john V's 2021 Top Tracks

OK, as usual any oldies get excluded unless I'm hearing them for the first time, but not remixes or mash-ups. One act dominated my Year-End Chart more than any other act with new material ever has. Against all the odds, ABBA gave us a new album, and me 4 of the top 6 of 2021, 6 of the top 20, 8 of the top 40, and 9 of the top 100 - it would have been 10 if they hadn't released a belated single from the Voyage album in 2022, and it peaked in my chart in 2022.

Duran Duran get their biggest-ever single collaborating with Tove Lo, and in any ordinary year they would be top after 40 years of success. ABBA had their first single 50 years ago. The top single by current acts, though, is Marshmello and Jonas Brothers, Troye Sivan & Tate McRae, and Wolf Alice, none of whom got a big hit. In fact my personal charts departed from the UK charts in a massive way, the biggest actual hit being ABBA, or Elton John and Dua Lipa via PNAU or contemporary-act Harry Styles way down the list and Ed Sheeran sneaking in down the lower end as the second UK chart-topper on the list.

Of the UK's biggest 100, The Weeknd tracks are 2020, as are Dua Lipa's, Miley Cyrus' and Harry Styles', and feature in that year. Cold Heart at 21 is the highest here at 27. All of the other myriad oldies in the official 100 are consigned to their original years in my charts, so that leaves only 2 in the entire top 100. Yes, that's how little the charts mean to me now :o For a bit of fun though, spot the Eurovision and Buzzjack Song Contest tracks. Much better quality than the UK charts!

1 1 40 DON’T SHUT ME DOWN - ABBA 1809250

2 1 45 I STILL HAVE FAITH IN YOU - ABBA 1602200

3 1 27 GIVE IT ALL UP - Duran Duran featuring Tove Lo 1601150

4 1 34 WHEN YOU DANCED WITH ME - ABBA 1589850

5 1 24 LEAVE BEFORE YOU LOVE ME - Marshmello x Jonas Brothers 1364850

6 1 32 ODE TO FREEDOM - ABBA 1296250

7 1 25 YOU - Regard, Troye Sivan & Tate McRae 1282600

8 1 17 THE LAST MAN ON EARTH - Wolf Alice 1281900

9 1 28 NEED A LITTLE LOVE - The Fratellis 1195600

10 1 22 GOD ONLY KNOWS - For KING & COUNTRY & Dolly Parton 935000

11 2 15 MORE THAN A WOMAN (SG’S PARADISE EDIT) - Bee Gees x SG Lewis 907800

12 3 21 BUMBLEBEE - ABBA 886350

13 1 14 FALLEN ANGEL - TIX 845300

14 1 17 HERE COMES THE NIGHT - Agnes 814050

15 1 18 LITTLE THINGS - ABBA 757900

16 1 16 45 FAHRENHEIT GIRL - Drew Sycamore 750800

17 3 18 TOO MUCH HISTORY - Jack Savoretti 750550

18 1 16 MAKE U STAY - Sega Bodega & Lapsley 725400

19 3 20 WAVES OF BLUE - Majid Jordan 720800

20 2 18 DOPAMINE - Purple Disco Machine featuring Eyelar 707250

21 2 16 WHEN YOU SAY IT - Just Kiddin’ 666250

22 5 21 KEEP AN EYE ON DAN - ABBA 632050

23 3 15 BITTER TASTE - Billy Idol 600000

24 2 10 SAVE YOUR TEARS - Rose Gray 585500

25 1 9 LET’S ALL PRAY FOR THIS WORLD (UNKLE RECONSTRUCTION) - Perry Farrell & UNKLE 571000

26 3 15 LEAVE A LITTLE LOVE - Alesso & Armin van Buuren 568350

27 7 21 COLD HEART (PNAU REMIX) - Elton John & Dua Lipa 549000

28 3 13 DIRT - Keane 531100

29 2 11 NEW WAVE - Bow Anderson 510900

30 4 14 ON THE WRONG SIDE - Lindsey Buckingham 500850

31 3 17 OUT THE CAGE - Keith Urban featuring Breland & Nile Rodgers 457150

32 5 16 LAZYBABY - Dove Cameron 450550

33 6 14 GOODBYE - The Veronicas 431900

34 3 12 STRONGER - Blinkie featuring House Gospel Choir 426450

35 4 11 SET ME FREE - Eden Alene 422400

36 5 13 COVER ME IN SUNSHINE - P!nk & Willow Sage Hart 417450

37 7 14 10 YEARS - Dadi Freyr 411350

38 6 14 JUST A NOTION - ABBA 392450

39 8 15 MONSTER - Paloma Faith 390950

40 3 12 WOMAN - Riva Taylor 384900

41 5 12 YOU CAN CALL ME - Texas 380950

42 6 14 FOLLOWING THE SUN - SUPER-HI and Neeka 378550

43 4 15 MOVE WITH ME - Mad Circuit 369850

44 4 13 EYES WITHOUT A FACE (POOLSIDE REMIX) - Billy Idol 369800

45 5 11 THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY - Hunter Hayes 362650

46 5 13 GROWING UP IS GETTING OLD - VICTORIA 355950

47 3 8 BOYS WILL BE BOYS - Dua Lipa 355600

48 12 16 BELIEVERS - Alan Walker & Conor Maynard 350550

49 5 15 UNBELIEVABLE - Texas 348950

50 5 11 HEAT ABOVE - Greta Van Fleet 345700

51 5 10 BEST OF ME - ARTBAT & Sailor & I 337600

52 7 13 ALIBIS - Sneaker Pimps 328100

53 10 14 WORLD WE USED TO KNOW - Alan Walker & Winona Oak 321700

54 10 15 SHELLFISH MADEMOISELLE - Roisin Murphy 314250

55 5 9 STARLIGHT - Yola 312550

56 10 13 ABRAHAM, MARTIN & JOHN - Marvin Gaye & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra featuring Beverley Knight 311600

57 4 9 WHEN IS THE FUTURE? - VNV Nation 309050

58 6 12 MR HAZE - Texas 308650

59 7 11 FIREWORKS - Purple Disco Machine featuring Moss Kena & The Knocks 304800

60 5 12 TREAT PEOPLE WITH KINDNESS - Harry Styles 303250

61 4 11 A NIGHTINGALE SANG IN BERKELY SQUARE - Tori Amos 295650

62 5 10 SAD MAGIC - Gregory Dillon 295000

63 6 10 MY UNIVERSE - Coldplay x BTS 293050

64 9 13 MOTH TO A FLAME - Swedish House Mafia & The Weeknd 292050

65 6 10 CORAZON ASTRAL - Javiera Mena 291500

66 7 10 LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE - Zara Larsson 291350

67 7 11 GRATEFUL - Better Than Ezra 290200

68 10 14 YOUNG SUMMER - Tungevaag 285900

69 8 11 STARSTRUCK - Years & Years 284950

70 9 10 LET ME REINTRODUCE MYSELF - Gwen Stefani 283550

71 7 11 LOSE YOUR HEAD - London Grammar 280500

72 10 12 I CAN BE THAT WOMAN - ABBA 278700

73 7 11 NOTHING ELSE MATTERS - Miley Cyrus featuring WATT, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo & Chad Smith 276800

74 10 14 KISS MY (UH-OH) - Anne-Marie & Little Mix 271700

75 7 13 DEJA VU - Olivia Rodrigo 271550

76 14 14 RUN - OneRepublic 270800

77 9 12 I LIKE IT - Eagle-Eye Cherry 268850

78 10 12 SUNSHINE - Liam Payne 265750

79 9 12 PSYCHO - Maisie Peters 265300

80 9 10 HIGHER - Clean Bandit featuring Iann Dior 264200

81 7 14 THE TIPPING POINT - Tears For Fears 263500

82 8 11 GOODBYE - LP 263350

83 11 13 LOST - Jake Bugg 259250

84 10 14 CALL ON ME - RAYE 256050

85 9 10 WEEKEND VIBE - Jubel 255150

86 10 11 THE DIVINE CHORD - The Avalanches featuring MGMT, Johnny Marr 252000

87 5 8 TILL FOREVER FALLS APART - Ashe & FINNEAS 251100

88 6 8 NIGHT CRAWLING - Miley Cyrus featuring Billy Idol 247800

89 9 10 ANNIVERSARY - Duran Duran 234250

90 12 12 IF SOMETHING’S GONNA KILL ME (IT MIGHT AS WELL BE LOVE) - The Stranglers 233800

91 8 10 I DON’T MIND - Lindsey Buckingham 233650

92 9 8 BOOM - X Ambassadors 233000

93 9 8 DON’T BE A STRANGER - Ward Thomas featuring Cam 232300

94 5 8 LA LA LOVE ME - Lola Lennox 231000

95 14 11 TOLD YOU SO - Nathan Evans 228450

96 8 9 DANCE FLOOR DARLING - Kylie Minogue 228200

97 16 13 SHIVERS - Ed Sheeran 226400

98 8 10 ENTRE LAS DOS - Miranda! & Javiera Mena 221700

99 9 10 EVERYTHING’S WAITING FOR YOU - Tom Speight 219400

100 13 12 REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE - Jessie Ware 218800