Not a lot to say so far really - think I agree with the order of those 3 stinkers. “You Are Not Alone” is horrific. “Barry Islands In The Stream” is at least not taking itself seriously. “The Climb” wasn’t such a bad choice for an X Factor cover really as the original was a decent song but not exactly a classic, and I do like Joe’s voice.

'The Climb' is not a song I like by whoever has done it.

I feel sorry for Joe, he didnt deserve to be the one to take the proverbial x factor hate bullet, so was probably a a blessing in disguise that olly came second (even though it seemed he was nobled to lose with the climb potentially being his winners single too)

Not a bad song , but Joe certainly released better in his less successful career, really enjoyed ambitions and his classic era (suprised as someone that really doesnt like classical music Joe really made me like his)

On the subject of Stacey coming third I was very shocked she didnt release anything at all (except the christmas cover and a song years later) considering she was so good on the show and probably would of had a better career too if she struck whilst the iron was hot

3 out of 3 awful songs so far, I agree with the order as well.

30 Tinchy Stryder feat. Amelle - Never Leave You

1 week in August 2009: {1}-2-3-5-8-12-19-24-31-40-52-61-68->13

Kept off #1: none

#51 in EOY 2009

If the three already out were rather easy targets, then here is where the order starts to get interesting. Ghana-born British rapper Tinchy Stryder had been part of grime collective Roll Deep before he had his solo breakthrough, which hit new heights in 2009 when 'Take Me Back' with Taio Cruz went to #3. His next two hits were #1s, of which this was the second, and he went on to have a further four Top 10 hits (kudos if you can name them all without looking them up). Having already reached, oh alright then, "Number 1" with his previous single (more on that later on of course), on its follow-up to trail the release of his second album, he enlisted Amelle Berrabah to appear on the track. Amelle was at that time a member of Sugababes in their "mk 3" line-up alongside Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, having joined them in December 2005, and when this song debuted at #1 with sales of 71k, it made her the only member of the group, past or present, to top the singles chart outside of the group. This apparently caused some friction within the group, as she alluded to in the BBC documentary covering all-female groups last year, and although the full details aren't relevant to this rate, Jade Ewen replaced Keisha for a Sugababes "mk 4" line-up the following month.

Without focusing too much on this single's impact on Sugababes' line-up changes, at the time it did seem like it could have been a soft launch for a potential solo career for Amelle in a similar way that will.i.am's 'Heartbreaker' had been for Cheryl Cole, but whether that was the intention or not, the song didn't do much to showcase her vocals towards convincing that she could be the group's breakout star. In Tinchy's case it worked out in teeing up a #2 debut for his album Catch 22 as well as this single reaching #1, so it did the job in the short term, but for him too it's not a performance that lives long in the memory - his style of flow doesn't lend itself as well to this kind of slow jam as it does to his higher bpm hits which preceded it. It has a big string-heavy production like his previous #1, again not quite as memorable, and even if it may still have popped up on a few TV soundbeds, it does sounded rather dated now, like much music of the time in a similar genre does. One thing the song does have going for it however is the Fibonacci sequence of its 1-2-3-5-8 descent of the Top 10 - if only it had dropped to #13 rather than #12 the following week!

Finally got into this thread after being kept out of the forum every time I tried to sit down and look at it!

I agree with the bottom three, and the order. I really disliked all of the X Factor ensemble No.1s, and The Climb was barely any better. And Barry Islands just wasn't funny to me at all.

However, I did buy Never Leave You on single and still like that, more for the melody and Amelle's contribution than Tinchy's verses admittedly which I agree are a bit clunky, although I did buy the parent album of his that this came from too as liked all the singles from it. Strange of all the Sugababes members that she should get a 'solo' No.1, Mutya was completely robbed with Song 4 Mutya, which came nowhere near of course in the end.

I don't mind this one as much, although I generally rued his existence. I certainly find it preferable to the N-Dubz one still to come.

It has good nostalgic orchestral production to it (copied later in the fab Bright Lights with Pixie and also by The Wanted).

I loved Never Leave You back in 2009, but mainly because I was/am a huge Sugababes fan.

Now though I'm not so fond of it. It's an ok song, so I can see why it's placed this low.

5 hours ago, 777666jason said:

I feel sorry for Joe, he didnt deserve to be the one to take the proverbial x factor hate bullet, so was probably a a blessing in disguise that olly came second (even though it seemed he was nobled to lose with the climb potentially being his winners single too)

Not a bad song , but Joe certainly released better in his less successful career, really enjoyed ambitions and his classic era (suprised as someone that really doesnt like classical music Joe really made me like his)

On the subject of Stacey coming third I was very shocked she didnt release anything at all (except the christmas cover and a song years later) considering she was so good on the show and probably would of had a better career too if she struck whilst the iron was hot

Stacey released an album 'Shy' on 2015, but by that point it had been 6 years and the moment had long since passed.

5 minutes ago, Paddington James said:

Stacey released an album 'Shy' on 2015, but by that point it had been 6 years and the moment had long since passed.

Dunno why I was convinced shy was just a song not a whole album 😮 but yeah the moment had long passed

Ah that one I'd have a fair bit higher up. Dated sure but still an enjoyable track when I hear it and like Rich mainly like it for Amelle mostly but Tinchy's rap is ok on it too.

5 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

Dunno why I was convinced shy was just a song not a whole album 😮 but yeah the moment had long passed

I think had've she released in 2010 she could've had a decent first album era. Saying that Diana Vickers and Alexandra Burke didn't have long lasting careers with SyCo.

23 minutes ago, Paddington James said:

I think had've she released in 2010 she could've had a decent first album era. Saying that Diana Vickers and Alexandra Burke didn't have long lasting careers with SyCo.

At the risk of derailing the thread , both of those suffered by "artistic differences" with SyCo and spending too long between first and second albums (both 3 years considering how fast the music industry was moving at the time was a long time) but yeah Stacey could of got 1 successful album at least

Anyway Never leave you is a pretty terrible song deserves to be low

Caught up with this so far, let me try not to fall behind on this as these are some very impressively detailed writeups x

You certainly won't find me going against the grain to defend any of the bottom 3 there, 'You Are Not Alone' was the worst of the 4 X Factor Finalists singles imo (although probably the one with the most worthy charity cause behind it for what it's worth), the original song is ok but not one I'd quickly go to among MJ's discog. I didn't like Joe on the show and I never liked 'The Climb' as a song, at least the poor lad is immortalised as a memorable Christmas #2 (if for the circumstances rather than the actual song) and it was good for him that he went on to have more success in a lane that suited him more naturally although seems to have gone quiet on that front now as well. And I've never watched Gavin & Stacey so the 'humour' of that release is lost on me and it's just a whatever karaoke version of a song that I also think is just ok.

I liked 'Never Leave You' at the time but I don't think I could recall how it goes without looking it up! Certainly Tinchy had better hits. I did have a go at recalling his 4 later top 10 hits without looking them up... I managed 3 out of 4.

Tinchy hits

'In My System' I got straight away - underrated song. Took a bit longer to recall 'Bright Lights' and 'Spaceship'. I got as far as 'I think the other one featured Angel' - which it did, although Tinchy was also a feature on it as it was primarily a Wiley song, don't think I'd ever have recalled the song title though.

Quickly reminding/spoiling myself of the other #1s of the year, there are two in particular that I'll be hoping will be out very soon (I'd say three but I think I'm on my own in disliking the third one which may also be relevant elsewhere on the forum right now).

I like Never Gonna Leave You, I’d have it much higher. It’s a classic non-number 1 though, pretty much forgotten and as you said, very much of its time.

As I'd charted the 2008 X Factor Finalists effort to the lofty heights of 74 in my personal charts, I already disliked the Jackson song You Are Not Alone even more than Hero, and didnt even bother to give this cover a single week mention. Not good! Islands In The Stream is at least a great song, and Robin Gibb deserved a top spot for helping brother Barry write it - it's clearly got Barry written all over it, Robin songs tend to be darker and more dramatic - and for being robbed of the top spot in 1969 with Saved By The Bell, and it was nice seeing Tom back on top too after his fair share of number 2's and multi-comebacks. Other than that, I didnt watch the sitcom, like and enjoy Rob's movie roles and hosting Would I Lie To You and impressions and podcast, so I dont begrudge him having a mention too. I wouldnt choose to play it though! Better than X Factor finalists otoh.

Joe McElderry was amiable enough, had a pure vocal, and ended up in Musical theatre which is about fair enough - I dont think he translated into pop comfortably - and I'm one of the few who prefers this to the one that held him off a week. Not that it's essential in any way, but buying a record for politics/loyal football fans/spite/a laugh is in its own way as annoying (albeit hilarious when it happened) as a powerful media onslaught assuming it had a given-right to expect an annual chart-topping massive seller. I'll stick with Miley, now there's someone with long-term talent! The next slot I have totally forgotten. My A to Z tells me it peaked at 40 for me, and I do actually like it now I replay it. Amelle's bits are obv better than Tinchy's but overall it sounds quite fresh and catchy and likeable, I'd def rate this higher than some still to come. I like the production too, I'm not too worried about what is or isn't the fashion currently, pop is very cyclical on a rolling 20-year+ nostalgia-resurgence. 👍

29 Pixie Lott - Boys And Girls

1 week in September 2009: 73-{1}-6-7-8-13-18-24-32-46-49-52-55-68-69-71R(2)-50-72R(2)-74->19

Kept off #1: none

#77 in EOY 2009

Pixie Lott's music career was launched to the best possible start with a #1 debut for her first single which is yet to appear, and the second single swiftly repeated the feat. Well, except for its #73 debut - I can't recall whether this was due to an accidental early release or if there was some other reason, but I believe it still holds the record for the biggest climb to #1 within the Top 75, and the biggest climb within the Top 75 at all (at least I don't think anything has gone 75-2, 74-2 or 75-3). However its sale of 49k at the top made it the only of the year's #1s not to achieve at least one week above 50k, and (not coincidentally) the only one to spend just a single week in the Top 5, so it probably fits the non-#1 description better than anything else in the list, albeit it did hold its sales reasonably well beyond that, and it's also worth noting her debut album Turn It Up was released to a #6 debut when the single fell from #1 to the same position. She would go on to have a third #1 in 2011, and four more Top 10s after that, including one of Tinchy's mentioned above as she featured on 'Bright Lights'.

I'd expect a lot of people would place this one higher too, and I'd certainly say there's been a marked lift in quality since the first three songs out. Pixie sings the hell out of it, the production is brassy and bouncy and has popped up on a few soundbeds, and the verses start off promisingly. The real sticking point for me is the chorus, as it's mostly one note repeated, and the song doesn't really end up going anywhere, it just sort of hops about for three minutes. Everyone in the video is having such a good time that it doesn't seem to matter (when you're moving your feet), but I guess I end up without much to take away from it, and as well as preferring her earlier #1 which I'll cover when it comes up, I'd sooner go back to 'All About Tonight' for the kind of nostalgic innocent fun purveyed here.

I enjoyed Boys & Girls quite a bit in 2009 and even preffered it to Mamma Do at times, but she's released better. Both a superior to All About Tonight for me too. I'd certainly have this a fair bit higher. Though I can't quite recall what else is to come.

Whatever happened to Pixie Lott? She seemed to be everywhere in 2009-10.

'Boys and Girls' is a decent pop song but I think 'Mama Do' sounds more fresh and energetic.

Impressive that an artist who came from nowhere would score 2 number 1 singles in just a few short months.

Edited April 8Apr 8 by Charlielargepotatoes