Lukewarm 100

The Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time ended today with the top song being Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Whilst many of the songs in the list are brilliant, they are all very commercial - and would all be heard on Triple M or Fox - many on high rotation. I wasn't expecting much better to be honest, considering Triple J has moved far far away from the alternative, smash-the-system, down-with-mainstream ideals it had when the youth station was conceived.

Glaring omissions:
Sonic Youth, The Who, The Velvet Underground, The Triffids, The Go-Betweens, Iggy Pop, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Church, The Jam, The Cruel Sea and James (who's 1993 album Laid is in my opinion one of the greatest of all time).

Laughable inclusions:
System Of A Down - Chop Suey! and Tool - Forty Six & 2. The call was for the best songs EVER not songs you like to wank over.

Muse - Knights Of Cydonia might be a technically exceptional song but top 20 of ALL TIME? Methinks not. Same goes for Hilltop Hoods.

Overkill factor:
Jeff Buckley. Yes, he was amazing, yes, it was a shame he died ... but four songs, two of them in the top 10 is just mental. Same goes for Radiohead.

I'm pretty sure it's not because I'm getting older that the list amazes me - clearly there are people over 30 voting or Metallica, Guns'n'Roses and Led Zeppelin wouldn't have got a look in.

The list is basically disappointing. WAY too much cock-rock. It's hopefully a lesson to Triple J that their audience has shifted well and truly away from what was originally intended and that they may need to re-assess the music they're putting out there.

There has been talk over the last few years that Triple J in its current form is no longer relevant ... I would suggest that the results of this countdown might prove that to be true. If a commercial station were to do a Top 100 of All Time I think it would be almost identical.

Hot! Hot! Hot!

The Triple J Hottest 100 countdown has embedded itself into Australian culture - so much so that the cooking of meat outdoors on the 26th of January is no longer called an "Australia Day BBQ" but is more commonly referred to as a "Hottest 100 Party".

When the J's started the countdown back in 1989 it was the hottest 100 songs of all time. When this became a bit repetitive (God bless Joy Division) it was decided that the songs could only be chosen from the year before. Thus the countdown as we know it was born.

But here in 2009 we have a return to that holiest of holies - the hottest 100 of ALL TIME.

Here is the link to vote now. The big reveal will be next month - this is from the website:

"The countdown will start on Tuesday 7th July and we'll slowly reveal the list across the week and countdown the entire 100 across Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July with a big finale."

Voting closes on the 28th of June. Unfortunately, as in recent years, the top 100 will probably be full of teenage jerk-off bands like My Chemical Romance but I still have hope that at least a few of the truly brilliant songs will get in there.

For the record - my vote:
New Order - Ceremony (not my all-time fave New Order song which is "Here to Stay" but I figured Ceremony at least has a chance of top 20)
Joy Division - She's Lost Control
Pixies - Where Is My Mind?
Beastie Boys - Sabotage
The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning
Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
Paul Kelly - How To Make Gravy (The Aussie element - could have been The Go-Betweens "Streets of Your Town")
The Cure - Love Song
Bowie - Rebel Rebel
The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out