The 2009 #2s are already shaping up to be better than those of 2008. Absolutely loved 'Love Story' at the time simply because it was breath of fresh air from the GaGa domination which was already getting tedious at that point. I think I would've preferred LS to get to #1 over 'My Life Would Suck Without You' but both songs were great.

4TH APRIL- DON'T UPSET THE RHYTHM (GO BABY GO)- The Noisettes (2 wks)

 

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Rather curious one this. I was almost bored with it before it was released thanks to its use in adverts for "Mazda" throughout much of 2009 which made millions familiar with it before it hit the charts. What's rather curious about it is that, for me, the verses have always been considerably better than the verse, the bridge is just DIVINE! :D

 

She's also got a rather distinctive and unusual voice and it altogether a rather nice pop package, if only it wasn't for that chorus! Whilst it's earworm friendly its also rather annoying and there's something just a bit lazy about it- I can't describe it any other way I'm afraid, perhaps that advert just scarred me pre release?!

 

25TH APRIL- IN FOR THE KILL- La Roux (4 wks)

 

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First of all I'll fully concede that Elly Jackson has a vocal like marmite, and the video is redefining the word "Cheap" certainly in a 2009 sense, but for all those handicaps "In For The Kill" is still FANTASTIC. Playing on the zeitgeist for reviving the 80s, the stripped down production and that tinny synth line evoke Soft Cell and Visage (oldies are dutifully offended at the comparison I dare say) but it's all about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery here. If anything, the success of this in 2009 shows as testament to not only the fantastic sound created by the synthpop movement in the early 80s but also to its timelessness. I also recall there be nothing quite like this, or that vocal, in the charts of 2009 so even if you don't like the song we can at least be giving them credit for doing something slightly leftfield.

 

"Bulletproof" would of course expand on their musical influences later in 2009 and make La Roux one of the breakthrough acts of the year, and listening back now it's still a cracker, though rather for what it apes rather than what it is itself....

 

Possibly two of my favourite #2s of not just 2009 but the whole decade there :D Both sound completely different yet stood out so massively at the time and take me back to the first part of that year instantly. The fact that neither got to #1 seems really bizarre as surely ask most people and they'd guess they were dead-on certs for the top spot. In for the Kill especially, which had its sales significantly boosted by a very early dubstep remix!

 

I saw both acts live around that time, The Noisettes weirdly putting DUTR as their second song of the entire set meaning that got a great reaction and then they played the rest to a comparative bemused silence from the crowd, although 'Never Forget You' did at least become a hit later that year. And La Roux were my fave act of that whole year, they did a storming set at V Festival 2010 and I'm still waiting for their follow-up album! Think they've left it a bit too long to ever have another hit again, although then I'd have thought that about Daft Punk...

11TH JULY- MAN IN THE MIRROR- Michael Jackson (1 Wk)

 

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Quite why this song was the main beneficiary of Jackson's death in June 2009 will forever remain a mystery, it was hardly one of signature hits (in the UK at least) having made a paltry No 21 when it was released in 1988 making it the worst performing hit from the "Bad" album possibly due to the lack of a "promo" as such. Neither is it thematically unusual (start caring about the Earth/ change your ways) though it's certainly less sickly than other tracks in the same vein, "Heal The World" for instance, yet here it is.

 

So this is the pop world's farewell to Jacko, a man who undoubtedly influenced a generation and altered the limits of what was visually possible in the pop promo, he is along with Madonna one of the pioneers of the genre when MTV was in its infancy, his influence can still be seen in the likes Justin Timberlake, JLS, Jason Derulo and many a boyband thereafter. What we recall him for, the dancing, the eccentric behaviour, the creativity, the pop promo's were all essentially from 5 years 82-87 when he was surely the most famous man on the planet, what he did after were in reality more or less better or worse re-treads of this era so perhaps its fitting that something from that era be used t mark his passing. I never been particularly found of "Man In The Mirror", it isn't bad but it sounds too preachy and full of empty hyperbole to really the hit spot, it's worth noting that this is actually one of the few singles not to be at least co-written by him so I don't hold him responsible for it lyrically, but I suppose as a last stand to the singer a grand gesture seems at least a little appropriate, to that extent does the record matter?

