Pop Music Notes

2009 was not my favorite year so far, but there was some pretty great pop music to be had, and I’ve pulled together my top 40 singles from the year. Here are the usual disclaimers:

1. I know that there’s probably a lot of other good stuff out there, but all I can talk about are the tracks that came across my laptop or iPod.
2. Country seems to have made a small resurgence in the countdown. Please remember that my definition of “pop” tends to be a bit less strict than others.
3. The number in parentheses is the peak position on the Billboard Hot 100.
4. I attempt to keep artists to one song per year-end chart. That potentially was an issue with the Saturdays this year, but in the end, “Forever Is Over” didn’t quite make the cut.

Before we get started, here are the runner ups. It seems that I can’t keep to just 40 songs.
45. Cowboy Casanova/Carrie Underwood (11)
44. No You Girls (Vince Clarke Remix)/Franz Ferdinand (NA)
43. Consider Me Gone/Reba McEntire (38)
42. Shooting Stars/Bag Raiders (NA)
41. I’m Not Alone – Calvin Harris (NA)

And now, the Top 40 of 2009:
40. Floating Off The Ground/Chris Richardson – A late-year release for CRich proved that Chris still has relevance over two years out from his fourth-place finish on American Idol. Here’s hoping that his album finally makes it out in 2010 (which I was also hoping for last year). (NA)
39. Raindrops/Basement Jaxx – The Jaxx have always been on my radar, but not until this year did a single song register with me like this one. (NA)
38. Make Me/Janet Jackson – Joke all you want, but “Make Me” was a return to form for Miss Jackson with Rodney Jerkins at the helm, securing her yet another #1 dance hit. (NA)
37. Empire State Of Mind (feat Alicia Keys)/Jay-Z – Debuting this song at the end of the MTV VMAs was one of the best moves Jay made in a high-profile year. This combo was nearly unstoppable at the end of the year, holding down the #1 spot for 5 weeks. (1)
36. The Fear/Lily Allen – Like so many others that I know, 2009 was the year that Lily Allen became bearable. This was a grower for me, but when it did, it wouldn’t let go. (80)

35. Confusion Girl (Shame Shame Shame)/Frankmusik – The darling of pop blogs everywhere turned out to be a chart disappointment, but from all reports, he isn’t letting this keep him from moving forward. (NA)
34. Runaway/Love And Theft – Kris Allen actually got pop radio airplay for a weak Script cover, and these guys got relegated to Country radio. Apparently, there is no justice for a stellar country pop song. (65)
33. Whataya Want From Me/Adam Lambert – And speaking of Idols, here is the clear winner from season 8, despite what the final vote may have said. While first single “For Your Entertainment” got slagged a bit, this one has received near-universal praise. I can’t believe P!nk gave this away, but it really works for Adam. (72 to date)
32. – I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)/Pitbull – Don’t ask me to explain what it is about Pitbull that I like, but he really has a knack for finding hooks that translate well to the dancefloor and the radio. (2)
31. Permanent (American Idol Charity Song)/David Cook – To perform a song written for your brother shortly after he dies takes a lot of courage and strength. To perform that song with so much passion that the listener feels your pain and sorrow is talent. Simply stunning. (24)

30. Use Somebody/Kings of Leon – I originally hoped that “Use” would just get the Kings a top 40 hit, but who knew it would linger in the top 10 for almost two months? (4)
29. Remedy/Little Boots – I wasn’t sure if LB would live up to the hype piled on her early in the year, but this track definitely did the job. (NA)
28. Please Don’t Leave Me/P!nk – P!nk has become the little engine that could, racking up three top 20 hits off of Funhouse, despite being a bit more low-key than some of her other pop counterparts. (17)
27. Never Forget You/Noisettes – There was a good three-week stretch where I couldn’t get this song out of my head. This is a modern update of a classic R&B sound that should have gotten a lot more attention than it did. (NA)
26. Wonderful/Gary Go – Despite the record company’s attempts to get this track some attention in the US (they even gave it away on iTunes for a week), it just didn’t catch on. (NA)

