25 Years Since....December 1993

Here's one final visit back to 1993 to look at some of the records I was enjoying at the time:

U2 - Stay (Faraway, So Close)

U2 were a band who appeared in several peoples Top 10 bands at the time, just about. That's despite the fact it had been a year since their last single which was before the Rock/Metal fans became particular about what they listened to.

This song however divided opinion, some liked it, some considered it too soft for a Rock/Metal fan to like. The ironic thing was that their last Top 10 hit prior to this was the Paul Oakenfold remix of "Even Better Than the Real Thing" which was one for the Ravers as opposed to the Rock/Metal fan.

As far as U2 songs go, this is one of the better ones in my opinion.

East 17 - It's Alright

This was the fifth and final hit from their debut album "Walthamstow". It's possibly my favourite single from that album as well.

What I like best about this tune is the way it starts out as a ballad before the Dance beats kick in. I remember this being one of the Pop songs I'd complain about at the school disco whilst secretly liking it.

It was their biggest hit at that point in time eventually climbing to number 3, but reached it after Take That and Mr Blobby were battling it out for Christmas number one and were sliding down the charts. We all know what happened the following Christmas though.

Pet Shop Boys - I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing

Another song that I pretended not to like at the time to maintain my Grunger status.

It's the Pet Shop Boys though and much like East 17 I never stopped liking their music throughout whatever music phase I was going through.


Cypress Hill - I Ain't Goin Out Like That

Cypress Hill on the other hand were pretty much the only Rap act that seemed acceptable for the Rock/Metal fans to like at the time.

This was their third UK Top 40 hit and followed the same formula as the previous two, B Real says something similar to the track title in the chorus and Sen Dog would say something similar back, then repeat.

Needless to say that when the following single "Lick A Shot" came out it didn't go the way I expected it to go.

Blind Melon - No Rain

This was the debut UK Top 40 hit for Blind Melon. Lead singer Shannon Hoon had been in the charts before though as backing vocalist on "Don't Cry" by Guns n Roses.

It was perhaps a little softer than I expected it to be, but it didn't really matter especially given the Guns n Roses connection.

Although they would have two more hits, this is the only one I remember at the time. I found out several years after this that Shannon Hoon died less than 2 years later.

UK Singles Chart: 2009

After a chart career spanning 51 years, Cliff Richard had his 124th and final hit this year equalling Elvis Presley who also had a chart career spanning 51 years. Several other acts had their final hit this year with those highlighted in blue being the ones who would have hits beyond 2009. Joining the 30+ UK Top 40 hits club were Robbie Williams and Jay-Z:

	Artist	No of Hits	New Hits
1	Elvis Presley	124
=	Cliff Richard	124	Singing The Blues
3	Elton John	69	Tiny Dancer
4	Madonna	66	Celebration
5	David Bowie	57
6	Status Quo	56
7	Queen	53	Bohemian Rhapsody
8	Michael Jackson	49
9	Paul McCartney	47
10	Rod Stewart	45
11	Pet Shop Boys	44	Love Etc, Did You See Me Coming?, It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas
12	Diana Ross	43
=	Rolling Stones	43
=	Kylie Minogue	43
=	Depeche Mode	43	Wrong
16	Stevie Wonder	41
=	U2	39	Get On Your Boots, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy
18	UB40	40
19	Prince	38
=	Mariah Carey	38	I Want To Know What Love Is
21	Janet Jackson	37
22	Tom Jones	36	(Barry) Islands In The Stream
=	Bon Jovi	36	We Weren't Born To Follow
24	R Kelly	35
25	Erasure	34
=	George Michael	34	December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)
273	Frank Sinatra	33
=	Shakin Stevens	33
=	Manic Street Preachers	33
=	Morrissey	33	I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris
31	Iron Maiden	32
=	Simply Red	32
=	Whitney Houston	32	Million Dollar Bill
34	Roy Orbison	31
=	Bee Gees	31
=	REM	31
37	Lonnie Donegan	30
=	Beatles	30
=	Tina Turner	30
=	Duran Duran	30
=	Jay-Z	30	Run This Town, Empire State Of Mind, Young Forever
=	Robbie Williams	30	Bodies, You Know Me

None of the acts with 6+ number ones had a hit this year so it's as you were:

	Artist	No of #1s	New #1s
1	Elvis Presley	21
2	Beatles	17
3	Cliff Richard	14
=	Westlife	14
5	Madonna	13
6	Take That	11
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

Only four acts had over 6 consecutive years of hits and Westlife and the Sugababes were the only acts to have a hit every year in the 00s, though none of the original members of the Sugababes were still in the group by the end of the year:

	Artist	Hits Every Year Since
1	Westlife	1999
2	Sugababes	2000
3	Cliff Richard	2001
4	Girls Aloud	2002

For the first time since 2004 the X Factor winner wasn't Christmas Number One. This was due to a campaign to prevent the X Factor winner getting Christmas Number One by getting everyone to download "Killing in the Name" by Rage Against the Machine on Christmas week and enough people did this to make it Christmas Number One. X Factor winner Joe McElderry was number two with "The Climb". The X Factor finalists however did have a number one in November with "You Are Not Alone".

