July 28, 201311 yr Oh you're a harsh lot! :( I think they're being generous. Sorry, I really really really hate Nickleback!
July 28, 201311 yr 06TH SEPTEMBER- PJANOO- Eric Prydz (2 wks) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Pjanoo_Album_Cover.jpg I confess I quite liked a few Prydz singles, "Call On Me" and "Proper Education" weren't at all bad, but this one leaves me rather cold, perhaps the lack of a recognisable sample that fails to hold my attention, or I don't find the repeated synth line captivating enough? Dating back to 1996 when Prydz started the tune it takes inspiration from the 1982 Patrice Rushen track "I Was Tired Of Being Alone" itself only a No 39 hit when released but it says a lot that this was the first No 2 hit I didn't recall of the top of my head since the White Stripes, if I recall correctly I was pretty obsessed with "I Kissed A Girl" at this point so was more than happy that this didn't depose it! llfNRGQ7Tlg 2008 remains, for me, the worse year for chart music. Dance music was virtually non existent and instead was favoured for, well, Nickleback and random bits of shit. "Pjanoo" is my favourite track of 2008 but there is probably about 20 tracks I like more than this in, say, 1991 which for me reinforces what a stinker of a year this was!
July 28, 201311 yr I loved "Pjanoo" at the time - it reminds me of Bestival '08 and being covered from the waist down in mud. :lol: Was quite annoyed when Katy Perry stopped it going to #1, but the bigger song prevailed it seems.
July 31, 201311 yr Was briefly really into Pjanoo and then didn't listen to it for about four years, but a play of it at a club last weekend has rekindled my interest :) I think it stands out a lot less now than it did then though, that 90s-influenced sound was really refreshing in 2008 but now there's been a ton of songs like it released since. The final minute or so where it all explodes into life is still epic to this day though. This was around the time there was a mini-craze for really terrible remixes of 90s dance tracks too - the only one I thought was any good was the 'Something Good' by Utah Saints remix, otherwise the 'Toca's Miracle', 'Encore Une Fois' and especially 'Infinity' ones were dire. Particularly the latter - the beginning of Infinity 2008 is really good and I remember thinking I was about to hear something epic, and then a really underwhelming dance beat comes in for the rest of the track. :( The video being your typical noughties dance "Fit girl gets her kit off to distract you from an average song" didn't help things either.
July 31, 201311 yr I loved the Sash! and Fragma 2008 releases, I thought Toca's Miracle worked surprisingly well with electro production. And Raindrops was an anthem!
July 31, 201311 yr Something Good 08' and Infinity 2008 are really good! I also loved Toca's Miracle 2008 too until I discovered the original. Raindrops somehow passed me by, and I didn't discover it until after hearing Encore Une Fois, so naturally I think EUF is better.
August 6, 201311 yr Was briefly really into Pjanoo and then didn't listen to it for about four years, but a play of it at a club last weekend has rekindled my interest :) I think it stands out a lot less now than it did then though, that 90s-influenced sound was really refreshing in 2008 but now there's been a ton of songs like it released since. The final minute or so where it all explodes into life is still epic to this day though. This was around the time there was a mini-craze for really terrible remixes of 90s dance tracks too - the only one I thought was any good was the 'Something Good' by Utah Saints remix, otherwise the 'Toca's Miracle', 'Encore Une Fois' and especially 'Infinity' ones were dire. Particularly the latter - the beginning of Infinity 2008 is really good and I remember thinking I was about to hear something epic, and then a really underwhelming dance beat comes in for the rest of the track. :( The video being your typical noughties dance "Fit girl gets her kit off to distract you from an average song" didn't help things either. Totally agree with all of this. I wish 2008 could somehow be erased from my memory!
August 7, 201311 yr Something Good 08' and Infinity 2008 are really good! I also loved Toca's Miracle 2008 too until I discovered the original. Raindrops somehow passed me by, and I didn't discover it until after hearing Encore Une Fois, so naturally I think EUF is better. I was in love with Something Good 08' and still am. :wub:
August 18, 201311 yr Author Right this is gonna get finished this side of Christmas! I'm gonna get cracking with 2009 tonight!
