Billboard Names Dua Lipa's 'Levitating' #1 Song for 2021 (SNS week of 11/28/2021)

 While I still have several more weeks to go before I crown my #1 blog song of 2021, Billboard has already announced its top song for 2021, and the honor goes to Dua Lipa's "Levitating".   

Now, the first thing you are thinking is probably "why has Billboard crowned a number one song when there's still a whole month to go in the year?"   I had always wondered that myself, but the answer is pretty simple, and the trade magazine has pretty much done this throughout the 63-year history of the Hot 100.  Seems that the cut-off date every year is the end of November, to give some time to tabulate the year-end charts, not only for the main Hot 100 listing, but also the specialty airplay, streaming and sales charts as well, as well as to prepare for publication at the end of the year.   Any chart action in December goes to the following year.   

English singer Dua Lipa has Billboard's #1 song of 2021 with "Levitating"

For this week's blog, I decided to look at Billboard's number one songs for each year going back to 1964 and compare it to my year-end lists that I had tabulated over the years.   Between 1964 and 1975 I had computed my year-end lists in recent years, but from 1976 to 2003 and again since 2009, my lists were compiled at the end of each then-current year.  

Looking at Billboard's #1 songs by year, it's a great indicator of the trends that have taken place each of the past six-plus decades.   What is intriguing is that during those 58 years, only one act---The Beatles--no surprise there, has led the list two different years.   However, three artists have had more than one year-end topper.   Paul McCartney also had a number one song with his band Wings, "Silly Love Songs" from 1976, and George Michael hit paydirt twice:  In 1985 as part of the duo Wham! with "Careless Whisper", and three years later with the solo song "Faith".  But other than that, nobody has "repeated" at the top spot.  And Elton John was part of Dionne's 'Friends" in 1986 and then topped the list eleven years later with the Princess Diana tribute "Candle in the Wind 1997".  It should be noted as well, that superstars such as Michael Jackson, and Eminem never had a year-end leader, even though they were declared the top-selling artists of the 1980's, and 2000's respectively.

I thought it might be interesting to compare how these year-ends #1's fared on my lists.  You can see the results below.   There have been 8 years in which we agree about the top song of the year.   While you would think that songs from the early decades (which I listened almost exclusively to Top 40 pop radio) would coincide with the actual Billboard number ones, and that was true of the period from 1968 to 1980 yielding five of them, what is surprising is that the other three were within the past ten years:  Adele's "Rolling in the Deep", Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You".

From 1964 to 1985, only one time---1974---did the top song of the year miss my list, that being Barbara Streisand's "The Way We Were".  It didn't happen again until 1986, when Dionne Warwick's "That's What Friends are For" (featuring Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder and Elton John), led Billboard's list but was absent from mine.  But the biggest drought was during the early 1990's--when I started to focus more on alternative rock rather than top 40--as the songs from 1990 to 1995 were shut out.   It took a popular line dance---the Macarena--to get the number one song ranked on my list.  And, with the exception of Cher's "Believe", and due to me not doing (yet) a list for 2004 to 2008---none of the songs again made my list in the first years of the new millennium, not even rock bands like Nickelback and Lifehouse, although other songs by those bands did make my list in the early 2000's, just not those.

Turing to my "modern era", it's been hit or miss.   The Black-Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow", Billboard's 2009 leader, made my pre-blog list for that year.   And aside from the three years that we agreed, another, Pharrell Williams' "Happy" was in my year-end top 10, and two other big songs, "Uptown Funk" and "Old Town Road", were in my top 30 for their respective years.

On my SNS 100 playlist, Dua Lipa's "Levitating" peaked at #10, spending 24 weeks on my list (and hanging in there at #97 this week), so it's a good bet it will make my list for 2021. 

