Kevin's Watch

Every few years, Australian radio station TripleJ asks listeners to list their favourite 10 songs of all time. They compile the votes and then play the most popular 100 songs based on the public votes.

Of course, this list is entirely subjective, and tends to vary according the demographic, but I always find it interesting to see what people vote for - whether or not I agree with it.

A little over 500,000 votes were submitted this year, and the number 1 song as voted was Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana.

Here are the top 20:

1.Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
2.Rage Against the Machine - Killing In The Name
3.Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
4.Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
5.Radiohead - Paranoid Android
6.Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
7.Jeff Buckley - Last Goodbye
8.Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
9.Foo Fighters - Everlong
10.Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
11.John Lennon - Imagine
12.Oasis - Wonderwall
13.Radiohead - Creep
14.The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
15.Radiohead - Karma Police
16.Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
17.Hilltop Hoods - The Nosebleed Section
18.Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
19.Metallica - One
20.White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

For the full list - Top 100 Songs

Some of it I find enjoyable, like "Paranoid Android", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Imagine", or "Stairway to Heaven", but the rest is the same crap I hear all the time at the gym, and also stunningly predictable choices. But eh, they asked the masses.

Midnight Oil is only at 97. I'm shocked!

... I used to be a fan of JJJ years ago, but it's devolved over the years into an MOR station fit only for the faux-'alternative' and lowest common denominator gimmicky songs - the top 100 was further evidence of it's decline in both the quality of it's playlists and the discernment of its audience.
I found it to be generally an awful list with a handful of true classics; it didnt know what it really wanted to be (a reflection on the audience), and subsequently was neither a half-decent homage to the greatest and most innovative artists of all time (hence no Chuck Berry, Beach Boys, Otis Redding, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Prince, Sex Pistols, Clash, Pink Floyd etc etc etc etc), nor was it a very good list of 100 'alternative' type artists (no Tom Waits, Talking Heads, Velvet Underground etc etc).

Listening to it just made me grumpy, if you couldn't tell

having said all that, the top 10 itself could've probably been worse (but also could've been a lot lot lot better too)

p.s. Hilltop Hoods as the highest ranking hip-hop act was a disgrace and an indictment on Australia's voting public; I'm not a huge hip-hop fan anymore, but Public Enemy where an amazingly innovative hip-hop group 'back in the day', someone like them I could have quite easily handled being represented in a list of this kind ... but the Hilltop Hoods are absolutely dire ..
Oh, and a top 100 Australian-voted songs with no AC/DC ???
end rant.

SleeplessOne, I hear you (I probably wouldn't rant as much but I understand )

I was a big fan in the 90s, because of the lack of any alternative, but I rarely listen to it for long these days.

Here's my take (feel free to lambast me ) - I didn't vote and I don't really know what my favourite 10 songs would be, but...

1. Smells like teen spirit - I liked it at the time, but I'm over it now. Still, I did a stupid dance to it after several beers...
2. Killing in the Name - YEAH! An old fan of RATM, so biased as usual.
3. Hallalujah - I'm not a fan of Jeff Buckley, I appreciate his gift, but don't like his songs. But this is probably my favourite of his.
4. Love will tear us apart - IMO the most over-rated song in history. I guess you had to be there...
5. Paranoid Android - love it! Only surpassed by Fake Plastic Trees IMO.
6. Bohemian Rhapsody - huge Queen fan, so I would have voted for this.
7. Last Goodbye - whatever!
8. Under the bridge - there are some classic RHCP songs. This one is, just ok.
9. Everlong - could think of a few Foo Fighters songs I could pick above this one.
10. Stairway to Heaven - a classic, if somewhat over-played. Still, a classic.
11. Imagine - I'm not disappointed it went well.
12. Wonderwall - despise it! Just my opinion...
13. Creep - Introduced me to a new style of music. Love it!
14. Bittersweet Symphony - ugh! Not a fan.
15. Karma Police - people love this song, I like it, but not THAT much...
16. Wish you were here - I'm a floyd fan from way back, so I'm happy about this one!
17. The Nosebleed Section - I'm not sure how well-known this is, but I much prefer their cover of "I was only 19".
18. Knights of Cydonia - I know I shouldn't, but I have a soft spot for Muse, so I'm quietly happy about this.
19. One - No objections.
20. Seven Nation Army - once again, I feel there are many better songs from the White Stripes, but this one made it...

Krazy Kat wrote:Midnight Oil is only at 97. I'm shocked!

A victim of the demographic I feel! I loved the Oils back in the day, so I'm very disappointed about that!

SleeplessOne wrote:Oh, and a top 100 Australian-voted songs with no AC/DC ???

Boy, that was my first thought as well. I didn't go see the full 100 but I am still surprised that no AC/DC was in the top 20.

StevieG wrote:4. Love will tear us apart - IMO the most over-rated song in history.

I am a huge Joy Division (and New Order) fan. However I must say that not only is that song far far from being my favorite JD song (in fact it doesn't even make the list) I too am surprised it made the Aussie countdown.

StevieG wrote:I guess you had to be there...

Something like that...

StevieG wrote: 3. Hallalujah - I'm not a fan of Jeff Buckley, I appreciate his gift, but don't like his songs. But this is probably my favourite of his.

And it is a cover of a Leonard Cohen song. Actually, more accurately, it is a cover of a cover, if you follow the chronology of it.

Life on Mars? I'm a major Bowie head and I've never heard it...

danlo wrote:Life on Mars? I'm a major Bowie head and I've never heard it...

It's on Hunky Dory.....I used to have the LP.

dANdeLION wrote:

danlo wrote:Life on Mars? I'm a major Bowie head and I've never heard it...

It's on Hunky Dory.....I used to have the LP.

By far, it is my favorite Bowie album.

Just for the record there were 2 AC/DC songs in the top 100: Thunderstruck, and Back in Black.

The Clash made it with London Calling. Pink Floyd with Comfortably Numb and Wish you were here (no Money???), Johnny Cash with Hurt, Beach Boys with God only knows.

danlo wrote:Life on Mars? I'm a major Bowie head and I've never heard it...

It's one of my favourite Bowie songs - you might recognise it when you here it? Life on Mars

AjK wrote:

StevieG wrote:
4. Love will tear us apart - IMO the most over-rated song in history.

I am a huge Joy Division (and New Order) fan. However I must say that not only is that song far far from being my favorite JD song (in fact it doesn't even make the list) I too am surprised it made the Aussie countdown.

StevieG wrote:
I guess you had to be there...

Something like that...

I think it has a lot to do with Curtis' subsequent suicide, and the fact that people lament the fact that this song was a big hit and he didn't get to enjoy the success of it. Still, as you say, not one of their best.

Cagliostro wrote:

dANdeLION wrote:

danlo wrote:Life on Mars? I'm a major Bowie head and I've never heard it...

It's on Hunky Dory.....I used to have the LP.

By far, it is my favorite Bowie album.

For me it's The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and Let's Dance. Hunky Dory is probably next on my list, though; certainly the next Bowie cd I get.

StevieG wrote:Pink Floyd with Comfortably Numb and Wish you were here (no Money???)...

Money was a huge hit for Floyd.
But the other two songs are way better...

...still, I would have ranked Echoes over any of them.

1 & 2 (Rage against the Hypocrisy )are rubbish.

Loremaster wrote:1 & 2 (Rage against the Hypocrisy )are rubbish.

RATH, then. - I don't really give a flying fruitcake about their political/protest stances, but I personally can't deny the awesomeness of Tom Morello's guitar riffs...

an interesting mix. ad it seems that Nirvana will be taking of Hendrix's spot for most overblown/overplayed artist who killed themselves.

'Killing in the name of' was fantastic earlier this year at the 'silent disco' at a festival I attended

Being Australia Day yesterday (Jan 26th) the Hottest 100 songs voted by the listeners of radio station Triple J were counted down.

Over 1 million votes this year, and I think I've officially moved into the "old fart" category because the kids of today don't have any musical taste!

There are a few that I like - I'm particularly satisfied with the number 1 song this year, but some of them are, well, not my favourites anyway!

Here are the top 10 songs:

1. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
2. Art vs. Science - Parlez Vous Francais?
3. Hilltop Hoods - Chase That Feeling
4. Phoenix - Lisztomania
5. Bluejuice - Broken Leg
6. La Roux - Bulletproof
7. Lisa Mitchell - Coin Laundry
8. Lily Allen - Not Fair
9. Muse - Uprising
10. Florence + the Machine - Dog Days Are Over

Here's the complete list: Hottest 100 List

If you're an "old fart" then I'm not sure I want to know what I'd be called. I don't know any song on that "hottest" 100 list.
I guess that officially makes me a musical hermit. So I've been living in a cave...I rather like it there.