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You're listening ad free on Amazon Music. Welcome back to Hit Parade, a podcast of pop chart history from Slate Magazine about the hits from coast to coast. I'm Chris Melanpe, chart analyst, pop critic and writer of Slate's why Is this Song Number One? Series. On our last episode I talked about Billboard's year end ranking of Hot 100 Hits and their 65 year tradition of naming a top song of the year. The results are not always predictable and the songs range from unmemorable to immortal. I'm now going to try ranking these 65 year end number ones to determine which feels most deserving of the honor. Before I start running down these 65 hits, a few provisos. This will be a largely subjective ranking. I say largely because I am factoring in chart performance, relative improbability, degree of upset against the competition, as well as how well these old hits capture their year. That's meant to reflect the zeitgeist, not just my opinion, but at the end of the day, I'm ranking these songs based mostly on how I feel about them. This list is, in other words, totally biased. So here, without any further ado, is my ranking of 65 years of Billboard year end Hot 101s. I will walk through them in order of my ranking, but I'm introducing them under the banner of the respective chart year they were number one. And right off the bat chart year is my issue with the song I'm placing on the lowest rung. Number one for 1989 Chicago look away. Look Away didn't even hit number one during 1989. It topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in December 1988. So the fact that this wound up the top song of 89 is an egregious, if mathematically correct, application of the last Christmas guideline I described earlier as a song. Look Away is a generic power ballad written by veteran songwriter Diane Warren. Even she has done better than this, and it could have been sung by anybody. It doesn't even feature Chicago's famed brass section. What's really galling is that 1989 was a great year for pop hits, and Chicago's schlock ballad overtook some killer number ones. Bobby Brown's My Prerogative, Madonna's Like a Prayer, Janet Jackson's Miss yous Much, Paula Abdul's Straight Up. Heck, even Poison's Every Rose has its thorn. The quintessential hair metal power ballad would have made more sense winning the year than Look Away. I will never forget picking up the Billboard year end issue at a New York Newsstand in December 1989 and feeling gobsmacked and utterly deflated when Chicago's forgettable torch song won the year. What a letdown. Number one for 1966 Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler Ballad of the Green Berets Fighting.
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Soldiers from the sky, fearless men.
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Stereogum's Tom Bryan, writer of the Number Ones column, has called Ballad of the Green Berets the worst number one he's ever written about. Recorded by an Army Special Forces staff sergeant moonlighting as a singer, Ballad of the Green Berets was a hit with Americans who didn't like the trajectory of 1966 popular culture and were still in favor of the Vietnam War.
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But only three when the Green Beret.
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Train to live in a year of such groovy number ones as Question mark and the Mysterians 96 tears, Percy sledges, when a Man Loves a Woman and the Mamas and the Papas. Monday Monday for this clenched jaw march, to spend the most weeks at number one feels, well, counter countercultural upon their chest. Number one for 1973 Tony Orlando and Dawn tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree. Speaking of the war, this song was well timed for the return of combat troops from Vietnam. Its story of a soldier who looks for a yellow ribbon to know his wife still wants him home was regarded as a warm welcome to service members. It certainly captured the times, But the song has not aged well. Tony Orlando sings it with lounge club Brio, and The arrangement is pure 70s variety show. Considering the competition in 1973 killing me softly with his song let's get it on, you're so vain, Tony Orlando's hit is a reminder that in the mid 70s the schlocky often triumphed over much better material. Number one for 1990 Wilson Phillips hold On. Wilson Phillips 3 Daughters of sixties rock royalty Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas. John and Michelle Phillips co wrote hold on with producer Glenn Ballard, and It topped the Hot 100 for just one week in the early summer of 1990. That was enough to give hold on the title for the year over such longer lasting number ones as Sinead o' Connor's Nothing Compares to youo, madonna's Vogue and Mariah Carey's Vision of Love. Admittedly, younger generations like this song better than I do. A recent reboot of Pitchfork's list of the 250 best songs of the 1990s added hold on to the list. Number one for 1991 Brian Adams Everything I Do I Do it for you. Many think of 1991 as the year of such alt rock classics and as Smells like Teen Spirit or Losing My Religion. But on pop radio, Bryan Adams was king. The husky voiced Canadian rocker rebooted his career in the 90s as the king of the soundtrack power ballad.
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You know it's true. Everything I do, I do it for you.
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Everything I do. Adams courtly trifle from the Kevin Costner summer blockbuster Robin Hood Prince of Thieves spent seven weeks atop the Hot 100 and by the way, a record 16 weeks atop the UK singles chart. In the year end 91 competition, Adams defeated more hip hop centric fare like I wanna sex you up by Color me Bad and Gonna make you sweat by CNC music factory. Number one for 1962 Mr. Acker Bilk, stranger on the Shore. I mentioned Stranger on the Shore and Mr. Acker Bilk in our second ever episode of Hit Parade on the emergence of the Beatles on our charts before the Fab Four, Somerset England native Bernard Stanley Bilk was the first Brit to top the Hot 100 with this sultry clarinet ditty. Instrumentals were hot on the charts in 62. Two more vocal less hits called the Stripper and Telstar went to number one that year. So Stranger on the Shore was a product of its time. But for the record, Billboard's number two single of 1962 was was Ray Charles's I can't stop loving you number one for 1963. Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs Sugar Shack. Sugar Shack was a corny, catchy, crazily popular trifle from Chicago, born Jimmy Gilmer fronting the New Mexico based band the Fireballs. At the time, Billboard categorized this song as an R and B record, letting it chart on both the pop and soul charts despite the fact that the whole band was white and the groove was pretty hokey even for 1963. A story about a guy flirting with a coffee shop waitress. Sugar Shack spent five weeks at number one. Among the hits Jimmy Gilmer surpassed that year were the Chiffons, he's so Fine and little Stevie Wonder's fingertips. Number one for 1977 Rod Stewart tonight's the night gonna be all right Tonight's.
