Revisiting triple j’s Hottest 100s of years gone by: 2013

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 2013.

Taking place on January 26th, 2014, and attracting 1,516,765 votes, the triple j Hottest of 2013 was the 21st annual countdown held by the station which limited votes to songs released in the last year.

Following on from 2012’s countdown, which saw the poll somewhat predicted by the folks behind the Warmest 100 website, another effort was made to again spoil the outcome of the chart.

As it turned out, this year’s prediction was less accurate, with only four tracks matched to their correct positions. However, the most important prediction came true, with Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’ correctly taking out the top spot.

As it turned out, this placing was a long time coming, with Vance Joy becoming the first Unearthed artist to top the countdown, and the first artist to finally break the long-standing tradition of Unearthed acts placing at #2.

Likewise, Vance Joy’s track also became the first song to top the chart by an artist to have not released their debut album, with the winning track coming from his debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing.

Check out Vance Joy’s ‘Riptide’:

Further down the countdown, we saw a couple of milestones, including one of only a few times that both a song and its cover made the same chart. This year saw Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ hit #3, while San Cisco’s cover reached #39.

This had happened twice previously, with Something For Kate’s cover of Jebediah’s ‘Harpoon’ making the list in 1998, and Scissor Sisters’ cover of Franz Ferdinand’s ‘Take Me Out’ charting in 2004.

Likewise, The Amity Affliction managed to reach #40 with their cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’, one year after the original reached #34. Meanwhile, Something For Kate’s cover of Calvin Harris’ ‘Sweet Nothing’ reached #68, with the original charting the year previously.

Interestingly, Flume & Chet Faker also made the countdown, hitting #5 with ‘Drop The Game’. Within three years, both artists had managed to reach #1 in a countdown, making this the only song in a Hottest 100 countdown to be a collaboration between two Hottest 100 winners.

Check out Flume & Chet Faker’s ‘Drop The Game’:

At the end of the day, triple j’s Hottest 100 for 2013 featured songs by 69 different artists from a total of 9 countries, including 43 from Australia, 24 from the USA, and 19 from England.

Daft Punk and Ezra Koenig were the most successful acts of the countdown, featuring with four tracks each. Koenig’s appearances came from three songs with Vampire Weekend, and one collaboration with Major Lazer.

Ten artists appeared thrice (including an appearance with Busta Rhymes for Kanye West), and a further 15 artists made two appearances.

Also, if you’re keen on some of the more obscure facts, the shortest track to appear in the countdown was Mikhael Paskalev’s ‘I Spy’ at 2:39, while the longest was Arcade Fire’s ‘Reflektor’ at 7:34.

Check out the full list of songs in the triple j Hottest 100 for 2013 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 2013

#1. ‘Riptide’ – Vance Joy
#2. ‘Royals’ – Lorde
#3. ‘Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams)’ – Daft Punk
#4. ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ – Arctic Monkeys
#5. ‘Drop The Game’ – Flume & Chet Faker
#6. ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’ – Arctic Monkeys
#7. ‘Young And Beautiful’ – Lana Del Rey
#8. ‘Resolution’ – Matt Corby
#9. ‘Is This How You Feel?’ – The Preatures
#10. ‘Strong’ – London Grammar

#11. ‘The Wire’ – HAIM
#12. ‘Tennis Court’ – Lorde
#13. ‘Retrograde’ – James Blake
#14. ‘Covered In Chrome’ – Violent Soho
#15. ‘Team’ – Lorde
#16. ‘Reflektor’ – Arcade Fire
#17. ‘Lose Yourself To Dance (feat. Pharrell Williams)’ – Daft Punk
#18. ‘Arabella’ – Arctic Monkeys
#19. ‘Given The Chance’ – The Kite String Tangle
#20. ‘Black Skinhead’ – Kanye West

#21. ‘Take Me’ – RÜFÜS
#22. ‘Lanterns’ – Birds Of Tokyo
#23. ‘When A Fire Starts To Burn’ – Disclosure
#24. ‘Waiting All Night (feat. Ella Eyre)’ – Rudimental
#25. ‘Your Body Is A Weapon’ – The Wombats
#26. ‘Step’ – Vampire Weekend
#27. ‘Falling’ – HAIM
#28. ‘Recover’ – CHVRCHES
#29. ‘My Number’ – Foals
#30. ‘Alive’ – Empire Of The Sun

#31. ‘Diane Young’ – Vampire Weekend
#32. ‘Smiles Don’t Lie’ – Thundamentals
#33. ‘Ways To Go’ – Grouplove
#34. ‘Desert Night’ – RÜFÜS
#35. ‘Hey Now’ – London Grammar
#36. ‘Ratchet’ – Bloc Party
#37. ‘Gun’ – CHVRCHES
#38. ‘Pizza Guy’ – Touch Sensitive
#39. ‘Get Lucky’ – San Cisco
#40. ‘Born To Die’ – The Amity Affliction

#41. ‘Southern Sun’ – Boy & Bear
#42. ‘White Lies’ – Max Frost
#43. ‘3005’ – Childish Gambino
#44. ‘The Breach’ – Dustin Tebbutt
#45. ‘Global Concepts’ – Robert DeLong
#46. ‘If I Had A Tail’ – Queens Of The Stone Age
#47. ‘Free (feat. Emeli Sandé)’ – Rudimental
#48. ‘Stand Still (feat. Micky Green)’ – Flight Facilities
#49. ‘Doin’ It Right (feat. Panda Bear)’ – Daft Punk
#50. ‘Love Me Again’ – John Newman

#51. ‘Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat (feat. Beardyman)’ – Fatboy Slim & Riva Starr
#52. ‘Scar’ – Cloud Control
#53. ‘Ohio’ – Kingswood
#54. ‘Afterlife’ – Arcade Fire
#55. ‘Harlequin Dream’ – Boy & Bear
#56. ‘If I Could Change Your Mind’ – HAIM
#57. ‘Keep On Running’ – Andy Bull
#58. ‘Instant Crush (feat. Julian Casablancas)’ – Daft Punk
#59. ‘Bound 2’ – Kanye West
#60. ‘Lies’ – CHVRCHES

#61. ‘Wasting My Young Years’ – London Grammar
#62. ‘Embrace’ – Goldroom
#63. ‘You & Me (feat. Eliza Doolittle) (Flume Remix)’ – Disclosure
#64. ‘Graceless’ – The National
#65. ‘Melt (feat. Kilo Kish)’ – Chet Faker
#66. ‘Ausmusic Month Medley’ – Illy
#67. ‘Act Your Age’ – Bliss N Eso
#68. ‘Sweet Nothing’ – Something For Kate
#69. ‘White Noise (feat. AlunaGeorge)’ – Disclosure
#70. ‘Australia Street’ – Sticky Fingers

#71. ‘Changing Of The Seasons’ – Two Door Cinema Club
#72. ‘I Sat By The Ocean’ – Queens Of The Stone Age
#73. ‘Thank You (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Q-Tip)’ – Busta Rhymes
#74. ‘Jessica (feat. Ezra Koenig)’ – Major Lazer
#75. ‘I Spy’ – Mikhael Paskalev
#76. ‘Listen To Soul, Listen To Blues’ – SAFIA
#77. ‘Youngbloods (feat. Ahren Stringer)’ – Illy
#78. ‘Fantasy’ – MS MR
#79. ‘Fuckin’ Problems (feat. Drake, 2 Chainz & Kendrick Lamar)’ – A$AP Rocky
#80. ‘Always’ – Panama

#81. ‘Baby I Am Nobody Now’ – Andy Bull
#82. ‘Dojo Rising’ – Cloud Control
#83. ‘The End’ – The Jezabels
#84. ‘Summer Forgive Me’ – British India
#85. ‘Sangria’ – Remi
#86. ‘Sleepwalking’ – Bring Me The Horizon
#87. ‘Only One’ – The John Butler Trio
#88. ‘Leeward Side’ – Josh Pyke
#89. ‘Brighter Than Gold’ – The Cat Empire
#90. ‘Unbelievers’ – Vampire Weekend

#91. ‘Tonight’ – RÜFÜS
#92. ‘Shadow Moses’ – Bring Me The Horizon
#93. ‘Elevate’ – St. Lucia
#94. ‘House Of Dreams’ – Bliss N Eso
#95. ‘Play With Fire’ – Vance Joy
#96. ‘Luck Now’ – Big Scary
#97. ‘My God Is The Sun’ – Queens Of The Stone Age
#98. ‘Dead Star Shine’ – Horrorshow
#99. ‘Without You (feat. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs)’ – Dillon Francis
#100. ‘We Are’ – Karnivool

triple j’s Hottest 200 of 2013

#101. ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ – Jake Bugg
#102. ‘Youth’ – Daughter
#103. ‘Hard Out Here’ – Lily Allen
#104. ‘Hearts Like Ours’ – The Naked And Famous
#105. ‘Oh Sailor (feat. The Silverlake Conservatory Of Music Youth Chorale)’ – Mr Little Jeans
#106. ‘Let Go (feat. Kele & MNDR)’ – RAC
#107. ‘When I Was Young’ – Blink-182
#108. ‘Do Or Die (feat. Childish Gambino)’ – Flux Pavilion
#109. ‘Miracle Mile’ – Cold War Kids
#110. ‘Help Me Lose My Mind (feat. London Grammar)’ – Disclosure

#111. ‘Borderlines And Aliens’ – Grouplove
#112. ‘Promises’ – Cloud Control
#113. ‘Dip’ – Danny Brown
#114. ‘Blood On The Leaves’ – Kanye West
#115. ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ – Bring Me The Horizon
#116. ‘Right Back At It Again’ – A Day To Remember
#117. ‘On & On’ – Illy
#118. ‘One For The Road’ – Arctic Monkeys
#119. ‘Pursuit’ – Gesaffelstein
#120. ‘I Didn’t Believe (feat. Elizabeth Rose)’ – Flight Facilities

#121. ‘Stalking To A Stranger (Planets Collide Remix)’ – The Avalanches
#122. ‘Steal The Light’ – The Cat Empire
#123. ‘Reservoir Dogs (feat. 360, Pez, Seth Sentry & Drapht)’ – Bliss N Eso
#124. ‘Cirrus’ – Bonobo
#125. ‘So Good At Being In Trouble’ – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
#126. ‘The Woodpile’ – Frightened Rabbit
#127. ‘Better Days’ – Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
#128. ‘Attracting Flies’ – AlunaGeorge
#129. ‘Bassline Junkie’ – Dizzee Rascal
#130. ‘I Am What You Want Me To Be’ – The Jungle Giants

#131. ‘Bridges’ – Broods
#132. ‘Come A Little Closer’ – Cage The Elephant
#133. ‘Red Light Green Light’ – Dune Rats
#134. ‘Everything You Wanted’ – Clubfeet
#135. ‘Home Is Where The Heart Is’ – Bliss N Eso
#136. ‘Around Here’ – Thelma Plum
#137. ‘In The Aisle’ – Violent Soho
#138. ‘Supersoaker’ – Kings Of Leon
#139. ‘Three Headed Woman’ – Boy & Bear
#140. ‘Avant Gardener’ – Courtney Barnett

#141. ‘S.O.S.’ – Bluejuice
#142. ‘Holding On For Life’ – Broken Bells
#143. ‘400 Lux’ – Lorde
#144. ‘Smoke Trails’ – Jackie Onassis
#145. ‘F For You’ – Disclosure
#146. ‘Skin To Bone’ – The Jungle Giants
#147. ‘Kemosabe’ – Everything Everything
#148. ‘Brontosaurus (feat. Bad Cop)’ – Tkay Maidza
#149. ‘Easy Easy’ – King Krule
#150. ‘Every Lie’ – Meg Mac

#151. ‘Hands’ – Saskwatch
#152. ‘I Miss You’ – Ta-ku
#153. ‘Higher (feat. Jay-Z)’ – Just Blaze & Baauer
#154. ‘Plastic Souvenirs’ – British India
#155. ‘Running To The Sea (feat. Susanne Sundfør)’ – Röyksopp
#156. ‘Need U (100%) (feat. A*M*E)’ – Duke Dumont
#157. ‘Comfortable’ – The Aston Shuffle
#158. ‘Watch Out For This (Bumaye) (feat. Busy Signal, The Flexican & FS Green)’ – Major Lazer
#159. ‘Pony’ – Abbe May
#160. ‘Lodestar’ – Dead Letter Circus

#161. ‘Put Your Curse On Me’ – Stonefield
#162. ‘Giorgio By Moroder’ – Daft Punk
#163. ‘Byegone’ – Volcano Choir
#164. ‘Wolf’ – Pyramid
#165. ‘Thirst’ – City And Colour
#166. ‘Entertainment’ – Phoenix
#167. ‘My Life (feat. Ceekay Jones)’ – Bliss N Eso
#168. ‘Dream A Little Crazy’ – Architecture In Helsinki
#169. ‘Fall Underneath’ – Snakadaktal
#170. ‘I Need Answers’ – Asta

#171. ‘Quantum Flux’ – Northlane
#172. ‘Claude Monet’ – Allday
#173. ‘Where I Find You’ – Dustin Tebbutt
#174. ‘We Are The Same’ – Lurch & Chief
#175. ‘Psylla’ – Glass Animals
#176. ‘Rock U Tonite’ – Wave Racer
#177. ‘Eidolon’ – Karnivool
#178. ‘One Way Trigger’ – The Strokes
#179. ‘Cavalier’ – James Vincent McMorrow
#180. ‘Ducks Fly Together’ – The Smith Street Band

#181. ‘The Good Life’ – Elizabeth Rose
#182. ‘Snap Out Of It’ – Arctic Monkeys
#183. ‘Bird Machine (feat. Alesia)’ – DJ Snake
#184. ‘Sundream’ – RÜFÜS
#185. ‘Trying To Be Cool’ – Phoenix
#186. ‘Hung On Tight’ – Snakadaktal
#187. ‘Animals’ – Martin Garrix
#188. ‘Right Here (feat. Foxes)’ – Rudimental
#189. ‘Love Illumination’ – Franz Ferdinand
#190. ‘Demons’ – The National

#191. ‘Unforgiven’ – RÜFÜS
#192. ‘I Am’ – Dead Letter Circus
#193. ‘Tear It Down’ – The Aston Shuffle
#194. ‘No Waves’ – FIDLAR
#195. ‘I’ve Been Thinking’ – The Occupants
#196. ‘Let Her Go’ – Jagwar Ma
#197. ‘Under Your Skin’ – Dan Sultan
#198. ‘Love You Deserve’ – Stonefield
#199. ‘Buzzcut Season’ – Lorde
#200. ‘New Slaves’ – Kanye West

Quick Facts:

Artists: 69
Most Successful Artist: Daft Punk and Ezra Koenig (4 tracks)
Number Of Countries: 9
Top Three Countries: Australia (43 tracks), USA (24 tracks), England (19 tracks)
Shortest Song: ‘I Spy’ – Mikhael Paskalev (2:39)
Longest Song:  ‘Reflektor’ – Arcade Fire (7:34)

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine