00's: The Hit of the Decade

so, only six months left. I can think of 'Toxic', 'Umbrella', 'Rehab', 'Crazy in Love', Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', 'Hey Ya', maybe 'Last Nite', Animal Collective's Brothesp..., err, sorry not this one, as potential candidates. What have I forgotten?

"Since U Been Gone"

Best of the 2000's so far (Top whatever)

wrong thread ha ha

no, man, I'm not talking about 'the best'.

What are you talking about then?

Groovejet, Get Ur Freak On, Can't Get You Out of My Head, Another Chance, Hung Up, Young Folks, Paper Planes, American Boy, In For The Kill.

'hit' doesn't equal 'best of', right?

pretty tough.
but it would be for any decade, I guess.
the most massive hit of the decade that everyone knows and that would rock a dancefloor anywhere... maybe yeah, "crazy in love", "hey ya", "can't get you out of my head" or Justin's "my love", snoop's "drop it like it's hot"...

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

Will Young - Evergreen

Shaggy - It Wasn't Me

Yeah what are the most pukealicious hits of the decade?

get 'young folks' the fuck out of this thread

Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Shakira - Hips Don't Lie

100 Reasons Why "Ignition - Remix" Is So Damned Great

Limp Bizkit - Rollin'

Get Ur Freak On

5 years ago i would've pegged this as a really major decade-defining hit but it feels so distant and relatively minor now

For reference, the 40 biggest selling singles in the UK in the 2000s thus far:

1. 1,789,919 Will Young - Evergreen
2. 1,329,740 Gareth Gates - Unchained Melody
3. 1,180,700 Shaggy - It Wasn't Me
4. 1,126,433 Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah
5. 1,100,233 Tony Christie - Is This The Way To Amarillo
6. 1,094,000 Band Aid 20 - Do They Know It's Christmas
7. 1,078,400 Hear'Say - Pure And Simple
8. 1,037,235 Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
9. 939,000 Atomic Kitten - Whole Again
10. 931,652 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
11. 874,444 Shayne Ward - That's My Goal
12. 853,151 Bob the Builder - Can We Fix It
13. 820,053 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
14. 751,243 X Factor Finalists - Hero
15. 747,000 DJ Otzi - Hey Baby
16. 745,000 Westlife - Uptown Girl
17. 742,472 Enrique Iglesias - Hero
18. 710,000 S Club 7 - Don't Stop Movin'
19. 700,069 Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This
20. 685,343 All Saints - Pure Shores
21. 659,662 Nelly / Kelly Rowland - Dillema
22. 654,304 Lady GaGa - Just Dance
23. 652,861 Lady GaGa - Poker Face
24. 642,001 Sonique - It Feel So Good
25. 634,380 Eminem - Stan
26. 634,000 Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love?
27. 621,700 Rihanna - Umbrella
28. 618,576 Baha Man - Who Let The Dogs Out?
29. 585,000 Shaggy - Angel
30. 578,092 Robbie Williams - Rock DJ
31. 573,125 Gareth Gates - Anyone Of Us
32. 554,756 Shakira - Whenever, Wherever
33. 552,407 Eamon - I Don't Want You Back
34. 551,527 Gareth Gates - Spirit In The Sky
35. 550,000 R Kelly - Ignition
36. 538,591 Las Ketchup - The Ketchup Song
37. 535,664 Duffy - Mercy
38. 530,742 Fragma - Toca's Miracle
39. 526,740 Crazy Frog - Axel F
40. 523,242 Spiller - Groovejet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWSQ9YQa_6w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA

12. 853,151 Bob the Builder - Can We Fix It

Can't wait for the Scoop solo record.

In America, in terms of omnipresence and cultural impact, it's Hey Ya.

disagree

Also, Stan

there are at least a dozen songs already mentioned in this thread that i think have had longer legs (in terms of recurrent airplay, influence on later hits, whatever) and more sustained appeal than "Hey Ya"

although i could be just saying that cause i fuckin hate "Hey Ya"

So the lesson here is nothing from the 2000s sounds that decade-defining five years down the road.

'Hey Ya" will play at every work party and wedding party for the next 10 years.

Justin Timberlake- Cry Me a River

So the lesson here is nothing from the 2000s sounds that decade-defining five years down the road.

well, what would it be for, say, the 90s ?

22. 654,304 Lady GaGa - Just Dance
23. 652,861 Lady GaGa - Poker Face

and people complain about sales decline ffs

So the lesson here is nothing from the 2000s sounds that decade-defining five years down the road.

nah - i agree w/al abt 'get ur freak on' and 'hey ya' but there are even older tracks which were def ubiquitous at the time which hold up really strongly - 'got your money' (was this '99 or '00?), 'try again' etc.

anyway my answer will always & 4eva be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3044_KkguY

for the UK anyway

"got your money" was '90

anytime someone is talking about previous decades, it's pretty easy to flash, say, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as shorthand for the 90s, or "Thriller" for the 80s, etc. i guess we're trying to name an equivalent here, but i'm not sure what it would be.

xp

Yeah, when was "Try Again"? That should def be on the list if applicable.

I think it's 99, no ?

and as for the shorthand for 00s I think "crazy in love" or "hey ya" work pretty well.

"Try Again" was 2000 but no way is that a good one for the 00s...or at least nowhere near as decade-defining as "One In A Million" or "Are You That Somebody" would be for the 90s.

Justin Timberlake's SexyBack, maybe?

For me, it's hard to think of three songs more well-known than "Crazy In Love," "Hey Ya," and "Since U Been Gone" across all demographics.

Oh and "Crazy."

"smells like teen spirit"

"get low" is so obviously the most influential song of the 00s, at least in the US

^^ can get on board with that, good call

It clearly must be, because I'm going to have to google it.

why more than, say, 'country grammar'

It clearly must be, because I'm going to have to google it.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, June 11, 2009 3:10 PM (24 seconds ago)

ha same here...it probably isnt if i don't know what it is offhand

Bringing up Nelly, I think I need to add "Hot in Here" to my ubiquity list.

If you're talking Smells Like Teen Spirit/Thriller levels of ubiquity then of course it isn't Get Low, which means next to nothing over here.

The serious answer - Crazy In Love, durr. And of the songs not already mentioned here you could also maybe make a case for Seven Nation Army or Yellow. But this is a stupid debate really.

maybe when Americans talk about ubiquity we're not talking about ubiquity in England

especially when we specifically add a caveat saying so

and I didn't even say it was the most ubiquitous song of the decade in the US (far from, actually), just the most influential

The biggest song of the decade is still "Independent Ladies Pt. 1"... there was a list released recently...

nah, it was only #1 for five weeks

whoops, make that seven non-consec

why more than, say, 'country grammar'

Suggest Ban Permalink
― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:10 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Because "Country Grammar" didn't completely redefine the sonic palette of American pop music in a way that's still being felt 6/7 years later, or open the floodgates for a style that was previously an underground regional phenomenon to become a dominant mainstream thing. Everything from "I Kissed a Girl" to "A Milli" is influenced by "Get Low" or (more likely at this late point) influenced by things that were influenced by things that were influenced by "Get Low". Seriously, what came out after...I dunno, 2003 that felt like felt like it had anything to do with "Country Grammar"?

And to Johnny/Kevin, "Get Low" isn't exactly obscure. it was a #2 hit and is the song made Lil Jon a celebrity and "crunk" a household word.

I honestly don't think any case can be made that any single song has made anywhere near the impact on US pop music this decade that "Get Low" has.

it seems nelly and tim mcgraw have the song w/ most weeks at number 1 - "over and over" w/ 11 weeks

what charts are you looking at? that wasn't even a #1 hit on the billboard hot 100

lol hm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_40_Mainstream_number-one_hits_of_2000_(USA) ?

Everything from "I Kissed a Girl" to "A Milli" is influenced by "Get Low" or (more likely at this late point) influenced by things that were influenced by things that were influenced by "Get Low".

eeeh i think this is pretty shaky.

'Get Low's own influence on just hip-hop alone doesn't seem so great after 2006 - 'Stay Fly', 'What You Know' etc. seem different enough from it. a big part of that is their slower tempo (closer to the Nelly track i cited), so it felt like the crunk style was commercially superseded by the slower southern rollin' thing.

"Ms. Jackson"

ok i found the billboard lists

i mean i guess i think of Get Low influence as more whatever Pitbull is up to now rather than TI if you get me

http://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=decade&decade=2000&tab=songchartstab&sort=pointsup&filter=all

well obviously not EVERYTHING or even every southern hit since "Get Low" is directly influenced by it -- but without "Get Low," there's no "Yeah"/"Goodies," which knocks out a pretty huge swatch of the last 5 years of R&B. and that all set the stage for snap music, Soulja Boy, etc.

admittedly i'm basing this on tempo mainly but it seems like that mid-tempo stuff really went out the window in recent years and now you either have super super slow stuff like 'A Milli' or pretty fast electro-speed stuff like Flo-Rida 'Low' doing the biggest business. but yeah the link between Lil Jon and everything T-Pain is stronger to me because of the similar sonic palette.

this is unrelated to the discussion we're having really but usher's "yeah" and eminem's "lose" yourself seem to have the most #1 weeks with 12 apiece if i'm counting right (boom boom pow is on its tenth!!). weird, i seem to remember "umbrella" being bigger than "just" six weeks atop the charts

That's cos it felt a lot longer.

it was 10 here iirc

ws gonna say lose yourself which had that kinda general acclaim where it was pretty okay for everyone to like (including the academy)

ultimately i don't think weeks at #1 is really that great an indicator of the popularity or 'size' of a hit -- if you had to go w/ raw data, total BDS spins or maybe length of time spent on recurrent charts would probably tell you more, but ultimately i think gut and anecdotal evidence count for a lot.

maybe when Americans talk about ubiquity we're not talking about ubiquity in England

Yeah I forget you guys never think about anything that happens outside your own borders ;) But the records listed for the 80s and 90s are ubiquitous round most of the rest of the world in a way Get Low just isn't.

(Yeah I know, you added a caveat)

at least we can surely all agree that Get Low is still offensively great

yeah true -- and maybe that says something about a larger US/UK gulf in the last decade than before...w/ hip hop becoming more central in the US but not as much over there. although it seems like as far as popular rock bands the gulf has thinned a little bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLDitGAUrno

Yeah I forget you guys never think about anything that happens outside your own borders ;) But the records listed for the 80s and 90s are ubiquitous round most of the rest of the world in a way Get Low just isn't.

― Matt DC, Thursday, June 11, 2009 3:23 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

if u want to talk about 'the rest of the world' i think youd find rap even more popular ...?

its probably 'in da club'

It's not really a US/UK thing per se, more that I think if you're going to settle on a record it kind of has to be one that was massive globally.

xposts Haha yeah In Da Club, can't believe no one mentioned that before.

^^ yeah deej good call

"get low" is a good choice but i've heard "yeah" like 5 times on the radio this year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_da_Club#Charts

France letting the side down there.

French language rule probably keeping it down

'Get Low's own influence on just hip-hop alone doesn't seem so great after 2006 - 'Stay Fly', 'What You Know' etc. seem different enough from it. a big part of that is their slower tempo (closer to the Nelly track i cited), so it felt like the crunk style was commercially superseded by the slower southern rollin' thing.

― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Thursday, June 11, 2009 1:06 PM Bookmark

"Stay Fly" is a weird case because 36M were probably more of an influence on Lil Jon than vice versa, but I'd argue that "Get Low" opened the door for something like "Stay Fly", (which has a very similar type of drum track, a lot heavier than most pre-"Get Low" southern rap crossovers) to become a hit.

As far as "What You Know", I think it's important that "Get Low" allowed for slow crunk songs to become hits probably even moreso than fast crunk songs, which may be even somewhat meaningless because one of the really interesting things about crunk is that a lot of it played with different features of an 160 BPM feel and 80 BPM feel simultaneously. This includes "Get Low", although that one decidely hews more toward the former. A good number of the crunk songs that became hits because "Get Low" opened the door, including a lot of Lil Jon's own had slower feels (the double-time feel of "Get Low" is probably more exception than rule for crunk), and those are what "What You Know" draws from. I'd argue that Lil Jon is responsible for much more of T.I.'s ascent than that. The beat of "24's" seems pretty much directly drawn from other Lil Jon songs and even "Rubber Band Man" always felt kind of "Get Low"-dependent in my mind.

With "I Kissed a Girl", the lineage is admittedly more tenuous, but there's no "SexyBack" without "Get Low" (check those ravey synth stabs!) and there's no "I Kissed a Girl" without "SexyBack" (check that 4x4 beat!). It's indirect, but it's there.

I was thinking about this earlier when I was in the car and '1 Thing' came on. Maybe 'Dirrty' too.

I have never heard of Get Low before

.... did anyone check the link I posted?

i've thought a bit in the past about trying to figure what the most influential hits of the 00s are -- as far as spawning new stars/producers or inspiring trends and copycats. always thought of "Yeah!" and "Goodies" starting crunk & b being a big one, also Avril's "Complicated" and Kelly's "Since U Been Gone" for kicking off the 2 seperate waves of girly guitar pop...and whichever T.I. song you can pin trap rap on and whichever Jay song you can pin chipmunk soul on. (xpost to Rev's great post)

jay's would be "h to the izzo" no?

