Twostepcub's Best of 2017: Part Ten - #10 to #1 and the whole she-bang...
#10 - "Despacito" - Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee
from the album Despacito & My Greatest Hits (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (five weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 28
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriters: Luis Rodriguez (Luis Fonsi), Ramon Ayala (Daddy Yankee), Erika Ender
It's totally fitting that in the first (and hopefully last) year of the Creamsicle Pretend-King, that this Spanish-language reggaeton track by two Puerto Rican music stars spent the most weeks at #1 and dominated the summer. The crest of the Latin wave that's been building for years, it's refreshing that this addictive and seductive record from a guy who has been a mainstay of the genre without any mainstream love finally gets his break. And NO, there is no room for the "Bieber" remix here.
Killer lyrics: Quiero ver bailar tu pelo,
Quiero ser tu ritmo,
Que le enseñes a mi boca,
Tus lugares favoritos (favoritos, favoritos baby)...
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
#9 - "Attention" - Charlie Puth
from the upcoming album Voicenotes (2018)
Highest rank: #1 (five weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 29
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5
Songwriters: Charlie Puth, Jacob Kasher
New Jersey native Puth, whose debut album had put his hit "Marvin Gaye" at #43 for the year in 2015 and "One Call Away" at #15 and "We Don't Talk Anymore" with Selena Gomez at #51 for 2016, fully took the baton from Justin Timberlake this year with this ultra-slick slice of pop-soul that has an edge to his smily-face persona and delivery.
Killer lyrics: You've been runnin' round throwin' that dirt all on my name,
'Cause you knew that I'd call you up,
You've been going round, going round, going round every party in L.A.,
'Cause you knew that I, knew that I, knew that I'd be at one...
#8 - "What About Us" - Pink
from the album Beautiful Trauma (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (eleven weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2017): 16 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #13
Songwriters: Pink, Steve Mac, Jonny McDaid (Snow Patrol)
The pop superstar that never had to get into the "fan army fray" became the voice of the resistance on this fiery and beautiful anthem, and ended up tying one other song for most weeks at #1 this year on my personal chart.
Killer lyrics: We are problems that want to be solved,
We are children that need to be loved,
We were willin', we came when you called,
But man, you fooled us, enough is enough...
#7 - "Say You Won't Let Go" - James Arthur
from the album Back From The Edge (2016)
Highest rank: #2 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2017): 35
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11
Songwriters: James Arthur, Neil Ormandy, Steve Solomon
Arthur had won the UK version of the X Factor back in 2012, but he was pretty much unknown in the States until this year, with this sweet and simple love song that has realness embedded in its lyrics. It's probably a good thing, because the time between his win and now had him making some really bad life choices.
Killer lyrics: I met you in the dark, you lit me up,
You made me feel as though I was enough,
We danced the night away, we drank too much,
I held your hair back when you were throwing up...
#6 - "Feel It Still" - Portugal. The Man
from the album Woodstock (2017)
Highest rank: #2 (four weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2017): 35 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4
Songwriters: Portugal, The Man (John Gourley, Zachary Carothers, Kyle O'Quin, Eric Howk, Jason Sechrist), John Hill, Asa Taccone, Robert Bateman (for the sample of the Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman)
This unassuming alternative indie rock band from Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla, Alaska travelled from radio format to radio format conquering the charts this year with this beatnik paradise that cribbed "Please Mr. Postman".
Killer lyrics: Got another mouth to feed,
Leave her with a baby sitter, mama, call the grave digger,
Gone with the fallen leaves,
Am I coming out of left field?
#5 - "Castle On The Hill" - Ed Sheeran
from the album Divide (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (six weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 32
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6
Songwriters: Ed Sheeran, Benjamin Levin (Benny Blanco)
Sheeran takes you back on a trip to his youth in this epic pop masterpiece that mixes earnestness with passion in a way that anchors his stellar Divide album. The details interspersed in this record that dares you to sing along are like spots in a painting. This would have been my pick for song of the year at the Grammy, but instead was dissed, with people drifting to compensation crap (looking at you, Jay-Z).
Killer lyrics: One friend left to sell clothes,
One works down by the coast,
One had two kids but lives alone,
One's brother overdosed,
One's already on his second wife,
One's just barely getting by,
But these people raised me and I can't wait to go home...
#4 - "That's What I Like" - Bruno Mars
from the album 24K Magic (2016)
Highest rank: #1 (five weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 36
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriters: Bruno Mars, Phillip Lawrence, Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, the Stereotypes (Johnathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves, Ray McCullough II)
Bruno, whose "24K Magic" sits right under the year-end top ten at #11, followed it up with this mid-tempo song that charmed surreptitiously, without any big gimmicks, like the greatest soul hits of the 70s and 80s. Even the video is just him with some animated squiggles, letting the songcraft shine.
Killer lyrics: I'll rent a beach house in Miami,
Wake up with no jammies,
Lobster tail for dinner,
Julio, serve that scampi,
You got it if you want it, got, got it if you want it,
Said you got it if you want it, take my wallet if you want it, now...
#3 - "Shape Of You" - Ed Sheeran
from the album Divide (2017)
Highest rank: #2 (four weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 40
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriters: Ed Sheeran, Steve Mac, Jonny McDaid (Snow Patrol), [Kandi Burriss, Tameka Cottle, Kevin Briggs for interpolation of TLC's "No Scrubs"]
British treasure Sheeran, who had taken a year away from the limelight after landing at #9 with "Thinking Out Loud" and #11 with "Photograph" on my year-end recap for 2015, is the sole artist this year to land not only two songs in my top ten, but two in the top five. This trop-house experiment that shows his personal musical leanings aren't always fey ballads, "The Shape Of You" was inescapable in the beginning of the year.
Killer lyrics: One week in we let the story begin,
We're going out on our first date,
You and me are thrifty, so go all you can eat,
Fill up your bag and I fill up a plate...
#2 - "Believer" - Imagine Dragons
from the album Evolve (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (one week)
Weeks on the chart (in 2017): 40 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4
Songwriters: Imagine Dragons (Dan Reynolds, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee, Daniel Platzman), Mattman & Robin (Matthias Larsson, Robin Fredriksson), Justin Tranter
The Las Vegas modern rock giants topped my year-end chart in 2013 with "Radioactive", and this year almost repeated the feat with this trippy song that like that former hit uses unusual rhythm to propel the force of the record. In some post-apocalyptic church, this may be in the hymnal.
Killer lyrics: I was broken from a young age,
Taking my sulking to the masses,
Write down my poems for the few,
That looked at me took to me, shook to me, feeling me...
and now....
#1 - "Human" - Rag N' Bone Man
from the album Human (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (eleven weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2017): 32
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #74
Songwriters: Rory Graham (Rag N' Bone Man), Jamie Hartman (Ben's Brother)
This year's champion is a heavyweight blues-rock singer that came out of the gate with this stunningly powerful yet so, so simple record, which was an international phenomenon before it came to the States. Although only rock radio truly gave it the love it deserved, "Human" was a cathartic howl into the bad that this world experienced in 2017.
Killer lyrics: Don't ask my opinion,
Don't ask me to lie,
Then beg for forgiveness,
For making you cry...
Well that does it for my recap of this year's biggest. Thanks to everyone who has checked out my little corner of the interwebs this year, and let's all hope for the best for the next. Peace.
And now, the full top 100 for 2017...
1. Human - Rag'n'Bone Man
2. Believer - Imagine Dragons
3. Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran
4. That's What I Like - Bruno Mars
5. Castle On The Hill - Ed Sheeran
6. Feel It Still - Portugal. The Man
7. Say You Won't Let Go - James Arthur
8. What About Us - Pink
9. Attention - Charlie Puth
10. Despacito - Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee
11. 24K Magic - Bruno Mars [was #100 for 2016]
12. Rockabye - Clean Bandit featuring Anne-Marie & Sean Paul
13. Body Like A Back Road - Sam Hunt
14. There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back - Shawn Mendes
15. Something Just Like This - The Chainsmokers & Coldplay
16. Scars To Your Beautiful - Alessia Cara
17. Redbone - Childish Gambino
18. Water Under The Bridge - Adele
19. Wish I Knew You - The Revivalists [was #88 for 2016]
20. Stay - Zedd & Alessia Cara
21. Take It On Back - Judah & The Lion
22. Slow Hands - Niall Horan
23. Mercy - Shawn Mendes
24. Still Breathing - Green Day
25. It Ain't Me - Kygo & Selena Gomez
26. Love On The Brain - Rihanna
27. Hurricane - Luke Combs
28. Craving You - Thomas Rhett featuring Maren Morris
29. The Man - The Killers
30. Don't Wanna Know - Maroon 5 featuring Kendrick Lamar
31. Waste A Moment - Kings Of Leon
32. Love Is Mystival - Cold War Kids
33. Thunder - Imagine Dragons
34. I Feel It Coming - The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
35. No Such Thing As A Broken Heart - Old Dominion
36. Symphony - Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson
37. Chained To The Rhythm - Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley
38. In Case You Didn't Know - Brett Young
39. Strip That Down - Liam Payne featuring Quavo
40. A Million Reasons - Lady Gaga
41. You Look Good - Lady Antebellum
42. Praying - Kesha
43. Dirt On My Boots - Jon Pardi
44. Issues - Julia Michaels
45. Better Man - Little Big Town
46. Heathens - twenty-one pilots [was #13 in 2016]
47. Trouble - Cage The Elephant [was #26 in 2016]
48. Star Of The Show - Thomas Rhett
49. The Greatest - Sia
50. Drinkin' Problem - Midland
51. A Guy With A Girl - Blake Shelton
52. The Fighter - Keith Urban featuring Carrie Underwood
53. Don't Take The Money - Bleachers
54. Paris - The Chainsmokers
55. Heavy - Linkin Park featuring Kiiara
56. Seein' Red - Dustin Lynch
57. 1-800-273-8255 - Logic featuring Alessia Cara & Khalid
58. Do I Make You Wanna - Billy Currington
59. Malibu - Miley Cyrus
60. Cold - Maroon 5 featuring Future
61. Too Good At Goodbyes - Sam Smith
62. New Rules - Dua Lipa
63. Sober Saturday Night - Chris Young featuring Vince Gill
64. Love So Soft - Kelly Clarkson
65. Small Town Boy - Dustin Lynch
66. Wanna Be That Song - Brett Eldredge
67. High - Sir Sly
68. Side To Side - Ariana Grande featuring Nicki Minaj
69. How Not To - Dan + Shay
70. Wild Thoughts - DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna & Bryson Tiller
71. Fast - Luke Bryan
72. HUMBLE. - Kendrick Lamar
73. Love Me Now - John Legend
74. Somebody Else Will - Justin Moore
75. I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Zayn & Taylor Swift
76. Blame - Bastille
77. Lay It On Me - Vance Joy
78. They Don't Know - Jason Aldean
79. So I Can Have You Back - Joe
80. Closer - The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey [was #50 in 2016]
81. Run - Foo Fighters
82. Dirty Laundry - Carrie Underwood
83. Feels - Calvin Harris featuring Pharrell, Katy Perry, & Big Sean
84. Kill A Word - Eric Church
85. Give Love - Andy Grammer featuring Lunchmoney Lewis
86. Thick Of It - Mary J. Blige
87. Yeah Boy - Kelsea Ballerini
88. Starboy - The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
89. The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness - The National
90. All The Pretty Girls - Kenny Chesney
91. This Town - Niall Horan
92. Up All Night - Beck
93. Everything Now - Arcade Fire
94. She's Out Of Her Mind - blink-182
95. Show Me Love - Brian Justin Crum
96. Think A Little Less - Michael Ray
97. What Lovers Do - Maroon 5 featuring SZA
98. Black - Dierks Bentley
99. Flatliner - Cole Swindell featuring Dierks Bentley
100. Every Little Thing - Carly Pearce
Cheers, and Happy New Year.
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