it's my turn to contribute to this series now and what a year I've got. 2006 particularly stands out for being out with the old, in with the new. This year saw the end of two long-running British music staples. In February, the final regular issue of Smash Hits magazine was published, after nearly 30 years on the shelves. This blow was followed by another one that July, this time on the television, as it was also time to wave goodbye to regular episodes of Top of the Pops, an even lengthier phenomenon of over 40 years. Consumption habits were clearly changing.

Apple had found their place in the legal music download market in a time when shady file sharing was posing a threat to the music industry. Their iPods were all the rage and iTunes was the dominant platform to purchase music files on. The transition from physical CDs to downloads was really making its mark on the singles chart in 2006. For instance, 'Crazy' by Gnarls Barkley became the first song to top the chart on downloads alone. That is one of 24 #1 hits that I will be ranking in this thread.

On a personal level, I spent most of 2006 as an 8-year-old in year 4 at school. I turned 9 that August and started year 5 the following month, the penultimate year of primary school. So I was very young, but already into the Now! That's What I Call Music series and absorbing pop culture around me; I'm sure this year will bring back many memories. I've just opened up my certificates folder to get into the headspace of my 2006 self and apparently that year I was achieving certificates/badges/belts in gymnastics, karate and swimming, while also "working hard at practicing her recorder" - simpler times x

Back to the music... obviously every year comes with both the good and the bad, there's some dross to weed out here for sure, but on the whole I think I have a pretty strong top 10. Something was in the water that year. I look forward to stepping back in time with you all soon and sharing my thoughts on these chart-toppers. Feel free to let me know what you think too. 💖

Also don’t forget 2006 saw the birth of Buzzjack so it’s special because of that!

Looking forward to this, 2006 was my favourite 00s year by far - I was having so much fun in the second year of uni (before getting bogged down with dissertations) and the soundtrack was so good. So many artists were on the top of their game and some great comebacks and reunions. Lots of genres were firing on all cylinders. It was the first 00s year since 2000 where my personal tastes were really in line with the charts, after I didn't really enjoy a lot of chart music in 2004 and 2005. The summer in particular was glorious but I'll comment more on specific tracks as they come up. Agreed that it was a pivotal year in terms of things ending and beginning.

Looking forward to this. I was 13 years old in 2006 and was really into my music by then.

Oh yes, of course, much love to the inaugural year of BuzzJack as well *.* took me another 5 years to find this place but very glad I did. ❤️

I’ve been reading everyone else’s reviews in the past week but missed them all whilst they were ongoing, so I hope to keep up with this one!

2006 was my last year of high school and the year I turned 18, so it holds some very special memories for me.

I’m really looking forward to this.

Looking forward to this. One of my fave years for music and when I got back into chart following properly.

24 Westlife - The Rose

Kept off #1: U2 & Green Day - The Saints Are Coming

'The Rose' was originally composed by American singer-songwriter Amanda McBroom. She was under pressure to land a record deal so her manager offered the advice to write some "Bob Seger-type tunes" to help her get there. She... rose to the occasion and delivered this song in 45 minutes. 'The Rose' is structurally unusual as it is just one verse repeated three times. But McBroom felt there was nothing more to add and thought its message of hope would still land. The definitive version of this song was recorded by Bette Midler. She waded through 30 different song possibilities to tackle for the soundtrack of a 1979 film also called The Rose and narrowed down that selection to 7 songs. The rest was history and her version reached #3 in the U.S. although did not dent the U.K. chart. The latter fact surprised me, so I had a look on Discogs to see if it just wasn't released here, but it does have a 7" vinyl listed on there from 1980. Midler would also win a Grammy Award for 'The Rose', scooping the title of Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, ahead of other vocal titans such as Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer.

Other acts would record a version of 'The Rose' over the years, including Conway Twitty and The Dubliners, but it was of course chart-topping machines Westlife who would finally land this song in the U.K. top 40. It was chosen as the first - and only - single from their seventh studio album, The Love Album. This was a staggering 14th #1 hit for Westlife and their final chart topper to date so this will be their last appearance in one of these 2000s countdowns. 'The Rose' blocked U2 and Green Day team-up 'The Saints Are Coming' from the top, which has the bizarre accolade of being Green Day's highest charting song in the U.K., despite having far more memorable and era-defining singles in their catalogue. So, although they do have some great material, I'm not particularly gutted that Westlife blocked this specific song.

Truth be told, I'm not crazy about 'The Rose' despite Midler's lauded vocal performance, so was never going to be too excited about a cover version. I can appreciate the way it touches people, such as being a funeral song, but it's a bit too MOR for my tastes. The Westlife version does not leave any emotional impact on me whatsoever. It feels like a hollow, by-the-numbers cover that still had a place in that Q4 market but was not something that appealed to me at the time and certainly doesn't now. The accompanying wedding music video, with many close-up faux emotive expressions, also feels cliché, although to add a positive, I do think it was pretty cool of them to make it interactive. For instance, fans could submit their names to be digitally added on to a wedding invitation. I think it's safe to assume they had a pretty rabid fanbase 14 #1s on, so I'm sure they appreciated that touch. But they're generally not my bag and this was an uninspired end to their run at the top.

Ooh I remember that digital name adding thing, I did it at the time as was taking the piss adding ridiculous names to it.

I agree with everything you said about the song, and it would be clear last for me too. They'd got to the point in the mid to late 00s of pushing one or two singles per album, with a November release and a cash-in album, always leading with a cover. Bah. And where I didn't mind You Raise Me Up, this one is rubbish.

Interested to see how this shakes out, there's some real timeless classics on this list, and a few completely forgettable ones like 'The Rose'. Unlike with 2005, where I really started becoming aware partway through the year, I remember the majority of the #1s from the time as being pretty inescapable, and I'm not sure how this goes beyond the bottom lot, nor how I'd rank them yet.

I'll never saying no to seeing a Westlife song at the bottom of the ranking anyway, and this is one of their most painfully boring efforts.

The Saints Are Coming would have been a far better #1 for at least being a little bit of an oddity I suppose, even if both bands (and particularly Green Day) have far better.

Dull dull dull. 100% agree on this being last.

I expect an rap collaboration #1 to appear very soon as now in recent years, that video and song is very tasteless and all kinds of wrong involving an certain rapper,given what we know now.

Rock Steady by All Saints was released (physically) the same week too and I had expected that to at least get to No.2, it felt like all three songs were in the mix that week to me but we got the worst outcome at No.1.

As I said before I knew a woman, which had Westlife - Rose in her all-time top 5 songs.

Easily the worst UK # 1 + worst single from 2006 year and possibly in my all-time worst 5 songs is Gnarls Barkley - Crazy.

Worst # 1s : "Crazy", "Put Your Hands up for Detroit", "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'", "Welcome to the Black Parade", "A Moment Like This"

Edited Sunday at 15:452 days by Julian_
Let’s not mention by name any #1s not yet revealed by the host

Would be last for me too that. Like others said such a dull track indeed!

I can’t say I’m hugely fond of anything from that 3 way battle, but “Rock Steady’ is pretty good and “…Saints…” OK, so they did end up jn precisely the wrong order.

2006 is probably my favourite year for music in the 2000s, and one I can recall following music and the charts for most of it so very interested to see this, and there may be a chance we share the same number 1 ;o

The Rose is significant for me only in the sense that it was the first number 1 which I listened to live on the chart show, I definitely don't hold any further value to it though as it's just repeating the same tricks as You Raise Me Up and coming off even worse. I wouldn't quite rank it last this year though.

Think I did prefer 2nd and 3rd place but I don't think either have held up the best.

I'd forgotten this song, and I generally have no memories of 2006 as such - maybe because illness, job changes, deaths or relationship issues were on either side of 2006, so it was more of a "tickover" year. This track didnt sell the song to me at all. I'll tell you what did - Family Guy! I do think it's a good song when done well, but let's be honest by this time we were all hoping Westlife would stop having fanbase number ones and give it a rest. For anyone who hasnt heard it, their current single Chariot is better than all of their chart-toppers and hasnt made the charts at all. Oh the irony....😇