"get low" is so obviously the most influential song of the 00s, at least in the US

― Change Display Name: (The Reverend), Thursday, June 11, 2009 12:09 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Dear Matt DC,

Please read the part in bold and stop acting like Tuomas.

With "I Kissed a Girl", the lineage is admittedly more tenuous, but there's no "SexyBack" without "Get Low" (check those ravey synth stabs!) and there's no "I Kissed a Girl" without "SexyBack" (check that 4x4 beat!). It's indirect, but it's there.

i would just say they're all using the same common tools rather than one earlier track influencing the others in these cases. i'm defining influence more rigidly/directly here tho granted.

Thanking you for this thread. I've never heard Get Low before today. It's pretty good!

I still couldn't really tell you what "crunk" is, mind you.

something by timbaland should be on here too probably

Rev dude I acknowledged that!

With "I Kissed a Girl", the lineage is admittedly more tenuous, but there's no "SexyBack" without "Get Low" (check those ravey synth stabs!) and there's no "I Kissed a Girl" without "SexyBack" (check that 4x4 beat!). It's indirect, but it's there.

you are really, REALLY stretching it.

I think "Promise" is Ciara's most influential single, and one of the more influential singles of the decade... if you listen to any r&b album nowadays there's at least one song with the "Promise" beat... hell, every song produced by L.O.S. has the "Promise" beat practically... and I know that beat can be traced back to Prince ("The Beautiful Ones" is the template), but yeah...

something by timbaland should be on here too probably

― let free dom ring (J0rdan S.), Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:38 PM (2 minutes ago)

seems like more of a 90s dude to me?

and "Irreplaceable" obviously, for the thousands of songs with the exact same beat it spawned... tho "So Sick" is sort of the hit that launched the StarGate sound...

'Promise' beat feels kinda Timbaland somehow...think N*Sync 'Gone' even (which I initially assumed Timba produced).

"irreplaceable" was kind of the peak of a sound rather than something independently noteworthy i think

i would just say they're all using the same common tools rather than one earlier track influencing the others in these cases. i'm defining influence more rigidly/directly here tho granted.

― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Thursday, June 11, 2009 1:37 PM Bookmark

you are really, REALLY stretching it.

― Monday Nite Tranny Party (The Brainwasher), Thursday, June 11, 2009 1:39 PM Bookmark

I am, but the point is that no mainstream US pop hits were using those particular tools before those songs, after which they became completely ubiquitous.

also i think something like "toxic" is more influential of "sexyback" and timbaland/nelly f than say "get low"

Sorry, Matt, I missed that earlier.

Really? "Toxic" has always seemed very much like a one-off cul-de-sac to me, although I can see an argument for that.

I think 'influence' is a red herring here.

Sure. Someone laid the ground for that tangent and I went off on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRNeI2oLBXw

this touches on a few important 00s narratives:
decline of jay but also harking back to heyday
hypercompressed suburb rock (numetal-emo)
bootlegging (iPodclectecism)
its both uniting and divisive and i'm pretty sure nobody above 24 can stand it.

I don't know how serious I'm being.

Some contenders...

2000
OutKast, "B.O.B."
OutKast, "Ms. Jackson"
Aaliyah, "Try Again"

2001
Missy Elliott, "Get Ur Freak On"
Destiny's Child, "Bootylicious"
Mary J. Blige, "Family Affair"

2002
Missy Elliott, "Work It"
Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
Eminem, "Lose Yourself"

2003
Beyonce ft. Jay-Z, "Crazy in Love"
OutKast, "Hey Ya"
50 Cent, "In Da Club"

2004
Usher ft. Lil Jon and Ludacris, "Yeah!"
Britney Spears, "Toxic"
Jay-Z, "99 Problems"

2005
Kanye West, "Gold Digger"
Kelly Clarkson, "Since U Been Gone"
Gwen Stefani, "Hollaback Girl"

2006
Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
Justin Timberlake, "SexyBack"
Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland, "Promiscuous"

2007
Rihanna, "Umbrella"
Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
Kanye West, "Stronger"

2008-09
M.I.A., "Paper Planes"
Beyonce, "Single Ladies"
Lady Gaga, "Just Dance"

(Mostly just thinking stuff I would hear at wedding receptions or whatever. Doesn't include huge ballads, though, like "We Belong Together" or "Irreplaceable.")

what no Nickelback?

The one track that defined what was most typical of the 00s and was also a big hit? That would be "Slow" by Kylie Minogue.

haha and here we hit the international divide from the complete opposite angle

Slow is Kylie's best single imo, also maybe my favourite music video oat

i preferred the chemical brothers remix

No list complete without "Freak-a-Leek" imo

There was an international/worldwide chart that used to be featured on MTV. There was always some overwhelmingly dominant song that would stay in their top three basically all year. 'Hips don't lie' was one such, as was 'Hung Up' by Madonna

I played some songs at a house party the other day, and "Hips Don't Lie" went over surprisingly well with a bunch of mid-20s women.

"surprisingly" well?

i can't believe no one mentioned 'rehab' until jaymc's post btw

Rehab was in the opening post.

No one's mentioned Milkshake, though. Not that it was particularly influential, but it's still a daily pop cult reference many years later.

not really. I said 'I can think of 'Toxic', 'Umbrella', 'Rehab', 'Crazy in Love', Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', 'Hey Ya', maybe 'Last Nite''

yeah...no one really picked up on that though. the "song x paved the sonic path for songs Y and Z" discussion was interesting but apart from anything else i'm not sure that the 00s really delivered on the sonic futur-progression front that the first half of the decade seemed to promise - various forms of retro have become its base, whether that's 80s synthpop or the 'crazy in love'/'1 thing' motowny sound. 'rehab' epitomises that pretty well, as well as encapsulating a bunch of other stuff about how listeners' relationship w/artists and celebrities has changed.

ooooh...another big one: U2 Beautiful Day

wow ban

also i cannot belieeeeeve that people have not heard 'get low' and being british is no excuse

Teardrops on my Guitar

Jaymc's list is pretty good (Milkshake didn't actually do that well in the US, right?) but I'd put in Can't Get You Out Of My Head instead of BOB. Of that list I'd narrow it down to either Toxic or Crazy In Love because they're the massive instantly-recognisable hits of iconic and globally famous pop stars who are completely identifiable with this decade. Even if both of them emerged at the tail end of the 90s. Edging towards Crazy In Love.

it probably really is chocolate rain

There's probably a parallel rock singles canon as well but I reckon Seven Nation Army wins that hands down.

Faust Arp

fell in love with a girl is way better xpost

Seven Nation Army x Last Nite

Sk8er Boi

Rock songs, in no order:

South Side
Seven Nation Army
Last Nite
Hate To Say I Told You So
No One Knows
Beautiful Day
Float On
Sex On Fire
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Mr. Brightside

Hi Conor!

Jaymc's list is pretty good (Milkshake didn't actually do that well in the US, right?) but I'd put in Can't Get You Out Of My Head instead of BOB. Of that list I'd narrow it down to either Toxic or Crazy In Love because they're the massive instantly-recognisable hits of iconic and globally famous pop stars who are completely identifiable with this decade. Even if both of them emerged at the tail end of the 90s. Edging towards Crazy In Love.

― Matt DC, Thursday, June 11, 2009 3:10 PM Bookmark

"Milkshake" was definitely a big hit, if not completely ubiquitous, and like Johnny says, v. much a pop-cult touchstone.

"Toxic", at least from a US perspective, seems like an odd choice. It was only a decent-sized hit and only seems to be remembered by pop stans. The songs Americans most associate w/ Britney are "Hit Me" and "Oops" and maybe "Womanizer". None of the rest seem so iconic, even if she's done better songs.

Hate To Say I Told You So

lol i love that part in the video where everybody stops except for the bass player and he's just pounding away looking all serious

"Toxic", at least from a US perspective, seems like an odd choice. It was only a decent-sized hit and only seems to be remembered by pop stans. The songs Americans most associate w/ Britney are "Hit Me" and "Oops" and maybe "Womanizer". None of the rest seem so iconic, even if she's done better songs.

― droppin' Hamiltons like MJB's niece (The Reverend), Thursday, June 11, 2009 5:23 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

i dont think this is true. toxic was pretty huge

funny to think that there could be a 9-10 year gap in Britney iconic bigness. 'I'm A Slave 4 U' was a huge moment, just from a personal pov.

"Paper Planes"

mandatory "all of the Blackout tracks shoulda been #1" whiny interlude

lil jon "get low"

That's a really compelling argument for "Get Low," Rodney, and it's obviously a great record. I'd be fine with it atop a big list. Though I'd probably put "Yeah!" above it in terms of ubiquity--sort of like preferring "Street Fighting Man" to "Jumpin' Jack Flash," which I also do.

Unfortunately, the answer really is "Bad Day."

"Yeah!" is certainly more ubiquitous. I wouldn't dispute that at all.

I wish I were kidding about "Bad Day," btw, but I'm not. "Bad Day" conjures its time and place with more acuity than any song I can think of from the '00s, because it was so totally inescapable. It's a wretched piece of shit, of course, but how many songs that are now considered classics (e.g. "Don't Stop Believin'") were considered garbage in their day too?

Not to set up my own experience as a barometer, I'm not sure I've heard "Bad Day" more than a dozen times tbh.

Yeah, that's relative, but I know a lot of people for whom it's true--and I agree with Al about gut.

(rereading, I realize I made a mistake: I both prefer "Yeah!" and would give it points for ubiquity. whereas the Stones comparison is just about quality and relationship of time.)

I think "Yeah!" was more influential than "Get Low" in the sense that even tho "Get Low" is "Yeah!"s antecedent, u can find antecedents for "Get Low" in all the Lil Jon traxx from before it -> "Yeah!" was an early creative apex that took "Get Low" & made it into a formula that was then replicated. i dont really buy all of rodney's easy connections for "Get Low" itself

Maybe. I did forget to include Ursh in the "Get Low" -> "Yeah!" -> "SexyBack" -> "I Kissed a Girl" chain. It seems like there should be something else between JT & KP, too, but it's not coming to me even though it feels like it should be really obvious. The difference between "Get Low" as antecedent for "Yeah!" and other Lil Jon tracks as antecedents for "Get Low" is that those other Lil Jon songs weren't summer-dominating hits that were heard by millions of people. I'm don't buy that "Yeah!" was required for elements of "Get Low" to become a usuable formula, as there certainly seemed to be one congealing by Fall 2003, before "Yeah!" hit. "Damn" by the Youngbloodz, anyone? What I will give you is that "Get Low" certainly wouldn't be as seminal as it has been if it didn't have a "Yeah!" to spread its influence beyond the confines of genre.

"Yeah!" and "SexyBack" are very important to this narrative, as they effectively broke "Get Low"'s influence into r&b and pop-qua-pop, repectively. (Does....um..."Let It Rock" have the same effect on rock? Ask me in a year. Or better yet, ask 3Oh!3.)

also i cannot belieeeeeve that people have not heard 'get low' and being british is no excuse

― lex pretend, Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:49 PM (Yesterday)

good thing that's not my excuse then!

Okay I just listened to Get Low and I can't for the life of me see how it's connected with SexyBack in any way, enlighten me. Or better yet point out that I'm completely deaf.

another vote for "Chocolate Rain"

My non-joke answer, the first one to come to mind as of right now, is "Like I Love You."

oh wait.. ubiquity is supposed to be one of the factors?

def NOT "Rehab"

"Hung Up" b/w "Last Nite."

I'm surprised there aren't more votes for "In Da Club" which is actually a good thing because it's one of the most overrated songs of the past 10 years.

jay's would be "h to the izzo" no?

― let free dom ring (J0rdan S.), Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:36 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

hellllll no

Jay-Z's would be "Big Pimpin"

jay-z's in the same category as timbo/aaliyah in my mind -- had big hits this decade but really the iconic stuff was generally in the 90s

how is "Big Pimpin" not iconic?

yeah i mean i guess that one maybe...more than "izzo," at least

jay's most iconic singles are "big pimpin", "h to the izzo", "hard knock life" and "i just wanna love u" - only one is in the 90s

how is "h to the izzo" not iconic? if only because it was probably the reason jay even got looked at by rocafella as a rapper

er, kanye obv

"can i get a" and "ain't no" still have more cache than "izzo". i don't think i would've heard the latter in years if i didn't listen to the blueprint.

yeah i forgot "can i get a"

im a huge "izzo" stan tho - i recuse myself

there are album tracks from that era that i hear DJs play more than "izzo"

xpost - eww why

jay-z's in the same category as timbo/aaliyah in my mind -- had big hits this decade but really the iconic stuff was generally in the 90s

timbaland bestrides the decades like a colossus etc. -- in terms of both influence and output in toto, i don't think anybody beats him for a 10-year stretch that starts in the '90s but doesn't end til, what, '07?

but that doesn't mean he had the hit of the decade. i mean, narrowing down to one song is such a reductive thing that you can make a case in a lot of different directions (including "bad day," e.g.). but from an american perspective (which is the only way i can tackle it), r&b/hip-hop is chart-pop ground zero, and atlanta is ground zero of r&b/hip-hop. so from there you can make cases for various things, but i think "yeah" hits the trifecta of loverman croon/crunk jam/ludacris guest verse. i sort of think the hit of the decade needs to have a ludacris guest verse.

if we were gonna split the decade in two, i'd go "yeah" for the first half and "umbrella" for the second.

