Incompetent (or simply terrible) songs that have endured by token of their hit classic status

here's a tough one. I was inspired to post this thread while pondering the song that inarguably started k-pop, seo taiji's "I know" (1992). it completely revolutionized music/pop culture in korea, because it was the first time a korean artist attempted a truly contemporary pop sound. as a result, it broke all kinds of records, and endures today as an unimpeachable classic. it is nevertheless a completely awful failure of songwriting and production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3DWZijTbVY

I started trying to think of global equivalents, and am surprised to find I can't really muster anything. so far the closest examples I've considered are way off – a gross relic like "don't stop believing" might be grating and shitty, but it's a pretty competent song, whereas something truly bullshit that makes it to the zeitgeist usually doesn't last there over time (i.e., it's not like we all fondly reminisce upon "pretty fly for a white guy," "too sexy," or any of limp bizkit's hits).

and yet surely more examples exist. right?

REO Speedwagon Keep On Lovin' You

idk I Know is pretty charming despite being a bit of a mess

Hard to know what to say re: "incompetent" here b/c it seems to be reaching for some kind of objectivity which I'm not sure is going to be possible. Other than that we're just left with terrible songs that were big hits, of which I'm sure there are many. "Bohemian Rhapsody" springs to mind

Best thing I can think of is 'Louie,Louie' in that it is great/influential/beloved but also technically and performance-wise obviously substandard - perhaps the first record to 'prove' that technical chops matter less to rock music than feeling/energy etc?

For it to qualify I think it has to be a song that fails on its own terms, otherwise yeah you are going to end up with a load of really famous songs that people hate. BoRap may be many many thinks but "incompetent" isn't one of them.

It's hard to tell what's meant here given that the reference point is a 23-year old Korean pop song and I can't listen at work.

Yeah 'terrible' is way more subjective than 'incompetent'.

fair criticisms. Matt DC was otm In terms of what I meant re: "incompetent" (I understand anagram's concerns but on the following terms do think objectivity is not out of reach here):

"For it to qualify I think it has to be a song that fails on its own terms, otherwise yeah you are going to end up with a load of really famous songs that people hate. BoRap may be many many thinks but "incompetent" isn't one of them"

I threw in "simply terrible" since I'm pretty sure there aren't actually that many classic hits that are artistic failures on their own terms, even if that entails a lot of added grey area. as for the reference being "a 23-year old Korean pop song," yes, though keep in mind this is *the* the defining classic/start point of what's become one of history's most technically and compositionally accomplished pop industries :D

that said, i'd say "I Know" is incompetent because of glaring structural incoherence, improbably scant return on an absurd number of samples/references (including uncleared flava flav samples, someone shouting "east coast!," "ice baby baby"...), the fact that the chorus is out of tune, a garbage verse from one of the backup dancers, random metal breaks...

@ufo it's charming for sure, though isn't that because of its incompetence?

my apologies for any clerical gaffes, by the way, still adjusting to my dictation software's quirks...

For it to qualify I think it has to be a song that fails on its own terms

Still not sure what this means, if anything. Is a song an artistic failure on its own terms if it fails to achieve what it set out to do? And if so, how is one supposed to discern what it set out to do (I'd argue this is an impossibility, btw)? I'm not really sure what "glaring structural incoherence" is supposed to mean and how one would recognise it, but I am sure that it's a value judgement and one person might think a song suffers from it whereas another doesn't. Some would say Jandek can't sing or play guitar but I would never level a charge of incompetence at him

tl; dr incompetence is subjective

Maniac 2000 by Mark McCabe

http://www.thejournal.ie/maniac-2000-mark-mccabe-interview-1972681-Mar2015/

Hi-NRG cut-and-shunt banger recorded live in the Clontarf Cricket Club. It's still the 4th biggest selling single in the history of the Irish charts and has an enduring classic status despite everyone, including Mark McCabe i think, admitting it's awful. If Scooter had been dropped on their heads as babies and raised in Waterford they might have sounded like this.

If Scooter had been dropped on their heads as babies and raised in Waterford they might have sounded like this.

This actually sounds kind of amazing, don't want to listen to it and shatter the illusion.

@sharivari you got it. this is incredible. i lost it when the "she's a maniac" interpolation slid in (great youtube comments, too)

@anagram sincere question – does this misgiving apply to music criticism (and the general idea of music history), too? doesn't every review of an album or gig involve a judgment re: artistic competence?

"We Built This City" seems like the obvious one here