The Playlist: 2007 Round 2

You saw the first 10 last week. Now we continue with 10 more of the songs that shaped 2007.

Missed last week’s column? Click here. Agree or disagree with the picks? Shoot me an e-mail at grahamcawthon@shelbystar.com.

Amy Winehouse – Rehab
Yep, the British girl with the thick accent, big hair and bad habits. Rolling Stone called it a “must hear song,” a “Motown-style winner with a banging beat and a lovesick bad girl testifying like Etta James” and “a better buzz than a double-gin martini.” That praise helped make ‘Rehab’ one of the most acclaimed songs of 07; it’s up for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Performance at the Grammys. But 07 wasn’t without problems for Winehouse; she herself checked into rehab in August.




Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake – Give It To Me
Well if this didn’t have success written all over it. Hey, let’s get the most successful producer over the past few years, take two of the biggest singers, throw them in a studio and see what happens. ‘Give It To Me,’ the first single from Timbaland’s second solo album, reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts in April, giving Timbaland his first No. 1 on his own, Furtado’s third and Timberlake’s fourth consecutive. It was also the sixth No. 1 to be produced by Timbaland in under twelve months, following ‘SexyBack,’ ‘My Love,’ and ‘What Goes Around … / … Comes Around’ by Timberlake and ‘Promiscuous’ and ‘Say It Right’ by Furtado.



Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry
What, is this a Fergie song where she doesn’t talk about her ‘London Bridge’ (still don’t know what that means) or being ‘Glamorous’? The former ‘Kids Incorporated’ star finally brought out her vulnerable side for her fourth solo hit single and it quickly equated to a worldwide hit. ‘Big Girls…’ topped the charts in the US, spent nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 in Australia and was the most played song of the year in Brazil. I’m sure the music video, where Milo Ventimiglia (the personality-lacking Peter Petrelli from ‘Heroes’) plays her sketchy boyfriend, didn’t hurt the song’s success either.



Kelly Clarkson – Never Again
Well someone really lit the fire under Kelly. The first single from her third album, ‘My December,’ is almost a throwback to Alanis Morisette’s ‘You Oughta Know’ (sans Dave Coulier) as the jilted lover lashes out for being cast aside. In fact, Clarkson has cited the song as partial inspiration for the single which she originally wrote in 2004. The song peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Pop 100 and despite a rocky year – she split with her management team and postponed a US tour – 2008 looks to be very bright as she will co-headline a tour with Reba McEntire and the two are up for a Grammy for the duet of Clarkson’s ‘Because Of You.’



Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah
Although written about a real Delilah, it is not dedicated to the lady with the radio show. Or so I’ve been told. The Chicago band has released four albums to date but the world finally took notice in 2007 as the song had women everywhere swooning almost as bad as ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy.’ ‘Delilah’ spent two weeks on the top of the Billboard charts over the summer and a new album is in the works for late 2008. The song is up for ‘Song of the Year’ and ‘Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal’ at the Grammys in February.



Nickelback - If Everyone Cared
We might never know what could happen if everyone cared but the band cared enough to have 100 percent of digital sales of the song go toward Amnesty International. The song helped establish ‘All the Right Reasons’ as the Canadian rockers’ first album with more than three Top 20 singles in the US and the song itself reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Adult Top 40. The video highlights the humanitarian efforts of Betty Williams, Bob Geldof, Peter Benenson and Nelson Mandela and, in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre in April, a remix of the song with sound bites and interviews regarding the incident aired on local radio around Blacksburg, Va.



Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around … / … Comes Around
What a year it’s been for JT. First, he closes 2006 by hosting ‘Saturday Night Live,’ giving us one of the most memorable skits in years by singing about cutting a hole in a box. Then he breaks up with Cameron Diaz for Jessica Biel (I don’t know about you, but that’s an upgrade in my book). And then he comes out with this song in which the Golden Globe nominated Scarlett Johansson plays his cheating girlfriend in the video. I would be happy if 2008 gave me just one of those accomplishments…



Gym Class Heroes – Cupid’s Chokehold
This gets included simply for the fact it borrows from Supertramp’s ‘Breakfast in America.’ Kudos for that. The first time I heard it, I thought I had switched over to the classic rock station… and then I heard someone rapping. The song, which features Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and led a whole new generation of teens going “Ba ba da da … ba ba da da…”



OneRepublic feat. Timbaland – Apologize
Most of my selections for the top songs of 07 came pretty easily. Obviously Nelly Furtado, Beyonce, etc. were getting mentions. But it was just the other day, while pondering how to fill out songs 16 through 20, that I heard this again on the radio and thought it an obvious choice for inclusion. It seems everything Timbaland touches turns to gold and that’s also true here with his remix of the Colorado band’s first single from their debut album. OneRepublic, another act who can thank MySpace for their success to date, will spend much of 2008 opening for such acts as Maroon 5 and Brandi Carlile.



Matchbox Twenty – How Far We’ve Come
The celebratory yet pessimistic song is the first single from the band’s greatest hits album, ‘Exile on Mainstream,’ their first studio recording in five years. The music video captures both the good and bad of the past century – from JFK’s presidential campaign to the tearing down of the Berlin Wall to 1985’s Live Aid – and then appears to offer hope for the future by highlighting Al Gore’s environmental efforts as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. I don’t know if everyone would consider that ‘hope’ but the song itself has become one of the biggest of the year in the few months it’s been released. And, on a personal note, I’ll be at Cricket Arena in a few weeks to see Matchbox Twenty perform live alongside Alanis Morissette.



That’s it for this week. Check out the next Playlist in next Thursday’s Star. Questions or comments? Shoot me an e-mail at grahamcawthon@shelbystar.com.