This makes me remember how, first as a kid and then later, I'd hear songs on the radio and immediately cringe. A couple of these have already been mentioned here:
--Dust in the Wind
--Philadelphia Freedom
I'll add some more:
--the Eric Clapton version of I Shot the Sheriff. I didn't know until years later that it was a cover of the Bob Marley version, which I thought was okay.
--You Light up My Life and Wind Beneath My Wings. (Somewhere in the back of my mind, those are the same song.)