Posted October 21Oct 21 Twenty years ago today, we saw the arrival of YouTube and Reddit (and don't we still just love them), Angela Merkel, Pope Benedict XVI, the dwarf planet Eris, Guitar Hero, the Xbox 360 and Live 8. It was also the tragic year of Hurricane Katrina, the 7/7 bombings and the Kashmir earthquake, but let us not dwell on that and turn to the music of that year.2005 in many ways was an important year for me personally in my following of music, while I didn't discover the charts until a year later, it was the first year I felt properly aware of the mainstream music around me, at 12 and equipped with my personal CD player (that would soon be replaced a year later with an iPod) I was purchasing/gifted Now albums regularly so was attuned to the hits around me and I started to develop some favourites (notably Coldplay, who would go on to be my favourite band whose X&Y still stands as the first album I really loved, even if I wouldn't rank it particularly high within their discography these days).2005 was also quite a significant year, if not one of the most significant in chart history. Not the least as digital music was beginning to take off before it would finally be allowed in the charts a year later, and despite my age, even at the time I remember how novel and great possessing a digital download of the song felt, and it wasn't long before it became a daily habit. The 1000th number 1 happening this year almost signalled the end of an era, where many of the quirks that had existed for decades gradually started to be reinvented for the new digital era and many of the key trends of the 2000s and beyond started to occur - virality, social media campaigns proving viable alternatives, the classic rock sounds being reinvented by the next generation, the changing stance of boy/girlbands, revival of older songs becoming more commonplace, the domination of singing contests and a gradual end to the kitsch and strange novelty songs that would occasionally flood the charts, many of which I think can be traced back to this year. It was a gateway year in many cases.But personally, it's also a year I have many favourites from so I'm very pleased to be ranking it. I will say the quality of chart toppers varies, it doesn't generally get to the really good stuff until well over halfway through the rank, but they all hold some kind of memory to me so I have a soft spot for even the most naff. My inspiration will be the Popular project on FreakyTrigger, which while slow going, writes about every number 1 in the kind of dry, analytical way I love, I will possibly feebly attempt to write as well as Tom Ewing does throughout xTL:DR: I'm ranking and writing about the 2005 number 1s, starting soon x
October 21Oct 21 10 minutes ago, Chez Wombat said: My inspiration will be the Popular project on FreakyTrigger, which while slow going, writes about every number 1 in the kind of dry, analytical way I love, I will possibly feebly attempt to write as well as Tom Ewing does throughout xTheir music taste is very bad,
October 21Oct 21 Really looking forward to this. Wasn’t 2005 the year of the Elvis re-releases? If so I’m guessing there’ll be a few of those featuring throughout.
October 21Oct 21 Oh I have a lot of opinions on the 2005 #1s, so been looking forward to this. As with you, it's one of the first years where I was really aware of multiple songs from popular music around me so in a big way it still feels like 'the start' of my musical journey for me.
October 21Oct 21 2005 started very badly, with poor quality and low sales for the first few months culminating in a load of Elvis No.1s but thankfully picked up and from spring onwards was largely great with some real classics in the second half. Will look forward to this countdown and the write-ups.
October 21Oct 21 This should be interesting to follow. I wonder what Chez might put for his fave this year...
October 22Oct 22 Author OK, we have 29 number 1s to go through (including last year's runner on as I guess we're sticking with this x), and yes I will be including the Elvis reissues and ranking alongside, as tough as that is to do, they have a story in themselves to tell xI will say there's not a lot between some of these, but there's one very obvious last placer so let's get to that!-x-29 Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds#1 for 1 week, W/E 8th January#127 for 2005What would become quite a force in the UK certainly started with a whimper. Steve Brookstein was the first winner of the X Factor and his cover of the Phil Collins classic, Against All Odds, was his famed coronation release. Much like previous reality show winners like Michelle McManus and Will Young, the release topped the charts, though with pretty strong first week sales of over 127,000, but was unfortunate to run into Band Aid 20, so it only climbed there the following week, albeit almost 100,000 sales down on the debut week, it remained the lowest selling winners single from X Factor until 2015. Something that would be reflective of what would come next...Steve was always on course to win the X Factor, receiving the most public votes every week and winning comfortably against G4 (fun fact: Their winning single would've been Radiohead's Creep, I'm scared to think of how that sounded x), his mangling of his winning performance earned a strange faux outburst from judge, Sharon Osbourne, which was a teaser of the many dramas the show would go through. That many votes sadly didn't translate into long term potential, following one album of covers, Steve was dropped by Syco just eight months after being signed, beginning a still ongoing vitriol towards Cowell, complaining his creative freedoms were restricted and criticising the show as fixed to this day, even writing a book about it. Performing on Ferries was sadly the highs of his ongoing music career, though he remains active on Twitter, with strong views on football, the Israel-Palestine conflict and Jeremy Corbyn, including some retweets from David Icke and Tucker Carlson, well then xxIt's conflicting for me really as it's hard to disagree with some of his points about the X Factor, yet based on this, you can hardly blame Cowell for dropping him as it is utter bottom of the barrel, pub singer garbage. I do enjoy the original, MOR staple it may be and whatever you think if it, it's hard to deny the emotion and soul Collins puts into it. There is just none of that here, it struggles to reach karaoke standard, his vocals are so weak and overpowered by the backing track, and they don't even get the climax right in the video with the 'Steve!' moment which makes the dramatic high point of the song feel feeble, it's like he can't wait to finish singing it. Disowned by him, Cowell and not even uploaded officially to YouTube or on Spotify, it's tough to find a single redeeming thing anyone has to say about this, even Westlife and Mariah put some effort in. He may well have been a restricted genius, but there's certainly zero evidence of that here.
October 22Oct 22 Author 28 Nelly feat. Tim McGraw - Over and Over#1 for 1 week W/E 5th March#25 in EOYNelly's third number 1 in the UK was an unlikely crossover that nowadays would not be seen as so unlikely as Country and Hip Hop have since become more coordinated, at the time though, this was quite a novelty that paid off for him. The second single from his fourth album, Suit (not be confused with his third album, Sweat, which was also released at the time) was also his second number 1 in a short time following My Place/Flap Ya Wings. Country music charting in the UK has historically been a lot rarer than across the pond, and sure enough, Tim Mcgraw had not a trace of a hit in the UK despite being very much a big deal in the US. It is quite surprising then that this managed to cross over so well, doing ever better here than in the States where it was #3, I'm guessing the low sales and lack of big releases at the time helped. This would be the peak of Nelly's success in the UK but he would have the odd hit/feature over the next decade, Tim Mcgraw unsurprisingly never had another hit (except a #63 collaboration with Gwyneth Paltrow, who knows what that was about x)One thing I cannot stand in a song is if it bores me, that's even worse than hatred, because I at least feel something there. I feel nothing when listening to Over and Over. It's slow, there's no real switch-ups or interesting places the music goes, it just drones on and on (I suppose it's the point, but that doesn't make it interesting) with little sense of feeling or even interest, just paint-by-numbers R'n'B slow jam, and it's rather disappointing as a hip hop-country crossover should not be this boring, I wasn't a fan of the Tim Mcgraw album I listened to for my lockdown album bucket list, but he was at least capable of adding a bit power or emotion to songs, but instead he's barely there, and just blends in to the dull vocals and beat. I can't say I remember or have any fond memories associated with it, so all I have towards it as apathy, which I can't in good conscience rank any higher.
October 22Oct 22 I've just looked at the list for 2005 and it is very mixed. Some absolute dross in there (doesn't help that I really don't like Elvis) but there are also 9 songs that I do really like so I'm hoping they will be your top 9!
October 22Oct 22 I didn't watch that first series of X Factor, so that was an educational read about the ins and outs of it. I was intrigued about the G4 version of 'Creep' and not only is there a studio version on Spotify, but also an updated version from last year where they've mashed it up with Olivia Rodrigo's 'vampire' a Halloween playlist essential xAnyway, a totally unremarkable version of 'Against All Odds' so can't grumble about that at the bottom
October 22Oct 22 100% agree with Against All Odds in last place. I really like the original and even the Mariah and Westlife version has some redeeming parts to it. This one has zero,Over and Over is one I have a bit of soft spot for. I’d actually have it close to my top 10, pro not in it, but just outside. Yes it goes nowhere, but there’s just something about it for me.
October 22Oct 22 I haven’t re-checked the list but from memory there isn’t anything like as much really embarrassing stuff as in 2005. Last place is certainly fair.I would have had Nelly higher - it’s definitely not a favourite but I like the way the chorus gently repeats the “over and over” like when you have a thought stuck in your head. I prefer it to “My Place” and “Dilemma” actually, though only in a 6/10 sort of way.
October 22Oct 22 I like Over and Over. Not love, but it's nice for me, quite a big radio staple at the time and an early version of a rap artist dabbling in a country crossover which is interesting looking back.Agree with last place, bad cover by an artist I have no time for.
October 23Oct 23 I didn't mind Over and Over at the time, but I can't say I've really heard it for the last 20 years and wouldn't have a desire to listen to it. Probably rank a few places higher for me on the basis of it being too dull and inoffensive
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