Thanks, hopefully we’ll get a studio version one day soon.

 

That would be good, I'm surprised she hasn't already!

 

Love Eye To The Telescope and Other Side Of The World is my favourite from it. I got slightly tired of Suddenly I See due to the radio overplay but will never tire of that. :heart:

 

Mine too, I adore it. Loved the whole album though.

 

'Other Side Of The World' is better than 'Suddenly I See' for me but both are good.

 

Agreed, nice to see so much love for it.

2005

 

5/23: Cabin Crew - Star To Fall (2 weeks at No.1)

 

 

Back in 2005, everyone simultaneously decided it was the ideal time to cover Boy Meets Girl's 80s classic Waiting For A Star To Fall. We got versions from Australian act Cabin Crew, a copycat version a week later from UK act Sunset Strippers (which was a much bigger hit in the UK), and even Mylo sampled it on In My Arms. 80s looped house covers were all the rage by 2005, following the success a few months earlier of Call On Me by Eric Prydz, and this trend would continue for another couple of years. I wasn't keen on the production on the Sunset Strippers version, but appreciated the 'original' use of the sample, so Cabin Crew's UK No.4 version managed a couple of weeks on top for me.

2005

 

6/23: Do - Angel By My Side (1 week at No.1)

 

 

All three artists that made up the majestic 12-week No.1 Heaven in 2002 would go on to top my chart again - DJ Sammy with Boys Of Summer and California Dreamin', Yanou with...something coming up later, and Dutch singer Dominique van Hulst, aka Do (who in 2002 everybody thought WAS DJ Sammy, just like everybody thinks Natalie Horler is called Cascada), with the beautiful ballad Angel By My Side. A lovely song with a beautiful melody and build, and Do's gorgeous vocal, the track reached No.10 in The Netherlands.

2005

 

7/23: Natalie Imbruglia - Shiver (4 weeks at No.1)

 

 

Torn was such a mammoth hit in 1997 that Beth Brennan in Neighbours, AKA Natalie Imbruglia, was never likely to repeat its success. And she didn't, but she tried bloody hard. While Big Mistake matched its predecessor's peak of No.2 in 1998, I think you could easily argue that Shiver is her second most well known single. Going off Spotify streams this certainly appears to be the case anyway. A fantastic radio single, with a singalong chorus, the song reached No.1 on airplay in the UK and even propelled its parent album, Counting Down The Days, to the top of the chart here, her only No.1 on either chart. I loved both the single - which spent a month at the top for me - and the album.

 

Interestingly, the single was a popular download seller, and while Shiver was in the chart downloads started to be counted for the first time, leading to much longer and steadier chart runs for many singles than might have been expected. After moving 8-15-15, upon the rule change it moved back up to 14, while singles by Gwen Stefani, Studio B, Jem, Phantom Planet and Basement Jaxx also turned around in a very early indication of how much downloads would slow the charts down. Gorillaz also tested the rules with Feel Good Inc, entering based on a few vinyl sales but majority downloads.

2005

 

8/23: Missy Higgins - Ten Days (6 non-consecutive weeks at No.1)

 

 

Clearly at this point I should have just emigrated to Australia. The latest in a long line of Aussies to top my chart was Melissa 'Missy' Morrison Higgins. Missy had topped the charts in Australia with Scar in 2004, and Ten Days was selected for her UK launch. Maybe they felt her accent was too strong for British ears on Scar, but it was still pretty audible - and charming - on Ten Days, a really beautiful ballad about her missing her boyfriend when she went travelling, that I became obsessed with. The song got a little bit of video play in the UK but only got to something ridiculous like No.133 here, a long way down from its Australian peak of No.12.

 

A shame really, I don't think her sound would have worked hugely in the UK market but she really deserved more of a push here because she is fantastic. I've remained a fan ever since and her debut album, The Sound of White, is one of my favourites ever - one of very few I still regularly listen to from start to finish.

That Cabin Crew version is fine but I think I prefer other versions I've heard. The Do track is nice and so is the video that accompanies it.

 

'Shiver' :wub: I like 'Torn' and voted for it in the 90's thing but I actually far prefer this for sure.

That Cabin Crew version is fine but I think I prefer other versions I've heard. The Do track is nice and so is the video that accompanies it.

 

'Shiver' :wub: I like 'Torn' and voted for it in the 90's thing but I actually far prefer this for sure.

 

Yea most people preferred Sunset Strippers, as seen by the better chart run it had, but I never liked the production on it much.

 

I prefer Shiver to Torn too, such a fab track, and album tbh.

Loving the continued Aussie love. Shiver and Ten Days. :heart:

Edited March 17, 20232 yr by One_For_Sorrow

Loving the continued Aussie love. Shiver and Ten Days. :heart:

 

They are both brilliant, two of my favourites of this year.

2005

 

9/23: Helena Paparizou - My Number One (1 week at No.1)

 

 

As much as I loved the 2001 Eurovision winner Everybody, there's a strong argument that any of the songs that finished immediately behind it, from Denmark, Greece or France, would have made for stronger winners for the contest. Greece was represented by Antique's Die For You, which became a reasonable hit in Europe, a couple of years after they had another sizeable hit with Opa Opa. The duo was fronted by Helena Paparizou, of Swedish/Greek heritage, who went solo and tried again four years later with My Number One. Keeping the Greek musical influence, but as part of a frankly huge pop song, it was absolutely no surprise that this song won the contest. It seemed all but inevitable that Greece would walk off with the trophy, and so it did, 38 points clear of Chiara's Angel and to this day it's seen as a Eurovision classic. It was the only Eurovision chart topper for me in 2005; I wasn't very big on our attempt at the same sound, Javine's Touch My Fire, although the Swiss entry, Cool Vibes by Vanilla Ninja, eventually finished higher in my end of year chart after setting a new record for most weeks at No.2 without reaching the top.

