http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx240/MarthaJonesFan/Cover%20Sleeves/Clean%20Bandit%20-%20Stronger.pnghttp://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx240/MarthaJonesFan/Cover%20Sleeves/YearsampYears-King.png

 

19 Clean Bandit - Stronger - 5-9-15-19-13-17-20-20-23-25-25-29-31-33-31-X (15 weeks)

20 Years & Years - King - 8-10-8-4-7-9-11-18-16-21-27-27-32-33-37-X-35-X (16 non-consecutive weeks)

Oh I approve of this section v much :dance: :dance:

 

'King' is still their best and is infact still to come on my EOY countdown!

 

'Stronger' feels kinda underrated- a very bright, fun track. The original version w/ Olly is also good, though I must hear that remix version with Joseph performing Alex Newell's parts :ph34r:

 

Alex Newell is QUEEN.

Stronger and King :heart:

Thanks guys for the comments :wub: Nice to see the Stronger love!

Songs

 

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17 Benjamin - Unbreakable - 5-2-5-7-1-… (5+ weeks)

18 Pia Mia - Do It Again (feat. Chris Brown & Tyga) - 4-3-6-8-11-13-12-15-19-26-22-19-26-29-38-X (15 weeks)

 

Pia Mia's Do It Again kinda came out of nowhere didn't it? Not really made a huge impact worldwide, but as soon as it was released here, it shot to the iTunes top 10, on minimal airplay. It's the kind of generic pop that I really love, catchy and carefree. Chris Brown manages to somehow be tolerable and I actually love Tyga's rap opening the song. Pia's vocals are of course great too, and whilst I'm totally surprised it was a big hit, I can't complain as unsurprisingly, I'm a huge fan. It's right up my street and I don't think we have enough songs like this in the chart nowadays!

 

I am a HUGE sucker for emotional power ballads performed by young male artists. In 2013, my EOY #1 was Ulrik Munther's Heroes in Defeat (Change Your Mind). In 2014, Reed Deming's Crash Test Dummy (Broken) came third. This is basically the 2015 equivalent of those songs, and whilst it doesn't manage to get to the top 3, it's finished at a respectable #17 considering its peak was just at the cut-off point. Unbreakable is a fantastic song and builds up really well to make a perfect sing-a-long ballad. Benjamin is a Finnish pop singer for those who don't know him, and he still has another song, Young and Restless, to appear.

 

PICK OF THE SECTION

 

Clean Bandit - Stronger is quite good, but the group hasn't really come close to Rather Be (or poor Forgettable Mozart's House :music: :music: ) for me. Definitely can't see them getting another #1 but hope they can get top 10 again maybe this year.

Loving King :dance: definitely a strong #1 of the year. Y&Y's other songs are great but again they haven't quite met the high standard of King.

 

I like Do It Again. Touch is good too, but not as catchy as the former for me.

'Do It Again' was a surprising UK hit for me. Glad it was though.

 

 

Thanks Spadam and Mack :heart:

Songs

 

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15 Kygo - Firestone (feat. Conrad Sewell) - 33-23-32-22-18-4-2-3-5-11-12-16-22-24-28-30-40-X (17 weeks)

16 Years & Years - Shine - 7-23-23-28-37-X-1-4-6-10-15-16-20-26-30-35-39-X (16 non-consecutive weeks)

 

Edging closer and closer to the top 10 now! Years & Years appear again now. Shine missed out on the UK #1 by a very narrow margin, but became their first chart topper for me. It had a brief five-week run in the chart beforehand, where I liked it but didn't love it, but it came back and smashed harder than it did before. Olly's vocals are on top form on this song, given the chance to soar over a more subtle beat than that of King. I love how it helps show their versatility compared to their previous dancier top 40 hits too, and no doubt it helped the album massively. Eyes Shut is still to come, will they manage to finish in my EOY top 10?

 

Another artist who has multiple top 20 appearances is Conrad Sewell. Firestone is the hit that introduced me to him, and I've touched on the fact that it was a huge slow burner for me already. I found it boring and forgettable at first, then it slowly crept up on me and ended up as one of the defining hits of 2015. Conrad's vocals are of course incredible but the tropical instrumental is just as good, and is instantly recognisable from Kygo. Shame he's yet to even come close to this absolute gem for me. Firestone was blocked from #1 by Conrad's own Hold Me Up, but had a very good run for a #2 hit in 2015!

 

Linking a live performance below rather than two songs that everyone surely already knows, from the night Conrad won his first ARIA award for "song of the year" with Start Again *.*

 

PICK OF THE SECTION

 

The power of Shine coming out of nowhere and hitting you again. I love that song so much (obviously), and it was so good seeing Buzzjack slowly fall in love with it too, after what was initially a very lukewarm reaction. Coming for Platinum officially soon, hopefully! *.*

 

Firestone is also very good, but the Fireworks version >>>>>>>

I was really rooting for "Firestone" to make it big in the US because I feel like it totally kickstarted Conrad's career and it would be so much more on track than it is now

Thanks Joe and Cody :heart: Firestone should've been huge in the US :( at least radio caught on to Hold Me Up more than they did in the UK. Not that that's saying much. He's a superstar that just isn't happening :drama:

Songs

 

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13 Charli XCX - Doing It (feat. Rita Ora) - 30-18-9-7-9-11-3-5-10-12-14-1-2-5-10-17-25-37-X (18 weeks)

14 Conrad Sewell - Start Again - 25-7-3-4-2-4-6-9-12-12-15-17-25-31-35-40-X (16 weeks)

 

Conrad once again now! Start Again is unlike Conrad's previous singles at the time of its release (Firestone and Hold Me Up), as it was pushed as his second single in Australia. It became a #1 in his home country and won an ARIA Award for "Song of the Year". It sounds like the kind of song that would be huge in the UK, it's a stripped back piano ballad which was recorded in one take. Originally it was meant for Kylie Minogue, but she turned it down and Conrad kept it for himself. It's the most exposed his vocals are on any of his songs, and it works a treat, providing a gorgeous song and his solo breakthrough smash in Australia. Start Again missed out on #1, like Firestone, because of Hold Me Up's lengthy #1 stint, so he essentially has two honourary #1s :heehee: One Conrad song remains (no prizes for guessing which one), how high can it go? :o

 

Funnily enough, this is Rita Ora's second year running in the #13 spot. I just realised that now as I looked at my 2014 EOY list - Black Widow was #13! This year, Rita teams up with fellow Iggy collaborator Charli XCX, on the third single from the latter's second album SUCKER. Doing It was released after one smash (Boom Clap) and one flop (Break the Rules), so it could've gone either way. It essentially goes in the middle of the two, but it was most definitely a hit, peaking at #8. Doing It is a great pop song and I was able to see Charli perform it live twice last year, once with Rita joining her on stage :heart: Most definitely my favourite Charli song, excluding Fancy of course which was last year's EOY #1.

 

PICK OF THE SECTION

 

FIRESTONE TOP 15 YAY :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

Shine was great and Doing It very good also.

Songs

 

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11 Ulrik Munther - Nån gång - 2-2-3-4-3-1-3-4-9-12-8-14-18-25-29-33-35-39-X (18 weeks)

12 Delta Goodrem - Wings - 1-3-3-6-7-12-17-23-24-25-30-26-35-38-X (14 weeks)

 

Fun fact I forgot to mention in the last section - Start Again is the highest non-#1 of the year! Everything from #13 upwards is a #1 peaking song. In 2014, the highest #2 was at #12 (Lewis Watson with Stay), and 2013 saw The Saturdays make it to EOY #6 with #2 peaker What About Us.

 

Delta Goodrem made a storming return to the top spot in Australia in mid 2015, as the lead single from her forthcoming fifth album Wings gave her a ninth chart topper. The song is essentially an improved version of Heart Hypnotic, mixing a traditional Delta piano-based sound with a dance pop instrumental, creating a soaring, anthemic pop tune, which is totally different to anything she's done before yet still recognisably Delta. Heart Hypnotic was good for a bit but burned out quickly, this on the other hand hasn't tired on me one bit, and has given her a sixth #1 in my chart, her biggest since 2012's Wish You Were Here. Wings was one of the songs that defined my summer holiday so I hold it in high regard there, and it managed to sneak a week at #1 before 1D surprise-released Drag Me Down! This is the Delta I want to hear, rather than the likes of Only Human :heart:

 

Only just missing the top 10 is the fourth of five #1s so far from Ulrik Munther. Nån gång debuted at #2 behind Conor Maynard's Talking About, and stayed in the runner-up spots for a few weeks before it finally nabbed a week at the top. The song, like Wings, is anthemic and perfect to sing to (despite me knowing very little of the words lol). It got me a lot more excited for Ulrik's third album and it proved to me that you can love any song regardless of the language. Nån gång translates as "Someday", and it's a song about re-assurance and hoping everything will be OK in a relationship, saying "everything will be fine someday". It certainly ranks up there among Ulrik's best and only JUST misses out on the top 10 - it still hurts me to see it sat outside but I really can't justify taking a song out and replacing it :lol:

 

PICK OF THE SECTION

 

Since I last posted, everything apart from Benjamin & Conrad is great (not shade, I haven't heard either song as far as I'm aware :lol: )

 

'Wings' :wub: #1 in Bellamia & Jayrusalem. *.* I hope there's more great stuff to come from the forthcoming album. Hope it's not a fluke!

Huzzah for 'Nån gång'!, truly his best.

Thanks my fellow flop GA mods :heart:

Songs

 

http://i759.photobucket.com/albums/xx240/MarthaJonesFan/Cover%20Sleeves/Years%20amp%20Years%20-%20Eyes%20Shut.png

 

10 Years & Years - Eyes Shut - 19-16-8-9-20-13-15-22-28-32-35-26-17-16-15-3-7-10-1-3-… (20+ weeks)

 

Dashing into my top 10 now! I'll be going one at a time here because my entire top 10 are worthy of their own post and commentary :D Artist of the Year will be posted before the top 2.

 

Eyes Shut is the highest Years & Years song in my countdown. The BBC Sound of 2015 winners achieved their second #1 in my chart with this song, after a LONG wait. It entered my chart as an album track and had a hugely impressive run, and it never actually dropped out before it impacted as a single and soared back to the top 10. It's not a typical Years & Years banger but I like that - it shows versatility. The song is stripped back, showing a more refined side to Olly's gorgeous voice, but the production is still on point and it builds throughout from the piano opening, to a huge final chorus, packed with emotion. The production is also miles better than that of the original Eyes Shut, included as the b-side to Real long before the album. I heard it at some point last year and was amazed at how far the song came between that and the album release. The final version of the song took a couple of listens to hit me but when it did, it did it like a tonne of bricks. Amazing song and I'm so glad it's been a UK top 20 hit in the end!

 

Doing it and Eyes Shut!

 

:shakingcheeseblock: