? Aristotle? Socrates? Morons!

~Can you be so warm, Can you know what I feel? -Better Than Ezra

30

Bobby was never a pop star and he was never going to be one. “Don’t Worry” was his only song that was ever going to hit it off with mainstream audiences. The song didn’t ruin him it just pushed him into the charts for a while.

Marc

31

Berlin, by Take My Breath Away. Not a bad song, but so totally different from their other music that it gave a false impression of what they were about – or worse, that they had “sold out”

32

Magne Furuholmen of a-ha said in an interview recently that if they had known how long “Take On Me” would be following them, he’s not sure they would have recorded it…

33

I’m not certain if you’re misremembering the song or the artist (probably the artist, because I don’t recall any excessive use of America by Neil Diamond). The artist on Proud To Be An American was, in fact, Lee Greenwood.

stoid, can you please post a recipe for a cleaner that will remove milk from the front of a CRT?

34

“Last Kiss” by Pearl Jam. That maudlin piece of dreck should have been buried along with his ill-fated lover the FIRST time it was released.

“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” by Rod Stewart. Rod, do you want me to answer the question honestly?

(tie) “Say, Say, Say” and “The Girl is Mine” two duets by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. Gosh, they both had so much talent, so much respect. Then pssssssssssssssss. Splat!

35

Timbuk 3

The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Go Solo.

After that completely misinterpreted song slammed into the Top 10, droves of people bought the album… to find a dark, cynical, sarcastic, but brilliant outlook on life by a very talented songwriter. The label tried to get another hit out of them, even got them hooked up with a real band instead of a beatbox, but nothing worked.

Pat MacDonald, the frontman for the band, continues to record solo work; if you see it in a cutout bin, you won’t regret picking up Pat MacDonald Sleeps With His Guitar. He’s reportedly turned down millions of dollars from advertising companies, wanting to use his one hit song to hawk sunglasses; meanwhile, he’s issuing new albums on a German label.

36

Poor, poor Steve Earle is the epitome of this phenomenon. The man is a great songwriter, but all most people remember about him is that cock-rock classic, “Copperhead Road.” Blech.

37

Rod Stewart “Do you think Im sexy?” Rod had some chops before he turned to disco and totally washed it out with that song and “Hot legs” I cring when I hear it.

38

I’ll have to disagree. They have always had a softer song on their albums, “drive” on Make Yourself and “summer romance” on s.c.i.e.n.c.e. are pretty similar in tone, so it’s not as if they’re pulling away from an established sound since they’re always ranged from the energetically angry (like “vitamin” ) to the more ballard-like. Personally, I still hold hope that they’ll eventually put the version of “still not a playa” they did with Big Pun on an album, because I don’t like most of the other songs on the comp. cd it’s on now.

39

Cool thread topic! Here are my contributions…

Blur: “Song 2” (otherwise known as "that goddamn woo-hoo song). Totally unrepresentative of their best stuff, especially Parklife.

I have a friend who’s a huge Cardigans fan and contends that “Love Fool” had a similar effect…

Anyone know Loudon Wainwright III? If you do, it’s probably through “Dead Skunk”, maybe his worst song.

I am also not fond of “Losing My Religion.”

And about the whole Bobby McFerrin thing… I think a similar phenomenon happened to Bruce Springsteen with “Born in the USA.” When I declared my unyielding worship of Bruce at a party once, someone said, “Oh, I hate that pro-American crap!” and I had to clarify matters.

-SE.

40

All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You by Heart.
A cool band, brough low by one smarmy, offensive song with a mediocre harmony. Bleh.