The first few times I heard “Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band as a kid I thought it was really cool. It seemed to come on the radio no more than 3 times a year. It was An Event, loaded with the hippie credibility I got turned onto as a young boy. A few years later, well before some Hair Metal band covered it in the 1980s, the song had worn out its welcome. It was emblamatic of the embarrassing sides of hippiedom. I severely regretted ever liking it.
You may consider the type of song I’m looking for in this thread the opposite of a guilty pleasure. What’s a once-pleasurable song that you now feel ashamed for ever having liked—and leave your favorite Sesame Street songs out of it, OK? We’re talking rock ‘n roll.
I look forward to your airings of shame.
“MacArthur Park” by Richard Harris. It was the drugs, I swear.
I was addicted to the HAIR soundtrack when I was like 11 or so, even after I read rolling Stone’s comment that it was “what the squares thought the 60s were about,” but I’m not entirely sure I’m ashamed of it.
I really liked “Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr. back in the day, when I was 10.
I liked “In the Navy” by the Village People a lot. Also The Blues Brothers’ Briefcase Full of Blues album, particularly “Soul Man” and “Rubber Biscuit.” For some reason, I am more embarrassed about my affinity for the latter group.
There are probably some I wouldn’t want to hear again, but I can’t imagine regretting once liking something and growing out of it.
On the other hand I can remember when I was about ten a slightly older friend played me a Queen album and Argus by Wishbone Ash. I told him that I preferred Slade and T Rex and he told me that one day I’d grow out of stupid kids’stuff and listen to real music instead.
Coincidentally, I listened to Slade’s Greatest Hits at the weekend – I would still trade the entire Queen and Wishbone Ash back catalogues for the single of Mama Weer All Crazee Now.
I can handle Wishbone Ash but Queen is just stupid.
I’m gonna go with the first 45 I ever bought with my own money and say Americn Pie by Don McClean. Maybe it’s not as bad as I think, but in fifth grade I thought it was Deep And Meaningful. I knew who some of the people mentioned were, and I thought I should try to figure out who the other people were. So maybe I owe it something, but not much.
My favorite song is actually an old, scratchy 45 of Indian Reservation by Paul Revere and the Raiders. I still hear the skips and scratches and when they get to the line, “Though I wear a shirt and tie,” I keep singing, “shirt and tie, shirt and tie, shirt and tie,” and I still crack up that he will keep wearing yet another shirt and tie until someone bumps the record player.
I regret nothing.
The first 45 that I bought was Come Sail Away by Styx. I suppose that I’m not too embarrassed by that. But I am embarrassed that I then went out and bought the Grand Illusion album.
I admire your honesty and self-scrutiny but only songs you are wholly ashamed of initially liking qualify in this thread:)
What was the turning point, if you don’t mind me asking, the moment when you realized you were ashamed for ever having liked it? And how did it make you feel?
Yes, the shame you would feel was righteous. Can you share with us the moment when you turned on this album or how it made you feel? Thanks.
Well, Mr. Mod, the time I realized that it wasn’t such a great song was I started really getting into music, my early high school years. The thing is though is that I still like the song because of the pleasant memories it reminds me of. Another song from that time which I still like is B.J. Thomas’ “Rock & Roll Lullabye”.
I don’t have any Queen or Wishbone Ash, but I got a bunch of T. Rex & Slade CDs.
I think the UK singles charts in 1972 were a lot more interesting than here in the States. “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper was probably the balliest single here.
“Lucretia McEvil” by BS&T. Now I feel like crawling under the bed.
For me, Argus is the one enjoyable Wishbone Ash album.
OK, then, how about Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice,” which I actually remember saying “this is exactly my kind of song” when I first heard it? Thesse days I can’t hear anything by that band without cringing.
SHAMEFUL – but exactly the sort of shameful rock ‘n roll puppy love experience I’m hoping we can work through! Thank you. I hope you feel better soon.
