Pop Culture Madness: Songs of the Year (1898-2024)

Pop Culture Madness: Songs of the Year, 1898-2024

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. 2024: Chappell Roan “Hot to Go!” 2023: Miley Cyrus “Flowers” 2022: Harry Styles “As It Was” 2021: Dua Lipa with DaBaby “Levitating” 2020: The Weeknd “Blinding Lights” 2019: Post Malone with Swae Lee “Sunflower” 2018: Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé “Perfect” 2017: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You” 2016: The Chainsmokers with Halsey “Closer” 2015: Walk the Moon “Shut Up and Dance” 2014: Taylor Swift “Shake It Off” 2013: Robin Thicke with T.I. & Pharrell Williams “Blurred Lines” 2012: Psy “Gangnam Style” 2011: LMFAO with Lauren Bennett & Goon Rock “Party Rock Anthem” 2010: Katy Perry “Firework” 2009: Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” 2008: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” 2007: Cupid “Cupid Shuffle” 2006: Justin Timberlake “Sexyback” 2005: Gwen Stefani “Hollaback Girl” 2004: Usher with Lil’ Jon & Ludacris “Yeah!” 2003: Beyoncé with Jay-Z “Crazy in Love” 2002: Kelly Clarkson “A Moment Like This” 2001: Mr. C the Slide Man “Cha-Cha Slide” 2000: The Baha Men “Who Let the Dogs Out” 1999: Smash Mouth “All Star” 1998: Aerosmith “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” 1997: Aqua “Barbie Girl” 1996: Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta “The Grease Megamix” 1995: Rednex “Cotton Eye Joe” 1994: Shery Crow “All I Wanna Do” 1993: Haddaway “What Is Love?” 1992: Sir Mix-a-Lot “Baby Got Back” 1991: Natalie Cole with Nat “King” Cole “Unforgettable” 1990: Marcia Griffiths “Electric Slide (Electric Boogie)” 1989: The B-52’s “Love Shack” 1988: Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar on Me” 1987: Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer” 1986: Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight, & Stevie Wonder “That's What Friends Are For” 1985: Starship “We Built This City” 1984: Michael Jackson “Thriller” 1983: The Weather Girls “It’s Raining Men” 1982: The Sugarhill Gang “Apache (Jump on It)” 1981: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” 1980: AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long” 1979: Village People “Y.M.C.A.” 1978: Donna Summer “Last Dance” 1977: Abba “Dancing Queen” 1976: Wild Cherry “Play That Funky Music” 1975: KC & the Sunshine Band “Get Down Tonight” 1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama” 1973: Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On” 1972: Gary Glitter “Rock and Roll Part 2” 1971: James Taylor “You’ve Got a Friend” 1970: The Jackson 5 “I’ll Be There” 1969: The Foundations “Build Me Up Buttercup” 1968: Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” 1967: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” 1966: Frank Sinatra “Summer Wind” 1965: The Righteous Brothers “The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody” 1964: The Beatles “Twist and Shout” 1963: Boots Randolph & His Combo “Yakety Sax (Benny Hill Theme)” 1962: Dick Dale “Misirlou” 1961: Etta James “At Last” 1960: Chubby Checker Chubby Checker “The Twist” 1959: Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife” 1958: The Champs “Tequila” 1957: Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock” 1956: Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel”/“Hound Dog” 1955: Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons” 1954: Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” 1953: 1952: 1951: Tommy Edwards “It’s All in the Game” 1950: 1949: Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)” 1948: Art Mooney “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover” 1947: Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” 1946: Johnny Mercer “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” 1945: Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey” 1944: Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)” 1943: Alfred Drake “Oklahoma!” 1942: Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers & the John Scott Trotter Orchestra “White Christmas” 1941: Artie Shaw “Stardust” 1940: Cliff Edwards “When You Wish Upon a Star” 1939: Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow” 1938: Seven Dwarfs “Whistle While You Work” 1937: Count Basie “One O’Clock Jump” 1936: Bing Crosby “Pennies from Heaven” 1935: Shirley Temple “On the Good Ship Lollipop” 1934: Guy Lombardo “Winter Wonderland” 1933: Dick Powell “The Gold Digger’s Song (We’re in the Money)” 1932: Fred Astaire “Night and Day” 1931: Ted Lewis “Just a Gigolo” 1930: Ben Selvin “Happy Days Are Here Again” 1929: Louis Armstrong “When You’re Smiling” 1928: Bertolt Brecht “Mack the Knife” 1927: Nick Lucas “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover” 1926: Vincent Lopez “Show Me the Way to Go Home” 1925: Ben Bernie “Sweet Georgia Brown” 1924: Al Jolson “California Here I Come” 1923: Paul Whiteman “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise” 1922: Al Jolson “April Showers” 1921: Marion Harris: “I Ain’t Got Nobody” 1920: Al Jolson “Swanee” 1919: Al Bernard “St. Louis Blues” 1918: Ernestine Schumann-Heink “Danny Boy” 1917: Douglas Furber & A. Emmett Adams (writers) “The Bells of St. Mary’s” 1916: Harry B. Smith & Victor Herbert “You Belong to Me” 1915: John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary” 1914: Kenneth J. Alford (aka Frederick Joseph Ricketts) (writer) “Colonel Bogey March” 1913: Chauncey Olcott “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” 1912: Arthur Collins with Bryon G. Harlan “I’m Going Back to Dixie (aka ‘I Want to Be in Dixie’)” 1911: Victor Herbert “March of the Toys” 1910: Evan Williams “Because” 1909: Haydn Quartet Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet” 1908: Billy Murray with Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” 1907: Billy Murray “Harrigan” 1906: Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)” 1905: Billy Murray “Yankee Doodle Boy” 1904: Billy Murray “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis” 1903: Dan Quinn “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous” 1902: Edward Elgard (writer) “Pomp and Circumstance” 1901: Charles H. Loomis, Allan M. Hirsch, & G.L. Atwater Jr. (writers) “Yale Boola! (March and Two Step)” 1900: Paul Dresser (writer) “Give Us Just Another Lincoln” 1899: Cal Stewart “Uncle Josh in Society” 1898: Billy Golden “Bye Bye My Honey” Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists” Pop Culture Madness First posted 4/12/2019; last updated 12/31/2024.

