Future Top 40 Heavyweights: 3 Years Later

3 Years ago I made this post about who could be the next Drake or Ed Sheeran i.e. clock up a ridiculous amount of Top 40 hits that nobody knows. To keep it simple I looked at all acts to debut after Ed Sheeran to have 15 or more Top 40 hits to their name. A year later I looked at how things were progressing and added another 6 acts who now fitted the criteria. Then last year I did another update.

It seems the mythology from last year has done little to cut down the list but I'll stick with it for now. 

Here's how it's looking then:

The Weeknd (41) (LY 38)

I said last year he looks the most likely of these acts to reach 50 Top 40 hits first. He's already the first to make 40. It seems like he's on his way.

Ariana Grande (41) (LY 35)

6 Top 40 hits in the past year which essentially came in 2 batches of 3. The first was due to being in a film and the second was having Max Martin as songwriter. As long as this continues to be the case I suspect the hits will keep coming.

Central Cee (35) (LY 30)

We're now in an era where UK rappers presence in the Top 40 has plummeted. Bucking this trend is Central Cee who has added 5 to his total in the last year. He's clocked up his first 35 Top 40 hits in the same amount of time Elvis Presley did it and nobody has done it quicker.

Dave (34) (LY 30)

Another UK rapper bucking the trend of UK rappers not getting the hits. One of those 4 Top 40 hits in the last year was a collaboration with Central Cee. If they can buck the trend then maybe there's more to come from them.

Little Mix (32) (LY 32)

They're still on hiatus so no further Top 40 hits.

Stormzy (32) (LY 32)

No longer leading the way for British rappers and with no Top 40 hits in the last year have we seen the last of Stormzy in the Top 40?

D-Block Europe (30) (LY 30)

Now 27 Top 40 hits in their first 4 years but just 3 in the last 3 years and none in the last year. They might be back but for now it looks like they're finished

Kendrick Lamar (30) (LY 26)

Kendrick Lamar continued his batches of Top 40 hits in November last year and then added another to his total as a featured artist in February. No doubt another 3 will come all at once in the future, or maybe they won't now I've said that.

Dua Lipa (26) (LY 26)

She seems to be in the news all the time but no Top 40 hits in the last year. Maybe she's enough of a celebrity now that she doesn't bother with music. We can only hope.

Post Malone (25) (LY 25)

Nothing in the last year for Post Malone. Maybe he's just waiting for the new trend before jumping on the bandwagon.

Billie Eilish (23) (LY 23)

Last year I said her number of Top 40 hits exceeds her age just. With no Top 40 hits in the last year she has a month until her age overtakes her number of Top 40 hits.

Rita Ora (22) (LY 22)

If I come up with a new methodology it should be one to take Rita Ora off this list. That said she'll probably have a big comeback if I do.

Sam Smith (22) (LY 22)

13 artists in and 8 of them have had no Top 40 hits in the last year, it's starting to sound more like past Top 40 flash in the pans. With Sam Smith though I get the feeling he's not finished yet.

Charli XCX (21) (LY 20)

In the last year somebody told me about Charli XCX and how she loves her old skool rave music and makes tunes to reflect that. I was however warned she also sings on them in autotune. She's added 1 to her total in the last year with something I've fortunately never heard.

KSI (20) (LY 19)

He's a YouTube person and it seems he was most prolific during Covid when that's all we had to amuse ourselves with. Now he's more occasional, but as long as YouTube is around he'll probably keep going.

Travis Scott (20) (LY 19)

He was a new addition 2 years ago but has had just one further Top 40 hit in the past year. 

Doja Cat (20) (LY 17)

One of the newer Top 40 debutants on this list so more potential to go further. 

Aitch (20) (LY 18)

It only took him 3 years 4 months to clock up 18 Top 40 hits, then over 2 years of nothing before adding 2 to his total in the last year.

Raye (20) (LY 16)

Her average has now gone above 2 a year but again the question is will she have the longevity?

Fredo (19) (LY 19)

Last year I said it's unlikely he's going to add much to his total in the future and that's accurate so far.

One Direction (18) (LY 18)

If they don't reunite and get back in the Top 40 in the next year they'll drop off this list.

Anne-Marie (18) (LY 18)

Nothing in the last year though you feel that David Guetta and co may keep her Top 40 career going in the future.

Becky Hill (18) (LY 18)

Nothing in the last year though you feel that David Guetta and co may keep her Top 40 career going in the future.

AJ Tracey (18) (LY 17)

After more than 3 years away he's added 1 to his total.

Headie One (17) (LY 17)

Nothing in the last year, perhaps one of the victims in the decline of UK rap in the Top 40.

Tion Wayne (16) (LY 16)

Another British rapper who appears to have run out of steam for clocking up Top 40 hits.

J Hus (16) (LY 16)

Another British rapper who appears to have run out of steam for clocking up Top 40 hits.

Jax Jones (16) (LY 16)

I'm sure he'll drop off the list in the future.

Camila Cabello (15) (LY 15)

Ditto.

Cardi B (15) (LY 15)

Ditto.

J Cole (15) (LY 15)

A new addition last year but nothing to add this year.

We have some new additions to the list this year:

SZA (17)

Just outside the criteria last year and helped onto the list this year by her collaborations with Kendrick Lamar.

21 Savage (15)

Just outside the criteria last year and helped onto the list by a collaboration with Central Cee this year.

Sabrina Carpenter (15)

After making her Top 40 debut in Jan 2021 she had her 2nd in Jan 2023 and 3rd in Jan 2024. Then from Apr 24 she clocked up 12 in 18 months.

Forever Sanctuary 2025

I'll start with the obligatory anti-Milton Keynes rant. V7 Saxon St may have cemented it's place in rave history but what a horrible road to walk down. 10-15 minutes after getting off the train I could still see the platform I'd just come from. Then every sign you walk past says Stadium MK 1 1/4 miles. Finally seeing the Marshall Arena where this event took place ahead you still have to walk half a mile across a car park to get there.

All in all it was 45 minutes between getting off the train and getting inside the venue. Given the last train was at 23:12 it meant no Scott Brown or Mark EG & M-Zone but I'm not overly concerned about the former and I saw the latter last year with MC Ribbz who I prefer to Squidgy B who was MCing for them this time.

The latest set I could see was the Force & Styles experience which is Force without Styles accompanied by MC Charlie B who would MC for them when MC Junior was in prison and vocalist Jenna. However I would of missed the last 15 minutes of a 40 minute set to catch the train, would this be worth sticking around for?

I bought an early doors ticket meaning I'd have to arrive in the first hour. With Ellis Dee in the 2nd room at 14:30 I was more than happy to do this. However at 14:30 there was no activity in the 2nd room. The technodrome wasn't due to open until 15:30 so my only choice was DJ Rap in the main room.

Some jungle classics such as "Renegade Snares" and "The Lighter" were played and lifted my spirits following that horrible walk to the venue. With no activity in the 2nd room still at 15:15 it seemed like Ellis Dee hadn't turned up so I saw out the DJ Rap set and stayed in the main arena for Ramos & Supreme.

The question was would it be the mid-90s happy hardcore or late 90s trancecore version that turned up. In the beginning it was just Supreme that turned up and he started with they Force & Styles remix of "Gotta Believe" which set the tone. Ramos did eventually turn up and was a good set which included "All Systems Go" by Force & Styles. I felt following this there was no need to stick around for half a set from half of Force & Styles.

Next up was Nicky Blackmarket & Brockie which I stuck around for. Again it was an enjoyable set and good to have some drum & bass following a hardcore set like it used to be.

Then we had Hixxy where the question was would it be a 90s Hixxy or a 21st century Raverbaby Hixxy. The start of his set suggested the latter so it was off to room 2 where Simon Bassline Smith was playing. Whoever I was seeing next I was only seeing 30 minutes of but with the main arena running behind schedule it was more 20 minutes. As I walked in I was hearing "Renegade Snares" for at least the 2nd time.

At 17:30 in the 2nd room came the moment I'd been waiting for, Jimmy J. He was my favourite DJ back in the day but by the time I started raving he was winding down before retiring to Spain. He's recently come back and at 60 years old now you don't know if this opportunity would come around again.

The only downside is that we didn't have the late great MC Ruff with him for obvious reasons and when "99 Red Balloons" dropped I was muttering some MC Ruff lines I'd heard him do to that tune on a tape I've listened to countless times. We got plenty of classics from both Jimmy J & Cru-L-T and Triple J and ended with "Follow The Sun". It was worth the 30 year wait.

Back out in the main arena tributes were being made to the rave scene figures who are no longer with us and that list of people seems far too long.

It was then Fabio & Grooverider who are still big names in drum & bass to this very day and I've heard they don't do requests. When they started the set with "Lock Up" by Zero B I could tell it was going to be a good set and it was. A mixture of breakbeat hardcore and early jungle made the set spot on.

Slipmatt & Dougal were on next and again it was a solid set with some 90s classics. The problem from my own perspective was the repetition of tunes we were now getting. Inevitable when everyone was doing an upfront set back in the day but with 13 years of the Sanctuary to cover hearing the same tune 3 or 4 times was a bit overkill.

With this in mind the question was how much longer do I stay? I knew Vibes & Live Lee would mix it up but their end of set time didn't align with the trains very well plus I'd seen them last year plus it was only a 40 minute set that may be even shorter given we were running behind schedule.

On next in the main arena was Breeze. It seemed almost inevitable he'd play the 21st century tunes as this was when he went from opening set DJ to headliner. Into the 2nd room I went to see DJ SS, again decent enough but playing some tunes I'd already heard multiple times that day.

Then the choice prior to Vibes & Live Lee was stay in the 2nd room to see Kenny Ken who I heard played modern rubbish including Becky Hill last year or go into the main arena to see the remainder of the Breeze set.

After 6 hours of being there I felt I'd got my moneys worth and thought sod it I'll go home.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 44

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

30. Tal Bachman - She's So High

This was the only Top 40 hit for Tal Bachman who is the son of Randy Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive. I'm surprised this record only got to number 30 in the charts as it seemed a pretty big record at the time. Not my cup of tea.

Verdict - Rubbish

26. Barbra Streisand And Vince Gill - If You Ever Leave Me

This was the final Top 40 hit to date for Barbra Streisand which came 33 years after her Top 40 debut. It was also the only Top 40 hit for Vince Gill. The songwriter of this was Richard Marx long after his UK Top 40 career was over. It's pretty bland.

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly

I have to say I do like the video to this record. It's a funny video and when it appeared on the music channels which it did a lot I would keep it on and watch it. Unfortunately the song itself isn't really up to much, just a bit of backing music for the video really.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 6.5/30, or 22%. A sign we're heading to the 21st century.

25 Years Since....October 2000

I wrote a song in October 2000 called "Misery Of Last Friday". I did listen to music too:

K-Ci & Jojo - Tell Me Its Real

This was one of my favourite garage records, little did I know it started out as an R&B record. In a roundabout way though it got me into R&B. I heard the original of this which I liked too and that got me into K-Ci & Jojo and then other R&B acts would follow.

Green Day - Minority

It had been 3 years since Green Day had last released an album and it seemed a real possibility they'd called it a day. This comeback single showed they were still going. I remember sitting through a whole morning of T4 to hear this, I didn't know when exactly they would play it and at was right at the end when they did.

I bought the album the day it was released expecting this to be one of the softer tracks, but if anything this was one of the harder tracks and the album was a big disappointment if I'm honest. 

Monsta Boy ft Denzie - Sorry (I Didn't Know)

This record took a bit of getting used to I must admit. I found it a bit namby pamby for my liking but at the same time I couldn't resist a garage beat. It appeared on lots of garage tapes and that's how it grew on me.

Ed Case - Something In Your Eyes

Yes it's another UK garage record but again I was listening to garage a lot around this time. I love the way the music builds up towards the chorus on this one.

JJ72 - October Swimmer

Quite appropriate that a record with this title comes out in October. It was the 2nd Top 40 hit for long forgotten Irish band JJ72. Not typical of the music I was listening to at the time but they had something about them.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 44

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Tineke Schouten als Lady Lachebek - De Babbelende Papegaai

I don't think you need to be able to speak Dutch to figure out that this is a novelty record. It's by a Dutch comedienne and is the sort of thing the Barron Knights would do. A translation of the title suggests this record is to do with a parrott.

Proyecto Uno - El Tiburon

Seeing the title of this record made me think of "El Trago" by 2 in a Room. The record itself sounds like it could have been done by them, it's essentially a Latin hip house record from America. They've never had a UK Top 40 hit in the UK and this was their only effort in Holland.

Melissa Etheridge - Your Little Secret

It may come as a surprise to hear that Melissa Etheridge has never had a UK Top 40 hit. The nearest she's got is reaching number 100 twice. Perhaps she's too American for the British market. She's fared better in Holland but this was her final Top 40 hit there. 

Rowwen Heze - De Neus Umhoeg

Speaking of America, it's the band from the village in Holland called America again for one final time this year. To be honest I've forgotten how their other records this year go by now but this record is ringing more bells. As usual it's sung in Dutch so I have no idea what they're singing.

January Charts: 1982

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. The Stranglers - Golden Brown

2. Modern Romance - Queen Of The Rapping Scene (Nothing Ever Goes The Way You Plan)

3. Gillan - Restless

4. The Human League - Being Boiled

5. Japan - European Son

6. Daryl Hall And John Oates - I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)

7. Stiff Little Fingers - Listen

8. XTC - Senses Working Overtime

9. Alton Edwards - I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)

10. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Maid Of Orleans (The Waltz Of Joan Of Arc)

11. Electric Light Orchestra - Here Is The News/Ticket To The Moon

12. Haircut 100 - Love Plus One

13. George Benson - Never Give Up On A Good Thing

14. Theatre Of Hate - Do You Believe In The Westworld

15. Stevie Wonder - That Girl

16. Diana Ross - Mirror Mirror

17. Lindsey Buckingham - Trouble

18. Mike Post And Larry Carlton - Theme From 'Hill Street Blues'

19. Mobiles - Drowning In Berlin

20. Olivia Newton-John - Landslide

21. Elkie Brooks - Fool If You Think It's Over

22. Shakin' Stevens - Oh Julie

23. Adrian Gurvitz - Classic

24. Tight Fit - The Lion Sleeps Tonight

25. Rhoda With The Special AKA - The Boiler

26. Bow Wow Wow - Go Wild In The Country

One thing I've often found with 80s nights is that they sound great on paper, but then you turn up and are reminded there was no shortage of rubbish coming out back then and the good stuff isn't that good. This is what I've generally found with this batch of records.

The best it has to offer is "Golden Brown" by The Stranglers. A great record, but probably the only one of theirs you'd hear at an 80s night when they did better records that are largely forgotten.

The 2nd placed record fits the so bad it's good category. "Queen Of The Rapping Scene" was a minor hit for Modern Romance who were one of several non-rap acts in the early 80s incorporating rapping into their records.

In 3rd we have "Restless" by Gillan which was the final Top 40 hit for the band and it's high placing it livening things up what I played it.

Next up we have "Being Boiled" by The Human League, a 1978 record that found its way into the Top 40 off the back of them getting the 1981 Christmas number one with "Don't You Want Me". Similarly "European Son" by Japan was from 1979 but only just finding its way into the charts.

If we go down to the bottom we find "Go Wild In The Country" by Bow Wow Wow. They're a band I never got, there music isn't very musical and the non-singing is rather irritating. I do like The Specials or The Special AKA as they were known here, but "The Boiler"by Rhoda is rather boring.

At 3rd from bottom we have one of those 80s classics you'll no doubt hear at some 80s nights that's irritating. To be fair I think this is supposed to be bad.

Adrian Gurvitz was a member of a band called The Gun in the 60s who were pushing the hard rock sound back then. Now he was writing a classic in his attic, a tame ballad that couldn't be any more different.

