00:00She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 bands that eventually
00:13grew to despise one of the songs they're best known for. Don't worry, we all know just how
00:18much Tom York and company hate Creep by now, so expect some surprises with this list.
00:23But I'm a creep, I'm a creep.
00:3410. The Pretenders
00:37Having a breakthrough hit that comes off your first album is the sort of outcome that most
00:41bands would kill for. While Christy Hine's stance on the third single from their debut
00:46LP has softened over the years, she initially didn't even want it to be released.
00:53Gonna use my bass, gonna use my style.
00:58In fact, she told her producer that he could release it over her dead body. In the end,
01:03Hine was forced to accept that it would go out. It hit the number one spot on the UK charts
01:08and
01:09came in at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.
01:12I'm special, so special.
01:16Despite not being her favorite song, Hine and The Pretenders have still ensured that it is one of
01:22their most played songs, with it rarely dropping out of their set.
01:25I got help, some of your attention, give to me.
01:329. Evanescence
01:34Leave me alone, these wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real.
01:43We're sure there are more than a few artists who would love nothing more than to be able
01:48to go back in time and stop themselves from releasing one or two of their songs. For Evanescence's
01:53Amy Lee, her label executives were so in love with their 2000 demo of the track My Immortal
01:59that they put it on the band's debut studio album.
02:02When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears.
02:08Lee had apparently preferred to leave that version off the record and move on from her earlier days.
02:14Unfortunately for her, the label put their foot down. It was a big hit for the band,
02:19reaching the top 10 in several countries.
02:21I held your hand for all of these years.
02:278. Bon Jovi
02:30Sometimes a musician needs a gentle nudge from one of their bandmates just to ensure they
02:36make the right decision.
02:37Tommy used to work on the docks
02:41Union's been on track
02:42He's down on his luck, it's tough
02:45For Jon Bon Jovi, he initially didn't think that Livin' on a Prayer was good enough to be released
02:51on the band's seminal album, Slippery When Wet.
02:54Guitarist Richie Sambora was smart enough to literally call him an idiot and tell him how wrong he was.
03:01Just as we gotta hold on to what we've got
03:06It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not
03:10Once the iconic talk box intro was added, it became easier for the lead singer to see his mistake.
03:15It went on to become a huge number one single, and later, one of the highest selling singles of all
03:21time.
03:297. Warrant
03:31Looking for the most hair metal song ever recorded?
03:34Well, there's a good chance that Warrant's cherry pie will fit the bill.
03:48Just before the incoming grunge wave began to sweep the genre under the rug,
03:53Warrant were put under pressure by their label to produce a hit.
03:57So, lead singer Janie Lane wrote the innuendo-laden cherry pie in 15 minutes.
04:07He and his bandmates did not initially think the track was very good at all.
04:12Despite their concerns over its quality, it went on to become a huge hit for them,
04:16peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
04:236. Beastie Boys
04:26Parody can be a tricky thing as a famous act.
04:30Push things a little too far in one direction,
04:32and you might end up with a hit on your hands that defines your band's image forever.
04:37Kick it!
04:41The Beastie Boys made a hilarious jab at frat boy culture with their song,
04:45You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party.
04:48The problem?
04:49Well, for as much as it was a success commercially,
04:52the band realized that they were attracting an audience who didn't seem to get the joke.
04:56You gotta fight for your right to party.
05:03All of a sudden, their own image as a group was being distorted
05:07because of their association with a lifestyle that they were making fun of.
05:11From the mid-90s onward, they largely dropped it from their set.
05:15You gotta fight for your right to party.
05:22Number 5. Dio
05:24Few artists have defined heavy metal culture quite like Ronnie James Dio.
05:29When there's lightning, you know it always brings me down.
05:36He played a critical role in bringing elements of magic and fantasy into the fold,
05:41and even popularized the devil horn's hand sign.
05:44The genre simply wouldn't be what it is today without his input.
05:48So when Dio left Black Sabbath and formed his own band in 1982,
05:52the stage was set for something truly special.
05:55You've been left on your own like a rainbow in the dark.
06:01A rainbow in the dark.
06:03When he put out Holy Diver the following year,
06:07the title track was certainly classic Dio in its sound.
06:10However, Rainbow in the Dark was a decidedly more radio-friendly track,
06:14which apparently caused Dio to attempt to destroy the master tapes.
06:18He wasn't able to in the end, and the song became a hit.
06:21You've been left on your own like a rainbow
06:25Like a rainbow in the dark
06:30Number 4. Flock of Seagulls
06:44If you asked every band to choose their own biggest seller from their catalog,
06:48you might be surprised at the range of answers you'd get.
06:52For a flock of seagulls, they always seemed adamant that their mega-hit
06:55I Ran So Far Away was not their best song.
06:58Not even close, in fact.
07:00And I ran, like I'm so far away
07:05Lead singer Mike Skor has described feeling exhausted with the song,
07:10having spent decades performing it live.
07:12It also propelled the band into a level of fame and exposure
07:15that they admitted they weren't ready for,
07:18leaving it with a special, but weird place in their hearts.
07:21I just ran, I ran for the night and day
07:27I couldn't get away
07:30Number 3. Paramore
07:32Chronicling your own perspectives and experiences in song form
07:36can leave a lot of musicians feeling very awkward as they age.
07:40For Paramore's Hayley Williams,
07:42one of her biggest hits was written when she was a particularly angsty 17-year-old.
07:47Whoa, whatever makes it break
07:50But I got it where I want it now
07:52Whoa, it was never my intention to break
07:56Misery Business is a classic of the pop-punk genre,
07:59but according to Williams, it promotes misogynistic language
08:02and the idea of setting women against each other.
08:05I'm in the business of misery, let's take it from the top
08:08She's got a body like an hourglass, it's taken like a clock
08:11The band even stopped performing it live in 2018,
08:14although they changed their mind a few years later.
08:17Considering it was their breakthrough hit,
08:19its absence left a very noticeable gap in their live shows.
08:23Whoa, I never meant to break
08:26But I got it where I want it now
08:29Number 2. R.E.M.
08:32Compared to the rest of their catalog,
08:34Shiny Happy People is definitely an outlier for R.E.M.
08:37Meet me in the crowd
08:43People, people
08:45Sure, the song is clearly intended to be tongue-in-cheek,
08:48but when a song like that becomes so famous
08:51that your band is associated with that fun and happy image,
08:55that can be a problem.
08:56For Michael Stipe, he even refused to place it on the band's Greatest Hits album,
09:00all but disowning it.
09:09They even stopped playing it live,
09:11with Stipe claiming that while he eventually made peace with the song's existence,
09:16he's still embarrassed that it became such a big hit.
09:19It just goes to show that you can never predict
09:21what songs the public are going to respond to.
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09:44Number 1. Guns N' Roses
09:46Few songs in 1980s rock music have had the type of enduring appeal
09:51that Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine has enjoyed.
09:59Though it must be said
10:01that it doesn't give the most accurate impression
10:03of what the rest of their catalog is like.
10:06Guitarist Slash famously had a very bumpy relationship with the song,
10:10describing it as little more than a sappy ballad.
10:13He was so disinterested
10:15that he basically used a finger exercise of his as the riff,
10:18unknowingly crafting a piece of guitar magic in the process.
10:33As the years went on,
10:35Slash's stance on the track has definitely softened,
10:38but he was very clearly not a fan of this one at first.
10:48But what other smash hits that were actually hated by the original artists
10:52spring to your mind?
10:54Let us know in the comments below.
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