The #15 song of 2023, according to Billboard’s Hot 100, was Harry Styles’ ‘As It Was,’ quite the feat considering it was the #2 song the year before.
At #16 is another country bro, Bailey Zimmerman, with ‘Rock and a Hard Place.’
That brings us to #17, a track called ‘Under the Influence’ by R&B singer — and abuser of women — Chris Brown.
Getting back to the year-end edition of ‘What the Kids are Listening To,’ I’ve reached #12 and #13, two country songs I’ve already featured on the blog: Morgan Wallen’s ‘You Proof‘ and Zach Bryan’s ‘Something in the Orange,’ respectively.
At #14 is ‘Ricj Flex,’ the lead-off track from Drake and 21 Savage’s 2022 album Her Loss. This song became a viral hit and spent three weeks at #2, blocked from the top spot by Taylor Swift’s ‘Anti-Hero.’
The week of January 7, 1984, saw Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson atop the Billboard Hot 100 with ‘Say Say Say,’ the pair’s second hit collaboration (following ‘The Girl is Mine’).
In second place is another “say” song by another duo: ‘Say It Isn’t So’ by Daryl Hall and John Oates. This song was the first single (and one of two new songs) on a greatest hits compilation released in October of 1993. It peaked at #2 for four weeks, kept from the top spot by McCartney and Jackson.
Throwing back to the week of January 5, 1974, we find Jim Croce at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with the beautiful love ballad ‘Time in a Bottle.’
Sadly, Croce had died the previous September in a plane crash that also took the lives of five others — including bandmate Maury Muehleisen, who played guitar on this song.
Billboard’s #11 song of 2023 belongs to Sam Smith and Kim Petras, whose ‘Unholy’ broke a lot of ground for non-binary and transgender performers.
The catchy dance-pop track marked a departure for Smith, known primarily for their slow, sad ballads. Petras is a Los Angeles-based German singer-songwriter who was two years into her first record contract when she delivered this hit and went from relative anonymity to a chart-topping, award-winning artist.
Meet Me In Montauk 