Several weeks back, I was lamenting bad advertising music. There seem to be lots of companies who have the ad-music decisions being made by a 45-55 year-old who chooses a favorite tune from their youth but didn’t have great taste in music, (or a 20-something staffer who can Google on what was high on the charts when the ad exec was in his or her 20s.) A recent incarnation was the Honda ad to the tune of ELO’s “Hold on Tight.” Contrast that with Apple ads often using something very recent (“Shut Up and Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings was running at that time)

I don’t think they quite understand the backlash of choosing the wrong tune. Is your automobile target audience really that old? To me, it’s one of those songs that I liked back in the day, but that was partly because if you hear something over ad over again, you begin to like it, or at least tolerate it. But 25+ years later, I’m content to hear it every couple of months, but if I’m bombarded with it all over again I’m really going to start to loathe it, and whatever product is being associated with it.

That discussion morphed from songs you only need to hear every so often, to songs you never need to hear again, which provoked the response, “Muskrat Love” by the Captain and Tennille. So I got to thinking, what bad songs do I listen to that I would be reluctant to admit to having on a playlist on my iPod or computer?

Lo and behold, I find myself beaten to the punch. And I find it funny that the first two songs on Janet’s list are two to which I listen, and were not available on iTunes for some time — I kept checking for them, and they are on my workout rotation.

The trashiest (IMO) stuff on my five-star playlist is the bubble-gum-type music from the 60s.
“Little Bit of Soul” by Music Explosion
“Jelly Jungle (of Orange Marmalade)” by the Lemon Pipers
“Dizzy” and “Sweet Pea” by Tommy Roe
“I Saw Linda Yesterday” Dickey Lee

All get significant playing time.