The Hottest 100 of the Decade is fast approaching, and people across the country are still rattling their brains to try and accomplish the mammoth task of narrowing down their 10 favourite songs from the past 10 years to vote for.
On top of that, people are also rattling their brains to try and figure out what songs actually stand a chance in topping the countdown, considering that there’s a near-infinite amount of tracks to choose from. 100 Warm Tunas is up and running, and they’ve got Violent Soho taking out the top spot, but interestingly there’s a number of songs that feature on the prediction site that never made the Hottest 100 in the year they were released. In fact, it’s genuinely shocking that these tracks didn’t make the countdown given their influence on music, pop culture and our playlists in years since.
So, Music Feeds collated a few of the most shocking Hottest 100 omissions from the past 10 years, from euphoric dance pop to an Aussie electronic trio’s defining song to an absolute banger that had us screaming ‘c**t’ for months.
1. Innerbloom – RÜFÜS DU SOL
Given this song’s incredible staying power, its long-lasting impact on this country’s music culture and the absolute reverence people talk about it with, you might be shocked to discover that ‘Innerbloom’ never actually made the Hottest 100.
Of course, the What So Not remix of the song made it high up the 2016 countdown, but no Hottest 100 love has been spared for the original. The almost 10-minute long mammoth electronic journey is indisputably RÜFÜS DU SOL’s magnum opus, yet it only managed to come in at #103 in 2015’s Hottest 200. It has aged like the finest of wines, as it’s currently a favourite to take out the Hottest 100 of the Decade countdown – not just appear, win. Not too bad for a track that didn’t even make the cut first time around.
UPDATE 14/03/20: Triple J’s Hottest 100 Of The Decade: Live Updates
2. Dance Yrself Clean – LCD Soundsystem
LCD Soundsystem are no stranger to the Hottest 100, and after almost two decades in the business, they’re surely no strangers to having some of their best tracks overlooked. While ‘Dance Yrself Clean’ was never released as a single from 2010’s This Is Happening, it has grown into a cult favourite and fully flourished into one of the legendary band’s defining tracks. Yet and still, it only managed to scrape in at #149 on the Hottest 200 of 2010. Meanwhile, 100 Warm Tunas has the song coming in at #50 on the Hottest 100 of the Decade at present. Go figure.
3. Dancing On My Own – Robyn
Every year, once the countdown wraps up, there are always talks of injustices or relentless calls of “shoulda been higher!” Well, if 100 Warm Tunas is anything to go by, then the general public feels like the omission of Robyn’s ‘Dancing On My Own’ from the Hottest 100 is the greatest injustice of all.
It’s a song that doesn’t need an introduction and doesn’t need anyone else to talk about just how good it is – its legacy is unlike anything else we’ve seen in recent years. Currently at #18 on 100 Warm Tunas – the highest of any song on this list and any song that didn’t originally make the Hottest 100 – ‘Dancing On My Own’ has more than stood the test of time. Despite coming in at measly #142 in the Hottest 100 of 2010, the song is largely considered by critics as the song of the 2010s. It topped several major end-of-decade lists, including Rolling Stone and NME. Don’t be too surprised if the country decides to avenge ‘Dancing On My Own’ come March 14th.
4. 212 (feat. Lazy Jay) – Azealia Banks
Another favourite on various end-of-decade lists is the rambunctious, precocious and fiery debut single from Harlem’s Azealia Banks, ‘212’. While Banks’ legacy has been almost tainted beyond repair because of her social media presence, her skill and craft as a musician are undeniable.
‘212’ is unlike anything that preceded it, and we’re still hearing attempts to recreate its magic that fail miserably in comparison. Despite being almost 10 years old, it is still bumped in clubs around the country every weekend and still sounds like it could’ve dropped yesterday. Therefore, it’s kind of outrageous that the song didn’t even make the Hottest 200 the year it came out. The chorus still echoes in all of us, to the point where 100 Warm Tunas has the song coming in at #76 at the time of writing – above two songs that actually won their respective countdowns.
5. Avant Gardener – Courtney Barnett
One thing that is always true of triple j is that they really like to spruik artists that debuted on triple j Unearthed and made it to international superstardom. Your Flumes and your RÜFÜS DU SOLs for example. That being said, not even triple j could have predicted the way Courtney Barnett, who is so typically Australian in her delivery, blew up across the world. While she’s become well accustomed to the Hottest 100 in years since, it is insanity that her vehicle to stardom – the hazy and sunburnt ‘Avant Gardener’ – couldn’t crack the countdown in 2013.
6. Power – Kanye West
Look, Kanye will make the Hottest 100 of the Decade countdown at least once – there’s no real way around that. And, there’s also no real way around the inevitability that most of his entries will come from his 2010 masterpiece, My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy. Expect to see ‘Runaway’ and ‘Monster’ high up there, but it’s likely that first cut ‘Power’ will make it too (#89 on 100 Warm Tunas). While it is instantly recognisable and one of Kanye’s more ubiquitous songs, it narrowly missed out on the countdown in 2010, coming in at #105. I guess no one man really should have all that power.
7. 3 Nights – Dominic Fike
It’s hard to say that any recently released song’s omission from the countdown is surprising given the fact that we haven’t had much time to let its impact sink in, but considering the overwhelming popularity Dominic Fike’s ‘3 Nights’, it is genuinely astounding how it didn’t scrape into 2018’s Hottest 100 – only managing #145.
8. In My Feelings – Drake
The Hottest 100 is no stranger to viral hits that have their merits boosted by some kitchsy element. In fact, it can be argued that Denis Leary’s ‘Asshole’ – the first ever winner of the Hottest 100 in 1993 – was a very early example of this. The countdown is also no stranger to Drake, who has appeared in it eight different times since 2013. Both of those factors considered, how ‘In My Feelings’ didn’t rank in the 2018 countdown is beyond us. It spent 10 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, and four weeks atop the ARIA charts, yet only ended up at #135.
9. Literally any Royal Blood song
‘Little Monster’? #102. ‘Figure It Out’? #105. ‘Ten Tonne Skeleton’? #117. ‘Lights Out’? #125. ‘I Only Lie When I Love You?’ #177. ‘Out Of The Black’ and ‘Come On Over’? Didn’t make any countdown. Madness.
10. Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Just in case you forgot.
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Voting for the Hottest 100 of the Decade stays open until midday AEDT Monday, 9th March. The countdown will then take place on Saturday, 14th March.
