MEL'S WEEKLY TOP 20 - THE TOP 100 HITS OF 2008
Here is a re-cap and review of some of my favorite songs and albums that were released in 2008. All of the songs listed on my chart below initially appeared on my Weekly Top 20 list that I maintain throughout the year. I'm largely a singles kind of guy, and even though I buy a lot of albums, I tend to listen to a mixed assortment of tracks whenever I have a music device playing. This is made easier with a combination of Apple's iTunes, iPod and other media players.
Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" which is a derivative of 2 classic rock tracks, "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynard and"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon stood out as one of my favorites for 2008. Rock cleverly combined elements of both to craft an almost entirely new song that borrows a lot from both. This is probably the first hybrid song of its kind that I truly liked. Surprisingly, it only made it to #7 in my year-end wrap, largely because it held on to #1 for only 3 weeks and did not spend that much time on my weekly chart.
For geek rock, nothing came close to Weezer whose red album echos songs from their green, black and blue albums of years past. If you like tracks such as "Buddy Holly," "Say It Isn't So", "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills," you certainly bought and enjoyed Weezer's red album. The leading tracks for me were "Pork and Beans," "Troublemaker" and "Heart Songs". Weezer took the pork straight to #1 on my personal chart and ended up with my song of the year. "Heart Songs" is the band's recollection of artists and hits from years gone by. A brilliant album track that never made it to my weekly chart.
I liked R.E.M.'s album Accelerate. It was a return to their rock style of the past. It proved a winner on my chart as "Supernatural Superserious" burned its way to the #1 position and stayed there for 4 weeks. Other good tracks include the title tune, "Man Sized Wreath" and "Hollow Man".
A lot of young ladies burned up my chart with an assortment of tracks. Marie Digby was a fave with "Fool", "Say It Again" and "Umbrella" the latter being a hit for Rihanna in 2007. I also grew to like a lot of Rihanna's tracks. She can sing soul, R&B and even rock n roll. Favorites this year included "Disturbia," "Take a Bow" and "If I Never See Your Face Again" in which pairs her with the band Maroon 5.
My favorite albums of the year include those listed above as well as Sheryl Crow's Detours which produced the hits "Love is Free," "Gasoline," and "Out of Our Heads", Coldplay's Viva La Vida, Ringo Starr's Liverpool 8, Metallica's Death Magnetic, and the debut album from Lenka which yielded the tracks "Trouble is a Friend" and "The Show".
I heard some of my favorite tracks on TV commercials before they became hits. These included Apple iPod promotional tunes that became hits: "Music is My Hot, Hot Sex" by CSS from late 2007, "Bruises" from Chairlift that promoted the iPod Touch, "Shut Up & Let Me Go" by the Ting Tings and "Around the Bend" by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour which went to #1 on my Weekly Top 20. Noah and the Whale hit #1 in 2008 with "5 Years Time," a track used in a Saturn car commercial.
Without further fanfare, here is a list of my 100 top hits from 2008. A comprehensive version of this same list can be found on my Top 100 Hits of 2008 page.
THE TOP 100 HITS OF 2008
1 - Pork and Beans - Weezer
2 - Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
3 - Viva la Vida - Coldplay
4 - Mercy - Duffy
5 - Tattoo - Jordin Sparks
6 - Apologize - OneRepublic
7 - All Summer Long - Kid Rock
8 - Around the Bend (Radio Edit) - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
9 - Disturbia - Rihanna
10 - Funplex - The B-52s
11 - Give It 2 Me - Madonna
12 - 5 Years Time - Noah And The Whale
13 - I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
14 - Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex - CSS
15 - Shut Up & Let Me Go - The Ting Tings
16 - 4 Minutes - Madonna & Justin
17 - Boys With Girlfriends - Meiko
18 - Womanizer - Britney Spears
19 - If I Were A Boy - Beyonce
20 - Won't Go Home Without You - Maroon 5
21 - Human - The Killers
22 - Stop And Stare - OneRepublic
23 - Realize - Colbie Caillat
24 - Paradise - Ana Laan
25 - Busy Being Fabulous - The Eagles
26 - Be The One - The Ting Tings
27 - Troublemaker - Weezer
28 - That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings
29 - Bruises - Chairlift
30 - If I Had Eyes - Jack Johnson
31 - New Soul - Yael Naïm
32 - Surrender - Lunascape
33 - So What (Main Version) - P!nk
34 - Paper Planes - M.I.A.
35 - Trouble Is A Friend - Lenka
36 - The Day That Never Comes - Metallica
37 - Clumsy - Fergie
38 - Saving My Face - KT Tunstall
39 - I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry
40 - You Don't Know Me - Ben Folds featuring Regina Spektor
41 - Say It Again - Marié Digby
42 - Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
43 - No One - Alicia Keys
44 - Only Fooling Myself - Kate Voegele
45 - No Air (Main Version) - Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown
46 - Take A Bow - Rihanna
47 - Tailor Made - Colbie Caillat
48 - Over You - Daughtry
49 - Warwick Avenue - Duffy
50 - Love Is Free - Sheryl Crow
51 - Pump - The B-52's
52 - Seven Days of Lonely (Radio Edit) - I Nine
53 - Don't Think I Don't Think About It - Darius Rucker
54 - Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
55 - Be OK - Ingrid Michaelson
56 - Just A Dream - Carrie Underwood
57 - Sugarbaby - Morningwood
58 - My Moon My Man - Feist
59 - Shake It - Metro Station
60 - Jigsaw Falling Into Place - Radiohead
61 - Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
62 - Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna
63 - Take Back The City - Snow Patrol
64 - Out Of Our Heads - Sheryl Crow
65 - You Know I'm No Good - Amy Winehouse
66 - If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon 5 & Rihanna
67 - Say Hey (I Love You) - Michael Franti & Spearhead featuring Cherine Anderson
68 - Violet Hill - Coldplay
69 - Lost! - Coldplay
70 - I Better Run - The Rosebuds
71 - Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
72 - Whatever It Takes - Lifehouse
73 - In Love With a Girl - Gavin DeGraw
74 - Never Miss A Beat - Kaiser Chiefs
75 - Requiem for a Dying Song - Flogging Molly
76 - If This Is Love - The Saturdays
77 - Rockstar - Nickelback
76 - Addicted - Saving Abel
77 - Her Hairagami Set - The Brunettes
78 - L.E.S. Artistes - Santogold
79 - Shattered [Turn The Car Around] - O.A.R.
80 - Come On Get Higher - Matt Nathanson
81 - All-American Girl - Carrie Underwood
82 - Liverpool 8 - Ringo Starr
83 - I'd Rather Be With You - Joshua Radin
84 - After All These Years - Journey
85 - It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
86 - Gasoline - Sheryl Crow
87 - Sleeping Lessons - The Shins
88 - Le Disko - Shiny Toy Guns
89 - You Can't Count On Me - Counting Crows
90 - Never Walk Away - Journey
91 - The Weight Of Her - Butch Walker
92 - Stronger Woman - Jewel
93 - If It's Love That You Want - Ringo Starr
94 - Life In A Northern Town [Live] - Sugarland
95 - Say - Ryan Cabrera
96 - All I Want To Do - Sugarland
97 - Check Yes Juliet - We the Kings
98 - Valerie Plame - The Decemberists
99 - Same Mistake - James Blunt
100 - Dead Sound - The Raveonettes
