# Iconic bad song of the decade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560 "2010-07-13T17:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/81 "2010-07-14T18:25:20Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > :rolleyes: > > Enrico Caruso > > There. Satisfied? > > [Link](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&defl=en&q=define:opinion&sa=X&ei=-s89TNyJOMGBlAfYyMj7BQ&ved=0CBIQkAE) for you and others who are demanding proof as to how one can consider a song/singer/drummer/guitarist/writer/President/ideology/etc. to be “bad” when others like it. > > :rolleyes: Fine. No need for the douchebag rolleye. No one said you can’t have a particular opinion; just that it only has no value without context. If you say Morrisson is bad but that Randy Newman is a good singer, then you’ve demonstrated that you have a hearing problem. That you dislike Morrisson but like Caruso shows you prefer a technically pure voice. See how easy that was? ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/82 "2010-07-14T18:52:47Z")
The 90’s spawned [“I say boom boom boom”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqHQ_wWbG9Y) by the Outhere Brothers. Eurodance is bad. Ameridance is 10 times worse. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/83 "2010-07-14T20:12:29Z")
_One Tin Soldier_ was recorded in the late 60s but is really a 70s song and is my nominee for the 70s. I also would like to nominate _Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm_ by the Crash Test Dummies for the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Righteous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Dr.Righteous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Righteous)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/84 "2010-07-14T20:16:12Z")
Man! As I read this thread I kept thinking “now that, THAT is the worst song of that decade” and then the next post would have me thinking “I forgot about that one, that’s definitely worse!” over and over again. I stand in awe of this list. One song I don’t think was mentioned was “Set on You” by George Harrison. It’s so repetitive and simplistic its enough to make me insane. I also have massive issues with “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred, but that’s mainly because I used to work with a guy I hated who went around singing it all the time. On it’s own it would be forgettable, but coupled with that it blossoms into hatred. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/85 "2010-07-14T20:37:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow, **Ludovic** , you’re a difficult man to please. Really, early Beatles, Unskinny Bop, and Rockefella Skank are the iconic bad songs of their decades? Okay, so early Beatles are _arguably_ not “representative of the bad trends in music of their decades”, (although it’s my opinion that they are, since they are well-known and overly poppy.) But the other two definitely represent the worst, and what’s moreso all three of them are so utterly pervasive as to be iconic, and I have been exposed to them enough that any lingering aspect of vague indifference has been replaced by the seething loathing of passionate hatred. Although in a couple decades I guess I might like early beatles again (I am already starting to warm up to the Help! era after a couple decades [I always liked the stuff after that], so perhaps on my deathbed I might say that Love Me Do is okay.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/86 "2010-07-14T22:00:22Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Okay, so early Beatles are _arguably_ not “representative of the bad trends in music of their decades”, (although it’s my opinion that they are, since they are well-known and overly poppy.) But the other two definitely represent the worst, and what’s moreso all three of them are so utterly pervasive as to be iconic, and I have been exposed to them enough that any lingering aspect of vague indifference has been replaced by the seething loathing of passionate hatred. Although in a couple decades I guess I might like early beatles again (I am already starting to warm up to the Help! era after a couple decades [I always liked the stuff after that], so perhaps on my deathbed I might say that Love Me Do is okay.) Interesting. This thread is quite fascinating to me as to what people consider “bad.” I would never have guessed any of those to be the worst of their respective decades. Nor “Hey Ya!,” which was mentioned earlier. I would suggest that that tune is one of the iconic songs of the decade, and will make the cut years from now when oldies stations play the hits of the 2000s. “Unskinny Bop” may be a bit adolescent, and “Rockerfella Skank” a bit repetitive, but there’s just so much more garbage to choose from. (Although I don’t think either of these songs is particularly bad.) ---
**Author:** ![bramma23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@bramma23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bramma23)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/87 "2010-07-14T22:32:57Z")
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby for the 90s ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/88 "2010-07-14T22:47:52Z")
I don’t know how anyone can argue with this: **1980’s: “The Warrior” by Patty Smyth** being a utterly terrible song. I mean…the chorus, it makes the ears bleed from the triteness! Chorus: _Shootin’ at the walls of heartache, bang, bang, I am the warrior Well I am the warrior, and heart to heart you’ll win…if you survive the warrior…the warrior_ I mean…“bang bang”? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/89 "2010-07-14T22:49:40Z")
Link to the music video for laughs at the 1980’s: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDuWFYOTyqA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDuWFYOTyqA) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/90 "2010-07-14T23:23:44Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I don’t know how anyone can argue with this: **1980’s: “The Warrior” by Patty Smyth** being a utterly terrible song. > > I mean…the chorus, it makes the ears bleed from the triteness! > > Chorus: > _Shootin’ at the walls of heartache, bang, bang, I am the warrior > Well I am the warrior, and heart to heart you’ll win..if you survive > the warrior…the warrior_ > > I mean…“bang bang”? > > Ugh. You win. When her band ‘Scandal’ first broke, her dad (or uncle) kept coming into our record store demanding that her record be put on the wall. I understand a dad’s love but man, that made me sick. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/91 "2010-07-15T00:49:06Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Fine. No need for the douchebag rolleye. No one said you can’t have a particular opinion; just that it only has no value without context. If you say Morrisson is bad but that Randy Newman is a good singer, then you’ve demonstrated that you have a hearing problem. That you dislike Morrisson but like Caruso shows you prefer a technically pure voice. See how easy that was? You’re calling for cites and qualifications in an _opinion_ thread. Rolleyes are perfectly non-douchebagish in this context. I dislike Morrison’s voice. I cannot stand the song. The organ is especially grating. The song is iconic. Therefore, it gets my vote as the “iconic” “bad song” of the 1960s. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/92 "2010-07-15T01:14:15Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > 70s- Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (Carpenters) > 80s- Shakedown (Bob Seger) Adding to my own post - 90s- House of Pain - Jump Around 00s- that “Feel the rain on your skin” song ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/93 "2010-07-15T01:25:33Z")
80s: Let’s Hear It For the Boy by Deneice Williams (1984) 90s: Steal My Sunshine by Len (1999), Possum Kingdom by the Toadies (1994), Everything About You by Ugly Kid Joe (1992), anything from the “swing” trend 00s: With Arms Wide Open by Creed (2000), Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood (2005) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/94 "2010-07-15T02:19:11Z")
I guess I might as well put forth my nominations: 1960s: Any of the dead teenager songs. I’ll go with Dickey Lee’s **Laurie (Strange Things Happen)**, although his **Patches** is up there, too 1970s: **Disco Duck** - Rick Dees, all the worst elements of disco, distilled and concentrated into one song 1980s: **Kokomo** - The Beach Boys 1990s: **Barbie Girl** - Aqua 2000s: **My Humps** - Black Eyed Peas I might also want to put “My Ding-A-Ling” in as honorable mention for the 70s, mostly because of all of Chuck Berry’s wonderful music, this obnoxious novelty ditty is the only one to have hit number one on the charts. I might also add “Kokomo” to the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/95 "2010-07-15T02:23:12Z")
Anyone want to agree with either “Pac Man Fever” or “Pass The Duchy On The Left Hand Side”? Seriously: “I’ve got a pocketful of quarters and I’m going to the ARCADE”…yeesh… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/96 "2010-07-15T02:31:16Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Anyone want to agree with either “Pac Man Fever” or “Pass The Duchy On The Left Hand Side”? > > Seriously: “I’ve got a pocketful of quarters and I’m going to the ARCADE”…yeesh… 🙂 OMG, I totally tried to scrub any evidence of that song from my brain. I didn’t realize this, but Buckner & Garcia (the guys who wrote Pac-Man Fever) had a whole album of video-game related songs: 1. “Pac-Man Fever” (Pac-Man) 2. “Froggy’s Lament” (Frogger) 3. “Ode to a Centipede” (Centipede) 4. “Do the Donkey Kong” (Donkey Kong) 5. “Hyperspace” (Asteroids) 6. “The Defender” (Defender) 7. “Mousetrap” (Mouse Trap) 8. “Goin’ Berzerk” (Berzerk) I’ve looked up some of these on Youtube just now, and Pac-Man Fever is a musical and lyrical masterpiece compared to some of these others. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/97 "2010-07-15T02:38:11Z")
I’ll nominate “Into the Night” by Benny Mardones as the worst song of the 80s. My argument - It charted in the Top 20 twice, in 1980 and 1989. It’s saccharin awful and creepy as hell: _She’s just sixteen years old Leave her alone, they say Separated by fools Who don’t know what love is yet_ Benny was 36 when this charted. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/98 "2010-07-15T02:44:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I > 1990s: **Barbie Girl** - Aqua YES! Holla Back Girl for the Oughts. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/99 "2010-07-15T03:06:36Z")
70s: _Disco Duck_ (Rick Dees) 80s: _Once Bitten, Twice Shy_ (Great White) 90s: Tie between _What If God Was One of Us_ (Joan Osborne) and _Bitch_ (Meredith Brooks) 00s: \*Rollin’ \*(Limp Bizkit) And the absolute worst song of the last half-century is: _My Heart Will Go On_. No question, really. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560/100 "2010-07-15T15:11:48Z")
Celebration by Kool and the Gang goes for whatever decade it came from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iconic-bad-song-of-the-decade/546560.md?page=6)