It started out as a slow year for the music industry, but as New Years drew closer 2008 really did deliver. The highly anticipated albums by Fall Out Boy and The Killers didn't disappoint, and lived up to the hype generated by the early release singles "I Don't Care" and "Human" respectively.
Outside of the US, Coldplay didn't disappoint either, with their latest album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. Meanwhile, Gabriella Cilmi burst on to the Australian scene with her smash hit "Sweet About Me".
Here are my picks for the top 20 hits of 2008, noting the absence of the rap and hip hop songs which of late have unfairly been dominating the top of the charts at the expense of pop and rock songs. Unfortunately Ludacris, T-Pain, T.I. and Kanye West in consecutive weeks on Saturday Night Live is mind-numbingly representative of this trend.
20. Panic! At The Disco - Mad As Rabbits
19. Gabriella Cilmi - Don't Wanna Go To Bed Now
18. Coldplay - Lost!
17. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
16. The Living End - White Noise
15. Gavin DeGraw - In Love With A Girl
14. Coldplay - Violet Hill
13. Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl
12. Fall Out Boy - America's Suitehearts
11. Simple Plan - Your Love Is A Lie
10. Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me
9. Fall Out Boy - Beat It
8. Panic! At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon
7. Fall Out Boy - Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet
6. Fall Out Boy - What A Catch, Donnie
5. Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care
Folie ?? Deux, released just this month, has produced many fine songs; #12, #7, #9, #6, #5. "I Don't Care" and "America's Suitehearts" (a possible
Tina Fey reference?) will get the recognition they deserve, "Beat It" had its time earlier this year as a specially released single, while "Headfirst Slide..." and "What A Catch, Donnie" will probably, sadly, fade away into obscurity. Bonus points if you remember which year "Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying" was released - that's what I'm talking about.
4. The Killers - Spaceman
It's hard to comprehend how this track peaked at 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. This and "Human" are far and away the best tracks on The Killers latest album "Day & Age", yet America didn't really respond. It is a great shame, because it was a solid record and "Spaceman" was one of the best singles of 2008.
3. Tata Young - One Love
This is the surprise pick. Most readers will not know who Tata Young is and what "One Love" sounds like - understandable, the song is in Thai, the same nationality of the artist (technically Thai-American) Those interested can read more about it at
http://www.cricketmx.com/articles/read/album-review:-one-love-by-tata-young/, but the bottom line is that this was a very catchy single (like a few of the other non-ballads on the album were) which blew away the likes of Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus in 2008.
2. The Killers - Human
Just edging out "Spaceman" as The Killers top hit of 2008 (unless their Christmas song, which I haven't yet heard, manages to pull off an upset at the 11th hour). It peaked at 32 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it deserved much higher. What "Human" guarantees is that "Day & Age" won't go down in history in the same way that "Sam's Town" did, although personally I liked that album.
1. Viva la Vida - Coldplay
Finally a song that wasn't denied a shot at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 by hip hop and rap. "Viva la Vida" was the first song by a British band to hit number 1 in 11 years. It has been hit by claims of plagiarism, but none-the-less is Coldplay's most successful record to date. Despite what I thought was a less than stellar performance of it on SNL, it is a truly fantastic song, and deserving of its position as the number 1 song of 2008.
