What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 14
New (39) Panic at the Disco - The Greatest Show
New (38) Plug ft Nafe Smallz & M Huncho - Broken Homes
New (37) Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba
New (33) George Ezra - Hold My Girl
New (25) Little Mix ft Sharaya J - Strip
New (16) James Arthur ft Anne Marie - Rewrite the Stars
⬆ (11) Pink - A Million Dreams
⬆ (4) Jess Glynne - Thursday
(1) Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
Missing Out
⬆ (29) Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over
⬆ (32) Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi - Baby
⬆ (30) Cadet ft Deno Driz - Advice
⬆ (21) Ellie Goulding ft Diplo & Swae Lee - Close To Me
⬆ (12) Jonas Blue ft Liam Payne & Lennon Stella - Polaroid
Thursday 29 November 2018
Tuesday 27 November 2018
More Hits Than You Think: Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers
Of every act that has ever had a UK Top 40 hit, just under half of them have never had another Top 40 hit. Around two thirds of them have never had more than 2 Top 40 hits. Despite this there are still a number of acts who have had more than 2 hits whilst only being remembered for 1 or maybe 2 songs. Therefore I thought I'd start a series of posts looking at acts who've had more hits than most people would think.
The subject of this first post is Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers. For the casual listener it's probably quite difficult to say how many hits they're remembered for but few would guess they had 8. Essentially it was a cartoon rabbit who would do medleys of old songs and was big in the second half of 1989.
Those who know their chart stats will know that they were the fourth act in chart history to reach number one with their first three Top 40 hits. The first was "Swing the Mood" which is most likely their best known. Then came "That's What I Like" which I'd say is quite well known, but because of the medley nature of their tunes some may think it's part of "Swing the Mood". Their final number one was a Christmas medley called "Let's Party" which was there for one week at the end of 1989 before getting knocked off by Band Aid II. Given you never hear it at Christmas time I'd say not too many people remember it.
Surprisingly though the hits kept coming until 1991. The next of these was That Sounds Good to Me which made number 4. It begins and ends with "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" by the Blues Brothers which itself hit the Top 40 the following month in the same week this left the Top 40.
The came their final Top 10 hit Can Can You Party which made number 8. It begins and ends with the "Can-Can" and features "Greased Lightning" which itself was part of another medley, "Grease Megamix" later on in the year.
Next up was Let's Swing Again which made number 19 in November 1990. It had only been out the Top 40 for a couple of weeks when the next hit The Crazy Party Mixes hit the Top 40. This made number 13 but judging by the 554 views on YouTube it's doesn't look like too many people remember, or want to remember it. This has to be the weirdest one of their hits.
Their final hit was Over to You John (Here We Go Again) which climbed to number 28 in its 3rd week in April 1991 before dropping out the Top 40 two weeks later. This was apparently a charity single to raise money for St Johns Ambulance.
As I've already mentioned, the nature of their tunes makes it difficult to know what I remember and what I don't. I certainly don't remember them still being around in 1991 though.
The subject of this first post is Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers. For the casual listener it's probably quite difficult to say how many hits they're remembered for but few would guess they had 8. Essentially it was a cartoon rabbit who would do medleys of old songs and was big in the second half of 1989.
Those who know their chart stats will know that they were the fourth act in chart history to reach number one with their first three Top 40 hits. The first was "Swing the Mood" which is most likely their best known. Then came "That's What I Like" which I'd say is quite well known, but because of the medley nature of their tunes some may think it's part of "Swing the Mood". Their final number one was a Christmas medley called "Let's Party" which was there for one week at the end of 1989 before getting knocked off by Band Aid II. Given you never hear it at Christmas time I'd say not too many people remember it.
Surprisingly though the hits kept coming until 1991. The next of these was That Sounds Good to Me which made number 4. It begins and ends with "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" by the Blues Brothers which itself hit the Top 40 the following month in the same week this left the Top 40.
The came their final Top 10 hit Can Can You Party which made number 8. It begins and ends with the "Can-Can" and features "Greased Lightning" which itself was part of another medley, "Grease Megamix" later on in the year.
Next up was Let's Swing Again which made number 19 in November 1990. It had only been out the Top 40 for a couple of weeks when the next hit The Crazy Party Mixes hit the Top 40. This made number 13 but judging by the 554 views on YouTube it's doesn't look like too many people remember, or want to remember it. This has to be the weirdest one of their hits.
Their final hit was Over to You John (Here We Go Again) which climbed to number 28 in its 3rd week in April 1991 before dropping out the Top 40 two weeks later. This was apparently a charity single to raise money for St Johns Ambulance.
As I've already mentioned, the nature of their tunes makes it difficult to know what I remember and what I don't. I certainly don't remember them still being around in 1991 though.
