All three of those are decent but unremarkable for me, although I like the production and verses on Love Me Again, but am less on board with John's voice.

Waiting All Night is catchy but very repetitive as mentioned already.

Look Right Through was certainly one of those songs that could only get to No.1 in 2013. I don't mind it, but don't love it. I remember how it initially fell quickly from No.1 but then stabilised in the 21-40 area for a while, which kind of feels like where I'd expect it to have peaked if released in, say, 2010. Maybe DJ Fresh should have held Gold Dust to 2013 and it would have been a No.1, as it fits the style of this year more than then.

9 La La La - Naughty Boy Feat. Sam Smith.

Number one for 1 week

Year end number 5

La La La was the second single from Naughty Boy's debut album Hotel Cabana and it appears on the deluxe edition of Smith's debut album In The Lonely Hour. It was Sam’s first of 8 UK number ones, and Naughty Boy’s only one.

Naughty Boy originally intended to write the song with Emeli Sande but she was on tour at the time, and he wrote it with Sam instead.

I’m always a sucker for a bit of UK garage but this has great R&B and pop elements too.

Sam’s excellent falsetto vocals first came to my attention on Disclosure’s fantastic Latch, but here they have a warmer soulful tone. The catchy la la la hiccup chorus hook was apparently a relatively obscure Bollywood sample.

The title and lyrics alludes to heartbreak, not wanting to hear the painful truth and having to deal with the consequences, covering your ears like a kid would and saying, 'La La La’.

It’s probably still my favourite of Sam’s singles, I love their uptempo songs more in general. There would be many more number ones to come though.

7

Quiz -

1. Answer - Gentleman

2. Which brotherly electronic duo topped the album charts in June 2013 with their highly acclaimed debut album Settle?

This comes a bit too early imo. Absolutely brilliant song with great vocals. I agree - it is one of Sam's best songs together with Money On My Mind. This La La La background vocal gets stuck in your head. This has aged absolutely perfectly. I have this at #2.

02. Naughty Boy, Sam Smith - La La La (9)

03. Avicii - Wake Me Up (17)

05. One Republic - Counting Stars (22)

06. John Newman - Love Me Again (12)

08. Eminem Feat. Rihanna - The Monster (24)

10. Jason Derulo Feat. 2 Chainz - Talk Dirty (28)

11. Ellie Goulding - Burn (18)

12. Storm Queen - Look Right Through (MK Remix) (10)

14. Martin Garrix - Animals (16)

15. Duke Dumont Feat. A*M*E - Need You (100%) (14)

17. Pharrell Williams - Happy (19)

18. Rudimental Feat. Ella Eyre - Waiting For You (11)

19. Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop (15)

20. Avicii & Nicky Romero - I Could Be The One (23)

21. The Saturdays Feat. Sean Paul - What About Us (21)

23. Calvin Harris & Alesso Feat. Hurts - Under Control (20)

24. Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell Williams – Blurred Lines (31)

25. Will.I.Am Featuring Britney Spears - Scream & Shout (26)

27. Sam Bailey - Skyscraper (27)

28. One Direction – One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) (30)

29. PJ & Duncan – Let's Get Ready to Rhumble (29)

30. James Arthur - Impossible (25)

31. Bingo Players Feat. Far East Movement - Get Up (Rattle) (13)

Annoying as f***, I never liked and hearing it again during its fairly recent re-entry to the charts didn't change my mind (although the main difference now was many more other songs in the top 40 being worse than it)

My joint favourite number 1 of the year and would be in my top 5 for the decade. Love love love it!

I preferred it to Sam Smith's previous hit 'Latch'. But no I'm not much a fan of it apart from the Indian sample in it which was cool.

Edited September 16Sep 16 by TheSnake

8 Roar - Katy Perry.

Number one for 2 weeks

Year end number 6 (88 in 2014)

Roar was the lead single from Katy’s fourth studio album Prism and her 4th number one of 5 to date.

