I saw this on the Bolus Blog a few days ago. It listed You Tube Videos for the most painful pop music ever. I disagree here, as all these are basic “one-hit wonders” from the seventies that became extremely uncool to listen to soon after they fell off the charts. To some this is a guilty pleasure, but to most who lived through 1970’s pop music this is torture by extreme pop schmaltz. It’s difficult to differentiate between true badness and an acquired taste.
White Plains “My Baby Loves Lovin”
Terry Jacks — Seasons in the Sun
Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods — Billy Don’t Be a Hero
Captain & Tenille — Muskrat Love
Tony DiFranco & the DiFranco Family — Heartbeat (It’s a Love Beat)
Bobby Goldsboro — Honey
Sammy Johns — Chevy Van
Debbie Boone — You Light Up My Life
The Buoys — Timothy (written by Rupert Holmes, a pop ballad about cannibalism?)
Rupert Holmes – Him (I kinda like this one)
Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Tony Orlando “Tie a Yellow Ribbon”
Charlene “I’ve Never Been To Me”
Coven “One Tin Soldier”
Starland Vocal Band “Afternoon Delight”
Vicki Lawrence “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia”
Paper Lace “The Night Chicago Died”
Now if we started talking about painful songs with the worst lyrics… It’s a whole new list – I’ll start it with:
Donna Summer “MacArthur Park” (someone left the cake out in the rain) and I like the Richard Harris non-disco version better.
Some of the tunes just give off a creepy vibe, despite the melody and harmonies…
Afternoon Delight? Your parents are having sex to that one.
And can you believe “You Light UP My Life” was considered the longest running #1 on the Hot 100, only surpassed by Elvis’ “Don’t Be Cruel/Hound Dog” at the time.
And yes, these songs are part of AM radio lore and will never die. But some of us wish they did.
A few bad ones, granted, that I heard a thousand times, but “White Plains” as studio British bubblegum gets all kinds of respect now, and “Timothy” rocks- these songs were part of a glorious pop legacy, the 70’s AM of melody, song craft, power pop, even if lyrically not quite the sophistication that you went on to get with absurd poseurs like Springsteen, Dylan, and Radiohead.
I think I’ll add that one Steve — thanks!
“Seasons In The Sun” was the first 45 I ever bought.
Plus, how can they have “Billy Don’t Be a Hero” but not “The Night Chicago Died”? They were both from 74, both written by Callander/Murray, and Paper Lace (who hit with “Chicago”) actually did the original version of “Billy”.
Good times.
Steve
Absolute Powerpop
Yup, mostly torture.
The Buoys were a somewhat local band so they are a sentimental favorite.
And I still like Afternoon Delight because of the harmonies and subject.
Bob