'Am I Wrong' another good tune for me. Always preferred it to 'Rude' too so glad it's reflected here as well.

'Sing' is decent too though it's not one I've returned to since then.

'These Days' I liked for a few weeks but got bored quickly of oops, still catchy enough a song whenI hear it nowadays. Also agreeing on 'The Flood' should've been a #1. One of their very best!

These Days is okay, not really memorable for me, though I like that it’s uptempo. Can’t say I’m a fan of any of the 21st Century Take That stuff I’m afraid.

I prefer "Sing" over "Thinking Out Loud", but still not as good as "Don't". #21 for me.

That Take That song I find pretty boring, so this I have ranked at #31.

02. Sam Smith - Money On My Mind (34)

04. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (32)

05. Rixton - Me And My Broken Heart (27)

11. David Guetta ft. Sam Martin – Lovers On The Sun (20)

12. Cheryl Cole - I Don't Care (29)

13. Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (19)

17. DVBBS & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah – Tsunami (Jump) (28)

18. Sam Smith - Stay With Me (31)

21. Ed Sheeran - Sing (18)

22. Magic! - Rude (33)

26. Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down (25)

27. 5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect (22)

28. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (21)

29. Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah – Crazy Stupid Love (30)

30. Aloe Blacc - The Man (23)

31. Take That - These Days (17)

33. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – Problem (26)

34. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj – Bang Bang (24)

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)

38. Band Aid 30 – Do They Know It's Christmas? (35)

I am waiting to see how high up I have your number 32! @DaTilt

5 minutes ago, Jester said:

I am waiting to see how high up I have your number 32! @DaTilt

Yeah, me too. It is a dance song. Beside that, all my lower numbers are solved 😊 and 25 onwards are all songs I like.

32 minutes ago, DaTilt said:

Yeah, me too. It is a dance song. Beside that, all my lower numbers are solved 😊 and 25 onwards are all songs I like.

A fair chance it’s pretty high for me then. I hope it’s not the one I’m thinking it is!

Haven’t checked what’s left but certainly everything in the top 20 so far is decent. “Am I Wrong” is probably my favourite - have always had a soft spot for that. I like the drum beat and the brass on it. Next would be “Sing”, which isn’t as good as “Thinking Out Loud” but has a strong Timberlake style groove. I agree the spaghetti western style works well on “Lovers On The Sun” though it doesn’t have much of interest beyond that. “These Days” is nothing special but jolly enough.

I didn't realise Take That were still getting number 1 singles in 2014. Even though I'm not a fan, it is a decent song which hasn't aged much at all.

'Am I Wrong' sounds like the Afrobeat songs of more recent times by artists like Burna Boy or Tyla. It could have been released in 2022.

Edited Tuesday at 17:182 days by Charlielargepotatoes

I really like 'These Days', definitely a surprise #1 at the time and nice to see them get one last hurrah at that stage!

In early 2015 I stayed in a hotel for work which would play around 200 recent songs on a loop, clearly in alphabetical order by artist, but I couldn't work out why 'Am I Wrong' popped up between Ellie Goulding and Example - only later I found out that Nico & Vinz used to be named Envy. Decent song anyway with the African influences.

"Ed's first ever #1" is not in my top faves by him, but pretty hooky nonetheless. I definitely get more of a 'Like I Love You' vibe (which Pharrell co-produced as part of The Neptunes) from it than anything on Justin's next album. 'These Days' has a catchy chorus too and I didn't think it sounded too out of place as a 2014 #1.

16. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – Blame

Chart run: 1-2-4-5-6-8-7-9-11-15-20-20-31-33-36-32-29-31-36-37-40-42-48-51-59-60-63-60-67-67-69 (31 weeks)

Sales at number 1: 70,312

Year End: 28

Number 2 peaks behind the chart topper: None

This is Calvin Harris’s 7th UK number 1 and 2nd in 2014 – the other one is to follow. It is John Newman’s 3rd UK number 1 – they make quite the pedigree between them.

I think this collaboration was almost inevitable given the dance -soul combination between John Newman and Rudimental in 2012 and the dance-any big singer combinations Calvin Harris had for several years.

I am not going to delve into the careers of either artist here given they have been covered at length already in these rate threads but more into this actual song. John Newman approached Calvin Harris by Twitter about collaborating on a song he had written, he sent him the demo and then Calvin worked his EDM magic on and voila, bing bang blame.

I will say though that Blame is a slight disappointment given its potential. It feels like the result is less than the sum of its parts should be – on paper I would expect to lap this up and for it to be an essential part of their discographies, but it isn’t really in the public consciousness as much as either artists other hits. However, it has a belter of a chorus and the mix of the soulful vocal with the dance beat works well.

Blame is good but it feels like it should have been better. Considering the artists involved, it felt like the sum was less than the two parts. It just seems a bit ‘by numbers’ with the obligatory rent-a-vocalist, so position seems about right.

'Blame' is very good, I miss euphoric dance like it in the charts.

The synth riff is quite ATB - 9PM {Till I Come} influenced.

Edited Tuesday at 19:252 days by TheSnake

This is definately one of Calvin's weaker efforts - never ranked this very high, but it is a pretty solid #25 for me.

02. Sam Smith - Money On My Mind (34)

04. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (32)

05. Rixton - Me And My Broken Heart (27)

11. David Guetta ft. Sam Martin – Lovers On The Sun (20)

12. Cheryl Cole - I Don't Care (29)

13. Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (19)

17. DVBBS & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah – Tsunami (Jump) (28)

18. Sam Smith - Stay With Me (31)

21. Ed Sheeran - Sing (18)

22. Magic! - Rude (33)

25. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – Blame (16)

26. Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down (25)

27. 5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect (22)

28. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (21)

29. Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah – Crazy Stupid Love (30)

30. Aloe Blacc - The Man (23)

31. Take That - These Days (17)

33. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – Problem (26)

34. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj – Bang Bang (24)

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)

38. Band Aid 30 – Do They Know It's Christmas? (35)

One of my ultimate favourites of Calvin, along with 'Feel So Close'. I love that distorted guitar sound on both, craving more of it!

8 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:

I love that distorted guitar sound on both, craving more of it!

Yeah thats what I was talking about with the ATB style effect!

Edited Tuesday at 22:052 days by TheSnake

Blame yet another one I'd forgotten and that the "nigh-i i-i-ite" hook just annoys me now, just stick extra words in for goodness sake! Calvin/Newman by numbers for me, all the right sounds but the melody and lyrics lacking. It got as high as 10 in my charts but the 7-week run suggests I got fed up with it pretty quickly and the chart points are in line with tracks that fall short of my top 20 in 2026, for example less than Self Aware (Temper City) which is peaking at 30 at the mo and is a better track with a much longer chart run. Mid-chart for 2014....

15. Oliver Heldens x Becky Hill – Gecko (Overdrive)

Chart run: 1-5-8-9-15-13-11-17-25-28-30-34-36-39-42-47-53-56-51-45-50-59-72R(6)-69-70-71 (26 weeks)

Sales at number 1: 76,517 (the last number 1 without streaming added)

Year End: 35

Number 2 peaks behind the chart topper: None

Gecko was originally released as an instrumental by Dutch producer Oliver Heldens in late 2013 and it attracted a lot of attention from DJs all over Europe.

It was then re-released in June 2014 with vocals from Becky Hill. Becky of course found her fame from the first series of The Voice UK in 2012 where she joined with judge Jessie J and she reached the semi finals. Her voice gained her the attention of dance producers as she joined with Rudimental on Powerless and then, more successfully with Wilkinson on the wonderful Afterglow which she co-wrote.

She co-wrote her vocals for Gecko and it was renamed with an Overdrive to separate the two different versions and this exploded on the dance scene giving a first, and only number 1 for both Oliver Heldens and Becky Hill – this also makes her the only Voice contestant to get to the top of the charts to date.

Becky would go on to be one of the dance vocalists of choice for producers and has carved out her own solo career. She still releases music to this day impressively for a reality TV music star. As mentioned above, this was the last UK number 1 that did not include streaming sales so it represents the end of the ‘pure sales’ era. At least it went out on a bang(er)!

The video is rather odd, I haven’t commented much on videos so far unless they are notable. This one involves a cake, two couples and tentacles. Have a look at the YouTube video linked above if you are curious!

Probably my favourite so far, a pretty good dance record and I like Becky’s vocals. I agree Afterglow was great though!

Gecko is ace - the best song on the Forza Horizon soundtrack. Becky's vocals are ace. The best pure dance song of that year. ==> #6

02. Sam Smith - Money On My Mind (34)

04. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass (32)

05. Rixton - Me And My Broken Heart (27)

06. Oliver Heldens x Becky Hill – Gecko (Overdrive) (15)

11. David Guetta ft. Sam Martin – Lovers On The Sun (20)

12. Cheryl Cole - I Don't Care (29)

13. Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong (19)

17. DVBBS & Borgeous ft. Tinie Tempah – Tsunami (Jump) (28)

18. Sam Smith - Stay With Me (31)

21. Ed Sheeran - Sing (18)

22. Magic! - Rude (33)

25. Calvin Harris ft. John Newman – Blame (16)

26. Rita Ora – I Will Never Let You Down (25)

27. 5 Seconds of Summer – She Looks So Perfect (22)

28. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud (21)

29. Cheryl Cole ft. Tinie Tempah – Crazy Stupid Love (30)

30. Aloe Blacc - The Man (23)

31. Take That - These Days (17)

33. Ariana Grande ft. Iggy Azalea – Problem (26)

34. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj – Bang Bang (24)

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)

38. Band Aid 30 – Do They Know It's Christmas? (35)