What was the best year for music of the 2000s so far?
Ross on Radio readers have had fun discussing whether 1983 was better than 1984. They’ve debated the worst years of pop music. Many share my optimism about the uptrend that we seem to be experiencing at the moment.
When I asked Facebook friends about the best year of the 2000s — any year between 2000 and now — there was, not surprisingly, a lot of love for the turbo-pop era of the late ’00s/early ’10s. It was Top 40’s last clear moment of dominance, and a recent peak for a mother/daughter coalition that has long dissolved.
But there are also a lot of votes for the year 2000 — the apogee of the teen-pop era before it was again upstaged by Hip-Hop on one side and Linkin Park-type rock acts on the others. There are votes for 2003, where pop’s post-American Idol comeback becomes visible.
There are a number of “Yeah!” votes for 2004-05. To read Tom Breihan’s Stereogum recaps of No. 1 hits is to see that era recast as a golden era for hip-Hop and R&B crossovers that would be compromised a few years later, as hip-Hop gave way to not just turbo-pop but, well, turbo-hop, where lyric mattered less, and rap was just another production element.
There’s even a vote for 2014-18, which I think of as the falling-apart time for hit music, and an era conspicuously absent even as Top 40 reaches out for more throwbacks. But I’ve learned over the last five years, particularly in writing the “Lost Factor” columns about how songs endure, that every year and every song is somebody’s favorite.
There are a number of votes for 2024 as the best year of the century so far. That would be a lofty achievement. So far, 2024 is encouraging just for being better. As this column took shape, I realized it was often years of promise I liked best. Whether you think the best records were in 1983 or 1984, watching the resurgence of Top 40 in 1983 was its own excitement.
Similarly, writing this column has brought me to remember how much I liked 2008, just before Top 40’s explosive resurgence.
- It was the year I began consistently writing about the song of summer (“I Kissed a Girl” beat out “All Summer Long” for me) after a few on-and-off-years;
- Rihanna’s imperial period was taking hold with one great single after another;
- Britney Spears was beginning a musical upswing of several years;
- Hip-Hop and R&B were still major influences on Top 40. R&B artists were just experimenting with dance and pop elements (Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” Chris Brown’s “Forever,” Ne-Yo’s “Closer”) in a way that didn’t yet portend turbo-pop consuming everything in its path. (The same would happen to pop/punk eventually.)
- One radio station could and would still break a record and artist singlehandedly, as WHTZ (Z100) New York did with Miley Cyrus’ “See You Again”;
- The holdovers from the modern AC-era of the early decade (“I’m Yours,” “Viva la Vida”) seemed like part of a balanced diet and not like signs of a doldrums. I’m hoping we feel that way about all the Triple-A music of the moment;
- Finger Eleven’s “Paralyzer” seemed like a blueprint for what hit guitar-rock could sound like on Top 40 (instead, there was nothing like it, seemingly ever again, as CHR, Alternative, and Active pulled apart);
- It came for many others a year later, but for me 2008 was the breakthrough year for Lady Gaga, since Canadian stations embraced “Let’s Dance” 4-6 months earlier than their U.S. counterparts.
At least one reader didn’t want to pick a favorite moment. For KQKY (Hits 106) Kearney, Neb.’s Mark Reid, the best year is always today. “I don’t think about what the best period, era, or year was. I’m more focused on now.”
Musically, I’m enjoying “now,” too. The best eventual outcome would be for 2024 to be remembered as the year that a pop-music comeback took hold for several years’ time. There’s a lot of the unseen in that, but for now going from “Top 40 will never matter again” to “hmmm, could happen” is its own optimism (just as it was in the mid-’90s).
For those ROR readers who didn’t have trouble spotlighting a favorite era, here are their thoughts on the 2000s in rough chronological order:
“As far as pop and Top 40, 2000 or 2001. Things started going downhill in late 2001. More extremes (either hip-hop or rock). By 2003, it was all hip-Hop and rock with little pop to paste it together” – Jeremy Andrews
“For CHR, 2000. For Alt, 2004”—Will LaTulippe
“2000: ’NSync and the boy-band era” – Lee Family Broadcasting’s Ben Reed. WWZY (Boss 107.1) Monmouth/Ocean, N.J., PD Robby Bridges also votes for 2000.
“SoulDecision’s ‘Faded’ came out [in America] in the year 2000, so why are we even asking this?” – Chris Cruise, host of Throwback 2K.
“Gonna say 2002-04 with some great songs those years from Nickelback, Avril Lavigne, the best moment of Kelly Clarkson’s life, Usher’s ‘Yeah,’ Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’” – Tony Pizza
“There was something about 2003: ‘Hey Ya,’ ‘The Way You Move,’ ‘Ignition,’ ‘Milkshake,’ ‘Rise and Fall,’ ‘Rock Your Body,’ ‘Are You Going to Be My Girl,’ ‘Beautiful,’ ‘Stacy’s Mom,’ ‘In da Club,’ ‘Bring Me to Life,’ ‘Can’t Stop,’ ‘Clocks,’ ‘Crazy in Love,’ ‘Frontin’,’ ‘Get Busy,’ ‘I Know What You Want,’ ‘I’m Still in Love With You,’ ‘It’s My Life,’ ‘My Immortal,’ ‘Me Myself and I,’ and ‘Move Your Feet’ by Junior Senior” – Ellis B. Feaster, WPOZ Orlando
“2003-05 was a really good [time] for pop music. I was DJing, often every weekend, and music packed the floor. Songs like ‘Crazy in Love,’ ‘In da Club,’ ‘Without Me,’ ‘Mr. Brightside’ and more”—Josh Markovitz of Washington, D.C.’s iHeart stations.
“It is 100 percent without question 2004. The American Idiot songs, ‘Float On,’ ‘Take Me Out,’ all the Hot Fuss songs, Velvet Revolver”—The rock perspective on the time of “true.alt” resurgence from Connoisseur Communications’ Keith Dakins.
“For me, it was 2004-05, because we had huge hits with Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Alicia Keys, and Usher”—programming/A&R veteran Hosh Gureli, now with Primary Wave, who qualifies those comments by saying that the ’80s remain his favorite era overall.
“2005 was a strong year for Urban and Rhythmic Top 40 radio. Throwback stations are playing those songs heavy now”—Brian Paiz, iHeart, Raleigh, N.C.
“I’ve found that 2005 has more albums that I go back to than any other year in the aughts”—Steve Reynolds, Premiere Radio Networks
“I liked 2007 to 2010. I was back at [WMGQ] Magic 98.3 [New Brunswick, N.J.] The format seemed to refresh itself”—Jeff Rafter, Press Communications
“2008 or 2009 — the rise of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga” – Craig Russell, PD KHBT (The Bolt) Humbolt, Iowa
“The turbo-pop years, 2009 specifically”—Steve Sobczuk
“I added more songs to my iTunes library from 2009 (788 songs) and 2007 (746 songs) than any other year of the new millennium so far, by quite a large margin, since the third-highest year has less than 600 songs”—Ken Bays
“Nothing will ever beat 2009-12. Look at every CHR station’s list of golds now and see how many of them are from that four-year period. That we are still playing so many of those songs after more than 12 years really speaks about the longevity, quality, and demand for that style of music”—Mason Kelter, host of the syndicated LiveLine
“For me, it would be 2009-10. I was at CBS with 92.3 Now launching in New York and sat in on the music meetings [with Dom Theodore]”—broadcast engineer Mike Erickson
“Probably 2010-15. But we can’t overlook what’s happening now”—Greg Carpenter, WLIF (Today’s 101.9) Baltimore
“For pop hits, my favorite window is 2011-2013, with a peak in 2012, but there are great songs in all three years”—Slate’s Chris Molanphy
“2024 has been the best post-pandemic. Before that, 2014-2018” – VirtualJock.com’s Jason Kidd, bucking the current wisdom about those years.
“2019: More innovative songs that point to our musical future than any other recent year. Some obvious — Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road,’ Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy,’ Lizzo’s ‘Truth Hurts.’ Some less obvious, like Tones and I’s ‘Dance Monkey.’ There’s plenty of fluff in 2019, too, but those songs are harbingers” – researcher and music analyst Matt Bailey
“Out of the last five years, 2021 and 2024 were the best: ‘Levitating,’ ‘Heat Waves,’ ‘Stay,’ ‘Good 4 U,’ ‘Kiss Me More,’ ‘Industry Baby,’ ‘Peaches,’ ‘Bad Habits.’ All solid hits that still get played a lot today. Right now, we have the most diverse and upbeat sound that Top 40 has had in years: ‘I Had Some Help,’ ‘Espresso,’ ‘Too Sweet,’ ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy),’ ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ ‘Birds of a Feather,’ ‘Beautiful Things,’ ‘We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).’ Talk about monster hits”–Kelter
“2024: Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, and that giant, epic Beyoncé record” – Steacy Easton
“Seconded for 2024. There are some great radio-friendly songs out this summer”—Tom Green, veteran of UK and now Middle East radio
“This has been a great year for pop, [with] Sabrina Carpenter finally breaking through with three bona-fide hits already in 2024. When is the last time an artist did that who is not Beyoncé or Taylor Swift?”— Gureli