Hottest 100 2014 | triple j

The Wrap Up

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  Chet = hot shet!

  Talk may be cheap but Chet Faker's stocks are soaring sky high after banking three songs in the top 10 with 'Talk Is Cheap' at #1, 'Gold' at #7 and '1998' at #8. It's an epic feat that's only been achieved once before in Hottest 100 history when Powderfinger threw down a threesome in 2003 with 'On My Mind' at #4, 'Sunsets' at #7 and 'Love Your Way' at #10. Chet's 1-2-3 combo caps off a huge 2014 for the 26-year-old who's also enjoyed a J Award, three ARIA Awards and 1,786,903 references to his beard.

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  Hoods to the power of three

  With 'Cosby Sweater', the Adelaide crew have freakily peaked at third place for the third time in their career. The lads also bagged the bronze medal with 'The Hard Road' (in 2006) and 'Chase That Feeling' (in 2009). On closer inspection, three seems to be their magic number: three members, three syllables in their name, three words in their latest album title and three songs in this countdown (with 'Won't Let You Down' at #36, 'Walking Under Stars' at #57). Does this make them the holy trinity of Australian hip hop? Probably.

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  Gold! Gold! Gold for Australia!

  2014 was a crackin' year for our sunburnt country: we smashed it at the Commonwealth Games (okay, we came second), Outkast finally toured here and Warney joined Tinder. PLUS it was a FREAKIN' AWESOME year for Aussie artists with 59 home-grown hits scoring spots in Hottest 100, the highest number ever in countdown history. Previously, local produce had peaked at 52 tunes in 1999 and 2007. Take that other years... and other countries! IN YOUR FACE!

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  Animal acts facing extinction?

  It was a great year for Aussies, but a dire one for artists with animal-inspired names. Back in 2010, Tame Impala ran wild with Gorillaz, Birds of Tokyo and The Wombats in a year that starred 17 songs by animal acts. Fast forward four years and the animal kingdom has been culled to just five tunes by Caribou, Andy Bull, Glass Animals and Peking Duk (who scored twice). But maybe it's not all bad news - after all, 2014 does boast a ZHU.

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  All hail King Dave!

  With 22 entries to their name*, King Bernard and his Powderfinger pals have long ruled over the Hottest 100 as its highest achievers... until now. With the Foo Fighters' 'Something From Nothing' at #84, Dave Grohl and the Foo crew now equal the 'Finger's most-featured record. Given the Foos frontman has also appeared four times in annual Hottest 100s with Nirvana and once with Them Crooked Vultures (not to mention his Queens Of The Stone Age contributions), Dave truly is the undisputed king of the countdown.

  * Not including Hottest 100s Of All Time

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  The long and short of it

  Coming in at #53, Kendrick Lamar's party track 'i' becomes the first single-character song to ever make the cut in a countdown. Previously, two-letter tracks including The Gaslight Anthem's '45' and Pearl Jam's 'Go' lapped up the limelight but no more. At the other end of the spectrum, Ball Park Music's 'Everything Is Shit Except My Friendship With You' is this year's longest tune with 49 characters. A mouthful sure, but nothing on Panic! At The Disco's 2006 manifesto 'The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage' which boasted a whopping 67 characters.