IMPORTANT RESEARCH EFFORT

I'm working on an article for realcarguys.com. The title is "Worst Driving Songs Of All Time (So Far). First nomination: Eddie Rabbit's "Driving My Life Away."
Two rules: First, somebody has to LOVE the song. (Did Neil Diamond or Barry Manilow ever sing about driving?) Second, can't be hatin' just because it's country. Entries can come to either this email address or, preferably, worstdrivingsongssofar@gmail.
Thanks,
Mac Demere

 

This blog nominated "Beep Beep," the unbelievably annoying 1958 hit song by the Playmates, because (a) it is unbelievably annoying, and (b) just LOOK at the Playmates:

Comments

[SquirlCat41]

And I bet Sesame would show THIS in a heartbeat!

[mudstuffin]

au contraire, mon frer. i certainly CAN be hatin' just because it's country. (evil snarl).

and i'll nominate "convoy" by red sovine.

[Jeff Meyerson]

That's easy: "Convoy" by C.W. McCall from the days of the CB radio craze. And no, I never had one.

And just to help you out, here's a great list of car songs.

Two of my favorite titles (though I've never heard the songs) are:

Jesus Built My Hot Rod
Let's Take Some Drugs and Drive Around (which about says it all)

[Jeff Meyerson]

high ^s mud.

GMTA

[Loudmouth]

I had a 45 of Beep, Beep when I was a kid and played it on my little Victrola until it drove everyone crazy.

How about that dumbass song about "Riding With Private Malone" and "Teen Angel". Anything from this list.

[Guin]

Come on. Has to be "Last Kiss".

[Guin]

Here is a wonderful list of car crash songs.

[Guin]

Dang, Loud beat me to it.

[Reddsuss]

Tell Laura I love her

[Jeff Meyerson]

I love Last Kiss and Teen Angel, Guin. They're classics, like Tell Laura I Love Her and Leader of the Pack.

In fact I have a great CD called Last Kiss: Songs of Teen Tragedy with all of those songs, as well as Dickie Lee's "Patches" and what is surely the sickest song of all time, "I Want My Baby Back" by Jimmy Cross, in which...no, I can't tell you. Check it out for yourself.

[Meanie the Blue]

You either love or hate THIS one. (Count me in the latter group).

[Jeff Meyerson]

Anyway, how could you not love a song with a great verse like this (from Teen Angel):

Just Sweet Sixteen and now you're gone
They've taken you away
I'll never kiss your lips again...
They buried you today-ay-ay.

[Mot the Hoople]

24 hours from Tulsa - Gene Pitney

[Dr Kapapo]

Lobo's idyllic tale of life on the road Me and You and a dog named Boo

[oldfatguy]

I would vote for "Kentucky Moon Runner" by CW McCall. If I had to choose one out of a thousand.

[Mahatma Kane Jeeves (aka Brian D.)]

Intentionally annoying shouldn't count.

[Siouxie]

Eek. I'm sure "The Playmates" are still single.

[Loudmouth]

What bedbugs. This is an earwig epidemic. Damn you Dr. K.

[queensbee]

tell laura, etc. is my favorite teen angst tune. and its annoying.
we need to sing something else out here, the earworms are deepening.
who has a dog named boo anyway?

[Loudmouth]

Help. Need more Prozak in the water.

[Loudmouth]

Vespa virgins.

[sandy]

'The Playmates': looks like Steve Buscemi is driving, while Steve Carrell is enjoying a 'double down' in the middle

[Just Some Guy]

I'm sure many people will think this call is crazy, but I've always hated "Baby, You Can Drive My Car" by the Beatles. Awful, awful, annoying song from the best rock band ever; bad lyrics, bad harmony, plodding beat.

[nursecindy]

Of course I had to listen to this song before making an informed comment. Thanks for the earwig, Dave. My mom had this on a 45 along with several other annoying songs. As a kid, I liked Beep Beep. But I think it's more because of the childhood memory of she and I dancing to her records. Her favorite however was, "Sitting here LaLa waiting for my yaya" I'm not sure of the title but I remember hating that song. For years I thought he was sitting on his yaya. They don't make songs like that anymore.

[Siouxie]

Beep Beep Beep Beep YEAH!

[Loudmouth]

A Cadillac is not a car to scorn.

[nursecindy]

btw, my favorite car song is 'Mercury Blues' by Alan Jackson. Also I agree with Just Some Guy on 'Baby You Can Drive My Car' and Jeff on the song 'Convoy'. My dad had a CB radio and he loved that song. I hated it then and still do. The Beach Boys had the best car songs.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Just Some Guy has a point with the Beatles "Baby You Can Drive My Car." Ugh....they phoned that one in...like they were daring someone to call their song crappy. Emperor's new tunes.

Never heard of the Playmates...never ever want to again...they look like some Cerberus beast from a Star Wars bar.

