The worst pop song ever

Neal Schon played with Santana at Woodstock at age 15, which has always for me given Journey a musical pass.

I think Anne Murray would've been a brilliant vocal lead choice over Steve Perry.

 

Exact same year, as a matter of fact. I love listening to "Joy" after rediscovering it during the wedding scene of "The 40-year-old Virgin"

 

I have never seen or heard that before, and sort of wish i never did.

 

Just give me that old time nu metal,
The kind of music that had no soul
There was Fred Durst saying yo
That old time nu metal

 

It answers the unasked question, "What ever happened to Bill Wyman's solo career?"

 

Not much holding power, but had all the other boxes checked.

Not much of a British Invasion III in the Bill Clinton '90s.

 

That's a long way from a worst list.

 

Good god. That's an appalling list.

 

The first honest to God rock show (as in not at the high school gym) I saw was Deep Purple on that tour, with Fleetwood Mac opening. That's a strong album. Even "Smoke" wasn't so bad before you'd heard it a thousand times.

 

As a now-retired wordsmith, I like songs with interesting lyrics. Lyrically, I think “Smoke on the Water” is weak. Yeah, I know, it describes an actual event, but it’s an event I don’t care about. “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” it ain’t.

The song has an opening riff that that really gets your attention, and then it unspools that dumb story. Moreover, Ritchie Blackmore takes that riff and hits you on the head with it, over and over. The fact that it’s in the daily rotation of every classic rock station in America amplifies that fact.

Blackmore has said he didn’t care about songwriting during the period. Historically, the songs of Deep Purple Mark II were basically a showcase for his guitar work.

Blackmore is a talented musician, as are/were Ian Pace and Jon Lord. I don’t care much for Ian Gillian’s style. Unfortunately (IMO), Lord’s musical prominence in the band faded notably in Mark II. Mark I relied on song covers too much, but I preferred the sound of that lineup – Lord’s Hammond and Rod Evans’ vocals gave it atmosphere.

But I will acknowledge that yes, “Smoke on the Water” is not the worst pop song ever. It’s merely mediocre.