There was no Death Cab, there was no Belle and Sebastien, there was no Vampire Weekend... and the list go on and on of great artists who missed out. But this is not my big complaint...
Wonderwall by Oasis topped the poll and I really don't like it. Nosebleed Section by Hilltop Hoods came in fourth and I despise it. My highest vote was just outside the top 10 (Heart's A Mess by Gotye at number 12) and many of the top 10 disappointed me. But this again is not my big complaint...
Once again the issue as it is every year for the annual Hottest 100 and every time there is an "Of All Time" or similar countdown, is where are the ladies? There are some brilliant female artists out there and many have released outstanding and very popular songs over the last 20 years, and yet the countdown included only nine tracks with female vocals and even those are questionable. The tracks including the number at which they entered the countdown were:
99. Lana Del Rey – Video Games
97. M.I.A. – Paper Planes
92. Of Monsters and Men – Little Talk (ISSUE: vocals are shared and though the female singer does contribute so does the bloke)
81. Angus and Julia Stone – Big Jet Plane (ISSUE: Julia Stone is the back-up vocalist on this track)
73. Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros - Home (ISSUE: vocals are shared and though the female singer does contribute it is mainly backing vocals)
49. Florence and the Machine – Dog Days Are Over
33. The Cranberries – Zombie
31. Massive Attack feat. Elizabeth Fraser - Teardrop (ISSUE: guest vocalist! I love this track (I voted for it) and this band but Massive Attack famously don't have a permanent female vocalist)
9. Gotye feat. Kimbra- Somebody that I Used to Know (ISSUE: Again guest vocalist!)
This means that there were four...that's right FOUR tracks from artists who always and only have female vocalists.
So in order to stop my whinging here are twenty tracks that should have made the countdown that you can enjoy, and that have female vocalists. All of them (to the best of my knowledge) made the Hottest 100 in the year of their release (some made the top 10 though none beat Zombie which was number 1 in the year of its release, though oddly doesn't appear on the album for that year) and several of them even made number 1 in the ARIA charts. I'm not saying I love all of them (I'm not a fan of Missy Higgins so much nowadays and I know I should be a fan but I missed Fiona Apple somehow) but all of them are better than Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus (seriously who voted for that? Was it a joke? It is one of the worst songs of the last 20 years). In no order...
Glorybox by Portishead
Don't Speak by No Doubt (actually anything off that album...Sunday Morning and esp. Spiderwebs are some great ska)
Seetherby Veruca Salt
Always Worth It by Sarah Blasko
Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos
One Lineby PJ Harvey (actually anything by PJ Harvey but I just love this song)
1, 2, 3, 4 by Feist
Confide in Meby Kylie Minogue
Get Your Freak On by Missy Eliot
Human Behaviour by Bjork
Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
Stupid Girl by Garbage
Laughing With by Regina Spektor
Road Rage by Catatonia (this is a me thing, I just love Catatonia so!)
Criminal by Fiona Apple
Scar by Missy Higgins (SERIOUSLY HOW was this not on the poll?!?! This song and the album it came off were ridiculously popular in triple j and non triple j circles)
Weirby Killing Heidi
Heads Will Roll by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
The Conby Tegan and Sarah
Ghosts by Laura Marling
Do you have more to add? Comment and tell me what I missed.
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