What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 11
⬆ (30) Au/Ra ft Camelphat - Panic Room
⬆ (21) Panic At the Disco - High Hopes
⬆ (15) Marshmello ft Bastille - Happier
New (6) Eminem ft Joyner Lucas - Lucky You
New (38) AJ Tracey - Lo(v/s)er
New (36) Bazzi ft Camila Cabello - Beautiful
New (35) Dean Lewis - Be Alright
New (22) LSD ft Sia, Diplo & Labrinth - Thunderclouds
⬆ (1) Calvin Harris ft Sam Smith - Promises
Missing Out
New (4) Eminem - The Ringer
New (9) Eminem - Fall
Thursday, 13 September 2018
Sunday, 9 September 2018
Stiltskin
The video above is "Under the Tree" by Water Babies. You may be thinking why this is in a post about Stiltskin. Well, it turns out that the man behind that tune is Peter Lawlor of Stiltskin. I was somewhat surprised by this considering it sounds nothing like Stiltskin, but it's actually not that unusual once you know the whole story. First here's a reminder of who Stiltskin were with there number one hit "Inside":
When I first heard this on Top of the Pops in 1994 I thought they were another Grunge band from Seattle. At the same time it sounded like they were basically trying to sound exactly like Nirvana and I questioned whether they'd be seen as a credible Grunge band or just a Nirvana wannabe.
The following day people were talking about that Grunge song on Top of the Pops being quite good and the following week it was number one. It turns out they weren't from Seattle though, not even from America, they were a Scottish band based in London. They followed this up with the minor hit "Footsteps" and released an album before calling it a day.
Whilst Grunge was arguably at it's most popular at the time, the charts never really reflected this. Nirvana had the best chart record but had never got any higher than 5, whilst Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots had never had a top ten hit by this point, so how did a band nobody had heard of come from nowhere to score a number one?
Well it turns out they weren't really a band before "Inside" came out. Peter Lawlor was asked to write a song for the Levi's advert and this song was it. Kurt Cobain had recently died which arguably made Grunge more popular at that moment in time, so having a Grunge song on the Levi's advert was almost a guaranteed number one. Stiltskin were basically formed on the back of that song, Peter Lawlor had played all the instruments on it and no vocals were in the advert, so presumably they were added later on.
The Water Babies song "Under the Tree" was used in the Vodafone advert, so on that basis it shouldn't be much of a surprise that it's written by Peter Lawlor, because he's basically a man who writes songs for adverts and the style of music would must likely be to do with the nature of the advert.
Stiltskin meanwhile reunited in 2006 with only singer Ray Wilson from the original line up and they've released two albums since.
Thursday, 6 September 2018
Top of the Pops: 06/09/2018
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
⬆ (24) B Young - 079me
⬆ (20) David Guetta ft Anne Marie - Don't Leave Me Alone
⬆ (17) Dennis Lloyd - Nevermind
⬆ (10) Juice Wrld - Lucid Dreams
⬆ (9) Tyga ft Offset - Taste
New (21) BTS - Idol
New (37) Pinkfong - Baby Shark
New (36) Freya Ridings - Lost Without You
⬆ (3) Benny Blanco ft Halsey & Khalid - Eastside
Missing Out
⬆ (25) Panic At the Disco - High Hopes
⬆ (32) Hardy Caprio ft One Acen - Best Life
⬆ (33) Au/Ra ft Camelphat - Panic Room
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
⬆ (24) B Young - 079me
⬆ (20) David Guetta ft Anne Marie - Don't Leave Me Alone
⬆ (17) Dennis Lloyd - Nevermind
⬆ (10) Juice Wrld - Lucid Dreams
⬆ (9) Tyga ft Offset - Taste
New (21) BTS - Idol
New (37) Pinkfong - Baby Shark
New (36) Freya Ridings - Lost Without You
⬆ (3) Benny Blanco ft Halsey & Khalid - Eastside
Missing Out
⬆ (25) Panic At the Disco - High Hopes
⬆ (32) Hardy Caprio ft One Acen - Best Life
⬆ (33) Au/Ra ft Camelphat - Panic Room
Monday, 3 September 2018
Record of the Year 2004: Armand Van Helden - My My My
It goes without saying that as long as Dance music has existed in the charts a sizable chunk of it has been cheesy vocal rubbish. However towards the late 90s there was just as much of the good stuff as there was the cheese, mainly because there was so much Dance music in the charts.
By 2004 there was much less Dance music in the charts and the bulk of what was left was cheesy vocal rubbish. If I was to pick a Dance tune without any vocals, my choices would be "Rocker" by Alter Ego and...actually that's it. In fact that particular tune was a strong candidate, but in the end I decided to pick "My My My" by Armand Van Helden.
It was late 2004 that I was getting back into Dance music again after a period of predominantly listening to Rap & R&B and this was one of the tunes that did get me back into it. The difference though was that in the past I thought the faster the music the better, now the tempo of House music sounded just right for me.