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The it, it's going to be all right.
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If I asked you to name the Rod Stewart song Likeliest to take a Billboard year end title, you might guess his 1971 chart topper Maggie May, or even his 79 number one disco jam do you think I'm sexy? I doubt you would have guessed to night's the night a shambling seduction Slow Jam, which topped the Hot 100 for eight weeks starting in late 1976 and took the title 477. It is a silly song and even a little gross, especially its most infamous lyric, spread your wings and let me come inside.
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Cause 10.
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Rod Stewart has his admirers and haters. I fall somewhere in between. But when you consider the 77 title could have gone to the Emotions, Best of My Love or Thelma Houston's Don't Leave Me this Way, Tonight's the Night doesn't seem like the best representation of the year. Number one for 1959 Johnny Horton the Battle of New Orleans. Written by a high school principal and based on an old American folk song commemorating an actual event from The War of 1812, the Battle of New Orleans, and has been covered by numerous artists, but country singer Johnny Horton's version, a six week number one on the Hot 100, is best known. We fired our guns and the British kept coming. There wasn't as many as there was a while ago. We fired once more. As I noted in our novelty hits episode of Hit Parade, Light comical story songs were huge in the late 50s, but Horton's hit beat Bobby Darin's classic cover of Mack the Knife for the 1959 title, even though Mac spent nine weeks at number one, albeit late in the year. Number one for 2009 the Black Eyed Peas Boom Boom Pow Got a good dip, gotta get dip gotta get depth, gotta get Boom Boom Pow not only spent 12 big weeks at number one in 2009, it was one of two consecutive number ones by the Black Eyed Peas, the alt rap turned hip hop hitmakers led by Will I Am and Fergie. It was followed by the P's own I Got a Feeling, which spent 14 weeks at number one. Because it came out a bit later in the year, Boom Boom Pow. Topped it. Recently lampooned on Saturday night live. Boom boom pow caught a moment when o hip hop was giving way to 2010's edm dance pop. The runner up for 2009 was lady gaga's poker face. Number one for 1960 percy faith and his orchestra theme from a summer place. This quintessential easy listening instrumental is surely playing in an elevator somewhere as I speak. Percy Faith's Theme From A Summer Place spent nine weeks at number one, even though it isn't actually the version playing in the 1959 movie A Summer Place, which starred teen idols Sandra Dee and Troy Donahue. It's a light FM staple with a memorable melody. Some 1960 hits that theme from A Summer Place defeated include The Everly Brothers, Kathy's Clown and Brenda Lee's I'm Sorry. Number one for 2006 Daniel Powder bad Day. Canadian singer songwriter Daniel Powder got lucky in 2006 when his self penned Bad Day became a running theme on the fifth season of American Idol. It was used as the weekly soundtrack to when singing contestants were voted off the show. Given that massive Idol boost, Bad Day flew up the charts and topped the hot 100 for five weeks.
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Cause you had a bad day you taking one down, you set your side.
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So Powder is the purest one hit wonder on our list. He never touched the Hot 100 again and his one hit beat out 2006 smashes like Sean Paul's temperature, Nelly Furtado's promiscuous, and Shakira's hips don't lie. Number one for 2002 how you remind.
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Me never made it as a wise man I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing Tired of living like a blind man I'm sick of sight without a sense.
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Why isn't this lower? You may be asking. Yes, this is Nickelback, the Canadian post grunge band who've been the butt of countless jokes for their butt Rock rock. They are also hugely popular, selling tens of millions of albums and scoring a string of hits in the aughts. How youw Remind Me broke them on the pop charts, spending four weeks at number one at the end of 2001 and the start of 2002. Stereogum's Tom Bryan recently argued in his column that it's too easy to hate Nickelback and that how you remind me actually rocks. I half agree, but it should be noted that 2002 was better known for R B and hip hop, and Nickelback defeated hits like Nelly's Hot in Here, Ashanti's Foolish, and Usher's You Got It Bad. Number one for 2018 Drake God's Plan. Drake has been scoring big hits for more than a decade, but he utterly dominated 2018, commanding the Hot 100 for more than half the year, including his number ones. Nice for what? And in my feelings, Drake's biggest of the year was the contemplative, ethereal God's Plan, which topped the Hot 100 for 11 weeks.
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God's plan I hold back, sometimes I won't, I feel good, sometimes I don't.
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Like in my why is this song number one piece on God's Plan? I called it, quote, droning and broody, and I confessed that I didn't get its appeal at the time. Clearly the public liked it better than I did, and to give the six God his props, a lot of hits sounded like God's plan in subsequent years, so points to Drake for being ahead of the curve. Number one for 1997 Elton John Candle in the wind 1997. Released one week after Princess Diana's funeral, at which he performed this song eulogy for the first and only time, Candle 97 was Elton John's reimagining of his 1973 song about Marilyn Monroe. It spent 14 weeks at number one in the US and amassed 30 million in global sales, according to Guinness World Records. Only Bing Crosby's White Christmas has sold more copies, like a candle in the.
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Wind, never fading with the sunset when the rain set in.
