# Worst Vocal Performance On A Recorded Song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812 "2017-11-16T22:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![golffan1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@golffan1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/golffan1963)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/1 "2017-11-16T22:55:10Z")
My vote goes to a song I happened to hear last night: Taylor Swift’s version of “Last Christmas”. It is the WORST performance of any recorded song I have ever heard. Complete with her signature nasal tones, it’s shrill and from a non-professional standpoint, it sounds to me as if she is completely off key. It’s as if she went into the studio, cut the tune, told them to do with it what they want, and then got out of dodge. The performance is so bad, I’m shocked it was allowed to be distributed to the public. Agree, disagree, or provide your own examples…let me know what you come up with. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/2 "2017-11-16T23:04:08Z")
Are you unfamiliar with a fella named Syd Barrett, who I am a big fan of? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/srDHiOyunCA/hqdefault.jpg "syd barrett - if it's in you") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srDHiOyunCA) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/3 "2017-11-16T23:41:01Z")
In the mid-'80s, a fellah named Stevie B released [“Because I Love You (The Postman Song).”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0hmHGGAwzw) Bargain basement Michael Jackson. I swear he just recorded the vocal first, sans accompaniment, then the instruments were recorded, he is that off-key/off-timing. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/4 "2017-11-16T23:46:43Z")
Nena’s “99 Luftballons”, especially the alternate English-German version. UGH! ---
**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:** [November 16, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/5 "2017-11-16T23:50:07Z")
The dulcet tones of [Mrs. Miller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM). For Christmas music, Diana Krall managed to massacre most of the standards. And I usually like her jazz vocals. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/6 "2017-11-16T23:54:46Z")
Now that I think of it, I linked to The Shaggs doing It’s Halloween a few weeks ago. I won’t do it again here. Syd, and that song above in particular, is my vote in this category. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/7 "2017-11-16T23:57:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The dulcet tones of [Mrs. Miller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM). > > … Hey, did she also do a version of You Must Take The ‘A’ Train, or am I thinking of soeone else? ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/8 "2017-11-16T23:57:26Z")
Gotta go with a classic. “Louie Louie” had a certain class, and it had a beat. But I think it’s a vocal FAIL when you can’t understand at least one fourth of the words in the song (and you can’t, even when you know what they are). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2017, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/9 "2017-11-16T23:58:39Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The dulcet tones of [Mrs. Miller](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM). \ That’s about as bad as [Rockin’ Mae West](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Eol9g_TT4). ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/10 "2017-11-17T00:11:29Z")
“Bette Davis Eyes”…is Kim Carnes supposed to sound that bad? She reminds me of the time I had laryngitis for almost a month. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/11 "2017-11-17T00:27:45Z")
The sad thing is, when I’m not paying much attention to it, I actually like this song. But holy God. She can’t sing, and she fills space in what is already a short song by literally doubling every single lyric in the song. “Awful” doesn’t really cover it. Also, this thread caused me to watch the video for the first time. Didn’t help. [M.I.A. - Paper Planes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewRjZoRtu0Y) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/12 "2017-11-17T00:34:11Z")
I would go with almost anything with Steve Perry singing. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/13 "2017-11-17T00:37:52Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > “Bette Davis Eyes”…is Kim Carnes supposed to sound that bad? She reminds me of the time I had laryngitis for almost a month. ☹ Do you think she was riding Bonnie Tyler’s coattails? Is that even possible? ---
**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:** [November 17, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/14 "2017-11-17T00:44:15Z")
By all accounts, he was and remains a genuinely nice person, but **Gary Lewis’** actual singing voice was terrible. This never should have been released: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PzHUM1jPZ3E/hqdefault.jpg "Gary Lewis & the Playboys - Sealed with a Kiss") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzHUM1jPZ3E) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/15 "2017-11-17T00:45:21Z")
[quote=“bobot, post:2, topic:801812”] Are you unfamiliar with a fella named Syd Barrett, who I am a big fan of? [/QUOTE] Upon seeing this I of course knew this had to be “If it’s in you”. Even though it is 90% intentionally bad, the other half isn’t good, it’s just 10% actually horrible! (but I do like the semi-intentional double entendre of “please hold onto the steel rail”.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/16 "2017-11-17T00:52:13Z")
Okay, I thought that there was a lyric with an intentionally bad pathetic fallacy of “all the frogs croak ‘Henrietta’” which is an amazing dance upon the fine line between genius and crapitude since “Henrietta” is just an unaesthetic enough name that frogs might croak it ugligly, but apparently that ISN’T the real lyric. One of the many instances where my misheard lyric was better! ---
**Author:** ![golffan1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4af34b/32.png) [@golffan1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/golffan1963)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/17 "2017-11-17T01:10:49Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Even though it is 90% intentionally bad,) OP here…to clarify, my thought when posting was not to include recordings which were intentionally made to be poor. I used my example of Taylor Swift because it was a serious attempt at recording a song…one which went horribly wrong. Some good example posted…Kim Carnes (although I like that song)…Bonnie Tyler and Steve Perry…which I thought highly amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Deanna\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Deanna\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deanna_D)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/18 "2017-11-17T01:28:26Z")
I’d like to nominate a song that I actually like, by an artist that I actually love: All I Really Want from Alanis Morissette. I have a friend who's been trying (unsuccessfully) to get me to join in on a girl's night out at a local karaoke bar. If she ever talks me into it, this is the song I'm gonna do. No one will ever know if I'm actually off tune, or just doing an accurate version of this song. ---
**Author:** ![Cell\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@Cell\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cell_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/19 "2017-11-17T01:46:12Z")
Anything from Van Halen’s _Tokyo Dome Live In Concert_. DLR wasn’t the best singer in his prime—this album is just plain embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812/20 "2017-11-17T01:47:19Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Okay, I thought that there was a lyric with an intentionally bad pathetic fallacy of “all the frogs croak ‘Henrietta’” which is an amazing dance upon the fine line between genius and crapitude since “Henrietta” is just an unaesthetic enough name that frogs might croak it ugligly, but apparently that ISN’T the real lyric. One of the many instances where my misheard lyric was better! No frogs in that one, but there are cerainly lots of animal references/inspirations to a good lot of Syd’s songs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-vocal-performance-on-a-recorded-song/801812.md?page=2)