Heather Adler of CanWest News Service looks back on tunes that had us tapping our toes, scratching our heads
Heather Adler, CanWest News Service
Published: Monday, December 17, 2007
Windsor Star
1. Rihanna: Umbrella
- What made it so catchy: The fact that 50 per cent of the song is comprised of the Barbados beauty reiterating, "You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh," while a ridiculously infectious beat repeats under her sugary-sweet vocals could have something to do with this song's contagious nature. Repetitive choruses played three times over in a short pop song is pretty much all you need for a tune to wrap its radio-ready tentacles around your brain.
2. Britney Spears: Gimmie More
- What made it so catchy: Everyone's favourite Cheetos-porking, Red Bull-swilling train wreck couldn't stay out of the tabloids or out of our collective minds after dropping comeback single Gimmie More off her latest effort Black Out.
Despite the tune's stripper-inspired video, hearing this song just a couple of times was a sentence of eternal annoyance as it was instantly stuck in your head. So, how did the weaved one do it? The good old broken-record model. She says the word "gimmie" 88 times in the three-minute-47-second-long clip. That's a "gimmie" every 2.58 seconds. Seriously, we counted.
3. Avril Lavigne: Girlfriend
- What made it so catchy: Hey, hey, you, you, this song was stuck in your head! No way, no way!
Mall punk princess Lavigne takes a cue from Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani, nabbing the former's penchant for chanting the same words over again and stealing the latter's proven cheerleader delivery style (a la Hollaback Girl).
Combining the two techniques created this experiment in mind control that surely infected your head with its poppy virus.
4. Soulja Boy Tell Em: Crank That
- What made it so catchy: Everyone loves a good dance craze - just ask those millionaires who popularized The Macarena. This wasn't the best song ever written and is mostly comprised of Soulja Boy spitting out a series of vowels and dropping Superman's name, but no one said a tune had to be good to go viral. In this case, the song's stupidness actually helped its popularity because it was so simple and monotonous, the world was helpless to its powers. Throw in a silly dance routine, and the world had a serious case of the Souljas this year.
5. Sean Kingston: Beautiful Girls
- What made it so catchy: Who knew a chubby, Jamaican, reggae-singing teenager would sing one of the year's biggest and most unforgettable tunes. Featuring more digital pitch correction than an entire Cher album, Kingston's vocals are a breath away from being completely computerized, but we have to give him props for this omnipresent tune, which samples from Ben E. King's classic, Stand by Me. The song features a clap-track and persistent reggae-influenced beat that sucks you in as Kingston wears you down by repeating chorus after chorus.
6. Fergie: Big Girls Don't Cry
- What made it so catchy: While not as instantly hooky as previous Fergie Ferg nuggets such as Fergalicious and London Bridge, this single is actually the biggest song the Duchess has yet to release, topping the United World Chart for five consecutive weeks, staying in the Top 10 Hot 100 for 21 consecutive weeks and going three times platinum. So it was in your head because you couldn't escape it. The track was the second most-played song of 2007, and since it was the perfect cross-over song, you heard it in malls, cars, dentist offices - probably even nursing homes somewhere.
7. Amy Winehouse: Rehab
- What made it so catchy: Winehouse is another artist who's as well known for her headline-grabbing exploits as for her booming vocals.
With the release of Back to Black, the soulful songstress soared to international acclaim, powered by the now ubiquitous Rehab. While the song was a monster unto itself, Winehouse's public struggles with drugs, alcohol and self-mutilation pushed it to mythical new heights due to its increasingly tragic lyrics, which declare "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said no, no, no."
8. Nelly Furtado: Say it Right
- What made it so catchy: Fergie was the second most-played artist of 2007, but your girlfriend Nelly Furtado took the honour of being No. 1. She was in the Top 10 of the United World Chart for a staggering 29 weeks. It wasn't your typical pop song, brandishing a mid-tempo, speak-sing style and echoing backing track, but, much like Fergie, Canada's prime musical export primarily had spins on her side.
Say it Right clogged up radio waves like Wendy's Baconater clogs up arteries, so you really had no hope when it came to avoiding getting this song stuck in your head.
9. Gwen Stefani: Sweet Escape
- What made it so catchy: No Doubt hitmaker Gwen Stefani stole that little chunk of your brain where math used to live this year with her smash Sweet Escape. Mashing up funky, speed-sing verses with a super-sweet chorus and a "Woo-hoo, yee-hoo!" sample supplied by R&B star Akon, the track was yet another smash for music's favourite platinum blond. Good luck ridding its hooks out of your grey matter!
10. Maroon 5: Makes Me Wonder
- What made it so catchy: Pop juggernaut Maroon 5 returned from their smash Songs About Jane with this Jamiroquai-esque pop ditty that made you wonder if you could ever get it out of your head. Sleek, sexy and featuring just the right amount of distro buzz, the song was an instant hit. Singer Adam Levine once again owns us with his pop prowess, using his swagger-filled, well Pro-Tooled falsetto to drive this ditty
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