Post Malone: Top 30 Songs

Post Malone Top 30 Songs

Rap singer/songwriter and record producer born Austin Richard Post on 7/4/1995 in Syracuse, New York. First artist in history to have eight songs reach diamond-certified status. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. Top 30 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. Rockstar (with 21 Savage, 2017) 2. Sunflower (with Swae Lee, 2018) 3. Circles” (2019) DMDB Top 2%: 4. Psycho (with Ty Dolla $ign, 2018) DMDB Top 5%: 5. Better Now (2018) 6. Congratulations (with Quavo, 2016) 7. Wow. (2018) 8. I Fall Apart (2016) DMDB Top 10%: 9. White Iverson (2015) 10. Goodbyes (with Young Thug, 2019) DMDB Top 20%: 11. I Like You (A Happier Song) (with Doja Cat, 2022) 12. Go Flex (2016) 13. Candy Paint (2017) 14. One Right Now (with the Weeknd, 2021) 15. Ball for Me (with Nicki Minaj, 2018) 16. Take What You Want (with Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott, 2019) 17. Only Wanna Be with You (2021) 18. Saint-Tropez (2019) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 19. Paranoid (2018) 20. Over Now (2018) 21. 92 Explorer (2018) 22. Celebrate (DJ Khaled with Travis Scott & Post Malone, 2019) 23. Enemies (with DaBaby, 2019) 24. Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019) 25. Die for Me (with Future & Halsey, 2019) 26. On the Road (with Meek Mill & Lil Baby, 2019) 27. Allergic (2019) 28. Writing on the Wall (French Montana with Post Malone, Cardi B, & Rvssian, 2019) 29. Spoil My Night (with Swae Lee, 2018) 30. Rich & Sad (2018) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Post Malone Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 4/25/2023.