Thursday 22 November 2018
Top of the Pops: 22/11/2018
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 13
New (32) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
New (25) Fredo - BMT
New (23) XXXtentacion - Bad
New (19) Cheryl - Love Made Me Do It
New (17) Charli XCX ft Troye Sivan - 1999
⬆ (11) Sigala ft Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor & French Montana - Just Got Paid
⬆ (6) Halsey - Without Me
⬆ (4) Rita Ora - Let You Love Me
(1) Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
Missing Out
⬆ (29) Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over
⬆ (16) Khalid - Better
⬆ (15) Dj Snake ft Selena Gomez, Cardi B & Ozuna - Taki Taki
⬆ (12) MK ft Jonas Blue & Becky Hill - Back & Forth
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 13
New (32) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
New (25) Fredo - BMT
New (23) XXXtentacion - Bad
New (19) Cheryl - Love Made Me Do It
New (17) Charli XCX ft Troye Sivan - 1999
⬆ (11) Sigala ft Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor & French Montana - Just Got Paid
⬆ (6) Halsey - Without Me
⬆ (4) Rita Ora - Let You Love Me
(1) Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
Missing Out
⬆ (29) Billie Eilish - When the Party's Over
⬆ (16) Khalid - Better
⬆ (15) Dj Snake ft Selena Gomez, Cardi B & Ozuna - Taki Taki
⬆ (12) MK ft Jonas Blue & Becky Hill - Back & Forth
Tuesday 20 November 2018
Record of the Year 2008: MGMT - Kids
For the first time in my Record of the Year selection, I've chosen an act who are younger than me. MGMT are a duo and both members are younger than me. It was inevitably going to happen sooner or later and given I was nearer to 30 than I was 20 in 2008 maybe the time is about right.
This was a record I heard quite a bit at the time and identified it as a tune I like so found out what it was via the internet and continued to listen once it's popularity had died down. I also discovered a Soulwax remix which I also thought was really good.
This was actually the final of three hits for MGMT reaching number 25 in late 2008. It then re-entered the Top 40 at the start of 2009 peaking at number 16 this time. I thought I'd give some other tunes of theirs a listen, but this is the only tune of theirs I've heard that I actually like.
Sunday 18 November 2018
UK Singles Chart: 2008
Nobody joining the 30+ UK Top 40 hits club this year and none of the ones already in it had their final hits:
Madonna and Take That each had a number one this year:
The run of hits every year since 1994 ended for R Kelly plus Robbie Williams and Jennifer Lopez also didn't have a hit this year meaning Westlife now have the longest streak and four acts have had a hit every year in the decade so far with one year to go:
The most successful act from a chart perspective this year was X Factor 3 winner Leona Lewis. She scored her third number one with "Run" and also scored a number two with the double a-side "Better In Time / Footprints In The Sand" and a number five with "Forgive Me".
X Factor 4 winner Leon Jackson scored a number three with his second hit "Don't Call This Love" but this would prove to be his final hit as the further singles he released failed to chart and he was dropped from his label. Fellow X Factor 4 contestants Same Difference had their one and only hit with "We R One" which made number 13. Beyond 2008 Leona Lewis and X Factor winner Shayne Ward were the only contestants from the first 4 series who would continue to have Top 40 hits.
Once again it was the X Factor winner who scored the Christmas number one, this time it was Alexandra Burke with "Hallelujah". This prompted a campaign for people to download the Jeff Buckley version which made number two. The original version by Leonard Cohen also charted which gave him his first UK Top 40 hit.
The X Factor finalists of Series 5 released a cover of Mariah Careys "Hero" as a charity record in November which made number one.
There was another TV show making an impact on the charts this year, Britains Got Talent. It was in it's second series and the winner, George Sampson scored a number 30 with the double a-side "Get Up On The Dance Floor / Headz Up". However, the bigger impact the show had was getting "Singin In the Rain" by Mint Royale to number one, 3 years after it first charted as a result of George Sampson dancing to it on the show.
Original Pop Idol winner Will Young was back in the charts after a year away with the number ten single "Changes". However he failed to reach the top ten for the first time with follow up "Grace" which made number 33 and would prove to be his penultimate Top 40 hit.
Pop Stars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud scored their third and final number one this year with "The Promise" and had a number 9 with "Can't Speak French". The Sugababes had a mixed year reaching number three with "Girls" but failed to reach the top ten with "Denial". Similarly the Pussycat Dolls had a number three with "When I Grow Up" but failed to reach the top ten with "I Hate This Part".
There were a new Girl Group making their debut this year, The Saturdays. They reached number 8 with their debut hit "If This Is Love" and followed up with the number 5 single "Up".
There was also a new boyband, the Jonas Brothers. They had their only two hits this year with "S.O.S." and "Burnin' Up / When You Look Me In The Eyes", both of which failed to reach the top ten. Billiam had their second and final hit with "My Generation" which reached number 23. When I went to listen to it on YouTube as I'd never heard it before, I found the video had been uploaded in 2016 and had just 1 view!
McFly got off to a good start with the number two hit "One For The Radio" and followed up with the number four "Lies". However their next hit "Do Ya / Stay With Me" only made number 18 meaning they failed to reach the top ten for the first time.
