Intro | 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1
90. Stay The Night - Zedd feat. Hayley Williams
Peak: 18 (January 25); Weeks on chart: 22; December 27 position: NR
Although Zedd's follow-up to the hugely successful "Clarity" spent more time on the Hot 100 in 2013, it peaked in 2014, where it enjoyed seven of its 12 Top-30 weeks. Featuring Paramore leading lady Hayley Williams singing the vocal, the catchy track was one of the hottest songs of the winter. One of the leading names in EDM paired up with perhaps the most recognized alternative singer; what followed was a hit with respectable pop success.
89. #SELFIE - The Chainsmokers
"#SELFIE" was arguably the most viral hit of the year. The ode to one of the newest official words in the English language had five Top 30 weeks and was off the chart completely by June. The only musical quality to the song - term loosely applied - was in the electronic beat and synths supporting the dialogue common between twenty-something girls on a night out. "#SELFIE" proved that teenage/young adult slang mixed into an infectious dance beat had a market, a concept that launched "Turn Down For What" into massive success later in the year.
88. Bottoms Up - Brantley Gilbert
Brantley Gilbert's biggest hit of 2014 spent the first half of the year on the Hot 100, including 11 weeks just inside the Top 30 ("Bottoms Up" was the No. 30 song in America three different weeks during that stretch). This is my least favorite of the six country songs to make the year-end Top 100; I am somewhat hopeful that "Bottoms Up" will make Gilbert a one-hit wonder in the world of pop music.
87. Na Na - Trey Songz
"Na Na" spent an exceptional amount of time riding the Top 30 border in 2014; in a 19-week stretch, the Trey Songz hit was in the Top 30 11 times and in the No. 31-35 section of the Hot 100 eight times. It peaked on the July 19 chart; the previous week "Na Na" was ranked No. 31. Therefore this is perhaps one of the more underrated hip-hop tracks in the 2014 Top 100.
86. White Walls - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Schoolboy Q and Hollis
Despite peaking at the end of 2013, "White Walls" had enough early-2014 success to snag a spot in the Top 100 songs of this year. The independent duo's ode to the Cadillac spent seven weeks of 2014 in the Top 30. "White Walls" had neither the unique subject material of "Thrift Shop", the epic anthem of "Can't Hold Us" nor the sociopolitical message of "Same Love", so is one of the more forgettable singles of the group's breakout album The Heist.
85. Animals - Martin Garrix
Peak: 21 (April 26); Weeks on chart: 34; December 27 position: NR
I had forgotten this techno hit existed in the six months between its disappearance from the Hot 100 and the time I began working on this list. Of its 34 weeks in the chart, "Animals" only spent eight weeks in the Top 30; four weeks after it peaked, the song was off the chart completely. Garrix, a Dutch DJ, enjoyed his most success with this song overseas; "Animals" was one of the top 100 songs in both France and Germany for over a year and was the top song in Belgium for nine weeks in 2013. Compared to its European success, "Animals" was a flop in the United States.
84. Lips Are Movin - Meghan Trainor
Peak: 4 (December 27); Weeks on chart: 8; December 27 position: 4
As I recently purchased a Hewlett-Packard computer - which I am currently using to type this post - I feel obligated to mention that HP sponsored the video for this song, which is cool so go support HP (read: "please pay me corporate sponsor"). "Lips Are Movin" is the hottest trending song as of the last chart of 2014, so Meghan Trainor's sophomore hit should reach the top spot in at least one of January's Hot 100 weeks. I have a hard time believing it will live up to the long-running success of Trainor's breakout "All About That Bass", although "Lips" is arguably the more catchy of the two songs.
83. Love Never Felt So Good - Michael Jackson feat. Justin Timberlake
Five after the death of Michael Jackson rocked the music world, The King of Pop was back with a posthumous album. Among these "lost tracks" was a tune which was remastered and reinforced with MJ's heir apparent adding guest vocals. "Love Never Felt So Good" was then released; with the smash success of Timberlake's 20/20 Experience still fresh in our memories and Jackson as missed as ever, the song made a top-20 debut on the May 17 Hot 100. After the novelty wore off, "Love's" success quickly diminished; the hit only spent six weeks in the Top 30. The new track did invoke enough MJ nostalgia that his classic hit "Beat It" re-entered the Hot 100 at No. 14 for one week.
82. Do What U Want - Lady Gaga feat. R. Kelly
The ever-eccentric Lady Gaga is now singing jazz duets with Tony Bennett, but it was a pop duet with R. Kelly that gave Gaga her biggest 2014 hit. Debuting and peaking in 2013, "Do What U Want" spent six weeks in the top 30 to begin this year. After "Do What U Want" faded and the pop icon double-dipped as host and musical guest for Saturday Night Live, Gaga stayed out of the public eye for most of 2014 before returning from obscurity to drop her aforementioned jazz CD. You keep doing you, Lady G. You're certainly one of a kind.
81. A Sky Full Of Stars - Coldplay
Peak: 10 (May 17); Weeks on chart: 26; December 27 position: NR
After its Hot 100 debut and peak in May, Coldplay's biggest hit of the year dropped from the top 30 for three solid months before returning to No. 28 on August 30. "Sky Full" spent the subsequent seven weeks in the top 30. Its late-summer success salvaged a year-end Top 100 spot for one of our generation's premiere rock bands this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment