My true love for popular music bloomed in the early 1990s, and as awkward and geeky teenagers, my best friend Jonathan and I pretended to have our own radio station. We even gave it a tuning number and call letters, 108 FM CJJ5, where CJ was short for Christopher John and J5 for Jonny 5.
During the same time period, I became obsessed with weekly Top 40 programs--both Casey Kasem's Top 40 and the American Top 40, based on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. And as my affection for and collection of CDs grew, I decided to merge my love for a good countdown with our faux radio station, developing and documenting my very own weekly ranked list. I called it Chris's Top 40 and "broadcast" it live from my bedroom for my own personal gratification. Not satisfied with merely a weekly Top 40, I also wanted to mimic the year-end countdowns that always aired on New Year's Eve and provided a definitive list of the year's biggest hits. So, in December of 1992, I started compiling Chris's Top 40's year-end Top 100, determined by a mathematical process wherein songs earned a certain number of points for entering the chart, how many weeks they lasted on the chart, and how high they rose in rank. (Record for most weeks at number 1? "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, which spent 14 weeks at #1 during the summer of 1995. Runner up? "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue, with 10 weeks at the top spot.)
No one outside a few close friends and family ever heard Chris's Top 40 or even really knew it existed in the first place. I loved it but did not want to be teased because of it, so it provided both a source of pride and embarrassment. Still, the "show" ran every week from the fall of 1991 through the fall of 1995, half way through my freshman year of college, and although I stopped recounting my weekly 40 favorite songs then, my affinity for countdowns persisted. In 2007 I pored over my iTunes collection to rank my 100 all-time favorite songs. I was all but done when I discovered I left one out, and the list went from the Hot 100 to the Hot 101 (using the Billboard chart convention). A similar collection followed in 2008, albeit without ranking.
As an adult, I've often wanted to look back at those Top 40 records and reminisce over such good and dorky times. Unfortunately, only a few early copies from 1991 remain--the rest were lost in an apartment fire my roommate Maggie and I experienced in October of 2000. I know. Sad, right? Despite the material loss, the countdown and its associated memories obviously mean a lot to me and my sense of identity. Clearly, Chris's Top 40 served as the foundation and impetus for my Countdown to 40. As such, the pending birthday and blogging project inspired me to revisit my Hot 101 list and devise a new ranking. So, here you have my 101 favorite songs of all time, counted down. Currently, songs #101-41 are posted to the list, and starting February 1st, I will add an additional song each day as I count down to turning 40 on March 12th.
During the same time period, I became obsessed with weekly Top 40 programs--both Casey Kasem's Top 40 and the American Top 40, based on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. And as my affection for and collection of CDs grew, I decided to merge my love for a good countdown with our faux radio station, developing and documenting my very own weekly ranked list. I called it Chris's Top 40 and "broadcast" it live from my bedroom for my own personal gratification. Not satisfied with merely a weekly Top 40, I also wanted to mimic the year-end countdowns that always aired on New Year's Eve and provided a definitive list of the year's biggest hits. So, in December of 1992, I started compiling Chris's Top 40's year-end Top 100, determined by a mathematical process wherein songs earned a certain number of points for entering the chart, how many weeks they lasted on the chart, and how high they rose in rank. (Record for most weeks at number 1? "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, which spent 14 weeks at #1 during the summer of 1995. Runner up? "Free Your Mind" by En Vogue, with 10 weeks at the top spot.)
No one outside a few close friends and family ever heard Chris's Top 40 or even really knew it existed in the first place. I loved it but did not want to be teased because of it, so it provided both a source of pride and embarrassment. Still, the "show" ran every week from the fall of 1991 through the fall of 1995, half way through my freshman year of college, and although I stopped recounting my weekly 40 favorite songs then, my affinity for countdowns persisted. In 2007 I pored over my iTunes collection to rank my 100 all-time favorite songs. I was all but done when I discovered I left one out, and the list went from the Hot 100 to the Hot 101 (using the Billboard chart convention). A similar collection followed in 2008, albeit without ranking.
As an adult, I've often wanted to look back at those Top 40 records and reminisce over such good and dorky times. Unfortunately, only a few early copies from 1991 remain--the rest were lost in an apartment fire my roommate Maggie and I experienced in October of 2000. I know. Sad, right? Despite the material loss, the countdown and its associated memories obviously mean a lot to me and my sense of identity. Clearly, Chris's Top 40 served as the foundation and impetus for my Countdown to 40. As such, the pending birthday and blogging project inspired me to revisit my Hot 101 list and devise a new ranking. So, here you have my 101 favorite songs of all time, counted down. Currently, songs #101-41 are posted to the list, and starting February 1st, I will add an additional song each day as I count down to turning 40 on March 12th.
