13TH OCTOBER- LET ME THINK ABOUT IT- Ida Corr Vs Fedde Le Grand (2 wks)

 

http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/32393191/Ida%20Corr%20vs%20Fedde%20le%20Grand%20Ida%20Corr%20vs_%20Fedde%20Le%20Grand%20L.jpg

 

I fell out with dance music around 2006 to be honest, it became just "noise" or I got older one of the two. Since the turn of the decade I've started to get back into it but the period 07-10 was bleak for me and this song is endemic of the problem, a reliance much less on tune but on gimmick, throughout the 90s and into the early 00s (trance etc) the melody was always paramount, but with sliding sales it allowed much more "niche" genres of dance to chart, which on the one hand was good as it exposed people to different kinds of music they mightn't have heard before. What is also did however was to convince record labels that there was a genuine demand for hardhouse etc as it charted but on poor sales, a paradox in some respects.

 

I don't state that this is hardhouse of course, but I use it to show the kind of desperate state that dance music was in during these years, and until I listened to this again I had no idea how this went, perhaps the rebirth of pop that occured during this time diverted my attention. Picked up by Le Grand after his No 1 single "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" it was remixed by him into this version which never troubled the Sugababes at No 1 thankfully.

 

That double A-side was such a blatant attempt at turning Shayne into the UK's Justin Timberlake. His follow up Breathless was much better

Yes it rather failed in that respect :D

27TH OCTOBER- VALERIE- Mark Ronson Ft Amy Winehouse ( 1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Mark_Ronson_-_Valerie.jpg

 

How long did this seem to be in the charts for? I seem to recall it seemed like an eternity, Ronson was back for a second time in 07 at the runner up spot this time with tabloid regular Winehouse in tow. Obviously the original was by The Zutons who had hit the top 10 just the year before, but in the year in which Ronson was probably the second most successful producer in the land after Timbaland it gained a new popularity and a new peak thanks in no small part due to his choice of collaborator. It was Winehouse who first covered the track on Radio 1's Live Lounge and put it onto her deluxe version of "Back To Black" before Ronson got in on the act, Winehouse is absent on the video incidentally due to her touring commitments rather than any other dubious reason which the press printed at the time.

 

It's significantly a chirpier version than the Zutons (though no better) and bussles along nicely, perhaps being slightly more assessible to the general public for it, Winehouse turns in a very good vocal performance which countered the already ample tales of drink and drugs that surrounded the singer by the time 2007 had finished and the notoriously unpredictable live performances had commenced. Ronson and Winehouse never got as near as again to the top spot, in all fairness this isn't a bad epitaph to either's pop career.

 

3RD NOVEMBER- RULE THE WORLD- Take That (4 wks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/TakeThatRuletheWorldSingleCover.JPG

 

Gary Barlow basically writes two kinds of ballads and success or failure stands on which route he chooses. Firstly good verses with a chorus that disappoints as it just never really arrives- "Greatest Day" is a prime example of this (though ironically it was a No 1) this is much akin to Barlow on autopilot- it's a genre that he is clearly adept at and can write in his sleep, that doesn't always mean it's a success. Fortunately "Rule The World" is in the other camp, where the chorus isn't an afterthought it's the focus, and my what a chorus. Rousing, uplifting and anthemic RTW hits every spot just right and has just a whiff of "modern classic" about it which suggests that it will age well and still be on the radio in some 20 years.

 

It's use in the film "Stardust" seems rather incidental here and indeed Take That were still, by 2007, clearly very happy to be back together and back from the pop wilderness, lyrically it never sounds too full of hyperbole though its gestures are slightly excessive, catchy but not cheesy, and sincere without being gushy, Barlow seldom gets it AS RIGHT as he does here, in many ways it's his "Back For Good" for the NEW Take That, a song that you sense he had up his sleeve for a planned reunion many years ago, that fact that it's so good makes up for his less than enamouring attitude as an X Factor judge- MORE exposure is not always good Gary......

 

Used to shamefully love If That's OK With U, didn't care at all for the other few songs here! Valerie was ridiculously overplayed!

1ST DECEMBER- HEARTBROKEN- T2 Featuring Jody Asyha (3 wks)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/08/T2_(featuring_Jodie_Aysha)_-_Heartbroken.jpg

 

You'd expect me to be less than bowled over by this and you'd be right. Asyha's vocals sound like she was around 10 or 11 (she was 18 at the time) which are the only thing remotely endearing about this, it's the kind of thing you expect to hear coming from that gang's flat that Liam is currently covorting about with on Eastenders (I'll never get that reference years from now if I read this back but hey-ho).

 

Then again this kind of music isn't aimed at my age range, nor was it at the time (I was just into my 30s) so perhaps that shouldn't surprise me, but neither is it a song that I hear much now and the fact that it spent 3 weeks in the No 2 position suggests it was bigger than I recall even at the time, so nothing good to say about this really- a damp squib to end 2007 sorry....

 

I did love Heartbroken although H Two O's What's It Gonna Be was my favourite song from the mini-garage revival of 2007/8. The vocals didn't annoy me too much and I loved the bassline, I heard it out the other day for the first time in ages!

