# Musical Artists who hate their "best" work **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232 "2013-10-14T17:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/21 "2013-10-14T21:25:40Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > He also has it in his rider that if a poster or any sort of commercial mentions any of his songs on it, it has to list (I think) five of them. (It offers suggestions.) Was “On the Amazon” among the suggestions? Or “Narcissisma”? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/22 "2013-10-14T22:20:30Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > …but figures he owes his audience what they want, rather than what he wants. The public gets what they deserve, not what they demand Unless we all decide to be a business, not a band. –Agent Orange BJ is a fantastic artist, but that attitude makes me sad. A little. ---
**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:** [October 14, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/23 "2013-10-14T22:43:26Z")
Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum [wrote a song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhJgmb1osm0) about how much he disliked playing “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Years later, he sued for royalties, so maybe he changed his mind. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/24 "2013-10-14T23:00:03Z")
I guess Lou Reed really doesn’t think that _Transformer_ is some of his best, or even better, work. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/25 "2013-10-14T23:20:49Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > [The Nutcracker - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nutcracker) > > I swear I’ve read all the sections where a reference to this might be included and don’t see it mentioned. I will look around for a better source… The anecdote is that, when someone congratulated him on the success of The Nutcracker, he snapped, “I gave them a masterpiece in Swan Lake, but all they want from me is fluff!” I don’t know what the original source is for that story, and it may be apocryphal. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/26 "2013-10-14T23:32:37Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Trying (and, at the moment, failing) to find proof of these stories which I’ve heard more than once: > > 1. Don McLean and “American Pie”. The story is that, in the years just after the song’s release, McLean got tired of feeling like it was the only song of his that people knew, or wanted to hear. Allegedly, he walked off stage in the middle of a concert, when the audience kept yelling out for “American Pie!!” I remember hearing a radio DJ talking about getting an interview with Don McLean and right before they went on the air, Don said “Just don’t ask me about American Pie”. I don’t know what the DJ actually said, but he said in his head he was thinking “Um, ok, so…what’d you have for breakfast?” I’ve heard the guy from the Flock Of Seagulls saying he hates doing I Ran (which may be different then hating the song). I’m sure he does, but he really shouldn’t have been saying that on TV. Without that song he wouldn’t have been on TV, he would have been just another washed up 80’s band that only the most hardcore fans would remember. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/27 "2013-10-14T23:56:35Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > But on a less personal note, there’s the story about how much Keith Richards, of the Rolling Stones, hated Satisfaction and thought of it as a joke and flew into a rage when the record company decided to make it a single. Really? I’ve read is that he was surprised to hear the song released in what he considered to be a working version, his expectation having been for horns to overdub his fuzz guitar part. Never heard anything about a deprecating attitude toward the song. Anything else you can add to the story you heard? Genuinely curious, not challenging. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/28 "2013-10-15T00:16:04Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Really? I’ve read is that he was surprised to hear the song released in what he considered to be a working version, his expectation having been for horns to overdub his fuzz guitar part. Never heard anything about a deprecating attitude toward the song. > > Anything else you can add to the story you heard? Genuinely curious, not challenging. He’s told the story a few times. He thought it was filler and went nuts when the label guy told them it was the first single… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/29 "2013-10-15T00:17:32Z")
The one the jumps to mind is Radiohead and Creep. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/30 "2013-10-15T02:14:33Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Really? I’ve read is that he was surprised to hear the song released in what he considered to be a working version, his expectation having been for horns to overdub his fuzz guitar part. Never heard anything about a deprecating attitude toward the song. > > Anything else you can add to the story you heard? Genuinely curious, not challenging. I don’t have a cite. . . I just remember hearing in a radio interview years ago, on “Rockline” or some late-night show, and it was one of the Stones producers or something that told the story of how Richards thought that Satisfaction was a joke and was dismayed that it was made the first single. That’s all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/31 "2013-10-15T02:21:33Z")
Simple Minds didn’t write ‘Don’t you forget about me’, and they hated performing it almost immediately after Breakfast Club was released. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/32 "2013-10-15T02:31:18Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > I don’t have a cite. . . I just remember hearing in a radio interview years ago, on “Rockline” or some late-night show, and it was one of the Stones producers or something that told the story of how Richards thought that Satisfaction was a joke and was dismayed that it was made the first single. That’s all I got. This surprises me. Richards’ only references to ‘Satisfaction’ in his autobiography led me to believe he was quite proud of the tune if I recall correctly. John Lennon, on the other hand, had badmouthed several Beatles songs in interviews, some of which he actively loathed. I was quite unhappy to read this. Many, not all, were primarily Paul-written numbers. mmm ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/33 "2013-10-15T02:45:57Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > This surprises me. Richards’ only references to ‘Satisfaction’ in his autobiography led me to believe he was quite proud of the tune if I recall correctly. I know Richards originally wanted the legendary guitar riff to be performed by a horn section, mainly since “Dancing In The Streets” was a major influence on “Satisfaction”. He felt the song was less powerful with just guitar. Don’t know if he’s changed his attitude since then. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/34 "2013-10-15T03:32:45Z")
I don’t know if he actually hates the songs but Paul Simon has commented at least once that he doesn’t think much of his early S&G material. In particular, he singled out “The Dangling Conversation” and “I Am a Rock” as songs he’s rather embarrassed about now. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/35 "2013-10-15T03:35:34Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Ignorance Fought. I didn’t know that. My entry is Rachmaninoff famously hating his piano Prelude in C#minor. Not his “best” work but probably (?) his most popular and recognizable. This. I own a piano roll of him playing it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/36 "2013-10-15T03:38:42Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > I don’t know if he actually hates the songs but Paul Simon has commented at least once that he doesn’t think much of his early S&G material. In particular, he singled out “The Dangling Conversation” and “I Am a Rock” as songs he’s rather embarrassed about now. Jesus, not “Feelin’ Groovy”? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/37 "2013-10-15T03:56:01Z")
Not a particular artist, but folks just love hearing “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes. Pipers often refer to the tune as “Amazing Disgrace”. If you want to please a piper, request a hornpipe. AG is for paying the bills. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/38 "2013-10-15T04:39:23Z")
It’s stories like this that make me appreciate Rush more. I’ve heard each of them describe how they never get tired of playing _any_ of the songs they’ve recorded. Here’s Neil Peart talking about Tom Sawyer, 30 years after the fact: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ovp2MmdhD_M/maxresdefault.jpg "Neil Peart Says Tom Sawyer is Difficult to Play Right [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovp2MmdhD_M) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/39 "2013-10-15T05:17:52Z")
Here’s Tchaikowsky’s own comments on his 1812 Overture [André Tchaikowsky - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tchaikowsky#Years_of_wandering), third paragraph: > [@](#): > > He wrote to Nadezhda von Meck that the resulting work, the 1812 Overture, would be “very loud and noisy, but I wrote it with no warm feeling of love, and therefore there will probably be no artistic merits in it.”[146] He also warned conductor Eduard Nápravník that “I shan’t be at all surprised and offended if you find that it is in a style unsuitable for symphony concerts.”[146] And Rachmaninoff came to hate his famous Prelude in C#-Minor. [Harpo Speaks! - Harpo Marx - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=XCR14V7uMbsC&pg=PA284&lpg=PA284&dq=%22rachmaninoff%22+%22harpo+marx%22&source=bl&ots=guz7w3Yp9p&sig=wDPRiwl1qgYYCBkBDsRxGPmb61w&hl=en&ei=TzdzSqy9BIvwMr--kaAP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#v=onepage&q=%22rachmaninoff%22%20%22harpo%20marx%22&f=false) From an earlier thread. [Artists who hate their biggest hit - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526482) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232/40 "2013-10-17T20:59:12Z")
There is a famous photograph from the '30s of Louis Armstrong and his band in front of a sign that reads something to the affect of “Requests 25 cents—When the Saints go Marching In $5”. They hated playing it, but in the early 1930s $5 was very, very good money. Kevin Bacon has mellowed, but for the longest time any mention of Flashdance would get shouts of rage. It is easy to dismiss it, and probably not his “best” work, but he did do a very good job in that part. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-artists-who-hate-their-best-work/671232.md?page=3)