The winner of the previous series, Alexandra Burke, scored her second number one this year with "Bad Boys" which featured Flo Rida and also scored a top ten hit with "Broken Heels". The runners up of the previous series, JLS, debuted this year with "Beat Again" and followed up with "Everybody In Love" which both made number one. There was also the only hit for the previous series finalist Laura White with "You Should Have Known".

X Factor series 3 winner didn't manage a number one this year but had a number two with "Happy" but only made number 29 with her other hit "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" which was the first time she didn't make the top five.

Britain's Got Talent winner Susan Boyle made her chart debut with the top ten hit "Wild Horses" and also had a hit with "I Dreamed A Dream". Escala who were contestants on the previous series made number 39 with their only hit "Palladio".

A performance of "Ain't No Sunshine" on Britain's Got Talent meant it became a Top 40 hit for original singer Bill Withers for the first time. We also had "Don't Stop Believin" by Journey make the Top 40 for the first time which would be their only hit. Following the death of Michael Jackson, "Who's Lovin You" by the Jackson 5 made the Top 40 for the first time.

Despite the successful debut of boyband JLS and Westlife keeping their streak of hits every year since 1999 going it was a pretty quiet year for boybands, the only other boyband to have a hit this year were Take That, though some would argue they were a manband rather than boyband since their comeback.

Girls Aloud called it a day in 2009 after failing to reach the top ten for the first time with "Untouchable". Cheryl from Girls Aloud scored a number one with her solo debut with "Fight For This Love" and followed up with a number four "3 Words" which featured Will I Am. The other members were yet to start their solo careers.

It was also the end for the Pussycat Dolls who's final hit was "Hush Hush Hush Hush". The Saturdays had two number twos with "Just Can't Get Enough" and "Forever Is Over" and also had a top ten with "Ego" but only made number 22 with "Work". We also had a Girl Group few remember debut this year, Girls Can't Catch, who made number 26 with "Keep Your Head Up".

The most successful group of the year from a chart perspective were Black Eyed Peas who had 3 hits and 3 number ones with "Boom Boom Pow", "I Gotta Feeling" and "Meet Me Halfway". This came after 3 years away from the charts and they had abandoned their Hip Hip sound for one that would prove to be very big in 2009, Electropop.

Another big act of the year from this Electropop genre was debutant Lady Gaga who also scored 3 number ones with here debut "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance". She had a total of 7 hits in 2009.

Other Electropop artists making number one with their debuts were Kesha who featured on "Right Round" by Flo Rida, Pixie Lott with "Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)" and La Roux with "Bulletproof".

It was also a successful year for Dizzee Rascal who had two number ones with "Bonkers" and "Holiday" which both carried on the Electro/Grime crossover sound. Also successfully adopting this sound were debutants Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk who both scored number ones this year, Tinchy Stryder with "Number 1" and "Never Leave You" and Chipmunk with "Oopsy Daisy".

Electro was also mixing in with Hip Hop and we had debuts for Kid Cudi with "Day n Nite" and Pitbull with "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" which he followed up with "Hotel Room Service".

We were also getting a lot of R&B/Electropop crossover music such as the number one hit "Break Your Heart" by Taio Cruz. R&B was also crossing over with Indie Music with hits such as "Don't Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)" by the Noisettes and "Shark In The Water" by VV Brown.

There was far less Indie Music in the charts than previous years, although there was still no shortage of it with bands like Franz Ferdinand, Kings Of Leon, Killers, Kasabian, Muse, Arctic Monkeys and Snow Patrol all having hits. It was also the last time we'd see Oasis in the charts having debuted in 1994 with their final hit being "Falling Down".

There was another 1994 debutant having their final hit this year, this time from the Punk world with Green Day having their final hit with "21 Guns".

The Prodigy were back with their first new material in 5 years with "Omen". They followed this up with "Warriors Dance" and "Take Me To the Hospital" which would be their final Top 40 hit.

Other 90s debutants from the Dance Music world making their final Top 40 appearances this year were Basement Jaxx with "Raindrops" and Chicane with "Poppiholla". There was also the only number one and final appearance for Cascada with "Evacuate The Dancefloor".

In the Drum & Bass world we had debuts for Sub Focus with "Rock It / Follow The Light" and Chase & Status with "End Credits".

The big thing in the Dance Music world in 2009 though was what would go on to be known as EDM. Arguably the 2 biggest names of EDM, David Guetta and Calvin Harris, both had number ones this year, David Guetta with "When Love Takes Over" and "Sexy Bitch" and Calvin Harris with "I'm Not Alone".

We also had the only chart appearances of Deadmau5 with "I Remember" and "Ghosts n Stuff". Swedish House Mafia member Steve Angello made his chart debut collaborating with Laidback Luke and Robin S with an EDM remake of "Show Me Love".

We had the first act from Suriname to have a UK Top 40 hit this year with Chuckie collaborating with LMFAO on "Let The Bass Kick In Miami Girl" which is his only hit to date.

It was a successful year in general for female solo artists. Aside from the ones already mentioned we also had number ones for Lily Allen with "The Fear" and Kelly Clarkson with "My Life Would Suck Without You". We also had chart debuts for Taylor Swift with "Love Story" which made number 2 and Paloma Faith with "Stone Cold Sober".

Now we've reached the end of the 00s, the only acts to have had a hit every decade of the charts so far is Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. In addition to these two, the only acts to have had a hit in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s are Rolling Stones, Cher, Tom Jones, Stevie Wonder, Bee Gees, David Bowie and Eric Clapton.

Generally speaking when the 00s became the 10s nobody really noticed unlike when the 90s became the 00s or the 80s became the 90s. In music terms, many still consider anything 21st century to be the modern era.

However, in chart terms there was quite a significant change in music. Of the 42 acts who had scored more than 30 hits by this point, only 5 of them had finished their chart career in the 20th century but only 13 of them would have hits beyond the 00s

At the beginning of the decade the only crossover music we really had was Rap and R&B but by the end of the decade there were crossovers between many genres plus we are seeing Electro being a big part of most genres. Dance music as we knew it fizzled out in the charts and made way for EDM.

It seems like the 10s had already began in 2009, will we see anything different in 2010?

Top of the Pops: New Year Special 2018

Not only does Top of the Pops come back for Christmas but it comes back for New Year as well. You can watch it on the iPlayer if you missed it, here's what happened:

George Ezra - Paradise

There was no way they weren't going to have him on the Christmas episode and its seems the same goes for new year. This time we get the song that finished 8th in the countdown as opposed to the one that finished 3rd.

Jess Glynne - Thursday

Looks like having Jess Glynne twice at Christmas wasn't enough, here she is for the third time with yet another dreary song. Apparently she's supporting the Spice Girls next year which is apparently something to celebrate.

Jonas Blue ft Jack & Jack - Rise

Are they just getting the acts from Christmas to play a second song? It's the king of collaborations again living up to his name by getting both Jack and Jack to turn up.

Tom Grennan - Found What I've Been Looking For

Someone new on at last who I've never heard of. He's singing a song that reached number 95 in the charts.

Now we have a load of waffle about musical films from the year, then Calvin Harris and his collaborations with Dua Lipa and Sam Smith, then K Pop and finally some dance craze.

Mabel - Fine Line

It's Neneh Cherry's daughter. Nobody is playing an instrument on this so they have dancers on the stage instead.

Jax Jones ft Years & Years - Play

Why do they wait until a minute into the song before they tell you what it is on screen? Both of these acts were on the Christmas episode. Apparently when a multiplatinum selling group collaborate with a superstar DJ is inevitably going to be great. It only made number 50 in the charts though.

Lewis Capaldi - Grace

He's got a bright 2019 ahead of him according to the presenters. He's had more streams than the number of people who live in Scotland but it's the third song on the show so far not to make the Top 40, this made number 48. Hardly Top of the Pops is it?

Sigrid - Sucker Punch

Ok now we have a song that never made the charts at all. She was on the Christmas episode which is probably the only reason we're hearing this song.

Time for more waffle, talking about festivals then how "3 Lions" topped the charts during the World Cup, the new Radio 1 breakfast show DJ Greg James and new Radio 2 breakfast show DJ Zoe Ball, artists who died this year, Stormzy and Kylie Minogue playing at Glastonbury next year, the return of the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams Las Vegas residence and artists with new albums coming out in 2019.

Tom Odell ft Rae Morris - Half As Good As You

This is getting ridiculous now, another song that never made the charts, over half the songs featured so far haven't made the Top 40. Is probably the best song so far though even if it is a little dull.

