I’ve decided that although it’s ridiculously late, I should share my top 100 of the year given that I have a record of it and have compiled it. It’s not all in one though, so expect several posts throughout this thread as we count down through the top 100 to my #1 song of the year. This is my first time doing one of these in this format on BuzzJack, although I have been tracking my top tracks of the year using Spotify for a few years running now.

 

Chart positions here are based on where the track got to in terms of plays across my overall music collection of the year. For the most part, this is limited for the puposes of this countdown only to tracks that released in 2016. I have however made an exception for album tracks on albums released near the end of 2015 – that did not otherwise chart in the UK official chart.

 

This won’t be that radio based as I don’t listen to the radio really at all any more, Spotify has completely replaced it for me. You will see some familiar faces and charters though – Spotify does, after all, keep up with – and controls, to a large extent – current trends in music and what’s most popular. Expect to see some more obscure songs too though! Some people like that, mind.

 

Things that would have surprised me this time last year about my end of year chart 2016:

• That it would feature Sean Paul, Beyonce, Craig David, a solo member of One Direction, and SELFIE one-hit-embarrassments The Chainsmokers
• The level of Rihanna surge after a lacklustre 2015 and 2014
• Lack of Katy B given she released a highly anticipated comeback album
• Lack of Minaj, who’s appeared consistently since 2010 or so
• Lack of Gaga, given she announced a comeback album for 2016
• The (very!) surprise resurgence of a previous one-hit wonder act, who will remain nameless for now

Finally, there will be (perhaps appropriately, for the year!) 16 acts who make multiple appearances in the chart this year, counting features. Keep an eye out!

 

All that out of the way, let’s get cracking into the chart. 100-96 and 95-91 on their way in the next two posts!

Edited April 30, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

100) DUA LIPA - HOTTER THAN HELL

 

 

Kicking off the countdown, Dua Lipa. This one squeaked into my top 100, I never felt like I played it a whole lot during the year, but it made it in on trickle plays. I was late to the Dua Lipa party, but her re-release of Be The One has me hook line and sinker in 2017 – I’d hazard that she might make it higher into next year’s countdown.

 

99) VAULTS - MIDNIGHT RIVER – POMO REMIX

 

 

Vaults appearing in my end-of-year for the second year in a row following their 50 Shades track in 2015. This was their first single following that up. The original release is a bit happy clappy for me, but this remix by Pomo really shines. It’s Pomo’s second year running too, after appearing on a remix of AlunaGeorge’s Supernatural in 2015’s chart.

 

98) LITTLE BOOTS - BETTER IN THE MORNING – WITHOUT REMIX

 

 

Another unexpected end-of-year appearance comes for Little Boots. It’s not completely out of left-field – although Ms. Boots hasn’t seen mainstream success since 2009 or so, I’ve followed her career with interest, and enjoyed some tracks on her long-delayed second album Nocturnes from 2013/14. Motorway, from that album, made my end-of-year back then. The Without remix of Better in the Morning comes from the Remix EP of her last album, Working Girl, released at the end of 2015, and is quite funky and inoffensive. Another one that has trickled its way in.

 

97) WILD BELLE – OUR LOVE WILL SURVIVE

 

 

The first big hitter of the year, inasmuch as it actually peaked in my top ten during 2016. I’ve been a fan of Wild Belle since their early days when I bought their CD for my mum and ended up enjoying some of it myself. Last year their song with Major Lazer brought them a bit of mainstream recognition and also last year, their song Shine helped me feel better after a bad breakup, so I was excited to see their new material. This one was a little ahead of the curve with the slow Americana vibes that Beyonce and Gaga dipped into later in 2016.

 

96) LISSA – ZIMT

 

 

Unknown alert! I still don’t know much about LissA or the song, so I’m pretty sure this was one Spotify recommended to me. It’s a great lounge downtempo electronica track with jazzy, classic vocals. Another that got this far on trickle plays. All charters so far except Dua Lipa released pretty early in the year and so have had time to notch up a lot of plays.

Edited January 11, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

95) M83 FT. JORDAN LAWLOR – WALKWAY BLUES

 

 

A track that hung about in my top 10 for 4 or 5 weeks back over the summer, and one of my standouts from M83’s surprise comeback album. (Go, with Mai Lan, never really caught me). It’s M83’s first visit to an end-of-year chart since Midnight City back a few years ago. It also appears to be the only song that the guest vocalist has appeared on. The production on this is gorgeous.

 

94) GLASS ANIMALS – YOUTH

 

 

If anyone’s been following the indie hits chart over in the main UK chart forum, they’d see this was my top pick of the indie releases for the BuzzJack finale. Glass Animals’ first track to really take off with me, though I liked a few songs from their debut, the sound of them was not the kind of thing I’d like to stick on repeat. This is much more fun, Foster the People style indie rock, the kind of sound that would have been a shoe-in for a top 40 – or top 20 placing six or seven years ago. Not 100 miles away from MGMT’s Kids either.

 

93) WARPAINT – NEW SONG

 

 

The all-girl trip-hop-psychedelica quartet diversify on their 2016 album from morose, thoughtful tunes into uptempos more in the vein of Ex Hex or HAIM. I've been a fan since album #1, back in 2010. I did not expect that a stomping uptempo song like this one (trust me, for Warpaint, this is practically manic) would be the kind of Warpaint comeback song that would make it into my top 100, but here we are. This peaked at #5 on my chart during the year. Cute video, too.

 

92) NICK BREWER FT. TINK – ME AND MY PEN

 

 

A very odd one now. Nick Brewer, whose previous claim to fame is

, and Tink, from

come together on a downtempo, acoustic-styled rap that sounds straight out of circa-2012 Drake’s playbook. It’s one of few rap tracks to make it in this year in the absence of Nicki Minaj while she’s (mainly) on hiatus and working on other projects. This was never going to get far in the official charts on name power, but it’s a cute effort.

 

91) FERGIE – MILF$

 

 

Fergie’s second comeback single in two years. Shocking to think that

was a UK top 3 hit in the official chart. It was one of my guilty pleasures last year though and did end up in my 2015 top 100 – possibly actually quite high :whistle: MILF$ (which I can’t help saying in my head as Milfs) limps in at 2016’s tail end. It’s trashy, crass and a bit crap, but ridiculous enough to have its own charm – and I have a soft spot for Fergie keeping doing her thing into her 40s. MILF$ hung around my top 20 for about 3 months in two separate runs over the summer.

Edited January 11, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

Hotter Than Hell is my favourite here so far :wub: excited to see what else is still to come!

Hotter Than Hell is my favourite here so far :wub: excited to see what else is still to come!

 

Thank you! Flattered :3

 

90) BRAVE BABY – FIND YOU OUT

 

 

Another relative unknown sneaks in here. Brave Baby’s a group I came across on NoiseTrade, a pretty useful website for up-and-coming unsigned artists. It offers music downloads where you choose what you want to or can afford to pay for tracks, albums, or EPs – a good model. Also helps a lot of those acts build fanbase – Highasakite is another act I first saw on there who’ve gone on to see more mainstream success. This is one for indie/rock/alt fans. I’d draw comparisons to Of Monsters and Men, Noah and the Whale, maybe even a bit of Mumford and Sons here. This is another trickler in as I'm not sure it had any surges during the year at all. More of those had a chance to make it this year as it was a year I really made the most use of Spotify to find new stuff; as such, I played a lot more tracks a lot less times.

 

89) TUNDRAN – LAST DRIVE

 

 

Similar to the last entry, an indie/alt one by a pretty lowkey band. Tundran’s got a few thousand listeners on Spotify and has managed to hook an appearance on an Avicii EP, so isn’t quite unknown, but still only has a few songs. This one was part of a two-song EP released earlier in 2016 and has a great vibe to it, downtempo and a little funky too. A bit like Metronomy, I suppose, or Hot Chip. Biggest comparator is my prize find from last year, Manganas Garden, a funky post-disco altpop Swedish crew that ended up with two tracks in my 2015 end-of-year. If they'd done a slow song, that song would be Tundran: Last Drive. Check them out too

;)

 

88) BROOKE CANDY – HAPPY DAYS

 

 

Brooke Candy now, bringing back white girl rap, and landing her her third running appearance in an end of year countdown. This one’s a softer, more restrained effort than the tattooed, foul-mouthed brat princess usually delivers up, and she even sings on it. The good girl parody video is a treat, too. I initially thought this would have been her only appearance this year, but I managed to misread a release date of another one of her tracks so...buckle up, more freaky princess to come a little further up!

 

87) FRED FALKE, ELOHIM & MANSIONS ON THE MOON – IT’S A MEMORY

 

 

What a discovery this was. Euphorically happy and positive, and a great one for a sountrack or a roadtrip – as the director of the video was probably aware of, given that both elements feature prominently. It’s the two featured artists’ debut in an end-of-year, although Elohim charted a minor hit during the year – She Talks Too Much. Meanwhile, it’s Mr Falke’s first appearance this decade, his last successful song with me was

. Sadly the video edit has been taken off youtube, but the track is still a delight, giving a soft electro backing to Beth Ditto’s powerful, grating vocals. This one, by contrast, is full-smooth throughout. Joyful.

 

86) TINIE TEMPAH FT. ZARA LARSSON – GIRLS LIKE

 

 

Tinie’s second comeback in the last two years, and his first in a while not to debut in at the top spot, sidelined by the menace of streaming. It’s also Zara Larsson’s first – but not last – appearance in this countdown; she’s the first act so far who’ll be seen again further up. This did well for both artists and is ridiculously catchy, hanging about the official chart for maybe 3 or 4 months and being very unlucky to only peak at #5 as the sales and streaming pinnacles never matched up with each other. Probably my favourite Tinie single in a while and much more immediate than the Jess Glynne effort last year - to me anyway.

Edited January 21, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

Our Love Will Survive :D Great track with great backing music!

 

Girls Like is amazing as well, I love the blend between Tinie & the dance music!

85) ERA ISTREFI – BONBON

 

 

A couple of BuzzJack faves in this next batch, kicking off with fan favourite BonBon, which despite an English language release never quite took off in the UK. Era Istrefi and her pink coat have clocked up over 200 mil views on youtube for it though, as well as seeing success throughout Europe, so I doubt it’s too much of a blow to her. It’s the original Albanian lang version that I heard first and that I like best.

 

84) FRENSHIP FT. EMILY WARREN – CAPSIZE

 

 

Capsize just about makes it in thanks to a late surge in the winter, adding on to the little-by-little plays it’s clocked up since I first came across it in June. Capsize peaked at #7 for two weeks in November. It’s Emily Warren’s only hit this year as a named artist, although she also wrote the Chainsmokers’ Don’t Let Me Down, which may or may not be yet to come in this countdown. It’s Frenship’s only entry to the top 100; their song Carpet also picked up some love for me during the last year, but not enough to make it into my top picks.

 

83) BILLIE EILISH – OCEAN EYES – ASTRONOMYY EDIT

 

 

An act I came across solely because of the Astronomyy connection; the chillsynth acoustic band charted two songs in my end-of-year of 2015, All I Need with Denai Moore, and Nothin On My Mind, which I’ve recently heard in a remixed version on the radio. Astronomyy’s biggest success to date is probably producing Zara Larsson’s breakthrough international single Never Forget You. Ms. Eilish is a comparative unknown – or just starting out her career. Ocean Eyes is a sweet, dreamy single. I’m actually not a massive fan of it though! It just happened to be a song that came up a lot on shuffle, and is inoffensive enough to not skip past. YMMV though. I’m always happy to share an upcoming artist’s work. Astronomyy are great, I hope to hear more from them in 2017.

 

82) IVETA MUKUCHYAN – LOVEWAVE

 

 

Another I was surprised to see make it in – and not because it’s Eurovision, because there’s more of that to come further up. I think one or more Eurovision song has made it into my end-of-year countdown for the last three or so years running – rarely the winner though, and never the UK entry! although I’m not sure how surprising that is. This is very Eurovision – camp, and dramatic. I didn’t like it that much at first – but it grew on me a little after I heard it at a party. It’s also surprisingly good to listen to on the train – although I’m sure that wasn’t its intended purpose! It’s Iveta’s first – and I would imagine only, ever – trip into an end-of-year. In case anyone’s interested, my previous Eurovision appearances came from Elina and Stig’s Goodbye to Yesterday and Maraaya’s Here For You in 2015, Common Linnets’ Calm After the Storm in 2014, and Margaret Berger’s dubstep Bond-esque I Feed You My Love in 2013.

 

81) RIHANNA FT. SZA – CONSIDERATION

 

 

First stop for Rihanna, who’s had a stunningly successful 2016, one of the few celebrities – or people at all, perhaps – who can say that at the end of the year. After struggles in 2014 and 15 with album delays and personal dramas, 2016 sees her with two songs in the top 5 bestsellers of the year, with another just outside. Not too shabby. SZA, an unknown to many pre this feature, also tots up her second year running in my end of years, following runaway success Euphraxia’s appearance in 2015’s top list. This wasn’t a single, and wasn’t even one of my top picks from the album, but I’ve played ANTI a lot this year since being one of the ones lucky enough to get a free copy back in last Jan. Expect to see more from it….maybe quite soon!

Edited January 11, 20178 yr by 360Jupiter

Youth is absolutely immense, good to see that get some love on your countdown!

Our Love Will Survive :D Great track with great backing music!

 

Girls Like is amazing as well, I love the blend between Tinie & the dance music!

 

Thanks Pete! Yeah, Girls Like is a triumph, and it's great to see another Wild Belle fan!

 

Youth is absolutely immense, good to see that get some love on your countdown!

 

Yeah, it's a solid one mdh! Just started reading your end of year, definitely agree with Warmth as the standout from Wild World (it's basically the title track, lets bh) - and I'm currently about to try listening to Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. What a band name!

 

Cheers for the comments guys!

Some interesting picks so far yay! LoveWave was one of the big highlights from Eurovision

Some interesting picks so far yay! LoveWave was one of the big highlights from Eurovision

 

Cheers SS. I definitely have a mixed music taste - esp compared to people I know! There'll be a bit of everything in here, but it does all go together too...method to the madness!

80) RIHANNA – YEAH I SAID IT

 

 

The second of a Rihanna trifecta, and another Anti album track from the Barbadian. One of my favourite tracks on the album, although to be honest I liked most of it – easily Rihanna’s best album to date for me, and containing some of her best work, full stop. Really a bit of an interlude, the short song is laid back, with a throaty layered vocal which shows Rihanna’s voice off to its best. This is helped to sneak in by being so short though, no doubt, helping it rack up plays throughout the year. Rihanna at some of her most R&B, which is a good place for her.

 

79) RIHANNA – SLEDGEHAMMER

 

 

Rihanna again, already charting more songs in this year-end than I think she ever has in a year before. Theme song is a theme song. Rihanna went back to doing what she does best in 2016 – and what I, and other fans have been suggesting she should do for a while now – everything. What catapulted her to success in the first place, above the other ladies of her time, was her features, allowing her to diversify, as well as to promote more than one song at a time. It certainly stood her in as good stead in 2016 as it did in 2009 and 10. Sledgehammer gives us hippie space alien Rihanna, a side to her we haven’t really seen since Rated R. It also reunites her with Sia, last seen most obviously as a co-creator on Diamonds. This wasn’t a huge chart success officially, but I was a fan of it, and it peaked at #7 on my first ever top 40, back in July. Sweet. Guess how many more Rihanna songs are to come?

 

78) KATY B, MAJOR LAZER & CRAIG DAVID – WHO AM I

 

 

Ah, Katy B. What went wrong? After the surprise success of Crying For No Reason, followed-up by the even bigger success of Turn The Music Louder with KDA last year, I had figured Katy B was a shoe-in for chart success with her next era. Instead, her solo comeback single – with Major Lazer, fresh off of Lean On and Light It Up, and Craig David, fresh off of a career rejuvenation – could only manage a week at #89 in the UK singles chart. It does a little better here – but still pales in comparison to Katy’s last album, which was full to bursting with potential hits. Even I, a Katy B fan, like this, but I don’t love it – which is surprising, given the names involved. At least it isn’t Katy’s biggest career misstep – that Coke ad song with Mark Ronson back in 2012 was really something…and not in a good way. Katy B’s album Honey, which Who Am I comes from, has a few decent tracks on it, but after this flopped, I’m not sure they’ll go for any more single releases. A shame, really.

 

77) TINASHE – SUPERLOVE

 

 

Something I didn’t expect in 2016 was Tinashe going pop. SuperLove is only one of the paths the R&B singer chose to diversify down in the year, following several successful pure R&B and rap inspired mixtapes and releases in previous years. SuperLove, with its choreographed video and inoffensive sexiness suggested an attempt by the record label to push her as the next – or new – Rihanna, and is a much more convincing pop song than her last most pop effort, All Hands on Deck, whose video featured cringeworthy attempts to be sexy and a verse by Iggy Azalea, coming just at the time she made the transition from runaway success to embarrassment. Smooth, RCA. While I initially resented this for taking Tinashe away from the inventive R&B she did so well, it eventually grew on me just because it’s very well-crafted. It peaked at #3 in my chart during the year.

 

76) 3OH!3 – FREAK YOUR MIND

 

 

Continuing the theme of the unexpected… 3OH!3. I have no words, this is one of the last bands I would have expected to do anything again. Having said that, I didn’t see ever liking a Coldplay album coming this time a couple years back either. This a great slightly new direction for a band I previously knew for being emo-lite just as emo was going out of fashion, and for helping launch the career of Katy Perry, back when she was unknown enough to feature on other people’s songs. “nice legs, daisy dukes…” – that one. This is almost rap, it’s cheeky and fun, and I like it a lot, unashamedly. I’m also seeing, having looked it up, that it might’ve been a single – that completely passed me by, to me, it was just my pick from the album. Good choice though, record label, good choice. The video’s delightfully weird, too :D

A more alternative section now:

75) ALUNAGEORGE – MEDIATOR

 

 

The first – but not last – appearance of AlunaGeorge in this countdown, with album track Mediator that was one of my first top picks from the album when I heard it. I Remember, the duo’s sophomore effort, tanked in the charts and received a mixed reception – which greatly surprised me, as I feel it’s much stronger and tighter than their first release! Of course, part of that is that I overplayed their debut Body Music to death in the first year following, and have since gone off a lot of the tracks. I Remember was great, an unapologetic dance/EDM/electronica album that was club-ready and festival-ready, but didn’t commit itself either to completely chasing one new style trend, the way recent releases from Guetta, Avicii, and Calvin Harris have been prone to. Mediator is ‘the slow one’ from the album, and shines in a way that these kinds of tracks on these kinds of albums rarely manage to.

 

74) BEAR’S DEN – RED EARTH AND POURING RAIN

 

 

Another new discovery of 2016 – and another band that falls curse to, for some bizarre reason, not releasing the tracks on its album that are crying out to be singles. The title track was my first pick from the album Red Earth and Pouring Rain, which is apparently Bear’s Den’s second effort – I completely missed them first time round. There’s a bit of Mumford and Sons style Americana here, a bit of a country feel, but also a pop-rock sensibility underneath, lending them the kind of sound I’ve enjoyed on Nothing But Thieves, One Night Only, and the Kaisers’ most recent record. Almost a bit of Toto on this too, for anyone old enough to know that reference. Emeralds from this album is also a banger that was crying out to be a single release, and nearly made it into my top 100 as well – it’s hanging about just beyond the cutoff. Well worth checking out.

