I'm still interested Bray, its just hard to comment at times - I'm starting to understand why there wasn't any comments in the early stages of my countdown now :P

 

It alwasy starts that way. People norm start commenting on countdowns once they get into it and following the progress of the countdown.

#126

ALEXIS JORDAN
“Happiness”
stand-alone single
[November 2010]
3-5-8-16-17-18-22-27-



~ 692 points // 8 weeks // #3 peak ~

Possibly the most unexpected top 3 hit of the year was this, Happiness by US singer/America’s Got Talent contestant/YouTube sensation Alexis Jordan. Alexis only got to the semi-finals in the first season of America’s Got Talent, but she continued to build up public support thanks to the video sharing website YouTube, which is of course the site that inflicted Justin Bieber upon us once he came to the attention of a record label executive. Thankfully Alexis Jordan is not awful and obnoxious, proving YouTube isn’t always a source of horrible ‘artists’. Anyhow, when rapper Jay-Z and production team Stargate learnt of Alexis’ YouTube videos she was signed to Jay-Z’s record label Roc Nation and released this track produced by Stargate. I say it’s produced by Stargate, but there was very little production to actually be done, as it’s essentially deadmau5’s song Brazil with Alexis’ vocals over the top of it. deadmau5 does get an official credit as one of the 4 songwriters though, so it’s not exactly lawsuit material. The song defied all expectations and became the week’s highest new entry in a week that was mostly defined by more established artists flopping - Ne-Yo only making #20 with One In A Million, Tinchy Stryder only getting to #22 with Second Chance (feat. Taio Cruz), Nadine of Girls Aloud only making #26 with début solo single Insatiable and Roll Deep following up 2 #1s with a #29 hit, Take Control (feat. Alesha Dixon) being the main four examples.

#125

JASON DERÜLO
“Whatcha Say”
from the album “Jason Derülo”
[November 2009]
-16-21-22-30-35-43-50-69-62-47-67-73-77-x



~ 701 points // 13 weeks // #16 peak ~

This song was the source of annoyance for many fans of Imogen Heap. Part of a verse from Heap’s song Hide And Seek is autotuned and used as the chorus of this song, the first single by US singer Jason Derülo (real name Jason Desrouleaux) which reached #3 in 2009. Aside from that sample it’s pretty much your standard contemporary R&B song. I’ll use this space to point out my annoyance at Mr. Desrouleaux for using what is known as the ‘metal umlaut’ (or should we say ‘R&B umlaut’ in this case?) in his stage name. Maybe he used it because a U with an umlaut (two dots) above it looks like a smiley face on his single and album covers. I can understand him dumbing down the spelling of his surname as ‘Desrouleaux’ looks too complicated and would lead to many people referring to him as Jason Dez-rool-ox. But why use an umlaut? It’s totally unnecessary unless you want people to pronounce your surname as ‘Dereelo’. Reggie Yates was technically (nearly) correct when he pronounced ‘Jason Derülo’ as ‘Jason Derello’. It’s somewhat understandable for metal bands such as Motörhead to use a non-functioning umlaut in their name as umlauts = German = HEAVY METAL, which is what Motörhead want to be associated with. Jason Derülo, a fairly generic US R&B singer, is most definitely not ‘HEAVY METAL’. Meh. Let’s just go with he wanted the smiley face on his covers.

Edited December 30, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

#124

MARINA & THE DIAMONDS
“Hollywood”
from the album “The Family Jewels”
[February 2010]
12-18-22-13-21-35-48-61-66-82-80-85-69-98-x



~ 704 points // 14 weeks // #12 peak ~

Contrary to what her stage name implies, Marina & The Diamonds (real name Marina Diamandis) is a solo artist. Apparently ‘The Diamonds’ are Marina’s fans. That’s a good deal - like her music and instantly have 3 top 40 hits and a #5 album to your name. Anyway, this is BBC Sound of 2010 2nd placed Marina’s only entry on the top 200 in this countdown, compared to 4 for winner Ellie Goulding. Hollywood was the first ‘proper’ single from Marina’s début studio album The Family Jewels. Prior to this she had released 2 EPs. Most (if not all) of the songs on her album were already floating around months before its release. Anyway, it was by some distance Marina’s biggest hit. If she ever decides to make an attempt to break the USA she may want to leave out this track, as the Americans may not want to hear the anti-American lyrics in this song, for example the line ‘I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America’.

Edited December 30, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

Whatcha Say is definitely one of the catchiest songs I've heard in years.

 

I remembered my friends at school kept saying "Have you heard Jason Derulo ft. Imogen Heap?", when it first came out, which confused me until I realized the sampling. I'm not one to be put off by sampling though (if anything, sampling makes me like a song even more). I still remember hearing that song for the first time (in a car on the way to an airport), and I was like "I NEED to listen to that again, and again, and again". :lol: It was absolute torture having to wait for hours and hours until I could get onto the Internet. :lol:

 

I LOVE Hollywood too! Again, insanely catchy! Pop music at its finest imo, and Shakira is mentioned in the song, which is always a major bonus. :D So, so, so much better than Hollywood by Michael Buble...

Edited December 30, 201014 yr by Eric_Blob

#123

CHERYL COLE
“Promise This”
from the album “Messy Little Raindrops”
[November 2010]
1-2-7-17-19-28-37-42-38-



~ 718 points // 9 weeks // #1 peak ~

Here’s the first single from Cheryl Cole’s second solo album Messy Little Raindrops. While I can’t technically label Cheryl as an X Factor artist the fact that she’s a judge and mentor on the reality TV show and is guaranteed a performance of any singles she releases during the show’s course makes her near enough one of them. Anyway, in this song’s first and only week at #1 it had the fourth highest one-week sales tally of any song this year (behind Helping Haiti’s first week with Everybody Hurts and Matt Cardle’s first and second weeks with When We Collide) with 157,210 sales, which makes the fact it has an extremely below average chart run (with just seven weeks top 40 in its original run) something of a shock, especially given it’s not a charity song or the first single of an X Factor winner. It has been greatly outsold by the song that it initially kept at #2, Rihanna’s Only Girl (In The World), that song finishing eighth in the one week premature Chart of the Year as sent out by Radio 1 compared to a pathetic fortieth for this song. As it happens Only Girl (In The World) did climb to #1 in its second week and remain there in its third. Promise This has a hook interpolating lyrics from the French rhyme Alouette. What a lovely and original idea! Only she was beaten to the punch by Mark Ronson and The Business Intl’s Bang Bang Bang (feat. Q-Tip and MNDR) by a couple of months. That song will mark the second appearance of the word ‘alouette’ and the general theme of, er, plucking body parts off a bird in the top 200 on this countdown.

#122

MICHAEL BUBLÉ
“Hollywood”
from the album “Crazy Love”
[October 2010]
17-27-11-18-24-30-35-54-43-60-57-



~ 735 points // 11 weeks // #11 peak ~

So Canadian singer Michael Bublé wins the battle of the ‘Hollywood’s, just barely. Look at the month it was released. Consider Bublé is a friend of Simon Cowell. Notice it had a random 16-place resurgence to a new peak in the third week of its chart run. Can you guess why yet? Yup, it got performed on the X Factor. The boost from the X Factor came very close to giving Bublé his second UK top ten hit (after 2009 #5 Haven’t Met You Yet which will make an appearance later on). He has no such problems in getting top 10 hits on the album chart. In fact, aside from a couple of live albums and a Christmas EP Let It Snow! that made #71 without any promotion (and not being a new release) this year, Bublé has no problems at all in scoring top 10 albums which spend a very long time in the top 100. His first album Michael Bublé got to #6 and spent 33 weeks in the chart, second album It’s Time was #4 and has 59 weeks on the chart, third album Call Me Irresponsible peaked at #2 and has spent a massive 75 weeks in the top 100, Call Me Irresponsible - Special Edition which for some reason charted separately from the normal edition peaked at #3 and has 73 weeks in the top 100 and his fourth album Crazy Love finally got him his first #1 album and has thus far spent 62 weeks in the top 100 aided by the release of a Hollywood Edition which featured this song. Crazy Love is STILL at #3 in the albums chart as I type, so expect that figure of 62 weeks to increase a lot. Due to TV’s tendency to periodically broadcast TV specials dedicated to Bublé, all of his albums bar the first one and a selection of his singles (normally including at least a few out of Home, Everything, Feeling Good, Cry Me A River and Haven’t Met You Yet) re-chart every now and then.

Edited December 30, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

Never realized that about Bang Bang Bang, Promise This and Alouette! :o "Feathers, plucking feathers".

 

Both awesome songs imo. Bang Bang Bang, I prefer, due to a catchier chorus.

#121

BIFFY CLYRO
“Many Of Horror”
from the album “Only Revolutions”
[January 2010]
77-38-20-25-30-34-39-42-57-73-x(39)-8-25-



~ 744 points // 12 weeks // #8 peak ~

Ah, here we go, Many Of Horror by Biffy Clyro. Maybe you’ll know it better as When We Collide by Matt Cardle, the most recent X Factor winner. This was a surprisingly odd choice of winner’s single - they’d typically go for a song with lyrics relating to struggles and succeeding against all odds (who remembers Steve Brookstein?). Admittedly had Rebecca Ferguson won the choice would have been even more bizarre, her opting for an album track from Duffy’s 2008 album Rockferry titled Distant Dreamer. But it’s still a bit weird they’d opt for some random #20 hit by Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro. For the release of the Matt Cardle version, not only did they add in an obligatory key change, they also changed the title from Many Of Horror to the sub-title which is sometimes present in the original (see the video title above). Whether this was an attempt to hide the fact it’s a cover or just because it says ‘when we collide’ in the chorus but not ‘many of horror’ we’ll likely never know. Anyway, after a 39 week absence from the top 100 this song was given new life and a twelve place higher peak because of the release of the X Factor version. In 2008 Alexandra Burke took on Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah causing the Cohen original to chart for the first time ever at #36 and the famous version by Jeff Buckley to go all the way to #2. In 2009 Joe McElderry did The Climb by Miley Cyrus (as I mentioned earlier) causing the original to re-chart at #31. For some reason the effect was a lot stronger this year, with Many Of Horror going to #8, giving Biffy a belated third top 10 hit after 2008 #5 hit Mountains and 2009 #10 hit That Golden Rule, both also taken from Only Revolutions. In case you’re wondering, the second chart run gave this an extra 169 points and boosted its position by 33 places.

Edited December 30, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

Okay, that's it for today, I've only managed to do 10. LOL. :( I'll make sure to finish off up to #101 tomorrow.

 

When I get to #101 I'll post an alphabetical list of the songs in the top 100 (like I did for the top 200 before I started the countdown).I'l post another list like that when I get to the top 50, the top 20 and the top 10.

Thanks again for all the effort. Very interesting chart countdown.

Really enjoying this - I'm a proper lurker though!!

 

Thank you for this man.

I spend all day in the house with no Top 200 action, then as soon as I leave it all starts to happen! Loving all the facts and info! Loving all the effort! Just loving it all! Two "Hollywood" songs with only a song separating them...what are the odds?! Keep up the good job! :heart: :wub: x

#120

ALEXANDRA BURKE FEAT. FLO RIDA
“Bad Boys”
from the album “Overcome”
[October 2009]
-12-27-34-35-39-48-54-58-56-64-71-67-70-72-77-86-x



~ 746 points // 16 weeks // #12 peak ~

This song surprised many people. After Leona Lewis and Leon Jackson both released ballads as their first (well, technically 2nd) singles most people expected 2008 X Factor winner Alexandra Burke to go down the same route but instead she came back with an up-tempo song, Bad Boys, even scoring a collaboration with US rapper Flo Rida (real name Tramar Dillard). The song gave Burke her second #1 after her winner’s single Hallelujah and was also the second #1 for Flo Rida after 2009’s Right Round (feat. Ke$ha). In its first week it held off Robbie Williams from scoring a #1 with comeback single Bodies to the surprise of some, as the first proper single by Leon Jackson only got to #4. Although in hindsight it was fairly obvious Burke was a more popular winner, as evidenced partially by the fact Hallelujah was only the second out of five winner’s singles to sell a million copies (after Series 2 winner Shayne Ward whose single was actually an original song, That’s My Goal - Leona Lewis didn’t sell a million of A Moment Like This but did with first proper single Bleeding Love) although this was also helped by being sold for pathetically low amounts in closing sales of Woolworth’s and Zavvi.

#119

JUSTIN BIEBER
“One Time”
from the album “My World”
[January 2010]
14-11-12-20-29-44-66-72-66-69-64-57-81-71-92-x



~ 747 points // 15 weeks // #11 peak ~

The first single released by Justin Bieber. Let’s just be glad this missed the top 10 and forget it ever happened, alright? I’ll save the detailed commentary for his only actual hit.