Clean Bandit ft Marina - Baby

Another act who were on the Christmas show, but at least this made the Top 40. They've got Marina to turn up but not Luis Fonsi and those 2 random singers in place of Demi Lovato at Christmas are back.

Christine & the Queens - Girlfriend

This made number 85 so another non Top 40 song. The presenters were full of praise for Christie & the Queens, I think they were taking the piss.

Rudimental, Jess Glynne & Dan Caplen - These Days

Ok this is just lazy, this very song was on the Christmas episode and now marks the fourth appearance of Jess Glynne. What happened to the rule that only the number one can appear on consecutive episodes? Is there really nothing else they could have played?

Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho

Finally they put what the song is on the screen at the start of the song, but the presenters never said who it was. This is the current number one and it's a video.

HMV in administration

Today brought the news that HMV has gone into administration, nearly 6 years after it previously went into administration. My first thought was "has it really been 6 years?" followed by thinking it would be a shame if they don't survive.

I'm not going to lie, of all the music retailers from yesteryear HMV was my least favourite. In the small town near where I grew up the record shops were Our Price and HMV and I much preferred Our Price. Further afield I would say Andy's Records was my favourite of the chains.

When I went to university I would shop at the independent record shops more, but when I did shop at the chains HMV was probably the one I used the least. With your NUS card you could get a 10% discount at HMV, but one day in my final year I went to buy a CD that was £7 but they wouldn't give me a 10% discount, it now only could be applied to the full price £17 CDs, so I didn't buy it and eventually bought it at Virgin Megastore for £5.

The internet is being blamed once again and whilst it is a factor, there were always other ways to buy CDs besides the record shop before internet shopping became popular. You had Woolworths and WH Smith, supermarkets and second hand shops like Cash Converters. Most of the music I bought as a teenager was Tape Packs direct from rave promoters.

The total number of CDs/Tapes/Vinyl I've bought in my lifetime is over 1000. I prefer to own music in a physical format and I prefer to go and buy it from a shop rather than on the internet. Despite this, I am part of the problem. I was there that final Sunday afternoon at the big store in Oxford St before it moved down the road to a smaller building, I bought several CDs that day but I don't think I've bought anything from HMV since.

I have visited the new Oxford St store, it looked like their solution was to sell classic albums on vinyl for £25 each. This might appeal to vinyl fanatics, but for the general public how many people would pay £25 for something they could listen to on Spotify for free?

The problem is that the albums they sell for a reasonable price are ones you can get elsewhere even cheaper and the more expensive ones don't sell. More than a decade ago I would regularly visit the HMV near to where I worked at the time for 2 years. I saw the Nuyorican Soul album in there on my first visit but didn't buy it as it was £18, in my last visit 2 years later it still hadn't sold and you could tell it was the same CD because it had a small scratch on the cover.

When I went to the big Oxford St store for the first time I thought it was amazing. Every album I could think of, no matter how obscure, was there. It was the first time I'd seen a Sander Kleinenberg CD in a record shop. Unfortunately that Sander Kleinenberg CD was £20.

Today they no longer have that big store and the CD section in their new Oxford St store is no bigger than any other store really. I thought I'd take a look on their website today and searched Sander Kleinenberg and here's what I got:

 

Not very helpful at all. Even when you browse music in general on their website, you can order by price, release date or relevance but you can't sort in alphabetical order. You can filter by artist, but the artists aren't listed in alphabetical order either.

When they were closing down the big Oxford St store they just had the CDs in any random order so the only way to find them was to look through them all, there may have been CDs I wanted to buy that I didn't find.

Whilst it's easy to pick faults, it's not easy knowing what the solution is. An 18 year old now would have been born in the year 2000, they would have only known a world of downloads and streaming so how would you appeal to them?

As someone who prefers the physical format, I can't think of too many albums from recent years that I want and that would be the case for many people over a certain age. With older albums there is a second hand market where you can get them really cheap, the last CD I bought was from poundland and you have second hand CDs on Amazon that cost 1p plus postage. Yes they are pre-owned, but having bought new CDs from HMV where the case is already knackered before I've even taken the CD out it doesn't make an awful lot of difference.

Amazon of course is a big problem for many traditional retailers, but it was also a problem for rival online music retailers such as play.com who are no more even though they were better in my opinion. Again I am part of the problem, I do buy music from Amazon but mainly because I always seem to have Amazon vouchers. The card I have registered with them expired in 2011, that gives an idea of how long it's been since I last spent any of my own money with them as opposed to gift cards.

Another factor is the rise of gig prices. As recent as 10 years ago I could go to see someone quite popular for £20 a ticket and £2.50 a pint, so if one was to drink 6 pints that's £35 for the night. Those same gigs are now costing £60 a ticket and at the O2 the price of a pint is now £7, so that's £102 for the night i.e. an extra £67 that could have been spent on CDs.

If I was writing this 20 years ago the demise of HMV probably wouldn't have bothered me as you still had Andy's Records, Our Price, Virgin Megastore etc but now they've all gone and HMV is the last one left I really hope they survive.

Top of the Pops: 27/12/2018

What's this all about?

Top 40 Countdown

Number of eligible records: 9
⬆ (23) Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me
Re (36) Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody
Re (35) Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime
Re (29) John & Yoko with the Plastic Ono Band - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
⬆ (24) Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
⬆ (22) Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas
⬆ (4) Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You
New (8) Ariana Grande - Imagine
New (1) Ladbaby - We Built This City

Missing Out
None

Top of the Pops: Christmas 2018

Top of the Pops may have finished in 2006 but every year it comes back for Christmas. If you missed the Christmas day episode this year you can watch it on iplayer here. Alternatively, here is a summary of what happened:

Jess Glynne - I'll Be There

Jess Glynne was introduced as someone who has had 7 number ones and a very high number of streams. This is the latest of those and it's a rather boring song with lot's of whining. How she's had 7 number ones I don't know, though being a featured vocalist on other peoples songs on 4 of them must help.

Clean Bandit - Solo

It's the band who gave Jess Glynne her first number one. They consist of a drummer, keyboard player and cellist but no singer. Unfortunately they always seem to have a featured vocalist on their songs. The vocalist on this particular song, Demi Lovato, hasn't turned up so they have two random vocalists in her place and it hasn't made the slightest bit of difference.

Jax Jones - Breathe

Another random singer on this song as vocalist Ina Wroldsen hasn't turned up. Jax Jones alternates between playing the keyboard and drums whilst the music itself still sounds the same. Then he starts playing a bass guitar, and the music still sounds the same.

Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life

Rihanna looks different to when I last saw her, oh hang on, this isn't Rihanna it's Zara Larsson. This is apparently a special Christmas version of the song, basically a few random bells have been put in. I will say the last 2 songs were an improvement on Jess Glynne but this is just as bad.

Top 10 records of 2018 part 1
10.Dua Lipa - IDGAF
9.Portugal the Man - Feel It Still
8.Geroge Ezra - Paradise
7.Drake - Nice For What
6.Ed Sheeran - Perfect

Drake and Ed Sheeran in the Top 10, who'd have thought?

Years & Years - If You're Over Me

Where's the singer? oh here he is making a grand entrance. Sounds like a computer game with singing over the top.

Tom Walker - Leave a Light On

Ever wondered what happened to Rag n Bone Man? Looks like he's changed his name to Tom Walker. Why weren't the string section allowed on the stage?

Keala Settle - This Is Me

Apparently she did a legendary performance of this on the Graham Norton show so they showed that very performance. Not very legendary at all, just her singing a dreary song in the dark before every man and his dog appears on the stage.

Rita Ora - Let You Love Me

Oh no it's the god awful Rita Ora singing about letting you love her. Not much chance of me ever loving her that's for sure. Shittest song so far.

Freya Ridings - Lost Without You

That's better, a singer at the piano and nobody else on the stage. Shame the song is rather dull.

Top 10 records of 2018 part 2
5.Keale Settle - This Is Me
4.Rudimental, Jess Glynne, Macklemore & Dan Caplen - These Days
3.George Ezra - Shotgun
2.Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa - One Kiss
1.Drake - Gods Plan

They made us wait for the Top 5 but now the wait is over, at number one is Drake.

Sigrid - Strangers

I honestly though Sigrid was an EDM DJ but turns out it's a female singer.

Jonas Blue,  Liam Payne & Lennon Stella - Polaroid

Jonas Blue is the king of collaborations apparently, must be because he managed to get his collaborators to turn up, though it took Lennon Stella a while to get out on stage.

Rudimental, Jess Glynne & Dan Caplen - These Days

Rudimental on the other hand couldn't get Macklemore to turn up but they managed to get the other two there, it helped that one of them appeared on the show earlier. A lot of people on the stage, which ones are Rudimental is anyone's guess, but presumably the one who said "Happy Christmas" at the end is one of them.

George Ezra - Shotgun

There was no way they were not going to have him on the show they said, I guess without Drake or Calvin Harris turning up to play the two best selling/streaming/whatever else counts records not getting George Ezra would just be embarrassing.

Ladbaby - We Built This City

The moment we've been waiting for, the Christmas number one. None of the presenters told us what it was though. It's a piss take of the Starship song of the same name but I enjoyed this one more than the rest of the crap on the show.