With the 2021 Hottest 100 set to take place on January 22nd, 2022, we here at Tone Deaf have decided to take a stroll down memory lane, recapping the countdowns of yesteryear in the lead-up to the latest edition of musical democracy. Today, we’re taking a look back at the Hottest 100 of 2009.
Taking place on January 26th, 2010, and attracting over 1,100,000 votes, the triple j Hottest of 2009 was the 17th annual countdown held by the station which limited votes to songs released in the last year.
Ask anyone who listened to this countdown back in the day, and they’ll undoubtedly tell you that this is one of the most memorable countdowns in recent memory. Why, you ask? Well, probably because the #1 spot was inadvertently leaked days in advance.
Yes, four days before the countdown was set to take place, the ABC Shop website was updated with a blurb to advertise the upcoming February issue of jmag. Unfortunately, it also advertised an interview with Mumford & Sons, fresh from having topped the Hottest 100 of 2009.
While triple j didn’t acknowledge the leak publicly, the item was taken offline, betting agencies stopped taking bets, and fans were left to wonder whether the leak was accurate, or a bit of a way to raise hype.
Of course, ask anyone that year, and they’ll tell you that the #1 was known weeks in advance already, so January 26th was more about seeing who placed from #100 to #2.
However, with Mumford & Sons in the country in January of 2010, triple j presenters got the band to perform a live acoustic version of their winning track, ‘Little Lion Man’, before playing the studio version. Since then, it’s become a tradition for the winning song to be played twice once it’s announced.
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Check out Mumford & Sons’ ‘Little Lion Man’:
Of course, the 2009 countdown wasn’t all about the #1 track, with a few other interesting events happening along the way, including the Hilltop Hoods hitting #3 for the second time with ‘Chase That Feeling’.
Having reached the same position in 2006 with ‘The Hard Road’, the band also hit #3 with ‘Cosby Sweater’ in 2014, making them the only band to reach the same position… three times.
This year also saw another act manage to hit the countdown without being played on the station, with the Foo Fighters’ ‘Wheels’ managing to scrape into the countdown at #100.
Interestingly, this year’s poll was also a little historic, with no band from the USA making the top ten for the first time ever. However, this feat would again be repeated in 2014.
Check out the Foo Fighters’ ‘Wheels’:
At the end of the day, triple j’s Hottest 100 for 2009 featured songs by 71 different artists from a total of 9 countries, including 36 from Australia, 27 from the USA, and 23 from England.
Florence And The Machine and Muse were the best performing acts of the countdown, scoring four tracks each, while Flight Of The Conchords, Kasabian, and The Temper Trap reached three tracks each. Meanwhile, Dan Williams also appeared thrice (twice with Art vs. Science and once with Philadelphia Grand Jury), as did Sia (who popped up in a Flight Of The Conchords song alongside her solo tracks).
A further 17 other artists also appeared twice, including Dave Grohl, who performed with both the Foo Fighters and Them Crooked Vultures.
Also, if you’re keen on some of the more obscure facts, the shortest track to appear in the countdown was Florence And The Machine’s ‘Kiss With A Fist’ at 2:04, while the longest was Muse’s ‘United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)’ at 5:48.
Check out the full list of songs in the triple j Hottest 100 for 2009 below. If you’re keen to learn more, head over to the Hottest 100 Database, and check out the Hottest 100 songs that didn’t make the Hottest 100.
triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2009
#1. ‘Little Lion Man’ – Mumford & Sons
#2. ‘Parlez Vous Francais?’ – Art vs. Science
#3. ‘Chase That Feeling’ – Hilltop Hoods
#4. ‘Lisztomania’ – Phoenix
#5. ‘Broken Leg’ – Bluejuice
#6. ‘Bulletproof’ – La Roux
#7. ‘Coin Laundry’ – Lisa Mitchell
#8. ‘Not Fair’ – Lily Allen
#9. ‘Uprising’ – Muse
#10. ‘Dog Days Are Over’ – Florence And The Machine
#11. ‘Heads Will Roll’ – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
#12. ‘Bonkers’ – Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden
#13. ‘1901’ – Phoenix
#14. ‘Sticks ‘n’ Stones’ – Jamie T
#15. ‘Home’ – Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
#16. ‘Heavy Cross’ – Gossip
#17. ‘Fire’ – Kasabian
#18. ‘Shooting Stars’ – Bag Raiders
#19. ‘Undisclosed Desires’ – Muse
#20. ‘Sleepyhead’ – Passion Pit
#21. ‘Fader’ – The Temper Trap
#22. ‘Cousins’ – Vampire Weekend
#23. ‘Warp 1.9 (feat. Steve Aoki)’ – The Bloody Beetroots
#24. ‘Carol Brown’ – Flight Of The Conchords
#25. ‘Zero’ – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
#26. ‘Help I’m Alive’ – Metric
#27. ‘(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To’ – Weezer
#28. ‘In For The Kill’ – La Roux
#29. ‘We Won’t Run’ – Sarah Blasko
#30. ‘All I Want’ – Sarah Blasko
#31. ‘Hurt Feelings’ – Flight Of The Conchords
#32. ‘The Waitress Song’ – Seth Sentry
#33. ‘Ramona Was A Waitress’ – Paul Dempsey
#34. ‘Pursuit Of Happiness (Nightmare) (feat. MGMT & Ratatat)’ – Kid Cudi
#35. ‘Brother’ – Little Birdy
#36. ‘Resistance’ – Muse
#37. ‘Still Standing’ – Hilltop Hoods
#38. ‘Little Secrets’ – Passion Pit
#39. ‘One Way Road’ – The John Butler Trio
#40. ‘And The Boys’ – Angus & Julia Stone
#41. ‘Audacity Of Huge (feat. Chris Keating)’ – Simian Mobile Disco
#42. ‘Vanilla’ – British India
#43. ‘Awesome (feat. The Cool Kids)’ – The Bloody Beetroots
#44. ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ – Florence And The Machine
#45. ‘Drumming Song’ – Florence And The Machine
#46. ‘Blood Bank’ – Bon Iver
#47. ‘Set Fire To The Hive’ – Karnivool
#48. ‘Science Of Fear’ – The Temper Trap
#49. ‘All Of The Dreamers’ – Powderfinger
#50. ‘Buttons (CSS Remix)’ – Sia
#51. ‘Where Did All The Love Go?’ – Kasabian
#52. ‘Horchata’ – Vampire Weekend
#53. ‘Animal’ – Miike Snow
#54. ‘Crying Lightning’ – Arctic Monkeys
#55. ‘No You Girls’ – Franz Ferdinand
#56. ‘Islands’ – The xx
#57. ‘The Good News’ – Philadelphia Grand Jury
#58. ‘Love Lost’ – The Temper Trap
#59. ‘I’m Not Alone’ – Calvin Harris
#60. ’22’ – Lily Allen
#61. ‘Two Weeks’ – Grizzly Bear
#62. ‘One More Chance’ – Bloc Party
#63. ‘All I Know’ – Karnivool
#64. ‘Blood’ – The Middle East
#65. ‘Foreign Land’ – Eskimo Joe
#66. ‘Pictures’ – Illy
#67. ‘Cement’ – Washington
#68. ‘Omen’ – The Prodigy
#69. ‘Meet Me On The Equinox’ – Death Cab For Cutie
#70. ‘My Girls’ – Animal Collective
#71. ‘Byrds Of Prey’ – Bertie Blackman
#72. ‘You’ve Changed’ – Sia
#73. ‘Heartbreaker (feat. John Legend)’ – MSTRKRFT
#74. ‘Friend In The Field’ – Art vs. Science
#75. ‘New Moon Rising’ – Wolfmother
#76. ’11th Dimension’ – Julian Casablancas
#77. ‘She’s A Genius’ – Jet
#78. ‘Remember Me’ – Tame Impala
#79. ‘Getting Wise’ – Yves Klein Blue
#80. ‘Holiday (feat. Chrome)’ – Dizzee Rascal
#81. ‘The Cave’ – Mumford & Sons
#82. ‘Sometimes’ – Miami Horror
#83. ‘Raindrops’ – Basement Jaxx
#84. ‘United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)’ – Muse
#85. ‘Underdog’ – Kasabian
#86. ‘Too Many Dicks (On The Dance Floor)’ – Flight Of The Conchords
#87. ‘The Darkest Side’ – The Middle East
#88. ‘Creeping Out Sara’ – NOFX
#89. ‘D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)’ – Jay-Z
#90. ‘Kiss With A Fist’ – Florence And The Machine
#91. ‘I’ve Got Friends’ – Manchester Orchestra
#92. ‘Skeleton Boy’ – Friendly Fires
#93. ‘Thump’ – Bertie Blackman
#94. ‘Blue Lips’ – Regina Spektor
#95. ‘Panic Switch’ – Silversun Pickups
#96. ‘Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff (feat. Rob Swire)’ – deadmau5
#97. ‘Laughing With’ – Regina Spektor
#98. ‘New Fang’ – Them Crooked Vultures
#99. ‘Hell’ – Tegan And Sara
#100. ‘Wheels’ – Foo Fighters
triple j’s Hottest 200 of 2009
#101. ‘(Ain’t) Telling The Truth’ – Bluejuice
#102. ‘Dominos’ – The Big Pink
#103. ‘Comeback’ – Grinspoon
#104. ‘Clean White Love’ – Lisa Mitchell
#105. ‘For Emma’ – Bon Iver
#106. ‘Ready For The Weekend’ – Calvin Harris
#107. ‘The Reeling’ – Passion Pit
#108. ‘That Look You Give That Guy’ – Eels
#109. ‘On Tour’ – Bliss N Eso
#110. ‘Out The Airlock’ – Paul Dempsey
#111. ‘Little Did I Know (feat. Ash Grunwald)’ – Funkoars
#112. ‘Cornerstone’ – Arctic Monkeys
#113. ‘Auditorium (feat. Slick Rick)’ – Mos Def
#114. ‘Gimme Sympathy’ – Metric
#115. ‘Scattered Diamonds’ – Hungry Kids Of Hungary
#116. ‘Romeo & Juliet’ – Lisa Mitchell
#117. ‘Kiss Of Life’ – Friendly Fires
#118. ‘The Light You Burned (feat. Trials)’ – Hilltop Hoods
#119. ‘Daniel’ – Bat For Lashes
#120. ‘Heart’ – Bertie Blackman
#121. ‘The Space On The Wall’ – Dead Letter Circus
#122. ‘Bruises’ – Chairlift
#123. ‘Without You (New Version)’ – Empire Of The Sun
#124. ‘Bird On A Wire’ – Sarah Blasko
#125. ‘Hollywood’ – Art vs. Science
#126. ‘Where Yah From’ – Drapht
#127. ‘Simple Boy’ – Karnivool
#128. ‘Fast Friends’ – Paul Dempsey
#129. ‘I Remember’ – deadmau5 & Kaskade
#130. ‘Shining Down (feat. Matthew Santos)’ – Lupe Fiasco
#131. ‘The Girl And The Robot’ – Röyksopp
#132. ‘Gold Guns Girls’ – Metric
#133. ‘Lasso’ – Phoenix
#134. ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ – The Drums
#135. ‘Battle For The Sun’ – Placebo
#136. ‘Goliath’ – Karnivool
#137. ‘aNYway’ – Duck Sauce
#138. ‘Run’ – Grinspoon
#139. ‘Sex From The Bong’ – Something With Numbers
#140. ‘Audience’ – Cold War Kids
#141. ‘Down River’ – The Temper Trap
#142. ‘For What It’s Worth’ – Placebo
#143. ‘Head, First, Down’ – Whitley
#144. ‘The Start Of War’ – Clare Bowditch & The New Slang
#145. ‘Fresh Blood’ – Eels
#146. ‘Heartbreak Scorsese’ – Snob Scrilla
#147. ‘Mind Eraser, No Chaser’ – Them Crooked Vultures
#148. ‘Young Cardinals’ – Alexisonfire
#149. ‘Under Pressure’ – Ben Harper & Relentless7
#150. ‘Lay It Down’ – Peter Bjorn And John
#151. ‘Crystalised’ – The xx
#152. ‘One Life Stand’ – Hot Chip
#153. ‘It’s Nice To Know You Work Alone’ – Silversun Pickups
#154. ‘Sigh No More’ – Mumford & Sons
#155. ‘Mexican Mavis’ – Boy & Bear
#156. ‘Chaka Demus’ – Jamie T
#157. ‘Dirtee Cash’ – Dizzee Rascal
#158. ‘Hairdo’ – Little Birdy
#159. ‘Summarize’ – Little Birdy
#160. ‘Tigerlily’ – La Roux
#161. ‘So Human’ – Lady Sovereign
#162. ‘Spaceship’ – Phrase
#163. ‘No Turning Back’ – Sarah Blasko
#164. ‘While You Wait For The Others’ – Grizzly Bear
#165. ‘White Feather’ – Wolfmother
#166. ‘The Price’ – Dappled Cities
#167. ‘Medicate’ – AFI
#168. ‘I’m Not Your Toy’ – La Roux
#169. ‘Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santigold & Lykke Li)’ – N.A.S.A.
#170. ‘Gold Canary’ – Cloud Control
#171. ‘How To Tame Lions’ – Washington
#172. ‘I’m Going To Kill You’ – Philadelphia Grand Jury
#173. ‘Unnatural Selection’ – Muse
#174. ‘Vlad The Impaler’ – Kasabian
#175. ‘A Community Service Announcement’ – Jonathan Boulet
#176. ‘Quicksand’ – La Roux
#177. ‘No One Loves Me & Neither Do I’ – Them Crooked Vultures
#178. ‘Sick Muse’ – Metric
#179. ‘Ordinary’ – Red Riders
#180. ‘Inshalla’ – Eskimo Joe
#181. ‘I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S’ouvre À Ta Voix) ‘ – Muse
#182. ‘There’s No Secrets This Year’ – Silversun Pickups
#183. ‘Moth’s Wings’ – Passion Pit
#184. ‘Black Cats’ – Bertie Blackman
#185. ‘Sundown Syndrome’ – Tame Impala
#186. ‘White Blank Page’ – Mumford & Sons
#187. ‘Change (feat. Wale)’ – Daniel Merriweather
#188. ‘All Is Love’ – Karen O And The Kids
#189. ‘Fifty In Five’ – Hilltop Hoods
#190. ‘Percussion Gun’ – White Rabbits
#191. ‘You’ve Got The Love’ – Florence And The Machine
#192. ‘So Jealous’ – Lisa Mitchell
#193. ‘MK Ultra’ – Muse
#194. ‘Sunny Afternoon’ – The Cat Empire
#195. ‘With This Ship’ – The Basics
#196. ‘Bounce (feat. N.O.R.E. & Isis)’ – MSTRKRFT
#197. ‘Oh! Hark!’ – Lisa Mitchell
#198. ‘Hillatoppa’ – Hilltop Hoods
#199. ‘Back To The Start’ – Lily Allen
#200. ‘Shruggin (feat. Jane Tyrrell)’ – Urthboy
Quick Facts:
Artists: 71
Most Successful Artists: Florence And The Machine, and Muse (4 tracks)
Number Of Countries: 9
Top Three Countries: Australia (26 tracks), USA (27 tracks), England (23 tracks)
Shortest Song: ‘Kiss With A Fist’ – Florence And The Machine (2:04)
Longest Song: ‘United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)’ – Muse (5:48)
