THE SOUND OF 2017 : 76-100

It’s that time of year folks where I count down the best songs of the year. It’s a bit later than usual, but it will be worth the wait.

I’ll spare you the usual crap about how it was a great year for music and all that. There were some good songs and some bad songs, so I spent a Sunday afternoon trying to put the good songs in an order.

Here’s the first batch. Enjoy

76. Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott – I Gotta Praise
77. Rose Elinor Dougall – Hell and Back
78. Shed Seven – It’s Not Easy
79. Benjamin Clementine – Jupiter
80. OMD – Isotype
81. Robin Bengtsson – I Can’t Go On
82. The Amazons – Black Magic
83. Tove Lo – Being Boring
84. Metallica – Don’t Look Back In Anger
85. Miley Cyrus – Malibu
86. Joy Williams – Ordinary World
87. Matt Maltese – As The World Caves In
88. The Killers ft Paul McCartney – Helter Skelter
89. Rag n Bone Man – Reach Out I’ll Be There
90. Gorillaz – We Got The Power
91. Kasabian – Ill Ray
92. Paul Weller – Woo Se Mama
93. Donald Trump ft Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime
94. Barry Manilow – New York State Of Mind
95. Maggie Rogers – Alaska
96. Hurray For The Riff Raff – Living In The City
97. Shed Zeppelin – Good Times, Bad Times, Disco Down
98. Blossoms – In Da Club/Careless Whisper
99. Imelda May – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
100. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Interlude (Wednesday Part 1)

THE SOUND OF 2016 : 76-100

Well, 2016 is almost over and what a year of music it has been. Bowie died, Prince died, and Phil Collins announced a comeback. It hasn’t been all bad. There were some songs I liked, and I’ve put them into a chart.

There’s nothing scientific to it, I just cut and pasted Friday Fives and spent half an hour trying to put them into an order based on what I liked the most over the past year.

You may notice a few rerecordings and previously unreleased versions of songs that have already been released. Well, my chart, my rules.

So, who will join the list of previous winners? You’ll have to wait a few weeks to find out.

2006-2009 were done on Bebo, so the articles are sadly gone, but you can click on the links to previous countdowns. There are a few former winners in this year’s chart.

2015 Blossoms – Charlemagne
2014 Jamie T – Zombie
2013 Haim – The Wire
2012 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …… What A Life
2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1, 2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabian – Empire

76. Wyvern Lingo – Letter To Willow
77. DNCE – Cake By The Ocean
78. Tegan and Sara – Faint Of Heart
79. Bruno Mars – 24k Magic
80. Frank Turner – Mittens
81. David Bowie – Killing A Little Time
82. Garbage – Empty
83. James – Dear John
84. Primal Scream and Sky Ferreira – When The Light Comes In
85. Travis – Everything At Once
86. Manic Street Preachers – Together Stronger
87. Laura Tesoro – What’s The Pressure?
88. Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz – Midnight Gold
89. Sergey Lazarev – You Are The Only One
90. KT Tunstall – Evil Eye
91. Tove Lo – True Disaster
92. Kings Of Leon – Waste A Moment
93. The Divine Comedy – How Can You Leave Me On My Own?
94. Bear’s Den – Dew On The Vine
95. Richard Ashcroft – Hold On
96. Izzy Bizu & the BBC Orchestra – La Foule
97. Travis – What Will Come
98. Madness – Herbert
99. Primal Scream – Mantra For A State Of Mind
100. Madness – Can’t Touch Us Now

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 18.11.2016

1. Bastille – Send Them Off
2. Rose Elinor Dougall – Stellular
3. Tove Lo – True Disaster
4. Bruno Mars – 24k Magic
5. Catfish and the Bottlemen – Outside

Tomorrow, is International Men’s Day. Just another day for me, but if you’re commemorating it, enjoy yourself.

Some people even choose to celebrate it by being a self-hating dick on Twitter.

But most importantly, it’s an opportunity to do some theme charts. And yes, I do the same on International Women’s Day. It’s on March 8th if you don’t know. You may be shocked to realise you can point out the date of something and not be a sneering dick like Richard Herring.

