Tim's Top 40 of 2018

Last year STEPS’ itunes number 1 single “Scared of the Dark” beat off stiff competition from Rita Ora, Shania Twain and Kesha to claim my most played new song of the whole calendar year.

2018 was, more-so than 2017, generally rubbish for new commercial sounds and I’ve found myself struggling to warm to the big radio hits that came to be. Still I’ve managed to compile my top 40 most played “new” tracks of 2018…though you’ll see a lot of the tracks are in fact remixes, soundtracks, covers and songs relying on samples of old tracks. Although I cling to a hope that I haven’t reached the age of “back in my day music was better than this rubbish” I am not particularly optimistic that 2019 won’t produce more reductive, minimalist or just plain shit chart toppers. So I’ll drink my bucks fizz and say goodbye to 2018 with this list of my 40 most played tracks of 2018. Happy “New” Year.

(Position Artist Song//Album)

1 Kylie Minogue Dancing// Golden (88 plays)

Kylie returned to form for her Golden year, leaving the mediocre Voice/Kiss me Once meh-fest well and truly behind her. As well as managing to score another number 1 album in the UK, her album has continued to perform in the top 40 intermittently ever since with numerous special edition releases at a time when streaming is dominating the commercial music industry. Kylie appears another FOUR times in this chart.

2 Clean Bandit Solo//What is Love? (81 plays)

3 Kylie Minogue Stop Me From Falling//Golden (63 plays)

4 Ariana Grande No Tears Left to Cry//Sweetener (57 plays)

5 Jess Glynne I’ll Be There//Always in Between (45 plays)

Following a fabulous run of hits and a smashing debut album campaign between 2014 and 2015, Jess Glynne returned to the top of the UK charts in January with her contribution to Rudimental’s “These Days”. Although her follow-up collection feels reductive when placed next to her earlier output, (she wouldn’t be the first act to try to capitalise on a formula that worked for them in the past) she still appears 3 times in this chart. Her most recent UK number 1 from May “I’ll be There” is the highest entry on my top 40 of 2018 at number 5.

6 Tyler Bates You Can’t Stop This Motherfu__er//Deadpool 2

The shortest track in my top 40 is a closing a cappella featured on the soundtrack to Deadpool 2. Holy sh!tballs…

7 Cher Gimme Gimme Gimme//Dancing Queen

8 Little Mix Woman Like Me//LM5

9 Rudimental These Days

10 Clean Bandit Baby//What is Love?

11 Purple Disco Machine Dished

Heavily sampling one of the gayest tracks I’ve ever heard, 1986’s top 3 hit “Male Stripper” by Man2Man, this funky track was a breath of fresh air upon commercial release in the Autumn but the saturation of plays caused the track to disappear from my playlists briskly after its 6-week stay up the top of my weekly chart.

12 The Beatles Back in the USSR //The Beatles

The 32 plays counted to help this 50-year-old track enter my 2018 chart as high as number 12, come from the new versions and mixes released as part of the 50th anniversary campaign curated by son of the fifth Beatle George Martin’s offspring Giles.

13 Jess Glynne All I Am//Always in Between

14 Kylie Minogue Raining Glitter//Golden

15 Azealia Banks Anna Wintour

If the woman is a homophobic, racist b!tch she’ll be her own undoing. Until then I’m down for absolute BANGERS like this. I’ll never meet the woman.

16 The Coral Eyes Like Pearls//Move Through the Dawn

17 Ariana Grande and Pharrell Blazed//Sweetener

18 Kylie Minogue Golden//Golden

19 Netta Toy

20 Saara Aalto Monsters//Wild Wild Wonderland

She was robbed on X Factor and the Eurovision. Fingers crossed it’s 3rd time lucky on Dancing on Ice.

The rest…

21 Cheryl Fernandez-Versini-Cole-Tweedy-Payne Love Made Me Do It

22 Little Mix Joan of Arc//LM5

23 Calvin Harris One Kiss

24 The Beatles Glass Onion (2018)

25 Cher Fernando

26 LSD Genius

27 Kylie Minogue A Lifetime to Repair//Golden

28 Jake Shears Creep City//Jake Shears

29 SuRie Storm

30 Rita Ora Let You Love Me//Phoenix

31 Panic at the Disco High Hopes//Death of a Batchelor

32 RuPauls Drag Race Cast Cher:The Unauthorized Rusical

33 The Cast of Mamma Mia Super Trouper

34 Kelly Clarkson Heat//Meaning of Life

35 Busta Rhymes Get It

36 Ariana Grande The Light is Coming//Sweetener

37 Janelle Monaé Make Me Feel

38 Rick Parfitt Without You

39 Nadine Gossip

40 Janelle Monaé I Like That