"I Just Wanna Love U" was late 2000

(there was a period of several months where i almost literally could not leave my apartment without hearing "yeah" coming from somewhere. "umbrella" is the only other song that approached that.)

oh wait.. i misunderstood something.. ignore me

i think "yeah" is the best choice

I suppose something can be said for "Yeah" in that it spawned at least 2 other attempts to re-create the magic with the same 3 artists collaborating, and both of them also charted well. (I'm pretty sure there was a 3rd one..)

I think crank dat is important to/representative of a particular '00s zeitgeist. I wouldn't say it's most important but I think it deserves a mention

well -- there was a remix of "Red Light" (which was prod. by Lil Jon) featuring Ludacris, but that wasn't a hit, then there was all 3 on Lil Jon's "Lovers & Friends" which was pretty huge, top 5 hit, then Usher's "Dat Girl Right There" had Luda but not Lil Jon and was just briefly on the radio, didn't even end up on Usher's last album.

Okay.. I coulda sworn there was a 3rd collab that charted very well, but thanks for letting me know..

Also "99 Problems" is definitely an iconic Jay-Z track, as well as "Can I Get A".. along with the 4 mentioned above

well "crank dat" is definitely important as both a cultural event and likely as a blueprint for how to promote music moving forward from that point on

2005 - 2009 feels so different from the first half of the decade (musically)..

yeah -- i'm kinda glad it's started to really feel that way in the last year or two, though...first and second half of the last few decades seem so distinct and i was afraid that wouldn't happen for some reason, like things would just plateau to the point where there wouldn't be as much change in pop overall.

i sort of think the hit of the decade needs to have a ludacris guest verse.

okay, this has convinced of the rightness of "Yeah!" as the answer to this question

"My Humps" FTW, obv.

I hate to agree, but that totally sums up the 00s.

i'm pretty sure theres a shitty song that could sum up any decade..

Dear Laura,

Roses are red, violets are blue, oh my lump in the bed, I miss you.

The distance, my dear, has been such a barrier, next time you want an adventure, just land on a carrier.

(that's what "my humps" always makes me think of. which maybe does make it the hit of the decade, but not in a good way.)

h to the izzo def a minor jay single relatively speaking

Jaymc's list is pretty good (Milkshake didn't actually do that well in the US, right?)

I actually considered "Milkshake" (it hit #3 in the U.S.) but decided to keep it at three songs per year. (2003 was an especially fertile year. I also left off "Ignition (Remix)" and "Rock Your Body.")

"Toxic", at least from a US perspective, seems like an odd choice. It was only a decent-sized hit and only seems to be remembered by pop stans.

It's true that it was only a decent-sized hit, chart-wise (I wanna say it peaked at #9?), but I think the second half of your sentence is totally off-base. If my friends and the weddings I've been to are any indication, "Toxic" was very much a pop song that crossed over to audiences that weren't normally predisposed to Britney or pop music in general. Also think of the multiple bands that have covered it, from Local H to Nickel Creek.

i think "toxic" is one of the best and first examples of pop crossing over to rock/indie audiences in the 2000s

Yup.

Ew, "Yeah!" is so bad, what a shitty hook

see also: "Stronger"

xxp Which reminds me of this thread I started:
Was 2003 really the year that pop "broke"?

What about country? The closest thing to a "hit of the decade" I can think of is "I Hope You Dance" in terms of its ubiquity and level of generality. Notably it's pre-2001 and not all that country.

"before he cheats"?

crazy ex girlfriend

"Ignition (Remix)"

oh fuck, this is it for me I think.

re: country, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)"

"Save a Horse" didn't have all that much impact on country, did it?

oh wait, yeah, it looks like it only made it to number ten, weird. "redneck woman" did better.

Also, some unfortunates:
Nickelback - "How You Remind Me"
Los Lonely Boys - "Heaven"

Oh man I love Heaven

yeah...no one really picked up on that though. the "song x paved the sonic path for songs Y and Z" discussion was interesting but apart from anything else i'm not sure that the 00s really delivered on the sonic futur-progression front that the first half of the decade seemed to promise - various forms of retro have become its base, whether that's 80s synthpop or the 'crazy in love'/'1 thing' motowny sound. 'rehab' epitomises that pretty well, as well as encapsulating a bunch of other stuff about how listeners' relationship w/artists and celebrities has changed.

This is pretty much OTM although I would say (possibly mainly due to better available technology) that the 80s influenced stuff doesn't sound quite like it would have done in the 80s, which is why I feel it's more typical of the 00s than most other stuff mentioned.

And as for "Rehab", has Amy Winehouse really influenced many similar acts other than Duffy?

(And if there is one trend that has been a US only one to an even larger extent than most of the R&B hits, then country is that one)

As for country, Lonestar's "Amazed" was released in 1999 but spent its two weeks at #1 in early 2000. I think that and Carrie Underwood's post-Idol #1 "Inside Your Heaven" are the only two country songs to hit #1 in the U.S. this decade. But of course "Before He Cheats" spent 64 total weeks on the Hot 100 and is probably a lot better known.

All the talk upthread about the influence of "Get Low" just reminded me that when Ciara debuted, she was labeled "crunk'n'b."

i also labeled her "crunk & b" in this thread, about 100 posts ago...turn of phrase i hated at the time but at this point it's useful to put in that historical context.

the princess of crunk!!!

I bet Hey Ya would win a Hit of Decade poll.

But I thought there would be more Umbrella enthusiasts in this thread (although I hate the song).

i'm not even close to being able to listen to 'hey ya' again, and i dimly recall that i actually liked the thing when it first came out

Shakira - Hips Don't Lie

― Matt DC, Thursday, June 11, 2009 10:25 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i believe this is by a fairly long shot the worldwide bestseller of the last decade? which has to count for something right?

Hey Ya won the first half of the decade poll we did about five years ago, can't remember what came second.

Re: Shakira - Latin America is a massive unknown quantity for me here. I was thinking of listing something like Gasolina but decided that would be ridiculous.

Hips Don't Lie is 1m sales ahead of Hung Up, Viva La Vida and her own debut single. According to Wikipedia at least. I had no idea the Coldplay song was quite that big.

Oral Fixation Vol 2 I like a lot but I never thought much of "HDL"; too obvious a let's-make-an-international-hit type of hit.

Viva La Vida was the most inescapable Coldplay song since Clocks, so I'm not surprised at the sales.

Viva la Vida was quite ubiquitous last year. And I don't know why but I think it will become sort of a wedding party song (not mine). Maybe because of the strings, the lyrics and, well, because it's the type of music your mom would be OK with.

It's a bit weird how some of the stuff that seemed kinda decade-defining (maybe self-consciously so?) at the time - Missy Elliott, the Strokes 1st one, the Streets, even 50 and Eminem - doesn't really seem that way now.

Hits of the decades:

60s - Satisfaction
70s - Stayin' Alive
80s - Thriller
90s - Smells Like Teen Spirit

Hey Ya doesn't seem in the same league

60s - Satisfaction

For me, it's Hendrix's "Watchtower" cover -- aided in no small way from its ubiquitous placement on every 60s film/photo montage ever. Fortunately, I still get a chill when it kicks in.

oh shit, what will they use for the 00's when they need something solemn and serious for 9/11 and Iraq montages in the inevitable Forrest Gumpian epic of 2020?

bombs over baghdad

also i have to belatedly dispute that nirvana track being representative of the 90s!!! no way

oh shit, what will they use for the 00's when they need something solemn and serious for 9/11 and Iraq montages in the inevitable Forrest Gumpian epic of 2020?

― Brio, Friday, June 12, 2009 11:03 AM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"bad day" i hope

In the UK would it not be some god-awful indie record by the Libertines or something? Or Franz "Take Me Out"?

(Sorry Lex!)

oh shit, what will they use for the 00's when they need something solemn and serious for 9/11 and Iraq montages in the inevitable Forrest Gumpian epic of 2020?

― Brio, Friday, June 12, 2009 11:03 AM (35 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I could easily see "crazy" for that (and I hate that song).

I also dispute that, again with UK caveat, Smells Like Teen Spirit was tune of the 90s.

It would be Wonderwall or something, no?

oh shit, what will they use for the 00's when they need something solemn and serious for 9/11 and Iraq montages in the inevitable Forrest Gumpian epic of 2020?

Radiohead durr.

tlc 'waterfalls' is what i immediately thought of for the 90s

This is just getting silly now.

The 00s answer feels like Can't Get You Out of my Head, though, thinking about it.

Early 90s britpop (Oasis, Blur, 2000 other bands, etc.) seems like an 80s carryover for me (granted, I'm Amurcan). When I think UK music in the 90s, I think Take That and Spice Girls.

I think the 00's hit should be one that mixes hiphop/rnb/pop elements into a monster mainstream/unescapable track.
so I will stick with "crazy in love", I think.
I could clearly see it played in 10 years at parties as the "oh-so-00s" song.

I bet the Johnny Cash version of Hurt will also get some solemn Gumpian montage play down the line - but Had A Bad Day for a 9/11 montage is the best idea ever.

I think the 95 Oasis v Blur number 1 battle kind of the key UK popular music moment of the 90s, though.

If you wanted to instantly set a scene in a film as 90s though, you would use dance music, but not sure what or when? If you wanted to instantly say 00s you would use hip-hop/r&b.

ebenezer goode, born slippy

Of course!

Your search - "9-11 montage set to "had a bad day"" - did not match any documents.

9/11 montage to 'Hero'

Smells Like Teen Spirit still feels more synonymous with the 90s than anything else mentioned, especially TLC. It doesn't have to be representative of everything that happened in the decade, it just has to be a massive pop cultural moment.

But yes, in Britain I'd probably go for the Born Slippy, which still feels more '90s at its peak' than anything else.

(there was a period of several months where i almost literally could not leave my apartment without hearing "yeah" coming from somewhere. "umbrella" is the only other song that approached that.)

― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Thursday, June 11, 2009 11:44 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^ this. "Yeah!" drives me up a wall but it was INESCAPABLE and does well on the "influence"-o-meter too.

Agreed with those who say the early-decade hits now feel very remote from the current landscape, although I think you could make a kind of broader influence argument about "Work It," which wasn't the source point of anything on the airwaves nowadays, but seems to generally justify a whole host of weird sonic activity, e.g. "Drop It Like It's Hot." Timbaland's 90s work had brought in lots of odd synth sounds but they tended to be much more tightly-wound loopings of things..."Work It" invites you to dance in weird shapes, stop and start, get cartoony - I hear "Watch My Feet" here, and "Crank Dat" and "Milkshake" for sure.

That makes it a "Smells Like Teen Spirit" type decade song, something early in the decade that did really well on its own and also kicked off a general mood/genre/vibe/sound. (The difference being that there were other weirdo hip hop hits from the Timbaland stable before this.)

But for something more like "Satisfaction" - mid-decade, ubiquitous and somehow touching on The Mood of The Times, I think "Yeah!" or "Umbrella" still works. "Umbrella" better because, a, I like the song a whole lot more, and b, the vibe of impending doom surrounding the two steadfast lovers feels more or less right for 2009... (edit to add, i think it might actually end up in the Iraq montages mentioned above, the "it's raining" part particularly)

Songs that will only continue to be more beloved, but somehow don't feel decade-defining:
Crazy, Toxic, Ignition (Remix), most of the Outkast hits, Hips Don't Lie, Since U Been Gone...

Not sure what the long-term fate will be of some of the giant hits that don't seem to really have a strong base at this point, ie, Eminem's smashes, James Blunt, and so on. Just in terms of how history gets written, I'm not seeing the consensus that would put these in the permanent record.

That James Blunt song isn't going to be included in any history of pop music but it is never, ever, EVER going to go away.

Hey Ya won the first half of the decade poll we did about five years ago, can't remember what came second.

― Matt DC, Friday, 12 June 2009 14:19 (1 hour ago)

shame on you it was of course 'Get Ur Freak On'

I think "Lose Yourself" will end up being Eminem's legacy track, because history tends to favor the serious over the playful. Also, it will live on forever in the context of professional sports.

'smells like teen spirit' was not a massive pop cultural moment - i didn't even know what it was until like 1997

i prefer "lose yourself" but i think "the real slim shady" might still ultimately definite eminem and the era he ruled

definite=define

some good material:

Albums of the half-decade ...
How will this decade seem weird in the future?
Bands/Pop stars that are quickly becoming relics of the earlier part of this decade?
End of a half-decade: ILM kinda official Top 100 Albums & Tracks Poll - VOTING OVER (thank heavens) (i can't find the results thread)

'smells like teen spirit' was not a massive pop cultural moment - i didn't even know what it was until like 1997

so the problem is with you, not the song, right?

