# What's the worst song ever that reached #1? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170 "2020-04-06T04:28:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/21 "2020-04-06T07:04:50Z")
There were some awful ones, including at least one Partridge Family offering, but I have to go with “Candyman” by Sammy Davis, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/22 "2020-04-06T08:04:20Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [It only made #4 on the Hot 100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achy_Breaky_Heart#Weekly_charts). Billy Ray didn’t have a #1 until he guested on “Old Town Road” last year. Wow! I’m shocked. I never got so tired of a song as that one. It makes me throw up in my mouth alittle. :smack: ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/23 "2020-04-06T08:08:12Z")
Over at [Stereogum](https://www.stereogum.com/), they have the tri-weekly [The Numbers Ones](https://www.stereogum.com/category/franchises/the-number-ones/)column where all the #1 Billboard singles since 1958 are reviewed. Right now, the column is up to 1980 and so far, Paul Anka’s **“You’re Having My Baby”** from 1974 ranks at the bottom with Donny Osmond’s 1972 cover of “Go Away Little Girl” not far behind. Although there have been some other #1 songs that annoy me almost as much, I have to agree with Stereogum’s assessment of Anka’s failed attempt at being a sensitive male. I’m not posting a link to the song because I have a sense of basic human decency. Instead, here’s Stereogum’s review. [https://www.stereogum.com/2045758/the-number-ones-paul-ankas-youre-having-my-baby-feat-odia-coates/franchises/the-number-ones/](https://www.stereogum.com/2045758/the-number-ones-paul-ankas-youre-having-my-baby-feat-odia-coates/franchises/the-number-ones/) ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/24 "2020-04-06T08:10:59Z")
A lot of these are pretty tame where “Worst Ever” is concerned, I think. Maybe we just have a greater capacity for the truly, cataclysmically dire here in the UK, but _In the Year 2525_ really isn’t that bad. Especially when you consider _There’s No-one Quite Like Grandma_ by St. Winifred’s School Choir, _Grandad_ by Clive Dunn, or _Mr. Blobby_ by Mr. Bobby. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/25 "2020-04-06T08:12:22Z")
Duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/26 "2020-04-06T08:21:05Z")
“The Woody Woodpecker Song” hit number in 1948. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/27 "2020-04-06T08:22:03Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > A lot of these are pretty tame where “Worst Ever” is concerned, I think. Maybe we just have a greater capacity for the truly, cataclysmically dire here in the UK, but _In the Year 2525_ really isn’t that bad. > > Especially when you consider _There’s No-one Quite Like Grandma_ by St. Winifred’s School Choir, _Grandad_ by Clive Dunn, or _Mr. Blobby_ by Mr. Bobby. The UK chart, until fairly recently, was 100% based on sales, whereas the Hot 100 was always a hybrid of sales and airplay. (Both charts now include streaming as well.) As a result, it was a lot easier for novelty songs to chart in the UK - perhaps most prominently demonstrated when “Killing in the Name” beat out a Miley Cyrus cover to become the Christmas #1 in 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/28 "2020-04-06T09:16:44Z")
\*Shaddap You Face \*by Joe Dolce, the song that kept \*Vienna \*by Ultravox forever a #2. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/29 "2020-04-06T09:18:44Z")
The Carpenters’ “Close to You” is really pretty awful. If anyone but Karen Carpenter had sung it, it would have sunk like a rock. It’s really her voice that made it to #1, not Burt Bacharach’s lyrics. But just to make sure, I listened to “Honey” again. Well, about 25 seconds of it. Yup, that’s the worst. I have to put “Close to You” at #2. “Close to You” is sort of the _Plan 9 from Outer Space_ of pop songs, which means it does have entertainment value, just unintended. “Honey” is someone telling a story, but singing it. A really boring, stupid story you are looking around, trying to find an excuse to walk away from. “Oops,” there’s my bus. Yeah, tree. You’ll meet someone else. Don’t call me, I’ll call you." ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/30 "2020-04-06T09:20:27Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > “The Woody Woodpecker Song” hit number in 1948. The Baby Boomers were in kindergarten. Whaddaya expect? ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/31 "2020-04-06T09:32:43Z")
Hal David’s lyrics, right? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/32 "2020-04-06T09:41:08Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > OK… “Solid as a Rock” was pretty fucking awful and I think it was #1 on some charts for some godawful reason. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > \*Shaddap You Face \*by Joe Dolce, the song that kept \*Vienna \*by Ultravox forever a #2. My two picks are taken. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/33 "2020-04-06T09:47:10Z")
All right, let’s get some teamwork together here. I need someone from Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, or Switzerland to get in here and nominate [“What’s Up” 4 Non Blondes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Non_Blondes). I’m surprised to see that even though this is an American band, the song actually performed better on international charts than the U.S. one. I guess we Americans just have better taste than the rest of y’all. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/34 "2020-04-06T10:06:21Z")
100% thought this would just be people saying The Macarena over and over again ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/35 "2020-04-06T10:38:34Z")
Nobody’s mentioned #1 in classical music. I submit Pachelbel’s Canon, which is nothing more than a descending major scale. It started charting back in the 70s, and has remained near the top ever since. People actually play it for their weddings. I have a CD called “Pachelbel’s Greatest Hit”, singular. It contains various arrangements of that horrid piece. I’ve never played that CD all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![jerez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@jerez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerez)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/36 "2020-04-06T10:44:52Z")
Lou Bega’s version of [Mambo no. 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK_LN3XEcnw) (_A little bit of Monica…_) got kind of irritating. Wish I could mention something more recent. No, wait, that’s why I stopped listening to pop radio, so I’m thankful I can’t mention anything more recent. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/37 "2020-04-06T12:05:52Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned #1 in classical music. I submit Pachelbel’s Canon, which is nothing more than a descending major scale. It started charting back in the 70s, and has remained near the top ever since. People actually play it for their weddings. > > I have a CD called “Pachelbel’s Greatest Hit”, singular. It contains various arrangements of that horrid piece. I’ve never played that CD all the way through. [Funny audio sketch](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSK3pZiyV28) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/38 "2020-04-06T12:37:22Z")
James Blunt’s _ **You’re Beautiful** _. There are more vomit-inducing songs around (like _ **All for Love** _, _ **Nine Million Bicycles,** _ _ **All I Wanna Do** _), but how this turd rose to No. 1 is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/39 "2020-04-06T13:26:19Z")
People in this thread are naming a lot of good or at least decent songs. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/40 "2020-04-06T13:57:19Z")
I wanted to say _Muskrat Love_, but it never got higher than #4, which is still more than it deserved. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=3)