I can see why some of you would have It’s My Birthday last, but at Will.i.am has some talent and is an actual artist, unlike the X factor karaoke dirge.

Both are awful in summary 🤣

36. Gareth Malone’s All Star Choir – Wake Me Up

Chart run: 1-7-54 (3 weeks)

Sales at number 1: 120,312

Year End: N/A outside the top 100

Number 2 peaks behind the chart topper: None

If there was one song on this list that I had completely forgotten existed at all, it was this!

This added to the Avicii omnipresence in 2013/2014 and added to the trend of the time of choirs/ensembles doing a charity record (see the Military Wives etc). I suppose it was only a matter of time that a well-known choir master stuck his nib in.

The worthy cause then for this ‘All Star’ effort? Children In Need. This added to an impressive line of number 1s for CIN, which has included the wonderful Perfect Day, S Club’s Never Had A Dream Come True & Have You Ever, Girls Aloud’s I’ll Stand By You, Peter Kay’s Medley and some gubbins from JLS.

Gareth Malone’s The Choir ran for 10 years from 2006 to 2016 on BBC 1 and was responsible for the previously mentioned Military Wives choir and a Sport Relief choir amongst others. Clearly, he had form before forming the ‘All Star’ choir (I have said choir too many times and now it sounds weird).

So, who were the ‘All Stars’? Well, Mel Giedroyc, Alison Steadman, Jo Brand, Craig Revel Horwood, Larry Lamb and Linda Robson to name but a few. The point being, I am guessing as I never watched it, that people with little or no singing experience were transformed by the choir master to a decent standard?

This adds literally nothing to Wake Me Up, it is what it says – a choir doing a cover of a dance song. It’s not massively awful, but its instantly forgettable (the terrible chart run and it being outside the Year End top 100 attests to its lack of musical merit) but it raised money for charity so what else can be said? End of.

Wake Me Up when its all over indeed!

2014 was the last of my uni years before my Masters and also the first year I travelled as I did some volunteering in Australia, it was an exhausting but very significant year and I have very fond memories of the music alongside it, it was also probably the last I was really into the charts before streaming took over, the Sunday slot went and made me rapidly lose interest (as well as y'know, having to actually start working when it was on), the lower sales did allow for some really unique number 1s and I was very into the deep house style of dance that would chart highly (something that has changed dramatically now!)

Definitely some absolute crap got to the top though - Ben Haenow is a contender for most faceless and bland winner from X Factor, I don't actually mind the original but he adds nothing to it, not surprised he was very quickly shafted. It's My Birthday is amusing, it's almost shameless in how bad it is, but I can't give it too much leeway.

I probably would put that Wake Me Up cover below them both though purely on song quality - it really doesn't work in that choir style arrangement and I don't think a single line is sung in tune! I can't hate it given it's intentions, but I'd be more than happy to never hear it again x

That's the one which is not on Spotify. It is no big miss - I am not into this choir sound. Only slightly better than the other two revealed so far and for me therefore on place 35.

35. Gareth Malone’s All Star Choir – Wake Me Up (36)

36. Will.i.am ft. Cody Wise – It's My Birthday (37)

37. Ben Haenow – Something I Need (38)

Just one song behind this triple horror for me!

Oh, I spoke too soon! That’s the worst so far. Aside from the charity, it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Of course The Choir thing had to be extended to a ‘celebrities’ version!🙄

I’ll say it again……I hope there’s not worse still to come!

Edit - Heck, I just noticed Tilt says there is a worse song to come!

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Jaz13music

22 minutes ago, Jaz13music said:

Oh, I spoke too soon! That’s the worst so far. Aside from the charity, it has absolutely no redeeming qualities. Of course The Choir thing had to be extended to a ‘celebrities’ version!🙄

I’ll say it again……I hope there’s not worse still to come!

Edit - Heck, I just noticed Tilt says there is a worse song to come!

I guess Jester will have this up next. It is a very very very uninspired cover version with horrible arrangement.

I suspect I do have what you’re thinking of next. At least I hope so for the sake of my taste reputation 🧐😂