14. Crazy Frog - Axel F

#1 for 4 weeks W/E 4th June-W/E 25th June

#3 in EOY

I suppose you were all wondering when this was to come, well here it is! A song that is probably rooted in a place and time so far in this list, Crazy Frog was the creation of Swedish actor and playwright Erik Wernquist. The inspiration for this came when Wernquist encountered a recording of a student, Daniel Melmadahl, imitating sound effects produced by a two stroke engine. It was uploaded on a website and eventually caught the attention of TV researchers where it was performed live on air and became a donwloadable MP3 that was shared widely in the early days of the internet and file sharing. Fast forward to the 2003 where Wernquist found this and was inspired to create a creature imitating these sounds using 3D Modelling, dubbing it The Annoying Thing, it was a popular attraction in the pre-YouTube days, and Melmadahl eventually called Wernquist to confirm it was him to receive a credit, and one of the first internet memes was born.

Before the story continues though, it is important to understad something the huge popularity of ringtones at the time though. With the leaps forward in making phones mobile and as we are still pre-smartphone, songs were finding a new home here and sales of ringtones were quite insane, they were higher than CD sales for some songs and were even projected to take them over in the dismal state they got to, and some songs were genuinely making more money through ringtones than CDs. In addition, there was nothing the public loved more than hearing sound effects and novelty rubbish on their phones. I could not count the number of ad breaks at the time where there was ten random sound novelty sound effects or catchphrases, there were many characters such as Sweetie the Chick, Nessie the Dragon and that's where the frog comes in. Market leaders, Jamster spied an opportunity from the internet hype in 2004 and turned the Annoying Thing into Crazy Frog, a change Wernquiest didn't approve of but he'd already sold it off so didn't make any money from it nor was Melmadahl credited as a writer, a classic bit of innocent fun turned capitalist venture.

But with the huge popularity of the ringtone, a song was bound to follow it and it was chosen to be a reworking of Axel F 2003 by the Off-Cast project with the added frog vocals, which was itself a remix of the banging synth instrumental from Harold Faltermeyer which peaked at number 2 in 1985 and served as the theme tune to Beverly Hill Cop. With additional production from the German eurodance group Bass Bumpers and Wolfgang Boss (what a name x) and a ridiculous marketing campaign where it took up multiple commercial breaks on the main channels (the ASA had to put out a statement as they received complaints for the frequency), Crazy Frog's Axel F went on to become a massive summer hit, reaching number 1 in ten other countries and even charting in Japan where it wasn't widely known. They marketed the hell out of this thing, there was merchandise, video games and even a potential animated film and TV Series which were thankfully cancelled, Crazy Frog managed three other hits. a reworking of Popcorn and some Christmas covers of Jingle Bells and Last Christmas and three albums were churned out but only one made the top 5. The character was retired in 2009 as interest faded with the quick descent of the ringtone market. There was a revival attempted in 2020 and even a new single in 2021 possibly trying to bank in on nostalgia, but sadly this frog had hopped on.

So why have I ranked this dated piece of novelty trash so high? Well, several reasons, as you can see I'm quite fond of nostalgia and that does definitely apply here, I do definitely remember this guy popping up here, and at my age, I always found it kinda funny (I don't think I actually had a phone at the time, it may have been this year or the year after I got my first one), but also I'm more OK with novelty songs as I don't think this was ever really intended to be good - it's a song based off a ringtone and while many loved it, it wasn't called the annoying thing for anything and many got wound up by it, it's kinda like Mr Blobby, it's not written with quality in mind so it's hard to judge it as that, but dare I say it, it's not THAT bad? Lazy yes, Dated yes, but arguably works pretty well for what it is, the Frog can do his scat and the instrumental can maintain its epic, danceable features. The first part of 2005 was so barren for any sort of creativity and classic songs that it honestly stands out as at least something different. It's dated, trashy and a product of it's time, but I still can't help but enjoy it so halfway between songs that genuinely work well as songs and the naff and boring stuff feels right.

All About You is one of the best McFly songs - twee and quite sweet.

(I think that's all the uniquely of their time number 1s now so the remaining commentaries shouldn't quite be as long )

Was there some rip-off version of this from Pondlife.

Yes indeed (one addition in my commentary I forgot to include x), there's not a lot of information online but Ring Ding Ding by Pondlife was a track that happened to sample the same Crazy Frog sound as Axel F and have very similar cover art, to me clearly intended to make a quick bit of money off people that couldn't tell the difference. Apparently to avoid legal issues with Jamster (even though they claimed they had the idea first), they recorded the frog sounds themselves, it somehow got a label’s attention and got all the way to number 11 and had an OK chart run! It's still on YouTube, got a bit more of a garage vibe to it.

Oh how I despised Crazy Frog at the time. I can tolerate it now, as it kind of as that nostalgic vibe for me.

I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed anything by Crazy Frog but I guess in some ways there’s more creativity in that than in some of the others here.

I get the impression most of Tony Christie’s stuff is very crony but “Amarillo” is a bop and a perfect choice for a fun charity single.

“All About You” is a big favourite of mine. It’s absolutely beautifully done and has a soulfulness that not many noughties hits have. I think it might have made my Top 5 despite being dragged down a little by the other side.

I can't say I'm a Crazy Frog fan at all, it's quite annoying but there's way more offensive stuff out there and I somehow managed to mostly ignore it.

'All About You' is one of McFly's better songs so a reasonable placing for that.

Cannot forgive the frog for keeping Coldplay off number 1. Bah bah!

Although to this day I cannot listen to the original Axel F without adding some frog.

Amarillo, well I was there when it came out and it charted at about the right position, top 20 jolly singalong number so it came as something of an out of the blue nostalgia-treat when a song that came out when I was 13 was suddenly number one with an amusing video. I was happy for Tony, he'd had a sort of critical revamp with All Seeing I on Walk Like A Panther, so it was nice an old crooner that was British got a late-career comeback, and it remains a huge fun karaoke singalong if it's stuck on in a pub or somewhere. I'd rather hear his murder ballad these days (due to overplay of Amarillo, written by 50's popstar Neil Sedaka when his career was long-dead), but I Did What I Did For Maria isnt as much of a feel-good singalong 😇

All About You is one of McFly's more memorable songs, but I wouldnt say it's one I choose to listen to, and it would be lower down the list, but not as afra as the insipid cover of the Carole King classic. I'm glad that song gave her another number one song though, like Neil Sedaka a Brill Building songwriter and the greatest female pop song writer of the 60's, not even close, including her Brill building female friends. By the time of Youve Got A Friend, ex-hubbie and lyricist Gerry Goffin had departed and she had full control over her own work.

Crazy Frog. I have no cultural fondness for the mobile phone amphibian, as I was annoyed by it all at the time, but family kids were quite into it and it doesnt sound so annoying when you dont hear it all the time. I tried the video on a 6-year old last year as her dad was around 11 when it was big. I think he enjoyed hearing it more than she did 😄

"Amarillo" and Elvis re-issues are my favourite # 1s from 2005.

Also I like World Cup version from 2006 year.

Edited Monday at 12:392 days by Last Dreamer

13. U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own

#1 for 1 week W/E 19th February

#76 in EOY

U2's second single from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb had been around as a song for a while before the album and was initially in draft stage in the All That You Can Leave Behind era's recording inspired as Bono learned his father had terminal cancer with a working title of Tough reflecting Bono's own impression of his father. They spent extensive time rehearsing but couldn't quite make the song work and it was not included on the album. His father died in 2001 and Bono sang a version of it at his funeral. They revisited the song for their next era and finally realised that they were missing that key chorus and it was what gave the song it's new name. It was their second number 1 from the album and marked the first time one of their albums had more than one number 1 (and they very nearly managed 3 with City of Blinding Lights later in the year if it weren't for that pesky Frog). It is to date their final number 1 in the UK and they slowly transitioned to a legacy/album act in the UK in the digital era, though there certainly was an attempt at adapting to the iTunes market in 2014 with...probably not the response they were hoping for xx

This is definitely not a particularly memorable number 1 both in their back catalogue or on its own, it's one of the lowest selling of the year, and it was something I didn't hold on high regard from them despite being a fan, although I will admit it's grown on me quite a bit recently. Quite the opposite to the huge, stadium filling Vertigo, Sometimes... does work as an expression of genuine emotions and not designed to do this artificially. The lyrics are really raw and Bono's slightly understated vocals and tone throughout I think works well in showing his vulnerability and honest emotion, it's at time conflicted reflecting their sometimes distant yet respectful attitufe to them such as 'I don't need to hear you say/That if we weren't so alike/You'd like me a whole lot more'. It's got a similar tone to One, which had that raw yet quiet vocal and powerful lyricism. All that said, I still wouldn't rank it as one of their best, it still doesn't quite have that timeless sound they were so good at and the ultimate moment it builds up to is nice, but doesn't stand up to some of their greatest choruses. It's one I appreciate the sentiment of and is a nice listen, but don't return to it all that often.

12. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right

#1 for 1 week W/E 26th February

#23 in EOY

Jenny from the Block was going for a literal Rebirth on her fourth album, after a successful movie and music breakout from the Latino market in the late 90s/early 00s, J-Lo received some scrutiny due to the breakdown of her public relationship with Ben Affleck and tabloid depiction of her as a diva, not helped by them both starring in box office bomb and widely ridiculed romcom, Gigli. The album was hoped to lead to a new start for her, and though it overall wasn't as successful as her last few in the US and led to brief career blip in the years that followed, the lead single was very successful. Get Right was a move to a more R&B, funk influenced sound and contains heavy use of the horn and saxophone riff from Maceo and the Macks' Soul Power The song itself managed number 1 in the UK with far healthier sales than had been before and gave us some much needed new music, and also #12 in the US, with it's video getting heavy airplay on MTV at the time. After a slight career decline in the later part of the 2000s, helped by a stint on American Idol, she would go on to have a revival by getting a third UK number 1 in 2011 and some successful acclaimed film roles later in the decade.

The tale behind the scenes that led to this song's conception is interesting though - It was produced by Rich Harrison (fresh off Crazy in Love's fame) and was conceived in collaboration with Usher for his Confessions album originally called Ride, he wasn't satisfied with it and it was left off the final tracklist, Harrison decided to rework it and give it to J-Lo, but without Usher's consent which led to a bit of resentment on his part when it became a hit. Usher's version is on YouTube and did sometimes get played at the same time by DJs. There's another player here though - while he was with Usher, Harrison was already working with another up and comer called Amerie and a song of his, 1 Thing, was favoured for her, but the label wouldn't allow her to release it, keeping it in mind for J-Lo who had expressed interest. Not taking no for an answer, Harrison and Amerie leaked it to radio in late 2004 where response was positive and though the label tried to suppress it, they weren't successful and Harrison instead compromised with giving J-Lo's Usher's Ride which became Get Right. I suppose J-Lo didn't do too badly out of it here as it outsold it in the year (not sure if that's still the case, though 1 Thing was bigger in the States and critically)

So I've always liked this song but knowing that story does give me a whole new perception, I'm not sure how I missed it before reading some commentaries on it but WOW, this does sound like a second rate 1 Thing doesn't it? I mean, it's not like it's a blatant rip-off, it's the same producer, but he really wasn't giving this the same attention 1 Thing got and it shows. I mean, I won't compare them for the whole review as that seems harsh - I still like Get Right, I've always been quite fond of it even if it isn't up with J-Lo's best work. The main issue really is her voice is just not very strong and can't really add a lot that the horns don't already, and yeah the track does lean a bit too much on the horns that could make someone already irritated positively explode, though I've always thought the sample works well. It's still a lot of fun though, the beats work great and J-Lo is at least good at steering the song into that danceable chorus which is what the track is aiming for. I think wit a different singer it could've really been a modern classic, but as it stands, it's still enjoyable, but more of an of the time thing than one that transcends that.

Axel F is a really good choice of song to cover though, instrumental for the frog bits to go over, good exciting build (and very much sped up from the chill 80s synthy vibes of the original), I think it fits in adjacent to the very fun German eurodance & techno of the early 00s in that way, even if it is very silly. Which is to say despite the prevalence of the annoying thing on it, it's a decent song. Agreed on the placing.

If you gave me a random U2 song I would probably not be a fan of it, and that one is one I barely even remember if I've heard it before - very odd song to have been a #1 that fits with it being a low-selling one (though of course I wouldn't dare to suggest that a #1 being low-selling means they're undeserving). I guess I miss the time where a B-tier in recognition alt song could be #1 for even a week and then slip out of memory.

I must have confused 'Get Right' with '1 Thing' at least one time in my life.

That's a decent one if unspectacular and again one of the ones from the early part of the year that have stuck with me less.

3 minutes ago, Iz 🌟 said:

Axel F is a really good choice of song to cover though, instrumental for the frog bits to go over, good exciting build (and very much sped up from the chill 80s synthy vibes of the original), I think it fits in adjacent to the very fun German eurodance & techno of the early 00s in that way, even if it is very silly. Which is to say despite the prevalence of the annoying thing on it, it's a decent song. Agreed on the placing.

Clock already did a hit Eurodance version of Axel F 10 years before (made #7 in 1995)

Clock - Axel F. (1995) Official Music Video

I was a big fan of Get Right back in 2005. I still enjoy it now but not as much.

I hated 'Get Right' at the time, I'm a bit softer towards it now though.

That U2 song was number one on my 18th birthday. I really like it, perhaps their last truly great single for me.

Sometimes is a sad song, and I appreciate the sentiment, but I've always found it a tough listen. Even more so now.

J-Lo gets on my nerves right off, I hate videos that try to show off acting skills instead of just playing the bloody song. Thriller excepted, as that is a mini-movie. This isn't Thriller. It's a dance riff of 1 Thing that disappoints when it's not 1 Thing, a pleasant forgettable groove. I wouldnt turn it off if it got played on radio (I've never heard it played on radio since) but I'd def choose other J Lo tracks if I was picking a playlist. Get Right peaked at 49 in my personal charts and that sounds about right.....