We Made You A Gigantic List Of Hottest 100 Trivia So You Can Impress Your Mates
Sure, you might be able to name the longest song title, but do you know the highest entry from a fictional band?
The votes are in, and the tally room is currently putting together the 2019 edition of the triple j Hottest 100.
It’s a close race, maybe the closest it’s been in a long time, and all eyes are on the top position when it rolls around late this Saturday afternoon.
Of course, before we get to that, there are 99 other songs and a whole day of chatting music and the countdown with your mates. To get you over the line, we’ve compiled a list of records and trivia involving the 25-year-plus history of the annual countdown. Even if it’s your first Hottest 100, let the people know you know what you’re talking about.
Triple J Hottest 100 Records & Trivia
Shortest #1
Spiderbait’s ‘Buy Me a Pony,’ which won back in 1996. A blistering one minute and 42 seconds.
Longest #1
Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia’ from 2007. A sprawling 6:06.
Shortest Hottest 100 Entry
Frenzal Rhomb’s ode to TOFOG, ‘Russell Crowe’s Band,’ which charted at number 26 in 2003 and screeches to a halt at 1:13.
Longest Hottest 100 Entry
This is actually a point of contention! There are two contenders: Green Day’s ‘Jesus of Suburbia,’ which came in at number 61 back in 2005, and Kanye West’s epic ‘Runaway’ at number 14 in the 2010 countdown. Both songs, according to their official Wikipedia runtimes, go for exactly nine minutes and eight seconds — meaning we’re gonna have to go down to milliseconds in order to figure out which is longer.
Upon closer inspection, ‘Runaway’ officially clocks in at 9:07:840, while ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ is 9:08:441. Six-hundred-and-one milliseconds separate the two. If Tre Cool’s cymbal crash was even a moment shorter, ‘Runaway’ would win. But, as it stands, Green Day still hold the record. If it was a live version of ‘Runaway,’ this would be a different battle entirely.
Oldest Hottest 100 Entrant
John Lee Hooker, the late blues legend who also holds the title of being the first-ever song to feature in the annual Hottest 100 — that is, when it changed from being an all-time countdown to songs from that year alone. In 1993, 75-year-old Hooker teamed up with Van Morrison to re-record Morrison’s classic ‘Gloria’ (G-L-O-R-I-A!) and the duo came in at number 100 in 1993 for their troubles.
As far as individual entrants go, the oldest was William Shatner. Captain Kirk was 73 years old when he recorded a cover of Pulp’s ‘Common People’ that got him number 21 in the 2004 Hottest 100 — which is higher than where the original placed back in 1995, coming in at #38.
Youngest Hottest 100 Entrant
Lendal King, a member of the Wilcannia Mob. The Indigenous hip-hop crew from north-western NSW were all but kids when their debut single ‘Down River’ took over the triple j airwaves back in 2002 – when King was all but eight years old. The song ultimately went to number 51 in the 2002 countdown, and was later sampled by M.I.A. on her 2007 track ‘Mango Pickle Down River.’
Only Two-Time Number-One Artist
Powderfinger, who went back to back in 1999 and 2000 with ‘These Days’ and ‘My Happiness,’ respectively. Frontman Bernard Fanning also has a solo win under his belt with 2005’s ‘Wish You Well.’
Only Two-Time Number-Two Artist
Ben Lee, who was a silver medallist in both 1998 and 2005 with his best-known songs ‘Cigarettes Will Kill You’ and ‘Catch My Disease.’ Bonus trivia: Although Ben didn’t get in the 2000 Hottest 100, a song called ‘Ben Lee’ by Sydney band Klinger did.
The Hottest 100’s Most Number-Two Song
Blur’s ‘Song 2’ from 1997, which is track two on their self-titled album, goes for 2:02 and came in at number two. Woo-hoo indeed.
Only Artist To Come Both #1 and #2
Kendrick Lamar. K-Dot was the runner-up in 2015 care of his mammoth funk ‘King Kunta,’ only to return in 2017 with the anthemic ‘HUMBLE.’ and rightfully lay claim to the throne.
Most Entries From An Individual In One Countdown
Dave Grohl. 2002 was a busy year for The Dave: He drummed on the Queens of the Stone Age album Songs for the Deaf, he put out a new Foo Fighters record One by One, and his old band Nirvana released a self-titled greatest-hits album with a previously-unreleased single ‘You Know You’re Right.’
Between these three releases, Grohl scored a whopping 10 spots in the Hottest 100 — including the number-one spot with ‘No-One Knows.’
Least Amount Of Entries From An Individual In One Countdown
Taylor Swift. Given her song ‘Shake It Off’ was disqualified in 2014, and it would have gotten in otherwise, we’re officially counting a minus-one.
Most Entries From A Band In One Countdown
Wolfmother. With their jaw-dropping six entries in 2005, the band dominated the list — in fact, if all of the votes for them went to just one song, it would have gone to number one in a landslide.
Only Violent Soho have managed to come close to this record — all six of the singles from 2016’s WACO got in the Hottest 100, but because ‘Like Soda’ charted in the 2015 countdown and the rest were in the 2016 one, it sadly doesn’t count.
Hottest 100 Band Entrant With The Most Amount Of Members
The Polyphonic Spree, who scored a number 72 nod in 2004 with their joyous ‘Hold Me Now.’ Although never a determinate number, it’s believed there were somewhere between 25 and 33 people in The Polyphonic Spree at any given time.
Closest Race Between Number One And Number Two
2007, where a whopping 13 votes separated Silverchair’s ‘Straight Lines’ from the ultimate victor, Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia.’ If only 13 less people played Guitar Hero that year.
Most Unfair Race Between Number One And Number Two
Franz Ferdinand’s complete and utter decimation of the competition in 2004 meant that ‘Take Me Out’ received more than double the amount of votes of any other song — including number two, which was poor old Missy Higgins and her breakthrough hit ‘Scar.’
Highest Hottest 100 Entry From A Fictional Band
Salmon Hater, who placed 26th in the 2002 countdown with ‘6.66 (1/100th of the Number of the Beast).’
A band name made up by then-breakfast host Wil Anderson, with a song title invented by co-host and maths nerd Adam Spencer, a studio version of their long-running joke was anonymously sent in and eventually became a minor hit on the station in its own right.
Highest Posthumous Hottest 100 Entry
Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s ‘Dance the Way I Feel.’ The electro-pop hit scored third place in 2010, months after the tragic passing of frontman Charlie Haddon.
Number Of Hottest 100 Entries With The Word ‘Fuck’ In The Title
13, including three alone from 2005: ‘America Fuck Yeah,’ ‘Fuck Forever’ and ‘Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole.’
Number Of Hottest 100 Entries With The Word ‘Shit’ In The Title
Five, including one ‘Bullshit.’
Number Of Hottest 100 Entries With The Word ‘Wonderwall’ In The Title
One.
Only Hottest 100 Entry To Include Blastbeats
System of a Down’s ‘BYOB,’ which went to number 27 in 2005. Brutal.
Longest Song Title
Panic! At The Disco — who else? — with ‘The Only Difference Between Matryrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage’, which came in at number 91 in 2006.
Shortest Song Title
Jointly held by Kendrick Lamar’s ‘i,’ which arrived at number 53 in 2014, and Catfish and the Bottlemen’s ‘7’, at #19 in 2016.
Longest Gap Between Hottest 100 Entries
This title is currently co-held by both Paul Kelly and The Avalanches.
The top 10 of the Hottest 100 of 2000 featured both artists — with ‘Every Fucking City’ and ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ respectively — but neither would be seen on the countdown for another 16 years. Kelly returned care of A.B. Original and Dan Sultan, assisting with a rendition of his own hit ‘Dumb Things’ for Like a Version that placed at #45. The Avalanches, meanwhile, made their triumphant return in 2016 with ‘Frankie Sinatra,’ which hit number 28.
Interestingly, Slipknot are currently placing well on the 100 Warm Tunas playlist with their single ‘Unsainted.’ If that song gets in, they will officially break the record — it’s been 19 years since they were in the list, coming in at number 75 in 2000 (again with the 2000 countdown!) with ‘Wait and Bleed.’
Only Countdown Where The Number-One Song Has Appeared Twice
2004. Not only did Franz Ferdinand absolutely dominate the countdown with ‘Take Me Out,’ but a jazzy acoustic version care of Scissor Sisters also did the rounds and scored number 44.
Number Of Hottest 100 Entries That Reference God, Jesus Or The Lord In The Title
11.
Number Of Hottest 100 Entries That Reference The Devil Or Satan In The Title
Five. Take that, evil spirits.
Most Popular Hottest 100 Entry About Cows With Guns
‘Hoops.’ Just kidding, it’s ‘Cows with Guns.’
David James Young is a writer, podcaster, and Hottest 100 nerd. He’s so much the latter two, in fact, that he hosts a podcast called Hottest 100s and 100s, which returns with its eighth season on Thursday.
Find out more at www.davidjamesyoung.com.