Many of the Dance tunes of 2004 heavily sampled old tunes and this was no exception, sampling "Comin Apart" by Gary Wright. However the tune it samples is one I'd guess not too many people know and when I listen to the tune it samples it makes me want to listen to this tune, so it's a job well done in my opinion.
This reached number 15 in the charts and was rereleased two years later when it reached number 12.
Sunday, 2 September 2018
UK Singles Chart: 2004
Joining the 30+ UK Top 40 hits club this year are George Michael, R Kelly and Tina Turner. It would be the last we'd see of Tina Turner in the Top 40:
Scoring their sixth number ones this year were U2 and Robbie Williams:
No Madonna, Mariah Carey or Mary J Blige this year, so the act with the most consecutive years of hits is now R Kelly with a hit every year since 1994:
Since the 90s, each years most successful act tended to be the pop act of the moment but this was to change in 2004. More than two decades into their career, U2 were the most successful act this year from a chart perspective with two hits and two number ones.
They didn't have an awful lot to do with their first number one of the year, "Take Me To the Clouds Above". It was credited to LMC vs U2 as it sampled "With Or Without You" and had the vocals to "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston. Their second number one of the year "Vertigo" was very much to do with them. Lead singer Bono had a third number one of the year as part of Band Aid 20 who had the Christmas number one with an updated version of "Do They Know Its Christmas".
The first number on of the year came from the winner of the second series of Pop Idol, Michelle with "All This Time". Her follow up "The Meaning Of Love" however failed to reach the Top 10 when it came out in April and that marked the end of her chart career.
Second and Third placed contestants on the second series of Pop Idol became the duo Sam & Mark. They too began with a number one "With a Little Help from My Friends/Measure of a Man" and also failed to reach the top ten with the follow up "The Sun Has Come Your Way" and that was the end of their chart career. No other contestants from the second series of Pop Idol had any hits and there were no further series of Pop Idol.
There was however a replacement show for Pop Idol that began this year, the X Factor. The end of the year brought us the first X Factor related single. Simon Cowell had told contestant Paul Holt that if he made Christmas number one he'd give him 50K. He released the song "50K For Christmas" but it only managed number 35.
Fame Academy winner Alex Parks already debuted the previous year and she had her second single "Cry" in February which failed to reach the top ten and that was the end of her chart career. Runner up Alistair Griffin reached number five with his debut "Bring It On/My Lovers Prayer" with the latter being a collaboration with Fame Academy judge Robin Gibb. He failed to reach the top ten with his follow up "You And Me (Tonight)" but his chart career wasn't quite over yet, but it would be another six years until we saw him again. The other Fame Acedemy contestant to have a hit was James Fox who had the UK Eurovision entry with "Hold On To Our Love". It would be another four years until we'd see him back in the charts.
It was the end for Busted this year who's final hit was the number one "Thunderbirds Are Go/3am". They also had a number one with "Who's David" and a number two with "Air Hostess" and had managed reach the top three with all of their hits.
Before Busted called it a day though, there was a ready made replacement for Busted in McFly. They debuted at number one with "5 Colours In Her Hair". Their follow up "Obviously" also made number one and they had top five hits with "That Girl" and "Room on the 3rd Floor".
Another replacement for Busted in terms of style without the chart success to match was Noise Next Door. They debuted at number 12 with "Lock Up Ya Daughters / Ministry Of Mayhem".
Another boyband calling it a day this year were Blazin Squad who's final hit came in February with "Here 4 One". Later on in the year it was the end for Blue with their final hit before splitting up being "Curtain Falls".
The post-Blue careers had already begun for two of the members. Duncan James reached number two with the hit "I Believe My Heart" collaborating with "Keedie". Simon Webbe meanwhile went into management which brought us VS. They had their only three hits this year with "Love You Like Mad", "Call U Sexy" and "Make It Hot". VS member Marvin Humes would be back in years to come as a member of JLS.
Westlife had just the one hit this year with "Obvious". Then Brian McFadden left the group and started his solo career with the number one "Real To Me". He followed this up with "Irish Son" which made number six.
Pop Stars: The Rivals males runners up Phixx had hits this year with "Love Revolution" and "Wild Boys" which both failed to reach the top ten, but they weren't quite finished yet. It was however the end of D-Side who's final hit was "Pushin' Me Out".
In June we had the debut of boyband V who made number six with "Blood Sweat And Tears". They managed one place higher with follow up "Hip To Hip / Can You Feel It" but only made number 12 with the next single "You Stood Up" which proved to be their final one.
Girls Aloud scored their second number one this year with a cover of "I'll Stand By You" which was the song for Children In Need. They also had number twos with "The Show" and "Love Machine".
The Sugababes had two number eights this year with "In the Middle" and "Caught In A Moment". Meanwhile Atomic Kitten called it a day and also reached number eight with the single "Someone Like Me/Right Now 2004". However their chart career wasn't quite finished yet despite them splitting up.
It was however the end for Bellefire with their final hit being "Say Something Anyway" and for Lemonescent with their final hit being "All Right Now". Pop Stars: The Rivals female runners up Clea had their second single this year with "Stuck In The Middle" but weren't quite finished yet.
The only girl group making their debut this year was Mania who made number 29 with their only single "Looking For A Place".
Original Pop Stars runners up Liberty X were still around but it was a low key year for them with their only hit coming in January with "Everybody Cries" which didn't make the top ten.
It was the end of the chart career of S Club 8 (formerly Juniors) in January with their final hit being "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry". Pete Waterman saw a gap in the mixed gender pop group market and brought us his new band called Pop. They didn't get off to the best of starts when their debut "Heaven And Earth" only made number 14, then it was withdrawn from sale after a week because the CD contained a track longer than the permitted length. Follow up "Can't Say Goodbye" only made 26, but they weren't quite finished yet.
After appearing on reality TV show "I'm A Celebrity", Peter Andre was back in the charts after 6 years away reaching number one with a re-issue of "Mysterious Girl". He follow this up with a song he wrote whilst on the show, "Insania" which made number three. However the hype about him died down when his third hit of the year "The Right Way" came out which only made number 14.
Daniel Bedingfield had achieved a number one each year for the first three years of his career but only managed a number three this year with his only single "Nothing Hurts Like Love". However we saw the beginning of his sister Natasha Bedingfields career with "Single" followed by the number one "These Words" and another hit with "Unwritten".
There was notably less Dance music overall in the charts this year but we still had a few Dance number ones. There was "Cha Cha Slide" by DJ Casper which had originally been recorded in 1999. We also had "Lolas Theme" by Shapeshiters and "Call On Me" by Eric Prydz reach number one.
The latter sampled "Valerie" by Steve Winwood and was one of several Dance versions of old records. Others included "This Time I Know It's For Real" by Kelly Llorenna, "Touch Me" by Angel City, "Hungry Eyes" by Eye Opener, "Out Of Touch" by Uniting Nations and "Somebody To Love" and "Sunny" by Boogie Pimps.
We also had the Trance versions of old Happy Hardcore tracks with "Discoland" by Flip & Fill featuring Karen Parry and "You're Shining" by Styles & Breeze who did the original Happy Hardcore version.
Perhaps the most surprising number one was the UK Garage tune "Babycakes" by 3 Of A Kind. It was just a one off as far as UK Garage was concerned, the only other record of the year that could vaguely be described as UK Garage was "Stand Up Tall" by Dizzee Rascal.
Dizzee Rascal also had a hit this year with "Dream". We had two other Grime artists making their chart debuts this year, Wiley with "Wot Do U Call It?" and Shystie with "One Wish".
Making his debut this year was Martin Solveig with "Rocking Music". Also making their chart debut this year were Scissor Sisters who had already made their name in the Electroclash scene. Their debut hit was a cover of "Comfortably Numb" and they also had hits with "Take Your Mama", "Laura" and "Mary".
The main music genre on the rise this year was Indie music. Many of the acts you would associate with mid-00s Indie music made their debuts this year. These included Zutons with "Pressure Point", Snow Patrol with "Run", Razorlight with "Stumble And Fall", Keane with "Somewhere Only We Know", Ordinary Boys with "Week In Week Out", Kasabian with "Club Foot", Kaiser Chiefs with "I Predict A Riot", Franz Ferdinand with "Take Me Out", Killers with "Somebody Told Me" and Bloc Party with "Little Thoughts / Tulips".
It was the end of the chart career of the Libertines with their final hit being "What Became Of The Likely Lads". Libertines singer Pete Doherty formed a new Babyshambles who debuted with a song of the same name.
It was the final year that all of the big four Garage Rock bands would be in the charts. The Vines had their final hit with "Ride" and the Hives had their final hit with "Walk Idiot Walk". The White Stripes had a hit with "Jolene - Live Under Blackpool Lights" and the Strokes had hits with "Reptilia" and "The End Has No End".
There was a return to the charts after a six year absence for Morrissey with the single "Irish Blood English Heart" which reached number three and became his highest charting single to date and first top ten hit in a decade.
After three years away Green Day returned to the charts with "American Idiot" which was their highest charting single to date reaching number three and was their first top ten since "Basket Case" at the start of 1995. They followed this up with the number five "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".
Also back in the charts was Offspring with "Hit That" which would be their final hit. Blink 182 had three hits with the biggest being the top ten single "I Miss You".
Hard Rock group Thunder returned to the charts after five years away with "I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll". We also had the debut of Velvet Revolver who were ex Guns N Roses members Slash, Duff and Matt alongside ex Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They had their only two hits this year which were "Slither" and "Fall To Pieces".
