List-a-Beefy

Pop Culture Lists for the 21st Century

Top 50 #1 hits 2010-2019

 
1) Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars
 
2) Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen   
 
3) We Are Young - fun. Featuring Janelle Monae   
 
4) Cheap Thrills - Sia featuring Sean Paul
 
5) CAN'T STOP THE FEELING! - Justin Timberlake   
 
6) We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift   
 
7) Rolling In the Deep - Adele   
 
8) Shake It Off - Taylor Swift   
 
9) Someone Like You - Adele   
 
10) Despacito - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber   
 
11) Just Give Me A Reason - P!nk & Nate Ruess   
 
12) Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra   
 
13) Shape of You - Ed Sheeran   
 
14) Happy - Pharrell Williams   
 
15) Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars   
 
16) TiK ToK - Ke$ha   
 
17) Truth Hurts - Lizzo   
 
18) Born This Way - Lady Gaga   
 
19) All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor   
 
20) All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey   
 
21) Perfect - Ed Sheeran   
 
22) Royals - Lorde   
 
23) Set Fire to the Rain - Adele   
 
24) Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO   
 
25) Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars   
 
26) Señorita - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello   
 
27) thank u, next - Ariana Grande   
 
28) That’s What I Like - Bruno Mars   
 
29) Firework - Katy Perry   
 
30) Havana - Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug   
 
31) What's My Name? - Rihanna Featuring Drake   
 
32) Without Me - Halsey   
 
33) Work (feat. Drake) - Rihanna   
 
34) S&M - Rihanna   
 
35) Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper   
 
36) Only Girl (In the World) - Rihanna   
 
37) Cheerleader - Omi   
 
38) Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz   
 
39) Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus   
 
40) Raise Your Glass - Pink   
 
41) Blank Space - Taylor Swift   
 
42) Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) - Katy Perry   
 
43) Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson   
 
44) Old Town Road - Lil Nas X featuting Billy Ray Cyrus  
 
45) The Monster - Eminem Featuring Rihanna   
 
46) California Gurls - Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg   
 
47) Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 Featuring Christina Aguilera   
 
48) Teenage Dream - Katy Perry   
 
49) Closer - The Chainsmokers with Halsey   
 
50) Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO Featuring Lauren Bennett &  GoonRock

April 14, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

My Funniest TV Shows on a Per Episode Basis

I just looked at the shows that I have experience with and own and then I ranked them... it was REAL scientific and, of course, subject to change...

 

1. Fawlty Towers
2. Police Squad
3. Arrested Development
4. Community
5. Monty Python’s Flying Circus
6. The Young Ones
7. Futurama
8. Father Ted
9. Blackadder
10. Home Movies
11. 30 Rock
12. Mr. Bean
13. The Office UK
14. Mystery Science Theater 3000
15. The Simpsons
16. Cheers
17. SCTV
18. Bob’s Burgers
19. The Larry Sanders Show
20. Party Down
21. The Vicar of Dibley
22. Parks and Recreation
23. Mr. Show
24. Flight of the Conchords
25. The Office US
26. Only Fools and Horses
27. Absolutely Fabulous
28. Kids in the Hall
29. The IT Crowd
30. Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist
31. Spaced
32. Key & Peele
33. Seinfeld
34. Red Dwarf
35. Veep
36. Space Ghost: Coast to Coast
37. Taxi
38. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
39. French & Saunders
40. Get a Life
41. Archer
42. Soap
43. A Bit of Fry & Laurie
44. Aqua Teen Hunger Force
45. Rocky and Bullwinkle
46. The Muppet Show
47. Alan Partridge
48. All in the Family
49. Robot Chicken
50. Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
51. Get Smart
52. Bottom
53. The ‘Weird Al’ Show
54. Moonlighting
55. The Piglet Files
56. Sealab 2021
57. The Brak Show
58. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse
59. Girls on Top
60. Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp

February 23, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top #9 Hits 1955-2018

  1. Crazy - Patsy Cline
  2. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
  3. Rock & Roll Music - Chuck Berry
  4. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
  5. Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
  6. I Fought The Law - Bobby Fuller Four
  7. Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
  8. Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
  9. You Got It - Roy Orbison
  10. Burning Down the House - Talking Heads
  11. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
  12. Twistin' The Night Away - Sam Cooke
  13. Cars - Gary Numan
  14. Domino - Van Morrison
  15. Don't - Ed Sheeran
  16. Touch Of Grey - Grateful Dead
  17. Steal My Sunshine - Len
  18. On Broadway - The Drifters
  19. Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and The Waves
  20. Honey, I'm Good. - Andy Grammer
  21. American Boy - Estelle Featuring Kanye West
  22. Cruel Summer - Bananarama
  23. Rock This Town - Stray Cat
  24. Toxic - Britney Spears
  25. Let My Love Open The Door - Pete Townshend
  26. It's a Sin - Pet Shop Boys
  27. Israelites - Desmond Dekker & The Aces
  28. Try - P!nk
  29. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
  30. Keep A Knockin' - Little Richard
  31. Cake by the Ocean - DNCE
  32. Don't Shed a Tear - Paul Carrack
  33. The Last Time - The Rolling Stones
  34. For the Love of Money - The O'Jays
  35. Bad To Me - Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas
  36. The One I Love - R.E.M.
  37. Right Place Wrong Time - Dr. John
  38. Just a Friend - Biz Markie
  39. Who Knew - Pink
  40. Only the Lonely - The Motels
  41. I'm Like a Bird - Nelly Furtado
  42. Talk Dirty to Me - Poison
  43. Down In The Boondocks - Billy Joe Royal
  44. My Maria - B.W. Stevenson
  45. Cantaloop - Us3
  46. Your Wildest Dreams - The Moody Blues
  47. Lola - The Kinks
  48. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) - Aretha Franklin
  49. Tracy - The Cuff Links
  50. White & Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
  51. Got to Get You Into my Life - Earth, Wind & Fire
  52. Mysterious Ways - U2
  53. How's It Gonna Be - Third Eye Blind
  54. Get It On - The Power Station
  55. I Can See For Miles - The Who
  56. Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson
  57. The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco
  58. Sorry - Buckcherry
  59. Everything About You. - Ugly Kid Joe
  60. Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx
  61. Along Came Jones - The Coasters
  62. Follow You Down - Gin Blossoms
  63. Carrie-Anne - The Hollies
  64. U + Ur Hand - Pink
  65. Oops!...I Did it Again - Britney Spears
  66. He's The Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
  67. I'll Tumble 4 Ya - Culture Club
  68. Don't Call Us, We'll Call You - Sugarloaf/Jerry Corbetta
  69. Bottle of Wine - The Fireballs
  70. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
  71. Heart Full Of Soul - The Yardbirds
  72. Suddenly Last Summer - The Motels
  73. Waking Up In Vegas - Katy Perry
  74. One Track Mind - Bobby Lewis
  75. The House of Blue Lights - Chuck Miller
  76. Working my Way Back to you - The 4 Seasons Featuring the 'sound' of Frankie Valli
  77. I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls
  78. I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song - Jim Croce
  79. Miss Independent - Kelly Clarkson
  80. Touch It - Monifah
  81. Crumblin' Down - John Cougar Mellencamp
  82. Epic - Faith No More
  83. Do You Believe in Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful
  84. Russian Roulette - Rihanna
  85. It's Late - Ricky Nelson
  86. Magic Man - Heart
  87. You are the Woman - Firefall
  88. Forever - The Little Dippers
  89. A Place In The Sun - Stevie Wonder
  90. Love Will Save The Day - Whitney Houston
  91. All She Wants to do is Dance - Don Henley
  92. Popcorn - Hot Butter
  93. Big Things Poppin' (Do It) - T.I.
  94. Wasted on the Way - Crosby, Stills & Nash
  95. Fresh - Kool & The Gang
  96. Mr. Bojangles - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
  97. Thunder Island - Jay Ferguson
  98. Promises - Eric Clapton
  99. I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters
  100. Pac-Man Fever - Buckner & Garcia

January 31, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top 100 Top Ten Hits 2010-2019

1. F**k You - Cee Lo Green
2. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson with Bruno Mars
3. Happy - Pharrell Williams
4. Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
5. Despacito - Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee Featuring Justin Bieber
6. Truth Hurts - Lizzo
7. Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man
8. Shut Up and Dance - WALK THE MOON
9. Rolling In the Deep - Adele
10. Dynamite - Taio Cruz
11. Royals - Lorde
12. Sugar - Maroon 5
13. We Are Young - fun. Featuring Janelle Monae
14. Cheap Thrills - Sia
15. Get Lucky - Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams
16. Stay With Me - Sam Smith
17. thank u, next - Ariana Grande
18. CAN'T STOP THE FEELING! - Justin Timberlake
19. Shake It Off - Taylor Swift
20. bad guy - Billie Eilish
21. Shape of You - Ed Sheeran
22. We Found Love - Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris
23. All About That Bass - Meghan Trainor
24. Finesse (Remix) [feat. Cardi B] - Bruno Mars
25. Telephone - Lady Gaga Featuring Beyonce
26. I Love It - Icona Pop Featuring Charli XCX
27. Stressed Out - twenty one pilots
28. When Doves Cry - Prince
29. Old Town Road - Lil Nas X
30. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster the People
31. Gangnam Style - PSY
32. Hotline Bling - Drake
33. Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye Featuring Kimbra
34. Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO Featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock
35. Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd
36. 1-800-273-8255 (feat. Alessia Cara & Khalid) - Logic
37. Airplanes - B.o.B. Featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore
38. Cake by the Ocean - DNCE
39. Cups (Pitch Perfect's “When I’m Gone”) - Anna Kendrick
40. Shallow - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
41. New Rules - Dua Lipa
42. Bang Bang - Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
43. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
44. Chandelier - Sia
45. TiK ToK - Ke$ha
46. Sexy and I Know It - LMFAO
47. Believer - Imagine Dragons
48. The Fox - Ylvis
49. The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
50. 24K Magic - Bruno Mars
51. Sunflower (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) - Post Malone & Swae Lee
52. 7 Years - Lukas Graham
53. The Middle - Zedd
54. Born This Way - Lady Gaga
55. Havana - Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug
56. Thrift Shop - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz
57. Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae
58. That’s What I Like - Bruno Mars
59. Someone Like You - Adele
60. Lean On - Major Lazer & DJ Snake with Mø
61. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
62. Señorita - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
63. Payphone - Maroon 5 Featuring Wiz Khalifa
64. XO TOUR Llif3 - Lil Uzi Vert
65. Ex's & Oh's - Elle King
66. All The Stars - Kendrick Lamar
67. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift
68. Alejandro - Lady Gaga
69. Love Yourself - Justin Bieber
70. Super Bass - Nicki Minaj
71. Here - Alessia Cara
72. I Knew You Were Trouble. - Taylor Swift
73. Firework - Katy Perry
74. Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo Featuring 2 Chainz
75. Sucker - Jonas Brothers
76. Safe and Sound - Capital Cities
77. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
78. Formation - Beyoncé
79. The Show Goes On - Lupe Fiasco
80. Just Give Me A Reason - P!nk & Nate Ruess
81. California Gurls - Katy Perry Featuring Snoop Dogg
82. Girls Like You (feat. Cardi B) - Maroon 5
83. Good Feeling - Flo Rida
84. Good as Hell - Lizzo
85. Boo'd Up - Ella Mai
86. F**kin' Perfect - Pink
87. Nice For What - Drake
88. Problem - Ariana Grande Featuring Iggy Azalea
89. Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris
90. Lucid Dreams - Juice WRLD
91. There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back - Shawn Mendes
92. Boom Clap - Charli XCX
93. Love the Way You Lie - Eminem Featuring Rihanna
94. Counting Stars - OneRepublic
95. One Dance - Drake Featuring WizKid & Kyla
96. Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
97. Bad Blood - Taylor Swift Featuring Kendrick Lamar
98. Talk - Khalid
99. Pompeii - Bastille
100. Home - Phillip Phillips
(For those who wish to remove pre-2010s songs, two runners-up)
101. I Like It - Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J. Balvin
102. Treasure - Bruno Mars

January 27, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Top Ten Top Ten Hits of 2017

10. Rockabye – Clean Bandit featuring Sean Paul & Anne-Marie (#9 for 1 week, March)

Americans still have a small problem getting on board with international hits. While we were going through a two year stretch of highly popular Caribbean-influenced hits (see Cheap Thrills and One Dance from last year as well as 9, 3 and 1 below), this particular version which went to #1 everywhere could barely crack the top ten here and did so about four months late. Rockabye adds a little bit of a synthy twist to the generic dance hall track. Plus, there’s a strange sort of All That She Wants vibe going on here (speaking of international #1 hits that didn’t make it in the States) with this being a song about actual babies and not the usual Sweet Child O’ Mine use of children as metaphor. But for EDM, there is a lot to like here with a couple of memorable riffs and some nice vocal acrobatics.

9. Havana – Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug (#2 for 5 Weeks, November)

More Caribbean music. Havana probably has the nicest and cleanest melody of any song from the year. The declining scales of this song are instantly recognizable (contrast: some people I know still think they are hearing Cheap Thrills whenever Shape of You comes on). Cabello is also an able vocalist and her sensibility fits the song perfectly, though coming up as she did in the reality TV biz, she can be a little too focused on the appearance of authenticity more than the core authenticity itself. Plus, the song is a little dry for a song that should be dripping with humidity. This may have also been a summer song that was mistimed in the marketplace. Of course, summer wouldn’t have likely been a good fit this year, but maybe in ’18.

8. There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back – Shawn Mendes (#6 for 1 Week, August)

If Ed Sheeran is trying to score a hit in every genre (Castle on the Hill is U2-inspired rock, Perfect is his 80s duet, A Team was an indie guy rock single, Sing was a club banger, etc.) Then Shawn Mendes is trying to perfect the art of being what Ed Sheeran would be if he stuck to his own genre. In this case, a white rocker-y dude recording an upbeat AC/A40 type song. This, of course, is a genre that often gets overlooked these days. Mendes delivers a very nice, very straightforward track about getting started at a time when everyone else seems more interested in mopey introspection. This is harder to do and the youth of 2017 need a song like this as between the Caribbean influences and icy R&B, there’s not a lot of homegrown sunshine.

7. XO TOUR Llif3 – Lil Uzi Vert (#7 for 1 Week, June)

The second top ten ever to start with the letter X, this track is about as much of icy cold R&B as I can take. Partly this is because it is a direct contrast with 4 below. But Uzi sounds like he is entirely alone in a sonic world of his own design. The contast refrain “Push me to the edge / All my friends are dead” could be the rallying cry of a generation that has grown up without jobs, without real intimacy, without developing real relationships. It took me forever to even guess what the title meant, but here’s my theory (which may well be wrong because I haven’t Googled): the title here is a text message replete with strange caps and misspellings where Uzi is discussing his feelings about Tour Life (the X and O are the hug and kiss). How alienating and how deeply sad. But the reason this was popular and resonates is that this is common and I’ll pick this thread up again in 4 below.

6. That’s What I Like – Bruno Mars (#1 for 1 Week, May)

Another great Bruno Mars throwback track. This one is harder to pin down to any specific era or set of musicians. I guess we’re just gonna have to keep ranking and enjoying Bruno’s tunes. (With this listing Bruno Mars joins Rihanna, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry and Maroon 5 with three top ten appearances on my year-end list since 2006. Only Taylor Swift (5) and Lady Gaga (6) have more. And that doesn’t include Uptown Funk!)

5. Believer – Imagine Dragons (#4 for 2 weeks, August)

You can always count on Imagine Dragons to do something interesting even if it is not necessarily novel. This song is the closest they’ve come to replicating the success and formula of their massive hit Radioactive, but where that trades in nihilism, this one trades in hope and is better for it. But it is just as anthemic and just as angry at a corrupt system, which is a defining feature of pop with messages here in 2010s. Furthermore, many of lyrics pick-ups here rival the syncopated beats of some lower constellation rappers – which means more words and more fun memorizing. (Contrast: Gucci Gang where the words Gucci Gang comprise half the song.)

