Worst 200 Songs project

Just thought I'd mention a music writing project I've been involved in, that people may find interesting. Basically, four of us selected a long list of 242 songs we didn't like, voted on them to come up with a Top 200, with the higher the ranking the greater the consensus of dislike within the four. Rather than merely drawing up another internet list, we have each reflected on every entry, within the confines of a (sometimes loosely applied) character limit of 200. The results have been posted on a weekly basis, tackling a different 20 songs each time.

It has been an evidently subjective undertaking with all four by no means agreed about everything... As you will see, we have selected a range of music: from infuriating football records to bizarre one-off oddities; from right-wing paeans to landfill indie and lachrymose boy-band balladry. We undertake it from a position of liking pop music enough to criticise it when it falls well below expectations.

I am sure there'll be much agreement and disagreement with our selections! Does anyone have any personal bete noires that you think we should have included?

Here are the posts so far (with embedded video-clips to assist - the top 40 is to be revealed in the next couple of weeks):
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/worst-200-songs-introduction.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/worst-200-songs-part-i-200-181.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/worst-200-songs-part-ii-180-161.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/worst-200-songs-part-iii-160-141.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/worst-200-songs-part-iv-140-121.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/worst-200-songs-part-v-120-101.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/worst-200-songs-part-vi-100-81.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/worst-200-songs-part-vii-80-61.html
http://the-sphinx-without-a-secret.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/worst-200-songs-part-viii-60-41.html

Two songs into the list and my reaction is

http://360degreesofmedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/little_girl_flipping_bird_sm.jpg

keep it positive, people

i mean, that girl looks like she's keepin it pretty positive for flipping two birds at once

I'm with BJO on this one, I think.

flagged the OP for obvious reasons

Eloquent disagreement is to be welcomed. It should, of course, be borne in mind that those songs lower placed on the list are often contested within our panel - there is no claim of utter objectivity, but four people's democratic voting based on personal tastes. It would be a shame if people pass summary judgement based on a partial view.

this is the most elaborate troll ever

the real top 200 list should be filled with songs like "I Fucked a Sasquatch"

I dunno man, I see why it'd be a fun exercise for you and your blog friends, but what is the use of posting it here? There isn't really enough musicological criticism in the text, and there isn't a big enough sample size to make it relevant to anyone outside your circle.

http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/l97Nq.jpg

I kinda like "Fly Away" these days.

Trolling is in the eye of the beholder.

People can evidently take it or leave it; some people might be interested and find some common ground. It is, of course, fine if you aren't; you're free to express your antipathy! I just posted it on ILM as I used to here some years back and it has been the home to some eloquent discussion of music.

can't understand why the home of some eloquent discussion of music can't get behind a sneering shitlist

bookmarked.

"It would be a shame if people pass summary judgement based on a partial view"

Ours is a clearly partial view, yes, and reflexive comments attacking it within seconds are even more so! :)

It is to be expected that people may feel precious about a few songs they like being criticized; rather less to be accused of sneering when critiquing records like 'Parklife', 'Part of the Union', 'Let's Work' and Hughie Green's humanist masterwork, 'Stand Up and Be Counted'... ;)

Wow, this was like a feeding frenzy of negativity--sort of ironic in that it was triggered by a catalogue of negative opinion...how about "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything"?

clicks link

sees screenshot of Billy Ray Cyrus

sips whiskey

thinks "that is indeed a shitty song"

nods knowingly

I havent said anything nice since 1997 i see no reason to reverse course for a shitty thread

we should definitely run this on ilm though

we should also run a poll of who will be angriest at the results of the poll

Hmm.

Looked at part of one page, the usual suspectd for the most part.

Most can be summarised as "People we don't like, like this song"

Some can be summarised as "The people that made this did not make it for you"

Leaving the pure "not enough thought and effort put into this song", which makes a truly bad song/record, but taken together makes a dull list.

Tom May, meet Whiney G

Very British

Songs ending up in worst songs lists tend to be songs loved by a lot of other people. The actual worst songs are rarely heard by many at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99dWE01yC7I

Songs ending up in worst songs lists tend to be songs loved by a lot of other people. The actual worst songs are rarely heard by many at all.

― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Sunday, 18 March 2012 00:23 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Damn right!

