Bad Songs #1: "The Hell of It" from The Phantom of the Paradise

I haven't seen The Phantom of the Paradise (1974) in forever - I really need to rewatch it. I remember it being awful, but one you could enjoy as a guilty pleasure.  I'm sort of confused how it is that Brian DePalma, the guy responsible for classics like Carrie, Dressed to Kill and Scarface, could put out something like this.  Then again, it has been a while, so maybe I should refrain from further criticism.  Evidently, some people think it's good enough to put together a big budget remake of this film in 2010.... big surprise.

Those who lived through the seventies will well remember Paul Williams - he was omnipresent in those days. You couldn't go two seconds without seeing his ugly mug. One minute he's on B.J. and the Bear and Smokey and the Bandit, the next he's hanging with Kermit the Frog on The Muppet Show and Danno on Hawaii Five-O.  Come to think of it, even if you didn't see or hear him, he was still present - you just didn't know it: he composed almost everything you heard from The Love Boat theme to "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song" by Three Dog Night and "We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters.  This dude was EVERYWHERE!

Listening to the soundtrack, I was stricken by a Willams song called "The Hell of It".  It's bad..... real bad. Listen at your own risk. You've been warned.