Nov 032007
What’s the worst song (ie, let’s be clear, your least favorite) by three bands you love? Not four.
1. I can’t stand XTC’s version of “All Along the Watchtower”.
2. Although I like the beat, I strongly object to The Beatles’ “She’s a Woman”.
3. The Who’s “Eminence Front” makes me hate living.
To my ears there is nothing redeeming about choices 1 and 3.
Remember, THE least-favorite song by each of three bands you LOVE. Those caught violating the ground rules will receive an electronic wedgie.
I look forward to your responses.
Beatles: “She’s Leaving Home” (Just exactly what’s wrong with Paul McCartney, distilled into its purest essence)
Elvis Costello: “Shipbuilding” (Let’s be clear: fucking ACE song. But EC’s studio version is absolutely ruined by the inappropriate production, especially that damned Echoplex on Chet Baker’s trumpet solo. Which means that Robert Wyatt’s version is the canonical one. There are plenty of objectively lesser songs in EC’s catalogue, but none of them piss me off the way this one does.)
Scritti Politti: “She’s A Woman” (Far more indefensible than the Beatles’ original)
Steely Dan – Change of the Guard. I don’t care if they were new or finding their way or what. That song is dumb and it just sucks.
David Bowie – Let’s Spend the Night Together. I love Bowie. I especially love this era of Bowie. I love, love, LOVE The Stones, and I love, love LOVE that song. How did Dave just not get it at all?
Rolling Stones – Anyway You Look At It. This is the B-side to Saint of Me, a latter day song. Prior to the pathetic A Bigger Bang, this was the single, solitary Turd in the Punch Bowl for The Stones. Sure, they had some misses, but nothing as fucked up and awful as this until A Bigger Bang came along. Even with the release of that horrid album, this song still misses the whole point of what the Rolling Stones are. How the hell did they let that happen?
Great call on Bowie’s cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together”, 2k!
What, too much thought required? Too much negativity? Too much honesty? Must I mark this down in my diary of failed threads?
Lemme try and help out, Mr. Mod.
The Beatles- “P.S. I Love You.” A controversial choice, perhaps, but I stand by it. The Fabs get points for getting their low-point over with early on. On the other hand, I also have a low opinion of “The Long and Winding Road,” with or without saccharine strings.
The Kinks- “Phobia.” The last full-length of original material by Ray, Dave and pals is a woeful affair, but the title track really hits rock bottom. Insipid lyrics wed to a pathetic attempt at manly arena rock. One of the most inept ensemble performances by any Kinks lineup.
XTC- “The Smartest Monkeys.” Another example of a usually excellent smart-rock band hitting you over the head with clunky, obvious lyrics. You have been found guilty, Colin Moulding! Andy Partridge has done many an embarassing act over the years, but at least he can rest easy that he didn’t pen this atrocity.
Oh, and I also hate Bowie’s “Let’s Spend the Night Together.” An unforgivable blemish on the otherwise stellar Alladin Sane.
Your bold show of support means a lot, Oats. Thanks!
Beatles – Their version of A Taste of Honey would probably win for the song I skip over most on any of their albums, but among those for which they’re totally responsible: When I Get Home. John’s Come On!’s and if you please/trivialities don’t make up for “gonna love you ‘til the cows come home.” I love a lot of their lesser ones in this style, but this is the weakest and would be on a short list of, say, five of their songs I could live without hearing again.
XTC – Hmm, Smartest Monkeys might be the one, for the above reasons. I’m not real big on War Dance on the same album, either, but at least it has those synth woodwind deals that sound like somebody snooping around on a promo for a BBC mystery show.
To stay British: Blur – Essex Dogs, eight minutes long, never does anything I want them to be doing. They got better at this sort of thing on the next album. Movin’ On is a perfectly fine closing track.
The Beatles: You Know My Name
The Who: Join Together
Stones: I Got the Blues
THE WHO – cover of BUCKET T. As ridiculous as Entwistle’s french horn fills are elsewhere, it’s just comical here, on top of this being a supremely dumber version of something like Surfin’ Bird. You really can hear Moon’s voice FAR too much. However, it was good excerise having to jump quickly up from the couch to dive for that needle when this one came on.
BEATLES – EIGHT DAYS A WEEK. I’d almost say Mr. Moonlight, but that organ is so cheesy and over the top, and that full stop is so awkward, that I laugh rather than fume in disappointment. Some of those early B-sides are hard to differentiate in their suckiosity. Ask Me Why or PS I Love you? Ugh. But Eight Days A Week really lets me down as an A-side, great intro leading to a boring song, a good title leading to really bad lyrics.
KINKS – LONG TALL SALLY. I think they probably heard the Beatles version once and then were compelled to record it. Was there a popular cover at that time that was less suited to Ray Davies’ vocal style than this? If Dave had heard it a few more times, or perhaps even the original, he might have come up with something at least a little more interesting to play, but I doubt that would have salvaged this embarrassment.
Bucket T? Are you serious? I love that cover. Maybe it’s just Keith Moon’s expressions in the studio clip…
This is a difficult question purely because I intend to enjoy my favourite bands’ flawed output as amusing character-revealing material rather than hate it.
Arriterre wrote:
Although hate may play into some folks’ personal feelings on this subject, let’s be clear: you’re not being asked to list songs you hate by three favorite artists, just what you consider your “least-favorite” songs, or if you want to be less subjective, the band’s “worst” songs. Go ahead, my friend, give it a try!
I’ll cover 3 artists who are favorites of mine and haven’t been mentioned yet since I’m sure no one wants to read about what my least favorite Elvis Costello song is.
1)The Go-Betweens “Cut It Out”
I generally find Tallulah, aside from a couple of amazing songs (esp. “The House that Jack Kerouac Built” and “Bye Bye Pride”), to be a pretty weak album, especially in light of the string of 3 amazing albums that came before it and the even better album they would make afterwards, 16 Lovers Lane
However, I feel like they hit their nadir with this particular track, the closing track on side 1. It’s inexplicable that this track was released a single as it highlights the worst aspect of that album (terrible drum programming) while attempting to be funky (something they should’ve never attempted).
2) Joe Jackson “Daedalus” (Pride)
JJ has faltered many times, but this cut (the last track on his 1997 album Heaven and Hell) is his nadir IMO. It’s the concluding track on a concept album about the 7 deadly sins. Need I say more? Boy am I glad that he got his groove back recently.
3) The Fall “Das Boat”
This is a 10-minute plus song on their most recent album that just goes nowhere and sits there for most of its allotted time. They’ve faltered before, but this song was almost unforgivable.
I was tempted to put in something on Cut the Crap, but it’s hard for me to pick a least favorite song on there!
P.S. I strongly disagree re: EC’s version of “Shipbuilding” but then again I heard his version way before I heard Robert Wyatt’s, so I actually prefer EC’s.
Townsman Berlyant wrote:
Come on, man, that’s the whole point of this thread! 🙂