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A Poll Devoid of Importance

What is the WORST example of an 80's actor trying to be a rock star?

Don Johnson "Heartbeat"	6 votes
Eddie Murphy "Party All the Time"	2 votes
The Beach Boys w/ John Stamos "Kokomo"	1 votes
Patrick Swayze "She's Like the Wind"	1 votes
Bruce Willis "Respect Yourself"	3 votes

Willets Point Jun 15 2007 08:59 AM

With no important poll this week, here's another unimportant poll. The 80's were a time of great music and truly horrid music. Some of the latter came from actors crossing over into genres they should have never crossed over. Some of the most egregious examples follow. Be warned: 1. Don Johnson, "Hearbeat": 2. Eddie Murphy, "Party All the Time": 3. John Stamos drumming on the Beach Boys unfortunate comeback hit "Kokomo": 4. Patrick Swayze, "She's Like the Wind": 5. Bruce Willis, "Respect Yourself": Too disturbing to embed, apparently Remember to vote for the WORST performance/video.

Edgy DC Jun 15 2007 09:11 AM

I had forgotten Johnson's. Now I knows why. Wow. It's not just his voice quality, but even his timing is off trying to cram syllables into each measure. He's my winner. It's like watching Keanu act. I had no idea Stamos was trying to be a Beach Boy. Hey, do you think Mike Love really plays sax? I've seen him mime it on TV, but he sure never pullled one out the one time I say the Boys in concert.

Edgy DC Jun 15 2007 09:19 AM

Other eligible 80s actors briefly asking to be taken seriously in music: David Hasselhoff. John Schneider. Phillip Michael Thomas. Jack Wagner And for chixx: Jasmine Guy (maybe didn't start releasing albums until the 90s) Lisa Hartman Pia Zadora And in the non-acting TV celebrity crossover category. Chuck Woolery (left "Wheel of Fortune" to sing just before it took off in prime time.) Morton Downey, Jr. (His record shipped gold, and probably shipped back gold.)

Benjamin Grimm Jun 15 2007 09:21 AM

I was also unaware that TV's Uncle Jessie was involved in "Kokomo." Of course, it wasn't until my kids discovered Full House a year or two ago that I even knew about Uncle Jessie and the gang. (Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.) All I knew about John Stamos was who he was married to.

metirish Jun 15 2007 09:24 AM

After careful review I voted for Eddie Murphy, it was close between him and Johnson. I don't think you can go wrong voting for either one. Confession...Not listed here but I remember liking "Under The Boardwalk " by Bruce Willis.

Johnny Dickshot Jun 15 2007 09:29 AM

They are all bad. But my vote goes to Kokomo because it was so devastating to the coolness of the Beach Boys as a musical outfit: Bruce Willis and the others barely had any musical chops to lose. Plus, the scenes from 'Cocktail' which today is up there with "Over the Top" in my Top 5 Bad Movies I Cannot Turn Away From. That is some delicious cheese.

TransMonk Jun 15 2007 10:03 AM

Does John Stamos even count? I mean, he played steel drums on Kokomo...the rest of these guys at least put their names and images out front with these musical projects. Johnny Dickshot wrote: But my vote goes to Kokomo because it was so devastating to the coolness of the Beach Boys as a musical outfit: Bruce Willis and the others barely had any musical chops to lose. I would argue that the Beach Boys ceased being cool by 1988...anyone remember the Fat Boys video? If anything, Stamos being in that video made them cooler at the time. Don Johnson is the worst. Swayze was a far more talented singer and dancer than he was an actor. I bought the cassettes for both Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis. I've never understood the appeal of the Beach Boys, but I can respect their place in music history. Heartbeat.

Edgy DC Jun 15 2007 10:15 AM

I'll go further than "Kokomo" and "Wipeout" and argue that the Beach Boys, while once being great, were never cool.

Johnny Dickshot Jun 15 2007 10:19 AM

Maybe. But never were they more *uncool* as when they did Kokomo. That made all the musically illiterate think it was their beest song.

Frayed Knot Jun 15 2007 10:30 AM

That 'The Beach Boys' were uncool back when they should have been is largely the fault of the hipper-than-thou crowd, many of whom missed the music because they didn't want to embrace the image. That they were uncool for most of the rest of their extended career was largely their own fault for endlessly promoting that 'girls & surf' image long after they were graying and balding.

Willets Point Jun 15 2007 10:41 AM

metirish wrote: Confession...Not listed here but I remember liking "Under The Boardwalk " by Bruce Willis. I remember liking "Under the Boardwalk" by The Drifters. Still do. Willis was smart in just covering classic songs and being a good enough singer to not totally destroy them (unlike Michael Bolton who made a career of desecrating classic soul songs). The video for "Respect Yourself" is comically bad though, so I had to include it.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 15 2007 10:44 AM

It was during the 80's that a Reagan official (Interior Secretary James Watt?) labeled the Beach Boys as a "hard rock" group. Was that before, after, or during Kokomo?

Willets Point Jun 15 2007 10:45 AM

I always thought of them as a Soft Sands kind of band.

Edgy DC Jun 15 2007 11:01 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: It was during the 80's that a Reagan official (Interior Secretary James Watt?) labeled the Beach Boys as a "hard rock" group. Was that before, after, or during Kokomo? Before.

Batty31 Jun 15 2007 08:14 PM

Don Johnson, hands down. It's won other worst actor as a singer polls before in the media. I kind of liked the Eddie Murphy tune when it was a hit. As for the Beach Boys, I am not a fan, but I really can't knock them and also have a respect for them. Everyone thinks of them for the "beach songs" but forgets some of the other classics like "God Only Knows"

Elster88 Jun 15 2007 08:30 PM

TransMonk wrote: Does John Stamos even count? I mean, he played steel drums on Kokomo...the rest of these guys at least put their names and images out front with these musical projects. That's what I was wondering.

Iubitul Jun 16 2007 07:21 AM

I actually saw Stamos play twice with the Beach Boys - once after a game at Yankee Stadium, and at the Oakdale - he was even allowed to play butcher guitar... That being said, Heartbeat is the biggest trainwreck here....