Starship may have built this city on rock and roll, but Blender magazine is tearing it down, naming the band’s “We Built This City” as the worst song ever.
Some tunes on the “50 Worst Songs Ever!” list were selected for their melodies, others “are wretchedly performed” and “quite a few don’t make sense whatsoever,” the magazine said.
The list, which appears in the May issue, includes songs by New Kids on the Block, Meat Loaf, The Doors, Lionel Richie, Hammer and The Beach Boys, among others.
Blender describes 1985’s “We Built This City” as “the truly horrible sound of a band taking the corporate dollar while sneering at those who take the corporate dollar.”
Starship lead singer Grace Slick says, “This is not me,” when the magazine reminds her of the tune. “Now you’re an actor. It’s the same as Meryl Streep playing Joan of Arc.”
Rounding out the top 10: “Achy Breaky Heart,” Billy Ray Cyrus; “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” Wang Chung; “Rollin’,” Limp Bizkit; “Ice Ice Baby,” Vanilla Ice; “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” Huey Lewis and the News; “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” Bobby McFerrin; “Party All the Time,” Eddie Murphy; “American Life,” Madonna; and “Ebony and Ivory,” Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.
Other songs on the list: Toby Keith’s “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” (No. 22); Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” (No. 30); Ricky Martin’s “She Bangs” (No. 39); Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” (No. 41); Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sounds of Silence” (No. 42); The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” (No. 48); and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” (No. 50).
Blender and VH1’s TV special “50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs ... Ever” airs May 12.