The 40th Annual Music Party

I have been hosting an annual music party since 1984 with the concept of a countdown chosen mostly by friends and family. Initially, it was a way to see what a list would look like where potentially any genre could be featured instead of the typical radio year-end countdown or Billboard’s Hot 100 based on top 40 radio. I had no idea back in 1984 that it would go on for 40 years and become a summer weekend reunion of sorts. I am certainly thrilled it has turned out that way. Back in the early 90’s it went from a winter party based on the calendar year to a summer party based on a June-May cycle (similar to the MTV video awards).

In the lead-up to this year’s party at the end of June, I have been making playlists for each chart position in the top 50 in chronological order. I am up to #21. It is an interesting way to listen to the history of music over the last 4 decades. Certainly personalized to a particular group of people but participants have come and gone through the years and most big hits of the year make the list each year. Last summer’s countdown was one of the most interesting since I did not include Beyond Radio chart info because I had stopped doing the weekly charts so a song like Kim Petras’ “Coconuts” was able to reach #4 and “Does He Love You” by Reba and Dolly #6. Here’s the top 10 from last year’s countdown.

1 BRUNO MARS, ANDERSON.PAAK & SILK SONIC Leave The Door Open
2 DUA LIPA Levitating
3 ED SHEERAN Bad Habits
4 KIM PETRAS Coconuts
5 ADELE Easy On Me
6 REBA MCENTIRE & DOLY PARTON Does He Love You
7 KEITH URBAN Wild Hearts
8 GALANTIS f/ DAVID GUETTA & LITTLE MIX Heartbreak Anthem
9 COIN Chapstick
10 DUA LIPA Love Again

Here is the countdown playlist for the 2022 party, the top 160.

In 2001 when I turned 40 I added a game where guests tried to put my top 25 of all-time in order and that became incorporated in the annual countdown ever since. Like golf, the lowest score wins and gets to wear a tinfoil crown.

You can find out more about the music party through the years by checking our Castlist 002 of the Beyond Radio Presents podcast. The 5 episodes chronicle the #1 songs, some fun moments, and of course tangents.

The individual playlists are available on my Spotify feed and I’ve created larger playlists for the songs from 41-50, 31-40, and 21-30.