What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 6
⬆ (34) Khaled - Saturday Nights
⬆ (12) NSG ft Tion Wayne - Options
⬆ (9) Russ - Gun Lean
New (27) AJ Tracey - Psych Out
New (11) Mabel - Don't Call Me Up
New (1) Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
Missing Out
None
Thursday 31 January 2019
Sunday 27 January 2019
Are female singers more famous than male ones?
The other day there was a question on Popmaster where Ken named 3 members of Girls Aloud and the contestant had to name the other two. Not a difficult question by any stretch of the imagination, but in theory it should have been quite difficult. Think about it, aside from bands you're a fan of, how many bands can you name every member of? Obviously there would be a few, but not too many.
It got me thinking though, with many of the successful girl groups from the 90s onwards it's really not that difficult to name all the members. I don't think too many people would struggle to name all members of the Spice Girls. I don't thinking naming every member of All Saints or B*Witched would be too difficult either. I'd say naming all members of Atomic Kitten or Sugababes including changes in personnel isn't too difficult. Even the more modern ones like the Saturdays or Little Mix I could name all the members even if I'm not overly familiar with their music.
With boy bands though it's not that easy. One exception would be Take That, but with East 17 many could name Brian and Tony but people would struggle to name John or Terry. Then you had Bad Boys Inc who I considered to be the third biggest boy band of that era, but I couldn't name any members.
With Boyzone, Louis Walsh has said he recruited Ronan and Stephen to sing and the other three to make up the numbers. I could tell you who the other three are now, but I'm not sure I could have in the 90s. With 911 I could have named Lee and since the Big Reunion I could name Jimmy but forget who the other one was. I knew who J from 5ive was and maybe Rich too, but never noticed Sean until the cardboard cut-out of him in the "Let's Dance" video and even then I couldn't name him. I never knew who Abz was until his solo career and can now name the other member thanks to the Big Reunion and that fact its the same name as Jason Donovan's character in Neighbours.
I tried to recall the names of the Westlife members (including Brian) and could think of four, but I'm not exactly sure who's who. I could name Marvin and Aston from JLS, Nathan from the Wanted and whilst I can now name every One Direction member, for a while the only would I could name was Harry Styles.
It's not just boy bands and girl groups though. I don't think I could have named Lee from Steps until the Steps reunion documentary was on a few years ago. I've always known who the female members were and think I remembered H mainly because he seemed quite irritating.
When Paul left S Club 7, many people didn't realise he was in the group in the first place. Most of them knew who the female members were. There was a Popmaster question last year asking to name the male member of Liberty X who won The Voice, the contestant didn't know, neither did I and I still don't know who the other male member is, I know who all the females are though. Likewise with Hear Say, I can name all the female members and none of the male members.
Going back to the original point of knowing all the Girls Aloud members, I also couldn't name any members of their rival boy band One True Voice from Pop Stars: The Rivals.
The question therefore is why do female pop singers from groups seem to be better known?
An obvious answer when it comes to mixed gender groups is that you hear much more of the females on the songs. There are some songs where you don't hear any male singing on there at all, and even those where you do, the male part always seems to be a minor one.
When it comes to boy bands and girl groups though, there is one notable difference. We all know that Gary Barlow was the main singer in Take That or Ronan Keating was the main singer in Boyzone, but who was the main singer in the Spice Girls? or All Saints? or Girls Aloud?
It has become apparent from shows like the Big Reunion that some female singers had more vocal duties than other group members, but from your average listeners perspective it's never been obvious who is supposed to be the main singer in most girl groups.
One notable exception to this is the Pussycat Dolls. It was always questioned what contribution any of the members made to the music aside from Nicole Scherzinger. I could name some other members, but not all of them. I recall reading that when Carmit Bachar, the member with red hair, left the group their management got fellow member Jessica Sutta to dye her hair red to look like Carmit, presumably so that the general public wouldn't notice there was a member missing.
Maybe that's the answer then, if a group has an obvious lead singer or two then people know who they are but not the rest of the group, if there isn't an obvious singer then all members are just as well known as each other. It just so happens that boy bands often fit the former and girl groups fit the latter.
It got me thinking though, with many of the successful girl groups from the 90s onwards it's really not that difficult to name all the members. I don't think too many people would struggle to name all members of the Spice Girls. I don't thinking naming every member of All Saints or B*Witched would be too difficult either. I'd say naming all members of Atomic Kitten or Sugababes including changes in personnel isn't too difficult. Even the more modern ones like the Saturdays or Little Mix I could name all the members even if I'm not overly familiar with their music.
With boy bands though it's not that easy. One exception would be Take That, but with East 17 many could name Brian and Tony but people would struggle to name John or Terry. Then you had Bad Boys Inc who I considered to be the third biggest boy band of that era, but I couldn't name any members.
With Boyzone, Louis Walsh has said he recruited Ronan and Stephen to sing and the other three to make up the numbers. I could tell you who the other three are now, but I'm not sure I could have in the 90s. With 911 I could have named Lee and since the Big Reunion I could name Jimmy but forget who the other one was. I knew who J from 5ive was and maybe Rich too, but never noticed Sean until the cardboard cut-out of him in the "Let's Dance" video and even then I couldn't name him. I never knew who Abz was until his solo career and can now name the other member thanks to the Big Reunion and that fact its the same name as Jason Donovan's character in Neighbours.
I tried to recall the names of the Westlife members (including Brian) and could think of four, but I'm not exactly sure who's who. I could name Marvin and Aston from JLS, Nathan from the Wanted and whilst I can now name every One Direction member, for a while the only would I could name was Harry Styles.
It's not just boy bands and girl groups though. I don't think I could have named Lee from Steps until the Steps reunion documentary was on a few years ago. I've always known who the female members were and think I remembered H mainly because he seemed quite irritating.
