• Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Favorite song from a band you know sucks

And again, I'll emphasize that they weren't even a one-hit wonder. "Dance With Me" hit No. 6 in 1975; "Still the One" was No. 5 in 1976; and, "Love Takes Time" was No. 11 in 1979. Frankly, all three were very good pop.

But darn, they were flawed. LOL.

John Hall, the guy in the middle of the album cover, served two terms in Congress.
 
Mostly apropos of nothing but I remember Cannonball as one of a few quirky bottom half of the top 40 hits in the summer of '85.

Cannonball
Lucky, Greg Kihn Band
Getcha Back, Beach Boys
Crazy In The Night, Kim Carnes (that might have crept into the top 20)
19, Paul Hardcastle (almost sure that made the top 20)
C.I.T.Y., John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Bad
Find A Way, Amy Grant
Shame, The Motels
something by Graham Parker

Feels like this was really the last time unusual songs w/o a big video presence could crack the top 40.
Wow, haven't heard the "19" song in a long time. Great pull!
 
Mostly apropos of nothing but I remember Cannonball as one of a few quirky bottom half of the top 40 hits in the summer of '85.

Cannonball
Lucky, Greg Kihn Band
Getcha Back, Beach Boys
Crazy In The Night, Kim Carnes (that might have crept into the top 20)
19, Paul Hardcastle (almost sure that made the top 20)
C.I.T.Y., John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Bad
Find A Way, Amy Grant
Shame, The Motels
something by Graham Parker

Feels like this was really the last time unusual songs w/o a big video presence could crack the top 40.
Wow Graham Parker....talk about a pretty much forgotten name from the past. Rolling Stone went all brown bunny on him and thought so much of him they thought two of his albums - Squeezing Out Sparks and Howlin Wind - were two of the top 100 albums released from 1967 - 1987 (RS issue 507, Aug. 27, 1987 which I am staring at right now). These are ahead of albums which would probably be included on any such list of top albums from that era today: Zeppelin 4, Graceland, Moondance, Murmur, Electric Ladyland, Imagine, The River, Off the Wall, Ramones debut, Rumours, After the Gold Rush, Thriller (no. 85!!!!) and Bitches Brew.
 
Last edited:
Wow Graham Parker....talk about a pretty much forgotten name from the past. Rolling Stone went all brown bunny on him and thought so much of him they thought two of his albums - Squeezing Out Sparks and Howlin Wind - were two of the top 100 albums released from 1967 - 1987 (RS issue 507, Aug. 27, 1987 which I am staring at right now). These are ahead of albums which would probably be included on any such list of top albums from that era today: Zeppelin 4, Graceland, Moondance, Murmur, Electric Ladyland, Imagine, The River, Off the Wall, Ramones debut, Rumours, After the Gold Rush, Thriller (no. 85!!!!) and Bitches Brew.
Graham Parker has a role in "This is 40," the excellent Paul Rudd movie. The Rumor were outstanding, I've got some vinyl of them buried somewhere in my collection.
 
If we're talking 1980s hair bands, the song that best fits this category is "Talk Dirty to Me." Poison put out a whole lotta dreck, but they stumbled upon a good riff and somewhat decent lyrics with that one.
 
Wow Graham Parker....talk about a pretty much forgotten name from the past. Rolling Stone went all brown bunny on him and thought so much of him they thought two of his albums - Squeezing Out Sparks and Howlin Wind - were two of the top 100 albums released from 1967 - 1987 (RS issue 507, Aug. 27, 1987 which I am staring at right now). These are ahead of albums which would probably be included on any such list of top albums from that era today: Zeppelin 4, Graceland, Moondance, Murmur, Electric Ladyland, Imagine, The River, Off the Wall, Ramones debut, Rumours, After the Gold Rush, Thriller (no. 85!!!!) and Bitches Brew.

I think there's a pretty good case to be made for Squeezing Out Sparks on that list. That's a great album. I'm not as big on Howlin' Wind.

I would argue that Graham Parker's greatest album is The Mona Lisa's Sister from around 1986. Brilliant album that came and went largely without notice.
 
Folks. "Cherry Pie."

I was a teen and thought that was creepy. YMMV

One of my favorite musical stories is that Jani Lane insists the album was going to be called "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and that he wrote "Cherry Pie" in protest in like five minutes when the record company demanded it. Nobody is calling an album "Uncle Tom's Cabin." And while I could bore you all to tears w/how underrated the "Cherry Pie" album actually was and how sharp a songwriter Jani Lane could be, he also wrote dumb cork rock songs like the rest of us eat Swedish Fish.
 
I think there's a pretty good case to be made for Squeezing Out Sparks on that list. That's a great album. I'm not as big on Howlin' Wind.

I would argue that Graham Parker's greatest album is The Mona Lisa's Sister from around 1986. Brilliant album that came and went largely without notice.
The title track of that album is such a great track. That and Empty Lives are my favorite songs of his. But I also love Howlin' Wind.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top