# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/41 "2020-04-06T14:02:48Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > People in this thread are naming a lot of good or at least decent songs. Ummmm, for example? I reread the thread and do not see a one. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/42 "2020-04-06T14:11:08Z")
Of the songs I know [on this list](https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/all-the-number-1-singles__7931/) (and granted, I recognize very little from about 2000 forward and about 1963 back) I’m surprised to find things like “Men in Black” (4 weeks at #1), which may not be “the worst” but it was definitely not a good song. OTOH, “Ice Ice Baby” is definitely total dog shit. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/43 "2020-04-06T14:23:13Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > 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. 😛 ::needle screech:: _What?_ In a category that includes such epicallly craptastic works as “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” and “We Built This City”, you’re nominating “What’s Up”? A decent rock ballad with great, brassy vocals? 4 Non Blondes is still in my playlist, and I occasionally listen to “What’s Up”. It’s no “The Sound Of Silence”, but it’s a good song that’s nowhere near as soul-destroyingly hideous as some of the others mentioned here. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/44 "2020-04-06T14:28:48Z")
> [@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. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > [Funny audio sketch](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSK3pZiyV28) I was so excited to open this thread and name Pachelbel’s Canon, just to link to this! There have got to be dozens of artists in the same boat, who hate the one hit that everyone demands they play. I know Grace Slick _hates_ We Built This City (and rightly so). > [@Quimby](#): > > People in this thread are naming a lot of good or at least decent songs. You. In the back seat with the dogs, where you can’t reach the radio. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/45 "2020-04-06T14:31:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The #1 hit I loathe the most is _Honey_, by Bobby Goldsboro, which is such a revolting combination of maudlin, saccharine, and inanity I have to turn it the second I hear it. I have to go with this one. Rhyming “what the heck” with “hugged my neck”? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/46 "2020-04-06T14:46:15Z")
A lot of good ones here. I’ll nominate **Okie From Muscogee** , by Merle Haggard for a country tune. And **Ballad Of The Green Berets** , by Barry Sadler for pop charts. “Fighting men, who jump and die” always sounded like a poor career choice. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/47 "2020-04-06T14:49:07Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > That’s easy: “Disco Duck”, with a side of “Ringo” by Lorne Greene. I was going to vote “Disco Duck” as well, but, then again, it’s pretty clearly trying to be dumb, especially with the band name as “Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots,” so if sincerity is part of the equation for “worst,” I may have to disqualify it. But, yeah, it’s horrible. ---
**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, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/48 "2020-04-06T14:56:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was going to vote “Disco Duck” as well, but, then again, it’s pretty clearly trying to be dumb, especially with the band name as “Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots,” so if sincerity is part of the equation for “worst,” I may have to disqualify it. But, yeah, it’s horrible. “Disco Duck” is what’s called a “novelty song.” You might as well nominate “Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer,” or “Monster Mash.” ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/49 "2020-04-06T14:59:38Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > “Disco Duck” is what’s called a “novelty song.” You might as well nominate “Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer,” or “Monster Mash.” Of course, I know that. the former never made it close to #1, though. The latter, did. ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/50 "2020-04-06T14:59:44Z")
**Sugar Sugar** by The Archies spent 4 weeks as #1. Various stories claim that Don Kirshner tried to force it on The Monkees prior to assembling a studio band, leading to demands for more autonomy in their music. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/51 "2020-04-06T15:01:00Z")
> [@txjim](#): > > **Sugar Sugar** by The Archies spent 4 weeks as #1. Various stories claim that Don Kirshner tried to force it on The Monkees prior to assembling a studio band, leading to demands for more autonomy in their music. No! That’s a great bubblegum pop song! No one shall besmirch “Sugar Sugar” on my watch! ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/52 "2020-04-06T15:01:37Z")
Ugh, **96 Tears** by ? and the Mysterians has to be on this list. Heard it this weekend, it just _suuuuuuxked_. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/53 "2020-04-06T15:03:42Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > [Funny audio sketch](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aSK3pZiyV28) [Another funny Pachelbel sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkVQy7QLM) by Rob Paravonian. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/54 "2020-04-06T15:04:02Z")
This deep into the thread and nobody’s named “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero”? #1 both in the U.K. and the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.\* _Billy, don’t be a hero Don’t be a fool with your life Billy, don’t be a hero Come back and make me your wife_ If I remember correctly, “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero” was inducing nausea somewhere around the same time as “Seasons In The Sun”. Or maybe it was “The Night Chicago Died”. A time of horribleness. \*there were two different versions, one by Paper Lace and another by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods. Blurgghh. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/55 "2020-04-06T15:06:40Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Ugh, **96 Tears** by ? and the Mysterians has to be on this list. Heard it this weekend, it just _suuuuuuxked_. What is wrong with you people?!?!?!! 96 Tears is a garage rock classic ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/56 "2020-04-06T15:08:06Z")
_My Ding-a-Ling_, for two reasons 1. It’s a terrible piece of crap, the kind of thing that’s sung at frat parties 2. It’s Chuck Berry’s only #1 song, which represents all the injustice in the world ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/57 "2020-04-06T15:08:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What is wrong with you people?!?!?!! 96 Tears is a garage rock classic Agree. I love that song. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/58 "2020-04-06T15:11:38Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > _My Ding-a-Ling_, for two reasons > > 1. It’s a terrible piece of crap, the kind of thing that’s sung at frat parties > > 2. It’s Chuck Berry’s only #1 song, which represents all the injustice in the world OK, this one I can get behind. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/59 "2020-04-06T15:20:30Z")
:tweet tweet tweet: :chirp chirp chirp: [Lovin’ You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MmEVWI8Ieo)… Is it true that payola was the main reason that this glurge hit #1? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170/60 "2020-04-06T15:24:39Z")
“Bat Dance” by Prince has to be in the conversation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-song-ever-that-reached-1/851170.md?page=4)