TheHot27

The Hot 27 is a list of the Hottest 27 songs.

Remarks by @BizPlej. Posted as a public playlist below. Not expecting there to be much disagreement about any of this.

(Sept 1st, 2020) 

  1. Pool Hall / The Wave Pictures (2016) “Have you heard, they’re closing down the [Name of Song] and there’s nothing you can do about that?”

  2. I Don’t Know / The Sheepdogs (2011) “I get up in the morning, honey…[Name of Song]”

  3. Extraordinary Machine / Fiona Apple (2005) Direct and bitchy. Kiss emoji. I’ll be sure to give this one a shot if karaoke is ever allowed again — “Be kind to me, or treat me mean. I’ll make the most of it, I’m an [Name of Song]”

  4. Crack of Dawn / Paul & the Tall Trees (2016) Just a great groove. That might sound lame, but that’s what’s going on here.

  5. It’s Time to Wake Up 2023 / La Femme (2013) One final Frenchie holdout remains off the bonjour heavy lineup of last round’s list. Pretty…but rugged, determined and motivating. “Vous allez mourir” — you’re going to die. But until then, get up and brush your teeths!

  6. Sports / Viagra Boys (2018) There’s no more bowling. There’s no more nothing. No need whatsoever for a great song like this to get you all pumped up.

  7. Aba Yaa / Ebo Taylor (1977) “[Name of song]…universi-tay.” 15 marvelous minutes.

  8. Judy Garland / Frog (2015) Sophisticated stuff like “Jesus couldn’t quell the pains of America and trucks and trains and tractor trailers on the range” and “Goldwyn Mayer, Fred Astaire, slicking back his oily hair” but the best is “Oh Ju-ewwwwww-uewdeeee”

  9. Pull Up on Love / RJD2, STS, Khari Mateen (2020) Pretty sure I heard “…we bubbling hot bologna.” I’m lost on nearly all of this…AND there’s a big naughty B word in here. Plastered all over the place actually, which makes this song one to avoid singing in front of the kids.

  10. California Shake / Margo Guryan (1975) A wonderful and sinister departure. “You better get up and run for a doorway.” I imagine this one is uncomfortable for Californians.

  11. Blood on Your Bootheels / Caroline Rose (2014) I’d like to nominate the Rose’s 2018 album “Loner” for some kind of best of the decade list. But this one is still my favorite.

  12. Kel Tinawen / Tinariwen, Cass McCombs (2019) Angry tongues and evil words of rebellion travel right down Broadway into the heart of Groove City — near as I can tell.

  13. Poor Moon / Canned Heat (1969) The voicing of legitimate concerns over blowing up the moon with, I dunno, a nuclear bomb? Guessing that would mess with our shit (like gravity, tides, other stuff?) in a pretty serious way.

  14. Michael & His Slipper Tree ‘93 / The Equals (1968) The tale of a boy and a magical tree that…I guess…grows shoes? Although my six year old prefers to sing “Santa and his Christmas Tree.”

  15. Suck / Priests (2017) “Please don’t make me beee-heee….someone with no sympathy.”

  16. Louie, Louie / Toots & the Maytals (1973) Some hella horns all up in this. “[Name of song], oh yeah baby, yeah we got the smokes now.”

  17. This is What I'm Doing / Dick Stusso (2015) Brave to keep it this slow. “I know I know I know this is not what I should be doing..., but [Name of Song]”

  18. Fantastic Man / William Onyeabor (2013) Might be a touch overly funky for some listeners. If this song were an alien spaceship, it’d be one of those round saucer numbers with the circular multi-colored lights all the way around.

  19. Dirty Jim / Richard Swift (2018) Banging away at the ivories. “Every second is a battle I fought….ohhhhhh….ewwwww”

  20. Beautiful Strangers / Kevin Morby (2016) How do you write a song like this? Peace and love and gun violence. “If I die too young….or if the wolf he comes…fe fi fo fum”

  21. Girlfriend / Ty Segall (2010) “She don’t mind…nothing.” A great start to a healthy relationship.

  22. Blue Bayou / Roy Orbison (1963) “Saving nickels, saving dimes…” and all the rest. Wish it wasn’t so easy for ol’ Orby to get lost in the shuffle.

  23. Tell Em All to Go to Hell / Ezra Furman (2013) A useful sentiment to have in your arsenal for most weekdays.

  24. Requiem / M. Ward (2012) A proud and uplifting song to play at a funeral.

  25. This Train is Bound for Brooklyn / Jeffrey Lewis (2018) “Weirdos lurking” rhymes with “some doors working.” “Hotter than hades” rhymes with “shopping bag ladies.”

  26. Oom Sha La La / Haley Heynderickx (2018) Apparently not written about the anxieties of looming motherhood - though a good argument could be made in that regard.

  27. Harlem River Blues / Justin Townes Earle (2010) When picking a river to drown in, this seems like nobody’s first choice.

***The Hot 27 owes its inspiration to my older brother, Matt. Years ago, my brother had an extensive collection of vinyl records. He bought a couple of music store record bins in a going out of business sale, and he organized his collection into them alphabetically, complete with cardboard tabs for each letter. Any album that had just been played was returned to the first column of the bin, and placed in front of a tab marked “The Hot 14”. It always held a minimum of 14 records. When it got too big for it's slot, some records were refiled, but the front 14 stayed there, some of them for months on end. My best guess is that the number of albums under that tab was normally closer to twenty-seven.


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