Horrible business moves, artistic blunders, deeply questionable moral judgment — with appearances by Adam Levine, Kiss, Kanye West, and many more
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/worst-decisions-in-music-history-1234626744/50 - Elton John goes disco
49 - The Sex Pistols fire talented bassist Glen Matlock, replace him with human rubbish heap Sid Vicious
48 - A Taste of Honey wins Best New Artist Grammy over the Cars and Elvis Costello
47 - Adam Levine slides into the DMs
46 - Bob Dylan releases ‘Self-Portrait’
45 - Yes Hires the Buggles
44 - Justin Timberlake rips off Janet Jackson’s top at the Super Bowl, and
she’s the one who faces a backlash
43 - Ticketmaster introduces “dynamic” pricing system
42 - The Monkees strive for a new level of artistic freedom with their experimental movie ‘Head’
41 - Prince changes his name to an unpronounceable glyph
40 - Britney Spears turns down “Umbrella”
39 - Chris Cornell goes R&B
38 - Roger Waters dares Pink Floyd to do it without him
37 - The Stone Roses take five years to finish ‘Second Coming’
36 - David Geffen sues Neil Young for not sounding like Neil Young
35 - Jane’s Addiction break up at dawn of alt-rock revolution they helped inspire
34 - Robin Thicke tries to win back his ex-wife with terrible album
33 - Kiss try to make a serious concept album
32 - The New York Dolls embrace communism
31 - Leonard Cohen makes a record with legendary producer/gun-toting psychopath Phil Spector
30 - Spin Doctors release “Cleopatra’s Cat”
Comments
Yes hiring the Buggles ended up in Owner of a Lonely Heart their biggest ever song.
I'd also argue that Eric Clapton going all in on quoting Enoch Powel is worse than his Covid nonsense.
90125 is a great album, one of Yes’s best - OOALH isn’t even the best song on it.
On the bright side, Clapton (and Bowie, who is often forgotten in this) did inspire Rock Against Racism and a backlash against the far right.
Also, having watched both documentaries, Woodstock ‘99 wasn’t actually any more badly organised than the original, and the outcome was only marginally worse - just seen with less rose-tinted sunglasses. It’s also worth mentioning that Michael Lang was involved in Altamont… it wasn’t only the Stones and the Hells Angels.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Lennon said, “We’re more popular than Jesus.”
There’s footage of him explaining his comments, practically forced to apologise for them, too, which is quite uncomfortable viewing in my opinion (as someone who values free speech.)
Owner of a Lonely Heart was from 90125 (1983), with Jon Anderson singing and Trevor Rabin on guitar.
At best there is a list of about 10 things there max.