After the huge success of Teenage Dream (plus The Complete Confection) and its singles, Katy had a lot riding on the first single of her new era and she certainly produced a successful very catchy song.

Roar returns to a lot of the lyrical themes of her earlier single Firework, those about standing up for yourself, positively and overcoming adversity, though some rhymes here are a bit easy and some lines feel a little cliched, especially all the tiger metaphors.

Musically it’s obviously a pop song but at times feels almost like arena rock with its driving rhythm and heavy bass and drums.

I particularly love the ‘plonky’ piano melody in the verses, which really reminds me of Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life, and that can never be a bad thing!

Katy certainly shows off her powerful diva like vocals, especially in the uplifting chorus, and I like the repeated little ‘Hey!’ through the verses, reminiscent of The Lumineers’ Ho Hey.

Not necessarily groundbreaking, or as critically adored at Teenage Dream, but I have a real soft spot for Roar’s catchy power pop and empowering message.

7

Quiz -

1. Answer - Disclosure

2. Which Scottish alternative rock band scored their first UK Number 1 album in February 2013 with Opposites?

I wasn’t a huge fan of Roar at the time and not much has changed on that since then.

I much prefer the two follow ups in Unconditionally and Dark Horse.

I was obsessed with Roar at the time, even though it really is very similar to Sara Bareilles' Brave, which didn't even go top 40 here a few months earlier. I still enjoy it now and it's nice to see it quite high here.

La La La is strong, the verses are good, the chorus is catchy, and Sam sounds very soulful on it.

I'm quite shoe that you never knew pleased to see Storm Queen in your top 10! Most electronic music I enjoy nowadays doesn't touch the charts but I have fond memories of a lot of dance music that did make the top 40 in 2013 and 2014, including this song, which topped my personal chart at the time and remains a great house tune.

I was sick of Sam Smith in 2014 but they were off to a promising start with 'Latch' and 'La La La' indeed! I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed 'La La La' until it had a resurgence a couple of years ago due to TikTok, has aged really well.

'Roar' vs. 'Applause' week on this forum (in the iTunes thread at the time!!) was as messy as you'd expect. This is the first one in the top 10 that I don't care for so far, can see why it was so huge but it's a bit too safe for me and the message has been done to death; it's a particular rip-off of 'Brave' by Sara Bareilles. So, not terrible or anything, but doesn't excite me. I liked 'Dark Horse' more at the time although that hasn't aged as well as most of her Teenage Dream stuff.

"Roar" i great. Prism is my favourite Katy era and Roar was a great single from it. I have ranked this as #7, so veyr close to your ranking.

02. Naughty Boy, Sam Smith - La La La (9)

03. Avicii - Wake Me Up (17)

05. One Republic - Counting Stars (22)

06. John Newman - Love Me Again (12)

07. Katy Perry - Roar (8)

08. Eminem Feat. Rihanna - The Monster (24)

10. Jason Derulo Feat. 2 Chainz - Talk Dirty (28)

11. Ellie Goulding - Burn (18)

12. Storm Queen - Look Right Through (MK Remix) (10)

14. Martin Garrix - Animals (16)

15. Duke Dumont Feat. A*M*E - Need You (100%) (14)

17. Pharrell Williams - Happy (19)

18. Rudimental Feat. Ella Eyre - Waiting For You (11)

19. Miley Cyrus - We Can't Stop (15)

20. Avicii & Nicky Romero - I Could Be The One (23)

21. The Saturdays Feat. Sean Paul - What About Us (21)

23. Calvin Harris & Alesso Feat. Hurts - Under Control (20)

24. Robin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell Williams – Blurred Lines (31)

25. Will.I.Am Featuring Britney Spears - Scream & Shout (26)

27. Sam Bailey - Skyscraper (27)

28. One Direction – One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) (30)

29. PJ & Duncan – Let's Get Ready to Rhumble (29)

30. James Arthur - Impossible (25)

31. Bingo Players Feat. Far East Movement - Get Up (Rattle) (13)

So from my ranking it is 1,4,9,13,16,22 and 26 remaining.