One great illustration that not everything was great in the 80s is Shakin Stevens. He was one of the biggest acts of the decade but I'm struggling to think of a single decent record he's done. "Oh Julie" certainly wasn't one of them.

Around mid-table we have acts like OMD, ELO, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonders whose records are solid if unspectacular and all have done better.

When I did my best year search what I generally found with the 80s was that they were consistent. They seem to be again.

Score: 43

UK Number 40s: Machine Gun Kelly - Forget Me Too (2020)

 

At the start of 2017 it had been some time since I'd last knowingly heard a new Top 40 hit. Out of interest I decided to give the new entries a listen. One of those was by a rapper called Machine Gun Kelly with "Bad Things". I saw him as being like a modern day Eminem and Google told me I wasn't the only one who thought that.

It turned out he was already an established rapper on Bad Boy records but this was his first Top 40 hit. The next time we'd see him in the Top 40 again was the following year with "Rap Devil" which was an Eminem diss track. There were also Machine Gun Kelly diss tracks from Eminem.

When Machine Gun Kelly returned to the Top 40 in 2020 he'd transformed into the modern day Blink 182. This was helped by the fact Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was drummer and producer of said records.

This record charted on release of his "Tickets To My Downfall" album with an another track "My Ex's Best Friend" charting at number 30 the same week. He's since stuck to making punk with Travis Barker.

UK Number 40s: Miley Cyrus - Slide Away (2019)

 

When Billy Ray Cyrus did the unlikely thing of being an American country singer to have a big hit in the UK with "Achy Breaky Heart", little did we know his yet to be born daughter would have a much more prolific chart career than he did. OK he only had one more minor hit that nobody remembers which set her a pretty low target.

This was her 16th Top 40 hit and she'd managed a couple of number ones along the way. The first thing I questioned was whether it was a cover of the Oasis song. It isn't, but incidentally the main man behind this record is Andrew Wyatt who has written for Liam Gallagher as a solo artist.

Her Top 40 debut "See You Again" from 2008 is now older than "Achy Breaky Heart" was when she was making her debut.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 43

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

25. Liquid Child - Diving Faces

Another week another German trance record in the Top 40. This was the only Top 40 hit for Liquid Child who were Tobias Menguser and Jurgen Herbath. This was one of the trance records that I particularly liked at the time.

Verdict - Good

23. Wyclef Jean ft Bono - New Day

This seemed a bit of an odd collaboration. It was the 2nd time Bono appeared in the Top 40 without U2 having previously collaborated with Clannad in the 80s. It's not a bad record but it's nothing special.

Verdict - OK

22. Big Time Charlie - On The Run

This record uses the same sample as "Son of a Gun" by JX. Dance music was moving so quickly in the 90s though it made sense to have a 99 style record using that sample given how big the JX record was at the time. It was the first of 2 Top 40 hits for Big Time Charlie.

Verdict - Good

21. The Chemical Brothers - Out Of Control

This record features vocals by Bernard Sumner. It's one of those records you need to listen to the whole way through to really appreciate, there's a lot going on in it and takes a complete change in direction at one point. A solid effort.

Verdict - Good

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 11/30, or 37%. Heading in the right direction.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 43

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Tokyo Ghetto Pussy - I Kiss Your Lips

Tokyo Ghetto Pussy had just the one Top 40 hit in both the UK and Holland. In the UK we'd got "Everybody (On The Floor)" in September but this failed to reach the Top 40 when released in early 1996 with it's appearance on TOTP2 seemingly not helping with the sales. It's a happy hardcore record which you may think comes from Japan based on who it's by, but it's actually German. It's an alias of Jam & Spoon.

Roxette - You Don't Understand Me

I've always thought of Roxette as being an 80s act but in the UK they only had 1 Top 40 hit in the 80s with the bulk coming in the early 90s. Prior to their last original Top 40 hit with "Wish I Could Fly" in 1999 their final UK Top 40 hit came at the end of 1994. In Holland they managed one more Top 40 hit before going the same way. 

January Charts: 1981

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. Ultravox - Vienna

2. Dire Straits - Romeo And Juliet

3. Blondie - Rapture

4. The Teardrop Explodes - Reward

5. Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight

6. Slade - We'll Bring The House Down

7. Susan Fassbender - Twilight Café

8. Madness - The Return Of The Los Palmas Seven

9. John Lennon - Woman

10. Spandau Ballet - The Freeze

11. James Brown - Rapp Payback (Where Iz Moses?)

12. Heatwave - Gangsters Of The Groove

13. Diana Ross - It's My Turn

14. Rainbow - I Surrender

15. XTC - Sgt Rock (Is Going To Help Me)

16. Light Of The World - I Shot The Sheriff

17. Passions - I'm In Love With A German Film Star

18. The Boomtown Rats - The Elephant's Graveyard (Guilty)

19. Odyssey - Hang Together

20. Coast To Coast - (Do) The Hucklebuck

21. Adam & The Ants - Cartrouble

22. Barbara Jones - Just When I Needed You Most

23. Sheila Hylton - The Bed's Too Big Without You

24. David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

25. Cliff Richard - A Little In Love

26. Fred Wedlock - The Oldest Swinger In Town

27. Honey Bane - Turn Me On, Turn Me Off

There's the theory that once a decade ends there's a clear-out of the big name popular musicians to make way for a new breed. This batch of records suggests otherwise. Whilst it's barely over a year into the new decade the majority of artists had some sort of chart presence in the 70s and many of those who didn't were one hit wonders.

Take the number one record for example. "Vienna" is most famous for not being a number one and is an excellent record. Ultravox may not have had a Top 40 hit until 1980 but singer Midge Ure first hit the Top 40 as part of Slik in 1976.

In 2nd place we have Dire Straits who first hit the Top 40 in 1978 as did Blondie in 3rd place. Crucially though all 3 of these records were driving music forward and didn't sound like they came out of the 70s.

We do have an authentic 80s band in 4th place with Teardrop Explodes debuting with their biggest hit "Reward". Phil Collins may have been the Genesis drummer and subsequently singer in the 70s but his solo debut "In The Air Tonight" was as 80s as they come.

Even Slade were a pleasant surprise. They had extensive success in the 70s before fading into obscurity in the latter part of the decade but their comeback record "We'll Bring The House Down" was very much adapting to the hard rock sound of the moment.

Next up we have one hit wonder Susan Fassbender with "Twilight Cafe". It's one of those records which has an identity of it's own and now frozen in time to be fondly remembered.

Not all one hit wonders this month were good. Down the bottom we have "Turn Me On, Turn Me Off" which you can tell will be irritating from it's title alone and that's exactly what it is. Likewise "The Oldest Swinger In Town" by Fred Wedlock is as silly as it sounds.

Obviously Cliff Richard isn't a one hit wonder and his effort here went in one ear out the other. I've already said I'm not a fan of David Bowie and "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" does little to convince me otherwise.

More one hit wonders above with Sheila Hylton and Barbara Jones both doing covers of 70s hits reggae style which again doesn't cover 1981 one hit wonders in glory. Just above that we have an authentic 80s act Top 40 wise with Adam & the Ants but the record comes from their 1979 album. 

After a strong 1980 it seemed almost inevitable that 1981 wouldn't be as good, but still a decent enough score.

Score: 43

UK Number 40s: Megan Thee Stallion & Nicki Minaj - Hot Girl Summer (2019)

 

Here we have 2 artists that I've both heard of and a record I was at least aware existed before getting to it on the list, yet it only made number 40. I had to double check that it did really only made number 40 to be sure.

This was the Top 40 debut for rapper Megan Thee Stallion. As you may expect, she did go on to have greater chart success. Her follow up "Savage" made number 3 and her third single "WAP" topped the charts. It was back to the lower reaches after that, like with all these modern artists there's the possibility of greater chart success to come but at the time of writing she's averaged around 1 Top 40 hit a year since this debut.

Nicki Minaj on the other hand is an artists who has had more Top 40 hits than many people would think. This was hit number 36 and at the time of writing she's had at least one Top 40 hit every year since she made her debut in 2010. Only Calvin Harris and Drake have managed the same streak.

UK Number 40s: Dave - Black (2019)

 

When I first came up with the idea to make this series of posts, this record was the latest one to peak at number 40 and it's got no further since. 6 years later we've inevitably had more records peaking at 40.

In the beginning I could talk about the beginning, middle and end of ones Top 40 career and in some cases the beginning, middle and end was the same thing. As we've got more current we're seeing artists who could still have a long Top 40 career ahead of them.

In the case of this artist, I would guess he still has more Top 40 hits to come. This record came barely a year after he made his Top 40 debut but this was already hit number 7 for him. He'd already had a number one and has topped the charts since. In 2019 alone he clocked up 11 Top 40 hits and has continued to clock up hits since. With that sort of quantity some will get to the lower reaches and this was one of those.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 42

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

28. Martay ft ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' 2000

The year 2000 wasn't here yet, but there was a lot of hype about it arriving with the 2000 on the end of this record being an example. It was a dance record with a female rapper on the verses and ZZ Top doing the chorus. It's as bad as it sounds.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. Lucid - Stay With Me Till Dawn

I was a big fan of the Lucid debut "I Can't Help Myself" and quite liked their follow up "Crazy" too. For their 3rd and final Top 40 hit to date they turned down the tempo and covered "Stay With Me Till Dawn" by Judie Tzuke. I love the original of this but this cover doesn't really do it any justice.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 10/30, or 33%. We stay the same.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 42

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

Andre Rieu - Strauss Party

This was the end of the road for Andre Rieu in the Dutch Top 40. It's a record that many people would be familiar with, I'm pretty sure this has appeared on adverts before. 

Bonnie Tyler - Making Love (Out Of Nothing At All)

This is a record I'm surprised didn't make the UK Top 40 but at the same time I'm not. I remember this record very well at the time and it was played a lot on Radio 1. This was a time when Radio 1 had made a point about being a modern station and wouldn't play the likes of Status Quo. Given Bonnie Tyler was around in the 70s one might think she wouldn't make the Radio 1 playlist but she did. The fact she had been around so long and hadn't had a hit for a decade is probably why this failed to make the UK Top 40. It's a cover of a song by Air Supply and was composed by Jim Steinman whose other main artist Meat Loaf was enjoying a chart revival in the UK around this time.

January Charts: 1980

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. The Ramones - Baby I Love You

2. John Foxx - Underpass

3. The Specials - Too Much Too Young (The Special AKA Live! EP)

4. New Musik - Living By Numbers

5. Jefferson Starship - Jane

6. Azymuth - Jazz Carnival

7. The Bee Gees - Spirits (Having Flown)

8. Dexy's Midnight Runners - Dance Stance

9. Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls

10. Jon And Vangelis - I Hear You Now

11. Styx - Babe

12. UFO - Young Blood

13. The Buggles - The Plastic Age

14. Sad Café - Strange Little Girl

15. Brass Construction - Music Makes You Feel Like Dancing

16. The Commodores - Wonderland

17. Kool And The Gang - Too Hot

18. Sister Sledge - Got To Love Somebody

19. Madness - My Girl

20. Amii Stewart - Paradise Bird / The Letter

21. The Shadows - Riders In The Sky

22. Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)

23. Dr Hook - Better Love Next Time

24. The Boomtown Rats - Someone's Looking At You

25. Captain Beaky - Captain Beaky/Wilfred The Weasel

26. Kenny Rogers - Coward Of The County

27. Matchbox - Buzz Buzz A Diddle It

28. Suzi Quatro - Mama's Boy

We're into a new decade though being January all of these records would of existed one way or another in the 70s.

It's topped by a rare 5 rating in "Baby I Love You" by The Ramones. It's a cover that beats the original, it's one of those punk bands experimenting with something different but keeping the punk elements and it works.

One of the main things you'd associate with the 80s is synth pop and it was already very much a thing at the beginning of the decade. In 2nd place we have "Underpass" by John Foxx, the former Ultravox singer making his Top 40 solo debut though Ultravox were yet to have a Top 40 hit at this point. It's a haunting record and again experimenting coming good.

There is also the debut for New Musik with "Living By Numbers". This was their Top 40 debut and the hit they are best known for. Also debuting are Jon & Vangelis with "I Hear You Now" though both had prior Top 40 hits separately, Jon as a member of Yes and Vangelis as a member of Aphrodite's Child. Then we have "The Plastic Age" from The Buggles, their follow up to their big hit "Video Killed The Radio Star" which doesn't suffer from being overplayed.

2 Tone was also big around the turn of the decade and one of the best records to come out of that scene in my opinion is "Too Much Too Young" by The Specials. We also have "My Girl" by Madness which finds itself nearer the bottom of the list but that's more to do with there being better records in there because I do like it.

We have quite an obscure Bee Gees record in "Spirits (Having Flown)" which was their final Top 40 hit before a lengthy hiatus from the charts. They'd already moved away from disco and this is one of their better efforts.

Jefferson Starship were essentially the link between Jefferson Airplane and Starship and this month they had their only UK Top 40 hit with "Jane". It's definitely worth a listen.

Down the bottom we have "Mama's Boy" by Suzi Quatro. Not the worst thing I've heard but does feel a bit like a hangover from the 70s with her glory days behind her.

There was a rockabilly revival going on around this time which I can't say I'm a fan of and that's why Matchbox are 2nd bottom with "Buzz Buzz A Diddle It". Likewise a lot of country music isn't for me which is why Kenny Rogers is just above with "Coward Of The County".

It's a great start to the decade, we have a 5 and no zeros which gives this a very respectable score.

Score: 59

2000: The Good Old Days? - January

January 2000 was something I'd been waiting for my whole life it seemed. I was one of many looking forward to the new millennium and had spoken about what I'd be doing to celebrate as early as the mid-90s. Once it was January 2000 the big question I had was what now?

From a music perspective one record that makes me think of the start of the 21st century in a positive way is "(Welcome) To The Dance" by Des Mitchell. To a lesser extent "In Your Arms (Rescue Me)" by Nu Generation also does but that's not as good as I remembered and therefore gets half marks.

The best record for this month is one I was definitely hearing on the Pete Tong show in the summer of 1999 which was "(Just) Me And You" by New Vision. That was possibly my favourite house record of that summer.

Dance music was the music of the moment around the turn of the century and at a stretch you could define around half the new entries as dance records, though there were only 25 new entries in total.

None of the dance records get zero points, most get full marks and some get half marks. Other dance records that deserve a mention include "Rainbow Country" by Bob Marley & Funkstar Deluxe, the lesser know follow up to "Sun Is Shining". There's  also Eddie Amador with his follow up to 1998s "House Music" with "Rise". Then there's "Because Of You" by Scanty Sandwich which is strange but good.

Outside of dance music we have full marks for Nas with "Nastradamus" and Donnell Jones with "U Know What's Up". There's also half marks for Sting & Cheb Mami with "Desert Rose", a rare Sting solo record I remember liking at the time but all these years later it's not as good as I remembered.

The worst record is an R&B record which is "Hot Boyz" by Missy Elliott. To be fair it's not as bad as our usual worst records but there was a small list of zero scoring records to choose from.

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: 50%

Here's a look at the chart:

Well there we have it, the best month for chart music in the 21st century is January 2000. The story of the 21st century then is that it started well, took a dive in 2002 and then went into gradual decline from 2005 to 2007 with the odd decent month along the way. We're now only a couple of months away from completing the Top 30 reviews of the 90s so what we can do next is see how this ties back to the 90s as a whole.

UK Number 40s: Mumford & Sons - Guiding Light (2018)

 

Ask a casual music fan whether they've heard of Mumford & Sons and they'll probably say yes. Ask then if they could name a Mumford & Sons song and they'll probably say no.

They were they are talked about by the likes of the BBC you'd think they're one of the biggest bands of the modern era and maybe they are. Look at their Top 40 career and they don't look so big.

To their credit their Top 40 career has spanned 9 years, but in that time they managed just 5 Top 40 hits and never got higher than 12. This was the last of these 5 hits at the time of writing. More singles have been released but failed to reach the Top 40. 

