Noughtie: The 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Part 5)

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures
Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

Almost half way there. Here's from #60 to #51 in my list of important songs of the decade!

To view part 1, click here.
To view part 2, click here.
To view part 3, click here.
To view part 4, click here.

#60. "Standing in the Way of Control" - The Gossip
Released: 24/1/06
Album: Standing in the Way of Control
Accolades: #23 in NME's 50 Indie Anthems Ever,
Chart Positions: UK - #7, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #25

"Standing in the Way of Control" was THE indie anthem in the middle of the decade. It got released three times, initially as a remixed version in 2005 (that's the above cover, I can't find the non-remix single cover), then in '06 it got its first release, which was a decent hit. But then the song grew and grew that summer, and The Gossip were one of the biggest acts around at the time. It got re-released in 2007 and climbed into the Top 10. Not bad for a song that got released a year after its initial penetration of the charts. The indie anthem, along with Beth Ditto's striking image, are very strong memories of the decade, it's a shame that The Gossip have since become a bit of a one trick pony and have never come close to topping this track. Regardless, this song is still played in moderation now, and is a big track from the decade.

#59. "That's Not My Name" - The Ting Tings
Released: 9/5/08
Album: We Started Nothing
Appearances: BBC Radio 1 (cinema advertisement), Mobitel (mobile advertisement), Post Grad (movie trailer), 90210 (TV series), Brothers and Sisters (TV series), Taking the City (TV Series), The City (TV series), Fired Up (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #39 (#4 in Hot Dance Club Songs), Best Elsewhere - Czech Republic - #7

Wow this song was a big hit. It was a much bigger hit across Europe, and even America, than I realised. The Ting Ting are one of those poppy indie bands that just appeal. They're not the most talented of groups (granted, they make a decent racket for a duo, but still) yet as the charts'll tell ya, you don't have to be. You just need a sound, something that sticks in people's heads, and then there you go, you have a hit. "That's Not My Name" was a really big hit in 2008, but something tells me that this isn't a song that you will hear all the time as a classic in the future, but regardless, it had an impact, it was popular, it got to #1 here in the UK and deserves a decent mention in this list.

#58. "Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz
Released: 5/3/01
Album: Gorillaz
Appearances: Daria (TV series), Smallville (TV series), The Andy Milonakis Show (TV series), Angel (TV series), Dark Angel (TV series), Walker Texas Ranger (TV series), Fair Game (movie)
Chart Positions: UK - #4, US - #57 (#3 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Italy, Norway and Spain - #1

Wow this song has virtually no accolades worthy to mention at all. I'm surprised. Another thing is that it got to #1 in three European countries, but not in the UK itself. That being said it goes without saying why this song is featured in the list. Gorillaz are arguably more popular and more important than Blur ever was. The mix of the original Brit pop sound, merged with hip hop and electronic genred music gives this band the opportunity to reach out to many different people with many different music tastes. "Clint Eastwood", although in my opinion isn't their best song, it had a huge impact upon release and it's still fondly thought of now. And the music video is fantastic too.

#57. "Butterfly" - Crazy Town
Released: 13/11/00
Album: The Gift of Game
Appearances: Orange County (movie), Somethings Gotta Give (movie), Herbie Fully Loaded (movie trailer), Saving Silverman (movie), Intel (computer advertisement)
Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #1 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Denmark, Germany, Norway and Switzerland - #1

Yay! A song on the listing that actually got to #1 in the official American charts! It got to #1 in many places as you can see, but not the UK. But this was a huge hit at the time, and it was quite catchy too, I can't deny I like the song (although the video is a bit greasy...). With its Red Hot Chili Peppers sample (the song being "Pretty Little Ditty"), the rapping, the catchy chorus, it was just destined to be a hit. Unfortunately for them, as you have noticed, they haven't had a big hit since then, although they are still going now. The song was just popular amongst a lot of different fans as it has a good rap/rock/funk/pop merge going on. It was definitely one of the highlight tracks of the decade.

#56. "Teenage Dirtbag" - Wheatus
Released: 17/7/00
Album: Wheatus
Accolades: Nominated for UK Record of the Year in 2001
Appearances: Loser (movie), Generation Kill (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #7 (in US Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia and Austria - #1

This song is so well thought of that last month it re-entered the UK charts and got to #35 due to promotion from iTunes. It's one of thos great teenage pop punk songs that's about "perfect" romance, and it stands out so well in the decade as such. It's funny, the song was appeared on the movie "Loser" yet because Jason Briggs and Mena Suvari (who is also fricking hot) were both in the American Pie films, people associate the song with that series. Yet it was the much less successful "Loser" that it was the feature track for. But it's another credit to the song, the song is too good for a less successful film, it should have been in the American Pie film, the bigger, better, more successful film. It's a great poppy punk song, one that will live long in the memory of teenagers like myself who grew up listening to it in the year 2000.

#55. "For Lovers" - Wolfman feat. Pete Doherty
Released: 12/4/04
Album: None
Accolades: Nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Songwriting
Chart Positions: UK - #7

For a song by an artist who has barely registered on a national scale (Peter Wolfe) this song was surprisingly popular and even more successful. Having Pete Doherty's name on your single does help mind. But this song got to #7 and was nominated for an extremely prestigious songwriting award. But why is it on this list? And why so high? Simply, because since the track has come out, it still gets a respectful amount of airplay. This song is just a beautiful track, very nice and soothing, it's a song that is radio friendly and many DJs like playing it. It's a good song, a very good song, and I think come 10 years time, it'll still be played, it's just a shame Wolfman won't ever top the song, popularity wise.

