For my first ever ranking thread I’m honoured to be asked to take on the UK number ones of 2013, thanks so much Julian!

In fact it’s really the first proper thread I’ve ever started, if you discount my attempts at inanely ranting into the darkness on the genre forums about some new obscure artist I’ve recently fallen in love with!

As seems to be traditional, I’ve included the first and last chart toppers of the year but I have also added a week in which both all of the sales and the chart were announced in 2013, and even though the OCC present it as a week ‘ending’ in 2014, I think that makes it a 2013 number one! So I make that 31 to rank and discuss. A fast turnover of mostly great, mostly new songs at number one, if only 2026 could be like that!

I’m also going to grade each out of ten and I wanted to keep the 8s 9s and 10s for the very best songs, so I apologise if the early scores seem a bit harsh as a result, especially if it’s one of your favourites!

Having said that, I am going to try to look for some positives, even in the songs I don’t really like much.

I hope I can live up to the excellent ranking threads before mine and as I go on I’d really love to hear any of your opinions, disagreements, comments or any information you might be able to add. But also please be gentle, it is my first time!

So, 2013. Unlike most of the previous fantastic posters of the early 2010s number one threads I couldn’t say I was in the ‘peak’   of my journey of musical discovery, which I’d probably guess for most people would be in their teens and twenties. In 2013 I was turning 45 years old, and by that stage I admit that, though I was very much still interested in the UK charts themselves, the music that was reaching the top was becoming less appealing to me and my interest was leading me to less ‘popular’ things. And then around 2012/13 things seemed to change….

In many ways 2013 was the peak of the relatively short lived ‘download era’ before streaming became the dominant method of music consumption. I say that because the most downloaded song in history and some of the very last ‘true’ million sellers were released in 2013, in total there were 4 within the year and another 5 released that year that eventually reached the milestone. It was the second highest ever total for single sales, only just behind 2012. Most notably there was an incredible period between 27th April and 28th September when every song which reached number one sold over 100,000 copies during its first week there (just short of the all time record from 1997) and 6 other songs also managed that feat in 2013.

In contrast album sales were at an all time low, it was the first time since 1984 when an artist studio album released in that period had failed to sell over a million copies by the end of the year. One Direction's third album, Midnight Memories ended the year as 2013's biggest selling album.

Personally, I feel that it was the best year for music out of all the 2010s, with many of my favourite songs, some of them by groundbreaking artists, reaching number one and we’ll eventually come to those at the very top of the list. Then again, there were some (often the 1 week number ones) that I barely remembered before listening through them all for the ranking. As a result I came to many of them with new(ish) ears, so I hope you’ll forgive me a relative lack of prior knowledge of those. Before that however, we’ve got the usual (for the era) charity records, X Factor songs and cover versions to work through.

And one really objectionable song….

So onto the rankings….

Looking forward to this!

I turned 16 in 2013 so sat my GCSEs that year and moved into A Levels during the Autumn. But I spent plenty of time obsessing over music otherwise and moved my personal chart to BuzzJack this year, after originally starting it on YouTube back in 2011! That area of the forum, The Lounge and following the weekly chart thread encouraged me to post more on the forum, to the point of winning 'best emerging poster' in the Awards that year, however, would not become as prominent as I am now until 2015.

I have quite fond memories of the charts this year too and vividly recall that period of big hitters that you mentioned!

well done Jaz on taking on the mantle, and for the first time to boot! 🤩I had some big faves that year which topped the chart so hopefully I can enthuse a bit in amongst the lesser ones! 😎

X Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke Feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams.

Number one for 5 weeks

Year end number 1

Number 2 watch -

The Other Side - Jason Derulo

First, an apology for a bit of a cop out!

So I’ve decided to get Blurred Lines out of the way first, it is definitely the one I was least looking forward to assessing. Ironically it’s also the one I’ll almost certain to write the most about. I’m afraid it’s going to be a bit heavy but I didn’t feel in all conscience I could just brush over its impact.

When Julian asked me if I wanted to choose one of the early 2010s years as my number 1 ranking, I jumped at 2013 primarily due to my love of the songs towards the top of my list, and hope a that I could write enthusiastically about them. However I forgot it included this song and all its issues. With most artists with extremely objectionable histories (Glitter, R Kelly etc) or questionable opinions (Kanye, Morrissey etc) I often try to separate the people from their art when discussing the music, though at times Thicke appears to fit in both those categories too. However the problem with Blurred Lines is that it’s the song that is the issue. I found it so difficult to know where to pitch it in the countdown that I’m breaking with tradition and not ranking it at all. I hope that’s okay?! (Otherwise just count it as last).

It’s especially sad we’re talking about the biggest single of the year which, on the surface is musically okay but lyrically is obviously very suspect.

Funnily enough the thing it probably became most famous for, the ensuing plagiarism case, bothers me the least. I never really saw a great similarity between Blurred Lines and Got To Give It Up, and I feel that if the writers had offered a credit to Marvin Gaye, as is the common outcome since this case (à la Ed Sheeran with Shape Of You vs TLCs No Scrubs) I think that would probably have been acceptable and the financial penalty would have been much less. I never agreed that you can copy the ‘vibe’ of a song since all pop music is indebted to others before them. Instead it changed the whole face of musicology and copyright, the effects of which we still see to this day. That could be a whole discussion in itself.

Part of the reason I find it hard to rank is that I really like the music. For me, certainly at the time, it was a real earworm and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one. The bouncy electro pop minimalist funk, unusual cowbell loop percussion, contrasting vocals and the chart hogging talents (and ‘woos’) of Pharrell were all evident. Maybe it’s an instrumental version I needed? Of course the obvious issues relate to the lyrics. It was accused of promoting rape culture and objectifying women, especially lines such as "I know you want it",  "What rhymes with hug me?", “Just let me liberate you”, and “I hate these blurred lines”  among others, suggesting that sexual advances are justified regardless of consent. In his attempted defence, Thicke argued the song was misinterpreted and was actually about his wife (!), and Pharrell later admitted to being embarrassed by the lyrics, acknowledging they catered to a "chauvinist culture". However that doesn’t explain the video, particularly the uncensored version, which was rightly heavily criticized further for depicting nude models engaging in suggestive behavior while the artists appeared in suits (I’m not posting that here).

Then came the infamous 2013 MTV Video Music Awards when Thicke performed "Blurred Lines" as a duet with Miley Cyrus, medleyed with We Can’t Stop and Give It 2 U. Miley had stripped down to a small skin-colored two-piece outfit and touched Thicke's crotch area with a giant foam finger and twerked against him. The audience reaction both in the studio and at home seemed to be both confusion and discomfort. It became the most tweeted about event in history and Miley later said she felt sexualised while twerking in the performance.

Without getting too political I’d like to think we’ve come a long way since 2013, but it certainly feels like we’ve been regressing a lot as a society recently.

So all in all a decent, extremely popular ‘tune’ (at the time) but with very objectionable sentiments. Interestingly enough, for the best seller of the year, it seems to have had relatively less impact over recent years, or is that just wishful thinking? With most year end number ones I can find some redeeming features or reasons for its popularity, here I find that difficult.

Hope you’ll forgive me for a lack of ranking, I’ll try to be a bit more upbeat from now on.

X (no score)

A Quiz:

Now for something less heavy!

I hope you don’t mind, but as an added bonus, just for fun, I’ve made some 2013 related quiz questions for you to try between each post. Answers will be with the following post and there’s no prizes (sorry). No spoilers or cheating please, I’ll trust you to be honest on how well you’ve done! They might start off easy but will get a bit harder later on I think.

1. Which 2013 UK number one was Song of the Year winner at the 2014 Grammy awards?

It's a good groove behind it - which it would be, it was Marvin Gaye's, as I pointed out when it first entered my personal chart at the time, with a comment along the lines of "I hope he got the permission of the Marvin Gaye Estate". Oops! Artists err on the side of caution these days and just get the sample paid for upfront rather than just copy it, so Mr Thicke and Pharrell have done older pop stars and their kids a favour, I suppose!

I have to admit I wasnt that aware of the furore over the lyrics at the time given I sometimes only half pay attention to them, and sexualised videos was long a thing so I avoided them mostly too by this time - learing videos of women have always made me squirm a bit. Call On Me just popped into my mind for some reason....

Robin Thicke came over as a bit of a dope at the time, but having Pharell involved gave it a kudos which perhaps inflated it a bit (at least for me). I wouldnt choose to play it these days, but then again I would always pick Got To Give It Up over Blurred Lines anyway!

Was never a big fan of the song and it’s aged poorly. I’m not convinced it deserves cancellation any more than a lot of other stuff though.

I wasn't a huge fan of 'Blurred Lines' at the time because it was so overplayed throughout 2013. Also, I feel Robin Thicke had better songs throughout his career than this.

The lyrics do give me stalker vibes and I think it would get more complaints if it had been released today.

The music video looks so cheap as well with hashtags flashing up every 30 seconds.

Edited Tuesday at 14:422 days by Charlielargepotatoes

The way that song was inescapable that year

6 minutes ago, lewistgreen said:

The way that song was inescapable that year

Everybody get up

No I never really liked it. Probably because it was overplayed and also because its very basic musically just a bassline and beat mostly and the song doesn't really build up to anything good or go anywhere.

Anyway by the middle of 2013 when Blurred Lines was released there were quite a few songs in the charts I didnt like. I had been more into 2011-12 music.

Edited Tuesday at 15:102 days by TheSnake

30 One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) - One Direction.

Number one for 1 week

Year end number 24

Their third number one single, this time released in support of Comic Relief.

Now I wanted to have no further controversy, but I’m afraid straight away I might be upsetting some fans by putting One Direction at the bottom of the list. In my defence I have no problems with them and like a lot of their back catalogue, I just don’t like this song. I much prefer Best Song Ever or Story Of My Life, both of which were number 2s later in the year, for example.

I make no secret of the fact that I mostly dislike cover versions, especially if they add nothing new to the original. There are obviously some wonderful exceptions to this. In this case they somehow manage to butcher not one but two fantastic songs, first Blondie then The Undertones, and mash them together in a very awkward way, a ‘one two three four’ piecing the two completely differently paced songs together. As a positive I admit I do like the chanting ‘na na na na’ bridge and the bouncy pop energy and I also accept that the end justifies the means in terms of charity.

And something has to be last doesn’t it!!

2

Quiz -

1. Answer - Royals - Lorde

2. Which artist had the most UK top 10 singles in 2013?

Not a 1D fan myself, generally, but on the plus side two great non-number-one songs getting a go on top as a mash-up cover. I will take Blondie and The Undertones anyday, but I don't dislike this version. It might still be bottom of the list though for me, depending on what's left!

An absolutely ghastly mash up - “Blurred Lines” is far better.

The only 1D song I really like a lot is “Night Changes”. A few others are OK.

I loved Blurred Lines at the time. It's a little marred these days but still is a bit of a groove, it just reminds me that Pharrell was everywhere in a 12 month period, on three gigantic hits. I feel like a lot of these biggest seller of the year type songs are very of their time. Obviously this was especially the case in the 00s with charity and reality stuff, but even in the 2010s, you never really hear Love The Way You Lie or Blurred Lines too much these days compared to other songs from their years.

Not a fan of the 1D song so can support that being this low. They had some strong singles but this wasn't one of them, I'd even forgotten it was a mash-up with Teenage Kicks as I never really want to listen to it all the way through.

Can't stand 1D so this would be right at the bottom of my countdown too. Although, I don't know what other songs we've got coming so it might change.

It always makes me cringe seeing a prime minister featured in a music video, especially David Cameron, who I can't stand.

Edited yesterday at 14:121 day by Charlielargepotatoes

I quite like 'Blurred Lines' although don't really go back to it these days. 'Give It 2 U' was always so much better!

2013 was one of my favourite years of the millennium so I'm excited about this.

Bit of a copout to not rank Blurred Lines but oh well never mind.

Never really got into "Blurred Lines". I still can't understand why it was that big. Most One Direction songs are not for me. I need to give the 30 songs a listen again to rank them properly, but my Top 5 songs seem to be clear by now. 2013 a really nice year with great #1's. Only topped by 2014, which four me has the highest density of great songs in the 2010's.

2013 was another very memorable year for me, my second year of uni and also my first one where I held down a job back of house in a theme park restaurant near my uni, not a particualrly glamorous one but did feel like my first taste of proper adulthood, the main thing I associate it with however was that we had Kiss FM on all the time and it is that which made me really, really hate commercial radio and some of the hits of the year sadly got permanently tainted. Although that doesn't reflect my overall opinion towards the music of 2013, as I really liked it as a whole and the number 1s list are generally very good with a lot of memories attached to them.

Blurred Lines, as the biggest song of the year, probably falls in that category, but there's definitely other reasons why I have very little inclination to listen to it which are pretty well documented these days. I think this is the sort of thing that #MeToo just made us all have a wake up call on, and it just sounds even worse coming from three grown married men, some of which had children. The song itself is OK outside of that, but I was never that into it even at the time, Pharrel had far better productions and I think the issue is Robin Thicke himself is dull and not really a standout artist in the genre at all, he got lucky with this one but it's telling that there was almost nothing after (as the lead artist anyway). Wouldn't quite rank bottom, but not far off.

I've never had strong opinions on the One Direction cover, it's fine for what it is and they were always going to be first choice for the Comic Relief single but it's pretty pointless and the mash-up doesn't work at all, adding nothing to either track. David Cameron appearing in the video as Prime Minister really does feel like a lifetime ago though!

29 Let's Get Ready to Rhumble - PJ and Duncan.

Number one for 1 week

Year end number 126 (71 in 1994)

Number 2 watch -

Just Give Me A Reason - Pink/Nate Ruess

So why was Rhumble spelt with a ‘h’ ?!

The alter egos of Ant and Dec were originally characters in their BBC teen drama TV show Byker Grove. Rhumble was originally released in 1994 reaching number 9 and nearly two decades later reached number 1 on re release. This time sales royalties went to the Childline charity and the song was performed by the two on their Saturday Night Take Away show (a big reunion episode) in celebration of its return, including the full energetic now ironic dance moves. This prime time exposure helped propel the song to number 1.

The song included a sample of boxing and wrestling announcer Michael Buffer saying his famous catchphrase. But “Rumble” was apparently deliberately spelled as "Rhumble" to avoid copyright problems, since Buffer had trademarked the phrase and also as a pun on the dance the Rumba.

Anyway, this is the worst of 90s comedy rap records with stacks of ‘humorous’ catchphrases and cheesy lyrics. ‘Partners in crime, we’ll never do time’…..is almost Shakespearean. The music is limp and tinny with little redeeming qualities outside the ‘so bad it’s good’ throwaway nature, the sirens, the dance routine and A&Ds good guy images. I do love the 90s curtain haircuts in the video though!

Also, I can’t forgive it was one of the songs which stopped the excellent Just Give Me A Reason from reaching number one (along with another much better song coming later)!

2

Quiz -

1. Answer - Calvin Harris with 5

2. To which song did Miley Cyrus "twerk" to at the 2013 VMA awards?

As much as I enjoyed PJ & Duncan getting a random resurgence, it’s still annoying that Just Give Me A Reason missed out. Poor P!nk should have had more no.1s.