UK Number 40s: Jedward - Lipstick

 

I've never watched an episode of The X Factor but to my knowledge it follows a simple format. First a contestant will sing to the judges who then decide if their singing is good enough to go through to the next round. After a handful of contestants make it through it's then up to the public to vote for their favourites.

One would think you would need to be a good singer to succeed, but Jedward proved that was not the case. They are amongst the best known X Factor contestants because they were supposedly a bit rubbish. They were on the 2009 series, though they didn't win it.

At the start of 2010 they hooked up with Vanilla Ice to do a cover of "Ice Ice Baby" which got to number two in the charts. Then in 2011 came this, their only other Top 40 hit.

In the 90s when Ireland were winning Eurovision regularly, the comedy show Father Ted did an episode where Ireland picked the worst song to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest so ensure they wouldn't win and therefore wouldn't need to spend the money on hosting it.

This is presumably the mentality Ireland had in 2011 because they picked it to represent them that year. It didn't win, but finished 8th which isn't a bad result really. They were also picked for the 2012 entry with "Waterline" by that never made the UK Top 40.

The number 40 placing of this record means it's the only Ireland Eurovision entry to make the UK Top 40 in the 21st century so far.

20 Years Since....Q2 2005

Here's the tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:

Nelly ft Tim Mcgraw - Over and Over

Tim Mcgraw was just about the biggest country singer in America around this time but was relatively unknown in the UK until this collaboration with Nelly. 

This came from Nelly's "Suit" album so was more of an R&B/country crossover rather than rap/country crossover. I recall after the success of this record Tim Mcgraw tried to crack the UK market with a song about sky diving and rocky mountain climbing but it never really worked.

Twista - Hope

I owned the Twista album by the time this came out as a single. I know this because the single version had Faith Evans on it but the album version doesn't. I prefer the album version, it's one of the highlights of the album really.

Snoop Dogg ft Charlie Wilson & Justin Timberlake - Signs

One of my interests outside music is tennis and after driving to Wimbledon listening to Snoop Dogg's "Tha Last Meal" in 2001 I made it a bit of a tradition to listen to that album when driving to Wimbledon.

I therefore found it amusing that 4 years later Snoop Dogg comes out with a record that mentions Venus and Serena at the Wimbledon arena.

Lil Jon & the Eastside Boyz - Get Low / Lovers & Friends

"Get Low" was pretty much the best known Lil Jon record that was a couple of years old by this point. "Lovers & Friends" sees Lil Jon reunite with Usher and Ludacris following the success of "Yeah". As mentioned previously I was a big fan of Lil Jon around this time.

Nelly - N Dey Say

It had all been done before, PM Dawn had their biggest hit with a "True" by Spandau Ballet sampled record. It worked really well though so there's no reason why Nelly having a crack at it wouldn't work either.

It did work, though more of an R&B record really and was taken from his "Suit" album.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 27

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

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.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

27. 2Pac - Dear Mama

This was Top 40 hit number 12 for 2Pac and his 10th posthumous Top 40 hit. It was originally on his 1995 album "Me Against The World" so had been well known for some time by the time it reached the Top 40. Like many 2Pac record, I like it. 

Verdict - Good

26. Dixie Chicks - There's Your Trouble

The Dixie Chicks are one of those American country groups I'm aware of without knowing any of their music. I assumed they had no UK Top 40 hits, but they managed one. It's just as crap as I expected it to be

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 16/30, or 53%. We stay above 50%.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 27

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Skibby ft King Lover - Feel My Riddim

This was the only Dutch Top 40 hit for Skibby as an artist. The 2 people behind Skibby though were 2 Brothers on the 4th Floor and this was a side project. It's a ragga influenced Eurodance record that's made to the tune of "I Will Follow Him". Vocalist King Lover would return to the Dutch Top 40 in 1997 providing vocals for a T-Spoon record.

Adiemus - Adiemus

Here we have a British record that made the Dutch Top 40 but failed to make the UK Top 40. It may however still ring a bell due to its use on an advert. It's what's known as worldbeat music which did have a degree of popularity in the UK around the mid-90s but this somehow failed to make the cut.

Bert Heerlink - Julie July

This record may also ring a bell if you're from the UK. It's essentially a cover of "Brother Louie" by Hot Chocolate but sung in Dutch. Bert Heerlink is a Dutch actor and this was his only Dutch Top 40 hit. He was however a part of Dutch rock band Vandenberg at one point.

2001: The Good Old Days? - April

It was April 2001 when MTV Dance was first launched so clearly dance music was considered to be big enough to have it's own channel. There were also more dance new entries in April than any other genre.

It's a dance record that is the best record this month which is "Happiness" by Sound De-Zign. It samples "Let the Beat Hit Em" by Shena which itself is a particularly good record.

There were 2 UK Garage new entries this month and both were lesser known follow ups to big hits. They were "Garage Girls" by Lonyo and "Show Me the Money" by Architechs. Both are decent records.

We have "Gonna Work It Out" by Hi-Gate which I associate with the launch of MTV Dance in a positive way. Orbital showed they hadn't lost their way in the 21st century with "Funny Break (One Is Enough)" which was a solid record.

From the world of rap and R&B it's not looking so good. The only record to get any points is "Snoop Dogg" by Snoop Dogg and even that is one of my least favourite tracks from his excellent "Tha Last Meal" album.

Rap gives us the worst record which is "Get UR Freak On" by Missy Elliott which I find a really irritating record. One thing I remember at the time was Trevor Nelson praising her talent of being able to both sing and rap well but I personally don't think she's any good at either.

There is however a rock record with rapping on it that I like which is "Butterfly" by Crazy Town.

The Bee Gees had their final Top 40 hit with "This Is Where I Came In". Normally a band who has been around for that long will be long past their best by this stage but I would say this record is amongst their best and a great one to round off their Top 40 career with.

Ocean Colour Scene were past their 90s heyday by this point but continued to have hits well into the 21st century. Their record this month was "Up On The Down" side which is a decent effort.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 27%

Here's a look at the chart:

Again we are seeing that 2001 is looking better than the years that followed but not enough high scores to consider it to be the good old days. If the remaining 3 months have 40%+ scores it would be a different story.

January Charts: 1965

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Manfred Mann - Come Tomorrow

2. The Kinks - Tired Of Waiting For You

3. Them - Baby Please Don't Go

4. The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

5. Del Shannon - Keep Searchin'

6. Rockin' Berries - What In The World's Come Over You

7. The Supremes - Come See About Me

8. Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

9. Val Doonican - The Special Years

10. The Hollies - Yes I Will

11. Chuck Berry - Promised Land

12. Francoise Hardy - Et Meme

13. Dodie West - Goin' Out Of My Head

14. The Beach Boys - Dance Dance Dance

15. Billy Fury - I'm Lost Without You

16. Seekers - I'll Never Find Another You

17. Shangri-Las - Leader Of The Pack

18. Brian Poole And The Tremeloes - Three Bells

19. The Dave Clark Five - Everybody Knows

20. Sue Thompson - Paper Tiger

21. Cheetahs - Soldier Boy

22. Cilla Black - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

If January 1964 was the month we could see how popular mersey beat was, January 1965 is the month we can see it going out of fashion. The Beatles had released the "Beatles For Sale" album at the end of 1964 which was a move away from that sound towards something Bod Dylan influenced.

Although they famously covered Bob Dylan records, my number one record "Come Tomorrow" by Manfred Mann isn't Bob Dylan influenced but does follow the trend of music getting mellow.

The same could be said of my number 2 record "Tired Of Waiting For You" by The Kinks which was a move away from the garage rock sound they broke through with the previous year.

Them on the other hand bucked that trend and gave us a blues rock record "Baby Please Don't Go" which had a harder edge to it than the British rhythm and blues sound that had been popular previously.

We're back to having different versions of the same song. This time it's "You've Lost That Lovin Feelin". The Righteous Brothers version is one I've loved since the 1990 rerelease. The Cilla Black version on the other hand is terrible and finds itself bottom of the table.

Liverpool singer Billy Fury has moved away from the mersey beat sound and onto a ballad. Again though it's relatively low placing is more a sign of the competition as I actually quite like it.

In terms of Bob Dylan influence we have Chuck Berry having his final Top 40 hit of the 60s which whilst being typical Chuck Berry style it's based on a folk record. We also have the more pop folk sound of The Seekers making their debut with "I'll Never Find Another You". Brian Poole and the Tremeloes went down the same route as The Beatles with the folk style "Three Bells" but this doesn't quite deliver. It is however slightly better than "Everybody Knows" by The Dave Clark Five who are yet to move with the times.

We're also seeing the emergence of soul music with The Supremes scoring their 3rd Top 40 hit with "Come See About Me" which is the best of that bunch, followed by "Getting Mighty Crowded" by Betty Everett. 

No The Bachelors this month but there is another easy listening Irish act in this batch, Val Doonican. Here he is showing that old fashioned for the time doesn't always mean bad as I quite like "The Special Years".

Overall I do like the majority of the records in this batch and as a result we have a new highest score so far.

Score: 55

UK Number 40s: T-Pain ft Chris Brown - Best Love Song (2011)

 

Both Chris Brown and T-Pain made their Top 40 debuts in 2006. This was Top 40 hit number 8 for T-Pain and number 14 for Chris Brown. For the first time in doing these posts though I don't really want to mention how many Top 40 hits either act has had as they've probably had more by the time you read this.

T-Pain has been a lot more low key since this collaboration, but Chris Brown has been quite prolific. He had at least one Top 40 hit every year between 2006 and 2020, nobody else could claim the same thing. Included in that was a couple of chart toppers.

What I will say is Chris Brown has probably had more Top 40 hits than you think so inevitably some of them will end up in the lower reaches.