Monday 31 December 2012

Top 100 songs of 2012!

As promised, with a few hours of 2012 left to go, here are my favourite 100 songs of the year!

100. Flo Rida feat Sia - Wild Ones
99. Tone Damli - Look Back
98. One Direction - One Thing
97. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Only In My Dreams
96. Whigfield - As I Go
95. Alanis Morrissette - Guardian
94. Nelly Furtado - Big Hoops (Bigger The Better)
93. Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo
92. Rihanna - Diamonds
91. Rumer - P.F. Sloan
90. Avicii feat Salem Al Fakir - Silhouettes
89. Darin - Nobody Knows
88. Delta Goodrem - Uncovered
87. Calvin Harris feat Tinie Tempah - Drinking From The Bottle
86. Rihanna feat Mikky Ekko - Stay
85. One Direction - Little Things
84. Nora Foss Al-Jabri - Somewhere Beautiful
83. Loreen - Crying Out Your Name
82. Nina Zilli - L'Amore E' Femmina
81. Emeli Sandé - Next To Me
80. Calvin Harris feat Ne-Yo - Let's Go
79. Usher - Climax
78. Brooke Duff - Till The End
77. Kylie Minogue - Timebomb
76. Timoteij - Stormande Hav
75. Jessie Ware - Night Light
74. Lana Del Rey - Born To Die
73. Mando Diao - Strövtåg I Hembygden
72. Katy Perry - Wide Awake
71. Marigold - You & I Know
70. Ria - The One
69. Adele - Skyfall
68. Elisa's - Linjen I Min Hand
67. Jenny Langlo - Million Dollar Signs
66. Minnie-Oh - You & I
65. Frida Amundsen - Rush
64. Petra Marklund - Handerna Mot Himlen
63. Tooji - Stay
62. Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull - Dance Again
61. Olly Murs feat Flo Rida - Troublemaker
60. Florence + The Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name) (Calvin Harris Remix)
59. Gossling - Wild Love
58. Gusttavo Lima - Balada (Tchê Tcherere Tchê Tchê)
57. Still Corners - Fireflies
56. Of Monsters & Men - Little Talks
55. Girls Aloud - Beautiful Cause You Love Me
54. Christina Aguilera - Your Body
53. Freja Loeb - Never Stop Coming Back
52. The Justice Collective - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
51. Nicki Minaj - Starships
50. Nicki Minaj - Pound The Alarm
49. Train - 50 Ways To Say Goodbye
48. Little Mix - Wings
47. Charlotte Perrelli - The Girl
46. Ivi Adamou - La La Love
45. No Doubt - Settle Down
44. fun. feat Janelle Monae - We Are Young
43. Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free
42. Laleh - Some Die Young
41. One Direction - I Would
40. Nádine - I Will Be Strong
39. Steps - Light Up The World
38. Mr Little Jeans - Runaway
37. Michel Teló - Ai Se Eu Te Pego (Nossa Nossa)
36. Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble.
35. Kelly Clarkson - Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)
34. Loreen - My Heart Is Refusing Me
33. Skylar Grey feat Eminem - C'mon Let Me Ride
32. David Guetta feat Sia - She Wolf (Falling To Pieces)
31. Cheryl - Call My Name
30. Robbie Williams - Candy
29. Cover Drive - Twilight
28. Chris Brown - Don't Wake Me Up
27. Saint Etienne - Over The Border
26. Mandinga - Zaleilah
25. Sam & The Womp - Bom Bom
24. Labrinth feat Emeli Sandé - Beneath Your Beautiful
23. Christina Aguilera feat Blake Shelton - Just A Fool
22. Delta Goodrem - Dancing With A Broken Heart
21. Danny Saucedo - Amazing
20. Maroon 5 feat Wiz Khalifa - Payphone
19. Björn Ranelid feat Sara Li - Mirakel
18. Whigfield - 4Ever
17. Haloo Helsinki! - Maailman Toisella Puolen
16. PSY - Gangnam Style
15. Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
14. Agnes - One Last Time
13. Girls Aloud - Something New
12. Delta Goodrem - Sitting On Top Of The World
11. ATB feat Ramona Nerra - Never Give Up
10. David Guetta feat Sia - Titanium
9. Swedish House Mafia feat John Martin - Don't You Worry Child
8. Prance Faris - Flares
7. Delta Goodrem - Wish You Were Here
6. Taylor Swift - We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
5. Rae Morris - Don't Go
4. Gotye feat Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know
3. Delta Goodrem - Hunters And The Wolves
2. Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
1. Loreen - Euphoria

