When Paul left S Club 7, many people didn't realise he was in the group in the first place. Most of them knew who the female members were. There was a Popmaster question last year asking to name the male member of Liberty X who won The Voice, the contestant didn't know, neither did I and I still don't know who the other male member is, I know who all the females are though. Likewise with Hear Say, I can name all the female members and none of the male members.
Going back to the original point of knowing all the Girls Aloud members, I also couldn't name any members of their rival boy band One True Voice from Pop Stars: The Rivals.
The question therefore is why do female pop singers from groups seem to be better known?
An obvious answer when it comes to mixed gender groups is that you hear much more of the females on the songs. There are some songs where you don't hear any male singing on there at all, and even those where you do, the male part always seems to be a minor one.
When it comes to boy bands and girl groups though, there is one notable difference. We all know that Gary Barlow was the main singer in Take That or Ronan Keating was the main singer in Boyzone, but who was the main singer in the Spice Girls? or All Saints? or Girls Aloud?
It has become apparent from shows like the Big Reunion that some female singers had more vocal duties than other group members, but from your average listeners perspective it's never been obvious who is supposed to be the main singer in most girl groups.
One notable exception to this is the Pussycat Dolls. It was always questioned what contribution any of the members made to the music aside from Nicole Scherzinger. I could name some other members, but not all of them. I recall reading that when Carmit Bachar, the member with red hair, left the group their management got fellow member Jessica Sutta to dye her hair red to look like Carmit, presumably so that the general public wouldn't notice there was a member missing.
Maybe that's the answer then, if a group has an obvious lead singer or two then people know who they are but not the rest of the group, if there isn't an obvious singer then all members are just as well known as each other. It just so happens that boy bands often fit the former and girl groups fit the latter.
Thursday 24 January 2019
Top of the Pops: 24/01/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
New (36) Flipp Dinero - Leave Me Alone
New (29) Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
New (25) Catfish and the Bottlemen - Longshot
New (13) Westlife - Hello My Love
New (9) Gesaffelstein ft Weeknd - Lost in the Fire
New (7) Calvin Harris ft Rag n Bone Man - Giant
⬆ (3) Post Malone - Wow
New (4) Sam Smith ft Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
⬆ (8) Jax Jones ft Years & Years - Play
⬆ (34) Russ - Gun Lean
New (38) Khaled - Saturday Nights
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
New (36) Flipp Dinero - Leave Me Alone
New (29) Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
New (25) Catfish and the Bottlemen - Longshot
New (13) Westlife - Hello My Love
New (9) Gesaffelstein ft Weeknd - Lost in the Fire
New (7) Calvin Harris ft Rag n Bone Man - Giant
⬆ (3) Post Malone - Wow
New (4) Sam Smith ft Normani - Dancing With A Stranger
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
⬆ (8) Jax Jones ft Years & Years - Play
⬆ (34) Russ - Gun Lean
New (38) Khaled - Saturday Nights
Sunday 20 January 2019
The Prodigy
There's no doubt that the Prodigy have managed to have a long and successful music career. They are a band that both Rockers and Ravers like and not many people would be ashamed to admit liking them. At the same time they divide opinion, some say they started out as a novelty act but then came good, others say they went shit after their first album. Here's my take on it all.
In January 1992 I heard "Everybody in the Place" for the first time and liked it. A bit later on in the year I hear about this mysterious genre of music called Rave without knowing what it was exactly. I then get told The Prodigy are Rave which gives me an idea of what Rave is. Then even later in 1992 someone plays a tape that has "Everybody in the Place" on it and other tunes I recognised were "Charly" and "Fire" and I assume this to be a Rave compilation, but later discover this was the "Experience" album.
In 1994 during the Grungers vs Ravers era, some Grungers would say the only Rave group they like is the Prodigy. I hear "No Good" and "Voodoo People" and like them and then buy the "Music for the Jilted Generation" album. Shortly afterwards I buy the "Experience" album and next thing I know I'm a Raver.
A question I had after buying "Music for the Jilted Generation" album was who exactly are the Prodigy? I originally bought it on cassette and there was no picture of them, or mention of who the band members were. They didn't do Top of the Pops, or any TV show for that matter. They did appear in their videos, but they could have been anyone for all I knew.
After buying the "Experience" album I saw a picture of them and discovered they were Liam Howlett who made the actual music, Maxim the MC and Keith and Leeroy the dancers. I then saw them in action on stage when I watched Glastonbury 95 on the telly.
In 1996 I was listening to the evening session on Radio 1 when they said they were going to play the new Prodigy record for the first time. I was excited about this, but when they finally played it I was disappointed. The record of course was "Firestarter".
Clearly the record buying public felt differently and it made number one and they were bigger than they'd ever been. Everybody at least knew who Keith was by now as well. I did like their next single "Breathe" but I didn't think it was nearly as good as their older material. In my mind they'd changed their sound to cater for the Rock crowd instead of the Ravers and when "Fat of the Land" eventually came out I didn't buy it.
Following this they all seemed to become celebrities, probably because you had Liam dating Natalie Appleton, Keith with Gail Porter and Leeroy with Sara Cox whilst they'd stopped making new music. When Leeroy left the group I remember thinking it wasn't like they were making anything new anyway.
In 2004 they finally released their next album "Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned". I was mostly listening to Rap and R&B by this point and although I did buy the album it's not one I ever really got into.
When "Invaders Must Die" came out in 2009 I properly got back into the Prodigy. Although I don't consider the album to be as good as the first two, I thought it was a good album and could appreciate the rockier side to them more that I had previously.
