T Boy

So apparently Felix is leaving which is a complete waste but Matthew Morrison seems to hint that he might actually get a storyline before he goes. It’s a shame he got nothing at all because she’s shown many times how capable he is. Bernie next?

I guess it’s not difficult to understand unless you’ve fallen down the ‘she’s definitely definitely innocent’ rabbit hole…

Still feels like there’s no buzz AT ALL for the fortieth anniversary next week.

I know it wasn’t his choice but he’s literally gone 0 to 60 on it immediately and isn’t considering anyone else, not even Barney despite what he’s telling himself. It’s actually quite a possessive attitude and doesn’t sit right with me.

So frustrating that Harvey just won’t end things with Jean. She really is disgusting to him and he’s just trying to be nice. He has so much more chemistry with Kathy anyway. I don’t mind Teddy, I was glad to see him let rip tonight as the nice guy thing always felt like an act. I don’t like Zack being Barney’s dad though. Teddy and Barney seemed quite well cast as father and son and it just feels like they ran out of ideas for Zack. He’s being quite selfish deciding he has a right to be part of Barney’s life after not even knowing he existed 5 minutes ago.

I thought that it would definitely peak at 2 purely because Now 59 had it as the opener, and I thought Now knew something I didn’t about how big it’d be. The song never sounded like a massive hit. The only thing I can think is that it was Blue’s last single and perhaps they wanted to give them a belated opener or something but even that doesn’t make sense.

Brenda has certainly been missing in all of this. I wonder how she will still make Sonia feel like shit.

Surely Holly won’t be kidnapped AGAIN? Jesus, now wonder this show is ending.

I was wary at the time it leaked that a Cindy return could flop. As you said, Liam, there always was a place for Kathy in the show just waiting for her. They botched her return story but she was definitely needed. Cindy has the opposite problem. They got her return episodes very right but she just struggles to find a place in the show. Her previous stunts all went the same way-an attempt at normality that she got quickly bored with before looking for the next bit of fun. Bringing her back wasn’t wrong but she’s perhaps a character best left out there and returning every now and then to create trouble.

I feel like the Bedingfields got a bit of a rep for being quirky (this came from their personalities alone as their music never was before this) and that was feedback Natasha took on board a little too much when she was planning her second era. She probably thought this would be ‘fun’ enough to smash. She also had the example of her brother’s rather dull second era flopping hugely just a couple of years earlier. It could have been a good fourth single off the album, showing a fun side and quietly charting at no.23 or something but this was the lead. This was supposed to be the best song on the album. It was a poor choice. So long story short, voted for Babies.

It’s always quite amusing when they don’t playlist a popular song. The DJs don’t always like every song on the playlist-Basshunter was case in point as they played them a lot and yet every presenter clearly couldn’t stand them. Padam Padam is the only one I can think where they playlisted it due to pressure. Moves Like Jagger-they sort of caved here though it never made the playlist. They had dropped both Maroon 5 and Christina by the time this was released and even when it was played on the chart, it used to get no fanfare whatsoever compared to other songs in the top ten. But it arguably gets played on Radio 1 more now than it did back then and they then playlisted every Maroon 5 song for the next decade. Hips Don’t Lie wasn’t playlisted and whilst it was no.1, they did a segment where they asked people in the street why they like the song so much. She Wolf was then playlisted in 2009. Alexandra Burke was dropped after Broken Heels which seemed extremely premature given they kept other similar artists going. Much longer. Likewise Paloma Faith stopped getting playlisted after Picking Up The Pieces which seems really odd. I think Anastacia only ever got playlisted with I’m Outta Love but I’m not sure. I do remember she got a few plays when the album chart got more focus back in 2004, I remember Wes playing Sick & Tired before it charted and saying that listeners had texted in about how good the song was. I’m amazed Pink got playlisted as long as she did. Shame though that she got dropped given Trustfall would have slotted in perfectly but this was the point I jumped ship to Radio 2 anyway.

The Cindy storyline was a huge flop. I dread to think what they have in store for her when she gets back.

I loved Bianca’s comment about Joey, that was a strange time for the show. Jean treats Harvey so horribly. I know he will end up cheating with Kathy and we’re all supposed to feel sorry for Jean, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. I like Zack and I like Nicola but this storyline is not the one.

Not asking for a pure sales chart (which is feasible surely given that they publish one anyway, don’t they?) and just saying don’t mix the two. What do we really need an official chart for anyway?

Of course both sales and streaming are real but they’re not the same thing. I’ve mentioned this a few times but I don’t really think they should ever have been merged together. The chart we have now is basically a result of people not moving with the times whilst acting like they have moved with the times by combining sales and streaming. We’re used to having an ‘official’ chart and we still do have one. But it’s pretty fabricated and still boring despite this. But chart watchers need an official chart because they need to keep the 70+ year tradition going. I think having a separate sales chart and streaming chart is where we should be. Yes, these exist already but my argument would be not to combine into an official chart. Given streaming is much stronger nowadays, that chart would be very similar to the official one anyway. You could play it on Radio 1 and even get rid of ACR and the like. Radio 2 could house the sales chart as it would be predominantly their listeners contributing to it. Joe Public doesn’t even know what the official no.1 is at any given time, the sales chart is often quoted by people as being official despite the fact sales are through the floor. I dunno, I just don’t see the point of combining for an official chart in this day and age when it means so little to the country at large. You could still have sales records and streaming records and still report on and refer to them. It’s just always been combining and comparing two completely different ways of consuming music, ways that don’t add together well. But people want to cling to the old ways without even realising they’re doing it and we get stuck with the charts as they are. Some of you love them. That’s fine. This is just the opinion of someone who joined this forum 19 years ago with enthusiasm for the charts that has long faded partly due to age but probably also down to not having the time or patience to keep up with the current mess that is the charts.