69: Dizzee Rascal - Holiday

UK hip-hop's first megastar is at #69 in my countdown. Originally, I had this space reserved for the second of his three number one hits, but 'Bonkers' might be suffering a little from over-exposure. Whilst it's still a great anthemic club tune, I've come to the conclusion that latest single, 'Holiday' is heaps better.

The third consecutive chart-topper from the yet-to-be-released 'Tongue 'N' Cheek' album is a sun-drenched ode to the British summer vacation. Dizzee sets his stall out with the opening gambit of "get your passport and your bikini" and it is immediately clear that Mr. Rascal intends for us to join him in getting away from it all on a beach somewhere.



I was on a stag this past weekend, and when the DJ in Bristol's Syndicate nightclub pumped 'Holiday' out the soundsystem, the dancefloor became noticeably more crowded and unquestionably more sweaty. As the trance-like outro kicked in, the lasers started flashing and a thousand pairs of hands were raised to the sky. This is one song that will be getting us moving on dancefloors for years to come.

Oh, and as if all that wasn't enough, Dizzee's got the lyric of the year prize wrapped up with "I know you're really busy and I know you've got plans, but are you really too busy for a suntan".

70: Santigold - L.E.S. Artistes

'L.E.S. Artistes' is Santi White's attack on the scenesters of Manhattan's Lower East Side (aaah, so that's what L.E.S. stands for), and was the breakthrough hit for the native Pennsylvanian.

Released under the name of Santogold (before she changed her moniker to Santigold), it sounds like a less angry M.I.A., blending R'n'B and indie in equal proportions. It's also yet another of those songs with a chorus that really bursts into life.



Santi's a busy girl.... since finding fame with this song and it's predecessor 'Creator', she's co-written 'Littlest Things' for Lily Allen (alongside Mark Ronson), and appeared on the soundtrack to the film 'Notorious' on the Jay Z track 'Brooklyn Go Hard'.

Interesting Santigold fact: Santi studied at Wesleyan University, whose other notable alumni include the most successful NFL Head Coach of all time, Bill Belichick, as well as 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' writer/director Joss Whedon, 'Transformers' director Michael Bay, and both members of MGMT.

71: Andrew W.K. - Party Hard

Andrew W.K. is a man of many talents. Not content with the simple life of a rock star, he also has his own record label, owns an award-winning Manhattan night club, and as of 2007, appears as a self-help motivational lecturer.

It's fair to assume that his drive and ambition would have ensured him some kind of fame, whatever he did with his life, but 'Party Hard', which reached #19 in the charts back in 2001 was the real springboard to his later success. It's a song beloved by music fans, with its vocoder intro, pop-punk riff and train wreck of a chorus.

72: Fischerspooner - Emerge

4th May 2002. Three days earlier, I'd turned 21. To celebrate my birthday, I had a barbecue at my student house in Oxford on the Saturday afternoon, whilst we watched the FA Cup Final (Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0 with goals from Parlour and Ljungberg). Various friends had travelled down to Oxford from other universities to celebrate with me.

The pièce de résistance of the birthday weekend was St. Hilda's College Arts Festival. In my role as station manager/DJ at Oxford Student Radio, I had been asked to play the headline DJ set. By the time I came onstage at 2am, the crowd were drunk, happy, and in the mood for a dance. I satisfied that desire, playing an electroclash/dance set that I'm still proud of today (I have my original setlist, if anyone is interested). Felix Da Housecat, Jilted Generation-era Prodigy, Kosheen, Ms Kittin and the Hacker, the odd mashup... everything was well received, as the crowd got drunker and danced harder.

And then, I dropped Fischerspooner's 'Emerge'. The place went berserk. Sweaty bodies flying around the room, arms flailing in the air as the beats reached a crescendo (and let's face it - no song this decade has a crescendo quite like that found in this song). I felt like I was on top of the world.

Every birthday should be as much fun as my 21st was. And this song is inextricably linked to that night in my brain.

73: Nelly Furtado - Maneater

Who is your celebrity crush? (Answers in the comments please) Mine is the Portuguese beauty of Canadian origin, with the jet black hair, the electric eyes, and a voice that could melt the icecaps.

Evidently, the Noughties record-buying public agree. Nelly Furtado's songs have been hugely successful all over the globe... 'Promiscuous Girl' was a #1 hit in the USA, 'I'm Like A Bird' was a chart-topper in her adopted nation of Canada, 'Turn Off The Light' went to #1 in New Zealand, 'All Good Things (Come To An End)' was a massive selling #1 in Germany, Switzerland and across Europe, 'Say It Right' was a #1 smash pretty much everywhere (double platinum in the US, triple platinum in Spain, gold in the UK and Belgium). When it comes to Ms. Furtado's output, it's very much a case of quality over quantity.

She's been hugely popular in the UK too. Half of the ten singles on which Ms. Nelly Furtado has appeared this decade (either her own songs, or as a guest vocalist) have hit the top 5 of the charts, with two of them going straight to the #1 spot. Timbaland's 'Give It To Me', which featured verses sung by both Furtado and Justin Timberlake, was her second chart-topper, back in the spring of 2007, but her first UK #1 song may just be her best work of all.



'Maneater' was co-written by Nelly & Timbaland early in the writing sessions for her 2006 album, 'Loose'. Their aim was to recreate the spooky 80s synth sounds of Eurythmics, Blondie, Talking Heads and The Police. The most striking thing about the song is how everything seems to revolve around that loud beat, whilst Nelly repeats the last word of each line for added impact.

She described it as her "dancing alone in front of a mirror" song, but it became a club classic across the globe, and cemented Ms. Furtado's place as one of the premiere pop stars this decade has produced.

74: Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps

"Wait, they don't like you like I love you"

A second appearance in my countdown for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ('Zero' was at #90), but a totally different sounding song. Whereas 'Zero' is all shimmering disco balls, 'Maps' always strikes me as a lament. What it is, precisely, that Karen O is lamenting, I'm not sure, but she has her reasons, I expect.

I loved 'Maps' from the very first time I heard it. My favourite bit is the second verse, where Karen suddenly raises her voice to sing the line "I'll stay the same" - a defiant message, a refusal to compromise.

When my friends and I played this song on Rock Band, I always ended up doing vocals. And despite the fact that I have a terrible voice (and hate hearing myself sing), I always enjoyed singing this one... it's just a lovely, sweet vocal, the perfect accompaniment to the lullaby-esque tune.

75: MGMT - Kids

MGMT seemingly appeared out of nowhere (they're actually from Brooklyn, NYC) in early 2008, and quickly took the music world by storm. Their debut album 'Oracular Spectacular' topped multiple end of year album polls, and its two biggest hits were unavoidable in restaurants, bars, clubs and high streets throughout Western Europe and North America.

There wasn't a lot to choose between 'Time To Pretend' and 'Kids', when it came to compiling this countdown, but I think the former has suffered from greater over-exposure.



So yes, you're familiar with 'Kids' too, by now. That memorable staccato synth, that leaves an indelible mark on your brain. The disco beat that emerges, then supplanted by those haunting vocals. That chorus, with the nonsensical lyrics ("control yourself, take only what you need from it, a family of trees wanting to be haunted"). 'Kids' is the song to soundtrack a thousand sporting montages on TV, and despite the feeling that it could have been written in the late 70s, it belongs as much to the Noughties as any song on this list.

76: Good Charlotte - Keep Your Hands Off My Girl

Yeah yeah, I know, Good Charlotte, what am I thinking, etc. But 'Keep Your Hands Off My Girl' is unlike anything else they've recorded, and for a while in 2007, it was on constant repeat on my iPod. I've always liked the grey area where rock crosses into rap, and that's what we've got here, courtesy of Mr. Nicole Ritchie on lead vocals and the former Mr. Paris Hilton on backing vocals. The relentless flow of lyrics is undoubtedly the strong point, even if those lyrics happen to be fairly lame.

The story of the song is pretty straightforward... those tough Good Charlotte boys are all covered in tattoos and high-end fashions (note the hypocrisy of this song's lyrics versus their biggest hit to date, 'Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous'). And if you try and steal their girlfriends, they'll kick your ass. Why you'd want to steal either Ms. Hilton or Ms. Ritchie from them remains beyond me.

But there's just something I like in the way that they deliver this message of overprotective threatened violence. I particularly like the line "I've got brass knuckles hanging from my neck and my chain". It is a more aggressive sound, courtesy of Don Gilmore, the man responsible for Linkin Park's 'Hybrid Theory', and on this particular track, it just seems to work.

77: Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke

Subsequent to my producing this list of my 100 favourite songs of the Noughties, I've discovered that my #77 song was actually written, recorded and first released in the 90s. However, it wasn't until 2003, when it was re-released, that it became a worldwide smash hit, and it's importance in the story of Noughties pop music is such that I feel it should keep its place.

Panjabi MC's story is an interesting one. The Coventry-born rapper (real name: Rajinder Singh Rai) has released 10 albums, in a career spanning back to 1993. Prior to the success of 'Mundian To Bach Ke' ('Beware Of The Boys'), he had already worked with fellow Midlands rapper, Mark Morrison, as well as Snoop Dogg's cousin, Daz Dillinger. However, 'Mundian...' helped him achieve global fame, and subsequently, other music from his back catalogue has been used in TV show 'Heroes', the film 'Inside Man', and as ring entrance music for WWE wrestler, The Great Khali.



All that said, were it not for the clever usage of the bassline from the 'Knight Rider' TV theme to remix Labh Janjua's original vocal, Panjabi MC would probably still be in Coventry, releasing albums no-one had ever heard. Instead, 'Mundian...' became a worldwide sensation, selling 100,000 copies in Germany in just two days, topping the Italian charts, becoming the first bhangra song to reach the UK Top 10, and earning Panjabi MC an MTV Europe Music Award, and a MOBO for Best UK Act. Oh, and a lifetime's stream of royalties. Good work.

78: Green Day - American Idiot

I've been away for a little. Maybe you noticed? Maybe not. I was at Reading Festival, watching several of the acts who appear in this countdown. Anyway, the gist of it is that I'm now running dangerously behind schedule, so expect a flurry of postings here over the next few weeks as I try to catch up. Right, now that's out of the way, on with the show....

... and at #78, it's Green Day's ode to former US President, George 'Dubya' Bush. The opening track and first single from the concept album of the same name, the release of 'American Idiot' was accompanied by massive hype, coming, as it did, three months before the US Presidential election.

It occupies a very specific place in the chronology of Noughties music, alongside works from the likes of the Beastie Boys, Wu Tang Clan and Jay Z. It deals with issues that the entire United States was dealing with in the post 9/11 world... Billie-Joe's lyrics talk of media control, hysteria, fear, propaganda and paranoia. Built around a central, simplistic riff (like most Green Day songs), it proved to be their biggest ever UK chart hit. (In the US, it was released a week before the Billboard charts began to incorporate paid downloads, and as a result, only reached #61 in the charts.)



Best fact that I discovered whilst researching to write this post:

"In 2006 grocery clerk Paul McPike sued Green Day, alleging that he'd written "American Idiot" and the other songs on their album way back in 1992. McPike's evidence consisted entirely of a copy of the album and a claim that the lyrics sung on the album didn't match those in the sleeve notes. The US District Court Judge suggested he could file a more detailed copyright infringement complaint in the future."