It meant someone had grit their teeth and gone to the effort of listening to and assessing some of the truly dire songs of the pop era.

The idea was sado-masochistic - I feel nauseous just listening to mainstream radio - but after reading Australian writer Colin Bowles' book, the idea of making a list of the worst songs ever wouldn't leave my head. Unfortunately, once I started thinking about the worst songs of all time, the songs wouldn't leave my head as well.

The sad part was that once the can of bad musical worms was opened, piles of pop pollution poured out, filling my head with a sewage of songs. For now, for what it's worth, here are five of the worst songs of all time but stay tuned for more.

We Built This City - Starship (1985)

THEY were once Jefferson Airplane, one of the great bands of the San Francisco Summer Of Love era, before becoming Jefferson Starship and finally Starship. Somehow they had gone from being anti-authority LSD-loving hippies to the very essence of soulless '80s commercial pop sell-outs, despite singing in this song as if they were still the voice of rebellion. Blender magazine, in naming this the worst song ever, described it as "the truly horrible sound of a band taking the corporate dollar while sneering at those who take the corporate dollar''. Even the band agreed - singer Grace Slick later called it "one of the stupidest songs ever''.

Achy Breaky Heart - Billy Ray Cyrus (1992)

EVEN as a kid I could tell this was terrible, although I didn't mind the D-Gen's piss-take Ouchy Wouchy Heart. Representing all the worst bits of country music - especially the dancing - this was a worldwide smash, inspiring many people to wish someone would smash Billy Ray's achy breaky face in. Cyrus didn't just inflict this song upon the world - he was also responsible for one of history's worst mullets and annoying tween popette Miley, the latter of which is presently polluting the charts.