A good single, though the scale of it's success might have been as much to do with a genuine strong vocal talent competing with the American divas as a relief that X Faxtor seemed to have unearthed a major longterm project. Sadly, the Cowell short-term disposability problem would knock that on the head after a few years, but Bleeding Love was quality, apart from the title which was just asking to have the piss taken out of it from this Northener. "Keep bleedin', love" not quite having the same effect. Top 10 of the year possibly for me.

My list :

1. Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way

2. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

3. Sugababes - About You Now

4. Leon Jackson - When You Believe

5. Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

6. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

7. Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

8. McFly - Baby's Coming Back

9. Take That - Shine

10. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

11. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

12. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

13. Timbaland and Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

14. Kanye West - Stronger

15. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

16. Rihanna - Umbrella

17. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

18. Mika - Grace Kelly

Edited Tuesday at 11:102 days by Last Dreamer

1 Rihanna feat. Jay-Z Umbrella

#2s kept off #1: Makes Me Wonder (Maroon 5), Real Girl (Mutya Buena), Icky Thump (White Stripes), Any Dream Will Do (Lee Mead), Foundations (Kate Nash), Big Girls Don’t Cry (Fergie)

 

Rihanna debuted on the pop scene back in the summer of 2005, when her dancehall-infused club track Pon De Replay became a worldwide top 10 hit, reaching Number 2 in both the UK and US. Popstar longevity was far from guaranteed at this point though, with her debut album Music of the Sun failing to make much of an impact anywhere outside of North America, peaking at #35 in the UK. Follow-up single, If It’s Lovin’ That You Want, would also fail to make much of an impression, narrowly missing out on the top 10 before quickly disappearing.

Against the pop norms of the time, Jay-Z and record label Def Jam decided on a swift follow-up: her sophomore album was slated for release a mere 8 months after her debut. Lead single SOS, with its genius use of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, kept momentum going. Released in April 2006, the song would give Rihanna her second UK #2 hit as well as her first ever US #1. The song epitomised the success of her debut, in turn helping her second album A Girl Like Me land at #6 in the albums chart. Second single Unfaithful marked Rihanna’s first ballad release and a shift away from the summer dance-pop she’d become known for at this point. Penned by Ne-Yo, the song would become Rihanna’s third #2 in the UK within 12 months and also helped her second album rebound to its #5 peak. The era would tail off quietly in the UK, with the rather limp third single We Ride scraping the top 20 that November.

By the end of 2006, yet another album was in the pipeline for the following summer and a collaboration with Jay-Z titled Umbrella began appearing in the ‘coming soon’ section of future release schedules. The song was produced by Tricky Stewart, who scored previous hits such as Case of the Ex and Me Against the Music, and originally written with Britney Spears in mind, specifically for her forthcoming album Blackout. The song was rejected by her label before being passed onto Taio Cruz, whose label also wasn’t keen. Rihanna and Mary J. Blige both expressed interest in the track, with Tricky more inclined to hand it to Mary due to her Grammy buzz at the time. MJB’s Grammy commitments would come back to bite her as she wasn’t able to commit to a swift record-and-release, which of course worked in Rihanna’s favour.

Umbrella was an instant smash: becoming the first song ever to reach #1 on downloads alone an entire fortnight before physical release. The song ended up sitting at the top spot for a whopping 10 weeks – the longest number one of the 21^st century at the time. The song’s 10-week reign at the top famously coincided with 10 weeks of torrential rain – from late May to late July! This was dubbed “the Rihanna curse” by the media, as it not only effected the UK but many other countries around the world. It was in fact during Rihanna’s reign that the UK (and other countries) recorded their wettest summer on record! Of course a massive coincidence but phenomenal ‘marketing’ nonetheless. Strangely, the weather immediately improved once Rihanna had been knocked off the top! Needless to say, Umbrella was certified a worldwide smash, in turn launching her into superstardom on a global scale overnight.

Everyone involved in the making of this song truly struck gold. I remember hearing it during its radio premiere and just being blown away. It sounded MASSIVE both in sound and success. The song starts with Jay-Z’s rap; basically reintroducing Rihanna to the world (after 5 months) as a newly-branded “good girl gone bad” but still paying ode to her “little miss sunshine” roots. It is one of his better rap features for sure. I’m also glad it was kept to the intro of the song and he didn’t reappear again before the final chorus!

