CHRISTINE HINZMANN
For me, the song of the day wasn't ever purely about the music. For me it's about how the music fits into my life and what kind of triggers it would send to my befuddled little mind.
It's more about the emotions the music evokes and reflects, depending on what's happening in my life and what mood I'm in at the time.
So here are my top five, not because one song is any better than the other but rather because of the great memories the music jolted out of my foggy brain or occasions the music helped to enhance.
5. Shaun Cassidy -Da Doo Ron Ron
He was my first concert. The sideswept bangs, the pouty lips, the catchy tunes you didn't have to be a deep thinker to appreciate, he was the Justin Bieber of the 1970s. Shaun Cassidy brought out all the Da Doo Ron Ron in this teeny bopper and then he came to Toronto to a sold out concert during the Canadian National Exhibition. Well, my gal pal Terri and I were just beside ourselves with glee. Good times, my friends, good times.
4. Stevie Wonder -I just Called to Stay I Love You
Stevie Wonder's I Just Called To Say I Love You is one of my all-time favourites. Not only is it a really lovely song, but it reminds me of my college days - and who doesn't like to recall those every now and then? Autumn in Ontario was always my most favourite season and during the first year I attended Seneca College on the King campus that is on a wooded acreage, it was like stepping into Narnia for me. Magical, filled with hope and renewed direction, this song jars all those memories and lets them shine.
3. Doris Day -Que Sera Sera
Que Sera Serais a classic from the elegant and charming Miss Doris Day. This isn't just a song, ladies and gentlemen, this is a philosophy of life. To be able to look at the chaos around you in an ever-changing world, throw up your hands and say whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see, Que Sera Sera is really the direction you want to take on life's crazy highway.
2. Michael Buble -Home
Michael Buble was like a man possessed during a David Foster fundraiser in 2006 that I was lucky enough to attend in Vancouver. He sang Home like a man who really needed to reconnect and he sure made my day back then with his sincere performance of the song. We got a chance, at Buble's invitation, to dance in front of the stage as he performed the song and we all got to high five the Michael - something I will never forget.
1. Pete Seeger - Where Have All The Flowers Gone
Pete Seeger's Where Have All The Flowers Gone sends me back to my Camp Big Canoe days where it was only ever about fun, sunshine, muddy bog walks, campfire sing alongs and how many times we got to jump in the lake. On the surface, this song seems pretty simple but taking in the universal political connotations about what's happened in the world, it's a pretty timeless message.
ARTHUR WILLIAMS
This year has a been a big year for pop music, but so much for real rock 'n roll. However - in between the songs by Jessie J., Pitbull, Nico & Vinz, Katy Perry and Megan Trainor - I've tried to feature some of the good new rock songs out this year.
Here are the top new rock songs of 2014:
5. The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) -U2
There was a time when a new U2 album was a major event. However the release of Songs of Innocence on Sept. 9, direct to 500 million people's iTunes accounts, was an event for all the wrong reasons. But The Miracle (of Joey Ramone) is worth a listen -it almost has a little of that old U2 magic.
4. Edge of a Revolution -Nickleback
Nickleback are a great guilty pleasure. Edge of a Revolution, from the band's No Fixed Address album, is a fist-pumping rock anthem worthy of the great 1980s hair metal bands.
3. Centuries -Fall Out Boy
Crossing the spectrum of light punk rock and pop, Fall Out Boy's Centuries is a battle cry for the underdog. It's a solid head bobber that will be remembered for years, if not centuries.
2. World on Fire -Slash, feat. Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators
Former Guns 'n Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash (born Saul Hudson) knows something about good old school rock 'n roll. Slash has been named one of the top rock guitarists of all time, and World on Fire is really just an excuse for him to do his thing.
1. Heaven Knows -The Pretty Reckless
Singer/guitarist/actress Taylor Momsen and the guys from The Pretty Reckless blew the doors off with their sophomore album Going to Hell released in March.
Momsen, who is better know for her role on the TV show Gossip Girl, proved that the alt-metal band is more than a celebrity vanity project. Thanks to Going to Hell, the band has gone from opening act to headliners.
The lead single, Heaven Knows, cleared the beachhead for the album and reached the No. 1 spot on the North American rock charts. Unlike a lot of contemporary metal acts, Momsen really can sing and shows it in Heaven Knows.
Hopefully we will see more good stuff from this group in 2015.
NEIL GODBOUT
My choices for songs of 2014 are tied to some of the events of the year.
5. Pseudologia Fantastica - Foster The People
The song is plenty of fun and I learned that the song's title is the fancy medical term for someone who is a pathological liar. In other words, a perfect song for Cody Legebokoff and his X, Y, Z defence when charged with the death of four area women.
4. American Skin (41 Shots) - Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen finally released a studio version of this song in 2014. It first appeared on his Live In New York City album more than a decade ago. The song was written as a protest for the 1999 shooting death of Amadou Diallo by New York police officers, who fired a total of 41 shots at the unarmed immigrant, 19 of which hit their intended target. With the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in New York this year, Springsteen's protest song, with its haunting chorus "you can get killed just for living in your American skin," is more relevant than ever.
3. Seven Wonders - Fleetwood Mac
This song may have come out in 1987 as the second single off the Tango In The Night album but it enjoyed a resurgence this year, thanks to its appearance in the season finale of American Horror Story: Coven, featuring Stevie Nicks performing the song. As a result, Seven Wonders is back on Fleetwood Mac's setlist, with the reunited Rumours lineup touring North America for the first time since 1998.
2. High Hopes - Pink Floyd
The final song on Pink Floyd's 1994 release, The Division Bell, ends with the last line sung by David Gilmour - "the endless river" - which is the name of the new Floyd release this year of outtakes from the recording of the Division Bell. The song made a surprise appearance on the setlist of the Pink Floyd Experience when the cover band played CN Centre last year. It goes out to the Prince George Cougars and its new ownership group, to new Mayor Lyn Hall, to Conservative nominee Todd Doherty and to Daniel Weeks and Henry Reiser, the new presidents of UNBC and CNC, respectively.
1. Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
I've got nothing except this is a freakin' great rock song to kick off the band's new record, Sonic Highways.
CHARELLE EVELYN
Sometimes it takes a little bit of teamwork to make some great art. This year, I've featured a few musical collaborations that stuck out as particularly memorable.
5. Long Time Gone - Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones
One of the best things about this collaboration is that it was so unexpected. You don't typically think singer-songwriter Norah Jones when you think of Green Day. But the pair teamed up for a whole album of Everly Brothers covers (Foreverly) and this song became particularly poignant after Phil Everly's death at the start of the year.
4. Guilty All the Same - Linkin Park, ft. Rakim
For the first time, my favourite band collaborated with other artists on a regular studio album. The lead single off of this year's The Hunting Party was a joint effort with hip hop legend Rakim and it was everything I didn't know I wanted.
3. Blame - Calvin Harris, ft. John Newman
This U.K. collaboration between a Scottish DJ and English singer is a guaranteed party starter (unless you party with squares). It's upbeat, but just Newman's growly vocals are just dirty enough to make it night appropriate.
2. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson, ft. Bruno Mars
This is the newest collaboration on the list, having been released only a handful of weeks ago, but it's quickly racking up an incredible amount of plays on my iTunes library. It's exactly what it says on the tin, and you can't beat a pairing of British musical powerhouse Ronson and consummate-entertainer Mars.
1. Side Pieces - Drake, ft. Brian McKnight
My top pick for the year was the incredibly silly song put together as part of July's ESPY awards broadcast. The performance by show host Drake that had me in the most stitches was an ode to the extra-martial encounters, a.k.a. "the real glue that holds the sports world together."
