Best of the Rest of the Top 40: 2014

Cafe Society
1

The time has come for the final poll in the year-by-year part of this series. In two days, we begin the best of the decade, so get the last of your votes in now.

For last year there were 30 songs in the year-end Top 40 that didn’t make #1 (one a carryover from 2013). 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 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

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

Tove Lo’s “Habits (Stay High)” whipped the buttocks of the rest of the competition, including second-place “Team” and third-place “Turn Down for What.” The mysterious “woo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo” combined with lines like “binge on all my Twinkies/throw up in the tub and I go to sleep” really clinched the vote for me.

The truly dreadful “Say Something” is dead-ass last place in the world-famous Ponch8 Music Rating System.

3

My sentiments exactly, the Big World and Christina Aguilera song boring and worst on this list. “Problem” has a very annoying
Saxophone bit also. Crap song but most were good.

I am still deciding on Tove Lo and American Authors, with Maroon 5 maybe in third.

4

Chandelier for me. Tove Lo close second.

5

I’ve got to go with Sia’s Chandelier as it’s an excellent song but the fact that I could as well have voted for Let it Go in spite of having my daughters sing it 24/7 for 6 months is telling. Only a very good tune can stand that much repetition and still sound fresh.

6

American Authors in the end.

7

For me, it was between One Direction, Disclosure, and that song “Bang Bang”. Jesse J killed it on that song; that girl can sing!

I ended up voting for the Disclosure song. Sam Smith makes that tune.

8

“I Won’t Back Down” wins, with “Let It Go” and “Problem” following very closely.

9

I went with “Let It Go”, and I’ve never even seen the movie it comes from. The first time I heard it on the radio, the intro and first verse reminded me of “Winter” by Tori Amos, and in fact I thought it was just a Tori song I’d never heard before - and then it went off in an entirely different direction and hooked me.

I could have gone with “Chandelier”, but IMO the studio version is overproduced and cluttered. I personally prefer the stripped-down version she performed on SNL. (The mime repeating the lyrics in sign language is just gravy.)

10

“Bailando” because that song got played everywhere on the radio here and every time I went out dancing last year (and up until now). Catchy song, and I love it, despite disliking most of Enrique’s other songs.

11

This was a strong year, but I think “Team” is the best song from the last 3 years or so. Including the #1’s.