Welcome to the 2023 year end recap!
Numbers were a little down this year, with a (still healthy) total of 27,891 scrobbles, down 13% from 2022. That equals out to 78 streams per day, and from a numerical standpoint those scrobbles came from 14,219 individual songs. That means each song averaged 1.96 streams per, and there were 4,652 songs with at least 2 plays... which also means there were 9,567 songs with only 1 play, a somewhat startling number compared to years passed. Who knows?
Anyways, let's see how the 30 most fell. Looks like there was a 5 way tie at 28, so lets just cover all 5 of those to start...
Key: #TY. Artist - Song (Last year's ranking)
T28. Sam Cooke - Chain Gang (NR)
T28. Forever Unknown - sad people, blue eyes (1)
T28. Demon Hunter - The Negative (NR)
T28. Blindside - Painting (NR)
T28. Blackcarburning - Divide Us (ft Mari Kattman) (new)
Well, that's a mixed bag if I ever saw one. Sam Cooke is usually sauntering around the charts, Forever Unknown just missed placing two years in a row after lapping the field in '22, Demon Hunter and Blindside were holdovers from seeing them at Furnace Fest last year, and "Divide Us" finished at #8 on the Top 20 this year. Whee!
27. White Reaper - Pages (new)
The #6 song from the Top 20 this year, White Reaper made their 2nd appearance on the Countdown while supplying me with another album that had absolutely nothing else for me. Curious how that happens some years.
26. The Wild Wild - Alright (NR)
"Alright" is a song that usually gets consistent play, and I suppose that means there's enough turmoil every year that I need an inspirational, upbeat song to keep me level. Yay?
25. Children 18:3 - Homemade Valentine (NR)
Talk about a song that hit me out of nowhere. Now that I've actually spent some time listening to them, I'm not sure why I was so avoidant of Children 18:3 in the past. But thing song kept popping up in RadioU-adjacent playlists and when I finally listened to it, I was hooked. Not bad for a song that's already 15 years old, lol
24. Alice in Chains - Would? (NR)
Not that I ever don't listen to AIC, but with the remaster/re-release of their incredible 1992 album "Dirt", I spent more time listening to the album (one of my all-time favorites) and it really started pummeling me over the summer.
23. Necessary Response - Forever (12)
A usual participant in the 30 Most Played, Necessary Response slid a little bit but still had a solid year. It's a shame that this was a one-off project because the record is tremendous, but this song always rings true as one of my favorite electronic songs.
22. Truss - All The Bugs (NR)
One of the worst things that happened in '23 was me getting into a wreck that totaled my car. One of the best things to come from that was a new car that could take me to Cleveland and back with ease. Which meant more Truss in my life, which meant more rocking joy. I suppose that's a fair trade-off.
21. The Broken Relics - Crosswalk (new)
For as long as I've known TBR, I've been waiting for this song to be released. They played it live for 3 years before the album dropped, and although it got several makeovers (the original title was Kansas City Blues Train Blues), it ended up still being an absolute ripper with a tremendous lead riff and solo.
20. Plumb - God-Shaped Hole (NR)
Here we've reached the part of the 30 Most Played list where I say "huh? Did I really listen to this song that much?" Yes, I apparently did. The numbers are right there on Last.FM. Can't lie there. And, it's not a bad song or anything, I just don't feel like I listened to it more than all but 19 other songs in 2023.
19. Cannons - Bad Dream (NR)
Here's a song that HIT me last year. I have found absolutely nothing enjoyable from this band other than this song, but "Bad Dream" was one that just reverberated through my life the last year and will probably continue to soar in years to come.
18. The Broken Relics - Night in the Desert (new)
A new Broken Relics album obviously meant they would have some songs on this list. I was blown away when singer Bryce Warmouth told me that when he wrote this song, I was one of the people he had in mind. Talk about an honor beyond honors, and what a soaring, transcendent, phenomenal song to boot!!
17. Purity Ring - heartsigh (9)
Not every top song from the Countdown comes back after the initial burnout, but "heartsigh" has had some serious staying power since 2015. I am impressed.
16. Mae - Suspension (NR)
At least once or twice a month, I listen to the RadioU Throwback channel. Amusingly, a lot of songs on the list were ones from my collection, but it's a nostalgic dive into the radio station I obsessively listened to as a child. And, every now and again an old favorite pops up and rekindles the fire it once had. See: Mae - Suspension.
15. Judah & the Lion - scream! (NR)
A song from last year's Countdown (#13) that didn't make the Top 30 snuck in this time around, which is something of a rarity except that the song was released late in the year. Crazier things have happened, but as long as this world keeps spinning out of control, I suppose songs like "scream!" will continue to take space in the most streamed lists.
14. Ronnie Martin -From The Womb Of The Morning, The Dew Of Your Youth Will Be Yours (10)
This song stuck around just to spite me with its ridiculously long title. Just kidding. It's a great song and got a lot of plays early in the year before tapering off and falling back to 14.
13. Further Seems Forever - The Sound (19)
Seeing this song performed live at Furnace Fest '23 was arguably the concert highlight of the year for me, and one of the most memorable moments in recent years. Not that the song needed help being propelled into the 30 Most Played again, but it helped with its rise up six spots.
12. The Awakening - Gabriel (new)
I haven't seen much separation between songs until this point. That means we've reached the real meat-and-potatoes of the 30 Most Played, as "Gabriel" was #5 on the Top 20 Countdown. It took me a while to figure out which song I loved the most from this album, but the numbers don't lie here; what a jam!
11. Gable Price and Friends - I Don't Wanna Live Like This (new)
Not quite as long as Ronnie Martin, but Gable Price and Friends rode their positive message all the way up to #4 on the Top 20, and as a new band I'm really looking forward to see where their musical journey takes them in the future.
10. Cold - When Angels Fly Away (NR)
Well, you had to figure Cold would be in here somewhere, right? Aren't they always? Isn't it always Cure My Tragedy? *checks* oh wait, different song this year! *double checks* oh, this isn't even their highest song! Just a moment please.
9. Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down (2)
The last three years, this song went 1, 2, 2, and it seems the magic might have ran out. Maybe, maybe not. I never really know with these classic rock songs from the past - sometimes they sneak up and surprise me in ways I wasn't expecting. That's always nice and pleasant, especially as we're 30+ years from the release date of this one.
8. Teenage Wrist - Taste of Gasoline (NR)
2020's top song on both the Countdown and 30 Most Played fell out for the first time last year before making a triumphant resurgence in 2023. Perhaps it was because the band released a new album this year, but it's always nice to get some TW in my day.
7. Cold - Sad Happy (NR)
There had to be a song from "Year of the Spider" on this list, since Cold was doing their 20th anniversary tour for the record, and surely enough I was screaming as hard as my lungs would allow when they played this one live. Lead singer Scooter Ward told the heartfelt story of the song and, subsequently, why they hadn't played it live in 20 years since releasing it. I am glad to have partook in that moment.
6. White Lies - Trouble In America (new)
There's the first big jump - "Trouble In America" had 10 more plays than "Sad Happy" on its journey to reach #3 on the Top 20 Countdown. I remember playing this song a ton at the beginning of the year when I first found it and never taking my foot of the gas. What a jam.
5. The Broken Relics - Birthday (new)
Imagine being the 5th most played song of a year, off of a new album, and not even making the Top 20 Countdown? Yeah, that means there's an even bigger jam coming up soon. As for "Birthday", Bryce Warmouth's anthem to losing his birthday to having COVID was relevant and resonant to a world still dealing with this pandemic 3 years later.
4. Shinedown - If You Only Knew (NR)
Where do lost songs come from? Why do they come back? Is there some magical place in the back of my mind where other parts of my soul are waiting to release songs that I never really cared for, more than a decade after their release? Shinedown exploded with this one last year and sent me through their back catalogue trying to find more gems that I missed. This was the only real one that I found, but what a comeback it was.
3. The Broken Relics - Rodeo (new)
There we are, the #2 song from the Top 20 Countdown. "Rodeo", with its piano, mournful vocals, and just the right rocky edge, caught fire early and burned throughout 2023 with an intense passion. If the song were a band, it would've been the 51st most streamed band of 2023.
2. Whole Damn Mess - Nothing In The World Feels Better (NR)
Whole Damn Mess has like, 3 songs released. What gives, guys? I need more material! This song scratched the surface for me in '22, but really exploded in the winter and carried its momentum into 2023. Until the last month, it held a strong grip on the most streamed song until the obvious #1 took over.
1. The Classic Crime - Alone In The City (new)
Well, yeah. There was no doubt on this one. It wasn't a blowout like the last two years, but the #1 song from the Top 20 Countdown has once again taken the top spot on the most streamed songs. It was easily the #1 song from the Coutdown and ended up having 22 more plays than "Rodeo". I didn't have The Classic Crime hijacking this year, but I'm certainly not disappointed.
I'm not going to dig into where last year's songs ended up. I will just finish by thanking the good folks at Last.FM and The Universal Scrobbler for helping me make sure I had all of my numbers in a row once again. Top 25 Artists comes tomorrow!
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