“I am mullet-progeny Miley Cyrus and in 2011 I was totally on the telly loads instead of making music so let’s forget all about my dodgy birdcage video, shall we? Here’s a Miley FACT: You know that if you type in ‘Miley Cyprus’ in to Wikipedia it goes STRAIGHT TO ME? I call that ‘conflict resolution’. Am I a UN ambassador yet? If so I hope it won’t interfere with my upcoming starring role in the major motion picture LOL: Laughing Out Loud.”
I’m sure it won’t Miley. Let’s have a look at entries #20-#11:
20. Rihanna ft Calvin Harris – ‘We Found Love’
RiRi is in the bath with her Docs on. That’s an extreme measure, especially when taking a hammer to them will usually do just fine.
19. Gotye ft. Kimbra – ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’
New to me! Video features a indie schmindie dude in the buff who could be either Gotye or Kimbra but whoever it is they could do with a haircut (I need a haircut myself so I know what I’m talking about).
18. PJ Harvey – ‘The Words That Maketh Murder’
Soldiers falling like lumps of meat! I wonder if Polly paid a visit to erstwhile carnivore sanctuary St John before composing this cheerful ditty. Try the sweetbreads, they’re delicious.
17. Emeli Sandé – ‘Heaven’
Not a DJ Sammy cover alas. Instead there’s more than a whiff of ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ about this tune, i.e. it is quite good.
16. Pistol Annies – ‘Hell On Heels’
Miranda Lambert has acquired some chums who are just as drunk as she is, and the results are excellent.
15. Adele – ‘Rolling In The Deep’
Well, it had to be in here somewhere, didn’t it? Here’s the Jamie xx remix which someone nominated instead:
14. Katy B – ‘Broken Record’
Plenty of love for Katy B all over the place including your votes. This track has come out the top of her five (5) nominations in this poll and weirdly enough does NOT feature a dubstep breakdown.
13. Diddy/Dirty Money ft Swizz Beats – ‘Ass on the Floor’
Also known as “WhennyrrinnurclurrbgeyerrASSonnafloor”, this is epic even by Last Train To Paris standards. Despite the title it is not really about The Club at all as Diddy promptly scarpers from the dancefloor in hot pursuit of a Mystery Lady.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90-SWwtpdZU
12. Labrinth ft. Tinie Tempah – ‘Earthquake’
This partnership was the other way around for most of 2010 but now Tinie has returned the favour. Stick with the video until 2.23 where Labrinth and his Jedi clones do a bit of choral evensong for your listening pleasure.
11. LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & Goonrock – ‘Party Rock Anthem’
Sometimes big pop hits are undeniable! Sometimes everybody appears to be shuffling! Sometimes one cannot apologise for party rocking. In any case, earlier this year I turned on 4Music for the first time in about 6 months and this was the first song that I encountered = SIGNIFICANT.
Top 10 tomorrow!
I actually forgot to vote for Earthquake, to my shame, because as I explain as part of my Tumblr Top 40 project it is GREBT.
I am less pleased with the Rihanna which still doesn’t work for me as I said here. I am super interested in those who love it explaining like, what they feel it is about and stuff? Also Calvin Harris hrum :/
EW EW EW WE FOUND LOVE. Horrible horrible song. How can anyone put up with that basic production :( Plus it’ll lead to more Calvin Harris in the charts, on our pop stars :(
Good to see most of the rest though! Hurrah Katy B, Pistol Annies, Emeli Sandé, Diddy Dirty Money. Don’t think I voted for any of them though, gave my votes to different tracks…
Hate LMFAO though. Shocked to see it so high up, didn’t think people had got behind them :(
Obviously Miley Cyrus’s Occupy video was one of the greatest pop things of 2011 though! Total agitpop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovs0fpFgeqw
“MOVE TO THE TRUTH / C’MON PEOPLE THAT MEANS YOUUUUUUUUUUU” – Thom Yorke could never express the spirit of protest as succinctly as that.
I have to admit to not “getting” Ass on the Floor when I first heard it, perhaps because I was expecting something with a title like that to be altogether more bass-y grind and less floating airy prettiness. Extending it another listen, it’s good but I’m not sure what it is that’s elevating it up to the top tier for people?
I have to admit that I really like starting my posts with the phrase “I have to admit.” I also feel compelled to admit that I am truly shocked that one of my tracks is going to go top ten! One can infer therefore that I am not bad. I am pretty good. I even veer towards the superlative! Or someone veers in that direction, anyway.
