From the hilariously naff to the gut-wrenchingly turgid, Gigwise unveils the top 40 movie songs that we love to hate. Some of them are so cheesy that you will probably have a lot of affection for, while others are so bad we'd prefer to bury them in the darkest recesses of our brains. Click through and enjoy!
40. Wheatus: 'Teenage Dirtbag' from Loser – When it was released back in 2000, Wheatus' track lifted from the poorly received teen movie Loser (starring Jason Biggs of American Pie fame) had 'novelty one-hit wonder' written all over it. Unsurprisingly then, the New York band have categorically failed to emulate it since.
39. Chad Kroeger & Josey Scott: 'Hero' from Spider-Man – After achieving global success with his middling band Nickelback, Kroeger (along with Saliva frontman Josey Scott) was drafted in to write and perform the main track accompany Sam Raimi's blockbuster. The result? A cheesy-as-hell rock dirge that's only redeeming feature is the movie it accompanies.
38. The Bee Gees: 'Staying Alive' from Saturday Night Fever - If there’s ever been three guys who can wear tight trousers better the brothers Gibb then we’ve not seen them. The high pitched trio’s most recognisable song has provided the dance floors of the cheesiest clubs with surely their most requested song. An ironic track for a funeral or a song to make you jump into an early grave? You decide.
36. Any song from Spice World - One of the worst attempts of a group trying to act. Spiceworld was a laugh out loud attempt at performing on the silver screen from the girl power pioneers. The soundtrack was equally annoying, with chants of spice up your life from every which way. Apparently Frank Bruno was cast for Meatloaf’s bus driver role, Bruno avoided a knockout punch with that decision.
35. Cheryl Crow – 'Tomorrow Never Dies' from Tomorrow Never Dies - It’s always a risky move when you try to do a bond theme, especially when you’re a country rock singer. Sheryl’s attempts at hitting some outlandish notes on an otherwise smooth track provide wincing faces for whoever is unfortunate to take a listen. She sings the pitiable lines: “Darling you won/It's no fun/ Martinis, girls, and guns.” Must be a lot more fun then 4 more minutes of this song though darling.
34. Hot Chocolate: 'You Sexy Thing' from The Full Monty – Okay, it's an old track that got a new lease of life (it also briefly relaunched the career of Hot Chocolate) thanks to The Full Monty, but back in 1997 when the hit movie was released, it was almost omnipotent. In fact, thanks to Full Monty fever you couldn't escape it, making it the classic case of a decent song being criminally overplayed.
33. Queen: 'Flash Gordon Theme' from Flash Gordon – When you look back at the jaw-droppingly brilliant tracks Queen produced over the decades, 'Flash Gordon Theme' truly pales in comparison. Written for a slightly naff 1980 science fiction movie, it was never going be classic was it?
32. Dokken: 'Dream Warriors' from Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3. - Sounding like a ménage à trois between Def Leppard, Iron Maiden and Foreigner. Dream Warriors is the far from menacing attempt from Dokken to provide a soundtrack for the third instalment of fearsome Freddy Kruger’s rampage. If you like your heavy metal a feather light tin then this no doubt will be on your favourite playlists.
31. Sixpence None The Richer: 'Kiss Me' from She's All That – A song that's drippy and soulless to the point of nausea, SPNTR scored their only notable chart hit thanks to the forgettable 1999 teen movie 'She's All That' which was loosely based on the plot of My Fair Lady. Definitely a turgid song.
29. Elton John: 'Circle of Life' from The Lion King – Apparently when writing this song for the popular 1994 Disney animation, Sir Elton was dared by a close friend to include as many clichéd lines as possible. Elt gladly obliged. The result was a syrupy song that's nowhere near as good as other songs the music veteran has in his arsenal. Still, it was perfect for the movie.
28. Survivor: 'Burning Heart' from Rocky IV – Not quite as gloriously naff as 'Eye Of The Tiger', this is still an Eighties power rock monolith of this highest order. James Brown's 'Living In America' (along with Dolph Ludgren's 'If he dies, he dies” line) may be one of the most memorable parts of the movie, but Survivor's track is definitely the cheesiest.
26. Irene Cara: 'What A Feeling' from Flashdance – Incredibly 'What A Feeling' scooped an Academy Award for best song in 1983 thanks to its appearance in Flashdance, perhaps proving that some on the panel had limited musical taste that year. While it fits in perfectly with the movie, the eighties power-ballad has just been hammered too many times by dodgy DJs and on TV commercials, that it just heralds bad memories.
25. Kenny Loggins: 'Footloose' from Footloose – Two years before Top Gun's 'Danger Zone' and the cringe worthy 'Meet Me Halfway' from Over The Top, perennial cheesy eighties soundtrack maker Kenny Loggins made the infamous 'Footloose' for the film of the same name. From the opening guitar twangs to Loggins' nerdy chorus, it's a tour-de-force of cheesiness.
24. Maria McKee: 'Show Me Heaven' from Days of Thunder – If you look down the track-listing to the Days of Thunder soundtrack, there are actually some pretty decent efforts in there; Guns N Roses' 'Knockin on Heaven's Door' and Joan Jett's 'Love Live The Night' for example. Yet, all these songs are completely overshadowed by the extremely mushy / slightly dirty 'Show Me Heaven.' Sweet perfection? We doubt it.
23. Will Smith: 'Wild Wild West' from Wild Wild West – An abysmally awful movie naturally featured an abysmally awful song. From the moment Smith raps “wickety-wickety-wild-wild”, it's a lesson in turgid song-writing. The only surprise is that Will Smith's career didn't suffer at all after its release.
22. Kiss: 'God Gave Rock And Roll To You' from Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey – Not content with their highly clichéd makeup, Gene Simmons and his band created the ultimate clichéd rock anthem back in 1991 to accompany Bill & Ted's second outing. Listening to it during the final scene of the movie though, it works perfectly.
20. Ronan Keating: 'When You Say Nothing At All' from Notting Hill – Richard Curtis and Roger Michell's romantic comedy set in a London suburb (that incidentally bore no resemblance whatsoever to the real thing) was sickly sweet enough, but ex-Boyzone star Keating made the stomach churn further with this wimpy ballad.
18. Survivor: 'Eye of the Tiger' from Rocky III – “BAM.... BAM, BAM, BAM...” you know how it goes. Undoubtedly Survivor's greatest/cheesiest moment, Eye of The Tiger is unforgettable in every sense – overblown, slightly cheap,but highly lovable, it's exactly like the film it was written for.
17. Phil Collins: 'Groovy Kind of Love' from Buster – We still haven't forgiven Phil Collins for ruining Genesis after Peter Gabriel jumped ship, but the soundtrack to Buster – and more specifically the laughable 'Groovy Kind of Love' – truly deepened those wounds. Okay, maybe we're over reacting a bit, but you can't hide from the fact that it's crap.
16. Limahl: 'The Neverending Story' from The Neverending Story - One of the most uplifting and jovial songs on our countdown. Lead singer of Kajagoogoo, Limahl, provides the creepy feminine vocals on a track which is much like its name – neverending. The monotony soon kicks in and even a dashing key change can’t eradicate the sickly feelings, endearing as they may be.
15. Michael Jackson: 'Will You Be There' from Free Willy – Nope Jacko we won't be there. The movie itself might be the heart-rending story of a young boy and his relationship with a captive killer whale, but the main song just leaves us cold as the Arctic sea.
14. Bette Midler: 'Wind Beneath My Wings' from Beaches – You can't really fault Bette Midler's signature tune from Beaches in 1990; in a purely musical sense at least. However, when you consider the countless times that American Idol and X Factor wannabes have covered it, it kind of removes any shine from it.
13. Roxette: 'It Must Have Been Love' from Pretty Woman – The Roy Orbison classic of the same name was the signature tune to the 1990 romantic comedy, yet it also spawned another monster in the form of Roxette's Billboard number one smash. A monster in every sense of the word, women across the globe have haplessly been trying to sing this shamefully on karaoke for the best part of two decades.
11. Jennifer Warnes / Bille Medle: 'The Time Of My Life' from Dirty Dancing – Hearing the song that soundtracked the finale to the ultimate chick-flick is enough to make many women weep with sheer with ecstasy. Men on the other hand snarl at what their girlfriend has made them sit through – well, most of them anyway.
10. R Kelly: 'I Believe I Can Fly' from Space Jam – The aural equivalence of someone scraping their nails down a blackboard, it's a wonder why anyone ever bought this let alone make it number one for so long. The movie wasn't great either. Harsh but fair.
5. Berlin: 'Take My Breath Away' from Top Gun – Arguably one of the most memorable pop songs of the eighties, the love song, complete with exaggerated synths and sexed-up vocals became a global number one smash. You may be able to fault its musical merit, but you can't fault its enduring appeal. We won't mention the 2004 Jessica Simpson cover...
4. Wet Wet Wet: 'Love Is All Around' from Four Weddings and a Funeral – A cover of the 1967 song by The Troggs, the Scottish outfit's soppy epic was number one in the UK for a phenomenal 15 weeks back in 1994. For us unfortunate Brits, it felt like 15 years. Still, it did little to take the shine off Richard Curtis' defining romantic comedy.
3. Bryan Adams: '(Everything I Do), I Do It For You' from Robin Hood and the Prince of Thieves – Soundtracking the 1991 hit movie (in which Robin Hood curiously has an American accent thanks to some dubious acting from Kevin Costner), Canadian songsmith Bryan Adams laid the soppy sentiments on heavy with this titanic global smash. The song lingered at number one for seven weeks in America and 16 weeks in England.
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