Similar with Kosheen's 'Hungry', the Tiesto remix hugely improves 'Southern Sun' for me. He seemed to be on a roll this year on improving tracks.

'Love At First Sight' was the song which turned me from an admirer to a super fan, it'll always hold a special place for me.

'Hella Good' is a 10000x improvement on 'Hey Baby', so good.

I think Starchaser is absolutely ace.

The rubbish batch: Light My Fire is head n shoulders ahead of the rest, 9/10 largely because Will Young copied Jose Feliciano's 1968 fabulous version and didn't actually ruin it at all. Orbital's original Chime grabbed a 5/10 from me, but not this time round, Goldenballs for a novelty footie track got a remarkable 5/10 too, and Ozzy also grabbed a modest 5/10 for Dreamer. DJ Otzi was a shite cover of an early 60's goodie, 2/10 and highly irritating, and the rest made zero impression on me at all except for the 1/10 Ant & Dec.

week 25 was an improvement! Southern Son I dont actually remember but it's a 9/10 in my charts (top 5)! Sounds nice n chill-out, maybe I popped into the Trance dancefloor one night after all :) Hella Good was a hella good 7/10 for No Doubt and Elvis' remix a whopping 9/10 and his best "new" song (as a remix) since, ooh, Way Down, just before he died. Hero was a decent power-ballad, 8/10, almost certainly helped by being in Spiderman.

Sophie's Get Over You was a big pop number 2 for me, 9/10 though I didnt get to hear t'other side, and Kylie's a big chart-topping fab fave, 10/10. Layo & Bushwacka's Love Story was an OK 4/10 from me, Moony's Dove did the biz on the pop dancefloor for an 8/10 from , as was Puddle Of Mudd's Blurry, albeit obv not on the pop dancefloor - more likely on rotation on US radio. Badly Drawn Boy was a pleasant 7/10, while Peaches I usually quite like and did so here, 6/10. Scooter, well what can anyone say about taking a former number one fve of mine and turning it into dance cheese? 4/10 and that's for the sampled bits. Aggi and Nelson's remix I liked though, 6/10. The Libertines I never liked and never got, and for once I'm rating a club track much higher than Julian: maybe I liked the familiar vibes, but Starchaser grabbed a 9/10 from me. Ludacris one can generally rely on to be tosh and the rest are DNC's.

Week 24 & 25

'Blurry' is a top notch anthem. Moony and Pafferndorf tracks are enjoyable enough as is 'Everyday'. No Doubt were on top form in 02, 'Hella Good' another good track from them. 'Set It Off' is very repetitive and tacky but is a kinda vibe. 'Jump On Demand' has a good beat and gritty production but the vocals falls a little flat even for that style of track for me.

'A Little Less Conversation' is a tune but not sure I'd regard as an ultimate fave of mine however 'Love At First Sight' is up there for me for Kylie songs, such a feel good pop classic and the fitness themed video is great too. 'Get Over You' another enjoyable release from Sophie with 'Move This Mountain' being solid but not a fave necessarily. Liked 'Hero' and 'Loves Me Not' is ok.

'The Logical Song' is an utter jam imo and I do like the original too. Starchasers also pretty good and the Paul Oakenfold tracks are fine enough. Prefer that Badly Drawn Boy song to the other one from About A Boy personally.

My two favourites from the last batch and indeed all those on the last page scored an average of 3.5 Although it's not my absolute favourite from The Libertines (that comes in 2003), 'What A Waster' is such a blast with the demonically loud guitar yet almost effortless vocals, and Scooter's take on 'The Logical Song' is so off the wall it's fun in its own world.

My 2 top picks here could hardly be more contrasting!

