More Hit Songs Hated by their Makers Quiz

Answer: All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

Female-led rock band Heart had hit songs in at least three different decades. They had some rock hits in the 1970's, some slow popular power ballads in the 1980's, and in the 1990's they had "All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You." According to Ann Wilson in the liner notes of Heart's 1995 Unplugged live album "The Road Home," the song was written by producer Mutt Lange. Wilson says that he wrote it for Don Henley of the Eagles, "but there was a lot of pressure on us to do the song at the time."

The song went to number two on the U.S. Billboard top 100 and number one in Australia and top 10 in a few other countries. However, Ann Wilson told Dan Rather that she thought the song was "hideous." The whole interview can be found on YouTube.

Answer: Stairway to Heaven

"I'd break out in hives if I had to sing that song in every show. I wrote those lyrics and found that song to be of some importance and consequence in 1971, but 17 years later, I don't know" said Robert Plant in 1988.

His opinion hadn't improved much in 2002, when he donated money to a Portland radio station so they would STOP playing the song.

In 1971, Led Zeppelin released their 4th album, Led Zeppelin IV. The album has sold over 37 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest-selling and most influential rock albums of all time. Although there are many popular songs on this album, the song most responsible for the album's legendary status is the 8-minute epic, "Stairway to Heaven." Despite not being released as a single, "Stairway to Heaven" has been played on radio stations over 2 million times. One radio DJ once estimated that it would take 44 years to play the song back-to-back that many times. Guitarist Jimmy Page said that they intentionally never released it as a single to get people to buy the whole album. This smart move paid off well.

So it's no wonder Plant grew tired of the song. From his comments that I have read, I don't think Plant really hated the song, I just think he got tired of it. In my opinion, if a song gets played so many times that you get tired of it, that just means it's a really great and/or well-loved song.

Answer: Strangers in the Night

"Strangers in the Night" was written by Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, and Eddie Snyder. Frank Sinatra recorded it and released it in 1966 on an album of the same name. It became his most popular song, charting at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the album became his highest-selling album.

However, when he played it live, many times he would tell the audience that he hated it. Unlike other artists in this quiz and my last quiz, Sinatra still played this song live because he knew people wanted to hear it. However, he openly told audiences that he hated it. For example, in New York City in 1990, he said "Here's a song, the first time I heard Don Costa played it for me some years ago. I hated it! I hated this #%$#$%#^#^#^$ song the first I've heard it. And I still hate it! So sue me, shoot bullets through me. Shoot."

Answer: Wonderwall

In 1995, Oasis made the song "Wonderwall," which became their biggest hit worldwide, charting at number two in the UK and number eight on the U.S. Billboard top 100, and charting in the top 10 in at least 10 different countries. It's also a well-covered song. Ryan Adams covered the song in 2003 and Oasis liked his version of it. Mike Flowers Pops had a top 40 hit in eight European countries with their cover of the song.

However, in a 2008 interview with MTV, Gallagher said that he hated the song. He said "You go to America, and they're like: 'Are you Mr. Wonderwall?' You want to chin [hit] someone." Later in that interview, he said that the best thing about their 2008 album "Dig Out Your Soul" was the there was no song like "Wonderwall" on it. Oasis broke up in 2009. Subsequently there have been many reports that they will reform.

Answer: Telephone

Lady Gaga wrote "Telephone" for Britney Spears, but Spears rejected it. Lady Gaga ended up recording it for herself and with Beyonce in 2010. The song became a top 10 hit in at least 10 different countries. However, Ms Gaga has since said that she did not like the song. More than that, she hated the video. In 2011, she said to "Time Out London" "I can't even watch the 'Telephone' video, I hate it so much."

Her hatred of the video is understandable, since it portrays her as a murderer. In the video, Beyonce breaks Lady Gaga out of jail and tell she that she's been a very bad girl. They go to a dinner party, at which Gaga poisons the guests.

Answer: Heart of Gold

Singer/songwriter Neil Young released the album "Harvest" in 1972, and it became the highest-selling album of that year. Every song on that album is great, but the biggest hit from that album was "Heart of Gold." It became a number one hit in the U.S. and Canada, and a top 20 hit in five other countries.

In 1977, Young released the album "Decade" which featured some of his most popular songs of the first ten years of his career, including songs he did with Buffalo Springfield and with Crosby, Stills, and Nash, as well as songs from his solo career. That triple album has handwritten liner notes from Young himself. In those liner notes, he said that "Heart of Gold" was a "Bore."

Answer: Mandy Moore

In 1999, Then-15-year-old Mandy Moore became famous worldwide with her hit song "Candy." The song charted just outside the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at it charted in the top ten in Australia, Belgium, and the UK, as well as charting in several other countries.

Despite its success, Moore told Glamour magazine in 2006 that her first two albums were "awful, just awful," and that if she had the money, she'd give a refund to everyone who bought her first two albums.

Answer: Brass in Pocket

"Brass in Pocket" was the Pretenders' 1979 breakthrough hit. It charted at number 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and it charted at number one in the UK, Sweden, and South Africa, as well as charting at number two in Australia and New Zealand.

However, Chrissie Hynde told the Observer in 2004 "When we recorded the song I wasn't very happy with it and told my producer that he could release it over my dead body."

Answer: The Cult

The Cult were a British rock band that made AC/DC-like hard rock music. They were very popular in the UK, although they were lesser known in the United States.

They had a top 20 hit in the UK with their song "Rain." However, after performing the song live at Wembley Stadium in 1989, singer Ian Astbury asked if the audience liked that song. Although they cheered, he responded "Personally, I don't." His apparent low opinion of the song hasn't stopped the band from playing it live though. The Cult have played the song live at almost every show they have done from the time the song came out through 2018, more than 30 years after it came out.

Answer: Bob Geldof

"I am responsible for two of the worst songs in history. One is 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and the other one is 'We Are The World'" said Bob Geldof in a 2010 interview with the Australian Daily Telegraph.

Bob Geldof was a singer/songwriter, who later became an activist. He created charities that raised money to help the starving people in Africa. These charities united major music stars from around the world. Two of these charities were Band Aid and USA For Africa.

Band Aid was a charity band of the 1980's that had Duran Duran, Bono of U2, Phil Collins, Robert "Kool" Bell of Kool and the Gang, and many other famous musicians. They recorded a song called "Do They Know it's Christmas?" Shortly after its release, the song became the highest selling single of all-time in the UK, though it has since been surpassed.

Shortly after that, Geldof founded USA for Africa. This charity band brought together Michael Jackson and his siblings, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and many others. This group created "We Are The World," which became the fastest selling song in history and the first single ever to be multi-platinum. This song raised at least $63 million for charity.

Of all of the musicians' comments in this quiz and my other one, Bob Geldof's comments are the most depressing. It's one thing to hate a hit song you made for yourself but to hate hit songs you made that raised money for charity? I guess he became selfish later in life.