Picking up the Meme
Fred over at Occasional Fish snagged this meme, and thinking it was a pretty interesting experiment I decided to run with it. Here are the rules.
Go here and see what was on the top of the charts on the day you were born and every birthday thereafter. Learn just how astrologically-musically lame your life has been. If you want, add in your own favorite Hot 100 hit single of that year, wishing that your birthday had been cool enough to have that song be #1.
All right. I’ll bite. Of course, a lot of my answers wound up being the same as Fred’s – which is how I learned Fred and I were born somewhere around the same date a few years apart. So – show me how astrologically-musically lame my life has been.
- 1980: “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” by Pink Floyd
Favorite: “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)” by Pink Floyd - 1981: “Rapture” by Blondie
Favorite: “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield - 1982: “I Love Rock n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Favorite: Um, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, I guess. - 1983: “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
Favorite: “Down Under” by Men At Work. - 1984: “Jump” by Van Halen
Favorite: Oh, Come on. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. - 1985: “One More Night” by Phil Collins
Favorite: “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears For Fears - 1986: “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco
Favorite: “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel - 1987: “Lean on Me” by Club Nouveau
Favorite: “With Or Without You” by U2 (which has the same chord structure as “Numb” off of Zooropa. I always wanted to mash those two up) - 1988: “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson
Favorite: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses - 1989: “The Living Years” by Mike + The Mechanics
Favorite: “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Bill Joel - 1990: “Black Velvet” by Alannah Myles
Favorite: “Black Cat” by Janet Jackson - 1991: “Coming Out of the Dark” by Gloria Estefan
Favorite: “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” by PM Dawn - 1992: “Save the Best for Last” by Vanessa Williams
Favorite: I don’t think I can possibly answer anything but “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-a-Lot - 1993: “Informer” by Snow
Favorite: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by UB40 - 1994: “The Sign” by Ace of Base
Favorite: “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories - 1995: “Take A Bow” by Madonna
Favorite: “Kiss From a Rose” by Seal - 1996: “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion (yeek!)
Favorite: “How Do U Want It/California Love” by 2Pac and a whole buncha other folks - 1997: “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” by Puff Daddy feat. Mase
Favorite: Oy. Slim pickings that year. Ummm… I have to say… “Mmmbop” by Hanson. - 1998: “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It” by Will Smith
Favorite: “One Week” by Barenaked Ladies - 1999: “Believe” by Cher
Favorite: “Smooth” by Santana feat. Rob Thomas - 2000: “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child
Favorite: “Maria Maria” by Santana feat. The Product G&B - 2001: “Butterfly” by Crazy Town
Favorite: “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast (“Forevah. Forevah-evah? Forevah-evah.”) - 2002: “Ain’t It Funny” by Jennifer Lopez feat. Ja Rule
Favorite: “Lose Yourself” by Eminem - 2003: “In Da Club” by 50 Cent
Favorite: “Hey Ya!” by Outkast (horrible Grammy night performance notwithstanding) - 2004: “Yeah!” by Usher feat. Lil John and Ludacris
Favorite: Geez. Talk about slim years. So it’s “Hey Ya!” for a second year in a row. - 2005: “Candy Shop” by 50 Cent feat. Olivia
Favorite: “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani - 2006: “So Sick” by Ne-Yo
Favorite: Ehhh… “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira - 2007: “Glamorous” by Fergie feat. Ludacris
Favorite: No. I categorically refuse to pick one from this year. None of these songs are worth the headache. - 2008: “Love in This Club” by Usher feat. Young Jeezy
Favorite: “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry – and even then, I’m disappointed that it’s not Jill Sobule’s song.
Here’s what I notice. The pickings get slimmer and slimmer as time goes on, and I honestly don’t think it has anything to do with my taste – but rather with the fact that it was unusual in the 80’s for a song to last more than 2-3 weeks at the top of the charts, while by the late 90’s you’re having whole years with practically 4 songs each on the charts. Hey, radio – variety is the spice o’ life, donchaknow?
September 6th, 2008 at 6:08 am
[...] suspect I will regret this, but I’ll follow my brother and play this game. Here are the rules: Go here and see what was on the top of the charts on the [...]