Saturday at 15:135 days Author 181. AGAINST ALL ODDS- Mariah Carey & Westlife (370,400)YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 12 Of course written by Phil Collins for the film of the same name in 1984, this surfaced as a solo version by Carey on her “Rainbow” album but when it came to be released in UK it was thought it needed a little something to make it a bigger hit. Step forward boyband of the moment Westlife who added their vocals, shot a promo and it thusly became Carey’s 2nd UK No 1 and Westlife’s 6th. The promo of course became noteworthy at the time for McFadden getting visibly enticed by Carey’s “charms”
Saturday at 15:185 days Author 180. BEAUTIFUL LIAR- Shakira & Beyonce (371,900) YEAR: 2007PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 21 A first appearance for two acts who will be back! This was a song recorded for Beyonce’s Deluxe version of “B’ Day” and became a third chart topper for Beyonce and a second for Shakira. It was helped considerably by the Freemasons remix which received most of the attention on radio and TV.
Sunday at 10:444 days Author 179. LIGHT MY FIRE- Will Young (372,700) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 20 The Doors classic that had already been a top 10 single for three acts (The Doors, Amii Stewart, and Jose Feliciano) was picked by Young as a performance on “Pop Idol”. Young’s version was based on the Feliciano interpretation and effortlessly became his second chart topper after selling 177,000 in its first week.
Sunday at 10:444 days Robbies' second-biggest selling and still that low down! Love Road To Mandalay.
Sunday at 10:464 days Author 178. NO AIR- Jordin Sparks Featuring Chris Brown (372,800) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 3WKS ON CHART: 27 Our longest charting track of the rate (so far)- Sparks of course won “American Idol” in 2007 and launched her debut album for which this served as the second single. It was the best seller for both acts and came during a time of considerable success for Brown pre THAT incident with Rihanna.
Sunday at 10:484 days Author 177. DAY N NITE- Kid Cudi Vs Crookers (374,485) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 22 Back to a time when we found popstars on “MySpace”, this was premiered on the website in 2007 before getting a first release on Cudi’s first mixtape the same year. The tape brought him to the attention of Kanye West who then signed him up and this song got the remix treatment from Crookers. It’s this version that became a hit with a new promo which apparently Cudi disliked.
Sunday at 12:164 days Light My Fire was never a cover I liked. Much prefer the original.No Air was what got me into Jordin for a couple years. Definitely the highlight of her very sugary debut. Her second album would be an improvement for sure.Day N Nite is alright, nothing to write home about. I seem to remember this being on the chart for a while (or at least it felt like it).
Monday at 15:403 days Author 176. NOT FAIR- Lily Allen (375,540) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 5WKS ON CHART: 24 The biggest selling No 5 hit of the 00s! Not her biggest hit of the decade but a solid follow up to “The Fear” which saw Allen lament the “performance” of her boyfriend, and all done with a country twinge. The promo recreated the 70s country show “Porter Wagnor” show, Porter incidentally was the inspiration for the Parton song “I Will Always Love You”.
Monday at 15:413 days Author 175. GREATEST DAY- Take That (376,100) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 21 I think we can safely say that when Take That reformed in 2006 the nation were clearly delighted rewarding them with multiple appearances on this list! This was the lead single to the album “The Circus” and became their 11th chart topper though it only held the top spot for a solitary week, not a bad output for a song that took 3 or 4 hours to write!
Monday at 15:433 days Author 174. EVACUATE THE DANCEFLOOR- Cascada (376,810) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 17 Otherwise known as the song that denied Michael Jackson a posthumous No 1 after it clawed back a midweek lead to push “Man In The Mirror” down to No 2. The German outfit contained a certain Yanou who of course featured on DJ Sammy’s “Heaven” 7 years earlier, he also co-wrote and co-produced this track.
Tuesday at 13:412 days Author 173. EMPIRE STATE OF MIND- Jay Z Featuring Alicia Keys (377,075) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 16 The original writers of the track submitted this song to Roc Music who were not impressed and rejected it leading the composers to tout it around record labels, and though EMI also rejected it they suggested they submit it to Jay Z who liked it enough to keep the chorus whilst he re-wrote the verses. Having considered Mary J Blige, the song was ultimately offered to Keys to redo the chorus.
Tuesday at 13:442 days Author 172. ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID- t.A.t.U (378,900) YEAR; 2003PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 17 God remember the mild controversy at the time this was released- Russian, schoolgirls and Lesbians- could there be such a thing? Well in 2003 it certainly got them the headlines- were they dating or weren’t they? The song itself was a reworking of the original 2000 release “Ya Soshla s Uma” which was then re-written in English by Trevor Horn and got released here becoming the first UK chart topper by a Russian act. It later transpired that the girls were neither Lesbians nor in a relationship and it was a P.A stunt, still it worked in terms of tabloid headlines and a banning of the promo on both TOTP and CD:UK.
Tuesday at 13:472 days Author 171. THE MAN WHO CAN’T BE MOVED- The Script (379,300) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 32 Our first track to be charted for over 30 weeks, this was the second hit for the group and was their biggest hit until “Hall of Fame” came along 4 years later. It was the cause of a lawsuit later when the group sued James Arthur citing his track as the inspiration for his hot “Say You Won’t Let Go”, the case was settled out of court and a retrospective credit on the track for the band.
Wednesday at 17:031 day Author 170. LOVE STORY- Taylor Swift (379,785) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON THE CHART: 19 I sometimes wonder what happened to Taylor Swift- guess we’ll never know, but back in 2009 this was her breakthrough hit in the UK just missing out on the top spot thanks to Kelly Clarkson. It would remain her only top 20 hit for another 3 years here before she became a regular big hitter but this is a reminder of her early talent.
Wednesday at 17:051 day Author 169. THE CHEEKY SONG (TOUCH MY BUM)- The Cheeky Girls (380,400) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 14 More reality TV here with the Romanian twins who auditioned for “Popstars: The Rivals” and left the judges speechless after performing the chorus to this on the show. Though they didn’t progress very far they made enough of a splash to get signed up quickly and whilst the show was still airing they got this track out in time for Christmas. It was No 2 for a month and was at one point only stopped by Eminem from making No 1 by just over 5,000 copies.
Wednesday at 17:071 day Author 168. DON’T STOP THE MUSIC- Rihanna (381,000) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 4WKS ON CHART: 34 Third appearance from Rihanna on the list. With a little help from Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin Something” this is another track from the period where Rihanna was smashing it release after release, topping charts across Europe though It missed the top 3 here.
Wednesday at 17:451 day "I go insane to the sound of Microsoft"Very good song though, really the start of the EDM pop era along with Nelly Furtado - Maneater. Edited Wednesday at 17:481 day by TheSnake
Wednesday at 17:521 day A timeline when the Cheeky Girls were higher than Taylor Swift in a countdown
Wednesday at 19:441 day All The Things She Said remains an absolute beast of a song. Its recent use in Heated Rivalry has made me love it even more. ❤️ Shame one of the band members is trash.Love Story is one of my Taylor faves. Shame it couldn’t become her first #1 but also happy Kelly got her only one instead.The Cheeky Song is such novelty crap but I love it! It always makes me nostalgic of the Christmas I got it on CD. That and Christina’s Stripped ruled the airwaves in my house. 😎Don’t Stop the Music remains one of Rih’s best for me. It’s just pop perfection and solidified her A-List pop star status after two middling worldwide hits. It set her up well for Take A Bow and Disturbia smashing. ❤️
19 hours ago19 hr Rihanna's is one of her best, still sounds great play loud. Cheeky Girls, err, yes well, pass.
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