Number Two Hits, 2000-2004

"case of the ex" vs "complicated" vs "ignition (remix)" vs "what's luv" vs "work it"

have to revisit several of these though

oh man "one call away" "tipsy" so many good songs here

lol the video for "mesmerize"

"What's Luv" really is great. And it was held out of #1 by "Ain't It Funny", J. Lo's worst single.

"He Wasn't Man Enough" because I'm listening to it now.

Leaning early towards Blu

Huh, it took me two seconds to vote for Ignition (remix). Yeah, a lot of the songs are good, but than one was seminal. How many of these songs are still quoted regularly, like, everywhere?

Ted Cruz did the elephant call during his Senate grandstanding last month.

the elephant call from "Work It"

this is impossible

"Ignition (Remix)" held out of #1 by "In Da Club", a worthy #1 at least. But "Ignition" certainly felt like a #1. It's not a great song, but "The Reason" also felt for sure like a #1 too.

Frederick, I'd argue that "Get Low" is at least as iconic as "Ignition"

Well, it is and it isn't. In a musical sense, yeah, I guess that would be true. But no one around where I live have heard of Lil Jon (except as that guy from Chapelle show) while everyone is still dancing to Ignition.

OK, I'm exagerating. Loads of good stuff on here, none the less, including both Work It and Get Low.

ignition vs hit em up style

would figure that ignition will take this in a landslide so i'll throw a vote blu's way

top 10

1) work it
2) case of the ex
3) beautiful
4) hanging by a moment
5) ignition (remix)
6) he loves u not
7) get low
8) complicated
9) i don't wanna know
10) what's luv?

honorable mention: hit 'em up style (oops!), in the end, let me blow ya mind

Survivor
He Wasn't Man Enough For Me
Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)

"Beautiful" is bizarrely overrated. "The Reason" is one of the worst hit singles of this decade.

Don't worry: someone will come along and defend it presently.

I would like to officially apologize to "1, 2 Step" which I accidentally left off the poll. Sorry Ciara.

i don't think much could sway me from voting ignition but damn, 1, 2 step is better than most of these.

Technically, it was not a #1 of 2000 to 2004 (first #2 of 2005), so I guess I actually left it off the last poll.

i think "the reason" is pretty great

if you're gonna categorically hate on shameless power ballads you should rep for something uptempo that's better than "Survivor" imo

Get Low > Case of the Ex > Complicated > Beautiful > Without Me > He Loves U Not > Ignition Remix > I Need A Girl Part One > Gangsta Lovin' > The Reason

voted "Work It"

can't in good conscience vote "Get Low" after the semi-scarring experience of watching a past head of HR drop it like it's hot on the dance floor during a holiday party when this song came on but otoh it's the soundtrack to one of the best American Dad scenes of all time

i had a semi-scarring experience too once, i saw an episode of American Dad

A guy gave me hoobastank, for no reason.

if you're gonna categorically hate on shameless power ballads you should rep for something uptempo that's better than "Survivor" imo

― ur literally called somedude btw thanx for the transparency (some dude), Friday, October 25, 2013 1:17 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not categorically hating on shameless power ballads. Those two just suck.

they are beautiful, no matter what you say, your words can't bring them down :)

i voted "complicated" but i'm worried "i need a girl" is gonna get shut out

i'd make a spotify playlist if i were less lazy rn, someone do that

woulda voted '1, 2 step', voted 'case of the ex' though alot of that is 'ignition' and 'get low' having been worn out over the years, did not realize the braxton was that big a hit, always thought of it as moderately failed comeback attempt. tempted to vote 'work it' just for ilx nostalgia purposes, probably the peak of ilm.

i didn't realize "he wasn't man enough" was a #2 hit either until years later when i started actually looking at charts. i saw it a lot on mtv at the time but, while i did hear it a decent amount on radio, it never seemed like it was played enough to be charting that high. maybe it did well at retail? (when did physical single sales really completely die off in america? 2000? 01?)

It's anonymous. I heard it quite a bit in 2000 but had trouble placing it as a Braxton single.

Man, I feel bad "Chingy" never made it to #1. So close.

lol "Chingy"

"The Reason" is one of the worst hit singles of this decade.

SFJ defended it in one of his first New Yorker articles:

The fluctuation in popularity of certain genres is tracked by music magazines and summarized periodically in such headlines as “the death of hip-hop” and “the return of rock.” This is not necessarily weather you need to keep track of, if it even exists. Any good song, of any genre, is potentially a huge hit. Hoobastank’s “The Reason” (Island), for example, would have been popular at any point in the past twenty years. It is easy to imagine Meat Loaf or Rod Stewart or any number of gifted, irony-free singers performing the song, a catchall that neatly synthesizes regret and romanticism—think of your fifteenth high-school reunion compressed into four minutes. The singer, Doug Robb, opens with a talk-show apologia: “I’m not a perfect person. . . . I never meant to do those things to you.” It’s a carefully staged work, close to a ballad but with enough loud guitars to signify as rock. Hoobastank builds the song from a circular guitar figure, adding strings and CinemaScope as needed. Then, just when the song is about to settle for being simply effective, it shifts satisfyingly into an unexpected bridge section. (Never underestimate a bridge.) Widespread downloading helped push the song to No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts in May, and it also found its way into one of the final episodes of “Friends,” a series that often seemed like a high-school reunion that would never end.

Frederick, I'd argue that "Get Low" is at least as iconic as "Ignition"

That was true ... in 2003.

SFJ really is the worst.

That "bridge" to "The Reason" is just that horrible singer caterwauling the last line of the chorus over vaguely different chords.

Song is in key of C, here is the "unexpected bridge section":

Bridge:
                   Bb
and the reason is You 
                   C
and the reason is you 
                   Bb
and the reason is you
                   C
and the reason is you

That is about as unexpected as having to take a piss after you wake up.

lol

i actually like "the reason" a lot. did hoobastunk have any other noteworthy songs? i remember one of their early singles was played on mtv (trl perhaps) but i couldn't tell you which one it was if my life depended on it

Hoobastank is the most anonymoous successful rock band of my life. I don't think I have ever heard the name "Doug Robb" before I read it in that article.

"he wasn't man enough" was killin' it on VH1, which is to say toni was quickly becoming 'too old' to keep her spot on the charts

lol yes i do remember seeing her a lot during mornings on vh1

yeah i remember seeing it all over vh1 but not really hearing it a ton which would seemingly need to be the case for a #2 though i guess there's some range in how huge these hits were really. also will defend 'the reason', about as strongly as sfj defends it (ie not bad - meatloaf coulda sang this!). i remember at the time wondering if it would go to #1 (it was really massive, in a way alot of #1s can't manage nowadays but alot of #2s clearly could then) and then be the 'last rock song to go to #1' (which i think something recent has maybe actually taken this title but for the longest time was either 'hey ya' or 'how you remind me' depending on whether you define 'hey ya' as rock)(rocks more than fucking 'how you remind me' at least).

ok wikipedia has 'viva la vida' as last rock #1 but surely mall indie like fun. and gotye qualify as 'rock' (at least as much as coldplay) and i'd argue 'locked out of heaven' should qualify also.

'ignition(remix)' wasn't a number 1 in the U.S.? +1 to the brits.

How could this be anything other than work it?

because there are like 5 songs on this list that aren't some shade of classic

get low

yeah whether you go by the sounds like rock criteria ("Locked Out Of Heaven") or the was big on rock radio before it hit #1 criteria (Gotye, fun., Lorde) either way that Coldplay 'stat' is pretty outdated.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

wow nice showing for blu cantrell. some pretty good tracks not getting any votes.

whoa this list is ridic

I know these lists are jealously guarded and monetized, but is there a list of every no. 2 hit ever available / postable / linkable? the 2000-2004 has already been reordered from chronological to poll ranking.

I am using this: http://markweb.us/number2hits.html and as far as I can tell it's pretty accurate, though it did include "Slow Motion", which was #1.

thank you!

fuck you, "Ignition (Remix)"