Twostepcub's Best Hits of 2018: Part Ten - #10 to #1 and the whole she-bang...
It's finally come down to the last installment of my yearly recap countdown of the 100 biggest "hits" on my personal weekly music chart for 2018. You can catch up by clicking on Part One (which also has the "rules" for what was eligible on my chart), Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Part Eight, Part Nine, my also-rans list, and the whole series. Thanks to everyone to keeps up with me day by day, I'm going to try to add more features in the new year. But for now, let's get rolling...
#10 - "I Like Me Better" by Lauv
from the album I Met You When I Was 18 (2018)
Highest rank" #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 27 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #27
Songwriters: Lauv, Michael Matosic
There's not too much to this simple slowed-down EDM love ballad, but there doesn't have to be. This singer-songwriter of Latvian and Russian heritage came out of nowhere with this charming declaration which preceded to grow on me through the year.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
#9 - "Heaven" by Kane Brown
from the album Kane Brown (2016)
Highest rank: #4 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 38 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #15
Songwriters: Blake Anthony Carter, Matt McGinn, Lindsay Rimes
Kane, who placed on my also-ran list last year with his duet with Lauren Alaina, "What Ifs", got his propers this time out with this sweet love song that states his current position is better that the titular level. The chorus is just so damn entrancing that it captured pop and country audiences alike.
#8 - "Lights Down Low" by MAX featuring gnash
from the album Hell's Kitchen Angel (2016)
Highest rank: #6 (one week)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 29
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #20
Songwriters: MAX Schneider, Nathaniel Motte (3OH!3), Liam O'Donnell
Much like the #10 entry from Lauv, this mostly-acoustic ballad came out of nowhere, didn't make much ruffles, and ended up sticking around in the higher regions of the chart to land all the way up here without reaching the top five. With two men on the record, it was embraced by the LGBTQ community, even though MAX wrote it specifically for his fiance, but the message isn't too deep as to not be universal.
#7 - "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons
from the allbum Evolve (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 30
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #12
Songwriters: Dan Reynolds (Imagine Dragons), Wayne Sermon (Imagine Dragons), Ben McKee (Imagine Dragons), Daniel Platzman (Imagine Dragons), Joel Little
Last year, the Las Vegas alternative rock band were at #2 with "Believer", and this year also make the top ten with this rhythmic pumping track that seemed like the soundtrack to every sports event in 2018. Still, the third single from their Evolve album was also their third to go to #1 on my list.
#6 - "Tequila" by Dan + Shay
from the album Dan + Shay (2018)
Highest rank: #1 (one week)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 30 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #21
Songwriters: Dan Smyers (Dan + Shay), Nicolle Galyon, Jordan Reynolds
"Tequila" was this year's big country crossover success, topping my chart when it ruled country radio, then returned to #2 as pop radio took the record on. The dreamy air of the record as it goes through a remembered past love is the stuff that helped Rascal Flatts sell millions years ago, and it still works for these two very very hunky guys. Having model/actor Nyle DiMarco as a wandering traveler in your music video doesn't hurt either. Dan + Shay were on my list last year with "How Not To" at #69.
#5 - "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey
from the single The Middle (2018)
Highest rank: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 30
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5
Songwriters: Zedd, Sarah Aarons, Kyle Trewartha (Grey), Michael Trewartha (Grey), Jordan Johnson (Monsters & Strangerz), Stefon Johnson (Monsters & Strangerz), Marcus Lomax (Monsters & Strangerz)
#4 - "Broken" by lovelytheband
from the album Finding It Hard To Smile (2018)
Highest rank: #7 (three weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 40 (still charting)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #29
Songwriters: Mitchell Collins (lovelytheband), Samantha DeRosa, Christian Medice
The idea of falling for someone because of their flaws instead of despite them is a trait that's been explored time and time again, but to be encoded into a love song take this to another level. Stealing the beat of the then-biggest song from another band on this post, Foster The People, "Broken" broke through systematically and one format after another, leaving them with almost eight months on the chart.
3. "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran
from the album Divide (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart (in 2018): 33 (was on for 11 more in 2017)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #1
Songwriter: Ed Sheeran
"Perfect", the third single from Ed Sheeran's Divide album, came in as an also-ran in 2017 when it only just reached the top ten last year. The ballad dominated pop radio at the start of the year, to the point where detour versions with Beyonce and Andrea Bocelli were rendered unnecessary. The simple 3/4 time love ballad is a slice of classic pop songcraft that is missing so much these days. Last year, two other cuts from Divide were in the top ten with "Shape Of You" at #3 and "Castle On The Hill" at #5.
#2 - "Sit Next To Me" from Foster The People
from the album Sacred Hearts Club (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (two weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 40
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #42
Songwriters: Mark Foster (Foster The People), Josh Abraham, Lars Stalfours, Johnny Newman, Oliver Goldstein
The band that had the #4 song of 2011, Foster The People (with "Pumped Up Kicks"), returns and returns big with this midtempo funk-rock jam that had people sing and dance along with it until it showers down its power-chord greatness. Simply amazing record from a supposed one-offer that simply to me was the groove of 2018.
And now to #1. Last year, there was 765 "points" separating the #2 and the #1 song. This year, it was only 180 "points", but it seems like this year was almost predetermined at the start, with nothing able to come close to the amount of weeks at #1. Last year she was at #8 with "What About Us", in 2016 she was at #40 with "Just Like Fire", but now she lands all the way at the top ...