Rihanna obviously steals the show here. Her voice is just so distinctive and commanding on the record. She has this inflection on the last word of each line be it verse or chorus that is just so delicious and unique to her. Then the “ella ella eh eh eh” – a genius post-chorus hook that hits so well because of RiRi’s delivery (“el-LA”). The production is a sharp contrast to the breezy, summery pop she served the year before, but it works so well here: almost representing the storm Rihanna is vowing to shield her lover from, with the distorted bassline and spacey synths creating something ominous-sounding. Some of the verse lyrics are a bit clunky admittedly but can totally be overlooked when the rest just hits an emotional chord.

Rihanna may have gone on to have bigger-selling singles (the low sales climate of 2007 meant Umbrella had only sold 511,000 copies by year-end despite those ten weeks at #1), this song still holds as her most iconic release. Like, actual iconic. The song title alone, the “ella ella eh eh” hook, the coincidental wet summer, the moment Bad Gal RiRi entered the world… the list goes on. I can’t think of another record, on this list or not, that defines 2007 as perfectly as Umbrella.  

 

Of the six singles Umbrella blocked from reaching #1, only 3 of them left a big impression on me. Maroon 5’s Makes Me Wonder felt like a bit of a crap follow-up to their debut era at the time but the years have made me see the appeal of this finally. While no This Love or She Will Be Loved, it ****s on their 2010s input. The chorus is super catchy “cos I don’t believe in you anymore anymo-o-ore” is an earworm. Mutya’s Real Girl was a strong solo debut for the ex-Sugababe and one I should return to more often. I think at the time Song 4 Mutya totally overshadowed this for me tbh. My favourite #2 here though is undoubtedly Fergie’s Big Girls Don’t Cry. The contrast between the minimalist, stripped verses and the explosive, belting chorus works so well here. It’s a pity Fergie missed out on her first #1 with this (as with Maroon 5 and Mutya), but I’m happy Umbrella managed to achieve such an impressive, record-breaking run at the top.

A trip down Buzzjack memory lane:

Sales:

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So there we have it! Thank you to everyone who has followed and commented on this over the past month. It’s been a real joy rewinding back to 2007 and immersing myself into the music again. It was an incredible year for music and pop culture with the market saturated with amazing new acts and returning favourites. Unfortunately the #1s didn’t totally reflect that but at least some well-deserved essentials made it to the top.

I can’t find the message stating who’s ranking the 2008 #1s but I look forward to following their thread! From memory alone, some outstanding songs reached the top so very intrigued to see where they fall!

Again, thank you to everyone who has followed along and commented!

Two monster records in your top 2! Leona had all the makings of a star but it was still quite something to watch her emphatically hold off a fellow massive song in 'Rule The World', then go on to achieve a Billboard Hot 100 #1 too, so impressive for a British reality TV show act. 'Umbrella' felt very impactful at the time as well, a chart force and in the headlines for coinciding with weeks of rain here as you say. I also remember watching Big Brother U.K. that summer (...in secret as I was probably too young, sorry parents) and two contestants Chanelle and Charley were arguing over Rihanna's age the impact. I've been revisiting The White Stripes a lot recently and forgot how much I enjoyed 'Icky Thump', so a shame that was blocked during Rihanna's mighty reign, but still their highest peaker as a consolation. Both 'Rule The World' and 'The Flood' are in my Take That holy trinity so it's unfortunate they're not a part of their large collection of #1s!

Thank you for putting this together, Scene! I enjoyed your passionate and informative commentary. I had no idea about those Leona leaks, for example.

My own top 10 would look like this:

1. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat (feat. Kleerup)

2. MIKA - Grace Kelly

3. Timbaland - The Way I Are (feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.)

4. Beyoncé & Shakira - Beautiful Liar

5. Timbaland - Give It To Me (feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake)

6. Take That - Shine

7. Rihanna - Umbrella (feat. Jay-Z)

8. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

9. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

10. Sugababes - About You Now

You could say that Jay Z got a very cheap 10 weeks at #1 for very little effort, but in truth his 30 seconds are a crucial part of the record. And the song is absolutely a one off - a huge commanding chorus, but as you say at the same time there’s something slightly ominous in the production fitting the wet summer we had.