I then finally went to see them in concert for the first time and it was a very good show, although they didn't play anything from the first album and from the second album they just did "Voodoo People" and "Their Law" which are the most guitar orientated tracks on the album.
When they released "The Day Is My Enemy" in 2015 it oddly seemed the sort of album that needed to be released. In the time between "Invaders Must Die" and "The Day Is My Enemy" the commercial side of Dance music, or EDM as it was now known, was the worst it had ever been and this album was a big fuck you to all of that. Had the album been made 20 years earlier I'd probably have hated it.
The latest album "No Tourists" is yet to have any impact on me. Maybe I just need to let it grow on me or maybe it just isn't my cup of tea.
Looking back in hindsight, "Experience" is very much a Rave album and is similar in style to a lot of other Rave music at that time. When "Music for the Jilted Generation" came out it was at a time when Rave had split into Happy Hardcore and Jungle. The Prodigy didn't go either route and making a record that sounded like it could have been made in 1992 at that time wouldn't have worked, so whilst you do have ravers who criticise it for going in the wrong direction, I would argue it's the best they could have done given the circumstances and personally I think it's just as good as "Experience".
I still don't own "Fat of the Land" but have streamed it and I don't think much of it to be honest. But that's just me and as they had already alienated some of their original Rave fans with "Music for the Jilted Generation" whilst starting to attract the Rock crowd it makes more sense really to make something to appeal to your new fans rather than those who have now written you off.
At the end of the day, they have made a healthy living out of music for nearly 30 years. The likes of Shades of Rhythm or Altern 8 who were just as big as the Prodigy in the beginning probably don't make a living out of music anymore unless they do something else music related.
In 2014 there were plans for Dreamscape to make a comeback at Milton Keynes bowl. Many of the big names from yesteryear were in the line-up but it ended up getting cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. It could be argued that they were being overly optimistic given the Dreamscapes in the 90s weren't in venues that big. But the Prodigy did a gig at Milton Keynes Bowl and had they been on the line-up they probably wouldn't have struggled to sell tickets.
At the end of the day, aside from their first album they've never really been part of any scene. They've always done their own thing rather than do what music is cool at that point in time and whilst people will criticize their newer material, they've still maintained some credibility whilst being successful at the same time and that's quite an achievement really.
In January 1992 I heard "Everybody in the Place" for the first time and liked it. A bit later on in the year I hear about this mysterious genre of music called Rave without knowing what it was exactly. I then get told The Prodigy are Rave which gives me an idea of what Rave is. Then even later in 1992 someone plays a tape that has "Everybody in the Place" on it and other tunes I recognised were "Charly" and "Fire" and I assume this to be a Rave compilation, but later discover this was the "Experience" album.
In 1994 during the Grungers vs Ravers era, some Grungers would say the only Rave group they like is the Prodigy. I hear "No Good" and "Voodoo People" and like them and then buy the "Music for the Jilted Generation" album. Shortly afterwards I buy the "Experience" album and next thing I know I'm a Raver.
A question I had after buying "Music for the Jilted Generation" album was who exactly are the Prodigy? I originally bought it on cassette and there was no picture of them, or mention of who the band members were. They didn't do Top of the Pops, or any TV show for that matter. They did appear in their videos, but they could have been anyone for all I knew.
After buying the "Experience" album I saw a picture of them and discovered they were Liam Howlett who made the actual music, Maxim the MC and Keith and Leeroy the dancers. I then saw them in action on stage when I watched Glastonbury 95 on the telly.
In 1996 I was listening to the evening session on Radio 1 when they said they were going to play the new Prodigy record for the first time. I was excited about this, but when they finally played it I was disappointed. The record of course was "Firestarter".
Clearly the record buying public felt differently and it made number one and they were bigger than they'd ever been. Everybody at least knew who Keith was by now as well. I did like their next single "Breathe" but I didn't think it was nearly as good as their older material. In my mind they'd changed their sound to cater for the Rock crowd instead of the Ravers and when "Fat of the Land" eventually came out I didn't buy it.
Following this they all seemed to become celebrities, probably because you had Liam dating Natalie Appleton, Keith with Gail Porter and Leeroy with Sara Cox whilst they'd stopped making new music. When Leeroy left the group I remember thinking it wasn't like they were making anything new anyway.
In 2004 they finally released their next album "Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned". I was mostly listening to Rap and R&B by this point and although I did buy the album it's not one I ever really got into.
When "Invaders Must Die" came out in 2009 I properly got back into the Prodigy. Although I don't consider the album to be as good as the first two, I thought it was a good album and could appreciate the rockier side to them more that I had previously.
I then finally went to see them in concert for the first time and it was a very good show, although they didn't play anything from the first album and from the second album they just did "Voodoo People" and "Their Law" which are the most guitar orientated tracks on the album.
When they released "The Day Is My Enemy" in 2015 it oddly seemed the sort of album that needed to be released. In the time between "Invaders Must Die" and "The Day Is My Enemy" the commercial side of Dance music, or EDM as it was now known, was the worst it had ever been and this album was a big fuck you to all of that. Had the album been made 20 years earlier I'd probably have hated it.
The latest album "No Tourists" is yet to have any impact on me. Maybe I just need to let it grow on me or maybe it just isn't my cup of tea.
Looking back in hindsight, "Experience" is very much a Rave album and is similar in style to a lot of other Rave music at that time. When "Music for the Jilted Generation" came out it was at a time when Rave had split into Happy Hardcore and Jungle. The Prodigy didn't go either route and making a record that sounded like it could have been made in 1992 at that time wouldn't have worked, so whilst you do have ravers who criticise it for going in the wrong direction, I would argue it's the best they could have done given the circumstances and personally I think it's just as good as "Experience".
