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

[Libra]

#45 for the year, Young Summer with her better-than-expected hit, "Severing Ties".

#44

We go now from a song that defied lower expectations to a song that had higher expectations set to begin with. It's a recent #3 hit by Duke Dumont. With singer Boy Matthews on the vocals, at #44 here is:

Duke Dumont featuring Boy Matthews - Ocean Drive

Peak: #3
Weeks charted: 17 to date
Inverse total: 435 points (#43)
Pyramid total: 6686 points (#42)

[Libra]

Bringing back the 80s once again, at #44 is Duke Dumont with Boy Matthews on "Ocean Drive". And that song was noted as a departure in sound for Duke.

#43

As was this next song in the year's Top 100, for superstar Rihanna. Now I mentioned back at #81 that "Something Better" might be the year's most unlikely collaboration, between Audien and Lady Antebellum. This one, at #43 might just come close to that. Rihanna teamed with Kanye West on this song - nothing unusual about that. But they both also teamed with Paul McCartney on the song - who would've seen that one coming? At #43 for the year, here's the fruit of their collaborative labors:

Rihanna, Kanye West, & Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds

Peak: #2
Weeks charted: 16
Inverse total: 429 points (#45)
Pyramid total: 6846 points (#39)

[Libra]

#43 in my year-end survey, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney with "FourFiveSeconds" - a song that sure had its share of polarizing reactions. People either loved it, or hated it. Me? There was plenty of love for this one, enough to bring it all the way to #2 for them.

Well, we've crossed the halfway threshold now in the year's Top 100 songs. And as we scale the year's hit mountain higher and higher, these musical diamonds will only shine brighter and brighter. We break into the year's 40 biggest, coming right up!

[Libra]

Dec 27, 2015 20:12:05 GMT -5 Rose Wintur said:

I mean they'll have the #1 song of the year. I'll be watching...!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your prediction now appears to be wrong. "Desire", their biggest for the year, is #50.

[Rose Wintur]

Dec 30, 2015 22:26:41 GMT -5 Libra said:

Dec 27, 2015 20:12:05 GMT -5 Rose Wintur said:

I mean they'll have the #1 song of the year. I'll be watching...!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your prediction now appears to be wrong. "Desire", their biggest for the year, is #50.

That's because you spent too much time listening to Madonna!

[Deleted]

#46, #43.

[sadchild]

i don't think any of your songs so far are in my 192 fav songs of the year, but it's largely because you have so many listed that i haven't heard. and i like that! i hit "watch later" on a bunch of them and can't wait to check them out!

[Libra]

Day 5 of my weeklong year-in-retrospective will commence in just under a half hour. Best to get it out now before New Year's Eve fully takes over!

[Libra]

Off we go...we're into the 5th hour of my 100 biggest songs of the year 2015.

And you know how I've described this as a rollercoaster of sound? Well, look no further than this hour! We'll hear some sample flavors from: Alternative Rock, Folk, Country, R&B, Dance, Pop, and even a dash of some AC and some Latin. All that, and the stories of what brought them here...so, what do you say we get this show back on the road?

@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 Jazzy sadchild

[Libra]

#42

Just a few songs back at 47, we heard this man's group Fancy Reagan. Now, here he is again teaming with producer Bobby Green. And they came up with a very fun-sounding little bop that spent two weeks at the top back in January. At #42 for the year:

Bobby Green featuring Sean Michael Murray - Changing Me

Peak: #1 (2 weeks)
Weeks charted: 13
Inverse total: 406 points (#49)
Pyramid total: 7380 points (#33)

[Libra]

Bobby Green and Sean Michael Murray, teaming together on the 42nd biggest song on my chart for 2015.

#41

Back at #49, we heard from a #1 song that made a surprise jump to get there. Now, we're up to the song that made even more of a surprise jump to get to #1! In fact, it made one of the largest jumps to get to #1 at all in my chart's entire history. It made the leap from #8 all the way to #1 on the week of September 19. Talk about mood swings! Well, this moody little number swings in at #41 for the year:

Sia - Big Girls Cry

Peak: #1 (1 week)
Weeks charted: 22
Inverse total: 467 points (#35)
Pyramid total: 6490 points (#46)

[Libra]

Sia's "Big Girls Cry", the 41st biggest song on my chart in 2015.

#40

I mentioned at #54 that JoJo's history on my chart has been...inconsistently consistent. Well, that could very well describe the story of this next man's year on my chart. I've heard three different songs he's released over the past year, and all three have made my chart. But only one of those cracked the year's Top 100. His first song to chart, "Only in a Dream", only reached #26. His third, "Lights", only reached #29. Coming inbetween those is this Summer smash that ranks at #40 for the year. And that's the story of 2015 in a nutshell for:

Paul van Dyk & Roger Shah featuring Daphne Khoo - Louder

Peak: #4
Weeks charted: 20
Inverse total: 468 points (#34)
Pyramid total: 6571 points (#44)

[Libra]

Paul van Dyk, teaming with Roger Shah and singer Daphne Khoo on the song that kicks off my 40 biggest songs of the year 2015, "Louder".

#39

Back at #56 was the place reserved for devils in the year's Top 100. Well hallelujah, we're up now to the place where angels roam freely in the year's Top 100. Latin-flavored angels, in fact! At #39:

Prince Royce - My Angel

Peak: #5
Weeks charted: 18
Inverse total: 462 points (#40)
Pyramid total: 6739 points (#41)

[Libra]

One of two songs from the Furious 7 soundtrack to make the year's Top 100...we'll hear "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth coming up later on, but right here at #39 is "My Angel" by Prince Royce.

Up next: The only remake in the year's Top 100!

[Libra]

Libra Mike here, captaining this ship as it sails on its cruise through this review of my year's 100 top tunes.

And this tune is the only remake to appear in the year's Top 100:

#38

It's a remake of a song that actually began as a bootlegged remix of another song - which is interesting enough in itself! At #38, here is that remake of a remake:

Giorgio Moroder featuring Britney Spears - Tom's Diner

Peak: #3
Weeks charted: 22
Inverse total: 476 points (#33)
Pyramid total: 6683 points (#43)

[Libra]

The second, and biggest, hit of the year for Giorgio Moroder - at #38 for the year, he and Britney Spears team up to give us "Tom's Diner".

#37

Back at #81, we heard from a Country group that was exploring some different musical territory. Now, we're up to another Country group that explored some different musical territory during the year! They released their song "Heavy is the Head" from album Jekyll + Hyde to the Rock formats, where it proved to be a decent hit. Now, that song never reached my chart. But they had a big Country hit that did! It spent two weeks at #3 here back in May. At #37 for the year:

The Zac Brown Band - Homegrown

Peak: #3
Weeks charted: 19
Inverse total: 456 points (#41)
Pyramid total: 6925 points (#38)

[Libra]

Zac Brown Band, coming in at #37 in the year's Top 100 songs with "Homegrown".

The next two songs in the Top 100 are both by the duo Twenty One Pilots. Now, what I'm going to do here is tell you a little bit about both songs, then give them both to you all back to back.

As a prelude to their album Blurryface, Twenty One Pilots released the 'buzz single' "Fairly Local". I got into that song's production as soon as I heard it. It sure provided a worthwhile alternative to the album's lead single "Tear in My Heart", which I never charted. But in the meantime, there were a few songs made available on iTunes in advance of the album. One of those, was "Stressed Out", which is just as good as "Fairly Local", but since I didn't want to burn through the songs too quickly, I decided to wait on that one to give it a run once "Local" was done. And that strategy, seems to have paid off - both songs went Top 5 on my chart during the year. "Fairly Local" made it up to #4 during the Summer, and "Stressed Out" peaked at #3 just a few weeks ago.

They're back to back in my ranking of the year's Top 100 - first up at #36 will be "Stressed Out", then at #35 will be "Fairly Local":

#36

Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out

Peak: #3
Weeks charted: 19 to date
Inverse total: 462 points (#38)
Pyramid total: 6960 points (#37)

#35

Twenty One Pilots - Fairly Local

Peak: #4
Weeks charted: 20
Inverse total: 481 points (#31)
Pyramid total: 7021 points (#36)

"Stressed Out" is Track 2, "Fairly Local" is Track 4:

[Libra]

Twenty One Pilots in my year-in-review of the year's 100 biggest...they have song #36 with "Stressed Out", and song #35 with "Fairly Local". And, it looks as though they have more where those came from coming on the horizon for next year!

Up next: Maybe the most narcissistic song in the year's Top 100!

[Libra]

Reflecting back on the year gone by is this week-long presentation of my 100 biggest.

And reflecting seems to be the theme of this next song in the year's Top 100:

#34

It's a funky ode to a man who...can't seem to get enough of his own reflection! Or at least, it's an ode to how Ella Henderson isn't going to put up with that man any more! At #34:

Ella Henderson - Mirror Man

Peak: #3
Weeks charted: 17
Inverse total: 462 points (#39)
Pyramid total: 7288 points (#34)

[Libra]

Showing at #34 among the year's 100 biggest is Ella Henderson with "Mirror Man".

#33

Next in the Top 100 is the first of two #1 songs by Taylor Swift. Now, that mark alone would put her among the elite class of artists who pulled off a level of greatness this year that very few or no other acts did. (For example, Years & Years being the only ones to score four Top 10s this year, or Madonna being the only one to score three Top 5s.) In her case, she and Troye Sivan were the only two to have two #1 songs during the year (and one of his isn't even as lead act). But also in her case, that surface statistic masks the fact that 1989 has been a very hit-or-miss album for me - you may have noticed a distinct lack of "Blank Space", "Bad Blood", or "Wildest Dreams" anywhere on my chart during the year. Yeah, not really into those songs at all.

This one kicked off my chart's return right at #1. It spent just the first 7 weeks of the year on the chart before falling off. But as good as it is, I wasn't content to let that be the end of its story. So, I decided to bring it back for a second run in the late summer and early fall. All together, those two runs have added up to make this the 33rd biggest song of the year.

Now...I have to say, it just figures that the video for this song will premiere in just a few hours from now. Right this moment, I have to make do with what audio is available, and to that end, I have selected her performance at the Grammy Museum from a couple of months ago. If you have the original track, feel free to substitute it in its place for time purposes. (After the video goes online, I will do the same thing here.) Here's Taylor at #33 with:

Taylor Swift - Out of the Woods

Peak: #1 (2 weeks)
Weeks charted: 21
Inverse total: 477 points (#32)
Pyramid total: 7169 points (#35)

*NOTE: Original Day 5 posting used this performance as audio.

[Libra]

Taylor Swift, with the first of her two #1 hits in the year's Top 100...at #33, "Out of the Woods".

#32

At #32 in my year-end survey is a recent #2 hit from an electronic duo out of Switzerland. Its deep tropical house vibe sure goes down ultra-smooth, to say the least. Here are Fabian Dubach and Luigi Correnti, known collectively as:

INTRESSTandLOUIS - Find You

Peak: #2
Weeks charted: 18 to date
Inverse total: 466 points (#36)
Pyramid total: 7423 points (#31)

[Libra]

#32 for 2015, INTRESSTandLOUIS with "Find You".

Up next: We go from the sunshine of the tropics, to the sunshine of your youth!

[Libra]

2015's 100 biggest, counting down.

#31

Just a few songs back at #36 we heard "Stressed Out", a song that seems to yearn for the "good old days", as it was put. This song here at #31 seems to be doing that exact same thing, and it's especially poignant as I hit the big 3-0 in October. That weekend saw this song hit #1 on my chart. At #31 for the year:

Cheerleader - The Sunshine of Your Youth

Peak: #1 (1 week)
Weeks charted: 23
Inverse total: 497 points (#27)
Pyramid total: 7394 points (#32)

[Libra]

#31 in my Top 100 songs of the year, Cheerleader with "The Sunshine of Your Youth". And I have a correction I need to make. I said that five songs in the year's Top 100 were all songs that were once Free Singles of the Week on iTunes. Well, I miscounted. There were five such songs that charted for me during the year, but only four of them made the Top 100. "The Sunshine of Your Youth" was one of those four.

So too was this next song, by a folk rock band out of Canada:

#30

They call themselves the Great Lake Swimmers, and their name intrigued me, so I looked them up. Their song sure intrigued me too - a very mellow, easygoing song that provided a welcome different kind of energy whenever I wasn't in the mood for something uptempo on a Spring or Summer day. At #30 in the year's Top 100:

The Great Lake Swimmers - Zero in the City

Peak: #2
Weeks charted: 20
Inverse total: 488 points (#29)
Pyramid total: 7504 points (#30)

[Libra]

With the song they took to #2 back in July, The Great Lake Swimmers have the year's 30th biggest song on my chart with "Zero in the City".

#29

And the 29th biggest song of 2015 belongs to John Newman. The video for this song has a rather casually sexy vibe to it, with how John carries on with his woman. The song itself was no slouch, either - spent a week at the top back in October. Here it is, at #29:

John Newman - Come and Get It

Peak: #1 (1 week)
Weeks charted: 22
Inverse total: 501 points (#25)
Pyramid total: 7507 points (#29)

[Libra]

#29 for 2015, John Newman singing "Come and Get It".

#28

And for this song, we'll flip the calendar to the beginning of the year. This song was part of the initial 40 when I started the chart back Next in the Top 100 is a woman who's helped extend a rather interesting chart feat. She's a former member of Destiny's Child, and she's the third one-time member of the group to hit #1 on my chart, after Beyonce and Kelly Rowland. No other group has seen more than a single member or former member hit #1 on my chart solo. The song LeToya did it with is this slinky R&B number at #28 in my year-end survey:

LeToya Luckett - I'm Ready

https%3A//soundcloud.com/eone-music/letoya-luckett-im-ready

Peak: #1 (1 week)
Weeks charted: 20
Inverse total: 493 points (#28)
Pyramid total: 7621 points (#28)

[Libra]

One of the sexiest songs in the year's Top 100...#28, LeToya Luckett with "I'm Ready".

Five hours (days) in, just two hours (days) to go in my presentation of my 100 biggest songs of 2015 countdown. But there's still plenty more in store as we work our way closer and closer to my #1 song of the year. Y'all come on back now tomorrow, y'hear?

[Deleted]

36, 33.

[Libra]

Hopefully, most of y'all have left behind the New Year's hangover by now.

But even if not, maybe this will take your mind off of feeling bad: Day 6 of the Top 100 will commence at 4 PM EST.

[Libra]

We're heading now towards the main courses in my countdown of the 100 biggest songs of the year on Mike's Top 40.

In this hour, we'll hear from both artists who hit #1 twice during the year. We already heard from one, and we'll hear from her again. We'll hear the longest song to ever hit #1, and we'll hear the biggest song of the year to not hit #1. All that and more are lined up and all ready to serve to you now, soooo...what do you say we dig right in?

@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 Jazzy sadchild