4. 1-800-273-8255 – Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid (#8 for 4 weeks, September)

If XO TOUR Llif3 is a call for help, this phone number is there to answer it. Cara and Khalid were two of the biggest top 40 stars this year and Logic picked them both to back-up him up on this almost orchestral moody dark R&B pop track. This one is about the real struggle with depression and how your brain becomes your own worst enemy. But even through this long dark night of the soul, Logic points to an oasis of hope. The song’s title is the phone number for the national suicide prevention service. I know so many people who have taken their lives so young by failing to understand the difference between the world outside their brains and the world inside. I feel quite moved as this song enter the fourth minute and begins to fall apart – a true artistic statement that suffers only from choice of medium. But if it gets the message out there, #4 is the reight spot for it.

3. Shape of You – Ed Sheeran (#1 for 12 weeks, January)

It is the following January. This song is still in the top 25. Popularity isn’t the only thing, but it is an important piece. As mentioned earlier, this is Sheeran’s Caribbean dance hall song. And while you may bemoan his focus on a girl’s shape… he is not proscriptive. Any shape is good enough as long as it inspires, er, lust in the viewee. Now you can dismiss this as body image focused, and you are more than welcome to, but a lot of early love (infatuation) is determined by just such stupid forms of attraction and pretending it doesn’t is counterproductive. This song is definitively about the time in a relationship before you really know any better.

2. Feel It Still – Portugal. The Man (#4 for 2 Weeks, November)

Powerful and driving, Fell It Still shows what happens when you give the whole bag of tricks to someone who is truly willing to experiment. The falsetto and retro instrumentation (coupled with the lyrics which are also backwards looking) add up to dance song that pretty much cannot be beat. There is something even a little James Bond-y about the orchestration, and the Please Mr. Postman sample, well, its always hard ot argue with Holland-Dozier-Holland track even if it just has one Holland. Look just go listen to it and tear up the floor.

1. Despacito – Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (#1 for 16 Weeks, May)

Lyrically, this song of seduction and female infatuation probably has everything over Shape of You’s blunt and not particularly awesome lyric set. But, as someone who doesn’t speak or comprehend Spanish, all I can do is wonder. But the beat is amazing… in a year when the president has chosen to go after Spanish speakers as foreigners (and refuses to help Puerto Rico), a Spanish-speaking track tops our charts for the longest run ever (tying a Carey-Boyz 90s track). Even if you cannot sing along, Despacito united dance floors, car radios, Beliebers, and commentariat for amazing summer. #1 may not quite be good enough for it.

Runners-up: Body Like a Back Road – Sam Hunt, Fake Love - Drake, HUMBLE. – Kendrick Lamar, Scars to Your Beautiful – Alessia Cara

One more thing: Dead last on my list this year was Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Do. (Even behind Drake’s Portland and Yo Gotti’s Rake It Up). Why? Absolving yourself of personal responsibility and being petulant about being revealed as a liar and a carefully composed fraud is not the kind of thing I like listening to. It felt like a White House pressing briefing set to I’m Too Sexy. Probably the worst #1 hit since Harlem Shake. (Sorry, Sams, I know you’ll pick something else as worst #1 and I’m fine with that, but I had to say got burned too badly by this one.)

January 01, 2018 | Permalink | Comments (0)

(I'm So) Afraid of Losing You Again

Most likely reason for inclusion: Country #1

October 18, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Affair of the Heart

Most likely reason for inclusion: #9 Hit

October 17, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aesthetics of Hate

Most likely reason for inclusion: 10,001 Songs to be Downloaded index

October 16, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aeroplane

Most likely reason for inclusion: 10,001 Songs to be Downloaded index

October 15, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aerobia

Most likely reason for inclusion: Pep playlist

October 14, 2017 | Permalink | Comments (0)

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