Top 100 of 2012 Countdown Part 9

Numbers 20 to 11

We're on the home stretch in counting down the Top 100 Hits of 2012. The countdown picks up at number 20.

20 - Watching You Watch Him by Eric Hutchinson - I know next to nothing about Eric Hutchinson except for this song which was given away by Apple through their iTunes Music Store as the song of the week. To me, of all the free songs given away by Apple or anyone else, this was the best. In fact "Watching You Watch Him" is one of the most cheery pop song ever about a guy who can't get the attention of "his girl" set to a great pop tune and dance beat. It is the kind of pop music that gets you humming all day. You would think "Watching You Watch Him" would have been a big hit. It was not. "Watching You Watch Him" was a hit on my chart where it spent 15 weeks, with 6 of them mired in the #2 position without reaching #1. On mainstream pop music radio, the song was not played despite it being featured on the ABC-TV show Grey's Anatomy or on numerous video programs.

19 - Someone Like You by Adele - Starting with this song at position #19, every song from this point on will be a #1 song. There were 19 songs that reached #1 on the Weekly Top 20. This is the first one. it's by Adele and it is beautiful ballad called "Someone Like You" from her Grammy Award winning album 21.

18 - Run For Your Life by Matt Cardle - Matt Cardle's biggest hit to date is his first record "Run For Your Life". The single was released late last year and topped the charts in December for 2 weeks, and carried over to 2012 for another 2 weeks at #1. In all for the calendar year 2012, Matt Cardle's "Run For Your Life" had a total chart 8 weeks and if added to the 7 weeks it accumulated in 2011, you have a total of 15 weeks. This was good enough to put the song in at #15 on the Top 100 Hits of 2011 and #18 on the Top 100 Hits of 2012. Wow!



17 - Glad You Came by The Wanted - A lot of "bubblegum" records made it to the top 20 this year. Here's one of them, a #1 hit by the band The Wanted. Here's "Glad You Came".



16 - Good Time by Owl City featuring Carly Rae Jepsen - 2012 was a good year for new Bubblegum Princess Carly Rae Jepsen. On this record "Good Time", she was teamed up with electronic artist/group Owl City for their first #1 song on the Weekly Top 20. "Good Time" spent 13 weeks on the chart with a week perched at the top position late in the summer. I love the video for this song... a bunch of kids going to a party and having a good time. It is what I would expet from a Carly Rae Jepsen song.



15 - It Will Rain by Bruno Mars: Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s I remember seeing this kid on the old Hawaiian Moving Company TV show with Michael W. Perry impersonating "The King", Elvis Presley. This kid got started in show business at the age of 4 and was billed as "Bruno". His real name is Peter Gene Hernandez and spent most of his younger life growing up in Hawaii in a show business family. The guy had the moves from an early age doing not only Elvis but also Michael Jackson and other hot stars of the day. By the late 1990s and 2000s he kind of vanished only to re-surface in 2010 as "Bruno Mars" the professional name he uses today. Since his chart debut that year, Mars has gone on to have not 1 or 2 #1 songs, but 4 on this chart from 2010 to the present. Those #1 songs included "Just the Way You Are" in 2010, "Grenade" in 2011 and this one... "It Will Rain" which became one of the first songs to hit #1 on the chart this year. So her it is... "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars.


14 - Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars: By the end of 2012 Bruno Mars was once again on top of the charts with this song... "Locked Out of Heaven".


13 - Red Solo Cup by Toby Keith - "Red Solo Cup" stands out as the funniest and most popular beer song of 2011 and 2012. The single was a novelty tune that was given to country singer Toby Keith co-written by Brett and Jim Beavers and the The Warren Brothers. The song was recorded in the fall of 2011 and became a country and pop sensation due to its humorous video that featured a number of celebrities including Sammy Hagar, Roger Clemmens, Larry Bird and Jeff Dunham. "Solo Cup" stayed on the top 20 for 11 weeks and peaked at #1 for 2 of those weeks.



12 - The One That Got Away by Katy Perry - The biggest hit of 2012 from Katy Perry's re-released album Teenage Dream is "The One That Got Away", a single that went to #1 here and spent 12 weeks on the top 20.


11 - Gangnam Style by PSY: The most popular video on YouTube for 2012 is PSY's #1 international smash hit that went viral the world over since its release in July. In fact "Gangnam Style" is the most popular video ever on YouTube and has to date of this posting generated more than 1,098,711,753 views... and counting! PSY's real name is Park Jae-sang. He is from South Korea and has studied in the United States. He is a 34-year old singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and record producer and has released dozens of albums and singles in his home country of South Korea since 2001 all in the "K-Pop" music genre. "Gangnam Style" is a catchy Korean language dance song with a funny video that has spawned countless imitations all over the world. The single has gone to #1 on charts all over the world except for in the United States, where it peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 having been denied the top spot mostly by Maroon 5's #1 hit "One More Night". Regardless the song is funny, memorable, catchy and annoying all at the same time. It is the "Macarena" of this decade and will be played for many years to come. Here is the video and song "Gangnam Style":


And there you have it... the 90 top songs so far. The next entry will focus on the Top 10 Hits of 2012. Come back soon!