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 1997, the year I graduated from college, started working at my current company, and celebrated my 23rd birthday. Thanks to my newly acquired hour plus commute, you’d think I’d have picked up more of the music of the day, but the numbers keep going down. A mere 25 songs remain familiar to me today, with 15 of them appearing in my collection in one way or another.
#95: The Cranberries – Free to Decide
iTunes stats: 16 plays
The group’s final charting hit in the US, it peaked at #8 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and #22 on the Hot 100.
#94: Aqua – Barbie Girl
iTunes stats: N/A
Leading to a lawsuit from Barbie’s corporate masters, the song reached #7.
#87: Madonna – Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
iTunes stats: N/A
Recorded for the Evita soundtrack, with Madonna in the title role, it went to #8 and was the first song to originate in a stage musical to hit the top ten since 1985.
#82: Los del Rio – Macarena (Bayside Remix)
iTunes stats: N/A
The #1 song of 1996 returns for its second straight year end chart.
#81: Luscious Jackson – Naked Eye
iTunes stats: 13 plays
Hitting #36, it remains the band’s lone charting single.
#69: Chumbawamba – Tubthumping
iTunes stats: 31 plays
The only single from the group to chart in the US, it peaked at #6.
#67: Eric Clapton – Change the World
iTunes stats: N/A
A 43-week stay on the Hot 100 gives Clapton a second year-end spot for his final top ten hit.
#64: Donna Lewis – I Love You Always Forever
iTunes stats: 12 plays
A nine-week stay at #2 propelled Lewis to the year-end chart for the second year in a row.
#63: Sarah McLachlan – Building a Mystery
iTunes stats: 22 plays
The Grammy winner for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1998, it reached #13.
#60: Sheryl Crow – Everyday Is a Winding Road
iTunes stats: 30 plays
Featuring background vocals from Neil Finn of Crowded House, it went to #11 on the Hot 100.
#55: Sheryl Crow – If It Makes You Happy
iTunes stats: 14 plays
Spending 27 weeks on the Hot 100 across 1996 and 1997, it made the year-end chart both years.
#50: Celine Dion – It’s All Coming Back to Me Now
iTunes stats: N/A
Recorded three times, by Pandora’s Box, Dion, and Meat Loaf, Dion’s most was the most successful, charting at year-end for the second straight year.
