I first came across this little gem over 10 years ago as a B-side to a CD single I picked up in a record fair.
Now, i’m not one for novelty songs or irony in music, but his has got to be Number #1 in my list of songs that are so BAD, they are actually BRILLIANT!
A load of crap? Maybe
Postmodern irony for wacky students? Possibly
The most preposterously ridiculous song ever recorded? Quite probably.
An 80′s-style pop/rock stormer that’ll have you pumping your fist and singing along by the second chorus??Definitely!!
‘Spill points for anyone who can guess the secret artist. Although, if you think about it, there’s only really one human being on the planet with the lack of self awareness and balls to pull off a tune like this!
Other nominations for “so bad it’s good” tunes also welcome…
Heh heh. Someone really has been through The Big Book of Rock Cliches, ticking them off page by page. I won’t pretend I didn’t listen to that with a ridiculous smirk on my face, but I may come to hate you for it when I find myself singing “Hot shot city on a Saturday night” in the shower tomorrow morning.
I’m a bit alarmed that you knowingly bought the A side.
My guess would have to be David Hasselhoff.
First records that come to mind in this category:
Ricky Martin – Living La Vida Loca.
Europe – The Final Countdown
Chesney Hawkes – The One and Only – though I was young enough to enjoy that without a shred of irony when it first came out.
donds for Chesney, a great song is a great song!
David Hasselhoff was actually my first thought too! But i couldn’t imagine that anyone would buy a single even for the A side. (sorry Panthersan – but this post actually foreshadows one i have planned, so accept that comment knowing that your revenge will be sweet).
Oh yeah -
George Michael – I Want Your Sex
(but i do like a lot of his other songs though.)
Bowie – Volare
Now, that IS a good song…I reckon if anyone can get away with it, it’s George
It’s a bit of a problem when it gets stuck in my head and i find myself singing the lyrics in public.
Oh good grief, that’s horrible. Yeah, David Hasselhoff seems a good bet. Or, er, Dave Lee Roth?
I can’t think it’s anyone other than the Hoff.
Who was on the a-side? Ian McShane performing the Lovejoy theme song?
OK OK, you are all right, it IS the ‘Hoff – ‘Spill points go to barbryn – well done, that man!
Who else could it be really??! You do have to admit that it is a catchy number and the spoken interlude is especially welcome!
Now, just don’t ask me to explain why I was buying a David Hasselhoff CD single……..the A-side was a super-dull power rock ballad by the way!
just don’t ask me to explain why I was buying a David Hasselhoff CD single
Now come on – that’s one of those impossible commands, like telling someone not to think of a giraffe. We need an explanation (whether or not it’s the truth).
‘I was born for loving you, baby,
You were born for loving me,
I can’t get enough of you, baby,
Can you get enough of me?’
The mighty Kiss.
Def Leppard, ‘Let’s Get Rocked’.
@williamsbach – nice one, those are some truly philosophical lyrics! although i’ve never understood the whole Kiss appeal, I suppose you needed to be a smalltown American teenager in the 70′s to get it.
@ Abahachi – now you’re talking! and that fits right into what I mean. An undeniably terrible song, that is just so great at the same time!
Not sure I could ever quite stomach ‘Let’s Get Rocked’. ‘Animal’ on the other hand is pure genius.
Being more of a pop than a rock boy, my fave so-meaningless-it’s-genius song has always been this:
Interestingly, it’s been covered loads (despite the original never hitting the UK charts at least). On a similar tip (it’s cheesy, it’s got the word ‘promise’ in), I utterly unironically LOVE this monstrosity:
But my argument would be that ‘Animal’ (along with at least 50% of the rest of the Hysteria album) *is* a great song, whereas ‘Let’s Get Rocked’ is a truly awful song (“I spose a rock’s out of the question?”) that is nevertheless irresistible, albeit in very small doses.
But then I love ‘Living La Vida Loca’, entirely without irony.
Just relistened to “Animal”. I entirely and irrevocably concede its greatness. You are aba-solutely (o-ho) right, sir.
@barbryn
the disappointing truth is that it was some kind of “buy 3 CD singles for a quid” type offer and I had to make up the numbers, so I thought it might be a laugh..I got more than I bargained for with that track though!
…although, before I get sprung by SatanKidneyPie I have to admit that I did/do have a mild fascination with the ‘Hoff that still persists to this day and if I see an article about him or something, I go out of my way to read it.
I also got a copy of his autobiography one birthday, it’s pretty funny stuff; self-delusionally claiming the power to make children forget they have cancer and of course his own personal part in bringing down the Berlin wall!!
Stairway?
Does anyone remember when a certain someone re-invented Def Leppard for the new millenium?
The first time I saw this video I was shocked and confused, the second time I was in love:
I just watched a video on youtube which claims that BOTH Andrew WK and Lady Gaga are mind-control devices from the music industry which is run by the Illuminati and ultimately Satan.
…….find me the evidence against it!!
I love that AWK track too and it always reminds me of this one, which is utter cock rock in the extreme, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I played the 7″ to death when it came out:
SEX BOMB!
Oh, and everything about this…
[video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_KDPUTyDyQ%5D
that really is great! You need the video to give it the full effect though!
did you not close the square bracket – ‘class’ video though!
Damn, that didn’t work…