 

1ST AUGUST- SUPERNOVA- Mr Hudson Featuring Kanye West (1 wk)

 

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Actually a good record! Kanye doesn't feel welded onto the song in order to generate some sales with some pointless rap, the chorus is clearly head and shoulders above the verses, but the bridge doesn't disappoint and the verses don't stink, and there's even a cameo in the video from Estelle who had a bit of spare time by 2009. The only thing that feel slightly "clunky" is that drum machine in the verse which I've never been keen on.

 

The chorus however saves it all, soaring majestically out of the blue, full of tension, even if it is slightly auto tuned but all in all I'd forgotten just how marvellous this is.

 

I love Supernova, its a shame it seems so forgotten now, I love the anthemic feel to it. Kanye is actually excellent on it (and I don't think that often!) and greatly improves the chorus, what on earth he was thinking when he pronounced 'chance' in a London accent in the first chorus is beyond me though, it sounds so weird :lol:

 

Man In The Mirror was a slightly odd choice of 'tribute track', but I guess a song about being inspirational/making a change is more fitting as a tribute rather than his controversial side in his signature hits.

Edited September 28, 201311 yr by Chez Wombat

Supernova was amazing, my favourite record at the time

12TH SEPTEMBER- GET SEXY- The Sugababes (1 wk)

 

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One of the great things about the Sugababes was the seeming ease with which they seemed cool, an urban Girls Aloud with slightly more clothes, the all saints to GA Spice Girls, and of course that their singles were classy, so it is with sadness that I come to review "Get Sexy". Borrowing from Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" this is a song without soul, a shameless attempt to cash in on recent dance trends and production and to strip anything of their personalities out of the song, their previous ability to make trends look naturally part of their repertoire halts here and this whole thing seems a tad boring and altogether contrived and forced.

 

The girls of course try to sell it but their hearts don't seem to be in it and indeed Keisha's departure was only weeks away, but this is a sad end to Sugababes Mk II. It is all about the style over the substance and the verse is sadly weak, a record sold doubtless on the name of the act rather than merit, and even the name can't sell much these days......

 

10TH OCTOBER- EMPIRE STATE OF MIND- Jay Z Featuring Alicia Keys (1 wk)

 

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OK, rap isn't a genre that I feel I can review with confidence, having said that I'm obliged to and to be honest I don't half mind this tune if only for the fact that Alicia Keys lifts the track into something approaching greatness. Naturally I prefer her solo version but I think I was first won over to Jay Z's charm on "Ghetto Anthem" back in 1998 but in between I can't say I paid too much attention other than his work with Beyoncé. His anthem to New York featured a sample from The Moments "Love on a Two Way street" and all in all it seemed to hang around FOREVER probably more to do with Keys' solo version which came out in early 2010 but all in all not bad at all.

 

 

Supernova, absolutely loved it at the time and still do. :wub:

17TH OCTOBER- FOREVER IS OVER- The Saturdays (1 wk)

 

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I didn't realise this was co-penned by ex-Busted member James Bourne! Anyway iTunes tells me that I'm quite a fan of The Saturdays though I find them VERY hit and miss, but when they get it right ("Ego""Higher", "Up") they do with conviction and verve, this isn't quite in that category. Don't get me wrong, its entirely passable pop which dips its toe into a rockier feel than they had hitherto gone with some mixed success, I think the route of the problem is that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be and thusly it becomes harder to "sell".

 

Perhaps this is indicative of the problem with the Saturdays in general. Whilst flitting about with genre's is very 2010's it invariably means that some "Experiments" will be more successful than others, on the other hand it makes for a more interesting discography but their constant dabbling did, on occasion, come across as desperation to have that No 1 hit at any price- perhaps they're happier now it finally happened. Anyway in conclusion FIO isn't their worst but it is FAR from their best!

 

 

 

Forever is Over is so meh. The Sats have so many better singles

Some pretty sub par girlband singles in that section. Get Sexy is incredibly embarrassing and Forever Is Over is a bit of a shouty mess, although admittedly quite catchy. They should never have changed their branding either, although they reverted straight back after the flop of the Wordshaker era.

24TH OCTOBER- BODIES- Robbie Williams (1 wk)

 

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So by 2009 brand Robbie Williams had taken rather a battering after a decade when he could do little wrong. The whole "Rudebox" era had been a commercial failure by his admittedly very high standard and for the first time ever it looked like he'd lost the magic touch, thusly "Bodies" had a lot to prove, a lot to re-invigorate, a lot to REMIND.

 

On all grounds it has to be considered a failure sadly, the fact its barely heard these days nor I would argued remembered perhaps backs up this opinion, it's quirky enough and is obviously a Robbie song which perhaps manages to sell it to the faithful who had lost heart after the experimental "Rudebox" single but it fails to convince outside of this group, it feels slightly like a mish mash of previous tracks, a bit of "Feel" in the chorus, spots of "Supreme" in the verse all without the clever penmanship of Guy Chambers to give direction. The point I suppose being that his career post 2004 has been a series of re-treads each less successful artistically than the last with his one really bold attempt to do something different ending up a sales turkey. He's gone from an act who could easily pluck 3 or 4 top 10 hits from an album to one who struggles to get a second hit from an era, the fact that "Bodies" is a mess lyrically and hangs all its hopes on the chorus that disappoints when it arrives doesn't manage to salvage it.

 

7TH NOVEMBER- WHAT ABOUT NOW- Westlife (1 wk)

 

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Written by two former members of Evanescence and lead singer Amy Lee's Husband, this is of course a track originally recorded by Daughtry who had a US top 20 hit and thanks to use in the "X Factor" it made No 11 just weeks before this version saw the light of day from those Westlife boys. Essentially their problem was the same as Williams, there was little development in their career, clever Westlife however had switched their marketing from the notoriously fickle teenage market to much more predictable "woman of a certain age" market- I generalise obviously and to some extent Robbie had done the same, but for Westlife they were never really concerned about "artistic credibility" it was all about what sells- they had long since sold their souls to the dark spirit called Louis Walsh.

 

"What About Now" is, like most Westlife covers, competent enough, even if it drains the life out of the original, but really to be still doing this kind of thing 10 years into a career built to a large extent on cover versions seems quite pointless and this does little to alter that opinion.

 

 

I adore the original of What about Now, I didn't like Westlife's. That said, I don't necessarily agree with the view of Westlife being the Anti-Christ's of pop music, there's some decent-ish tunes in their back catalogue (and some awful ones I grant you)

 

Bodies never really did much for me, it was all about You Know Me :wub:

21ST NOVEMBER- HAPPY- Leona Lewis (1 wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Happy_Leona_Lewis.jpg

 

 

Dorothy Parker once wrote "Every love is the old love in a duller dress" quite an apt phrase for Lewis' career until recently. No one can deny that she has a fine set of pipes on her, nor that she looks the part of a popstar, but the personality doesn't quite measure up and she had become by round 2010 a one trick pony. "Happy" is essentially an attempt at "Bleeding Love Pt II" co-written similarly by Tedder and naturally it isn't quite as good and perhaps the rather predictable move makes this song a little underwhelming.

 

Of course when your one trick is as impressive as Lewis' voice is then that's fair enough but the risks and chances that she has taken with her output over recent years perhaps came too late to salvage the image of Lewis as balladeer. With the right song its possible she reach the No 1 spot again but "Happy" is rather too formulaic to hit home and dare I say it, a tad LAZY.

 

 

 

12TH DECEMBER- RUSSIAN ROULETTE- Rihanna (1 Wk)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Russian_Roulette_-_Rihanna.png

 

Few would claim that Rihanna had a voice to match Lewis but of course Rihanna is a POPSTAR without question. She doesn't always get it right (some single choice have just been bizarre) but no-one can refute that she does take CHANCES and has a good popstar's eye for popping in and out of genres with ease. "Russian Roulette" isn't ground breaking but it has a menacing tone that you suspect Lewis would have trouble pulling off and its charms, whilst subtle, are undeniable, and she sells it with utter conviction.

 

I wasn't won over by this when I first heard it but its grown on me over the years and by the end of 2009 she probably was the biggest popstar on the planet (well her or Gaga) and so it's fitting that we should end the decade with her

 

So that's it folks! I've covered 30 years on the "journey" as an X Factor contestant would say, thanks to everyone who has commented and agreed or disagreed with me. It's been......long :D