35 minutes ago, DaTilt said:

So from my ranking it is 1,4,9,13,16,22 and 26 remaining.

Ooh that’s a very mixed bag Tilt, from love, to like, to hate and everything in between!

'Roar' was a storming lead to come back with after such a huge era, although it is a fairly standard pop song it does the job perfectly.

24 minutes ago, Jaz13music said:

Ooh that’s a very mixed bag Tilt, from love, to like, to hate and everything in between!

No really hate one, but two I don't care about much. while overall my Top 20 is very strong and I like all songs inside.

Roar is fab! Her last great record imo.

“Look Right Through” is a bit of an odd flash in the pan #1 but a good track.

I loved “La La La” at the time and I think it still works well. Not sure Sam ever surpassed “Latch” really.

Not keen on “Roar” which is pretty basic.

'Look Right Through' I didnt like at the time it is basic in terms of production apart from some good percussion in the buildup and doesn't really go anywhere.

I liked 'La La La' by Naughty Boy and Sam Smith. An unusual song but very catchy.

Even though I'm not a fan of Sam Smith, I find his maudlin, shrill voice off putting. However, I think his vocals work well on this track.

The music video is weird. Reminds me of the Wizard of Oz a bit. 😆

Edited September 17Sep 17 by Charlielargepotatoes

7 Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen.

Number one for 3 weeks

Year end number 31

Number 2 watch -

Of The Night - Bastille

Story Of My Life - One Direction

Hey Brother - Avicii

A cover version of the Keane song, taken from their debut 2004 number one album Hopes and Fears, which reached number three in the UK.

It was included on Lily’s third album Sheezus and was her third, and most recent UK number one single.

Obviously, however, the song is best known for its use in the John Lewis Christmas advert for 2013, The Bear & The Hare.

Also a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the single were donated to Save the Children’s Philippine Typhoon Appeal campaign.

The John Lewis Christmas advert somehow became a big cultural event towards year end for a period from the end of the 2000s, becoming an annual tradition and part of the countdown to festivities for many. It developed major media attention and anticipation at its peak of popularity. Most are cover versions of relatively famous songs, which have been simplified and stripped back. Many had great chart success but this was only one of two that reached number one in the UK charts.

This particular campaign was an animated Disney style setting with woodland animals and told the story of the hibernating bear being woken up by the hare so it didn’t miss out on the Christmas celebrations. It used unique hybrid animation techniques that combine traditional hand-drawn 2D animation with physical stop-motion, it reminds me a lot of Watership Down. Now, in the days of the multitude of AI videos/music, it’s quite quaint and lovely to see something so ‘handmade’. Really, it’s absolutely gorgeous ,I didn’t think I’d be saying that about a John Lewis ad!

Here’s a hypocrite alert!

After earlier banging on about my negativity towards poor cover versions (and most charity records for that matter), I’ve now proceeded to put one in my top 10. I loved the Keane original and its parent album long before this version, but for me this passes the test of bringing something new to the song. Musically, I admit it’s nothing earth shattering, being another simple piano ballad cover version that became the John Lewis hallmark, though it does have that really beautiful swelling orchestral accompaniment.

However it’s the vocals I love most, Lily’s voice always naturally has a certain vulnerability to it, I think even more so here, and that adds to the emotion of the song. It’s also forever tied to that tearjerker of a video. In my opinion it was the best song (and video) of the whole John Lewis thing and soon after the idea began to wear a bit thin.

7

Quiz -

1. Answer - Biffy Clyro

2. Who sang the US national anthem at Barack Obama's 2013 inauguration ceremony?

Absolutely hideous cover version, she really shouldn't try actually singing.