Ranking the Hottest 100s - #100

I have previously touched on the best of the songs to have placed at #100 in the Hottest 100, and my opinion hasn't changed too much since then.

Looking at the list there's some clear themes going on amongst these songs/artists:

• Popular artists with songs on compilations (Muse; Foo Fighters)
• Artists with thrid or forth songs that year sneaking in to the list (The Cat Empire x 2; Powderfinger; Coldplay)
• Covers/reimaging (yep, I'm linking Van Morisson and Mr Little Jeans)
• Generally, expect male vocals to start off the countdown (17/22 - how well this compares will become more apparent as I develop the project

Songs in red are those that made my shortlist, at the time. Songs in blue are those where I voted for that artist, but for a different song, in that particular countdown. Songs in green are those where I have voted for that artist in other annual Hottest 100s. My voting goes back to 1998.


22. Muse - "Neutron Star Collision" (2010)
21. Foo Fighters  - "Wheels" (2009)
20. Van Morrison & John Lee Hooker -  "Gloria" (1993)
19. Mr Little Jeans  - "The Suburbs" (2011)
18. Pnau - "Wild Strawberries" (2007)
17. Green Day - "Warning" (2000)
16. Dukes of Windsor - "It's A War" (2008)
15. Ben Harper - "Gold to Me" (1996)
14. Todd Snider - "Seattle Grunge Blues" (1995)
13. Tkay Maidza - "Switch Lanes" (2014)
12. Coldplay  - "A rush of blood to the head"  (2002)
11. Blue King Brown  -  "Come And Check Your Head"   (2006)
10. Fabienne Delsol  - "I'm gonna haunt you" (2004)
9. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories -  "Stay" (1994)
8. The Cat Empire  - " Party Started" (2005)
7.  Endorphin - "Sex and Violence" (2001)
6. Not From There - "Sich Offnen" (1998)
5. Powderfinger  - "Passenger" (1999) 
4. Effigy - "I Give In" (1997)
3. The Cat Empire - "The Chariot" (2003)
2. Karnivool  -  "We Are" (2013)
 1. Everything Everything  - "Cough Cough" (2012)

Yeah, I still find "Cough Cough" so catchy that it pips Karnivool as the best of the #100s.

At the back of the list are artists that I'm a fan of (Muse, Foo Fighters, Green Day) with tracks that just don't do it for me (they'll both likely place in the top few spots a couple of times as I develop this), along with covers/reinterpretations, where I prefer the original. Though it does strike me as noteworthy that the first annual Hottest 100 was kicked off with Van Morrison reimagining a song he first released (with Them) almost 30 years previous... given the way artists seem to rotate out of the Triple J playlist, I couldn't see, for example, Eddie Vedder re-recording "Alive" and placing in the Hottest 100 today.

#100 does see some songs/artists that may have otherwise been overlooked. Most notably Effigy, but similarly this was only Hottest 100 placement for Not From There and Endorphin, amongst others. I'm anticipating that Tkay Maidza breaks away from that particular group with the 2015 countdown (with "M.O.B.").