The final countdown

Nothing like finishing up a long series of posts with a little momentum, huh? I'm pretty well adjusted to my work schedule now, but I now am sleeping at the time I used to go to the library to use the Internet. To make matters worse, I've typed several full or partial blog posts on Word, but for some reason they aren't pasting into Blogger. So I have a lot of stuff I want to put up here, but I'm not sure when it will happen.

As for my last post...I can't believe I failed to use the presence of "My Heart Will Go On" to make a comparison between Titanic and the Twilight movies, and how I'm one of the few who has never seen either. Even more unforgivable, though, I got two Savage Garden songs mixed up. I'm so ashamed.

But enough about that, though. Back to the matter at hand. We've finally reached the end. The final installment of our pop song countdown. For those of you just joining us, I've been reprinting, with my added commentary, a countdown of the top 500 songs of the '80s and '90s, as played by New York City radio station WPLJ over Memorial Day weekend in 2003.

Much thanks to PLJ for providing about 1/3 of my blog content over the last six months, and to anyone who actually read every post. Let's find out which songs got the top spots.

#25-1

25. “Save The Best For Last,” Vanessa Williams (1992)
Pretty serendipitous placement for this rather forgettable song.
24. “Jump,” Van Halen (1984)
23. “The Sign,” Ace Of Base (1994)
I may have already written about this in a previous installment, but it's surprising how much I dislike Ace of Base in light of how much I like their fellow Swedes ABBA and Roxette. Was there a big Swedish pop act this decade? I'd hate to see the streak end.
22. “Summer Of ’69,” Bryan Adams (1985)
In case you were wondering...Mr. Adams was 9 years old in the summer of 1969. What a prodigy!
21. “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Sinead O’Connor (1990)
20. “Eye Of The Tiger,” Survivor (1982)
19. “Ironic,” Alanis Morissette (1996)
18. “Against All Odds,” Phil Collins (1984)
17. “Semi Charmed Life,” Third Eye Blind (1997)
16. “One Sweet Day,” Mariah Carey/Boyz II Men (1995)
15. “3 AM,” Matchbox Twenty (1998)
14. “Every Breath You Take,” Police (1983)
13. “Torn,” Natalie Imbruglia (1998)
12. “Open Arms,” Journey (1982)
11. “Two Princes,” Spin Doctors (1993)
This might be my least favorite song on the list. If it was #311, I would've thought it was too high. Man, '90s pop music was disappointing.
10. “I Will Always Love You,” Whitney Houston (1992)
9. “Beat It,” Michael Jackson (1983)
8. “In Your Eyes,” Peter Gabriel (1986, 1989)
Ah, the theme song from my junior prom. Last Sunday, I had a visitor in my Primary class--the 9-year-old daughter of my prom date, whose parents are in my ward. She has a 9-year-old! And has been married for 11 years! She must have wanted to make sure I didn't ask her out again. By the way, I enjoyed SNL's updated take on the most famous movie scene involving this song (near the end of this episode, they don't have a separate clip of the sketch).
7. “Crazy For You,” Madonna (1985)
It's good to see most of the seminal acts of the era (Madge, MJ, Mariah, Whitney, the guys from Genesis) represented at the top of the list, but I'm not sure if they chose the right song for any of them.
6. “Iris,” Goo Goo Dolls (1998)
Seriously? #6? If not for Spin Doctors, this might be the most overrated song of the list. If they ever struggle to stay relevant, they could change their name to the Google Dolls. Then, for once, I would agree with someone saying a band has "sold out."
5. “Everything I Do (I Do For You),” Bryan Adams (1991)
Really? Two songs in the top 25? I guess you were right all along, Joey. Bryan Adams is awesome. This is also the highest ranked song that they made us sing at 6th grade graduation ("That's What Friends Are For" and "From A Distance" were the others).
4. “Let’s Go Crazy,” Prince (1984)
I'm kind of surprised that Prince got the respect he deserves on this list. When they play this song with the full "Dearly beloved..." intro on the radio, it's a rare treat.
3. “You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morissette (1995)
Two top 20 songs for Alanis too. If she did a duet with Bryan Adams, it might have been the biggest song ever!
2. “Livin’ On A Prayer,” Bon Jovi (1987)
Speaking of SNL, I can't believe they didn't go with the easy, obvious, and guaranteed laughs of a Bon Jovi-Jon Bovi showdown when Jon, Richie and the rest were on the show last week. This is a great song, and it's not a big surprise that it was ranked this high.

And now...here it is...the top song...

1. “Smooth,” Santana/Rob Thomas (1999)
I actually like this song. It's pretty good. It works for karaoke, and you can groove to it at a dance. But is it the best pop song, not just of 1999, or of the 1990s, but of the '80s AND '90s? I don't know of anyone that would say that. Especially considering this list was made in 2003, when this song was just four years old, making it impossible for it to have had a long-term impact like a lot of other, worthier candidates. Oh well.

That's it. 500 songs. It's been a long ride. Not sure if, ultimately, it was worth making the journey, but at least we had some good mixtapes to keep us company along the way.