Iggy over Eminem, Drake!? 2014 still beats the ’80s

As we approach the year-ending date on the calendar, we have a tendency to be a little hard on the previous year that’s about to pass into history. And while it’s true that such harsh assessment is often justified — who can argue that, from a cultural standpoint, at least, the whole decade of the ’80s pretty much sucked? — I think our bitter look back over the previous 365 days is often tainted.

The bad things that happened to us during the year — the second or third traffic ticket, the business deal that went south, the hunk of a guy who turned out to have the IQ of a geranium — are too fresh to offer a fair assessment of the year.

Keeping that in mind, here’s as close to an unbiased look back at some of the entertainment and pop culture highs and lows of 2014 as an observer can get:

— If your favorite TV show wasn’t on basic or pay cable in 2014 — “Ray Donovan” (no sophomore jinx for Liev Shreiber, Jon Voight and the battling Donovan brothers), “Veep,” “Orange Is the New Black,” “The Affair” (“The Wire’s” McNulty as nerdy college professor? You bet), “Shameless,” The Foo Fighters’ “Sonic Highways” — or wasn’t a special broadcast — “The Beatles: A Night That Changed America,” “The (music-heavy, thank goodness) Grammy Awards,” “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony,” — it was probably pretty mediocre to derivative to just plain awful. (This is not an indictment of viewer taste, more a product of network TV’s slim pickings.) Notable exceptions: “The Middle” and “Modern Family” on ABC (two great, great family sitcoms); “The Black List,” “Parenthood,” “Community” on NBC.

— Best TV moment(s) of 2014: Every second of the CBS Beatles special (except Katy Perry singing “Yesterday” … ughhh) and Schreiber as Ray Donovan dancing to “Walk This Way” with his stunned son. (YouTube it, it’s great.)

— Best songs of 2014: “Pompeii” by Bastille; “All of Me” by John Legend; “Something From Nothing” by Foo Fighters; “Loneliness Is a Killer” by Bush; “Stay With Me” by Sam Smith; “Love Runs Out” by One Republic; “Lazaretto” by Jack White; “Sometimes” by Black Stone Cherry.

— The year’s Justin Timberlake memorial most welcome return of a former boy band member: Nick Jonas’ unbelievably soulful “Jealous.”

— The Carly Ray Jepson memorial one-and-done inescapable hit that will probably be her last: Meghan Trainor’s “All About the Bass.”

— The Dave Grohl is the unchallenged king of rock and roll project of the year: “Sonic Highways,” his multimedia album/documentary/HBO TV series that features amazing interviews and even more amazing music.

— Aware that my tired old ears were obviously too worn to appreciate the likes of Iggy Azalea, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and the like who are inescapable on pop radio, I asked my music-loving 12-year-old Hannah to give me an idea of a Top 10 from today’s generation. Her picks: 1. “Exclusive” by Alex Angelo (her good buddy and a rising pop star) 2. “Steal My Girl” by One Direction 3. “Black Widow” by Rita Ora and Iggy 4. “Blank Space” by Swift 5. “The Heart Wants What It Wants” by Selena Gomez 6. “Yellow Flicker Beat” by Lorde 7. “Move Like This” by Alex 8. “Show You” by Shawn Mendes 9. “Lie a Little Better” by Lucy Hale (girl loves her some “Pretty Little Liars”) 10. “Style” by T-Swift. Tweens of the world discuss.

— Absolute best personal rock and roll moment of the year: Discovering Thomas Wynn & the Believers’ amazing 2012 song “Put It Back” while preparing for an interview with Wynn. (Google it … It’s got Wynn’s astounding John Fogerty growl mixed with little sister Olivia Wynn’s vocal hotness. This may be my favorite YouTube moment ever next to that cat that does that thing … you know? That one?)

— There were so many excellent albums released just before the Christmas holidays, I’m still giving some a third, fourth or fifth listen. Here are a few of the best of the year: “Lazaretto” by Jack White, “Lullaby and … the Ceaseless Roar” by Robert Plant, “Magic Mountain” by Black Stone Cherry, “Montevallo” by Sam Hunt, “The Outsiders” by Eric Church, “Bronze” by Evan Barber & the Dead Gamblers, “Sonic Highways” by the Foo Fighters, “Hypnotic Eye” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Man on the Run” by Bush.

— It’s scary when the big movie news of the year is a film that wasn’t released. When the doofus Seth Rogan/James Franco comedy “The Interview” was pulled from theaters by Sony, drawing accusations of cowardice from the president of the United States even, because of threats from North Korea … and that’s the most excitement stirred up by a movie all year? Let’s just say it wasn’t a banner 365 days at the cinneplex. Some decent films did make it through, though, including “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Whiplash,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Equalizer,” “Birdman,” and the it could never live up to the hype but was still better than most “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”

— When it comes to books, yes, I’m predictable. I devoured the usual well-written releases by some modern American masters: “The Burning Room” by Michael Connelly, “Personal” by Lee Child (He’s a Brit, but he has tenure.), “Wayfaring Stranger” by the incomparable James Lee Burke, “Revival” and “Mr. Mercedes” by Stephen King, “Gray Mountain” by John Grisham, “The City” by Dean Koontz. But there was some left-of-center literary fun to be had, too: Matt Taibbi’s “The Divide: American Justice in the Age of the Wealth Gap,” “Girls” auteur Lena Dunham’s “Not That Kind of Girl,” the great Jo Nesbo’s “The Police,” Harlan Coben’s “Missing You,” Jeffery Deaver’s “The Skin Collector.”

— Local music fans had an opportunity to see one of the best-organized gatherings and a pretty impressive display of talent at the Big Pine Festival, which featured standout performances by Shovels & Rope, Chris Stapleton, Saint Francis, Drake White & the Big Fire. Unfortunately, for reasons only they know, too few fans attended the show, leaving its future in doubt.

— Live music fans who fought capital-city traffic Sept. 19-20 to get to this year’s Music Midtown festival in Atlanta got to see one of the best lineups in the history of the festival. With performances by Eminem, Jack White, the Zac Brown Band, John Mayer, Lorde, Gregg Allman, Bastille, the Strypes, B.o.B andRun DMC, Midtown sold out mammoth Piedmont Park, drawing crowds that were scary huge. The music was even huger.