Mike's Top 100 of 2015 Countdown (Completed!)

[Libra]

One of a number of songs you'll hear in the Top 100 that carry at least a hint of that 80s style, this one might as well be a full-on export. #86 for the year, St. Lucia, with "Dancing on Glass".

And back-to-back with St. Lucia is another hit with some 80s influence to it, though for this song it's a bit more subtle:

#85

It's the first of two hits in the Top 100 for Carly Rae Jepsen. At #85 here is:

Carly Rae Jepsen - Run Away With Me

Peak: #15
Weeks charted: 13
Inverse total: 223 points (#83)
Pyramid total: 2343 points (#88)

[Libra]

Coming up later on we'll hear "I Really Like You" from Carly Rae. This one didn't quite ring with me as strongly, reaching a high of #15 before running out of gas. #85 for the year, Carly Rae Jepsen and "Run Away With Me".

Back-to-back with "Run Away With Me" is another song with a very lush production:

#84

It's not really in the same style as her song - this one's much more atmospheric. And it's that quality that led the song onto my chart, though it wasn't able to reach any higher than #14. At #84 for the year is the band that's also a side project for OneRepublic bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle. They're called:

Monarch - Stay

https%3A//soundcloud.com/monarchofficial/stay

Peak: #14
Weeks charted: 14
Inverse total: 228 points (#82)
Pyramid total: 2318 points (#89)

[Libra]

#84 for 2015, the band Monarch and their song "Stay".

But we're not staying put right here, because up next...get on your dancing shoes, we're heading back out to the floor!

[Libra]

Counting down my biggest hits of the year gone by, I'm Libra Mike.

#83

The next three songs are all Dance songs. Two feature well-known acts, while the other, just sounds like it does. And that song, is right here at #83. It samples Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour". At #83 for the year:

Philip George - Wish You Were Mine

https%3A//soundcloud.com/philipgeorgeuk/phyaero-wish-you-were-mine-iv

Peak: #9
Weeks charted: 8
Inverse total: 201 points (#87)
Pyramid total: 2944 points (#81)

[Libra]

Philip George and "Wish You Were Mine". That song spent four of its eight weeks around the edge of the Top 10 before spending its later four sliding away - still enough to come in at #83 in my Top 100.

#82

The singer featured in this next song is a woman who's only reached my chart once before - with her big hit "Milkshake". And you know, acts returning to my chart after long stays away was sort of a theme for me last year. That trend certainly continued this year. This song started the year at its peak position of #4 and stayed there for 3 weeks, before it became pretty clear that it wasn't going to be able to reach any higher. Still, it racked up enough points to come in at #82 for the year. Here are:

Breach featuring Kelis - The Key

Peak: #4
Weeks charted: 7
Inverse total: 185 points (#90)
Pyramid total: 3127 points (#77)

[Libra]

Ben Westbeech, better known as Breach. He comes in at #82 in the Top 100 along with Kelis on their song "The Key".

#81

At #81 in my Top 100 songs of 2015 is certainly one of the most unlikely collaborations of the year. Now, there's been plenty of Country artists who've seen their songs remixed and even given the full-on club treatment. But how many Country artists have teamed up with a DJ to create a full-on EDM song? That's exactly what Lady Antebellum did here. They teamed up with American DJ Audien, and the result was a hit that went to #1 on the Dance charts, and even became a minor Pop hit. On my chart, they took it to #15. At #81 in my Top 100 of 2015, here is the fruit of their labors:

Audien featuring Lady Antebellum - Something Better

Peak: #15
Weeks charted: 15
Inverse total: 234 points (#81)
Pyramid total: 2417 points (#85)

[Libra]

#81 for the year, Audien featuring Lady Antebellum with "Something Better". And Lady Antebellum say they haven't given up on Country completely - coming up a little bit later on in the Top 100 is their most recent Country release.

But speaking of countries...hope you've got your passports ready, because up next: We're doing more than our fair share of country-hopping!

[Libra]

Glad you could join me for this special presentation of Mike's Top 100 songs of the year 2015.

#80

Here's the song in the Top 100 that brings together artists from the most countries around the world. Check out this list of credits:

We have Shaggy, who's Jamaican-born but has been based out of New York for much of his career,
We have Mohombi, who was born in the Congo until his family was forced to flee the country, ending up in Sweden,
We have Faydee, who is Australian and is also of Lebanese descent,
and we have Costi, the Romanian producer who produced this comeback hit.

