The Mecca 100 - #95-91

[littlebeast13]

<<< #100-96


#95. "Rill Rill" - Sleigh Bells (2010)

At the Mecca shareholders meeting in 2015, it was announced that by employee request (yeah, right), Mecca Radio would be returning to stores in place of the seasonal CD's that had been playing on loop across the country since late 2012. This adjustment period during the autumn months of '15 would be Mecca Radio's weird era, featuring a lot of repetition hiccups and some very interesting songs that had an adult edge to them, or were just plain uncensored (like Pink Floyd's "Money"). The weird era put a few songs in this countdown, and "Rill Rill" certainly fits that bill as one of them. When you clearly hear the lyrics "six-six-six" in the chorus of a song that played regularly for a few months, it gets your attention. And of course, the name of the band is perfect for retail radio that loves to sing about the holidays...




#94. "Redefined" - tyDi featuring Melanie Fontana (2014)

The 2015 Summer CD was one of my favorites, and I remember well that the fifth, sixth and seventh songs on that CD were all ones I really liked at the time and got to hear back to back to back near the start of every night. All three made this countdown. This one...... is not quite as good as I remembered it. But "Redfined," the title track from Australian deejay tyDi's fourth album, still eked into the Mecca 100. It was apparently a really big dance hit in the US in 2015, and many of those people may very well have been dancing in the Mecca aisles...




#93. "Footloose" - Blake Shelton (2011)

It's may seem heretical that I'd consider a country remake of an 80's classic to be better than the original, but "Footloose" is one of my least favorite Kenny Loggins 80's songs, and Blake Shelton kicked this song's ass. The cover exists because of the 2011 (probably unnecessary) remake of the classic 1984 Kevin Bacon film, which is now set in the backwoods of Georgia, thus the need for a country soundtrack. I think this was only on one of the Mecca CD's, but that was enough for it to resister as an earworm for me...




#92. "My Own Way" - Duran Duran (1982)

Speaking of heresy, how in the world did Mecca Radio school me on a Duran Duran song I'd never heard before? Well, because it wasn't a hit in the US, that's why. Actually, the version played at Mecca wasn't even the version that was a #14 UK hit. That version from 1981, which also has a music video, has a faster beat with a disco sound. The band actually hated it, and re-recorded it the following year with more of the new wave sound Duran Duran was famous for, and included it on their breakthrough album Rio. This blends in well with many of their other early 80's hits, so it's a shame it never made our Top 40 radio stations here and only got a brief moment in the sun playing at Mecca for a few months a couple years ago.




#91. "Tracy" - The Cuff Links (1969)

This is kind of an odd song to see in this countdown, but it was played somewhat regularly for a few months earlier this decade and caught my ear because I could tell it was a 60's song (and a #9 hit at that), and I have no recollection of having ever heard it before. The lead vocals are provided by Ron Dante, who would sing lead on a much, MUCH bigger bubblegum pop song that year, masquerading as Archie Andrews.