Jester

Nope.

FFS Oasis not even top 10. Rubbish!!

My picks of the last two posted are Boom (x4) - what a great cheesy tune. I only realised the cheeky ABBA sample years later! I Breathe Again, a gay anthem indeed. Still love it. Whitney's My Love Is Your Love is her best 90s song imo, so chill and her voice is fantastic. Obviously ATB is a trance classic and huge number 1, I do prefer the UK mix of Don’t Stop however. And A1's Be The First To Believe - sounds utterly immense still. What a great debut. Outside the top 10 is the wonderful She's In Fashion from Suede, shame it only peaked at 13.

Jester’s Top Tunes 1047 1 (1) Harry Styles – American Girls // 9-1-1 (3 wks) 2 weeks at number 1 2 (7) PinkPantheress feat. Zara Larsson – Stateside // 11-9-5-3-3-7-2 (7 wks) 3 (6) Taylor Swift – Elizabeth Taylor // 21-16-14-20-23-35-27-21-12-8-7-6-3 (13 wks) 4 (5) Sombr – Homewrecker // 10-8-4-4-2-2-5-4 (8 wks) 5 (4) Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – Rein Me In // 13-11-10-6-4-3-1-3-3-2-1-1-1-4-5 (15 wks) 6 (2) Gorillaz, Asha Puthii, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda & Black Thought – The Moon Cave // 14-11-8-2-6 (5 wks) 7 (3) Jessie Ware – Ride // 10-7-4-3-7 (5 wks) 8 (8) Harry Styles – Aperture // 10-5-2-1-3-3-5-5-8-8 (10 wks) 9 (11) Alex Warren – Fever Dream // 19-15-12-11-9 (5 wks) 10 (10) Arctic Monkeys – Opening Night // 9-4-1-5-6-6-6-10-10-10 (10 wks) 11 (12) Ewan McVicar – Share The House // 19-12-11 (3 wks) 12 (13) BTS – SWIM // 13-12 (2 wks) 13 (-) Tame Impala – My Old Ways // 13 (1 wk) 14 (14) Pulp – Background Noise // 7-5-1-1-3-4-6-7-7-9-13-14-14 (12 wks) 15 (15) Djo – The Crux // 4-1-3-4-6-6-7-8-8-10-14-15-15 (13 wks) 16 (9) Taylor Swift – Opalite // 18-15-11-9-4-7-6-3-2-5-6-11-18-4-1-2-4-6-9-16 (20 wks) 17 (-) Dominic Fike - Babydoll // 17 (1 wk) 18 (18) RAYE – Nightingale Lane // 13-11-18-18 (4 wks) 19 (20) Robyn – Blow My Mind // 21-20-19 (3 wks) 20 (17) Romy – Love Who You Love // 10-6-3-1-1-1-3-5-6-6-8-11-12-13-14-16-16-16-17-20 (20 wks) 21 (-) Chris Stussy & Tom Did It – Wide Awake // 21 (1 wk) 22 (16) BLACKPINK – GO // 20-18-16-22 (4 wks) 23 (21) Olivia Dean – So Easy (To Fall In Love) // 15-13-7-4-2-2-2-2-1-5-7-7-8-10-12-16-15-11-12-15-21-23 (22 wks) 24 (19) Niall Horan – Dinner Party // 19-24 (2 wks) 25 (23) Tame Impala – Dracula // 19-12-9-7-4-3-1-1-1-3-5-7-8-9-13-13-13-16-17-22-15-13-13-18-20-23-25 (27 wks) 26 (25) Pulp – Tina // 5-1-1-1-3-4-6-6-7-8-9-10-14-12-12-14-16-17-16-20-23-23-25-25-26 (25 wks) 27 (22) Robbie Williams – All My Life // 16-11-8-7-2-5-9-14-17-22-27 (11 wks) 28 (24) Bright Light Bright Light + Ana Matronic - Cold Sweat, Hot Boys // 18-11-10-11-17-19-22-24-28 (9 wks) 29 (26) RAYE – WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! // 12-10-15-17-22-26-28-27-29-29-29-26-29 (13 wks) 30 (28) HAVEN feat. Karen Aargon – I Run // 14-12-6-4-4-2-3-2-2-7-8-13-14-17-20-24-27-28-30 (19 wks) 31 (30) Radiohead – Let Down // 9-5-1-1-4-6-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-10-14-14-16-15-15-17-18-20-24-26-28-28-28-28-30-31 (30 wks) 32 (27) Bruno Mars – I Just Might // 11-9-5-2-5-10-12-18-22-24-27-32 (12 wks) 33 (29) Calvin Harris X Kasabian – Release The Pressure // 9-9-10-15-17-23-29-32 (8 wks) 34 (31) Robyn – Talk To Me // 17-10-13-13-19-19-23-27-27-30-31-43 (12 wk) 35 (33) Sonny Fodera & Chrystal – My Loving // 21-21-26-33-35 (5 wks) 36 (34) A*Teens – Iconic // 15-15-21-24-32-34-37-34-36 (9 wks) 37 (33) Djo – Carry The Name // 12-9-4-3-1-3-3-6-7-8-9-12-14-16-16-17-17-14-18-19-19-23-23-26-30-30-31-33-37 (29 wks) 38 (36) Sombr - … 12 to 12 // 5-3-2-2-6-8-15-17-24-28-28-30-31-21-20-17-15-13-1-4-6-7-9-14-17-18-26-32-33-36-38 (30 wks) 39 (37) Oasis – Slide Away // 10-7-4-4-1-1-3-5-6-8-9-10-11-12-13-13-17-17-20-20-20-23-23-24-24-27-28-30-32-35-35-35-37-39 (34 wks) 40 (35) Tame Impala – Loser // 11-8-5-3-1-4-4-7-8-9-10-12-16-16-18-18-19-19-20-21-22-24-27-29-29-31-31-32-35-40 (30 wks)