August 18, 201311 yr Author 17TH JANUARY 2009- BROKEN STRINGS- James Morrison & Nelly Furtado ( 1wk) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f2/Broken_Strings_Furtado.jpg/220px-Broken_Strings_Furtado.jpg Whether an accident of timing or just the last song standing after the Christmas shake out, James Morrison finds himself in this thread. I have to confess that I bought his first album which for a while allowed him to blur with Paolo Nutini in my head, and "Broken Strings" isn't actually half bad, of course it's all rather pedestrian until Furtado comes in about 1.30 and lifts it up, but it is rather engaging and above all believable in the context on the track. The video has, apparently elements of the film "Paris, Texas" in it (a film itself about renewal and rebuilding a life) seems to reinforce the song thematically, what is slightly surprising is that by the end of it it's Morrison's vocal which are the strongest and the most full of passion (3.50 onwards), Furtado appearing to act as a catalyst in the track to re-ignite the link between the two former lovers. I haven't heard this in a while which perhaps explains it, but I rather like this song, even if some might say it's a tad "boring". 26PAgklYYvo
August 18, 201311 yr Author 24TH JANUARY- DAY N NITE- Kid Cudi Vs Crookers (2 wks) http://hitpredictor.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/day_n_night-kid_cudi_480.jpg What on earth was I doing in early 2009? The charms of this passed me by ENTIRELY but listening to it now it's bloody great. This isn't normally my bag at all, but there is something very endearing about it, maybe the cheeky video, but it appears to be everything that 2008's "What's It Gonna Be" tries to be and fails on (in my book anyway), punchy, melodic, and deceptively sophisticated, there sounds like there is a lot of things going on here. Of course video wise it's more of the usual girls getting near naked, but rather than the OTT-ish ness of the worst examples of the genre, here it isn't the faux machismo that is on show but rather the role of the chancer and ladies man, perhaps that makes it more charming. It did nothing over here in 2008 (though it went top 5 Stateside) it took a remix by Italian producers Crookers that turned it's UK fortunes around, the original perhaps a bit too sparse and urban for UK tastes. Shame really as the original seems much more atmospheric, almost menacing, and is really quite an outstanding track (vaguely reminiscent of "Ayo Technology" in fact). Anyhoo a sterling start to 2009! lVb_t_ao9gw
August 18, 201311 yr Day N Nite just felt like yet another underwhelming dull electro dance track for me at the time, but it does at least bring back some first year memories and listening to it now takes me back to various London clubs we used to frequent around that time :D Enjoying it more now than I think I ever did back then but maybe that's just the nostalgia talking. What it also marks is the end of that particular musical era and the ushering in of a better, more euphoric dance sound that would define the early 2010s - David Guetta was only a few months away from mega-stardom!
August 19, 201311 yr Author How did you miss Day N Night Gezza? I remember it being everywhere! I think it's fair to say my clubbing days were behind me by 2009, but who can say? If it helps I quite like it now though the original is way superior in my opinion
August 28, 201311 yr Author 7TH MARCH- LOVE STORY- Taylor Swift http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111224202757/taylor-swift/images/b/b3/Taylor_Swift_Love_Story.jpg Becoming the first country top 5 single in the US for some 10 years it is fair to say that the US was always on board with Swift before the UK, her conversion to a more pop orientated sound has reaped dividends since 2012 here but back in 2009 the success of "Love Story" was a little unexpected. So here is the tale of Romeo & Juliet transported to Tennessee in 2008 in what is, by all accounts, a true story of a boy that Swift liked but her family didn't. It's all quite sweet in a kind of twee way, but what's more important that clearly Swift sells it with believability and conviction. A promo shot in "period" style cements the link with Shakespeare though of course it seems to be a non specific time period with elements of medieval and also romantic overtones, perhaps that's the point- timeless situation etc. Anyway for awhile it was our sole flirtation with country music (we do have a history of brief flirtations with the genre) and I, for one, wasn't expecting the extended success of Swift over the last year! In conclusion not a bad song if not my normal bag. 8xg3vE8Ie_E
August 28, 201311 yr Author 14TH MARCH- JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH- The Saturdays (1 wk) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Saturdaysjustcantsleeve-1-.jpg Obviously a cover of the 1981 Depeche Mode single (incidentally the last one written by Vince Clarke before he left) this is a little bit of lighthearted pop fun. Let's not get too precious over the fact that it's a cover, and of a Depeche Mode single at that, this is in essence exactly what Girls Aloud with "Jump" some 6 years earlier, take an 80s track and give it a 00's makeover. Of course detractor will say that ripped any meaning out of the song or that they haven't really done anything to improve the track, well any numbers of covers can be accused of that and to be honest doing a cover will always leave you open to one criticism or another, take time out to enjoy for what it is and you will find this all rather innocent fun. True it isn't "UP" or "Ego" but neither is it "Gentleman" so rejoice! 5zMA1f_B9Z8
August 28, 201311 yr Love Story was great, although I am actually preferring her new sound. I could never get into Just Can't Get Enough, probably my least favourite The Saturday's single.
August 28, 201311 yr Hard to believe now that even this time last year, Taylor had only ever had the one top 20 song here, and then WANEGBT walked in and all hell broke loose :P Her ubiquity over the last twelve months has annoyed me somewhat but there's a certain charm to Love Story I've always liked. The Saturdays not getting #1 was a major shock at the time as before then it was pretty much guaranteed anything Comic Relief-connected would hit the top almost by default. Everything released from 1995 to 2007 did it with ease and since then they've struggled, One Direction did it this year but even that was far less of a long-running/big-selling hit than first assumed.
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