# Biggest Hit Song You Hate By An Artist You Like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270 "2016-06-24T22:43:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/1 "2016-06-24T22:43:59Z")
Obviously, if you’re into hard rock, there are lots of #1 Country/Western songs you can’t stand, and vice versa. But what about songs from genres you like, by artists you like, that became mega #1 hits, that you can’t stand? Like most people who hit puberty in the 60’s, I loved the Beatles. But the first time I heard “Hello, Goodbye” on the radio, I thought it must be by some local band being promoted for a high school dance. When a friend later told me it was Beatles, I literally couldn’t believe it. The music seemed average at best, and the lyrics seemed absolutely stupid. I pretty much forgot about it for the last 50ish years (and I thought the fact that it got so little play, even on the Oldies stations I listen to, confirmed my opinion of it), but today while I was looking something else up, I found the amazing fact that it was #1 in England for [more consecutive weeks (7)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UK_Singles_Chart_number_ones_of_the_1960s) than any other Beatles song except “From Me To You.” Longer than “She Loves You.” Longer than “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.” Longer than “A Hard Days Night” and “Hey Jude” combined. And “Something” never even made #1. IMO, this is a travesty of a sham of a mockery. It’s just not that good even compared to an average song, and it’s certainly not in the same class as almost any other single the Beatles put out. Yet, the charts don’t lie. Do they? What megahit, by an artist you like, do you hate? ---
**Author:** ![Flare4roach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7cd45c/32.png) [@Flare4roach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flare4roach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/2 "2016-06-24T23:29:14Z")
I loved the original bad boys from Boston, Aerosmith. I grew up listening to “Back in the Saddle”, “Toys in the Attic”, “Lord of the Thighs”, “Sick as a Dog” etc. They were the quintessential American rock band for the 70’s. Outstanding! What in the world were they thinking releasing “Angel”? How embarrassing. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/3 "2016-06-24T23:51:29Z")
For me, it’s “Bang and Blame” by R.E.M. First song I ever heard by them that I didn’t like - and IT GOT ON THE RADIO. :mad: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/4 "2016-06-24T23:52:24Z")
This is tough, because I either don’t really like the band much, or don’t hate a song particularly. Closest I can come up with is **Yes** , _Owner of a Lonely Heart_. Kinda crappy by **Yes** standards. Also, probably the only “hit” they had. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/5 "2016-06-24T23:59:50Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This is tough, because I either don’t really like the band much, or don’t hate a song particularly. > > Closest I can come up with is **Yes** , _Owner of a Lonely Heart_. Kinda crappy by **Yes** standards. > > Also, probably the only “hit” they had. No, it wasn’t, although it was their only American #1 hit. The eventual video for “Leave It” was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen on MTV, which is saying a lot. 17 versions were shot in one day; I have no idea if any of them ever aired after MTV debuted a new one each day. IIRC, the final cut was version #11. > **[Yes discography](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_discography#Singles)** > > This is a discography of the English progressive rock band Yes. Over the course of their career they have released 23 studio albums, 18 live albums, 15 compilation albums, 44 singles, and 23 videos. > > Members of Yes have collaborated in a number of other albums and singles. The list includes releases with at least three (current or former) Yes members, and excludes releases by the Yes offshoots Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman and Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/6 "2016-06-25T00:04:38Z")
> [@Flare4roach](#): > > What in the world were they thinking releasing “Angel”? How embarrassing. Yuck. They were thinking they could make a whole lot more money going from a gritty, garage type band, to a band that puts out bubble gum songs by getting help from songwriters like Desmond Child. They were right. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/7 "2016-06-25T00:44:20Z")
“Every Breath You Take.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/8 "2016-06-25T00:49:56Z")
I’m a huge Todd Rundgren fan. Travel hundreds of miles to see him, keep up with his ever-changing musical styles - arena rock, blues, rap, EDM, bossa nova (I’m completely serious with that list.) But the one song he’s now best known for is the worst and stupidest thing he ever wrote, [a song he \*literally \*wrote in his sleep](http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2016/03/24/todd-rundgren-wtf/) - _Bang On The Drum_. Why? Why is this brain-dead little ditty so insanely popular? ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/9 "2016-06-25T01:11:04Z")