14. Los Lobos - La Bamba (score 6/10) Number 1 for 2 weeks From Madonna to the song that knocked it off the top of the charts! La Bamba (or La Bomba originally) is a folk song from Mexico and was first made famous by Ritchie Valens (more on him in a bit) in 1958. However, it is a much older song (probably 17th century), originating from the phrase to wobble o shake and the earliest recording dates back to the 1930s. Forward then to the 1980s, Los Lobos (meaning the wolves in Spanish) had been around since the 1970s with very limited success on the charts mainly playing American jazz before deciding to get back to their Mexican roots in the early part of the 1980s. So, back to Ritchie Valens. Luis Vadez wrote and directed a film of the musical career and life of Valens and this was titled La Bamba after his biggest hit. The soundtrack needed a cover of said hit and Los Lobos were approached to cover La Bamba. The video is typical of a film soundtrack, showing the band interspersed with film clips. The result was a hige worldwide smash for Los Lobos, the song spent 2 weeks at number 1 in the UK and was a chart topper in the USA and throughout Europe. I have always liked this cover, its really uplifting and a massive earworm (even the Weird Al Jankovich cover Lasagne works well!). The Spanish guitars work particularly well with the melody and the song rarely fails to cheer me up.

15. Madonna - Who's That Girl (score 5/10) 1 week at number 1 Kept off number 1: Atlantic Starr – Always (3) This is by far the inferior of Madonna’s number 1s in 1987 and a poor copy of that particular song, imo. Who’s That Girl was released as the title track for the third film starring Madonna – not the first (or last) time she starred in and wrote songs for her film soundtracks. Written by Madonna with Patrick Leonard, this was another Latin inspired pop song which sought to replicate the success of her previous number 1. I’ve never seen the film and have no real motivation to do so; but I gather it’s about a woman accused of murder and her attempt to expose the real felon with an interrupted wedding staging the denouement. Sounds a bit standard! Riding on the coat tails of her previous successes, this was Madonna’s fifth UK number 1 (and her sixth US billboard chart topper) – her second number 1 in one year, a trick she would repeat in 2000. I think this is the definition of a non-number 1 - It’s a bland shadow of another song and it just does nothing for me. In fact, I am not alone in passing this one by, it had mixed reviews on release (mediocre, boring and uninspired among the words quoted) so I feel less guilty on being harsh on a Madonna single given I am a huge fan in general. Sorry Madge!

I am enjoying these divisive number 1s, expect a few more and the next post later!

The ratings are really in context of the 20 songs in isolation, I’d probably give it a higher rating if I was rating every number 1 tbh!

I’ll be thinking the same!!

Travesty at Karma Police and Yes being so low. 3 out from my top 5 now!

16. Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite (score 3.5/10) Number 1 for 4 weeks (2 in 1987) Two sogs in a row, both with novelty Claymation videos! Reet Petite was a number 6 peaking hit for Jackie Wilson in 1957, the title was taken from a 1948 Louis Jordan track called ‘Reete, Petite and Gone’, Reet meaning fantastic jazz fans! Jackie Wilson released the song as his first song after leaving the Dominoes and due to the success of the record, one of the writers, Berry Gordy, was able to fund the launch of Motown Records. Fast forward to 1986, a clay amination video if the song was made for the BBC2 show Arena and such was the success of the video, the song was reissued in time for the Christmas market and became the Christmas number 1 of 1986, holding onto the top spot into 1987. I was hyper aware of this song when I was younger, due to the video which at the time seemed very high tech (I was brought up on Morph so that helped). The actual song though is pretty irritating, especially the rolled r’s and I cannot rate it any higher due to this. Still, the video has huge nostalgia value and is still engaging to this day.

Jester’s Top Tunes 1046 1 (9) Harry Styles – American Girls // 9-1 (2 wks) 1 week at number 1 2 (8) Gorillaz, Asha Puthii, Bobby Womack, Dave Jolicoeur, Jalen Ngonda & Black Thought – The Moon Cave // 14-11-8-2 (4 wks) 3 (4) Jessie Ware – Ride // 10-7-4-3 (4 wks) 4 (1) Sam Fender & Olivia Dean – Rein Me In // 13-11-10-6-4-3-1-3-3-2-1-1-1-4 (14 wks) 5 (2) Sombr – Homewrecker // 10-8-4-4-2-2-5 (7 wks) 6 (7) Taylor Swift – Elizabeth Taylor // 21-16-14-20-23-35-27-21-12-8-7-6 (12 wks) 7 (3) PinkPantheress feat. Zara Larsson – Stateside // 11-9-5-3-3-7 (6 wks) 8 (5) Harry Styles – Aperture // 10-5-2-1-3-3-5-5-8 (9 wks) 9 (6) Taylor Swift – Opalite // 18-15-11-9-4-7-6-3-2-5-6-11-18-4-1-2-4-6-9 (19 wks) 10 (10) Arctic Monkeys – Opening Night // 9-4-1-5-6-6-6-10-10 (9 wks) 11 (12) Alex Warren – Fever Dream // 19-15-12-11 (4 wks) 12 (19) Ewan McVicar – Share The House // 19-12 (2 wks) 13 (-) BTS – SWIM // 13 (1 wk) 14 (13) Pulp – Background Noise // 7-5-1-1-3-4-6-7-7-9-13-14 (12 wks) 15 (14) Djo – The Crux // 4-1-3-4-6-6-7-8-8-10-14-15 (12 wks) 16 (18) BLACKPINK – GO // 20-18-16 (3 wks) 17 (16) Romy – Love Who You Love // 10-6-3-1-1-1-3-5-6-6-8-11-12-13-14-16-16-16-17 (19 wks) 18 (11) RAYE – Nightingale Lane // 13-11-18 (3 wks) 19 (-) Niall Horan – Dinner Party // 19 (1 wk) 20 (21) Robyn – Blow My Mind // 21-20 (2 wks) 21 (15) Olivia Dean – So Easy (To Fall In Love) // 15-13-7-4-2-2-2-2-1-5-7-7-8-10-12-16-15-11-12-15-21 (21 wks) 22 (17) Robbie Williams – All My Life // 16-11-8-7-2-5-9-14-17-22 (10 wks) 23 (20) Tame Impala – Dracula // 19-12-9-7-4-3-1-1-1-3-5-7-8-9-13-13-13-16-17-22-15-13-13-18-20-23 (26 wks) 24 (22) Bright Light Bright Light + Ana Matronic - Cold Sweat, Hot Boys // 18-11-10-11-17-19-22-24 (8 wks) 25 (25) Pulp – Tina // 5-1-1-1-3-4-6-6-7-8-9-10-14-12-12-14-16-17-16-20-23-23-25-25 (24 wks) 26 (29) RAYE – WHERE IS MY HUSBAND! // 12-10-15-17-22-26-28-27-29-29-29-26 (12 wks) 27 (24) Bruno Mars – I Just Might // 11-9-5-2-5-10-12-18-22-24-27 (11 wks) 28 (27) HAVEN feat. Karen Aargon – I Run // 14-12-6-4-4-2-3-2-2-7-8-13-14-17-20-24-27-28 (18 wks) 29 (23) Calvin Harris X Kasabian – Release The Pressure // 9-9-10-15-17-23-29 (7 wks) 30 (28) Radiohead – Let Down // 9-5-1-1-4-6-5-6-7-8-9-10-10-10-14-14-16-15-15-17-18-20-24-26-28-28-28-28-30 (29 wks) 31 (30) Robyn – Talk To Me // 17-10-13-13-19-19-23-27-27-30-31 (11 wk) 32 (31) Djo – Carry The Name // 12-9-4-3-1-3-3-6-7-8-9-12-14-16-16-17-17-14-18-19-19-23-23-26-30-30-31-33 (28 wks) 33 (26) Sonny Fodera & Chrystal – My Loving // 21-21-26-33 (4 wks) 34 (37) A*Teens – Iconic // 15-15-21-24-32-34-37-34 (8 wks) 35 (32) Tame Impala – Loser // 11-8-5-3-1-4-4-7-8-9-10-12-16-16-18-18-19-19-20-21-22-24-27-29-29-31-31-32-35 (29 wks) 36 (33) Sombr - … 12 to 12 // 5-3-2-2-6-8-15-17-24-28-28-30-31-21-20-17-15-13-1-4-6-7-9-14-17-18-26-32-33-36 (29 wks) 37 (35) Oasis – Slide Away // 10-7-4-4-1-1-3-5-6-8-9-10-11-12-13-13-17-17-20-20-20-23-23-24-24-27-28-30-32-35-35-35-37 (33 wks) 38 (38) Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande – For Good // 15-13-9-5-2-8-18-22-25-26-29-32-34-36-38-38-38 (17 wks) 39 (39) Cynthia Erivo – No Good Deed // 20-15-10-6-3-9-19-23-26-28-30-33-35-37-39-39-39 (17 wks) 40 (40) Taylor Swift – The Fate Of Ophelia // 15-13-12-8-5-4-2-5-5-8-15-22-22-27-31-32-33-34-36-36-37-40-40-40-40 (25 wks)

I also prefer Leona's version of Run, a rare occurrence where I prefer the cover (see also Valerie).

I’d rather wait for Gezza 👍

I’d rather not Jack (my body)

17. The Firm – Star Trekkin’ (score: 3/10) Number 1 for 2 weeks Kept at number 3: George Michael – I Want Your Sex Oh the conflicting annoyance and ear worm of a novelty record! This particular specimen is a parody of Star Trek and had an interesting genesis from camp fire to huge hit. Rory Kehoe wrote some verses about the characters in the original series of Star Trek and these were sung around campfires – although the song was sung to several different tunes before a total rewrite with partner John O’Connor. The duo attempted to find a record label and after some failed attempts they found a small label to record and added 2 more members along the way. 500 copies were produced and set to radio stations and after an airing in Liverpool things snowballed with Simon Bates from Radio 1 promoting the single and it charted at number 74 before shooting to 13 then number 1, selling 60,000 copies a day! A viral hit before viral hits. Why Star Trek? Possibly, prompted by the upturn in interest in the Original series due to Star Trek: The Next Generation premiering later in 1987. The song features catchphrases from Star Trek. Well, actually it doesn’t really – amazingly the ‘Its life Jim, but not as we know it’ was never said by Spock, but such is the success of the song its now pretty much in the public consciousness as being so. ‘Scotty, beam me up’ similarly wasn’t in the series, but in the film The Voyage Home which was released the year before. As for Kirk’s ‘We come in peace, shoot to kill’, this was obviously not in the series, but the sentiment was there! The video is an integral part of the mass appeal to this song imo. It was produced over a week (to be on TOTP in time) on shoestring budget by some art graduates call the Film Garage in the style of Claymation stop motion and the characters are based on food items (potatoes for example) with the Enterprise itself being made out of pizza (saucer section) and sausages (drive section). Apparently the concept was Kirk hallucinating about food after being in deep space for too long. As a child of 11, I loved this and lapped up the video. I now look at it with slightly rose tinted glasses, as a huge Trekkie but concede that it is highly annoying. That George Michael song kept at 3 isn't one I am a fan of.