25. Syndicate/The Fray – Recently announced as their next single, this track was my highlight of their self-titled sophomore release back in February, as well as of the show I saw in January. (NA)
24. 3/Britney Spears – Part funky jam and part smart strategy on the part of the record label got Brit her second #1 track in a year’s time. (1)
23. Rain/Mika – “We Are Golden” truly underwhelmed me, but the rest of Mika’s second disc picked up where his first album left off. (NA)
22. When Love Takes Over (feat Kelly Rowland)/David Guetta – While “Sexy Bitch” may have been Guetta’s pop breakthrough in the US, his first collaboration with Kelly Rowland proved to be a perfect pairing (and a #1 dance track). (76)
21. Uprising/Muse – They already had buzzworthy cred, but a hot performance on the MTV Video Music Awards got Muse their biggest hit to date in the US. (37 to date)

And now, the Top 20:
20. Baby/Alcazar – Alcazar was a group that never resonated with me until a full-court press by Paul over at Fizzy Pop convinced me to give them a go. This is a classic pop song written by Chris and Neil of the Pet Shop Boys, and it meshes perfectly with the group’s vocals. How is it that this was never released as a single, even in their homeland of Sweden? (NA)

19. Need You Now/Lady Antebellum – Lady A’s debut CD produced three Country hits (two of which went Gold) and was certified Platinum within 18 months of its release, but to most people they were strictly seen as a Country group. That all changed with their performance of “Need You Now” on the Country Music Awards last month. It is great that they are getting their due, and it happens with a song that could have easily been recorded as a pop power ballad. Maybe a song choice for a Steps reunion? In the meantime, watch this one cross straight over to the pop side. (5 to date)

18. Work/The Saturdays – In the world of pop music blogging, opinions can be extremely polarizing. While some folks loved this track, others thought it was just a b-side quality song. The British public spoke and determined that it wasn’t that strong of a single, only pushing it up to #22 and becoming their only single to not go Top 20. (NA)

17. Meet Me Halfway/Black Eyed Peas – While my love of this song is solid, “Meet Me Halfway” became a victim of its own success, because I just got burned out on the track. Overplaying aside, this track shows that the combination of will.i.am’s production and Fergie’s vocals, which apart are nothing to brag about, are gold when combined properly. (7)

16. Release Me/Agnes – It seems like this song has been around forever, but it finally saw the light of day in the US back in August. I thought the song stood a good chance of making it, but as of right now, it has only been a hit on the Dance chart, where it went to #1. That didn’t stop the rest of the world from falling for it, though. (NA)

15. New York/Paloma Faith – I fell in love with Paloma the first time I heard “Stone Cold Sober”, but she cemented my interest with this smoky mid-tempo ballad that portrays the Big Apple as a lady who steals Paloma’s boyfriend away. The video was beautifully done, and it got some decent attention outside of the UK. (NA)

14. Heartbreak on Vinyl/Blake Lewis – When Blake released “Sad Song” in advance of his second CD, I initially liked it, but upon release of the full disc, it was clear that the best hadn’t seen the light of day. “Heartbreak” uses a record shop to tell the story of a relationship that has gone past its chart peak, never to revisit those glory days. The song deserves to be a hit, but the fact that Blake even got to record a second album is a victory in itself. (NA)

13. Untouchable/Girls Aloud – “Like beautiful robots dancing alone” is my favorite lyric of 2009, but I believe part of that is because of the lush song that it comes from. Born of Xenomania, this song holds the distinction of not only being the classiest single that Girls Aloud have ever released, but also the single the broke GA’s string of top 10 singles. No matter…when history looks back on their discography, this will absolutely be a highlight. (NA)

12. Day ‘N’ Nite (Crookers Remix)/Kid Cudi – I remember hearing this track back in January and thinking that this futuristic track was unlike anything on the radio, and yet deserved to be a smash. While the stark original version became a hit here in the US, it was the Crookers remix that was a smash in the UK which became my favorite. His full-length Man on the Moon was one of the best full-length hip-hop CDs of 2009, and he’s currently up for 2 Grammy awards as well. (3)

11. Crash & Burn/Jesse McCartney – I am still in awe of this track, and although it doesn’t look like it will have an official single release, I still stand by my assertion that “Crash” is the best track from either version of McCartney’s Departure. The new tracks on the Recharged version show much promise for his next release, on its way in October. (NA)

10. Pop Goes the World/Gossip – If I had disappointment over “Crash and Burn” not being released as a single, that disappointment would need to be multiplied over and over to express my feelings over the promotion of the Gossip’s Music for Men. While “Pop” is slated to be the next single, I feel like the momentum has been lost. (BTW, the Gossip was my favorite concert of the year.) (NA)

9. Love Struck/V Factory – Here is another prediction from this year that didn’t pan out: V Factory would instigate the return of the boy band in 2009. Maybe it will still happen, but “Love Struck” should have been an instant hit. Instead, it barely grazed the bottom of pop radio’s top 40, and quickly disappeared. For me, though, it was one of two jams that defined the summer. (70)

8. Evacuate The Dancefloor/Cascada – Well, for every prediction that didn’t come true, I can usually find one that at least found a little traction. Cascada was a slow-burn Energizer Bunny this year with “Evacuate the Dancefloor”, which is STILL climbing the chart after five months of release. The song is contagious, and even after all this time, I still love hearing it on the radio. (25 to date)

7. Broken Strings (feat Nelly Furtado)/James Morrison – Coming in a close second on my favorite concerts this year was the double-bill of Adele and James Morrison, whom I got to meet after the show. Even in a solo acoustic setting, you could really feel the power and emotion that made “Broken Strings” such an amazing song. Their voices blend so effortlessly, but the single barely made an impact here in the US. (NA)

6. Did You See Me Coming/Pet Shop Boys – I know they technically didn’t go anywhere, but the Pet Shop Boys earn a Best Comeback for amazing singles like “Love Etc” and “Did You See Me Coming”, which fueled my summer playlist before summer even got here. The Boys haven’t been quite this joyful and upbeat since “Go West”, and it earned them a #1 dance hit here in the US. Now if we could arrange for their tour to stop in Denver, I will be satisfied. (NA)

5. This Tornado Loves You/Neko Case – In a sea of dancey pop music, Neko Case provided me with a much lusher landscape to escape to in “Tornado”. While Neko has been around for several years, her music finally clicked with me this time around. Apparently it did with other people as well, as she got her first top 10 album with Middle Cyclone.(NA)

4. Bad Romance/Lady Gaga – I resisted…I admit it. It just seemed so over the top that I couldn’t bring myself to give into the hype and the adulation. Resistance was, as usual, futile, and it just snowballed from there. The chanting latches onto your brain like a barnacle and doesn’t let go, but it’s the chorus that unlocks the secret power pop formula. (2 to date)

3. Supernova (feat Kanye West)/Mr Hudson – My declaration back in June was “this just FEELS like a #1.” So much for my gut instinct, although it did reach #2 in the UK in July. The album was supposed to be released December 1st here, but no sign of it. You think that might have something to do with its #25 debut in his homeland? The next time you hear about this, the word “retooled” will probably be used. (112)

2. I Wish (Cahill Mix)/Mini Viva – “I Left My Heart In Tokyo” prepped the palate for pop music greatness, and then the original version of “I Wish” was released, making “Tokyo” seem like an outtake in comparison. But when the Cahill Mix of “I Wish” was released, it was clear that these ladies meant business. There is probably no chance of an American release of Mini Viva’s soon-to-be-released debut, but it is still pretty close to pop perfection. (NA)

1. The Spell/Alphabeat – Last year, Alphabeat’s “Boyfriend” made it to #9 on the year-end chart, and that was off the strength of a Pete Hammond remix. This year, they changed up the formula a bit and went back to the late 80s/early 90s for a much dancier sound. The song goes from zero to 60 in about three seconds, and doesn’t look back. I couldn’t get enough of this song, but the promotion seemed all over the place. Did it pay off? Well, in Denmark, it went to #1, but in the UK, it petered out at #20. (NA)

There you have it…another year’s worth of singles in the books. Did it match up with yours? Any glaring omissions? Hit me up!