1. Muskrat Love – Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille’s squeaky, synth‑enhanced ballad about romantic muskrats reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976, becoming a staple of soft‑rock radio, but listeners recoiled at its odd concept and mating‑sound effects. The pair reportedly underestimated how bizarre the theme would seem in their mainstream nightclub performances and even at a White House dinner, where a guest called it “very poor taste”. Public reaction polarized quickly, some loved the kitschy charm, but critics and many listeners placed it on worst‑song lists almost immediately. It remains a go‑to example of late‑’70s novelty done wrong, and still gets stuck in your head in the most cringeworthy way.
2. Having My Baby – Paul Anka
Paul Anka’s 1974 chart‑topper was intended as a sentimental tribute to fatherhood, but feminists and critics blasted it for being patronizing, sexist, and tone‑deaf; the use of “my” instead of “our” sparked particularly harsh backlash. Anka was named “Male Chauvinist Pig of the Year” by Ms. Magazine and received a “Keep Her in Her Place” award from NOW, despite defending it as a love song. Despite, or because of, the furor, it held the #1 spot on the Hot 100 for three weeks, cementing its legacy as one of the most universally reviled hits of the decade. Listeners today still cite it as a cringe‑worthy earworm.
3. Disco Duck – Rick Dees
Rick Dees’ novelty track “Disco Duck” combined a disco beat with a Donald‑Duck voice imitation and reached #1 in October 1976, spending ten weeks in the Top 10 and earning a People’s Choice Award in 1977. Despite its commercial success (million‑plus sales), music critics dismiss it as meaningless novelty, Popdose even listed it among the world’s worst songs. It became shorthand for disco’s overplayed absurdity: catchy, silly, and impossible to stop humming, until you wished you could.
4. Feelings – Morris Albert
Morris Albert’s syrupy soft‑rock ballad “Feelings” was ubiquitous in 1975 but later revealed to be a plagiarism case: French composer Loulou Gasté sued and won, proving the melody lifted from his 1957 song “Pour Toi,” and he now shares authorship credits. The song has been endlessly parodied for its empty, overly earnest emotion, what was meant to be heartfelt came off as forced and melodramatic. Its popularity makes it a textbook case of how sentimentality can backfire, lingering in public memory as a cliched cliché.
5. Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band
On its sunny surface, “Afternoon Delight” felt like harmless folk‑pop and quickly climbed to #1 in July 1976; it even won a Grammy for vocal arrangement. Beneath the cheery melodies, though, lay overt midday romance: a coy but unmistakable song about afternoon sex, which many listeners, especially parents and station managers, found smarmy or inappropriate. Critics and Rolling Stone readers often place it among the worst ’70s hits, not for musical craft but for lyrical dissonance: sweet and innocent sounding, yet risqué and grating. It stays in the mind as an earworm that embarrassingly overstayed its welcome.
6. Piña Colada Song – Rupert Holmes
When “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” topped the charts in late 1979 (the final No. 1 of the ’70s), it captivated listeners with its breezy melody and a twisty plot: two partners seek affairs via a personals ad, only to find they were each other all along. While its catchy hook made it a theme‑song for karaoke nights and sitcom callbacks, critics and listeners often dismiss it as silly or morally dubious, a story of deception and infidelity wrapped in sunshine pop. It’s beloved and loathed: a guilty pleasure that’s as entertaining as it is cringe‑y.
7. Seasons in the Sun – Terry Jacks
Terry Jacks’ 1974 farewell ballad sold over 14 million copies worldwide and spent three weeks at No. 1, but many listeners found its cheery melody and sentimental storyline unbearably cloying. Jacks’ thin, tremulous voice delivering poetic but simplistic lyrics grated on critics who called the song “saccharine,” “cloying,” and even ranked it among the worst of the decade. Reddit users routinely name it the ultimate radio ear‑worm they hated to hear again and again.
8. Honey – Bobby Goldsboro
Though released in 1968, “Honey” haunted ’70s radio with its tragic narrative of a husband mourning his young wife. It was a massive seller, fastest‑selling UA single ever and the top‑selling record in 1968, but critical opinion shifted harshly. Today it’s often dismissed as “classy schlock,” “innocuous pop” and even described as more “dreadful than Pavarotti.” Its over‑earnest delivery turns genuine grief into melodrama, making it a staple example of emotionally manipulative soft‑pop that still lingers in memory for all the wrong reasons.
9. You Light Up My Life – Debby Boone
Debby Boone’s 1977 ballad dominated the charts for ten weeks, won her a Grammy, and remains one of Billboard’s All‑Time Top Songs as a bona fide commercial juggernaut. But critics slammed it as bland and over‑sentimental. A DailyKos retrospective also lamented: “How can anything so insipidly slow light up anything?” The musical equivalent of being keel‑hauled”. Though deeply beloved by many, for others its syrupy sweetness became saccharine to the extreme.
10. Billy Don’t Be a Hero – Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods
This 1974 top‑selling ballad reached No. 1 in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, selling over three million copies, but critics weren’t impressed. Rolling Stone readers ranked it No. 8 among the worst songs of the 1970s, calling out its bubblegum pop delivery and simplistic wartime narrative as tone‑deaf. Listeners found the contrast jarring: an anti‑war message packaged in sugary pop music. That disconnect turned the song from a seemingly noble tribute into an ear‑catching example of how good intentions and pop gloss can go very wrong.
This story 10 Most Hated Songs of the 1970s (That Still Get Stuck in Your Head) was first published on Daily FETCH