It was a case of back to the 90s boyband wise this year. New Kids on the Block returned to the charts after 14 years away with "Summertime" which proved to be their lowest charting single reaching number 34. They did however release further singles which failed to chart.
Take That continued their successful comeback with the number one "Greatest Day". We had the comeback after 8 years away for Boyzone with the number five "I Love You Anyway". The follow up "Better" only made number 22 meaning they failed to reach the top ten for the first time. We also had a solitary hit for Westlife who had never gone away with "Us Against The World" which made number 8, their first single not to reach the top five.
There were a notable amount of female solo acts making their chart debuts in 2008. Adele scored a number 2 with her debut "Chasing Pavements". She had a further 3 hits this year but failed to reach the top 10 with any of them.
Duffy debuted shortly after Adele and scored a number one with "Mercy" and followed up with the number 3 hit "Warwick Avenue". Her success was short lived as she failed to reach the top 10 with her following 2 singles this year and that would be the last we'd see of her in the Top 40.
From America we had the debut of Katy Perry who got to number one with her debut "I Kissed A Girl". She followed this up with "Hot 'n' Cold" which made number 4. There were also debuts for Miley Cyrus with "See You Again" and Demi Lovato with "This Is Me".
Once again there was more Indie Music than any other genre in the charts in 2008, but it was generally less guitar driven than it had been a few years earlier. Coldplay scored their first number one with "Viva La Vida" and also had a top ten hit with "Violet Hill".
We also had the Ting Tings score and number one with their debut hit "That's Not My Name". They had a further three hits in 2008 including the top ten hit "Shut Up And Let Me Go".
Kings of Leon scored their first number one with "Sex On Fire". This was also their first top ten hit and their follow up "Use Somebody". Their sound had now moved away from the Garage Rock they were doing in the early days. I was seemingly the end for Garage Rock this year with the White Stripes being the last of the big four bands to have their final hit with "Conquest".
We also had the final hits for Razorlight with "Wire to Wire", Zutons with "Always Right Behind You", Fratellis with "Mistress Mabel" and Automatic with "Steve McQueen". The Kaiser Chiefs also had their final hit "Never Miss A Beat" before a 6 year hiatus from the charts.
R&B music was starting to become more Dance orientated this year which could be heard in number ones by Ne-Yo with "Closer" and Estelle ft Kanye West with "American Boy".
The bulk of the R&B music in 2008 came from already established chart acts, but we had debuts for American Idol contestants Jordin Sparks with "No Air" and Jennifer Hudson with "Spotlight". There was also the debut for Beyoncé's sister Solange who had her only hit with "I Decided".
The most notable rapper making their debut in 2008 was Flo Rida. He reached number 2 with his debut hit "Low" featuring T-Pain. He followed up with two further collaborations, "Elevator" featuring Timbaland and "In The Ayer" featuring Will I Am.
Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris collaborated on "Dance Wiv Me" which gave them both their first number one. This was a Dance and Grime crossover hit.
We also had the debut of Ironik with "Stay with Me" and followed up with "I Wanna Be Your Man". Although these weren't Dance oriented records, they both used high pitched vocal sampling, something that had been done a lot in Dance Music.
With several Dance orientated records from other genres, Dance Music itself seemed to be suffering from a chart perspective. It had been on the decline for a few years now but by 2008 the quantity of Dance music in the charts was at its lowest since the 80s.
The previous year had seen the rise of Electro House but in 2008 it was more or less finished from a chart perspective with the only record you could consider Electro House to chart being "Baditude" by Spoon, Harris & Obernik.
Having had the first Bassline House Top 40 hit the previous year, this year saw a continuation of that but there were only four Bassline House Top 40 hits, "What’s It Gonna Be" by H Two O featuring Platnum, "My Destiny" by Delinquent featuring KCat, "Daddy-O" by Wideboys featuring Shaznay Lewis and "Love Shy (Thinking About You)" by Platinum.
The new Dance genre in the charts this year was Jumpstyle, but both Jumpstyle records came from acts who had previously charted with different genres of music. These were Scooter with "Jumping All Over The World" and Ultrabeat vs Darren Styles with "Discolights". It would be the final hits for all three acts.
There were very few actual House records charting in 2008, but the biggest of these was "Pjanoo" by Eric Prydz which made number 2 meaning all 3 Eric Prydz hits had made the top 2.
A number of older Dance records had a makeover this year and charted. These were "Something Good 08" by Utah Saints, "Toca's Miracle 2008" by Fragma, "Disco's Revenge 2008" by Gusto, "Infinity 2008" by Guru Josh Project and "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)" by Sash featuring Stunt.
The big success story in Dance Music this year though was Eurodance artist Basshunter. He made number one with his debut "Now You're Gone" and had a further 4 hits in 2008. Cascada also had a hit with "Because the Night".
Guns n Roses were back in the charts after 13 years away with their final hit "Chinese Democracy". Metallica had their final hit with "The Day That Never Comes", but it was overall a quiet year for the heavier side of Rock music.
Many people lump any music from the 21st Century as being the modern era. However by the time we get to the penultimate year of the 00s we find that chart music has changed a lot. We began with a lot of Dance Music, then saw the rise of Indie Music which is still going strong in 2008 but is on the decline. At the same time we are seeing the lines between different genres get more blurred. We know from the past few years that cross genre music has become more of a thing, will we start to see that more in 2009?
| Artist | No of Hits | New Hits | |
| 1 | Elvis Presley | 124 | |
| 2 | Cliff Richard | 123 | Thank You For A Lifetime |
| 3 | Elton John | 68 | |
| 4 | Madonna | 65 | 4 Minutes, Give It 2 Me, Miles Away |
| 5 | David Bowie | 57 | |
| 6 | Status Quo | 56 | It's Christmas Time |
| 7 | Queen | 52 | C-Lebrity |
| 8 | Michael Jackson | 49 | The Girl Is Mine 2008 |
| 9 | Paul McCartney | 47 | |
| 10 | Rod Stewart | 45 | |
| 11 | Diana Ross | 43 | |
| = | Rolling Stones | 43 | |
| = | Kylie Minogue | 43 | In My Arms, The One |
| 14 | Depeche Mode | 42 | |
| 15 | Stevie Wonder | 41 | |
| = | Pet Shop Boys | 41 | |
| 17 | UB40 | 40 | |
| 18 | U2 | 39 | |
| 19 | Prince | 38 | |
| 20 | Janet Jackson | 37 | |
| = | Mariah Carey | 37 | Touch My Body, Bye Bye |
| 22 | Tom Jones | 35 | |
| = | Bon Jovi | 35 | |
| = | R Kelly | 35 | |
| 25 | Erasure | 34 | |
| 26 | Frank Sinatra | 33 | |
| = | Shakin Stevens | 33 | |
| = | George Michael | 33 | |
| = | Manic Street Preachers | 33 | |
| 30 | Iron Maiden | 32 | |
| = | Simply Red | 32 | |
| = | Morrissey | 32 | That's How People Grow Up, All You Need Is Me |
| 33 | Roy Orbison | 31 | |
| = | Bee Gees | 31 | |
| = | Whitney Houston | 31 | |
| = | REM | 31 | |
| 37 | Lonnie Donegan | 30 | |
| = | Beatles | 30 | |
| = | Tina Turner | 30 | |
| = | Duran Duran | 30 |
Madonna and Take That each had a number one this year:
| Artist | No of #1s | New #1s | |
| 1 | Elvis Presley | 21 | |
| 2 | Beatles | 17 | |
| 3 | Cliff Richard | 14 | |
| = | Westlife | 14 | |
| 5 | Madonna | 13 | 4 Minutes |
| 6 | Take That | 11 | Greatest Day |
| 7 | Abba | 9 | |
| = | Spice Girls | 9 | |
| 9 | Rolling Stones | 8 | |
| = | Oasis | 8 | |
| 11 | George Michael | 7 | |
| = | Michael Jackson | 7 | |
| = | Kylie Minogue | 7 | |
| = | U2 | 7 | |
| = | Elton John | 7 | |
| = | Eminem | 7 | |
| = | McFly | 7 | |
| 18 | Slade | 6 | |
| = | Rod Stewart | 6 | |
| = | Boyzone | 6 | |
| = | Blondie | 6 | |
| = | Queen | 6 | |
| = | Robbie Williams | 6 | |
| = | Sugababes | 6 |
The run of hits every year since 1994 ended for R Kelly plus Robbie Williams and Jennifer Lopez also didn't have a hit this year meaning Westlife now have the longest streak and four acts have had a hit every year in the decade so far with one year to go:
| Artist | Hits Every Year Since | |
| 1 | Westlife | 1999 |
| 2 | Snoop Dogg | 2000 |
| = | Nelly | 2000 |
| = | Sugababes | 2000 |
| 5 | Cliff Richard | 2001 |
| 6 | Girls Aloud | 2002 |
| = | Nickelback | 2002 |
The most successful act from a chart perspective this year was X Factor 3 winner Leona Lewis. She scored her third number one with "Run" and also scored a number two with the double a-side "Better In Time / Footprints In The Sand" and a number five with "Forgive Me".
X Factor 4 winner Leon Jackson scored a number three with his second hit "Don't Call This Love" but this would prove to be his final hit as the further singles he released failed to chart and he was dropped from his label. Fellow X Factor 4 contestants Same Difference had their one and only hit with "We R One" which made number 13. Beyond 2008 Leona Lewis and X Factor winner Shayne Ward were the only contestants from the first 4 series who would continue to have Top 40 hits.
Once again it was the X Factor winner who scored the Christmas number one, this time it was Alexandra Burke with "Hallelujah". This prompted a campaign for people to download the Jeff Buckley version which made number two. The original version by Leonard Cohen also charted which gave him his first UK Top 40 hit.
The X Factor finalists of Series 5 released a cover of Mariah Careys "Hero" as a charity record in November which made number one.
There was another TV show making an impact on the charts this year, Britains Got Talent. It was in it's second series and the winner, George Sampson scored a number 30 with the double a-side "Get Up On The Dance Floor / Headz Up". However, the bigger impact the show had was getting "Singin In the Rain" by Mint Royale to number one, 3 years after it first charted as a result of George Sampson dancing to it on the show.
Original Pop Idol winner Will Young was back in the charts after a year away with the number ten single "Changes". However he failed to reach the top ten for the first time with follow up "Grace" which made number 33 and would prove to be his penultimate Top 40 hit.
Pop Stars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud scored their third and final number one this year with "The Promise" and had a number 9 with "Can't Speak French". The Sugababes had a mixed year reaching number three with "Girls" but failed to reach the top ten with "Denial". Similarly the Pussycat Dolls had a number three with "When I Grow Up" but failed to reach the top ten with "I Hate This Part".
There were a new Girl Group making their debut this year, The Saturdays. They reached number 8 with their debut hit "If This Is Love" and followed up with the number 5 single "Up".
There was also a new boyband, the Jonas Brothers. They had their only two hits this year with "S.O.S." and "Burnin' Up / When You Look Me In The Eyes", both of which failed to reach the top ten. Billiam had their second and final hit with "My Generation" which reached number 23. When I went to listen to it on YouTube as I'd never heard it before, I found the video had been uploaded in 2016 and had just 1 view!
McFly got off to a good start with the number two hit "One For The Radio" and followed up with the number four "Lies". However their next hit "Do Ya / Stay With Me" only made number 18 meaning they failed to reach the top ten for the first time.
It was a case of back to the 90s boyband wise this year. New Kids on the Block returned to the charts after 14 years away with "Summertime" which proved to be their lowest charting single reaching number 34. They did however release further singles which failed to chart.
Take That continued their successful comeback with the number one "Greatest Day". We had the comeback after 8 years away for Boyzone with the number five "I Love You Anyway". The follow up "Better" only made number 22 meaning they failed to reach the top ten for the first time. We also had a solitary hit for Westlife who had never gone away with "Us Against The World" which made number 8, their first single not to reach the top five.
There were a notable amount of female solo acts making their chart debuts in 2008. Adele scored a number 2 with her debut "Chasing Pavements". She had a further 3 hits this year but failed to reach the top 10 with any of them.
Duffy debuted shortly after Adele and scored a number one with "Mercy" and followed up with the number 3 hit "Warwick Avenue". Her success was short lived as she failed to reach the top 10 with her following 2 singles this year and that would be the last we'd see of her in the Top 40.
From America we had the debut of Katy Perry who got to number one with her debut "I Kissed A Girl". She followed this up with "Hot 'n' Cold" which made number 4. There were also debuts for Miley Cyrus with "See You Again" and Demi Lovato with "This Is Me".
Once again there was more Indie Music than any other genre in the charts in 2008, but it was generally less guitar driven than it had been a few years earlier. Coldplay scored their first number one with "Viva La Vida" and also had a top ten hit with "Violet Hill".
We also had the Ting Tings score and number one with their debut hit "That's Not My Name". They had a further three hits in 2008 including the top ten hit "Shut Up And Let Me Go".
Kings of Leon scored their first number one with "Sex On Fire". This was also their first top ten hit and their follow up "Use Somebody". Their sound had now moved away from the Garage Rock they were doing in the early days. I was seemingly the end for Garage Rock this year with the White Stripes being the last of the big four bands to have their final hit with "Conquest".
We also had the final hits for Razorlight with "Wire to Wire", Zutons with "Always Right Behind You", Fratellis with "Mistress Mabel" and Automatic with "Steve McQueen". The Kaiser Chiefs also had their final hit "Never Miss A Beat" before a 6 year hiatus from the charts.
R&B music was starting to become more Dance orientated this year which could be heard in number ones by Ne-Yo with "Closer" and Estelle ft Kanye West with "American Boy".
The bulk of the R&B music in 2008 came from already established chart acts, but we had debuts for American Idol contestants Jordin Sparks with "No Air" and Jennifer Hudson with "Spotlight". There was also the debut for Beyoncé's sister Solange who had her only hit with "I Decided".
The most notable rapper making their debut in 2008 was Flo Rida. He reached number 2 with his debut hit "Low" featuring T-Pain. He followed up with two further collaborations, "Elevator" featuring Timbaland and "In The Ayer" featuring Will I Am.
Dizzee Rascal and Calvin Harris collaborated on "Dance Wiv Me" which gave them both their first number one. This was a Dance and Grime crossover hit.
We also had the debut of Ironik with "Stay with Me" and followed up with "I Wanna Be Your Man". Although these weren't Dance oriented records, they both used high pitched vocal sampling, something that had been done a lot in Dance Music.
With several Dance orientated records from other genres, Dance Music itself seemed to be suffering from a chart perspective. It had been on the decline for a few years now but by 2008 the quantity of Dance music in the charts was at its lowest since the 80s.
The previous year had seen the rise of Electro House but in 2008 it was more or less finished from a chart perspective with the only record you could consider Electro House to chart being "Baditude" by Spoon, Harris & Obernik.
Having had the first Bassline House Top 40 hit the previous year, this year saw a continuation of that but there were only four Bassline House Top 40 hits, "What’s It Gonna Be" by H Two O featuring Platnum, "My Destiny" by Delinquent featuring KCat, "Daddy-O" by Wideboys featuring Shaznay Lewis and "Love Shy (Thinking About You)" by Platinum.
The new Dance genre in the charts this year was Jumpstyle, but both Jumpstyle records came from acts who had previously charted with different genres of music. These were Scooter with "Jumping All Over The World" and Ultrabeat vs Darren Styles with "Discolights". It would be the final hits for all three acts.
There were very few actual House records charting in 2008, but the biggest of these was "Pjanoo" by Eric Prydz which made number 2 meaning all 3 Eric Prydz hits had made the top 2.
A number of older Dance records had a makeover this year and charted. These were "Something Good 08" by Utah Saints, "Toca's Miracle 2008" by Fragma, "Disco's Revenge 2008" by Gusto, "Infinity 2008" by Guru Josh Project and "Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)" by Sash featuring Stunt.
The big success story in Dance Music this year though was Eurodance artist Basshunter. He made number one with his debut "Now You're Gone" and had a further 4 hits in 2008. Cascada also had a hit with "Because the Night".
Guns n Roses were back in the charts after 13 years away with their final hit "Chinese Democracy". Metallica had their final hit with "The Day That Never Comes", but it was overall a quiet year for the heavier side of Rock music.
Many people lump any music from the 21st Century as being the modern era. However by the time we get to the penultimate year of the 00s we find that chart music has changed a lot. We began with a lot of Dance Music, then saw the rise of Indie Music which is still going strong in 2008 but is on the decline. At the same time we are seeing the lines between different genres get more blurred. We know from the past few years that cross genre music has become more of a thing, will we start to see that more in 2009?
Thursday 15 November 2018
Top of the Pops: 15/11/2018
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 8
⬆ (34) Ellie Goulding ft Diplo & Swae Lee - Close To Me
⬆ (22) Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
New (16) Jonas Blue ft Liam Payne & Lennon Stella - Polaroid
New (27) James Arthur - Empty Space
New (33) Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi - Baby
New (35) Benny Blanco ft Calvin Harris - I Found You
New (37) Pink - A Million Dreams
New (1) Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
Missing Out
None
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 8
⬆ (34) Ellie Goulding ft Diplo & Swae Lee - Close To Me
⬆ (22) Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
New (16) Jonas Blue ft Liam Payne & Lennon Stella - Polaroid
New (27) James Arthur - Empty Space
New (33) Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi - Baby
New (35) Benny Blanco ft Calvin Harris - I Found You
New (37) Pink - A Million Dreams
New (1) Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
Missing Out
None
Sunday 11 November 2018
Top 20 Comparison: 2018
Now I've given the Top 20 from 1998 a score of 47.5%, we just need each record in this weeks Top 20 to be OK for it to be better.
Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
Here is the top 20 from this week in with my verdict on each record:
Jess Glynne has only been round for 5 minutes but has already had 7 number ones. The first one was "Hold My Hand" and this sounds pretty much the same. It's basically a dancey tune with some annoying over the top vocals
Verdict - Rubbish
XXXtentacion came to most people attention when he was shot dead earlier this year. He's had number of posthumous hits since then. I was under the impression he was a rapper but it doesn't sound like he's rapping on this. In fact despite their being four people on the track it sounds like its the same person "rapping" throughout, very boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
No this isn't Ed Sheeran, just someone who sounds like him. This was a number one in his native Australia but hasn't managed it in this country yet. I find it rather dull to be honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
What the fuck is this? It's like DJ Snake came up with some really annoying sound and decided to recruit the 3 most annoying singers/rappers or whatever they are that he could find to provide some dreadful vocals. Absolutely terrible song.
Verdict - Rubbish
Definitely the best one in the countdown so far, which isn't saying much. My thoughts before listening to it was "oh no not another one by everyone featuring everyone else" but this is actually alright.
Verdict - OK
Another song with Lil Pump as a featured artist. Kanye West is one of these artists I'd love to hate but I do own his first 2 albums. I don't consider this one to be a good tune, but it's funny and nice and short and better than most of the rubbish in this countdown so far.
Verdict - OK
Now we have Jonas Blue featuring a second time. The other day I was watching a Dance music show from 2001 and someone mentioned something MK did in the 90s and said "where is he now?", well here he his. Take the vocals out and this could be a good tune, but given we do have the crap singing I can only call this OK.
Verdict - OK
Oh no, it's that god awful Ella Eyre who ruined every tune she sang on when she was with Pete Tong and his orchestra a couple of years ago. Her singing is just as annoying here and she seems to have the lions share of vocal duties in this tune. Terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
We go from a few songs that feature a lot of people to a song that not only is by one person but it sounds like she literally is the only person on it. She plays the piano and that is the only instrument I can hear in the song. Unfortunately the result is a song that's pretty boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
This is the best record in the countdown so far. It has a good beat, nice bit of piano and something good to dance to. Unfortunately like many other Dance records of the modern era it suffers from shit vocals so on that basis it just gets an ok from me.
Verdict - OK
Now we have Swae Lee appearing for a second time in this countdown. Once again I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be singing or rapping, but whatever it is it's bloody boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
Many of the records in the countdown so far have either been annoying or boring. This record somehow manages to be both. A boring backing track with an annoying almost chipmunk sounding singer. Also swearing in a pop song just sounds ridiculous, leave it to the rappers.
Verdict - Rubbish
There's not an awful lot wrong with this record. The rappers are clearly rapping, it's quite catchy too but I just can't bring myself to like it for some reason.
Verdict - Rubbish
The second appearance of Jess Glynne in the countdown, it's getting ridiculous now how many acts are appearing twice. As soon as I hear the opening line "I won't wear make up on Thursday" I think oh dear. It doesn't get any better, I'm just finding myself waiting for the song to start which it semi does after 3 minutes, but it's a load of crap basically.
Verdict - Rubbish
A rapper called Dave, I find that quite amusing. This is actually ok, proper rapping, lyrics that mean something and no annoying singers collaborating. Doesn't quite have that wow factor to make it a good tune, but its not bad.
Verdict - OK
I remember hearing "Hot Right Now" by DJ Fresh back in 2012. DJ Fresh was someone I'd been listening to since the 90s when he was part of Bad Company. I thought not a bad tune but that singer is bloody awful, that singer was Rita Ora. Unfortunately she hasn't gone away, still releasing shit song after shit song and this is the latest of those.
Verdict - Rubbish
I've often wondered whether Calvin Harris actually likes the music he makes. This is a man who went from making his entire debut album on his own in his bedroom to having a variety of shit big name vocalists on all his big hits and has become the richest DJ in the process.
Verdict - Rubbish
When Snoop Dogg, an American rapper, collaborated with Olly Murs, an X Factor contestant recently people seemed to be very surprised. Now we have Nicki Minaj, an American rapper, collaborating with Little Mix, X Factor contestants, but nobody finds that odd it seems. Maybe that says something about Nicki Minaj's credibility as a rapper more than anything. I expected this song to be rubbish and I was right.
Verdict - Rubbish
Lady Gaga does country music, oh dear. That's all I have to say about this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
I'm wondering whether the charts is now a measure of how shit a song is these days. It's like people say have you heard that dreadful Ariana Grande song prompting someone to take a listen and therefore enhance its prospects in the charts. I thought it would be difficult to have a song in the countdown worse than the Halsey song but I think this might have achieved it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Using the same scoring system of giving the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 2.5/20, or 12.5%.
A big victory for 1998 then, which almost seemed inevitable. Ok I was still a teenager in 1998 and I'm now much older than the current target market.
But whilst we like to say music was better in our day whilst looking through rose tinted specs and we're quick to write off modern music without even listening to it, this is a song by song comparison.
Granted some music can take time to get into, and who knows maybe one or two of the OK songs may turn into good songs over time. However many of the records in the current Top 20 are unbelievably bad and I can't see myself ever liking them.
Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
Here is the top 20 from this week in with my verdict on each record:
20. Jess Glynne - All I Am
Jess Glynne has only been round for 5 minutes but has already had 7 number ones. The first one was "Hold My Hand" and this sounds pretty much the same. It's basically a dancey tune with some annoying over the top vocals
Verdict - Rubbish
19. XXXTENTACION & Lil Pump ft. Maluma & Swae Lee - Arms Around You
XXXtentacion came to most people attention when he was shot dead earlier this year. He's had number of posthumous hits since then. I was under the impression he was a rapper but it doesn't sound like he's rapping on this. In fact despite their being four people on the track it sounds like its the same person "rapping" throughout, very boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
18. Dean Lewis - Be Alright
No this isn't Ed Sheeran, just someone who sounds like him. This was a number one in his native Australia but hasn't managed it in this country yet. I find it rather dull to be honest.
Verdict - Rubbish
17. DJ Snake ft. Selena Gomez, Ozuna & Cardi B - Taki Taki
What the fuck is this? It's like DJ Snake came up with some really annoying sound and decided to recruit the 3 most annoying singers/rappers or whatever they are that he could find to provide some dreadful vocals. Absolutely terrible song.
Verdict - Rubbish
16. Jonas Blue, Liam Payne & Lennon Stella - Polaroid
Definitely the best one in the countdown so far, which isn't saying much. My thoughts before listening to it was "oh no not another one by everyone featuring everyone else" but this is actually alright.
Verdict - OK
15. Kanye West & Lil Pump - I Love It
Another song with Lil Pump as a featured artist. Kanye West is one of these artists I'd love to hate but I do own his first 2 albums. I don't consider this one to be a good tune, but it's funny and nice and short and better than most of the rubbish in this countdown so far.
Verdict - OK
14. MK, Jonas Blue & Becky Hill - Back And Forth
Now we have Jonas Blue featuring a second time. The other day I was watching a Dance music show from 2001 and someone mentioned something MK did in the 90s and said "where is he now?", well here he his. Take the vocals out and this could be a good tune, but given we do have the crap singing I can only call this OK.
Verdict - OK
13. Sigala, Ella Eyre & Meghan Trainor ft. French Montana - Just Got Paid
Oh no, it's that god awful Ella Eyre who ruined every tune she sang on when she was with Pete Tong and his orchestra a couple of years ago. Her singing is just as annoying here and she seems to have the lions share of vocal duties in this tune. Terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
12. Freya Ridings - Lost Without You
We go from a few songs that feature a lot of people to a song that not only is by one person but it sounds like she literally is the only person on it. She plays the piano and that is the only instrument I can hear in the song. Unfortunately the result is a song that's pretty boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
11. Silk City & Dua Lipa - Electricity
This is the best record in the countdown so far. It has a good beat, nice bit of piano and something good to dance to. Unfortunately like many other Dance records of the modern era it suffers from shit vocals so on that basis it just gets an ok from me.
Verdict - OK
10. Post Malone & Swae Lee - Sunflower
Now we have Swae Lee appearing for a second time in this countdown. Once again I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be singing or rapping, but whatever it is it's bloody boring.
Verdict - Rubbish
9. Halsey - Without Me
Many of the records in the countdown so far have either been annoying or boring. This record somehow manages to be both. A boring backing track with an annoying almost chipmunk sounding singer. Also swearing in a pop song just sounds ridiculous, leave it to the rappers.
Verdict - Rubbish
8. Kodak Black ft. Travis Scott & Offset - Zeze
There's not an awful lot wrong with this record. The rappers are clearly rapping, it's quite catchy too but I just can't bring myself to like it for some reason.
Verdict - Rubbish
7. Jess Glynne - Thursday
The second appearance of Jess Glynne in the countdown, it's getting ridiculous now how many acts are appearing twice. As soon as I hear the opening line "I won't wear make up on Thursday" I think oh dear. It doesn't get any better, I'm just finding myself waiting for the song to start which it semi does after 3 minutes, but it's a load of crap basically.
Verdict - Rubbish
6. Dave ft. Fredo - Funky Friday
A rapper called Dave, I find that quite amusing. This is actually ok, proper rapping, lyrics that mean something and no annoying singers collaborating. Doesn't quite have that wow factor to make it a good tune, but its not bad.
Verdict - OK
5. Rita Ora - Let You Love Me
I remember hearing "Hot Right Now" by DJ Fresh back in 2012. DJ Fresh was someone I'd been listening to since the 90s when he was part of Bad Company. I thought not a bad tune but that singer is bloody awful, that singer was Rita Ora. Unfortunately she hasn't gone away, still releasing shit song after shit song and this is the latest of those.
Verdict - Rubbish
4. Calvin Harris & Sam Smith - Promises
I've often wondered whether Calvin Harris actually likes the music he makes. This is a man who went from making his entire debut album on his own in his bedroom to having a variety of shit big name vocalists on all his big hits and has become the richest DJ in the process.
Verdict - Rubbish
3. Little Mix ft. Nicki Minaj - Woman Like Me
When Snoop Dogg, an American rapper, collaborated with Olly Murs, an X Factor contestant recently people seemed to be very surprised. Now we have Nicki Minaj, an American rapper, collaborating with Little Mix, X Factor contestants, but nobody finds that odd it seems. Maybe that says something about Nicki Minaj's credibility as a rapper more than anything. I expected this song to be rubbish and I was right.
Verdict - Rubbish
2. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper - Shallow
Lady Gaga does country music, oh dear. That's all I have to say about this record.
Verdict - Rubbish
1. Ariana Grande - Thank U Next
I'm wondering whether the charts is now a measure of how shit a song is these days. It's like people say have you heard that dreadful Ariana Grande song prompting someone to take a listen and therefore enhance its prospects in the charts. I thought it would be difficult to have a song in the countdown worse than the Halsey song but I think this might have achieved it.
Verdict - Rubbish
Using the same scoring system of giving the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 2.5/20, or 12.5%.
A big victory for 1998 then, which almost seemed inevitable. Ok I was still a teenager in 1998 and I'm now much older than the current target market.
But whilst we like to say music was better in our day whilst looking through rose tinted specs and we're quick to write off modern music without even listening to it, this is a song by song comparison.
Granted some music can take time to get into, and who knows maybe one or two of the OK songs may turn into good songs over time. However many of the records in the current Top 20 are unbelievably bad and I can't see myself ever liking them.
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