🙄

Looks like I’ve picked one with a polarised view there. Be prepared for more!

Another great thread, thanks!

The Greatest DAIYE (the last word said in a deeper voice). If AI wrote a TT song….!

Good question! 🤪

How patronising and a bit disrespectful to apologise on behalf of the actual site and the person that actually presents it.

18. Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley – Jack Your Body (score 2/10) Number 1 for 2 weeks Kept off number 1: Alison Moyet - is This Love? & Robbie Nevil – C’est La Vie (number 3 peaks) House ! Jack Your Body is a landmark in the history of house music, being the first to get to the top of the charts in the UK and the first to get most of its sales from the 12”. This sounds fairly up my street, but clearly isn’t so more on that later. Back in the late 80s in Chicago, a new type of ecstatic dancing was appearing on the house scene and was known as ‘jacking’, which was the inspiration for the track’s title (I fail to see though how anyone could dance ecstatically to this song!). The song itself is very minimalist and down tempo, not your usual house track but I can only imagine how alien it must have sounded to the general public at the time (I as a bit too young to notice the charts really, some songs stood out to me – the next one in particular, but not this). A few other facts about Jack Your Body – most of its sales should have been excluded from the charts as the total run time of the 12” exceeded the 25 minute limit, but the chart compliers didn’t notice until it was at number 1 (this could be ultimate non number 1). This was a bona fide one hit wonder under his own name, although the song was re-released with a new mix 4 more times. Steve was also known as JM Silk (Jack Master Silk) and he had further dance hits in the US under this name. So, why the low score for what on paper is a hugely influential groundbreaking house track? Well, its so DULL. It just leaves me cold and the song goes nowhere with no hook (aside from the repeat chant of the song title, which isn't even interesting in an annoying way) or point of interest. Sad to say, it shouldn’t be boring, but it is. On the plus side, it inspired better songs and pushed the genre in the UK so I can’t deny its influence. Peaking at number 3 over the two weeks we have the utterly wonderful Is This Love? from Alison Moyet (such a shame this wasn't a number 1 for her) and C'est La Vie by not B*witched.

Google lied to me!

50 Oasis - Live Forever 49 Radiohead – Karma Police 48 McAlmont & Butler - Yes 47 Amy Winehouse – Back To Black 46 Eurythmics – Here Comes The Rain Again 45 Pet Shop Boys – Rent 44 The Stone Roses - Fools Gold / What The World Is Waiting For 43 Len - Steal My Sunshine 42 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Enola Gay 41 The Beatles – Yesterday 40 Visage - Fade To Grey 39 Black – Wonderful Life 38 Michael Jackson – Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 37 Arctic Monkeys – Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? 36 Katrina and the Waves - Walking On Sunshine 35 The Beloved – Sweet Harmony 34 Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal 33 The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up 32 Robyn – Dancing On My Own 31 Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia 30 Green Day – Wake Me Up When September Ends 29 Blink 182 - I Miss You 28 Bananarama – Venus 27 The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On 26 Pink - Try 25 The Smiths – This Charming Man 24 Bananarama – Cruel Summer 23 Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam 22 Stealers Wheel - Stuck In The Middle With You 21 Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five - The Message 20 Depeche Mode – Just Can't Get Enough 19 Sister Sledge – We Are Family 18 The Veronicas – Untouched 17 XTM & DJ Chucky presents Annia - Fly On The Wings Of Love 16 Linkin Park – In the End 15 Muse – Time Is Running Out 14 Kygo featuring Conrad Sewell - Firestone 13 Eagles – Hotel California 12 Kelly Clarkson – Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) 11 Mary J Blige - Family Affair 10 Rufus and Chaka Khan - Ain't Nobody 09 Nero – Guilt 08 Evanescence – Going Under 07 Avril Lavigne – Sk8er Boi 06 Lady Gaga – Judas 05 Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town 04 Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing 03 Shocking Blue – Venus 02 Plastic Bertrand – Ça Plane Pour Moi 01 Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell