2008: The Year In Music

It wouldn't be a Year In Review without a countdown of the year's best music, right? Well, since I'm a horrible critic, I instead decided to present a countdown of the year's Most Played Music by the Missus and myself. It's essential that I include her in this since:

a] We share an iTunes library so the play counts are as much hers as mine

AND

b] It gives me someone convenient to blame if an embarrassing song makes the list.

I originally was writing this up as a Top 40 - Rick Dees style - but the Missus said that a Top 50 would be better. I decided to one-up here and in honor of the iTunes Music Store that gets at least $20 from me every month, I present:

The Blues' Top 100 Played Songs Of 2008
Qualifying statement: To make the list, the song had to be added to the iTunes library in 2008 which will explain if you see a song from 1960 or what have you that made the list.

Here we go...

100. Listen - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Ahhh - and so it begins. With my admitted love of musicals, you will soon notice a trend of songs from musicals being all over this list. However, don't blame me for the Mamma Mia stuff. That's all her. Side note: It took 16 plays throughout the year to make the #100 slot on the list. That really doesn't seem like much actually.

99. Dance With Me - Old 97s
98. Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
97. Home - Foo Fighters
96. Fake Your Way To The Top - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
95. A Bitchslap - Sebastian Bach feat. Axl Rose

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(Love Is) A Bitchslap (Featuring Axl Rose) - Sebastian Bach
I still really like this song but nowhere near as much as I did when I first bought it. I think there was a novelty involved of hearing Sebastian Bach belt out a serious hard rock song in 2008 - plus the awesomeness of having Axl on backing vocals. If you're a fan of either, check this one out.

94. I've Been High - R.E.M. (Live from the Hollywood Bowl)
I'm glad this one made the list since we were at the show. Still wishing I had a better mix of this though because the bass makes it absolutely unlistenable in my car.

93. Come Alive - Foo Fighters
92. Erase/Replace - Foo Fighters
91. The Fighter - Ferraby Lionheart
90. American Boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was added to my iTunes back in Feb. before any of you fuckers had heard it on your local pop radio yet so bite me.

89. The Score - Chris Walla
88. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
87. Nicest Thing - Kate Nash
86. Fallen - Bret Michaels
You've gotta love when your music library becomes littered with songs you heard on reality television - especially when it's trainwreck reality television. Rock Of Love was one of my guilty pleasures on television this year and Bret Michaels kickin' out the slow jam is one of my musical highlights of the year.

85. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
84. Ladies of Cambridge - Vampire Weekend
83. Time To Pretend - MGMT (Live)
82. Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash
81. Mariella - Kate Nash
80. Take A Chance On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
I told you! Blame her!

79. Beautiful Ride - Walk Hard soundtrack
78. I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson
High Fidelity rears it's beautiful, sweet head. One of my favorite movies delivers this one into the iTunes library which made one of my Mixtapes of the Month earlier in the year before they were discontinued due to time constraints.

77. Body MMMBoppin' - Hanson vs The Beastie Boys
I'm not a huge mash-up fan but every once in a while I find one that is just absolutely perfect together. This would be one of them. I mentioned this one at work a couple weeks ago and was met with stares of derision. Fuck the haters.

76. Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners - Foo Fighters
75. Not While I'm Around - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
74. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Mamma Mia soundtrack
73. Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
72. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
The lyrics have the Contra Code in them. 'Nuff said.

71. Leave The Memories Alone - Fuel
The farewell to Ric Flair promos were filled with this song and it stays among my favorites of the year. It's one of the few songs from earlier in the year that I'll still listen to almost every time it pops up on shuffle.

70. Stranger Things Have Happened - Foo Fighters
69. The Ballad Of Gus And Sam - Ferraby Lionheart
68. World Shut Your Mouth - Death Cab For Cutie
67. Does Your Mother Know - Mamma Mia soundtrack
66. Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
65. Three Wishes - The Pierces
64. Love Story - Katharine McPhee
63. Play - Kate Nash
62. Summer's End - Foo Fighters
61. Won't Be Long - Ferraby Lionheart
60. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
And yes, I had this before it was on all the Pineapple Express commercials too. Oooh! Sick burn!

59. Long Road To Ruin - Foo Fighters
58. The Pretender - Foo Fighters
57. A Kiss Is Not A Contract - Flight Of The Conchords

A Kiss Is Not A Contract (Album Version) - Flight of the Conchords
How this didn't end up higher, I don't understand. Conchords are the pre-eminent comedy musical act in the world - Weird Al be damned.

56. Something To Love - Ferraby Lionheart
55. Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
54. Atom - British Sea Power
53. Rich Girls - The Virgins
52. Coconut - The Sea And Cake
51. By The Sea - Sweeney Todd soundtrack

TOP 50!!!
50. Foux De Fafa - Flight Of The Conchords
49. Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists
48. Care Of Cell 44 - The Zombies
47. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
From one of my favorite new bands of the year, this song is actually my ringtone currently. The album also was cool enough to inspire me to buy my first album on vinyl in decades.

46. Accidents Can Happen - Sixx A.M.
45. Birds - Kate Nash
44. Tickets To Crickets - Ferraby Lionheart
43. Love Is A Battlefield - Brooke White (American Idol)
42. Believe - The Bravery
41. SOS - Mamma Mia soundtrack

TOP 40!!!!
40. Come Home - OneRepublic
39. Mamma Mia - Mamma Mia soundtrack
38. No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
37. Take Me To The Riot - Stars
36. Secret - The Pierces
Okay, it made it because it played on Gossip Girl. I'll admit it.

35. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
One of my favorite songs of the year. I'm disappointed it finished this low actually.

34. Dancing Queen - Mamma Mia soundtrack
33. Slipping Through My Fingers - Mamma Mia soundtrack
32. Think About It - Flight of the Conchords
31. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens
The end credits music on Extras. We got into an Extras obsession for a while leading up to the finale so that explains that. Also, since it's barely over a minute long, there's not much time for you to skip it before it's notched another mark in your musical bedpost.

30. The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind - Griffin House
29. Leggy Blonde - Flight of the Conchords
28. A Crack In Time - Ferraby Lionheart
27. When All Is Said And Done - Mamma Mia soundtrack
26. The Winner Takes It All - Mamma Mia soundtrack
25. I Have A Dream - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Sensing a pattern yet? And she didn't even see this til late in the year!

24. M79 - Vampire Weekend
23. Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
This might have stood a better chance if they didn't make it the first song on the playlist every morning at work. Hearing it seemingly every day from July 1st until November will sour you a bit on a song.

22. Super Trouper - Mamma Mia soundtrack
21. We Get On - Kate Nash

TOP 20!!!!!!!!

20. Bubbly - Colbie Callat
This is one of those songs that you really want to hate. It's just so sickly sugary sweet but it gets stuck in your head and it won't leave. It's like a musical version of genital warts... or something. This one made the playlist at work late in the year so it'll soon make me want to slit my wrists as well but for now, it makes the Top 20 by a hair.

19. My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget

My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget
Ugh! This one's so sugary sickly sweet too! Well, no - not really. But it is a love song about a boy and his dog. It's touching in a way. It'll tug at your heartstrings and beat the living fuck out of your funnybone.

18. Thank You For The Music - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Whatever. I'm not dignifying this with comments!

17. Pull Shapes - The Pipettes

Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
Aww yeah! I love this song too - another of my favorites from the year. It has a classic 50's/60's bubblegum pop type sound to it. You could easily imagine it on one of those Time Life "Songs Of Your Life" type commercials. Only $19.95 if you order now!

16. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Kate Nash (Black Kids live cover)
15. Tattoo - Jordin Sparks
14. I Wana Love You - The Maine (Akon cover)
One of my favorite covers of the year - the inspiration for the Cover Song Challenge mix from early '08.

13. All That I Want - The Weeples
12. The Name Of The Game - Mamma Mia soundtrack
11. Now That We're Done - Metro Station

And without further adieu... THE TOP TEN OF 2008!!

10. Our Last Summer - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Odds are high that the Missus is responsible for every single one of the plays of this song. I really can't stand it. From time to time, the beginning will stick in my head but never enough that I want to listen to it. And whoever decided to let Pierce Brosnan sing on camera and on recorded musical media should be dragged out into a field and shot.

9. How Many Words - Blake Lewis
I think most people that liked Blake on Idol were concerned that the record labels would destroy the guy who wanted to perform with Doug E. Fresh at the Idol finale. But there was just enough beatbox in this song to make it sound like Blake Lewis and just enough slick production to make it very cool. It's completely not the type of song that I usually like but dammit, American Idol tends to do that to me.

8. Break The Ice - Britney Spears
Sadly, this may be all me. When everyone was trashing Miss Britney before her big comeback, I was actually finding her music to be a bit better than it had been in a while. I haven't listened to anything from the "comeback" album but I'm betting I won't like it anywhere near as well.

7. This Woman's Work - Kate Bush
Oh my god. The scene in the Extras finale where they played this song was absolutely tear-your-soul-out-of-your-gut-and-stomp-on-it-with-golf-spikes levels of painful to watch. The song fit the scene perfectly for the one of the dramatic, emotional moments in what was often a show best known for Kate Winslet talking dirty. For shame. If you haven't seen it, now's a good time to blow through the entire Extras series on your media of choice.

6. Unbroken - Jessica Sierra
Remember what I said waaaaay back under Bret Michaels' name? That goes double here. A song heard from someone checked into Celebrity Rehab kicked the fucking door down into our Top Ten. We both just couldn't get enough of it.

5. I Was Made For You - Rivers Cuomo
2008 saw the lead singer of Weezer release an album of demos, rarities, and outtakes done in his garage. This was the absolute highlight of that album from what I heard.

4. Foundations - Kate Nash
Kate Nash was one of my favorite artists of the year - someone I liked enough to subject myself to going to a show where odds were very high that I was among the oldest people in the audience easily. You've seen her name littered up and down this list (with one more still to come.)

3. Honey Honey - Mamma Mia soundtrack
The ONLY song on the Mamma Mia soundtrack that you can partially blame me for appearing this high on the list. I liked this one... what can I say?

2. Apologize - OneRepublic & Timbaland
No idea how this ended up here. Absolutely no idea. There's no fucking possible way that I listened to this song that many times. It's an okay song but... yeah, not #2 on my list.

And the #1 song of 2008...

1. Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Mouthwash - Kate Nash

Now THAT I can live with. An absolutely fitting choice for the #1 most played song of 2008.

And now? We begin all over again. What will be the #1 song of 2009? Stay tuned!