I also have to admit that I have no idea what all but one of the other nine will be. Obviously Mat did not vote, or my totally out-of-left-field wtf track would have shown up long since. So that’s another thing I’ll infer, and the fact that my old area code is going to finish higher than my current area code (3OH!3) ever did. Beyond that, though, with Katy B and Gaga already wrung dry, I’m without a clue.
(Actually I do have two or three further guesses, but I don’t want to spoilerate this for anyone.)
I did vote, but might have included only a few left-fielders I thought could make it. Turns out more maybe could’ve made it and strategizing is a bad idea.
Blimey, I thought I’d slipped in a bit of an obscurity there with Gotye but obviously not! He’s Belgian-born, moved to Australia when he was 2, and answers to “Wally”. He won three ARIA awards last year (equivalent to the Brits). Kimbra is from New Zealand and has been (optimistically?) likened to Bessie Smith – although since this was on NZTV she was actually likened to Bissie Smeth.
Gotye’s not that obscure. The song went to Number 1 in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Netherlands. The Singles Jukebox also rated it really highly.
@Erithian, 8. Some us (rory and myself for example) are down under, so obscurity problem solved! I do wonder why the UK hasn’t latched onto this track at all? Anyhow, Gotye was my #3 and is one of the most eccentric chart-toppers that I can remember.
I thought that would be the explanation Swanners! So tell me – given the little local difficulty Men at Work had with “Kookaburra”, was there any comeback over the distinct lift from “Baa Baa Black Sheep” in the intro to STIUTK? (which my Sydneysider friend who turned me onto this denied!)
@erith, 11. I don’t recall anyone complaining about that (and I’d never thought of it myself). At any rate, doesn’t Baa Baa have its own problems with Twinkle Twinkle?! The shepherds don’t have a leg to stand on, I tell ye. :)
I’m waving the flag for Rihanna here, basically because I found the whole furore surrounding the video a bit of a hoot. And Calvin Harris isn’t half as irritating as David Guetta. “We Found Love” worked for me as a cheerful arms-in-the-air slice of dance-pop. During the summer, she cropped up in the most unexpected of places (Formula 1 to Surrey beauty spots and all points in between), literally becoming Pop Star Of The People, in perhaps direct contrast to Lady Gaga whose public exposure was somewhat more stage-managed. Which strategy turns out to be more successful than the other remains to be seen, but I seem to recall RiRi getting more tabloid coverage in 2011. Good Thing? Bad Thing? Again, not so sure, but it’s a Thing nonetheless.
Gotye mucked around making music in his bedroom for years while drumming for other bands. He used to send out self-released EPs with hand painted covers. Personally I preferred the music on those (a bit more experimental as he taught himself layering of samples etc) than his pop stuff, but that said I do like his pop stuff.
Mat, if you’d voted for Fat Cat she still wouldn’t have made it much higher than 80, so no matter. (And her new track is a bore.)
Can’t stand LMFAO, they’re basically the 21st century Outhere Brothers the last time the US had a stab at the novelty artist/tune market.
I heard the Goyte track before but didn’t know who it was by. Struggling to think who he sounds like, Peter Gabriel springs to mind but maybe because of the video is very much something he would of done circa So.
the 21st century Outhere Brothers – i’d buy that for 87p
@Erith, 11. That would be Bissie Smuth, to my local ears.
(You’re not in Johannesburg now, Dr Ropata)
And hey presto, Gotye’s in the UK top ten a few weeks after featuring in this poll – didn’t know we had such influence!
– and indeed the new number one! (and top 20 in the US). Can we vote for it in the next poll as well then?
@20, erithian. That’s great. It was a massive (6 weeks in NZ, more than that in Aus I think) #1 down under and was every bit one of those rare ‘prick up your ears’ #1s that everyone from hipsters to grannies ends up liking (and buying). Gratifying to know it’s translating to the UK.
Unrelatedly, Glen Campbell was pretty great at the Grammys. (Nicki Minaj and Katy Perry and Adele were too, but my eyes and ears are a bit numb to them right now.)
Gotye – Radio 2 thinks he’s ripping off “Senses Working Overtime,” I’d settle for “Shock The Monkey.” One of those “different” number ones the industry throws in every so often to prove that it’s not all club bangers and X Factor.
@22, punctum. The Sense Working Overtime connection (just for a couple of seconds in the intro really) is the one that’s always struck me! But, yeah, Gabriel’s the deeper influence. ‘to prove that it’s not all club bangers’ – right on! Counter-programmed ear relief is an important part of this particular surprise success.