ThePensmith

I think one that could absolutely qualify for this thread - and actually represented the nadir of the "finding the next Spice Girls" craze that briefly existed at the turn of the millennium - would be Girl Thing. Everyone's quite well aware of how they were formed from Simon Cowell's saltiness / hubris at missing out on signing the Spice Girls. And their first single "Last One Standing" had such a high degree of conceit around it to the extent they again, had millions flung at their launch; front cover of Smash Hits before they'd had a single out, showcase at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, on every TV show imaginable prior to release. First single that was basically "Copy my homework but change a few words" of "Wannabe" in both video and song. And then so hyped up as a number one that they actually pre-recorded their congratulatory interview with Mark Goodier for Radio 1 celebrating their number one. It then went to #8 instead, the second single "Girls On Top" missed the top 20 and then "Pure & Simple" from their cancelled album got given to Hear'Say. People say it was Hear'Say that killed off that four year period of bubblegum pop the Spice Girls started. It was actually Simon Cowell with Girl Thing that did it in if you want my opinion.

Quite a good year overall for me I'd say this year: - Melanie C - Sporty's 50 Birthday Show (KOKO, London, 12th January) - Ladyhawke (Lafayette, London, 19th February) - Niall Horan - The Show Live on Tour (Wembley Arena, London, 1st March) - Nerina Pallot - Fires 20th Anniversary Show (London Palladium, 13th April) - The Feeling - Greatest Hits Tour (Cambridge Junction, 14th May) - Girls Aloud - The Girls Aloud Show (Cardiff Arena, 27th May / O2 Arena, London, 26th June) - Blue - Foodies Festival Chelmsford (Hylands Park, 23rd June) - JLS - Summer Hits Tour (Dreamland Margate, 6th July) - Flackstock 2024 (Olly Murs, Shaznay Lewis, Chesney Hawkes, Diana Vickers, Rebecca Ferguson, Carol Decker - Englefield House, Reading, 22nd July) - Texas (with support from KT Tunstall, O2 Arena, London, 5th September) - Marvin Humes Noughties Baby Day Party (HERE at Outernet, London, 28th September) - McFly - 21st Birthday Show (O2 Arena, London, 10th October) - Aston Merrygold - HousePartyLoveTour (O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London, 18th October) - Will Young - Light It Up Tour (Chelmsford Theatre, 13th November) - The Corrs - Talk On Corners Tour (with support from Natalie Imbruglia, O2 Arena, London, 20th November) - Nerina Pallot: I Digress (Marylebone Theatre, London, 2nd December) - Lightning Seeds - 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour (Kentish Town Forum, London, 13th December) Next year so far is looking quite promising: - Craig David - Commitment Tour (with support from Lemar, O2 Arena, London, 20th February 2025) - Rizzle Kicks (Kentish Town Forum, London, 22nd March 2025) - Sugababes (O2 Arena, London, 10th April 2025) - Gabrielle (with support from Tunde Baiyewu from Lighthouse Family, O2 Arena, London, 18th April 2025) - Olly Murs - 15 Years of Hits Tour (with support from Blue and Lemar (Chelmsford only), Cardiff Arena - 12th May 2025, O2 Arena, London, 25th May 2025 and Chelmsford City Racecourse - 6th July 2025) - Kylie Minogue - Tension Tour (O2 Arena, London, 26th May 2025) - KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope 20th Anniversary Show (Royal Albert Hall, London, 23rd June 2025) - Flackstock 2025 (Crystal Palace Bowl, London, lineup TBA, 8th August 2025)

I was gonna say I remember the hype around it. Truth was though it was a cacophonus mess and realistically, the Christmas number one was Westlife's to lose that year, even with the strong sales of that God awful Cliff Richard track (I especially have bad memories of the latter because our crone of a headteacher forced it to be played in assemblies leading up to Christmas that year. Much to the chagrin of me and one of my best mates who were Music Prefects at that time). I mean a lot of the records I listed in my original post were flops of that December 1999 chart week, no question. Thunderbugs absolutely were a flop given the hype, development of over 18 months and money they'd had thrown at them by their label. The video alone for "It's About Time You Were Mine" cost about £100k to make! Lou Bega was coming off the back of one of the top 5 biggest selling singles and number ones of the year (even if it was just "Mambo No. 5" with a slightly different melody), so more was expected of him. Even Eiffel 65 managed another top 3 hit! As for Enrique, I think the problem was that "Bailamos" was a fantastic single but everything else on that first English language album of his was just a derivative of it. Not to mention that the whole Latino flavoured sound largely sold more in the lighter, warmer months - the first release of Santana and Rob Thomas' "Smooth" is a great case in point actually. Missed the top 40 altogether - in fact barely made the top 75 - in October 1999, but then the reissue came out in the following spring 2000 and it was a much bigger hit.

I definitely think - or at least hope - that Jade will absolutely smash it with her album next year. She deserves to with all the major pop girl energy she's been serving us!

Jon was on the first of several Celebrity Mastermind episodes tonight playing for British Heart Foundation. His specialist subject was the sitcom Nighty Night! 4-2qUsBBIp4

Beautiful performance on Strictly on Christmas Day ☺️🎄❄️✨️ I definitely think this being released under 19 is a precursor to more music coming in 2025 - at least I hope it is!

I don't think any of the songs featured in it have charted yet, but I do wonder if Robbie Williams will get a second wind similar to how Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Natasha Bedingfield did at the start of this year with his new Better Man biopic now out in cinemas. It's had really good reviews already and I'm planning on seeing it myself come January. There is one song off it out already called "Forbidden Road", although a lot of people who've seen the film have said "She's The One" and "Rock DJ" feature in two key scenes so they might be more likely to see a return?

I mean there's loads of examples I can think of, but the one that always stands out in my mind is one chart week in December 1999 when CD singles were at their height still. Mainly because the release schedule on that week was so intensely rammed with new releases. There's been a lot of debate online about it since, maybe because it was the last week before the Christmas chart week that year, maybe because of the whole worries about the Millennium bug thing which had everyone running scared (which ultimately proved unfounded), but many of the acts in question had had either number ones or top 10s with their previous releases and badly underperformed: - B*Witched feat. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, "I Shall Be There", #13 (previous single, "Jesse Hold On", #4) - Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews, "Baby It's Cold Outside", #17 (previous single, "Burning Down The House" with the Cardigans, #7) - TLC, "Dear Lie", #32 (previous single, "Unpretty", #6) - Thunderbugs, "It's About Time You Were Mine", #43 (previous single, "Friends Forever", #5) - Enrique Iglesias, "Rhythm Divine", #45 (previous single, "Bailamos", #4) - Bryan Adams, "The Best of Me", #47 (previous single, "Cloud Number 9", #6) - Lou Bega, "I Got A Girl", #55 (previous single, "Mambo No. 5", #1) - Lenny Kravitz, "Black Velveteen", #83 (previous single, "Fly Away", #1) It then basically served as a cautionary tale about timing the release of your single in the middle of the Christmas rush as it was back then. In the case of bands like Thunderbugs, who had had millions poured into their launch with their first single, it marked the moment that Epic Records dropped them and didn't even release their debut album here (except on MiniDisc. It did get a release on CD in Europe, however. I have a copy and it's a good album, just poorly timed). B*Witched were already on a bit of a come down after the performance of "Jesse Hold On" following four number ones but "I Shall Be There" missing the top 10 and then "Jump Down" their next single also missing the top 10 sent them into a tailspin they never recovered from that led to them being dropped and splitting. Enrique Iglesias flopping meant his next US single, "Be With You", which was number one in the States, was passed on for release entirely in the UK. It wasn't until "Hero" that he got another shot (aside from his Whitney Houston duet). Most of the others on that list however, survived - Bryan Adams' next single with Chicane was a number one ("Don't Give Up"), likewise Tom Jones had more hits in the year that followed that went top 10 off his Reload album that sold by the truckload (and "Baby It's Cold Outside" still gets played on what's left of the music channels every Christmas, even if it gives me the major ick).

Annoyingly can't link to the post as it's sponsored, but spotted on my social feeds this morning that Sonia Clarke - aka DJ and singer Sonique - is announcing something very soon for 2025 to mark the fact that it will be the 25th anniversary of her breakthrough hit "It Feels So Good". The story behind this one was fascinating - first released in 1998 when it only made the top 30, a subsequent lift in its success with DJs in America led to it being re-released here in May 2000, where it stayed at number one for three weeks, one of only two records to do that in the whole of the year. Her other two big top 10 hits of that year were "Sky" (#2 in September) and her cover of Nina Simone's "I Put A Spell On You" (#8 in December):

Well. Have to say. Best Strictly final ever for me. Didn't care much for Tasha, but JB, Chris and Sarah were definitely everyone I wanted in until the end and they were. Chris very deserving winner, I called it right at the launch show that he'd surprise people and be in it until the end. I thought his Waltz and Couples Choice were brilliant!

I foresee a couple of things happening, namely: 1) Wham being number one on Friday. It's all but a foregone conclusion. 2) A change in rules happening after this year. I know I've said it every year for the last five or six years, but it does feel like this will be the year to prompt change for next year. Most likely, I foresee OCC allowing Christmas songs released inside the last three years to chart, and a situation where either they are A) yeeted to perma-ACR with a much reduced sales to stream ratio unless they are specifically requested for a reset to SCR by the label or B) all Christmas songs over 3 years old have their own separate chart. They are no fools and are well aware that the Christmas chart is one of the strongest marketing tools at its disposal still, and the one that Joe Public still largely pays attention to and talks about and remembers. To make it matter again, and to reverse years of negative feeling about what happens from November onwards because of DSP monopoly and passive sheep streaming, they will need to take action.

You're quite right Jay, they're well established enough now that their label has a got more realistic view of who's investing in these reissues we've had so far. Record labels have their idiotic moments true, but there is still common sense at play. I think it was middle of January this year we got the announcement about What Will The Neighbours Say so I fully expect we'll get it around then if they're going for a March release with Chemistry.

#4 in my top artists on Spotify Wrapped. "Natural" was at #14 and "Two In A Million (Boyfriends and Birthdays Version)" was at #22.

Top Artist of the Year on my Spotify Wrapped too - Wake Me Up was my most played of theirs (#28 overall. My post played was Billie Piper, "Honey To The Bee"!)

If I'm a betting man I'd say they're probably saving it for next Christmas more than likely after the Chemistry 20th anniversary release. If memory serves me correctly, something similar happened with All Saints' first album and The Corrs' Talk On Corners appearing on vinyl, they were both initially on the release list for National Album Day last year but then were removed and have both come out this year instead. Nothing to panic about just yet anyway.

Murs has dropped a small screen recording on his Insta Stories today of him typing out an iPhone note saying the following: "ALBUM 8 : 2025 😜" I do wonder if he'll go for Q1 or Q2 this time to release?

Yeah Wretch is a good shout. To that end as well, Tinchy Stryder and Chipmunk probably also fit under this; massive success and number ones left right and centre in 2009. Both then returned with follow ups either 2010 or 2011 but bar Chipmunk ("Champion" with Chris Brown) neither had hits or success to the same scale as previously. I actually saw Tinchy just last year supporting JLS. He was awesome!

Yeah didn't expect it would chart on the main one. It did however reach the following positions: #34: Official Album Sales Chart / Official Physical Albums Chart #71: Official Album Downloads Chart #5: Official Record Store Chart #11: Official Independent Albums Chart She is also confirmed to be supporting Texas at some of their summer shows next year!

Tony Mortimer performed Stay Another Day at Magic Radio's Christmas Live event last weekend with Blue: The Nordoff Robbins Christmas concert he is performing the song at a week on Tuesday will also be the last time he ever performs the song in public according to this new interview with NME: https://www.nme.com/features/music-intervie...nd-blur-3815842

I was gonna say I doubt very highly given Ronan's feelings on the matter that he's been quite vocal about in recent years, I don't get a feeling like they'd do anything again. That said, this year is now 30 years - to this very week in fact - since "Love Me For A Reason" came out and next year is the 30th anniversary of "Said & Done", their first album, so who knows? After how he came across in the Boybands Forever documentary, I'm fully anticipating Louis Walsh to be a bit of a wazzock again, but then that's not unexpected.

Teaser trailer for Boyzone's forthcoming Sky One documentary entitled "No Matter What" (after their biggest hit of course) has been released today:

Just thinking today about this because I realised that Björk's "It's Oh So Quiet" isn't on her Greatest Hits album. Similarly, there is no sign of "Shiny Happy People" on REM's best of album. These are a couple of other examples I thought of where the artist either disliked their own song at first and grew to love it (grudgingly or otherwise), or subsequently disowned it and dropped it from their live sets etc in later years... - Girls Aloud "Love Machine". Quite well documented that they didn't like this at first, thinking they were going to be a laughing stock and calling a meeting with their label bosses at Polydor to tell them it was the wrong choice and that people would say they sounded like Busted or McFly(?). Of course it went onto be one of their biggest hits and they grew to love it. - Daniel Bedingfield "If You're Not The One". By some distance, other than "Gotta Get Thru This", his biggest hit, but he said at the time that he didn't want to release it or even have it on the album: "Commercialism, sappy lyrics and meek tunes are the things I hate most in the universe, but I’m not sure even Bob Dylan could get record company interest without hooks these days."

Never say never! I would like to hope it's mainly original material this time.

Dreams of number one last forever: Rachel's third single and the official single for Sport Relief 2004 is reissued in a new digital EP today, including the first time to digital platforms for the brilliant Richard X Extended Mix and the B-side "Spin That Bottle":

I was gonna say, Chris Herbert (Five) and Daniel Glatman (Blue) came off the best I think. Relative to some of the other managers, they were both roughly the same age as their bands, and they had a greater degree of self reflection. I'll be honest, when I'd seen Chris on a few videos of both Hear'Say and Girl Thing - both of whom he managed afterwards - my opinion wasn't so great, and I got why the Spice Girls left him for Simon Fuller. But actually, his self reflection, him saying "I worked with the knowledge I had at the time which maybe wasn't the best" and being able to take ownership for some of what happened with Five actually did turn me back around to him more. I find that more admirable than Simon Cowell, who just came out with his stock "You have no private life, if you don't want it be an accountant" comment, I especially felt that was an illustration of his true colours. And also, proves to a degree how hollow his tribute to Liam Payne was when he passed away. Because those boys really didn't have the welfare they needed around them. I just hope sincerely that any new boybands or girl groups coming through are better protected and looked after mentally as well as physically. And yeah I imagine that's probably who they'll go for with the girl groups.