The Five Songs You Never-Ever Wanna Hear Again

[MisterCreosote]

I once saw a band play the "Gilligan's Island" theme to the tune of "Born to Run," and they made it work, too. ... Crowd ate it up.

Never really need to hear that done again, but for that one night it was pretty cool.

Along those lines, the bit Chris Cornell used to do with singing Metallica's "One" to the tune of U2's "One" was super awkward and ultimately pointless.

 

[Huggy]

I saw Chuck Berry at the Missouri State Fair in 1988. He looked old, likely was drunk, could barely play and interrupted three different songs to yell at the drummer. "Whose show is this? You think this is your show? It's my forking show."

Only show I have ever walked out of was a disastrous oldies thing Chuck headlined not long after the SkyDome opened in 1989. Jerry Lee and Fats Domino were supposed to be on the bill but both mysteriously came down with some illness the day of the show (I doubt they were ever confirmed in the first place).

Anyway, Little Richard killed and Frankie Valli wasn't bad. A message it posted on the jumbotron that Chuck will not go on stage if the video screens were on. This doesn't go over well with people in that cavernous place and after a while (and another pile of cash, no doubt) Chuck decides to come out with video. He's hostile from the start, bitching at the band and after after playing "Sweet Little Sixteen" twice within the first four songs, me and many others said fork it and headed out.

 

[Huggy]

Lou Gramm also had a darn good rocker on his own with "Midnight Blue" in 1987 ...

One of the great lost clashics of the 80s.

 

[qtlaw]

3. Tom Sawyer by Rush ... there's only one good (all time great) song by Rush ...

My freaking freshman dorm roomie played that song every DAY!!! I hated it by week one

 

[misterbc]

1. Sometimes When We Touch….already mentioned and the Gold standard of crap songs.

2. Taxi…just don't like it
3. Clap for the Wolfman…..I love the Guess Who but this is garbage.
4. Helpless….Neil has written some loser tunes and this is one.
5. Fortunate Son….used to like it but it's frigging everywhere now.

Lots of Canadian content.

 

[qtlaw]

I'll be the contrarian here and fess up, I enjoy probably most of the top vote getters here (Loverboy (great college party time signal on Friday afternoon); Precious and Few (early slow dance in 5th grade)) and have them in one playlist or another.

Mostly because they make up the soundtrack of my youth and those were fun times, I danced and didn't care about the actual lyrics (I was/am not a critic, just a boy by the radio).

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

One of the great lost clashics of the 80s.

I'm pretty sure Mick Jones was mad that was a huge hit b/c it was such a great song that he felt Foreigner could have/should have recorded. Thus Mick responded by doing his own solo album, which was an absolute turd. There were few bigger bombs in the MTV era. He had Mick Jagger, Billy Joel & Carly Simon (among others) appearing on the record and it lasted like one or two weeks on the charts. tl;dr Lou Gramm is Foreigner.

 

[Huggy]

I'm pretty sure Mick Jones was mad that was a huge hit b/c it was such a great song that he felt Foreigner could have/should have recorded. Thus Mick responded by doing his own solo album, which was an absolute turd. There were few bigger bombs in the MTV era. He had Mick Jagger, Billy Joel & Carly Simon (among others) appearing on the record and it lasted like one or two weeks on the charts. tl;dr Lou Gramm is Foreigner.

Mick Jones had a solo album? Who knew.

 

[Batman]

To the surprise of no one here (but especially @Junkie & @Huggy) , I saw Loverboy on the state fair circuit 10 or so years ago. Despite Mike Reno pushing four bills, they were solid enough to a sparse-ish crowd that was making its way to and fro the fried dough stands, the midway games rigged so that you never win and everything in between. But I swear on all things holy, when drummer Matt Frenette banged the cowbell for Workin' For The Weekend, a thousand or so people sounded like 10,000 people. That's pretty cool, to be able to create a song that makes people spontaneously happy 30+ years (now 40+ years) and infinite listens later. They've made a solid living playing the hits as a lower-end act on packages at sheds and fairs well into their 60s (and 70s, in Paul Dean's case) and they'd still be the original quintet if not for the tragic drowning death of bashist Scott Smith in 2000. Yes, they have a limited skill set, but there are much worse career arcs.

References to Loverboy and Foreigner always bring me back to the "Foreigner Belt" episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

 

[justgladtobehere]

I liked Fleetwood Mac when Bob Welch was in the band -- a period that's mostly ignored today.

Personally, I can do without her.
I used to like her early stuff,
"Borderline"...
but once she got off with that
"Papa, Don't Preach" phase, I tuned out.

 

[Junkie]

Mick Jones had a solo album? Who knew.

Oh, come on. You know you just wanna hold it. (And that's all. I mean, don't listen to it.)

 

[Bubbler]

I'm pretty sure Mick Jones was mad that was a huge hit b/c it was such a great song that he felt Foreigner could have/should have recorded. Thus Mick responded by doing his own solo album, which was an absolute turd. There were few bigger bombs in the MTV era. He had Mick Jagger, Billy Joel & Carly Simon (among others) appearing on the record and it lasted like one or two weeks on the charts. tl;dr Lou Gramm is Foreigner.

This would have been 1987-88-ish? I think having Jagger and Simon on the record answers the question about relevancy, at least to anyone younger than Baby Boomer age at the time. I know I was clamoring for Foreigner solo projects when I was in high school back then. (Says the guy who had Heart's "Bad Animals" on cashette. Shhh! Shut up! Stop saying the quiet parts loud!)

When I think Mick Jones, I think the Clash long before I ever think of Foreigner's Mick Jones, who, by the way, did one of the worst solos ever on "Hot Blooded", one that gets praised for reasons I don't understand (the rhythm guitar in that song is what makes it).

They should do an album together, Keeping Up With The Joneses. (Rim shot ... 80s TV sitcom intro, etc.)