9	Oasis	Stop Crying Your Heart Out	A Noel penned song reminiscent of "Don't Look Back In Anger" in its style and storytelling: a beautifully emotional track
9	Nelly	Hot In Herre	A US #1 and long runner here: Nelly's only masterpiece for me  he uses his style to create something utterly infectious
8	Basement Jaxx	Get Me Off	Disappointing chart showing: it has a marvellous intensity and I love the "undress you" chant with the thumping rhythm
8	Muse	Dead Star/In Your World	Not their best known but a great double A: "Dead Star" has frantic guitar work and "In Your World" a big cathartic melody
7	The Vines	Get Free	A very powerful and raucous 2 minute song with an interesting structure; this is more compelling than "Highly Evolved"
7	Brandy	Full Moon	A really strong and effective piece of RnB here, in a similar individual style to "What About Us" but without the harshness
6	Counting Crows	American Girls	Their 1st Top 40 since their 1994 debut with Sheryl Crow on backing vocals, and nothing incredible but a very sweet song
6	Sum 41	It's What We're All About	Their 4th hit from "Spider Man", and quite different from the others with a catchy rapped chorus that's rather effective
5	Christina Milian	When You Look At Me	Her 2nd #3 hit with a well constructed pop song assisted by a pulsing guitar bassline: nothing that special but does the job
5	Athlete	You Got The Style	Debut hit for this UK band and an enjoyable song with plenty of interesting elements, though the chorus is slightly basic
4	DJ Tiesto Featuring Suzanne Palmer	643 (Love's On Fire)	This originally reached #56 as an instrumental called "Flight 643": I think the added vocals actually make it rather ordinary
3	Mis-Teeq	Roll On/This Is How We Do It	Their 5th straight Top 10: the Montell Jordan cover here isn't very exciting and "Roll On" is quite a bland piece of RnB pop
1	Andy Williams/Denise Van Outen	Can't Take My Eyes Off You	Denise's only hit and not sure how this cover duet came about, but it's not an enjoyable listen and Andy sounds his age

2002 Weeks 27 and 28:

#1368	06/07/2002	The Calling	Wherever You Will Go	3	{3}-6-8-12-16-17-20-27-36-49-71->11
#1369	06/07/2002	Kelly Llorenna	Tell It To My Heart	9	{9}-11-18-20-28-35-49-64->8
#1370	06/07/2002	Wyclef Jean Featuring Claudette Ortiz	Two Wrongs	14	{14}-20-27-37-49-67->6
#1371	06/07/2002	M Factor	Mother	18	{18}-37-57->3
#1372	06/07/2002	Rob Dougan	Clubbed To Death	24	{24}-39-61->3
#1373	06/07/2002	Rik Waller	Something Inside (So Strong)	25	{25}-32-46-75->4
#1374	06/07/2002	Beverley Knight	Gold	27	{27}-40-52-72->4
#1375	06/07/2002	Aurora	The Day It Rained Forever	29	{29}-48-70->3
#1376	13/07/2002	Red Hot Chili Peppers	By The Way	2	{2}-10-16-22-27-32-37-42-52-75->10
#1377	13/07/2002	Jennifer Lopez	I'm Gonna Be Alright	3	{3}-6-9-12-16-25-28-38-51-70->10
#1378	13/07/2002	The Prodigy	Baby's Got A Temper	5	{5}-22-41-56-69-71->6
#1379	13/07/2002	Amy Studt	Just A Little Girl	14	{14}-19-22-37-53-62->6
#1380	13/07/2002	Idlewild	American English	15	{15}-38-52-63-66-63-73->7
#1381	13/07/2002	Baha Men	Move It Like This	16	{16}-21-26-34-43-57-71->7
#1382	13/07/2002	Bill And Ben	Flobbadance	23	{23}-39-48-74->4
#1383	13/07/2002	The Beginerz	Reckless Girl	28	{28}-47-68->3
#1384	13/07/2002	Gary Numan	Rip	29	{29}-68->2
#1385	13/07/2002	Preeya Kalidas	Shakalaka Baby	38	{38}-60->2

The production of 'Get Me Off' is very good it's like electro house a few years ahead of time!

'When You Look At Me' is catchy like Christina Millian's other hits.

Edited April 16Apr 16 by TheSnake

I love that Basement Jaxx track, agreed it deserved better in the charts but I think it was very late in the album campaign.

I think Denise had another hit (top 3) with her and Johnny's version of 'Especially For You', equally dire and not worth noting but alas

Oasis have had a boost from me of late, following Noel in concert and playing both hits compilations I bought years ago but never played. Stop Crying remains very nice, 8/10. Hot In Herre I was less bovvered about 5/10. Basement Jaxx, Get Me Off not as classic as the later chart-topper for me, I'm afraid, DNC, though In Your World is the side I preferred and a pretty good 8/10 for Muse.

The Vines? Yet another 8/10 for Get Free, this week seeming to be all top 20 tracks for me at the time. Their best track I think, I do love me a bit of short, sweet n raucous (see Sex Pistols, Corinne Bailey Rae's New York Transit Queen). Brandy drops her best record too, solo, as Full Moon hits my number 2 and 9/10 rating - and yet I have totally forgotten it. Playing it now out of curiosity..nice video, love a Moon theme, the hot guy she's stalking is easy on the eye too, all very stylish but there's no real hook which explains why I cant recall any of it. Prob'ly a Florida hit, I'm guessing.

