I will get back to this - just having a break from the whole project as was feeling burned out. :)

Sorry for bumping this three months later but over the past couple of weeks I *finally* caught up with the 8 lots of batches that I fell behind on :lol: I don't want to dump a crazy wall of text in here, but for completeness, these were my favourites from each of those batches and some quick comments:

 

#1 Favourite: Britney Spears - I'm A Slave 4 U (thought this was quite a Janet-esque reinvention and the video is incredibly striking)

 

#2 Favourite: Gorillaz - Rock The House (very funky instrumental indeed... a fun swerve)

 

#3 Favourite: The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You (I probably would've chosen 'Fallin' or 'Rapture' as my top pick a few years ago but this has become such a favourite now)

 

#4 Favourite: The Strokes - Last Nite (but your whole top 3 this week, with Daft Punk and Björk too, was great. I'm glad that 'Pagan Poetry' was a good discovery for you - its parent record Vespertine is my favourite Björk album.)

 

#5 Favourite: Riva - Who Do You Love Now? (Stringer) (feat. Dannii Minogue) (I wouldn't go as far as preferring this to 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' but a tune and Dannii's best)

 

#6 Favourite: Basement Jaxx - Where’s Your Head At (Total banger, love the Gary Numan sample - although Daniel Bedingfield, Belle and Sebastian and PPK from this section are all strong too. The production of 'Everybody' by Hear'Say really reminds me of 'Keep On Movin' by Five, I see that Richard Stannard was involved with both so maybe that’s why)

 

#7 Favourite: Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor (the revival for this last year was very much welcomed <3 'Light a Rainbow' was a good discovery from this group)

 

#8 Favourite: Kosheen - Catch (I like 'Catch' quite a bit but agree that this was not a vintage section on the whole)

 

Thanks for the good work with this last year, Julian!

Thanks Jade! x

 

No problem at all with people adding comments months down the line whenever they get round to it! And I will definitely be coming back to this soon - I just don’t want to do it until I’m ready to give it the energy it needs.

Sorry for the long gap… but we are returning! 🥳

2002 Weeks 1-3:

#1090	15/09/2001	Shimon And Andy C	Body Rock	28	58-74-{28}R(16)-41-59->5
#1091	12/01/2002	Backstreet Boys	Drowning	4	{4}-17-29-45-64-64-72->7
#1092	12/01/2002	Ash	There's A Star	13	{13}-45-71->3
#1093	12/01/2002	Dreamcatcher	I Don't Wanna Lose My Way	14	{14}-26-41-73->4
#1094	12/01/2002	O.P.M.	El Capitan	20	{20}-39-53-59R(4)->4
#1095	12/01/2002	Milk And Sugar/John Paul Young	Love Is In The Air	25	{25}-40-54->3
#1096	12/01/2002	Public Domain	Let Me Clear My Throat/Too Many MC's	34	{34}-58->2
#1097	12/01/2002	Puretone	Addicted To Bass	2	68-{2}-4-8-5-4-8-13-15-21-30-35-41-62-67->15
#1098	19/01/2002	Aaliyah	More Than A Woman	1	{1}-5-12-14-18-26-32-45-56-59-68-63->12
#1099	19/01/2002	Dr Dre Featuring Knoc-Turn'Al	Bad Intentions	4	{4}-10-21-22-24-36-38-50-67-66-67R(99)->11
#1100	19/01/2002	DJ Aligator Project	The Whistle Song (Blow My Whistle Bitch)	5	{5}-7-14-12-14-25-34-46-63-72->10
#1101	19/01/2002	Goldtrix Presents Andrea Brown	It's Love (Trippin')	6	{6}-12-18-17-20-34-40-52-71R(2)->9
#1102	19/01/2002	So Solid Crew Presents Mr Shabz Featuring MDB And	Haters	8	{8}-15-29-34-39-53-75->7
#1103	19/01/2002	Lange Featuring Skye	Drifting Away	9	{9}-14-32-38-41-67->6
#1104	19/01/2002	Jay-Z	Girls, Girls, Girls	11	{11}-23-35-40-43-63-74R(2)->7
#1105	19/01/2002	Mark Picchiotti Presents Basstoy Featuring Dana	Runnin'	13	{13}-28-43-57-74->5
#1106	19/01/2002	Nelly Furtado	On The Radio (Remember The Days)	18	{18}-31-47-58-66-67R(3)->6
#1107	19/01/2002	Mr Pink Presents The Program	Love And Affection	22	{22}-34-55-75->4
#1108	19/01/2002	DJ Garry	Dream Universe	36	{36}-55->2
#1109	19/01/2002	Psychedelic Waltons Featuring Roisin Murphy	Wonderland	37	{37}-56->2
#1110	19/01/2002	Jon Cutler Featuring E-Man	It's Yours	38	{38}-50->2

ooh yay I'll try and keep up with this again

my faves from your 2001 highlights:

1 Rui Da Silva Featuring Cassandra - Touch Me <3

2 Linkin Park - In The End

3 Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

5 Ian Brown - F.E.A.R.

6 System Of A Down - Chop Suey!

8 Dr Dre Featuring Snoop Dogg - The Next Episode

9 Mary J. Blige - Family Affair

11 S Club 7 - Don’t Stop Movin’

12 Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger

13 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor <3

14 Zero 7 - Destiny

20 PPK - ResuRection <3

23 Faithless - We Come 1

24 Daft Punk - Digital Love <3

25 Daniel Bedingfield - Gotta Get Thru This

28 The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist

29 Dido - Here With Me

30 Dirty Vegas - Days Go By

31 The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like You

32 The Ones - Flawless

33 The Strokes - Last Nite

35 Outkast - Ms Jackson

38 Riva Featuring Dannii Minogue - Who Do You Love Now? (Stringer)

39 Atomic Kitten - Whole Again

The playlist:

I am glad this is back.

2002 for me was kind of (in the UK) the year of eurotrance and big Clubland synths, kind of a warm up for 2011-12 really! Dance seemed to be on the music channels a lot at the time!

But at the time I preferred the pop and R&B.

Ooooh looking forward to following this!

It’s incredible how many DJ acts there are getting their only hit here, of which some are better than others. The first new Top 2 of the year was a very close race between “More Than A Woman” and “Addicted To Bass”, separated by around 500 sales at the top. I slightly prefer the latter but love both.

My first time doing this on the new site - hopefully it comes out readable!

9	Puretone	Addicted To Bass	Puretone is an Australian DJ; he features singer Amiel Daemion on a brilliantly infectious throbbing drum and bass track
9	Aaliyah	More Than A Woman	917th #1: the lyrics feel so fitting for a posthumous hit; a straightforward RnB record but somehow very heartwarming
8	Shimon And Andy C	Body Rock	Only hit for these 2 drum and bass DJs originally released last September: it's a unique and captivating instrumental
8	Ash	There's A Star	The 5th single from their very successful "Free All Angels" run, and another really lovely, tender and hopeful ballad
8	Lange Featuring Skye	Drifting Away	The only Top 40 for British DJ Stuart Langelaan and it's a beautifully euphoric dance track with dreamy floating vocals
7	Dr Dre Featuring Knoc-Turn'Al	Bad Intentions	A soundtrack single and the only hit featuring US rapper Knoc-turn-al - not quite classic Dre but great and love the riff
7	So Solid Crew Presents Mr Shabz Featuring MDB And	Haters	Obviously not as distinctive as "21 Seconds" but a strong and catchy garage track giving them a deserved 3rd Top 10
7	DJ Garry	Dream Universe	Only hit for this Dutch club DJ: a really good instrumental dance track and I enjoy the wood block style main theme
6	Goldtrix Presents Andrea Brown	It's Love (Trippin')	This reminds me of Kosheen's "Hide U" but not as good: it's a cover of a Jill Scott track and the only hit for this DJ duo
6	Psychedelic Waltons Featuring Roisin Murphy	Wonderland	Their only hit: I don't know much about the act but it's a nice retro sounding track and Roisin's vocals are always good
6	Dreamcatcher	I Don't Wanna Lose My Way	Their only hit with a similae style trance track to "Drifting Away" with ethereal female vocals, but not quite as strong
5	Public Domain	Let Me Clear My Throat/Too Many MC's	Last of their 3 hits and both sides are fairly good, but they're slightly shouty and not compelling like "Operation Blade…"
5	Jay-Z	Girls, Girls, Girls	I really like the luxurious "ah baby" sample, and it's decent though the "girls girls girls" becomes slightly grating after a time
5	Mark Picchiotti Presents Basstoy Featuring Dana	Runnin'	Only hit for this DJ reworking a track by Basstoy: this isn't a bad dance song that reminds me of "Ride On Time" in style
4	Backstreet Boys	Drowning	Released from "The Hits - Chapter One", there's nothing wrong with this song but it's quite standard and lacks sparkle
4	Mr Pink Presents The Program	Love And Affection	Only hit for this DJ with a remake of Joan Armatrading's "Love And Affection" from 1976, which I'd much rather hear
4	Jon Cutler Featuring E-Man	It's Yours	Both DJs getting their only hit, with spoken bits sampling "It's Yours" by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay from 1984; this is alright
3	DJ Aligator Project	The Whistle Song (Blow My Whistle Bitch)	Only Top 40 for this Iranian-Danish DJ: he reached #57 with it before but this remake was huge, and it's trashy but catchy
3	Nelly Furtado	On The Radio (Remember The Days)	Most of Nelly's early hits have a quirky folk style but this is a very standard pop RnB track without much individuality
2	Milk And Sugar/John Paul Young	Love Is In The Air	Mike Milk and Steven Sugar were a German house duo: this reworking of John Paul Young's 1977 hit feels unnecessary
2	O.P.M.	El Capitan	Their 2nd and last hit about their favourite rum: "Heaven Is A Halfpipe" at least had a certain charm which this lacks

2002 Week 4 (as usual repeat Top 40 hits will be skipped):

	26/01/2002	George Harrison	My Sweet Lord {2002}	1	{1}-4-8-15-30-43-51-65-58-70->10
#1111	26/01/2002	Pink	Get The Party Started	2	{2}-3-2-3-5-8-13-16-20-27-23-36-45-53-70->15
#1112	26/01/2002	Christina Milian	AM To PM	3	{3}-9-9-11-16-19-29-44-52-64-60->11
#1113	26/01/2002	The Chemical Brothers	Star Guitar	8	{8}-23-27-33-49-70-71-67R(2)->8
#1114	26/01/2002	allSTARS*	The Land Of Make Believe	9	{9}-17-19-25-39-52-65-74R(2)->8
#1115	26/01/2002	Mercury Rev	The Dark Is Rising	16	{16}-39-50->3
#1116	26/01/2002	P Diddy Featuring The Neptunes	Diddy	19	{19}-41-55-73->4
#1117	26/01/2002	Wheatus	Wannabe Gangstar/Leroy	22	{22}-48-62-68-69->5
#1118	26/01/2002	Elton John	This Train Don't Stop There Anymore	24	{24}-46-65-75->4
#1119	26/01/2002	Live Element	Be Free	26	{26}-49->2
#1120	26/01/2002	Super Furry Animals	It's Not The End Of The World	30	{30}-67->2

I like the tables although they only come out well on desktop, seems to not work on mobile without having to scroll from left to right

Puretone and Aaliyah make a great top 2, I do slightly prefer Puretone though can't begrudge Aaliyah getting a posthumous #1 hit

Lange and Goldtrix I also like from what I've heard of, would give both an 8 - shame that the better Lange song and the one I chose for inclusion on Buzzjack presents Trance 'Follow Me' never actually made the chart though.

2 minutes ago, danæ said:

I like the tables although they only come out well on desktop, seems to not work on mobile without having to scroll from left to right

On my phone it all comes out on one screen but makes each row of the table many lines tall to fit the comments.

I don’t know how best to get the stuff from my Excel workbook to here? At the moment I’m copying it into a phone note and then copying that into here (if I try and copy straight from Excel it says it’s trying to create a file attachment, and usually thinks for a while and then errors).

Faves from the first two weeks, having already listened to 6 weeks worth via the playlist.. 'Like A Star' the clear fave in week one and I found 'I Don't Wanna Lose My Way' a really lush trance tune. 'Too Many Mc's' is the better of the two PD double A-sides, was a pretty banging listen. 'Drowning is nice enough from BSB, the rest of that weeks are meh to crap especially that OPM track, rubbish follow up to 'Heaven Is A Halfpipe', surprised it got as high as 20 even, sounded like the type of track that'd limp in at 50 something.

'Addicted To Bass', 'More Than A Woman' and Drifting Away' along with Ash the major standouts from the these two weeks combined.

'Dream Universe' is good as is 'Runnin'. Wasn't keen on the Nelly Furtado track after a solid run of good introductory hits. On the other end of the spectrum ''Girls, Girls, Girls' and 'Blow My Whistle' are the worst of week 2 for me.

full rank

Addicted To Bass > More Than A Woman > Like A Star > Drifting Away > I Don't Wanna Lose My Way > Dream Universe > Runnin > Too Many Mc's > Drowning > Let Me Clear My Throat > Love & Affection > Wonderland > Shit On The Radio (Remember The Days) > Bad Intentions > Body Rock > Love Is In The Air > Haters > It's Love (Trippin) > It's Yours > Girls Girls Girls > Blow My Whistle > El Capitan

The Lange track is brilliant, we need some new vocal trance like that back in the charts soon.

The original 2002 trance version of 'I Don't Wanna Lose My Way' (there is a more recent inferior remix that seems to be top of youtube searches for it unfortunately) is another sublime trance track! Early 2002 is so good for dance. DJ Aligator Project isn't great though, sounds like some unpoppy techno tracks that could still make the beatport chart now though!

'Addicted To Bass' is good but maybe a bit overrated.

Away from dance, Aaliyah's 'More Than A Woman' is a very nice track and yeah sad to listen to now knowing what happened.

Edited March 3Mar 3 by TheSnake
Clarification

So good to see this thread back!

I've somehow never noticed the similarity between 'It's Love (Trippin')' and 'Hide U' before but now I totally hear it upon relisten! Just like 'Hide U', I really like 'It's Love (Trippin')' too, although I've never heard the Jill Scott original before. I remember reading that the vocalist Andrea Brown is a cousin of Bobby Brown.

Aaliyah is actually my favourite of this section so close but no cigar! I really enjoy the excitable lyrics, silky smooth vocals and Timbaland working his magic on production with her once more. What an absolute star in the video too... it's tragic that her life was cut so short. 💔

'Addicted to Bass' is still a strong winning track though and would be second for me. Love the thrilling cacophony of dubstep, D&B and jungle sounds in the production. The laidback, distorted vocal style is a cool contrast as well. Oops at the saga of it charting at #68 a week early due to accidental release.

Also Matrix from 2010s dance group Matrix and Futurebound was in Goldtrix, I remember someone on Buzzjack mentioning this before.

'It's Love (Trippin')' is good too - I forgot to comment on it there. Also, on the Buzzjack dance covers thread a few years ago, I discovered a dance cover of Blondie's Call Me in the same style as 'Trippin':

Call On Me

Edited March 3Mar 3 by TheSnake

Pleased to see this thread back Julian, I did a Buzzjack Presents album for 2002 last year so really got to know this year very, very well, as I listened through pretty much every top 40 hit there was and more besides.

I think I largely agree with your ranking, Puretone might edge just ahead of Aaliyah for me but they were certainly the top two here and it's a shame Puretone couldn't grab a week, quite a refreshing sound at the top of the charts. This track reminds me of being in IT classes in Year 10 and checking a pre-forum days chart site called Worldpop to see if it would be No.1 in the midweeks - alas, no.

I didn't buy too many of these at the time, I do remember loving Runnin' by Basstoy and would rank that as an 8 myself.

Bad Intentions is a song I completely forgot about until revisiting 2002 for Buzzjack Presents - really that got to No.4? I just can't recall that at all!

I felt like the Love Is In The Air cover had come out earlier but I think Now Dance just got early access to it in autumn 2001 so I'd heard it so much of my own accord by the time it was released (even if I didn't care for it at all).

I really disliked The Whistle Song, very obnoxious and monotonous dance track, annoying it eventually became a hit here because I'm sure it was penned in for release a couple of years earlier and either did nothing or was pulled.

On The Radio is better than a 2 for me, albeit not a Nelly Furtado classic by any stretch.

I’ve said I’ll limit myself to 3 10s per year which is going to be difficult this year, and here is the first. I came 4th in the latest Bop Idol contest with this: such a beautiful song about love and loss with two alternating sections. And there’s a Chemical Brothers highlight too. Satisfyingly I can give every score from 10 to 1 to this group of 10!

10	Mercury Rev	The Dark Is Rising	I love everything about this: the innocent vocals, the melancholy lyrics and the hopeful futuristic orchestral interlude
9	The Chemical Brothers	Star Guitar	A beautiful track that feels like basking in the warm sunshine, with a vocal interlude that has a gorgeous intimacy to it
8	Pink	Get The Party Started	A striking and clever pop song that felt unlucky not to reach a #1: this was when  it became clear she was really a star
7	Super Furry Animals	It's Not The End Of The World	Another very pretty and dreamy track from them - I love the "wa wa wa" riff and the warm rich orchestral production
6	Christina Milian	AM To PM	1st solo hit after a Ja Rule feature for this US RnB pop singer: the raspy baseline is great and it's quite a punchy chorus
5	Elton John	This Train Don't Stop There Anymore	The second single from "Songs From The West Coast": not his  most exciting song musically but I do really like the lyrics
4	P Diddy Featuring The Neptunes	Diddy	There'll be other Neptunes produced songs coming with this fun percussive beat: the D-I-D-D-Y parts I care for less
3	Wheatus	Wannabe Gangstar/Leroy	Their 3rd and last Top 40: both quirky but slightly irritating songs and have only enjoyed "Teenage Dirtbag" from them
2	Live Element	Be Free	Only hit for this DJ act, sampling Belinda Carlisle's 1991 hit "Live Your Life Me Free"; I don't enjoy the vocal distortion
1	allSTARS*	The Land Of Make Believe	I'm not at all keen on the sickly sweet Bucks Fizz original, and this seems to be attempting to copy it more or less exactly

2002 Week 5:

#1121	02/02/2002	Enrique Iglesias	Hero	1	{1}-1-1-1-2-3-3-8-12-14-17-23-28-29-33-33-40-47-61-73R(263)-63R(170)->21
#1122	02/02/2002	A1	Caught In The Middle	2	{2}-3-7-11-21-28-41-47-52-45-52-74->12
#1123	02/02/2002	Britney Spears	Overprotected	4	5-{4}-9-12-18-26-38-41-50-49-69-72->12
#1124	02/02/2002	Ja Rule Featuring Ashanti	Always On Time	6	{6}-6-6-10-14-18-24-27-32-36-48-59-72->13
	02/02/2002	Flip And Fill Featuring Kelly Llorenna	True Love Never Dies {2002}	7	{7}-7-10-17-24-32-47-57-66-56->10
#1125	02/02/2002	Afroman	Crazy Rap	10	{10}-15-17-27-33-47-68-75->8
#1126	02/02/2002	Kaci	I Think I Love You	10	11-{10}-12-18-23-35-46-49-62-71->10
#1127	02/02/2002	Dirt Devils	The Drill	15	{15}-21-27-42-63-68->6
#1128	02/02/2002	P.O.D.	Alive	19	{19}-23-26-40-56-73->6
#1129	02/02/2002	Garbage	Cherry Lips	22	{22}-30-40-64->4
#1130	02/02/2002	Haven	Say Something	24	{24}-37-46->3
#1131	02/02/2002	Incubus	Wish You Were Here	27	{27}-43-57->3
#1132	02/02/2002	Nas	Got Ur Self A	30	{30}-41-58-70-70R(2)->5
#1133	02/02/2002	E'Voke	Arms Of Loren 2001	31	{31}-44-65->3
#1134	02/02/2002	Sarah McLachlan	Angel	36	{36}-47-62->3
#1135	02/02/2002	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club	Love Burns	37	{37}-68->2
#1136	02/02/2002	Spiller	Cry Baby	40	{40}-69->2

'AM to PM' is a bop, it is one of the closest early 00s R&B got to electronic dance music I think!

Another version of 'Be Free' by Rathbone Place was popular on Radio 1 in 2021!

Edited March 5Mar 5 by TheSnake

1/10 for the song from my all-time top 20 (possibly even from top 10) 😢

I remember all these charts so vividly, I can't believe it's 23 years ago! 😳

'Drifting Away' is a particular highlight, and bloody hell I forgot that 'Whistle Song' thing existed.