Years ago we had a poll on the Dope to determine scientifically what the worst song ever written was and Tears of a Clown by SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES scored high marks ( if it just didn’t outright win, I can’t remember).
I have always liked it. It’s upbeat and catchy. I’m not sure I’d put it on my driving mix but I would smile and turn it up if I heard it on the radio.
What??!? That song is a straight-up Motown classic. Wouldn’t describe it as upbeat, exactly, but it’s definitely a catchy tune. It name-checks Pagliacci, for God’s sake. What more do you want from a song??
Great tune! And not just because I was drooling over the 5th Dimension singer Florence LaRue.
For most (?) people, music takes them back to a specific time in life. It can evoke who you were dating, what you ate, how you were(n’t) getting along with parents, and a whole lot more. Those things can give me the warm fuzzies…hard to separate from the song’s merits. Likewise, I think of songs associated with painful times yet I still like them.
OK, that’s just wrong. Catchy hook, great orchestration, literary reference—who could ask for anything more? I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more, Toto! (ETA: Ninja’ed by Solost)
Gotta admit, her beauty to size of mouth ratio is off the charts.
*Sweet Home Alabama 
I do not revile many songs. In fact, I can think of only one right now and that’s Sweet Home Alabama.
The 5th Dimension could do no wrong. Not wishing to make this a competition (please, no wagering), but I’m a Marilyn McCoo fiend. Ties with Karen Carpenter (maybe Linda Ronstadt) for best female singer.
If you are a fan of the 5th Dimension, you’ve probably seen Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), from last year (it’s among the nominees for Best Documentary Feature this year). If you haven’t, I’d recommend you find it ASAP.
Thanks! Looks like a winner.
There are quite a few here I like, but can I just single out two
- in order to say what I usually say at times like these: there’s always a place in the world for the perfect pop song.
To which I’ll add: I just don’t get the hate for Macarena. Again, perfect pop song. And I just love Cotton Eye Joe.
j
There’s no point in me naming just a few. If it’s cheesy and from the Seventies (where a lot of reviled songs seem to have originated), I probably like it. That includes disco. I listened to those songs incessantly when I was a kid and young teen, and listening to them now makes me happy because they remind me of good times. I even like serious stinkers like “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” and “In the Year 2525.”
It would probably be better to ask me to name the cheesy Seventies songs I don’t like, because it would be a smaller list (three immediate thoughts are “Cherish” (which I think is actually from the Sixties), “Havin’ My Baby,” and “Young Girl.”)
Watched it just a couple of weeks ago. Excellent documentary.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’m just finishing it on Hulu. They had quite the eclectic lineup of music! Really enjoyed seeing the 5th Dimension and, of course, Florence.
Ermahgerd, listen to David Ruffin @ 2:50 on Vimeo.
That’s another one who fell out of the pretty tree and hit every single branch on the way down. 
They did show them performing this live, which was really nice…I can’t find a clip of it though.
You and other readers of the thread may be interested in these. I owned several of Rhino’s “Have a Nice Day” series, which included tons of one-hit wonders. For a stroll down amnesia lane…
Muskrat Love by America
Most of America’s hits
Afternoon Delight - I don’t mind it. It sure brings back memories.
Most of Nickelback’s hits
Most of Journey’s hits
I like a lot of the songs mentioned in the above posts, but I guess I didn’t realize that some of them were reviled!
You’re not the only one.
Alabama
You got the weight on your shoulders
That’s breaking your back
Your Cadillac
Has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track
Of course this song and “Southern Man” inspired “Sweet Home Alabama”.
Do NOT get me started on that song, I hate it so, so much. A celebration of Alabama’s proud, proud racism and a diss track to those who point it out. Yeup, revile is the word for it.
Yeah, Neil wasn’t dissing the song, he was dissing southern culture itself. SHA was a response to Neil’s putdowns of the south.
I believe I heard that Neil and the band Lynyrd Skynyrd eventually squashed their beef and made nice.
I’m sure you just mistyped, but the band was Lynyrd Skynyrd. But yeah, Neil Young and the band worked it out. Neil even originally offered “Powderfinger”, one of his best songs, for them to record first. Don’t remember why they didn’t, could have had to do with the plane crash that killed half of the band.