When I was growing up there was only one “Top 10” and if you said “the top 10” everyone knew you meant the top 10 music hits. Nothing more, nothing less.

Cut to today where the number of top 10 lists seems outnumbered only by the number of people willing to produce a top 10 list of something.

If I said “the top 10” now you could be forgiven for asking “the top 10 what. . . songs? . . . films? . . . fish restaurants in Miami? . . . things to do on a Wednesday afternoon in Kuala Lumpur?” There are entire websites dedicated to nothing but top 10 lists.

Why? Because they're fun to compile, and can be informative. Which leaves only one thing to do: create another top 10 list of course. But what about? How about a top 10 of the top 10 lists currently out there? A list of lists. A meta-list if you will. Seems like a good idea. So here it is: The Top 10 list of Top 10 lists, according to google.com.

The lists are ranked in order they appear in a Google search for “top 10” (quotes included), ignoring any websites dedicated to such things, or with “top 10” (or any variant) as part of its domain name.

So straight in at number 10 is:

10 - Patrick Tyler's top 10 'eccentric' Middle East books

I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t expecting this at number ten. Actually I wasn’t expecting this at all. Patrick Tyler, the New York Times chief correspondent during the Gulf wars, lists books that look at the situation in the Middle East from a more “obtuse” angle (and plugs his new book “A world of Trouble: America in The Middle East” at the same time).

9 - Top 10 New Species – 2009

At number 9 it’s the natural world. This list from the International Institute of Species Exploration at Arizona State University gives an idea of how the natural world is still being discovered.

With entries such as “A Palm that Flowers Itself to Death” and a “Pea-sized Pony” (I’m not making this up), anyone interested in natural science will find this rather interesting.

 8 - FBI - Most Wanted - The FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives

No prizes for guessing who’s at number 1 on this list. Don’t read some of the descriptions if you’re prone to nightmares though. Some very nasty people who have done some very nasty things. The FBI are offering substantial rewards for information leading to the capture of these individuals. So if you’re not quite making ends meat, then catching an FBI “most wanted” is always an option.

 7 – Top 10 Great Social Sites for Movie Lovers

Josh Catone presents this informative list of the best film websites. Actually to call these film websites doesn’t do them justice. They are like social networks with all the features  you‘ve come to expect, but dedicated to film and film lovers. Of course IMDB is in there, but there are some others which you may not have heard of.

6 - Top 10 DIY Projects that Harness the Power of the Sun

This top 10 from LifeHacker is not entirely serious with items like “Start a fire with a Soda Can and Chocolate”, but there are some helpful entries like “Build a Greenhouse for $50” and the Sun Jar Solar Powered Outdoor Lights, which actually look pretty cool. 

5 – The Top 10 Free Time Wasting Sites on the Net

Warning! This top 10 may be a waste of time. Then again as the author Lee Seats says “if you are having fun, you are not wasting time”. My personally favourite on this top 10 list is the spirograph, and i found "the subsevient chicken" strangely annoying.

 4 – iTunes Store Top 10 Songs

Now this is what I’m talking about. The “oldskool” Top 10. Although this is for iTunes downloads rather than retail sales. Here’s a little test for you: count how many artists in the current top 10 you’ve heard of. If you score more than 4, then it’s official, you are ‘mainstream cool’, so congratulations or commiserations depending on your point of view.

3 – Top 10 Evil Geeks in Movies

I mis-read this as "top 10 evil GREEKS in movies" initially. That would be a difficult list to compile. Anyway, evil geeks in movies. What’s not to love? My personal favourite evil geek is not in this list . It’s Nedry from JurassicPark. His catchphrase “uh uh uh you didn’t say the magic word” would also be quite high on the list of most annoying catchphrases in the world. Anyway, a bit of fun for anyone who love films, science fiction or evil geeks.

 2 - 10 Reasons the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Was Awesome

At number two, a celebration of one of the biggest achievements of the 20^th century. Curtis Silver takes us through the reasons he thinks this event was such an awesome achievement. This list has tongue in cheek entries such as “Proved that the moon was not made of cheese” which actually contain some pertinent points. In this case the fact that this and subsequent moon landings have contributed to advancements in scientific knowledge still relevant today.

1 – "Top 10" Billboard Music Chart

Actually it’s part of Billboard’s Top 100 Music, but they start with the top 10 music.

Apparently Billboard have been involved in the music industry since 1894, starting in weekly billposting and advertising.

So there you have it. Who’d have thought google.com users are such a well cultured lot? I was expecting at least one “top 10 worlds sexiest women” list.

As you’d expect the results change depending on which local version of Google you are using. E.g. the number 1 top 10 list on google.au (Australia) is “World's top 10 scariest airports”.

Interesting to see that number 1 on the chart of top 10 lists is still the top 10 songs, nothing more, nothing less. So the top 10 is still “the top 10” after all.

By the way here's a list of the top 10 best and most fun things to do in Kuala Lumpur and here’s a list of seafood restaurants in Miami. As for which is the best. You tell me.