I still don't own "Fat of the Land" but have streamed it and I don't think much of it to be honest. But that's just me and as they had already alienated some of their original Rave fans with "Music for the Jilted Generation" whilst starting to attract the Rock crowd it makes more sense really to make something to appeal to your new fans rather than those who have now written you off.
At the end of the day, they have made a healthy living out of music for nearly 30 years. The likes of Shades of Rhythm or Altern 8 who were just as big as the Prodigy in the beginning probably don't make a living out of music anymore unless they do something else music related.
In 2014 there were plans for Dreamscape to make a comeback at Milton Keynes bowl. Many of the big names from yesteryear were in the line-up but it ended up getting cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. It could be argued that they were being overly optimistic given the Dreamscapes in the 90s weren't in venues that big. But the Prodigy did a gig at Milton Keynes Bowl and had they been on the line-up they probably wouldn't have struggled to sell tickets.
At the end of the day, aside from their first album they've never really been part of any scene. They've always done their own thing rather than do what music is cool at that point in time and whilst people will criticize their newer material, they've still maintained some credibility whilst being successful at the same time and that's quite an achievement really.
Thursday 17 January 2019
Top of the Pops: 17/01/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 8
New (6) Headie One ft Dave - 18Hunna
New (15) Chris Brown - Undecided
New (25) NSG ft Tion Wayne - Options
New (33) Lewis Capaldi - Grace
⬆ (26) Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba
⬆ (7) James Arthur ft Anne Marie - Rewrite the Stars
⬆ (3) Mark Ronson ft Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
None
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 8
New (6) Headie One ft Dave - 18Hunna
New (15) Chris Brown - Undecided
New (25) NSG ft Tion Wayne - Options
New (33) Lewis Capaldi - Grace
⬆ (26) Sheck Wes - Mo Bamba
⬆ (7) James Arthur ft Anne Marie - Rewrite the Stars
⬆ (3) Mark Ronson ft Miley Cyrus - Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
None
Sunday 13 January 2019
UK Singles Chart: The 2000s
In the latter half of the 20th Century many people could tell you something which defined each decade in music. It could be the Rock n Roll of the 50s, the Psychedelic music of the 60s, Glam Rock of the 70s, New Romantics of the 80s and Brit Pop of the 90s. You could instead say Punk of the 70s or Hair Metal of the 80s. But how would one describe the 00s?
Nothing really stands out like those above examples do but what if we look a bit deeper into the music itself?
In the year 2000 it was all about the DJ and less about the guitar. By 2009 it was more or less the same but the middle part of the decade was all about guitars.
If we say the early part of the 00s was an extension of the 90s and the latter part was the 10s beginning then we could say the 00s was a decade of Indie Music. Except Indie Music is a genre that had been in the mainstream since the 80s.
From a personal perspective my interest in the charts was still there at the start of the decade but by the end of the decade I'd completely lost interest. Once Top of the Pops had finished it was all about music channels, but I was surprised to see how many songs I remember seeing frequently on the music channels that didn't chart and singles that charted highly that I have no recollection of seeing on the music channels.
There was a notable transformation once downloads became part of the charts. Prior to than one thing you could pretty much guarantee at least in the lower reaches of the charts was variety.
You had Dance music that was perhaps a bit specialist and not that radio friendly. Other genres that would be considered quite specialist could produce a handful of Top 40 singles. Music acts who's heyday was years behind them such as the Rolling Stones were still having minor hits as late as the mid-00s. Once downloads came in you had big Indie hits, but in the lower reaches of the charts were more obscure Indie hits.
Once Indie was on the decline we had Electropop doing exactly the same thing.
This is where people who say "modern music all sounds the same" may have a point. In 2009 there were loads of Electropop hits, many rappers and R&B singers had also started doing Electropop and most of the Indie music that remained was of the Electro variety. Dance music wise, whilst 2000 had lots of House, Garage, Trance etc by 2009 there were hardly any specialist genres in the charts and it was mostly EDM.
What's the difference between EDM and Electropop? I don't really know to be honest, my theory is if a DJ like David Guetta or Calvin Harris is involved then it's EDM, otherwise it's Electropop.
The burning question is has chart music moved on since 2009?
Nothing really stands out like those above examples do but what if we look a bit deeper into the music itself?
In the year 2000 it was all about the DJ and less about the guitar. By 2009 it was more or less the same but the middle part of the decade was all about guitars.
If we say the early part of the 00s was an extension of the 90s and the latter part was the 10s beginning then we could say the 00s was a decade of Indie Music. Except Indie Music is a genre that had been in the mainstream since the 80s.
From a personal perspective my interest in the charts was still there at the start of the decade but by the end of the decade I'd completely lost interest. Once Top of the Pops had finished it was all about music channels, but I was surprised to see how many songs I remember seeing frequently on the music channels that didn't chart and singles that charted highly that I have no recollection of seeing on the music channels.
There was a notable transformation once downloads became part of the charts. Prior to than one thing you could pretty much guarantee at least in the lower reaches of the charts was variety.
You had Dance music that was perhaps a bit specialist and not that radio friendly. Other genres that would be considered quite specialist could produce a handful of Top 40 singles. Music acts who's heyday was years behind them such as the Rolling Stones were still having minor hits as late as the mid-00s. Once downloads came in you had big Indie hits, but in the lower reaches of the charts were more obscure Indie hits.
Once Indie was on the decline we had Electropop doing exactly the same thing.
This is where people who say "modern music all sounds the same" may have a point. In 2009 there were loads of Electropop hits, many rappers and R&B singers had also started doing Electropop and most of the Indie music that remained was of the Electro variety. Dance music wise, whilst 2000 had lots of House, Garage, Trance etc by 2009 there were hardly any specialist genres in the charts and it was mostly EDM.
What's the difference between EDM and Electropop? I don't really know to be honest, my theory is if a DJ like David Guetta or Calvin Harris is involved then it's EDM, otherwise it's Electropop.
The burning question is has chart music moved on since 2009?
Saturday 12 January 2019
Most Top 40 Hits of the 2010s so far
Now we're in the final year of the 2010s I thought it would be interesting to see which acts have had the most Top 40 hits of the decade so far. There are a total of 60 acts who have had 10 or more Top 40 hits so far this decade. I'd say 10 hits in a decade is enough to have had an impact without being excessive, you just need one hit a year to achieve it. This is correct as of the end of 2018.
I'm going to write a little bit about the first few and then list the rest who have 10 or more, so here we go:
1. Drake - 46
It probably won't surprise many of you to find Drake leading the way. He made his Top 40 debut in 2010 meaning he's had 46 Top 40 hits overall as well. On the Official Charts website they incorrectly list him as having 43 Top 40 hits but they miss out "KMT", "No Long Talk" and "Portland" which were all hits for him in 2017.
Drake already has the record of most Top 40 hits in a decade beating Cliff Richard who had 43 Top 40 hits in the 60s. He start the decade that way though, by the end of 2015 he'd had 12 Top 40 hits so therefore averaged 2 a year. 34 hits in the 3 years since, including the 2016 number one "One Dance" which was top for 15 weeks, pushes him up to first place. He's currently 12th place in terms of most Top 40 hits ever.
2. Justin Bieber - 41
Had I made this list a year ago then Justin Bieber would be top but he's just had one Top 40 hit in 2018 so has been pushed down to second. Like Drake, he made his Top 40 debut in 2010 but whilst he was a big name back then, the charts didn't really reflect this.
At the end of 2012 he'd had 14 Top 40 hits but just 4 Top 10s and no number ones. In 2013 he scored his 5th Top 10 as featured artist on "ThatPower" by Will.I.Am and then released 10 singles from his album of which none made the Top 10, so that was 5 Top 10s out of 25 hits by the end of 2013.
He had no Top 40 hits in 2014, but then in 2015 he was back with 9 hits including 3 number ones. Since 2015 he's not had any Top 40 hits by himself but has been part of several collaborations including 3 more number ones.
3. Ed Sheeran - 36
It was only a matter of time before we'd get to Ed Sheeran, some may be surprised he's only in 3rd place. However Ed Sheeran made his Top 40 debut in 2011 so Drake and Justin Bieber have a head start over him.
The first 5 years of his chart career brought 19 Top 40 hits including 2 number ones. Then in 2016 he didn't have any hits but 2017 saw all 16 tracks on his album reach the Top 20 in the same week which pushed his total up to 35 and a collaboration later on that year with Eminem brought it to 36. He had no Top 40 hits in 2018 though.
4. Nicki Minaj - 34
Now we have the most obvious 3 out of the way, in fourth place we have Nicki Minaj. To be honest whilst I knew she'd be on the list somewhere I didn't think it would be as high as fourth.
She debuted in 2010 when she had 2 hits as featured artist. She then had a further 19 hits between 2011 and 2014 before a few hits as featured artist between 2015 and 2017 and then in 2018 she's had 8 Top 40 hits. Of her 34 hits, only 10 of them are by herself.
5. David Guetta - 33
David Guetta on the other hand has done none of his 33 Top 40 hits this decade by himself. It could be argued that it's because of his younger collaborators that he's managed so many hits this decade given he's aged 51. He made his Top 40 debut back in 2003 but has had the bulk of his hits in the 2010s.
The most Top 40 hit's he's had in a year was 6 in 2011 but he's had at least one Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far which brings his total up to 33.
6. Rihanna - 32
At the start of the decade if you were to ask me to predict who would have the most Top 40 hit's in the 2010s I would have guess Rihanna. By the end of 2011 she'd already clocked up 16 Top 40 hits in 2 years.
However as the decade has gone on she's had less of a presence in the charts, taking 6 years to get her next 16 hits. In 2018 she didn't have any Top 40 hits ending her run of Top 40 hits every year since her debut in 2005. She is currently 11th in terms of most Top 40 hits ever with 48, but with Drake only 2 behind her I suspect she won't stay there much longer.
7. Glee Cast - 30
They debuted in 2010 and had their last Top 40 hit in 2011 and managed to clock up 30 Top 40 hits in those 2 years. Given the fact the TV show which produced those singles is no more I suspect we won't be having any more hits from them.
8. Calvin Harris - 27
Before I got the numbers my guess for fourth place would have been Calvin Harris, but it turns out he's down in 8th place.
Prior to the 2010s he'd only had one collaboration but that did give him his first number one. He began the decade with the solo effort "You Used to Hold Me" which was his only hit of 2010. Since then he's only managed 3 hits by himself, but he leads the way in terms of most number ones this decade with 8.
9. Chris Brown - 23
After Rihanna's failure to score a Top 40 hit in 2018, the honour of most consecutive years of hits now goes to Chris Brown who's had a hit every year since his 2006 debut.
For 4 of those 9 years (2010, 2016, 2017 and 2018) he's just had the one hit.
= Tinie Tempah - 23
Also in 9th place we have Tinie Tempah. He made his debut in 2010 and had clocked up 12 Top 40 hits by the end of 2011. He's been more low key in the second half of the decade with just 4 Top 40 hits and none in 2018.
He's managed to score 7 number ones in that time as well meaning just under a third of his Top 40 hits were number ones.
11. Pitbull - 21
Pitbull made his Top 40 debut in 2009 and would soon be known as the rapper who seems to feature on everybody's record. You could normally tell he was going to appear when the record starts with the line "Mr Worldwide".
