Red dress is a bop for the babes, it should of peaked higher officially

Crazy chick is my favourite track Charlotte ever released so decent result there

Pon de replay a strong bop for ri ri deserves to be high

1 hour ago, Viper* said:

8.5. REALLY?

That's absurd tbh.

Is it though? Is it REALLY?

It’s still a very high score and whilst the song slaps, it’s not as good as About A Girl (a 10) or Get Sexy (a 9)

Edited Wednesday at 13:411 day by Lee_J11

5 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

Is it though? Is it REALLY?

It’s still a very high score and whilst the song slaps, it’s not as good as About A Girl (a 10) or Get Sexy (a 9)

Red Dress >>> Get Sexy.

4 Amerie - 1 Thing

avg: 8.51

👑 Pop Royalty: 11 (jimwatts, Jaz13music), 10 (Doug, Josh!, Nina West, Henessy Lake, blacksquare, RyanFM, lewistgreen, Viper*, Julian_)

❌ Pop Flop: 3 (ElectroBoy), 5 (troublepink)

Amerie matches her U.K. chart peak in this rate as '1 Thing' has dropped out in 4th place, with an average of 8.51.

Amerie Mi Marie Rogers Nicholson was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts to a Korean mother and African-American father. The family soon relocated to Korea for a few years and would continue to move around a lot, as Amerie's father was a chief warrant officer in the U.S. military. She has described her parents as "conservative" and "traditional Christians". Amerie said she wasn't allowed to leave the house or use a phone on school days when growing up. She later studied literature at Georgetown University. While here, she befriended a club promoter who would put her in touch with an important figure in her music career. Amerie met with producer Rich Harrison in a McDonalds car park and they immediately hit it off. He played his tracks while she sang along to them. Harrison had recently worked on the Mary J. Blige albums Mary and No More Drama. His next move was recording and developing demos with Amerie. These tapes led to a deal with Columbia Records.

Amerie hopped on to some collaborations before putting her own material out there. She sang the chorus for Nas' 'Rule' and was also featured on the Royce da 5'9" song 'Life'. Amerie then released her debut album All I Have in 2002 and dented the U.K. chart, at #40, with lead single 'Why Don't We Fall In Love'. Her next chart appearance here was alongside LL Cool J on his song 'Paradise'. Amerie's debut album had a neo-soul sound to it but she moved over to R&B for sophomore record Touch. She had more creative control for this follow-up, as Amerie co-wrote every song but one, plus had more of a say in the music videos and artwork for the era.

The Touch campaign began with lead single '1 Thing'. This song was written by Amerie and Rich Harrison but also has a credit for Stanley Walden, as the track samples The Meters' 1970 funk recording of 'Oh, Calcutta!', written by Walden. Harrison served as the producer for the song. He took the sample and flipped it, which included additions such as a bongo drum, a cowbell and a ride cymbal. Harrison described the song's sound as having a "strong go-go influence" due to the heavy use of percussion and chant. The lyrics were inspired by a conversation between Amerie and Harrison, as they concluded there's always one undeniable thing that keeps you coming back to someone, no matter what they've done. Amerie was praised for her vocals on the track and was even nominated for a Best Female R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award, but lost out to Mariah Carey for 'We Belong Together'.

The music video was co-directed by Chris Robinson and Amerie herself. Robinson had previously worked on 'Fallin' by Alicia Keys and the Jay-Z and Beyoncé collab '03 Bonnie and Clyde', amongst others. Amerie stars as a go-go dancer in various set-ups. The video is also spliced with scenes from the movie Hitch as the song features on the soundtrack.

Executives at Amerie's label had originally not believed in '1 Thing'. Amerie and Harrison were constantly reworking the track as they were told it didn't sound big enough. Columbia continued to refuse the song. Amerie stated that "people just weren't getting it". Later in 2004, six months after recording '1 Thing', she and Harrison made the decision to leak the song to US radio stations in an attempt to get it officially released. The reception from DJs and listeners was very positive, however, Columbia attempted to suppress the song. Not only was this an unofficial release, but there was also whisperings that Jennifer Lopez had expressed interest in the song for her Rebirth album. Amerie could not confirm the Lopez rumours, but the track clearly would've fit on that album if lead single 'Get Right' was anything to go by, a fellow brassy Rich Harrison song. Radio stations refused to retract '1 Thing' so Columbia finally began promoting it as a single; its addition to Hitch was last minute.

The instincts of Amerie and Harrison were correct as '1 Thing' was a bonafide smash around the world. This song debuted at #4 in the U.K. during the infamous week where 'Axel F' by Crazy Frog and Coldplay's 'Speed of Sound' battled for #1, so she settled for third highest new entry. '1 Thing' spent 14 weeks in the U.K. top 75 and was the 38th best selling song of the year.

This one thing was the very best for jimwatts and Jaz13music as they gave Amerie their 11s. Meanwhile, ElectroBoy wasn't exactly tripping head over heels for this, instead marking '1 Thing' with its lowest score of 3.

1 Thing is a classic, incredible production and chorus. I don't think I ever thought about how extremely similar Get Right sounded and that they were released around the same time (definitely the wrong one topped the chart), was interesting to read the story behind it and how there was actually something of a bidding war going on.

Do enjoy Crazy Chick as well, it was on a Now album I played quite a lot at the time, quite a range going from that Avril Lavigne pop-punk style to opera x

Hoping for a Gwen win from what's left, but the others are worthy of their praise too.

I liked 1 Thing at the time but hearing it on the GTAV soundtrack I think elevated it a bit more.

1 Thing will always be a timeless reference point in the golden era of R&B-pop. Still so fresh and enjoyable.

“1 Thing” is brilliant - a unique sounding and timeless record. Sorry I haven’t commented so much on this one - less to be enthused about in this edition but this is fab.

