March 6, 20223 yr Author Example - Kickstarts Date 20th June 2010 3 Weeks Official Chart Run 3-4-8-10-13-13-19-16-15-20-23-29-35-33-39-44-48-62-63-60-69-x-72-53-74-x [24 weeks] T9yGcKlYAiw Example previously appeared with 'Won't Go Quietly' and for his third commercial single he'd grab an even bigger hit giving him his first of seven appearances in the UK top five. 'Kickstarts' had his biggest pop hook yet so this was hardly a surprise. You may not know however that the song was actually produced by Nicolaas Douwma better known as Sub Focus. It was a much poppier effort from him compared to the material he put under his own name, but he gave the song the thump it needed to stand-out as a radio friendly dance track along with a catchy electro synth hook that you hear throughout (which is perhaps even more memorable than Example's actual vocal hook). The song otherwise revolves around Example reigniting his romantic interest in a girl determined to not let the relationship fail, with a short rap section but mostly sung (as the formula worked for the previous single). Example described the track as 'very personal', 'sad and happy' and 'an anthem' in interview and cited it as the track that really made him who he was an artist. The album 'Won't Go Quietly' (UK #4) produced one more hit in 'Last Ones Standing' (#27) before guesting on Professor Green and Wretch 32 tracks to fill time between album cycles (alongside a freestyle rap about Nandos posted online alongside a little-known artist by the name of Ed Sheeran). 'Kickstarts' remains one of his most remembered songs now, currently being his most popular track on Spotify. We will see him in this thread again then.
March 6, 20223 yr 'Kickstarts' was Sub Focus? That's cool, I didn't know that, and also I can see it. The last few songs on this thread are all very of their time and occupy about the same mental space for me, along with any number of minor hits from that time, wouldn't think to listen to any of them now but they have great memory associations for me.
March 15, 20223 yr Author Yolanda Be Cool vs. D Cup - We No Speak Americano Date 11th Jul 2010 4 Weeks Official Chart Run 5-2-1-2-3-4-4-6-9-11-11-15-21-20-33-40-43-46-52-69-x-65-68-x [22 weeks] 7E9Ed9DUQoQ We now get to one of the most stand-out hits of the year for the dance genre in 'Americano' which has a fair bit of history behind it. The song heavily samples the 1956 jazz recording 'Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano' sang by Renato Carosone (translation: 'You Want to Be American'). It was one of two hits in the decade to be sung in Neapolitan (a dialect of Italian). The other being... an cover version of the original 'L'Americano' by Marco Calliari (opportunistically remixed by Montreal House Mafia) released a couple of weeks earlier (it reached #26 before promptly exiting for the 'real' version). The song's lyrics are mocking an Italian who acts more like an American. Both Yolanda Be Cool & D Cup are however Australian, the former being a duo named after a Pulp Fiction scene where Yolanda is told to 'be cool', with the track first released on Aussie label Sweat It Out before AATW picked it up for the UK push. In classic AATW form we ended up getting an infamous "UK radio edit" which clocked in at 2:11 because apparently the international edit of 2:58 was too long for us. Except for the many who ended up downloading the original 4:29 mix that is (as I recall this version eventually made its way to #1 on iTunes). The song was also the only notable big electro-swing hit * as despite the big success of the song it was moreso seen as a novelty rather than a new trend. Despite the many weeks of pre-release hype this had a slightly disappointing chart entry at #5 (JLS with TCIA entered at #1 in the same week) however it eventually became the #1 it was destined to be having kicked B.o.B's 'Airplanes' from the top and denying Eminem a #1 with LTWYL. The song was huge all over the world and even managed to break America (reaching #29) however they were a(n obvious) one hit wonder... except for in Australia where four years later they had an unlikely second hit - collaborating together again on 'Sugar Man' - a sample of the Rodriguez song which had recently got popular from a documentary about his life and short-lived music career. However in the UK it is perhaps best remembered for featuring in a dance scene in the Inbetweeners movie where the lads attempt to impress some ladies in the club. D Cup who now goes by Rumbleman last year gave an interview with the YouTube channel Sol State about the makings of the song ( ). According to this the track was initially made to be an underground club hit and pretty much became a huge hit by accident, which sounds about right really but what a happy accident. He also took credit for the main instrumental hook, which was going to be used as the outro until Matt of YBC decided it was too good to just get tagged on at the end. The song also had a which I only just realised existed, which flips this hook on its head. *in the official chart at least - another electro-swing outfit Caravan Palace did manage to get 300m+ YT views and 100m+ Spotistreams for 'Lone Digger' years later
March 16, 20223 yr Stylistically it might be, but I have never thought of Yolanda Be Cool as 'electro-swing', pretty removed from all of the artists in the scene, lacks much of the 'playfulness' for want of a better word that is normally inherent to the genre, more of an oddity unto itself that never really appears on electro-swing lists. Also timing-wise it's way outside of the big electro-swing wave that hit at least internet culture around 2014-2016 with Lone Digger spearheading that charge. Interesting and bizarre chart hit though.
March 16, 20223 yr We No Speak Americano was a unique and deserved hit even though I don’t really go back to it. Kickstarts was great - Example’s best for me.
March 28, 20223 yr Author Flo Rida feat. David Guetta - Club Can't Handle Me Date 11th Jul 2010 4 Weeks Official Chart Run 5-2-1-3-3-5-9-9-14-20-25-30-38-44-52-59-59-49-66-x-66-52-63-x-62-x [23 weeks] SgM3r8xKfGE As it is 2010 it was only a matter off time before we'd get yet another David Guetta appearance. This became his 4th credited UK #1 and all within a year and two months having seen him produce for one of the hottest rappers of the moment in Flo Rida (his 3rd #1). The song also features backing vocals from songwriter Carmen Kay (not Nicole Scherzinger as was rumoured at the time). The track was another in the lengthy list of hip house tracks with a club setting to be a hit in this time, and with a song so tailor made for 2010 the only wonder was that it only spent one week at #1 (Ne-Yo had lucked his way to #1 the week prior). The song was used for the marketing of Step Up 3D, the third in a romance/dance film series. Flo Rida previously contributed 'Low' to Step Up 2 The Streets. It also led the album 'Only One Flo (Part 1)', an album that has a meaningless title in retrospect as the sequel 'Only One Rida (Part 2)' got cancelled and replaced with 'Wild Ones'. The songs lyrics were inspired by Flo Rida's travels around the world and partying. He spends the whole song talking about how he's the king of the club and the ladies just can't get enough of him as you'd expect but it's 2010 and a fun club song, and one of the ones of its type that has actually held up better with time thanks to Guetta's pounding electro house beat giving the real nightclub energy.
March 28, 20223 yr 'Club Can't Handle Me' has held up so much better to time than basically all of the other hits of the 'club banger' era for me, it's still a tune.
June 8, 20223 yr Author Roll Deep feat. Tania Foster - Green Light Date 22nd Aug 2010 1 Week Official Chart Run 1-4-6-13-16-24-29-40-54-57-69-x [11 weeks] 5FGgdQKw5_s One of the most baffling UK #1 singles of the entire decade now - kicking Flo Rida off the top spot officially and interrupting his run at #1 in the dance chart for a week. Roll Deep had just had one of the year's biggest hits in 'Good Times' and naturally for their follow-up they'd do a B-tier recreation of that. The rappers featuring on the song are Wiley, J2K, Breeze, Brazen and Scratchy, with sung vocals from Tania Foster who would go officially uncredited despite carrying a good portion of it. The song was also co-written by Angel. You may remember him from the #9 hit 'Wonderful', or his features on the #9 hit 'Lights On' or the #9 hit 'T.I.N.A'. The song takes inspiration from and even namechecks the green cross code but as it is 2010 the song is less about road safety and more about chatting up a girl at a club. Some of the lyrics are rather cringe too as you may expect. As for the song's production, which wasn't done by anyone notable, has a rather irritating bassline probably intended to make it sound a bit 'grimey' while keeping it mainstream as possible. Whilst this may've been passable at the time the song has not aged well whatsoever. It also clocks in at 4 minutes which is at least a minute longer than it needs to be. But perhaps the biggest chart crime wasn't this making it to #1 but doing so, with a very narrow sales margin, in the place of the year's biggest selling record (and to date one of Eminem's biggest/most remembered hits) 'Love the Way You Lie' which would end up forever lumbered with a #2 peak. As for how remembered this song is, well the OCC using the album artwork for Lorde's 'Melodrama' for this song says it all. Roll Deep couldn't win with the formula a third time however with the follow-up reaching #29 (featuring Alesha Dixon whose pop career was also fast on the decline).
June 8, 20223 yr Angel also "well" known for his #41 hit 'Go In, Go Hard' and his #41 hit 'Time After Time' of course. King of #9 and #41 x (did not know he had anything to do with 'Green Light' though!) I do remember 'Green Light' going to #1 being surprising at the time, it was even behind Eminem in the midweeks iirc. I liked it at the time but it's definitely not one I'd choose to listen to these days, 'Good Times' does the same thing much better really.
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