There’s no shortage of Best Of lists on the internet, but Dutch post-punk band The Ex has announced its own personal Worst Of. The Ex Pukebox: The Vomit 50! lists the songs the band considers the most “vomitable” or “massively irritating.” These aren’t necessarily meant to be the worst songs ever recorded, but are instead overplayed chestnuts, “most heard in gas stations and supermarkets, creating physical discomfort.” These are less songs that are purely awful than songs the world is simply sick of—according to The Ex.
Paul McCartney, whose works grace many a top 50, is well-represented here, with “Silly Love Songs” and “Ebony and Ivory” in the top 10, and “The Girl Is Mine” and “Mull Of Kintyre” also on the list. The early ‘80s seem to be the pinnacle of badness, with Reagan-era hits like “Uptown Girls,” “Addicted To Love,” “Africa,” “Sussudio,” and “We Built This City.”
Some songs on the list will certainly have their defenders—“We Are The Champions,” “Where The Streets Have No Name,” and “Hey Ya!” seem out of place next to the likes of “Abracadabra,” and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,”—but The Ex may have hit on a consensus choice for #1, with all-star charity effort “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” topping the list. The band singles out Band Aid’s 1984 fundraising effort for its “exaggerated heartstring pulling,” and “stomach churningly, patronising lyrics.”
Surely, this will be the definitive list from now on, and will spark no further discussion online.