75 - 27/03/2006 Kanye West feat. Lupe Fiasco - Touch The Sky

Chart Run: 02-02-02-01-06-08-12-15-20-24-25-30-32-37 (14 weeks)

Each of Kanye West's first five singles charted at a higher position than the previous one, briefly broken by Heard Em Say falling short of the top 10 at the end of 2005, before Touch The Sky took him to the top spot for the first time. His Late Registration album was one I had purchased when it came out, but like a lot of rap albums I never really got into it and thought it was overly long and quite boring, but it had a great set of singles on it, with Touch The Sky being the final one of them, a song definitely amongst the most catchy and accessible of Kanye's, with Lupe Fiasco providing a great chorus to it, and after three weeks of being the runner-up made it to the top before a bumper release week which saw new entries in the whole top 5.

It's safe to say my listening to Kanye West has reduced with each passing year, still some great (largely early) songs, but a somewhat odious character I haven't given him much time for a while now. Touch The Sky is fine and still catchy but not a top tier song of his.

2026 Rating: 7/10
Songs kept from #1:

The Kooks - Naive

Naive was the fourth single from The Kooks debut album to chart for me, and entering at #2 it became comfortably their biggest hit, they would chart twice more from their Inside In/Inside Out album but never again. That initial run of singles are still ones which I listen to, I think Naive was definitely overplayed in various settings over a period of a couple of years, but I do think it's great now.

76 - 03/04/2006 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

Chart Run: 01-01-04-03-04-04-04-05-07-16-17-18-24-29-36-40 (16 weeks)

The second of three #1 singles shared with the UK Chart comes in the form of smash hit Crazy by the duo Gnarls Barkley. I was definitely caught up in the hype and absolutely loved the song, how it came from nowhere, set history for being the first song to reach #1 on downloads alone and was the longest running #1 for a good few years! Cee-Lo Green had such a good voice suited to this type of music and worked really well with Danger Mouse's production. I did buy the album at the time and definitely had a period of loving it.

It feels like Gnarls Barkley were very much a thing that was of their time, given how huge Crazy was it didn't feel like I heard it in the years that passed as much as other stuff, and this song aside there have been very few times I've felt compelled to listen to them since. It's still a great song, but I don't love it as much as I did back in '06.

2026 Rating: 8/10

Songs kept from #1:

Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen, Islands - Rough Gem

A pair of absolute bangers here. Franz Ferdinand had a hugely successful debut album campaign, but struggled to follow it with their second album. I do really like You Could Have It So Much Better, but it was a poor choice of singles. Do You Want To (#11) and Walk Away (#15) both towards the bottom of it and neither close to matching the peaks of their previous singles, but the album's best song was still to come. Released as a double A side with L Wells The Fallen was unlucky to arrive on the same week as Crazy, I'd rank it #2 behind Take Me Out in their back catalogue.

It was a big couple of weeks for releases, with the first week being an entirely new top 5, with #3-5 consisting of Belle and Sebastian - The Blues Are Still Blue after getting into their album of that year, a blast from the past with the self-titled single Wigwam by Wigwam, a short lived duo consisting of Blur's Alex James and Betty Boo! The Zutons rounded it off with the lead single from their second album, Why Won't You Give Me Your Love. Other great entries into the top 10 were Death Cab for Cutie - Crooked Teeth, and The Fratellis first ever entry, Creeping Up The Backstairs.

77 - 17/04/2006 The Flaming Lips - The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song

Chart Run: 01-02-06-10-09-11-10-17-18-20-22-28-32-39 (14 weeks)

The Flaming Lips had a big early hit on my chart, featuring on The Golden Path with The Chemical Brothers, and followed it up with another #1 single when they returned. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song became their 6th, final, and highest charting UK hit at #16 (going one place higher than The Golden Path (#17), which had also gone one place higher than Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots - Part 1 (#18)). It was a fun indie bop which I enjoyed a lot for a brief period, and was rare in being a song of theirs I did, their Yoshimi album is good but they're not a band I've got into much. They had three more minor solo hits for me, and one more top 10 in 2017 with Vessels.

The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song isn't something I listen to very often now, but it was a nice enough reminder of it, they're just not a band I've ever got into much.

2026 Rating: 7/10

Songs kept from #1: Infernal - From Paris to Berlin

The big Eurodance hit of the summer gets an unlikely runners-up spot here, surprised myself in checking! It was another all new top 3 with Australian rock band Wolfmother rounding it out with Dimension. Without having checked all the future ones, probably what I'd now consider to be the weakest top 3 of the year.

78 - 24/04/2006 The Raconteurs - Steady, As She Goes

Chart Run: 01-03-05-05-12-16-24-30-37-37 (10 weeks)

A third number one on which Jack White would sing, as he formed a new band The Raconteurs, of which Steady, As She Goes was their first release. As with most White Stripes albums, there was an excellent song on it which they released as a single. I took to it very quickly at the time and it certainly seemed an obvious number one single for me. A couple of much smaller hits followed, which would follow the pattern of Stripes' albums, but Broken Boy Soldier is something I've grown to love nearly as much as this.

Steady, As She Goes isn't something I've listened to as much as it probably merits, as it still sounds absolutely excellent, and up there with anything Jack White has made in his other guises.

2026 Rating: 9/10

A few big notable releases this week of which charted but perhaps less well that I'd have expected or hoped. Arctic Monkeys followed up two number ones with The View From The Afternoon (#6), the other half of The Libertines vocalists (Carl Barat) charted with post-Libertines work with Dirty Pretty Things and Bang Bang You're Dead (#5), but me liking it was short lived and seemed more out of hype than it being genuinely good, and Snow Patrol released a relatively weak lead single to follow so many excellent ones from Final Straw in You're All I Have (#12).

79 - 01/05/2006 Sigur Rós - Hoppípolla

Chart Run: 01-01-02-04-05-11-13-14-14-18-18-22-27-33-33-39 (16 weeks)

Hoppípolla was originally released at the end of 2005, it was a song I was enjoying a lot and was a decent sized hit for me, spending 7 weeks in the bottom half top 10, at some point occupying all five positions within it. Then, in early 2006 it was chosen by the BBC to soundtrack the adverts for new David Attenborough show Planet Earth, which would be one of the channels biggest hits of the year. It gained traction and re-entered the UK chart before getting another official release at the beginning of May where it would re-peak at #24. It was a song I'd grown to love more and took advantage of its re-release to give it the peak it deserved, spending a fortnight at the top and over a month in the top 5. I never really got into Sigur Rós particularly, I've only ever charted one other song of theirs, but this was just always so beautiful with the most wonderful vocal.

Over the years I've continued to enjoy Hoppípolla and have always found it absolutely gorgeous, although it has recently taken on new meaning, as it was the song my partner and I picked to have playing during the birth of our daughter. Well, a gorgeous instrumental version of it, performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. A gorgeous instrumental piece of a song about going back into childhood and 'jumping into puddles' seemed so beautifully appropriate.

2026 Rating: 10/10

In a sign of moving to a time where releases didn't peak on their release date, there were three number one singles which also first charted on this week, one of which was #2 for a fortnight before switching with Hoppípolla. After Snow Patrol the previous week, it was the turn for another big act to come back with something disappointing. Red Hot Chili Peppers had three top 2 singles previously and I adored the By The Way album, but Stadium Arcadium was an awful album and Dani California would reach only #18.

Been a long while since 'Hoppípolla' was on my mind (even when I thought of Sigur Rós last year for a particular reason).

And, uh, I personally enjoyed the singles from RHCP 'Stadium Arcadium' back then.

Edited March 26Mar 26 by AllStarBySmashMouth

80 - 15/05/2006 Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - You Are What You Love

Chart Run: 02-02-01-02-02-04-06-09-09-10-14-19-22-28-31-34-37-35-40-37 (20 weeks)

In the early part of 2006 there were some brilliant acts and albums I discovered from internet forums that realistically I wouldn't have come across otherwise, Stellastarr* and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have already been discussed here with their #1 and #2 singles, and now we come to Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins. I was familiar with Jenny Lewis' band Rilo Kiley's big single Portions for Foxes from 2005, but not to the extent I'd have come across Jenny's solo work and her album with The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat (always feels weird seeing/writing it with spaces!).

First single Rise Up With Fists had made the top 10 in March, and the album was something I listened to a lot from then on that anything else released as a single was likely to chart higher, however the standout from it was the next single and You Are What You Love went all the way to the top, 5 weeks in the top 2 and one of only three 2006 releases to get to 20 weeks on the chart. With its country and folk influences it wasn't something I normally listened to, but this was one of the more poppy accessible songs on it. When BuzzJack was first created from the ashes of CoolClarity I was mainly focussed on its rival site so didn't sign up with usual usernames, changed to the name of the album I was listening to most and kept it.

Rabbit Fur Coat isn't something I listen to very often now, however I do always love it on the rare occasions I do, and You Are What You Love is still great and gives warm feelings of nostalgia.

2026 Rating: 9/10
A position switch with Hoppípolla saw it take the #2 spot in this week. Only a couple of entries this week, with a climb to a top 10 peak for a somewhat underrated generic indie band Boy Kill Boy with Suzie being the most notable thing happening.

Big fan of 'Crazy', it sounded like nothing else in the chart yet was the biggest hit of the year, incredible feat. Love the psychological lyrics, soulful vocals and moody atmosphere of the production. 'Ride A White Horse' also stands out as a highlight since I last commented.

However, 'Hoppípolla' has got to be my favourite of 2006 so far, a total 10/10 for me too such a gorgeous, evocative, cinematic piece of music. That anecdote about your daughter was beautiful to read as well.

81 - 22/05/2006 Primal Scream - Country Girl
Chart Run: 01-01-02-02-04-05-09-10-12-13-18-22-27-26-33 (15 weeks)

In 2006 I was unfamiliar with Primal Scream's work, their bigger hits had largely come in the first half of the 90s and not much of their late 90s/early 00s output was likely to hit the radar of someone going through secondary school. I definitely remember Rocks being played as their biggest and most mainstream hit, but that would have been it and its indie rock sound wasn't that representative of most of their work. County Girl became their first UK top 5 hit - an incredibly rare feat for a band to have their biggest hit two decades after first making the chart, and it was back to their indie sound to take advantage of the 'in' sound of the time. It feels like it was made for my tastes as a 17 year old and I love it, incredibly uplifting and catchy.

I've become far more familiar with Primal Scream's work in the intervening years, but this kind of sound I've become less bothered about and so many other bands do it better, so whilst I still do enjoy listening to them, it's more the Screamadelica album, Kowalski, Kill All Hippies etc. than this.

2026 Rating: 6/10

Country Girl aside, it was a relatively quiet couple of weeks with Jenny Lewis the #2 for both of them, and The Futureheads taking #3 in both weeks with Skip To The End, the first single from their second album, a decent song but not something I go back to much now.

82 - 05/06/2006 Jim Noir - My Patch

Chart Run: 25-21-17-21-11-01-05-10-16-23-30-32-38 (13 weeks)

A rarity of a song which took a while to climb to the top, spending 5 weeks outside the top 10 before jumping to #1. Jim Noir (stage name inspired by Vic Reeves, real name Jim Moir) is the persona of Alan Roberts (I can see why you'd change it), a multi-instrumentalist who plays all parts on the recorded versions of his songs and released his debut album Tower of Love at the end of 2005. He was pure 6music and evening XFM, jangly poppy electronica which had largely catchy, simple yet effective lyrics. His previous single Key of C had spent a couple of weeks in the bottom of the chart earlier in the year, but the charm of the more upbeat My Patch won me over and I ended up completely taken in by its catchiness and would go on to purchase his album, as well as his next one upon release in 2008. My Patch and follow-up Eanie Meany were both small UK chart hits (#65 & #67) so he had a brief limited success.

I've not listened to much of Noir in the last few years, his music was very much of a time, but My Patch still exists on some limited playlists of mine. It was nice to hear it, and have a temptation to listen to some of his other songs again, as I haven't listen to Key of C or Alright in a long time now.

2026 Rating: 7/10

County Girl dropped to #2 during its one week reign at the top, but it was a period for songs climbing to peaks as Gomez, a few years from their late 90s heyday, climbed 13-03 with the excellent indie pop gem Girlshapedlovedrug, whilst The Automatic's monster hit entered at #6 before climbing to #4 the week after. The big worldwide smash of the time Maneater was a top 10 (#08) hit for Nelly Furtado, but the standout release of this week which I've listened to by far the most overall is The Mourners of St. Paul's (#21) for Liam Frost & The Slowdown Family

83 - 12/06/2006 The Fratellis - Henrietta

Chart Run: 01-01-01-05-07-07-11-14-19-23-22-27-33-28-31-38 (16 weeks)

Reaching the end of the first half 2006 with the 15th song to hit the top, a much higher turnover than previous, largely due to the increased amount of music I was aware of, but not with a song that contributed to that turnover, as it spent three weeks at the top. The Fratellis had debuted in the top 10 a couple of months earlier with Creeping Up The Backstairs, and begun to show that the new wave of indie bands that could be successful was not slowing down. Henrietta was their first UK chart entry and was something I loved straight away. I'd go on to adore its parent album, Costello Music, and played it loads. It would go on to produce a further three top 10 hits for me; Chelsea Dagger (#3), Whistle For The Choir (#7) and Baby Fratelli (#10)

I did have a period where I got very bored of The Fratellis, a combination of how massive Chelsea Dagger got and how bored I got of hearing it, plus the immediate drop off in quality in what they next released, but in the last few years I've begun to recognise that Costello Music is a gem of an album, probably helped by their renaissance in the second half of the previous decade. Henrietta is a great song from it, and takes me back to just how much I enjoyed it, and them, back in 6th form.

2026 Rating: 8/10

Songs kept from #1:

Muse - Supermassive Black Hole, Guillemots - Made Up Love Song #43

Muse's return was predictably big but couldn't quite make the top, Supermassive Black Hole is still a song I enjoy but not towards the top of their output, whilst Guillemots were getting more attention and re-released their two main songs. I'd charted Made Up Love Song #43 9 months earlier, but I begun to enjoy them more with later releases and a re-release gave it the position it deserved - I'd absolutely have given it a week over Henrietta now. Other highlights in these three weeks were The Zutons with Valerie (#3), and a third top 10 of the year for Belle and Sebastian with White Collar Boy (#4).

84 - 03/07/2006 The Pipettes - Pull Shapes

Chart Run: 01-01-01-01-02-03-05-07-09-10-13-15-19-20-21-24-29 (17 weeks)

The summer of 2006 there were some brilliant releases, both singles and albums, and The Pipettes appear towards the top of both of these with debut album We Are The Pipettes being released two weeks after Pull Shapes. The band had a couple of earlier UK chart hits in the previous 9 months to this, but hadn't really hit my radar, certainly not enough to chart them anyhow, so Pull Shapes was their debut. The Pipettes were a unique band that didn't really seem to fit anywhere - they were very much part of the indie scene and the likes of 6 Music and XFM would play them, but they weren't like a normal 'band' - three female singers in polka dot dresses who didn't play instruments (all done by their backing band The Casettes), and whose songs were very poppy and could've been massive with a very different audience, I'm convinced that in another world and/or time they could have absolutely smashed it, but wasn't quite to be.

I absolutely adored Pull Shapes, it became one of my favourite ever pop songs, listened to it and them so much and never got bored of it. A couple of years later I entered it in my first BJSC and it remains my joint most successful entry, finishing runner-up. They didn't really last much after this, another album followed in 2010 but there were line-up changes, only one of this trio were still there (who wasn't in the original 2003 lineup - an indie Sugababes!), and both Gwenno and Rose Elinor Dougall of the most known line-up have gone on to release plenty of solo material, the latter most recently as The Weave with partner and Blur member Graham Coxon.

We Are The Pipettes isn't something I listen to often, but always get a huge dose of warm nostalgia when I do, always brings me back to a certain time and full of short, catchy pop songs. Pull Shapes is still the standout and is all kinds of fabulous - still a favourite of this era.

2026 Rating: 10/10

Songs kept from #1: Guillemots - Made Up Love Song #43, Rogue Traders - Voodoo Child, Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces

Guillemots run at #2 ended up being behind two separate songs, Voodoo Child made it a full pop top 2 for Rogue Traders the week after, and Gnarls Barkley followed-up smash hit Crazy with Smiley Faces, good but nowhere near the same quality, and #2 now feels rather generous.

3rd July 2006 was an excellent week for releases. Lily Allen would take the UK topper with Smile (#6), whilst The Pipettes were joined in the top 3 by the indie-dance smash We Are Your Friends by Justice vs Simian (#3), and Jamie T debuted with Sheila (#8). Elsewhere, Razorlight returned with the somewhat disappointing In The Morning (#14), and Paolo Nutini gave us Last Request (#24). Standout releases from the other three weeks here are Plan B's Mama (Loves a Crackhead) (#5), Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars (#3), Ray LaMontagne - Trouble (#6), and the first release of what would be one of my favourite albums of the year and an underrated gem of the era, The Long Blondes - Weekend Without Makeup (#4).

85 - 31/07/2006 Peter, Bjorn & John feat. Victoria Bergsmann - Young Folks

01-01-01-01-01-02-04-08-11-12-13-19-19-31-30-35-36-40 (18 weeks)

Following July being taken up by one song, August was too, as Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn & John had a breakthrough hit with Young Folks. Aided by some additional vocals from Victoria Bergsmann, it was an insanely catchy hit thanks to its use of whistles and easy sing-a-long chorus, and an incredibly popular hit amongst the indie scene at the time, getting an unexpected chart hit in the lower reaches of the UK top 40, and would gain in popularity a year later, getting a re-release and further promotion, with three weeks just inside the top 15 in September and October of 2007. It was a song I loved from first listen, and was overjoyed when it eventually got the recognition and popularity that it deserved. I enjoyed some of its parent album for a while, but just a couple of others that I still ever listen to now. It was a song so perfect for the summer months in which it was released. It ended 2006 as my #3 of of the year, one position ahead of the song it replaced.

I've never stopped loving and listening to Young Folks, a magnificent reminder of how good some (relatively) successful indie music was at the time, and is still a great summer tune that feels like a bit of a cult classic.

2026 Rating: 10/10

Songs kept from #1: The View - Wasted Little DJs, Arctic Monkeys - Leave Before The Lights Come On, The Futureheads - Worry About It Later, Little Man Tate - House Party At Boothy's

Five weeks at the top ahead of five different songs, it reads like a who's who of mid-00s mid-tier indie, The View with their debut hit, they would have a far bigger hit than Wasted Little DJs but it's comfortably their best single for me, an Arctic Monkeys standalone which was nowhere near as hyped or remembered as most of their other material of this era, The Futureheads going one higher than the previous single with Worry About It Later, again not a go-to from them. The best song of these, by far, and one I comfortably listen to more than the other three combined, is House Party At Boothy's - riding the coat-tails of Arctic Monkeys simply by being an indie band from Sheffield, Little Man Tate had five UK top 40 hits from their debut album across 2006 and 2007, the second of which was their tale of a teenage house party at Boothy's house - every lyric superbly summing up the teenagers of their time, set to an incredible riff and some of the time la la la's.

Other highlights of these week include a chart debut for Metric with Monster Hospital (#5), more mid-tier indie in Young Knives - Weekends and Bleak Days (Hot Summer) (#3), a first solo single for Radiohead's Thom Yorke with Harrowdown Hill (#6) and The Fratellis follow-up with their massive smash Chelsea Dagger (#3).

Ah, yes, the song with that whistle!

I forget it was already popular by its own merit having good amount of radio play, before my memories of the song were replaced with that darn advert that felt like it never stopped playing at random on TV.

Edited April 17Apr 17 by AllStarBySmashMouth

Hopipolla and Pull Shapes (especially that one) are my top tunes of the latest batch. The Pipettes track needs a revival!

Lots of great tracks featuring recently - and lots we share! We're definitely into the era where people's tastes were heavily influenced by a core group of us on the site, but the music we all liked has generally held up really well imo. I'll highlight the shared ones when we get to the end of the year but there's nothing I dislike at all.

86 - 04/09/2006 Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'

Chart Run:: 01-02-05-09-09-09-16-21-38 (9 weeks)

And now for the third of three UK number ones of 2006 which also hit the top for me, as Scissor Sisters get a second #1 single. Unlike other acts who'd had huge breakthroughs in recent years, the Sisters didn't disappoint when returning with I Don't Feel Like Dancin' in 2006. If you were a fan of their breakthrough debut it was hard to imagine not being a fan of this, instantly catchy and so obviously them, a real triumph of a song. It was an instant hit for me, though it did begin to grate on me a bit after a while, I think because it was SO massive it did seem to be everywhere.

It's not one of theirs I've listened to much in recent years, however it was really great hearing it again. I think the time elapsed for any overexposure it had has been kind, still a great song and up there with the Scissor Sisters best. I loved watching their Glastonbury set last year,

2026 Rating: 8/10
Nothing held off as Young Folks dropped back a place to #2. The next highest new entry was Starlight at #4 for Muse, a song of theirs I do absolutely adore.

87 - 11/09/2006 Guillemots - Trains To Brazil

Chart Run: 01-02-05-08-07-06-07-16-22-26-33-35-38-39-35-33-33-33-35-39 (20 weeks)

Trains To Brazil charted at #2 in December 2005 for Guillemots but would go a step further when it was officially re-released. They received a lot of plays on the likes of Zane Lowe's show but their releases didn't make the UK chart. As 2006 went on they begun to get a lot more hype around them, their debut album Through The Windowpane was released in July to much critical acclaim and I absolutely loved it, one of a few albums from this summer which I played a lot. As was typical for bands of the time who begun to get more attention, they re-released their best early singles and started to chart higher, both Make Up Love Song #43 and Trains to Brazil giving them UK top 40 hits.

I hadn't stopped loving Trains To Brazil since its initial release, and Through The Windowpane was such a triumph of sound and variety that it was always likely to go one further, with a really drawn out tail to its chart run over Christmas and New Year. As with many bands that broke through in this era, Guillemots had more success (well, higher chart positions anyway) with their second album, single Get Over It being their only UK top 20 and Red being their only top 10 album, but it (and any other later work) didn't stand up to their debut - this wouldn't be their only visit to the top, and there's the 12 minute closing epic Sao Paulo

Through The Windowpane is still an album from this era which I love to listen to from time to time, and Trains To Brazil is such a fun song - definitely the right decision to chart its second release even if I'd made it highly successful before.

2026 Rating: 10/10
Another one week number one where the previous incumbent drops to #2, there's little to mention from elsewhere - the only other entry of note being for another hyped act of the era; Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. with The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager (part 1) (#6)

88 - 18/09/2006 The Aliens - The Happy Song

Chart Run: 01-03-05-05-04-06-19-24-33-37 (10 weeks)

After three long running number one singles over the summer, we move to a third consecutive song to spend just a week at the top now. The Aliens came about in 2005 as a new project for three members and ex-members of cult Scottish indie act The Beta Band, who formed a new project. I definitely remember discovering them (and The Happy Song) on a corner of the internet somewhere, along with another song Only Waiting. The Happy song is well... happy and cheerful, designed to be catchy and it worked well. They'd go on to have three more hits for me over the next couple of years, each one being slightly less successful than the previous.

It's still a good, fun listen, but it's not something I've gone back to loads, certainly not recently. It sound good listening to it again though, a song that certainly brings back a memory.

2026 Rating: 7/10

The other standout release of this week is the beautiful Elusive by Scott Matthews (#3), a song I've gone on to listen to a lot more than The Happy Song.

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' is a radio staple these days, so it never gets a chance to freshen up by its absence, but it was a total earworm at the time, and sounding very much like it could have been a 70's Elton John pop song. Not surprisingly! Reg gets another 21st century number one song. The Scissor Sisters Ta-Dah was great too, there were tracks I now prefer to this one on it.