Northern Beaches band Ocean Alley top and tail triple j’s Hottest 100
Sydney band Ocean Alley took out the #1 spot in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2018 with ‘Confidence’ – becoming the 15th Australian song to top the annual list.
Having already built up a live following through blistering shows and hard touring, ‘Confidence’ was released last February as a taster for their second album Chiaroscuro.
Nick Findlay, triple j’s music director Nick Findlay says of the song “Dripping with a level of sun-drenched soul that’s straight out of a ‘70s surf flick, ‘Confidence’ proved to be such an earworm that it transcended the usual garage-ska scene and straight into the hearts of the nation.
“It’s a song that led the votes from day one of polling and never stopped its huge trajectory to success. ‘
“‘Confidence’ is Ocean Alley at their finest and a well-deserved jam to take out the #1 spot in the 2018 Hottest 100, baby.”
https://www.facebook.com/triplej/videos/316306825671010/?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCQFPflHSx3YO3H4ABOBiW-rwhuKtT7sWplLEnHMbLCjaCQF4vYZEOd6JBez91PNbTA_-brlRrKvq11Z7-nDPxrQZUd_054B9GuTpBD-J1RvC1NFNKQoyCob_U82b0492Nqkk30ppZx9RrrzTQgl9fj0Y7mR0awZe0J5SYMF-bUM3mH8e56yQ-BqXDVbHXLPJCrMfQKz9xPBBJN3tNXca_FworsFX1maEjJppuO2JKMIli5ysRp2JB-4-XfWIDlGbuhZbSZSlRb7DSTbrYAg1ojfaTp9Q_t-MzEhF3yvG53LiA4qIEvEO0RVSXBAX6EQzQp_XD3KIY-MWAUg9NKWYF27ylHkw&__tn__=-R
Ocean Alley placed with four songs, followed by Billie Eilish, Hockey Dad, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Post Malone and DMA’S at 3 songs each
Ocean Alley bookend the countdown with #1 ‘Confidence’ and #100 ‘Bones’.
That’s the second time ever after Powderfinger did it in 1999 with #1 ‘These Days’ and #100 ‘Passenger’.
In other number crunching trivia from triple j:
65 songs are from Australian artists and 21 artists appear in the Hottest 100 for the very first time.
The second highest source of songs was the US (22), followed by the UK (8), New Zealand (2), Canada (2) and Scotland (1).
There were 41 fucks given in the Hottest 100.
26 songs by 21 artists made their debuts on the Hottest 100.
31 artists were first heard on triple j Unearthed and 6 songs were uploaded to triple j Unearthed in 2018.
A record 2, 758, 584 votes were cast.
67 songs are from male artists, 22 from female artists, 8 from acts including both male and female artists, and 3 from artists who identify as Non-Binary or Genderqueer.
There were 55 solo acts to 45 bands.
February was the ‘Hottest Month’ with 14 songs released in that month, including 3 from Ocean Alley.
2 artists in the countdown had back-to-back entries: RÜFÜS DU SOL (#22 ‘Underwater’, #23 ‘Treat You Better’) and Vance Joy (#53 ‘We’re Going Home’, #54 ‘Saturday Sun’).
Both Peking Duk and DMA’S celebrate their 5th consecutive appearance in a countdown, while Amy Shark, Cub Sport, Tash Sultana, Thundamentals, Vera Blue and Drake appear for a 3rd consecutive year.
Hilltop Hoods now have 19 songs in the Hottest 100, catching up with record holders Powderfinger and Foo Fighters (22 each).
The shortest song is ‘Up In The Clouds’ by Skegss (2:30min) and the longest song is ‘Underwater’ by RÜFÜS DU SOL (5:49min).
Music truly came from all over Australia, with regional Hottest 100 hometowns including Byron Bay, Forster, Forbes, Windang, Castlemaine, Blue Mountains, Arnhem Land, Delungra, Newcastle, Gympie and Menangle.
The triple j listeners helped raise over $630,000 for Lifeline. This allows their trained volunteers to reach an extra 16,000 calls.
You can still donate or snag one of their collectable Hottest 100 x Lifeline ice cream t-shirts.