Chris's Hot 101
101. "The Ballad of John and Yoko" | THE BEATLES
100. "The Way You Make Me Feel" | MICHAEL JACKSON 99. "God Only Knows" | THE BEACH BOYS 98. "Get Lucky" | DAFT PUNK, PHARRELL WILLIAMS, & NILE RODGERS 97. "Do You Sleep?" | LISA LOEB & NINE STORIES 96. "Everlasting Love" | GLORIA ESTEFAN 95. "Landslide" | FLEETWOOD MAC 94. "Wonderful" | ANNIE LENNOX 93. "Everybody Hurts" | R.E.M. 92. "Closer" | NINE INCH NAILS * 91. "Take On Me" | A-HA 90. "Dancing Queen" | ABBA 89. "How Will I Know" | WHITNEY HOUSTON 88. "Superstition" | STEVIE WONDER 87. "We Didn't Start the Fire" | BILLY JOEL 86. "Joey" | CONCRETE BLONDE 85. "Learn to Fly" | FOO FIGHTERS 84. "Only Wanna Be With You" | HOOTIE & THE BLOWFISH 83. "Come Undone" | DURAN DURAN 82. "Just Another Day" | JON SECADA 81. "Same Love" | MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS feat. MARY LAMBERT 80. "Stand By Your Man" | TAMMY WYNETTE 79. "Stay" | Shakespears Sister 78. "Goldeneye" | TINA TURNER 77. "Jackson" | JOHNNY CASH & JUNE CARTER CASH 76. "San Francisco" | SCOTT McKENZIE 75. "Tom's Diner" | SUZANNE VEGA feat. DNA 74. "Storms" | FLEETWOOD MAC 73. "Make Someone Happy" | JIMMY DURANTE 72. "Downtown" | PETULA CLARK 71. "Imagine" | JOHN LENNON 70. "Sweet Child O' Mine" | GUNS N' ROSES 69. "Son of a Preacher Man" | DUSTY SPRINGFIELD 68. "SexyBack" | JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE * 67. "Paisley Park" | PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION 66. "Not Ready to Make Nice" | DIXIE CHICKS 65. "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" | LOUIS ARMSTRONG 64. "Christmas Waltz" | CARPENTERS 63. "Save Up All Your Tears" | CHER 62. "Apologize" | ONEREPUBLIC feat. TIMBALAND 61. "Everybody Everybody" | BLACKBOX 60. "Hung Up" | MADONNA 59. "Yellow" | COLDPLAY 58. "Free Me" | JOSS STONE 57. "Giving You the Benefit" | PEBBLES 56. "Take Me With U" | PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION 55. "Human Touch" | BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 54. "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" | LEO SAYER 53. "For What It's Worth" | BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD 52. "The Long Way Around" | DIXIE CHICKS 51. "The Sound of Silence" | SIMON & GARFUNKEL 50. "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" | SHE & HIM 49. "Free Your Mind" | EN VOGUE 48. "Maybe Angels" | SHERYL CROW 47. "Kathy's Song" | SIMON & GARFUNKEL 46. "Never Going Back Again" | FLEETWOOD MAC 45. "Too Many Walls" | CATHY DENNIS 44. "We've Only Just Begun" | CARPENTERS 43. "Don't Wanna Fall in Love" | JANE CHILD 42. "Hold On" | WILSON PHILLIPS 41. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" | MICHAEL JACKSON |
BONUS! If you have Spotify, you can listen to the songs, in countdown order, by using the embedded playlist or by visiting the Spotify Playlist Link. *Contains explicit language. NOTE: Some music written by Prince is not yet available via Spotify, so you may see the song in the playlist but unable to play it. |
40. |
Nothing Compares 2 U
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39. |
Send My Love (To Your New Lover)
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38. |
Montauk
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37. |
Orchid
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36. |
Got 'Til It's Gone *
|
35. |
Escapade
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34. |
Freedom! '90
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33. |
Tusk
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32. |
Missing (Todd Terry Remix)
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31. |
Everything Is Everything
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30. |
I'm on Fire
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29. |
Hallelujah
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28. |
Groove Is in the Heart
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27. |
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
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26. |
Rhythm Nation
|
25. |
The Christmas Song
|
24. |
The Boxer
|
23. |
Superstar
|
22. |
Christmas Time Is Here
|
21. |
Songbird
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20. |
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall
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19. |
All Through the Night
|
18. |
The Best
|
17. |
Jolene
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16. |
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
|
15. |
Justify My Love *
|
14. |
Loser
|
13. |
Smooth Criminal
|
12. |
Get Back
|
11. |
Truth No. 2
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10. |
I Am Stretched on Your Grave
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9. |
Do You Want to Dance
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8. |
I Can't Make You Love Me
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7. |
Scream *
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6. |
Vogue
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5. |
I Would Die 4 U / Baby I'm a Star
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4. |
The Beautiful Ones
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3. |
Losing My Religion
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2. |
If
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1. |
Bitter Sweet Symphony
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