Why was this song popular in the first place?

Recently, we hosted a contest called "Turn that Song Off!", which focused on songs that we cannot stand to hear. I never had a chance to write my own entry for this one, but there's no time like the present, right?

Which song would I choose for this topic?

For me, this was a no-brainer.

"We Built This City" by Starship has to be one of my all-time least favorite songs. Yes, there are songs that are worse, and I recognize that, but this song was POPULAR back in the 80's. For me, that makes it far worse than some of the more obscure tunes. Also, the fact that it came out during my formative teen years gave it an unwanted "stickability" factor.

With regard to the popularity, I did a bit of research, and I found out that this piece of tripe reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 16, 1985. It also reached #12 in the U.K. Yikes!

I was surprised to learn that Bernie Taupin was one of the co-writers, since he is Elton John's songwriting partner, and responsible for such classics as "Daniel", "Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me", and "Rocket Man". This was a rare strikeout, in my humble opinion.

From the opening strains, my ears begin to resist. It's as if they want to flee from my head altogether. The hard synth banging, screechy vocals, and stupid theme pretty much make me angry every time.

The video does nothing to alleviate this for me. Why must they make them giants? So literal! Get it? They are "building the city". See? This is one of the most misguided artistic efforts to emerge from that era, and yes, I realize that there were MANY misguided efforts in that decade.

The band themselves must have been pretty embarrassed by it. After all, they changed their name for that album! It's hard to imagine that the people responsible for "White Rabbit" could stoop so low, frankly. Wait....they weren't stooping low at all - they were towering above the city that they built, using their rock and roll hands.

I can't believe that I am subjecting everyone to this one, but without further ado, I give you my least favorite song: