Gotta Get Thru This is a monster tune. One of my fave 00's songs!

#140. Gotye feat. Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know

5 weeks at #1 in 2012 (#8 of 36 for '12)

 

 

So guess what was #1 in Australia when I decided to look at their chart for the first time? Yeah, it was this. What a bizarre song to start that experience with. It reminded me of a Peter Gabriel song from the mid 1980's. Because of the fact that I watched this song smash one country at a time (Australia -> UK -> US) and that it took like 10 months to do so, I was beyond sick of this by mid 2012. But it's been two years so I can tolerate it again! There's so many quirky sounds going on in this, and it really sounds like no other hit single in 2011/2012. I mean how often is there a hit song with a xylophone and a glockenspiel in them? So this starts off with Gotye having just broken up with Kimbra. He says that she's now acting like a completely different person. She's acting like their love meant nothing, etc. We sympathize with Gotye, and think Kimbra is a bitch. But then Kimbra adds in her verse, and she completely turns the song on its head, which is what I love about this song. She blames the break-up on Gotye (that he kept playing mind games with her). And now we're left not knowing what to think any more. It shows that there's two sides to every story; and not everything is always so black and white.

Edited September 5, 201410 yr by n4yr

#139. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time

2 weeks at #1 in 1999 (#5 of 35 for '99)

 

 

Oh this one. This song defines iconic. This song was huge, especially for a debut single, all around the world. And it started a long career of hits for Britney. This song embodies everything about the teen bubblegum pop explosion of 1999/2000-ish. It's a very well crafted pop song. It's straightforward lyrically, but the catchiness is what really matters. It's full of hooks. The "oh baby baby"'s, "show me how you want it to be", "give me a sign", the piano riff, and of course the song's title, to name a few. Max Martin, who wrote and produced this song, had already created hits for the Backstreet Boys, Robyn, Five, and *NSYNC by this point. His productions were becoming very prominent. The UK already had their share of boy bands and girl groups by late 1998. The US had Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Pop music was becoming more geared towards the teenage audience. There was plenty of boys for the teen girls to scream over. But there really wasn't any solo female artists to fit in with that. The UK had Billie Piper, but she was hardly going to become a huge star or anything. Britney, who was 16/17 years old at the time, filled a void. She had the star power to become the newest pop girl on the scene. She did it with a very strong song to make a name for herself. (Though she wasn't a complete nobody since she was on The Mickey Mouse Club.) And a video to make a name for herself. The entire video is set in a school. There's the teenage relatability factor right there. Britney is in her infamous schoolgirl uniform, with her belly exposed. Like with boybands, creating an image for herself was important here. She had the innocent girl thing going on; even with belly exposure. And of course Britney dances in the video, which I think is very important. Anyway, it's a good pop song, but I find it somewhat overrated, and she has way better songs in her discography. But it's still an iconic debut and this position seems right.

#138. Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway

1 week at #1 in 2009 (#8 of 32 for '09)

 

 

I just love mid-tempos for some reason. This has actually aged the best of all their 2009-present singles for me. The lyrics talk about two people travelling a long distance to meet each other. A long distance, literally. But it's just as easily about struggling to find compromise in a relationship.

#137. Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)

7 weeks at #1 in 1993 (#5 of 15 for '93)

 

 

This is one epic song. But what else do you expect from Jim Steinman, who produced songs like Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse Of The Heart". I don't listen to the full 12 minute version often (because that's just daunting), but it manages to not drag on at all during those 12 minutes. And the 7 minute version isn't too choppy, so it's fine. Lorraine Crosby (who is credited as "Mrs Loud") adds an interesting touch in the latter part of the song. Like "Somebody That I Used To Know", I like how both perspectives in the relationship are voiced.

Edited September 5, 201410 yr by n4yr

#136. Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

1 week at #1 in 2005 (#4 of 25 for '05)

 

 

This is one of those songs where I really have nothing to say about it. I just like it because I do. lol.

#135. Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone

2 weeks at #1 in 2009 (#7 of 32 for '09)

 

 

The riff that Chris Brown and JLS ripped off. I think this song is about depression and feeling like your life is empty and meaningless and trying to find an escape. Or something like that. It's another song with an odd structure. There's like one verse, followed by a chorus repeated a few times. Brilliant production like most of Calvin's songs.

#134. Madonna - Sorry

1 week at #1 in 2006 (#6 of 24 for '06)

 

 

Sometimes saying sorry just isn't good enough. So to follow up "Hung Up", she released this, which I guess you can call a dance ballad. I mean, it kind of is a ballad, but it still works well on the dance floor. Madonna has had many iconic #1's in her career. I think it's safe to say that "Sorry" is in the same league as "Who's That Girl" in that regard. It's nowhere near my favourite Madonna single, but it's still a brilliant song. And to have it ranked this high says a lot about how I feel about Madonna's singles.

#133. Basshunter - Now You're Gone

5 weeks at #1 in 2008 (#3 of 20 for '08)

 

 

My circle of friends in high school was obsessed with rave music (really any dance song with high BPM). This song especially. Like all dance songs from this time period, the radio edit is really short. There's not a lot of lyrics to this, and they're repeated a lot, but they're effective. It's like going to a rave to forget about someone. I don't really like the "ready for take off" and "are you ready" parts, but they're not a big deal. I love how Basshunter's follow up to this sounds exactly the same lol.

Edited September 6, 201410 yr by n4yr

#132. Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa & P!nk - Lady Marmalade

1 week at #1 in 2001 (#8 of 30 for '01)

 

 

This is a stellar cover of the 1974 LaBelle classic, and I'd say it's better than the original. And makes the All Saints version pale in comparison. P!nk, Mya, and Christina (back then anyway) all have strong voices to carry this song, and they all mesh well together. Though Christina definitely tries to outshine everyone else here. Lil Kim's rap is a nice touch, and modernizes the song. As does Missy Eliott's production. The song all builds up to Christina's verse. She does all the vocal acrobatics, and manages to not be over the top with it. And then they all return to do ad libs at the end which is cool.

#131. Icona Pop feat. Charli XCX - I Love It

1 week at #1 in 2013 (#3 of 30 for '13)

 

 

I love this car engine / lawn mower production. This is one of the bitchiest #1's of my lifetime. Which is what makes the angry shouty vocal style work. But when they use that same vocal style on all their other songs, which have different themes, it doesn't work quite the same. But I just love the "f*** you" attitude in this. This song is only 2.5 minutes long (and so is most of their discography), but you don't even notice that it's that short. The advantage of having the song so short is that it never drags on or has any unnecessary parts.

Edited September 6, 201410 yr by n4yr

'Baby One More Time' would sit in my Top 20 were I doing this, it's basically the song that introduced me to music as a whole.

#130. Shaggy feat. Ricardo "Rikrok" Ducent - It Wasn't Me

1 week at #1 in 2001 (#7 of 30 for '01)

 

 

I find this song hilarious. The story is just so utterly ridiculous. Rikrok's girlfriend has caught him cheating, and so he seeks Shaggy, of all people, for help. And what is Shaggy's expert advice? To simply say "it wasn't me." Despite the fact that his girlfriend caught him in the act with her own eyes. And that Rikrok committed the act in every room in the house. But of course saying "it wasn't me" is going to fix everything. It's so ludicrous. But this song isn't meant to be taken seriously. It's just meant to be a bunch of fun. Even though this is Shaggy's song, his verses are almost irrelevant. Not like I can make out a word he's saying anyway.

#129. Enrique Iglesias - Hero

4 weeks at #1 in 2002 (#12 of 29 for '02)

 

 

This is about as sappy as it gets. But I don't care. It's lovely. I find it really emotional and Enrique captures the emotional pain of the song well. It's all in his voice. It builds to the final chorus, which is like one final emotional outcry, and it stops the song from becoming monotonous. I miss the Enrique from this time period. His recent stuff just gets worse and worse.

#128. Las Ketchup - The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)

1 week at #1 in 2002 (#11 of 29 for '02)

 

 

Not as enjoyable as "The Macarena", but it's still a fun song, and good for a good laugh every now and then. The chorus sounds like Spanish, but it's actually nonsense and has no translation. I end up hearing "I said a hey! Ha! the hay, the heffa, though the heaven is heavy, you know why I hobby, and I boogie and I woobie with me?".. or something like that. Also this song has its very own dance! I still have no idea what Ketchup has to do with anything, though.

#127. 2 Unlimited - No Limit

5 weeks at #1 in 1993 (#4 of 15 for '93)

 

 

Ok let's get another one of my guilty pleasures out of the way. This is objectively terrible. It's one of those songs that's so bad that it's good. I have no shame in loving this. "NO NO; NO NO NO NO; NO NO NO NO; NO NO THERE'S NO LIMIT!!" This beat is like impossible to not dance to.

#126. Spice Girls - Wannabe

7 weeks at #1 in 1996 (#11 of 24 for '96)

 

 

Well what can I say about this one? Nostalgia is a huge factor for me here. Definitely. One of the songs I remember the most from my early childhood. It was everywhere when I was around 5 years old. It's insanely catchy and a well-crafted pop song, but I find it a tad bit overrated, and they have better songs. It's like another "...Baby One More Time" in that respect. And that's why it doesn't rank much higher than that. This song went beyond creating a catchy pop hit. Its motive was to sell a brand. Not just any brand, but girl power. Which wasn't anything existent in music at the time. I don't need to explain how huge The Spice Girls would become. Not just in the UK but internationally. Though it was very short-lived, their success led the way for all the other girl groups that came about in latter end of the 90's. "Wannabe" was one of the few songs by a British girl group to go #1 in the US. Which is pretty huge. What made the Spice Girls work was that all five of them were very different from each other. They each had their own personalities (and nickname to go with it) and each brought something different to the table in their songs. It also made them more relatable. They're very confident in this song, and don't seem bratty or anything. The video backs this up - it's just the five of them having fun. Also, the song itself is under 3 minutes long, but it never feels that short. There's so many hooks from beginning to end. And a made-up phrase ("zigga zig ah").

#125. Adele - Someone Like You

5 weeks at #1 in 2011 (#7 of 30 for '11)

 

 

I never fully fell in to the Adele-mania of 2011/2012. I mean, I felt that she was a great singer and all, and I absolutely loved "Rolling In The Deep" and "Set Fire To The Rain", but "21" bored me. "Turning Tables" was the only other song I liked on that album. The rest was so dull. Slow songs (piano ballads especially) didn't do anything for me back then. "Someone Like You" just wasn't my thing. However, my music tastes have changed a bit, and I appreciate this song for what it is now. This song was like a complete breath of fresh air in the music climate of 2011. It really stands out each time I do my playlist of UK #1's. This song is total raw emotion; as heard in her voice. The struggle to move on from a long dead relationship.

Edited September 8, 201410 yr by n4yr

#124. George Michael - Jesus To A Child

1 week at #1 in 1996 (#10 of 24 for '96)

 

 

This is a very emotionally touching song. And something very deeply personal to George. It's about the untimely passing of his lover. I'm glad such a well written song could hit the top spot. But, not to be disrespectful, this song is a rather dull listen (especially since it's 7 minutes long.) Though I admit that tone is perfect for the song.

#123. The Wanted - Glad You Came

2 weeks at #1 in 2011 (#6 of 30 for '11)

 

 

I love the accordion in this. It adds a nice summery vibe. It makes me feel like I'm on a beach, and always takes me back to the summer of 2011. It's a very catchy feel good pop song. It's simply about enjoying a moment while being with someone special. A lot of boy band songs tend to be too childish, but with lyrics like "Hand you another drink; Drink it if you can" and "So let's go somewhere no one else can see", this song avoids falling into that territory.