#287. Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All

2 weeks at #1 in 1999 (#17 of 35 for '99)

 

 

This is.. beyond corny. And I'm pretty sure it's another cover of a country song. But I don't mind it too much for some reason. Though I have no idea why I ranked it this high.

 

Ok that's enough Ronan Keating for this week

#286. David Sneddon - Stop Living The Lie

2 weeks at #1 in 2003 (#15 of 22 for '03)

 

 

For a song from a TV talent show, this isn't that bad. Though I always have trouble remembering how this goes. I think this a well written song. I'm not quite sure what the story is about, but it really makes you think twice about other people.

#285. Spice Girls - Holler / Let Love Lead The Way

1 week at #1 in 2000 (#25 of 42 for '00)

 

 

This was one album too far. Did anyone outside of their core fans care by this point? They were all already trying solo careers, Geri wasn't a part of this, and this just felt a bit pointless. This album saw them take a more urban direction, which seems to be too drastic of a change for them. They recruited Darkchild for production duties; he was a very hot producer at the time, making hits for Destiny's Child and the like. Indeed, "Holler" sounds like a Destiny's Child reject. Actually this entire album sounds like a bunch of Destiny's Child rejects. I like the lowkey-ness of "Holler", but it's lacking any sort of... oomph. Especially compared to their other singles. "Let Love Lead The Way", on the hand, is a really great song, and saves this from being much lower on this list.

#284. U2 - Vertigo

1 week at #1 in 2004 (#9 of 29 for '04)

 

 

Notable for not being able to count in Spanish correctly. ONE TWO THREE FOURTEEN!! I think this song is simply about how music can take you to a whole 'nother place (into a vertigo). It's very energetic. My favourite of their #1's in my lifetime. I probably prefer their 80's and early 90's stuff, though.

#283. David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over

1 week at #1 in 2009 (#17 of 32 for '09)

 

 

Yeah it basically rips off Coldplay's "Clocks", but I don't mind that much. It's a very uplifting song about falling in love and enjoying that feeling. Kelly really makes this song her own. My main problem is that it just sounds like they had no idea what to do with the bridge or how to end the song, so she just repeats the song title 5 million times (but not before saying the word "tonight" 3 million times.)

Edited August 7, 201410 yr by n4yr

#282. Helping Haiti - Everybody Hurts

2 weeks at #1 in 2010 (#14 of 34 for '10)

 

 

Gordon Brown, who was Prime Minister at the time, asked Simon Cowell to put this together (which is why there's so many X Factor alumni on it.) This sold a whopping 453,000 copies in its first week. For a charity single, this is actually really well done, and very effective. Which was great considering how awful "We Are The World 25" was (the US's take on doing a Haiti charity single.) I absolutely love the R.E.M. version of this song. It just really gets to me. And this version of it is also very emotional.

#281. OneRepublic - Counting Stars

2 weeks at #1 in 2013 (#14 of 30 for '13)

 

 

Yeah, this has been ruined by overplay, and I'd probably rank it higher if I did this list again in a few years. This song proves that Ryan Tedder knows how to create a song full of hooks. He has said that this song is about being tired of having your life being consumed by money. Instead of counting dollars all the time, let's count stars instead. I'm paraphrasing, but that's basically what he said. I like the message, and the song has a nice uplifting tone to it.

#280. Ronan Keating - Life Is A Rollercoaster

1 week at #1 in 2000 (#24 of 42 for '00)

 

 

Ok this is the last you'll see of Ronan Keating in this list. It was pretty easy to pick my favourite if his solo + Boyzone #1's. This is very catchy and inoffensive. A song with a simple message about making it through life's ups and downs.

#279. Avicii - Wake Me Up

3 weeks at #1 in 2013 (#13 of 30 for '13)

 

 

I like that this tried something different by mixing together dance and folk/country. Another song killed by overplay, though. This song is about living your youth care-free and your elders thinking you're being foolish. Not wanting to be bothered with figuring life out right now. "Wake me up when it's all over"; "it" referring to their youth. And then of course the revelation "All this time I was finding myself; And I didn't know I was lost", meaning that this care-free youth is actually a form of finding themselves, but they don't realize it yet. It's pretty deep. But sonically it just doesn't do enough for me.

#278. Livin' Joy - Dreamer

1 week at #1 in 1995 (#11 of 17 for '95)

 

 

I never paid this much attention in my UK #1's playlist when I started it in early 2013(?), but after the deep house trend this year, this just keeps growing on me more and more. I love the chorus when she sings pretty fast lol.

Edited August 9, 201410 yr by n4yr

#277. Spice Girls - Mama / Who Do You Think You Are

3 weeks at #1 in 1997 (#12 of 24 for '97)

 

 

This is a double A-side, one of which being the Comic Relief single, and the other being a Mother's Day tie-in. I'm... not sure which track was the "main" hit for this. Either way, it became their fourth #1 in a row, which broke a record at the time. I believe both singles were skipped in the US/Canada since they were still a single or two behind the UK at that point; though I do have vague memories of "Mama". But I would've been 5 years old. Anyway, "Mama" always stands out in their discography to me; just because of how serious it is. It conveys a strong message, but like many other songs of this kind, it borders on being too sappy. But it could be worse. "Who Do You Think You Are", on the hand, couldn't be any more different. It's a fun catchy disco-like track, with nothing serious about it. It sounds like an album track, but I find it really enjoyable, and the track I prefer on this double A-side.

