When the news broke last Wednesday that modern rock 'n' roll icon Jack White was pairing with the sticky, Faygo-coated Insane Clown Posse (ICP) for a "Mozart cover" called "Lech Mich Im Arsch," a simultaneous "wutttt?" was uttered by music fans across the globe.
Surely Jack White is the type of dude that likes to press buttons, but these buttons? Ruining the name of a perfectly good classical composer with a couple of dudes that don't understand how magnets work, and can't be bothered to do a Google search about it? Unlike just about everything White has ever done, the song is actually bad, and it just gets worse with every play.
That got us thinking about the other bizarre collaborations we've seen over the years (though that one is tough to top.) Here are a few others to add to the WTF file:
Insane Clown Posse - Leck Mich Im Arsch by Third Man Records
1. Eminem and Elton John - "Stan"
Seeing as Eminem had built a career on homophobic lyrics and shock-hop up until 2001, his collaboration between the rapper and the music industry's most unapologetic homosexual, Elton John made for an uncomfortable duo. The two teamed up for the 2001 Grammys and continue to be friends to this day. Just last year, Eminem said he turned to Elton for help during a bout with prescription drug abuse. It turned out to be sort of an American History X-type lesson for Eminem.
2. Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson - "Say Say Say"
It's not so strange that the cute Beatle and Prince of Pop would get together for a song. After all, they were two of the biggest celebrities of the time. But the video for "Say Say Say" is just thoroughly awkward. It starts out in an old-timey cowboy town with McCartney, with his half-assed cowboy accent that's still thoroughly British, selling strengthening potion. The pair also ends up shaving together. And then Jackson swindled McCartney out of millions by buying up a good portion of his Beatles catalog, but that part isn't in the video.
3. Jay-Z and Linkin Park - Collision Course
For two totally unhipster acts, Linkin Park and Jay-Z really know how to commit to irony and sell it to the masses. They collaborated on an entire album, which ventures everywhere from totally forced to actually pretty well blended. They sold five million copies of the disc worldwide, so they must have done something right.
4. Burt Bacharach and Dr. Dre - Portions of At This Time
Bacharach is known for his collaborations with Aretha Franklin on "Say a Little Prayer" and Dusty Springfield on "The Look of Love," he's always "been a fan of urban music," as he told the UK's The Telegraph. The sweet-hearted pianist enlisted the help of Dre to add loops and beats to 2005's At This Time.
5. Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy - "Born to be Wild"
To be fair, he was making an appearance on The Muppet Show. On the other hand, Ozzy Osbourne is on the fucking Muppet Show. Of course that slutty little pig decided to get into the mix, trying to make her frog boyfriend jealous by performing a duet with the world's least animal-friendly bad boy.