Topic: Songs you genuinely like but you get the impression you shouldn't

[FerriswheelBueller]

We Built This City. I think it's a great statement for an influential 60's band to make in the midst of 80's futurism. Sure, there are some rum lines about the mamba etc, and there wasn't much of the 60's band left, but there's a whacking great DX7 bassline and the radio announcer "city by the bay" part is quite cinematic. Everyone hates it, and the band did their best to shat all over it, but I think it's not too bad.

I think it’s great.

[famethrowa]

I think it’s great.

I only just realised the line "too many runaways, eating up the night" might be about "young peoples" bands like The Runaways clogging up the airwaves? Bit outdated by the time the song came out, but clever anyway.

[buzby]

We Built This City. I think it's a great statement for an influential 60's band to make in the midst of 80's futurism. Sure, there are some rum lines about the mamba etc, and there wasn't much of the 60's band left, but there's a whacking great DX7 bassline and the radio announcer "city by the bay" part is quite cinematic. Everyone hates it, and the band did their best to shat all over it, but I think it's not too bad.

From tha last TOTP on BBC4 thread:

Lyrics by Bernie Taupin, at a time when he was looking at working with other songwriters (though the chorus was rewritten by the producer Peter Wolf) , this was rejected by John Farnham while he was looking for songs for his first post-Little River Band solo album Whispering Jack, before being snapped up by the post-lawsuit Grace Slick-dominated remnants of Jefferson Starship for their first album post-name change (the album took its name from a line in the song, one of it's many crimes) 

The irony of a song supposedly decrying the commercialism of rock music while pulling every radio-friendly trick in the book, including the low-blow of giving the stations the opportunity to insert their ID into the middle 8 (which JAM Productions made countless versions of) that was originally voiced by MTV head of programming (and former radio DJ) Les Garland. It's an aural checklist of every stereotypical Synclavier sound and trick going (almost entirely down to Peter Wolf), and rightly deserves it's reputation as one of the worst songs of the 80s.

The Synclavier uses the same FM synthesis principles as the DX7, but it's a very diferent beast, and the whole 'Knee Deep In The Hoopla' album was made on it.

[Darles Chickens]

A big hit from ‘89 here - I Beg Your Pardon by Kon Kan

Who can resist New Order-ish verses, a Barney Sumner soundalike, a cheesy Italo-Disco keyboard riff and a stuttering country and western sample? Sound of the summer.

https://youtu.be/_YO_24AIguU

Not sure how I ever missed that one.  I spotted extracts ripped off from "Call Me" by Spagna and "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley.  Any more?

[Jockice]

I prefer ‘Tell Her About It’ tbh

That's a great song. It really is.

[buzby]

Not sure how I ever missed that one.  I spotted extracts ripped off from "Call Me" by Spagna and "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley.  Any more?

I bought the single at the time. They were inspired by the PSBs (so indircetly by New Order) and their cover of 'Always On My Mind', M/A/R/R/S' 'Pump Up The Volume' and by reading The KLF's 'The Manual' (as were Edelweiss). As it only got to No. 5 they would be entitled to their money back if they had bought the book less than 3 months before recording the track..
The samples used were:
(I Never Promised You a) Rose Garden = Lynn Anderson
Get Up and Boogie (That's Right) - Silver Convention
Disco Nights (Rock-Freak) - GQ
Go! - Tones on Tail
Call Me - Spagna
Disco Hotline sketch - National Lampoon's  "That's Not Funny, That's Sick" album
The Magnificent Seven theme (which was used on a Marlboro advert in North America)

[Darles Chickens]

Yeah I guessed they were from the Edelweiss/The Manual tradition. It just kinda sounds like a mishmash of other people's tunes, although I didn't know any of the others.  The Spagna motif isn't a sample so much as an "interpolation" (is that what they call it?); basically, one melody incorporated into the other.

Got to be honest, I don't really like it that much. Maybe it was better at the time. Didn't really like Bring Me Edelweiss either, although Pump up the Volume was undeniably great.

[bgmnts]

Everything in The Immortals Mortal Kombat album.

Some of my favourite songs of all time in that. Not even joking.

https://youtu.be/YPSBJcL3FGI

https://youtu.be/Y-zjVioAz1s

https://youtu.be/CQtJ2bT4Yo0

All utter bangers.

Don't get wrong there are some right duffers on there too but it hits my sweet spot, despite knowing it's probably objectively cack.