Year	Billboard #1 Song: Artist--Title	SNS Year-end	Blog Wk. Peak
1964	The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand	2
1965	Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs - Wooly Bully	54
1966	S/Sgt Barry Sadler - The Ballad of the Green Berets	95
1967	Lulu - To Sir With Love	64
1968	The Beatles - Hey Jude	1
1969	The Archies - Sugar Sugar	5
1970	Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water	78
1971	Three Dog Night - Joy to the World	1
1972	Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face	24
1973	Tony Orlando and Dawn - Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree	1
1974	Barbara Streisand - The Way We Were	--
1975	Captain and Tennille - Love Will Keep Us Together	3
1976	Wings - Silly Love Songs	29
1977	Rod Stewart - Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)	31
1978	Andy Gibb - Shadow Dancing	3
1979	The Knack - My Sharona	1
1980	Blondie - Call Me	1
1981	Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes	3
1982	Olivia Newton-John - Physical	7 ('81)
1983	The Police - Every Breath You Take	59
1984	Prince - When Doves Cry	21
1985	Wham! - Careless Whisper	27
1986	Dionne and Friends - That's What Friends Are For	--
1987	The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian	37 ('86*)
1988	George Michael - Faith	--
1989	Chicago - Look Away	18 ('88)
1990	Wilson Phillips - Hold On	--
1991	Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You	--
1992	Boyz II Men - End of the Road	--
1993	Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You	--
1994	Ace of Base - The Sign	--
1995	Coolio featuring L.V. - Gangsta's Paradise	--
1996	Los Del Rio - Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)	19
1997	Elton John - Candle in the Wind '97/Something About the Way You Look Tonight	139
1998	Next - Too Close	--
1999	Cher - Believe	59
2000	Faith Hill - Breathe	--
2001	Lifehouse - Hanging By a Moment	--
2002	Nickelback - How You Remind Me	--
2003	50 Cent - In Da Club	--
2004	Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris - Yeah!	N/A
2005	Mariah Carey - We Blong Together	N/A
2006	Daniel Powter - Bad Day	N/A
2007	Beyonce - Irreplaceable	N/A
2008	Flo Rida featuring T-Pain - Low	N/A
2009	The Black-Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow	83
2010	Kesha - Tik Tok	105
2011	Adele - Rolling in the Deep	1	1 (1wk)
2012	Gotye featuring Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know	1	2 (12wks)
2013	Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz - Thrift Shop	416	101
2014	Pharrell Williams - Happy	6	2
2015	Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk	30	2
2016	Justin Bieber - Love Yourself	--	--
2017	Ed Sheeran - Shape of You	1	1 (4wks)
2018	Drake - God's Plan	--	--
2019	Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus - Old Town Road	24	1 (4wks)
2020	The Weeknd - Blinding Lights	--	87 ('21)
2021	Dua Lipa - Levitating	TBD	10

-- Song was not added to my blog playlist.

N/A: No year-end list has been published for the years 2004-2008 as of yet.

Songs that made my lists in a different year than Billboard's are indicated as such.

* - "Walk Like an Egyptian" also charted at #47 on my 1987 list.

ADELE STILL TOPS:  Turning to the current Hot 100 and my playlist, Adele moves back to the top spot after yielding to Taylor Swift for a week, as "Easy on Me" has a fourth week at #1.  On my playlist, she remains at the top for a third consecutive week.   Billboard's #2 is the pesky "Stay" by The Kid LAROI and Justin Bieber which has been at or near the top for months...maybe it's time to check that out to see what the commotion there is.   It was the only song to prevent Drake from dominating the top ten several weeks back.    Another Adele song, "Oh My God", from her just-released 30 album, enters at #5.   Meanwhile the token alternative song by Glass Animals, "Heat Waves" moves up to #7, while the follow-up (which no doubt will be ignored by pop radio) "I Don't Want to Talk" is #1 on the Triple-A chart, and grabs Impact honors on my list (25-19).  The two Ed Sheeran songs are still in Billboard's Top 10 (and both in my top 20), and Taylor Swift's "All Too Well (Taylor's Version)" drops to #4 on Billboard.

Turning strictly to my SNS 100, ScreenAge's "Like Fine Wine" moves 3-2 in a bid for a fifth straight #1 from their DNR album (and sixth overall); it's a good bet to happen as early as next week, although Anna Lavigne's "Dance the Last Goodbye" (bulleted at #4) has a shot as well.  Ms. Lavigne has two songs in the top 10 as "This Time" moves 14-8.   

Further down the list, some big movers are Kacey Musgraves' "Justified", Tim Izzard's "Life in a Day", Babeheaven's "The Hours", and last week's Top Debut, Shannon Marsyada's holiday entry "Hear the Angels" which grabs Mover honors and is the top Christmas song thus far on my list.

WHERE CHRISTMAS MEETS BEACH MUSIC:   Eight debuts this week, including three more holiday entries, which take the top three entries on my playlist.  At first glance, it might seem that Kristin Chenoweth is an unlikely candidate for a music entry, as she is primarily known as an actress.  However, she has had many music credentials, having released eight albums since 2001, including two Christmas albums.  That includes her new holiday entry, Happiness is...Christmas.   Thus far, however, she has not made the Hot 100 on her own but had several entries as featured performer on several Glee Cast songs.    She also has Broadway credentials, and of course, many television and movie performances including the holiday movies Four Christmases and Deck the Halls.   As for the Top Debut, "Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Every Day", she performed this last week on Kelly Clarkson's talk show.   It seems that much of the new holiday stuff has that bouncy, Carolina beach-music type beat, a la "Cozy Little Christmas" or "Candy Cane Lane", two recent favorites of mine, and this one takes it to the extreme.    While it probably won't be a perennial holiday classic, it's ours to enjoy for the next month.    

In the same vein is "The Christmas Sweater" by Michael Bublé.   I've always enjoyed Bublé's music, it's a sort of a throw by to the vocalist/standards era, with a contemporary flair to it.    Michael has hosted several Christmas shows in recent years and has one this year as well.   This song is on the Adult Contemporary chart and is a great example of his appealing stylistic approach to a song.  Definitely recommended.

The other new Christmas entry is a cover of "Jingle Bell Rock", the standard popularized by Bobby Helms and also by Daryl Hall & John Oates.   This version is by a quartet headed by blog favorite Christina Taylor (whose "Damn Boy" continues to rise at #7 on SNS), along with Haley Mae Campbell, Brenna Bone and featuring Kaylee Rose.  Like Ms. Taylor, the others are also aspiring vocalists from different areas of the South who have made regional noise, if not yet national notice.   While true to the prior versions of the song, it really looks and sounds like these four gals had a great time doing this.  Definitely a country spin on the classic.   Let's hope that country radio at least gets to spin this version several times during the next few weeks.   Excellently done!

As for the other debuts, they are led by Adele's "Oh My God".   This is a bit up-tempo and rather funky song that is probably a natural for Top 40 and Hot AC radio.   The song is sort of out of my lane a bit, but after all, it is Adele, so I will give this one a chance...It seems that every time I add a Courtney Barnett song that is charting, it immediately falls off the list.  Thus, I abandon "Before You Gotta Go" and add her latest "Write a List of Things to Look Forward To", her latest Triple-A song.   I always like Courtney's vocal style, so this should log many weeks on my playlist.   Reggae artist King Tappa follows his top 40 blog "Love Spell" with "Flirting" which features BascomX.  It has that riddim feel which has worked well recently for Iration and Pepper.   Should outdistance Tappa's two recent entries for a return to the Top 20.   LA indie band Lord Huron debuts with "Mine Forever".  The band has been in my Top 20 several times, and this one has a bit of an alt-folk feel to it.  It should top the recent "Not Dead Yet".

THE 'OTHER' A. LAVIGNE?:   The final add this week belongs to Avril Lavigne, the pop artist who originally scored twenty years ago as a teenager with some alternative-tinged songs and was even called "the anti-Britney Spears".   Later on, she pretty much "dumbed down" her sound, but here on "Bite Me", she seems to be back in the raw alternative lane.  Worthy of several spins to start.  

Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100 Playlist

November 28, 2021

This Week	Last Week	ARTIST-Title	Weeks on List
1	1	NUMBER ONE: ADELE "Easy On Me" Album: 30 (3 weeks at #1)	7
2	3	ScreenAge - Like Fine Wine	5
3	2	Fleet Foxes - Featherweight	9
4	4	Anna Lavigne - Dance the Last Goodbye	7
5	5	Halsey - You Asked For This	12
6	6	Iration - Be Alright	10
7	8	Christina Taylor- Damn Boy	11
8	14	Anna Lavigne - This Time	4
9	7	Elton John and Dua Lipa - Cold Heart	12
10	9	Winnetka Bowling League - Pulp	9
11	16	Tinkers Lane - It's Called Love	7
12	15	Ed Sheeran - Shivers	10
13	18	Leon Bridges - Steam	6
14	17	Zac Brown Band - Same Boat	20
15	13	A Place to Bury Strangers - I Might Have	19
16	10	Milky Chance - Colorado	18
17	12	Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits●	20
18	11	Maneskin - Beggin'	14
19	25	TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK: GLASS ANIMALS "I Don't Wanna Talk (I Just Wanna Dance)" Album: Dreamland	9
20	20	Jake Leckie ft Alexis Morrast - After the Flood	9
21	21	Hifeer and  AnyMore Z ft. Matt Weiss - Show Your Hands	8
22	28	Kings of Leon - Time in Disguise	9
23	29	The Lumineers - Brightside	8
24	31	David F. Porfirio - Egyptian Fantasia	7
25	30	Oberhofer - Let It Go	8
26	34	St. Paul and the Broken Bones - The Last Dance	6
27	46	Kacey Musgraves - Justified	4
28	26	ScreenAge - Think Again▲	29
29	47	Tim Izzard - Life In a Day	4
30	54	Babeheaven - The Hours	3
31	19	Dua Lipa - Love Again	15
32	44	Heartless Bastards- How Low	5
33	39	My Morning Jacket - Love Love Love	8
34	23	Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Survivor	13
35	22	Vivian Girls - Something to Do	16
36	49	Eavesdrop - Alive	4
37	24	Vivian Girls - Sick●	16
38	27	Machine Gun Kelly - Papercut	13
39	48	Nick Waterhouse - Very Blue	4
40	41	The Regrettes - Monday	7
41	32	Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - Love Don't	7
42	56	Donna Missal - (To Me) Your Face Is Love	3
43	51	Band of Horses - Crutch	5
44	64	MOVER OF THE WEEK: SHANNON MARSYADA "Hear the Angels" (Single Only)	2
45	33	Johnny Woods - Last Glass of Whiskey	9
46	37	ScreenAge - Going Back●	25
47	42	Middle Kids - Stacking Chairs	16
48	60	Foals - Wake Me Up	3
49	35	Bakar - The Mission	11
50	38	Courtney Barnett - Rae Street	15
51	36	Jonas Brothers - Who's In Your Head	8
52	40	Jade Bird - Now is the Time●	19
53	78	Rob Thomas - Small Town Christmas	2
54	---	TOP DEBUT: KRISTIN CHENOWETH "Why Couldn't It Be Christmas Every Day" Album: Happiness is...Christmas	1
55	82	Beach House - Once Twice Melody	2
56	66	Franz Ferdinand - Billy Goodbye	3
57	52	Record Company - How High	14
58	77	Martin Stephenson and the Daintees - Jarajuku Punks	3
59	43	Christina Alessi and the Toll Collectors - Stone Meets the Sea	17
60	53	ScreenAge - Questions●	25
61	45	Tim Izzard - Watching For the Man	19
62	63	Jack White - Taking Me Back (Gently)	5
63	---	Christina Taylor, Haley Mae Campbell and Brenna Bone ft. Kaylee Rose - Jingle Bell Rock	1
64	68	Foo Fighters - Making A Fire	5
65	69	Coin - Chapstick	4
66	74	Beach Bunny - Oxygen	3
67	81	Parquet Courts - Walking at a Downtown Pace	2
68	50	Einstein's Dad - See You in the Sun	19
69	83	Carrie Underwood - Favorite Time of Year	2
70	55	The War on Drugs ft. Lucius - I Don't Live Here Anymore	8
71	75	Coldplay X BTS - My Universe	6
72	---	Michael Buble - The Christmas Sweater	1
73	61	Courtney Barnett - Before You Gotta Go	5
74	76	One Republic - Someday	4
75	85	Kelly Clarkson - Christmas Isn't Cancelled (Just You)	3
76	70	Real Estate- Half a Human	16
77	71	Middle Kids - Questions●	27
78	57	Swingadelic- Gonna Build Me A Playhouse	12
79	---	Adele - Oh My God	1
80	58	Bebe Rexha - Sabotage	13
81	73	Smash Palace - Then She Disappeared	16
82	59	Cold War Kids - What You Say●	22
83	67	Santana, Rob Thomas, American Authors - Move	12
84	89	Lauren Davidson - Hindsight	2
85	---	Courtney Barnett - Write A Listing of Things to Look Forward To	1
86	80	Dreamers - Palm Reader	6
87	87	Del Water Gap - Perfume	2
88	62	King Tappa - Love Spell	11
89	72	Lake Street Dive - Know That I Know	15
90	---	King Tappa - Flirting	1
91	---	Lord Huron - Mine Forever	1
92	---	Avril Lavigne - Bite Me	1
93	88	Glass Animals - Heat Waves	22
94	65	The Murlocs - Francesca	16
95	90	Metronomy - It's Good to Be Back	2
96	79	The Weeknd -Take My Breath	14
97	96	Dua Lipa - Levitating	24
98	94	Duran Duran - Anniversary	5
99	86	Parcels - Coming Back	13
100	98	Brandi Carlile - Right On Time	11

 

Songs with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.   ● Songs with 25 or more plays on iTunes/iPods ▲   Songs with 50 or more plays.

Holiday Songs