Record of the Year Revisited: 2015

Original Record of the Year: Galantis - Runaway (U & I)

When I picked my record of the year for 2015 I said that it was pretty much the only candidate because it's the only Top 40 hit of 2015 I've listened to of my own accord.

That's no longer true because I've now listened to 80 of them in my search for the best year. It included this record because it appeared in the first Top 40 of July. 

There was however another record I liked in that particular Top 40 which was "Are You With Me" by Lost Frequencies. For the Christmas chart there wasn't any records I liked.

It looks like a 2 horse race then, so who has won?

I'd say Galantis still. I'm not going to dress it up to be anything it's not. It's a cheesy EDM record, very catchy and very much a guilty pleasure. 

The Lost Frequencies record is a tropical house one which at the time seemed a refreshing alternative to the cheesy EDM hands in the air nonsense. Then it became apparent tropical house lacks substance in the same way EDM does, it's just less in your face because it's slow. The Lost Frequencies record however has something about it that I can't put my finger on, but lacks the excitement of the Galantis record.

Record of the Year Revisited: 2014

Original Record of the Year: Frankie Knuckles - Your Love

It was the tragic death of Frankie Knuckles in 2014 which got one of his best known records into the Top 40 for the first time. The record in question was originally released in 1989 during the acid house era.

I said it was a no brainer to pick Frankie Knuckles because even the better EDM records of 2014 are nowhere near as good as this Frankie Knuckles classic. 

That said it's always possible to make a new record that's better so have I now decided that there was a better Top 40 new entry of 2014?

No. Looking at the list I'm struggling to identify any of the EDM records I thought were any good.

Record of the Year Revisited: 2013

Original Record of the Year: Daft Punk - Get Lucky

For many years now I've kept a list of all the CDs I own because it reached the point where it became too big to remember every CD. More recently I added the year the CD is from to the list to see how they span the years.

After doing that I don't own any CDs which came out after 2013. One CD from 2013 I do own is "Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk. 

The only track from any of the CDs I own from 2013 to make the Top 40 was "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk which was my pick for record of the year.

When searching for the best year it was 1 of just 2 records from the 2013 sample Top 40 that I liked with the other being "Pompeii" by Bastille.

The Bastille was a record I didn't discover until later, but is it better than the Daft Punk record?

Not at all. Neither record is outstanding, but the Daft Punk record is good enough to go out and buy and the Bastille record isn't.

Top 40 May 2026

Now we're around a third of the way through 2026 I thought I'd have a look to see how the charts are taking shape this year. OK the real reason is I have a music quiz coming up which may feature modern music and I'm struggling to think of a song from 2026 let alone identify it.

These days the official charts website has a play button next to each song where you can listen to a 30 second clip which is quite handy. In terms of new songs they all sound rubbish, but there's not too many of them.

The current number one is "Rein Me In" by Sam Fender and Olivia Dean and has been number one for 9 weeks, not consecutively but they've all come this year. However the song first hit the charts in June last year so not a 2026 song as such.

Despite one song spending ages at number one there are currently 11 songs in the Top 40 which have topped the charts at some point. Furthermore precisely half the current Top 40 has been in the Top 3.

In addition to the number one, Olivia Dean has 3 other songs in the Top 40 which puts a question mark over the cap of 3 songs per artist in the charts. The rule clearly doesn't work though because just 18 of the songs in the Top 40 are by artists with just a single current Top 40 hit, the other 22 places being occupied by artists with multiple songs in the Top 40.

Also lacking though are authentic 2026 songs. Just using chart entry as a basis just 18 of the current Top 40 records are 2026 ones. Most of the remaining 22 are ones sticking around from 2025 but there are 8 which originally charted prior to that including 3 Michael Jackson songs from the 20th century.

Is 2026 music so bad that people are still listening to the older tunes or are the charts so bad that songs that would have charted in yesteryear don't stand a chance of getting in now? Either way I'm less worried about 2026 questions coming my way in the music quiz.

Record of the Year Revisited: 2012

Original Record of the Year: Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think

In 2012 I don't think I looked at a single new Top 40 let alone listen to the music that was in it. I'm pretty sure I'd given up on music channels by that point too. I was vaguely aware of the sort of music that was getting into the charts and it was awful.

Since then I've done my series of posts to find the best year and see how the Christmas charts compare which basically means I've listened to to sample Top 40s each year which were around 6 months apart. Combine this with the dwindling number of new entries and it means I've listened to approximately a quarter of the new entries in 2012.

I found 2012 to be the worst year for the Top 40 with all 40 songs in my sample scoring zero. In the Christmas Top 40 I awarded a point to "Girl On Fire" by Alicia Keys and awarded zero to the rest. On reflection I think that Alicia Keys record is average at best and just sounds better in amongst the rubbish.

Fortunately thanks to the Paralympics a Public Enemy record from 2007 hit the Top 40 for the first time. This is an act who still make good music and are popular enough to not have a need to jump onto the whatever's popular bandwagon.

There may be a better Top 40 new entry from 2012 but I don't want to trundle through the rubbish to find it.

Record of the Year Revisited: 2011

Original Record of the Year: Martin Solveig - Hello

A few months into 2011 I said that this was the only commercial record of the year to date that I actually liked.

Looking at the list of the whole year it's not the only decent Top 40 hit but I can count the number of records I like on one hand.

Are any of the other records I like better?

Not really. I do like this record but it's nothing special and wins simply because 2011 was so poor for chart music.

Record of the Year Revisited: 2010

Original Record of the Year: Tim Berg - Seek Bromance

One of the positives of 00s music is that once the popularity of dance music declined a lot of the cheese went and there were some decent dance records making their way into the Top 40.

By 2010 dance music was making a comeback under the EDM banner and resulted in some of the worst music I've ever heard.

Not all of it was bad though and whilst much of it was cheesy obvious hands in the air music some was enjoyable to listen to.

My pick for 2010 was one of those records by Tim Berg who would release records under the name Avicii after this. 

When making my pick I said it was a toss up between this and "I'm In Love (I Wanna Do It)" by Alex Gaudino. It's close but the Tim Berg record still wins because whilst the vocals on both records are crap, the vocals on the Alex Gaudino sound a bit like Rihanna which is never a good thing.