DJ Earworm is quickly becoming one of the world’s best when it comes to mashing songs together. He’s done some pretty awesome mash-ups of popular songs. Earlier this year, he did one called “Party on the Floor,” featuring parts of 19 different songs. Since 2007, he’s been doing what’s called “United State of Pop,” where he takes 25 of the year’s top songs and mashes them together into one big megamix. This year was no different, as “United State of Pop 2011 (World Go Boom)” was released right after Christmas. It’s already scored millions of hits on YouTube. You can watch and listen to the mix below.
So, DJ Earworm inspired me to compile my list of the top 11 songs of 2011. I’ve been doing a top 50 list for the past several years on various blogs, but this year, I thought I’d limit myself to 11 (and an honorable mention because I couldn’t quite get rid of the twelfth song). I asked co-workers at Fox 4 what their favorite songs of the year were, and I got these responses:
Eric Burke: Sexy And I Know It (LMFAO), Forget You (Cee Lo Green)
JW Edwards: Fall For Your Type (Jamie Foxx & Drake), What’s My Name (Rihanna & Drake)
Meagan Kelleher: Walk (Foo Fighters)
Karli Ritter: Honey Bee (Blake Shelton)
Fred Wittbrodt: Friday (Rebecca Black)
Rob Zerwekh: Moneygrabber (Fitz & The Tantrums), Lonely Boy (Black Keys), Stone Rollin’ (Raphael Saddiq)
Then, I asked my Facebook friends what songs they liked. They came up with Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep,” Florence + The Machine’s “Shake It Out,” Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem,” Breathe Carolina’s “Blackout,” and several of the songs you are about to see on my list. So, without further ado, here are my picks for the top 11 (plus an honorable mention) songs of 2011.
HONORABLE MENTION: Blow – Ke$ha
I couldn’t quite get rid of this song completely from my list because of the bridge. When Ke$ha sings “Go insane, go insane, throw some glitter, make it rain,” it makes my heart skip a beat every time. I know that sounds ridiculous, but after attending Ke$ha’s concert earlier this year in Kansas City, it makes all the more sense. True, Ke$ha is not the greatest vocalist in the world, but she writes and performs catchy songs that are accessible to most people. Sure, we all need to take a shower after we listen to Ke$ha’s music, but that’s just part of her charm. America’s favorite party girl has had a quiet year after reaching the top 10 with “Blow” in the spring, but I’m sure she’ll make a roaring comeback in 2012. Perhaps she just has been passed out somewhere after brushing her teeth with too many bottles of Jack. So if you’re walking around and see Ke$ha sleeping in the gutter, poke her with a stick and wake her up. Tell her it’s time for more songs!
11) Love You Like A Love Song – Selena Gomez & The Scene
Some people strictly know Selena Gomez as Justin Bieber’s girlfriend. Others might only know her from her starring role on Disney’s ‘Wizards of Waverly Place.’ Then there are those who know her best as a singer. This year, Selena had her most successful year as a musician so far, scoring hits with “Who Says” and my number 11 song, “Love You Like A Love Song.” I’ll admit the song gets stuck in my head and I have to listen to it over and over again before I get it out. In fact, just writing about it is getting the chorus stuck in my head. I pity my co-workers as they will likely be subjected to “I keep hittin’ repeat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat” for the rest of the day. The song became Selena’s first top 10 airplay song of her career. If she sticks with her dance-pop, she will likely have many more top ten hits to come. She just needs to get rid of Bieber at some point. Especially since she’s taller than he is. She could do better. Just sayin’. Also…who are The Scene? I know it’s allegedly Selena Gomez’s group, but I couldn’t pick them out of a crowd. Drop them, too. Give them to The Biebs. He can be Beiber & The Scene. And Selena can go by her name only.
10) I Wanna Go – Britney Spears
It’s hard to deny 2011 has been another good year for Britney. After that whole head shaving, “Gimme More,” and umbrella-wielding period of her life, the pop princess has certainly cleaned things up. She even got engaged at the end of the year! Let’s hope marriage number three is more successful than the first two. Britney reached the top 10 three times this year: first with her most recent number one, “Hold It Against Me,” then there was “Till The World Ends” and this song, “I Wanna Go.” So why did I pick this one instead of one of the others? There’s an easy answer: the song has whistling. It’s a well-known fact (amongst me and a few of my friends) that if a song is to be successful, it must contain one of the following three elements: whistling, spelling or whoop whooping. Shania Twain barking noises are also acceptable in place of whoop whooping. Obviously, since this song contains whistling reminiscent of a leprechaun skipping down a trail toward his lucky charm hiding spot, it was destined to be a hit. The rest of the chorus is pretty good, too, but the whistling is where it’s at! Britney whistled her way onto my top 11.
9) Born This Way – Lady Gaga
In a short amount of time, Lady Gaga has become one of the world’s most successful artists. She’s had number one hits and sold millions of albums in probably 75% of countries where music exists to be purchased. This year, she had one of the fastest selling albums ever when she released her sophomore effort, ‘Born This Way.’ The album featured the title track and first single, which is listed here. The song soared to number one in several countries, and caused quite a bit of controversy. Whether it comes from the video depicting Gaga (The Mother Monster) giving birth to herself or from the song itself sounding an awful lot like Madonna’s “Express Yourself,” Lady Gaga certainly got people talking. She kept people talking for the remainder of the year with a string of four more top ten hits from the album and a Thanksgiving special that featured Gaga and a chef making fried turkey and some sort of Grandma Gaga salami waffles. You can’t tell me Gaga eats fried turkey or waffles containing salami. Especially when she has to remove her couture coat to make the waffles. She just wasn’t born that way. However, I do want to make these Grandma Gaga salami waffles now. I was born in a way that those sound amazingly delicious. New Year’s Eve smorgasbord anyone?