Pon de Replay was such a great debut from Rihanna.

One I didn't really like at the time but in later years really crept up on me!

Yeah 1 Thing is certainly my favourite, brilliantly percussion driven and ahead of its time, it’s absolutely fantastic!

Really enjoying your thread and commentary too Jade, great work!

PP3 is definately better than PP2 for me - no real bad song. "Pon Da Replay" is at the lower end of this comp for me - never got really into it, eventhough I love a lot of Rihanna songs. Still hope that my favourite song from it will win, eventhough one person gave it a criminal -1.

4 hours ago, DaTilt said:

Still hope that my favourite song from it will win, eventhough one person gave it a criminal -1.

Are you sure, I couldn't see any in the votes for it? I thought it a foregone conclusion it would win anyway.

'1 Thing' is a great R&B-pop fusion for a breakthrough hit. Rhytmically it's in a similar vein to 'Crazy In Love' and although I wouldn't put it in quite the same gamechanging territory, it's my favourite song here.

'Pon de Replay' was a solid debut hit and 'Crazy Chick' was fun to do on Singstar, so it's good to see those high. Nelly's isn't quite as special as 'I'm Like A Bird' but still very unique, it did well for top 10.

Enjoying the detail in these commentaries Jade, very informative! The amount of lore behind 'Some Girls' is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

3 minutes ago, jimwatts said:

Are you sure, I couldn't see any in the votes for it? I thought it a foregone conclusion it would win anyway.

You are right - it is a +1.

3 Girls Aloud - Biology

avg: 8.93

👑 Pop Royalty: 11 (gooddelta, Viper*, ElectroBoy), 10 (Juranamo, Nina West, Scene, blacksquare, Jessie Where, RyanFM, lewistgreen, Jade, Jaz13music, JosephStyles, Lukuzz)

❌ Pop Flop: 5 (Bror), 6 (DaTilt)

"The magic number's in front of me" was some neat foreshadowing from Girls Aloud when, according to De La Soul and others, that is three! Their bronze medal was achieved with an 8.93 average. This is their best Pop Princesses result after placing 17th with 'Jump' (7.09 average) in the inaugural rate and 10th with 'Wake Me Up' (7.82 average) in Pop Princesses 2.

Girls Aloud survived the sophomore slump and released their third album Chemistry towards the end of 2005. They retained Brian Higgins' Xenomania production team for the entirety of this album as the partnership had already proven successful. 'Long Hot Summer' was chosen as the lead single for Chemistry. This track was written for the Herbie: Fully Loaded soundtrack but those plans fell through. Brian Higgins looks back on the song negatively, calling it a "disaster record" and one they made in a panic to chase the aforementioned soundtrack. The song was still a top 10 result for the girls but their first single to miss the top 5, when it peaked at #7. So that was not the ideal start to a new era. The follow-up single was a crucial move.

The girls played the scientific field as 'Biology' was selected as the next pre-album Chemistry single. This song was written by Brian Higgins, Miranda Cooper and others from the Xenomania production team. The track begins with a sample of the main guitar and piano riff from 'Club a Go-Go' by The Animals. 'Biology' follows an unconventional structure as it throws the typical verse-chorus template out of the window and has its own distinct sections. The song doesn't introduce a proper chorus until around 2 minutes in and this spills into a refrain, which acts as a second chorus. Critics praised this song for not following the expected rules of pop music. Higgins was a lot more complimentary about 'Biology' and said it is a "wonderful record". Lyrically, the song has typical quirky Xenomania flair. The repeated "why don't you hold me, hug me, say you love me - without wicked games?" is a reference to Girls Aloud almost releasing a cover of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Games' as a single.

The artwork for 'Biology' saw the girls in test tubes and was inspired by X-Ray Spex's Germfree Adolescents album cover:

The music video for the song was directed by Harvey & Carolyn, who were also behind the visuals for previous Pop Princesses competitors 'Maybe' by Emma Bunton and Girls Aloud's own 'Wake Me Up'. The video features continuous group shots of the girls performing disjointed choreography. There are several outfit and set changes, as the girls start out with a jazzy look and set-up, before changing into pink dresses, then ending up in the black and red outfits seen on the single artwork.

No 'Biology' commentary would be complete without mentioning that it was one of the songs featured in the 2006 McDonalds music player range of Happy Meal toys:

'Biology' was the course correction that Girls Aloud's team were hoping for and swiftly put them back in the top 5, when it peaked at #4. This song was a neat tenth top 10 single for them. Girls Aloud were the second highest new entry that week, behind 'My Humps' by Black Eyed Peas at #3, while Madonna was spending a second week at the top with 'Hung Up'. 'Biology' placed at #65 on the End of Year chart for 2005 after less than 2 months on sale. The song scooped the girls a third Popjustice £20 Music Prize after previously winning with 'No Good Advice' and 'Wake Me Up'.

'Biology' attracted three 11s as gooddelta, Viper* and ElectroBoy loved this unmistakable Girls Aloud hit. However, Bror has caused a controversy with their lowest score of 5.

Good song but not as amazing as some make out it is imo

Pop genius, I love how it's basically 3 different songs welded together and it works like magic. One of the many things I love about their wider discography!

4 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:

Pop genius, I love how it's basically 3 different songs welded together and it works like magic. One of the many things I love about their wider discography!

Gabriella Cilmi - Sweet About Me copied it to lesser effect.

Elsewhere in terms of 'Biology's sound, Sugababes - Round Round started the three songs in one thing, with the acoustic R&B bit before the last chorus!

Edited 16 hours ago16 hr by TheSnake

Great result for Biology ❤️