Jade

Ariana is now an Emmy nominee for the Wicked: One Wonderful Night special!

'With A Girl Like You' isn't as good as 'Wild Thing' for me but undoubtably an earworm. I feel like a lot of people would scratch their heads if presented with the name The Lovin' Spoonful but would say "ohhhh it's that song", or words to that effect, if 'Summer In The City' was played. #8 feels a bit low for it, not even their highest peaker, but at least they took it to #1 in the U.S. A great summer song. I recently compiled a playlist of one song that reminds me of summer from every year between 1960 and 2026 and I considered it it for 1966, but ultimately it was pipped by another "ohhhh it's that song" moment from later in the year, so will come back to that! Great to see a mention for the summer of love already, looking forward to that era next year.

Well done John and Rollo for more 39s yesterday, smashing it 🥳 today's game: Round 1: 33 (didn't get: Smokie, Paul Simon) Round 2: 33 (didn't get: Public Enemy) 3-in-10: 3 (Wouldn't It Be Good, I Won't Let the Sun Go Down On Me, The Riddle) Great to hear a clip of Kissing the Pink ❤️

Song inspired by a cat: Blondie - Sunday Girl Song with cat in the title: Janet Jackson - Black Cat 🐱🐱🐱

Wow the World Cup final effect for 'Dai Dai' has indeed spilt over two days as it's up to #2 on Spotify today!!

Now 60 was the first one I got as a kid so that volume is the most special to me ❤️ Firstly - the series gives me an immense feeling of nostalgia. The summer and winter editions are particularly good for this as I'm an August baby, so would often get the former volume for my birthday, then the latter one for Christmas. I always wanted to put the CD on right away so these albums often take me back to specific special occasions. I would also ask my parents to play them during car journeys and I synced the CDs on to my iPod as well. All of this consumption means I still know the 2000s volumes like the back of my hand (I filled in gaps from earlier in the decade through charity shops) and same with the early 2010s. They're the soundtrack of my childhood so will forever give me this warm fuzzy feeling! I almost certainly credit the series with getting me into the charts. I loved reading the trivia in the booklets and the next step from this interest was actually tuning into the weekly top 40 broadcast! This is not only a childhood interest but one I've taken into adulthood, even if they're in a bit of a lull right now. I would also say the Now! series was a gateway into discovering a lot of '80s and '90s popular music from before my time. The first 10 editions, released between 1983 and 1987, were the foundation of my record collection and helped shape a fascination with retro charts, in addition to getting into The Beatles. The series has been a great tool for feeding my curiosity and passion for music and charts. Consumption habits may have changed and my taste is more alt these days, but the brand still has a special place in my heart, so I continue to look out for the latest track list and have bought quite a lot of Yearbook / Millennium etc. editions on vinyl in recent years.

'R.I.P.' was inescapable for me at the time as one of my best friends had a huge crush on Rita Ora and wouldn't stop going on about her she had some star quality but the song has not held up particularly well, sounded quite bland when I last heard it. I really like Nneka's 'Heartbeat' that it samples though and especially the Chase & Status remix ❤️ N-Dubz were so popular with my age group at the time! It was smart of Tulisa to follow the Cheryl playbook for her solo launch, even if the hype didn't last quite as long. My main memories of her on X Factor include: joining Little Mix for a duet of 'Empire State of Mind', trying to justify Kesha's 'Tik Tok' for rock week and rightfully being mortified when Gary Barlow said she had fag ash breath 😭 I recall 'Young' originally being teased as 'We Are Young' but that title obviously had to be changed after a certain fun. record took off worldwide. I can see why 'Young' was a hit but it does nothing for me, pretty faceless and her vocals sound a bit strained in places. James Arthur did an acoustic version of 'Young' with an added rap for his X Factor audition so that neatly ties this song to another artist in the countdown! I never heard Tulisa's album but I'm aware that a track called 'British Swag' is on it, what a 2012 time capsule lol

Oh you were spoilt for choice for a group 7 favourite! Queen are a good pick though, another high point from their '80s work and that video is nothing short of iconic. I'm glad 'The Caterpillar' was a good discovery for you <3 it only just missed out in my top 5 SyncTube votes. That song was such a quirky, charming standout when I listened to all of their albums back in 2020. 'Dr Mabuse' edges them both as my favourite though so I'm happy it attracted a lot of love in the weekly '80s poll result. I would've first come across it on Now! 3, before I'd properly got into dark synth music in a big way, but later rediscovered the song when Rollo sent a version of it to BJSC years ago, where it thankfully performed really well! An epic piece of music. 'Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops' is then my favourite from group 8 I first found it when I curiously clicked on an ATRL thread that asked people for suggestions of music that was similar to Kate Bush. I listened to every song in there and fell in love with how ethereal this was. I used to love 'The Reflex' but overplayed it to the point where it started to grate on me. However, enough time has passed to enjoy it more again and I totally agree that it's a step up from their recent singles, which felt more anonymous. 'Thieves Like This' and 'Automatic' also stand out as highlights - the latter is indeed a great example of a highest peaker that isn't an act's most well-known song. Love how warm and groovy it is.

Well done John and Rollo for the full house yesterday 🥳 today's game: Round 1: 36 (didn't get: Madness) Round 2: 30 (didn't get: David Soul, Elvis Presley) 3-in-10: 3 (Save Your Kisses For Me, Figaro, Angelo)

This is up to #4 in the U.S. this week which is its highest position since debuting! Billboard Hot 100 run so far: 1-5-8-7-7-6-4 I wonder how many weeks it'll stay in the top 10 for, album will help out soon

last night there was a new addition to the set list... set list spoiler 'Be Alright'

'Dai Dai' has reached a new peak of #11 on Spotify today following the World Cup final / half-time show yesterday

Good on Gabrielle for managing a second chart topper seven years after her first and another multi-weeker at that! Glad she got the rare Dylan sample clearance as that really adds to the atmosphere of the song. My new favourite #1 single of the year so far from the small pool we've had, very classy. Although 'Mr Tambourine Man' does slightly pip it as my favourite Dylan-adjacent #1 in all of chart history! The double helping of 'Glorious' on TOTP has reminded me how good it is ❤️ I particularly love how the vocals and strings soar on the chorus. Poor Sash! missing out on #1 yet again 😭 'Adelante' isn't their best work but that is rotten luck. My highlight outside of the top 10 on TOTP was 'Don't Falter' by Mint Royale/Lauren Laverne it was a big post-contest grower for me after awardinary sent it to the BuzzJack Song Contest several years ago, very cute collab.

Well done John for getting full marks in round 2 on Friday today's game: Round 1: 21 (didn't get: The Move, Neil Diamond/Barbra Streisand, Marillion) Round 2: 33 (didn't get: Mud, Joe Walsh) 3-in-10: 3 (No Surprises, Pyramid Song, Paranoid Android)

'Turn Up the Music' was a very bland chart topper so no loss there. Sean Paul at the top would've been preferable but not exactly a classic from him either. I was still watching X Factor in 2012 and remember rooting for James at the time as I found the way he'd flip songs quite interesting. Not sure how these performances will have held up long term though as there was almost certainly some dubstep experimentation! It was pretty shocking when him and Ella Henderson wound up in the bottom two one week. But he obviously recovered and both did pretty well for themselves long term indeed. Although, not without a bump in the road, as he faced some backlash post-win when he released a diss track containing some homophobic lyrics, as Mack alluded to. I recall there being an awkward feeling around his returning X Factor performance and the era fizzled out quite quickly after the lead single. But the public eventually moved on, with the success of Script-lite 'Say You Won't Let Go' demonstrating this a few years later. Anyway, I enjoyed 'Impossible' at the time, as an extension of liking him on the show and it seemed to click with the public in a big way, reversing the downward trend of Little Mix's comparatively underwhelming sales for 'Cannonball'. Its success outside of the U.K. was indeed impressive too; I remember hearing it out and about in Spain the year after he won X Factor. Long term my interest in him and 'Impossible' faded. It's still one of the better winner singles for me but the crescendo is a bit too shouty. My brother rinsed this Maroon 5 era to death and I'm still recovering I agree that 'Payphone' is too whiny from the word go. Some choice vocals in both of that top 2 with the OTT vocoder in the Chris Brown song too. The Precision Tunes version of 'Payphone' making the top 10 will always be an amusing part of chart history though! I remember liking 'This Is Love' at the time and was pretty mesmerised by Eva Simons' hair in the music video! But long-term it has proven pretty disposable.