Top of the Pops: 07/02/2019

What's this all about?

Top 40 Countdown

Number of eligible records: 11
⬆ (15) Meek Mill ft Drake - Going Bad
⬆ (10) Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
⬆ (4) Calvin Harris ft Rag n Bone Man - Giant
New (38) A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie ft 6ix9ine - Swervin
New (34) Little Mix ft Ty Dolla Sign - Think About Us
New (32) Yungen ft Dappy - Comfortable
New (25) Dua Lipa - Swan Song
New (9) J Cole - Middle Child
(1) Ariana Grande - 7 Rings

Missing Out
⬆ (30) Flipp Dinero - Leave Me Alone
New (40) Kehlani ft Ty Dolla Sign - Nights Like This

Record of the Year 2010: Tim Berg - Seek Bromance

At the beginning of 2010 I decided to test my hypothesis of the charts being full of rubbish. Each week I would listen to the new entries of the Top 40 on YouTube to see if I liked any of it. A few weeks into the year there was literally nothing I liked. The Dance music, or EDM as it was now better known was particularly bad and eventually I lost the will to live and gave up.

However towards the end of the year there were 3 commercial Dance records that were taking my liking, this my record of the year, "I'm In Love (I Wanna Do It)" by Alex Gaudino and the Axwell remix of "In the Air" by TV Rock. As the latter failed to reach the Top 40 it was between this and Alex Gaudino and I decided this was slightly better.

It began life as an instrumental called "Bromance" which in my opinion was better. However as vocals had now seemingly become a necessity for commercial success, the vocals to "Love U Seek" by Samuele Sartini were added to create "Seek Bromance".

This would be his only UK Top 40 hit as Tim Berg but he would go on to be better known as Avicii, one of the biggest EDM DJs of the modern era. It certainly made me feel old when I saw he was born in 1989. After retiring and then making a comeback, he sadly died in 2018. Whilst the tunes he made as Avicii weren't really my cup of tea I've always been fond of this record.

UK Singles Chart: 2010

Status Quo become the first 60s debutant to score a Top 40 hit in the 10s which would be their final hit. Kylie Minogue becomes the first 80s debutant to have a hit in the 10s and joining the 30+ UK Top 40 hits club with their final hits are Paul Weller, who also has what's most likely the last ever double a-side in the Top 40, and Mary J Blige. Those highlighted are the ones with more hits to come:

	Artist	No of Hits	New Hits
1	Elvis Presley	124
=	Cliff Richard	124
3	Elton John	69
4	Madonna	66
5	David Bowie	57
=	Status Quo	57	In The Army Now (2010)
7	Queen	53
8	Michael Jackson	50	Hold My Hand
9	Paul McCartney	47
10	Kylie Minogue	46	All The Lovers, Get Outta My Way, Better Than Today
11	Rod Stewart	45
12	Pet Shop Boys	44
13	Diana Ross	43
=	Rolling Stones	43
=	Depeche Mode	43
16	Stevie Wonder	41
=	U2	41
18	UB40	40
19	Prince	38
=	Mariah Carey	38
21	Janet Jackson	37
22	Tom Jones	36
=	Bon Jovi	36
24	R Kelly	35
25	Erasure	34
=	George Michael	34
=	Manic Street Preachers	34	(It's Not War) Just The End Of Love
28	Frank Sinatra	33
=	Shakin Stevens	33
=	Morrissey	33
31	Iron Maiden	32
=	Simply Red	32
=	Whitney Houston	32
34	Roy Orbison	31
=	Bee Gees	31
=	REM	31
=	Jay-Z	31	On To The Next One
=	Robbie Williams	31	Shame
39	Lonnie Donegan	30
=	Beatles	30
=	Tina Turner	30
=	Duran Duran	30
=	Paul Weller	30	No Tears To Cry / Wake Up The Nation
=	Mary J Blige	30	I Am

No change for those with the most number ones:

	Artist	No of #1s	New #1s
1	Elvis Presley	21
2	Beatles	17
3	Cliff Richard	14
=	Westlife	14
5	Madonna	13
6	Take That	11
7	Abba	9
=	Spice Girls	9
9	Rolling Stones	8
=	Oasis	8
11	George Michael	7
=	Michael Jackson	7
=	Kylie Minogue	7
=	U2	7
=	Elton John	7
=	Eminem	7
=	McFly	7
18	Slade	6
=	Rod Stewart	6
=	Boyzone	6
=	Blondie	6
=	Queen	6
=	Robbie Williams	6
=	Sugababes	6

Just 3 acts with more than 6 years of consecutive hits with the Sugababes having their final hit in 2010:

	Artist	Hits Every Year Since
1	Westlife	1999
2	Sugababes	2000
3	Kanye West	2004

After failing to get the Christmas number one, previous years X Factor winner Joe McElderry had the first number one of the year with "The Climb". He followed up with "Ambitions" which would be his final Top 40 hit.

There was another campaign to prevent the X Factor winner getting Christmas number one, this time it was to get "4.33" by John Cage to Christmas number one which was dubbed the "Cage Against the Machine version". However it only made number 21 and X Factor winner Matt Cardle had the Christmas number one with "When We Collide".

It was the most successful year generally for X Factor contestants to date with 8 number ones coming from X Factor contestants. The 2010 finalists had a number one with "Hero", JLS had number ones with "The Club Is Alive" and "Love You More", Alexandra Buke had a number one with "Start Without You" and we had number one debuts from Diana Vickers with "Once" and Olly Murs with "Please Don’t Let Me Go".

X Factor 2 winner Shayne Ward had his final hit with "Gotta Be Somebody" leaving Leona Lewis as the only contestant from the first four series who’s chart career was yet to end. She had her only hit this year with "I Got You". We also had the debut from the previous year’s X Factor contestants Jedward who collaborated with Vanilla Ice on "Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)".

There was a new boyband in the Top 40 in 2010, The Wanted. They debuted at number one with "All Time Low" and followed up with the number two "Heart Vacancy" and also had a hit with "Lose My Mind".

Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow collaborated on the number 2 hit "Shame" in October and the following month the first Take That comeback single to feature Robbie Williams, "The Flood" also reached number two. We also had a Top 10 from Boyzone with "Gave It All Away" which was the first Boyzone single since the death of band member Stephen Gately but it had been recorded before his death and therefore featured his vocals.

Aside from the Sugababes, the only Girl Groups in the Top 40 in 2010 were the Saturdays who had top ten hits with "Missing You" and "Higher" and Girls Can’t Catch who had their second and final hit at the beginning of the year with "Echo". Girls Aloud member Nadine had her only Top 40 hit with "Insatiable" and Cheryl had her second number one with "Promise This".

The most successful act from a chart perspective in 2010 was Dizzee Rascal. He had number ones with "Dirtee Disco" and "Shout for England" in collaboration with James Corden and a number two with "You Got the Dirtee Love" in collaboration with Florence & the Machine.

Once again Electropop was the big genre of the year. This was being done by a range of artists that had previously been known to do other genres as well as artists that had only been known to do Electropop.

It was also a big year for EDM music with David Guetta scoring two number ones with "Getting Over You" in collaboration with Chris Willis and "Club Can’t Handle Me" in collaboration with Flo Rida. He also had hits with "Memories" ft Kid Cudi, "Commander" ft Kelly Rowland and "Who’s That Chick" ft Rihanna.

We also had debuts for Swedish House Mafia with "One (Your Name)", Steve Aoki with "Im In the House", Afrojack with "Take Over Control" and Tim Berg who would go on to be better known as Avicii with "Seek Bromance". We also had the number one "We No Speak Americano" by Yolanda Be Cool vs D Cup It was a low key year for Calvin Harris though who just had a minor hit with "You Used to Hold Me".

In the Drum & Bass world it was the end of the chart career of Pendulum who’s final hit was "Witchcraft". We had the debut of former Bad Company UK member DJ Fresh with "Gold Dust" and the only Top 40 hit for Danny Byrd with "Ill Behaviour".

We saw Dubstep in the charts for the first time which came from Magnetic Man ft Angela Hunte with "I Need Air". There was also the debut of Katy B with "Katy On A Mission" and then Magnetic Man and Katy B collaborated on "Perfect Stranger". We also had a Dubstep tune from Chase & Status with "Let You Go".

Despite several rappers turning to Electropop there was still a fair amount of actual Rap music in the Top 40. Most successful of these was debutant BoB who had number ones with "Nothin On You" which featured another debutant, Bruno Mars, and "Airplanes" which featured Paramore singer Hayley Williams. He also had a hit with "Magic" which featured Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo.

Another notable debutant was Drake who’s debut "Find Your Love" made number 24. His next single "Right Above It" in collaboration with Lil Wayne made number 37 but his third single "What’s My Name" in collaboration got him into the top ten for the first time at the end of the year and would eventually make number one.

From the UK we had the debut of Tinie Tempah who reached number one with his debut "Pass Out" he also had a number one with "Written in the Stars". There were also debuts for Skepta with "Bad Boy" and Professor Green with "I Need You Tonight".

It was a quiet year for R&B music, mainly because most R&B acts were doing Electropop instead. There was however a number one for Cee Lo Green with "Fuck You".

It was an even quieter year for Indie Music with the only top ten Indie hit being "Radioactive" by Kings of Leon.

Perhaps having a bigger year than both Indie and R&B was the Glee Cast. They debuted with the number two "Don’t Stop Believin" and they would have 17 Top 40 hits in 2010.

We also had the debut of Justin Bieber with "One Time". He also had hits with "Baby" which was the highest charting at number three, "Eenie Meenie" and "Somebody to Love".

There were three new nationalities on the charts in 2010. We had the first act from the Virgin Islands, Iyaz, who had a number one with "Replay" and followed up with "Solo" and "So Big". He was also an uncredited vocalist on "Pyramid" by Charice who was the first act from the Philippines to have a Top 40 hit. Then there was Gramophonedzie who was the first act from Serbia to have a Top 40 hit with "Why Don’t You".

Although 2010 doesn’t seem to different to 2009 from a chart perspective, the debuts of Drake and Justin Bieber seem to indicate the 10s have arrived. That said, their debuts were more low key than one would expect given how they would dominate the charts in years to come. I personally don’t remember Drake breaking through, I think he was already established once I acknowledged his existence. I do however remember Justin Bieber breaking through and given all the hype surrounding him I’m quite surprised he didn’t at least have a number one.

In some ways the chart seems to have come full circle by 2010. In the beginning we had Traditional Pop and not much else, then as the years went by more and more genres were coming into the charts but by 2010 its mainly Electropop and not much else. The next biggest genre in terms of quantity is EDM but it’s not drastically different from Electropop. Will things change in 2011?

25 Years Since....January 1994

Now we're 25 years since 1994, here are some of the records I was enjoying back then:

K7 - Come Baby Come

This was a record I would have put under the guilty pleasures category.

I was still very much in my Grunge phase at the beginning of 1994 but secretly I loved the chorus of this record.

Bitty Mclean - Here I Stand

It wasn't until later on in life until I realised this record was by Bitty Mclean of "if it's raining it's raining" fame.

Given his other two top ten hits were covers I assumed this to be a cover too, particularly as the same riff was used in "Come On Home" by Cyndi Lauper.

Turns our Cyndi Lauper sampled this very tune.

Inspiral Carpets - Saturn 5

What's this? Inspiral Carpets in 1994?

My memory tells me that Inspiral Carpets were finished by 1992, but at the same time I remember this tune and remember liking it but could have sworn this was more 1992 than 1994, but it was in fact 1994.


Soul Asylum - Black Gold

You may recall that when I featured "Runaway Train" a few months ago in this feature I said that I forgot about Soul Asylum until Glastonbury 1995.

It's true, but I remember this tune and remember liking it without actually knowing what it was.

It probably has more credibility as far as Grungers were concerned than "Runaway Train" but it's still not quite Grunge, which is probably a good thing.

Therapy? - Nowhere

Yet another Therapy? single before their "Troublegum" album came out.

This is one of my favourite tunes from that album. Some of the purists said that Therapy? were too Punky and I can see where they're coming from with this song.

However that's probably why I was still fond of this song many years later.

Top of the Pops: 31/01/2019

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

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.

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