So Bad it's Good...

[jowcol]

With all the discussions we've had on music that ennobles that soul and represents the best that our cultures have to offer, I'd like to address "the dark side" for a bit-- music and performers that are so bad that you have to love them-- or at least listen to them once in a while just for grins.


I'll start with "classical" and then branch out from there.

One great place to start was the Portsmouth Sinfonia during the 70s.  The aim was to create an orchestra of basically amateurs, or professional musicians playing instruments they were not familiar with.  The major requirement was to come to all rehearsals, but talent or skill were not requirements. The result was to turn even the most innocent of tunes into an atonal opus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uOpk8NwFL8&feature=related


There is the legendary vocalist Florence Foster Jenkins who was a diva-wannabe and financed her own recordings, creating some of the most unique sounds ever recorded.  Here is her "Queen of Night"-- WARNING:  THIS CAN CAUSE TRAUMATIC INJURIES TO PETS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtf2Q4yyuJ0

I'm also fond of Mrs Miller-- she reminds me Hyacinth Bucket (from the Britcom Keeping Up Appearances) if she decided to be a pop singer in the 60s.  (From what I read of her, she was truly a great person, but her voice can cut through  concrete.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV0MtVWIN8Y

The current heir to the mantle of Chanteuse from Hell has to be Wing, who started her unique singing career at retirement homes, and now does some very painful covers of both show tunes and rock tunes.  (Her highway to Hell needs to be heard to be believed).  I don't follow South Park, but I understand she's been featured on a couple of their episodes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef0M-u1D208&feature=related


Of course, there are some absolute classics like the William Shatner covers of Mr. Tamborine Man and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds which are something everyone with a death wish needs to check out. 



One of the best resources for bad music is April Winchell's site, which, if you are truly into pain, offers hours of entertainment.  Corprorate Anthems, Telly Savalas Love anthems, Hindi ABBA covers, and Salsa Black Sabbath, and the Lounge cover of Black Hole Sun.  And more...
http://www.aprilwinchell.com/

Finally, I must confess I keep the entire PLaying With Fire Album by Kevin Federline on my MP3 player.  (K-Fed was Brittany Spear's Husband, and he used his status to produce what is widely hailed as one of the most dreadful albums of all time).  I must admit that I love to look up the reviews for this album on Amazon-- things like "this album sounds like listening to your grandparents having sex".  When I'm in my darkest moods and feel like driving nails into my head, I listen to this instead.  I've only been able to get about halfway through before my life preserving instinct forces me to turn it off.  Still, it's always there for me if there isn't enough pain in my life.  I'll spare you any clips or links-- this stuff is just too evil. 

[Lethevich]

Holy crap that Strauss was amazing. I can understand them not being able to play their instruments, but were they probibited from using a conductor as well? The second half is terrifying

[The new erato]

Holy crap that Strauss was amazing. I can understand them not being able to play their instruments, but were they probibited from using a conductor as well? The second half is terrifying

If you recognized it as Strauss, it cannot be half bad!

[Brian]

One great place to start was the Portsmouth Sinfonia during the 70s.  The aim was to create an orchestra of basically amateurs, or professional musicians playing instruments they were not familiar with.  The major requirement was to come to all rehearsals, but talent or skill were not requirements. The result was to turn even the most innocent of tunes into an atonal opus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uOpk8NwFL8&feature=related

I'd be interested to hear if you know any more about the provenance clip. I have heard it before, from a link on another discussion board, where it was attributed to a high school band from Orebro, Sweden. In fact, the file on my hard drive is labeled "Orebros_kommunala_musikskola_2008". But the YouTube link there has better sound quality (hard to believe, right) and maybe the link I found was a rival Swede pulling a prank?

[jowcol]

I'd be interested to hear if you know any more about the provenance clip. I have heard it before, from a link on another discussion board, where it was attributed to a high school band from Orebro, Sweden. In fact, the file on my hard drive is labeled "Orebros_kommunala_musikskola_2008". But the YouTube link there has better sound quality (hard to believe, right) and maybe the link I found was a rival Swede pulling a prank?

It may be the prank.  The PS version has been floating around the internet for years. 

