Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 2004

Cafe Society
1

Sorry it took an extra day to get to this one. Going over this list was not a lot of fun. I won’t sugarcoat it - IMO, 2002-2005 is the nadir of American pop music, and there aren’t a lot of great songs in this list, but the good news is it only gets better from here.

The year is 2004. There are 30 songs in this set. What’s your favorite?

Previous polls: 1956 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 2003

Best #1 single 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 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s All-time

2

Good year for pop, I voted for “Pieces of Me” by Ashlee Simpson, younger sister of Jessica, who has vanished.

I also saw JoJo in 2006 got her signature.

I liked 2004 sniff sniff.

3

I voted for Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” – I mean Beyonce’s “Naughty Girl,” which was based on the Summer sample. This is a pretty shallow list when I have to vote for a 30-year-old song. I considered voting for “This Love”, “The Reason”, and even “Numb” before settling on Beyonce.

In dead-ass last place, “White Flag” finishes below even “She Will Be Loved” and “Pieces of Me.” Nickelback is so terrible, they were in effect ineligible for dead-ass last: I did not dare to YouTube their song and confirm how much it sucks. (I don’t remember that song, but I unfortunately do remember the three songs that I did list.)

Smapti is right, it does get a lot better in a few more years.

4

No Doubt - It’s My Life

OK cover of a great song = win in that year’s lacklustre competition.

5

Maroon 5’s first hit, “This Love,” is still their best. Granted, I’m sick to death of hearing it, but it’s still a good song.

6

Very lackluster year, but I’ve got to give it to No Doubt - it’s a smart choice of cover, and a fair stab at it. Also, Mark Hollis got some money and that’s fine by me because Talk Talk were a great band.

7

The lonely boys for me.

8

Evanescence ahead of Dido.

9

A little surprised I’m the first vote for She Will Be Loved. That is a great song.

10

Sheryl Crow’s song was the only one I recognized, and I think it’s one of her better songs anyway, so I voted for it.

11

It may interest you to know it’s a song with a long legacy - it was written in 1965 by Cat Stevens, and it first charted in America ten years later in a cover by Rod Stewart.

12

I’m not sure how I missed the Rod Stewart version, but my Cat Stevens collection only goes back as far as Mona Bone Jakon, so I had no idea he’d written it.

13

Me too.

14

I voted for No Doubt, BUT…

the local radio station has a daily “question of the day”. One day it was “There are still 10,000 of these in the United States” and after lots of viewers called in with wrong answers, they said they’d give a hint, and they played Maroon 5’s “Pay Phone” (which was the answer they were looking for). I desperately wanted to call in and give my answer:

“what are stupid Maroon 5 songs!”

15

Be patient, you. We’ll get to the 2012 poll soon enough. :slight_smile:

16

Anyone guess “maniacs”? :wink:

17

We’re not that hip here, but we still have lots of pay phones.