Loved, loved, loved Cheap Trick in the late 70s and early 80s and I still do. I followed them closely as they declined from putting out solid, near-perfect power-pop albums in the 1970s to releasing 1-or-2-amazing-singles-and-a-whole-bunch-of-filler albums in the 80s. In 1988 I was thrilled to hear many insiders predicting the upcoming _Lap of Luxury_ was going to be their comeback album. And then we got the first single, “The Flame”… …what the fuck was that?.. …wait, it just hit #1?.. And to date it is still their only #1 hit. Luckily, radio programmers seem to be ignoring it these days. Although I do wish they’d play something besides “I Want You To Want Me” and “Surrender”. Great, but way overplayed. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/10 "2016-06-25T01:28:21Z")
Scorpions - _Wind of Change_ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RjJKxsamQ) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/11 "2016-06-25T01:28:57Z")
Ben Folds Five’s only real hit was “Brick.” It’s a song about taking your girlfriend to get an abortion. I thought it was ok when I first heard it (before the radio), a powerful song, but just not the kind of song you want to hear over and over again. But, since it was their one hit song, I had to hear it over again. I was tired of it by the second day it was on the radio. Still am tired of it, I just blew past it on shuffle the other day. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/12 "2016-06-25T01:31:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > For me, it’s “Bang and Blame” by R.E.M. First song I ever heard by them that I didn’t like - and IT GOT ON THE RADIO. > > :mad: :smack: What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? would be my REM example. I loved Elton John years ago, recently got back into him-but lord he has quite a few singles in his back catalogue that I simply cannot stand-Bennie and the Jets, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/13 "2016-06-25T01:34:53Z")
Fight For Your Right by the Beastie Boys. I listen to a lot of their stuff on rotation but always skip this song. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/14 "2016-06-25T01:40:49Z")
Another vote for “Hello, Goodbye,” by the Beatles. Bites the big one. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/15 "2016-06-25T01:59:46Z")
The Offspring - why don’t you get a job. The Offspring are one of my favorite bands, but I do not like this hit song at all for multiple reasons. Pretty fly for a white guy isn’t too good either. However almost everything else they do is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/16 "2016-06-25T02:07:08Z")
Squeeze Box ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/17 "2016-06-25T02:14:42Z")
Never had any love for Pink Floyd’s “Run Like Hell” which was one of the more common PF tracks played on the local classic rock station. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/18 "2016-06-25T02:43:55Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I loved Elton John years ago, recently got back into him-but lord he has quite a few singles in his back catalogue that I simply cannot stand-Bennie and the Jets, for example. This was my obvious answer as soon as I saw the thread title. I listen to a lot of classic rock and am very fond of just about everything I’ve heard from Elton John. But **Benny and the Jets** is just horrible. As soon as those intro notes come across my radio, I switch the station. If I’m having a burger at 5 Guys and I hear **B&tJ** come on, I leave. It’s so, so bad. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/19 "2016-06-25T02:50:33Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > For me, it’s “Bang and Blame” by R.E.M. First song I ever heard by them that I didn’t like - and IT GOT ON THE RADIO. :mad: :smack: > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > What’s the Frequency, Kenneth? would be my REM example. > > I loved Elton John years ago, recently got back into him-but lord he has quite a few singles in his back catalogue that I simply cannot stand-Bennie and the Jets, for example. Funny, I was just thinking last night, watching a show about REM, that “Stand” drove me crazy. I think it was the point when REM, a perfectly good alternative band who should have stayed “our little secret” became accepted by the mainstream and WAY overexposed on MTV. I don’t mind “Bennie”, but “Candle in the Wind” makes me want to throw up. > [@GESancMan](#): > > “Every Breath You Take.” Agreed. So un-Police-like and, again, too much on the MTV. I actually came in here to say I love almost all of Prince’s songs (those that I’ve heard; I realize there is much more to be explored). but not “Raspberry Beret.” I don’t know why, but this one is grating to me and I usually have to turn it off. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2016, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270/20 "2016-06-25T02:51:11Z")
Tom Petty is my second-favorite singer, and his highest-charting hit is “Free Fallin’”. While I don’t hate it, I find it pretty boring and usually skip past it when it comes on the radio. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-hit-song-you-hate-by-an-artist-you-like/758270.md?page=2)