The Biggest Hits Of 2013 That Never Made The Blog...Until Now

As frequent (or even casual) readers of this blog can attest, I have done a heckuva lot of music posts this year. Maybe I'm just on a music kick (okay, definitely I am) or maybe I just don't have much time to compile many other kinds of posts (that's true, too). Throughout the course of the year, I've posted a fair number of current hit songs – that's both coincidental and by design – but I did miss a few big ones here and there. Having thought of no better way to include the songs before year's end, I've gathered them all together here for your listening (and viewing) pleasure. Enjoy!   ~  JH

1)  AWOLNATION  ~  "Sail"  (Yes, technically, I did post an a cappella cover of this song a couple weeks ago, but in my book that doesn't count.)

2)  Katy Perry  ~  "Unconditionally"  (She has her faults, topically and lyrically speaking, but I have to give Katy Perry props for crafting some really good pop songs.)

3)  Maroon 5  ~  "Love Somebody"  (I've heard this song I don't know how many times, but I'd never seen the video till now – it's weird. Good song, though!)

4)  P!nk  ~  "Try"  (P!nk never ceases to amaze me – she's consistently awesome!)

5)  The Band Perry  ~  "DONE."  (Good song by a good modern country band – but I really wish those brothers would get new hairdos – Ughsville!)

6)  Lady Gaga  ~  "Applause"  (Somewhat questionable video, but a catchy song – annoyingly so!)

7)  One Direction  ~  "Story Of My Life"  (I must grudgingly admit that this is a surprisingly good song!)

8)  Taylor Swift  ~  "I Knew You Were Trouble"  (I know I should be embarrassed to admit it, but I really like [and own most of] Taylor Swift's music – this song is no exception!)

9)  Baauer  ~  "Harlem Shake"  (Don't worry, there's no booty shaking in this video – it's audio only.)

10)  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton  ~  "Can't Hold Us"  (I wish this guy didn't pepper the majority of his songs – this one mostly excluded – with foul language, because if so I would probably buy and listen to his music. Oh, well...)

11)  Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams  ~  "Get Lucky"  (It's an undeniably good tune, but I can't in good conscience recommend the lyrics. Big hit, though.)

12)  Eminem ft. Rihanna  ~  "The Monster"  (Sorry, music purists, I couldn't post the official music video for this one. It contained a couple of un-family-friendly words that weren't bleeped, and I prefer to keep it PG here.)

13)  Lady Antebellum  ~  "Downtown"  (This one's obviously meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and that's a good thing. 'Cuz if not…)

14)  Carrie Underwood  ~  "Two Black Cadillacs"  (A darker song for Carrie, but no less enjoyable than her cheerier hits. Sorry that Sound Of Music Live! thing didn't work out so well for you, chica…)

15)  Icona Pop ft. Charli XCX  ~  "I Love It"  (Again with this song, I couldn't post the original music video because of some uncensored lyrics, but the clean version is just as good – no, better! – to me, even if it's not actually a video.)

Video wouldn't load properly – click link to view:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TETp3OFNa3U

BONUS TRACK:  Ylvis  ~  "The Fox (What Does The Fox Say?)"  (Would you believe I never even heard this song till last week? I didn't say "heard of" – I first heard of it a few months ago, but had somehow managed to avoid it till recently. I'm sorry it took me so long to experience it, because the song is hilarious – not epic, but hilarious – as it was obviously intended to be.)

Songs That Try To Tell You What NOT To Do

I'm not a bossy person by nature. Nor do I particularly enjoy being bossed around. But apparently some singers and songwriters are, how shall we say, more bossily inclined. These artists have the audacity to try to tell me what NOT to do. They're like, "Don't this..." and "Don't that..." and frankly, I'm tired of it. The nerve of some people! Well, I'll show them. I'll respond to each "bossy" title with my own snarky comments. That'll teach 'em a lesson! (Yeah. Right.)  ~  JH

1)  Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin  ~  "Don't You Worry Child"  (I'll worry if I feel like it. And I do feel like worrying. So there! And BTW, I'm not a child.)

2)  No Doubt  ~  "Don't Speak"  (You just try and shut me up, lady!)

3)  Michael Jackson  ~  "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough"  (I'll stop whenever I feel like it, thank you very much!)

4)  Nicole Scherzinger  ~  "Don't Hold Your Breath"  (You're lucky that I wasn't planning on it – a person could turn blue doing that.)

5)  Guns N' Roses  ~  "Don't Cry"  (Give me a break. I already don't cry!)

6)  Gabrielle Aplin  ~  "Please Don't Say You Love Me"  (Can I at least say I love your voice? Sorry, my snark ran out on this one.)

7)  Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers  ~  "Don't Come Around Here No More"  (I'll come around here whenever the notion strikes me, ya weirdo!)

8)  P!nk  ~  "Don't Let Me Get Me"  (Oh, I couldn't stop you anyway.)

9)  Lecrae ft. Cam  ~  "Don't Waste Your Life"  (Okay, that's some advice I don't mind taking.)

10)  Olivia Newton-John  ~  "Don't Cry For Me Argentina"  (Is it bad that I sing this song to my kid when he's crying for irrational reasons? Seriously, that wasn't a rhetorical question.)

11)  Kenny Chesney  ~  "Don't Blink"  (Too late. I just did.)

12)  Madonna  ~  "Don't Tell Me"  (Who's gonna stop me? You've probably heard it all before anyway.)

13)  Blake Shelton  ~  "Don't Make Me"  (I wouldn't even try it. That's God's job.)

14)  Thelma Houston  ~  "Don't Leave Me This Way"  (Okay, I'll muss up your hair a bit, then I'll leave.)

15)  Blackstreet  ~  "Don't Leave Me"  (Tough noogies, I ain't stayin'!)

16)  The Band Perry  ~  "Don't Let Me Be Lonely"  (That's what Match.com is for, isn't it?)

17)  The Police  ~  "Don't Stand So Close To Me"  (No problem there, fella. You have body odor.)

18)  Amy MacDonald  ~  "Don't Tell Me That It's Over"  (Okay, I won't tell you. But it is.)

19)  Creed  ~  "Don't Stop Dancing"  (Fuhgeddaboutit – as long as there's a beat, I'm dancing! At least, in my head I am.)

20)  Liz Lawrence  ~  "Don't You Dare"  (While I previously had no intentions of daring, now I can think of nothing that I want to do more. Than to dare.)

BONUS TRACK:  Journey  ~  "Don't Stop Believin'"  (And the Kings of Bossiness are...Journey!)

Songs By Family Musical Groups

Okay, so today's theme is a little different than what I've been posting in my music blogs of late, but I think you'll find it to be a refreshing change of pace. All of the artists in this collection have one thing in common: family. Specifically, all of the musical acts represented here have at least two blood relatives in the group. Some are comprised of an entire group of siblings, while others are dynamic duos. This is not intended to be a comprehensive list – you'll notice groups like The Bee Gees and The Osmonds, to name two, are absent – but that's because I've either posted songs by them in the past or because I hate their music (or both). Enjoy!  ~  JH

1)  Cimorelli  ~  "Believe It"

2)  The Band Perry  ~   "If I Die Young"

3)  The Corrs  ~  "Dreams"

4)  K-Ci & JoJo  ~  "All My Life"

5)  First Aid Kit  ~  "Ghost Town"

6)  for KING & COUNTRY  ~  "The Proof Of Your Love"

7)  Angus & Julia Stone  ~  "Paper Aeroplane"

8)  SHeDAISY  ~  "Little Good-Byes"

9)  Jonas Brothers  ~  "Lovebug"

10)  Meg & Dia  ~  "Monster"

11)  Hanson  ~  "Save Me"

12)  Carpenters  ~  "Superstar"

13)  The Proclaimers  ~  "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"  (It's almost creepy how identical these twins are!)

14)  HAIM  ~  "Falling"

15)  The Jackson 5  ~  "I'll Be There"

16)  BarlowGirl  ~  "Never Alone"

17)  The Veronicas  ~  "This Love"

18)  The Kinleys  ~  "Please"  (This one's for my wife, who absolutely loved this song back in the day)

19)  The Watson Twins  ~  "How Am I To Be"

20)  Tegan And Sara  ~  "Call It Off"

BONUS TRACK:  Sister Sledge  ~  "We Are Family"  (I couldn't leave this one off, could I?)