Best #1 single of the year retrospective: 2003

Cafe Society
1

I’m posting this one a little earlier in the morning than usual because my schedule is off due to a long weekend and various social activities and I expect to be in bed until early afternoon today.

The year is now 2003. The Age of Crunk is in full swing, and we have 11 number-one-jams to choose from. Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” was this year’s carryover, but as it won the 2002 poll by a decisive margin, it has been retired from this year’s running.

What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1955-56 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2012 2013

2

I knew it would happen one of these times. Never heard of any of them.

3

I’m afraid that from now on and until 2012, my vote will go to the song that I find tolerable.

Predictably, **OutKast **- *“Hey Ya!” *.

4

I promise, things do start to get better around 2006 or so. IMO, 2001-2005 really does represent the low point in this series because of the effect that the death of the singles market and the rise of hip-hop/dance music had on the top spot. All those of you who complained about the songs we had to choose from in the '70s, I’m still waiting on that apology. :slight_smile:

As much as I love to rag on the UK charts for how schizophrenic and ahistorical their sales-only format leads them to, there are a few UK #1s I’d have voted for over “Hey Ya!”, which was my choice this year; in particular, Evanescences’ “Bring Me To Life”, the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is The Love?” (and let it be said this is the only time I will ever endorse a Black Eyed Peas song), Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne’s “Changes” (if only because it’s the closest Black Sabbath has ever come to a #1), and even Gareth Gates’ cover of “Spirit In the Sky” (because that song rocks no matter who’s singing it).

5

Wow, Hey Ya’s even more of a leader than I expected it to be. Is this the biggest blowout one of these polls has had?

6

I have no idea how you managed to avoid both Hey Ya and Crazy in Love. uh oh uh oh uh oh, oh no no.

7

I remember Hey Ya saving that summer. It was like “wow, a great pop song with a super-catchy melody and enough eccentricity to not feel packaged - yay.”

I will be surprised if any other songs get any votes :wink:

8

Exactly what I was going to say. Andre 3000 exudes such joy in that video, and such awareness of the 60s, 70s, 80s…and the future (Outkast is partly in that line of African American futurist-outer space artists that goes from Sun Ra through George Clinton and now into Janelle Monae).

9

I was torn between “Hey Ya!” and “In Da Club,” but I had to go with Hey Ya!, which is one of my favorite pop songs of the 2000s and an instant classic.

10

Out of curiosity, I checked out music-snob/hipster-website-everybody-loves-to-hate Pitchfork’s picks for top ten singles of 2003. A few of the numbers ones listed here made it, showing a pretty good showing for mainstream #1s:

#1 was, as here, Outkast’s "Hey Ya"
#2 “Crazy in Love” - Beyonce
#3 “Cry Me a River” - Justin Timberlake
#4 “House of Jealous Lovers” - The Rapture
#5 “Move Your Feet” - Junior Senior
#6 “Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” - !!!
#7 “I Luv U” - Dizzee Rascal
#8 “Milkshake” - Kelis
#9 “In Da Club” - 50 Cent
#10 “The Seed 2.0” - The Roots

Which reminds me, I’m surprised “Milkshake” didn’t make #1. Loved that song. Still would’ve voted for Outkast, though.

Another very solid year for singles. There is little here I wouldn’t listen to today, and a few of these songs I still hear quite regularly at parties.

11

Yeah, the song even has something for time-signature-experimenting prog rock fans:those half-measures in the verses and the choruses.

12

Yeah, it does have a cool truncated beat thing going on there. Pretty clever without really calling attention to itself.

13

I picked “Crazy in Love” in a very tight decision over “Hey Ya!” (Sorry, I’ve run out of similes to describe how tight it was.) When “Hey Ya!” was new, I absolutely hated it, but then various people convinced me that it was really a good song.

Overall this was a pretty bleak period for top 40 radio. There are five songs on this list I’ve never even heard of. None of them are particularly good, but Clay Aiken’s stands out for being particularly terrible. “This is the Night” finishes dead-ass last.

14

“Hey Ya!” is naked pop genius and deserves all the love it gets.

15

Yeah, I remember when it was first being discussed here on the Dope and how polarizing that song was. Ah, yes, here it is. I find that an amusing read 10 years on.

16

Outkast ruled 2003.

17

I voted for OutKast, but I’m really surprised that “Crazy In Love” isn’t doing better. People went nuts over that song.

18

Hmm, I sometimes think I focus more on the phenomenon of Beyonce more than the songs. I think Single Ladies has a pure, catchy pop hook, but find it hard to hum a lot of them. Crazy in Love has a catchy chorus for sure, but I remember it more as Beyonce’s arrival as a solo artist more than as a song, if that makes sense…

19

Because I’m exceedingly old - and exceedingly white - I must go with “Hey Ya!” (though “Crazy in Love” - the other caucasian-friendly song on this list - landed in a close second place).

20

Nope, I just now played the videos of both of them on Youtube. AFAIK, I’ve never heard them before. Certainly don’t remember hearing them, not even to dislike them. I guess I just stopped listening to the radio around then.