This actually hurts me, too, which is good. I try hard to forget that I liked that song when it first came out. The choral breakdown sent shivers up my spine, much like the breakdown in Manfred Mann’s “Blinded By the Light,” a puppy love number I can still stand behind.
Tonyola — we REACH back in time.
Hard to say because I became a big KISS fan around the same time. And the first album I spent my own money on was Alice Cooper’s greatest hits. So early on, I guess it was about rock guitars and bombastic presentation. Are songs about spacemen inherently goofier than b-movie horror props or band members throwing up blood and spitting fire? Probably not. Maybe it’s that Mr Roboto (which I hated upon first hearing it), was so bad that it made me feel shame for having liked anything by Styx. Who knows, maybe if I ever listen to the Elder by KISS, I’ll never want to hear Black Diamond again. Or maybe if the Replacements had covered Blue Collar Man, I might have been able to revisit the Styx catalog with less of a tainted view.
“In The Navy” was harmless pop fluff. My mom even liked it at the time.
“Briefcase…” is more problematic. It set the template for 30 years of crappy “blues” bands that still clog up bar stages nationwide.
I suggest that a Saturday Night Shut-In be devoted to the worst songs suggested in this thread.
I will take that suggestion under advisement! Let me see how many of these crap songs I can acquire.
I used to be totally into Vanilla Fudge. There, I feel better now.
I was in a bar band that played the long version of Fudge’s “You Keep Me Hanging On”. As the keyboard player, I had the most fun with that song.
Greased Lightning from the Grease Soundtrack. Ok, I admit it, the whole friggin album. I didn’t decode the lurid content of the lyrics until much later in life.
Don’t think it was designed with ten year old Slade fans in mind, though.
I could make a strong case for 72 being the greatest summer holiday music-wise ever, with Bowie, T Rex, Sweet and Slade at the height of their powers, plus School’s Out, Silver Machine, Layla, All The Young Dudes, You Wear It Well, Conquistador and In A Broken Dream all in the top twenty within a six week period. In the space of about five months Roy Wood alone went from the Move’s California Man, through ELO with 10538 Overture, and by the end of the year coming out with Wizzard’s Ball Park Incident.
And how’s about this then guys and gals?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baMaOTrNes8
I’ve just dredged up from the dark recesses of memory a particular fondness for Chuck Berry’s My Ding a Ling, which was a huge hit over here. That’s the closest to being ashamed I’m going to admit to.
Looked through my box of 45s. 1974 is the 1st year I bought any records (my Mom’s original 50’s singles are there, including some good ones).
“Sundown” Gordon Lightfoot
“Rikki Don’t Lose that Number” Steely Dan
“Rock the Boat” Hughes Corporation
“Loco-Motion” Grand Funk
But the worst is …
“The Streak” Ray Stevens
That’s a pretty good reason to be ashamed, but the person who should be most contrite should be Chuck Berry for releasing that juvenile turd.
I don’t think Steely Dan or Hughes Corporation should be marks of shame, especially for a stinker year like 1974.
“Blue Collar Man” by the ‘Mats coulda worked. I actually have Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight and Cornerstone down in the cellar. I haven’t been willing to approach them yet.
…and Sundown is shameful. Now I’ve heard everything.
Actually I’m OK with the Dan and Gordo. “The Streak” is a novelty song good for the 10 year old crowd. I guess I’m embarrassed by “Rock the boat, baby, don’t rock the boat, don’t tip the boat over”.
k., “Rock the Boat” is all good, man, nothing to be ashamed of. (At least I hope not, because I still dig that song.)
Right, and it’s not like people listened to soul music for lyrical sophistication and fine poetic imagery. Leave those qualities to the Paul Simons and Joni Mitchells of the world, and just enjoy the Hughes music and beat.
Rock the Boat kicks ass! I used to hate that song when it came out but I love it now. Non believers: just focus on the drum track and the rest falls into place.
And Sundown is awesome too. Non believers: start by focusing on the bass and then wait for that lead guitar to come in. The rest will start to make sense.
