NPO Radio 2 announced the top 10 of the famous Top 2000 yesterday. Radio DJEmmely de Wilt (35), who will present the ‘list of lists’ in the evening,about the number 1, the surprises and her own voting behaviour.
Yes, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen again at 1. For the nineteenth time. Justly?
“The number is bigger than itself. It’s become kind of eclectic. Now belongsto the Top 2000. This record has it all. Goes from moving to hard, istheatrical and sensitive. So many people voted for it. Try knocking them offthe throne. Danny Vera succeeded in 2020, but we never expected that.”
What stands out about this top 10?
,,That Queen is in the top ten with two songs. That has never happened. Noidea why Love Of My Life is suddenly so high and why Radar Love is out of thetop 10. I’m there in the evening from eight to ten so I assume I can run itmyself now. That is also the case with Paradise by the Dashboard Light fromMeat Loaf Top 2000. I always have time in my broadcast. Coldplay is suddenlyhigh with Fix You. An explanation could be that Claudia de Breij covered thesong in Dutch at Best Singers.”
Speaking of Claudia de Breij. With Mag Ik Dan Bij Jou in 2016, she was thelast singer with a top ten listing, namely eighth. Where are they, the womenin the top ten?
“You have to ask the voters. ABBA are also singers, Fleetwood Mac same story.This list is compiled by the listeners. Many records that I vote for myselfdon’t even make the Top 2000. I also don’t necessarily think that these arethe 2000 best records of all time. It’s not that the song on 1999 is betterthan one from the top five.”
Quote >>> In June I had already put it in my notes in my phone. It had to go in>> Emily de Wilt
You could submit 5 to 35 numbers. How did you vote?
“There are different types of voters. People with a themed list, aboutfootball for example. People who make a new list, or – like me – hand in about32 numbers as standard and add and remove a few every year. What stood out inmy list: lots of horns in songs, like Sexx Laws by Beck, You Can’t Get WhatYou Want by Joe Jackson, Knock on Wood by Eddie Floyd. Apparently I think thatis very good in my subconscious.”
Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City. It has everything to do with memories. In2018 I drove through America with my now husband – we recently got married -for three months to discover Bruce Springsteen’s New Jersey and Atlantic City.We went to his birthplace, to East Street, where the name E Street Band comesfrom, and to Atlantic City. There I won five dollars that just bought us aCoke. And there they turned on that boardwalk Atlantic City. That has alwaysstayed with me. In June I had already put it in my notes in my phone. It hadto go in. An unparalleled number.”
Finally, why is the Top 2000 the list of lists?
“Forget the rest, this is the only one that matters. The musical highlight.This list brings people closer together. It’s really great that we can presentit. Music between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the Top 2000 soundsdifferent than when you turn it on on Spotify now. Something is happening withthat. That affects people. And it affects us that it affects the people.”