Favorite Music by Year

As a side project while I cataloged today (yes, working a Saturday [in June 2006]), I thought I would go through each year's top 40 songs and pick the best one of them from each year I've been alive. Well, the top 40 lists were so lame that I had to scrap that and jump to top 100 lists (found at www.musicoutfitters.com/resources.htm). Surprises so far -- until 1996, 1982 was the worst year for music ever. Who knew?

I've gone through the discographies of the Beatles' solo careers and modified my list accordingly. The top 100 lists are useless if they don't score the Beatles high enough.

1971 – Give Me Some Truth, John Lennon
1972 – American Pie, Don McLean
1973 – Band on the Run, Wings
1974 – Cats in the Cradle, Harry Chapin
1975 – Instant Karma! (We All Shine On), John Lennon
1976 – Silly Love Songs, Wings
1977 – Hotel California, Eagles
1978 – With a Little Luck, Wings
1979 – Old Time Rock and Roll, Bob Seger
1980 – Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy), John Lennon
1981 – Watching the Wheels, John Lennon
1982 – n/a
1983 – Every Breath You Take, Police
1984 – Nobody Told Me, John Lennon
1985 – The Power of Love, Huey Lewis and the News
1986 – Got My Mind Set on You, George Harrison
1987 – I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking for, U-2
1988 – End of the Line, the Traveling Wilburys
1989 – We Didn’t Start the Fire, Billy Joel
1990 – Free Fallin’, Tom Petty
1991 – Beauty and the Beast, Celene Dion & Peabo Bryson
1992 – I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
1993 - Have I Told You Lately, Rod Stewart
1994 - You Don't Know How It Feels, Tom Petty
1995 - Breakfast at Tiffany's, Deep Blue Something
1996 - n/a
1997 - Truly, Madly, Deeply, Savage Garden
1998 - My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion
1999 - That Don't Impress Me Much, Shania Twain
2000 - Yellow, Coldplay
2001 - Only Time, Enya
2002 - We're Going to Be Friends, White Stripes
2003 - Red Right Ankle, Decembrists
2004 - n/a
2005 - n/a

[July 2006 Addendum]

My dad had encouraged me to do the 1960s. I finally got around to it. After reviewing the Beatles' discography it was really easy, though usually I would have preferred to list an entire album instead of just one song from it. I went with U.S. release dates instead of U.K. release dates, when they differed.

1961 – Travelin’ Man, Ricky Nelson
1962 – Duke of Earl, Gene Chandler
1963 – Puff (the Magic Dragon), Peter, Paul, and Mary
1964 – Twist and Shout, the Beatles
1965 – You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, the Beatles
1966 – Yesterday, the Beatles
1967 – A Day in the Life, the Beatles
1968 – Hey Jude, the Beatles
1969 – Something, the Beatles
1970 – Maybe I'm Amazed, Paul McCartney

Later additions:
2006 - Ashley, Marla Sokoloff
2007 - Dance Tonight, Paul McCartney
2008 - This Is Not a Test, She & Him
2009 - I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
2010 - Don't Look Back, She & Him
2011 - Paradise, Coldplay
2012 - Skyfall, Adele
2013 - Queenie Eye, Paul McCartney
2014 - A Sky Full of Stars, Coldplay
2015 - I Bet My Life, Imagine Dragons

2016 - Good Times, The Monkees

2017 - Scars to Your Beautiful - Alessia Cara