Thank you very much Scene. It’s @Herbs next!

@Jade that Charley/Chanelle reference made me chuckle. They literally argued about anything and everything.

@Julian_ Oh thank you - looking forward to following your thread Herbs!

My version:

1 Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

2 Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - Umbrella

3 Timbaland and Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

4 Mika - Grace Kelly

5 Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

6 Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

7 Kanye West - Stronger

8 Take That - Shine

9 Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

10 Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

11 Sugababes - About You Now

12 McFly - Baby's Coming Back / Transylvania

13 Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

14 Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

15 Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

16 Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

17 Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way

18 Leon Jackson - When You Believe

Not too huge on Umbrella myself but can't deny the cultural impact it had, changing the weather here to rain for that entire summer so it could remain locked at No.1. I did eventually buy the Good Girl Gone Bad album as liked all of the other singles more weirdly.

Here is my rank:

1. Take That - Shine (Rule The World would top this too had it got to No.1, I was obsessed with them at the time)

2. Robyn / Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat

3. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake & Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

4. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

5. Mika - Grace Kelly

6. Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

7. Sugababes - About You Now

8. Timbaland, Keri Hilson and D.O.E. - The Way I Are

9. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

10. Rihanna feat. Jay Z - Umbrella

11. Kanye West - Stronger

12. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

13. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

14. Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way (a waste of two brilliant bands' talents)

15. McFly - Baby's Coming Back/Transylvania (one of their worst with one I can barely recall)

16. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls (appalling)

17. Leon Jackson - When You Believe (how can a studio recording sound this out of tune)

18. Proclaimers feat Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) (truly awful and unfunny)

The top eight I still love, wouldn't turn off 9-13, would never play the bottom five.

Thanks for a very enjoyable rank @Scene with some brilliant, very informative write-ups with lots of stuff I'd forgotten happened.

Edited Wednesday at 14:171 day by gooddelta

Ooooh will aim to start mine asap

Remind me - is there a set format I need to follow for posts or am I good to freestyle?

1 minute ago, Herbs said:

Ooooh will aim to start mine asap

Remind me - is there a set format I need to follow for posts or am I good to freestyle?

Nope up to you. Only rule is that you cover them all.

Also up to you whether you re-rank the #1 carried over from the end of the previous year, as some have and some haven’t.

It's been a bit overplayed, but it's such a storming single to launch her into stratospheric superstardom and was a real highlight of the year. It's got some nice dramatic elements in it, and those drums are ace!

Overall though this was a pretty awful year for #1s with a few greats here and there.

Edited Wednesday at 15:171 day by Jessie Where

Never liked 'Umbrella' much but then didn't start to like Rihanna's music until later that year with 'Don't Stop The Music'. It just grated on me to no end. I guess I can tolerate it a little now though as don't hear it quite as much.

Thanks for doing this Scene. The chart thread links were a nice throwback touch!

My ranking

1. Grace Kelly

2. About You Now

3. Ruby

4. Shine

5. With Every Heartbeat

6. The Way I Are

7. Bleeding Love

8. Stronger

9. Beautiful Liar

10. Give It To Me

11. Umbrella

12. When You Believe

13. Walk This Way

14. Baby's Coming Back / Transylvania

15. What A Wonderful World

16. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

17. A Moment Like This

18. Beautiful Girls

I do like all of the top 10 but yes poor year for #1's overall.

Definitely more on board with the number 1 than the runner up! Umbrella definitely reminds me of that wet summer, I got super sick of it at the time as I was more into quick turnover at that time and I was sad it beat Icky Thump (though experimental rock like that getting as high as #2 is a huge achievement looking back), she has definitely done better since and it's not got the more adventurous nature of her later work, but it's still a very likeable pop song.

