Get Right is also great, not my favourite J-Lo track though. That would be Love Don't Cost A Thing, Jenny From The Block or I'm Into You. All are 10/10 songs :wub:

Spoiler alert :magic:

 

70. Madonna “Music”

#1 in USA and UK

69. Justin Timberlake “SexyBack”

#1 in USA and UK

68. Britney Spears “Everytime”

UK #1 (USA #15)

67. Las Ketchup “The Ketchup Song (Asereje)”

UK #1 (USA #54)

66. Sean Paul “Get Busy”

USA #1 (UK #4)

65. Aaliyah “Try Again”

USA #1 (UK #5)

64. Rui Da Silva feat. Cassandra Fox “Touch Me”

UK #1

63. Aaliyah “More Than A Woman”

UK #1 (USA #25)

62. Jennifer Lopez “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”

UK #1 (USA #3)

61. Janet Jackson “All For You”

USA #1 (UK #3)

Madonna and Justin Timberlake are together here but not with ‘4 Minutes’, just with separate songs back-to-back. On the other side of Justin is Britney Spears, which is even more fitting because her song ‘Everytime’ was rumored to be about him, but who knows or cares at this point. Finally it’s ketchup time with Las Ketchup *.* Does the song have anything to do with ketchup? Was it only popular because it’s called ‘The Ketchup Song’? Nah, it’s flawless. Aaliyah is here twice in this section with both of her fantastic #1s, leaving Rui Da Silva inside an Aaliyah sandwich. When I first started looking at retro charts, ‘Touch Me’ was the first #1 I came across, and it sounded so good even though it was 10 years old by then. So that definitely influenced its high placing here. The song that knocked him off #1, ‘Love Don’t Cost A Thing’, is here too! What a coincidence.

 

 

60. Pussycat Dolls “Stickwitu”

UK #1 (USA #5)

A fantastic second single which easily kept ‘Don’t Cha’ from being their one and only hit. It’s pretty much your standard girl-group ballad though and probably could have been recorded by anyone. I don’t recall any other ballads from them but ‘I Hate This Part’ comes close and does a better job of showing their personality.

59. Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”

#1 in USA and UK

I think it was well known at the time that the Peas were making a comeback, and yet they still seemed to come out of nowhere with this instantly becoming their biggest hit since ‘Where Is The Love?’. It was definitely at risk of being severely overplayed until ‘I Gotta Feeling’ blew up later that summer, overshadowing every other song in existence.

58. Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris “Dance Wiv Me”

UK #1

The first time I’d ever heard of Dizzee or Calvin. I wonder if they’ll ever collaborate again. ‘Dance Wiv Me’ has stood the test of time better than Dizzee’s other #1s, which to be fair wasn’t difficult.

57. U2 “Vertigo”

UK #1 (USA #31)

If you can’t get past the “Uno, dos, tres, catorce” part, that’s your own fault. U2 were still topping the charts more than twenty years into their career. Imagine a band from the 90s having a #1 single today. It already happened with Daft Punk and I hope it happens at least once more!

56. Christina Aguilera “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)”

USA #1 (UK #8)

It’s perfect pop from beginning to end, but my favorite part is the second verse with the guitar in the background! Christina has one song left here, what could it be??

55. Alicia Keys “Fallin’”

USA #1 (UK #3)

What a song to debut a stellar music career! I worry about how ‘remembered’ this song is because it deserves to be an absolute R&B classic. But that’s okay because it’s just the first of many 10/10 moments from Ms. Keys.

54. Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

USA #1 (UK #7)

I’m not worried about this becoming a classic. It may be only five years old but everything about ‘Single Ladies’ refuses to get old, which is promising for the years to come. Would it have been just as popular with a different music video? We’ll never know.

53. Kelly Clarkson “A Moment Like This”

USA #1

I wasn’t paying attention to American Idol but Kelly won me over soon afterward with her winner’s single. It cannot be understated the difference this made in turning Kelly from reality TV contestant to pop superstar. There was no guarantee this would be a hit beyond the show but thankfully it was!

52. Natasha Bedingfield “These Words”

UK #1 (USA #17)

This may not be her best song but I’m glad it’s her #1. ‘Unwritten’ seems to have more of a legacy and ‘Touch’ is the smash that never was (also, justice for ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’!!1) but ‘These Words’ is very well-crafted and special in its own right.

51. Crazy Town “Butterfly”

USA #1 (UK #3)

Loved this at the time and still do, but I had no idea it was anywhere near this big of a hit! Crazy Town wasn’t able to turn this into any further success, with the exception of lead vocalist Shifty who raps on Paul Oakenfold’s ‘Starry Eyed Surprise’, which is also really good.

 

50. Usher “U Got It Bad”

USA #1 (UK #5)

I didn’t expect this to be Usher’s highest entry, especially not with three massive hits from the Confessions era. But ‘Yeah!’ and ‘Burn’ have been played to death, leaving his older material fairly untouched nowadays, which probably helps the case for ‘U Got It Bad’. So much emotion in this song, that’s what does it for me! It’s the perfect example of how Usher used to sound so raw and genuine.

49. Pixie Lott “Boys & Girls”

UK #1

This will probably surprise most of you. I’ve always really liked this but top 50 does seem absurdly high! ‘Boys & Girls’ is just perfectly catchy and gets me every time. This is also a test to see if Lee Wallace is reading.

48. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”

USA #1 (UK #4)

This song was written by Ne-Yo, and it’s not hard to imagine his vocals on it. ‘Irreplaceable’ basically saved the B’Day era from being just an average success, although the re-release with ‘Beautiful Liar’ also did the trick. Beyonce’s other two singles from 2006 are still to come!

47. Sonique “It Feels So Good”

UK #1 (USA #8)

One of very few songs to claim multiple weeks at #1 in 2000, and deservedly so. The chorus is the best part, with so many interesting layers, and that voice! It’s a shame she only had a couple of hits; you'd think she would have featured on other artists’ songs at the time, but I guess not!

46. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson “The Way I Are”

UK #1 (USA #3)

Keri's another one that should be featuring in more songs, because she does it so well here! I was surprised to see that this reached #1. If you didn’t know better you’d certainly think ‘Apologize’ was Timbaland’s highest-peaking song. Dance music was so irrelevant in the US around this time that it was really refreshing to hear something like this on the radio.

 

45. S Club 7 “Never Had A Dream Come True”

UK #1 (USA #10)

My only exposure to S Club was limited to just this song and ‘Don’t Stop Movin’. This one made a huge impression on me, but I still haven’t listened to much else from them. I was reminded of this when JLS released ‘Love You More’ as they are fairly similar-sounding ballads.

44. Santana feat. The Product G&B “Maria Maria”

USA #1 (UK #6)

A ten-week #1 in America, believe it or not. Mind, this was during the Latin craze of 1999-2000. Still, you’d never know it without checking Wikipedia because ‘Maria Maria’ faded into obscurity years ago. In the last five years I’ve heard it once on 1Xtra and once on Radio 2, and maybe once on a local station. By comparison, Pharrell just had 10 weeks at #1 but I don’t think ‘Happy’ will be forgotten in any way 14 years from now (for better or worse!). Anyway, this still sounds great! What a song!

43. Ashanti “Foolish”

USA #1 (UK #3)

Another ten-week #1 here! Ja Rule’s counterpart Ashanti did eventually break out on her own and had instant success, debuting with this masterpiece. The track was supposed to go to Craig David, but that was before any lyrics were written for it. ‘Foolish’ was #1 on Billboard while another Ashanti classic, ‘What’s Luv?’ by Fat Joe, was #2. It’s a shame they couldn’t have both had five weeks each. Some of Ashanti’s chart records have been recently matched by Iggy Azalea.

42. Black Eyed Peas “Where Is The Love?”

UK #1 (USA #8)

The Peas’ highest entry is the song that made them famous in the first place. I remember being surprised that this wasn’t their debut single and that they’d already released two albums prior to this! Interestingly, ‘Where Is The Love?’ is the very last track on Elephunk, and there’s a hidden track at the end called ‘Third Eye’ which is lovely. But I like most of their songs.

41. Lady GaGa “Poker Face”

#1 in USA and UK

‘Poker Face’ still seems to suffer from overplay. After the Born This Way era radio seemed to ditch Gaga’s recent hits and go back to playing this and ‘Just Dance’ entirely too often. And now it seems to have happened again post-Artpop. But one watch of the video is enough of a reminder why this was SO massive. Not trying too hard and not even pushing the envelope that much…just making a brilliant song and absolutely owning it.

 

Irreplaceable is gorgeous :wub:

 

Other highlights are Boys & Girls, Where Is The Love and The Way I Are

40. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”

UK #1 (USA #2)

I never would have guessed this was one of the biggest hits of 2006, let alone the entire decade! Nothing against ‘Crazy’ of course, an absolute stunner. At times I might give preference to ‘Smiley Faces’, ‘Run’, or ‘Going On’, but that might just be due to overplay of this track here. Cee-Lo has done so many different genres and his versatility is very admirable.

39. Girls Aloud “Sound Of The Underground”

UK #1

This song was #1 in the previous countdown thread that I did, which was the Ultimate Winner’s Single Rate. ‘Sound Of The Underground’ is basically credited for turning pop music on its head at the end of 2002, but it’s also the first of many reality TV Christmas #1s, which became a not-so-good trend once Simon Cowell caught on. Anyway, it’s one of those rare tracks that Buzzjack seems to universally agree on, not a hater in sight!

38. Beyonce feat. Slim Thug “Check On It”

USA #1 (UK #3)

I’ve just come back to this recently and a renewed appreciation is to thank for ‘Check On It’ being so high. I’d definitely call it underrated, possibly because it was more or less a non-album single, only loosely attached to B’Day and a Destiny’s Child best-of, and therefore not associated with any era of hers. The verses and chorus are both so strong, making it melodically one of her best IMO!

37. Destiny’s Child “Survivor”

UK #1 (USA #2)

This was released shortly after the first season of the hugely-popular show Survivor, and I always thought the show turned the song into a hit, even though they otherwise had nothing to do with each other. But it’s certainly good enough to have smashed on its own merits.

36. Britney Spears “Toxic”

UK #1 (USA #9)

If any song of Britney’s was more forward-thinking and career-defining than ‘Baby One More Time’, it’s this. They both have iconic videos as well. But this is the one that earned Britney her first Grammy! And really, ‘Toxic’ accomplishes what ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ tried and failed to do in the previous era: successfully distancing Britney from her bubblegum image while reaffirming her superstar status. If only it’d been released in a better sales climate…

(bump)

 

The good news is I now have time to resume/finish this!

 

The bad news is I ended up with 41 songs in my top 40 so everything needs renumbered :lol: So, just gonna recap the top 100 here with correct positions:

 

100. Mariah Carey “We Belong Together”

99. Kylie Minogue “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”

98. Shaggy featuring Rayvon “Angel”

97. Destiny’s Child “Say My Name”

96. Rihanna featuring Jay-Z “Umbrella”

95. Usher “Burn”

94. Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul “Breathe”

93. Mika “Grace Kelly”

92. My Chemical Romance “Welcome To The Black Parade”

91. Usher featuring Ludacris & Lil Jon “Yeah!”

90. Lady GaGa featuring Colby O’Donis “Just Dance”

89. Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend”

88. Kaiser Chiefs “Ruby”

87. Madonna “Hung Up”

86. Kid Rock “All Summer Long”

85. Evanescence feat. Paul McCoy “Bring Me To Life”

84. The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name”

83. Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule “Ain’t It Funny”

82. Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris “Holiday”

81. Gwen Stefani “Hollaback Girl”

80. Cheryl Cole “Fight For This Love”

79. Justin Timberlake “What Goes Around…Comes Around”

78. Maroon 5 “Makes Me Wonder”

77. Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes “Don’t Cha”

76. Lily Allen “The Fear”

75. Christina Aguilera “Beautiful”

74. Jennifer Lopez “Get Right”

73. 50 Cent “In Da Club”

72. Scissor Sisters “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’”

71. Madonna “Music”

70. Justin Timberlake “SexyBack”

69. Britney Spears “Everytime”

68. Las Ketchup “The Ketchup Song (Asereje)”

67. Sean Paul “Get Busy”

66. Aaliyah “Try Again”

65. Rui Da Silva feat. Cassandra Fox “Touch Me”

64. Aaliyah “More Than A Woman”

63. Jennifer Lopez “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”

62. Janet Jackson “All For You”

61. Pussycat Dolls “Stickwitu”

60. Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow”

59. Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris “Dance Wiv Me”

58. U2 “Vertigo”

57. Christina Aguilera “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)”

56. Alicia Keys “Fallin’”

55. Beyonce “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

54. Kelly Clarkson “A Moment Like This”

53. Natasha Bedingfield “These Words”

52. Crazy Town “Butterfly”

51. Usher “U Got It Bad”

50. Pixie Lott “Boys & Girls”

49. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”

48. Sonique “It Feels So Good”

47. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson “The Way I Are”

46. S Club 7 “Never Had A Dream Come True”

45. Santana feat. The Product G&B “Maria Maria”

44. Ashanti “Foolish”

43. Black Eyed Peas “Where Is The Love?”

42. Lady GaGa “Poker Face”

41. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”

40. Girls Aloud “Sound Of The Underground”

39. Beyonce feat. Slim Thug “Check On It”

38. Destiny’s Child “Survivor”

37. Britney Spears “Toxic”

 

Some great songs here Jordan! Especially Girls Aloud, Britney and Destiny's Child :wub:

Thanks Joseph!

 

36. Matchbox Twenty “Bent”

USA #1

If you haven’t heard of them, this is the band whose lead singer is Rob Thomas of ‘Lonely No More’ fame. For them to have a #1 song is surprising although ‘Bent’ was released on the back of Rob featuring on ‘Smooth’ by Santana (which is still to come *.*). It’s also the lead single of their second album Mad Season, the title track of which is my favorite song of all time. So yeah, much love for this band <3

35. Eminem “Without Me”

UK #1 (USA #2)

This is Eminem’s highest entry out of however many he’s had here…a lot. ‘Stan’ and ‘Lose Yourself’ would probably rate higher amongst the people but they’ve both been overplayed for me. He was so on form and at his peak here, going for something similarly upbeat and comedic as his previous lead single ‘The Real Slim Shady’, and ending up with something even better. Further efforts by Eminem to recreate this didn’t turn out so great, though I am quite fond of ‘We Made You’.

34. The Corrs “Breathless”

UK #1 (USA #34)

Oh look, 34 in the US and 34 on my countdown. Just a coincidence. I’m struggling to describe ‘Breathless’ and what makes it so great. It’s very MOR but goes against the MOR stereotypes. I like it for being shamelessly happy and upbeat. I definitely think we need more #1s like this, but I can’t clarify what “this” is. It just sounds so feminine (for want of a better word) that I’m surprised it had wide enough appeal to reach #1, but it fits perfectly with the lyrics and melody, so the end result is just right.

33. Rihanna “SOS”

USA #1 (UK #2)

Now we have Rihanna’s highest entry! Despite not being born in the 80s, I heard ‘Tainted Love’ in the car a lot while growing up and was very familiar with it by the time it was sampled here. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had never heard of sampling until ‘SOS’ came out. If we were to include all of Rihanna’s singles from this decade (not just her #1s) I would probably pick ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ and ‘Break It Off’ over this, they’re both brilliant!

32. Shaggy feat. RikRok “It Wasn’t Me”

#1 in USA and UK

Best-seller of 2001 and fifth-best of the decade, can ya believe? I had to re-listen to ‘It Wasn’t Me’ to realize that it really is just THAT GOOD. The backing track is slick and so is the melody. As for the lyrics, we'll never know :P This was the first I’d ever heard of Shaggy and I remember not knowing if he was the singer or the rapper. It didn’t help that the singer on ‘Angel’ had pretty much the same voice as RikRok despite being a different person :lol:. So I ended up thinking (for years!) that Shaggy was a duo, lol.

