Iconic bad song of the decade

Cafe Society
1

In the thread Air Supply -v- Simon and Garfunkel someone mentioned, in passing, the Paul Simon credit/infliction on society/war crime popularly known as Red Rubber Ball.

It brought to mind a list my brother once compiled in collaboration with some friends called “Iconic Bad Songs of the Decade.” Note that nominated songs can’t just be bad, we’re not just looking for examples of bad/trite/lazy songwriting – in order to qualify the song must be A) a big hit; and B) representative of the worst cultural and musical trends of that decade – the kind of song that the Candides among us can listen to at the time and declare: “this is, indeed, the best of all possible decades!”

here are my candidate songs:

1960s – Red Rubber Ball
1970s – Sometimes When We Touch -or- Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
1980s – Sunglasses at Night
1990s – Breakfast at Tiffany’s
2000s – ?

2

Are you talking 2000-2009? I suspect most people will say Tik Tok if you include 2010.

Who Let the Dogs Out? was released in 2000, so that’s my suggestion. :smiley:

Oh, oh, whatever T-Pain’s most popular song is. Who Let the Dogs Out? was annoying, but it didn’t piss off nearly so many people as auto-tuning did, which T-Pain popularized.

3

My Humps

4

Mambo No. 5 for the 90’s. It was released in 1999.

I hate that song with a passion of a thousand suns.

5

“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” for the 80s.

ETA: or “The Final Countdown”. Equally bad, but in a totally different way.

6

I concur with Tik Tok.

7

“Bad Medicine” by Bon Jovi for the 80’s. God, I hate that song.

“I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” by Aerosmith for the 90’s. God, I hate that song.

8

All certainly worthy contestants, but I have a few other contenders:

1960s - “Eve of Destruction” by Barry McGuire. Bad lyrics, bad singing, bad song, Number one on the Billboard charts.

1970s - “Seasons In the Sun” by Terry Jacks is herewith summarily decreed the worst song of that decade and no dissenting opinions shall be tolerated. So let it be written, so let it be done.
1980s - “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler. Sample lyric: “We’re livin’ in a powder keg and givin’ off sparks…” The prosecution rests.

1990s - “Hands” by Jewel. Sample lyric: “These hands, they are my own. They are not yours, they are my own.” Really, Jewel?

2000s - I’m tempted to vote for “All the Single Ladies” by Beyonce. But that may just be my annoyance at how overplayed it got.

9

1960’s - In The Year 2525 (Zager and Evans)
1970’s - I Think I Love You (Partridge Family)
1980’s - Walkin’ on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves)
1990’s - Believe (Cher)

10

This one’s been redeemed by the wait-that’s-not-their-REAL-name value of the band’s name, in retrospect.

11

:confused:Sounds like a simple breakup song to me.

12

1960’s: “Sugar Shack” I can’t remember who did it and I don’t care
1970’s: “Muskrat Love” by the Captain & Tennille
1980’s: “Ebony & Ivory” by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Rarely has such talent produced such shit
1990’s: “Butterfly Kisses” by Bob Carlisle
2000’s: ?

13

Along with a rather bizarre video.

The literal video makes more sense. :smiley:

14

Darn you to heck, The Peyote Coyote! I came in here to nominate “Sugar Shack”! (Number 1 in 1963 for the Fireballs) For the 1970s I nominate “Afternoon Delight”, while noting that, somehow, the 1970s seem to have an overabundance of iconic bad songs.

15

For the 1960s, I nominate Sugar Sugar

16

My nom for the 70s would be “Come Sail Away,” though pretty much anything else by Styx will do.

17

So bad it’s been forgotten, but was all the rage at the time - ‘Macarena’. (90’s)

18

I would have agreed but this choice has been usurped by Katy Perry’s California Girls (which sounds a lot like TikTok).

19

1970s Smoke on the Water

2000s Womanizer (Britney Spears)

20

What does this mean?