Every January Spotify releases your personalized top-100 most played tracked from the previous year. I always look forward to this playlist, as it is a most interesting way to self-reflect on your mood, thoughts, and feelings from the past year. The only reason the list below doesn’t list all 100 songs is because my wife sometimes used my account (we moved to a family plan earlier this year), and some of her songs ended up in the rankings. The below 75 are songs I played, along with comments on why they made the list. I’ve also included an embedded Spotify playlist if you are interested in listening to the songs yourself. If you want to go directly to the playlist, MPH’s Top-75 Songs of 2018.
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| Rank | Track | Artist | Album | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yamasuki | Yamasuki Singers | Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki | This was the top requested road trip song from the kids — and it was often played loud and on repeat |
| 2 | Shadow | Chromatics | Shadow | I listened to a lot of David Lynch inspired playlists this year — great for when I need to focus on my work |
| 3 | California Dreamin' – Single Version | The Mamas & The Papas | If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears | First song in my Mamas & The Papas playlist – which I listen to a lot – espcially in the morning |
| 4 | Tulou Tagaloa | Olivia Foa'i | Moana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack/Deluxe Edition) | Girl's favorite road album |
| 5 | (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance | Gene Pitney | 18 All-Time Greatest Hits | Kejda probably influenced this — still a great song |
| 6 | Super Trouper | ABBA | ABBA Gold | Rosamund's favorite song |
| 7 | Sloop John B – Remastered | The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds (Original Mono & Stereo Mix Versions) | One of the best songs and albums of all time |
| 8 | How Far I'll Go | Auli'i Cravalho | Moana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack/Deluxe Edition) | Girls / Road Trip |
| 9 | Golliwogg's Cakewalk No. 6 | Claude Debussy Isao Tomita | Tomita's Greatest Hits | Tomita fan — especially the Debussy covers |
| 10 | Anywhere | Rita Ora | Anywhere | A little embarrassing to see this one so high up |
| 11 | No Reply – Remastered 2009 | The Beatles | Beatles For Sale (Remastered) | Favorite song from favorite Beatle's album |
| 12 | Lightnin' Strikes | Lou Christie | Lightnin’ Strikes: The Very Best Of The MGM Recordings | The girl's love to dance in a circle to this song |
| 13 | You Baby (Mono) | The Turtles | You Baby / Let Me Be | This song captured my attention this year — got to be The Turtle's best song. This song just feels like 1966. |
| 14 | Rum And Coca-Cola – Single Version | The Andrews Sisters | 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of The Andrews Sisters | I think I've somehow somehow listened to this song once or twice a month. |
| 15 | Sukiyaki | Kyu Sakamoto | The Best of Kyu Sakamoto | Found out Slick Rick borrowed a verse from a lesser know cover of this classic song (for "La Di Da Di") — and was surprised to see how often covered it was. |
| 16 | Somewhere Only We Know | Keane | Somewhere Only We Know | Good for late night working |
| 17 | 96 Tears | ? & The Mysterians | 96 Tears | Great to listen to anytime |
| 18 | Enough Honey | Alison Sudol | Enough Honey | Late night working background music |
| 19 | He's a Rebel | The Crystals | He's A Rebel | A top-10 all-time song for me – wall of sound at its best |
| 20 | I Call Your Name | The Mamas & The Papas | If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears | Mama Cass always |
| 21 | Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood | The Animals | Animal Tracks | Every year brings lots of Animals and British Invasion – one of my favorites here |
| 22 | I'll Never Find Another You | The Seekers | The Ultimate Collection | Sounds like something from 1964 Greenwich Village — but this is an Aussie band (Aussie is always a few years behind). Great song and harmonies. |
| 23 | Time Of The Season (Mono Version) | The Zombies | Odessey And Oracle | The song reminds me most of October and October weather |
| 24 | Wouldn't It Be Nice – Mono | The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds (50th Anniversary Edition) | Pet Sounds – one of the best of all time |
| 25 | Walkin' After Midnight | Patsy Cline | The Very Best Of Patsy Cline | This song might be playing if I'm working past midnight. |
| 26 | Two Faces Have I | Lou Christie | Lou Christie | What a song… |
| 27 | Monday, Monday – Single Version | The Mamas & The Papas | If You Can Believe Your Eyes & Ears | The girls also like Mama Cass |
| 28 | Where You Are | Christopher Jackson Rachel House Nicole Scherzinger Auli'i Cravalho Louise Bush | Moana (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack/Deluxe Edition) | Road trip favorite for the family (see above) |
| 29 | Clair de Lune, No. 3 | Claude Debussy Isao Tomita | Tomita's Greatest Hits | Debussy by Tomita always wins |
| 30 | Bad To Me | Billy J. Kramer | British Invasion Gold | Written by the Beatles |
| 31 | A Lover's Concerto | The Toys | The Toys Sing "A Lover's Concerto" and "Attack!" | Pretty much a perfect song |
| 32 | Here Comes My Baby | The Tremeloes | Even The Bad Times Are Good | This is the defining song of Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" |
| 33 | Tower Of Strength | Gene McDaniels The Johnny Mann Singers | Best Of Gene McDaniels | Horns support Gene McDaniel's voice perfectly |
| 34 | I Am Waiting | The Rolling Stones | Aftermath | One of my favorite Stones songs |
| 35 | Good Lovin' – Single Version | The Young Rascals | Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits | I remember my father playing this with his bandmates in our basement when I was a kid |
| 36 | Dream A Little Dream Of Me – Album Version With Introduction | The Mamas & The Papas | The Papas & The Mamas | More Mama Cass – of course. |
| 37 | Bring It On Home To Me | The Animals | Animal Tracks | Another song I remember well from my father's band. |
| 38 | Razzle Dazzle Rose | Camera Obscura | Let's Get Out Of This Country | A song I discovered this year through a Spotify suggested playlist personalized to my listening habits. This band is fantastic. |
| 39 | Mamma Mia | ABBA | ABBA Gold | The kids love dancing to Abba. I also like them. |
| 40 | Do You Realize?? | The Flaming Lips | Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (U.S. Version) | I'm not sure I realized this song was by The Flaming Lips. It's good. |
| 41 | Embryonic Journey | Jefferson Airplane | Surrealistic Pillow | Solid instrumental. Doesn't sound like their most popular songs. |
| 42 | See You In September | The Happenings | The Happenings | Classic 1960's New Jersey sound |
| 43 | She's Not There | The Zombies | Begin Here | The Zombies always seem to make my lists. |
| 44 | Different Drum | Stone Poneys | Evergreen Vol.2 | Linda Ronstadt has a perfect voice. |
| 45 | Our Day Will Come | Ruby And The Romantics | Our Day Will Come | I could listen to this song anytime. |
| 46 | Dedicated To The One I Love | The Mamas & The Papas | Deliver | Mamas & The Papas playlist works morning or night |
| 47 | The Pied Piper | Crispian St. Peters | Follow Me… | Pretty much a perfect pop song – up and down |
| 48 | Queen Jane Approximately | Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons | Sing Big hits by Burt Bacharach…Hal David…Bob Dylan | I like this version better than the Dylan original. |
| 49 | We Gotta Get Out Of This Place – US Single Version | The Animals | Animal Tracks | My favorite Animals track |
| 50 | Weightless Again | The Handsome Family | Through the Trees | Kejda got me into this band after listening to the True Detective title theme "Far From Any Road" |
| 51 | 3 Chorales for Organ: Chorale in A Minor | M. 40,César Franck David Sanger,Franck: Complete Organ Music | Turn this on with the lights off | |
| 52 | Abracadabra | Steve Miller Band | Abracadabra | I'm glad to see a Steve Miller track in this year's list – this is one I remember specifically pulling up a few times |
| 53 | He's Sure the Boy I Love | The Crystals | He's A Rebel | The best of the girl group era |
| 54 | Douze coffrets studieux: IV. Pour les sixtes (Poem from Lucien Noullez from Debussy's Etudes, L. 136) | Claude Debussy Elodie Vignon Clara Inglese | Claude Debussy: Etudes | Surprised to see this on here — but I listen to a lot of Debussy |
| 55 | Saturday | Desire | Windswept | David Lynch! |
| 56 | Sing For Your Supper | The Mamas & The Papas | Deliver | I think this is my favorite Mamas & The Papas song |
| 57 | Blue Velvet | Bobby Vinton | The Best Of Bobby Vinton | David Lynch! |
| 58 | Never My Love | Astrud Gilberto | Windy | Great alternative to The Association's version of "Never My Love" |
| 59 | Broken Hearted Melody | Sarah Vaughan | The Complete Sarah Vaughan On Mercury Vol.3 | Listen to that voice. Wow. |
| 60 | Ringo | Lorne Greene | Welcome to the Ponderosa | Fun |
| 61 | Kono Samourai | Yamasuki Singers | Le Monde Fabuleux Des Yamasuki | More road trip music |
| 62 | Danke Schoen | Wayne Newton | Danke Schoen | I like to ask our daughters if this is sung by a boy or a girl |
| 63 | Miserere Mei | Gregorio Allegri Armonico Consort Christopher Monks | Naked Byrd | One of the greatest pieces of music ever created by man. Right? |
| 64 | Uptown | The Crystals | He's A Rebel | 10 out of 10 |
| 65 | Atlantis | Dory Previn | Dory Previn | This one kept coming back into my playlists. Very sad song. |
| 66 | I'm A Loser – Remastered 2009 | The Beatles | Beatles For Sale (Remastered) | Makes sense to see this here. Beatles for Sale is my favorite Beatles album. |
| 67 | Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered | Ella Fitzgerald | Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers And Hart Song Book | I think this song was suggested by a Spotify weekly list and saved it for repeat listens. |
| 68 | Baby Don't Go | Sonny & Cher | The Beat Goes On | 9.9/10 – Cher's best |
| 69 | Time Won't Let Me | The Outsiders | Capitol Collectors Series | Another favorite song I remember well from my youth – one my father used to play with his band |
| 71 | I Guess the Lord Must Be in New York City | Harry Nilsson | Harry | I probably listen to less Nilsson (and similar stuff) these days – but this one is really good anytime. |
| 72 | Pipeline | The Chantays | Pipeline | Not much you can say about this — except of course. |
| 73 | Young Folks | Peter Bjorn and John | Writer's Block | How old is this song? I have no idea. |
| 74 | Laugh, Laugh | The Beau Brummels | Introducing The Beau Brummels | Harmonica + vocal harmonies well put will go a long way. Exhibit A. |
| 75 | God Only Knows – Mono | The Beach Boys | Pet Sounds (50th Anniversary Edition) | Really listen to this song… |
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