Post Malone Hollywood’s Bleeding hit #1

Hollywood’s Bleeding Post Malone

Released: September 6, 2019 Peak: 15 US, 17 RB, 11 UK, 19 CN, 16 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.3 UK, 16.25 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rap

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Hollywood’s Bleeding (9/21/19, 15 BB, 11 UK, 12 CN, 17 AU) Saint-Tropez (9/21/19, 18 BB, 10 RB, 52 UK, 10 CN, 19 AU) Enemies (with DaBaby) (9/17/19, 16 BB, 9 RB, 15 CN, 28 AU) Allergic (9/21/19, 37 BB, 33 MR, 39 CN, 45 AU) A Thousand Bad Times (9/21/19, 29 BB, 29 CN, 39 AU) Circles (8/30/19, 13 BB, 111 BA, 11 DG, 17 RR, 14 A40, 23 MR, 3 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU, 3 DF) Die for Me (with Future & Halsey) (9/21/19, 20 BB, 11 RB, 21 CN, 23 AU) On the Road (with Meek Mill & Lil Baby) (9/21/19, 22 BB, 13 RB, 22 CN, 35 AU) Take What You Want (with Ozzy Osbourne & Travis Scott) (10/15/19, 8 BB, 28 AR, 22 UK, 8 CN, 30 AU) I’m Gonna Be (9/21/19, 33 BB, 35 CN, 54 AU) Staring at the Sun (with SZA) (9/21/19, 34 BB, 38 CN, 48 AU) Sunflower (with Swae Lee) (10/18/18, 11 BB, 13 DG, 13 ST, 29 A40, 19 RB, 3 UK, 12 CN, 13 AU, 26 DF) Internet (9/21/19, 58 BB, 25 RB, 53 CN, 77 AU) Goodbyes (with Young Thug) (7/5/19, 3 BB, 30 A40, 2 RB, 5 UK, 5 CN, 5 AU) Myself (9/21/19, 52 BB, 47 CN, 71 AU) I Know (9/21/19, 53 BB, 24 RB, 52 CN, 76 AU) Wow. (12/24/18, 2 BB, 11 RR, 11 RB, 3 UK, 3 CN, 2 AU) Total Running Time: 50:56

Rating: 4.072 out of 5.00 (average of 24 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Rap singer/songwriter Post Malone was born Austin Richard Post in 1995 in Syracuse, New York. His first chart entry, “White Iverson” in 2015, was certified diamond and reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album, 2016’s Stoney followed. It reached #4 on the Billboard album chart and was certified five times platinum. His follow-up, 2018’s Beerbongs & Bentleys, hit #1 and was also certified five times platinum. It featured the #1 hits “Rockstar” and “Psycho.” That same year, Post Malone would reach #1 a third time with Sunflower. The twenty-times platinum single was first featured in the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, but would also show up on his third studio album, Hollywood’s Bleeding. The video was played more than two billion times on YouTube. The first official single from the album was “the fine-tuned hip-hop gem” AMG Wow. (#2, eight-times platinum). It was followed by Goodbyes (#3, three-times platinum), and Circles, on which he allows “his signature vocal trill to soar.” AMG The latter was Post Malone’s fourth #1 and was certified ten-times platinum. It was nominated for Grammys for Record and Song of the Year. He also set a record for most weeks (34) in the top 10 with “Circles.” Those three songs and “Sunflower” all reached one billion streams on Spotify. All of the songs from Hollywood’s Bleeding reached the Billboard Hot 100, maintaining a trend of music’s most successful artists accomplishing that feat when a new album was dropped during the age of streaming. Enemies, Allergic, and Take What You Want were released as official singles. The latter, featuring “haunting vocals” AMG from heavy-metal superstar Ozzy Osbourne, was Post Malone’s fifth top-ten hit from the Hollywood’s Bleeding album. NME’s Danny Wright said “Post Malone is the post everything star the kids have called for, a musician made for the internet-age; a goofball chameleon instinctively skilled at understanding the ways gneres can merge together.” WK Conseqeunce’s Dan Weiss called it Malone’s “most listenable work,” WK saying it “may well be the catchiest album you hear in 2019.” WK AllMusic.com’s Neil Z. Yeung said Post’s “basic hip-hop/rock sound and sad guy image are still at the fore” AMG but “he strikes a more well-honed balance…leaning less on the overly dark trap tones and reluctant-star posturing of past works.” AMG He adds that “there’s nary a dud to be found” AMG on the album which “pushes [Malone] even further into the pop-savvy landscape where he belongs.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: AMG All Music album review by Neil Z. Yeung WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/13/2024.