The only Top 40 hit he's done by himself this decade is "Back in Time", the rest have all been collaborations. However, he hasn't had a Top 40 hit since the start of 2015.
= Little Mix - 21
A few years ago it was said that the only X Factor winner to have some sort of music career after winning the X Factor was Leona Lewis. However 2011 winners Little Mix have now had a Top 40 career just as long and have had more Top 40 hits in the process.
They are still behind Girls Aloud (22), Bananarama (24) and Sugababes (26) in terms of most Top 40 hits for a Girl Group but as they're still currently active they could yet achieve this by the end of the decade.
13. Eminem - 20
We now have an artist who's Top 40 career started in the 20th century on the list. In fact despite Eminem being associated with the turn of the century more than any other era he's actually had more Top 40 hits this decade than any other decade.
It's been quite stop/start for him this decade though with no Top 40 hits in 2012, 2015 or 2016 and 9 of his 20 hits this decade coming in the last 2 years.
= Ellie Goulding - 20
Ellie Goulding made her Top 40 debut in 2010 and has had a Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far. She's never had more than four in a year (2010 and 2013) and has had one hit in 2017 and 2018.
= Katy Perry - 20
Katy Perry made her chart debut in 2008 and had the bulk of her hits this decade came in the first half. The only year she hasn't had a Top 40 hit was 2015, though she only just managed a hit in 2018 at the end of the year with a Christmas song.
= Taylor Swift - 20
Taylor Swift made her Top 40 debut in 2009 but got off to a slow start this decade with just one Top 40 hit in 2010 and none in 2011. Then she had hits every year between 2012 and 2017 but didn't have any in 2018.
Here is the list in full of those with 10 or more Top 40 hits this decade:
I'm going to write a little bit about the first few and then list the rest who have 10 or more, so here we go:
1. Drake - 46
It probably won't surprise many of you to find Drake leading the way. He made his Top 40 debut in 2010 meaning he's had 46 Top 40 hits overall as well. On the Official Charts website they incorrectly list him as having 43 Top 40 hits but they miss out "KMT", "No Long Talk" and "Portland" which were all hits for him in 2017.
Drake already has the record of most Top 40 hits in a decade beating Cliff Richard who had 43 Top 40 hits in the 60s. He start the decade that way though, by the end of 2015 he'd had 12 Top 40 hits so therefore averaged 2 a year. 34 hits in the 3 years since, including the 2016 number one "One Dance" which was top for 15 weeks, pushes him up to first place. He's currently 12th place in terms of most Top 40 hits ever.
2. Justin Bieber - 41
Had I made this list a year ago then Justin Bieber would be top but he's just had one Top 40 hit in 2018 so has been pushed down to second. Like Drake, he made his Top 40 debut in 2010 but whilst he was a big name back then, the charts didn't really reflect this.
At the end of 2012 he'd had 14 Top 40 hits but just 4 Top 10s and no number ones. In 2013 he scored his 5th Top 10 as featured artist on "ThatPower" by Will.I.Am and then released 10 singles from his album of which none made the Top 10, so that was 5 Top 10s out of 25 hits by the end of 2013.
He had no Top 40 hits in 2014, but then in 2015 he was back with 9 hits including 3 number ones. Since 2015 he's not had any Top 40 hits by himself but has been part of several collaborations including 3 more number ones.
3. Ed Sheeran - 36
It was only a matter of time before we'd get to Ed Sheeran, some may be surprised he's only in 3rd place. However Ed Sheeran made his Top 40 debut in 2011 so Drake and Justin Bieber have a head start over him.
The first 5 years of his chart career brought 19 Top 40 hits including 2 number ones. Then in 2016 he didn't have any hits but 2017 saw all 16 tracks on his album reach the Top 20 in the same week which pushed his total up to 35 and a collaboration later on that year with Eminem brought it to 36. He had no Top 40 hits in 2018 though.
4. Nicki Minaj - 34
Now we have the most obvious 3 out of the way, in fourth place we have Nicki Minaj. To be honest whilst I knew she'd be on the list somewhere I didn't think it would be as high as fourth.
She debuted in 2010 when she had 2 hits as featured artist. She then had a further 19 hits between 2011 and 2014 before a few hits as featured artist between 2015 and 2017 and then in 2018 she's had 8 Top 40 hits. Of her 34 hits, only 10 of them are by herself.
5. David Guetta - 33
David Guetta on the other hand has done none of his 33 Top 40 hits this decade by himself. It could be argued that it's because of his younger collaborators that he's managed so many hits this decade given he's aged 51. He made his Top 40 debut back in 2003 but has had the bulk of his hits in the 2010s.
The most Top 40 hit's he's had in a year was 6 in 2011 but he's had at least one Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far which brings his total up to 33.
6. Rihanna - 32
At the start of the decade if you were to ask me to predict who would have the most Top 40 hit's in the 2010s I would have guess Rihanna. By the end of 2011 she'd already clocked up 16 Top 40 hits in 2 years.
However as the decade has gone on she's had less of a presence in the charts, taking 6 years to get her next 16 hits. In 2018 she didn't have any Top 40 hits ending her run of Top 40 hits every year since her debut in 2005. She is currently 11th in terms of most Top 40 hits ever with 48, but with Drake only 2 behind her I suspect she won't stay there much longer.
7. Glee Cast - 30
They debuted in 2010 and had their last Top 40 hit in 2011 and managed to clock up 30 Top 40 hits in those 2 years. Given the fact the TV show which produced those singles is no more I suspect we won't be having any more hits from them.
8. Calvin Harris - 27
Before I got the numbers my guess for fourth place would have been Calvin Harris, but it turns out he's down in 8th place.
Prior to the 2010s he'd only had one collaboration but that did give him his first number one. He began the decade with the solo effort "You Used to Hold Me" which was his only hit of 2010. Since then he's only managed 3 hits by himself, but he leads the way in terms of most number ones this decade with 8.
9. Chris Brown - 23
After Rihanna's failure to score a Top 40 hit in 2018, the honour of most consecutive years of hits now goes to Chris Brown who's had a hit every year since his 2006 debut.
For 4 of those 9 years (2010, 2016, 2017 and 2018) he's just had the one hit.
= Tinie Tempah - 23
Also in 9th place we have Tinie Tempah. He made his debut in 2010 and had clocked up 12 Top 40 hits by the end of 2011. He's been more low key in the second half of the decade with just 4 Top 40 hits and none in 2018.
He's managed to score 7 number ones in that time as well meaning just under a third of his Top 40 hits were number ones.
11. Pitbull - 21
Pitbull made his Top 40 debut in 2009 and would soon be known as the rapper who seems to feature on everybody's record. You could normally tell he was going to appear when the record starts with the line "Mr Worldwide".
The only Top 40 hit he's done by himself this decade is "Back in Time", the rest have all been collaborations. However, he hasn't had a Top 40 hit since the start of 2015.
= Little Mix - 21
A few years ago it was said that the only X Factor winner to have some sort of music career after winning the X Factor was Leona Lewis. However 2011 winners Little Mix have now had a Top 40 career just as long and have had more Top 40 hits in the process.
They are still behind Girls Aloud (22), Bananarama (24) and Sugababes (26) in terms of most Top 40 hits for a Girl Group but as they're still currently active they could yet achieve this by the end of the decade.
13. Eminem - 20
We now have an artist who's Top 40 career started in the 20th century on the list. In fact despite Eminem being associated with the turn of the century more than any other era he's actually had more Top 40 hits this decade than any other decade.
It's been quite stop/start for him this decade though with no Top 40 hits in 2012, 2015 or 2016 and 9 of his 20 hits this decade coming in the last 2 years.
= Ellie Goulding - 20
Ellie Goulding made her Top 40 debut in 2010 and has had a Top 40 hit every year of the decade so far. She's never had more than four in a year (2010 and 2013) and has had one hit in 2017 and 2018.
= Katy Perry - 20
Katy Perry made her chart debut in 2008 and had the bulk of her hits this decade came in the first half. The only year she hasn't had a Top 40 hit was 2015, though she only just managed a hit in 2018 at the end of the year with a Christmas song.
= Taylor Swift - 20
Taylor Swift made her Top 40 debut in 2009 but got off to a slow start this decade with just one Top 40 hit in 2010 and none in 2011. Then she had hits every year between 2012 and 2017 but didn't have any in 2018.
Here is the list in full of those with 10 or more Top 40 hits this decade:
| 1 | Drake | 46 |
| 2 | Justin Bieber | 41 |
| 3 | Ed Sheeran | 36 |
| 4 | Nicki Minaj | 34 |
| 5 | David Guetta | 33 |
| 6 | Rihanna | 32 |
| 7 | Glee Cast | 30 |
| 8 | Calvin Harris | 27 |
| 9 | Chris Brown | 23 |
| = | Tinie Tempah | 23 |
| 11 | Pitbull | 21 |
| = | Little Mix | 21 |
| 13 | Eminem | 20 |
| = | Ellie Goulding | 20 |
| = | Katy Perry | 20 |
| = | Taylor Swift | 20 |
| 17 | Kanye West | 19 |
| = | Rita Ora | 19 |
| 19 | Jason Derulo | 18 |
| = | Olly Murs | 18 |
| = | One Direction | 18 |
| 22 | Beyonce | 17 |
| = | Bruno Mars | 17 |
| = | Ariana Grande | 17 |
| 25 | Weeknd | 16 |
| = | Kendrick Lamar | 16 |
| 27 | Example | 15 |
| = | Jessie J | 15 |
| = | Lady Gaga | 15 |
| 30 | Will.I.Am | 14 |
| = | Emeli Sande | 14 |
| = | Selena Gomez | 14 |
| = | Sam Smith | 14 |
| 34 | Usher | 13 |
| = | Lil Wayne | 13 |
| = | Maroon 5 | 13 |
| = | Flo Rida | 13 |
| 38 | Sia | 12 |
| = | Wanted | 12 |
| = | Avicii | 12 |
| = | Jess Glynne | 12 |
| 42 | Coldplay | 11 |
| = | Pink | 11 |
| = | Sean Paul | 11 |
| = | Dizzee Rascal | 11 |
| = | Ne-Yo | 11 |
| = | Kesha | 11 |
| = | Labrinth | 11 |
| = | Saturdays | 11 |
| = | Clean Bandit | 11 |
| = | Stormzy | 11 |
| 52 | DJ Fresh | 10 |
| = | JLS | 10 |
| = | Professor Green | 10 |
| = | Skepta | 10 |
| = | James Arthur | 10 |
| = | Rudimental | 10 |
| = | Charli XCX | 10 |
| = | Ella Eyre | 10 |
| = | Dua Lipa | 10 |
Thursday 10 January 2019
Top of the Pops: 10/01/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 10
Re (15) Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi - Baby
Re (14) George Ezra - Hold My Girl
⬆ (9) Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
⬆ (3) Post Malone ft Swae Lee - Sunflower
New (5) Post Malone - Wow
New (19) Jax Jones ft Years & Years - Play
New (35) Cardi B - Money
New (36) Russ - Gun Lean
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
Re (27) Cadet ft Deno Driz - Advice
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 10
Re (15) Clean Bandit ft Marina & Luis Fonsi - Baby
Re (14) George Ezra - Hold My Girl
⬆ (9) Zara Larsson - Ruin My Life
⬆ (3) Post Malone ft Swae Lee - Sunflower
New (5) Post Malone - Wow
New (19) Jax Jones ft Years & Years - Play
New (35) Cardi B - Money
New (36) Russ - Gun Lean
(1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
Re (27) Cadet ft Deno Driz - Advice
Sunday 6 January 2019
Record of the Year 2009: Chicane - Poppiholla
In the days before EDM, Trance was probably the most ridiculed genre of Dance music aside from Happy Hardcore. Given the DJ Sammy type crap of taking the vocals from and old song and put some generic Trance riff behind it that was all over the charts in the early 00s you could maybe understand why.