I think the 95 Oasis v Blur number 1 battle kind of the key UK popular music moment of the 90s, tho

really tho it was meaningless to pretty much everyone but the music press axis of indie (and anyone else in the media who looked to them in the pursuit of cool)

'smells like teen spirit' was not a massive pop cultural moment

WAHT

where's that ILM post about Armando or somebody dropping 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' in some Chicago or Detroit dance club and everyone going nuts

Abigail version no doubt

In fairness I think SLTS has developed more and more cultural cache over time, although it started accumulating that pretty quickly.

really tho it was meaningless to pretty much everyone but the music press axis of indie (and anyone else in the media who looked to them in the pursuit of cool)

That was quite a lot of the country in 1995!

(xpost - I've seen dancehall acts drop Smells Like Teen Spirit and people go mental, usually in the section of the show where they drop bits of Staying Alive and other ridiculous cheese)

which dancehall acts??

'smells like teen spirit' was not a massive pop cultural moment

I still remember walking through the TV-room next to the dining hall in college and having a bunch of people gathered around the MTV, excited to see the Anarchist cheerleaders and all, and then a few days later hearing "Lithium" on the college station and how it didn't sound like any other other "college rock" being played then. So it seemed like a big shift at the time.

really tho it was meaningless to pretty much everyone but the music press axis of indie (and anyone else in the media who looked to them in the pursuit of cool)

^^precisely. it wasn't just me - if you weren't paying attention to rock and indie, these things would have passed you by almost completely.

(90s answer = 'unfinished sympathy'?)

Also, "You Know You're Right" made no splash a few years ago because the whole 90s/00s-rock radio programming sounds like Nevermind now, and distinctly different from classic-rock radio up to that point.

(edit to add, i think it might actually end up in the Iraq montages mentioned above, the "it's raining" part particularly)

I seem to remember reading somewhere where Terius said he initially wrote "Umbrella" for a friend fighting in Iraq and rejiggered it a bit to make it a love song.

'smells like teen spirit' is a bit like alanis morissette's 'you oughta know' in that at the time it would have easily passed loads of people by, but it has accumulated/was given more and more cultural cache over time

actually it's pretty much like 'you oughta know' in every sense, thinking about it

Robbie Williams 'Angels' would probably win some bullshit 'best song since The Beatles split up' UK-wide poll right now. either that or Blunt.

if you weren't paying attention to rock and indie, these things would have passed you by almost completely.

Or the top of the charts. Or the tabloid press. Or the TV. This is reverse-Hongroism of the highest order.

Steve - no idea - it was at some Portuguese festival. I got the feeling it was a regular part of the set though and not just pandering to the crowd. I've actually spent the last couple of minutes trying to find that old Stelfox post about the link between dancehall and cheese but it doesn't seem to be showing up.

"Umbrella" does have a very contemplative war vibe to it, but I never figured it was intentional.

SMTS was a much bigger hit than You Oughta Know at the time but I agree both their profiles rose more since then.

uh SLTS

kind of amazed that 'you oughta know' only hit 22, but the album was super-huge fairly soon afterwards. bigger than 'blue lines' anyway.

'smells like teen spirit' is a bit like alanis morissette's 'you oughta know' in that at the time it would have easily passed loads of people by, but it has accumulated/was given more and more cultural cache over time

actually it's pretty much like 'you oughta know' in every sense, thinking about it

― lex pretend, Friday, June 12, 2009 8:43 AM Bookmark

Except that in the US it was a top 10 hit, whereas "You Oughtta Know" never bothered the pop charts (although "Ironic" certainly did).

I had to listen to Jagged Little Pill about 2,000 during the summer of 1995 because I was working at a chain record store. Nightmares still.

i wouldn't be surprised if Jagged Little Pill outsold Nevermind

2,000 times xp

Jagged Little Pill = 19m copies
Nevermind = 10.6m copies
Pearl Jam - Ten = 12m copies lololololololol

wtf Rev, "You Oughta Know" peaked at #6 on the U.S. charts and got huge Top 40 airplay

based on nothing but personal experience as an American who generally avoids pop music (barely watch tv, never listen to radio), the songs I feel will be on every wedding and work party playlist for the next decade... the shit that will be oldies of the 2000s: Hey Ya, Crazy in Love, Mr Brightside, Crazy, Beautiful Day, and In Da Club.

I seem to remember reading somewhere where Terius said he initially wrote "Umbrella" for a friend fighting in Iraq and rejiggered it a bit to make it a love song.

dunno where you saw this but it's wrong - he wrote it for britney, from a maternal perspective

He's probably got six different stories he tells rock journos about that song.

oh well i'm not a "rock" journo so maybe he told me the truth

i dont think you oughta know or smells like teen spirit passed any more people by than any other huge top ten pop song

Oh pardon, I didn't realize "rock" in such a context was that offensive.

To be honest I'm not sure an umbrella is much defense in the middle of wartorn Iraq. If I was out there and someone invited me to stand under their umbrella I would think they'd gone mad.

That Iraq thing is actually all over the internet by the way. It might actually be true.

My assumption would be that Terius is a bit pretentious and full of bullshit and changes the story whenever he feels like it.

ok lex aren't you like 20 yrs old?

That Iraq thing is actually all over the internet by the way. It might actually be true.

The quote of the decade

That guy with 40 million Nigerian dollars in a Swiss bank account is all over the internet.

Haha I kind of meant "it might even actually be true".

wtf Rev, "You Oughta Know" peaked at #6 on the U.S. charts and got huge Top 40 airplay

― being british is no excuse (some dude), Friday, June 12, 2009 8:49 AM Bookmark

Apparently there is a bit of confusingness around this. Looks like when it was originally released it couldn't chart on the hot 100 because of the airplay-only restrictions at the time, then it was later released as a double-single with "You Learn" billed first, which charted at #6. Anyway, I concede the point.

ah yeah, all the weird rules involving physical singles vs. airplay in the 90s

Yeah, for instance, "Lovefool" never was on the Hot 100 at all, even though it hit #2 on the airplay chart.

'smells like teen spirit' is a bit like alanis morissette's 'you oughta know' in that at the time it would have easily passed loads of people by, but it has accumulated/was given more and more cultural cache over time

hahahahahahahahahahaha

I know. What's that about? You can jerk off to R&B til your cock is electrik red. But why that would necessarily distort the impact of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is beyond me.

FWIW: Apart from an occasional bout of "Tubthumping," "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was the ONLY rock song I heard (and danced to) at gay clubs in the 1990s. And I clubbed hard (and all over) in the 1990s.m

"All the Things She Said"

It's also important to keep in mind that in the '90s, the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. isn't the arbiter it had been before that. MTV and it ran in lockstep for a while through the early '90s, but Soundscan upset that, as well as the above-mentioned formatting rules. "Teen Spirit" was No. 6 on Billboard but was far more inescapable than that indicates.

"Teen Spirit" was beyond inescapabale. It crept up from under the baseboards while you slept and left tattoos on your pets.

When people list Thriller for the 80s do they mean the single or the whole album? It seemed to me that Beat It or Billie Jean were bigger than Thriller.

'smells like teen spirit' was not a massive pop cultural moment

I would just like to jump on the bandwagon of how incorrect this statement truly is.

To many, its video was the 90s equivalent of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

not to me, but just sayin..

"Thriller" seems like an odd 80's choice, except for the fact that it was always at #1 on MTV's top 100 videos list, and because the album was so massive.. I think it works for "hit of the 80's" moreso than "Beat It" or "Billie Jean".. or "When Doves Cry" for that matter..

I enjoy "Hey Ya!" and consider its initial release an "event" but still feel uncomfortable calling it "hit of the decade."

However it seems like every song I've been considering for this was released in 2003.. I'd like to think there's hopefully some kind of partial consensus (if that makes any sense) that 2003 was musically the best year of this decade.

Oh certainly, at least as far as radio hits.

Yeah I meant in terms of huge radio singles..

x-post Come on, Thriller was always at the top of the MTV list because the video cost a billion dollars and had dancing zombies. It was like the 4th single off the album.

yeah...i think i was the first person in this thread to ref "Thriller" but that admittedly is more shorthand for the album and MJ himself and the MTV era than about the song itself -- "Billie Jean" probably a better choice

"Dirt Off Your Shoulder" feels like a really important song at the moment, particularly because of the Obama resonances -- tho I'm not sure how culturally widespread that is.

aaaahhh i cant stop coming back to this.. Previous decades seemed to have more obvious choices..

my subjective nominees... Say My Name, Oops I Did It Again, Get Ur Freak On, Independent Women Pt 1, Hot In Herre, Seven Nation Army, Ignition Remix, Yeah, Take Me Out, Crazy, Paper Planes

"Dirt Off Your Shoulder" feels like a really important song at the moment, particularly because of the Obama resonances -- tho I'm not sure how culturally widespread that is.

― Mordy, Saturday, June 13, 2009 5:17 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

fraudulent, meaningless garbage.

"Dirt Off Your Shoulder" does pretty well as far as Jay's old hits that still get spins and sell well on iTunes...don't know if I'd throw it into contention in this thread, but then I've never liked it much.

x-post Come on, Thriller was always at the top of the MTV list because the video cost a billion dollars and had dancing zombies. It was like the 4th single off the album.

hahaha seventh

I don't think I've heard "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" other than of my own volition in at least a couple years. If anything, it seems to have had much more durability as a meme than as a song.

Who gives a shit which single it was off the album at two decades' distance? Presumably that means Thriller came out after The Girl Is Mine or something and no one calls THAT the single of the 80s.

haha "The Girl Is Mine" was the FIRST single off the album. If you want to use that stick than even "Billie Jean" is irrelevent

then*

"With "I Kissed a Girl", the lineage is admittedly more tenuous, but there's no "SexyBack" without "Get Low" (check those ravey synth stabs!) and there's no "I Kissed a Girl" without "SexyBack" (check that 4x4 beat!). It's indirect, but it's there."

Perhaps too late to raise it again but I think this is wrong. "I Kissed A Girl" seems pretty clearly to belong to a post-Goldfrapp lineage (it's produced by Dr Luke I think so this is not too surprising.

Basically Goldfrapp's "Strict Machine" --> Rachel Stevens' "Some Girls" --> Pink's "Cuz I Can" = Kelis' "I Don't Think So" --> "I Kissed A Girl".

Which doesn't change the fact that "Get Low" and "Yeah" are good choices for this thread.

Ubiquitous 00s nostalgia at parties I frequent seems to boil down to:

Beyonce - Crazy In Love
Missy - Work It
Sean Paul - Get Busy

... but this may be more to do with the fact that a lot of my friendship circle only belatedly got into commercial R&B/hip hop circa 2002/2003. Surprisingly i've noticed the tune that really rocks all parties is Jamelia's "Superstar". But that's obv not hit of the decade contender.

I thought of Sean Paul but realised I think of him more as the artist that encapsulates 2003, rather than anything else.

PAROCHIAL BRITISHES ONLY ANSWER:

Sugababes - Freak Like Me

(mash-up culture + girl groups + electro/80s revivalism + ubiquitous tabloid celebs + indie cred + massive #1 hit)

it was truly our 'get low'

Perhaps too late to raise it again but I think this is wrong. "I Kissed A Girl" seems pretty clearly to belong to a post-Goldfrapp lineage (it's produced by Dr Luke I think so this is not too surprising.

Territorial bias here again, but I think territorial bias is useful when discussing these narritives: Goldfrapp, while not completely unknown, don't have much of a profile in America. Which isn't to say that Dr. Luke and/or Katy Perry aren't fans or that "I Kissed a Girl" isn't influenced by Goldfrapp, which wouldn't surprise me either, but that most of their audience in the US is going to be completely unfamiliar with Goldfrapp. The major point is there was a long period pre-"SexyBack" where 4x4 beats were out of fashion almost to the point of nonexistance among US chartpop, which changed very quickly once "SexyBack" hit.

I've never thought of the glam stomp "I Kissed A Girl"/"So What"/"Womanizer" sound as having much of anything to do with the housey beats that came into vogue a couple years prior -- and I know next to nothing about Goldfrapp aside from hearing their one song those sound like a couple times in maybe a TV commercial?

I think Pink's "Cuz I Can" actually predates "Sexy Back", and Rihanna's "S.O.S." (the first big R&B track with that beat, I think there was a Brooke Valentine track before that even lol) predates that again. But the glammed up electro-rock-pop sound of Pink is key here - this is the tradition "I Kissed A Girl" belongs to anyway, much more than Timbaland let alone "Get Low".

I think the more general point you're making about "Sexy Back" (leading on to "The Way I Are" etc.) is correct though.

Just chiming in to say that I’m fairly certain that the answer to this question is “Since U Been Gone”—and it’s not an easy conclusion, but after much thought it’s the most fitting choice, for a number of reasons.

First, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the obvious choice for the ‘90s, even if you didn’t pay attention to rock or indie or anything otherwise. On radio, MTV, whatever, that song was beyond ubiquitous, and more importantly pretty much EVERYBODY loved it. The song was strong enough to eclipse all other music of its kind, and was even played on radio stations that would never play it (In Chicago, B96, nominally “Top 40” but really mostly R&B/hip-hop/euro techno used to play this all the time (and “Under the Bridge,” for that matter, but that isn’t nearly as hard or as noisy as “Smells Like Teen Spirit’)). The song is a distorto, angry rawk song that reached a pop audience, and as much as the cultural impact of that event has been risibly and totally overstated and aggrandized, it was enough of an event that the song has been immortalized on most mainstream media outlets and is even played on classic rock stations like crazy, something most ‘90s songs have yet to achieve. And it’s a “classic” song in every sense, in that it was huge then and it’s huge now, and the argument could easily be made that it never gets old.

Looking down this list, the choices that stand out seem to be “Paper Planes,” “Crazy In Love,” “Ignition (Remix),” and “Since U Been Gone.” “Paper Planes” is a standout because it sounded like utter apocalypse, and during the financial crisis, positioned against everything else happening internationally constantly being streamed in on mainstream media, it sounded like the times in which it was being played. And yet, the song itself still doesn’t seem to be emblematic of the ‘00s, since it misses so much else of what was happening on the charts, and I still have a hard time believing that it really hit the wider culture the way “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or even “Like a Virgin” did.

“Crazy In Love” or, let’s say “Yeah” were huge songs that absolutely did have that widespread cultural ubiquity, but like “Paper Planes” they don’t really represent anything that occurred on radio during the last half of the ‘00s, like the way “Smells Like Teen Spirit” really fashioned trends in “alternative radio” and hard rock generally, especially with regards to singers and lyrics. “Ignition (Remix)” may well be my choice for the best single of the ‘00s, since it’s so fucking perfect, but like the other songs I still have a hard time stating that it represents everything that was happening, especially because SO MUCH was going on in the last ten years, whether in country or R&B or dance music or anywhere else.

So why is “Since U Been Gone” the right choice? Well, let’s start with the first and most visible reason: It’s the biggest breakout song by the winner of American Idol, easily the biggest thing to happen to music in this decade, since it’s one of the best indicators of what people were paying attention to internationally with regards to pop, particularly since the Internet made things like Billboard, MTV, and the charts damn near obsolete. In reality, American Idol is the best barometer that the world has for what the wider mainstream listens to, and that goes for an international perspective as well. Literally, the parallels between American Idol and mainstream pop are stronger than any other cultural institution, and AI is an institution at this point.

But more than that, the song literally takes from almost every trend that existed throughout the decade. The production is undeniably teen-pop, the delivery of the song is undeniably girl-pop, and the structure and instrumentation are very much indie-pop. It’s rock-pop in very much the same way that emo and country are, it’s sassy and defiant in very much the same way that R&B is, and it sounds very much like commercial dance music. Moreover, its 4/4 beat provides a barely tenuous bridge between emo/alt-rock in the first half and R&B in the second half, and the song itself is placed right in the middle of the decade, providing a sort of bridge between the two decade’s respective characteristics.

Most importantly, everyone LOVES it. It doesn’t matter if you listen to mainstream rock or country or R&B or indie, the song is so great that it blocks any stereotypes or misconstrued notions of authenticity or genre. It’s a great fucking song that appeals to damn near everybody, and even four or five years later it’s still a great song and always will be, and for that reason alone it stands tall above the fray, because next to anything else, it gets what it wants.

My intent isn't to write a PR sheet for Kelly Clarkson or “Since U Been Gone,” just seems to be the correct choice here.

don't see the r&b connection but w/e

I still see "Hey Ya" as bigger than anything else--and it crossed genres in a way that little else has since the decline of MTV in the mid-90s. I know everyone is sick to death of it at this point, but that is kind of standard for a huge hit. Everyone was sick of SLTS in 1998. It tapped into the post-millennial anything goes r&b/hip hop vibe that Missy & Timbaland often hit, but was more universal than anything Kanye or Weezy or even the Black Eyed Peas ever produced--probably because of the retro feel. There was no other song, except maybe In Da Club that was so inescapable. Since U Been Gone was never in the air in a similar way. I involuntarily heard 'A Moment Like This' far more often.

It's Umbrella, c'mon.

xxxpost I don't have a problem with the choice itself but yeah the R&B connections are tenuous. What exactly do you mean by the "second half" of the song? And that last paragraph - talk about risibly and totally overstated and aggrandized!

Also this begs some elaboration: "American Idol, easily the biggest thing to happen to music in this decade, since it’s one of the best indicators of what people were paying attention to internationally with regards to pop, particularly since the Internet made things like Billboard, MTV, and the charts damn near obsolete."

I watch Idol religiously but it's certainly been no indicator of anything happening in R&B or hip-hop, two rather, um, popular genres this decade.

I meant in the second half of the decade, not in the song. But I hear you about the last paragraph, I wrote that whole thing in a frenzy and I guess it comes across that way.

You're right about R&B and hip-hop, I was more referring to a rather vague sonic quality with regards to how music is played on the radio. What I was alluding to was that AI sounds like radio.

Ok I hear ya.

Probably not the thread for this but it's related:

What are the zeitgeisty 1990s acts whose 2000s career has deflated some of their 1990s importance in retrospect? One obvious candidate would be Lauryn Hill whose MTV Unplugged album has become more fascinating to me in the last year of the decade.

12. 853,151 Bob the Builder - Can We Fix It

Can't wait for the Scoop solo record.

SCOOP IS AWESOMES

Since U Been Gone is quite poor. + It hasn't been even remotely ubiquitous / universally adored.

are you people even serious

wonder if talrose and makeitpop are aim buddies or something.

i think i'd vote since u been gone too (tho freak like me snapping close. umbrella, almost so)

well, it seems we are ready for a poll

We Belong Together

xxxp Doubtful.

I still have a hard time believing that ["Paper Planes"] really hit the wider culture the way “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or even “Like a Virgin” did.

Domestic (U.S.) total gross of Pineapple Express according to Box Office Mojo: $87,341,380
Domestic total gross of Slumdog Millionaire: $141,319,928

As of 30 March 2007 Casino Royale had grossed over $1 billion globally

"You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell--the Hit of the Decade.

My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion - hit of the millenium

would not dance to 'Since U Been Gone'. that's a dealbreaker.

"You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell--the Hit of the Decade.

way to dodge

naming a couple popular movies a song's been in isn't really a convincing argument that it's been hears by as many people as "Teen Spirit," though, imo

I'd like to see a cogent argument as to why it's not Baha Men's "Who Let The Dogs Out?" Not because I like that song but because I'm bored.

it's been in a lot of movies too

hahaha I love pointing out that "Paper Planes" was heard by loads of people that don't normally listen to music has turned into "oh yeah, well lots of movie hits were heard by loads of people and THEY aren't the hit of the decade!" defensiveness.

but you weren't saying it was heard by loads of people -- you were countering the idea that it wasn't a "Like A Virgin"-level cultural event.

"the wider culture" = moviegoers who don't normally listen to radio. at least that's the point I thought I was making.

obv. "the wider culture" = lots of things, but that's what I was on about. clearly the song is too recent to measure in the long term, but I think its movie ubiquity (not to mention its movie-trailer ubiquity, enabling it to reach even more people than just the folks who see the movies) says a lot about its future impact as well, esp. since Express is a stoner-buddy action-comedy (= DVD rentals galore) and Slumdog won the Best Picture Oscar.

and since Chris Cornell's song never did dick beyond being in a billion-dollar grosser, I don't see how that makes any difference. and "Who Let the Dogs Out" is a perfectly good candidate for decade-defining hit--upthread I argued for "Bad Day" ffs!

I didn't hear "Paper Planes" on top 40 radio till "Swagger Like Us" was a well-established hit

. . . and?

I'm not really arguing anything I'm just writin shit

http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/d6/unsecured/media/301939184/301939184_1892177375_paramore-decode.jpg

xpost: I didn't realize, sorry.

thought i clicked on ws 09 for a second there

"Get Low" is def my favorite pick so far. something influential to the greater part of the decade that clearly defines a split, sonically and culturally, between the '90s and '00s. "Paper Planes" seems too highbrow

paper planes isn't actually in 'pineapple express' iirc. it's in the trailer. it's a song lots of people have heard without knowing the title of. like that one 'here come the girls' song or whatever. this whole thread concept is tarded beyond words but js.

goin back to the UK biggest-sellers thing, it's just weird to think 'Evergreen' is something that's been listened to a lot of people in the last 5 years. presumably it actually hasn't. i guess you could've said the same about Band Aid and Candle In The Wind '97 too tho so best seller lists have been useless for some time. If anything we've made relative progress here if the top seller wasn't a charity record (inc. death songs in that).

paper planes shouldnt have even been mentioned in this thread, please

If Paper Planes is the hit of the decade, I'm turning full rockist

from the 99% ur on now?

lol postulation: chart-pop this decade has not come even remotely close to re-attaining the heights of "pure shores" and "beautiful stranger"

Great list/linked vids from Tim in that thread, actually

playing along, 'paper planes' is a better choice than 'since u been gone'.

It is Crazy In Love.

Seriously, stop even pretending otherwise, you are all wasting your time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUN6Jx5X0Ss

^^a joke, right?

agree w/matt - interesting discussion has been had but 'crazy in love' is the only one which makes total sense from every angle. 'umbrella' might do but it feels too soon - maybe in 10 years we'll look back and it'll be the obvious answer though.

some absolutely horrific answers in here, more for the sheer deludedness of the POV (internet discussion bunker) they're representing than the actual songs being bad\wrong. blimey.

It is Crazy In Love.

Seriously, stop even pretending otherwise, you are all wasting your time.

yup

"crazy in love" is surely behind "yeah" if anything

ok, here's the shortlist (I don't agree with Paper Planes on the list. But whatever). Again, what have I forgotten?

Crazy in Love, Beyoncé ft Jay-Z
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
Get Low, Lil' Jon & Eastside Boys
Hey Ya, OutKast
Toxic, Britney Spears
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
Umbrella, Rihanna
Seven Nation Army, White Stripes
SexyBack, Justin Timberlake
Last Nite, The Strokes
Can't Get You Out of My Head, Kyle Minogue
Ignition (Remix), R Kelly
Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliot
Yeah, Usher
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
Paper Planes, MIA
Hips Don't Lie, Shakira
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley

maybe, like, the idea of "hit of the decade" is just really stupid

well if you think so, why are you on ILM? Because ILM is all about this kind of stuff. Or 90% of it. god, I don't know why I'm answering that.

the idea of a "hit of the decade" is a pretty good idea imo

the point isn't the answer, it's the search

this has been a really compelling thread

I wonder what it is!

Crazy in Love, Beyoncé ft Jay-Z
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
Get Low, Lil' Jon & Eastside Boys
Hey Ya, OutKast
Toxic, Britney Spears
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
Umbrella, Rihanna
Seven Nation Army, White Stripes
SexyBack, Justin Timberlake
Last Nite, The Strokes
Can't Get You Out of My Head, Kyle Minogue
Ignition (Remix), R Kelly
Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliot
Yeah, Usher
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
Paper Planes, MIA
Hips Don't Lie, Shakira
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley

http://www.kimpearson.org/game_show_host_spin_wheel_hg_clr.gif

I still have a hard time believing that ["Paper Planes"] really hit the wider culture the way “Smells Like Teen Spirit” or even “Like a Virgin” did.

Fwiw, my little sister, whose musical knowledge runs roughly from Lil Wayne to T.I. has "Paper Planes" as her ringtone. Even watching it climb the Billboard charts, it didn't hit me how completely mainstream that song is until I heard her phone go off.

"Get Low" is def my favorite pick so far. something influential to the greater part of the decade that clearly defines a split, sonically and culturally, between the '90s and '00s.

― lesbian book store (Curt1s Stephens), Sunday, June 14, 2009 3:42 PM Bookmark

Thanks for stating my argument that much more succinctly and elegantly than I ever got around to.

Just in case you use that list for a poll, I should point out that "Crazy" is in there twice.

one of the reasons I'm not totally on board with "Crazy In Love" (aside from the fact that I don't really like it all that much) is the sample -- shouldn't the 'defining hit of the 00's' not be known largely for a horn hook recorded in 1970?

Also, there have been other candidates in this thread.

some dude otm. horn hooks recorded in the 1970s are so 90s

Fwiw, my little sister, whose musical knowledge runs roughly from Lil Wayne to T.I. has "Paper Planes" as her ringtone. Even watching it climb the Billboard charts, it didn't hit me how completely mainstream that song is until I heard her phone go off.

yeah but countless numbers of hits in the 00s that were bigger than that one arent even getting mentioned in this thread. yes we know it crossed over, no its not even close to the level of ubiquity as basically everything else listed here, it just has the music crit boosterism going for it

where's the votes for young gunz - 'no better love'!!? my little sister had that as a ringtone!!!

not actually true btw, but she did have a The Fray ringtone

Also, there have been other candidates in this thread.

I don't know, should I really include Lady Gaga and Will Young? Tried to narrow it down to the real contenders.

None of the country ones should be included?

it's "crazy" b/c of 9/11.

Deej, speaking of which, The Fray's "How To Save A Life" is the best challenger to the supremacy of "Bad Day" surely.

bleeding love, apologize, irreplaceable

Speaking of, they're playing some kind of Spencer Davis Group-sounding cover of "Hey Ya" as background music during the Lakers/Magic game right now.

Probably the new Booker T version.

http://www.banquetrecords.com/graphics/679543915967.jpg

"Get This Party Started" seems like it will forever get played at office partys or wedding receptions.

i agree about the horns in crazy in love disqualifying it - it's a huge hit but it kinda had a retro feel even at the time. "yeah" isn't my favorite song or anything but i think it pretty clearly defined/ the sound/vibe for the rest of the decade, plus it was huge and unavoidable for years and years after it came out. hey ya is perhaps too unique to fully represent the naughties? i felt like it was more of the pinacle of the early early 00's "rap can be a million things" aesthetic (indian samples, suburban rockrap, throw in some acoustic guitars or a backwards hook or give it a doubletime rock tempo or whatever the hell else you want) that withered and died in the face of the atlantasound 808s and ravesynths onslaught (which is still with us 7 years later)

get low is obviously highly influential, but never reached the critical mass to make it a serious contender for The Hit Of The Decade.

but i think it pretty clearly defined/ the sound/vibe for the rest of the decade, plus it was huge and unavoidable for years and years after it came out.

See, the thing that makes me hesitant to get behind "Yeah!" is that I don't think I heard it much after 2004-05. Or at least compared to all those wedding-reception staples like "Hey Ya!," "Crazy in Love," and "Crazy."

Arguably the extent to which "Yeah" fails the "wedding reception staple" test is more indicative of the fact that pretty much all post-crunk falls on the kids side of a "parents don't understand" divide in a way that "Crazy In Love", "Hey Ya" etc. don't.

if the wedding reception test is something that needs to be passed, surely that rules out 'smells like teen spirit' for the 90s

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" was played at a few weddings I've been to - mainly people who were in college when it came out. People just jumped around drunkenly singing.

I played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at a wedding!

Also, swoods to thread!

thread not getting any less tarded really.

i was 11 when SLTS came out, 19 in 1999. it's kind of obvious that my Hit of the Decade is going to be one i was "around" for. also brits and americans are naturally going to talk at cross-purposes. apparently 'get low' was actually a single here -- but in 2005. it wasn't a big deal anyway.

And yet you keep posting to it

pretty sure 'yeah' will get played at weddings when people who were in college when it came out get married

also, i've played 'how many licks?' by lil kim at a wedding, and would like it played at my own wedding, but i wouldn't call it a wedding reception staple just yet

benny benassi "satisfaction"

"also, i've played 'how many licks?' by lil kim at a wedding"

Yeah but would you play at a wedding for someone you didn't know? If so I defer to your bravery.

Yeah at that same "Smells Like Teen Spirit" wedding, I played the um, VERY uncensored version of "Up in Here." I wanted the dancefloor to open up and swallow me whole. Quickest fade in DJ history.

Actually if it didn't come out in 99 (I think) I would totally switch my vote to "Up In Here"!

"Party Up (Up in Here)" that is.

"also, i've played 'how many licks?' by lil kim at a wedding"

Yeah but you bottled it and cut it off after one chorus. Impressive dancefloor-clearing skillz as I remember.

This is reminding me, a bunch of my friends used to rent out a bar for New Years Eve, and I'd collaborate with a couple other guys on the night's playlist, part of which would include popular songs from the past year for people to dance to. Back in 2003 I suggested "Get Low" and was immediately vetoed by my friend Brian, who said that it was played at his office's Christmas party and it cleared the floor like nothing else. ((He's white, btw.)

of course it's Galang

nah i played more of it than that - i remember that the dirty lyrics weren't really the problem as everyone was too drunk to hear them but the random orgasm in the second verse did raise eyebrows.

i would def play 'how many licks?' at a wedding where i didn't know anyone, which is why i will never be asked to dj in such a situation.

What if you were asked to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit?" Would you implode?

i've been asked to play worse than that, and have consequently perfected a withering glare of contempt. the best/worst was when i was djing w/my friend anna-marie and some chick asked us to play the STONE ROSES :OOO - imagine!! we just had no words, had to just look down at her until she went away shamefaced.

Heaven forbid.

Sorry if this has been covered somewhere on this bigass thread, but in what universe (besides ILM) is "Toxic" considered to even be Britney Spears' definitive hit of the 00's, let alone a defining hit for the entire decade?

i agree about the horns in crazy in love disqualifying it - it's a huge hit but it kinda had a retro feel even at the time. "yeah" isn't my favorite song or anything but i think it pretty clearly defined/ the sound/vibe for the rest of the decade

I don't totally disagree with those who disqualify "crazy in love" for that reason but "yeah"'s 90s rave synths are retro too !

also it has rapping -- so 80s.

i've been asked to play worse than that, and have consequently perfected a withering glare of contempt. the best/worst was when i was djing w/my friend anna-marie and some chick asked us to play the STONE ROSES :OOO - imagine!! we just had no words, had to just look down at her until she went away shamefaced.

Seriously, fuck this.

The DJ's job is to entertain their audience. That means coming down out of their ivory tower and playing what they want as well as (or better than) what the DJ thinks they want. You don't do that, the punters take their business elsewhere and you'll be playing to/with yourself for zero return. Certainly if I asked for something and the DJ gave me a funny/contemptuous look I'd make damn sure they never got another penny of my money. There's a recession on; if you don't want to please your paying customers, there are plenty of other DJs who do.

Wrong thread for that argument but I disagree, usually. Of course if you don't like a DJ you can go somewhere else but if all DJs do is play requests all night they might as well just install a big jukebox.

There's a difference between that and being a self-important prat though

The history of the Nightclub is a big important chapter in the history of being a self-important prat though.

if i do get married i think i'd like 'Get Low' as the first song

but in what universe (besides ILM) is "Toxic" considered to even be Britney Spears' definitive hit of the 00's, let alone a defining hit for the entire decade?

in the UK at least it's at least in the top 2 or 3 of her biggest 00s hits

Actually if it didn't come out in 99 (I think) I would totally switch my vote to "Up In Here"!

― Tim F, Monday, June 15, 2009 9:15 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it was a 2000 single off of an album released in December '99 -- in other words, no less eligible than "Big Pimpin'"

That means coming down out of their ivory tower and playing what they want as well as (or better than) what the DJ thinks they want.

Pretty sure there's a post in the archives where you take the exact opposite position but hey, coinflip.gif.

I'm pretty sure there are people who go up and request the Stone Roses at drum and bass and dubstep nights. Ditto Oasis. The sheer thudding inevitability of a Stone Roses request is such that it's difficult to good-humouredly pretend you're going to play it.

Difficult to know why people who turn up to these sorts of nights ask for completely different music.

But again I wouldn't sneer at them but say "sorry, haven't got any, this isn't an indie club" &c. Or else (and better, if you can do it) try to persuade them that it's better for them to stay since they might hear some great music they'd otherwise never have considered. It's an occupational hazard of being a DJ and the worst reaction is the holier-than-thou-this-is-my-temple-you-are-not-worthy one. But try the above enough times and even the most stubborn customer should realise what it's all about.

but in what universe (besides ILM) is "Toxic" considered to even be Britney Spears' definitive hit of the 00's, let alone a defining hit for the entire decade?

in the UK at least it's at least in the top 2 or 3 of her biggest 00s hits

― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Monday, June 15, 2009 9:16 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah its bullshit in the US also, that song was huuuuge & one of her biggest singles

I think I just missed "Toxic" when it came out because I was way into rap snobbery at that moment.

See, the thing that makes me hesitant to get behind "Yeah!" is that I don't think I heard it much after 2004-05. Or at least compared to all those wedding-reception staples like "Hey Ya!," "Crazy in Love," and "Crazy."

― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, June 15, 2009 5:23 AM Bookmark

Maybe this is a consequence of me listening to rap/r&b radio, but I hear "Yeah!" way more often than any of those songs.

Also, I haven't been to a wedding in years.

this is a generational thing I think. I can't picture ppl my age playing "Hey Ya!" or "Crazy" at their wedding receptions

anecdotal yada yada but i heard "yeah", "crazy" and "hey ya" way more than "crazy in love" - "crazy in love" is better than the latter two but it def sounds the most dated of them all to me ("hey ya" aside cuz i can't really listen to that song anymore so i recuse myself)

dude curt people will def be playing "hey ya" at weddings in 5-10 years

this is a generational thing I think. I can't picture ppl my age playing "Hey Ya!" or "Crazy" at their wedding receptions

― lesbian book store (Curt1s Stephens), Monday, June 15, 2009 4:52 PM (40 seconds ago)

wait huh how old are you again? i can totally see people my age doing this

curtis is only friends with nerds/goths

Part of why I keep going back to the "wedding reception" test is that I'm interpreting this thread as an attempt to evaluate canonicity. Which is to say, I think one can make a very good case for "Get Low" or "Yeah!" as being representative songs of this decade, but it's harder for me to imagine them being played at '00s Retro Night or sung at karaoke bars or used in commercials in 20 years. But maybe that's not what the thread's about.

i think that's pretty much all this is about

"get low" is a very music crit choice - it was a big hit but i don't think normal people just remember that song out of the blue like they do "yeah" or "hey ya" or "crazy"

of course they do! it introduced white america to skeet skeet skeet

Get Low is the only song mentioned so far that I've never heard.

I think that it should be noted that a LOT of people have said this btw

I don't know what "Yeah!" is either, but I bet I've heard it. I'm over 30 and therefore that further bolsters the case for it.

Yeah! was kind of huge (Usher/Lil Jon)

the one with the annoying synth line and video of usher dance in front of disco lights? sure let's pick that one, end thread.

That shortlist upthread is pretty good actually, needs a ballad or two in there though. And although I'm no fan, you need at least one Coldplay song in there as well.

Shortlist re-posted for convenience...

Crazy in Love, Beyoncé ft Jay-Z
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
Get Low, Lil' Jon & Eastside Boys
Hey Ya, OutKast
Toxic, Britney Spears
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
Umbrella, Rihanna
Seven Nation Army, White Stripes
SexyBack, Justin Timberlake
Last Nite, The Strokes
Can't Get You Out of My Head, Kyle Minogue
Ignition (Remix), R Kelly
Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliot
Yeah, Usher
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
Paper Planes, MIA
Hips Don't Lie, Shakira
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley

Hey Ya, Crazy and Yeah seem to stick out of that list for me.

If we're adding a Coldplay song, I'd vote Clocks over Viva La Vida.

the only one in that list that i couldn't sing offhand is the strokes one

I really think "Before He Cheats" should be on there. It was bigger than some of those songs.

Good luck usa

i dont thinky kylie was nearly as big over here as it was in britain ... for most folks here its a cool one hit wonder kind of joint

these songs seem to not reach the bar of required ubiquity / popularity to qualify imho:
rehab, seven nation army, last nite, paper planes

also, sexyback was big but didnt feel like it was as big as the singles from his first album at all

Sexyback was big, Like I Love You was huge-a-mongous.

If we're adding a Coldplay song, I'd vote Clocks over Viva La Vida.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, June 15, 2009 10:18 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah no question

these songs seem to not reach the bar of required ubiquity / popularity to qualify imho:
rehab, seven nation army, last nite, paper planes

they played 7 nation army between plays at a vikings game on the metrodome PA last year...so i think that means it counts IMO

Yeah, "7 Nation Army" is the only song this decade that's crossed over into "We Are The Champions"/"Rock N Roll Part 2" sporting ubiquity. Cf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNNTmBc6bKE

also i think rehab counts because winehouse herself reached like "jay leno joke level event" in terms of being in the gossip rags and i think that song will be around forever because she kinda became a think like that, plus it's a great song.

paper planes, i agree with you.

xpost that italy clip is <3

I really think "Before He Cheats" should be on there.

Country is still a genre on the margins of pop culture, sorry. I know it's produced some huge hits, but no country song is going to stand as the hit of the decade.

Country is still a genre on the margins of pop culture, sorry. I know it's produced some huge hits, but no country song is going to stand as the hit of the decade.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, June 15, 2009 10:40 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

oh man that is just way wrong.

Hey, I used to live in Nashville. Even there, the country industry was confined to 6 or 8 blocks of "Music Row" downtown. Rock and r&b radio stations outnumber country stations there at least 3-to-1.

ut in what universe (besides ILM) is "Toxic" considered to even be Britney Spears' definitive hit of the 00's, let alone a defining hit for the entire decade?

in the UK at least it's at least in the top 2 or 3 of her biggest 00s hits

― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Monday, June 15, 2009 9:16 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah its bullshit in the US also, that song was huuuuge & one of her biggest singles

― autogucci cru (deej), Monday, 15 June 2009 20:02 (2 hours ago)

"Toxic" peaked at #9 in the US, as did "Oops I Did It Again". "Gimme More", "Womanizer" and "Circus" all peaked higher (I'm going by wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britney_Spears_discography). I also remember "I'm a Slave 4 U" being a much bigger deal at the time than it's chart peak would suggest (#27).

Worldwide, "Toxic" hit #1 in multiple countries, but so did "Oops", "Womanizer", "Piece of Me", "Gimme More", "Everytime", "Me Against the Music", and "Lucky".

I'm just saying that "Toxic" wasn't some runaway hit compared to her other singles. FWIW, if I'm picking the single that defined Britney in the 00's, it's either "Oops" or "I'm a Slave 4 U".

Britney was always more a video/MTV artist than a radio charts artist. "Toxic" peaking at #9 really has no bearing on how big the song was (or continues to be).

Crazy in Love, Beyoncé ft Jay-Z
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
Get Low, Lil' Jon & Eastside Boys
Hey Ya, OutKast
Toxic, Britney Spears
Rehab, Amy Winehouse
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
Umbrella, Rihanna
Seven Nation Army, White Stripes
SexyBack, Justin Timberlake
Last Nite, The Strokes
Can't Get You Out of My Head, Kyle Minogue
Ignition (Remix), R Kelly
Get Ur Freak On, Missy Elliot
Yeah, Usher
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
Paper Planes, MIA
Hips Don't Lie, Shakira

(also, I pick "Slave 4 U" as well) xxp

so ppl are really actually arguing that fucking "toxic" was a bigger hit than "oops i did it again"?

I think "Toxic" has longer legs, definitely.

xp: That's exactly what's fucking with my head re: Britney.

Maybe "Toxic" has had longer legs, but "Oops" is so much more iconic.

seriously go grab a person on the street and ask them to sing oops i did it again...then ask them to sing toxic, they will be like who? what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh0LMBMTVJw

That's what always struck me weird about Toxic's popularity (I don't think it's that great, personally). It's pretty much unsingable unless you're Britney.

It just seems really weird to go for "Britney song that was somewhat popular and become acceptable for indie fans to like" over "Britney song that everybody and their mom and probably their grandma too knows".

yeah, my mom has "oops!" on her ipod! (see also: "Bye Bye Bye")

p.s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D58aWWEaSuk

No.

I like that song, but no.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeGmjtumSg

"Toxic" combines chart success with a certain kind of credibility in a way that none of the other songs listed above did (ILM stanning for Blackout notwithstanding).

It provoked a lot of "guyz, this sounds crazy, but i really like that toxic song by britney!" reactions from people.

"Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" seems to be a big sports-related hit over here, though that may be more just the way the chorus gets snipped for commercials.

Re "Get Low", I imagine a lot of people who haven't heard it actually have heard it without knowing what it is. Like a lot of big/"important" modern rap singles its distinctiveness is only really apparent if you already kinda follow the broader genre. As with Soulja Boy (plus Flo-Rida's "Low" and any number of rap hits past, present and future) it's a crossover hit in fact rather than in form, whereas "Yeah" qualifies as both.

The pinnacle crossover moment for "Get Low" was, I think, Justin Timberlake dancing in his seat to "till the sweat runs down my balls" at the MTV Music Video Awards (or some similar awards ceremony0.

It just seems really weird to go for "Britney song that was somewhat popular and become acceptable for indie fans to like" over "Britney song that everybody and their mom and probably their grandma too knows".

― ringtony ringtoni ringtone (The Reverend), Monday, June 15, 2009 6:06 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is a b.s. history rewrite imo. toxic was also big with grammas, this is whiney-level rewriting of indie-self-hating history

i mean you guys are acting like its some minor single -- it was also so many years after "oops," which was her breakthru & she was in an entirely diffeent TRLworld-type pop strata at the time ...

doesn't 'oops' mostly exist in people's minds as 'baby one more time' part 2, given how similar they are? i think 'toxic' is way way way overrated but can't see how it's not the defining britney song of the 00s. i mean, would that it were 'i'm a slave 4 u' or 'everytime'.

plus 'toxic' really gave her career a new lease of life - at the time there was definitely a sense that she needed to prove her worth again.

toxic was also big with grammas

I have never seen any evidence of this. I honestly don't think I've ever heard "Toxic" other than on radio/MTV.

Oops was her sophomore make-or-break hit. (it was "make," of course)

oops came out when music biz was a lot bigger too

Even "I'm a Slave 4 U", which didn't go as high on the charts, seems 10 times more major than "Toxic".

As in, there was a whole run of songs from her first two albums that are just a big blur now, none of which encapsulate the '00s. xxxp

^^^i totally disagree rev -- 'slave 4 u' was def the bigger 'indie kids like this too' single at the time bcuz of the neptunes contribution -- felt like more of a neptunes track than a britney song -- toxic managed to crossover to non-indie kids who were sleeping on britney, it was just a lot more iconic & singular

Wasn't "Gimme More" bigger than all of them? "It's Britney, Bitch."

like i knew 'rap head' dudes who didnt give a shit about britney before & never knew about 'popism' & had no concerns about the rock crit discourse that came around on toxic.

tape store gimme more was like a last hurrah ... no way was that defining anything

I think we've gone over this quite thoroughly in some other thread (that felt like a mess while it was going on, though probably reads much better today), but "Gimme More" feels like the biggest single in terms of publicity--weeks of tabloid articles and tonight show jokes making fun of the performance--and it also charted quite well (#3, granted this was in the download era). For some reason, it feels right that the (fantastic) single that happened to define Britney's mental downfalls would also rank as her most career-defining single of the decade.

Country is still a genre on the margins of pop culture, sorry. I know it's produced some huge hits, but no country song is going to stand as the hit of the decade.

I don't think this is really true--country has stayed so popular for so long that by that alone it occupies a healthy chunk of the mainstream, and there is obviously a lot of bleed-through with "Before He Cheats," which occupied the Hot 100 for a long time. And since I'm right to be dinged upthread for clearly not having seen Pineapple Express, I will ask here if anyone has heard "Before He Cheats" in movies or on TV ads--I think I have, but can't cite specific examples. It's a song that seems to have seeped into social gatherings as much as any I can think of: I've heard it as much as any song while out doing karaoke, which I realize is variable. But even if I don't think it's The One either, I think it deserves consideration.

I think we've gone over this quite thoroughly in some other thread (that felt like a mess while it was going on, though probably reads much better today), but "Gimme More" feels like the biggest single in terms of publicity--weeks of tabloid articles and tonight show jokes making fun of the performance--and it also charted quite well (#3, granted this was in the download era). For some reason, it feels right that the (fantastic) single that happened to define Britney's mental downfalls would also rank as her most career-defining single of the decade.

― i exchange e-cards with the retards (Tape Store), Monday, June 15, 2009 6:25 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the song also sucks. & did not have gramma crossover

bullshit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V56je_asoMI

if gramma crossover is a criterion that needs to be fulfilled can we strike 'teen spirit' off the 90s consensus already

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG-Kl5ee2tA

Who sings this mythical Before He Cheats?

"I think we've gone over this quite thoroughly in some other thread (that felt like a mess while it was going on, though probably reads much better today), but "Gimme More" feels like the biggest single in terms of publicity--weeks of tabloid articles and tonight show jokes making fun of the performance--and it also charted quite well (#3, granted this was in the download era). For some reason, it feels right that the (fantastic) single that happened to define Britney's mental downfalls would also rank as her most career-defining single of the decade."

By that point the story was Britney's mental health, to which the song was basically ancillary - people were saying "woah it's good" because all available evidence at the time suggested Britney could barely speak, let alone sing.

Not that there's anything wrong with the backstory having a role, but if we're talking "decade defining" then I wpould say it's got to be a song which isn't too tied up in the identity of the performer. I'd object to "Rehab" on the same grounds, or at least if the justification is "Amy Winehouse's personal life is public domain." Surely the search is for a song that says something about the music of the era, as opposed to the tabloid obssessions of the era). The two issues are obviously interconnected but the question posed by the thread seems more narrowly construed than that.

it's got to be a song which isn't too tied up in the identity of the performer

i mean, but, moreso than any other decade, isn't that what the 00s is about?

yeah but "rehab" sorta seemed like emblematic of the whole era of lindsay lohans and all those laddettes and shit

I think only if you have a very specific notion of contemporary pop, and it's contradicted by most of the other nominations in this thread - what do "Crazy In Love", "Yeah", "Get Low" and "Umbrella" (written for Britney!) really say about their performers as publically known individuals?

The "emblematic of other shit going down" argument would produce very different answers for all decades I think. It would produce answers like Huey Lewis & the News for the 80s and Beck's "Loser" for the 90s.

Not that these are obviously wrong, but again, I don't think that's what this thread is about.

Beyonce was 'crazy in love' w/ Jay; Lil Jon liked skeeting on ladies?

re: Nickelback "How You Remind Me"

There are definitely worse mainstream big-rock singles of the decade. But I really don't think rock has dominated this decade anyway, unless it's some kind of rock/r&b fusion like latter day Fall Out Boy or some kind of post-post-post emo punk stuff like Panic At The Disco or Paramore.

Although, now that I think of it, "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence should totally be on the shortlist.

'rehab' is a standard b/c it's both absolutely tied up in the identity of the performer and really easy for listeners to identify with - it's absolutely a "drunk girls out on the town" kind of song and easily transcends the winehouse tabloid factor - which is a huge aspect of the decade in any case

It's also way more retro than "Crazy In Love" even - I think when I first heard it on the radio I actually did think it might be some archival piece.

yeah i don't think being retro disqualifies a song at all given how retro this decade has been/become, esp in mainstream pop!

ok, well, if we're not including the wider culture, then "Crazy In Love" is a really wrong nomination (wtf does Rich Harrison have to do with the 00s? i mean, he doesn't even have an identity), and we should stop including it.

in terms of huge pop event, nothing's gonna beat the first time i heard 'Crazy In Love'. plus Beyonce has the stature one associates with providing a decade's biggest hit (not that it couldn't be a debut single i guess). the retro thing isn't that important really - many of the 90s biggest hits would be affected the same way.

funny that Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me' has been kinda forgotten about.

funny that Shaggy's 'It Wasn't Me' has been kinda forgotten about.

I've tried really really hard.

i don't think it's that odd that a lightweight, kinda annoying novelty hit has been forgotten about!

agree about beyoncé's stature - she's def the supreme 00s pop star.

if gramma crossover is a criterion that needs to be fulfilled can we strike 'teen spirit' off the 90s consensus already

OMMFG, lex! Uncle! Uncle! You win! "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was soooooooooooo not the consensus song of the 1990s. In fact, few remember it today, kay? Now you can go back to your R&B/dance/Strokes who? cocoon. :)

Sheesh you make me feel like a rockist.

i'm hoping Shaggy has at least two more #1s in the 10s

"ok, well, if we're not including the wider culture, then "Crazy In Love" is a really wrong nomination (wtf does Rich Harrison have to do with the 00s? i mean, he doesn't even have an identity), and we should stop including it."

Just being obtuse now tape store, disqualifying "Crazy In Love" on those grounds is including the wider culture. But I'm not trying to exclude the wider culture anyway, just claim that it's not the number one criterion.

All I'm saying is "Hit of the Decade" does not have the same meaning as "Emblematic of the decade". Neither "Gimme More" nor "Rehab" feel like the "hit of the decade" to me.

And there's a big difference between "retro which is typical of its era" and "retro which is self-consciously retro"., The difference between Beyonce and Amy Winehouse (see also Duffy) is that no-one buys the former's album thinking "I'm so glad she's opting for a classic soul and funk sound over that unpleasant modern production."

'Church Heathen' shoulda been obv xp

yeah, i think beyonce and jt are the pop queen and king of the 00s (is that another thread?)

also, where's the love for the neptunes and (esp) kanye?

CIL, Rehab and Umbrella is a decent top 3 and Jay's on them all (OK just a remix of Rehab but still)

Crazy In Love would fit either list ("Hit of the Decade" or "Emblematic of the Decade") imo. The 00s have stretched music out in all directions, including backwards. Crazy In Love isn't any kind of anamoly soundwise. It is, however, the absolutely best of its kind.

Because there is no definitive Neptunes or Kanye record? Gold Digger, maybe?

re: Kanye

Gold Digger seems to be the zenith of his mainstream era, Stronger the high point of his crossing over, and Heartless or Paranoid as the iconic moments of his WTF MAN?! era.

"Drop It Like It's Hot"

(oh, let me guess, snoop is soooooo 90s)

Snoop is pretty 90s.

That song excepted.

"Run It" >>>>>> "Yeah" (also Chris Brown is way more 00s than Ursher)

'Beautiful' is Snoop's big wedding-friendly joint

xp i might agree w the parenthetical but no way was 'run it' bigger than 'yeah' either from a musical perspective or in terms of ubiquity

'Beautiful' is Snoop's big wedding-friendly joint

― Hard House SugBanton (blueski), Monday, June 15, 2009 7:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

2nd tier neptunes single at best tho

I have nothing to back this up other than hearing it a lot more but wasn't Beautiful a far bigger hit than DILIH? Drop It Like It's Hot is that weird thing indie kids can also like'; Beautiful is about as close to a 'can be played on any radio station [going by bbc here]' massive song. But you wouldn't think of it as the definitive Neptunes/Snoop of the decade, non?

xpost

DLIH charted higher, felt bigger, still hear it on the radio more -- Beautiful was at the time just a "hey look Snoop can still make a hit if he gets with the right people" thing, whereas DLIH was just a huge huge song (although i like Beautiful a lot more personally)

i, um, don't remember beautiful? "Signs," though!

