The Mecca 100 - #85-81

[littlebeast13]

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#85. "W.I.T.C.H." - Devon Cole (2022)

There's a certain part of me that died when I looked Cole up and saw that she was born on April Fools Day 2000, meaning that she is younger than this very community. Social media has made stars out of many people who would have never gotten the big break in the pre-internet days, and for Devon Cole it was the breakthrough platform of the 20's, TikTok, that helped cement her fame. Like "Flying Easy" a few entries ago, this song was never an actual Mecca earworm, but got played a few times on one of the radio shows that got repeated, and its catchy chorus caught my ear. It did nto occur to me until the first time I looked this song up that the oft-repeated refrain, "a Woman In Total Control of Herself," made WITCH an acronym...





#84. "Level of Concern" - Twenty One Pilots (2020)

"Level of Concern" is your formulaic love song built around cliches and references to a certain theme, a la "Love Machine," "Freeze Frame," "Bad Medicine," etc. Only this one, written in the dark days of early Spring 2020, happens to use the Coronavirus pandemic as its inspiration. Released on April 9th of that year, it had already made the Mecca Radio rotation by the end of the month, and even cracked #23 on the Hot 100. Never being one to buy in on all the pandemic hysteria, I loathed this song for the longest time. But as things slowly returned to normal, and this song remained an occasional Mecca earworm, it managed to win me back for what it actually is... yet another clever an catchy (if slightly bubblegum) tune from a band who's recorded a lot of songs like that over the past decade.





#83. "Flaws" - Bastille (2011)

Bastille made a short-lived, but big impression in 2013 with the release of their debut studio album Bad Blood, largely thanks to the success of the single "Pompeii." A lot of other tracks from the Bad Blood album made the Mecca CD's at the time and/or regular Mecca Radio later on... and "Flaws" is one that caught my ear for the cute little beeping and booping sounds interlaced throughout the song. "Flaws" was a minor hit in the UK, but was never released as a single in the US.





#82. "Digital Love" - Daft Punk (2001)

The eclectic French duo Daft Punk had been around long before their 2013 album Random Access Memories and its smash single "Get Lucky" made them bonafide stars. "Digital Love" was featured on one of the Mecca CD's around the same time "Get Lucky" was still playing on radios across the country, and is pretty tame, accessible electronica that you can enjoy outside of the crowded nightclub.





#81. "My Old Piano" - Diana Ross (1980)

Three singles were released from Diana Ross's self-titled 1980 album in the United States. "Upside Down" and "I'm Coming Out" became two of the biggest hits of Ross' solo career, and are still radio staples to this day. That third single, "My Old Piano," bombed in the US, falling just outside the Billboard 100. However, it became a #5 hit in the UK, and is the third consecutive song on this countdown to have appeared on the British charts while never being released or falling flat in the States... yet still managing to greet Mecca shoppers across the US. Too bad, because I honestly like this song better than the two Diana Ross hits...




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