You can’t win ‘em all, including musicians. These famous rock songs were recorded by artists and bands who really didn’t want to record them at all. It was a good thing they did, though, because these rock hits would go on to catapult up the charts.
“Creep” by Radiohead from ‘Pablo Honey’ (1992)
Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead’s guitarist, disliked “Creep” so much that he allegedly tried to sabotage the song during recording, per guitarist Ed O’Brien. Before the chorus of this iconic alt-rock song kicks off, you can hear some loud blasts of noise from Greenwood’s guitar, where a solo should have been.
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“That’s the sound of Jonny trying to fuck the song up,” said O’Brien. “He really didn’t like it the first time we played it, so he tried spoiling it.”
The rest of the band would later come to hate the song, too, growing tired of performing it ad nauseam. That didn’t stop it from becoming a No. 7 hit on the UK Singles chart. It was also a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
“Cherry Pie” by Warrant from ‘Cherry Pie’ (1990)
Just about every glam metal fan alive knows “Cherry Pie” by Warrant. Heck, even those who don’t love glam metal know it. That, apparently, really peeves the band that recorded it, considering many of Warrant’s members thought it was not as good a song as their other releases. Jani Lane, the band’s frontman, wrote it in 15 minutes under the demands of their label. Soon after, everything became “driven by the label and not the band.”
“Cherry Pie” was a hit, sure. But it always sucks when a cash-grab song makes a musician famous, rather than the material they poured their heart and soul into.
“Cum On Feel The Noize” by Quiet Riot from ‘Mental Health’ (1983)
Here’s another glam metal song, one that the band in question went out of their way to try to sabotage from the get-go. Quiet Riot was told to cover this Slade song, but lead singer Kevin DuBrow was firmly against it. He wanted the band to be known for songs they wrote themselves. And he was admittedly not the biggest fan of Slade. So, when the time came to record it, the band tried to play it as terribly as they could so their label couldn’t release it. That didn’t happen; in fact, the song became a smash hit instead. This entry on our list of rock songs would go on to be a No. 5 hit on the Hot 100. It remains the band’s most famous track.
(Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)