Edited August 2, 201410 yr by Riser

31. DJ Sammy & Yanou feat. Do “Heaven”

UK #1 (USA #8)

Definitely didn’t know this was a cover at the time! Two thumbs up to Bryan Adams for writing an eventual crossover dance smash. It’s a shame DJ Sammy thought he was onto a trend of some sort and tried working his same magic on ‘The Boys Of Summer’. That one is about as bad as this is good.

30. Sugababes “About You Now”

UK #1

I don’t really identify as a fan of any girl group, just a casual listener of them all. In many cases I discover most of their songs out of order, and in fact I’ve gone essentially backward with the Sugababes. So I wouldn’t know if ‘About You Now’ is a fan fave or not, but would assume it has to be, because WOW. One of those songs where all of the hooks and melodies fall into place perfectly, leaving us with a beautiful pop moment. I’m glad this was a #1 for them because I love the statement it makes. It reminds me of ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ by Kelly Clarkson, which I knew and loved before this song. Like I said, out of order :P

29. Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland “Promiscuous”

USA #1 (UK #3)

Is it just me or is there something a bit 80s about this? In the chorus, particularly. Either way, ‘Promiscuous’ has thus far proven to be absolutely timeless along with most of the Loose era. Interesting that this was the first release from Loose in North America when the rest of the world got ‘Maneater’, but clearly it was a very successful strategy!

28. Carrie Underwood “Inside Your Heaven”

USA #1

The final country artist to feature, with not much of a country song but oh what a gem it is! So few country legends can say they’ve had a number-one song. But none of them get an American Idol winner’s single either! Obviously it’s too soon to label Carrie as legendary but she’s well on her way. Let’s just leave it at that before I get carried away!

27. Santana feat. Rob Thomas “Smooth”

USA #1 (UK #3)

There’s really nothing else like it in this countdown so it’s a wonder the song got to #1 in the first place, let alone for 12 weeks. Actually, come to think of it, this was late 1999, when Ricky Martin, Enrique, and Jennifer Lopez were all big forces in pop, but still this is more than just another Latin hit. I think the most impressive chart achievement for ‘Smooth’ is that it was on Billboard’s top 50 end-of-DECADE for the 90s and 00s! And I’d say this song has more than enough quality to justify that.

26. Lady Gaga “Bad Romance”

UK #1 (USA #2)

This had to be Gaga’s most instant song for me! I was properly obsessed over it just as everyone else here must have been, considering how much love ‘Bad Romance’ still gets here. Nowadays, I never go back to it and probably would not rank it at the top of my faves, but the Monster disc as a whole continues to slay.

25. Daniel Bedingfield “Gotta Get Thru This”

UK #1 (USA #10)

I had no idea what garage was for a long, long time. It was never really a thing here, and I would’ve been too young for it anyway. Then when I did discover garage (never really got into it though!) it never occurred to me that this song was a part of it. But I remembering hearing ‘Gotta Get Thru This’ back then and thinking it sounded like nothing else I’d heard before. Definitely a surprise top-ten hit in the States, and a top-notch track overall!

24. Estelle feat. Kanye West “American Boy”

UK #1 (USA #9)

Just another one champion sound…let’s see, there are still six number-ones from 2008 to come after this! They all seem like a lock for top 20 which makes it by far the most-represented year. So many amazing, long-running number-ones in 2008 including ‘American Boy’, which reigned for four weeks in April of that year. Great melody, great lyrics, great collab, that is ALL.

23. Beyonce feat. Jay-Z “Déjà Vu”

UK #1 (USA #4)

I actually haven’t listened to this very much! It seemed to come and go so quickly, so its flash-in-the-pan chart run is not much of a surprise to me. But ‘Déjà Vu’ deserved so much better. Its similarity to ‘Crazy In Love’ was not evident to me until I saw it mentioned somewhere, and even so I think it’s too good to be a rip-off! The melody in the verses is just so strong. However, I have no kind words about the Freemasons mix.

22. All Saints “Pure Shores”

UK #1

I’d never heard this until the very end of last decade (‘Never Ever’ was the only song of theirs I knew for a decade!), but all those lost years couldn’t stop ‘Pure Shores’ from entering all-time fave territory! This is stunning in every way and has certainly stood the test of time. I know William Orbit is still around, but after this song and Madonna’s Ray Of Light album, it’s disappointing that he didn’t really create any more pop masterpieces.

So glad Heaven is so high, definitely in my top 3 dance tracks of all time, so euphoric. :music:

 

Gotta Get Thru This is also amazing, I used to love Daniel Bedingfield back in the day.

Love bad romance. Amazing choice :wub:

Oh my gosh 'Bad Romance' and 'Pure Shores' are simply AMAZING, my favourites of both of their discographies. You have some mighty fine taste!

So glad Heaven is so high, definitely in my top 3 dance tracks of all time, so euphoric. :music:

 

Gotta Get Thru This is also amazing, I used to love Daniel Bedingfield back in the day.

Heaven is so good and it's aged very well!

I wish I'd paid more attention to Daniel Bedingfield at the time, it doesn't help his success was rather short-lived.

Thanks Josh!

 

Love bad romance. Amazing choice :wub:

Thanks Ultraviolence :D

 

Oh my gosh 'Bad Romance' and 'Pure Shores' are simply AMAZING, my favourites of both of their discographies. You have some mighty fine taste!

If you say so :lol: Hope the rest of the list doesn't disappoint! (spoiler: it won't!) Thanks Jade!

 

21. Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake “4 Minutes”

UK #1 (USA #3)

Up until this point in 2008, I was under the impression that Madonna could do no wrong and never had to question whether I liked a song of hers. It wasn’t so instant and obvious with ‘4 Minutes’. It wasn’t about the production or overall sound, just that the song was based around having four minutes to save the world, which seemed so cheesy. But it totally fits, while Timbaland’s magic on the track is great too. I might be in a minority who likes every single from Hard Candy!

20. Beyonce feat. Jay-Z “Crazy In Love”

USA & UK #1

This is so high partially because I feel like I’m supposed to love it. ‘Crazy In Love’ may have missed the top 20 without me knowing that it’s widely regarded as one of the definitive tracks of the century so far. But how could you NOT love everything about this…the horns, the uh-ohs, the video?? For Beyonce to go solo and debut with something as epic as THIS (ignoring ‘Work It Out’) is stellar! Totally worthy of the hype and acclaim.

19. Coldplay “Viva La Vida”

USA & UK #1

‘Viva La Vida’ was an absolute shock to see at #1, for a band like Coldplay who were yet to have one after three massive albums. This was, of course, an incredible change in sound for them but it made for an excellent album, my favorite of theirs. The power of Apple ads at the time helped songs like this, ‘1,2,3,4’ by Feist, and ‘New Soul’ by Yael Naim. Somehow the effect has disappeared in the years since, as songs rarely get a boost from Apple anymore. Why is that? Surely we’re being denied some amazing chart hits.

18. Outkast feat. Sleepy Brown “The Way You Move”

USA #1 (UK #7)

‘The Way You Move’ fits nicely in a section with ‘Crazy In Love’. The songs go hand-in-hand in that both are quite retro in flavor with similar instrumentation and catchy, soulful choruses, but still modern with the rap etc. I do think the mix of elements sounds just a bit more cohesive in this song. Whereas ‘Crazy In Love’ is an obvious classic, I feel ‘The Way You Move’ is underrated, perhaps due to the single that preceded it, which was a bigger hit and happens to be next in the countdown…

17. Outkast “Hey Ya!”

USA #1 (UK #3)

I can’t help but wonder how Andre & Co. came up with a song as different/catchy/irresistible as this. It’s such a far cry from ‘Ms. Jackson’ (their previous biggest hit) and from anything that was popular at the time. It’s also one of the happiest songs ever, with amazingly quotable lyrics and a video that was on TV constantly. It’s fitting that both Outkast songs are together on this list because they also occupied the top two together on the Hot 100 for eight weeks! ‘Hey Ya!’ ended up being knocked off #1 by ‘The Way You Move’.

 

Oops hadn't seen this yet so apologies for not commenting when you've been very vocal in my all time chart :P I love Crazy In Love and 4 Minutes from the last batch :wub: So much good stuff though, lots that feature in my all time chart!

Better late than never, Liam! I'm pretty sure you'll love a lot of what's left!

 

16. Nelly “Hot In Herre”

USA #1 (UK #4)

Surprise! I’m surprised myself at this being so high, but the production in particular is so on point, and of course Pharrell/The Neptunes were responsible for that. Nelly heard the track and then came up with the iconic hook. It just fits so perfectly, otherwise the song could have easily been a mere novelty hit. A lot of Nelly’s songs sound so dated now but ‘Hot In Herre’ has aged much better than most of his later singles, ‘Grillz’ etc. As I type this I do think maybe it shouldn’t be higher than Outkast; it’s a definite top 20 but ranking these has been much harder than I anticipated!

15. Christina Aguilera feat. Redman “Dirrty”

UK #1 (USA #48)

Next we have the incredibly well-executed and also rather anthemic lead single from Stripped, ‘Dirrty’. It shouldn’t matter that this was such a major change in direction for Christina, because it’s remained one of her best singles, if not her very best! It’s easy to judge solely based on the video and the lyrical content, but the melody in the verses is especially outstanding and mustn’t be overlooked. I can’t believe it flopped in the US, but I recall seeing the video all the time and never hearing it on radio.

14. Janet Jackson “Doesn’t Really Matter”

USA #1 (UK #5)

This here may be another surprise, as I haven’t really seen it be a massive fave for anyone else! ‘Doesn’t Really Matter’ was recorded for Janet’s role in The Nutty Professor 2 and ended up on her All For You album the following year. Nice verses and chorus, and I love the change of pace that happens throughout, which adds to the fun of the song. ‘Doesn’t Really Matter’ escaped my memory for several years but now I think I love it even more than I did at the time!

13. Fantasia “I Believe”

USA #1

I should have given this my 11 in the winner’s single rate, instead of ‘Sound Of The Underground’. The word ‘slayage’ gets thrown around a lot but Fantasia singing ‘I Believe’ has to be the best vocal performance I’ve ever heard, EVER. Thankfully the song itself is also very, very good. It’s also the first and only CD single I’ve ever purchased!

 

I adore your music taste - '4 Minutes', 'Hey Ya', 'Dirrty' & 'Viva La Vida' yes yes yes :wub:

12. Ne-Yo “Closer

UK #1 (USA #7)

That guitar riff draws me in right away, every time. Sounds like the start of a seriously good tune, and that’s exactly what Ne-Yo delivers. The change in sound was great for him instead of continuing with the same old R&B (which I also liked, but still!). ‘Closer’ is probably classified as dance-pop but certainly not in the cookie-cutter, “hands in the air” sense. This suits him really well and is easily one of Ne-Yo’s best!

11. P!nk “Just Like A Pill”

UK #1 (USA #8)

People were surprised by this, a post-album #1 from an artist who, ‘Lady Marmalade’ aside, wasn’t the chart-topping powerhouse that Britney, Christina, and even J-Lo were. Maybe she had a lucky release week, or maybe ‘Just Like A Pill’ was simply getting the recognition it deserves. I think it’s the best chorus Pink has ever made—melodically, lyrically, and rhythmically. And vocally, of course! So yeah, this has done pretty well for a song that’s not even the best track on Missundaztood :o

10. Duffy “Mercy”

UK #1 (USA #27)

So, onto the top ten, and I’m going to struggle having much to say about these as you all should know what makes them so good. I was sooooo into Rockferry at the time, as was seemingly everyone. ‘Mercy’ was one of the last music videos I remember watching a lot on TV. Duffy’s US label tried their best to ruin this song by releasing a remix featuring The Game, but I don’t think it caught on, thankfully. It’s anyone’s guess what Duffy’s doing now, and if/when we’ll ever hear from her again, but I need a third album!

9. Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys “Empire State Of Mind”

USA #1 (UK #2)

You know how radio stations tend to play the same Christmas songs year after year? Even when new festive hits are made, they seem to be ignored again by next December. Likewise, New York was probably set on its (unofficial) anthem being ‘New York, New York’ by Frank Sinatra until the end of time. It would take a miracle for another song to take its place, and truly impressive that Jay-Z and Alicia pulled it off. Well it’s only been five years but I’d go ahead and call this a classic.