Hottest 100 of All Time - Mark 3

Way back in 1988 when Triple J stole the hottest 100 idea from Brisbane's 4ZzZ, Joy Division's seminal post-punk masterpiece "Love Will Tear Us Apart" took the honours of allegedly being the best song of all time according to Triple J listeners.

JJJ repeated the exercise in 1998, where Nirvana’s ‘Smell’s Like Teen Spirit’ became the new sovereign of the Australian alternative music episteme. Funnily enough, Love Will Tear Us Apart dropped a whopping 15 places down to 16th. My, how times change in less than 9 years.


Well, Auntie is at it again, encouraging everyone to vote in the upcoming third ‘Hottest 100 of All Time’. Voting opens on June 1, and closes on July 5th. The list will be announced July 12th. Naturally, you will be able to vote at the Triple J website.

Inevitably, the latest evolution of the ‘hottest 100 of all time’ will be shaped by the aural perspectives of the epoch in which voters exist, and with that in mind, I fully expect a Kings of Leon or MGMT song will be featured prominently at the fountainhead.

Saying that, I suspect that number one will once again go to Nirvana. If you’re born within the last thirty years, you’re pretty much sure to acknowledge ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ as one of your favourites of all time. On the basis that it will likely be in the top ten of many people’s lists, I think it will be once again recognised as the number 1 song of all time, considering the demographic.

I haven’t thought of it much, but, off the top of my head, I would probably put at least some of the following songs down in my top 10.

Guided by Voices – Game of Pricks
Radiohead – Let Down
Roy Orbison – Cryin’
Phoenix – Too Young
The Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby
The Beatles – We Can Work it Out
The Clash – Lost in the Supermarket
The Replacements – I Will Dare
The Shins – Saint Simon
Mic Christopher – Heyday
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Belle & Sebastian – Ease Your Feet Into the Sea
The Magnetic Fields – I Don’t Want to Get Over You
The Lemonheads – Down About It
Wilco – Pot Kettle Black
You Am I – Berlin Chair

And I could keep going forever, but I’ll leave at that for the moment.