#382. The Bluebells - Young At Heart

4 weeks at #1 in 1993 (#12 of 15 for '93)

 

 

Some more "young" and some more country. This originally peaked at #8 in 1984, and was re-released in 1993 after appearing in an ad, and went all the way to #1. As was the trend at the time. The country / blue grass elements don't bother me too much in this, but I still don't like them that much. At least they don't sing in a country voice.

#381. Meck feat. Leo Sayer - Thunder In My Heart Again

2 weeks at #1 in 2006 (#17 of 24 for '06)

 

 

Did anyone ever expect to see Leo Sayer get a #1 in 2006 lol. I guess they were trying to capitalize on the success of "Hung Up" with this? It's another modernized disco-sounding dance track. But I find this nowhere near as interesting as that. It's not bad, though. The production and the sample work very well together. But there's just not enough going on to really capture me. Leo certainly sings this with a lot of force. I only know like three of Leo Sayer's songs, though.

#380. Dizzee Rascal - Holiday

1 week at #1 in 2009 (#23 of 32 for '09)

 

 

Fun summery song, but it's lacking any sort of strong hook for me, though. I do like Calvin's production, and how it randomly switches up and goes super fast at the end lol.

#379. Chris Brown - Turn Up The Music

1 week at #1 in 2012 (#24 of 36 for '12)

 

 

I don't hate this at all, though everyone else seems to. Yeah, it's generic, and yeah the lyrics are pretty awful ("If you're sexy and you know it put your hands up in the air"... really?). But I just really like the production of it; even if it kinda rips off that Nicky Romero song. And I find the "wah-oh-oh-oh-oh"'s catchy. At least it isn't headache educing like "Don't Wake Me Up." I still can't stand Chris Brown in general, though. But lol at this being his only UK #1.

 

#378. Eric Prydz - Call On Me

5 weeks at #1 in 2004 (#17 of 29 for '04)

 

 

It's pretty much impossible to not associate the song with the video. It's one of those songs where I feel like it became a hit more because of the video than the song itself. That doesn't mean the song itself is bad, though. It's definitely energetic; one you can surely work out to. But it's just a bit too repetitive for me to rank it any higher than this.

#377. Elton John - Candle In The Wind 1997 / Something About The Way You Look Tonight

5 weeks at #1 in 1997 (#14 of 24 for '97)

 

 

Alright, the best selling song of all time. Event singles, especially this one, are not easy to rate. They capture such a specific moment in history and you can't listen to the song without thinking about that event. It's impossible to listen to this without thinking about the tragic death of Diana. It makes it difficult to judge this on its own merits. This is meant to be nothing more than a tribute to her. It has such an emotional pull (something that say, "I'll Be Missing You", fails to have.) I prefer listening to the live version from the funeral. This song only works as a stripped down piano ballad, in my opinion. Which is what I linked above. It captures the grieving of it. I find the studio version with the added background vocals and the added instruments diminish the song's impact, and makes it sound too calculated. As far as being a tribute to Diana, I don't think this is that bad. It's not something I'd want to listen to very often, but I have no complaints about this being the best selling song of all time. There's far worse songs that could have that honour. "Something.." is the much better song, but it's not the reason why this sold nearly 5 million copies.

 

I feel like I've eliminated a lot from 1997. I seem to remember liking that year a lot more lol.

#376. McFly - I'll Be OK

1 week at #1 in 2005 (#17 of 25 for '05)

 

 

This song is just about reassuring yourself that everything will be OK. It's a typical McFly song. By that I mean, I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other on it. It's decent, and I want to like it more than I do, but it just doesn't stand out enough.

#375. Spice Girls - Goodbye

1 week at #1 in 1998 (#21 of 30 for '98)

 

 

This is my least favourite Spice Girls single. Well, either this or "Headlines". The "no no no no"'s don't work for me. And I find that there's not much of a melody in this, especially the chorus. It's too far on the boring side for me. But I do appreciate it lyrically. It works as a song saying goodbye to Geri. But it also would've been perfect as a goodbye to their fans in general, if this had been their final single. But they just had to go ahead and do that third album..

#374. JLS - The Club Is Alive

1 week at #1 in 2010 (#21 of 34 for '10)

 

 

Much like "Turn Up The Music", I often feel like the only person that likes this. It's a generic mess of a song about partying and hooking up in a club, with an overuse of auto-tune, and a laughably awful lyric of "You could be the DJ; I could be the dance floor". But despite all of that, I find this sort of catchy, especially the "1,2,3,4" part. I ate up all these dance pop songs in 2010 lol.

#373. One Direction - Little Things

1 week at #1 in 2012 (#23 of 36 for '12)

 

 

Such cringeworthy lyrics with really awkward phrases like "joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheek", "dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine", "You can't go to bed without a cup of tea".. ok well the entire song is awkward. That said, I appreciate what the song is trying to be; but the lyrics really ruin it. It's the same theme as "What Makes You Beautiful" about insecurities and such. But it's not rehash of it sonically, unlike how "Live While We're Young" and "One Thing" were. I remember remarking that a stripped down ballad was a nice change of pace in their run of singles at that time. I do have a soft spot for this because of that, and I really want to like it, but the lyrics just stop me from ranking it any higher than this. Also, I prefer the radio edit with added background instrumental.

