Blender Magazine's 50 Worst Songs Ever!
|
|
In the May 2004 issue, the list of Blender Magazine's 50 Worst Songs Ever! was published.
The songs on that list were:
- "We Built This City" (Starship)
- "Achy Breaky Heart" (Billy Ray Cyrus)
- "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" (Wang Chung)
- "Rollin'" (Limp Bizkit)
- "Ice Ice Baby" (Vanilla Ice)
- "The Heart of Rock & Roll" (Huey Lewis & the News)
- "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (Bobby McFerrin)
- "Party All the Time" (Eddie Murphy)
- "American Life" (Madonna)
- "Ebony and Ivory" (Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder)
- "Invisible" (Clay Aiken)
- "Kokomo" (The Beach Boys)
- "Illegal Alien" (Genesis)
- "From a Distance" (Bette Midler)
- "I'll Be There for You (Theme from "Friends")" (The Rembrandts)
- "What's Up?" (4 Non Blondes)
- "Pumps and a Bump" (Hammer)
- "You're The Inspiration" (Chicago)
- "Broken Wings" (Mr. Mister)
- "Dancing on the Ceiling" (Lionel Richie)
- "Two Princes" (Spin Doctors)
- "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" (Toby Keith)
- "Sunglasses at Night" (Corey Hart)
- "Superman" (Five for Fighting)
- "I'll Be Missing You" (Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112)
- "The End" (The Doors)
- "The Final Countdown" (Europe)
- "Your Body Is a Wonderland" (John Mayer)
- "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (Deep Blue Something)
- "Greatest Love of All" (Whitney Houston)
- "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (Crash Test Dummies)
- "Will 2K" (Will Smith)
- "Barbie Girl" (Aqua)
- "Longer" (Dan Fogelberg)
- "Shiny Happy People" (R.E.M.)
- "Make Em Say Uhh!" (Master P featuring Silkk, Fiend, Mia-X and Mystikal)
- "Rico Suave" (Gerardo)
- "Cotton Eyed Joe" (Rednex)
- "She Bangs" (Ricky Martin)
- "I Wanna Sex You Up" (Color Me Badd)
- "We Didn't Start the Fire" (Billy Joel)
- "The Sound of Silence" (Simon & Garfunkel)
- "Follow Me" (Uncle Kracker)
- "I'll Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" (Meat Loaf)
- "Mesmerize" (Ja Rule featuring Ashanti)
- "Hangin' Tough" (New Kids on the Block)
- "The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You" (Bryan Adams)
- "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (The Beatles)
- "I'm Too Sexy" (Right Said Fred)
- "My Heart Will Go On" (Céline Dion)
Controversy
Of course, the list is controversial. Music fans wonder why songs like "...Baby One More Time", from the Britney Spears album of the same name, were missing, pointing out that there are other more obvious or deserving targets for the "worst ever" designation than the songs chosen. Blender magazine has taken the stance that songs which unabashedly present themselves as entertainment, such as "Macarena", are less deserving of defamation than songs which fail at higher aspirations. As Blender editor Craig Marks said, "It's the freshman-poetry meaningfulness that got our goat..."
Some critics have decried the Blender list as an attempt to gain attention by blasting people's "old favorite" songs. For example, "We Built This City" was a number 1 hit at the time of its release. Many canonical rock bands and musicians, including The Beatles and R.E.M., had songs featured on the list.