In the previous decade of the '10s, it has been noted that I have never completed an End Of Year countdown. My New Years resolution to this website is to try and carry things through to the end and as I have particularly enjoyed 2019 as a year of music, it's time to find out what has peaked my interest this year. I haven't posted a single personal chart and my posts have been minimal - so what will reach the upper echelons? It's time to find out.

 

But first, to pay tribute to the previous years that didn't reach an end, I will be recapping my previous #1s of each year from 2010-2018, whilst paying a retrospective look at what my #1s for each year would be now.

 

Support appreciated! :cheer:

;o

 

(I know what #1 is)

Support granted :cheer:

 

Hopefully I'll make a few discoveries in here!

Ready for bops

2010

 

EOY #1: Katy Perry - Firework

 

 

Ahh, the good old days. 2010 - perhaps, my favourite year in music and the birth of my favourite album of all time. Back in the first year of the decade, I was a very active presence on the website and if there is one thing I was known for, it was my incessant Katy Perry stanning. It started back with One Of The Boys but was propelled into full speed obsession with the birth of Teenage Dream, a flawless album through and through that was home to many #1s back when I had a personal chart. And 'Firework' was the forefront of that for me - though, it was definitely a hard-fought contest between 'Firework' and 'California Gurls' at the end of the year when it came to deciding which song would top my End Of Year list, with 'Good Times' by Roll Deep rounding off the top 3. The gorgeous strings, the inspiration lyrics, Katy's soaring vocals - this song really has everything. It's still so touching and beautiful to this day and there is no better song in this "love yourself" realm than this. A timeless classic.

 

What is your favourite song of 2010 now?

 

 

No change in artist but a change in song instead. Bizarrely, 'Teenage Dream' only ranked 6th in my favourite songs of 2010, falling behind the 3 aforementioned tracks, 'Only Girl (In The World)' and 'If We Ever Meet Again'. Fast forward nine years later however, and you will find this is my favourite song of the decade and indeed of all time. There is no song that makes me beam with happiness more than this song, it holds special memories with my current boyfriend, it holds special memories amongst friends and is always the most feel good, explosion of happiness track to hear when she performs it live or if it pops up on a night out. The perfect song - oozing in euphoria and really summarising exactly what I love about Katy and my entire obsession with her during my teenage years. 'Firework' would also be amongst my top 5 songs of all time so that hasn't had a particularly fall from grace but my love for the title track off her sophomore album was enough to surpass it.

2011

 

EOY #1: Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris) - We Found Love

 

 

The 2010s, the heyday of Ms Robyn Rihanna Fenty. She was an absolute force of this decade but no more so than with 'We Found Love', a song that really spearheaded the dance movement at the start of the decade. Rihanna was never one to outright follow trends, but she jumped on them just as she saw the train rolling into the station and teaming up with Calvin Harris for 'We Found Love' proved to be a stroke of genius. The track is undoubtedly one of her most recognisable and iconic and will be played in clubs forever more and it's hard not to see why. Anthemic in every sense of the word, this song is a real "throw your hands in the air after a couple of drinks and absord all of the love" moment of pure joy, from the clever lyricism to the build up to the beatdrop, and then to the drop itself with creates a soaring frenzy. The best dance song of 2010? I'd say so.

 

What is your favourite song of 2011 now?

 

 

Well, I've said it all, haven't I? 'We Found Love' really has stood the test of time in the most remarkable way. It's very much of its time, with this form of "breakdown" dance music having passed but 'We Found Love' stands head and shoulders above any other of its kind and remains one of the most consistent floorfillers in a club 8 years on from its release. I'll say it many times during these recaps but I'll say it again... timeless.

2012

 

EOY #1: Nicki Minaj - Starships

 

 

Onto 2012, the year of Nicki Minaj's domination in my personal charts. The End Of Year chart for this year saw Starships face competition from Tulisa and her very own 'Pound The Alarm', along with a couple of Little Mix and Girls Aloud tracks. However, it was 'Starships', her biggest hit to date, that really catapulted her to pop stardom as she ditched her usual rap sound for a RedOne powered party anthem... and what a success that was for me. Yet again, a track that does sound very "of its time" but has very much held up in my affections, many years down the line, it still hypes me up like very few others track could and while I expect she'll never return to this sound again, I'm so glad she had fun in creating throwaway tracks like this, providing one of my favourite singles and albums of the decade.

 

What is your favourite song of 2011 now?

 

 

Another case of nothing changing here! 2012 was a good year for pop looking back but nothing is quite as fun as this stomper of a track from Ms Minaj!

Teenage Dream ahead of Firework is a worthy swap for sure!! Still love Starships, hard to see her ever topping it :wub:

We Found Love is my favourite of the ones you've posted so far, Starships can be pretty catchy on a good day as well.

2013

 

EOY #1: Katy Perry - Roar

 

 

It's time for appearance #2 for Katy Perry as her colossal comeback 'Roar' trumped all of the competition in 2013 to become my favourite song of the year. As you can imagine, following my favourite album of all time, hype was at an all time high knowing that Katy was returning with her 3rd era and she did not disappoint with 'Roar', which stayed true to Katy's formula of catchy pop with huge singalong choruses. This is still definitely in my top 5 of all time from her and it makes me sad to think she's not still in the prime of doing as well as she did with this release.

 

What is your favourite song of 2013 now?

 

 

No change here for the third time in a row. And not even particularly close in retrospect - 2013 wasn't a particularly thrilling year for music, so Katy returning with something as amazing with this didn't really smell threat. The likes of 'Live It Up', 'I Love It' and 'Summertime Sadness' are still very high in my affections but there's no touching the pop bliss that is 'Roar', a track that I'd say is one of her classics to this day.

2014

 

EOY #1: Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

 

 

And we have another repeat artist! This may be the first controversial End of Year #1 but there is no way that I regret this. 'Anaconda' was very much a marmite moment for Nicki Minaj and gave her one of her last big hits in the UK, complete with hilarious video, the "I Like Big Butts" sampling pop/rap track is really quite silly but when I think back to my university days, there is no song that made me lose my shit more than this track. I remember watching her VMA performance of this on repeat, the video is equally iconic and regardless of what you think of it - the track sure made an impact. For me, the impact was rather significant and saw it beat out fellow rapper Iggy Azalea with her track 'Fancy' which was #2 in this countdown for that year.

 

What is your favourite song of 2014 now?

 

 

I promise you there are a few changes coming to make this section worthwhile! But this wasn't quite as much of an easy decision, however it is a track that has never tired on me and has never failed to make me scream excitedly when I hear it in a gay nightclub is the track that maintains its favour for me. It's a very close call between this & 'Break Free' for me however, which wouldn't have been close to #1 back in the day, but has become a real Ariana favourite for me. Ugly Heart, Dark Horse, Busy Doin' Nothin', Salute, Braveheart - there's a real solid top 10 to be made of this year but on reflection, while they're all 10/10 moments, none could stop the juggernaut of the biggest guilty pleasure of all time - Ms Nicki Minaj and her anaconda.

2015

 

EOY #1: Little Mix - Black Magic

 

 

In a very close three horse race between 'Black Magic', 'Love Me Like You Do' and 'Run Away With Me', my mass love for Little Mix was just enough for them to inch the title. Black Magic was a perfect pop comeback for Little Mix in their 3rd era, coming out of nowhere and totally taking over my musical input for a matter of weeks. 2015 was a strong year so it wasn't an easy decision and while Black Magic hasn't stood up as one of their best, it holds some great university memories and it was definitely key to a resurgence of Little Mix's popularity. And what I wouldn't give for something this effortlessly fun and poppy doing well these days!

 

What is your favourite song of 2015 now?

 

 

Despite falling into 3rd place back in 2015 - it didn't take long for 'Run Away With Me' to soar its way into becoming a clear winner of 2016. I was never wrapped up in the same immediate obsession with it as I was with 'Black Magic' and 'Love Me Like You Do' which were long running #1s in my personal chart, however it's had such long-lasting appeal and is a real soundtrack to the beginning of my journey in Birmingham. It has immediate associations with my first ever nights out here with Bal and how we would scream it from the rooftops and having seen her perform in live in 2016, it was solidified as an all time favourite. How this wasn't a global smash I'll never know, but it really is just stupendously good. The production, the horns, the crash into the chorus, the euphoria, the "baby" cries going into the last chorus. No song makes me feel freer than this and is the reason I'm such a huge Carly fan to this day. Wow, a moment I will never forget.

2016

 

EOY #1: Fifth Harmony (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Work From Home

 

 

Nobody told Fifth Harmony they could snatch my weave this hard! After an initial lukewarm reception to this track that initially rang as "lazy" to me due to its repeated chorus very quickly wormed its way into my affections and once it did, it really didn't leave and became my obsession throughout the entire year, lending itself just as much to my summer playlists as the early in the year release date it was served with. Competition for the girls was definitely rife as Little Mix's double whammy of Shout Out To My Ex and Touch landed. It was neck and neck between Work From Home and Shout Out To My Ex but the former nicked it, though I dare say if Touch had been out as the lead single, giving me more time to play it, it may well have stolen this victory, as Touch scored many weeks at #1 for me in the early months of 2017.

 

What is your favourite song of 2016 now?

 

 

Despite only ranking 4th in the initial End Of Year ranking for 2016, behind the 3 aforementioned tracks, it is definitely Into You by Ariana Grande that has burst its way to the front of the pack to this present day. How can you deny a chorus that good? How can you deny a track that pulsates so delicately before bursting into a flurry of pop joy as flawlessly as this does? I always adored this track but somehow, the years have only made me love this more and more. Valentina's lip sync on Drag Race owes something to this becoming a gay club staple, I do believe, but my god does it deserve it for all of its own merits. Ariana has delivered some amazing tracks since but nothing has quite touched something as sublime in all its synthy pop goodness as Into You.

2017

 

EOY #1: Dua Lipa - New Rules

 

 

2017 was a very tricky one for deciding what my favourite track of the year was. There were 5 different potentials and truth be told, if I hadn't chosen to rank 'Touch' in my End Of Year 2016, then it probably would've been an easy winner for the year. Alas, I decided to star it out as it ranked too high and was pushed as a single in the previous year. New Rules faced stiff competition from 'Instruction' by Jax Jones, 'Bon Appetit' and 'Swish Swish' by Katy Power, 'Power' by Little Mix and a sniff of 'Anywhere' by Rita Ora, though that felt slightly too premature to be placing above some tracks that had ruled the whole year. In the end, I handed it narrowly to New Rules, feeling that it would age better - and I wasn't too far wrong. New Rules is still as fantastic today as it was back in 2017, it was a defining moment for Dua Lipa's career, an artist who I will see for the 5th time in May, and it really is a British pop classic. I don't regret this choice at all - what a fantastic package to breathe life back into someone's career, what artist wouldn't kill to have something like this in their back catalogue?

 

What is your favourite song of 2017 now?

 

 

We have another switch! As previously mentioned, 'Anywhere' felt a little bit too premature in my affections for me to place it at #1 for 2017. I wasn't sure if it was going to age badly on me or not, so I played it safe. I couldn't have been more wrong with that reservation though as 'Anywhere' continued its way into being one of my top 40 most played tracks of 2018 and it still remains as one of my top 10 most played songs of all time on Spotify. I didn't think Rita had it in her to pull off a track I loved this much, but for the exact same reason as 'Run Away With Me' growing to become an all time favourite, this perfect capture of living in the moment, joy, freedom, throwing caution to the wind - all things I love about music and how they can transport you to another world - is found present in this track. The "over the hills and far away" pre-chorus is a golden moment in pop music for me and never fails to place a smile on my face. Rita really did THAT, who'd have thought?!

New Rules and Anywhere were two of the better chatting songs of 2017 so glad to see both of them appear!

Nice to see "New Rules" and "Anywhere" being here as the best songs of 2017!

New Rules and Anywhere are 2017 highlights but I agree that I think Anywhere is better in retrospect and I tend to find myself going back to that much more.

2018

 

EOY #1: Eleni Foureira - Fuego

 

 

Most years, a Eurovision song will make it into either my top 10 or top 20 of my year and as my love for it increases, the April-May period is really taken over by hammering Eurovision tracks. However, this track took over every month after it finished, and this track that was my favourite from listen #1, grew to become a favourite and so nearly win. Never before have I been so invested in a Eurovision song to be so enamoured with its hopeful victory. It ended 2nd but was FAR AND AWAY my favourite song of the year. And according to Spotify, this was infact my 9th most played song of 2019 and is my most played song EVER on Spotify. Still amazing, still iconic, still played once a week at the very least.

 

What is your favourite song of 2017 now?

 

 

And nothing even comes close.

So, that completes the retrospective look at End Of Year #1s leaving me with this:

 

2010: Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

2011: Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris) - We Found Love

2012: Nicki Minaj - Starships

2013: Katy Perry - Roar

2014: Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

2015: Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me

2016: Ariana Grande - Into You

2017: Rita Ora - Anywhere

2018: Eleni Foureira - Fuego

 

...who will become the 10th and final EOY winner of the decade? Fingers crossed I'll make it that far to let you know, maybe by December 2020 x