My Own New Year's Eve Countdown

When I was a kid, one of the things I always loved about New Year's Eve were the annual radio countdowns. Some had the 100 best-selling songs of the year, others played the songs with the most listener requests - and the truly ambitious ones did a day-long 300-song extravaganza featuring the top songs ever recorded.

Of course this was all back in the days when people actually a) listened to commercial radio, and b) used those corded telephone thingies to call their favorite DJ and request their favorite song... which is why I'm not sure radio stations even do countdowns anymore. Yet there was still something nostalgic - anticipatory, almost magical - about the skilled program director who could time his or her countdown so that the No. 1 song would play just before midnight, giving their listening audience that final little bit of closure they need before taking a cup of kindness yet for days of auld lang syne.

So it is in that vein (and with the help of the "plays" counter on my iTunes) that I decided to produce my own New Year's Eve countdown of my family's most listened-to songs of 2011:

1. Empire State of Mind (Jay-Z f/ Alicia Keys)
2. Make It Shine (Victoria Justice)
3. Volcano (Jimmy Buffett)
4. On The Floor (Jennifer Lopez)
5. You Belong With Me (Taylor Swift)
6. Kissin' You (Miranda Cosgrove)
7. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (James Durbin)
8. When I Grow Up To Be a Man (Beach Boys)
9. Denise (Randy & The Rainbows)
10. Dancing Crazy (Miranda Cosgrove)
11. Picture to Burn (Taylor Swift)
12. Mean (Taylor Swift)
13. Shake It Up (Selena Gomez)
14. Baby (Justin Bieber)
15. Who Says (Selena Gomez)
16. Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)
17. Magic (Selena Gomez)
18. I Wonder Why (Dion & The Belmonts)
19. Back to December (Taylor Swift)
20. Basket Case (Green Day)
21. Let My Love Open The Door (Pete Townshend)
22. Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb (Edd Byrnes)
23. You're Not Sorry (Taylor Swift)
24. New York, New York (Frank Sinatra)
25. Girls In Their Summer Clothes (Bruce Springsteen)
26. Love Story (Taylor Swift)
27. Sunday in New York (Bobby Darin)
28. Fearless (Taylor Swift)
29. God Only Knows (Beach Boys)
30. Welcome Back (John Sebastian)
31. Runaround Sue (Dion)
32. Enter Sandman (Metallica)
33. Leave It All To Me (Miranda Cosgrove)
34. Lonely Teenager (Dion)

35. So What (Pink)

36. Big Time Rush (Big Time Rush)

37. Electric Blue (Icehouse)

38. Gitchee Gitchee Goo (Phineas and the Ferbtones)

39. Girlfriend (Avril Lavigne)

40. The King of Wishful Thinking (Go West)

41. That Thing You Do! (The Wonders)

42. Fish Heads (Barnes & Barnes)

43. Step By Step (The Crests)

44. The Imperial March (John Williams)

45. All the Right Moves (One Republic)

46. My Girl (Mindless Behavior)

47. We Will Rock You (Queen)

48. The Way I Loved You (Taylor Swift)

49. Boston (Augustana)

50. Remember Then (Earls)

51. One Less Lonely Girl (Justin Bieber)

52. I Wanna Go Back (Eddie Money)

53. Backyard Beach (Phineas and Ferb)

54. Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me) (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons)

55. Temptation Eyes (The Grass Roots)

56. Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel)

57. Get Ready For This (2 Unlimited)

58. Help Me, Rhonda (The Beach Boys)

59. Laid (James)

60. If You Wanna Be Happy (Jimmy Soul)

61. Glory of Love (Peter Cetera)

62. Waiting On a Friend  (The Rolling Stones)

63. Darlin' (The Beach Boys)

64. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues (Elton John)

65. I Will Follow Him (Little Peggy March)

66. The Great Pretender (The Platters)

67. You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)

68. Party In The USA (Miley Cyrus)

69. Learn To Fly (Foo Fighters)

70. Back On the Chain Gang (Pretenders)

71. Ever the Same (Rob Thomas)

72. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles)

73. Freak the Freak Out (Victoria Justice)

74. Sugar Sugar (Archies)

75. Song 2 (Blur)

76. My Back Pages (The Byrds)

77. Take Me Home Tonight (Eddie Money)

78. Walk Like A Man (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons)

79. This Old Heart of Mine (The Isley Brothers)

80. Stay (Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs)

81. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)

82. I Got a Man (Positive K)

83. Can't Nobody Hold Me Down (Puff Daddy)

84. Cotton Eye Joe (Rednex)

85. Bittersweet Symphony (The Verve)

86. Buddy Holly (Weezer)

87. Freedom (Wham!)

88. We Can Work It Out (The Beatles)

89. Heart and Soul (The Cleftones)

90. Sherry (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons)

91. Twist And Shout (The Isley Brothers)

92. Love You Like A Love Song (Selena Gomez)

93. Dedicated to the One I Love (The Shirelles)

94. Einstein On The Beach (Counting Crows)

95. Goodnight Elisabeth (Counting Crows)

96. Hats Off to Larry (Del Shannon)

97. Mission Bell (Donnie Brooks)

98. Big Man In Town (Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons)

99. Twist, Twist Señora  (Gary U.S. Bonds)

100. Bit By Bit (Theme from "Fletch") (Stephanie Mills)

I counted seven or eight from Taylor Swift, a bunch more from Selena Gomez, and a delicate smattering of Justin Bieber. Couple in Victoria Justice and the dark-haired chick from iCarly and you have living proof that the girls outnumber the boys in our house. But I do have to give props to my two boys: their unflinching love for the New York Yankees obviously propelled "Empire State of Mind" to No. 1!

Happy New Year!