I wouldn’t go down in your cellar at all. Way too scary.
“Sundown” has its musical merits, but talk about an artist who sounds like a musty old roll-neck cardigan!
I’ll also stick up for Rikki and Sundown. Sundown really stuck in my head when I was a kid. I am sure that album was on my parents’ record shelf. Rikki is very, very cool.
I’m with the pro-Rock The Boat crew here, and have no shame about enjoying Sundown in particular and the Gord in general.
I don’t mind those songs either. I enjoy the A-Bones’ cover of “Rock the Boat”, which takes it into Bo territory.
Another song from ’74 that I remember well was Pilot’s “Magic”. I got a hold of some old issues of Rock Marketplace, which surprisingly talked about Pilot being a great power pop group.
I’m pretty sure the worst one is “Jane” by Jefferson Starshit. That guitar solo is a feckin abomination that is almost so over the top that it’s entertaining. I remember really liking a girl named Jane, and since I could never master those puffy 70s letters kids wrote in their notebooks, had to sing these sorts of things to myself.
I feel like my biggest shame is not initially liking the Who very much, it took me well into high school to dig them.
It’s a bit harsh to beat oneself up for not getting quite tricky music when young, rather like failing to appreciate the finer nuances of James Joyce’s Ulysses as a five-year-old wrestling with the concept of cats sitting on mats. Particularly if, like me, your introduction to the Who was Quadrophenia rather than the catchy pop singles.
I think I was associating the music with the yobs in my school who liked screaming along with Won’t Get Fooled Again, and such.
I think I’d have to choose “Signs” too. About the only songs that would come close as far as horrible self-righteous, lame-brained hippie lyrics go would be “San Franciscan Nights” or “Sky Pilot” by the Animals. I still like both of them musically though. “Signs” doesn’t do anything for me anymore.
My parents had the original London cast recording (now I have it too somewhere – great bifold psychedelic cover) and as a VERY young child, we listened to it constantly (even scarier – my siblings are younger than me and they listened to it, too). I had no idea what they were talking about, but especially loved “Good Morning, Starshine.” Fast forward years later to a road trip not completely unlike that of John Cusack’s in “The Sure Thing” and my friend Kathleen was acting a la the Tim Robbins role. She whipped out the Hair soundtrack and I started to sing along, but was suddenly rather surprised to realize what those phonemes amounted to. I must admit that I still love that soundtrack.
Just last week I was talking with an 8th gr. student who said he was going with his parents, grandmother and younger brother to see a production here in SF. I asked if he had HEARD the music before, and he and I had a good giggle thinking about grandma and younger brother singing along to the words.
This morning, listening to a disc of Liverpool bands, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax” came on. Granted, I was not a kid when this song was released, instead just a younger and more naive lass. I loved it (and my roomate at the time bought the Welcome to the Pleasure Dome double (?) album)! When it came out there was some statistic about it’s immense popularity and that something like 4 out of 5 Brits had a copy.
Today, I listened and cringed. At least “Two Tribes” has some political content (ha ha).
I remember thinking “Two Tribes” was somewhat profound. What an idiot I was.
Glad to see some positivity towards Gord. He seems like too easy of a target. But, I’ve rarely found his music to be embarrassing or fraudulent.
It was his only #1 hit, so good for him for releasing it, turd that it is. I have a bigger problem with bands like Rush releasing juvenile crap based around the juvenile ideas of Ayn Rand, and being dumb enough to think they are being lyrically profound…In fact, that’s a major problem with many prog-types. Certainly a much bigger problem than novelty songs.
Yow. I got a bunch of 80’s gay-leaning clubby new wave from a neighborhood street sale when I told him I do not discard vinyl. As bad as “Relax” and “2 Tribes” are, the rest of that 2 album set is some seriously overproduced crap.
Or worse, the “THEY’RE ALL WASTED!” shout at the end of “Baba O’Riley”, because, “Heh heh, being wasted is cool! Heh heh heh…”
I owned and liked three Jackson Browne albums in junior high…and, god help me, a live Jimmy Buffet album…and it was a double album.
Double-live Buffet? Brother, that took a lot to share. I am sense a healing power sweeping across the Hall!
Well, if it was 20 years ago, rather than 34 or 35, I’d feel A LOT worse about it! Yeah, that was the most shameful inclusion in the singer-songwriter phase I went through for about a year or so….I think I tried to keep that one to myself at the time (didn’t try to get friends to listen to it…unless Chicken remembers differently), so I must have felt some shame even then…
Is that an all-you-can-eat-buffet?
I admit to seeing Jackson Browne and Jimmy Buffet together LIVE. But I can’t feel ashamed because I was there only to see the opener Warren Zevon.
OK, my regret is KISS ALIVE, it might have even been the first album I bought for myself. I seem to recall the record department clerk directing me to Born to Run instead but for some reason I did not take the advice. I never did become a big follower of Bruce! But the Kiss appreciation thankfully did not make it into my teens.
I know that album, and it’s called You Had to Be There. I was acquainted with his road manager at the time: Steve “Hobbit” Humphrey who’s in the group shot on the back cover. You can see part of Hobbit’s “Piss Ant” T-shirt – the “Piss Ants” were an informal group of heads, partiers, and mayhem-instigators at the University of Florida back then. In fact, the chief Piss-Ant – the late Big Al or KPAN (King Piss Ant of the North) – gave me the nickname “Tonyola”, which I’ve used as a stage and online name ever since.
We used to joke that Jimmy Buffett’s long-lost and little-known brother played at Holiday Inns all over America. You could even see his name on the sign – “Noon Buffet”
I saw Buffett quite a few times when he put on free concerts at University of Florida in the ’70s. He was more of a rocker then. I’ve mentioned that I saw him in 1980 with the Eagles as a double-billing.
I would never willingly listen to Rush, but their music is better than Rand’s prose. It hurt my eyes.
Uh, no. At least the progsters that you revile so much are attempting to reach for something. Berry was pandering in the very worst way, and he was shamelessly degrading both himself and his talent. Worse yet, the recording was obviously doctored – the crowd-singing sounds way too “coached” for a real live event. As for Rush and Rand, it’s hard to argue with your point, but a lot of the messages in ’60s psychedelic and revolution music were just as juvenile.
I’m not saying I’m a big fan of the song, but it’s important to remember that Berry was reviving an obscure R&B classic originally recorded by the great Dave Bartholomew in 1952.
I missed that you mentioned that. No wonder your face looks like that.
Oopsie!
I’d done my best to steer clear of this topic. But I stupidly and drunkenly gave fetid Hawaii radio a chance just now to be my shower soundtrack. Deservedly so I soon heard a song that made me reflexively belt along:
“I was no where in sight
when the church bells rang.
Never was the kind to do as I was told.
Gonna ride like the wind before I get old.”
Being 11 when that song was released is almost an excuse. Hiding behind “Hey, at least it’s not ‘Sailing'” at 43yrs old is worse than an excuse.
“I blame myself.” – Georgi Festrunk
aloha
LD
in college the only way we could bear listening to the fudge’s “hanging on” was to play it at 45 rpm with the pitch control turned as low as possible to minimize the chipmunk effect. viola, psychedelic supremes.
33 to 45 is also a good way so see if a song will work as a punk cover. I’ve kept almost all of my mistaken record purchases, but that VF album really got my goat and had to go quickly. And yes, it was the one with You Keep Me Hanging On. Ugh.
that album is truly a turd, though it’s still taking up space in my collection. vanilla fudge played in the chicago area this month with 3 of 4 original members in tow. the listing in time out described them as “hard rock pioneers,” which is a bit of a stretch. their appearance inspired a quick you tube search that yielded this surprisingly entertaining video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhGGTCV8_wg&feature=related
That’s an unbelievable video!