2023 was a great year for music, and a particularly meaningful one for us here at 97.9 The Hill. We made some big changes to our programming and playlists, and fully embraced the motto and mindset of “playing music for folks who love music.”
What does that slogan mean? First and foremost, for us, it meant playing more music! We deepened our back catalogue and expanded our library in 2023, and increased the frequency of play for new songs in the rotation. We wanted to hear more of what we’d been finding instead of what we’ve already heard, and it felt like a lot of other folks agreed.
Chapel Hill and the immediate surrounding area is a unique and fascinating community, renowned for its university and history and so much more. But any list of reasons why this is a place people care about also includes the local music scene. Independent recording studios, legendary live music, there’s a thriving community of artists and people to pay attention to — to listen to — and so much great music of all kinds to love. As your hometown radio station, 97.9 The Hill WCHL has a responsibility to be the radio station a community like this deserves.
In 2023, that meant tapping into the massive collection of local music Aaron Keck has assembled over years of “Live & Local” programming — a library we at the station affectionately call “the Keckery.” It meant including some of the best of those local songs in our regular heavy rotation, and widening our lane to include new and interesting music from genres and places we hadn’t been pulling from before. It meant heavily encouraging feedback from listeners and lovers of music like us (text line 919-240-6000, don’t be a stranger! If you prefer phone calls, 919-933-4165!) But, more than anything, it meant playing music we love.
This year’s list collecting the top 97.9 Songs of 2023 is the culmination of our first year making these choices and bringing this intention into every day of our radio programming. There are 11 songs from local artists on the list, including three of the top five! Not to give too much away, but the top song of 2023 — 97.9 The Hill’s #1 favorite for the year — is absolutely a homegrown classic-in-the-making. Below, you’ll find a Spotify playlist with the entire run of songs, with the line-by-line countdown list printed just after.
Thanks for listening to Chapel Hill’s oldest continuous broadcaster in all the years past, in 2023 specifically, and here’s to a fantastic 2024!
97. Growing / Dying – Backseat Lovers
96. All I Really Wanna Do – Devon Gilfillian
95. Friday Night – Beth Orton
94. Love Me More – Mitski
93. Go Down River – Heavy Heavy
92. Change of Heart – Margo Price
91. Limited Edition – Cusp
90. Time Bandits – Angel Olsen
89. Bath County – Wednesday
88. Wolfsheep – Jamila Woods
87. Ready For You – Cherry Glazer
86. More Than a Love Song – Black Pumas
85. Let’s Make a Mistake Tonight – Tennis
84. Any Timers – Gaadge
83. Feel It All The Time – Soccer Mommy
82. For Your Soul – Josh Ritter
81. These Are the Days – Inhaler
80. Keeping the Light On – Joy Oladokun
79. Act Natural – Margaret Glaspy
78. Look Like This – Strawberry Runners
77. New American Hymnal – The Daydream District
76. Eye on the Bat – Palehound
75. Kill Bill – SZA
74. Glitter – Eliza McLamb
73. Sleeping Is Easier – Chessa Rich
72. The Modern Western World – Vansire
71. Monster – Girl Scout
70. Making It Through – Angie McMahon
69. Stay Out of It – Michigander
68. When We Were Close – Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
67. Calling Your Name – Jon Batiste
66. Safe To Run – Esther Rose
65. Evicted – Wilco
64. The Narcissist – Blur
63. Blood and Butter – Caroline Polachek
62. More Than It Hurts You – Front Bottoms
61. Lose – Hannah Jadagu
60. Younger and Dumber – Indigo de Souza
59. Expert in a Dying Field – The Beths
58. Doing Fine – Eliza McLamb
57. Forgiving Ties – Deer Tick
56. I Don’t Mind the Wait – Mellow Swells
55. Ghost of Rome – Tracksuit
54. Hollywood Baby – 100 gecs
53. Pierced Arrows – Hurray for the Riff Raff
52. Don’t Fade Out – Cut Worms
51. Endless Summer – Superchunk
50. I’m Not Worried – Teens In Trouble
49. Miles and Miles – Heavy Heavy
48. Olympus – Blondshell
47. Rollercoaster Ride – Dazy
46. Show Yourself Out – Spring Summer
45. Run to the Moon – Beach Fossils
44. Sometimes, I Swear – The Vaccines
43. Murder of Crows – Brother Kent
42. Almost Automatic – Good Looks
41. DOUBT – Jeff Rosenstock
40. The Jacket – Widowspeak
39. I Don’t Know What You See In Me – Belle and Sebastian
38. Pages – White Reaper
37. Vampire – Olivia Rodrigo
36. Devotion – Arlo Parks
35. Fancy Dance – Black Belt Eagle Scout
34. pawnshop – Kara Jackson
33. It’s Alive! – Ratboys
32. Tropic Morning News – The National
31. Days Move Slow – Bully
30. Broken Heart / Open Heart – Mipso
29. Fever – Aldous Harding
28. This Life – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
27. Get Him Back! – Olivia Rodrigo
26. The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift) – The National
25. Runaround – Mellow Swells
24. Pegasus (feat. Phoebe Bridgers) – Arlo Parks
23. Vampire Empire – Big Thief
22. where do we go now? – Gracie Abrams
21. Dissonance – AJJ
20. Pharmacist – Alvvays
19. Not Strong Enough – boygenius
18. Piece of Me – Trey Burt
17. Talking To Myself – Sarah Shook and the Disamers
16. Ballad of the Texas King – Cut Worms
15. Hangover Game – MJ Lenderman
14. Shotgun – Soccer Mommy
13. Vision Boards – Good Looks
12. Next To Normal – Lucius
11. Tell Me What You Want – Caroline Rose
10. Magenta Mountain – King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
9. Hospital – Madison Cunningham
8. Hard To Love – Bully
7. Good Looking – Suki Waterhouse
6. Changes – Joy Oladokun
5. Bad Love – Dehd
4. Deeper Love – Dante High
3. Fuzzy Peoples – JPHONO1
2. Blame Brett – The Beaches
1. Stop This Train – Jesse Fox and Love & Valor
* And just for fun, our point-nine song on the list of 97.9 song for 2023 was Touchdown Drake by Quinton Qualls, a fun tribute to UNC quarterback Drake Maye that we enjoyed playing before football games this year.
Click here to check out Aaron Keck’s Top 50 Live & Local songs of 2023!
Our number one song for 2023 came from local artist Jesse Fox, whose song “Stop This Train” charmed us all year long and was seemingly universal adored. He is due out with a new album early in 2024, and seems poised for even bigger things going forward.
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