Words will fail to express how much I love Euphoria but I'll give it a go. Pre-Euphoria I was a bit of a Loreen doubter, I liked both My Heart Is Refusing Me and Sober, but both had felt slightly unsubstantial in some way, I sensed that Loreen had more to give, she seemed like such a unique performer. Fast forward to Melodifestivalen 2012 and the fact that she'd decided to return already suggested that she knew she'd found something good, a reason worth coming back for. The first time I heard the song in full was her Melodifestivalen semi-final performance. I was absolutely blown away by the song and her unusual performance and the studio version confirmed to me that this song was incredibly special. It beat early hot favourite Danny Saucedo to win Melodifestivalen 2012 and two months later swept to a highly convincing Eurovision victory for Sweden.

The day after the contest Euphoria raced to #1 on iTunes across the continent, including in the Eurovision-phobic UK, where it settled for a #3 debut and peak officially. It was a mammoth hit across Europe and has put Loreen's name well and truly on the map. After her brilliant debut album Heal, I'm intrigued to see what she will do next! For me this song has never got boring, I've played it a ridiculous 300+ times according to my iTunes playcounts, five times as much as I've played any other song this year, I'll never tire of hearing that pounding siren intro leading into the melancholy brooding beat of the verses and the literal Euphoria of the chorus. The immense dance production laden with sweeping strings and the winding down to the minimalistic middle eight before crashing back into the incredible chorus and the thundering finish. Everything about the song is perfection.

Elsewhere in the top ten, the feel good summer anthem Good Time by shock non one hit wonders Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen is my second favourite song of the year, Delta Goodrem manages two entries with the Tori Amos like drama of Hunters & The Wolves and the beautiful ballad Wish You Were Here, whilst Blackpool singer Rae Morris' own piano ballad Don't Go is at #5, just behind Gotye and Kimbra's worldwide chart topping smash duet Somebody That I Used To Know. Taylor Swift's country pop hit We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is #6 and a trio of dance anthems round off the top ten. Flares by unknown Swedish dance producer Prance Faris, Don't You Worry Child, the amazing farewell single from Swedish House Mafia and Titanium the fantastic UK #1 from French DJ David Guetta and Australian singer Sia. It's been a pretty great year for music, singles especially with other modern classics in my top 100 including Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe (#15), PSY's Gangnam Style (#16), fun.'s We Are Young (#44) and Nicki Minaj's Starships (#51) amongst many many others!

5 comments:

  1. THANK YOU FOR PUTTING EUPHORIA AT NR.1!! IT'S STILL SOOO FUCKING AMAZING!! LOOOOVE IT!

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  2. Great top 100 Richard! Maroon 5, Loreen and Carly Rae Jepsen all get the thumbs up from me - you have impeccable taste!

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  3. Christian - It's amazing, thanks for commenting!

    James - Thanks, I love all of them, glad you approve. The second time I've had a Eurovision song at #1 after 2010 had Satellite at the top!

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  4. Yup Richard, Lena rocks! I played that song to death in 2010. Oh, did I mention, I also worked with the British representative that year - the very lovely Josh Dubovie. ;)

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  5. Taken By A Stranger was great too in 2011, but not as good as Satellite! Wow, that's a nice claim to fame!

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