inexplicably popular songs you can't fucking stand

[Red Celt]

Back in the early 80s, I went on holiday to Spain with my mum and dad. While there, sitting around the hotel swimming pool drinking sangria (I was a kid, but it was fruity enough for my parents to allow me a little) listening to the strangest, quirkiest track that we'd ever heard. It was the theme music for that entire holiday, indelibly entrenched. It even had its own silly dance that the Spanish waiters would join in on... although, merely 11, I was more interested in the Spanish waitresses. This strange little song was so adored by 11 year old me, that I convinced my parents to buy the single before we left to come home.

When we got back to the UK, I discovered that the song had gotten there before us.

For several decades afterwards, it had a guaranteed play spot at every wedding reception/family party thereafter. Including the fucking dance. I very quickly grew to hate it. Not just the song, and the dance, but the fact that the idealised summer holiday no longer had a theme song that belonged to it.

Fuck it very much.

[hadespussercats]

"She's got electric boots,
A mohair suit,
You know I read it
in a magazine,

Ohhh, B-b-b-benny and the Jets."

You don't like this? You're dead to me. Dead to me, I tells ya!

Where did I say I didn't like it?

Sorry, I missed the context.

Hades, how could you?

Anyway ...

"Bridge Over Troubled Waters": Why is this song so popular? Why, when S & G had so many other great songs?

I refuse to apologize!

As for BOTW, I think everyone really felt like Garfunkel had to have his own very special episode, so he wouldn't feel so much like a back-up singer.

It's not a great song, but I'm fond of it. Childhood memories.

[hadespussercats]

Anything that Vanilla Ice did, but particularly his obscene mangling of a Queen classic.

(Rum, you are so off base about Queen. One of the greatest bands ever, with far more musical sophistication than some ungrateful wretches have recognised here).

"Under Pressure" is my favorite pop song. Well, it's tied with "Solsbury Hill."

[hadespussercats]

"Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp

"Pinball Wizard" by The Who

"Come Together" by The Beatles

"Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones

I don't really get The Who.

Eh. They're okay, I guess.

I also don't get Steely Dan.

[tattuchu]

"Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp

"Pinball Wizard" by The Who

"Come Together" by The Beatles

"Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones

I don't really get The Who.

Eh. They're okay, I guess.

I also don't get Steely Dan.

I was into progressive rock and new wave, so The Who was everything I hated about rock music- just another dinosaur band as far as I was concerned. But I like some of their later stuff, and I absolutely love the song "Eminence Front."

Steely Dan is kinda strange in that I think they're technically flawless and I admire them for that. And I do like their songs when I hear them on the radio, quite a bit in fact. And yet for some reason I just can't generate a lot of passion for them. I guess the music just doesn't speak to me.

[Robert_S]

Celine Dion doing anything.

Celine Dion is the most wonderful female singer of all time!

Kristie always telling the best jokes!

This is no joke. I take my love of Celine Dion very seriously.

Damn her eyes! She took this perfectly good song from the '50s:



And made a sappy boring drawn out whine-fest of it.

[hadespussercats]

"Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellencamp

"Pinball Wizard" by The Who

"Come Together" by The Beatles

"Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones

I don't really get The Who.

Eh. They're okay, I guess.

I also don't get Steely Dan.

I was into progressive rock and new wave, so The Who was everything I hated about rock music- just another dinosaur band as far as I was concerned. But I like some of their later stuff, and I absolutely love the song "Eminence Front."

Steely Dan is kinda strange in that I think they're technically flawless and I admire them for that. And I do like their songs when I hear them on the radio, quite a bit in fact. And yet for some reason I just can't generate a lot of passion for them. I guess the music just doesn't speak to me.

I just... I've spent so much time over the years with people who practically worshipped Steely Dan "Oh they're so amazing, blah blah." And... they sound so smoothed over they're like Muzak to me. I just don't get anything. No response.

I feel sorta similar about Pat Metheny, though I've seen him play and I do get a kick out of his sheer virtuosity. But his taste is not mine.

[hadespussercats]

Oh. Tattuchu, I have a feeling you might disagree, but-- Queensryche! Why does anyone care about Queensryche?

[JimC]

Achy-Breaky Heart

We've finally come up with one I can't stand either!

[redunderthebed]

Anything on the top 40 although i did get some old top 40 stuff stuck in my head and grew to like due to the fact i worked in a small factory that insisted on having the radio going i cannot block out noises in fact if i try i hate it even more

I met billy ray cyrus when i was a kid i had no choice in it dont hate me

[Cormac]

Celine Dion doing anything.

Spot on Zilla.

If anything would convince me that Icke is right, and the world is run by lizard people in disguise it is that long streak of misery Celine Dion.

[Audley Strange]

Okay I am particularly fond of Queen and especially their first five albums. (Though the Prophet's Song on Night at the Opera is a terrible slog.) "You're my Best Friend" is a magnificent pop song.

I thought I was the only one who thought this. It nearly ruins the whole album. The harmonies are god-awful. Which is very strange because harmonies were ordinarily Queen's strong point

It destroys the whimsy of that album.

[Kristie]

Celine Dion doing anything.

Spot on Zilla.

If anything would convince me that Icke is right, and the world is run by lizard people in disguise it is that long streak of misery Celine Dion.

You've gotta admit, the woman has one hell of a voice! She has an incredible range and a hellacious set of lungs! For such a tiny woman, she sure can belt it out! Her song choices aren't everyone's style, but her singing talent is undeniable.

[rachelbean]

I can appreciate as a student of vocals that she has a natural talent/ability and amazing control, but it doesn't make her songs any easier to listen to

[tattuchu]

Yeah, Steely Dan is a little too polished, I guess.

Oh. Tattuchu, I have a feeling you might disagree, but-- Queensryche! Why does anyone care about Queensryche?

That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time. I think I may have had one of their albums many years ago. I remember liking it. But I remember also not feeling the need to buy another.