The phenomenon of irritating music

As I listened to the strains of "Ek baar aaja aaja..." issuing from the TV in the office cafeteria, I wondered about this phenomenon. Of extremely irritating music by some composer/singer being played all over the place, from music channels to discos to paan-tapris. Why is it that only the horrible songs catch on like this? I mean think about Altaf Raja. There was a time where you could not get onto a bus or an auto-rickshaw without hearing "Tum to thehre par-daaay-seeee....". Aaaaarrrrggghhhhhh!!!! Some more I can think of were Ataullah Khan* (of "Accha sila diya" fame) and Hassan Jehangir* (Hawa hawa).

So why do you think these songs catch on all of a sudden and dissappear even more suddenly? Is their popularity due to the fact that they appeal to the great unwashed masses, with their plaintive cries? Or is it the other way round, and we feel irritated by a certain set of songs, if they become very popular and are played over and over again (hark back to Saathiya ringtones!)

* My heartfelt thanks to Akshoy for reminding me of the names of these singers!!!

ETA: I found the answer!!!