CLICK HERE FOR PART 1 1993 – 2005
Our blog looking at the weird, wonderful and random history of the Hottest 100 continues with a look at 2006 – present.
For readers who enjoyed part 1, we completely understand that if you feel old because you don’t know who/what these songs are then that’s perfectly OK.
2006
Winner: One Crowded Hour – Augie March
Auguie March took out the honours in ’06 with One Crowded Hour. The 2006 hottest 100 also saw the likes of Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars making the list due to its inclusion in Gray’s Anatomy. It also saw an influx of Emo music with the likes of Panic! At The Disco and My Chemical Romance making it to the countdown (yes, life was pain back then). It was also a year where peoples favourite songs may have not only made it to the Hottest 100 countdown but as the profile song on their respective MySpace page. With YouTube now in full swing by then, one of the first clips to go viral, OK Go released its iconic treadmill clip for “Here It Goes Again” which made it to number 14.
2007:
Winner: Knights of Cydonia – Muse
Muse got the job done in 07 with Knights of Cydonia winning the countdown for the year. The 07 edition was a solid list of tunes with the likes of Arcticonkeys, Bloc Party, The Chemical Brothers and Aussie staples Powderfinger and Silverchair scoring multiple placings. That peak 2000’s dance tune Paper Planes by MIA made it to number 17, and before crowds adopted it at the darts, every try at a Brisbane Broncos home game and many sporting events around the world Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis placed at number 58.
2008:
Winner: Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Before it was every second person’s go to song at a karaoke night Kings of Leon stormed home to number one with Sex on Fire. The song was at Winx-like odds to top the countdown. The hottest 100 top 10 of that year saw two songs each from The Presets, MGMT and Kings of Leon. One of the standout additions to the Hottest 100 of that year was Flight of the Conchords. Three of their songs from the TV show made it to the countdown. It was indeed, business time for New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based, digi-bongo, acapella, rap-funk-comedy duo.
2009
Winner: Little Lion Man – Mumford and Sons
Easy listening acoustic sounds won the day in 2009 as gentrified hipster icons Mumford and Sons took out the honours number 1 song with Little Lion Man. The runner-up was a tribute to all things French with that Art vs Science tune that once you hear it you can’t get it out of your head “Parlez-Vous Francais?” For the second year running Flight of the Conchords got three entries from the TV show into the countdown. Those band meetings with their manager Murray was worth it!
2010
Winner: Big Jet Plane – Angus and Julia Stone
Everyone rode on the big jet plane with Angus and Julia Stone as they took out the title of winner of the 2010 hottest 100. Meanwhile, one of the greatest songs ever to be written – “Barbra Streisand” by Duck Sauce managed to find its way to number 15 of the countdown.
The Bedroom Philosopher’s tribute to inner city hipster lifestyles “Northcote – (So Hungover)” made it to 91
But it could be said the standout track of 2010 was when Perth drum and bass group Pendulum remixed the old ABC news theme in what turned to be an absolute banger of a dance track on par with Sandstorm by Darude. It placed at number 11 in the countdown.
2011:
Winner: Somebody That I Used To Know – Goyte
Another track with Winx-like odds, Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye won the hottest 100 of 2011. It could be argued that had the number 2 placing “Lonely Boy” by the Black Keys been released in another year it would have also stormed home to take out the prize.
The more interesting choice of the year was this track from The Beards with their song “You Should Consider Having Sex with a Bearded Man” making the cut at number 99 of the countdown.
2012
Winner: Thrift Shop – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
The 2012 edition will go down as the year of Macklemore. At the time, your stereotypical hipster music snob was shocked that this tune could reach the top, but the people had their say and Thrift Shop won. The usual suspects also made the countdown such as Hilltop Hoods, Muse, Ben Folds and it saw the emergence of several Like a Version covers make the cut. Along with winning the hottest 100 that year, Macklemore’s hit “Same Love” which caused a stir after former prime minister Tony Abbott called for it not to be sung at the 2017 NRL Grand Final made it to number 15.
2013
Winner: Vance Joy – Riptide
Former Coburg VFL Footballer Vance Joy won the countdown with Rip Tide pipping Lorde’s Royals which finished at number two. It was also a year where the original song and a cover version also made the Hottest 100 with Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” finishing at number 3 and San Cisco’s Like A Version of the song placing at number 39. Given that it’s Australian Open time, it’s only fitting we include Lorde’s song “Tennis Court” in this blog. The song finished at number 12 that year.
2014
Winner: Talk Is Cheap – Chet Faker
The story of this edition of the Hottest 100 wasn’t about the songs that made it, but more the song that didn’t make it. A social media campaign #Tay4Hottest100 ramped up during the voting period to get Shake it Off by Taylor Swift (a song that Triple J didn’t play) into the countdown. It gained serious traction on the various social platforms and everyone from BuzzFeed to KFC were on board with getting Tay Tay in the countdown. However, taxpayer-funded commercial-free Triple J wasn’t having it. The Station disqualified the Swift song on the grounds it was a commercially motivated campaign or “trolling the poll” as the station put it. Had Taylor been included in the countdown, her song would have finished at number 12.
This wasn’t the first time that the Hottest 100 was hijacked. In 2002, then station breakfast hosts Adam Spencer & Wil Anderson created a fake metal band called “Salmon Hater” on their show. In what started out as an on-air discussion about silly band names, the boys spoke about the fake band’s history and how they had toured with other fake bands. All of a sudden a recording from the supposed fake band “Salmon Hater” had arrived and was played on the show a few times with the presenters encouraging people to vote for it in the Hottest 100. They did. It finished at number 26 that year. It goes to show, you can troll the poll provided it’s in-house.
2015
Winner: The Rubens – Hoops
After the station put their foot down on “trolling the poll” in regards to the #Tay4Hottest100 campaign the previous year, Triple J released a whole bunch of guidelines to ensure nothing like that ever happened again. The guidelines were “1. Don’t troll the poll. Votes made as part of a competition that promotes a song or artist, or a campaign that undermines the Hottest 100 may be disqualified or ignored.” and “2. We want genuine votes, from genuine listeners. If we feel something’s preventing that from happening, we’ll look into it for you and take appropriate action.” As a result of Triple J’s crackdown, it led to a pretty plain and boring countdown. So, by popular demand, here again, is “Who Farted?” by The Vaughans which finished at number 51 in 1995.
2016
Winner: Flume – Never Be Like You
The Hottest 100 of 2016 featured the likes of Cher, Beyonce and Rhianna. This is isn’t your local top 40 radio station we are talking about, this is the Triple J audience. Beyonce – won many awards, sold millions upon millions of albums but finally got an entry into the countdown with her song Hold Up placing at number 66. Rhianna’s collaboration with Drake also made it to number 99 of the countdown. As for Cher, a “Like A Version” DMA’S did a cover version of her 1998 hit Believe and it made it to the top 10 placing at number six.
2017:
Winner: HUMBLE. Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar made Hottest 100 history last year when he was the first artist to win with a song title in ALL CAPS. THIS IS A BIG DEAL. It was also pleasing to see the novelty hit return to the poll with British Comedian Big Shaq make the poll with the hit “Man’s not Hot” finishing at number 51.
The 2017 poll was dominated by Australian artists with a record 65 tracks in the countdown coming from local artists, but there was still room for Big Shaq.