Most Hated Songs #20—"Mony, Mony" by BIlly Idol

Looks like I'm the last entry in the blog club for our kickoff, so let me set a few ground rules of my own. I'm working with four broad categories for my songs in groups of five. I'll be explaining why I hate the song, what I'd rather do instead of listen to that song, the level of Dante's Inferno those responsible for the song should have to endure, then a friendly suggestion as an alternative, either from that artist or a similar song in terms of style and genre. 

Unlike the sturm und drang that Jeff and Steve have experienced in putting this list together, I have a long and inglorious history with hating things and ranting about them ad nauseum. In this case, I'm embracing the dark side of music history as a cathartic exercise. With any luck, I'll never have to listen to any of these songs ever again, or at the very least, be able to turn off the radio or leave the venue with all due haste.

Category: Overplayed to Death—these songs may have some redeeming qualities in and of themselves, but to my ears, they've been played and overplayed so much that I would be quite content to live another 100 years and never hear them again.

#20—"Mony, Mony" by Billy Idol
An original classic by Tommy James & The Shondells, I enjoyed Idol's cover version for about the first 10,000 times I heard it. But you can only go to so many proms, wedding receptions, and office Christmas parties until the juvenile, asinine locker-room sing-along becomes completely off-putting. This song has become even more cliched than the Chicken Dance, the Hokey-Pokey, and the Electric Slide combined. Any couple who insists on having this song on their wedding reception playlist should have their marriage immediately annulled.

I'd rather...have to scrub out the inside of Billy Idol's leather concert outfit with my only toothbrush than to have to listen to this song even one more time.

Dante's Inferno Level: Limbo—Those responsible for this audio atrocity should have to wait in line for eternity in a DMV office playing Tiffany's remake of Tommy James's "I Think We're Alone Now."






Listen instead to...Billy Idol's up-tempo remake of The Doors' classic "L.A. Woman."