#276. Jason Derulo - In My Head

1 week at #1 in 2010 (#13 of 34 for '10)

 

 

I believe this song was originally titled "In My Bed".. I always felt like this song had a sexual meaning behind it. I found this insanely catchy at the time, but it hasn't grown on me that well. His vocals sound pretty horrendous in some parts of this though.

I was crazy about 'In Your Head' for so long when I first heard it, sounds a little dated now but still quite good

#275. Westlife - Swear It Again

2 weeks at #1 in 1999 (#16 of 35 for '99)

 

 

Westlife's first single, and their first #1. I've mentioned before that a lot of their early stuff sounds like Backstreet Boys or NSYNC rejects. Well this song isn't any different. And it's difficult to let go of the fact that everything about this group was so manufactured. That all said, I quite like this song for some reason. Don't really know why.

#274. McFly - Five Colours In Her Hair

2 weeks at #1 in 2004 (#8 of 29 for '04)

 

 

From one boyband debut single to another. This is my favourite McFly #1. I've talked about how McFly (and Busted)'s songs were simplistic. It's what makes them what they are. It's strange because I dislike some of their songs due to being too simplistic. But in the case of this song, its simplicity is why I like it. Also, this song is very catchy. It opens and closes with those "do do do do do do do"'s. This song tells a pretty depressing story, but it has a very upbeat nature. So their girlfriend is noticeably different from everyone else - she has 5 colours in her hair, among other things; but she doesn't care what others think at first. They bring this girl to a party to meet all their friends, and everyone picks on her for being different. The song slows down a bit to reveal that she has become insecure due to everyone else picking on her; so she tries to become normal by getting rid of the 5 colours in her hair. And the story kind of ends there. Which is a bit depressing.

#273. Craig David - 7 Days

1 week at #1 in 2000 (#23 of 42 for '00)

 

 

The days of the week song! Rebecca Black could never. I've already talked a bit about Craig's voice in my entry for "Fill Me In". Basically same comments here. I like how when it details the events of meeting this girl on Monday and Tuesday, and it gets to the "we were making love by Wednesday" part; you might expect him to say something different for the other days of the week... but nope, they just had more sex on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Lol. That's pretty much all there is to this song, but that chorus makes the song for me.

#272. Flo Rida feat. David Guetta - Club Can't Handle Me

1 week at #1 in 2010 (#12 of 34 for '10)

 

 

When I first heard this, I thought the backing vocals in the chorus sounded like Glee. lol. But apparently it's Nicole Scherzinger? I was way too into this song in 2010. I found it so ridiculously catchy and energetic at the time. But like a lot of dance pop club bangers of this time period, this hasn't really stood the test of time. I actually keep forgetting this song exists lol.

Edited August 9, 201410 yr by n4yr

#271. Labrinth feat. Emeli Sandé - Beneath Your Beautiful

1 week at #1 in 2012 (#15 of 36 for '12)

 

 

I initially found this song rather dull and sluggish, and it didn't really grow on me til early 2013. So this about a girl that puts up all these walls, and Labrinth wants to get to know the real her. She's hesitant probably because of being hurt in the past. So this bad grammar title "Beneath Your Beautiful" is meant to say two things; he wants to see that "beneath [the facade she puts up], she is beautiful" (that she has inner beauty.) And to also say that: he wants to see what's "beneath her [outer] beauty". Though I think Labrinth has said before that he did it to annoy English teachers... I'll pretend that's a joke and that my interpretation is what it means, because I like that play on words to create a dual meaning. I like that this song is not a piano ballad all the way through, and there's a bit of modern day production added as it goes along. It's still a bit too far on the dull side, though.

#270. Various Artists - Perfect Day

3 weeks at #1 in 1997 / 1998 (#11 of 24 for '97)

 

 

Ever since Band Aid in 1984, there had been endless collective charity singles in the UK. The formula was the same. A tragedy happens. An old song is covered. A bunch of big names are thrown onto the record. Paul McCartney and/or S/A/W are involved somehow. Etc etc. Most of them came off as self indulgent, or feel like they were made simply because they could. And quite frankly, most of them were downright awful (I'm looking at you "Let It Be" and "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey"). However, "Perfect Day" breaks that mould. Each artist involved is used well, and none of them really feel like they're trying to outshine everyone else. Though there's definitely some strong vocalists on this. The "reap what you sow" line really sticks with you.

Edited August 10, 201410 yr by n4yr

#269. Pitbull feat. Ke$ha - Timber

1 week at #1 in 2014 (#9 of 16 for '14)

 

 

No, this isn't the "farm animal song." The harmonica + Dr Luke production works well, though totally capitalizing on the folk + electronic music trend. This song is just super catchy and full of hooks ("it's going down..", "woah-oh-oh-oh" "swing your partner.."); thanks mostly to Ke$ha though. Did you know that this was originally offered to Rihanna? I can't see Rihanna pulling off Ke$ha's parts, though, to be honest.