Bleeding Love however I've just never been on board with, similar to a lot of her songs in that she definitely sings it well but it's just lacking as an overall package and the chorus doesn't hit hard enough, credit to her though for legitimising X Factor and she did record a genuine modern classic with One More Sleep that's secured her retirement fund x

My own top 10, I've got a lot of nostalgia attached to this year, but quality-wise it's definitely not as strong as the previous few:

1. Robyn feat. Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat

2. Mika - Grace Kelly

3. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

4. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z - Umbrella

5. Sugababes - About You Now

6. Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake - Give It To Me

7. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

8. Kanye West - Stronger

9. Take That - Shine

10. Beyonce & Shakira - Beautiful Liar

Thanks for the great countdown, Scene, looking forward to 2008 as we are still in my golden years in terms of being an avid chart follower x

Umbrella is the logic winner for me - highly influential - perfect production - perfect vocals - one of the best R&B song of all time. My final stats:

1.      Rihanna Feat. Jay-Z - Umbrella 10/10

2.     Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby 10/10

3.     MIKA - Grace Kelly 9/10

4.     Timbaland; Keri Hilson; D.O.E. - The Way I Are 9/10

5.     Beyoncé; Shakira - Beautiful Liar 8/10

6.     Timbaland; Justin Timberlake; Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me 8/10

7.     Robyn; Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat 7.5/10

8.    Take That - Shine 7.5/10

9.    Kanye West - Stronger 7/10

10.  Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love 7/10

11.  Sugababes - About You Now 5/10

12.  Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This 5/10

13.  Katie Melua; Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World 4/10

14.  Sugababes; Girls Aloud - Walk This Way 3/10

15.  McFly - Baby's Coming Back 3/10

16.  Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls 3/10

17.  The Proclaimers; Andy Pipkin; Brian Potter - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) 0/10

18.  Leon Jackson - When You Believe 0/10

Great choice of #1 for this countdown. Even with a few hits already behind her, this one (with just the right amount of assistance from Jay-Z) signalled Rihanna's arrival on the big stage, and there aren't many songs that can be singled out as changing the boundaries of pop, but 'Umbrella' is one of those. What might previously have been considered R&B or hip hop became very much part of the pop template for years to come, a sea change reflected by the ominous tones in the production and accompanied by the real life weather itself. Although I got the impression there was another meaning to the lyrics but like many good things, it works on different levels.

My top 5:

1. Robyn with Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat

2. Timbaland, Keri Hilson and D.O.E. - The Way I Are

3. Rihanna feat. Jay Z - Umbrella

4. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

5. Mika - Grace Kelly

Thanks Scene for this countdown, I've learnt a lot from your well-written and informative commentaries!

Thanks for running this Scene, very in-depth and Rihanna a good top choice - I think I'd have it behind Robyn and Timbaland but still top 3, it was an iconic track, and I still think of it as her biggest hit even if not biggest-selling, 10 wet weeks on top is a cultural moment! I remember a soggy Wimbledon. Umbrella got a lot of use....!

My list:

1. Rihanna - Umbrella

2. Timbaland and Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

3. Kanye West - Stronger

4. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

5. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

6. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

7. Sugababes - About You Now

8. Take That - Shine

9. Mika - Grace Kelly

10. Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

11. McFly - Baby's Coming Back

12. Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

13. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

14. Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way

15. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

16. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

17. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

18. Leon Jackson - When You Believe

I won't reveal the place of Leon Jackson in mine (let's keep some suspense in my rate!) but here would be mine:

1. Sugababes - About You Now

2. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

3. Rihanna - Umbrella

4. Mika - Grace Kelly

5. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

6. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

7. Take That - Shine

8. Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

9. Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way

10. Timbaland and Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

11. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

12. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

13. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

14. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

15. Kanye West - Stronger

16. Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

17. McFly - Baby's Coming Back

Thanks for hosting this @Scene, I absolutely loved revisiting my first year out of high school. It really brought back the memories!

My list:

1. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love

2. Rihanna - Umbrella

3. Mika - Grace Kelly

4. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat

5. Beyonce and Shakira - Beautiful Liar

6. Take That - Shine

7. Timbaland and Keri Hilson - The Way I Are

8. Leona Lewis - A Moment Like This

9. Sugababes - About You Now

10. Kanye West - Stronger

11. Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado - Give It To Me

12. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby

13. Sugababes and Girls Aloud - Walk This Way

14. Katie Melua and Eva Cassidy - What a Wonderful World

15. McFly - Baby's Coming Back

16. Leon Jackson - When You Believe

17. Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

18. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

An incredibly strong top 12 for me, it fall away after that quite rapidly.

As a massive Sugababes fan I'm quite surprised About You Now is as low as it is too.