The word "Habibi" in the song's title is also Arabic. And just for that matter, the video for this song was shot in Valencia, Spain.

The distinctly-international sound of this song should certainly come as no surprise. At #80 for the year:

Shaggy featuring Mohombi, Faydee, & Costi - Habibi (I Need Your Love)

Peak: #17
Weeks charted: 15
Inverse total: 240 points (#79)
Pyramid total: 2397 points (#86)

[Libra]

"Habibi (I Need Your Love)" by Shaggy, Mohombi, Faydee, & Costi, at #80 in my Top 100 of 2015. And yes, I (obviously) specifically charted the original international version of the song, and not the later English edit. It had a slow, but steady climb up to #17, where it stayed for four weeks.

Speaking of slow and steady climbs...this next song has had its own frustrating climb:

#79

It's had stops, and starts. It's had to deal with other hits flying past it. But y'know...it's just too good to quit. Selena Gomez has really been hit or miss for me, but with this she certainly hits. Here she is at #79 for the year:

Selena Gomez - Same Old Love

Peak: #9 (so far)
Weeks charted: 13 to date
Inverse total: 245 points (#78)
Pyramid total: 3002 points (#80)

[Libra]

Cracked the Top 10 after 3 months of steadily heading upward - #79, Selena Gomez and "Same Old Love".

#78

This next song in the year's Top 100 is probably as much of an 80s export as "Dancing on Glass" was back at #86. This one employs a much different production, however. At #78:

Empire of the Sun - Wandering Star

https%3A//soundcloud.com/empireofthesunsound/empire-of-the-sun-wandering-star-dumb-and-dumber-to-official-soundtrack

Peak: #9
Weeks charted: 10
Inverse total: 236 points (#80)
Pyramid total: 3121 points (#78)

[Libra]

That one scratched the Top 10 for a week before becoming a falling star and wandering its way off the chart. #78 for the year, Empire of the Sun and "Wandering Star".

#77

At #77 in the year's Top 100 is a song that had two chart runs...sort of. It hung around in the lower reaches of the Top 20 for about a month and a half, and then the bottom appeared to fall right out of it. It disappeared for a week, only to come right back, and start flying up the chart. Or at least it did...for a month. Then it hit a brick wall in the 20s, and...poof! Gone again. This time, for good.

All this is to say that I had some bi-polar reactions to this song during the Winter and early Spring. (That said, you may recall that my charts around the turn of the season were a little crazy.)

The song that did all this:

Ex Cops - Black Soap

Peak: #15
Weeks charted: 14
Inverse total: 265 points (#74)
Pyramid total: 3036 points (#79)

[Libra]

"Black Soap" by the band Ex Cops, the 77th biggest song of the year.

Just a few songs back we heard a song from a Country group who'd strayed out of their comfort zone. Up next, is their song in the year's Top 100 that explores more familiar territory.

[Libra]

Libra Mike here, bringing you my 100 biggest songs of the year.

#76

We heard this group explore some new musical territory back at #81 with their Dance collaboration on "Something Better". Now, at #76 is the song that came right before that. Talking about Lady Antebellum once again, now with a:

Lady Antebellum - Long Stretch of Love

Peak: #13
Weeks charted: 16
Inverse total: 286 points (#70)
Pyramid total: 3163 points (#76)

[Libra]

That one was ultimately crowded out during some very tough chart times over the summer...#76 for the year, Lady Antebellum and "Long Stretch of Love". And that's also the highest-ranked song in the Top 100 that didn't quite make the Top 10.

#75

Next in the Top 100, is a song that peaked at number 10. Spent two weeks there at the tail end of summer - well after it had peaked on the Pop chart. Coming in at #75:

Tori Kelly - Should've Been Us

Peak: #10
Weeks charted: 16
Inverse total: 275 points (#71)
Pyramid total: 3229 points (#75)

[Libra]

#75 in the year's Top 100, Tori Kelly with "Should've Been Us". A song that, in retrospect, maybe should've fared a little better than it did.

But this next song, is probably faring way too well already - at least if I were to ask most people, it seems.

