John Coan's SHIT OR HIT 14

[naughty boy]

[Modesty Forbids]

No. Horrid

[Diamond Dog]

Are you serious JC?

[naughty boy]

Well *I* like it!

[naughty boy]

Not tasteful like Dire Straits

[Diamond Dog]

Not tasteful like Dire Straits

There's more grit in something like "Solid Rock" than in this vapid dross - by quite some amount too!

[toomanyhatz]

I like that the singer ended up doing the "Real Men of Genius" ad campaign. Doesn't make the song any better, mind. I'm glad he has a sense of humor, but I still voted "shit."

[Charlie O.]

Irredeemable.

[Bent Fabric]

I suppose (objectively) it is more shit than hit, but there is something so deeply, profoundly and impressively mercenary about it - just this "determinedly doing a job in some very literal and through way" high production job (the back wards piano, a lot of little bits of "state of the art 1982 middle American hard rock" ear candy). I keep coming back to words like "determined (the fact that the author was a - by now ancient - music biz veteran whose earlier work had considerably "influenced" Bill Conti's work on the earlier Rocky themes, the fact that the band has the most ridiculous "underdog" sounding band name...Triumph would be the other band who seem to be pushing a "Don't count us out!" moniker, the fact that the aforementioned author had had a hand in a lot of "It's not so terrible, right?" hackwork like the 38 Special hits - songs that, for all of their indefensible corniness, would have been highlights of any power pop album of the era).

I guess I'm incapable of hating it.

[Charlie O.]

This was the Ides Of March guy, right? A fellow Chicagoan?

[The Red Heifer]

It's the Wests Tigers run out song of course I like it.

[Bent Fabric]

This was the Ides Of March guy, right? A fellow Chicagoan?

Yeah - Jim Peterik. From the western suburbs of Chicago.

What we call "a lifer".

[BARON CORNY DOG]

I guess I'm incapable of hating it.

I might be able to muster the energy, but I'd prefer to save it for something else.

[fange]

Well *I* like it!

Me too. As radio-friendly rock songs of the era go, this was one of the better ones.

I'd rather listen to it a 100 times before having to hear 'Ebony and Ivory' ever again, that's for sure.

[Charlie O.]

I'd rather listen to it a 100 times before having to hear 'Ebony and Ivory' ever again, that's for sure.

Wow, high praise!

[fange]

Seriously though, don't ask me to listen to 'E&I' again.

[Loki]

Racist!

[fange]

No, i hate everyone equally!

[clive gash]

It's great in that way that Pop Metal sometimes can be. Aluminium light and groovy.

[Goat Boy]

I’d take it over that Jonny Winter abortion any day of the week.

As I get older I find myself liking this sorta thing more. I like its boldness, its ambition. It’s people trying to write a HIT SONG you know and I appreciate that. It takes guts to do that because there’s nowhere to hide.

I wish more songwriters would try and write HIT SONGS. I think the world would be a better place