The penultimate poll in our year-by-year survey of your favorite number-one jams of all time takes us now to the long-ago year of 2010. IMO, this was around the time when pop music really started to get good again after being mediocre at best throughout the 2000s, and there are several good choices here (and for at least one of our regular voters, the ultimate dilemma is about to present itself.) There’s no carryover this year, leaving us with 17 songs to choose from. What’s your favorite?
For the first time ever, there’s a tie for first place in the world-famous Ponch8 Music Rating System.
Kesha’s “TiK ToK” and Kesha’s “We R Who We R” both get perfect scores. Because I’m only allowed to pick one song in the poll, I picked “TiK ToK” because it came first and is better-known.
Consolation prize for best non-Kesha song goes to Eminem with “Not Afraid,” just edging “Love the Way You Lie.” “Firework” finishes fifth.
“California Gurls” (despite Snoop Dogg’s presence) and “Teenage Dream,” each produced by abuser/rapist Dr. Luke, get AUTOMATIC ZERO scores and finish in a tie for dead-ass last, like all Dr. Luke songs that don’t feature Kesha. Dr. Luke can rot in hell.
I find that I don’t care. I am not sure whether it’s just a bad year IMHO, or if this is an illustration of how bland Today’s charts have evolved.
I respect a lot of the songcraft and musicianship - Bruno Mars is so talented, for instance - but ultimately feel like the contest is about voting for the best Twinkie, i.e., pop confection, without much really great music happening.
Usher and Will i am, since I never got to vote for Usher and he has had a handful of #1 singles. I feel it’s the best song here, some of these I never liked to begin with or have worn off and become annoying. Bruno Mars is an example, “Just The Way You Are” puts me to sleep. Those Katy Perry entries are her better ones. The Rihanna collaborations deserve the trash bin. Kesha’s “Tik Tok”
Was always trash, though her other entry is good. I like her though objectively she has a poor voice. Not a good list.
I have to go with “Love the Way You Lie” here - it’s a powerful song about a difficult topic (domestic violence) that Eminem and Rihanna both have firsthand experience with, and the lyrics ring true.
Well, my kids were starting to listen to music of their own at this point, so at least I’m starting to recognize some songs again after a long drought. I’m still not voting though.
The only song I know I’ve heard is “We R Who We R.” I’ll have to listen to the rest to figure out if that’s the one I like best or not. Currently I’m up to 2002 in my listening, so it’ll be a minute before I vote.
I’m giving my vote to Raise Your Glass, though there are quite a few worthy pieces, such as OMG, which was nigh unavoidable and very well made .
BTW I had a “huh, look at that” moment when I saw P!nk did poorly in the '08 poll with* So What*; though I generally like her work I didn’t particularly care for that one, but I expected it to do better.
OTOH Tik Tok just grew annoying after the first couple of listens. It’s generic sound-to-act-like-fools-to #536. NTTAWWT, but I mean, normally I can at least appreciate the craft of well-assembled content-free party beats (see prior posts in the series), but this one just does not click with me at all.