THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

If the Mayans were correct, this may be the last countdown we ever hear.  And it will be a good one.  The Top 112 of 2012 begins December 1st - the start of KJRW's third year on Live365.com.

Countdowns are kind of a media year end tradition - a way to tie up the past year in a little bow and present it as a gift for the holidays.  Back in 1999, the program director of Seattle's One and Only Classic Rock Station decided it would be a good idea to countdown the 1,000 best Classic Rock songs of all time.  We all agreed this would be a great way to celebrate the new millennium.  We would reach number one on New Year's Day, provided we were still on the air after Y2K shut down all the computers.  For some reason, the Classic Rock Station still does the thousand song countdown every year between Christmas and New Year's.  The songs are all the same, and Stairway to Heaven is always number one.

KJRW's Top 112 of 2012 is not a rehash of the same old songs.  It is not even the same as the Top 111 of 2011.  For starters, it goes to 112, that's one higher.  (This is Spinal Tap reference)  Nirvana had the most songs on the list last year, but this year only have two.  We would be willing to bet at least half the songs on this year's list were not on last year's, and the ones that do make a return trip are not at the same rank.  The Top 112 is not your typical list of the top punk songs, either.  Surprisingly, there's no Dead Kennedys, Replacements, Minor Threat nor Misfits, and only one Sex Pistols song. 

Now that we have said what the Top 112 of 2012 is not, let us tell you what it is.  This compilation is made up of the songs that were in the Top Ten lists this year because they got the thumbs up from KJRW listeners.  We sat here and counted all of them.  Some of the results were very unexpected.  But what you can expect to hear is the Ramones, Clash, Pretenders, Soundgarden, White Stripes, Strokes and more.

The Top 112 of 2012 starts Saturday on KJRW.  http://www.live365.com/stations/member_10222739915?play=1 
The full list will be posted here soon.