 

73) BIRDY – KEEPING YOUR HEAD UP

 

 

Birdy’s comeback now (well, pre-Sigma) – released around this time last year. One of the benefits to starting young is the ability to reinvent yourself for a new era of fans and a new sound – still just in your early 20s. The indie classical piano prodigy goes pop on third album Beautiful Lies (no relation to Shakira) and uses some more modern influences lifted from different genres – Gabrielle Aplin, ruling my personal week-by-week chart right now, has recently taken the same path. Lead single from Birdy 3 makes it in here, Keeping Your Head up is an upbeat, featuring the young singer in a church of dancing zombies. She’s taking a leaf out of Foxes’ book soundwise here, too. Despite the late success of Birdy’s Wings (2012, but rejuvenated in 2015 by the Lloyds TSB ad with the horse), this one wasn’t able to do much in the chart – unfortunately releasing just as streaming was moving to completely dominate sales, and not adapting their strategy to work around that. It’s a great wee track though, and deserves its spot. A second cut from Lies, Hear You Calling, is also a goodun.

 

72) NAO – FOOL TO LOVE

 

 

Nao, an artist I’ve followed since 2014 when I saw her live supporting Little Dragon, manages a second consecutive year-end charter here, following So Good last year. Anyone who watched it might remember that song from a brief appearance in Channel 4’s LGBT dramedy Cucumber, Banana, Tofu. (Also the show that spawned my appreciation for London Grammar, who completely passed me by initially) 2016 saw Nao releasing a debut album and playing Glastonbury, albeit on one of the smaller stages. Well-deserved, and I’m happy to be able to share this on. Anyone considering going to see her, she’s even better live than studio.

 

71) CHAIRLIFT, DRAM & JIMI TENTS – CH-CHING REDUX

 

 

Apparently the last album was Chairlift’s last effort, according to recent reports. I can honestly say I didn’t like it a whole lot, but it might grow on me – sometimes tracks and albums sound better in different years, depending also on where you are as a person. Chairlift’s a band I literally only came across by – showing my age here – the free weekly downloads that iTunes used to offer. That song –

– ended up really catching with me, and appearing in my year-end top 100 that year, and I’ve followed their career since off and on – helped by the wonders of Spotify. Unfortunately, I haven’t come across much else I’ve liked, and that included the most recent album and its singles…until they decided to release a very interesting remix – or a Redux, as they put it. Alt music plus rap is definitely something I’m into – I loved the repackaged Fall Out Boy album of reworked tunes featuring rappers, and Miike Snow’s track with Run the Jewels was one I really enjoyed last year. And yes, I was a Linkin Park fan, back in the day. This one sits nicely alongside. Funky, badass.

Hi Jupiter, some very interesting leftfield picks in this list!

 

Hotter Than Hell stands out as a great moment of last year, one of best songs to incorporate dance & pop together.

 

Superlove surprised me too, but I was very much a fan, moreso than a lot of her more Urban works.

Thanks Dobbo!

 

Yeah Hotter than Hell wasn't too bad at all. Be The One is gorgeous though, and the new video just elevates it even higher too - released a couple weeks ago.

 

SuperLove was a grower. I'm interested to see what kind of sound she goes for next and how her album sounds.

 

Also. If you thought it's been leftfield so far, wait til you see who's coming in this next batch...

70) MØME FT. MERRYN JEANN – ALOHA

 

 

Not sure if this was one of the BuzzJack recs from the start of last year or not – that thread at the time passed me by. I think I did see it rearing its head in a couple of the weekly personal charts throughout the year though. Not much to say on this one, it didn’t make much of a splash in the charts but feels like it should have at least been a minor hit in terms of how its sound got 2016 spot on. Apparently it was a top 10 in France in 2015. Need to keep more of an eye on the European charts, I think. This is another that picked up a lot of trickle plays through the year. A good one to play getting ready and off out in the mornings.

 

69) RIHANNA – WOO

 

 

Back for a fourpeat. Rih’s fourth track in the countdown so far and third from Anti – and we’ve only had album tracks so far. This really was a triumph for the Barbadian artiste, at least to someone like me who’s generally always been more of a fan of both R&B and hip-hop than pure pop. I enjoyed Dance Rihanna from 2010, and Pour It Up was probably my favourite thing she did before this album. Not much more to say about this one; it largely makes it in on the strength of me playing the album as a unit. I don’t listen to a lot of albums all the way through, which makes Anti – Rihanna’s 8th effort – all the more remarkable.

 

68) WILLOW – WAIT A MINUTE!

 

 

And here she is. The surprise one hit wonder I mentioned in the first post, and the most unlikely artist I would have ever expected to listen to at all, let alone to end up appearing in my year-end top 100. This isn’t even her only appearance, she has another higher up. This is of course, Willow Smith, daughter of Will, sister of Twitter-infamous Jaden, and momentarily a hit in the UK whipping her hair in the charts, aged 7 or 8. Now going by the mononym Willow, I didn’t even recognise her when I came across her on Spotify and the album she’d just released. Bizarre is a good way to describe the album – a little psychedelic, very cosmic and space age/hippie dippy, and with a lot of odd, try-hard tracks that wouldn’t go amiss on Miley’s last effort. This is a highlight though, despite the slightly weird lyrics, it’s catchy and charming, and not at all like her previous work. Keep an eye out for her other entry this year.

 

67) SIA FT. SEAN PAUL – CHEAP THRILLS

 

 

Who would have thought – including the lady herself, I’m sure – that Sia would reach a new career pinnacle in her 40s, 15 years in the game? 2016, everybody. A strange year by all accounts. Cheap Thrills, a song Sia originally wrote for Rihanna – yes, her again – was reclaimed by the lady herself, and released to staggering success on both sides of the pond. I don’t think I need to describe it – as a song of the spring, the summer and the autumn, it was inescapable this year, sticking around the charts for something like 35 weeks, and slaying both on sales and streaming. Sia’s follow-ups The Greatest, Satisfied, Never Give Up and the forthcoming Move Your Body have all been successes on my personal charts as well, so expect to see more from Sia this time next year. Bet she’s glad she did Titanium now!

 

66) MIKE WILL MADE-IT FT. RIHANNA – NOTHING IS PROMISED

 

 

Can’t get rid of her. I didn’t like this one at first because Rih’s album material is stronger, but its slightly badass-trashy appeal got to me eventually – the same vein of my taste that Fergie and Brooke Candy appeal to. It’s Mike-WiLL’s first charter as a lead since ‘23’ with Miley back in 2013/14. It’s Rihanna’s first charter since three entries ago. It is, however, her first – but not last – as a featured artist this year. I’m glad she left this off the album, but it’s not a bad track besides – helped by there being a lack of similar tracks released this year – I’m looking forward to more Jhene to plug that gap in 2017.

Really interesting chart so far, lots of stuff not populating all the other EOY charts, loads I need to check out.

 

Hoping to see more Eurovision in here! My favourites so far are Cheap Thrills, Bonbon and Keeping Your Head Up :wub:

Really interesting chart so far, lots of stuff not populating all the other EOY charts, loads I need to check out.

 

Hoping to see more Eurovision in here! My favourites so far are Cheap Thrills, Bonbon and Keeping Your Head Up :wub:

 

There is indeed more Eurovision to come!

 

There's also an actress-turned singer, K-Pop, 80s revival, several talent show contestants - one of whom I personally dislike, and god forbid, more Rihanna. What a year! Among others.

 

Your chart was super interesting too. I'll enjoy checking out some of those songs once I'm out of work and can actually listen to them!

Capsize is excellent, a 2-week #1 in my chart at the end of summer! Emily Warren's vocals really lift the track I think :wub:

 

Cheap Thrills was such an unexpected hit but looking back now it seems so obvious, so infectious and Sean Paul brings the fun *.*