I'll pre-empt, I'm sure:

One of those 'worst' songs ever is bound to be "You're Beautiful" James Blunt.

Saccharine, clunky, pretentious, derivative, half-baked, inconsistent, and fake.

Still, a lot of people like it. But you can't help thinking less of people that do.

He renamed hisself to make himself seem less 'posh'. He comes in too early like a bad karaoke singer. He's influenced and inspired by Tim/Jeff Buckley (or, as he put it, Buckley Major and Minor)

Still, after all that, the tune's not too bad.

140. R. Kelly - 'Ignition (Remix)'

140. R. Kelly - 'Ignition (Remix)'

thanks for posting this owenf, now I have definite confirmation that I don't need to click on any of the links in the op

hope u get the traffic u were looking for dogg

didn't we delete spam threads back in the day? mods asleep at the wheel imo. #brokenilx

stopped reading at "co.uk"

you made it past "blogspot"?

2nd post otmfm

some of these songs are pretty crappy

this music writing project has truly opened my eyes

http://www.enterprisemission.com/images/sphinx6.jpg

Got as far as #199 (we didn't start the fire) and knew this lst was full of shit. Moving on...

140. R. Kelly - 'Ignition (Remix)'

― owenf, Saturday, March 17, 2012 8:43 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

DL: Stupid, shallow RNB dross, but have often wondered if R. previously sang ''It's the original to Ignition''. Yet I am not going to Google it to find out. I'd like to punch this song in multiple organs.

AN: In an era of remarkable efflorescence and vitality for American R’n’B, it was a shame that R. Kelly’s lowest common denominator surrealist adolescent puerility acquired such widespread credibility. The epitome of average: mainstream, mediocre, bloated, boring.

JG: The opening line “now normally I don’t do this” promises much. Sadly, the song then starts.

TM: I liked this at the time, partly out of admiration for its soulful chord-sequences, partly as a wilful liking for mainstream pop. This ‘remix’ now sounds inert and who’s actually heard the original?

lowest common denominator surrealist adolescent puerility acquired such widespread credibility

I just.....

I would rather read the "Begat" section of the Book of Matthew than ever read that sentence again.

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg

[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]
[img]http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg[/img]

http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg
http://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/rkelly-in-mask.jpg

don't do that

Apparently most everything that's wrong with music in the last thirty years can be ascribed to "Reaganism" or "Thatcherism."

I want my R&B to contain orchestral arrangements, have three syllable words, and to be completely undanceable

In fairness, "Ignition (remix)" is fucking terrible and you are all worse people for championing it

Also lol at everyone calling and OG ilxor a spammer

Inhavent read this list yet though

don't have a problem w/worst songs lists in general or this one specifically but as "writing projects" go reading a bunch of random comments on bad songs is pretty boring. taste is subjective innit. like i tell my son when he rants about how terrible some current hit is, I'd much rather hear about stuff you like

In fairness, "Ignition (remix)" is fucking terrible and you are all worse people for championing it

What do you mean YOU PEOPLE?

when you listen to any of these you realise how pitched up pub djs play them. or how much you're drinking, not sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZkdthPOTA&ob=av2e

guessing this'll be on the hatelist somewhere but eff y'all tbh

this is fun too. never heard it. love the dancin' grandmas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajvHaiyroGk

thought Paul Nicholas was so cool when i was 7

Woah, I'd never heard that Jonathan King song about Harold Shipman before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl-OSLxs6Nc

Shipman is a bit of an odd choice of mount if you're going to ride into battle against media injustice.

you're forgetting that jonathan king has destroyed his brain with drugs

i kinda on purpose have never put a youtube embed on my blog so as to avoid youtube shorthand. not slammin', just saying. i try to force myself to describe something and really write about something. my youtube mayhem reserved for ilx and facebook, basically. i can see myself doing it at some point to illustrate a point or talk about something that not a lot of people have heard. just imagining what a lot of blog posts would look like without the benefit of video or audio. would people look at them for more then a minute? depends on the blog, i suppose. i've never done audio either...maybe i'm just a jerk!

i kinda loved this song in 1984:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlXtrnh-Ejo

but this was also one of my fave songs back then, so, you know, yourmileagemayvary and all that:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CbdGGl19o

shit, sorry though, didn't mean to derail this thread!

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2009/7/29/128933996135516784.jpg

carry on.

a much needed splurge of positivity imo

hey, who splurged positivity all over this thread?

wow, this is a real argument for separating British and American ILMs...when you get down to the real pop junk, the names and tunes are completely foreign

And thus learning, which is an argument for not separating them.

well for me its like if someone from finland said "oh god i can't believe DJ Sven & the Fjunkky Bunch had a number one hit in 1986. blah!" my first thought is: where can i hear this improbable gem??? its all exotica.

Tuomas to thread!

it's such a good lihaperäpukamat
it's such a sweet lihaperäpukamat

its all exotica

must see if I can find you a copy of Jimmy Cricket's song 'I'm Bin Laden's lookalike' somewhere.

scott seward otm

I can' believe I'm lol-ing so hard at 'DJ Sven and the Fjunkky Bunch'. I must be at some serious emotional low ebb...

i actually like these lists for all the euro-novelties i've never head/heard of. some wacky stuff.

― scott seward, Monday, March 19, 2012 6:37 AM (4 hours ago)

same here!

I dunno, IMO there's plenty of novelty stuff from Finland and elsewhere in Europe that just plain bad. And I love novelty Eurodance more than most people!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2csrtTBc1RY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2wbRWb9xI&ob=av3e

I mean, this Swedish song about some guy who gets banned from Internet chat by a bot(?) was a huge hit in the Nordic countries 10 years ago... Though I guess it might sound a bit more fun if you weren't forced to listen to it 8 times a week for a 6 months.

o_O

I actually like that Basshunter song / video. He changed the lyrics to something less geeky and was no.1 across Europe, including the UK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyYXirCAHP0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRx5PrAlUdY&ob=av3e

OTOH, sometimes a really good novelty song inexplicaby becomes really popular, like "Dragostea Din Tei" by O-Zone, which was a Europewide hit back in 2004 despite being sung in Romanian. I still remember people in Finnish discos going bananas when the song dropped, singing the lyrics phonetically without having any idea what they were was saying.

(xx-post)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvoWnFDzY10

And when the king of sleazy Finnish disco, Frederik (who was over 60 at the time), did his own cover of "Dragostea din tei", you just had to love bizarre paths of pop music.

Dragostea din Tei is amazing. Their follow-up Despre Tine was very good as well.

On the subject of Basshunter, his other big Swedish single was called Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA, which i believe is about a World Of Warcraft expansion pack. iirc the video has his mother come in half way through and tell him to go to bed.

seldom has a more beautiful thread been born from such fugly beginnings

Anyway, "DJ Sven & the Fjunkky Bunch" made me think of this Dutch novelty classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXVi_CAfD78

I seriously think this is better than Madonna's original "Holiday"!

yes! love that. and after i posted that about finland i noticed that this song is on the original poster's worst list! i had totally forgotten their names. it was in my subconscious.

this is great too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWn42SPOhZY

even solo they were good! you know proto-gabber hooligsns were listening to this in holland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWrrdBvlQ64&feature=related

"hooligans"

i like how fast this is! as far as hip-house in 1990 goes. i really must investigate more dutch late 80's/early 90's stuff like this. it's hard to find over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqk0RS4R5xQ&feature=related

lmao theres a real dj sven the world is crazy

those guys are exactly as they would be portrayed in a wacky american comedy dont change a thing

WE ARE GOIN' ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY IF YOU WANT TO GO YO SVEN

love those guys.

DJ Sven for President of the UK

I CAN UNDERSTAND THINGS MOST RAPPERS SAY
BECAUSE RAPPING IS MY THING AND I DO IT EVERY DAY

In all seriousness, I personally am grateful for this list. Most of these are truly bad songs, not just "novelty" hits. IMO of course. Reading about bad music is painful, no matter how good a writer you are.

Wow contenderizer has really been put thru the ringer lately (ie gr80 linked to his 1st post)

― John Nestle Harding (loves laboured breathing), Monday, March 19, 2012 6:10 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hoo boy. not my first post. my worst post. cheers, grady (a habit forming).

is kind of crepe-classic tho...

I probably shouldn't have even brought it up. Sorry man...

s'cool, i'd rather know, keeps me humble

stay low, stay humble, blow like hooty

MAKE YOUR FUCK-WANT KNOWN

cafepress suggestions