Puttin' On the Ritz
1983
Berlin wrote it in 1927; Taco's synth version made him, at ninety-five, the oldest living songwriter in the top ten.
★ 1.2
The Songs canon
Sourced and sung.
Every song chosen by hand, with the recording to play it.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
Browse all 2,393 songs or filter by genre, subject, artist, and year.
You Got It (The Right Stuff)
1988
Maurice Starr wrote and produced it, Jordan Knight and Donnie Wahlberg took the leads, and Britain crowned it a year later.
★ 1.3
Just Say Yes
2009
Written for Gwen Stefani, who passed, then offered to Nicole Scherzinger before Snow Patrol reclaimed it with Jacknife Lee.
★ 1.4
Shake It
2008
Trace Cyrus, Billy Ray's adopted son, and Mason Musso built a synth hook that went double platinum.
★ 1.5
Break Your Heart
2010
Fraser T Smith produced a UK number one; Mercury then added Ludacris and it leapt to the American top spot.
★ 1.5
Good Time
2012
One YouTube link from his manager gave Young the voice he wanted, and a top-ten summer duet.
★ 1.9
The Promise
1988
Written in a garden shed at Farrington's father's house, stalled at fifty-eight in Britain, then Napoleon Dynamite happened.
★ 2.9
I Can't Wait
1986
Every major label passed, then a copy reached the Netherlands, came back as Peter Slaghuis's Dutch Mix, and charted top three.
★ 2.9
Too ShyKajagoogoo
Too Shy
1983
Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran co-produced it, and Limahl rode the hook to two weeks at UK number one.
★ 3.0
Cooler than Me
2010
Recorded on cheap gear in a college dorm room, co-written with Big Sean, and a number six hit.
★ 3.1
Obedear
2012
Roddick emailed tracks from Montreal to James in Halifax, and the album took its title from this song's lyric.
★ 3.3
You Keep Me Hangin' On (Kim Wilde)
1987
Wilde rebuilt the Holland-Dozier-Holland original as hi-NRG and became the second act to take it to number one.
★ 3.4
Miami Vice Theme
1985
Jan Hammer cut it once the series was picked up, then two Grammys and a Hot 100 number one.
★ 3.4
Ghostbusters
1984
Parker had days to write it and found the hook in a late-night TV ad for a local service.
★ 3.4
Let's Hear It For The Boy
1984
An Oscar nominee from the Footloose soundtrack, George Duke producing, and Williams audibly grinning through every chorus.
★ 3.6
Safe and Sound
2011
Trumpet hook lifted from the Yiddish standard Dona Dona, and two and a half years later, number eight.
★ 3.8
Maniac
1983
A slasher-film joke rewritten on Phil Ramone's orders into Flashdance's training montage, and two weeks at number one.
★ 4.0