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As a song, Candle in the Wind is impeccable, but the 1997 version is a ghost of a hit, never receiving much airplay even to this day. It also defeated more omnipresent 1997 hits as Puff Daddy's I'll be missing you and and Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart. Number one for 2008 Flo Rida featuring T Pain Low. An ode to shorties who wear apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur and drop it low to the floor, this bop by a pair of floridians topped the hot 100 for 10 weeks. T pain, with his innovative use of autotune, was vital to the evolution of hip hop and pop, and it's a sign of how commanding he was by 2008 that his featured role on this jam could get new rapper Flo Rida an instant number one. Frankly, both rappers have done better, but this is a quintessential 2008 hit, which defeated Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love and Lil Wayne's Lollipop for the year end. Title number one for 1971 Three Dog Night Joy to the World.
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Jeremiah was a Bullfrog.
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As I mentioned in Our hits of 71 episode of hit Parade, Joy to the World was a near accident for LA band 3 Dog Night. Its songwriter hadn't finished the lyrics. That bit about Jeremiah being a bullfrog wasn't even supposed to be the final opening line, and a DJ found it buried at the end of a Three Dog Night album. Thanks not only to its six weeks at number one, but also the 1983 movie the Big Chill, generations have grown up with Joy to the World. Still, it's a goofy hit to take Billboard's prize for 1971, a year that was dominated by Carol King and Rod Stewart, who each just missed taking the title number one for 2013 Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wands Thrift Shop. Is it a novelty record or is it satire? Some claim Macklemore's own ode to bargain shopping is a witty dismantling of hip hop's label obsessed culture, given the duo's status as white rappers. That comes with its own baggage. In my pocket I'm hunting looking for a come up this is Whatever your opinion, I fall somewhere in the middle Thrift Shop was a chart blockbuster, topping the Hot 100 for six weeks. It piled up so much data early in 2013 that it took the year end title, even though Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines spent twice as many weeks on top. Perhaps that was a mercy. Either way, 2013 was a big year for white boys trafficking in Black culture number one for 2001 Lifehouse hanging by A Moment. One of the rare number two Hot 100 hits that wound up number one for the year, Hanging by A Moment was the ultimate example of what Billboard critics would later call Minivan Rock UNHIP Top 40 friendly post grunge that served as the glue for radio at the turn of the millennium. Malibu band LifeHouse won the 2001 title through sheer persistence. Hanging By a Moment never reached number one in any week, but proved so radio friendly it hung onto the hot 100 more than a year. Generic but hummable. The worst that could be said of Hanging by a Moment is it prevented number ones like Alicia Keys, Fallen and Janet Jackson's all for your from taking the 01 title. Number one for 1996 Los Del Rio Macarena Bayside Boys Remix. I've talked a lot about Macarena on past episodes of Hit Parade. It's a key moment for both Spanish language pop and for one hit wonders in general. As chronicled on our sister Slate podcast, One Year, the song's very existence is a series of flukes. My take the Dance is harmless, the original song is fun, and the Bayside Boys remix is annoying, most especially those tacky English lyrics. But anything that got Americans embracing bilingual pop decades before Despacito is not a bad thing. Macarena defeated several Mariah Carey songs for the 1996 title, including One Sweet Day and Always Be My Baby. Number one for 1958 Domenico Moduno Volare nel Blu di Pinto di Blu. Speaking of non English hits, I Volare by Italian actor singer Domenico Modunio was remarkably beloved in America in 1958, at a time when even British pop was considered exotic, Volare won the first ever Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, and came in third in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. A hammy pop chanson about flying through a sky of blue Volade has endured through covers and appearances in movies, and the songs it defeated for the 1958 Billboard title included the Everly Brothers, All I have to Do Is dream and Elvis Presley's don't and I beg of you. You'll see. Number one for 2016 Justin Bieber love Yourself. A spiteful diss track disguised as an acoustic romancer, Love Yourself was not Justin Bieber's only number one hit. It followed what do youo Mean and Sorry. By the way, shout out to my fellow lovers of Sorry. In my opinion, the better single, however, radio listeners Embrace of Love Yourself, co written by pop journeyman Ed Sheeran, kept it on the airwaves most of 2016, giving it the year end title and.
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I never like to admit that I was wrong and I've been so caught up in my job didn't see what's going on.
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The win by Bieber reflected the moment he fully crossed over from tween and teen to adult pop listeners, and he was omnipresent that year. Five singles with Bieber vocals wound up in the year end top 50 and love yourself set up the co writer Sheeran for his big moment the following year. Number one for 2017 Ed Sheeran Shape of you. Let's call it Stockholm Syndrome Shape of youf is the most played song in Spotify history and has been a radio staple for five years. In 2017 alone, Ed Sheeran's blockbuster hit spent 12 weeks at number one and more than half the year in the top five. This perspective persistence explains why Shape of youf wound up beating Despacito for that year's Billboard title, even though Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankees Jam spent a month longer at number one. A watered down version of the tropical house pop sound that had taken over top 40 radio in the mid 10? S. Shape of you is, well, the ultimate earworld. Number one for 2000 Faith Hill breathe. Here's another number two hit that wound up number one for the year. Breathe by Faith Hill was a stealth blockbuster, debuting on the Hot 100 in in November 1999 and spending more than a year on the chart, blanketing country, top 40 and adult contemporary radio. Hill's power ballad was a giant killer, defeating two massive singles by Santana that spent more than 10 weeks a piece at number one Smooth and Maria Maria. After a decade in which Garth Brooks outsold everybody on the album chart, and Shania Twain took country back to pop radio. Faith Hill produced the ultimate country pop crossover number one for 1965 Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. Wooly Bully. I've already explained how Sam the Sham and his Pharaohs pulled off their big 1965 chart upset over the Stones, the Beatles, the Supremes and the Four Tops. But Woolly Bully also did well because it's an archetypal 60s party record. Its groove transcends generations. You want evidence? Check out the 1982 teen movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High at the prom, when Sean Penn as Spicoli jumps on stage to sing along with the band. What are they playing? Woolly bully and those 80s teens are rockin' number one for 200350 Cent in the Club. Speaking of party records, has any hit ever had a more plainly descriptive title than In Da Club? Yes, Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, broke through thanks to his much hyped street hustler backstory, the man who survived multiple gunshots and ruled the mixtape circuit. But none of that would have mattered if in the Club didn't have such an undeniable beat. This was 50 Cent's moment. He partied like it was his birthday by spending eight weeks on top, Inda Club outlasted Beyonce's Crazy in Love and Sean Paul's Get Busy for the 2003 title. Number one for 2015 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars Uptown Funk. Bruno Mars had already scored multiple number one hits under his own name before British American DJ and producer Mark Ronson invited him to co write and sing Uptown Funk, the biggest hit either man ever had released in late 2014, it reached number one in January 2015 and stayed there for 14 weeks. That longevity all but guaranteed it would take the title for 2015.
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Don't believe me? Just watch.
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It's hard to say any Bruno Mars song captures its time since Mars's style shifts radically from song to song. But Uptown Funk's cocksure confidence seemed to arrive at a pivotal moment in the tens, when the charts were shifting towards streaming music and hip hop era bravado. Uptown Funk defeated Among other hits, Wiz Khalifa's See youe Again and Fetty Wap's Trap Queen. Number one for 1974 Barbra Streisand the Way We Were. If Barbra Streisand was going to score a year end number one, of course it would be a song from a movie she'd starred in, the Way We Were. The film paired Streisand with Robert Redford and the song, written by veteran songwriters Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch, took home best Original song at the 19701974 Oscars. It led the Hot 100 for three weeks.
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Can it be that it was all so simple then all has time.
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Maybe like me, you prefer Streisand's later work from the disco era with Donna Summer and especially Barry Gibb. But the Way We Were is definitive. It defeated Terry Jax's Seasons in the sun and Barry White's Love's Theme. Number one for 1961 Bobby Lewis Tossen and Turning.
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Baby baby, you did something to me.
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You might call Tawson and Turnin the into club of its era. In 1961, at a time when straight up R B was often segregated on top 40 radio, Taussin and Turnin proved an undeniable hit. Bobby Lewis's smash held down the top of the Hot 100 for a big seven weeks and it defeated such early 60s classics as Patsy Cline's I Fall to Pieces and Roy Orbison's Crying. Number one for 1978 Andy Gibb shadow Dancing. Foreign it was good to be in the Brothers Gibb business in 1978. As we discussed in our Bee Gees episode of Hit Parade, songs by Barry Gibb and his brothers Robin Morris and little brother Andy locked down the number one spot most of the year. The only question was which of their songs were would take the year end title for 78. In a bit of an upset, Andy beat his older brothers who co wrote Shadow Dancing with Andy. Given the dominance of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, you might have expected Night Fever or Stayin Alive to take the prize. But Shadow Dancing was the right blend of light disco and plush pop and its seven weeks on top gave it the win. Number one for 1992 Boyz II Men End of the Road.
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How could you love me and need me?
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By 1992 Boyz II Men were due for a number one hit. They'd gotten to number three the year before with Motown Philly and number two with it's so Hard to say Goodbye to Yesterday. But no one expected the monster that End of the Road became. 13 weeks at number one, the longest run in Hot 100 history to that date and the biggest number one since Elvis Presley's pre Hot 100 single Hound Dog Don't Be Cruel in 1950. This three hanky plea for a woman's affections, written by songwriter Babyface, defeated Sir Mix A Lot's Baby Got Back and Crisscross's Jump for the year end 1992 title number one for 2004 Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris yeah, The 2000s was the high watermark of the hip hop club hit. We've already talked about 50 cents into club and Flo Ridas Low, but yeah might be the ultimate bottle service jam. Combining Usher's R B Lothario character with Lil Jon's Atlanta crunk sound at its peak, plus a killer ludicrous rap. Usher owned 2004 with four number one singles and an album confessions that went diamond. So no one was surprised that yeah, with 12 weeks of at number one took the year end title. It defeated his own song Burn and a two sided outcast smash hey Ya and the Way youy Move. Number one for 1994 Ace of Bass the Sign. At the peak of grunge and gangsta When Pearl Jam, Green Day and Snoop Dogg were selling tons of CDs, Swedish pop staged a coup. Ace of Bases the Sign single and album took both Billboard year end titles. The Sign defeated several power ballads for the 1994 title, including all for One's I Swear, Boyz II Men's I'll Make Love to youo and Celine Dion's the Power of Love. The Swedish foursome's chart dominating career proved short lived, but as I discussed on our Britney Spears episode of Hit Parade, ace of bases 1994 conquest set the stage for the takeover of Western pop by Swedish songwriters led by Max Martin later in the decade. Number one for 2022 glass animals, heat Waves.
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But it's not All I think about is you.
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I already explained how Glass Animals pulled off their upset over Harry Styles this year, but it should also be said that Heat Waves, which was recorded and first released in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, is a signature hit for 2022.
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Sometimes all I think about is you late nights in the middle of June.