[vandermolen]

Oh yes, I was a great fan of the Potsmouth Sinfonia. Some people turned up to their concerts expecting to hear a typical symphony orchestra - they were horrified by what they heard. When the conductor was confronted with their views he replied along the lines of 'well, what do you expect, none of the orchestra can read music or play their instuments!' Fair enough 

In this sequence from the opening of 2001 A Space Odyssey it's quite brilliant how the Richard Strauss merges into Ligeti's 'Atmospheres' - they should have used this version in the movie 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uOpk8NwFL8&feature=related

[snyprrr]

William Shatner's "Transformed Man"

[Brian]

http://www.youtube.com/v/XC73PHdQX04

What makes this lovely is that you can almost, almost perceive artistic merit in it. Then you realize you're just imagining it.

[karlhenning]

I am not going to mash that Play button.

Nope. Ain't going to.

Especially since I need to change discs for Act III of Janáček's Z Mrtvého Domu.

[Brian]

Especially since I need to change discs for Act III of Janáček's Z Mrtvého Domu.

See, this is an example of knowing word roots coming in really handy. "Domu" is home (like domicile), and "Mrt" must be mort, and I already knew "Z" was "from," so From the House of the Dead.

[Bulldog]

I am not going to mash that Play button.

Nope. Ain't going to.

I applaud your restraint.  I did mash it and found a song without any artistic merit - So Bad it's Terrible.

[jowcol]

I applaud your restraint.  I did mash it and found a song without any artistic merit - So Bad it's Terrible.

I must confess I've seen this one a few times before, and I find the visuals even more disturbing...

Good selection!

[Daverz]

Holy crap that Strauss was amazing.

That was Strauss-Ligeti.  They were obviously trying to combine multiple parts of the filmscore at once.  Quite clever.

EDIT: Crap, vandermolen beat me to it.

[vandermolen]

That was Strauss-Ligeti.  They were obviously trying to combine multiple parts of the filmscore at once.  Quite clever.

EDIT: Crap, vandermolen beat me to it.

[Carnivorous Sheep]

I highly recommend the movie "The Room" to anyone who has not seen it, it truly is one of the greatest bad movies ever.

Exhibit A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ4KzClb1C4

[Karl Henning]

http://www.youtube.com/v/mvuwldnG7c0

[Szykneij]

From IMDb:


The Room (2003)
Budget
$6,000,000 (estimated)


     

[Karl Henning]

Probably just the rent for an apartment in San Francisco for six months . . . .

[Karl Henning]

The hilarious and inspiring story of how a mysterious misfit got past every roadblock in the Hollywood system to achieve success on his own terms: a $6 million cinematic catastrophe called The Room.

Nineteen-year-old Greg Sestero met Tommy Wiseau at an acting school in San Francisco. Wiseau's scenes were rivetingly wrong, yet Sestero, hypnotized by such uninhibited acting, thought, "I have to do a scene with this guy." That impulse changed both of their lives. Wiseau seemed never to have read the rule book on interpersonal relationships (or the instructions on a bottle of black hair dye), yet he generously offered to put the aspiring actor up in his LA apartment. Sestero's nascent acting career first sizzled, then fizzled, resulting in Wiseau's last-second offer to Sestero of costarring with him in The Room, a movie Wiseau wrote and planned to finance, produce, and direct—in the parking lot of a Hollywood equipment-rental shop.

Wiseau spent $6 million of his own money on his film, but despite the efforts of the disbelieving (and frequently fired) crew and embarrassed (and frequently fired) actors, the movie made no sense. Nevertheless Wiseau rented a Hollywood billboard featuring his alarming headshot and staged a red carpet premiere. The Room made $1800 at the box office and closed after two weeks. One reviewer said that watching The Room was like "getting stabbed in the head."

The Disaster Artist is Greg Sestero's laugh-out-loud funny account of how Tommy Wiseau defied every law of artistry, business, and friendship to make "the Citizen Kane of bad movies" (Entertainment Weekly), which is now an international phenomenon, with Wiseau himself beloved as an oddball celebrity. Written with award-winning journalist Tom Bissell, The Disaster Artist is an inspiring tour de force that reads like a page-turning novel, an open-hearted portrait of an enigmatic man who will improbably capture your heart.

[asin]1451661193[/asin]

[springrite]

I still have the Florence Jenkins on LP. It is a classic!