'Blame' is fine but it's rather Calvin by numbers for me.

'Gecko (Overdrive)' is a banger though. A great last #1 for sales only. Forgot it sold that much for it's first week!

not much memory of Overdrive, it's not bad, bit of a banger and nice to see Becky Hill on top from non-TV-manipulation. Better than I rated it at the time, dated well (peaked at 71 for me) and another upper mid-tabler for me.

'Gecko (Overdrive)' is my favourite to drop out so far. Maybe I'd feel different if I'd known the original 'Gecko' first but it's probably the best song Becky Hill has been involved with for me, either that or the also mentioned 'Afterglow'. That video though... no thanks!

Impressive that Take That had now flexed their chart topping powers as a five, four and three-piece. I'd say 'These Days' grabbed me more at the time than it does now but still a pretty decent song, especially at this point in their career. 'Blame' is... fine, if a bit throwaway.

Banger! Becky's vocals work perfectly on it.

14. Pharrell Williams – Happy

Chart run: (in 2013 71-30-4-2-1)-(in 2014 onwards)2-1-1-2-3-2-3-2-1-2-3-4-6-6-7-7-10-12-13-15-12-11-14-17-18-17-19-16-18-22-24-25-27-29-30-32-33-32-35-37-40-37-35-33-40-43-53-58-63-59-57-51-34-48-54-50-57-61-55-58-65-68-69-66-73-68R(13)-70-64-72 (74 weeks)

Sales at number 1: 107,427; 117,643; 83,982

Year End: 1

Number 2 peaks behind the chart topper: None

This is a shorter write up for me as this song was covered by Jaz in the excellent 2013 number 1 rate thread as it was a number 1 for the technical last week of 2013.

When it was kicked off the top of the charts initially by a song that is yet to come, that was not the end. Just a week later it regained the top spot, then was knocked off again for five weeks by two other number 1s (one of which is Sam Smith’s Money On My Mind already covered and four weeker again yet to appear) then it took the unprecedented step of getting back to number one for a third stint!

This feat would be repeated by Justin Bieber and then again by Sam Fender & Olivia Dean with you know what, but at the time this was a first. All this pre-streaming as well.

The impressive weekly sales (not only when at number 1) all helped make Happy the biggest selling single of 2014 and up there of all time. Not bad for a soundtrack song off Despicable Me 2.

I cannot deny how infectious and, well, happy this song is. It is immensely joyful and I remain very fond of it to this day. It has many earworms such as the clapping and the whole chorus with the sporadic chants of happy and this helped its broad appeal. It does suffer from massive overplay which knocks it down my rate by a place or two, but still, it’s a massive song. From Pharrell’s big 2010s output, I much prefer Get Lucky, but on the other hand, its not Blurred Lines which is only a good thing.

I hope he is happy, I would be with a hit like this (though his happiness is like a room without a roof oddly)!

All decent songs, Blame I'm not overkeen on John's vocal in parts but I like it overall, the chorus has a good melody.

Overdrive is decent, crazy how long ago that Becky Hill first charted.

I did really enjoy Happy, I would probably rank it around the same or a little higher, it has that instant classic feel to it so I'm not surprised it was so popular.

I bought this track immediately after seeing the film, along with another soundtrack Pharrell track, as it was pretty jolly and catchy, so I was quite pleased when the rest of the world caught on months later, then bemused at just how big it was, and then I got a bit fed up hearing it. These days I'm still OD'd on it, I'd rather hear the other track from D. Me 2 Just A Cloud Away. So maybe another mid table track for me. That midtable is pretty crowded!

I loved this for about 5 minutes, but I quickly became very sick of it and I haven't really been able to get much (if any) enjoyment out of it since.

As mentioned in Jaz's thread this was killed a bit by overplay for me, so it is only #24 for me but in a very strong field for me. Get Lucky has aged so much better.

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)

24. Pharrell Williams – Happy (14)

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)

I appear to be the same as most. I didn’t mind Happy at the beginning, but it became way too overplayed and I ended up not being able to stand it anymore. I’ve softened on it slightly now.

Yeah, I think with hindsight I was a little harsh previously, it’s not bad, and is certainly catchy. I just think it’s a bit bland, very repetitive and massively overexposed. I think it’s therefore about mid list in 2014 too.

Edited 23 hours ago23 hr by Jaz13music

13. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk

Chart run in 2014 only: 1-2-1-

Sales at number 1 (in 2014): 118, 117; 186,655

Year End: N/A outside the top 100. See the 2015 thread though!

Number 2 peaks behind the chart topper in 2014: None

Rather like the issue Jaz had with the 2013 rate on including Pharrell’s Happy, I have the same issue with this thread on including the last number 1 of the year which achieved by far and away better things in 2015. I will try and not discuss the success of the song for the next year though to not spoil it.

I think the song first came to the attention of the British public when it was covered by Fleur East on the X Factor, her version started to gain traction but this abruptly stopped by the release of the original. I will say it again, Fleur East should’ve won the X Factor that year.

Uptown Funk was written by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson amongst others but it wasn’t quite that simple as over the years more songwriters have been credited following successful lawsuits for the songs this was similar to, or sampled/ripped off.

Mark Ronson was of course well known for his excellent album Version which contained multiple top 10 hits but most famously the cover of the Zuton’s Valerie with Amy Winehouse. It was time he had a number 1. Mark is also a prolific songwriter and producer and you can always hear his influence on the songs he is involved with. I must hunt down Version for my vinyl collection actually.

Bruno Mars had already achieved a few UK number 1s and album success and this funky soul vibe was very much his sound. Bruno is another artist already discussed in other’s rates so that is enough on him for now.

No more form me on this as the success will no doubt be discussed in the 2015 thread aside from my opinion which has always been favourable – its pretty irresistible and is as funky as it says on the tin. The combination of Mark Ronson’s production and Bruno Mars’ soul sound make this a massive sounding song and was rightly a huge hit. It was, however, everywhere for too long and I certainly don’t enjoy it as much as I did. I would, I suspect, have this top 10 in any other year in the 2010s though!

Similar to 'Happy', I loved it at the time but it's been too overplayed now for me to get any real enjoyment. It didn't wear quite as quickly as that did though.

I like it a bit more than Happy, it certainly has a lot of energy, does suffer from overplaying too though.

Was it right that Fleur East’s performance on X Factor had happened without permission, causing an earlier release than planned, or was that just a rumour at the time? Version was great as you said, I also have a soft spot for Late Night Feelings, as another Ronson collaborative album.

Yeah its less repetitive than Happy.

14 minutes ago, Jaz13music said:

I like it a bit more than Happy, it certainly has a lot of energy, does suffer from overplaying too though.

Was it right that Fleur East’s performance on X Factor had happened without permission, causing an earlier release than planned, or was that just a rumour at the time? Version was great as you said, I also have a soft spot for Late Night Feelings, as another Ronson collaborative album.

On Fleur East, I seem to remember that as well, but couldn’t substantiate it online.

As for Gecko Overdrive I didn't like the loud metallic clattery synths at the time. I preferred follow-up Koala Last All Night and still do.

Edited 48 minutes ago48 min by TheSnake

An ace song - really loved it in 2015 and still do, eventhough the overplay dropped it a bit down. However, still a strong #10 in a very competetive year.

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)

10. Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk (13)

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)

24. Pharrell Williams – Happy (14)

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)