100 Greatest Songs of 2006: 100-76
100. “Bad Day”Daniel Powter
(Warner Bros.)
99. “Men & Mascara”Julie Roberts
(Mercury)
98. “Heartbeats”José González
(Mute)
97. “Cash Machine”Hard-Fi
(Necessary/Atlantic)
96. “Sweet Temptation”Lillix
(Maverick)
95. “So Sick”
Ne-Yo
(Def Jam)
94. “I’m So Sick”
Flyleaf
(J/Octone)
93. “The First Song”
Band of Horses
(Sub Pop)
92. “Silent Shout”
The Knife
(Mute)
91. “Wolfenswan”
Japanther
(Plan-It-X)
90. “The Way I Live”
Baby Boy feat. Lil Boosie
(Universal)
89. “Dani California”Red Hot Chili Peppers
(Warner Bros.)
88. “Miss Murder”AFI
(Interscope)
87. “Love”Keyshia Cole
(A&M)
A triumphant ballad that earned its pain.
In 2001, an aspiring Oakland singer moved to L.A. in search of a career. Her CV wasn’t stellar — its highlight was singing backup vocals for MC Hammer — but one night in 2005, clubbing in Malibu, inspiration struck: “I just wrote this song in the corner while everyone else was partying,” Keyshia Cole says. “Love” — a pared-down ballad about the rush of first romance, featuring Cole’s arresting vocal gymnastics — scored her a record deal. This year it shot to No. 3 on the R&B charts. For a former foster-home tough, though, the song was a challenge: “I’d been through so much, I was like, ‘I don’t wanna write a love song,’” she says, laughing. “Love hadn’t been treating me too good!”
86. “A Public Affair”Jessica Simpson
(Epic)
85. “Leave the Pieces”
The Wreckers
(Warner Bros.)
84. “Gettin’ Some”Shawnna
(Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam)
83. “Chain Hang Low”
Jibbs
(Geffen)
82. “Get Drunk and Be Somebody”Toby Keith
(Show Dog Nashville)
81. “The Long Way Around”Dixie Chicks
(Open Wide/Columbia)
80. “You Got Away With It”
Todd Snider
(Open Door/UME)
79. “Too Little Too Late”JoJo
(Blackground)
78. “Young Folks”
Peter Bjorn and John
(Wichita)
77. “Walk Away”Kelly Clarkson
(RCA)
76. “White and Nerdy”
Weird Al Yankovic
(Volcano)
A wanksta … and proud of it!
Weird Al Yankovic has an architecture degree from Cal Poly. He’s fluent in HTML. He graduated from high school at age 16 — as the valedictorian. “I grew up playing the accordion,” Yankovic says. “I’ve been doing research for ‘White and Nerdy’ my entire life.” Yankovic decided to spoof Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” after hearing it “nonstop” on his local Top 40 station. From there it was just a matter of swapping lyrics about Hennessy and po-po for ones about Klingons, JavaScript and vector calculus. The parody gave Yankovic the first Top 10 hit of his 28-year career, winning the hearts of millions of AV-Clubbers, not to mention one Houston MC. “Chamillionaire was thrilled,” Yankovic says. “He feels it’s a sign of megastardom — he’s got his platinum album, and now he’s got his Weird Al parody.”
100-76 | 75-51 | 50-26 | 25-1