I happen to like Eddie Rabbitt's song, "Drivin' my life away." Hooky and good harmonies. Much worse songs are out there - "Convoy" is one, but that's a goofy niche song.

[mudstuffin]

oh then there's 'maybeline' by chuck berry. ooh. bad.

[Layzeeboy]

Dashboard Jesus.

[OC Dolphin]

Meanie, (place me in the first group). From Kraftwerk to Morrissey, to Silversun Pickups, to Jay-Z's New York State of Mind...never heard a song or group I didn't like. Well, except for Country, that is.

[maryqos]

Can I vote twice? I agree with "beepbeep" but then the good Dr. reminded me of another stinker-
Me and You and a dog named Boo

[Annie Where-but-here]

*smacks OC Dolphin with a banjo*
That'll lern ya.

[OC Dolphin]

Sorry Annie, I do have my limits!

[Guin]

*smacks OC Dolphin with a steel guitar*

Don't you diss my Kenny Chesney.

[OC Dolphin]

Boy, just getting pelted here. Sorry folks, but this just doesn't cut it for me:

We got pickup trucks chicken clucks
Happy even when we’re down on our luck
We got fatback that’s a fact
And if you don’t know that’s a country rap.
Neighbor down the roads got a cow for sale
Twenty dollars more you get the horns and tail
Saturday night we’re gonna go get drunk
Something in the road smells like a skunk.

[Siouxie]

*JOINS the OC SMACKFEST*

*kicks butt with cowgirl boots*

[OC Dolphin]

There’s a tear in my beer
’cause I’m crying for you dear

[abbie normal]

I always thought that leader of the pack was about the dumbest song ever written.

Pack of what, I want to know.

[sandy]

'huh!
i agree with mr. dolphin -
those are stupid lyrics...
everyone knows beer can't be torn
(duh!)'

- paris

[ubetcha]

"Me and Bobby Magee" hands down.

[MOTW]

Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road

[O the U(manity)]

Does "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" count as a "driving" song?

(Don't really "hate" it ... but more than once a year is way more than plenty ... )

[mudstuffin]

sorry motw, gotta disargufy with you here. 'dead skunk' is a classic for those of us old enough (that's both of us) and debauched enough (that's just me in this case) to have sung that song at the top of yer lungs after about (mumble rumble) beers and or reefers...

out on a highway late one night
shoulda looked left and i shoulda looked right
didn't see the station wagon car
skunk got squashed and
there you are...

[Annie Where-but-here]

In the spirit of body cavity search songs:

OC got run over by a freight train,
Dissing all the cowgirls with his sass.
OC, can take yer metro techno popsh!t
Put a bow on it and shove it up yer @ss.

;)

[Horace LaBadie]

Crazy Bus from Arthur.

[Meanie the Blue]

Um ......, "The wheels on the bus ...."

[Siouxie]

LOL love it, Annie Got-yer-gun-right-here!

[WVPlantman]

Only annoying because when driving it gets in my brain and then won't get out - "On the road again" by Willie Nelson.

[Mac Demere]

Thanks to all, especially those with the conviction to nominate the Beatles. They'll be second, right after Beep Beep. (It's my article. If you don't like it, write your own.) A race driver friend said: "As (my mechanic) was strapping me in, I'd say to him 'Tell Laura I Love Her'.

[bonmot]

"The wheels on your house . . ."

[Guin]

Does She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy count as a driving song? Best Ever.

[Joseph]

"Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf. Come to think of it, that's more of a parking song than a driving song. But, oh, is it bad.

[Annie Where-but-here]

Guin - or "Big Green Tractor" - ♪ We can go slow or we can go faster....♫

[Jeff Meyerson]

Mac, *snork* at "Tell Laura I Love Her" reference. Good one.

For those who hate "Drive My Car" a bunch of oldies stations (I've heard it up and down the East Coast) use the "Beep beep'm beep beep yeah" as an intro to the traffic updates.

Mud, "Maybelline" is a classic!

The motor cooled down, the heat went down
And that's when I heard that highway sound
The Cadillac a-sittin' like a ton of lead
A hundred and ten a half a mile ahead
The Cadillac lookin' like it's sittin' still
And I caught Maybelline at the top of the hill

Genius.

[Guin]

*hums Jason Aldean along with Cindy*

[veee]

All together now, one, two, three
Keep your mind on your driving
Keep your hands on the wheel
Keep your snoopy eyes on the road ahead
We're having fun, sitting in the backseat
Kissing and a hugging with Fred

[veee]

That's Seven Little Girls (Sitting in The Back Seat) by Paul Evans & The Curls

[Guin]

tries to fix blog

[NotSoShyJan]

veee !!! My mom used to sing us that song!

