MUSICAL MUSINGS
by Josh Hosler
December 21, 2004
... AND THUS ENDETH 2004
I won't spend an entire column breaking down the biggest hits of 2004. You can check out my list here and do that for yourself:
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/Top100of2004.htm
Likewise, here's my list of the top 40 artists of the year:
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/TopArtistsof2004.htm
My brother is coming to visit this week. He lives in Japan, and I haven't seen him for three years. Now, one thing he always reminds me is that hit music is not the be-all-and-end-all. I admit that if my columns are the only way you know me, you may well believe that if it's not a hit, I don't listen to it. Frankly, that's truer than it should be. Since I left the world of radio, I've let a lot of non-hits pass me by. It's time to recommit myself to listening for pleasure and not just for pop musicology.
With that in mind, I've collected on CD my favorite non-hits of 2004. Now, by non-hits, I mean songs that never made the Billboard Hot 100. Some of these were radio hits in their respective formats.
The White Stripes - I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself
The White Stripes' album Elephant was more of a 2003 phenomenon, but this was the last radio single. I can't get over this incredible album, and what's most impressive about this song is that a Burt Bacharach composition made it into the world of lo-fi.
Joss Stone - Fell in Love with a Boy
Yes, more White Stripes. But Joss Stone has a killer voice as well ... what a great combination! I once heard Joss described as "just your run-of-the-mill British teenage soul singer."
Cake - No Phone
Since "The Distance" in 1996, I've eaten up Cake's unique sound. No, they don't change it up enough, but they always manage to put out at least one killer single from each album. They also make me want to drag out the ol' trumpet and get my lip back in shape.
George Michael - Amazing
Alas, the album Patience wasn't worth my patience, but this single's a gem. I still say his best work was Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 from 1990; if you've never heard the entire album, do check it out.
Loretta Lynn with Jack White - Portland Oregon
Everything the White Stripes touch turns to diamonds in the coal! Loretta Lynn's album Van Lear Rose is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. Other album highlights include "Trouble on the Line," "Family Tree," "High on a Mountain Top," and "Miss Being Mrs."
John Mayer - Clarity
My favorite Mayer cut this year was "Daughters," but that's a real hit. "Clarity" has a nice little bounce to it but was totally overlooked.
Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
This one's more of a 2003 song, but it rose to prominence as a recurrent in the libraries of several of this year's "New Alternative" stations. Kinda like Black 47 for the '00s.
matchbox twenty - Downfall
True hipsters can't stand Rob Thomas; maybe that's why this one didn't make it! I could go the rest of my life without hearing "Unwell" again, but I'll keep coming back to this well-produced flop.
Rachel Proctor - Me and Emily
My mainstream country pick of the year tells an intense story about a young mother and her baby escaping from the abusive dad. I continue to appreciate country music; its failure to promote the best songs to hit status falls right in line with most other radio formats.
Prince - Cinnamon Girl
My Japanese uncle was imprisoned in an American internment camp during World War II. Now, a new poll shows that 42% of Americans would support curtailing the civil rights of all Muslims for the sake of national security. Have we made any progress in the last 60 years? I'll get off my soap box now, but don't miss Prince's tribute to Arab-Americans in a post-September 11 nation. See the video, too, if you can.
Presidents of the United States of America - Some Postman (Is Grooving)
You may not even have known they were back together, but this Seattle band is just as able to create a cute pop song today as it did in 1995 with "Peaches."
Postal Service - Such Great Heights
This may be the most innovative tender love ballad of the decade so far. Mark my words: if the early 2000s ever become an oldies format, this song will have a place in the mix.
Bad Religion - Los Angeles Is Burning
A rollicking good apocalyptic time!
Michael Andrews & Gary Jules - Mad World
The first song to be owned completely by a revitalized Alternative radio format. It's bleak, hopeless, without redemption ... simply put, a day in high school from the perspective of a student. From the 2002 movie Donnie Darko, which you must see.
Polyphonic Spree - Light and Day
It's simultaneously edgy and happy, like early morning sunbeams reaching out across a "Mad World" (above).
String Cheese Incident - Valley of the Jig
Why don't instrumentals become hits anymore? We could use a few more like this.
Mindy Smith - Come to Jesus
Hmmm ... it's country, it's Christian, but it wasn't a hit. This is no "Three Wooden Crosses" or "Tougher than Nails." It's folk music at its purest: rooted in personal belief and transformative power, not calculated to please the masses but to inspire you.
The Vines - Ride
I actually didn't get into this one until I heard it repeatedly on an iPod TV commercial. One of the truest marks of my enslavement to pop music is that even my favorite songs have had to grow on me.
Jem - They
Man, this one's creepy! Given the right promotion, I think it could've been a pop hit. Too bad the rest of her album wasn't nearly as impressive.
Jars of Clay - Show You Love
Likewise, this song could have propelled this band beyond the 1996 success of "Flood." I'm glad to see it got some Triple-A spins. Sometime I'll have to go back and listen to all their albums to find more songs like this.
Patti Smith - Jubilee
Jubilee was an Ancient Hebrew celebration marking the passage of fifty years. In a Jubilee year, all debts were forgiven. That's why the current push to forgive all third-world debt is called the Jubilee movement. Patti Smith goes one step further: "You are a jubilee." I'm all for messages of hope in a troubled world.
Most of these songs are from the first half of 2004, when I was still listening to nearly everything the labels were promoting. What would you have put on my list?
What was the #1 song on the day you were born? Click here to find out.