Mis-Teeq

Mis-Teeq are back and they'll be doing a gig at Wembley Arena later this year.

The start of the 21st century saw the explosion of UK Garage and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon. Then at the start of 2001 we were introduced to Mis-Teeq.

Although they had no back catalogue as such they were presented as being an R&B group who were making a garage record in their debut single "Why". My initial reaction was not another one jumping on the bandwagon but conceded it wasn't bad. 

Then came "All I Want", another garage record and this time I thought this is rather good. In fact I thought it, "Why" and following single "One Night Stand" were good enough for me to buy their debut album "Lickin On Both Sides" later on in the year.

Admittedly it's not an album I really got into, but the singles are all good and there are a couple of album tracks that are to my liking.

In 2003 it was time for album number 2. By this point UK Garage was dead so it made perfect sense for them to come back with and R&B record which they did with "Scandalous". 

It was a decent comeback record but I didn't buy the album which quickly followed because I already had a long list on my want list with limited funds and I was conscious of the fact I'd never properly got into their debut album.

Then the next single "Can't Get It Back" came out, a cover of the Blaque record. I'm not a fan of the original, but it's the sort of cover that demonstrates the British not being very good at doing R&B.

Then came their final single "Style" which suggested to me they'd run out of steam because it was poor. Needless to say I never bothered with the album.

They called it a day a year or so later after their record label went bust though I suspect they would have done that anyway.

They were in the right place at the right time for the UK Garage explosion and "Scandalous" showed they weren't just relying on garage to make a good tune.

Do I think they're good enough to see in concert? I think they have enough good songs to go. Will I be going to see them at Wembley? at over £100 a ticket on the floor not a chance.

Most Top 40 Hits in 2020s so far

After Drake passed 100 Top 40 hits last week he's added another to his total this week bringing it to 103. It's considerably more than any other artist of the modern era, but the question I asked myself was has he had the most Top 40 hits in the 2020s alone?

A stupid question really, of course he has. But it lead to the wider question of who the other prolific artists of the 2020s are so here's the Top 20:

Drake (53) - to put that number into perspective, Queen have had 53 Top 40 hits overall and not too many acts have had more Top 40 hits

Central Cee (37) - his Top 40 career began in 2020 so it's the same number overall too. His total includes collaborations with Drake.

Taylor Swift (32) - she's become very prolific in more recent years but her total is helped by rerecording her earlier songs which make them technically count as new singles

Ed Sheeran (25) - it was 2017 when his entire album was in the Top 20 but even with the chart rules changing so that can't happen again he's still clocked up a good number of Top 40 hits

D-Block Europe (23) - they debuted at the end of 2018 and by the end of 2022 they had 27 Top 40 hits to their name. Just 3 have followed since with UK rap no longer having the same chart presence

Weeknd (22) - hit Top 40 debut was a collaboration with Drake so he learned from the master of clocking up Top 40 hits. Nothing in the last year though.

Doja Cat (20) - a 2020 Top 40 debutant, that's all I have to say

Ariana Grande (19) - a lot of her songs are written by the most prolific songwriter Max Martin so almost inevitable she'd appear in this list

Dave (19) - he was at his most prolific in 2019 but a decent number for the 2020s. 

KSI (18) - just 2 Top 40 hits to his name prior to the 2020s then he became prolific in 2020 and 2021 but nothing from him since 2024

Billie Eilish (18) - an artist who wasn't born until the 21st century so she has youth on her side, but nothing since 2024

Raye (18) - she's been around since 2016 but didn't really hit her stride until the 2020s and still seems to have momentum

Justin Bieber (17) - 14 of these came in 2020 and 2021 so he got off to a quick start this decade but has slowed considerably

Sabrina Carpenter (17) - she made her Top 40 debut in 2021, but 15 of these Top 40 hits have come since the start of 2024

Tate McRae (16) - another 2020s debutant, she's Canadian but don't know if she has anything to do with Drake

Aitch (15) - he made his debut in 2019 and was very prolific until 2022, just the 2 have followed since

Dua Lipa (15) - been around for 10 years now, nothing since 2024 though

SZA (15) - debuted in 2017 but took until 2021 to clock up hit number 3 and has kept going since

Olivia Rodrigo (15) - debuted in 2021 and clocked up 7 that year but has slowed down since

Charli XCX (15) - debuted in 2013 but became more prolific in 2024

Drakes 100th Top 40 Hit

It always felt like a matter of when this moment would happen than if, but Drake has now scored hits 100th UK Top 40 hit. In true Drake style he doesn't have just one 100th Top 40 hit but 3 of them taking his total to 102.

The last music act to reach that milestone was Cliff Richard and a lot has changed with the charts since then, most notably the fact the general public don't pay that much attention to the charts anymore.

Back in 1989 when Cliff Richard was about to release his 100th single "The Best Of Me" it was big news. It missed out on the top spot thanks to "Sealed With A Kiss" by Jason Donovan going straight in at number 1. It went straight in at number 2 though in an era where singles typically entered in the lower reaches and climbed up to their peak. Incidentally Drake also went straight in at number 2 with one of his 100th Top 40 hits.

One thing about Cliff Richards moment back in 1989 was that it wasn't actually his 100th Top 40 hit and in terms of singles that charted outside the Top 40 he'd already passed that landmark so quite what criteria made that his 100th single is a mystery. It was his 92nd Top 40 hit and he reached 100 in 1991. 

The only other music act to reach that milestone is Elvis Presley who reached it in 1980, 3 years after his death. He reached 102 Top 40 hits in 1983 but then a gap of 12 years followed until his 104th followed by a 7 year gap until his 105th.

The midweek chart update indicates Drake may reach 103 Top 40 hits on Friday which depends on any change to the Top 3 of his own songs because of the 3 song rule. Had that rule not existed he would of likely passed that landmark a long time ago and other artists may have joined him in reaching it.

Another notable change is the fact that the casual listener could name a handful of Elvis and Cliff hits but they'd struggle with Drake. I'd struggle myself, I can tell you the one he topped the charts for 15 weeks with is "One Dance" and whilst I have heard it I couldn't hum it to you.

The question is has Drake got enough in the tank to overtake Elvis and Cliff for most Top 40 hits?

He's not quite 40 yet so younger than Elvis was when he died and over a decade younger than Cliff was when he reached this milestone. He has youth on his side but there's still some way to go and I'm certain the hits will dry up one day.

Human Nature

The highest new entry in the Top 40 this week is "Human Nature" by Michael Jackson. That's right, the most popular new record from a chart perspective is a 44 year old song by an artist who died 17 years ago.

The reason it's the highest new entry is due to the Michael Jackson biopic coming out and the fact it was never released as a single in the UK when it was a new song.

OK renewed interest in old music because of films is nothing new. We had "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers top the charts in 1990 because of it's inclusion in the film "Ghost" for example. The Temptations didn't make the Top 40 with "My Girl" until 1992 when a film of the same name came out.

The difference is these were the main songs from those films which got rereleased as singles. "Human Nature" may be the only new entry as such but more of his previous Top 40 hits are re-entering the Top 40. If it was for the 3 song cap there would no doubt be more Michael Jackson songs in the Top 40 at the moment.

It comes back to the question of is it really a singles chart anymore?

The fact of the matter is that "Human Nature" appears on the "Thriller" album which is the biggest selling album of all time. Given the sheer quantity of people who own the album its quite possible that on a given week back in the day more people were listening to "Human Nature" than whatever was number one in the charts that week.

We'll never know if that is the case because there was no way of tracking what people were listening to on their record player. Now we have streaming so we can measure, but is this really what should be reflected in the singles chart?

I don't have the answer. The fact is "Human Nature" is 1 of just 2 new entries in May so far to make the Top 10. The other is a Chemical Brothers record from 2015.

RIP Dennis Locorriere

Dennis Locorriere, the lead singer of Dr Hook sadly passed away at the weekend. Some of you will know that Dr Hook were a band I was particularly fond of.

I never got to see Dr Hook in concert but I came close. In 2018 it was announced that Dennis was bringing back Dr Hook albeit with a different line up on tour in 2019 to celebrate 50 years. I bought tickets to see them in London and I don't think I'd bought tickets so far in advance before. Shortly after the tour began the remaining dates got postponed including London because Dennis had to have a medical procedure.

We all know what happened in 2020, then a revised tour got under way at the end of 2021 but did not include a London date. I had hoped the opportunity would present itself again but sadly it wasn't to be.

A lot of music I got into when I was younger came from musicians I knew absolutely nothing about. More often than not once I got to know more about said musician as a person it was more off-putting if anything. With Dennis though it had the opposite affect.

Having seen him in interviews he always came across as entertaining and a pretty down to earth sort of bloke. He would tell it how it is and I found that refreshing.

He also used to blog on his website, not just about music but lots of random things too. One post that stands out is when he talked about one thing he found amusing about life in England was the dividers we use at the checkouts in supermarkets. He pointed out when you put it behind your shopping the person behind you thanks you like you've done something really nice for them, but the reason he does it is so he doesn't accidentally have to end up paying for someone else's crap.

Although he posted lots about what was on his mind he did point out that he never posts about his personal life. I have a similar philosophy with this blog, I talk about my musical journeys but never post anything about my personal life.

He was asked a lot about a possible Dr Hook reunion and he gave several different answers as to why it wouldn't happen. Whilst the general public were more interested in Dr Hook material than his solo material it sounded like he got more joy from performing as a solo artist.

In one interview he said that going on tour means spending hours on buses and planes and sitting in hotel rooms, none of which is enjoyable. The 2 hours he spends on stage on the other hand is what makes it worthwhile, therefore it's important he's getting joy from that aspect.

Perhaps not what the public wanted to hear, but as I've pointed out he told it how it was. He'll be sadly missed.

Record of the Year Revisited: Conclusion

I've reached the end of this series of posts. I could of course pick a record of the year for the years that have passed since but I know I'm going to struggle to find something I like. Either that or Eminem will win each year he has a Top 40 hit.

In the end 40 of my original picks remained and 27 lost their crown. That's quite a significant number when you consider the music hasn't changed and the playing field is still the same. That said, I knew there would be several I'd change my mind about which is the reason why I decided to do this.

The most significant change were the 1950s years where I changed my mind for 7 of the 8 years. The 1960s years were also significant with me changing my mind for 6 of the 10 years.

The most common them in these years were to do with me learning new songs. If not learning new songs, it's becoming more familiar with certain songs. Even in the 90s which I lived through and also listened to and reviewed every Top 30 hit I still find myself looking back at certain songs and don't remember how they go. With the 50s and 60s I wasn't alive and I've not done too much focus on those charts so in another 10 years my picks could change again though me becoming more familiar with certain songs.

In the 70s I changed my mind for 3 of the 10 years with my new picks being songs I'd already known for years when I made my original picks. 

In the 80s it's the same story for 3 of my new picks but the other new pick of that decade is one that I've only come to know in more recent times.

In the 90s I've changed my mind 6 times, the same as the 60s but for different reasons. The 90s had so much choice if anything because of the sheer quantity of records that made the Top 40, but there were so many records I liked it was difficult to single out one.

It reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson applying a similar logic to cars in the videos he would bring out each year. The first one was a quest to find the best car in the world ever where he decided the best car had to be new and a Ferrari and picked the Ferrari 355. Then 5 years later he did a countdown of the 100 best cars and number one was a Jaguar E-Type which was neither new or a Ferrari.

Music and cars do have their similarities in that there's no one size fits all. It's difficult to draw comparisons between a Ferrari, Rolls Royce and Range Rover because they all serve completely different purposes. By the same token its hard to say whether a banging rave tune is better than a chill out record, depends on the mood really.

Once we hit the 21st century it's pretty much as you were with just one change which incidentally is an uplifting dance tune replacing a chill out one. As the years go on though we reach the territory of records that wouldn't stand a chance had they been released in the 90s.

It's been interesting revisiting this but the biggest learning has been to not make a post every other day, it was hard to keep up at times. Will aim for every 3 days in the future.  

Record of the Year Revisited: 2018

Original Record of the Year: Eminem - Fall

In my post about my 2018 pick I said that choice had become very limited. It had become a rarity for a 20th century act to have a Top 40 hit in the 2018 charts. 

One act bucking that trend was Eminem, though even he only just qualifies as a 20th century act having made his Top 40 debut in 1999. The fact he's still able to have Top 40 hits is one of few positives I can say about the charts in the modern era.

Of course the record I picked was not a patch on his earlier work, but still a decent tune nonetheless.

What about the other 20th century acts?

Well in terms of ones having a genuinely new Top 40 hit of their only accord the only other one was Kylie Minogue and she's hardly going to be a contender for record of the year.

What about the newer acts? not a chance.