Counting Crows grab a 3/10 from me, most likely it got that for Sheryl, Christina Milian's not up to previous biggie standards but a decent 7/10, and sadly Athlete passed me by too. They usually charted for me back then, but not this one. Roll On gives Mis-Teeq a 7/10 and Andy Williams really didnt need Denise van Outen dragging him down on another version of Can't Take My Eyes Off You, the Frankie Valli cover that was a hit in the UK rather than Frankie's. I had the good taste to opt for the B side original version as it got top 10 again following the same in the 90's when Music To watch Girls By was the lead track, and this was the not-played side. 10/10 classic number one, Andy was cool and effortless.

Chad Kroger - Hero is absolutely beautiful considering there is two gritty male vocals performing it. And a really respectable chart run too. That 7-9-11-13-15 really is a treat haha.

Catching up on 2/3 sections right now since I last commented and will get to the latest one soon...

I definitely could've gone my whole life without hearing that remix of 'Hey Baby', wow *_* on the other hand, I can't hate 'We're On The Ball' either, it is too much of an earworm. I only just realised that they use the "can we kick it... yes we can!" line, so that can join the likes of 'Rock DJ' and 'Solar Power' in taking cues from A Tribe Called Quest, very appropriately here too.

I adore The Doors' 'Light My Fire' so that version is unbeatable but also don't mind the Will cover, which seems to generate very mixed opinions.

At the time of typing this I managed to sneak in a listen of 'Goldenballs (Mr Beckham To You)' just before Victoria Beckham's birthday is over, lmao.

I wasn't familiar with 'Frenetic' so gave it a listen on YouTube via someone's vinyl copy and it is sounding great! 'Chime' is of course a classic in any form Harve sent 'Chime/Crime (Live)' to BJSC back in 2019 and managed to sneak a top 10 with it, one of the longest entries ever iirc.

'The Logical Song' doesn't do a lot for me musically but my then 4-year-old brother latched on to it, so does make me smile due to the cute memories. However, fast forward about 10 years later and he had a big Nickelback phase instead, which extended to 'Hero' as well and I wasn't so grateful for that spamming, not a fan unfortunately.

Ooh I remember discovering that Moony song on Radio 1's mammoth One Hit Wonders of the Millennium day! It's not quite as strong as 'Point Of View' but a ray of sunshine nevertheless. Her voice gives me flashes of Geri Halliwell in places, albeit softer.

'Love Story' I have the unpopular opinion of preferring this original to the bigger 'vs. Finally' one. It probably helps that I discovered the OG first... I immediately fell in love with the hypnotic tech house production and Nina Simone sample <3 the Finally version is still good but I don't find it quite as haunting.

'Love At First Sight' is a wonderful Kylie single. It keeps up the disco fever of 'In Your Eyes' but packs an even more euphoric punch, what a soaring chorus.

I'm so glad that you rate 'Move This Mountain' as well - I don't remember hearing it at all in the 2000s (whereas I do know 'Get Over You' well, which is pretty good itself), but it was a revelation for me when there was a listen through of Sophie's Read My Lips album a couple of years ago. That trip-hop sound is right up my street 🤩 with a little added drama.

Just realised that I mentioned Victoria Beckham earlier and now both of her chart battle rivals - Sophie of 'Posh vs. Posher' fame, plus Kylie for the not even close 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' vs. 'Not Such An Innocent Girl' manufactured race - released this week.

I'm not the biggest Elvis fan but that remix of 'A Little Less Conversation' is a banger! Love the big beat facelift. Pretty sure I first discovered it in Shark Tale

'Hella Good' is a song I was only vaguely aware of until as recently as last year. It popped up on an old 2002 chart show I was listening to and I suddenly sat up and took notice! Agreed that the production is fab, love the electroclash and new rave influences there. That bass line actually reminds me of Jamiroquai's 'Deeper Underground' a bit.

Oh 'Ready Steady Go' is an amazing discovery!! 🥰 I hear what you mean with the Chemical Brothers comparison.

Week 20:

I hadn't recalled that H & Claire effectively went head to head with Faye for their first solo releases. Anyway DJ was always going to win the battle against a ballad sung partly in Italian, but I prefer Someone Like You personally, I think it's a nice duet.

All I Want Is You was the one I bought at the time, Bellefire were very hyped so two No.18 hits must have been a bit disappointing for them, but I would say this was a lovely cover with great harmonies.

I struggle a bit to listen to Rock The Boat, and certainly can't watch the music video as that's what Aaliyah went out to film when she died, so extremely sad in the circumstances but obviously a sublime production.

Some good rock in this week - really enjoyed Who Needs Enemies? Not one I remember from the time. And Main Offender is good too.

Ronan moving into boring territory, not for the first time, but If Tomorrow Never Comes being such a success is surely what moved him so into becoming an MOR country ballads covers artist.

I don't really like Follow Da Leader and for a top five hit that was everywhere at the time, it appears to have no legacy at all - 27k Spotify streams is extremely poor.

Week 21:

Some great classics in this week, my favourite personally being In My Eyes. I really loved all of the three 2002 hits from Milk Inc a lot, all were in my top 20 songs of 2002, just great euphoric Belgian dance music - and there was a lot of it about around this time with Lasgo, Minimalistix, Ian Van Dahl, Dee Dee, Milk Inc, Jessy and several others...not sure what was in the water there.

Come Back was my other favourite - a genuinely GREAT, very classy UK Eurovision entry - who'd have thought it. An amazing vocal from Jessica on the night too, and it seemed fitting we would send somebody from Pop Idol, with how much it had dominated the year to that point in the UK. Come Back was performed too early in the draw to contend in Tallinn (she went on 2nd), but did well to finish 3rd, which shows the potential if she'd been up to perform later.

The other Popstars though of course had the most memorable single of the week. I was so impressed with Just A Little, as it felt like Liberty X's career was already done, but clearly they were too good for that to be the case, and this track was absolutely everywhere at the time, and for several years after - just a great, catchy pop song and memorable video.

Another really good song from P!nk from a classic album, I think the lyrics on this one are strong and I listen to it quite a lot.

Make It Good is quite a curious number, it has really quite strong verses and a solid bridge for me but not sure about the limp intro/post-chorus 'when you're weary', it lets it down a lot for me. Still, I was surprised when it only got to No.11 and this was another example of a pop band immediately imploding very soon after scoring one of their biggest hits (911, Saturdays, Eternal), almost as if they had nothing left to achieve so the only way was immediately down. I know A1 had two No.1s in 2000 but for me Caught In The Middle is where it felt like they'd stepped up to a new league, and I was hoping to see them capitalise.

Think I agree on I Feel So Fine, I only vaguely remember the song but that forgettable vocal doesn't work on it very well, I feel a lot more could have been done with that instrumental.

Escape was pretty good, another that was hammered by radio and TV, I'm always surprised just how big Enrique was that era - he was peddling good but hardly exceptional pop and had one of the biggest selling albums and singles of the year, plus a few other big singles.

Week 22:

It's OK is my favourite here - thought that was a very nice, polished and catchy comeback from Atomic Kitten and I loved the glossy, summery video. I find it so interesting how their sound changed after Whole Again was so big, there's no way this mid-tempo strummer would have been a lead single for them in their original guise in 1999. It felt like a different band altogether, with the edges shaved off, but nevertheless, I always enjoyed them and this is a nice slice of Stargate pop that sounds interchangeable with the Blue material around at the time but brings back good memories.

Reason also got to No.1 in my personal chart at the time though, I loved Ian Van Dahl and sure it was diminishing returns with each single, with each slightly less good than the last, but for me it was still top drawer Eurodance in all of their top ten hits.

Spread Your Love is great - actually that unlocks a memory as I often have it in my head but couldn't place who it was by and when it was from, it definitely does sound like a song that could have come from the 70s to 90s.

Without Me is clearly iconic, Eminem's 'comedy' lead singles were always good value and I was in Year 10 at school at the time, so you can only imagine how popular this was with my peers.

Oh Baby is such a nice soulful pop song, and I love the intro that fades in then explodes into the chorus, but yeah, I guess the arrival of Rihanna would have done her career no favours, not that it was going anywhere anyway it seems.

Bop Bop Baby redefines naff lyrically, clearly it's a song in their usual style and it has a nice bridge, but the lyrics do make me cringe. I was definitely shocked when it went in at No.5, as if the wheels had finally fallen off. I don't know what they were doing releasing the same week as Eminem and Atomic Kitten comebacks though as they usually chose their release weeks well, and there were quieter weeks on the horizon they could have waited for. I think I was expecting No.2/3 for it nonetheless, with the memorable video with Vinnie Jones. The problem is that the relative failure of this and then Hey Whatever in 2003 is why they really stayed in their lane after this with the ballads (and mostly covers), they did seem to relatively struggle with uptempos. In fact, they never even released one of their best singles here - When You're Looking Like That - as they were probably too scared at that point to disrupt the ballad status quo. World Of Our Own and Uptown Girl were their only really successful uptempos.