Relistening to a bunch of the songs mentioned on this thread, only Umbrella still sounds big enough to be the hit of the decade. But that might just be because it's one of the most recent. Crazy in Love barely makes an impact on me today.

"Signs" is an awesome song that barely cracked the top 40.

What About Country Part 4

As always, one should add a "For Whom?" to the thread title. Country fans would look at that short list above and roll their eyes (at best). Part of the problem here is the emphasis on innovation ("Get Low" allowed this next chapter to happen) where country emphasizes tradition (although that doesn't quite explain the ginormous success of Come On Over in the 1990s). So it requires a measuring stick that's largely been missing from this thread.

P.S. ILM tells me I'm spelling "ginormous" correctly. When the hell did it become a real word?

xp Ha, I take that back, it didn't even MAKE the top 40. It peaked at #46.

btw I find myself usually kind of breaking from consensus and really disliking or feeling indifferent to one or two of the biggest hits of the year every year -- so really looking at the songs being discussed in this thread, i would say maybe 3 of them are locks for my top 100 of the decade (Since U Been Gone, Get Low and Toxic), and a handful of others i actively enjoy (Crazy, Last Nite, Get Ur Freak On). really most of my posts in this thread are kind of not playing favorites at all, if not totally objective.

Sexyback was big, Like I Love You was huge-a-mongous.

"Sexyback" was a MUCH bigger hit, as were "Cry Me A River," "Rock Your Body," "What Goes Around...Comes Around" and "Summer Love." ("Like I Love You" peaked at #11).

And I can't even fathom how, in the post "Before He Cheats" universe (and multiplatinum sales for Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson) the notion that country music has no pop culture claim.

Not to get into the tricky and super overplayed notion of canon-building, but it seems obvious that the notion that country music has no pop culture claim could be amended to read: country music has no pop culture claim among the sorts of people who determine the hit of the decade. OR for a certain group of music listeners, who may even love certain Country albums, it exists in a realm apart from a broader pop music narrative. Or somesuch. Basically, it seems divorced from what's going on elsewhere (in sorta this pop R&B hip-hop rock nexus), and I think country having its own radio stations speaks to that. (Whereas if you listen to the Top 40 format -- which I haven't in a long long time, but am assuming -- you'll hear Beyonce next to Fallout Boy next to Rihanna etc.)

I'm not saying country has no pop culture claim. But I'd bet there's a bigger segment of the population that actively dislike country than any other kind of music.

Hey Lex, once me and my grandpa were driving through Aberdeen and he asked me, guess what? He asked me if I knew Kurt Cobain was from there.

But I'd bet there's a bigger segment of the population that actively dislike country than any other kind of music.

...and they're all on this thread. Country and hip-hop are the two biggest selling genres.

Tbh, I was quite surprised that Gramps knew who Cobain was.

that's weird! i'd be surprised if my grandma (or, hell, my mom) knew who kurt cobain was...they both know Britney, though! And I think my grandma knows Rihanna (not for the music, though).

Country and hip-hop are the two biggest selling genres.

Also, record sales have tanked.

i think a better selection for 00s is, like, "Always Be My Baby"?

Which reminds me of a new element: soft-rock radio crossover!

Songs that have done this already:
Hey There, Delilah
Big Girls Don't Cry
This Love
I'm Yours
Love Song (S. Bareilles)
Bleeding Love

says wikipedia: Relatively few urban contemporary and hip-hop artists manage to successfully cross over to AC, although there have been a few recent exceptions, such as Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," Fergie's ballad "Big Girls Don't Cry," Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," and Timbaland's remix of OneRepublic's "Apologize."

"Sexyback" was a MUCH bigger hit, as were "Cry Me A River," "Rock Your Body," "What Goes Around...Comes Around" and "Summer Love." ("Like I Love You" peaked at #11).

― Bud Huxtable (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, June 15, 2009 5:18 PM Bookmark

Not to state the obvious, but while chart positions are useful, they can be total red herrings, too. Are you really going to argue that "Like I Love You" isn't better known that "Summer Love" or even "What Goes Around"?

soft-rock radio crossover!

Norah Jones blazed this trail for everybody else (contextually speaking).

NO HUMPS NO CRED

OK, just kidding, I'll get my hat & coat...

I supported the inclusion of My Humps upthread, but the more I think about it, the more I think "Let's Get it Started" was the more ubiquitous (and likely longer-lasting) of the two.

i'd never heard 'crazy in love' until about 5 minutes ago so i'd vote for 'hey ya'

!

xpost to Mordy

Oh Mordy I love you to pieces but there's a whole world of wrong in that. "Before He Cheats" and "I Hope You Dance" were the broader pop music narrative just as Garth and Shania and line dancing and "Achy Breaky Heart" were for the 1990s and Urban Cowboy and Willie and Kenny and Dolly and Randy were for the 1980s and outlaw and John Denver and Glen Campbell were for the 1970s. And that's just the rock era.

Also, R&B/hip-hop have their own radio stations too.

Also, esp. today you hear country on the radio all the time on those stations that try to emulate an iPod, e.g. "Bob" in Austin.

Oh yeah! The glorious "My Humps" - that's my choice! I'll get y'all's hats and coats!!

I was just theorizing. I don't really listen to the radio and haven't since highschool. XP

Not to state the obvious, but while chart positions are useful, they can be total red herrings, too. Are you really going to argue that "Like I Love You" isn't better known that "Summer Love" or even "What Goes Around"?

I'm sure most people remember "Like I Love You," but I'll bet it doesn't get mentioned before "My Love" or "Sexy Back." Even if we admit to regional differences, I still hear the four big FSLS singles and "Rock Your Body" on local Top 40 radio, whereas "Like I Love You" has disappeared.

I have nothing to back this up other than hearing it a lot more but wasn't Beautiful a far bigger hit than DILIH? Drop It Like It's Hot is that weird thing indie kids can also like'; Beautiful is about as close to a 'can be played on any radio station [going by bbc here]' massive song. But you wouldn't think of it as the definitive Neptunes/Snoop of the decade, non?

xpost

― b!tchass, birdchested bastard sees a dude bigger than he (a hoy hoy), Monday, June 15, 2009 7:03 PM (45 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is the kind of thinking that is totally (c) whiney -- indie kids dont have a patent on liking songs that sound weird or interesting.

'my love' was way bigger than 'sexyback' actually -- i recall the latter had a lot more mixed responses by circa 'my love' everyone was back on board

Wasn't using it as a stick to beat it with, just pointing out that Beautiful seems like the huge hit of the decade whereas the other isn't. I much prefer DILIH but it doesn't seem decade-defining.

I'm sure I've heard Beautiful, but I can't remember it at all. DILIH is still very fresh in my memory.

Yeah, "My Love" definitely seems like the biggest JT single.

Alfred: Hear you still hear "Like I Love You", "Rock Your Body" and "My Love" all the time, "SexyBack" and "Cry Me a River" and "What Goes Around" to a lesser extent. "Summer Love" seems to have disappeared entirely, even moreso than a relatively minor single like "Senorita". The interesting thing about "Like I Love You" as contrasted with "Rock Your Body" is the latter seemed to be on the air all through the interval between his albums, whereas the former left radio, came back when he returned in '06, and has stayed since.

Also, esp. today you hear country on the radio all the time on those stations that try to emulate an iPod, e.g. "Bob" in Austin.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, June 15, 2009 5:45 PM Bookmark

In Austin, maybe. You don't in Seattle. Country radio here gets high ratings, but is completely ghettoized, a lot more so than rap or r&b, i.e. you hear rap & r&b on stations that aren't specifically dedicated to those forms, whereas you never hear country outside of a country station. I imagine this is very dependent on region.

Crossover country hits will generally get played on Top 40 in most places, but never in high rotation and usually in a remixed "pop" form.

I imagine this is very dependent on region.

yah but there's a station in Chicago that does this too. Blanking on the name, though.

so many insane posts in this thread

which i guess happens when everyone is arguing based on their own perceptions but lol

btw the pop star of the decade is kanye west - i dont even think that's up for argument

"And I can't even fathom how, in the post "Before He Cheats" universe (and multiplatinum sales for Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson) the notion that country music has no pop culture claim."

if were talking about worldwide, country is very VERY niche outside the us. not saying there's no audience for it, but european and asian kids do not listen to it at all. though i understand country IS very popular with rich, middle aged japanese people...

'my love' was way bigger than 'sexyback' actually -- i recall the latter had a lot more mixed responses by circa 'my love' everyone was back on board

At the time, yes. Now it seems like "SexyBack" is the only one that's stayed around.

xp It's not niche in Canada or Australia or NZ any more than it is in the US.

"sexyback" is probably more enduring cuz of the kitsch factor - my mom def knows that song cuz im sure ellen degeneres ironically danced to it on her show - i dont think my mom knowing something should really qualify tho so i'd still "vote" for "my love"

wau -- I'd love to see my mom dancing to "Sexyback."

I think country still is niche in Australia actually, successful big tours for Brooks & Dunns and the existence of local Nashville equivalent Tamworth notwithstanding. People in country areas listen to country lots (surprise surprise) but that's a very small amount of our overall population.

Pretty much the only country to chart over here is stuff like Shania, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift, Dixie Chicks, and occasionally Keith Urban, plus local Kasey Chambers whose success is more as an honorary singer-songwriter type a la Missy Higgins.

"Before He Cheats" didn't chart at all over here, I'm pretty sure. Taylor Swift's first album was only released last locally last year and no singles were released from it.

In terms of popular consciousness it's about as niche as metal, less niche than dancehall but much more niche than rap.

I was under the impression that quite a few major country stars were from Aus/NZ.

Yeah but why do you think they travel to America.

"Summer Love" seems to have disappeared entirely, even moreso than a relatively minor single like "Senorita".

this is definitely not true here, I'm much more likely to hear "Summer Love" than "My Love" on the radio ("Sexyback," "What Goes Around..." and to a lesser extent "Lovestoned" also receive more airplay than "My Love")

xp Jonathan Bradley has skewed our perceptions.

"my love" and "sexyback" are the monumental singles off that album no contest - using columbia mo radio as a barometer for anything is pretty foolish

uh huh

this is definitely not true here, I'm much more likely to hear "Summer Love" than "My Love" on the radio ("Sexyback," "What Goes Around..." and to a lesser extent "Lovestoned" also receive more airplay than "My Love")

― i exchange e-cards with the retards (Tape Store), Monday, June 15, 2009 10:19 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is ridiculous dude

i have never heard "Summer Love" on the radio -- but then i gather it was kind of the pop radio single at the time that "Until The End Of Time" was the R&B single

"My Love" was so totally the biggest song, airplay-wise, off the album.

i said 'here,' not across the country, stop reading into things, ok?

I heard "Summer Love" on the radio about 2 weeks ago.

can we agree that nobody cares who heard what on the radio when in what city and that none of it is relevant to the arguments in this thread

can we stop saying stupid things like "summer love" has disappeared completely?

it was a hit but it's certainly not one of his most enduring singles

"Rock Your Body" is JT's most well known single.. he was singing it while he pulled off janet's booby.

i didn't read the thread, but:
canonwise - "Hey Ya"
personal opinion - "Get Ur Freak On"

Well clearly there seems to be no easy answer such as Stayin' Alive or Teen Spirit.

what could be an easier answer than "Hey Ya"?

"Hey Ya!" is much more of an outlier than either of those.

It topped Billboard for 9 weeks, it won Pazz & Jop, it was totally ubiquitous in a way that nothing else but "Crazy" was, and pretty much no one hates it.

the only thing it doesn't have is like 900 bands that followed that sound exactly like it, which seems kind of odd

xp None of which has anything to do with what I just said.

There were earlier posts regarding lineage, which is a strong case for "Hey Ya," since it seemed to make the airwaves safe for songs such as "Feel Good Inc," "Crazy" or "Paper Planes" receiving spins.. it sorta started that odd subgenre of producer-driven singles that really don't fit into a specific category.

Also Kanye's "Slow Jamz" essentially invented the slow sing-rap thing later heard on hits such as "Whatever You Like.."

Hey Ya is my pick too, but I can totally see why others may not want to crown it just yet.

xp None of which has anything to do with what I just said.

― ayotollah (The Reverend), Tuesday, June 16, 2009 1:12 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

All I saw was you showing everyone that learned the word "outlier" and didn't make a point

Don't be a douche. My point was that there wasn't really anything else from the 2000s that sounds like "Hey Ya!" as opposed to "Stayin' Alive" or "Smells Like Teen Spirit" which are much more emblematic of what those decades sounded like.

Also the "Hey Ya" "Feel Good Inc" "Crazy" "Paper Planes" thing were anomalies in that they were considered out-there enough to even play on rock stations.

"hey ya" def reprensents a decade marked by rock/dance-centric singles by genre-hopping hip-hop personalities: Kanye West, Gnarls Barkley, Missy Elliott, M.I.A., Timbaland, Neptunes, Black Eyed Peas, even Justin Timberlake to an extent

yeah they also didnt really sound anything like each other -- only 'alike' in that they were vaguely outsider-y

That's kind of the 00s in a nutshell, though. Pop music was full of anamolies, and the anamolies were the only uniting quality.

pop music was also full of not-anamolies. this is very bizarre argument