Their 4 albums on the other hand have given them a pair of number 1s and a pair of number 2s. They'd not had an album since 2018 though.

UK Number 40s: Lily James ft Jessica Keenan Wynn & Alexa Davies & Celia Imrie - When I Kissed the Teacher (2018)

 

If at a music quiz you were to ask the question "Who had a Top 40 hit with When I Kissed The Teacher?" the answer you're most likely to get is Abba. That answer would be wrong because the Abba song was never a Top 40 hit.

That said, one may struggle to remember exactly who was on this record. All four are actresses who appeared in the film "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" off which this was taken.

None of these actresses has troubled the Top 40 again at the time of writing.

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 41

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

29. Point Break - Do We Rock

Point Break are yet another long forgotten boy band. It's members included Brett Adams and David Oliver who had both previously been in Byker Grove but a few years had passed since. This was their Top 40 debut, it's awful.

Verdict - Rubbish

25. The Space Brothers - Heaven Will Come

This was the fourth and final original Top 40 hit to date for The Space Brothers. It's a vocal trance record and there seems to be more of a focus on the vocals than the music itself. That's not a good thing in my opinion, but it's not bad.

Verdict - OK

24. Gary Barlow - For All That You Want

This is where the solo of Gary Barlow career initially came to an end. He had called upon the services of Swedish songwriters Max Martin and Kristian Lundin to make this record, but that couldn't stop this record from flopping. 

Verdict - Rubbish

21. Longpigs - Blue Skies

The Britpop era was over but nobody told the Longpigs who were back in the Top 40 for one final hit. It's chart position was more or less reflective of their Top 40 career overall but the band split shortly after this. I guess they're going a bit American on this record, still crap though.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 10/30, or 33%. Slight improvement on last week.

Dutch Top 40 1995: Week 41

These were the new entries in the Dutch Top 40 that never made the UK Top 40:

DJ Bobo - Freedom

DJ Bobo didn't have a Top 40 hit in the UK until 2003. In Holland this record marked the end of his Dutch Top 40 career. It's a Eurodance record with DJ Bobo rapping the verses and female singers Natascha Wright and Lisa Noya singing the chorus. It's clearly the same person who did "Love Is All Around", it follows that tried and tested formula.

Club X - The Sequel (La La La)

Being a gabber record in the Dutch Top 40 one would assume this is Dutch but it's not, it's Belgian. The sample used in this is the "La La La" bit of "Self Esteem" by The Offspring. It's quite possibly the familiarity of that sample that helped this record into the Dutch Top 40.

Snap ft Summer - The World In My Hands

In terms of original hits Snap were finished in the UK Top 40 by this point. In a way it was a shame because they'd started to make records I actually liked, partly because they'd sped up. In Holland they carried on and I guess this is what could have come next in the UK. This time they've slowed down, but it's not a bad record.

The Offspring - Come Out And Play (Keep Em Separated)

I'm surprised this was never a Top 40 hit in the UK because I remember it very well at the time and it seemed to be pretty well known. It only managed to get to 98 though. Maybe by the time it was released as a single people were fed up of hearing it on MTV all the time.

January Charts: 1979

Here are the new entries ranked from best to worst:

1. The Three Degrees - Woman In Love

2. Judas Priest - Take On The World

3. Blondie - Heart Of Glass

4. Electric Light Orchestra - Can't Get It Out Of My Head

5. Third World - Cool Meditation

6. Generation X - King Rocker

7. Doll - Desire Me

8. Dr Feelgood - Milk And Alcohol

9. UFO - Doctor Doctor

10. Nazareth - May The Sunshine

11. Edwin Starr - Contact

12. Olympic Runners - Sir Dancealot

13. Chanson - Don't Hold Back

14. Phoebe Snow - Every Night

15. Cerrone - Je Suis Music

16. London Symphony Orchestra - Theme From 'Superman'

17. Andy Gibb - (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away

18. Peaches And Herb - Shake Your Groove Thing

19. Dan Hartman - This Is It

20. Leif Garrett - I Was Made For Dancin'

For many years the only song I knew by The Three Degrees was "When Will I See You Again" which I've always hated. I was therefore surprised how much I liked "Woman In Love" when I first heard it, given who it's by, it's a slower number and it's a cover of a song originally by Twiggy who wasn't really a singer.

In 2nd place we have the debut of heavy metal band Judas Priest with "Take On the World". They'd been going a few years but we were now entering the "New wave of British heavy metal" era of which Judas Priest we a big part of.

On paper the 3rd placed record should be rubbish because it's a non-disco group making a disco record but there's no denying "Heart of Glass" by Blondie is a great record. It's ahead of "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" by ELO which is decent but far from my favourite record of theirs.

I finally get to include an authentic punk record with "King Rocker" by Generation X which is decent. It's ahead of new wave one hit wonders Doll with "Desire Me" which in turn is ahead of "Milk & Alcohol" which was the biggest hit for pub rockers Dr Feelgood.

Most of the bottom half is disco records which is indicative of where disco was at by this point. Down the bottom is Leif Garrett with "I Was Made For Dancing". He was a teen idol who went off the rails, the usual story.

Whilst I would put the Leif Garrett record and "This Is It" by Dan Hartman and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb in the cheesy disco pop category what I would say are these are far from the worst disco records I've heard and the remaining disco records seem more credible.

The problem is that it seems to have become a bit formulaic by this point, something that does happen when you get too much of the same thing.

Overall we don't have the bad records keeping the score down, it's more the average records stopping the score from getting too high.

Score: 50

Now we've reached the end of the 70s let's take a look at the leaderboard:

Interesting how 1970 is so high up and 1971 is in the bottom half. It's almost like a sharp declined at some point in 1970 except 1973 finds itself sat in 3rd place. 

Perhaps no surprise to see 1976 2nd from bottom with 1975 not far above. Goes with the general theory that the 70s started and ended good but weren't so good in the middle.

2000: The Good Old Days? - February

In this era a record would typically get a few weeks of play on the radio and music channels before hitting the charts. Some records would get an earlier release date overseas and some were from already released albums. On that basis its safe to assume that most, if not all new entries this month were made in the 20th century.

The best record this month is "Playground Love" which was definitely made in the 20th century because it was from the 1999 film "The Virgin Suicides". I watched the film on the strength of this record, that's how much I like it.

As mentioned in March, there were no UK garage new entries in February. However a significant chunk of records this month come from what UK garage replaced as the dance genre of the moment, trance.

Sash! tended to make trance of a more commercial Eurodance variety, but this month we had "Adelante" which was more of a credible trance record which gets full marks. Armin Van Buuren made his Top 40 debut with "Communication" and this was an era when he was good.

A strong contender this month for the best record was "Must Be The Music" by Joey Negro & Taka Boom. This was a record I remember from the summer of 1999, it also sounds more of a summer record but just didn't chart until the winter. Ten City singer Byron Stingily had a solo version of the Ten City record "That's The Way Love Is" which was never going to beat the original but it's still a decent record.

Most of the dance records this month score points but we're also getting points from a wide range of genres. Rap wise we have "Simon Says" by Pharoahe Monch and R&B  wise we have "Got To Get It" by Sisqo. 

We generally expect rap and R&B to give us points but we also have records such as "Glorious" by Andreas Johnson and "The Great Beyond" by REM from the indie and alternative rock world giving us points. There's the funk rock of "Otherside" by Red Hot Chili Peppers and the pop record "Pure Shores" by All Saints giving us points.

However the worst record is also a pop record. It's "Ooh Stick You!" by Daphne & Celeste. I know it's supposed to be crap, but it's annoying enough to get that crown.

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: 46%

Here's a look at the chart:

I would be quite fitting for the 2nd month of the 21st century to be the best month of the 21st century. It would be even more fitting if it was the first. We'll find out next.

UK Number 40s: Camila Cabello - She Loves Control (2018)

 

Normally when someone attempts a solo career after leaving a girl group, they are often overshadowed by their time in a girl group even if their solo career is successful. An exception to that rule is Camila Cabello, I couldn't remember what girl group she'd previously been in and had to look it up. It was Fifth Harmony.

At the time of writing she's had 15 Top 40 hits, more than I was expecting. A lot more than the 5 she had with Fifth Harmony, again I didn't realise they had that many.

This was Top 40 hit number 6 and she topped the charts with her 4th hit "Havana" and 8th hit "Senorita". I sense a theme here, so maybe she'd have been more successful if it had a more Latin sounding name.

20 Years Since....Q3 2005

Here's the tunes I was enjoying 20 years ago:

2Pac ft Elton John - Ghetto Gospel

When 2Pac died in 1996 he only had 2 Top 40 hits to his name. The was Top 40 hit number 17 for him and saw him finally top the charts. It was Top 40 hit number 67 for Elton John though he didn't have an awful lot to do with it as his appearance came via a sample.

Dancing DJs vs Roxette - Fading Like A Flower

Like Elton John on "Ghetto Gospel" Roxette didn't have an awful lot to do with this record other than get sampled. The difference is that they've sampled pretty much the entire record. 

99% of the time records like this are dreadful but this is part of the 1% that's great to listen to.

Goldfrapp - Ooh La La

Goldfrapp had been around a few years at this point and were popular but it was this record that really took them into the big time. To me this was something new and different and gave me optimism for the future of music.

Frankie J - Obsession (No Es Amor)

This record threw me at the time. It had only been a few months since 3rd Wish had done the same song and that too had featured Baby Bash on it like this one does.

The question was which one came first? Turns out it was neither, they were both covers.

Transplants - Gangstas & Thugs

By this point we knew the sort of formula to expect from a Transplants record, a sort of punk meets drum & bass with a bit of rapping thrown in. It's a formula that worked and the band more or less existed because of it.

UK Number 40s: Cardi B ft 21 Savage - Bartier Cardi (2018)

 

Both artists on this record have had both a number 1 and a number 40 but in a different order. It was the 3rd Top 40 hit for Cardi B who managed to top the charts with Top 40 hit number 12 with "WAP". It was the 2nd Top 40 hit for 21 Savage who topped the charts with his debut "Rockstar".

Both are rappers and this record came in a year when rap became more prolific in the Top 40 than any other genre had in the past. 

Top 30 in 1999 Reviewed: Week 40

Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.

Here is the Top 40 in full.

I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time. I also won't repeat the reviews from the Top 20 in 1999 Reviewed posts.

Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.

So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:

24. Idlewild - Little Discourage

This was the 2nd Top 40 hit for Scottish indie band Idlewild and the lead single from their 2nd album. I only really remember them existing and making music that was pretty boring and forgettable. Listening to this record tells me my memory serves me correctly.

Verdict - Rubbish

If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 8.5/30, or 28%. We really are up and down.