[nursecindy]

Am I too late to *SMACK* OC Dolphin?
I wrote a country song once.
I'm sitting here eating ice cream,
washing it down with beer.
If wishing only came true
you'd be sitting here.
I won't subject y'all to the rest of that.
I also started one called:
The Only Good Years In Our Marriage Were The Ones On My Pickup Truck. AND I said it before any of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour guys.

[abbie normal]

veee,

I work with a guy named Fred and he claims to have never heard that song. I think he is not truthing.

[nuny]

In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry

"Have a drink, have a drive, go out and see what you can find."

[veee]

Not so shy, my mom used to sing us that song too!!!! While we were driving!!!! With four kids and no seat belts in the Dodge Stationwagon

[veee]

Abbie, Fred needs to hear that song, it could be life-changing

[Ralph]

Peter, Paul & Mary: Take me for a ride in your car-car.

[PirateBoy]

Johnny Cash doing "One Piece at a Time"

Chrome Plated Dreck

(Not that I'm biased against this song, but I am!)

[Jeff Meyerson]

off

[Loudmouth]

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Really lousy driving song.

[Just Some Guy]

Mac Demere, I hope you'll stop back in here (or update Dave) with a link to the article. It sounds like a fun read!

[Cheryl Howard]

B52's Devil in my car. Although I do love this song.

[Cheryl Howard]

B52's Devil in my car. Although I do love this song.

[Mac Demere]

Just Some Guy: Dave's site is a daily visit for me. In fact, before I started this, I mentioned it in a blog, because of the "A Florida License Is On The Way..." feature. One of my other editors just sent a note saying we should do something about the chainsaw drag racer. It's too bad few saw that editor's unedited work. He was hilarious. And he could cause me to blow beer out my nostrils with stories I'd heard before. But in the car writing bidness, we gotta be careful about offending people. We have to be funny...but not TOO funny. (I was told that one time.) A different editor said my writing didn't have enough "spice." "Yeah, because YOU take it out." After that, I'd get my copy after he had edited it and delete his changes. He never noticed. In fact said my writing had improved.

[Guin]

judi, vee broke the blog!

[Guin]

judi, vee broke the blog!

[veee]

tattle tale

[nursecindy]

judi, Guin double posted that veee broke the blog!

[veee]

now everyone's gonna know

[Annie Where-but-here]

Must I fix everything?

[Annie Where-but-here]

I guess not. Sigh.

[Wes S.]

sweep

...I was in junior high when Gary Numan released "Cars," and I've loathed that song since the first time I heard it.

[Wes S.]

...On the other hand: Probably my all-time favorite driving/car song is Rush's "Red Barchetta."

A few other personal favorites:

"Black Sunshine" by Rob Zombie;
"Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen;
"Highway Star" by Deep Purple;
"Radar Love" by Golden Earring;
"Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody;
"SuperCharger Heaven" by White Zombie;
"Mercury Blues" by Alan Jackson;
"Fast Cars and Freedom" by Rascal Flatts;
"Silver Thunderbird" by Marc Cohn.
"Turn the Page," either Bob Seger's original or Metallica's cover; I like 'em both.

[veee]

Ok, favorite car songs:

Another Sad Love Song - Toni Braxton
Fire - The Pointer Sisters
Driving - Everything but the Girl
Cruisin' - Smokey Robinson

[JustActNatral]

Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again"...

[DL]

How about the theme song from the 1965 show My Mother The Car--->http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siOZDZ1A0OM?

[Guin]

Bruce Springsteen wrote "Fire", performed by the Pointer Sisters.

[Wingnut]

The Cars. Drive. Can't believe we got this many posts without mentioning that disaster. And I'll guarantee we've got people here who like it.
Probably the same crowd that doesn't like "One Piece at a Time."

[Bob]

Robert Earl Keen is one of the best song-writers alive, but, sad to say, "Armadillo Jackal" probably belongs on the list: http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/keen-jr-robert-earl/armadillo-jackal-4829.html

[Snard]

"Freeway of Love" by Areeetha! Is there a category for thinly veiled sexual references?

[queensbee]

judging from the number of entries on this thread, i would say that DAVE - another bad song book should be written. we love this stuff.

[Patrick]

"Driver's Seat" by Sniff & the Tears. Awesomely horrible.

[Steve]

I always kind of liked "Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road". It's sort of like an "On the Road Again" from the animals point of view.

[James]

Grease Lighting, I hope to God that by the time my daughter goes through here Grease phase I will have hearing loss.

[bonmot]

Radar Love -- THANK YOU!

I knew there was a Golden Earring driving song out there that I liked, but I could not remember the name of it. It was driving (ar!) me nuts yesterday.

[bonmot]

No one mentioned "I'm in Love with My Car" by Queen?

[oneblankspace]

Testing testing testing testing one dos trays This is not Hormel Meat from Austin Minnesota, OK?