Ms Dynamite had rather an insane amount of hype around her, but she was good and I love the production on It Takes More, it still feels pretty fresh hearing it now.

Had forgotten about that wet cover of Baby, Now That I've Found You. What a world that stuff like this could chart back then, now it would be lucky to get three sales on iTunes.

Take Down The Union Jack...that's the first and last time I'll listen to that, good grief.

Week 23:

Extremely poor week, thank goodness loads of football songs doing well became a thing of the past not long after this. There are some good ones around but certainly not these tracks from DJ Otzi, The England Boys, and Bell and Spurling, and the Dario G one was pointless. Must admit though, I was always quite fond of the Ant & Dec song. I can shamefully perfectly recite that whole middle eight that names all the footballers of the time. It felt like a bit of a novelty to see Ant & Dec getting another hit at the time too as they were well into their presenting career.

I really don't mind Ozzy's Dreamer, it was also huge in Europe, one of the biggest selling hits of the year in Germany.

The Orbital and Ferry Corsten tracks are both really good dance - both very solid picks as favourites on a limp week.

Light My Fire is fine. Will sounds great on it, but the production is pretty bland and I don't think he needed a cover of a famous song out so soon personally (followed by another in that Gareth duet).

Weeks 24 and 25:

I don't think I'd ever heard Ready Steady Go - good track. Spotify says Ashley Walters is on the vocal - of So Solid Crew and more recently Adolescence fame. Southern Sun was always a really lovely track.

Some big favourites in this batch. At the time I bought Dove by Moony - loved her and was so happy this went top ten, the guitar section at the end is great and it's so summery and joyous with the video too.

I also bought Kylie - mainly for the excellent mash-up Can't Get Blue Monday Out Of My Head on the b-side as I already had the Fever album. But either way, the a-side is a Kylie classic and another US hit for her to boot! And I love both sides of Get Over You/Move This Mountain, the latter was always an album highlight but not an obvious hit single so I see why they wrote a new track in Get Over You, which is great - especially the verses/bridge.

The Logical Song was brilliant! I loved its increasing success too, as that 7-5-2 opening run was unusual at the time. I think it worked so well as a Clubland song, with HP Baxxter's musings over the top of the sped up Supertramp sample which felt fresh at the time. And Scooter had been trying to break through here for ages.

Some good rock stuff too - Papa Roach and Jimmy Eat World, and Blurry by Puddle of Mudd was brilliant, so atmospheric in the verses, and a driving and angsty chorus - a nu-metal classic which has a lot of nostalgia for the period for me.

Buy my favourite rock hit here was Hero - another surprising compliment for Chad Kroeger but this is quite a delicate rock ballad in parts, very tenderly sung almost evoking Seal's Kiss From A Rose in parts of the melody. Josey was a good addition too, despite Chad only giving him half of the second verse on his own before he swings back in. LOVED that Spiderman film too, one of my favourites of the year, I need to rewatch that!

Some really solid dance too - Starchaser was around everywhere at the time, in the background of TV shows etc, and is a good track. Love Story is brilliant, I love that bassline so much, and the Elvis track was massively overplayed but worked really well and was everywhere that summer. Was quite cool to have another Elvis No.1 too, the only time in my life that my dad's favourite singer had a contemporary 'new' No.1 hit. Paffendorf were led by the guy who was also Fragma and Bellini under other aliases. Quite a knowingly ridiculous 'sexy' vocal on that really which always made me laugh, but the production is great.

And Hella Good was a brilliant No Doubt track, this was a great era for them, some really strong singles, shame it couldn't quite make the top ten.

I'm still a bit behind...but I will catch up eventually. Have had a fun Good Friday morning reminiscing about 2002 anyway ❤️

A wonderful top few here. “Clubbed To Death” is so fabulous I’d give a 10 if I hadn’t said I’d give 3 per year maximum. “By The Way” is one of the Chilies’ finest singles. And I didn’t know the Gary Numan track at all but it’s quite a ride: I predict @Jade will enjoy it.

