Sometimes a song will be so lame that it damages the legacy and reputation of a musician for years to come. A lot of the time, that’s pretty deserved. In other instances, when it comes to the following three musicians, bands, and their songs, I doubt that any damaged reputation was deserved. Let’s take a look, shall we?
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“We Are The Clash” by The Clash (1985)
When one thinks of honest punk rock, one often thinks of The Clash. Many a punk band in the 1970s and 1980s jumped on the bandwagon for money, The Clash really were real about everything their music stood for. However, after the departure of Mick Jones, the band really wasn’t the same. Enter “We Are The Clash”, a stain on the band’s legacy that fans don’t want to think about. Some would even say that the band that released this song isn’t The Clash at all, but Joe Strummer and Friends. So, I wouldn’t say The Clash deserves the hate. But Strummer and the unknown musicians he hired to put together Cut The Crap? Yeah, they probably deserve it. Don’t shoot the messenger, though. Critics tore it apart back in 1985.
“Kokomo” by The Beach Boys (1988)
I have to admit, I quite like this song. It’s a fun one. And it came decades after The Beach Boys were at the height of their fame in the 1960s. Luckily for them, around 1988, 1960s nostalgia was starting to kick it among the masses. “Kokomo” capitalized on that, but it didn’t have the grit and psychedelic energy that much of The Beach Boys’ music previously had. Families loved it. Diehard fans cringed at it. It felt like the band had purposefully held back, and that was a shame. I’ll go ahead and blame this on the fact that Brian Wilson was not involved in its recording, as he was working on his solo record at the time.
“Money” by Roger Waters (2023)
That date might seem odd to fans of Pink Floyd. Didn’t Roger Waters write “Money” and record it with Pink Floyd back in 1973? That would be correct. We’re talking about the 2023 solo recording that Waters put out, which was “updated” for the modern age. His critiques of consumerism and the capitalist nightmare are all solid, as they were back in the 1970s. However, the lack of energy and magic from the other members of Pink Floyd made this “cover” fall flat. The heart of The Dark Side Of The Moon was collaboration. Without it, Waters released something fairly cold and, honestly, unnecessary. But I don’t think he deserved the hate he got for this re-release. He wrote the original song, after all.
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