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Its moodiness aligns with this year of vibes, when ethereal tracks like Harry's As It Was and Steve Lacy's Bad Habit scaled the charts. Other hits that Heat Waves defeated this year included the kid Laroi's stay and Adele's easy on me. Number one for 1987, the Bangles Walk like an Egyptian. Kitschy, faddish and paired with a kooky dance, the bangle's biggest hit was a phenomenon, topping the Hot 100 for four weeks at the end of 1986 into early 87. Nothing outlasted it for the rest of the of the year, although Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer came close, also spending four weeks on top. Bon Jovi only finished 10th for the year. Thanks Bengals. Walk like an Egyptian also beat out Hearts alone and Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody for the 1987 title. Incidentally, the Bangles are the only all female rock band to score a year end hot 100 number one. So as silly as this song might seem, it's also a milestone. Number one for 1982 Olivia Newton John Physical. Speaking of kitschy cultural phenomena, the recently dearly departed Olivia Newton John caught lightning in a bottle with Physical appearing on the radio the same year Jane Fonda's workout book kicked off America's aerobics and fitness craze. The result? Physical spent a record 10 weeks atop the Hot 100 from November 1981 through January 1982. It was a bigger hit in the United States than in any other country, including Newton John's native UK and Australia. Physical took down survivors equally pumped up anthem Eye of the Tiger for the 82 title as well as Joan Jett's I Love Rock and Roll. Hit Parade misses you, Olivia number one for 1969 the Archies Sugar Sugar. The Archies weren't even real. They were comic book characters who starred in CBS's Saturday morning TV series the Archie Show. The Archie, the band made up of real life session musicians, was created to promote the TV cartoon and Sugar Sugar was a real and massive hit. It topped the Hot 100 for four weeks and sold 3 million copies in 1969 alone. Those massive sales help explain how Sugar Sugar took the year end title over the Fifth Dimensions, Aquarius as well as the Temptations I Can't Get Next to you and the Rolling Stones. Honky tonk women. Number one for 1986 Dion and friends. That's what friends are for. As we discussed in our R B Queens episode of Hit Parade, Dionne Warwick's all star rendition of this previously obscure soundtrack song became one of the most famous charity mega singles of all time, a benefit for AIDS research at a very early stage in the epidemic. That's what Friends Are for features fiery vocals from Dion's friends Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Gladys Knight. Like USA for Africa's We Are the World, it spent four weeks atop the Hot 100. Unlike We Are the World, that's what Friends Are for took the year end Billboard title, beating out hits by Lionel Richie and Patti LaBelle. Number one for 2005 Mariah Carey We Belong Together.
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I didn't mean it when I said I Didn't love you so I should have held on tight I never should have let you go I didn't know nothing I was stupid I was foolish.
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I was lying she called her 2005 album the Emancipation of Mimi. And what Mimi was freeing herself from was a Billboard chart slump. Carrie, the biggest Hot 100 star of the 90s, spent the first half of the aughts in the wilderness. But Mariah's mid decade return more than made up for that. We Belong Together spent a whopping 14 weeks at number one.
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When you left I lost a part of me.
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Female pop divas did well in 2005. The year end top five included hits by Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Ciara and Missy Elliott. But it was impossible to deny that Mariah and the Hot 100 belonged together. This was was her only hit to take the year end crown. Number one for 1976 Wings Silly Love Songs. The ultimate clapback to critics, Silly Love Songs was part of Paul McCartney's response to those, including some former bandmates who accused him of recording easy listening pablum. It's a very meta record, a song about how love songs are catchy that is itself silly and really catchy.
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I love you.
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If you're going to drop a diss record, it helps to be at the peak of your imperial phase, which McCartney and Wings were in the mid-70s. Silly Love Song spent five weeks at number one. It was a good year for disco flavored easy listening. Wings beat out Elton John and Kiki D's Don't Go Breaking My Heart and the Four Seasons. December 1963 oh what a night for the 76 title number one for 1995 Coolio featuring LV Gangsta's Paradise. Built out of an interpolation of Stevie Wonder's deep cut pastime Paradise, Coolio's Gangsta's paradise became an instant hip hop classic when it arrived in the summer of 95. Though it only spent two weeks at number one, Gangsta's paradise generated massive sales, going triple platinum in under six months, giving it the year end win over TLC's hits Waterfalls and Creep. Gangsta's paradise has endured well past the movie. It came from Dangerous Minds, a tale of an unlikely teacher played by Michelle Pfeiffer, leading a classroom of inner city youths, which funnily enough gives this number one song something in common with another year end number one Victor number one for 1967 Lulu to sir with love.
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Tails and Body Nails ago on but.
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Taken from the soundtrack of the film of the same name starring Sidney Poitier as, yes, an unlikely teacher leading a classroom of ruffians, this time on the East End of London. To Sir With Love originally wound up a B side, as I discussed in our B sides episode of Hit Parade, even though singer Lulu also starred in the movie and was a big British hit maker. Fortunately, DJs preferred Lulu's whistling sigh of a song to the A side and to Sir With Love topped the Hot 100 for five weeks. It beat out the Box Tops, the Letter and Bobby Gentry's Ode to Billy Joe for the year end title. Number one for 2010 ke$tick tock Wake.
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Up in the morning feeling like PD.
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It's hard to this frothy record in the same way after the series of lawsuits between singer Ke$ha and her producer Dr. Luke in the subsequent decade. But at the turn of the tens, Ke$ha was electronic dance pop's ultimate party girl and she opened her career with a bang, a pedicure and a bottle of. Fight.
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Do we see the sunlight? Tick Tock on the clock.