2005

 

10/23: Shakira feat Alejandro Sanz - La Tortura (1 week at No.1)

 

 

Shakira's first studio album since the huge Laundry Service, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 was an immediate return to Spanish for the Colombian superstar. Featuring Alejandro Sanz, the irresistible reggaeton pop track did have a Spanglish version released, with a few words in the chorus translated into English, but it was never properly promoted here and failed to chart (it is available on Spotify as 'Alternative Version'). La Tortura was deservedly a hit across Europe where language has always been less of a barrier to success and became Shakira's fourth No.1 for me.

Edited March 20, 20232 yr by gooddelta

2005

 

11/23: James Blunt - You’re Beautiful (3 non-consecutive weeks at No.1)

 

 

The first I heard of You're Beautiful was when I heard it on the music channels in the weeks leading up to its release. I loved it, felt like it sounded like a classic ballad, and bought it on the week of release, surprised that it debuted as low as No.12 but I figured that was the end of that. Of course, the story didn't end there. In a very rare happening for 2005, it steadily climbed the charts not just to a new peak, but gradually all the way to No.1, where it spent five weeks and became the song of the summer and arguably one of the most overexposed songs in history, leading to James Blunt being rather derided and often parodied. But whatever, this is a great track, and Back To Bedlam was a brilliant album. Sometimes you can't beat a good ballad, and it had a couple of stints at the top for me.

Edited March 20, 20232 yr by gooddelta

2005

 

12/23: Mariah Carey - We Belong Together (2 weeks at No.1)

 

 

Since her last No.1 for me in 2000, the wheels had fallen off Mariah's career rather, with 2001 album Glitter a flop and follow up Charmbracelet not really producing any major hits (a UK top 10 with Through The Rain was the biggest here). A collaboration with Busta Rhymes in 2003, I Know What You Want, was a top three smash but she really came back big in 2005 with the aptly titled The Emancipation of Mimi. The album's first single, the slick groove of It's Like That, was pretty big itself, but the summer classic ballad We Belong Together really put her back in contention, becoming a long-running No.1 and the biggest hit of the year in the US, and reaching No.2 here, narrowly missing out on No.1 to 2Pac and Elton John's Ghetto Gospel. Of course, Mariah's eternal relevance was secured by 1994 hit All I Want For Christmas Is You becoming a big download/streaming staple, but you could certainly argue that the groundwork was laid by this absolutely brilliant track.

All of those are great. Forgot how catchy 'La Tortura' was. 'My Number One' is fab and 'We Belong Together' is one of Mariah's best too. 'You're Beautiful' was played in a montage of Big Brothers 2005 series which is where I think I became aware of it for the first time and bought the CD the next day where it was pouring iirc haha.

We Belong Together is great. It felt massive at the time and completely reignited her career.

All of those are great. Forgot how catchy 'La Tortura' was. 'My Number One' is fab and 'We Belong Together' is one of Mariah's best too. 'You're Beautiful' was played in a montage of Big Brothers 2005 series which is where I think I became aware of it for the first time and bought the CD the next day where it was pouring iirc haha.

 

Oh it really was. Crikey I must have forgotten that Big Brother usage, can't remember if I bought that one. Appropriate for the video with it pouring!

 

We Belong Together is great. It felt massive at the time and completely reignited her career.

 

Agree, such a sublime track.

2005

 

13/23: Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone (1 week at No.1)

 

 

Bubblegum pop had fizzled out and Max Martin needed a new avenue, so he returned to his rock roots as part of this magical pop-rock single from the original American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson. Kelly's winner single, A Moment Like This, was bypassed in the UK and we got Miss Independent as her debut in 2003 (a retooled Christina Aguilera reject), which did well peaking at No.6 here. But after a flop follow-up I wouldn't have been surprised if she never charted here again, however it sometimes only requires one killer single to change the career trajectory for an artist and this absolutely barnstorming anthem was the song Kelly needed.

 

Charting at No.5 in the UK, and No.2 in the US, the anthemic chorus was one of the biggest of the 00s and it's still a classic today, and Kelly deservedly went stratospheric with the fantastic Breakaway album. It also changed the direction of pop a bit, with a lot more pop-rock coming into the charts after this.

2005

 

14/23: Daniel Powter - Bad Day (4 weeks at No.1)

 

 

Along with James Blunt and his rainy video, we were having a bit of a sadboi summer in the UK in 2005, with the other major singer-songwriter hit being Canadian Daniel Powter's breakthrough single Bad Day, which sat behind Blunt in the charts for a few weeks, peaking at No.2 for three weeks, and spending three months in the top 10. I really loved this (as demonstrated by its four weeks at the top of my chart), and remember feeling I related to it a lot at the time. Daniel was a bit of a one-hit wonder here, but had a couple of minor singles that charted elsewhere, and just over a year ago he popped up on a duet with German singer Patricia Kelly (of The Kelly Family), so he is still active, and no doubt made enough money to retire out of this song.

'Since You Been Gone' :wub: not my fave of hers but still a kick ass pop song nonetheless.

 

'Bad Day' is good as well but wasn't a huge lover of it either really. 'Next Plane Home' made my top 10 in 2008 though :lol:

2005

 

15/23: Kelly Clarkson - Behind These Hazel Eyes (1 week at No.1)

 

 

Almost back-to-back No.1s for American national treasure Kelly, the follow up to Since U Been Gone here was Behind These Hazel Eyes, another storming heartbreak anthem from the majestic Breakaway that peaked at No.9 here but helped to sustain the album high in the charts over the high sales periods of Q4. If anything, this was even heavier than Since U Been Gone so showcased that rockier side of the album well, and proved that its predecessor wasn't a one-off.