We still had the revival of Grunge in the charts with Nickelback and the Calling, Glam Metal with the Darkness and Gothic Rock with Evanescence, Him and newcomers Rasmus who debuted with "In the Shadows".
Linkin Park had a hit with "Breaking The Habbit" and they also teamed up with Jay-Z mashing up their tune "Numb" with "Encore" by Jay-Z.
In April we had the chart debut of Kanye West with "Through the Wire". At the same time he featured on "This Way" by Dilated Peoples and "Slow Jamz" by Twista who was also making his chart debut.
Eminem was back in the charts with his fifth number one "Just Lose It". This knocked his nemesis Ja Rule off number one with his only chart topper "Wonderful" in collaboration with R Kelly and Ashanti.
We also had an R&B/Rap double a-side from Nelly reach number one with "My Place/Flap Your Wings". These came from two albums he released at the same time, "Sweat" which was Rap and "Suit" which was R&B. He also had a hit with "Tilt Ya Head Back" with Christina Aguilera which came from the "Sweat" album.
The big story in the R&B world this year came from two debutants. First up was Eamon who scored a number one with "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)", a song about his ex girlfriend with lots of swearing in it. This was then knocked off number one by his alleged ex girlfriend Frankee with a response song "FURB (Fuck U Right Back)" which was to the same tune with different lyrics. That was the last we'd hear of Frankee but Eamon had one further hit with "I Love Them Ho's (Ho-Wop)".
Frankee wasn't the only one with an answer song this year. There was the number one song "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy which had an answer song by The Pirates called "You Should Really Know" which made number eight.
It was a successful year for Usher who had two number ones with "Yeah" and "Burn" and also had a number five with "Confessions Part II / My Boo".
With Misteeq being no more, there was a gap for the next successful British female R&B group. It looked like the group to fill this gap was The 411 who reached number four with their debut "On My Knees". They went one place higher with the follow up "Dumb" but third single "Teardrops" only made number 23 and that was the end of their chart career.
We had the only act from Moldova to have a hit this year with O-Zone having a hit with "Dragostea Din Tei".
Now we've reached the midpoint of the 00s, the charts have become dominated by the Indie sound that the mid 00s was remembered for. At this stage though it's not made it's impact to the top of the charts. With the changes happening in the pop world this year that paves the way for Indie music to reach the top of the charts too. Will this be the case in 2005?
| Artist | No of Hits | New Hits | |
| 1 | Cliff Richard | 119 | Somethin Is Goin On, I Cannot Give You My Love |
| 2 | Elvis Presley | 106 | That’s All Right |
| 3 | Elton John | 65 | All That I'm Allowed (I'm Thankful) |
| 4 | Madonna | 58 | |
| 5 | David Bowie | 57 | |
| 6 | Status Quo | 53 | You'll Come Round, Thinking Of You |
| 7 | Queen | 50 | |
| 8 | Michael Jackson | 48 | |
| 9 | Rod Stewart | 45 | |
| 10 | Paul McCartney | 44 | Tropic Island Hum/We All Stand Together |
| 11 | Diana Ross | 42 | |
| 12 | Rolling Stones | 41 | |
| 13 | Stevie Wonder | 40 | |
| 14 | UB40 | 39 | |
| 15 | Prince | 38 | |
| = | Kylie Minogue | 38 | Red Blooded Woman, Chocolate, I Believe In You |
| 17 | Depeche Mode | 37 | Enjoy the Silence 04 |
| = | Pet Shop Boys | 37 | Flamboyant |
| 19 | Janet Jackson | 36 | Just A Little While, All Nite (Don't Stop)/I Want You |
| 20 | Tom Jones | 34 | |
| 21 | Frank Sinatra | 33 | |
| = | U2 | 33 | Take Me To the Clouds Above, Vertigo |
| 23 | Shakin Stevens | 32 | |
| 24 | Roy Orbison | 31 | |
| = | Bee Gees | 31 | |
| = | Whitney Houston | 31 | |
| = | Bon Jovi | 31 | |
| = | Iron Maiden | 31 | |
| = | George Michael | 31 | Amazing, Flawless (Go to the City), Round Here |
| = | R Kelly | 31 | Clubbin, Hotel, Happy People/U Saved Me, Wonderful, So Sexy |
| 31 | Lonnie Donegan | 30 | |
| = | Beatles | 30 | |
| = | Mariah Carey | 30 | |
| = | Tina Turner | 30 | Open Arms |
Scoring their sixth number ones this year were U2 and Robbie Williams:
| Artist | No of #1s | New #1s | |
| 1 | Elvis Presley | 18 | |
| 2 | Beatles | 17 | |
| 3 | Cliff Richard | 14 | |
| 4 | Westlife | 12 | |
| 5 | Madonna | 10 | |
| 6 | Abba | 9 | |
| = | Spice Girls | 9 | |
| 8 | Rolling Stones | 8 | |
| = | Take That | 8 | |
| 10 | George Michael | 7 | |
| = | Michael Jackson | 7 | |
| = | Kylie Minogue | 7 | |
| 13 | Oasis | 6 | |
| = | Slade | 6 | |
| = | Rod Stewart | 6 | |
| = | Boyzone | 6 | |
| = | Blondie | 6 | |
| = | Queen | 6 | |
| = | U2 | 6 | Take Me To the Clouds Above, Vertigo |
| = | Robbie Williams | 6 | Radio |
No Madonna, Mariah Carey or Mary J Blige this year, so the act with the most consecutive years of hits is now R Kelly with a hit every year since 1994:
| Artist | Hits Every Year Since | |
| 1 | R Kelly | 1994 |
| 2 | Robbie Williams | 1996 |
| 3 | Jay-Z | 1997 |
| = | Marilyn Manson | 1997 |
| = | Missy Elliott | 1997 |
| = | Puff Daddy | 1997 |
| = | Stereophonics | 1997 |
| = | Travis | 1997 |
| 9 | Leann Rimes | 1998 |
Since the 90s, each years most successful act tended to be the pop act of the moment but this was to change in 2004. More than two decades into their career, U2 were the most successful act this year from a chart perspective with two hits and two number ones.
They didn't have an awful lot to do with their first number one of the year, "Take Me To the Clouds Above". It was credited to LMC vs U2 as it sampled "With Or Without You" and had the vocals to "How Will I Know" by Whitney Houston. Their second number one of the year "Vertigo" was very much to do with them. Lead singer Bono had a third number one of the year as part of Band Aid 20 who had the Christmas number one with an updated version of "Do They Know Its Christmas".
The first number on of the year came from the winner of the second series of Pop Idol, Michelle with "All This Time". Her follow up "The Meaning Of Love" however failed to reach the Top 10 when it came out in April and that marked the end of her chart career.
Second and Third placed contestants on the second series of Pop Idol became the duo Sam & Mark. They too began with a number one "With a Little Help from My Friends/Measure of a Man" and also failed to reach the top ten with the follow up "The Sun Has Come Your Way" and that was the end of their chart career. No other contestants from the second series of Pop Idol had any hits and there were no further series of Pop Idol.
There was however a replacement show for Pop Idol that began this year, the X Factor. The end of the year brought us the first X Factor related single. Simon Cowell had told contestant Paul Holt that if he made Christmas number one he'd give him 50K. He released the song "50K For Christmas" but it only managed number 35.
Fame Academy winner Alex Parks already debuted the previous year and she had her second single "Cry" in February which failed to reach the top ten and that was the end of her chart career. Runner up Alistair Griffin reached number five with his debut "Bring It On/My Lovers Prayer" with the latter being a collaboration with Fame Academy judge Robin Gibb. He failed to reach the top ten with his follow up "You And Me (Tonight)" but his chart career wasn't quite over yet, but it would be another six years until we saw him again. The other Fame Acedemy contestant to have a hit was James Fox who had the UK Eurovision entry with "Hold On To Our Love". It would be another four years until we'd see him back in the charts.
It was the end for Busted this year who's final hit was the number one "Thunderbirds Are Go/3am". They also had a number one with "Who's David" and a number two with "Air Hostess" and had managed reach the top three with all of their hits.
Before Busted called it a day though, there was a ready made replacement for Busted in McFly. They debuted at number one with "5 Colours In Her Hair". Their follow up "Obviously" also made number one and they had top five hits with "That Girl" and "Room on the 3rd Floor".
Another replacement for Busted in terms of style without the chart success to match was Noise Next Door. They debuted at number 12 with "Lock Up Ya Daughters / Ministry Of Mayhem".
Another boyband calling it a day this year were Blazin Squad who's final hit came in February with "Here 4 One". Later on in the year it was the end for Blue with their final hit before splitting up being "Curtain Falls".
The post-Blue careers had already begun for two of the members. Duncan James reached number two with the hit "I Believe My Heart" collaborating with "Keedie". Simon Webbe meanwhile went into management which brought us VS. They had their only three hits this year with "Love You Like Mad", "Call U Sexy" and "Make It Hot". VS member Marvin Humes would be back in years to come as a member of JLS.
Westlife had just the one hit this year with "Obvious". Then Brian McFadden left the group and started his solo career with the number one "Real To Me". He followed this up with "Irish Son" which made number six.
Pop Stars: The Rivals males runners up Phixx had hits this year with "Love Revolution" and "Wild Boys" which both failed to reach the top ten, but they weren't quite finished yet. It was however the end of D-Side who's final hit was "Pushin' Me Out".
In June we had the debut of boyband V who made number six with "Blood Sweat And Tears". They managed one place higher with follow up "Hip To Hip / Can You Feel It" but only made number 12 with the next single "You Stood Up" which proved to be their final one.
Girls Aloud scored their second number one this year with a cover of "I'll Stand By You" which was the song for Children In Need. They also had number twos with "The Show" and "Love Machine".
The Sugababes had two number eights this year with "In the Middle" and "Caught In A Moment". Meanwhile Atomic Kitten called it a day and also reached number eight with the single "Someone Like Me/Right Now 2004". However their chart career wasn't quite finished yet despite them splitting up.
It was however the end for Bellefire with their final hit being "Say Something Anyway" and for Lemonescent with their final hit being "All Right Now". Pop Stars: The Rivals female runners up Clea had their second single this year with "Stuck In The Middle" but weren't quite finished yet.
The only girl group making their debut this year was Mania who made number 29 with their only single "Looking For A Place".
Original Pop Stars runners up Liberty X were still around but it was a low key year for them with their only hit coming in January with "Everybody Cries" which didn't make the top ten.
It was the end of the chart career of S Club 8 (formerly Juniors) in January with their final hit being "Don't Tell Me You're Sorry". Pete Waterman saw a gap in the mixed gender pop group market and brought us his new band called Pop. They didn't get off to the best of starts when their debut "Heaven And Earth" only made number 14, then it was withdrawn from sale after a week because the CD contained a track longer than the permitted length. Follow up "Can't Say Goodbye" only made 26, but they weren't quite finished yet.
After appearing on reality TV show "I'm A Celebrity", Peter Andre was back in the charts after 6 years away reaching number one with a re-issue of "Mysterious Girl". He follow this up with a song he wrote whilst on the show, "Insania" which made number three. However the hype about him died down when his third hit of the year "The Right Way" came out which only made number 14.
Daniel Bedingfield had achieved a number one each year for the first three years of his career but only managed a number three this year with his only single "Nothing Hurts Like Love". However we saw the beginning of his sister Natasha Bedingfields career with "Single" followed by the number one "These Words" and another hit with "Unwritten".
There was notably less Dance music overall in the charts this year but we still had a few Dance number ones. There was "Cha Cha Slide" by DJ Casper which had originally been recorded in 1999. We also had "Lolas Theme" by Shapeshiters and "Call On Me" by Eric Prydz reach number one.
The latter sampled "Valerie" by Steve Winwood and was one of several Dance versions of old records. Others included "This Time I Know It's For Real" by Kelly Llorenna, "Touch Me" by Angel City, "Hungry Eyes" by Eye Opener, "Out Of Touch" by Uniting Nations and "Somebody To Love" and "Sunny" by Boogie Pimps.
We also had the Trance versions of old Happy Hardcore tracks with "Discoland" by Flip & Fill featuring Karen Parry and "You're Shining" by Styles & Breeze who did the original Happy Hardcore version.
Perhaps the most surprising number one was the UK Garage tune "Babycakes" by 3 Of A Kind. It was just a one off as far as UK Garage was concerned, the only other record of the year that could vaguely be described as UK Garage was "Stand Up Tall" by Dizzee Rascal.
Dizzee Rascal also had a hit this year with "Dream". We had two other Grime artists making their chart debuts this year, Wiley with "Wot Do U Call It?" and Shystie with "One Wish".
Making his debut this year was Martin Solveig with "Rocking Music". Also making their chart debut this year were Scissor Sisters who had already made their name in the Electroclash scene. Their debut hit was a cover of "Comfortably Numb" and they also had hits with "Take Your Mama", "Laura" and "Mary".
The main music genre on the rise this year was Indie music. Many of the acts you would associate with mid-00s Indie music made their debuts this year. These included Zutons with "Pressure Point", Snow Patrol with "Run", Razorlight with "Stumble And Fall", Keane with "Somewhere Only We Know", Ordinary Boys with "Week In Week Out", Kasabian with "Club Foot", Kaiser Chiefs with "I Predict A Riot", Franz Ferdinand with "Take Me Out", Killers with "Somebody Told Me" and Bloc Party with "Little Thoughts / Tulips".
It was the end of the chart career of the Libertines with their final hit being "What Became Of The Likely Lads". Libertines singer Pete Doherty formed a new Babyshambles who debuted with a song of the same name.
It was the final year that all of the big four Garage Rock bands would be in the charts. The Vines had their final hit with "Ride" and the Hives had their final hit with "Walk Idiot Walk". The White Stripes had a hit with "Jolene - Live Under Blackpool Lights" and the Strokes had hits with "Reptilia" and "The End Has No End".
There was a return to the charts after a six year absence for Morrissey with the single "Irish Blood English Heart" which reached number three and became his highest charting single to date and first top ten hit in a decade.
After three years away Green Day returned to the charts with "American Idiot" which was their highest charting single to date reaching number three and was their first top ten since "Basket Case" at the start of 1995. They followed this up with the number five "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".
Also back in the charts was Offspring with "Hit That" which would be their final hit. Blink 182 had three hits with the biggest being the top ten single "I Miss You".
Hard Rock group Thunder returned to the charts after five years away with "I Love You More Than Rock 'N' Roll". We also had the debut of Velvet Revolver who were ex Guns N Roses members Slash, Duff and Matt alongside ex Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. They had their only two hits this year which were "Slither" and "Fall To Pieces".
We still had the revival of Grunge in the charts with Nickelback and the Calling, Glam Metal with the Darkness and Gothic Rock with Evanescence, Him and newcomers Rasmus who debuted with "In the Shadows".
Linkin Park had a hit with "Breaking The Habbit" and they also teamed up with Jay-Z mashing up their tune "Numb" with "Encore" by Jay-Z.
In April we had the chart debut of Kanye West with "Through the Wire". At the same time he featured on "This Way" by Dilated Peoples and "Slow Jamz" by Twista who was also making his chart debut.
Eminem was back in the charts with his fifth number one "Just Lose It". This knocked his nemesis Ja Rule off number one with his only chart topper "Wonderful" in collaboration with R Kelly and Ashanti.
We also had an R&B/Rap double a-side from Nelly reach number one with "My Place/Flap Your Wings". These came from two albums he released at the same time, "Sweat" which was Rap and "Suit" which was R&B. He also had a hit with "Tilt Ya Head Back" with Christina Aguilera which came from the "Sweat" album.
The big story in the R&B world this year came from two debutants. First up was Eamon who scored a number one with "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)", a song about his ex girlfriend with lots of swearing in it. This was then knocked off number one by his alleged ex girlfriend Frankee with a response song "FURB (Fuck U Right Back)" which was to the same tune with different lyrics. That was the last we'd hear of Frankee but Eamon had one further hit with "I Love Them Ho's (Ho-Wop)".
Frankee wasn't the only one with an answer song this year. There was the number one song "I Don't Wanna Know" by Mario Winans featuring Enya & P Diddy which had an answer song by The Pirates called "You Should Really Know" which made number eight.
It was a successful year for Usher who had two number ones with "Yeah" and "Burn" and also had a number five with "Confessions Part II / My Boo".
With Misteeq being no more, there was a gap for the next successful British female R&B group. It looked like the group to fill this gap was The 411 who reached number four with their debut "On My Knees". They went one place higher with the follow up "Dumb" but third single "Teardrops" only made number 23 and that was the end of their chart career.
We had the only act from Moldova to have a hit this year with O-Zone having a hit with "Dragostea Din Tei".
Now we've reached the midpoint of the 00s, the charts have become dominated by the Indie sound that the mid 00s was remembered for. At this stage though it's not made it's impact to the top of the charts. With the changes happening in the pop world this year that paves the way for Indie music to reach the top of the charts too. Will this be the case in 2005?
Saturday, 1 September 2018
25 Years Since....August 1993
25 years ago my summer holidays from school were coming to an end. Here is what I was enjoying music wise:
Billy Joel - River Of Dreams
We're now reaching the point in time where I wouldn't listen to anything that wasn't Rock or Metal. Yes I know Billy Joel isn't Rock or Metal, but I had exceptions to that rule and remember this tune being an exception.
At the time I had friends who were music snobs like me and friends who just listened to anything. I would predominately talk about the latest Rock and Metal tunes to my music snob friends, but I remember talking about this with my friends who listened to anything.
I guess what did it for me in this tune was the pausing. Was most definitely the most famous pause of the moment, if you sang this you had to start with the bit before the pause just do you could pause.
Bitty Mclean - It Keeps Rainin (Tears From My Eyes)
The first hit from Bitty Mclean and my first thoughts were what a name, Bitty. Such was the impact that name had on me that when I sang this I didn't sing "When it's rainin it's rainin, tears from my eyes" I sang "When it's rainin it's rainin, Bitty Mclean".
Needless to say I was very disappointed to discover his real name is Delroy, not Bitty. I was also disappointed to discover this song was originally by Fats Domino, it just seemed wrong that this wasn't originally by Bitty Mclean.
However by the time he did "Dedicated to the One I Love", another cover, I was very much strictly Rock and Metal. I remember seeing the guitar on stage before the song was introduced on Top of the Pops and getting excited only to find out it was a Reggae tune. I quite enjoy it nowadays though.
Bon Jovi - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
To be honest I don't really remember this being a single, but I do remember listening to the "Keep the Faith" album a lot at the time, so hearing it a couple more times on the radio didn't make too much difference.
Bon Jovi were still my second favourite band at the time after Guns n Roses. I had a friend that summer who's favourite band was also Guns n Roses but his second favourite was Dire Straits but by the end of the summer his second favourite was Bon Jovi too.
It wouldn't last though, in a few months time I would hate Bon Jovi for being too soft and put a picture of Jon Bon Jovi on the dart board and throw darts at him. Years later I started liking Bon Jovi again, but to be honest this song isn't the best.
SWV - Right Here
For some reason I remember this coming out earlier than it did. I thought it might be because I remember it being out when Eternal first came about, but it turns out Eternal were yet to have there debut hit. Anyway I did consider Eternal to be a poor mans SWV.
Not that I remembered them being SWV though. A few years later I was flicking through the music channels and this was on MTV Base and brought back memories. However it was on "The Lick" so it never specified what the song was at the end so remained a mystery. I did video record it though and listening again and hearing the "S...the double...the U...the V" part, which turns out to be the voice of a then unknown Pharrell Williams, I figured they may be called SWV.
I've since been to see them in concert as part of a 90s R&B night and they were good.
Therapy? - Opal Mantra
So far my credentials as a Rock and Metal fan at the time aren't looking that good, but this tune probably rectifies that somewhat.
The title suggested to be it's a song about a car, but the car is an "Opel Manta" not "Opal Mantra". That said, the title is a pun on the car name, but isn't mentioned in the lyrics.
When their "Troublegum" album came out the following year I was disappointed to find this wasn't on it and I never got to hear it again until YouTube came about.
Billy Joel - River Of Dreams
At the time I had friends who were music snobs like me and friends who just listened to anything. I would predominately talk about the latest Rock and Metal tunes to my music snob friends, but I remember talking about this with my friends who listened to anything.
I guess what did it for me in this tune was the pausing. Was most definitely the most famous pause of the moment, if you sang this you had to start with the bit before the pause just do you could pause.
Bitty Mclean - It Keeps Rainin (Tears From My Eyes)
Needless to say I was very disappointed to discover his real name is Delroy, not Bitty. I was also disappointed to discover this song was originally by Fats Domino, it just seemed wrong that this wasn't originally by Bitty Mclean.
However by the time he did "Dedicated to the One I Love", another cover, I was very much strictly Rock and Metal. I remember seeing the guitar on stage before the song was introduced on Top of the Pops and getting excited only to find out it was a Reggae tune. I quite enjoy it nowadays though.
Bon Jovi - I'll Sleep When I'm Dead
Bon Jovi were still my second favourite band at the time after Guns n Roses. I had a friend that summer who's favourite band was also Guns n Roses but his second favourite was Dire Straits but by the end of the summer his second favourite was Bon Jovi too.
It wouldn't last though, in a few months time I would hate Bon Jovi for being too soft and put a picture of Jon Bon Jovi on the dart board and throw darts at him. Years later I started liking Bon Jovi again, but to be honest this song isn't the best.
SWV - Right Here
Not that I remembered them being SWV though. A few years later I was flicking through the music channels and this was on MTV Base and brought back memories. However it was on "The Lick" so it never specified what the song was at the end so remained a mystery. I did video record it though and listening again and hearing the "S...the double...the U...the V" part, which turns out to be the voice of a then unknown Pharrell Williams, I figured they may be called SWV.
I've since been to see them in concert as part of a 90s R&B night and they were good.
Therapy? - Opal Mantra
So far my credentials as a Rock and Metal fan at the time aren't looking that good, but this tune probably rectifies that somewhat.
The title suggested to be it's a song about a car, but the car is an "Opel Manta" not "Opal Mantra". That said, the title is a pun on the car name, but isn't mentioned in the lyrics.
When their "Troublegum" album came out the following year I was disappointed to find this wasn't on it and I never got to hear it again until YouTube came about.
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Top of the Pops: 30/08/2018
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
⬆ (5) Loud Luxury ft Brando - Body
⬆ (3) Benny Blanco ft Halsey & Khalid - Eastside
New (4) Calvin Harris ft Sam Smith - Promises
New (8) Ariana Grande - Breathin
New (16) Jess Glynne - All That I Am
New (26) 1975 - Tootimetootimetootime
New (31) Marshmello ft Bastille - Happier
New (36) Dynoro ft Gigi D'Agostino - In My Mind
(1) George Ezra - Shotgun
Missing Out
⬆ (16) Cheat Codes ft Little Mix - Only You
⬆ (32) Hardy Caprio ft One Acen - Best Life
New (22) Ariana Grande - Sweetener
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 12
⬆ (5) Loud Luxury ft Brando - Body
⬆ (3) Benny Blanco ft Halsey & Khalid - Eastside
New (4) Calvin Harris ft Sam Smith - Promises
New (8) Ariana Grande - Breathin
New (16) Jess Glynne - All That I Am
New (26) 1975 - Tootimetootimetootime
New (31) Marshmello ft Bastille - Happier
New (36) Dynoro ft Gigi D'Agostino - In My Mind
(1) George Ezra - Shotgun
Missing Out
⬆ (16) Cheat Codes ft Little Mix - Only You
⬆ (32) Hardy Caprio ft One Acen - Best Life
New (22) Ariana Grande - Sweetener
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