"You're so fit and you know it" is such a quintessentially British opening line to a song lmao

I agree that 'Year 3000' is stronger and deservedly their signature song but I don't think 'You Said No' would be out for me just yet! I like the guitar work and the bridge.

Maybe it's partially nostalgia talking, especially as going to discos was a more relatable subject matter at the time 😅

'You Said No' is a fun track as is the one still to come. Wouldn't be out yet for me either!

I remember they had to change the name from Crash and Burn due to the space shuttle disaster a couple of months before the single release. Either way, it's kind of mid-tier Busted for me, they definitely had worse (Who's David...again), and better. I'd probably put it a couple of places higher but not a great deal.

It was in the chart on the same month as my end of secondary school prom, but despite the way the lyrics potentially suited that situation, I do not recall hearing this song there. One other song still to come ended up being the big anthem of the evening, unfortunately.

19

Daniel Bedingfield - Never Gonna Leave Your Side

Score: 3/10

02/08/2003	Daniel Bedingfield	Never Gonna Leave Your Side	1
Chart run: {1}-4-8-13-18-24-28-40-48-52-52->11

I did really enjoy the run of singles from his debut album, and Ioved that he had 6 releases and reached #1 with all the odd ones. But this has to be my least favourite of the 6. Even the #28 flop “Friday” which followed this was more interesting.

Slushy ballads are not my thing in general, but as I’ve said elsewhere “If You’re Not The One” is up with the very best of them, and is a unique song that only he would have released. This isn’t too bad but I feel like it falls into many of the traps that managed to avoid. The over-sentimentality, the clichéd lyrics, the overuse of falsetto and the lack of anything to really distinguish it from hundreds of other Heart FM worthy songs.

Still, I think he’s an interesting performer and it’s a shame his later material was largely ignored.

That's one song I'd have put below Busted; a crushing bore and clearly released as a response to the success of If You're Not The One (it was a new song on a deluxe edition iirc). For me this didn't deserve to be a No.1 at all, I agree that it completely pales in comparsion to all of the album's other singles. I too always found the chart peaks he achieved amusing during that era, Friday only making No.28 was a shock but I guess the album had sold very well by then.

Thought the Youtube video was an advert when it started, You Said No has that instant-in-ya-face catchy riff. The rest of the song is not quite as good, and Year 3000 is way better but it's OK, pretty decent for a song that doesnt get radio play these days. I was expecting to be not fussed about it. I definitely didn't hear it in clubs of the time!

Bedingfield ballads left me largely unmoved, well-made and punching all the right buttons for those that enjoy slushy ballads (and I am one) but it was just a nothing-much song, and playing it now it's as if I'd never heard it before in my life it's so unmemorable. It sounds very vaguely familiar but nothing more so again I'm guessing not big on Radio 1. Pleasantly forgettable and I'd rather hear the Busted track again.

18

Gareth Gates And The Kumars - Spirit In The Sky

Score: 4/10

22/03/2003	Gareth Gates And The Kumars	Spirit In The Sky
Peak: 1 Chart run: {1}-1-2-2-5-8-13-18-29-42-45-53-59-66-62->15

Gareth’s 1st #1, “Unchained Melody”, is the only song to have been #1 in 4 different versions, and this is one of only a few songs that have been #1 in 3 different versions. Norman Greenbaum’s 1969 version was the original, and Doctor And The Medics covered it in 1986, so it’s neat that this cover was another 17 years on.

It was the lead single from Gareth’s 2nd album “Go Your Own Way”, and the official Comic Relief single for 2003. “The Kumars At No. 42” was a very popular sitcom about a British Indian family which ran from 2001 to 2006, and The Kumars teamed up with Gareth to provide the single’s comedy elements. The result was a huge #1, and its 1st week sale of 273,508 was the highest single week sale of the year. For much of the year it looked like it would be the year end #1, but was ultimately pushed down to 2nd.

I’m not a fan of Gareth’s voice in general which I find a bit thin, but it suits this kind of more upbeat song better. All in all this is a fairly decent cover and the comedy elements aren’t bad. It doesn’t bear very many listens before becoming tedious, but as ‘00s charity records go there were certainly very much worse.

'Never Gonna Leave Your Side' would've been somewhere in my bottom 5 too. It's pretty bland and feels like a bit of a non-#1 following his two more impactful ones.

I must admit that 'Spirit In The Sky' is a guilty pleasure mainly for the added sitar and quips from The Kumars - "is Will Young available?" *.*

Yeah that's fair for Gareth, it's a decent charity cover, not one I seek out to listen to but not horrendous and I agree that the bits by the Kumars are well placed and funny - the 'big sitar solo' was great. Seems we missed a 2020 hit revival of Spirit in The Sky then, the 17 year streak has been broken! We did get a song of the same name charting by Keiino the year before though.

Blimey there some awful number 1s in 2003. Cannot argue with the ones out so far, though not sure the rank would be exactly the same as mine.

Like others, I really like Sneddon’s Don’t Let Go, shame it wasn’t his number 1.

This was always trash as far as I'm concerned, 'Sunshine' was about the only redeemable thing he came out with (and I suppose maybe 'Anyone of Us' but don't tell anybody 🤫)