My Random Music

The Adele example is why I think it's a good idea. Likewise once the video goes viral they can decide to release it as a single.

I thought the days of records spending many weeks at number one had long gone, but when I heard about Drake being on course to beat Bryan Adams record I looked at the charts for the first time in years and have kept an eye on them since. I've never quite understood the whole TikTok thing so forgive my ignorance, but what is stopping a TikTok person making their song an official single?

One thing to bear in mind is that 20 years ago a tune had been doing the rounds on the music channels, radio etc. for several weeks before it hit the charts. Nowadays it's eligible to chart from the moment it's heard by the general public. My view is that they should get rid of the rules they brought in after all those Ed Sheeran hits. If artist x has the 4 biggest singles of the week then they should occupy the Top 4 instead of number 4 not being in the charts at all. It also means it's unlikely we'll see Bryan Adams 16 week record broken. Yes we would get sick of said record if it did beat Bryan Adams much like we got sick of Bryan Adams at the time, but it's much more interested to have the possibility there than knowing it's never going to happen. Let's face it the charts are stale with these rules in place so it can't be any worse by not having them there. One thing I do think would make it better is if only official singles were eligible to chart.

I don't think "Float On" should be on the list, that's a good tune. Also don't think "Little Children" should, that was part of the Mersey Beat movement that was all the rage at the time. Otherwise I agree with all the others. Ones I think you've missed off: Lita Roza - (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window Scaffold - Lily The Pink Archies - Sugar Sugar Rolf Harris - Two Little Boys Benny Hill - Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) Lieutenant Pigeon - Mouldy Old Dough Billy Connolly - D.I.V.O.R.C.E. Brotherhood Of Man - Save Your Kisses For Me Wurzels - Combine Harvester (Brand New Key) There are others I would add to the list but it would be more to do with personal taste.

I've not listened to the chart show (or Radio 1 for that matter) for around 20 years now. Whether I listened to it or not depended on what else I was doing at the time. Back then though it was the only place to hear every song in the Top 40. I recall on numerous occasions looking at the Top 40 on Teletext and seeing tunes that never appeared on the radio, the music channels or Top of the Pops and therefore having no idea what they sounded like. Nowadays the Top 40 has already been revealed by the time I get home from work on a Friday. All I need to do is listen to the new entries on YouTube and more often than not decide I never want to hear said tune again.

Why are you excluding instrumentals? "The Crunch" by Rah Band is a good tune. I currently do something similar in my blog, each Sunday I review the Top 30 from 30 years ago and on Thursdays I have a general review of the Top 40 in the first week of July each year with a score to find the best year for the Top 40. I don't have as many categories though, just 1 for good, 0.5 for OK and 0 for rubbish.

I'm not sure what else they think these 2nd singles deserved. Many of them charted pretty high. Girls Aloud were as commercial as it got at the time so I dare say anyone who was ever going to buy "No Good Advice" bought it. There is music out there which could have been more successful if enough people had heard of it. Not with those acts listed though.

From a 90s dance music perspective a mixtape would be a continuous DJ mix done in one go and wouldn't always just be tunes by the DJ in question. More often than not it would be a recording from a rave or a radio show. I suspect it's used to describe what is basically an album these days because an album is what old people buy and that's not cool. By calling it a mixtape you're telling the kids they're buying something us oldies don't get.

Like with many genres the rave tunes in the charts were a mixture of underground records that got big and records that were made for the charts. "A Trip To Trumpton" was a credible record called "Feel the Heat" but they replaced the vocals in it with the Trumpton sample for the single release. "Sesame's Treet" was very much a novelty record, but Smart E's member Luna C started Kniteforce Records afterwards which is quite an iconic label in the rave scene. The rave tunes stopped charting in 1993 but there were plenty of big records coming out and lots of big raves still happening. By 1994 the rave sound split into jungle and happy hardcore with jungle then evolving into drum & bass. "Set You Free" and "Let Me Be Your Fantasy" were both recorded in 1992 but didn't chart until 1994.

None of the music on there was to my liking but that was to be expected. It was good to see it wasn't just the usual EDM tune followed by dreary ballad formula they've been using in recent years. However, I don't like the fact they were featuring tunes that didn't make the Top 40. There were artists who have had Top 40 hits this years appearing but playing a non-Top 40 hits. That's not what Top of the Pops is about.

They've not had any further Top 40 hits.

There have been 4 different versions chart so technically 4 separate singles. One of those grey areas people will have their own opinions on so I put included it anyway and let the individual decide for themselves whether it counts or not.

I'll be watching because I always do but the music has generally been awful for years now. I'm too old to be in the target audience for modern chart music though so I'm fine with that, What does bother me about these Top of the Pops specials in recent years is them featuring records that never made the Top 40. I get that they have to make do with who they can get but there have been over 200 Top 40 hits this year, surely that can find enough people from that to fill the show. As for Fearne Cotton leaving, I think that was always going to happen sooner or later. She's a similar age to me so it's highly likely she's not into the music on the show either.

These are the ones who had more than one Top 40 hit: Mantovani - White Christmas Beverley Sisters - I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Harry Simeone Chorale - Little Drummer Boy Nina & Frederick - Mary's Boy Child Goodies - Father Christmas Do Not Touch Me Chris Hill - Renta Santa Santa Claus & The Christmas Trees - Singalong-A-Santa Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas Aled Jones - Walking In The Air Darlene Love - All Alone At Christmas Matt Terry - When Christmas Comes Around

I just can't see there being demand for it. I don't know anybody who still follows the charts and some people I know are big music fanatics who would have done once upon a time. I don't know whether Americans have the same attitude towards their chart but it helps that America has a much bigger population than the UK.

I can't imagine many people would be willing to pay for a subscription. There is a lack of interest in the charts these days from the general public. Personally speaking I wouldn't be willing to subscribe because I keep my own chart data which I add to each week so I only really use the site to check the current Top 40. If they charged for access to the current Top 40 then more people would lose interest.

It is true to say an artists signature song can differ from country to country. I honestly don't think those other Scorpions songs are that well known in the UK, I suspect they're much better known in America. If you're a fan of an artist or even genre of music it's easy to lose sight of the fact some songs aren't that well known to the mainstream public even if they're hugely popular within a circle of people. I've been guilty of that myself. It's clear from this thread we all have different opinions on what a signature song should be, that's just mine.

My view is that many artists are known by many people for just one song and that is their signature song. If you only know one song by an artist then that means you probably have no interest in them and will therefore never listen to them. In some cases a signature song is one that's hated by the fans because it's one for the masses rather than the purists such as "More Than Words" by Extreme or "Wind Of Change" by the Scorpions.

Ike and Tina Turner have some great songs, my personal favourite is "I've Been Loving You Too Long". Can take or leave Tina Turner as a solo artist though.

OK you will get people on Spotify or equivalent to listen to a signature song for the first time. Is a signature song the same as most popular or most listened to song though? They can obviously be the same song, but if for example it turned out that something like "Headlong" was the most listened to Queen song I'm still going to think "Bohemian Rhapsody" is their signature song.

The subject is signature songs which in theory shouldn't need discovering because they're already well known. Maybe there's something in it for the more modern artists, but take The Beatles for example, you can't measure the popularity of their songs by listens on Spotify. They weren't even on Spotify for a long time, but there's a big chunk of people listening to The Beatles in physical format and we'll never know what songs they're listening to the most.

By looking at Spotify streams/YouTube views etc you're just replacing one misleading thing (the chart position) with another. There have been numerous times I've listened to a song on YouTube and read in the comments that people are there because it was in a film, on an advert, someone sang it on X Factor etc. But I would also say that being a bands signature tune can be a reason not to listen to it on Spotify/YouTube etc. For example I've listened to Queen on YouTube many times but I've never played "Bohemian Rhapsody" because I've heard it so many times in my life.

Don McLean had two number ones, but "American Pie" wasn't one of them. Always seems to catch out the contestant on Popmaster when the name either of Don McLean's number ones question comes up.

OK makes sense, I didn't buy many singles around then. One that I still have that's still got the price sticker on is "On A Ragga Tip 97" by SL2 which is £3.99 but I remember buying that after hearing it in the Top 40. The only times I really bought singles were if I didn't think there would be an album (there wasn't an SL2 album for example) or if I didn't like the artist enough to buy the album but liked that particular song.

Here's a couple that haven't been mentioned yet: Tina Turner - What's Love Got To Do With It (Bucks Fizz) Aswad - Don't Turn Around (Tina Turner)