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TikTok, no relation to the video service that now dominates social media, spent nine weeks at number one at the start of 2010, giving Ke$ha the year end title over hits by Lady Antebellum Train, Katy Perry and Usher. Number one for 1972 Roberta Flack the First Time Ever I saw your Face the First Time. Ever I saw As I noted in our R and B Queens episode of Hit Parade, Roberta Flack's emergence as a hitmaker was a series of lucky breaks as this old flag folk standard sung by Flack at a smolderingly slow tempo was licensed by filmmaker Clint Eastwood for his directorial debut play Misty for Me. That made the First Time Ever I Saw youw Face a late breaking smash as it spent six weeks at number one on the Hot 100, the most of any song in 1972. That gave Flack the year end title over Gilbert O' Sullivan's Alone Again, naturally, and even Don McLean's American Pie. Number one for 1998. Next Too Close.
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Yeah, Come on, Dance for Me baby.
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A none too subtle ode to the tumescence that results from men grinding too close to women on the dance floor. Next's only number one was a sleeper hit in the spring of 1998. The R& B trio from Minneapolis built the groove of Too Close out of a slowed down replay of Curtis Blow's 1980 hit Christmas Rappin, which gave the track an old school feel.
- [61:16]
B
You know what I wanna do?
- [61:19]
A
Too Close spent five weeks at number one and more than a year on the Hot 100. Which explains how Next defeated Brandi and Monica's 13 week topper the Boy Is Mine for the year end title. Number one for 2020 the Weeknd Blinding Lights. Speaking of kicking it old school, Abel Tesfe, the Tarantonian better known as the Weeknd, threw way back to the 80s before he was born, by the way, for his mega smash Blinding Lights. As I explained in the first half of our show, epic longevity was what gave Lights its victory. In total, Blinding Lights spent a record 90 weeks on the Hot 100 so long it was both the number one song of 2020 and the number three song of 2021. The Weeknd didn't hold this Hot 100 record for long, by the way. A couple of months ago Glass Animals Heat waves spent its 91st week on the chart, but Blinding Lights still holds the records for most time spent in the top five 43 weeks and the top ten 57 weeks. Number one for 1975 the captain and Tenille Love Will Keep Us Together. A song I will always be fond of because it's my sister's birth week Number one one Love Will Keep Us Together is somewhat important to the development of what later became known as yacht rock riding. An early example of the so called Doobie Bounce, the song was crafted by California studio musicians who'd previously played with the Beach Boys. Led by a man, Captain Daryl Dragon, who performed on stage in In a Seafaring Hat, Love Will Keep Us together was quintessential 1975, a year of such other breezy grooves as Elton John's Philadelphia Freedom and Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy. The song's Captain and Tenille defeated for the year end title number one for 1979, the knack my Sharona. Arguably the Nickelback of their day, the Knack were both loved and loathed by rock fans in 1919 79. Loved for scoring Rock's first big number one in a year full of disco, loathed for their faux Beatles imagery and sexist lyrics, discerning rock fans even wore Nuke the Knack T shirts that year. Amid all the hubbub, My Sharona sold millions and topped the Hot 100 for six weeks, defeating two Donna Summer number ones and Chic's Le Freak for the year end title. Still popular with Gen Xers, the song made a comeback in the 90s film Reality Bites and an inspiration to Weird al Yankovic. My Sharona's legacy seems assured. Number one for 2014 Pharrell Williams Happy.
- [65:50]
B
It might seem crazy what I'm about to say.
- [65:56]
A
She's here Written for a kids movie, Despicable. Me too. Nominated for an Oscar and the soundtrack to a 24 hour music video, Happy was a unicorn of a single, a throwback slice of retro soul that topped the Hot 100 for 10 weeks. Amazingly, Pharrell Williams took sole credit for writing, producing and performing the song, a self powered SM. If you were alive in 2014, happy was inescapable and its long chart reign gave it an easy win over more current sounding hits like Katy Perry's Dark Horse and Iggy Azalea's Fancy. Number one for 2021 Dua Lipa levitating. As I noted earlier in this episode, Levitating only reached number two but pulled off an upset win as the top song of 2021. As with Heat Waves and Blinding Lights, Dua Lipa sp Smash did it through sheer persistence, 41 weeks in the top 10, seven of those weeks as the top song AT radio and 77 weeks in a total on the Hot 100. Boosted by TikTok, where video makers keyed into the song's triple time lyrics and bouncy groove. Levitating defeated hits by the Weeknd, Olivia Rodrigo and Doja Cat for the year end title, it was an indefatigable bop. Number one for 1999 cher, believe.
- [68:16]
B
Love.
- [68:19]
A
I Can Feel Something One of the great ironies of chart history is that 1999, a year dominated by teen pop by Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys and youthful Latin pop from Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, was dominated at the end of the year by a number one hit from a 52 year old. But Cher is of course ageless, and Believe was no ordinary hit. It was the song that broke autotune for the masses.
- [69:07]
B
And maybe I'm Too Good for you.
- [69:09]
A
All thanks to a studio accident that Cher demanded be left in the mix, this song's wobbling voice changed the sound of pop for the next decade. Believe spent four weeks atop the Hot 100 and defeated TLC's no Scrubs and Monica's angel of Mine for the year end title. Number one for 1988 George Michael Faith. Much like Pharrell's Happy, George Michael's Faith was a self penned, self produced solo hit with a retro sound. This homage to rockabilly came with an iconic music video, George in a leather jacket, tight jeans and facial stubble that redefined his image for the rest of the decade. Faith's month at number one spanned the end of 1987 and the start of 88 and it was the first of four number ones from the Faith LP, also the top album of 88 in the year end singles survey. Faith Beat In Excesses, need you'd Tonight and Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give youe Up. And by the way, this will not be the last we hear from George Michael. Number one for 1981 Kim Karns Bette Davis Eyes. The first major synth rock chart topper of the 80s, Bette Davis eyes was an improbable smash, a song written in the 70s by Jackie DeShannon as Big Band pop transformed by a gravel voiced singer and her band into a shimmering synth heavy kinetic clapping jam. Kim K Masterpiece topped the Hot 100 for nine weeks in the spring and summer of 81 and it seemed to anticipate the launch of MTV that August. Bette Davis Eyes was designed for the age of the music video. It took the year end title from from such older school video less hits as Lionel Richie and Diana Ross's Endless Love and Kenny Rogers Lady Number One for 2007 Beyonce Irreplaceable. This is a bit like my Rod Stewart quiz from earlier in the episode. If I told you that Beyonce scored a year end topper, what song would you guess? Crazy in Love Single Ladies Think Again. To this day, Queen Bey's longest lasting number one hit remains this semi acoustic classic from songwriters Neo and Stargate, the one that tells you where you can pick up that box of your things. Irreplaceable spent 10 weeks on top in late 2006 and early 2007. This sassy torch song defeated Rihanna's Umbrella featuring Bea's husband Jay Z for the 2007 title. Number one for 1980 Blondie Call Me. What do you get when you combine Donna Summers, producer, with a punk band that just went disco? You get this dance rock classic written and produced by Giorgio Moroder and sung with wild abandon by Debbie Harry, the diva of cbgb. Taken from the soundtrack track to the Richard Gere movie American Gigolo, call me spent six weeks atop the Hot 100 and showed how dance music, even as disco was ebbing in popularity, could make the transition into a new decade. Call Me topped other Erzatz disco songs for the 1980 title, Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall and Olivia Newton John's Magic. In case you've been following my rundown of year end hits thus far and wondering how far we've come, we've covered 55 hits. That leaves these 10 year end toppers my top 10 favorites among the hits Billboard crowned. And let's lead it off with a hit that's basically undeniable. Number one for 1993 Whitney Houston, I Will Always Love you. Do I need to hear Whitney's Titanic take on this Dolly Parton standard again? Do any of us? Maybe not. But as the recent Houston biopic reminded us, she poured her soul into her work and this song really was an athletic feat. One of the greatest vocal performances in pop history.
- [75:53]
B
And I.
- [75:58]
A
Will always love you I Will Always Love youe spent 14 big weeks at number one from November 1992 through February 1993 for the year end 93 title. It defeated tag teams Woomp, There it is and UB 40s can't help falling in Love, so no contest there when Whitney Houston died a decade ago. There's a reason this recording returned to the upper reaches of the Hot 100. There are Whitney songs I hold closer to my heart, but this is a master class. Number one for 2019 Lil Nas X Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus Old Town Road.
- [76:52]
B
Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the Old Town Road I'm gonna.
- [77:01]
A
Now, full disclosure, I have written a book on Old Town Road that will be coming out in 2023. I'll have more to say about that next year. So I have a vested interest in Lil Nas X's breakthrough hit Even Beyond My Bias though you gotta give it up. 19 weeks at number one, 18 of them for the Billy Ray Cyrus remix, the longest run on top in Hot 100 history. There was no suspense that Old Town Road would take the title for 2019 over hits by Post Malone, Halsey and Billie Eilish. For what it's worth, I'd argue Old Town Road is an excellent pop song, sturdy, witty and inspired, and an even more amazing pop artifact. It summarizes the musical past while pointing the way toward our cultural future. Number one for 2012 Gautier featuring Kimbra Somebody that I Used To Know. This is arguably the greatest year end winner by a one hit wonder in Hot 100 history. In a year led by new acts for the 2012 title, Gauthier defeated hits by Carly Rae Jepsen, Fun and Ellie Goulding. Somebody that I Used to Know was the most original, the most left field. Nothing on the radio sounded like it. Gauthier and his featured vocalist Kimbra made their own weather.
- [79:10]
B
I don't even need your love but you treat me like a stranger and.
- [79:14]
A
I feel so loved I don't normally set my watch by what Grammy Voters anoint. But when Somebody that I Used to Know won record of the year at the 2013 Grammys and no less than Prince announced it, saying, oh, I love this song, well, that's all the endorsement you need, really. Number one for 1970 Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over Troubled Water.
- [79:51]
B
When evening fall.
- [79:56]
A
Bidding the 60s farewell, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel turned in their biggest hit before breaking up. Bridge Over Troubled Water is essentially a gospel song. Incidentally, the song that replaced it at number one in 1970 was the Beatles Let It Be, also a rock gospel song, and Aretha Franklin covered both of these songs.
- [80:27]
B
Over trouble.
- [80:34]
A
Among the other 1970 hits Bridge defeated for the year end title were the Carpenters, Close to you and the Guess who's American Woman. Fine songs, but it was no contest. Few acts have ended with a final smash so elegiac. Simon and Garfunkel went out on top with a classic. Number one for 1985, Wham featuring George Michael. Careless Whisper. Credited to Wham in America, but really a George Michael solo single around the world, Careless Whisper has only grown in stature since George Michael's untimely passing in 2016. That sax riff is iconic, the melody is indelible, and the vocal by George Michael is among his most soulful. Not for nothing did this song cross over to Billboard's R&B chart, where it cracked the top 10. Among the songs Careless Whisper beat for 1985 were Madonna's Like a Virgin, Foreigner's I Want to Know what Love Is, and another Wham hit, Wake Me up before youe Gogo. George Michael is one of only two acts to be fully credited on two year end number ones. We'll hear the other act shortly. Number one for 1983, the police. Every Breath youh Take. Often mistaken for a love song, songwriter Sting himself has called it, quote, a fairly nasty song about surveillance and ownership and jealousy. Every breath you take is to me the archetype of a year end top hit, omnipresent, irresistible, unavoidable.