9	Rob Dougan	Clubbed To Death	A 1995 instrumental used for "The Matrix": I love the Elgar string sample, the intense build and the chilled latter section
9	Red Hot Chili Peppers	By The Way	A dreamy melodious chorus juxtaposed with frantic stream of consciousness verses: a masterpiece giving them a huge hit
8	Gary Numan	Rip	This is the stuff of nightmares: so dark with the demonic whispering, swirling production and pained chorus, but I love it
8	Idlewild	American English	A more introspective track than the stadium filling "You Held The World…", but it's great and has a lovely sincerity to it
7	The Calling	Wherever You Will Go	Something of a middle of the road classic: musically very simple but the lyrics are lovely and the emotion feels authentic
7	The Prodigy	Baby's Got A Temper	Their 1st hit for 5 years: they're always great and this has their usual musical features, although lyrically I'm not so keen
7	Amy Studt	Just A Little Girl	1st hit for this UK singer songwriter: an interesting song and I like the contrast between the verses and the rockier chorus
6	M Factor	Mother	Another production duo getting their only Top 40 hit: this is a rousing house style record with a nice soulful vocal sample
6	The Beginerz	Reckless Girl	Based on a 1968 soul song by Irene Reid, this is an enjoyable dance track and the only hit in their own right for the DJ duo
5	Preeya Kalidas	Shakalaka Baby	Only solo hit for this UK actress from the film "Bombay Dreams" and an inessential AR Rahman cover, but a catchy song
5	Aurora	The Day It Rained Forever	Their last hit and it's not hard to see why really: like all of them it's pleasant but without anything to make it stand out
4	Jennifer Lopez	I'm Gonna Be Alright	I think the '80s sound of the opening instrumental is my favourite part of this: the song is not bad but quite run of the mill
4	Beverley Knight	Gold	A shame that after the lovely and successful "Shoulda Woulda Coulda" she has gone back to rather nondescript soul pop
3	Kelly Llorenna	Tell It To My Heart	Kelly's biggest solo hit with the 1987 Taylor Dayne track; quite a well chosen cover but she doesn't really do much with it
3	Bill And Ben	Flobbadance	In conjunction with a remake of the '50s "Flower Pot Men" TV series; it's a jolly little theme in the "Bob The Builder" style
2	Baha Men	Move It Like This	Their 3rd and last hit a long time after the hype around them has died down: it's an energetic but quite irritating track
2	Wyclef Jean Featuring Claudette Ortiz	Two Wrongs	For a lead single I'm baffled by how boring this is, though his next chart appearance in 4 years will be more successful
1	Rik Waller	Something Inside (So Strong)	His 2nd and last appearance: a karaoke style cover of the Labour Siffre classic about which there is nothing much to say

2002 Weeks 29 and 30 (leaving out “Your Song” as the OCC count this remake as a re-entry).

#1386	20/07/2002	Gareth Gates	Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)	1	{1}-1-1-2-4-9-11-17-21-26-36-43-52-57-61->15
#1387	20/07/2002	Ashanti	Foolish	4	{4}-5-10-13-19-26-33-39-46-58->10
#1388	20/07/2002	Bryan Adams	Here I Am	5	{5}-10-18-26-33-43-56-73->8
#1389	20/07/2002	Dee Dee	Forever	12	{12}-15-23-30-38-50-73->7
#1390	20/07/2002	Tim Deluxe Featuring Sam Obernik	It Just Won't Do	14	{14}-17-24-31-42-56-72->7
#1391	20/07/2002	Darren Hayes	Strange Relationship	15	{15}-25-35-41-54-55-55-58->8
#1392	20/07/2002	DJ Marky And XRS Featuring Stamina MC	LK (Carolina Carol Bela)	17	{17}-24-32-34-45-63->6
#1393	20/07/2002	Fischerspooner	Emerge	25	{25}-44-64->3
#1394	20/07/2002	Alicia Keys	How Come You Don't Call Me	26	{26}-43-59->3
#1395	20/07/2002	Jamiroquai	Corner Of The Earth	31	{31}-50-70->3
#1396	20/07/2002	DJ Shog	This Is My Sound	40	{40}-55->2
#1397	27/07/2002	Flip And Fill	Shooting Star	3	{3}-8-14-27-34-49-59-68-59-70->10
	27/07/2002	Elton John And Alessandro Safina	Your Song	4	{4}-14-29-44-60-67-69-66-61-73R(16)->10
#1398	27/07/2002	Beyonce	Work It Out	7	{7}-13-18-26-31-40-46-57-74-58R(5)-52->11
#1399	27/07/2002	Pet Shop Boys	I Get Along	18	{18}-45-74->3
#1400	27/07/2002	The Coral	Goodbye	21	{21}-52->2
#1401	27/07/2002	Demi Holborn	I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing	27	{27}-48->2
#1402	27/07/2002	Angie Stone	Wish I Didn't Miss You	30	{30}-44-59-60-75->5
#1403	27/07/2002	Dmac	The World She Knows	33	{33}-61->2
#1404	27/07/2002	System Of A Down	Aerials	34	{34}-55->2
#1405	27/07/2002	My Vitriol	Moodswings/The Gentle Art Of Choking	39	{39}->1

'Tell It To My Heart' I remember from the time, such an OTT version of the song! But I like it!

'Wherever You Will Go' is significantly more MOR than Nickleback and in 2002 I prefer the latter.

Week 26:

Agreed with the top pick - Stop Crying Your Heart Out was a great, very emotive rock ballad, and yet another example of Oasis releasing something softer, more melodic and better as the second single and me wishing it was the lead so it could have been the token No.1 of the campaign.

Hot In Herre was great though, I'm going with a friend (their pick) to see Nelly in concert in June with Eve as support but actually thinking that it will be such a fun night. So many party bangers like this. This is still a song I hear so often.

Full Moon and When You Look At Me were really enjoyable R&B, the latter I'm pretty sure finished right next to or near AM to PM in the end of year chart and had an extremely similar chart run too - quite bizarre that they had completely equal appeal.

I had very little memory of Get Me Off, but it is a really good track upon relistening, will add to my playlist.

No really major opinion on the other indie and rock of this week - Athlete would do the same style better on their next album although the bridge is good, not into Get Free or American Girls, and Sum 41's song I remember the chanty chorus and it's quite fun but not a favourite.

I wasn't keen on that Mis-Teeq single either - weren't both songs presented as a medley in the joint music video, with a couple of minutes of each one? Neither were great anyway. At least they preserved the 'hands up in the ay-er' bit.

I wonder what that Andy and Denise song was all about, or if it was for some sort of purpose. I remember at the time thinking how random it seemed, and it's certainly no better now.

Weeks 27 and 28:

Clubbed To Death is the song I predicted you'd put top of this group Julian, it's definitely a sublime instrumental so certainly is a good choice. I even put it on Buzzjack Presents 2002, it seems such an iconic track despite not ever being a major chart hit. I'm glad it got its time to shine in the top 40 eventually.

It was cool at the time to see RHCP get their biggest ever hit, that album and era was so good, but then so was Californication, so it was quite an artistically fruitful few years for them. I saw them live a couple of years back and this song was so enjoyable live.

Two of the alsorans were my favourites this week though. Kelly Llorenna's storming Eurodance cover of Tell It To My Heart I still love a lot. It was so exciting being such a huge fan of hers at the time seeing her get a solo top ten hit to her name, she'd been trying long enough, and she was also the unofficial face of the Clubland movement that was kicking off around this time. So it was only fair that Kelly and this song opened the first edition. I know it's a cover but I think it works well, Kelly is vocally powerful and her TOTP performance was memorable. A strong live vocal - of course - and starting off singing in a mack that she dropped later. The video quality is awful, but only a couple of years until BBC4 get to the 2002 reruns and we get a better quality version.

And I loved that Aurora song too, quite a lot more than Dreaming. That has lovely synths, beautifully subtle verses and then a really powerful chorus for MOR dance music, so good and one of my favourites of the summer.

Nice to see the beginning of Amy Studt's career here. I definitely prefer her 2003 singles to Just A Little Girl but it was an interesting introductory single indeed, quite unlilke anything else in the charts in 2002. She beat Avril to her schtick by a few months and then was called 'UK Avril' when she released Misfit...

Every time I remember about Shakalaka Baby it makes me smile, that was a very unusual sound for the charts at the time but was so catchy. Preeya later appeared in Eastenders for four years.

This is the version of the J.Lo song that was the UK hit - it uses the same recognisable Club Nouveau sample used in I Got 5 On It by Luniz used and a rap from Nas, which I think majorly helped its UK success. The album version with the 80s-esque intro is a bit of a bland production in comparison imo.

I don't really like Baby's Got A Temper, I thought it was a very poor comeback after so long, it felt a bit like a parody of their earlier stuff to me and I'm not surprised it came and went very quickly. The 2009 return was so much better.

Wherever You Will Go is a great track although I was never overkeen on his very deep vocal, I've heard covers of it that I prefer. The 'run away with my heart' middle eight is fantastic though, with the strings in the background.

The Gary Numan song I can't recall but it's a very strong and compelling production, and he was due a commercial comeback after the success of Freak Like Me, driven by his sample. And Idlewild was good too - I remember hearing that on Now 52, like a lot of these other songs.

A couple of dance hits I'm not too enthused by in Mother and Reckless Girl, and Gold was a very dull single indeed by Beverley Knight - I really hoped she'd capitalise on the success of Shoulda Woulda Coulda but this wasn't it.

Rik Waller's cover is a waste of time - I still think his voice was more pedestrian than media painted it to be at the time, there's not a lot of light and shade to it and he's unpleasantly wailing a bit by the end.

I had pretty much forgotten both the Baha Men and Wyclef Jean songs but remember them upon relistening - another dud from Baha Men, but I don't mind the Wyclef song, it's not strong enough to be a lead single but is a fairly pleasant collab with the City High singer.

I still find it weird that Bill And Ben had a commercial renaissance in the 00s. This theme is definitely not as charming as Bob The Builder, a bit chaotic and annoying really for me.

DJ Shadow and Rob Dougan both making your best of the week, excellent taste!

I really like the album You Can’t Go Home Again is lifted from, you should try it if you don’t already know it.

I may have mentioned this before but Clubbed to Death sort of made the top 5 in the form of the 1997 mix of You Got The Love. I had no idea at the time but when you hear them it’s so obvious it’s the same track at the heart of them.

29 minutes ago, dandy* said:

Clubbed to Death sort of made the top 5 in the form of the 1997 mix of You Got The Love. I had no idea at the time but when you hear them it’s so obvious it’s the same track at the heart of them.

Checked that out… not sure what I make of that version but it’s an interesting blend.

Rob Dougan rang no bells with me, playing it now, but it did indeed go top 30 for me so a 7/10, and if anything it sounds like it deserved better than that. I probably only heard it once or twice. By The Way was my jumping on point for the chili-peppers, they'd mostly left me indifferent bar a couple of tracks, but the career revival and maturity suited them more. I got hold of a copy of the album at the time from a work colleague, I think. 9/10's for a while now moving on to the next singles.

Dark Gazza Numan had been chart absent for me for 16 years so Rip was a return to a decent 7/10. Saw him about 10 years back and he was still major into pounding industrial synth. Idlewild I have no memory of ever especially liking (chartfiles confirm 2 tracks and a total of 4 weeks) and this is a DNC. The Calling was a huge what was once called MOR Rock ballad, but I found it got on my wick quite quickly after it scraped into my top 40 at 40. It still annoys me, but I'll gift it an official 6/10.

The Prodigy were often hit or miss with me. This was a miss. It's depressing how many tracks from the decade I don't remember, having never revisited the music, Amy Studt is another one that I liked: 8/10. No memory of it. Playing it now, it's not bad, a bit Avril in the chorus, but like the verses more. M Factor ditto, another 8/10 I've forgotten, must have had a boogie at the club to it as it had a good 9 weeks on my charts. I would swear I've never heard it before in my life. Let this be a lesson of the effects of ageing brains: music stuff from the first 40 years of your life stays for life, but it gets increasingly difficult to remember stuff after that (at least music-wise) so I'm assuming Memory is full and as new stuff comes in old stuff gets deleted, the more recent first. Something to look forward to, Happy Easter!

Reckless Girl 3/10, Shakalaka 3/10, Aurora a pleasnt 8/10, I'm Gonna Be a J-Lo Alright 6/10, Beverley Knight more Bronze than Gold, 4/10, the Taylor Dayne 10/10 classic transformed into a fairly lowly 3/10, and not even childhood nostalgia for Bill & Ben, Little Weed, and Flobbalot all over the playground (that means hack up and spit) could save Flobbadance DNC. Baha Men add to the low scoring also-rans with a 4/10, Two Wrongs also makes a 4/10, and Rik Waller remained entirely absent from my charts of the time, so one can assume his cover of the Labi Siffre 9/10 classic was a 2/10 or less. Judging by Julian's comment I'm guessing "less".

As I mentioned earlier in this thread when the previous Idlewild song came up, I like 'American English' even more, and it ended up my favourite song of 2002 and probably the decade up to this point - I can't really tell you what it means ('cause you already know), but it sounds like R.E.M. and a few other of my favourite bands in one. 'By The Way' is my other favourite on this page - I had the forthcoming album on heavy rotation for the following year, and although this frenetic title track didn't quite make my top 10 of the year and there are a couple of album tracks I prefer, it was thrilling to see RHCP have a huge hit after enjoying the Californication era so much without it producing any Top 10 singles.

Funny to notice (as at the time) the Nelly and Athlete songs both having a chorus line of "it's getting hot in here"!

1 hour ago, Julian_ said:

Checked that out… not sure what I make of that version but it’s an interesting blend.

I loved it and it’s probably my favourite version of the track, it just took me about 20 years to realise where the production was lifted from