DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up album and song reviews, best-of lists, music history snapshots, and music-related essays.
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 | Music VF:Songs of the Year, 1900-2022 |
Music VF is an online database of more than 120,000 U.S. and UK chart hits. One can search for top songs and artists by year and by decade. Here are the top songs of each year according to Music VF: Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.
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First posted 4/8/2019; last updated 1/7/2023. |
 | Canada:Songs of the Year, 1967-2022 |
These are the biggest hits for Canada each year from 1967 to present. 1967 to 1999 are based on Year-End RPM charts. 2008 onward are based on Billboard Canadian Hot 100 year-end charts. Other years are determined by selecting the song which spent the most weeks at #1 that year. Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.
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First posted 4/24/2020; last updated 1/7/2023. |
 | Australia:Sogs of the Year, 1950-2022 |
The top songs from 1988 on are based on the Australian (ARIA) charts’ actual year-end lists (link at bottom of page). Year-end #1 songs prior to 1988 are based on which song had the most weeks at #1 that year. Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.
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First posted 4/24/2020; last updated 1/7/2023. |
 | Pop Culture Madness:Songs of the Year, 1898-2022 |
Pop Culture Madness bills itself as having charts which reflect continued popularity of songs, not just what was popular in its time. As such, their choices for best songs each year are often songs which never hit #1 on the charts. They have annual charts dating from 1955 to the present. With lists for 1900-1919 and another for the 1800s, that span can be stretched back to 1898. Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.
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First posted 4/12/2019; last updated 1/7/2023. |
 | My BuddyHenry Burr |
Writer(s): Walter Donaldson (music), Gus Kahn (words) (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 4, 1922 Peak: 11 US, 6 GA, 12 SM (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.19 video, 0.07 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:“My Buddy” was the first hit for Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn. Donaldson previously had hits with “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm After They’ve Seen Paree?” and “My Mammy” while Kahn had written lyrics for “Pretty Baby” and “Ain’t We Got Fun?” The pair went on to work together on “Makin’ Whoopee,” “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,” “Carolina in the Morning,” and “Love Me or Leave Me” and wrote more hits with other partners. Both were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The song “My Buddy” became a favorite in vaudeville, DJ popularized by Al Jolson. TY2 It was “quite a tearjerker.” TY2 It is “an old-fashioned ballad that brought back people’s memories of a time before the war,” SM allowing them “to express their grief now that part of their life was no longer there.” SM The lyrics say, “Life is a book that we study / Some of its leaves bring a sigh / There it was written by a buddy/ That we must part you and I / Nights are long since you went away / I think about you all through the day.” “My Buddy” was the last of Henry Burr’s twenty-three chart-toppers as a solo artist or with Albert Campbell. He had 164 chart entries total and is considered “the #1 ballad singer of recorded music’s 1890-1930 pioneer era.” PM He was the first to chart with “My Buddy” and his was the most successful. There were also chart versions by Ernest Hare (#5, 1923), Ben Bernie (#11, 1923), and Sammy Kaye (#23, 1942). PM The song has also been recorded by Gene Autry, Chet Baker, Count Basie, Teresa Brewer, Benny Carter, Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Bobby Darin, Doris Day, Dr. John, Connie Francis, Glenn Frey, Stan Getz, Jackie Gleason, Eydie Gormé, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Jeff Healey, Earl Hines, Lena Horne, Harry James, Mario Lanza, Guy Lombardo, Glenn Miller, the Mills Brothers, Anne Murray, Dinah Shore, Nancy Sinatra, Kate Smith, Kay Starr, Barbra Streisand, Mel Tormé, Barry White, and Bob Wills. The song was featured in the movie Wings (1927), the Gus Kahn biopic I’ll See You in My Dreams (1951), The Black Marble (1980), and Buddy in 1997. TY2 Resources:
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First posted 4/25/2023. |
 | Kill BillSZA |
Writer(s): Solána Rowe, Rob Bisel, Carter Lang (see lyrics here) Released: January 10, 2023 First Charted: December 21, 2022 Peak: 11 BB, 14 ST, 11 RR, 30 AC, 7 A40, 121 RB, 3 UK, 3 CN, 11 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 8.0 US, 1.2 UK, 11.47 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 316.87 video, 2121.68 streaming |
Awards:Click on award for more details. 
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About the Song:R&B singer/songwriter Solána Imani Rowe (known as SZA) was born in 1989 in St. Louis, Missouri. After several EP releases, she signed with RCA Records and released her debut album, Ctrl in 2017. It was certified three times platinum despite the absence of any songs to chart as high as the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Five years later, she was back with her SOS, her second album. It topped the Billboard album chart and gave SZA another triple platinum album. It also gave her five top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the album’s fifth single, “Kill Bill,” which met with the greatest success. It was released in January 2023 because of its successful streaming numbers. Three months later, a remix with rapper Doja Cat boosted the song’s success. The song spent eight weeks at #2 before finally triumphing over the Billboard Hot 100. It only spent one week on top, but was a major success on the R&B chart, spending 21 weeks at #1 and breaking the previous record by “Old Town Road.” The song title is taken from the martial arts movies Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004), directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Uma Thurman as an assassin out for revenge against her ex-boyfriend. Similarly, the song follows the protaganist’s fantasy to kill her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Some critics “found her murder fantasites extreme but relatable to a degree.” WK “The song’s candid exploration of…unfiltered, violent emotions were a point of praise” WK for some critics. Interestingly, though, SZA has been annoyed by the song’s success. She said she put little heart or energy into making the song. As she said, “’Kill Bill’ was super easy – one take, one night.” SF Despite her feelings, the song wasn’t just a commercial success but has been well received critically as well. It garnered Grammy nominations for Record and Song of the Year. Billboard magazine called it her “first totally ubiquitous smash.” SF Resources:First posted 1/4/2024; last updated 10/14/2024. |
 | Spin Magazine:Albums of the Year, 1965-2022 |
From 1990 to the present, Spin magazine has named an album of the year. Because they’ve also done multiple best-of-all-time lists, I have extended the album-of-the-year selections back to 1965 based on those lists. Check out other album of the year awards here.
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First posted 12/10/2022; last updated 12/22/2022. |
 | Mojo:Albums of the Year, 1950-2022 |
Mojo is a British music magazine. The “End of Year Lists” link at the bottom of this page shows the year-end album lists from Mojo from 1994 on. However, the magazine has also produced multiple best-of-all-time lists over the years so those have been used to determine albums of the year prior to 1994. Check out other album of the year awards here.
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First posted 12/31/2020; last updated 12/22/2022. |
 | USA’s #1 Pop Songs:1910-1919 |
These are the #1 pop songs on the United States pop charts from 1910 to 1919. Songs could have hit #1 on either of these charts:
Meanwhile the Sharon Mawer charts are bi-weekly so to reflect a more accurate depiction of how many weeks the song spent at #1, the original # was doubled. Click here to access a full list of #1 songs from 1890 to present. See other chart-based lists here. 1910:
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First posted 12/21/2022. |
 | USA’s #1 Pop Songs:1900-1909 |
These are the #1 pop songs on the United States pop charts from 1900 to 1909. Songs could have hit #1 on either of these charts:
Click here to access a full list of #1 songs from 1890 to present. See other chart-based lists here. 1900:
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Last updated 12/15/2022. |
