For me, Elton John and Billy Joel. Joel in particular sounds like how a big sweaty ham tastes.

I also never thought Sinatra could hold a tune to save his life.

I am not a fan of the Beatles. Sorry, but I'm not.

Pink Floyd. Cannot. Stand. Them.

Radiohead. Just lifeless.

Growing up in the '60s, loved the Beatles, hated the Rolling Stones. Considered the Who to be the true "Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World" (title generally given to Mick & Co.).

Of the early crooners my parents listened to, I was unimpressed with Sinatra; but not nearly as awful as Dean Martin and Perry Como (or as I called him, Perry Coma).

As for the Whelk's picks: I got in early on Elton John, loved the early stuff through "Captain Fantastic", but after he peaked, he went downhill into cringe-ville quickly. Billy Joel was always mostly "meh"; his one saving grace was an occasionally great line or two of lyric every eight or ten songs. (I am a serious lyric listener)

But you wanted legends I can't stand? Besides the aforementioned Stones, glancing through an "All Time Greatest" list I pick out...

Elvis (even in the early days when he was "good" he wasn't so good),
James "Obitfilter #95" Brown (most hardworking man in show biz, yes, building anything worthwhile, no),
Pink Floyd (I loved early Progressive Rock, but they were Progressive Schlock),
Barbra Streisand (I can hardly hear any difference between her and Celine Dion... snap!),
Prince (too precious by half - and half again),
at least half of the 'redefining myselfs' of Madonna (the rest were mostly 'meh'),
Lynyrd Skynyrd (killed Country Rock for me),
AC/DC (killed Hard Rock for me)...

And if you asked for legends I consider OK but over-rated... have you got six hours?

Lynard Skynyrd weren't a country rock band. They were a rock band from the country. Different. IMO. Skynyrd's willingness to pander to the worst in their fanbase after Ronnie Van Zandt died is unforgivable, but I think he was a fine rock lyricist who was coming into his own when that plane went down. Oh well. We'll never know what could have been.

A band that I was always ambivalent about was Black Flag. Greg Ginn's a genius noisemaker with an electric guitar, but at least 80% of their stuff leaves me going, "meh".

The Pixies. They're The Eagles of alternative rock. They have a very slick formula that they follow over and over again and if you like it you like it and if you don't you don't. I wore out Doolittle when it came out, just loved it, but they really haven't aged well and I have little desire to listen to their music today.

Sinatra. It must be a sign that I've failed as a man, because all my macho male friends are WAY into him. I just can't stand him.

Radiohead. I want to get it, I really do. I just don't.

I've never been able to get in to Pink Floyd.

The Grateful Dead, who will be representing all jam bands here. I used to be way into Dave Matthews Band, until I worked with some proto-frat jocks in my first job who listened to them for eight months straight. That was nine years ago, and I still can't bring myself to listen to DMB again. As for the Grateful Dead, they just do nothing for me.

Pretty much anything that was on MTV during the eighties. I really hated that decade.

I dislike most Bob Dylan songs when sung by Bob Dylan. I said this once to a bunch of old hippies and thought I was never gonna get out of there alive.

The Bee Gees, Barbra Steisand, and Barry Manilow. Urp.

Me too, JanetLand, me too.

I fear this thread will only make me argumentative!

Pretty much anything that was on MTV during the eighties. I really hated that decade.

I feel vehemently the opposite.

Oh God, yeah, Bob Dylan. Most over-rated performer ever. That nasal, whine-drone makes me want to stab my eardrums out. His songs performed by others are fine.

I also can't stand James Brown.

As oneswellfoop said, Billy Joel's lyrics can sometimes redeem him - particularly his very early stuff. I used to love the Piano Man album but haven't heard it in years.

I LOVE Sinatra.

I find that my hatred of pop songs seem to mellow with age and nostalgia for their era . if there's one trend that i hate is when a cool new sound is co-opted by the music industry and gets watered down . nothing sucks more than a dearth of originality

I love Billy Joel AND Sinatra, maybe because I didn't in high school.

I still love listening to a few specific classic-era Who and Stones tunes, but have come to feel repulsed by both bands and their endless rehashing tours. They seem pathetic.

I admire David Byrne for continuing to do new projects instead of riding endlessly on his own coattails, not to mention the valuable work he does producing and promoting really fantastic international acts.

Bowie I think of as a less effective David Byrne in a sense, because he does keep trying to do new and differnt things, but unfortunately for him, they suck. Fortunately for him, his old tunes are still like nuggets of solid, rhinestone encrusted gold.

I won't say this is widespread veneration, but I could stand not to hear any of this shit anymore. They just graaaaate.

Bob Seger.
Michael McDonald, the guy from the later period of the Doobie Brothers. (I refer to him as the Swedish Chef of Soul.)

There's something overly earnest about Billy Joel that I don't like. I think it's something about his enunciation -- a little too clear for rock, maybe. I do love "Uptown Girl," which makes me different from most of the purists, I guess.

I love David Bowie because he's hot :D I did kind of like Earthling, in 1997, but I didn't have to buy it myself.

Jack Johnson -- wtf, people? I think that's the main reason I love my dentist: he lets me change the tunes, specifically to prohibit Jack Johnson during treatment.

Dylan -- dude, how many verses do you need, REALLY?

late to the train but I'll chime in. There's certainly a lot of stuff that's been overplayed-to-death on "classic rock" or "lite jazz" or "adult contemporary" stations that both sucks and / or could go die in a fire (Eagles, Zeppelin, Michael Bolton, Barry Manilow, Bob Seeger, Woodstock roots rock, et. al.) but that's not what this thread is actually about.

No, this thread is about POP MUSIC. Specifically, Top 40:

1) Sheena Easton / the Bangles / Go-Gos and their ilk. Don't even talk to me about 80's/early 90's girl "bands". Madonna + Joan Fucking Jett were the only 2 who seemingly ever had control of their own trajectory and creative process.
2) Coldplay, Glenn Frey, Sting, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, U2, Genesis/Phil Collins and related other "corporate rock" designed to cater to middle aged yuppies desperate to appear relevant. Death Cab for Cutie seems headed in this direction and that makes me sad. You can be a big successful arena rock band and still maintain your integrity, guys. Overproduced albums with phoned-in guitar licks just won't cut it.
3) Nirvana + all their derivative "seattle band wannabees". Oh my god what a terrible phase that was for music.
4) Hootie and the Blowfish and related "complaint-rock indie lite" trash of that ilk
5-infinity) Any/all pretentious, derivative rap-lite / hip-hop wannabee cliche Top-40 sellout bands for oh, about the last 3 decades. See: Lionel Richie, Vanilla Ice, Boyz-2-Men, Milli Vanilli, Beyonce, Blackeyed Peas, boy bands, etc... They are all comprehensively soulless, pandering giant blackholes of suckitude.

I submit that the above is why many people have such violent loathing for music between the years of oh, let's say 1981-1995. There was actually plenty of good music to be had around the fringes of the charts (B-52s anyone?), but it was well buried in a giant reeking heap of garbage.

I cannot think of any old artist/band that has turned up on the PBS Begathon that I have not cringed at.

Anything REM did that got popular made me break out in hives. Especially, and oh my God they will be playing this song in hell when I get there, "Stand". STAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE.... STAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE, STAND IN THE PLACE WHERE YOU ARE!!!!. But I'll always love "Wolves, Lower".

I had a thing where I hated Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out" so much that it turned into a sick liking of it, and I was renaming the MP3 file and giving it to people in the guise of being a different song. Joerolling, I guess.

There are quite a few alternative bands that were widely admired that just sounded like lifeless shit to me. The Replacements, Guided by Voices, Eels, any of Stephin Merritt's stuff, it goes on. It may be I've just never heard the right song or missed the right age range—except for the Replacements who, I maintain, sucked.

Am I the only one that thought this thread was actually about Pop Staples?

Ha, yeah, I forgot about Sting. He and Annie Lennox stand together to me as the singers who most violated their own memories.

Both make strong arguments for the benefit of working within a band, even if you are great.

Music threads on MeCha are the best.

I pretended to like Lou Reed because an old bf looooved him.

Miko, I read it that way too. I get hives from most "classic rock" but pop doesn't get under my skin like that.

Probably doesn't help that I worked in a Harley Davidson dealership for two and a half years. FREE BIRD!

Fleetwood Fucking Mac.

And to a lesser extent (because they weren't that popular for very long, at least in the States) UB40 makes me want to stab sweet little basset hound puppies.

Okay, I hate virtually all "disco" pop music, most of all the Bee Gees
Bob Dylan's music is great but his voice puts my teeth on edge.
If it's rap and not Everlast, I probably hate it. And some rap IS pop.
Hate all American Idol contestant tunes. And I mean all. Lookin' at you, Clarkson.
I cannot warm to the Black Eyed Peas. At all.
Can't stand Justin Timberlake.
With rare exceptions, i hate most Michael Jackson.
Queen's Another One Bites the Dust
Anyone's version of "I Shot the Sheriff."

Thank you for this chance to tell how I really feel.

Maybe Clarkson is too recent (2003 forward) but her stuff FEELs like it's been playing for a decade plus.

I dislike a lot of indie/alternative pop staples. Often because they can't/won't sing. Indeed Dylan. But also Lou Reed. Or the singer from the Red Hot Chilly Whiners. More controversially: Anaïs Mitchell, great musician, but why sing so nasally/childishly?
With most indie music the word that comes to mind is 'throatwarbler'; singers constrain their voices, seem almost actively to evade singing in a resonant voice.

My theory is that singing in a resonant voice has been claimed by pop music. A producer with musical chops finds a singer with good looks and often a good enough voice. The vocal coach does the rest in teaching the modulations, twists and turns to sound emotive.
To the indie music scene it's not authentic, it's 'plastic' and common. Also: liking it doesn't show distinctive taste in the inevitable cultural class warfare of sexual politics.

But to me the provenance doesn't matter. It's about the result coming out of the speakers.

I have a directory on my storage drive called 'indie'. Mostly music that was praised on metafilter, metachat or the guardian.
It's where music goes to never be listened to again.