djisar's Top 10 House Hits of 2011

Here rounds off my list of the 2011 best electro and progressive house tracks. I spent a good amount of deliberation on this list; I hope you all enjoy!


Honorable Mention #2) Britney Spears - I Wanna Go (DJ Frank E & Alex Dreamz Remix)





Honorable Mention #1) Calvin Harris - Feel So Close (Nero Remix)

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#10) Kaskade ft. Mindy Gledhill - Eyes





#9) Kaskade - Turn It Down





#8) Alex Metric & Steve Angello - Open Your Eyes ft. Ian Brown





#7) Nero - Me & You (Dirtyphonics Remix)





#6) Kelly Osbourne - One word (Chris Cox Remix)





#5) Morgan Page, Sultan + Ned Shepard, and BT - In the Air feat. Angela McCluskey





#4) Calvin Harris - Bounce feat. Kelis





#3) Avicii - Levels





#2) Benny Benassi ft. Gary Go - Cinema (Skrillex Remix)





#1) Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Remix)

Isley Brothers - That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2 (1973)

"That Lady, Pt. 1 & 2" is a 1973 R&B and soul hit song for The Isley Brothers, released on their T-Neck imprint. The song, one of the group's most well known, was originally performed by the group nearly a decade before in 1964 (released as "Who's That Lady?") inspired by The Impressions. After signing with Epic Records in 1973, the eldest members of the group (O'Kelly Isley, Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley) had included younger members, guitarist Ernie Isley, bassist Marvin Isley and keyboardist/pianist Chris Jasper, as official members. In a response to this transformation, the group gave themselves the moniker of 3 + 3, describing the three original vocalists in the group and three recruited instrumentalists, inspiring the aptly-titled album that came out that year.

Andrews Sisters - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941)

This EPIC classic is #6 on the "Songs of the Century" list, put out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the National Endowment for the Arts

According to the lyrics of the song, a renowned Chicago, Illinois street musician is drafted into the U.S. Army during the Wartime Draft imposed by the Roosevelt Administration. In addition to being famous, the bugler was the "top man at his craft," but the Army had little use for his talents and he was reduced to blowing the wake up call (Reveille) in the morning. This caused the musician to become dejected: "It really brought him down, because he couldn't jam." The Cap (An Army Captain—the Company Commander) took note of the blues man's blues and went out and conscripted more musicians to assemble a band to keep the bugler company. Thereafter, the bugler found his stride, infusing the military marches with his inimitable street flair: "He blows it eight to the bar - in boogie rhythm." Even his morning calls attain some additional flavor: "And now the company jumps when he plays reveille." But, the bugler is not only empowered, he is possibly spoiled, because thereafter, "He can't blow a note if the bass and guitar/Isn't with him."

Minnie Riperton - Lovin' You (1975)

According to the liner notes from Riperton's compilation CD Petals, the melody for "Lovin' You" was created as a distraction for her daughter (Maya Rudolph) when she was a baby so that Minnie and her husband Richard could hang out. Maya was in the studio with her mother on the day the song was recorded and Riperton can be heard singing her daughter's name at the end of the song, but only in the unedited or album version of the song. The song fades out early in the single edit, because the disc jockeys felt that the repeated "MAYA" was being overdone and too misunderstood, thinking that it was a "Mayan Chant".

Chart (1975)	Peak Position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	3
U.K. Singles Chart	2

Martika - Toy Soldiers (1989)

Arguably one of the most iconic songs of the late 1980's, Toy Soldiers by Martika is a song that just seems to always get stuck in my head.

Martika claimed that the inspiration for the song came from a friend who was battling cocaine addiction at the time. According to an episode of VH-1's Pop-Up Video, in which the video was featured, the friend in question ultimately beat the addiction.

However this claim was retrospective, as neither Martika nor Columbia made any such claim at the time of the song's release in 1989, and the song's 'anti-drug' reputation was little more than a happy coincidence - in reality it was a standard teen-love song theme about being over-attached to an uninterested, abusive 'bad-boy' boyfriend.

At the time of the song's release, there was growing public concern about drug addiction in the young, and a number of campaigns throughout most of the world during the AIDS crisis warning of the dangers posed by discarded needles, emphasizing that even without the needle a used syringe was still dangerous to a child, who might wish to play with one as if it were an old fashioned peg doll or toy soldier.

Songs comparing heroin addiction to an abusive love affair have been a music staple for decades (e.g. The Stranglers 1979 single 'Don't Bring Harry'), and 'Toy Soldiers' motifs of emptiness replacing pain, addiction to something they know is not good for them, and a fear of the consequences if it is not ended (along with the children singing 'won't you come out and play with me?') resulted in the song's heavy rotation by radio and TV as anti-drugs due to the ambiguous nature of the lyrics.

The song spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and New Zealand while reaching number five in both the United Kingdom and Australia. When it spent its first week at number one, it had leapt over Madonna's "Express Yourself" and kept that song from reaching the top spot. On Billboard's year-end chart for 1989, "Toy Soldiers" placed number 29. It was Martika's only number-one single in the U.S., and her highest-ranking single in the United Kingdom. The single was certified Gold in the United States by the RIAA.

In March and April 2009, VH1 ran a countdown of the 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s. "Toy Soldiers" placed at #67 on the countdown despite the fact that Martika had three other Top 40 hits: "More Than You Know" (#18); "I Feel the Earth Move" (#25); and "Love ... Thy Will Be Done" (#10).