Another entry into our “Songs We Love to Hate” files: “Midnight at the Oasis” by Maria Muldaur in 1974. I remember hating this song at the time, and after listening to it again to create this post (you owe me one) my instincts at 15 were correct: this is an awful song with terrible lyrics that is actually sung well by Muldaur. She even gives it a go here in…
Okay, it’s probably not accurate to call this performance by the George Baker Selection (what a horrible name for a band, right) of their 1975 hit “Una Paloma Blanca” LIVE, as it’s obvious they’re lip-syncing to the recording, but that was common for most TV performances of that era. Still, everyone here–audience included–look like they’re rather be somewhere else. The band seems bored, especially I’m sure after singing this awful…
Wait, what? How did this song make it into the Top 40? Okay, The Carpenters had a string of hits in the 70s, and Karen Carpenter could sing the phone book and it would be outstanding, but why this wild song about contacting aliens for contact? Was it the popularity of Star Wars? Maybe just UFO madness? Quite frankly, Karen looks pretty stoned throughout the music video, so that could explain…
This has to be one of the most loved–and hated–songs every recorded. People either think it’s a masterpiece or belongs in the garbage; there is no middle ground when it comes to “MacArthur Park” with its famous line that “someone left the cake out in the rain.” WHAT??? After hearing the 1978 Donna Summer version recently, I decided to listen to all three of the famous version again to see…
Why a LIVE performance of this horrible, horrible song from 1976 off The Captain and Tennille’s album Song of Joy? Because I found it and it only made listening to this song that much worse. (You’re welcome!) I can just see the song writer now, drunk with his friends back in the 70s, bragging that he could write a hit song about ANYTHING! And one of them says, “oh yeah,…
There’s not much to say about this video, other than it is a full album of mall Muzak from the 1970s. So, if you walked the malls in the 70s, you likely heard this in the background. It’s calming and slightly infuriating at the same time.
And you thought listening to the song on the radio was bad back in 1975! Just wait until you catch the much, much worse music video. Here’s more on the song from Wikipedia: “Run Joey Run” is a teenage tragedy song performed by soft rock singer David Geddes. It was a US Top 40 hit which peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart in the fall of 1975, and…
Not sure what TV show this performance was from, but looks to me like BBC 2, although I’m sure one of our readers will help me out with that. Regardless, this is a great LIVE version of Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-A-Ling” which ended up being his only #1 song in the US. (You can get the original CD it was on, The London Chuck Berry Sessions, here.) Here’s more on…
Another one of the songs we “Love to Hate!” This time it’s a song that went all the way to #1 on the US charts on 1974 for Helen Reddy. “Angie Baby”, off Reddy’s Free and Easy album, tells the story of a teen-aged girl who … well, no one is really quite sure what it’s about, but it sounds like she lures men into her room and then shrinks…
Oh boy, what a painful song to have to listen to again. Hated it back in ’77, and it hasn’t gotten any better. On the plus side I can say I always enjoy these live performances on The Midnight Special, and MacGregor isn’t a bad singer (or hard to look at) it’s just a horrible, horrible example of late 70’s pop radio. Obviously some people loved it as it hit…