British guitarist analyses 'the worst song of all time' live in 2018! 

Hi Martin! Thanks for the comment it's much appreciated, and also for your work on the song as a whole!

There's not a damn thing wrong about the song. When someone slags on the song, nobody wants to be seen disagreeing. That's merely peer pressure. It's the same behavior as people busting on The Bee Gees 70's disco songs. After it all was done and the two brothers had died, other performers started coming out the woodwork , like Alice Cooper, saying that they really appreciated the quality of the Bee Gee's music and the brothers in particular. Nobody wants to be the odd man out saying that the song is pretty "catchy". Not a fave but far from worst. If looking for a truly bad song look no further than "My Sharona".

@@danielfronc4304 Nothing wrong with My Sharona. It’s got an awesome solo.

i think its a very good song

Superb song.

Waaarrrrrzzzooonnne ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eAsV7Udjl4A.html

Worst? Somebody forced me to listen to John Lennon&Yoko Ono's Life with the lions last week. I still have headaches and nightmares.

I think that weird singing she did does have some connection to a traditional Japanese style , i think?

guess what...Yoko Ono was into performance and art...not getting a number one hit

T.Rex did some crap like new York city zip gun London boys truck off.

Whoa there, feller! Wait just a sec.! Not that it isn't a good song but just because a song can pack a dance floor doesn't necessarily make it a good song. Maybe to the owners of the dance floors but nothing that anyone with any taste for music would want to do a cover on. Is all I'm sayin' but I wouldn't fight ya on it. 😉

@@I_Palaver Makes it a good dance song…

Lots of inane songs bring people to a dance floor. This is nowhere near the worst song.

Yes it did

@@I_Palaver true! Old Time Rock and Roll packs dance floors at wedding receptions across America 😂. I. WILL. NOT! Participate! I’d rather do the Electric Slide.

It wasn't written for you.

Great point!

AMEN!!!!!!

On the charts, agreed. Plenty of great Indie stuff recorded the last 15 years that the public has never heard.

Not Nightwish :) Metal Mozart Tuomas is composing nice music.

He still sings it well. Also I fooled around and fell in love still sounds great.

@@TheRealEdStoner that's amazing considering his age.. Heard Mickey sing the national anthem about 20 years ago and it was the best rendition ever imho.

@@TheRealEdStoner was that when mickey Thomas was with elvin bishop? Or am I mistaken 🤔

@@FrankNStein-mr1mp He was with Elvin Bishop when it came out but he also sings it at Starship concerts

The key, and I mean absolutely key, word in that opinion is "arguably"..lolololol.

I agree. This isn’t a great song but there’s been plenty of songs to come out in the last 20 years that are way worse.

It was that point in this particular band’s history that they went to garbage

I loved the song when it came, it was great then but there was a cheesy element where a section is used to promote whatever radio station is playing the song, innovative but cheesy.

Nickelback can make worse music than this in their sleep.

I didn't think much of this song, but it wasn't the worst thing ever, either. There was a lot of much worse music out there.

Saw Starship at Epcot a few years ago. Mickey was awesome.

The voice is always the last thing to go. 🥹

@Louise X three NUMBER ONES IN a YEAR ,,,,,, dusty veterans KICKIN IT !

I agree and those who don't like it don't no anything about music.

No love for Grace Slick?

😂 Got a laugh out of that, thank you!

Rock is all courage and looks of band. Be plausible and you are 90% good.

Join the club

doesn't bother me , nor my fondness of any incarnation of GRACE SLICK bands

@@roystonmason9125 I saw them play the last year of the "Reading Rock" festival(1988 I think) ,many acts had been bottled off that day as the line up was poor ,Meatloaf had just had his nose broken by a bottle (or so the MC reported) as he tried for a 3rd time to get through "Bat out of Hell" while "under fire" and closing the day was Starship. I thought they'd be massacred judging by the days actions but you've got to give Grace Slick and co credit they came straight in with an older set list and won the crowd before hitting any newer material .I'd never been a fan of Starship but that gig gave me a taste of the earlier incarnations and an appreciation of what great entertainers they were . I still find it hard to believe they pulled it off and played a longer set than planned due to the short sets of the "bottled off" line up

Interesting comparison to Huey Lewis. These folks were part of a powerful musical community in Mill Valley, California at that time. They used to hang out at a local Mexican restaurant with rock promoter Bill Graham. Big table, lots of notables. They also frequented a local bar…..

And, more importantly, it would have disappeared. Sadly, it's still churned out on classic rock radio stations.

Platypusfuss--Totally agree, except I would say it's also without ovaries.

it's a song that is just extremely middle of the road. there are MUCH worse songs out there. (that one by ugly kid joe rears its ability to annoy small gatherings). music, like many things is judged by the individual. I like many songs by jefferson airplane, starship, ufo ship, etc.) this one doesn't do much for me in comparison to say, White Rabbit, Somebody to Love, Find your way Back, Jane, Miracles. I use to DJ in college and believe me, there are many songs that elevate "City" far from the bottom of the pile. Will this song be the first one I want to listen to when I need a good song to listen to ? No. but as long as helen reddy "I am Woman" is in the music annals, it certainly isn't the worst.

@@sicfrynut 😂 Or fankly, anything by Bill Withers, who never could master the art of closing out a song. "I know I know I know I know ad infinitum" has been a worm in my ear for over 50 friggin' years!

Yeah, astounding. I don't get how, if you're in that kind of position of responsibility, you don't crack open a book and find out, rather than blathering your ignorance.

Great point! Agreed

Marconi was given the credit but Tesla was the true inventor.

Didn't Blender always feature the meathead metal of the day?...I'll take this song over that crap any day.

Ahhhh, Marconi, yes... great keyboardist, but you oughtta hear her play clarinet.

"DON'T SMELL MY FART, MY INKY-STINKY FART, I JUST DON'T THINK YOU'D UNDERSTAND, 'CAUSE IF YOU SMELL MY FART, MY INKY-STINKY FART, YOU'D REALISE THAT I ATE HAM- WHOOOOOO-HOOO. . . "

@@fredchatham6680 ha ha pmsl

How bout "She thinks my tractor's sexy"?

Idk Rebecca Black Friday is up there

cmac1425 Yeah that’s bad

Rap ain't music.

@Angler Strong Agreed. I will no longer support or watch pro football - which I've enjoyed for decades - since certain players hold me in such contempt.

Haha, yep!!

That was true for many songs, radio stations had a set playlist and played certain songs to death.

Yea. One of the marketing gimmicks was that they released a version without the DJ talking and encouraged various radio stations to add their own version for their local area. Many of the stations were so proud of the performances of the DJs that they kept playing it over and over too much.

It's corny and lame.

@@captarne1 So, just like today? -.-

Jefferson Airplane is still my favorite band all time and the first Jefferson Starship album was a tour de force, I still liked Starship, but first Kantner then Frieberg left and about 1978 when Grace Slick left the band really had nothing to interest me. Craig Chaquico was an awesome guitar player, but without Grace it was all over for me. I went to see Starship with my son in the late 80s and was hoping to at least hear "Have You Seen The Stars Tonight". I was disappointed on that note, but pleased with Micky Thomas singing "Foold Around And Fell In Love". Additionally, their female vocalist admirably handled both Grace's "White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love". They probably played "We Built This City" which Thomas sings quite well, but without Grace...there wouldn't be anything to make that memorable.

No more Clash's these days. Ever. Corporate pop is evil.

@@charlesbireland1780 Wasn't Grace kicked out?

Haha. Funny post and I agree w you, although Fil’s analysis made me consider it not the worst song in the universe.

As a young student i remember when this played and played - and an airplane fan supervisor loved it because grace slick sang on it :) so not every airplane fan hated it.

Complex well played songs can still be bad. Its repulsive and you cant ignore when bands that used to be great bands with something to say and in this case really revolutionized rock are on their way out, splitting up, taken over by corporate interests to carry on making money and songs are written by committee or chosen by the label from publishing writers even if well known or having done good work in the past. It is still a money grab and suicide for the band. It was a death knell no matter how cheerful or upbeat. that made it painful on top of the lameness of it all. Everyone doesn’t get to be awesome. We can have some taste an find it cheesy and bad. I disagree that all things get to be worthy just because someone did it and got it on heavy rotation.

This song was done to make a buck. Apparently it worked on that basis. Never liked it. Don’t apologize for not liking any of it. Read once something like “made by people who should have known better.” Completely pretentious and self important lyrics. It and they deserve the negative observations.

Exactly right. I grew up with great rock music in the 60s and 70s. I remember Grace Slick saying in an interview that she would never get on stage and sing the old songs, they were no longer relevant and they would look like old rockers trying to revive the past. Smart woman. This song is awful in so many ways. It was overplayed and not a good look for such a multitalented group.

I think VH-1 voted this the worst and "Broken Wings" #2. This song was hated because it was JEFFERSON AIRPLANE. It was Mickey Thomas. Dude could sing. Broken Wings os an awesome song.

Is this not one of the, if not the reason Grace Slick left not only the band but pretty much the music business altogether?

Yes, this is exactly what happened and the fact that it was played non-stop on radio continuing to rub salt into the wound. it was so saccharine and corporate.

You hit the nail on the head. The fact that they changed their name to just "Starship" was not enough. The older fans still saw this song as being from Jefferson Airplane/Starship...and a big pop sell out. Actually, it's a damn fine pop song.

Great point, considering this bands history it almost seemed like...."hey guys we're running out of money so lets write a cheesy commercial hit" It would have offended so many if this was from a brand new band. From a purely objective point of view, I think it's a solid pop song. How many critics out there are capable of even writing just one hit song. it's not easy.

Yes, that really is the most god-awful, stomach-churning song of all time, I agree!

Nope, not even close. "Kung Fu Fighting" is my nomination for worst song of all times. Now, try to get rid of THAT ear worm!

Daphne and Celeste. U.G L.Y. Thanks! (You're taking requests right?)

@@donnewton415 At least Everybody’s Kung Fu Fighting was a disco-like song (disco sucks). Having my Baby is hands down one of the worst ever.

Ha ha ! Such cruelty, you reminded me after it took all these years to forget that miserable song..

I grew up in the 50s and was a teenager in the 60s. What a great time to be young! The first Rock and Roll song I ever heard was Elvis Presley’s Teddy Bear. (My mom only listened to big band and show tunes on our radio. No TV.) I was 9. It was a revelation! Then there was my discovery of the Beatles during a high school dance. (I was introduced to the dance the twist at the same time.) I will never forget it. So many great memories built around music!

@steven kreisberg - Yes, same here! I guess I hadn't liked 'We Built This City' also because there simply were other, way better songs around at that same time.

@@roseannelobbezoo7638 - Oh, absolutely! That's what I love about Music the most, that it can be connected to wonderful memories and create great atmospheres :-)

@@roseannelobbezoo7638 the late 50,s , 60,s & 70,s have produced what we can now call real handmade music played by real musicians. The amount of great music that evolved in that era was unbelievable. So glad i grew up then. A bit concerned for the generations comming up as i don,t think todays music will stand the test of time.

You say it all, Steven.

No it ain't

It's an OK song.

Hardly a great song but it's not Seasons In The Sun or Disco Duck so it has that going for it. 🤣

I disagree! From the time of release, I cringed! It so made me think of my conservative music teachers from school, "trying to be hip!" I'd run to turn it off!

GQ = Gentlemen's Quackery

This song is beautiful to me because it brings me back to being a kid skating at the park.

It is that 👎

Getting attention for all of the wrong reasons...

It’s bad ……

Tbh, it's not a great song but I can see why it was a chart hit. Popularity, even lasting popularity, is not necessarily indicative of quality. There's even a logical fallcy, 'argumentum ad populum' which could, sort of, apply here... ;) :)

Grace is one of a kind but this girl is excellent as a stand in to my ears.

Unfortunately that's true...

CORRECT :-')

I agree, i watched her perform from backstage, they were The Jefferson Airplane, boy what a voice,i was in awe, fabulous, fabulous performer, they were on tour with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and a host of others....

Grace Potter does a good Grace Slick

Anything by Yoko is a contender.

@just Dennis That's why I put sung in quotation marks.

You mean anything screamed by the reason the Beatles broke up

OldBoiler62 yes yes you are right!!!! Lol.

Deborah Smith Anything by her is the winner.

On Micky...👍👍👍🎙️🎤

Taupin wrote this as a protest against the radio industry, but the message was completely lost due to the production.

2007; I had to look it up online. What was your band's name?

@@amerocker I nearly have a hard time believing this guys comment, because if you look at his page, there’s nothing related to music, just a bunch of gaming videos. Sounds legit, but when you look at his page, not even one video of any music being played by his band or himself? OK, I was wrong. There are three videos of his band playing in the garage, and his acoustic guitar is out of tune. I don’t think the guy is legit, unfortunately.

Mickey is a great sing songwriter. It's ok not liking his material, but there's no denying his talent. He's done very well in a very tough business.

Worse songs around than this. I don't mind this

@@markgallagher1621Definitely.

that has to be the reason, the pandering

That's right!!!

Yes they called it the Sellout Song.

Lawrence Taylor looking at fils breakdown of the lyrics you gotta say👊🏼Rock n roll subversion of the highest order.Bit like the anger in born in the USA,whoosh,straight over the heads of so many but thanks for your money,now Ive got enough I can do and say what I want

peter montgomery same with born to run though it never mentions NJ specifically. Around 1980 the general assembly passed a resolution to make it the state song but it died in the senate after they read the lyrics.

I SO AGREE!! 😁👍

Got that right!!! 👍👍✌✌🤘🤘

No joke!

Every single year!

@Bike Cycle Quite a simple statement he made,not sure what you find hard to comprehend.

+1 to all of that. Grace really had a unique voice.

meh....afternoon delight and hey paula are pretty good in retrospect.......even worst song is JA catalogue is better than radio today

🎵 Sky-y-y rockets in flight🎵 💥 🚀 🎆 🌠 🌌 💫 🎵Afternoon delight🎵 🎵A-a-afternoon delight🎵 😄I remember hearing that song often as a child & just SINGING AWAAAY almost every word of it, right along with the radio! (with NO IDEA what I was singing about!)🤣

He was always politically correct!!

YES! SO HILARIOUS! LOVE HIM! DEFINITELY THE BEST AT WHAT HE DOES! 👍✌👌🤘ROCK🤘

He had one tour where he did a straight (no parody) cover, different song each night. The range of different songs he and his band could pull off perfectly is impressive. There are dozens of these here on RU-vid.

Weird Al should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not even kidding.

He really doesn't get the credit he deserves because he is super talented!

The wort song for me is By by Miss American Pie.That song is awful i goes on and on and on for about 6 or 7 minutes..IT S AWFUL

Feelings by Eunice from Eunice Ed and Mama. Carol Burnet show.

@@joesmith34 Bye Bye Miss American Pie is worse when Madonna sang it.

@@joesmith34 Yes, for me, one of the worst.

And that a little bit of monica song. I refuse to go look up the title. I HATE that tripe.

He would be 68-turning 69 here--still has the technique, and range! :) Never my favorite song, by a longshot, but the performance here is professionally done--Stephanie Calvert has Grace Slick's part down well enough (her mic wasn't as up in the mix as Mickey's), and John Roth's guitar is "spot on", as Fil would say.

Worst, you mean as in worstachur?

Every rap song is the worst.

I would have to agree here. Especially when their lyrics get praise and adulation for wanting to kill cops! The only thing missing from rap is the ‘c’ in front!

"rap songs", "The only thing missing from rap is the ‘c’ in front!" OK boomers.

@@s.miller2648 I do like "Nigga nigga nigga nigga." Great song.

I like that one.

Yes! My all time least favorite song. Ugh!

The song started out sounding almost like “Daniel” by Elton John. Then it went downhill fast, like a set of fingernails on the blackboard. And Odia Coates’ backup vocals was like an extra set of fingernails on that blackboard. Both Odia Coates and Paul Anja were great, but not on this record!

no,Feelings is still the worst ever

@@amaliazahav1903 Followed closely by "Windmills of Your Mind."

I always thought they said "Labamba". That's a song you'd hear on the radio.

That is what saved this analysis for me.. struggled with this one..😂..liked the song at the time..burned out...⛽🔥

@@789563able me too

@Louise X interesting take on it...so is the ' DJ talking over song' near its end meant to be 'good' or a bit of 'radio ga-ga time' satire ??...and it's worth pointing out whatever this song is ...it is NOT Rock n Roll..

@@andchat6241 Who cares rock or pop it’s all good so long as it has good catchy hook lines and this one has heaps of them.

That was a great song!! When Debbie Boone was asked, after winning an award, for it, who was this dong referencing, she replied "Jesus".

Exactly

Yep. Not only what they evolved into but this song was played over, and over and over til everyone wanted to puke.

The reason GQ gave for its verdict was the line, "Marconi plays the mamba." According to them, it made no sense. Probably a mistake on THEIR part. "Marconi plays the MAMBO, listen to the radio" makes perfect sense. Mamba is a snake, mambo is a Cuban music genre. Marconi was the inventor of the radio.

Spot on... a long way from Jefferson Airplane - many felt they sold out to 'pop'.

Truth

Thanks!

Pamela Neibuhr it does look like they raided Kohl’s before the show.

But Disco Duck was a joke song so I don’t think it counts.

@Pamela Neibuhr : LMAO, I forgot all about Disco Duck! I actually happen to like it far more than any Starship, or even Airplane song. But even my friends think I have funny musical tastes. I've played guitar in bands ranging from neo-classical, fusion, thrash metal, and acid jazz, to classic rock, blues, funk and pop, and I've found something great from every genre I've heard, but don't care for most music of every genre, even my faves. But it's just my opinions. ^-^ Anyway, I'm gonna listen to Disco Duck next and have a good laugh and possibly a few memories of sillier times.

@Annie Romanowski5 : Yea, Mickey in particular is a fantastic singer. A recording engineers dream really. As I was taught my first week as an apprentice: when someone is really good, you basically set the mics up to get as good a basic sound as possible, then sit back and enjoy. Whereas most sessions are either a good amount to a lot of work, or sometimes very difficult.

Anyone that can sit through the entirety of Disco Duck is my hero...

I have nightmares about neon clothing and mullets.

@Kurt Pena oh, god yeah!

Me too! I miss good music. Todays music is just computer crap!

I miss lyrics!

@@sherrisRN, Mammoth WVH, albums 1 and 2 (the new one). You can sing along with Wolf. 🎶

OMG hadn't thought of that for years!

I actually like Tip Toe Through the Tulips more. Someone should do a prog metal cover of it, lols.

Didn't he get married on the Tonight Show?

John Walsh Not if I can help it! :D

Sure do. That would qualify as " allowed by Geneva Convention to torture prisoners of war. Pete Townsend should have smashed Tim's ukulele!!!

That ascending harmony is fantastic.

If they actually listed the worst songs of all time, nobody would even know. This list was to spark controversy and draw attention to themselves.

I think if you are my age (58) We missed our Jefferson airplane ( although we had hot tuna) and this song was yet another and a string of cheesy 80s songs by former heroes. Steve Winwood with the absolutely brutal arc of a diver album, and Genesis turning on us and giving us the finger with “and then there were three” onward. So I think you have to understand the sentiment of us music fans at the time.

You had to be there.

@@forrestgreene1139 Exactly.

Lol.

im sure you are/were better than you think...

lol

Ahhh...don't be so hard on yourself. This song is hard to beat 😆

Worst song? They never heard the band I'm in NOW play. But we don't care!

And none of the new stars sound in any way exciting. You can call it borrowing if you're good minded, but I'd call it (cheap) rip-offs.

A-ha, Duran Duran - wtf - that's the vomit of the 80's

@@peterwinters8587I’m guessing you didn’t experience that decade as a teenager? Both bands made some of the most iconic pop rock hits of the 80’s… The Living Daylights, I’ve Been Losing You, Take On Me, Hunting High & Low, Bad Boys, Union Of The Snake, Rio, Save A Prayer… hardly shit 🤷‍♂️

@@michaelantonyaustin I guess u didn't get the message that pop SUCKS. I love the 80's for what was called metal back then - Dokken, Scorps. Judas Priest, VH, Ratt, Poisson, Motely Crue, etc

@@peterwinters8587 I love that stuff too. I always though it was OK to love Iron Maiden, Queensryche and Megadeth AND Soft Cell, Eurythmics and Rick Astley… well, at least it used to be OK 😅👍

It is a good performance, that part I agree with; there are obvious skills on display. Worst song? Nope. Good song? Nope; sadly, displaying skills isn't enough to elevate a bad song idea into a good one.

Don't you understand? It's *because* it was so popular that everyone hated it!!!

@@kensingtonliederkrantz1592 Nah

Thanks!

I could name 50 songs worse than this one that were released just this year.

I don't know that I could,but everyone has the right to their opinion and voicing it;unless their opinion is the cause of a tragic consequence to others.

More like 50,000

Bjork?

Exactly, loads of songs are worse then this song, I remember when it came out, it couldn't have been that bad because it was a hit.

yeah but, with Fil explaining about the radio bit, it Did seem to make more sense.

Exactly

Agreed.

I think the reason people categorize it as the worst is because Jefferson Starship/Starship had recorded many quality songs and this was inane corporate drivel.

Which is corny and wrong. Musicians need businessmen to be successful. Marketing and distribution costs money.

Oh, let me add: To me, this is a very boring song.

@@mudhens4ever Feelings was the worst song ever. Morris Albert sucked. My second worst song was Yummy, Yummy, Yummy.

You light up my life is the worst song ever

"Feelings?" I agree. But everything written by the Late Great Chuck Berry is awesome. "My Sharona" is possibly the greatest rock song ever written. Then again, maybe not. The last two? Ugh.

Hey, My Dingaling is a classic! And nobody can listen to My Sharon’s without nodding their head or tapping their feet or hands to the beat and singing along!