#372. Roll Deep - Good Times

3 weeks at #1 in 2010 (#20 of 34 for '10)

 

 

This is beyond generic, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine. "LATE NIGHT SHOPPING HIGH STREET BOPPING". Jodie Connor gives a very catchy chorus.

#371. Jay-Z feat. Rihanna & Kanye West - Run This Town

1 week at #1 in 2009 (#22 of 32 for '09)

 

 

"SUP!" Rihanna provides a great hook here but her shaky "heeeey heeeey"'s get annoying VERY quickly. This song is the three of them asserting their cockiness/confidence/arrogance (however you want to interpret it) as artists. It's definitely not the first rap song to take on that theme, especially one involving Kanye West. I think the names involved were a huge reason for why this was a hit. This song feels largely forgotten nowadays. I really don't like Kanye's rap. Something about "shoe strings"; whatever. And I'm glad this blocked "Get Sexy", which is like the worst Sugababes single ever.

 

So my 2 least favourite Rihanna #1's are her two features. Interesting.

This is my least favourite Spice Girls single. Well, either this or "Headlines". The "no no no no"'s don't work for me. And I find that there's not much of a melody in this, especially the chorus. It's too far on the boring side for me. But I do appreciate it lyrically. It works as a song saying goodbye to Geri. But it also would've been perfect as a goodbye to their fans in general, if this had been their final single. But they just had to go ahead and do that third album..

They should've stopped after Viva Forever tbh. That would've been the perfect sendoff/goodbye single. Goodbye and Let Love Lead the Way are far too boring but Viva Forever works well as a ballad. And Headlines wasn't necessary at all, such a forgettable song.

#370. McFly - Don't Stop Me Now

1 week at #1 in 2006 (#16 of 24 for '06)

 

 

It's a cover of the Queen song, obviously. McFly's version is very catchy. Got nothing on Queen, though.

#369. Westlife - If I Let You Go

1 week at #1 in 1999 (#22 of 35 for '99)

 

 

This sounds like a Backstreet Boys reject. It's a pretty run of the mill boyband song for the time period its from. Very average and inoffensive. The meaning isn't that complex (debating whether or not to break it off with someone.) But, it gets points for being a Westlife song that isn't excruciatingly boring. Do Westlife have any songs without a key change?

 

Good news, I think there's only 3 Westlife songs left.

#368. Oasis - The Importance Of Being Idle

1 week at #1 in 2005 (#16 of 25 for '05)

 

 

They do a song about being lazy better than Bruno Mars, that's for sure. The song indeed does sound lazy, but that makes it difficult for me to remember anything about it. This is their one #1 I always forget about. I do like the instrumental in this (sounds very 60's and thereby very Oasis), but it's lacking any real hook.

#367. Sak Noel - Loca People

1 week at #1 in 2011 (#22 of 30 for '11)

 

 

That screen shot above says it all.

 

"WHAT THE F**K". I personally find this song very hilarious and entertaining. Maybe more in an ironic sense. But it's also very annoying. And it is objectively terrible. The line "When I came to Spain and I saw people party; I thought to myself: What the f**k?" is such a bizarre anecdote. I mean, really, who says that? The lyrics are in such broken English (which I assume is intentional), and it's the simplistic, yet bizarre, candidness of them that makes this song. "I called my friend Johnny, and I said to him 'Johnny la guenta esta muy loca' [these people are very crazy] What The f**k?!" Like.. what?

 

This song doesn't work without the video. Weird is an understatement to describe this video. So she arrives in Spain and finds her friend (who I guess is this mysterious Johnny?), and they're unsure what to do. They contemplate visiting a giant dildo (among other things), but ultimately decide to go clubbing (not before some public urination, though.) Once there, the video turns into soft core porn. After refusing Johnny's friends, she then hooks up with another girl. Then the video ends with them twirling their fingers in the air. Which I completely forgot about. Like what is with that? Like was this finger twirling supposed to be inciting this big fad that never came to be? Just.. lol at all of this.

 

Also, I love how their follow up to this ("The Nini Anthem", or whatever) sounded exactly like "Loca People".

Edited July 21, 201411 yr by n4yr

#366. U2 - Beautiful Day

1 week at #1 in 2000 (#32 of 42 for '00)

 

 

To me, this song is the definition of a focus-group cookie-clutter by-the-numbers made-specifically-for-radio pop song. It's like this was made to be as radio friendly as possible. It's pleasant on the ears, but there's nothing interesting about it. I often find songs like that fairly boring for this reason (and are the main reasons why I dislike a lot Maroon 5 and Katy Perry songs, among other acts of today.) This song has an uplifting universal message about being optimistic in life. But I guess I find it to be too simplistic in its approach. It's like they're trying as hard as possible to make a song that will appeal to as many people as possible.

Edited July 21, 201411 yr by n4yr

Spent some time today catching up on the last five pages or so!!

 

'Every Breath You Take' has a place in my heart as it was number 1 the day I was born, haha!

 

Great stuff!

These are brilliant. Keep them coming! Looking forward to the next batch!