It’s only 15+ years ago as of this writing, but it feels even further away. Whatever happened to The Ting Tings, Alphabeat, Nikka Costa and Duffy, anyway? Does anyone in the UK remember top twenty hit “The Journey Continues”, known to me only because it has heavenly vocals from Saint Etienne’s Sarah Cracknell? Brazilian Girls have since put out a single album (ten years later!), Marit Bergman has long since returned to singing in her native Swedish and Portishead remains MIA to this day, suggesting Third might’ve been a fluke (although Beth Gibbon’s first-ever solo album is a prime candidate for my top ten of 2024.)

Regardless, 2008 had room for so much: an ‘80s pop star reinventing herself as an EDM diva (Cyndi Lauper), a ‘90s alt-rock star (Juliana Hatfield) collaborating with one from the ‘80s (The Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler), a Tony Award-winning musical from one of the decade’s best (and more obscure) rock singer/songwriters (Stew’s Passing Strange), a ‘90s Swedish teen-pop fixture coming into adulthood (Robyn), new wave icons getting the band back together for one last hurrah (The B-52’s), Sam Phillips rediscovering her jaunty, droll strut, Sia before she went mega-pop, the back-to-basics lead single from REM’s penultimate album, the first collaboration between two post-punk giants in 27 years (Byrne/Eno), plus some significant debuts: Vampire Weekend (drawing a decisive line between Gen-X and Millennial pop), Hercules & Love Affair, Lykke Li and Fleet Foxes.

If making room for weirdos such as garage rock stalwarts The Dirtbombs and the venerable, inimitable Marianne Faithfull (covering Dolly Parton!) doesn’t fully get me off the hook for going out on Coldplay (their greatest hit, how could I not include it?), so be it. The Goldfrapp song remains one of my all-time favorites, and even that’s eclipsed by Martha Wainwright’s caustic, uber-catchy gem—brother Rufus arguably never bested it.

2008: I’ve Been Calling Since 4:00 Last Night

1. Goldfrapp, “A&E”
2. Alphabeat, “Fascination”
3. Martha Wainwright, “You Cheated Me”
4. Sam Phillips, “Don’t Do Anything”
5. Mark Brown feat. Sarah Cracknell, “The Journey Continues”
6. Calexico, “Man Made Lake”
7. The Ting Tings, “Shut Up and Let Me Go”
8. The B-52’s, “Juliet of the Spirits”
9. Aimee Mann, “Thirty-One Today”
10. Marit Bergman, “Out On The Piers”
11. Fleet Foxes, “White Winter Hymnal”
12. Brazilian Girls, “Losing Myself”
13. Portishead, “The Rip”
14. Hercules & Love Affair, “Blind”
15. Robert Forster, “Don’t Touch Anything”
16. Stew, “Work The Wound”
17. She & Him, “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?”
18. Vampire Weekend, “M79”
19. David Byrne & Brian Eno, “Strange Overtones”
20. Cut Copy, “Hearts On Fire”
21. The Dirtbombs, “Wreck My Flow”
22. Juliana Hatfield with Richard Butler, “This Lonely Love”
23. Lykke Li, “Dance, Dance, Dance”
24. Duffy, “Rockferry”
25. Marianne Faithfull, “Down From Dover”
26. Cyndi Lauper, “Into the Nightlife”
27. Nikka Costa, “Can’t Please Everybody”
28. The Radio Dept., “Freddie and The Trojan Horse”
29. Stereolab, “Three Women”
30. TV On The Radio, “Family Tree”
31. Hot Chip, “Made In The Dark”
32. Robyn with Kleerup, “With Every Heartbeat”
33. REM, “Supernatural Superserious”
34. Sheryl Crow, “Out Of Our Heads”
35. Sia, “The Girl You Lost To Cocaine”
36. Steve Wynn, “Manhattan Fault Line”
37. Coldplay, “Viva La Vida”