Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 4 of 4)

The time has come! Were about to reveal Pop Heaven’s top 25 songs of 2012! As this year’s chart comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the journey of actually compiling a year-end chart.

I started off with 188 singles that were released this year by popular music’s heavy hitters from all genres. Additionally, there were plenty of amazing non-singles this year, so I carefully selected the best of the best (hoping that they don’t become runaway hits in 2013 so I won’t regret including them this year) and added those to the pool as well.

From there began the surprisingly arduous task of trying to rank them all. I prayed day and night to the Pop Gods to guide me in my mission. Sometimes I found myself heartbroken to realize that a song I loved would be cut when it slowly slipped over the fine line between #100 and #101. Admittedly, there were many other terrific tracks this year that didn’t make the list.

As always, there were some oversights and there are a couple of flat-out mistakes that I wish I could go back and amend, but once it’s been published it’s Pop Gospel so it’s time to let go of regret and move on with our  top 25!

In case you’re just joining us, you should catch up!!:

– Read entries 100 through 76 in Part 1!
– Read entries 75 through 51 in Part 2!
– Read entries 50 through 26 in Part 3!

Now, if you’re all caught up.. check out the conclusion of our year-end charts. Watch/Listen to the YouTube playlist below, or read the Top 25 after the break…

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 3 of 4)

We’re still counting down The Pop Gods’ Top 100 songs of 2012. It was a fantastic year for singles, with the ongoing dance-pop trend still cranking out lots of hits despite seeing a lot of changes take root in the mainstream soundscape. I wager that the past year was a turning point and that 2013 will be a year of change, but for now let’s focus on 2012!

In case you’re just joining us:

– Read entries #100 through #76 in Part 1!
– Read entries #75 through #51 in Part 2!

Without further ado, here are chart positions #50 through #26! Feel free to watch and listen with our YouTube playlist, or read the chart after the jump!

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 2 of 4)

Welcome back, dear readers! We’re counting down our top 100 songs of 2012 to make it into Pop Heaven, and in part 2 we’re going to check out numbers #75 through #51! In this group, we have many brilliant artists like Brandy, Adam Lambert, Maroon 5, Leona Lewis, My Name Is Kay and many more, so let’s not waste any more time! (After all, it’s the middle of January and I’m still posting last years charts!)

In case you’re just joining us, click here to see entries 100 through 74 in Part 1!

If you have lots of time, you can watch the chart unfold with this YouTube playlist, but if not you can read it, after the jump!

Judgement Day (Special Edition): Pop Heaven’s Top 100 Songs of 2012 (Part 1 of 4)

Happy New Year, Everyone!

While many year-end, “best of” lists have long since been posted, in typical fashion I am a little late. That being said, it’s never really too late to look back at a year of popular music.

In retrospect, while 2012 may not have been a big year for stellar albums, it was a pretty great year for singles!

Some lessons learned from last year’s Top 100:

• My 2011 picks contained a lot of non-single tracks, which did not bode well when many of those songs became singles in 2012 (i.e. Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.”)
• Similarly, there were a few tracks that were released as singles in 2011 but didn’t really become hits until 2012 (“Domino” by Jessie J).

Sadly, since both of those tracks were on last year’s chart, you won’t find them in 2012’s year-end charts despite their being pretty massive hits this year.

So, this time around I tried to learn from my mistakes and started with all of my favorite singles released in 2012 that were not on last year’s chart. After listing all of those, I scoured through 2012’s album releases and picked only a few of my absolute favorite non-singles here and there to sprinkle in. A list of close to 200 songs had to be whittled down, and after hours of deliberations I was left with Pop Heaven’s Top 100 tracks of 2012!

We count down spots 100 through 76, after the jump! (or you can click “Play” on the YouTube playlist below to just listen!)

Santa Claus: The Evolution of a Childhood Legend

St Nicholas of Myra

Ah, it’s that time of year again; the time to take the kids to the overly crowded, local shopping mall to sit them on the lap of a certain jolly, red-suited, old man. Upon doing so, they’ll either burst into terrified screams or happily confess their heart’s desire in hopes of finding it under the Christmas tree on the morning of December 25th. Despite this being a long time tradition worldwide, the question remains for many: who is this mysterious man, and how did he come to be the magical childhood legend he is today?