#1 - "Beautiful Trauma" by Pink
from the album Beautiful Trauma (2017)
Highest rank: #1 (ten weeks)
Weeks on the chart: 23
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #78
Songwriters: Pink, Jack Antonoff (fun., Bleachers)
Yes, for me the song that easily beat everything else on this list (and ranked enough to be on my all-time list for the year) is this epic treat from Pink, whose second release and title track from her Beautiful Trauma album was a stunning combination of musical bombast and lyrical genius, with memorable gems ("my perfect rock bottom", "it's like we burned so bright we burned out") scattered all over this record. Pair it with one of the most ingenious music videos with Pink and Channing Tatum enacting their view of a "perfect marriage" that includes intoxication, cross-dressing, and polygamy, and you've got a cultural icon claiming her stake. The melody on this is still enchanting at the end of the year as it was in the beginning, and yeah, like 2018, radio simply took a giant dump on it, with only Adult Top-40 radio here for the game (as they usually are). The whole of the Pink album is stellar, but "Beautiful Trauma"'s elegant fucked-up-ness claimed my heart.
And here is the full top-100 for 2018...
1. Beautiful Trauma - Pink
2. Sit Next To Me - Foster The People
3. Perfect - Ed Sheeran
4. Broken - lovelytheband
5. The Middle - Zedd, Maren Morris, and Grey
6. Tequila - Dan + Shay
7. Whatever It Takes - Imagine Dragons
8. Lights Down Low - MAX f/gnash
9. Heaven - Kane Brown
10. I Like Me Better - Lauv
11. Boo'd Up - Ella Mai
12. Never Be The Same - Camila Cabello
13. No Roots - Alice Merton
14. In My Blood - Shawn Mendes
15. Good Old Days - Macklemore f/Kesha
16. One Number Away - Luke Combs
17. Girls Like You - Maroon5 f/Cardi B
18. Live In The Moment - Portugal, The Man
19. One Kiss - Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa
20. Sober Up - AJR f/Rivers Cuomo
21. Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Backstreet Boys
22. Wait - Maroon5
23. Finesse - Bruno Mars f/Cardi B
24. Feel It Still - Portugal, the Man (was #6 for 2017)
25. No Tears Left To Cry - Ariana Grande
26. Friends - Marshmello & Anne-Marie
27. How Long - Charlie Puth
28. You Worry Me - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
29. Havana - Camila Cabello f/Young Thug
30. Thunder - Imagine Dragons (was #33 for 2017)
31. One Foot - Walk The Moon
32. Natural - Imagine Dragons
33. Say Amen (Saturday Night) - Panic! At The Disco
34. Up All Night - Beck (was #92 for 2017)
35. New Rules - Dua Lipa (was #62 for 2017)
36. Bad At Love - Halsey
37. Done For Me - Charlie Puth f/Kehlani
38. I Was Jack (You Were Diane) - Jake Owen
39. Africa - Weezer
40. Beyond - Leon Bridges
41. IDGAF - Dua Lipa
42. Anywhere - Rita Ora
43. Meant To Be - Bebe Rexha f/Florida Georgia Line
44. Get You - Daniel Caesar f/Kali Uchis
45. Singles You Up - Jordan Davis
46. Delicate - Taylor Swift
47. Marry Me - Thomas Rhett
48. Better Now - Post Malone
49. No Excuses - Meghan Trainor
50. Whatever You Want - Pink
51. Shotgun - George Ezra
52. Thought Contagion - Muse
53. Hotel Key - Old Dominion
54. Dancing - Kylie Minogue
55. Let You Be Right - Meghan Trainor
56. All On Me - Devin Dawson
57. Wolves - Marshmello & Selena Gomez
58. Too Good At Goodbyes - Sam Smith (was #61 for 2017)
59. Ahead Of Myself - X Ambassadors
60. Like I Loved You - Brett Young
61. Severed - The Decemberists
62. I Don't Think About You - Kelly Clarkson
63. Yours - Russell Dickerson
64. Solo - Clean Bandit f/Demi Lovato
65. High Hopes - Panic! At The Disco
66. Blue Tacoma - Russell Dickerson
67. New Light - John Mayer
68. You Make It Easy - Jason Aldean
69. All My Friends - The Revivalists
70. Hangin' On - Chris Young
71. Promises - Calvin Harris & Sam Smith
72. A Little Honey - Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
73. Broken Halos - Chris Stapleton
74. Alone - Halsey f/Big Sean & Stefflon Don
75. Losing Sleep - Chris Young
76. Life To Fix - The Record Company
77. Walk On Water - 30 Seconds To Mars
78. Burn The House Down - AJR
79. Gold Rush - Death Cab For Cutie
80. Leave It Smokin' - Tamia
81. The Long Way - Brett Eldredge
82. Drowns The Whiskey - Jason Aldean f/Miranda Lambert
83. Everything's Gonna Be Alright - David Lee Murphy f/Kenny Chesney
84. The Way I Am - Charlie Puth
85. Long As I Live - Toni Braxton
86. Woman, Amen - Dierks Bentley
87. Kiss Somebody - Morgan Evans
88. Too Much To Ask - Niall Horan
89. Life Changes - Thomas Rhett
90. This Is Me - Keala Settle & Greatest Showman Ensemble
91. She Got The Best Of Me - Luke Combs
92. Nevermind - Dennis Lloyd
93. Location - Khalid
94. Mercy - Brett Young
95. Smoke Clears - Andy Grammer
96. Hunger - Florence + The Machine
97. Best Friend - Sofi Tukker f/The Knocks, NERVO, and Alisa Ueno
98. What About Us - Pink (was #8 for 2017)
99. In My Feelings - Drake
100. Rich - Maren Morris
I hope everyone has a great year ahead of them. Cheers!
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