#74

For me, it's something of a guilty pleasure, and it's too catchy to be denied. Case in point: It's currently risen as high as #7 on my weekly chart, and it might be able to hang around long enough that we'll end up hearing from it again this time next year. For 2015, it ranks at #74. From the Great White North, here's:

Hedley - Lost in Translation

Peak: #7 (so far)
Weeks charted: 13 to date
Inverse total: 263 points (#75)
Pyramid total: 3452 points (#74)

[Libra]

#74 for the year, Hedley and "Lost in Translation".

We go now from decidedly-unpopular to decidedly-popular - to say the least!

#73

Yes, next in the Top 100 is the woman who, put simply, is taking over the world! But don't just take my word for it: Just look at her recent sales, smashing records left and right in so many different countries. Here in the USA...well, she only managed to lay claim to both the single and album that have each sold the most units apiece inside of a single week (among other things). No big deal, really.

At #73 for the year - who else could I be talking about?

Adele - Hello

Peak: #2 (so far)
Weeks charted: 10 to date
Inverse total: 252 points (#77)
Pyramid total: 3809 points (#71)

[Libra]

She's taking over the world, and she's closed out the year on the verge of taking over the weekly survey as well! #73 in the year's Top 100, "Hello", by Adele.

We're now two hours into the Top 100 songs of my year. Two hours full of facts, figures, and other fun stories told - and there's plenty more where that came from, coming up in my next hour! So don't go far...!

[Juan Carlos]

So, if I forgot "When the World Stops Turning" in the first batch, it was the turn for "Wandering Star" this time. And I even made the thread.

Anyway, good to that one, "Dancing On Glass", "Run Away With Me" (too low), "Wish You Were Mine", "The Key" (I prefer the remix Breach did for "Rumble", Kelis' single, over this, but both of them are amazing to be honest, so I'm not worry about it.), "Something Better" and "Hello" as well.

[Libra]

We're into Hour #3 now (or, Day #3) of my Top 100 songs of 2015!

In this hour, we'll hear more from the year's Top New Artist. We'll also hear from the year's top act overall. We'll also come up to the first song to hit #1 in the year's Top 100, along with a look at an unlikely source for some of this year's biggest hits on my chart, and a whole lot more!

So gather 'round now, or better yet, let this first song in Hour 3 attract your attention.


@jakelmmrs44 Juan Carlos yuh yuh Mikey josh Kurt Daryl the Beryl Rocky ♛ The Manticore ☯ @drag27 Zeebz surfy Rose Wintur Flip Sean Albie ry4n Au$tin ★Disco★ sbp17

[Libra]

#72

It certainly did that as an album cut before springing itself onto Alternative radio, where it's also currently making waves. But then again, this song would certainly know a thing or two about attractions. At #72:

Disclosure featuring Lorde - Magnets

Peak: #6 (so far)
Weeks charted: 11 to date
Inverse total: 266 points (#72)
Pyramid total: 3770 points (#72)

[Libra]

#72 in the year's Top 100, "Magnets" by Disclosure and Lorde. Disclosure's second of three songs to make the Top 100. We'll hear their recent #1 smash, "Omen", a little bit later on.

#71

And, we go from one foreign act with a dance sound to another: This trio out of Belgium have the 71st biggest song of the year. It's a song that...might be characterized best, as a dance ballad, based on its overall tone. Here are Regi Penxten, Filip Vandueren, and Linda Mertens - better known as:

Milk Inc. - Don't Say Goodbye

Peak: #9
Weeks charted: 13
Inverse total: 290 points (#69)
Pyramid total: 3813 points (#70)

[Libra]

At #71, Milk Inc. with "Don't Say Goodbye". A song that ended up saying goodbye pretty quickly after it stalled at #9 for 3 weeks right as Winter turned to Spring.

#70

Keeping in season now - if not entirely in sound - this next song is another one of the "initial 40" songs that were on the chart when I re-launched at the beginning of the year. It spent that first month in the Top 10 - three of those weeks at #6. At #70 for the year:

Jessie Ware - You and I (Forever)

Peak: #6
Weeks charted: 9
Inverse total: 266 points (#73)
Pyramid total: 4374 points (#66)

[Libra]

#70 among my 100 biggest songs of 2015, Jessie Ware with "You and I (Forever)".

#69

And we keep the pace slow and easy as we move onto the next song in my year-end survey. It's the first of 34 songs in the Top 100 that all hit #1 on my chart during the year. Now, that's way, way more than I've ever had during a chart year. With a bigger influx of music than I would normally deal with when my chart was a Top 20, I've felt a desire to keep the chart moving. A "side effect" of this, so to speak, is seeing more songs spend time at #1, particularly when there's a handful of songs all worthy of hitting #1 that are on the chart at the same time. This was definitely the case throughout the second half of the year.

The song that got me talking about all this spent one week at #1 back in January. It comes in at #69 in the year's Top 100. Here is:

Chris Lago - Royals

Peak: #1 (1 week)
Weeks charted: 8
Inverse total: 252 points (#76)
Pyramid total: 4581 points (#62)

[Libra]

#69, Chris Lago and "Royals". The first of 34 songs in the year's Top 100 that all hit #1 in 2015.

And up next, we'll hear more from the year's #1 New Artist.

[Libra]

These are my Top 100 songs of the year 2015, coming straight at you!

#68

We're up now to the second of four songs in the year's Top 100 from my Top New Artist of 2015, Years & Years. And their album Communion intermingles Biblical imagery with sex and relationships. Now how the hell could that work? Well, here's a sample lyric from the song we're about to hear, called "Foundation":

"You used to work me out, but you...never worked it out for me."

Now is it just me, or is that some very sexually-charged lyrical work there? Hmmmmmm. Ponder that one while you give a listen to the song at #68 for the year...whose video is set at a funeral, no less:

Years & Years - Foundation

Peak: #10
Weeks charted: 19
Inverse total: 317 points (#64)
Pyramid total: 3741 points (#73)

[Libra]

"Foundation" by Years & Years, the 68th biggest song of 2015. And it's the only one of their charting songs that hasn't yet actually been released specifically as a single (the video notwithstanding). The rest, all were singles - like their hit "King" that went all the way to #1 in their home country of England.

#67

And would you look at this! That song is next up in the year's Top 100. Now, by placing four songs in the year-end chart, they match a feat that's only been done once before. In 2003, Avril Lavigne placed four songs in what became the Top 55 of 2003 year-end chart. And back at #87 was "Eyes Shut", their record-tying 5th song to chart during the year's span. At #67, here are Years & Years again with:

Years & Years - King

https%3A//soundcloud.com/yearsandyears/king

Peak: #10
Weeks charted: 17
Inverse total: 314 points (#66)
Pyramid total: 3993 points (#68)

[Libra]

"King" became the first of ultimately three songs by Years & Years to all top out at #10 during 2015, and that one spent 3 weeks there in late Spring. In the year's Top 100, it clocks in at #67.

And we'll keep up the trend of #10 peakers in the Year's Top 100 with this next song:

#66

It's by another electronic duo out of England, though for this song they slowed the tempo, and created a hit that really could be passed off as a good old fashioned R&B record (despite apparently being considered for Triple A! ). At #66 for the year:

Aquilo - Better Off Without You

https%3A//soundcloud.com/aquilo/better-off-without-you

Peak: #10
Weeks charted: 21
Inverse total: 340 points (#62)
Pyramid total: 3903 points (#69)

[Libra]

Electronic groups and duos out of the United Kingdom fared very well for me this year - this duo's song was no exception. #66, Aquilo and their song "Better Off Without You".

Neither is this next song by this trio:

#65

Now, they're from another place in the UK - they're based out of Glasgow, Scotland. But this song is just as electronic as the three we've just heard - albeit, in a rather different style. This one's been spending time on the Alternative chart, though it looks as though it's coming to the end of its run there. At #65:

CHVRCHES - Leave a Trace

Peak: #8
Weeks charted: 16
Inverse total: 315 points (#65)
Pyramid total: 4258 points (#67)

[Libra]

#65 in the year's Top 100, CHVRCHES and "Leave a Trace". Now, that song also had a very rough start to it. It debuted in September, fell out, then returned for two weeks at #39 looking like it was going to fall right back out again - but that wasn't to be! It went all the way to the Top 10 just a few weeks ago.

Up next: We keep the English - but lose the electronic.

[Libra]

Mike's Top 100 songs of the year, coming through loud and clear.

Though, despite its name, our next song in the Top 100 isn't really all that loud:

#64

In fact, none of the hits that this man has had on my chart have really been all that loud, even if their success has sometimes spoken volumes. This one registered a peak of #5 level success back in February. At #64 for the year:

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud

Peak: #5
Weeks charted: 12
Inverse total: 307 points (#68)
Pyramid total: 4479 points (#65)