#54. "Paper Planes" - MIA
Released: 11/2/08
Album: Kala
Appearances: Pinapple Express (movie), Slumdog Millionaire (movie), Capitalism: A Love Story (movie trailer)
Accolades: Nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards, #17 in Triple J's Hottest of 2007, #6 in Village Voice's Top 40 Singles of 2007, #1 in Village Voice's Top 40 Singles of 2008, #3 in Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best Singles of 2008, #2 in Blender's Top 144 Songs of 2008, #1 in Rolling Stone Brasil's Best Songs of 2008, Entertainment Weekly's Best of the Decade List, #5 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of the Decade, #236 in Rolling Stone's Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #19, US - #4 (#1 in Hot Dance Singles), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #7

It may appear confusing with the fact that this song appeared in "Best of" lists for both 2007 and 2008, with the single being released in the latter year. The album "Kala" was released in 2007 so that's the only explanation I can give really. Anyway this song was a huge hit, it was well received univerally for its fantastic use in both "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Pinapple Express" before it. It's another one of those "probably won't be topped" songs by MIA, she's a unique case, mixing rap, RnB, dance, alternative and world music very well. It's a nice blend, and the lyrics are great too where she talks about the perception of immigrants in this country, her streetwise attitude and going to America, although they have been sometimes misinterpreted as pro-terrorism which is silly. It's just a good sounding alternative hip hop track, and the gun sounds mid-chorus work fantastically in to the music. It's one of those songs that I reckon will continue to get a lot of airplay in the next few years. With Slumdog Millionaire being one of the biggest films of the decade, and this song being a very big track in the movie, this further affirms my prediction that this song won't go away, and is a very important moment in music in the decade.

#53. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
Released: 23/3/06
Album: St. Elsewhere
Appearances: NBA Live 07 (video game), Kick-Ass (movie)
Accolades: Winner of Best Urban/Alternative Performance Award at the Grammys, Nominated for UK Record of the Year, Winner of the Best Song Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Best Song of 2006 by Rolling Stone, Best Song of 2006 by Village Voice, #11 in Pitchfork's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s, #45 in Acclaimed Music's Best Songs Ever, #100 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, #1 in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Songs of the Decade
Listings: Top 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade
Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #2 (#1 in the Adult Top 40 Chart), Best Elsewhere - Austria, Canada, Europe, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland - #1

Wow this song got to #1 in a lot of different countries. So far down this list it's got the most #1s worldwide which on its own gives you an indication why this song deserves a place on this list. This song was huge. There's that bridge between hip hop and alternative music that people just love. When people mix rap and the alternative genres magic happens, there's a lot of songs in this listing that fall in that category. "Crazy" was #1 in this country for 9 whole weeks. "Crazy" was in the UK Top 40 for months. The only reason why it didn't last longer is because Gnarls Barkley and their record company agreed to remove it themselves so people would remember the song fondly and not get sick of it". Kudos to them, they want to make their own legacy, although their first single "Run" from their second album flopped (although I think I personally like it more than this but hey ho). Let's hope Gnarls Barkley stay around long term as they're a more than credible act and gave us this fantastic hit, a song that won't be forgotten easily.

#52. "Brianstorm" - Arctic Monkeys
Released: 2/4/07
Album: Favourite Worst Nightmare
Appearances: 07-08 Writers Guild (strike theme), Guitar Hero 5 (video game)
Accolades: #62 in MTV Asia's Top 100 Hits of 2007
Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #114, Best Elsewhere - Canada - #1

Sorry to say it, but man, that single cover sucks. But anyway, this song on the overhand, doesn't. I love this track, the riff is fantastic, and kudos to Matt Helder for those absolutely kickass drums. This song is apparently sold more than any other Arctic Monkeys single... worldwide. Obviously that's not the case in the UK on its own but it's a nice interesting fact I thought you'd like to know. "Brianstorm" was the first single off their second album, which like the song itself, was a critical success yet its still considered inferior to the debut album. But, it's a great song, it was very well received and it still gets a good amount of airplay today.

#51. "Dance Wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal
Released: 30/6/08
Album: Tongue n' Cheek
Appearances: Entourage (TV series)
Chart Positions: UK - #1, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #5

Dizzee Rascal's first #1 hit is probably his biggest so far, although as I've said many times before the guy is very young and the sky is the limit in terms of how successful he can be long term.  Featuring R&B artist Calvin Harris, this was a song that both the mainstream and alternative audiences felt comfortable with. It was a nice balance of alternative, hip hop, grime and R&B. The song was very catchy, and although the lyrics aren't as good as some of his other tracks, it was very easy to hear the lyrics in his raps, and the song was further cemented in the century when he did an acoustic version at Glastonbury 2008. It's just got a mix of everything music wise, it's hard to ignore this song.

To view part 6, click here. 
To view part 7, click here. 
To view part 8, click here.
To view part 9, click here.
To view part 10, click here.
To view the winner, click here.
To view my methods and explanations, click here. 
To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.