What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 8
Re (26) Little Mix ft Ty Dolla Sign - Think About Us
⬆ (22) Lauv ft Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired
⬆ (28) Cadet ft Deno Driz - Advice
⬆ (9) NSG ft Tion Wayne - Options
New (12) Cardi B ft Bruno Mars - Please Me
New (16) D-Block Europe - Kitchen Kings
New (37) Zedd ft Katy Perry - 365
⬆ (1) Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
Missing Out
None
Thursday, 28 February 2019
Wednesday, 27 February 2019
25 Years Since....February 1994
As the final day of the month is a Top of the Pops day I thought I'd bring my 25 years since feature 1 day early:
Ace of Base - The Sign
Only the second month of 1994 and what I'm learning already is that my memory of 1994 and what actually happened are 2 completely different things. When I started this series of posts and was looking back at the start of 1992, I knew for a fact the records featured were from the start of 1992, they blended in with what else was happening in my life at the time. One explanation could be that given my music memories start at some point in 1987, the time period of my music memory was now almost 50% longer than it had been at the start of 1992 which make pinpointing the time a record came out 50% more tricky
Which brings me onto this first record in this feature, "The Sign" by Ace of Base. I remember when "All That She Wants" came out and always remember this as coming out shortly afterwards but it turns out there was a 9 month gap between both records.
I remember hearing this and being able to tell it was the same group and thinking it was good that it followed the same formula but having it's own identity at the same time. The odd thing is that in February 1994 I was definitely in my Rock/Metal phase and hated everything else. That said I remember Ace of Base following this up with "Don't Turn Around" at the same time Aswad released "Shine" which I definitely remember as being the summer of 1994. The memory is a funny thing.
Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall
Once again my memory is playing tricks on me. It made no sense whatsoever for me to be enjoying a Dance record in February 1994 given Dance Music was the enemy at the time. But I do remember liking this tune when it came out and sounds like it should have been played at a school disco in 1993.
However it turns out that whilst this didn't chart until 1994 it was originally released in 1993 so maybe it did get played at a 1993 school disco.
Atlantic Ocean would have one further hit with "Body In Motion" which sounded just like this but not as good.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
This was the first top ten hit for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and was taken from the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" album which came out in 1991.
Seems a bit odd that they would release a single that was already 3 years old and given me and many others already owned the album you wouldn't think there would be that much demand for it.
Crowded House - Locked Out
Believe it or not this was the second highest charting Crowded House hit after "Weather With You" reaching number 12. Not sure how well remembered it is.
I could take or leave Crowded House, their music was pleasant enough without being anything special. This tune though seemed a bit more exciting.
Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby
"Deep Forest, who's that?" is what pretty much everybody says to me when I mention them. Back in 1994 I'd have said the same thing. This was one of those tunes that I just knew existed but had no idea it was in the charts, it just didn't sound like the sort of record you'd expect to be in the charts.
It wasn't until 2000 when I finally found it what this tune was courtesy of Mauro Picotto sampling it on "Komodo" which I bought on vinyl.
I would go on to buy the self titled Deep Forest album which features this tune, it's a great album and would recommend to anyone who likes experimental music.
Ace of Base - The Sign
Which brings me onto this first record in this feature, "The Sign" by Ace of Base. I remember when "All That She Wants" came out and always remember this as coming out shortly afterwards but it turns out there was a 9 month gap between both records.
I remember hearing this and being able to tell it was the same group and thinking it was good that it followed the same formula but having it's own identity at the same time. The odd thing is that in February 1994 I was definitely in my Rock/Metal phase and hated everything else. That said I remember Ace of Base following this up with "Don't Turn Around" at the same time Aswad released "Shine" which I definitely remember as being the summer of 1994. The memory is a funny thing.
Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall
However it turns out that whilst this didn't chart until 1994 it was originally released in 1993 so maybe it did get played at a 1993 school disco.
Atlantic Ocean would have one further hit with "Body In Motion" which sounded just like this but not as good.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
Seems a bit odd that they would release a single that was already 3 years old and given me and many others already owned the album you wouldn't think there would be that much demand for it.
Crowded House - Locked Out
I could take or leave Crowded House, their music was pleasant enough without being anything special. This tune though seemed a bit more exciting.
Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby
It wasn't until 2000 when I finally found it what this tune was courtesy of Mauro Picotto sampling it on "Komodo" which I bought on vinyl.
I would go on to buy the self titled Deep Forest album which features this tune, it's a great album and would recommend to anyone who likes experimental music.
Monday, 25 February 2019
Record of the Year 2011: Martin Solveig - Hello
Around the end of April 2011 me and some friends were in a taxi when this came on the radio. I said that it was the only commercial record of the year to date that I actually liked. After listening to several 2011 hits when doing my research, I've concluded this is as good as it gets.
A bit like some of the EDM records coming out towards the end of 2010, this was a bit cheesy but I quite enjoyed it. Even cheesier was the video, where Martin Solveig plays a tennis match at Roland Garros against fellow French DJ Bob Sinclar, giving their DJ Mag rankings at the start of the match and featuring appearances from tennis players Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils. A longer version of the video exists which shows the two DJs preparing for the match.
One could see this is a good illustration of where Dance Music went wrong with the DJ rankings and celebrity appearances etc, but take all the nonsense away it's an enjoyable tune. The reality is that by 2011 a mass underground following of a Dance record wasn't enough to get it in the charts, so commercial EDM is pretty much all you're going to get.
I could have picked a record from another genre, but 99% of the other tunes were rubbish in my opinion and the other 1% were candidates but I didn't think they were quite as good as this.
Sunday, 24 February 2019
UK Singles Chart: 2011
Joining the 30+ Top 40 hits club in 2011 was the Glee Cast who had 13 hits this year to add to their 17 hits the year before, but this would be the last we'd see of them in the Top 40. Also joining the club was Rihanna who had 10 Top 40 hits bringing her total to 32. The acts highlighted are those who still have more hits to come:
Rihanna also scored her fifth and sixth number ones in 2011, "Whats My Name" first hit the Top 40 at the end of 2010:
Rihanna also now had a run of hits every year since 2005 and Westlife had their final hit before breaking up in 2011 with "Lighthouse" which made number 11 and became their only Top 40 hit not to make the Top 10:
Aside from Rihanna, there were four other acts who had two number ones in 2011. They were Bruno Mars with "Grenade" and "The Lazy Song", Pitbull with "On the Floor" in collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and "Give Me Everything" in collaboration with Ne-Yo, Nayer and Afrojack, Example with "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" and "Stay Awake" and Olly Murs with "Heart Skips A Beat" and "Dance With Me Tonight".
All five acts would also have hits that didn't chart very high, but the only one of these to also score a number two was Example with "Unorthodox" in collaboration with Wretch 32 therefore I would consider him to be the success story of the year from a chart perspective.
This year the X Factor winners song, who this time was Little Mix with "Cannonball", was released the week before Christmas and made number one. It was knocked off the top Christmas week by the charity record "Wherever You Are" by Military Wives.
The Saturdays had three hits this year, the most successful being "All Fired Up" which reached number 3. The long forgotten Girl Group making their debut this year was Parade who reached number 10 with their debut "Louder" but only made 38 with their follow up "Perfume" and that would be the last we'd see them in the Top 40.
Former Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts began her solo career in 2011 with "Beat Of My Drum" which made number 27. Her follow up "Lucky Day" only made number 40 and that would be the last we'd see her as a solo artists in the charts. Fellow Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh made her only solo chart appearance as featured artist on "Like U Like" by Aggro Santos. This left Cheryl as the only Girls Aloud member to have a solo Top 40 career beyond 2011 and she had a hit in 2011 with "The Flood".
We had a comeback this year from Blue with "I Can" which was also the Eurovision entry for the UK. The boyband to start the comeback trend, Take That, had a couple of hits with "Love Love" and "Kidz" but neither made the top ten. McFly had just the one hit in 2011 with "That's the Truth" which only made number 35.
The Wanted had their second and final number one with "Glad You Came" and also had a number two with "Lightning" and a number three with "Gold Forever".
X Factor boyband JLS had their fifth and final number one with "She Makes Me Wanna" and also had a number two with "Take A Chance On Me" and a number 8 with "Eyes Wide Shut".
There was a new X Factor boyband making their chart debut in 2011. One Direction who finished third in the previous years series scored a number one with their debut "What Makes You Beautiful" and followed up with the number three "Gotta Be You".
Cher Lloyd who finished fourth on the previous years series also reached number one with her debut hit which was "Swagger Jagger". She followed this up with the number four single "With Ur Love". Runner up Rebecca Ferguson made number 10 with her debut "Nothing's Real But Love" and winner Matt Cardle scored a number 6 with his second single "Run For Your Life".
From the 2009 series of X Factor, Jedward had their second and final hit with "Lipstick" which made number 40. Stacey Solomon scored a number 27 with her only Top 40 hit which was a cover of "Driving Home For Christmas".
The bulk of the number ones in 2011 were either Electropop or EDM which were also the dominant styles of music in the charts in general.
The first UK Funky to reach the Top 40 charted at the beginning of the year which came from Katy B ft Ms Dynamite with "Lights On". Every other Dance record in 2011 could either be classed as EDM or Dubstep with genres like House and Trance seemingly obsolete from a chart perspective.
We had the first ever Dubstep number one in 2011 which came from DJ Fresh ft Sian Evans with "Louder". The other Dubstep number one of the year was "Promises" by Nero.
There were two British rappers who debuted in 2011 who also scored number ones. After N-Dubz had their final Top 40 hit with "Stuttering", Dappy scored a number one with his debut. Wretch 32 had a number one with his third hit "Don't Go" which featured Josh Kumra. Professor Green also scored his first number one in 2011 with "Read All About It" which featured Emeli Sande.
R&B was once again taking a backseat due to R&B singers doing Electropop, but there were R&B hits from Beyoncé, Chris Brown and Jason Derulo in addition to their Electropop hits.
Snow Patrol returned to the charts with an Electropop song with "Called Out In the Dark". They followed up with the more Indie sounding "This Isn't Everything You Are" which would be their final Top 40 hit.
Following the break up of Oasis, the Gallagher brothers started their post-Oasis careers. Liam Gallagher formed the band Beady Eye and they had their only Top 40 hit with "The Roller". Noel Gallagher formed the band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and debuted with "The Death of You and Me" and followed up with "AKA What A Life".
Their was however very little in the way of Indie Music in the Top 40 and no Indie hits made the top ten. Alternative Rock was also seemingly at an end chart wise with just the Foo Fighters having their final hit with "Rope".
Whilst we may have been saying goodbye to the electric guitar we were perhaps saying hello to the acoustic guitar with the debut of Ed Sheeran. He made number three with his debut "The A Team" and followed up with the number four "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" and number five "Lego House".
Staying on the more mellow sound of Pop music, Adele scored her first number one with "Someone Like You". She also had a number two with "Rolling in the Deep" and a number 11 with "Set Fire To the Rain".
After 2010 seemed to bring the death of instrumental music, we had one instrumental hit in 2011 with "I Giorni" by Ludovico Einaudi. The tune was originally from 2002 and it charted thanks to Greg James playing it on Radio One.
Tony Bennett returned to the charts after a 46 year gap to become the first 50s debutant to chart in the 10s with "Body Soul" which was a collaboration with Amy Winehouse which charted following her death. For the first time since the 60s and 70s respectively we had no 60s or 70s debutants in the charts in 2011.
A criticism many people over a certain age have always had with "modern music" is it all sounds the same. By 2011 though they might have a point. For a start we have around half the quantity of Top 40 hits to what we had 10 years prior and at the same time we have an excessive number of hits from the same artists like the 13 from Glee Cast or 10 from Rihanna. This doesn't leave much variety.
Further to that we are seeing more instances of rappers, R&B singers and DJs collaborate on an Electropop or EDM record and seeing very little of the genres these artists were originally doing.
Will we get more variety in 2012 or will it be more of the same?
| 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 | |
| 7 | Queen | 53 | |
| 8 | Michael Jackson | 50 | |
| 9 | Paul McCartney | 47 | |
| = | Kylie Minogue | 47 | Higher |
| 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 | |
| = | George Michael | 35 | True Faith |
| 26 | Erasure | 34 | |
| = | Manic Street Preachers | 34 | |
| = | Jay-Z | 34 | H.A.M, Otis, Talk That Talk |
| 29 | Frank Sinatra | 33 | |
| = | Shakin Stevens | 33 | |
| = | Morrissey | 33 | |
| 32 | Iron Maiden | 32 | |
| = | Simply Red | 32 | |
| = | Whitney Houston | 32 | |
| = | Rihanna | 32 | S&M, All of the Lights, California King Bed, Cheers (Drink to That), Fly, We Found Love, Princess of China, Take Care, Talk That Talk, You Da One |
| 36 | Roy Orbison | 31 | |
| = | Bee Gees | 31 | |
| = | REM | 31 | |
| = | Robbie Williams | 31 | |
| 40 | Lonnie Donegan | 30 | |
| = | Beatles | 30 | |
| = | Tina Turner | 30 | |
| = | Duran Duran | 30 | |
| = | Paul Weller | 30 | |
| = | Mary J Blige | 30 | |
| = | Glee Cast | 30 | Telephone, Empire State of Mind, Toxic, Teenage Dream, Start Me Up/Livin on a Prayer, Singing in the Rain/Umbrella, Forget You, Hey Soul Sister, Thriller/Heads Will Roll, Loser Like Me, Get It Right, I Feel Pretty/Unpretty, Rumour Has It/Someone Like You |
Rihanna also scored her fifth and sixth number ones in 2011, "Whats My Name" first hit the Top 40 at the end of 2010:
| 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 | |
| = | Rihanna | 6 | What's My Name, We Found Love |
Rihanna also now had a run of hits every year since 2005 and Westlife had their final hit before breaking up in 2011 with "Lighthouse" which made number 11 and became their only Top 40 hit not to make the Top 10:
| Artist | Hits Every Year Since | |
| 1 | Westlife | 1999 |
| 2 | Kanye West | 2004 |
| 3 | Rihanna | 2005 |
Aside from Rihanna, there were four other acts who had two number ones in 2011. They were Bruno Mars with "Grenade" and "The Lazy Song", Pitbull with "On the Floor" in collaboration with Jennifer Lopez and "Give Me Everything" in collaboration with Ne-Yo, Nayer and Afrojack, Example with "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" and "Stay Awake" and Olly Murs with "Heart Skips A Beat" and "Dance With Me Tonight".
All five acts would also have hits that didn't chart very high, but the only one of these to also score a number two was Example with "Unorthodox" in collaboration with Wretch 32 therefore I would consider him to be the success story of the year from a chart perspective.
This year the X Factor winners song, who this time was Little Mix with "Cannonball", was released the week before Christmas and made number one. It was knocked off the top Christmas week by the charity record "Wherever You Are" by Military Wives.
The Saturdays had three hits this year, the most successful being "All Fired Up" which reached number 3. The long forgotten Girl Group making their debut this year was Parade who reached number 10 with their debut "Louder" but only made 38 with their follow up "Perfume" and that would be the last we'd see them in the Top 40.
Former Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts began her solo career in 2011 with "Beat Of My Drum" which made number 27. Her follow up "Lucky Day" only made number 40 and that would be the last we'd see her as a solo artists in the charts. Fellow Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh made her only solo chart appearance as featured artist on "Like U Like" by Aggro Santos. This left Cheryl as the only Girls Aloud member to have a solo Top 40 career beyond 2011 and she had a hit in 2011 with "The Flood".
We had a comeback this year from Blue with "I Can" which was also the Eurovision entry for the UK. The boyband to start the comeback trend, Take That, had a couple of hits with "Love Love" and "Kidz" but neither made the top ten. McFly had just the one hit in 2011 with "That's the Truth" which only made number 35.
The Wanted had their second and final number one with "Glad You Came" and also had a number two with "Lightning" and a number three with "Gold Forever".
X Factor boyband JLS had their fifth and final number one with "She Makes Me Wanna" and also had a number two with "Take A Chance On Me" and a number 8 with "Eyes Wide Shut".
There was a new X Factor boyband making their chart debut in 2011. One Direction who finished third in the previous years series scored a number one with their debut "What Makes You Beautiful" and followed up with the number three "Gotta Be You".
Cher Lloyd who finished fourth on the previous years series also reached number one with her debut hit which was "Swagger Jagger". She followed this up with the number four single "With Ur Love". Runner up Rebecca Ferguson made number 10 with her debut "Nothing's Real But Love" and winner Matt Cardle scored a number 6 with his second single "Run For Your Life".
From the 2009 series of X Factor, Jedward had their second and final hit with "Lipstick" which made number 40. Stacey Solomon scored a number 27 with her only Top 40 hit which was a cover of "Driving Home For Christmas".
The bulk of the number ones in 2011 were either Electropop or EDM which were also the dominant styles of music in the charts in general.
The first UK Funky to reach the Top 40 charted at the beginning of the year which came from Katy B ft Ms Dynamite with "Lights On". Every other Dance record in 2011 could either be classed as EDM or Dubstep with genres like House and Trance seemingly obsolete from a chart perspective.
We had the first ever Dubstep number one in 2011 which came from DJ Fresh ft Sian Evans with "Louder". The other Dubstep number one of the year was "Promises" by Nero.
There were two British rappers who debuted in 2011 who also scored number ones. After N-Dubz had their final Top 40 hit with "Stuttering", Dappy scored a number one with his debut. Wretch 32 had a number one with his third hit "Don't Go" which featured Josh Kumra. Professor Green also scored his first number one in 2011 with "Read All About It" which featured Emeli Sande.
R&B was once again taking a backseat due to R&B singers doing Electropop, but there were R&B hits from Beyoncé, Chris Brown and Jason Derulo in addition to their Electropop hits.
Snow Patrol returned to the charts with an Electropop song with "Called Out In the Dark". They followed up with the more Indie sounding "This Isn't Everything You Are" which would be their final Top 40 hit.
Following the break up of Oasis, the Gallagher brothers started their post-Oasis careers. Liam Gallagher formed the band Beady Eye and they had their only Top 40 hit with "The Roller". Noel Gallagher formed the band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and debuted with "The Death of You and Me" and followed up with "AKA What A Life".
Their was however very little in the way of Indie Music in the Top 40 and no Indie hits made the top ten. Alternative Rock was also seemingly at an end chart wise with just the Foo Fighters having their final hit with "Rope".
Whilst we may have been saying goodbye to the electric guitar we were perhaps saying hello to the acoustic guitar with the debut of Ed Sheeran. He made number three with his debut "The A Team" and followed up with the number four "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" and number five "Lego House".
Staying on the more mellow sound of Pop music, Adele scored her first number one with "Someone Like You". She also had a number two with "Rolling in the Deep" and a number 11 with "Set Fire To the Rain".
After 2010 seemed to bring the death of instrumental music, we had one instrumental hit in 2011 with "I Giorni" by Ludovico Einaudi. The tune was originally from 2002 and it charted thanks to Greg James playing it on Radio One.
Tony Bennett returned to the charts after a 46 year gap to become the first 50s debutant to chart in the 10s with "Body Soul" which was a collaboration with Amy Winehouse which charted following her death. For the first time since the 60s and 70s respectively we had no 60s or 70s debutants in the charts in 2011.
A criticism many people over a certain age have always had with "modern music" is it all sounds the same. By 2011 though they might have a point. For a start we have around half the quantity of Top 40 hits to what we had 10 years prior and at the same time we have an excessive number of hits from the same artists like the 13 from Glee Cast or 10 from Rihanna. This doesn't leave much variety.
Further to that we are seeing more instances of rappers, R&B singers and DJs collaborate on an Electropop or EDM record and seeing very little of the genres these artists were originally doing.
Will we get more variety in 2012 or will it be more of the same?
Thursday, 21 February 2019
Top of the Pops: 21/02/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 13
New (16) Khalid ft Disclosure - Talk
New (30) Tom Walker - Just You And I
New (34) Chainsmokers ft 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love
New (37) Camelphat ft Cristoph & Jem Cooke - Breathe
New (40) Blueface - Thotiana
Re (18) AJ Tracey - Psych Out
⬆ (13) Meek Mill ft Drake - Going Bad
⬆ (3) Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
New (1) Ariana Grande - Break Up With Your Girlfriend I'm Bored
Missing Out
New (8) Ariana Grande - Needy
⬆ (24) Dua Lipa - Swan Song
⬆ (26) Lewis Capaldi - Grace
⬆ (27) A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie ft 6ix9ine - Swervin
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 13
New (16) Khalid ft Disclosure - Talk
New (30) Tom Walker - Just You And I
New (34) Chainsmokers ft 5 Seconds Of Summer - Who Do You Love
New (37) Camelphat ft Cristoph & Jem Cooke - Breathe
New (40) Blueface - Thotiana
Re (18) AJ Tracey - Psych Out
⬆ (13) Meek Mill ft Drake - Going Bad
⬆ (3) Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
New (1) Ariana Grande - Break Up With Your Girlfriend I'm Bored
Missing Out
New (8) Ariana Grande - Needy
⬆ (24) Dua Lipa - Swan Song
⬆ (26) Lewis Capaldi - Grace
⬆ (27) A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie ft 6ix9ine - Swervin
Sunday, 17 February 2019
Why I won't be watching the Brit Awards
Next week sees the Brit Awards return for another year and once again I won't be watching. In fact I won't be watching any music award ceremonies, I hate them all. The Brit Awards though pretty much sums up everything wrong with awards ceremonies.
I thought I'd take a look at the nominations for this year and comment on how rubbish the nominees generally are, but there is no need to do that. Instead the fact the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award goes to Pink this year is a good enough reason in itself not to watch it.
Ok admittedly I have watched the Brit Awards in the past, but the years I did watch it made me realise what a load of nonsense it really is. I wondered how does one vote for their favourite to win an award? Turns out you can't. Instead a panel of 1000 music "experts" cast their votes. These so called experts apparently include the previous years nominees and winners, plus managers and record label bosses amongst others. Clearly all these so called experts will have their own agenda, sod what the record buying public think.
Perhaps the first time I truly thought the Brit Awards were a bit of a farce was in 1996. The previous year Blur had won a record 4 Brit Awards but in 1996 they won none. It wasn't that I was a massive fan of Blur, it was more the question of how could a band who dominated the awards one year win nothing the next year, particularly as over the year since then they scored their first number one winning the battle of the bands against Oasis, who won 3 awards themselves.
What got me more though was that it didn't represent the music I was listening to at the time and the nominees for each category was all the same. Take the "British Single of the Year" and "British Video of the Year" categories. Four of the five nominations are the same. Given the two are mutually exclusive I find it hard to believe that four of the five best singles also have at least the fifth best video. The nominees themselves in both categories were Blur, Oasis, Pulp and Take That with Radiohead in the video category and Everything but the Girl in the singles category.
Then there was best album who's nominees were Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Radiohead and Paul Weller, so four of these acts were also in the best video category. Of these acts, the four groups were in the best group category and Paul Weller was in the solo artist category which he won. Ok best group/solo act and best album do go hand in hand, but then what's the point in having both? The other group in the best group category was the Lightning Seeds. Seems like these "experts" were really into their Brit Pop that year. Yes Brit Pop was big, but there was other music too.
Being a Dance Music fan at the time though, the category I was most interested in was the "British Dance Act" one. The nominees included Massive Attack, Tricky and Leftfield, all decent acts. However, aside from the debate on whether Trip Hop should be classed as Dance Music, these are all acts who have been known to appeal to the Rock crowd. As for the other nominees, there was M People who I don't recall any Dance Music fan liking and Eternal which is the first and only time I've heard them described as being Dance Music. Ok I never expected DJ Dougal to get nominated but I just thought that the nominees didn't truly reflect what was going on in the Dance Music world at the time.
The singles chart has often been ridiculed for not being truly representative of peoples music taste and I don't dispute that at all. But at least the singles chart is essentially a measurement of the music people are buying/streaming that week. The winners of Brit Awards on the other hand is basically music "experts" telling the public this is who you should be listening too.
Would I entertain the Brit Awards if any member of the public could vote for whoever they wanted? Well no, the problem is you would only vote for someone you've heard of. The way most people have heard of the typical nominee at the Brit Awards is through the act in question being heavily promoted and all these awards achieve at the end of the day is further promotion irrespective of whether the act in question is any good or not.
I thought I'd take a look at the nominations for this year and comment on how rubbish the nominees generally are, but there is no need to do that. Instead the fact the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award goes to Pink this year is a good enough reason in itself not to watch it.
Ok admittedly I have watched the Brit Awards in the past, but the years I did watch it made me realise what a load of nonsense it really is. I wondered how does one vote for their favourite to win an award? Turns out you can't. Instead a panel of 1000 music "experts" cast their votes. These so called experts apparently include the previous years nominees and winners, plus managers and record label bosses amongst others. Clearly all these so called experts will have their own agenda, sod what the record buying public think.
Perhaps the first time I truly thought the Brit Awards were a bit of a farce was in 1996. The previous year Blur had won a record 4 Brit Awards but in 1996 they won none. It wasn't that I was a massive fan of Blur, it was more the question of how could a band who dominated the awards one year win nothing the next year, particularly as over the year since then they scored their first number one winning the battle of the bands against Oasis, who won 3 awards themselves.
What got me more though was that it didn't represent the music I was listening to at the time and the nominees for each category was all the same. Take the "British Single of the Year" and "British Video of the Year" categories. Four of the five nominations are the same. Given the two are mutually exclusive I find it hard to believe that four of the five best singles also have at least the fifth best video. The nominees themselves in both categories were Blur, Oasis, Pulp and Take That with Radiohead in the video category and Everything but the Girl in the singles category.
Then there was best album who's nominees were Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Radiohead and Paul Weller, so four of these acts were also in the best video category. Of these acts, the four groups were in the best group category and Paul Weller was in the solo artist category which he won. Ok best group/solo act and best album do go hand in hand, but then what's the point in having both? The other group in the best group category was the Lightning Seeds. Seems like these "experts" were really into their Brit Pop that year. Yes Brit Pop was big, but there was other music too.
Being a Dance Music fan at the time though, the category I was most interested in was the "British Dance Act" one. The nominees included Massive Attack, Tricky and Leftfield, all decent acts. However, aside from the debate on whether Trip Hop should be classed as Dance Music, these are all acts who have been known to appeal to the Rock crowd. As for the other nominees, there was M People who I don't recall any Dance Music fan liking and Eternal which is the first and only time I've heard them described as being Dance Music. Ok I never expected DJ Dougal to get nominated but I just thought that the nominees didn't truly reflect what was going on in the Dance Music world at the time.
The singles chart has often been ridiculed for not being truly representative of peoples music taste and I don't dispute that at all. But at least the singles chart is essentially a measurement of the music people are buying/streaming that week. The winners of Brit Awards on the other hand is basically music "experts" telling the public this is who you should be listening too.
Would I entertain the Brit Awards if any member of the public could vote for whoever they wanted? Well no, the problem is you would only vote for someone you've heard of. The way most people have heard of the typical nominee at the Brit Awards is through the act in question being heavily promoted and all these awards achieve at the end of the day is further promotion irrespective of whether the act in question is any good or not.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Top of the Pops: 14/02/2019
What's this all about?
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 7
⬆ (30) Kehlani ft Ty Dolla Sign - Nights Like This
⬆ (5) Mabel - Don't Call Me Up
New (39) Lauv ft Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired
New (36) 21 Savage - A Lot
New (15) Fredo ft Dave - All I Ever Wanted
New (7) Billie Eilish - Bury a Friend
(1) Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
Missing Out
None
Top 40 Countdown
Number of eligible records: 7
⬆ (30) Kehlani ft Ty Dolla Sign - Nights Like This
⬆ (5) Mabel - Don't Call Me Up
New (39) Lauv ft Troye Sivan - I'm So Tired
New (36) 21 Savage - A Lot
New (15) Fredo ft Dave - All I Ever Wanted
New (7) Billie Eilish - Bury a Friend
(1) Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
Missing Out
None
Sunday, 10 February 2019
My 25 Favourite Albums: 2 Many DJs - As Heard on Radio Soulwax pt 2
10 years ago I picked my 25 favourite albums in no particular order. After realising it's now been 10 years I thought maybe I could write a post for each one throughout out the year. This reflects my own personal taste so you won't find albums like "Dark Side of the Moon" or "Thriller" in the list, partly because it doesn't need to be enjoyed by millions to be amongst my favourite and partly because I don't own either of those examples so they're clearly nowhere near my favourite.
The first of these albums is "As Heard on Radio Soulwax pt 2" by 2 Many DJs. The way I first came across 2 Many DJs was when I kept hearing their name on the line up of various Dance music events. I then came across this album in the record shop and looked at the track listing and saw Emerson Lake & Palmer, 10CC and Dolly Parton amongst others on the track list. How was this Dance music I asked myself?
I then learned that 2 Many DJs were best known for doing mash-ups i.e. playing 2 or more records at the same time to create a new sound. I was still a little sceptical about it but thought I'd give it a listen when I was next in the record shop and on listening I found it just somehow worked.
The story of 2 Many DJs isn't your usual turning up to clubs and giving promoters tapes type story. They hail from Belgium and started off as members of a Rock band called Soulwax in the 90s who had a minor hit in 2000 with a song called "Too Many DJs". They then started DJing on the side before making a name for themselves with their mash-ups. The name Soulwax is now more associated with the Dance music scene thanks to the albums and remixes they have done since.
They started Radio Soulwax on their official website around 2001 which is where the title comes from. There are several "As Heard on Radio Soulwax" albums but this is the only official one and being mash-ups meant a lot of samples needed to be cleared.
When pressing play and rewinding the CD you get the Soulwax Elektronik mix of "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" before the album begins. Quite possibly because of this feature, the CD won't play in my car stereo.
All in all there are 30 tracks and it lasts just over an hour, so even if there is a bit you don't like it doesn't last very long. It's one of those albums you really need to listen to from beginning to end to appreciate, it's difficult to pick a highlight of the album particularly as it features tunes which I don't like in their original form.
I guess this is what makes this album so good. On paper it should be rubbish, but the best thing to do is to forget the track list, forget the fact none of it is original material and just give it a listen and some of you will no doubt be amazed at just how good it is.
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