Post Malone “Sunflower” hit #1

Sunflower Post Malone with Swae Lee

Writer(s): Austin Post, Khalif Brown, Carter Lang, Carl Rosen, Billy Walsh, Louis Bell (see lyrics here) Released: October 18, 2018 First Charted: November 3, 2018 Peak: 11 US, 13 DG, 13 ST, 29 A40, 19 RB, 3 UK, 12 CN, 13 AU (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 17.0 US, 2.4 UK, 22.69 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 2433.16 video, 3233.72 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Post Malone was born Austin Richard Post in 1995 in Syracuse, New York. The rap singer/songwriter released his first album, Stoney, in 2016. It was certified five times platinum and reached #4 on the Billboard album chart. The 2018 follow-up, Beerbongs & Bentleys, would also achieve platinum status five times over and hit #1 on the album chart. The latter album gave Post Malone two #1 songs with “Rockstar” and “Psycho.” His third album, Hollywood’s Bleeding, wasn’t released until September 2019. In the interim, Post contributed the song “Sunflower” to the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse. It is set in a universe populated by multiple Spider-Men, but the main hero would be the teenager Miles Morales. He duets with rapper Swae Lee, half of the rap duo Rae Sremmurd, which topped the Billboard Hot 100 with 2016’s “Black Beatles.” The two sing about competing for a girl called “Sunflower.” SF Sony Pictures’ head of music and creative affairs Spring Aspers said they “have delivered a song that’s both heroic and emotional…It’s anthemic but also heartfelt – the perfect soundtrack for Miles to discover the Spider-Man inside himself.” WK Billboard’s Gil Kaufman called it “a funky, dreamy ballad” while Spin’s Israel Daramola said “it’s a short and sweet, hazy little pop song.” WK Rolling Stone’s Patrick Doyle called it “hyper-catchy.” WK “Sunflower” not only gave Post his third chart-topper, but spent an astonishing 33 weeks in the top 10, tying the record held at the time by Maroon 5 and Cardi B with “Girls Like You” and Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You.” The song also was certified 17-times platinum in the United States, tying it with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” as the most certified song of all time. It received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Post Malone SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia First posted 4/24/2023; last updated 3/31/2024.

 

Top 50 Songs of 2018

Dave’s Music Database: Top 50 Songs of 2018

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists. Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here. DMDB Top 1%: Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus “Old Town Road” (2018) Drake “God’s Plan” Lady Gaga with Bradley Cooper “Shallow” Drake “In My Feelings” Ariana Grande “Thank U, Next” Lewis Capaldi “Someone You Loved” Post Malone with Swae Lee “Sunflower” DMDB Top 2%: Drake “Nice for What” Zedd with Maren Morris & Grey “The Middle” Cardi B with Bad Bunny & J. Balvin “I Like It” Panic! At the Disco “High Hopes” Halsey “Without Me” Childish Gambino “This Is America” Travis Scott with Drake “Sicko Mode” 5 Seconds of Summer “Youngblood” Marshmello with Bastille “Happier” Post Malone with Ty Dolla $ign “Psycho” Juice Wrld “Lucid Dreams” DMDB Top 5%: XXXtentacion “Sad!” Benny Blanco with Halsey & Khalid “Eastside” Dan + Shay “Tequila” Calvin Harris with Dua Lipa “One Kiss” Post Malone “Better Now” Post Malone “Wow.” Ariana Grande “No Tears Left to Cry” Marshmello with Anne-Marie “Friends” Ella Mai “Boo’d Up” Imagine Dragons “Natural” Dean Lewis “Be Alright” Lil Baby with Gunna “Drip Too Hard” Ava Max “Sweet But Psycho” Kendrick Lamar with SZA “All the Stars” Shawn Mendes “In My Blood” Dan + Shay “Speechless” Trevor Daniel “Falling” Khalid “Better” Lil Baby with Drake “Yes Indeed” Khalid & Normani “Love Lies” DMDB Top 10%: Kodak Black with Travis Scott & Offset “Zeze” Morgan Wallen “Whiskey Glasses” XXXtentacion “Moonlight” Drake “Nonstop” Lauv “I Like Me Better” Mumford & Sons “Guiding Light” Tyga with Offset “Taste” Janelle Monáe “Make Me Feel” Shaed “Trampoline” DJ Snake with Selena Gomez & Cardi B “Taki Taki” The Weeknd “Call Out My Name” 21 Savage with J. Cole “A Lot” Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Top Songs and Albums by Year lists Dave’s Music Database: Songs of the Year lists First posted 12/26/2021; last updated 1/17/2023.