I did love Heartbroken although H Two O's What's It Gonna Be was my favourite song from the mini-garage revival of 2007/8. The vocals didn't annoy me too much and I loved the bassline, I heard it out the other day for the first time in ages!

Never a fan of garage myself- not even the first time around, I suspect that 2008 will be less to my liking! :o :(

Heartbroken was such a tune!!! I loved it for ages, then everyone else discovered it and then every bus journey was plagued with it to the point where now, almost 6 years on, I still can't stand to listen to it.

Heartbroken was such a tune!!! I loved it for ages, then everyone else discovered it and then every bus journey was plagued with it to the point where now, almost 6 years on, I still can't stand to listen to it.

I was going to say "top deck of the bus" music but I thought that might be offensive :lol:

Valerie and RTW are both classics imo. I actually think Ronson & Winehouse improve on the Zutons which is a rarity of a cover being better then the original.

 

I agree that RTW is the Back For Good of the 00s for Take That.

Completely missed Rule The World there, SO good, pity it was released on the same day as Bleeding Love as they both deserved the #1, I remember being wowed at the sales that week, we hadn't seen anything like it for a long time on a non-Xmas chart for the top two! Immense song and in my eyes the finest they've ever done although Shine and The Flood are both incredible 00s singles from them too.

I actually don't recall ever hearing the Ida Corr/Fedde le Grand song back then. Listening to it now, i actually don't think it's that bad; it is a pretty disposable dance track, but kinda enjoyable in a weird way

 

07 was actually a rather good year for #2 hits, despite its obvious weak spots (Avril, Lee Mead, Shayne Ward)

Just Jack, Gwen Stefani, Fall Out Boy, Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash, Manic Street Preachers and White Stripes were all great!

 

12TH JANUARY 2008- CRANK THAT (SOULJABOY)- Soulja Boy Tell Em (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f0/Crank_That_(Soulja_Boy).JPG/220px-Crank_That_(Soulja_Boy).JPG

 

This is rather a curious entry now looking back, a poor sales climate post Christmas saw this make No 2 on sales of less than 20k, it was of course rather notorious at the time not only for the dance craze it inspired but when it was revealed just what "supermaning a ho" actually entailed (look up for urban dictionary to find out!). At just 17 one has to wonder how much supermanning he'd done by that stage which makes the track unintentionally amusing and far removed from some of the misogynistic tracks that still emerge from the genre.

 

Yes it's not going to win awards for lyrucal greatness but it was catchy enough in a cold January to make us interested, but it never really convinces, Soulja Boy's later 2008 track "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" seems to be delivered with much more sincerity- let's mark this down to teenage bravado then it's kinda endearing...

 

I don't actually ever recall hearing/seeing the whole of "Crank That" in 2008 (or even now!) I obviously know of it and some of the lyrics though :lol: "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" was a huge guilty pleasure of mine though - bizarre that he's not had a hit since!

 

(The subtitle of this is rather irritating by the way - plurals need not apostrophes!)

19TH JANUARY- PIECE OF ME- Britney Spears (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Piece_of_Me_cover_by_Britney_Spears.jpg

 

So Britney's back (Bitch!) and thematically it's a case of as you were- specifically her relationship with the media. Though it isn't commented on much Spears is probably one of the most self obsessed singers in pop these days, count up how many songs have a self biographic theme, here Spears is not reaching out to a new audience. Indeed this is aimed fairly and squarly at her existing fanbase, nothing wrong in that and indeed "Piece of Me" isn't a bad record even if it rely's too much on production and gimmickry for my personal taste, it's just that its rather Britney by numbers.

 

Robo-pop Britney (as she's been termed) is synonymous with her output post 2007, a time when mainstream pop did indeed move with her, curious then that her success in this period has been rather patchy, but underneath the exterior this is another song that unconvinces. "You wanna piece of me" she asks, but you fancy if anyone said "yeah let's have it" she'd cower, much of her state of mind through this period had already been chronicalled very publicly (including an awful VMA performance of "Gimmie More" which was ill-advised) and the sentiment of the record is based on the idea the best form of defence is attack, I would argue that perhaps it would have been better to take a leaf out of early Britney and release something more in the vein of "Everytime" but that's just my opinion. We are therefore in something of a paradox, a song about her and her relationship with the press isn't actually as personal as it should have been

 

"Crank That" remains a fun tune on a night out, I'm also surprised he hasn't had more chart success since. I heard "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" out the other week and it actually sounded rather good. (this may have something to do with my friend Smirnoff)

 

I didn't realise at the time but I will forever love Radio 1 for playing the Travis Barker remix on the Chart Show a few times.

 

 

 

I hated Crank That at the time. I remember all the Year 8's at school properly loving it as well and doing the dance most breaktimes. Yuck

 

Piece of Me is one of the few Britney songs I actively dislike and the only one post-breakdown I haven't liked (if you exclude Scream & Shout)

The success of both 'Heartbroken' and 'Crank That' is really telling of who the main music-buyers of that time period were. :lol: Especially since the likes of Basshunter were topping the charts and I think there's another #2 coming up which is in the same vein as the aforementioned two. I won't spoil it because I can't remember whether it hit #2 in 2007 or 08. :lol: