2005: The End? - December

We've reached the final month of the year and to be honest I'm not sure I've found when in 2005 chart music took a big downward turn. I will however review December in the same way I've reviewed the other months.

I begin by seeing what appeared on Top of the Pops as always and I can often guess what was shown and what wasn't. It tends to be overly commercial music or BBC friendly shite they want to inflict on us. Going through the list in alphabetical order, no acts beginning with A or B were shown but then we get to C and we have Charlotte Church on the show and then to D it's David Gray. I was however surprised to get to J and find James Blunt wasn't shown. Normal service resumes with Jamie Cullum, Katie Melua, Kelly Clarkson and KT Tunstall all on the show.

One has to go down to M to find the first and only new entry this month to be shown on Top of the Pops that I actually like which is "Be Without You" by Mary J Blige. I remember acknowledging we were lacking in decent new R&B records but that one was an exception. 

In the rap world the ever reliable Eminem scores a point with "When I'm Gone" after which he does pretty much go away for a few years which was another nail in the coffin of new music.

The best record though comes from the dance music world with "What Else Is There?" by Royksopp. The dance records are a bit thin on the ground and the only other points come from Braund Reynolds with "Rocket (A Natural Gambler)" which gets half marks. The rest is just cheesy nonsense.

Another act bidding farewell to the Top 40 for a number of years is Blink 182 with "Not Now". It's far from their best but good enough for half marks. Likewise, Alkaline Trio the main band of future Blink 182 member Matt Skiba gets half marks for "Mercy Me".

The final worst record of the year goes to Mariah Carey with "Don't Forget About Us". Having gone down the R&B route in 2005 with help from Jermaine Dupri, this was a return to the usual dreary nonsense we're used to from her.

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

Score: 12%

Here's a look at the chart:

We've made it to the end of the year with December being the worst month. It does look like the Top 40 is getting worse as the year goes on but there are 2 issues here. First of all the 2 best months are in the second half of the year. Secondly we already know there's a slump in quality as we get to Christmas time.

I therefore can't really conclude when in 2005 the charts died if they even did this year. There's only one thing for it. Join me next week for 2006: The End?