It's been said so many times about 2010 that it's heralded the return of the non-number one, but what would the charts have looked like if the number one was more representative of what was truly popular at the time? Of course this is incredibly subjective, so I thought I'd base mine off sometthing fairly bulletproof - namely the YTD top 20 singles. Here's the list of number ones I came up with:

 

3 January "Bad Romance" Lady Gaga

10 January "Replay" Iyaz

17 January "Replay" Iyaz

24 January "Fireflies" Owl City

31 January "Fireflies" Owl City

7 February "Fireflies" Owl City

14 February "Empire State of Mind Pt. II" Alicia Keys

21 February "Empire State of Mind Pt. II" Alicia Keys

28 February "Empire State of Mind Pt. II" Alicia Keys

7 March "Pass Out" Tinie Tempah

14 March "Pass Out" Tinie Tempah

21 March "Telephone" Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé

28 March "Telephone" Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé

4 April "She Said" Plan B

11 April "She Said" Plan B

18 April "OMG" Usher featuring will.i.am

25 April "OMG" Usher featuring will.i.am

2 May "OMG" Usher featuring will.i.am

9 May "OMG" Usher featuring will.i.am

16 May "Ridin' Solo" Jason Derulo

23 May "Nothin' on You" B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars

30 May "Nothin' on You" B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars

6 June "Nothin' on You" B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars

13 June "Frisky" Tinie Tempah feat. Labrinth

20 June "Wavin' Flag" K'naan

27 June "California Gurls" Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

4 July "California Gurls" Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

11 July "California Gurls" Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

18 July "Airplanes" B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams

25 July "We No Speak Americano" Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP

1 August "Love The Way You Lie" Eminem & Rihanna

8 August "Love The Way You Lie" Eminem & Rihanna

15 August "Love The Way You Lie" Eminem & Rihanna

22 August "Love The Way You Lie" Eminem & Rihanna

29 August "Dynamite" Taio Cruz

5 September "Teenage Dream" Katy Perry

 

There's a couple of imperfections obviously - big sellers like Rihanna's "Rude Boy" and Glee's "Don't Stop Believin'" may have deserved a week somewhere but they both came up against songs that in the long run sold more (Tinie Tempah and Owl City respectively). Neither B.o.B feat. Bruno Mars or David Guetta's mob sold astronomical figures in the long run but I'd argue that "Nothin' On You" was still a more popular record that week than "Gettin' Over You", and would have merited a return to the top after Dizzee Rascal, whose dismal selling "Dirtee Disco" doesn't figure here.

 

What do you think?

That would have been a boring chart, we'd be back in 2007! :lol:

 

I guess the songs on here that didnt make number 1 are kind of the 'real' winners- for example, Waving Flag may have lost to Shout, but outsold it in the long run, and that will probably mean it will be better remembered in the long run as will most of these number 1s

 

 

I find it really interesting that the majority of 'non-#1's' are from British acts. We would have only had Tinie x2, Plan B and Taio representing British music at the top had this been the case!

i'd argue that kickstarts deserved a place over wavin flag and gettin over you deserved its place :)

The most annoying bits for me was when You Got the Dirtee love got beat by Everybody Hurts and In My Head, and also when Frisky got beaten by Shout.

 

I don't really think this year was that bad. A few of the non-number-ones I actually like, even if they didn't sell much.

I think you were a bit harsh to knock off Good Times... it was #1 for 3 weeks after all! I would've put it at #1 for one or both of the last two weeks of Usher's run.

 

You could have put Rude Boy on the 3rd week of Alicia Keys, I think. Apart from that it's a good list though.

 

And I disagree it would be boring; this would be a great turnover of the top. A new #1 every few weeks isn't too boring, but isn't too fast either. This list would be more like 2008 than 2007 anyway. 2007 was the year of humongous runs for Leona and Rihanna which was more than a little tedious. :heehee:

What annoys me are the songs that get to #1 through major promotion.. or just songs in general in the top 40. That everybody knows wouldn't get there on song quality alone. Such as Tv programmes (X-Factor, BGT, MBTM) both contestants and celebrity perfomers. Artist Name (JLS, Dizzee Rascal, Olly Murs) ANY Simon Cowell plugged song (Shout, Helping Haiti) etc.

I think you were a bit harsh to knock off Good Times... it was #1 for 3 weeks after all! I would've put it at #1 for one or both of the last two weeks of Usher's run.

 

You could have put Rude Boy on the 3rd week of Alicia Keys, I think. Apart from that it's a good list though.

 

And I disagree it would be boring; this would be a great turnover of the top. A new #1 every few weeks isn't too boring, but isn't too fast either. This list would be more like 2008 than 2007 anyway. 2007 was the year of humongous runs for Leona and Rihanna which was more than a little tedious. :heehee:

Yeah, I'd say these would be the only changes I'd have made...

I find it really interesting that the majority of 'non-#1's' are from British acts. We would have only had Tinie x2, Plan B and Taio representing British music at the top had this been the case!

I don't think it's really surprising though. The landscape of the (mainstream) British music scene is way too X Factor dominated, and those are notoriously front-loaded... very sad though :( But at least a few non-reality acts have really done well for Britain this year as you said. Heaven knows what things would be like if it wasn't for the British urban this year really...

Edited September 20, 201014 yr by superbossanova

I don't really care about songs being front-loaded though, to be fair. They're front-loaded because people have to wait 2 months to buy the song.

I don't really agree with this to be honest, a #1 is simply a song which has sold the most in a week, and I'm sure the majority of the people who purchase them don't do it with the intention to influence its chart result or anything, plus if the types of #1s weren't as varied that'd make the charts as predictable as they were in 2008, which was a bore. Although granted, there have been a LOT of non-number ones this year, but I think that's largely down to the balance shifting from when the chart wasn't as fast moving.

I prefer the fact that we get lots and lots of number 1s now