The Best Songs of 2022, Obits & Greg’s Annual Mixtape
This week, hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot look at the music of 2022 from the rearview mirror. Jim and the producers share some of their favorite singles of the year, review some missed obituaries and Greg plays an excerpt from his legendary annual mixtape.
Jim and Greg honor four more musicians who died in 2022: Irene Cara, Hamish Kilgour of The Clean, Nik Turner of Hawkwind and Keith Levene of Public Image Ltd.
Best Songs of 2022
Production staff join Jim to share the songs that defined 2022 for them. Jim pulls all his picks from unique entries on the Billboard charts.
Jim's Top "Billboard" Songs:
Lil Nas X, “That’s What I Want”
Glass Animals, “Heat Waves”
GAYLE, "abcdefu"
Nicki Minaj, "Super Freaky Girl"
Bad Bunny, "Moscow Mule"
Producers’ Picks:
Sol: Ateez, "Guerrilla"
Andrew: Superchunk, "If You're Not Dark"
Alex: Taylor Swift, "Would've, Could've, Should've"
Greg’s Annual Mixtape
For decades host Greg Kot has made an annual mixtape to sum up his feelings on the year. For 2022 his mix is called “Strange Things Are Happening Every Day” in reference to Yola's song on the Elvis soundtrack.
Mixtape Set 1: Dummy, “Mono Retriever”/ Plosivs, "Hit the Breaks"/ Bodega, "Statuette on the Console" / Thee Oh Sees, "A Foul Form"
Mixtape Set 2: Anna Calvi, "Ain’t No Grave" / Brittany Davis, “I Choose to Live” / Say Sue Me, “To Dream” / Yola, “Strange Things Are Happening Every Day”
Featured Songs:
Bad Bunny, "Moscow Mule," Un Verano Sin Ti, RIMAS ENTERTAINMENT, 2022
Irene Cara, "Flashdance...What a Feeling," Flashdance: Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture, Casablanca, 1983
Irene Cara, "Fame," Fame: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture, RSO, 1980
The Clean, "Anything Could Happen," Compilation, Flying Nun, 1986
Hawkwind, "Master of the Universe," In Search of Space, United Artists, 1971
Public Image Ltd, "Public Image," Public Image: First Issue, Virgin, 1978
Robyn Hitchcock, "The Man Who Loves the Rain," Shufflemania!, Tiny Ghost, 2022
Ateez, "Guerilla," The World EP.1 : Movement, KQ Entertainment, 2022
Lil Nas X, "That's What I Want," Montero, Columbia, 2021
Glass Animals, "Heat Waves," Dreamland, Wolf Tone, 2020
Superchunk, "If You're Not Dark," Wild Loneliness, Merge, 2022
Nicki Minaj, "Super Freaky Girl," Super Freaky Girl (Single), Young Money, 2022
Taylor Swift, "Would've, Could've, Should've," Midnights (3am Edition), Republic, 2022
Dummy, "Mono Retriever," Mono Retriever (Single), Sub Pop, 2022
PLOSIVS, "Hit the Breaks," Hit the Breaks (Single), Swami, 2021
Bodega, "Statuette on the Console," Broken Equipment, What's Your Rupture?, 2022
Thee Oh Sees, "A Foul Form," A Foul Form, Castle Face, 2022
Anna Calvi, "Ain't No Grave," Tommy - EP, Domino, 2022
Brittany Davis, "I Choose to Live," I Choose to Live - EP, Loosegrove, 2022
Say Sue Me, "To Dream," The Last Thing Left, Damnably & Beach Town Music, 2022
Yola, "Strange Things Are Happening Every Day," ELVIS (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), RCA, 2022
Stillwater, "Fever Dog," Almost Famous, DreamWorks, 2000
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