However if you look beyond the cheese there was some genuinely good Trance music out there. One man who was there throughout the popularity of Trance in the charts was Nicholas Bracegirdle aka Chicane.
This was the last Top 40 hit for Chicane and was arguably the last Trance Top 40 hit too. Ironically this is effectively a Trance version of an older record, "Hoppiholla" by Sigur Ros. Unlike DJ Sammy and co though, he takes the main riff as the sample rather than the vocals and it works, there's nothing cheesy about it at all.
This came at a time when most of the Dance music in the charts was what went on to become known as EDM and was therefore pretty dreadful, so it was really good to hear this whilst that was going on.
I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but the videos for "Poppiholla" seems to be a response to the video for ""Hoppiholla". In "Hoppiholla" we have groups of OAPs up to no good doing things you would normally associate with young trouble makers. In "Poppiholla" we have a hooded man who people assume to be a thug, but at the end of the video he runs a ridiculously long distance to save someone from bricks falling on their head.
Thursday 3 January 2019
Top of the Pops: 03/01/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 22
⬆ (6) Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
⬆ (4) Pogues ft Kirsty Maccoll - Fairytale of New York
⬆ (27) Pinkfong - Baby Shark
⬆ (3) Wham! - Last Christmas
New (38) Idina Menzel ft Michael Buble - Baby It's Cold Outside
New (30) Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
New (23) Katy Perry - Cozy Little Christmas
New (22) Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
⬆ (1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
⬆ (7) Michael Buble - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like
⬆ (8) Leona Lewis - One More Sleep
⬆ (9) Shakin Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
⬆ (10) Elton John - Step Into Christmas
⬆ (16) Brenda Lee - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
Re (24) Sia - Santa's Coming For Us
Re (26) Boney M - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord
Re (28) Justin Bieber - Mistletoe
Re (29) Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Re (31) Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Re (36) East 17 - Stay Another Day
Re (37) Kelly Clarkson - Underneath the Tree
Re (38) Mud - Lonely This Christmas
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 22
⬆ (6) Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas
⬆ (4) Pogues ft Kirsty Maccoll - Fairytale of New York
⬆ (27) Pinkfong - Baby Shark
⬆ (3) Wham! - Last Christmas
New (38) Idina Menzel ft Michael Buble - Baby It's Cold Outside
New (30) Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
New (23) Katy Perry - Cozy Little Christmas
New (22) Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
⬆ (1) Ava Max - Sweet But Psycho
Missing Out
⬆ (7) Michael Buble - It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like
⬆ (8) Leona Lewis - One More Sleep
⬆ (9) Shakin Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
⬆ (10) Elton John - Step Into Christmas
⬆ (16) Brenda Lee - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
Re (24) Sia - Santa's Coming For Us
Re (26) Boney M - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord
Re (28) Justin Bieber - Mistletoe
Re (29) Andy Williams - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Re (31) Bing Crosby - White Christmas
Re (36) East 17 - Stay Another Day
Re (37) Kelly Clarkson - Underneath the Tree
Re (38) Mud - Lonely This Christmas
Tuesday 1 January 2019
Ray Sawyer dies
Today brought the news that Ray Sawyer from Dr Hook has died. Although he wasn't the lead singer of the band he was perhaps the most recognised with his eye patch and hat. Some people thought he was Dr Hook not realising it was a band and not a person.
As a teenager my music taste was strictly Dance Music until one day I opened myself up to different types of music and the first album I acquired after this was Dr Hook, the "Completely Hooked" album which is one of their best of compilations.
I first came across Dr Hook when my mum bought a 70s compilation tape and would play it in the house a lot at the time. The song that I liked the best on the tape was "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman". Once the tape stopped being played so much I more or less forgot about it.
Then one day some years later a couple of people I knew were having a conversation about their favourite Dr Hook song. I remembered how I liked "When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" and when I got home I dug out the old tape and gave it a listen. It was still the only Dr Hook song I knew, but one of these people gave me a copy of "Completely Hooked".
The best way to describe it overall was music with a sense of humour. There was "Sylvia's Mother" about what sounded like an expensive telephone conversation, "Cover of the Rolling Stone" about not being able to get on the cover of that magazine, "Everybody's Making It Big But Me" which questioned why other musicians are having success and they aren't even though they're not that different.
They were just the opening three tracks, but my personal favourite which is the video I've posted is "Sleeping Late". As a teenager who didn't want to get up before lunchtime, a song about how great it is to sleep late was right up my street.
Dr Hook went through a number of line-up changes, the only members in the band throughout the 70s were Ray, Dennis Locorriere and Billy Francis who died in 2010. They called it a day in the early 80s but both Ray and Dennis have since toured with their own versions of the band.
Dennis Locorriere posted on his website his answer to a question he gets asked all the time which was whether there would be a Dr Hook reunion. He made the point that the line up didn't remain the same throughout and some members have since passed away so if their was a reunion it would include people who had never played together before so wouldn't really be a reunion.
I suspect what many people meant by a Dr Hook reunion though was having both Ray and Dennis back on the stage together again. Sadly that's not going to happen now.
RIP Ray Sawyer.
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