Week 45:

Errr what was Tom Jones thinking with that release awful lyrics.

A few lacklustre dance covers there with 'Because The Night', 'Take My Breath Away' and 'Holiday'. I hadn't come across this Mad'House release before but wow they recycled the exact same idea of Madonna + 'You See The Trouble With Me' beat again, I think once was definitely enough. DJ Sammy's 'Heaven' runs rings around them all - a genuinely emotive version.

The chorus of 'What's Your Flava?' is a bit of an earworm for me but overall it's far from Craig's best work.

Something was in the air in 2002 as the only top 75 hits with 'gravy' in the title both came from that year, lol

I gave American Life a go for the decade-by-decade Madonna discography rate on here about 5 years ago and 'Die Another Day' ended up being my favourite song on the album. I'm a sucker for electroclash and applaud her for doing something a bit different from what you'd expect for a Bond theme.

'I Am Mine' was a pretty good discovery from this batch! Pearl Jam had strong chart history book-ends with 'Alive' and this one.

Apologies for zoning out of this for a couple of weeks! Right let’s get the year finished.

Either of these top 2 could easily have been 10s: probably my favourite song from each artist and they both have plenty of other great songs. And that means one of my favourite ever novelty hits has to settle for 3rd, aww!

9	Eminem	Lose Yourself	942nd #1: the tension builds so beautifully throughout the verse and then releases on "lose": simply a marvellous track
9	Robbie Williams	Feel	The piano accompaniment on its own carries a good deal of emotion and Robbie has so much mature presence here
8	Liam Lynch	United States Of Whatever	Just 1:26 and the only hit for this US performer: it's so irreverent; delightfully random lyrically and lacking in structure
8	Bjork	It's In Our Hands	This was a greatest hits album release: as usual she brings us into her little world with hypnotic and sensual production
7	Daniel Bedingfield	If You're Not The One	943rd #1: it is slushy and doesn't come close to his boundary pushing debut, but I think he carries this incredibly well
7	Bruce Springsteen	Lonesome Day	His only Top 40 so far this century: a reflective number that's very charming with a warm orchestral accompaniment
6	Atomic Kitten	The Last Goodbye/Be With You	I don't mind the 1st side which is safe but sweet, but the 2nd is a strong disco track that deserved more prominence
6	Rainbow (DJ George And MC Zippy)	It's A Rainbow	This is like the "Trip To Trumptown" style early '90s hardcore rave meets children's TV theme hits: I actually quite like it
6	The Cheeky Girls	Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)	1st hit for this Romanian duo who appeared on "Popstars: The Rivals": this is a simple but very fun and danceable track
5	Liberty X	Holding On For You	This is quite tame after the raunchy "Just A Little" and Mantronix cover, but it has a sweet sincerity that I rather enjoy
5	Darius	Rushes	This doesn't have the unique charm of "Colourblind" but it's a decent follow up: I enjoy the vocals and backing strings
5	TLC	Girl Talk	Their last hit recorded just a few days before Lisa's death, a well put together RnB track but nowhere near their best
4	Matt Darey And Marcella Woods	U Shine On	Matt's last hit with the same vocalist as the superb "Beautiful": this is in the same style but doesn't hit like that at all
4	Scooter	Posse (I Need You On The Floor)	It's the usual format with a techno track and high pitched sung track: not as strong a melody as "Neesaja" but not bad
3	Alicia Keys	Girlfriend	Another single from her that has a soulful style but lacks a little in melody and isn't so likely to grab anyone's attention
3	Ms Dynamite	Put Him Out	She's back to the man bashing with this 3rd single: again I do quite like the production but not so much the rest of it
3	Celine Dion	Goodbye's (The Saddest Word)	After 2 surprisingly invigorating singles she's back to the old fashioned power ballad style here: she does sing it well
2	Enrique Iglesias	Maybe	He sounds almost desperate on this ballad that's similar in style but inferior to "Hero": I prefer his more Latin material
2	Ronan Keating Featuring Lulu	We've Got Tonight	The original was Bob Seger's only Top 40: this cover is unnecessary and Lulu's rasping the only real point of interest
2	Anastacia	You'll Never Be Alone	She does best with retro style power pop: with this kind of soft ballad her strange vowel sounds and vocal twang grate
1	Nickelback	Never Again	The underperforming 3rd single: a hard hitting track about domestic abuse that's a grim listen and not in a good way

2002 Weeks 51 and 52:

#1640	21/12/2002	Blue Featuring Elton John	Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word	1	{1}-4-4-6-8-16-21-24-27-30-41-45-40-36-49-66-73->17
#1641	21/12/2002	Gareth Gates	What My Heart Wants To Say	5	{5}-15-16-19-35-53-64-58R(3)-49-35-26-48-67->13
#1642	21/12/2002	S Club Juniors	Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride	6	{6}-11-12-16-40-60-75-68R(2)-65-62->10
#1643	21/12/2002	Pink	Family Portrait	11	{11}-16-14-12-20-23-31-44-65->9
#1644	21/12/2002	Ja Rule Featuring Bobby Brown	Thug Lovin'	15	{15}-20-19-21-28-40-46-70->8
#1645	21/12/2002	Holly Valance	Naughty Girl	16	{16}-25-22-22-30-42-50-51-58->9
#1646	21/12/2002	Russell Watson	Nothing Sacred - A Song For Kirsty	17	{17}-22-29-40-56->5
#1647	21/12/2002	Bon Jovi	Misunderstood	21	{21}-42-46-63-73R(6)->5
#1648	21/12/2002	Declan Featuring Young Voices Choir	Tell Me Why	29	{29}-43-44-61->4
#1649	21/12/2002	David Gray	The Other Side	35	{35}-51-62->3
#1650	28/12/2002	Girls Aloud	Sound Of The Underground	1	{1}-1-1-1-3-5-9-15-19-19-22-27-38-42-57-56-71-67-56-71-73->21
#1651	28/12/2002	One True Voice	Sacred Trust/After You're Gone	2	{2}-3-5-9-17-27-31-41-71->9
#1652	28/12/2002	Love Inc {CA}	You're A Superstar	7	{7}-7-7-7-13-14-18-21-26-36-39-45-57->13
#1653	28/12/2002	Avril Lavigne	Sk8er Boi	8	9-9-{8}-11-15-20-27-37-64->9
#1654	28/12/2002	Death In Vegas Featuring Liam Gallagher	Scorpio Rising	14	{14}-21-27-33-55-68-69R(2)-75->8
#1655	28/12/2002	Pascal Featuring Karen Parry	I Think We're Alone Now	23	{23}-25-34-46-67->5
#1656	28/12/2002	The Rolling Stones	Don't Stop	36	{36}-64->2

That's quite alright, it's giving me time to continue catching up (sorry for the spam x) - speaking of which...

Week 46:

Westlife did find a pretty unbreakable formula so far *_* wild that they were already up to 11 #1s in just a few years. I can't say this one is anything to write home about though, so a fair last place. Even their trademark "stools" moment feels more limp than usual.

Claire is a great vocalist, reaffirmed by her recent Masked Singer stint, but I do find that she's doing a bit too much on 'All Out of Love', which is quite off-putting. I didn't really need a 'Beauty and the Beast' cover either, not even one of my faves Ariana could muster up much excitement from me on that front the Darren Hayes song is a bit whiny as well.

Ooft poor Sophie getting a 3! I don't think I would dip that low but do agree that it's the weakest link from a generally great singles run during her first era.

Ouch at BBMak barely scraping the top 40 with a lead single. Admittedly, the whole time their song was on, my mind wandered to thinking about how "out of my heart, into your head" was the opposite phrasing of the bridge in top 30 smash 'So Good' by Bratz Rock Angelz, so probably not the best sign of being compelled by it

'I Love Rock 'N' Roll' was a pretty poor Britney single choice. Again the likes of 'Anticipating' and 'Cinderella' were right there. Having said that, it's still preferable to 'I Love Sausage Rolls'...

Unfortunately 'I'm Gonna Getcha Good' doesn't do a lot for me. Just re-listening now and the instrumental break before the final chorus is very reminiscent of 'That Don't Impress Me Much'. I guess she had crafted such a winning formula that it would've been silly to stray too far.

I knew Dannii as an X Factor judge before coming across any of her music and am still playing catch-up a bit. 'All I Wanna Do' and 'Everything I Wanted' were a revelation on the TOTP '97 repeats and I'm glad she kept up the dance direction into the 2000s, it suits her a lot. Agreed that the hard edged production is really cool here.

That Moby song was new to me and total ear candy with the soulful sample and downtempo beats/strings, good stuff.

Oh 'Work It' is so iconic *.* the backwards effect could've felt so gimmicky but Missy pulls it off with ease. She kills the production with Timbaland as ever and is of course a creative vision with the music video too. Speaking of X Factor earlier, I haven't shaken off the Honey G association with this almost a decade on...

Great to have Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the chart now those gritty guitars are wonderful. Agreed with John that they're still making good music now too.

The riff of 'No One Knows' sounds incredibly familiar but I wouldn't have been able put a name to the song until now, how educational.

I definitely intend to catch up with this fully Julian and have been reading all of it still, very much admiring the score for It’s A Rainbow, Clubland style novelty nonsense of the finest order.

Can’t argue with that top three though plus If You’re Not The One is great too, I love (trying) to sing along with the falsetto.

Just now, gooddelta said:

I definitely intend to catch up with this fully Julian and have been reading all of it still

Well you’ll have plenty of time as I’m travelling back to 1980 next!

Oh nice, I approve of the year jump, a new decade to delve into!

Week 47:

I'm not too keen on 'Freak Me' anyway but that Blazin' Squad thing is a new low, quickly realising I'm not a fan of them in general

I do like a bit of 'Shake Ur Body' but agree that 'Don't Wanna Know' is a diminishing return unfortunately.

The flute is the highlight of 'Happy' indeed. 'Foolish' has a standout instrumental as well, with the piano loop, but had a bit more to it than this one for me on the whole.

I grew up with a brother who spammed Tenacious D so I recognise 'Wonderboy' but didn't realise it was a top 40 hit, oh my!

In the past 'Come Into My World' got a bit left behind for me, as a less punchy fourth single than its predecessors, but I revisited it recently when putting together a Kylie playlist and it finally clicked! The instrumental is so pretty with a hypnotic edge, plus I've come to enjoy Kylie's airy delivery on it and the escapism of the lyrics.

'Objection (Tango)' is an absolute banger from Shakira! Love the mix of tango instrumentation and B-52's-esque surf guitar.

'Stronger' is gorgeous, the girls were still so young but convincingly pulled off a mature ballad. The self-help lyrics still strike a chord and I love the surprisingly left-field elements to the production, like the trip-hop beats and orchestral sounds. I also have a soft spot for 'Angels With Dirty Faces' due to its tie-in with The PowerPuff Girls movie (see: the music video). I recently found this picture of me, aged about 5, in my early 2000s bedroom (that was just about to get a Groovy Chick makeover now I was growing out of the Tweenies years!) proudly displaying my PowerPuff Girls collection:

one of the first things I remember being obsessed with. I think that movie was the second film I ever saw in the cinema after Monsters, Inc.

I'm not as mad about 'Dirrty' as I once was but it's still fun and I applaud Christina for going with her gut despite the inevitable backlash, I remember reading that she found the experience liberating. I'll always have fond memories of the introvert inside me leaving my body for just a few minutes at a house party dancing away to this song!

Oh 'The Scientist' is my favourite Coldplay song and would top this batch for me too, wonderful choice for a 10 I remember reading that Chris was inspired by George Harrison's All Things Must Pass when creating this song so already some fantastic source material. Love the lyrical themes, piano and guitar-driven production and Chris' vocal delivery - particularly the falsetto towards the end. 'The Scientist' is one of a handful of #10 singles that feels a lot bigger than that scrape would suggest. Agreed that the video is a standout in their catalogue too.

Week 48:

Spooky that 'Rhinestone Cowboy (Giddy Up Giddy Up)' was just added to Spotify, as Rich pointed out what an abysmal version haha. I don't think I've heard that pronunciation of 'do-si-do' before. I'm slowly finding out about all of Daz's projects, from Bus Stop to this and have concluded that the Uniting Nations stuff is most enjoyable for me, even if nothing groundbreaking.

I'm generally a fan of Mariah but 'Through The Rain' is a total snoozer, very talent show winner. Agreed that her vocal performance is well paced at least.

I can see why S Club's team would want to recreate 'Don't Stop Movin', a commercial and critical home run for them, but 'Alive' feels so undercooked in comparison.

"Fa shizzle dizzle, it's the big Neptizzle, with the Snoopy D-O-Double Gizzle" - well that peaked with the intro!

I think 'Jenny From the Block' was the first JLo song I came across, good shout as a signature song. The optics do feel a bit laughable, much like 'Love Don't Cost A Thing' being sung in a mansion, but agreed that the instrumental is a highlight, especially those flutes.

Röyksopp a class act as ever 💖 I like the tender lyrics of 'Poor Leno' and their electronic production style is stunning.

As is often the case there’s an end of term feeling with this last group and a rather low average score: fortunately we have an excellent Christmas #1 plus a few other highlights.

9	Girls Aloud	Sound Of The Underground	945th #1: 1st hit for the "Popstars: The Rivals" winning girl group and a wonderfully produced, exceptional pop song
8	Death In Vegas Featuring Liam Gallagher	Scorpio Rising	Last hit for them and I'm very impressed by the variety: this could easily pass for an Oasis track but it's really rousing
7	Love Inc {CA}	You're A Superstar	1st hit for this Canadian group with a re-release of a 1998 single: an uplifting and different sounding pop dance track
7	David Gray	The Other Side	The lead from "A New Day At Midnight": I enjoy this a lot but it is similar to "Sail Away" and the album had stronger
6	The Rolling Stones	Don't Stop	Released with the "Forty Licks" compilation and their 1st hit for a while, this is nothing surprising but a feel good track
6	Bon Jovi	Misunderstood	"I-I-I-I-I": again this is quite a standard Bon Jovi track with big in your face vocals, but I think it has a sweet charm to it
5	Avril Lavigne	Sk8er Boi	I see the genre defining merits of this to a point, but find it musically a little basic and lyrically banal: she'll do better
5	Pink	Family Portrait	Thematically I think this is a strong 4th single and she sells it well, but it's a slightly plodding track that lacks sparkle
4	Holly Valance	Naughty Girl	This has almost sickly sweet production and couldn't be much more different from the gritty "Down Boy": it's alright
4	Ja Rule Featuring Bobby Brown	Thug Lovin'	This interpolates "Knocks Me Off My Feet" by Stevie Wonder: it's fine but as a star collaboration it's very unremarkable
3	One True Voice	Sacred Trust/After You're Gone	The "Popstars" boyband: the 2nd side is a turgid Boys II Men style ballad; "Sacred Trust" is better but both are dated
3	Blue Featuring Elton John	Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word	944th #1: I do like the original song a lot but this doesn't do anything with it other than pass the vocal lines around
3	Russell Watson	Nothing Sacred - A Song For Kirsty	A charity single for a children's hospice: it's his usual slightly turgid slow power ballad style but not an unpleasant listen
2	S Club Juniors	Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride	"Sleigh Ride" is a great song but this version brings nothing new to it; the other side has always been slightly cloying
2	Pascal Featuring Karen Parry	I Think We're Alone Now	Originally a '60s track but the best known Tiffany version has plenty of '80s charm, whereas this is a very cheap version
2	Gareth Gates	What My Heart Wants To Say	Also the album title and I'm not sure if the words not coming is an allusion to his stammer: anyway it's a very dull track
1	Declan Featuring Young Voices Choir	Tell Me Why	Only hit for this child star performed with a world record size choir : I really dislike the "Heal The World" style song

My favourites on this page are the two rated 7/10 in the first batch - 'If You're Not The One' is a mature ballad, and 'Lonesome Day' a great post-9/11 thematic opener to the album The Rising, although the title track (which made #94 the following year) is the album's best and up there with many of Bruce's greatest songs.

Here was my top 10 of the year in full (decade positions in brackets):

1 Idlewild - American English (#15)

2 The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl (#21)

3 Panjabi MC - Mundian To Bach Ke (#43) [entered the Top 75 on import in the last week of 2002]

4 The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize? (#44)

5 U2 - Electrical Storm (#46)

6 Lasgo - Something (#74)

7 Doves - There Goes The Fear (#82)

8 Idlewild - You Held The World In Your Arms (#84)

9 Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising (#87)

10 The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So (#93)

Week 49 + 50:

Quite a sea of averageness in this section as I was listening to the songs from bottom to top of your ranking and didn't really feel much until I got to Darius! My main praise for 'Rushes' is related to the strings too, there's a pleasing burst of them in the chorus. I think part of me always wants to root for him due to his BuzzJack legacy and the way he turned his initial laughing stock image around.

I have a soft spot for 'Holding On For You' as well! The longing chorus gives me a really nostalgic pang each time.

Ooh boys cheeky girls, ooh girls cheeky boys 🧀 this was an absolute staple of school discos! Maybe a bit questionable in retrospect for a song with "touch my bum" in its title but it was just silly, harmless fun really.

Agreed that 'Be With You' is the stronger half of the Atomic Kitten double A-side. That ELO sample was a good choice for them to incorporate.

My dad owned the Gotta Get Thru This album on CD so 'If You're Not The One' really takes me back to car journeys as a kid. I feel like this song isn't really my cup of tea on paper yet there's something quite compelling about it. I particularly like the middle 8 and also the falsetto that rounds off the chorus.

I listened through Björk's whole studio album discography but missed 'It's In Our Hands' due to it being a Greatest Hits tie-in instead :o sounding great, the production feels so rich and textured - I really like the glitchy elements and strings in particular.

'cause this is myyyy united states of whatever *.* one of several eclectic songs to once hold the shortest top 40 hit record!

I have grown to absolutely love 'Feel' now but I used to find it really difficult to process emotionally as a kid. Like you say, the piano playing is really evocative, plus it must have been one of the first songs I ever heard that discussed subjects like mortality and depression so openly. So I think it overwhelmed me for a while. But in time I let it in and think it's one of his finest moments now.

Speaking of evocative piano... 'Lose Yourself' would be my favourite here too wonderful instrumental that extends to the rock bassline too and I enjoy his passionate words of wisdom. I can see why it was so successful and critically acclaimed. I've never seen 8 Mile though!

Sorry for the delay in responding here, I usually need my A to Z on my old apple laptop, as opposed to this Dell laptop which has no spreadsheet facility while I refuse to pay monthly for Excel. It's a moral dilemma...!

I also rate Eminem's Lose Yourself, one of his top 4 tracks I reckon and a 9/10. Robbie could do no wrong for me in the 90's and 00's, and Feel slots into the "another top 10" list, but isn't amongst his very best singles for me - I preferred lesser known stuff like Road To Mandalay. Let Love Be You Energy and I Will Talk And Hollywood Will Listen from that era - but it's a good 8/10 anyway. Liam Lynch I confess I'd forgotten, but it is one I liked and rated 7/10.

It comes as a surprise to me to see I havent charted anything Bjork has done since 2001, so a DNC here, Daniel bedingfield's biggie did chart, and I was never that bovvered by it, pleasant enough, but still grabbed a 7/10. Springsteen has continued to be good in the 21st century, he's never far from my charts, and occasionally sneaks a top 10, but this one DNC. Hey ho! Atomic Kitten usually erred on the cheesy side, but the Be With You side was easily their best single, with the ELO hooks centrestage, Last Train To London lending it pure class and far and away their best record. Love it. ROTW for me, over Eminem.

I'm much too old to have any affection for Rainbow the TV show, I was more into Rainbow the band. Talking of childish cheeze, The Cheeky Girls were worth a 3/10, not my thing. Liberty X's I've forgotten, which doesnt bode well, and indeed it peaked at 50 for me, let's call it 5/10. Darius Rushes', sadly another I wasnt impressed by, 3/10, and TLC having a posthumous hit for Lisa was very sad, I liked it though, 7/10. Scooter edge a 6/10 from me, which for them is pretty good.

Alicia's is a modest 4/10 at best, ditto Ms Dynamite, and Celine DNC. I also prefer Enrique's upbeat stuff, but Maybe is a fairly decent 6/10 or so. Ronan is also flattered by hooking up with Lulu, she brings a 6/10 to the track that might be lucky to chart for me otherwise. The song was always a tad dull. Anastacia just about grabbed a 4/10 from me, but thats being generous, and Nickelback were way too grim for me, DNC.

Sound Of The Underground is a great single, a great debut, and I dont even need to check my A to Z - it's a 9/10 and still sounds fab. Love that twangy guitar. Scorpio Rising is a strong 8/10 from me, Oasis-tastic. Love Inc I didnt know was an oldie, but it's a good track, a strong 7/10. David Gray's single is a slightly weaker 7/10, but not heard it in 23 years.

The Rolling Stones impressed me not at all, and Bon Jovi scraped a 6/10, both below what they can do when they try harder. Avril's sk8er boy is worth a 7/10, it's sort of catchy and I could hum a bit of it so that's a plus. Family Portrait I rather liked, enough to go top 10, but it's more of an 8/10 I guess. It's one I need to revisit. Oddly, Naughty Girl turns out to be my top-rated Holly V track, so it's another 8/10 from me.

Ja Rule: 3/10. One True Voice, I like Bee Gees songs, what can I say, even latter-day Bee Gees songs, so 8/10 for Sacred Trust, but they still lose to Girls Aloud. I will also take the original Elton John Sorry, but the cover is ooh worth a 6/10. The only solo Russell Watson recording that impressed me was his theme tune to Star Trek: Enterprise, that should have been a hit, Diane Warren wrote it. S Club Juniors make Donny Osmond's Puppy Love sound classy in comparison to this 3/10. Gareth Gates: 3/10. T'others DNC.