- [83:06]
B
You belong to me.
- [83:13]
A
In a year when Michael Jackson flooded the charts with his hits from Thriller, the Police's smash was amazingly even bigger. Eight weeks at number one more than Michael's Billie Jean, which it beat for the 83 title. Fourteen years later, Every Breath youh Take even spawned Puff Daddy's chart topping homage to the late Biggie Smalls, I'll Be Missing you. It's played on the radio every day, so whatever you think of it, every breath you take will be with us for a Long, long time. Number one for 1964, the Beatles. I want to hold your hand. You knew we'd get to the Beatles eventually. The song that broke them in America, I want to hold you'd hand, spent seven weeks on top, the most of any single in 1960. And it kicked off a still unrepeated three consecutive number one hits when it was directly followed by she loves you and can't buy me love. By the way, she loves you ranked as the number two single of 1964.
- [84:39]
B
You let me hold your hand.
- [84:43]
A
Now.
- [84:43]
B
Let me hold your hand I.
- [84:49]
A
It was the dizzying peak of American beetle mania. But what made the fab Four remarkable was how they owned the charts for the rest of the 1960s. In fact, they had the top year end single again just four years later. Number one for 1968, the Beatles.
- [85:12]
B
Hey Jude, hey Jude, don't make it bad take a Sad song.
- [85:23]
A
With nine weeks at number one, hey Jude, Paul McCartney's song of comfort for John Lennon's son Julian racked up the most weeks on top of any Beatles single. Remarkably, it ruled the chart From September through November 1968, very late in the year to take the year end title. But the fab's seven minute epic was so massive it blew away hits by Paul Marriott, Bobby Goldsboro and Otis Redding. The Beat Beatles are one of only two officially named artists to score the Hot 100 year end number one twice, the other being George Michael. By the way, Elton John counts with an asterisk as one of Dionne Warwick's unnamed friends and McCartney himself repeated on 1976's Silly Love Songs. But that was credited to Wings anyway. In the documentary the Complete Beatles, as narrator Malcolm McDowell said of hey Jude, quote once again, the Beatles were the exception to the rule. Number one for 2011, Adele, rolling in the deep.
- [87:00]
B
Reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark.
- [87:05]
A
Like the Beatles in 1964, Adele commanded 2011, the year she released her blockbuster album 21 on an LP filled with songs of heartbreak. Rolling in the deep stood out. It was aching but defiant, soulful but a banger. In a year awash in EDM club pop, songs that made the year end top five included LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem and Pitbull's Give Me Everything. Adele's thumping torch song sounded at home in a club, but bigger than the club. In the decade since her 21 triumph, Adele has recorded hits that have spent more weeks at number one, like 2015's hello or 2021's Easy on Me. But in my humble opinion, she's never recorded a better song song than Rolling in the Deep. The year's biggest song was also its best song. By the way, that's something you could say of the song I've placed at number one on my ranking of Billboard year end top songs. In fact, in a Rolling Stone ranking of the greatest hits of what the magazine called pop's greatest year, they said of this song, quote, the year's biggest hit was also its most visionary. I fully agree. Number one for 1984 Prince when doves Cry. A song along with everything except a bass line. Prince removed it and realized it sounded better that way. When Doves Cry is that rarest of rare things, a mass appeal pop song that's also bleeding edge art. Coming into 1984, having already scored his first major pop hits from his 1999 album, Prince was ready to conquer the world with a movie that was a thinly fictionalized Prince biopic called Purple Rain. An all killer, no filler Purple Rain album packed with hits and a lead off single that was, to quote its lyrics, striking curious poses, baroque imagery, a chorus that sounded like family therapy, searing guitars and pinging linn drum machines. It shouldn't have worked, but it was Prince. So it not only worked, it spent five weeks at number one.
- [90:14]
B
This is what it sounds like. When the Doves Cry.
- [90:23]
A
The year end top 10 for 1984 was packed with totemic hits. Tina Turner's what's Love Got to Do With It, Phil Collins Against All Odds, Van Halen's Jump, Yes's Owner of a Lonely Heart, Lionel Richie's hello. As a Gen Xer, I am of course biased in favor of a year that came along just as I became a teenager. But it's not just me. Critics widely agree 1984 objectively was a great year to be a pop fan. For a song to command that year, it had to be exceptional Princes. When Doves Cry was that song. Musically, it broke all the rules. But in the pantheon of Billboard ranked hits, it played by the rules longevity, timing, radio ubiquity, massive sales and cultural omnipresence. Sometimes the song Billboard ranks tops for the year earns its crown. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Hit Parade. Our show show was written, edited and narrated by Chris Melanfi. That's me. My producer is Kevin Bendis, Derek John is executive producer of Narrative Podcasts and Alicia Montgomery is VP of Audio for Slate Podcasts. Check out their roster of shows@slate.com podcasts. You can subscribe to Hit Parade wherever you get your podcasts, in addition to finding it in the Slate Culture feed. If you're subscribing on Apple Podcasts, please rate and review us while you're there. It helps other listeners find the show. Thanks for listening and I look forward to leading the Hit Parade back your way. Until then, keep on marching on the one. I'm Chris Melany.
- [92:37]
B
Sa.