View Full Version : Spinner.com's Top 10 Worst Duets Ever


JamesG
10-21-2008, 01:19 PM
10. 4 Minutes (2008)
Madonna and Justin Timberlake

Madge and J.T.'s overwrought performances and Timbaland's marching-band-on-meth production are so over-the-top it's almost hilarious. Meanwhile, in a move that reeks of substance and integrity, 4 Minutes had its official debut in a Sunsilk shampoo commercial. So, apparently, the song is saving the world from frizz and split ends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfUjfioAnKY



9. Dancing in the Street (1985)
Mick Jagger and David Bowie

Jagger and Bowie recorded this Martha and the Vandellas cover (and shot the entire video) in less than one day. It shows. Hamming it up in the most hideous '80s fashions imaginable, two of the coolest rockers ever managed to murder both a great song and their reputations. The single's proceeds going to charity may be the only thing keeping everyone involved out of jail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y-x2fWKbmo



8. Our Lips Are Sealed (2004)
Hilary and Haylee Duff

This featherweight version of the Go-Go's pop classic was the big single from Hilary's teentastic A Cinderella Story and is destined to have the same cultural impact. With its soulless production and vocals so processed you can't tell the sisters apart, it's easy to imagine that this "song" was sprayed directly out of a can. The good news? It's only slightly worse than their 2006 cover of Material Girl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRPCruvmaE



7. (I've Had) the Time of My Life (1987)
Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley

We'd give anything to put this baby in the corner ... forever. The mind-boggling success of Dirty Dancing made this syrupy gem into a national sensation -- the song ultimately danced away with an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe. Along the way, no one noticed that it was a massive ball of overheated cheese. Even our parents are embarrassed that they once owned the cassingle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH0lEVMuzzw



6. I Know What You Want (2004)
Mariah Carey and Busta Rhymes

Mimi turns in the laziest "duet" performance in history on this half-assed slow jam, mostly dropping in on the chorus and occasionally moaning through some unnecessary scales. In fact, she would count only as a background singer if it weren't for her "verse" late in the song. The raps aren't much better: The song closes with a non-rhyming litany of the various record companies involved.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk0TmajJyZI



5. To All The Girls I've Loved Before (1984)
Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias

As if the pairing of a stoned country-music legend and a super-suave Latin lothario wasn't strange enough, this too-boring-to-be-funny song is basically a shout-out to every notch on their collective bedposts. Talk about your unpleasant images: Just imagine being in a room with all the girls Willie has loved before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAODcg--Dc



4. I've Got You Under My Skin (1993)
Bono and Frank Sinatra

This Cole Porter standard had been a Sinatra mainstay for decades when some marketing genius decided Ol' Blue Eyes should cut the 'Duets' album with contemporary singers. The album's lowlight is unquestionably Bono, whose melodramatic crooning wanders perilously close to whale song. It's fun to imagine Sinatra's rising anger as Bono starts moaning like a deranged ghost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXgGWwvULwc



3. The Girl Is Mine (1982)
Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson

Being the worst Paul McCartney duet is like being the skinniest Olsen twin -- there's nowhere to go but up. This one features Macca and Jacko arguing over a girl who clearly has questionable taste in men. These days it's best remembered for the creepy spoken-word segment, which includes Michael uttering the infamous line, "Oh, Paul, I think I told you: I'm a lover, not a fighter."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y96mdVTMByk



2. Opposites Attract (1989)
Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat

Opposites Attract was a breakout moment for one of the most charismatic and talented entertainers of the 1980s: MC Skat Kat, the hippinest, hoppinest cartoon kitty in tha hood. Although his debut album, The Adventures of MC Skat Kat and the Stray Mob, was a commercial letdown, critics have credited this feline visionary with single-handedly kick-starting the gangsta rap movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbknGnZXHUk



1. Crusin (2000)
Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis

Lewis and Paltrow play a singing father and daughter in a movie about the professional karaoke circuit? What could possibly go wrong? Well, there's the film's signature duet, a tone-deaf cover of a middle-of-the-road Smokey Robinson hit from 1979, which sounds like it was recorded by a has-been singer and a professional actress. Oh, wait, it was! The single did hit No. 1... in Australia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_HaoZ73wWg

catlover79
10-21-2008, 01:27 PM
I'm REALLY surprised Ebony & Ivory didn't make this list. To me, that song is eons worse than The Girl is Mine. :rofl:

MusicJunkie
10-21-2008, 02:04 PM
Opposites Attract shouldn't be here. Paula Abdul is just an easy target because of her antics. Same with (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, the compiler is projecting his hatred on Dirty Dancing as fact when the truth is that movie is still wildly popular 21 years later.

waichingliu81
10-21-2008, 05:14 PM
Opposites Attract shouldn't be here. Paula Abdul is just an easy target because of her antics. Same with (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, the compiler is projecting his hatred on Dirty Dancing as fact when the truth is that movie is still wildly popular 21 years later.

i agree with you. i'm sure there are worst duets than those two songs. what about the britney and madonna one from a few years back 'in the zone'?
it was the song i disliked more than the idea of those two teaming up.

i loathed meatloaf's 'i will do anything for love', but i cannot remember the female vocalist on that one.

what about this one?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff1IxA2oX3U

or perhaps this one:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=FONt47Z0KZg

Schmoopie
10-22-2008, 02:22 AM
Maybe I shouldn't even reply to this for fear of embarrrasing the crap out of myself, but most of those songs listed I love...

Four Minutes. Sure he's young enough to be her son, but this is an awesome dance song.
Our Lips Are Sealed-I like the song, and although it will never be as good as the Go-Go's, I thought they did a great job with it.
I've Had the Time of My Life-I have mixed emotions about this song. I LOVE Dirty Dancing but the song could have been better. Still, I thought it fit in pretty well.
Opposites Attract-Well, all I can say about this one is that I love the beat and it's one of my favorite Paula Abdul songs

Cruisin-I'm probably the only person in the world who absolutely LOVES this version of this song! I think Gweneth Paltrow has a beautiful voice and I actually like this version better than the original. I think it's just a great song to sing along to! I absolutely HATED the movie that this song is from (Duets). Didn't buy Huey Lewis as Gwenneth Paltrow's dad for a milisecond. However, I love the song!

So I hope you don't all think that I'm nuts or something, but I wanted to share my feelings on the above mentioned songs.

Andrea

Wreckless
10-22-2008, 04:29 AM
I really liked that Mariah, Busta & flipmode collab- Baby When You Give It To Me. The song was nice, the beat was relaxing and it was just a chill song- I think MonarC might agree as well lol.

MusicJunkie
10-22-2008, 03:10 PM
IMO, 4 Minutes is one of the worst songs of Madonna's career (it only peaked at #11 on my personal chart, Give It 2 Me got to #4 and Miles Away #1), it belongs here, tho her duet with Brit is even worse.

Mariah has done worse collaborations than I Know What You Want, try some of the tracks off Glitter, she got way too collaboration-happy there.

MickeyMac
10-22-2008, 04:43 PM
I can do without all of those songs

Just as worse are:


State of Shock-Michael Jackson & Mick Jagger
All I Have To Do Is Dream-Andy Gibb & Victoria Principal

catlover79
10-22-2008, 06:13 PM
^ Oh my gosh...as much I enjoy Andy Gibb's music - that duet should've never happened. *shudders*

88survivor
10-26-2008, 09:00 PM
That was just the weirdest duet ever by Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson. You have someone who did drugs for over 300 years ago and another person who still to this day thinks he is Peter Pan himself. How weird can you get?:eek:

Schmoopie
10-26-2008, 11:14 PM
State of Shock-Michael Jackson & Mick Jagger


Hmmm... well, I like this song too! Maybe I shouldn't be admitting all this, huh? :crazy: :rolleyes: But I think it's mainly the beat that attracts me more than anything. That song Four Minutes has a great beat to it, as does State of Shock. I haven't heard that song in ages!

Andrea