Fifty Years Of Music – 2016

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2016, the year I celebrated my 42nd birthday.  A mere two of these songs are familiar to me, with just one appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#79: Taylor Swift – Wildest Dreams
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Peaking at #5 in November of 2015, it returned to the charts in 2021 thanks to the re-recorded Taylor’s Version, where it reached #19.

#7: Adele – Hello
iTunes stats: N/A

The last #1 single of 2015 and the first of 2016, it spent ten total weeks atop the Hot 100.

Fifty Years Of Music – 2015

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2015, the year I celebrated my 41st birthday.  A mere seven of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just three of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#60: Fall Out Boy – Uma Thurman
iTunes stats: 9 plays

Featuring a sample of the theme song from The Munsters, it peaked at #22 on the Hot 100.

#57: Taylor Swift – Wildest Deams
iTunes stats: 14 plays

Reaching #5, it became the fifth consecutive top ten hit from her 1989 album.

#43: Fall Out Boy – Centuries
iTunes stats: 44 plays

The lead single from the group’s sixth studio album, it went to #10, their first top ten hit in eight years.

#35: Adele – Hello
iTunes stats: N/A

Debuted at #1 on the Hot 100, where it remained for ten weeks.

#29: Taylor Swift – Style
iTunes stats: 25 plays

The third single from her fifth studio album, it peaked at #6.

#28: Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass
iTunes stats: 30 plays

Spending eight weeks at #1, it made Trainor the 21st female artist in Hot 100 history to top the chart with their debut single.

#18: Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
iTunes stats: 54 plays

Debuting at #1, it then spent eight weeks at #2 before returning to the top spot for an additional two weeks.

#15: Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar – Bad Blood
iTunes stats: 53 plays

The third single from 1989 to reach the top of the Hot 100, it spent a single week at #1

#7: Taylor Swift – Blank Space
iTunes stats: 32 plays

Spending seven weeks atop the charts, it earned three Grammy nominations.

#1: Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
iTunes stats: 17 plays

The lead single from Ronson’s fourth studio album, it spent fourteen weeks at #1.

Fifty Years Of Music – 2012

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2012, the year I celebrated my 38th birthday.  A mere ten of these songs remain familiar to me today, with just two of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#71: Adele – Rolling in the Deep
iTunes stats: N/A

Winner of three Grammy awards, it was ranked the 82nd best song of all time by Rolling Stone in 2021.

#47: Psy – Gangham Style
iTunes stats: N/A

Peaking at #2, it was the highest charting song by a South Korean artist up to that point.

#36: Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera – Moves like Jagger
iTunes stats: N/A

The collaboration spent three weeks at #1.

#33: Taylor Swift – We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
iTunes stats: 2 plays

Jumping from #72 to #1 in its second week of release, it was her first chart topper on the Hot 100 and tied her with Kenny Rogers for the most Top Ten entries by a country artist with eleven.

#29: LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – Party Rock Anthem
iTunes stats: N/A

Featured in 21 Jump Street, which won the MTV Movie Award for Best Music.

#13: LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
iTunes stats: N/A

The first #1 on the year, it spent two weeks atop the Hot 100.

#7: Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)
iTunes stats: N/A

Clarkson’s third #1 hit, it spent three non-consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100.

#3: Fun featuring Janelle Monae – We Are Young
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from the group’s sophomore album, it spent six weeks at #1.

#2: Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe
iTunes stats: 25 plays

Spending nine weeks atop the Hot 100, it was the first #1 by a female Canadian artist since 2007.

#1: Gotye featuring Kimbra – Somebody That I Used to Know
iTunes stats: N/A

The track, which won two Grammy awards, spent eight weeks at #1.

Fifty Years Of Music – 2011

Fifty years ago, I made my first appeared on the Earth.  In celebration, we are going to take a look at the year-end Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for each year of my life and see what songs resonated with me at the time and if they continue to do so to this day.

We continue our look back at the music of my lifetime with 2011, the year I celebrated my 37th birthday.  A mere eoght of these songs remain familiar to me today, with only two of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.

#57: LMFAO – Sexy and I Know It
iTunes stats: N/A

The group’s final Top 40 hit, it spent six weeks at #1 in the summer of 2011.

#29: Lady Gaga – The Edge of Glory
iTunes stats: N/A

The third single from her second studio album, it peaked at #3.

#18: Lady Gaga – Born This Way
iTunes stats: N/A

The title track from her second studio album, it became the 19th song to debut at #1, where it stayed for six weeks.

#9: Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera – Moves like Jagger
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending a single week at #1, making Aguilera the fourth woman to have a chart-topping hit in three different decades.

#7: CeeLo Green – Fuck You
iTunes stats: 51 plays

Originally peaking at #9 in 2010, the song rebounded following a live performance at the Grammys and reached #2 in its 26th week on the chart.

#3: Katy Perry – Firework
iTunes stats: 1 play

Spending two non-consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100, it earned Perry two Grammy nominations.

#2: LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock – Party Rock Anthem
iTunes stats: N/A

The lead single from the group’s second and final album, it spent six weeks at #1 in the summer of 2011.

#1: Adele – Rolling in the Deep
iTunes stats: N/A

Spending seven weeks atop the Hot 100, it was the singer’s first US #1 hit.

People Who Will Get Played Off Before Their Speech Ends

With the Academy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s my predictions for the non-acting awards.  I likely have seen very few of these movies, so I will mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth.

Best Original Screenplay

Amour, Michael Hanake

Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino

Flight, John Gatins

Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola

Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

I haven’t seen any of these films.  Personally, I would like to see Quentin Tarantino win, but I don’t see that as a possibility given the n-word backlash he saw after the movie came out.  Zero Dark Thirty has the upper hand, I think.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Argo, Chris Terrio

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin,

Life of Pi, David Magee

Lincoln, Tony Kushner

Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Silver Linings Playbook and Argo are the two films here that I really want to see, with Lincoln coming in a distant third.  I’m not sure if SLP will do as well in the “big” categories as people are expecting, but I think it will pick up some hardware here.

Best Animated Feature

Brave

Frankenweenie

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

Again, I haven’t seen any of these and I’m likely not going to.  That said, Wreck-It Ralph looks to be the most fun out of these entries.  Not to imply at all the Academy puts any consideration to fun.

Best Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey

Django Unchained, Robert Richardson

Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda

Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski

Skyfall, Roger Deakins

My feeling is that this comes down to either Django Unchained or Skyfall, and I think James Bond loses this battle.

Best Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran

Les Misérables, Paco Delgado

Lincoln, Joanna Johnston

Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka

Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

I’ve actually seen 2 of these films.   My thought is that it will come down to Lincoln or Les Misérables, and who doesn’t like a musical?

Continue reading →