I’m usually changing the station as soon as I hear that harmonica intro, but maybe I’ll give that a shot next time I’m in an environment where I don’t control the tunes.
Cohen’s Hallelujah. The original is merely a sappy glurgy reject from the Cats sessions, deemed too trite and treacly for even a jazz-handing furry to croon. That every vocalist feels obliged to ‘make it their own’ with an ever evolving playbook of melismatic waterboarding is fuel to the fire. Maybe Dick Van Dyke could breathe some new life into it with some cockney swing stylings? Because I’ve had it with everything else.
That was my first thought, but fortunately I haven’t been exposed to it in years. Don’t think I’ve even heard it once since the turn of the century.
So I’m going to say Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kalikimaka”, which was part of the store’s piped-in music every Xmas for years – I heard it every day at work, sometimes twice during my eight-hour shift.
I happen to like “God Bless the USA”.
Best critique ever.
Oh God, yes!
I’m still going to stick with my first choice based on ubiquitousness, but this may be second on the list for the patronizing colonialist tone.
Well, if we are going to nominate entire catalogs, I submit the pinnacle of schlockmeisters, Journey. Nothing from them is tolerable. I mean, I used to like the first couple of lines of Wheel in the Sky, but it so rapidly descends into bleaurgh that even the opening has become a dire warning of looming disappointment.
Also, Boston. Talk about overproduced meh, over and over and over and over and over …
I really like Cohen, but this Hallelujah is hell. Came here to write exactly this, you beat me with better expressions of dislike I could have come up with.
And then in the last Cohen concert I went to the middle aged lady sitting next to me started singing along when this song came. Oh, that was painful.
Just remembered a song I hated more than that one from Merle Haggard. Winoweh! If that song gets in your head, you are doomed for the rest of the day. It will keep on running no matter what.
Oh my, yes. They were my sister’s favorite band, she played them all the time. So, I know every word to just about all of their songs.
The fact that Boston wasn’t her second favorite band proves there is some mercy in the universe.
I listen to the classic rock radio station almost exclusively in the car. I hear a lot of Elton John. I like Elton John. Hell, I’ve even got a couple of Elton John CDs. But whenever Benny and the Jets comes on, I can’t hit the radio knob fast enough. It grates on me like no other.
And anything by Peter Frampton. From all I hear, he’s a really great guy and super friendly, but…no…I just can’t.
I sympathize. The 80s were a huge musical disappoint for me. Of course, there was plenty of good music that I discovered later on, but I was coming from Zeppelin, Floyd, Hendrix and other stuff I’d started listening to around 1977, and I didn’t care at all for Journey, REO Speedwagon, Styx, etc. Even Zeppelin’s “In Through the Out Door” was a disappointment. And then Molly Hatchet came along, and that was fine, until it very quickly wasn’t. I turned to jazz fusion and eventually other stuff.
Anyway, I usually don’t participate in these kinds of threads because of the negativity (I’d rather talk about things I like, music and otherwise), but it’s interesting how irritating music can be. I’ve found that some people, maybe most, are much more adventurous about what they’ll put in their mouths than their ears (food vs. music).
My contribution to the thread is “Lucky Number” by Lena Lovitch. Also, I’ll go out of my way to avoid listening to angry rap that has shouting instead of actual singing.
That’s one of the few of his i like !!
in play…
Mickey by Toni Basil
When funnyman Dave Barry asked readers about their least favorite tunes, he thought he was penning just another installment of his weekly syndicated humor column. But the witty writer was flabbergasted by the response when over 10,000 readers voted. “I have never written a column that got a bigger response than the one announcing the Bad Song Survey,” Barry wrote.
If you are of the right age to recognize the songs (1960 – 1990 tunes), I highly recommend this book.
My sincerest apologies. As penance I looked up the song and listened to the whole thing. (ok, actually I just listed to the first half. There is only so much a man can endure). But I am now feeling your pain.
He’s gone full on angel wing (or bat wing, if you prefer).
In the late 1990s, there was an extremely saccharine ballad called “Butterfly Kisses” by singer named Bob Carlisle. I think it was supposed to be a father’s tribute to his daughter who was getting married or something like that. It was a Christian song that had several gratuitous mentions of Jesus, but somehow it ended up on Top 40 radio also.
I realize that this response is on the borderline of violating the OP’s requirement that the song be ubiquitous, but it was played enough at the time that I think it qualifies. It was such an overwhelmingly awful song, even its current complete lack of airplay does not disqualify it.
No, I will not provide a YouTube or Wikipedia link.
Oh, that reminds me of this nightmare. Argh.
“On the Road Again.” I hate Willie Nelson’s voice and always have.
“Red Red Wine” by UB40. The group has other songs that are pretty good, but that one, which is by far their most popular, I can’t stand.
Hands down, it’s “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro. I won’t link to it, but jeez louise, does it suck!!