SONGS WITH MAN/MEN/BOY IN THE TITLE

1. Duran Duran – Wildboys
2. Michael Jackson – Man In the Mirror
3. The Verve – Lucky Man
4. The Charlatans – North Country Boy
5. Andrew Gold – Lonely Boy

SONGS BY MEN

1. Simple Minds – She’s A River
2. U2 – The Fly
3. Bruce Springsteen – Badlands
4. Enrique Iglesias – Do You Know?
5. 10CC – The Things We Do For Love

SONGS WITH MEN’S NAME IN THE TITLE

1. Elliott Smith – Son Of Sam
2. Bat For Lashes – Daniel
3. Joshua Kaddison – Jesse
4. Oasis – Little James
5. Rednex – Cotton Eye Joe

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 28.10.2016

1. Tove Lo – True Disaster
2. The Pretenders – Holy Commotion
3. Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me) – Acoustic
4. Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
5. Bruno Mars – 24k Magic

THE SOUND OF 2014 : 51-75

51. Thiago Thome – Aquarela do Brasil
52. Marina and the Diamonds – Froot
53. Paloma Faith – Can’t Rely On You
54. One Republic – Love Runs Out
55. George Ezra – Listen To The Man
56. Lykke Li – Never Gonna Love Again
57. Alicia Keys ft Kendrick Lamar – It’s On Again
58. James – Moving On
59. Broken Bells – Holding On For Life
60. David Guetta ft Sam Martin – Dangerous
61. Embrace – Follow You Home
62. Ellie Goulding – Goodness Gracious
63. Ella Henderson – Glow
64. Fiona O’Kane – I Can’t Help Myself
65. Courteeners – How Good It Was
66. James – Frozen Britain
67. Royal Blood – Come On Over
68. Simple Minds – Honest Town
69. Nina Nesbitt – Peroxide
70. Florrie – Seashells
71. Merrymouth – I Am The Resurrection
72. Black Rivers – The Ship
73. Foxes – Let Go For Tonight
74. Coldplay – A Sky Full Of Stars
75. Tove Lo – Habits

2014 : THE HALF-TERM HALF CENTURY

Well, we’re now officially halfway through the year, it’s time to look back at some of the best songs of the year.

At the end of the year, I do a Top 100, but as it’s the halfway point, here’s the Top 50 Songs Of 2014 So Far.

1. Vance Joy – Riptide
2. Beck – Blue Moon
3. Wonder Villains – Marshall
4. Ella Henderson – Ghost
5. One Republic – Love Runs Out
6. Jimi Goodwin – Oh! Whiskey
7. Lea Michele – Cannonball
8. Lorde – Team
9. James – Moving On
10. Fiona O’Kane – I Can’t Help Myself
11. Courteeners – Summer
12. Ellie Goulding – Goodness Gracious
13. Pollaponk – No Prejudice
14. Embrace – Follow You Home
15. The Vamps ft Demi Lovato – Somebody To You
16. Kasabian – Eez-Eh
17. Chvrches – Recover
18. Tove Lo – Habits
19. Florrie – Seashells
20. Coldplay – Magic
21. U2 – Invisible
22. Nina Nesbitt – Peroxide
23. Grouplove – Ways To Go
24. Broken Bells – Holding On For Life
25. Merrymouth – I Am The Resurrection
26. The Pierces – Kings
27. Alicia Keys ft Kendrick Lamar – It’s On Again
28. Foxes – Let Go For Tonight
29. Manic Street Preachers – Walk Me To The Bridge
30. Sia – Chandelier
31. The Pretty Reckless – Heaven Knows
32. Bombay Bicycle Club – Feel
33. Kaiser Chiefs – Coming Home
34. Ed Sheeran – Sing
35. The Horrors – So Now You Now
36. Alexi Lalas – Rio
37. Cher Lloyd – Sirens
38. Bastille – Bad Blood
39. Paloma Faith – Can’t Rely On You
40. Nick Mulvey – Cucurucu
41. Thiago Thome – Brazil Brazil
42. Foster The People – Best Friend
43. Foxes – Holding On To Heaven
44. Luke Sital-Singh – Greatest Lovers
45. American Authors – Best Day Of My Life
46 Tiesto ft Matthew Koma – Wasted
47. Ting Tings – Wrong Club
48. Tinie Tempah – 5 Minutes
49. Katy B – Crying For No Reason
50. DJ Cassidy ft Jessie J and Robin Thicke – Calling All Hearts

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 23.5.2014

1. Bastille – Bad Blood
2. Tove Lo – Habits
3. Mnek – Every Little Word
4. Pharrell Williams – Marilyn Monroe
5. Ella Henderson – Ghost