Edited December 31, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

#118

ALICIA KEYS
“Doesn’t Mean Anything”
from the album “The Element Of Freedom”
[December 2009]
-25-24-27-32-23-27-36-41-53-59-66-70-83-100-x



~ 748 points // 14 weeks // #23 peak ~

This song provided a #8 hit for US singer/pianist Alicia Keys (real name Alicia Cook) and was the third of an impressive five top ten hits in a row for her, as well as the first single from what would become her first #1 album and her most successful era to date, The Element Of Freedom. The album had quite a muted start on the album chart débuting at just #17 in late 2009 but it climbed up to the #1 spot for two weeks in 2010. Doesn’t Mean Anything may well have been starved from a higher peak by an iTunes bug which meant it was not available to buy on Sunday. Sunday being traditionally the highest sales day of the week and the reason cherry-picked album tracks don’t enter as high as iTunes would have you believe, this understandably disadvantaged the song, but the fact she performed the song on the X Factor on Sunday meant there were probably a few people who wanted to buy it, found they couldn’t and then forgot about it. Anyway, it was ultimately the lowest peaking of the three singles taken from the album, with follow-up Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down making #4 and third single Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart getting to #7. Both of these songs, as well as the original Empire State Of Mind (Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys), will appear later on in the countdown.

Edited December 31, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

#117

DRAKE
“Find Your Love”
from the album “Thank Me Later”
[June 2010]
66-62-48-36-28-24-25-29-33-36-51-66-75-86-x



~ 749 points // 14 weeks // #24 peak ~

Drake’s first two chart hits had quite low peaks but stuck around the chart for a good amount of time - Forever (feat. Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem) had 15 weeks in the top 100 despite a #42 peak and Over only peaked at #50 but spent five weeks in the top 60 (although only one more in the top 100). Find Your Love bucked that trend by peaking a lot higher and not losing much of the longevity, spending 14 weeks in the top 100 with a #24 peak (as can be seen above). Although Drake’s move from rapping to singing on this song was largely not welcome among his core fanbase the general public loved it, giving Drake his first top 40 hit. The whole singing thing seems to have been a one off though, follow-up singles Miss Me (feat. Lil Wayne) and Fancy (feat. T.I. and Swizz Beatz) seeing him go back to his rapping ways. Neither of those songs charted though, so maybe going back to singing would be a good career move? Since Find Your Love he’s had 2 more top 40 hits, both featured appearances - Lil Wayne’s #37 hit Right Above It and Rihanna’s #2 What’s My Name?

Edited December 31, 201014 yr by ★ 2011 Bray ★

I love Find Your Love. :wub: And, to be fair, Drake did sing the hook on Forever, so at least his fans weren't thrown into it in one go. :lol: I'd be a bit shocked if Jay-Z's next song was just him singing tbh. :lol:

 

Also, how many collabs has Drake done with Lil' Wayne?! :o I swear Drake is on like half of his album. :lol:

#116

PIXIE LOTT
“Turn It Up”
from the album “Turn It Up”
[May 2010]
63-48-25-11-13-21-31-35-44-48-62-73-89-x



~ 750 points // 13 weeks // #11 peak ~

This song was the third single by British singer Pixie Lott (real name Vanessa Lott) to be released after her #6 début album Turn It Up and the fifth release from the album overall. While it couldn’t come close to the chart-topping success of both of the first two singles Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) and Boys And Girls (both 2009), a performance on the lesser Simon Cowell related TV reality show Britain’s Got Talent allowed this song to outpeak the third and fourth singles. In 2009 third single Cry Me Out got to #12 and earlier in 2010 Gravity got to #20. It’s clear that while it had a higher peak Turn It Up had inferior longevity, as both of the two previous singles have outcharted it on this countdown. However, it has at least done better than the lead single from the re-release of Turn It Up, Broken Arrow which peaked at #12 and has fallen well short of the top 200 here. Since I’ve named all six other hits from the album, I might as well note 2 album tracks have charted from the album, the Kings Of Leon cover Use Somebody first charting in 2009 but peaking at #41 in 2010 and a song from the re-release titled Coming Home (feat. Jason Derülo) made #51 in the first week of the re-release. Bizarrely, Pixie has opted for Can’t Make This Over as the seventh single instead of Coming Home and is likely to be rewarded with a total flop. Ah well, Pixie was big while she lasted.

Just rounding it up to 5 entries posted today, because why not. Happy New Year to everyone.

Turn it Up is incredibly catchy. Should've done much better (not that it did badly, considering it's the 5th single)!

 

And I don't think Can't Make This Over will end Pixie's career tbh. I know a lot of radio stations stop playing an artist after a couple of flop singles, but Coming Home has Jason Derulo on it, so I think it'll easily get played in the current Jason Derulo drought we're having atm. :lol: