23 Dizzee Rascal - Holiday

1 week in August 2009: {1}-4-6-8-9-13-22-31-38-47-53-69-65R(7)->13

Kept off #1: none

#57 in EOY 2009

Another British rapper sometime of the grime scene, Dizzee Rascal broke through in 2003 with album Boy In Da Corner which won him the Mercury Music Prize, again while he was aged just 18. The album contains the excellent 'Fix Up Look Sharp' which is quite possibly my favourite song of that year. After a steady period of success (his rap on the 2004 Band Aid 20 single notwithstanding), he collaborated with Calvin Harris and singer Chrome on 2008's 'Dance Wiv Me', which spent 4 weeks at UK #1, taking him to the next level. A second #1 followed which we'll come to later, and then this shifted 80k on release to make it a hat trick of chart toppers from three releases - again with Calvin on production duties and Chrome providing additional vocals, albeit both uncredited this time. If 'Dance Wiv Me' had been a markedly commercial shift for him, this appeared to confirm he was in the market for more hits, as he raps about pretty much nothing but partying, backed up by the (overwhelmingly bikini clad female) pool party themed video. The soon-to-land parent album Tongue N' Cheek would be his highest charting at #3 and spend a complete year in the Top 100 albums.

I did despair a little when I first heard this, as one familiar with even a little of his earlier albums, as it seemed something of a sellout move - where once in the aforementioned 'Fix Up Look Sharp' he said "being a celebrity don't mean s**t to me", here he extols the virtues of VIP access to nightclubs and the glamorous lifestyle that comes with being famous. At the same time, fair play to him for taking the opportunity. Out of context, it's a passable party song even if very cliché heavy - and for a third different time in this countdown, The Saturdays are mentioned, as Calvin apparently wrote the original track with them in mind, but they rejected it! Calvin does deliver my favourite moment of the song however, as it finishes with a switch-up from behind the decks to speed up the beat for the final 40 seconds or so - although he too has another track of his own still to come in this countdown.

Oh “Holiday” is my favourite out so far by a long way, though mainly for the production. The switch up part is great.

Holiday is quite good (Dizzee has better songs though) but yes the last bit of near trance is the best.

Edited April 13Apr 13 by TheSnake

Yes, absolutely love the tempo change at the end of 'Holiday'! In fairness, I wasn't familiar with Dizzee pre-2009 so I was oblivious to how different it was from his first era.

Holiday is ok, aside from the end bit it’s a bit bland and very 2009.

I like Holiday, but perhaps the least of that triad of #1s, maybe the pivot in style was starting to wear a bit thin by then. I too loved early Dizzee, especially Boy In Da Corner, I Luv U is my favourite.

It's alright I suppose, but I waaay prefer his other one still to come.

'Holiday' is fine but not one I paid much attention to.

Just played catch-up from 'Right Round' to 'Holiday' so this experience was book-ended with Saturdays trivia

I was a fan of 'Right Round' at the time, but I think the interpolation did a lot of heavy lifting for it in my affections, before I'd properly explored '80s music. Upon relisten it's another one where the production has dated quite a bit for me. But I do think it's preferable to 'Bad Boys' where the Flo Rida tracks are concerned, so a good call there. I'm glad the song birthed a future star in Kesha, who has provided some great moments over the years. She wasn't in the music video, so I was unaware of what she looked like until 'Tik Tok'... little did I know her face had already been familiar from the 'I Kissed A Girl' video, as already pointed out.

Alexandra has a cracking voice but 'Hallelujah' did not need to be turned into that hollow, overblown mess. I'm glad Jeff Buckley's cover was spotlighted off the back of it as the raw emotion of that version gets me every time. I preferred 'The Silence' as a ballad moment from Alexandra.

The nation really was mad for male rap verses with female sung choruses around this time. 'Oopsy Daisy' takes me right back to the early years of secondary school, as I had friends who were into it, but it never rocked my world and continues to be bland to these ears. It's just dawned on me that Chip had a song called 'Oopsy Daisy' and then worked with Daisy Dares You the following year *_* poor brave 'Number One Enemy' scrubbed from streaming.

I think Dizzee passed me by until 'Dance Wiv Me', so I didn't realise the sell-out nature of some of his late '00s / early '10s material at the time, but it's easy to see now I am more familiar with his most acclaimed work. 'Holiday' is a bit basic lyrically but I agree that the production builds well. It also brings back happy memories of actually going on holiday that year for me. I did not know that it could've been a Saturdays song in an alternate timeline, oh my! I guess they'd eventually have their own pool party video moment with the floptastic 'What Are You Waiting For?'

Always liked Dizzee Rascal - this would be definitely higher for me. "Right Round" is catchy produced, but I never liked Flo's rap style. No words on that awful Chipmunks songs - this would be right bottom together with the X-Factor songs.

22 Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart

3 weeks in September / October 2009: {1}-1-1-4-4-6-12-22-30-33-32-38-40-60-56-38-57-68-70-70->20

Kept off #1: Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys - Empire State Of Mind

#37 in EOY 2009

With a third of the countdown already gone, we have the first song to have spent more than a week at #1 within 2009 itself! Indeed this had not two but three weeks at the top, which may seem surprising as it's not among the best remembered hits of the year. Tellingly it had modest weekly sales of 65k, 48k and 42k, the latter the lowest of any week in the year, and in fact the next time we'd see a lower #1 sale would be 2017. This was the 7th chart hit for British singer Taio Cruz, with the previous four having had lengthy chart runs from his previous era, so some hype was present. In a parallel to the previous entry, this was one of two songs he had apparently written for Cheryl Cole - her label turned it down, but the other one ended up on Cheryl's album (although it's not the song of hers that'll appear later). Having recorded it himself, this solo version was the UK hit, although some territories had a version featuring US rapper Ludacris, including the US itself where it also went to #1 for a week, and for which the video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_SI2EDM6Lo

While its tenure at the relatively fast-changing UK #1 spot of the time may have flattered it slightly, there's not a lot I can fault the song with, but not too much I can say at all really - it's a fine enough R&B pop song, with an EDM production that fit in with the time. His next #1, 2010's 'Dynamite' is a lot more memorable, even if I originally misheard "Galileo" in one of the lines. However it's rather a shame that even with the relatively low third week sales, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys couldn't sneak a turn at the top, as they were less than 5k behind, and their collaboration would have had a place right up in the top 5 of this countdown if it had got there. Despite missing out, it finished the year as the higher seller, at #30 in the EOY 2009.

I really like this one, it was so huge at the time but feels near enough completely forgotten now (at least I'm comparison to 'Dynamite' anyway)

'Break Your Heart' is better than 'Dynamite' I think.

Prefer holiday to break your heart personally, holiday is one of the stronger dizzee tracks

I do quite 'Break Your Heart' but it would be around the same place for me too I think.

'Empire State Of Mind' definitely deserved to be a multi week #1. A fab track!

I've got a bit to catch up on.

I feel like I'm in the minority but I absolutely love Alexandra Burke's version of Hallelujah. It is what got my fully invested in following the X Factor from a far. It's a great song all round where I like many different versions of it. Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright & Reigan Derry sit alongside Alexandra Burke's version as songs I'd happily listen to.

I don't think I've ever heard Oopsy Daisy and Holiday I know of and I'm sure I've heard it but I can't remember it to save myself.

Break Your Heart is a song I wasn't to keen on at the time but grew to love it around mid-late 2010 when I saw a cover band perform it. They weren't anything special and they were a warm up for Lionel Richie but the memories associated with that Saturday afternoon in early October 2010 are etched into my memory forever. I then rediscovered it during Covid in 2020 and it's been a song I've regularly gone back to ever since.

I remember reading a while back that it was intended for Cheryl Cole, I think it would've suited her quite well.

Taio Cruz’s success always baffled me. I think this was the last number 1 before the late summer/autumn X factor related onslaught that year.

Break Your Heart is another okay song, I’m always amazed it reached US #1 when you consider all the brilliant Brit artists and songs that never did!

I agree Empire State is fantastic, one of the songs of the year.

2 hours ago, Jaz13music said:

Break Your Heart is another okay song, I’m always amazed it reached US #1 when you consider all the brilliant Brit artists and songs that never did!

I agree Empire State is fantastic, one of the songs of the year.

Oh wow, after your comment I looked up where Taio is from. Always thought he is American.

Can’t argue with any of these placings so far. A lot of dross hit the top in 2009 it seems (though I’m sure there are many gems to come!).

The amount of XF-related #1s in the second half of the year was insane! Most of them haven’t aged well lol.