"Most of the worst songs about Serious Issues ever recorded were made in the five years after Live Aid."

My goodness – "This is The World Calling" is grotesque. "No one looks as good as you" is offensive on so many levels, not least because apparently the heavenly choir of Alison Moyet and Annie Lennox didn't take a closer look at Geldof's hair and clothes.

"Winds of Change" was my senior class's song in 1992. HATE IT SO MUCH.

Same thing here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHZ79InLGRY

My senior song was "Promise of a New Day." By Paula Abdul. In a boys Catholic high school.

hahaha

I have no recollection of what our senior song was; our homecoming song was "When I See You Smile" by Bad English.

I also want to see terrible non-English language Serious Song videos from the time. Somehow I figure they'd be even more atrocious.

The Norwegian Eurovision entry from 1990. One of our worst ever. Placed at the very bottom. Not surprisingly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z891H3ulsVg

And of course it's the Norwegian Band Aid/USA For Africa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsQOU77F7IQ

nul points
xp

what are 'Senior songs'? we never did prom nights etc in the UK.

nul points
xp

Unlike four other Norwegian entries, "Brandenburger Points" did actually get a point or two. :)

xpost I'm so glad to see you citing Planet Earth 1988, Dorian ...

It's every bit as brilliant as promised.

Who is singing "Let It Be"? Did they pull random people off the street?

Have we gotten this far without mentioning the international rise of Midnight Oil? I was a total Lisa Simpson at this time, 12 years old, obsessed with nuclear disarmament and stopping animal testing.
This song was OTM to me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcKcjpSWmm0

I guess I don't really think this song is terrible, or Midnight Oil for that matter.
This song rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16bFBzx7I_0&feature=related

Some serious face while clapping going on there. (iirc)

"Just a world that we all must share, it's not enough just to stand and stare," apparently:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DODKTN3O2s

My long-held crackpot theory - now pending review, upon completion of DL's humungous tome - is that Band Aid Killed The Protest Song.

I think it did serious damage to the protest song's reputation - in the 90s Thom Yorke once said that he wanted to write political songs but not "Live Aid shit".

What is this humungous tome you speak of?

But he did want to play piano on Band aid shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdtDtZw-p28

Song for the environment by Canadian music stars (in both official languages!). The video features Olympic medalists for some reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gri5mVJczMM

And the Canadian "Band Aid", written by Brian Adams:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJN3u1wAWIk

Ugh @ that last one.

This is more about Margaret Thatcher than Live Aid, isn't it? ("Money Go Round", "Money's Too Tight To Mention", et al.)

As far as narratives songs set against a world-in-crisis backdrop, I like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW-kseVoPms

It's pretty (unintentionally) funny I think. Neil Young, Geddy Lee and Joni Mitchell look so out of place. And then you get Anne-Murray, Mike Reno, Corey Hart, and the token French line!
(x-post)

Oooh have we mentioned Keep on Rockin the Free World? I love that song, but it has to be one of the only songs with lyrics about TOILET PAPER.

Rockin IN that is

Good thing about that song is he actually sounds properly pissed off.

The Lebanon is always cited as one of the worst political songs but I love it. Great PiL-style guitar, snipers/shops line not as bad as it's made out to be.

xp - Totally. That's why I still like it. Also the parking attendant at my local public library used to sing it to me when I would leave the parking lot, and for some reason I always liked that.

And the Canadian "Band Aid", written by Brian Adams:

I thought it was David Foster. Sounds a lot like a David Foster effort.

This thread needs these two chicks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZt7J0iaUD0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKYWOwWAguk

Not that they are particularly bad - particularly not the first one, but I guess they are if you are against the idea of 80s pop songs about serious issues.

This may have been slightly pre-Band Aid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bobUGEliic

I'm so glad Hear N' Aid pre-dates Live Aid by 6 weeks or so (though it didn't see release till 1/2 year after) because it is awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZktrrqT1A0

Which also brings me to this (again, I consider this not bad at all):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqqXMXpyAkE

And this one even has a classic video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTOQUnvI3CA

(But maybe "serious" songs were actually better slightly pre-Live Aid?)

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

Austrians aren't very good at tenderness, so a lot of them just growl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz43diLLTP8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk9DZfPR9Yg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kluCLBdByGM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X16FFaVnz_s

first time i ever saw boomtown rats was on the merv griffin show!

Mine was IIRC as musical guest on the SNL knockoff Fridays, where they played "Don't Like Mondays". I remember my Mom commenting, with audible contempt, that they looked "anti-establishment'.

Bob Geldof: wtf were we thinking?

luka is a good song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_gz-gY3U1E

Can't remember too many songs much worse than this one, which was the Thompson Twins' anti-drug song and just about their last hit. Completely awful and I doubt the message really connected with anyone.

see also: the first side of Document

finest worksong bro!

It's pretty (unintentionally) funny I think. Neil Young, Geddy Lee and Joni Mitchell look so out of place.

Joni Mitchell has never looked more uncomfortable. Then again, she's never looked particularly comfortable.

xp yeah I hate that album dude (but it reminds you a bit of Go4; we've touched on this discussion before...)