Chartfridays

#18 Bing Crosby, Jane Wyman - Zing A Little Zong Debut: 5 December 1952 Peak: 2 WoC: 2 Chart Run: 10-12 5dHpv5pR3-0 A tune written for Just For You, a 1952 film based on the book Famous by Stephen Vincent Benet - who had won the Putilizer Prize previously for his narrative poem John Brown's Body. The script was reportedly sent to Judy Garland with Jane Wyman instead taking the role after she declined it. Bing Crosby recorded many great songs over the course of his long and distinguished career - even if White Christmas stands above most of them, unfortunately in my humble opinion this pile of corny crap does not sit amongst them at all. Harry Warren and Leo Robbins are the song writing team criminally responsible for this rubbish and Decca responsible for unleashing it on the planet. The song managed a measly, if flattering 2 weeks on the UK Charts and 6 weeks on the US Charts.

#17 Al Martino - Take My Heart Debut: 21 November 1952 Peak: #9 WoC: 1 Chart Run: 9 gH3waw7SKGk This one week wonder for Al Martino was definitely not the success of his song that still sat at No 1 when this popped up for it's week in the spotlight. The song managed a significantly better eight week chart run in the US with a peak of #12. It's a really nice if slightly soppy to modern ears love song that just didn't capture the imagination of the early 1950s record buying public.

Went to watch the last showing tonight to help keep me up overnight. It's not as bad as some people are making out and there's some genuinely great moments and surprises, and a few good action sequences but it feels like it is exactly the right time to give the whole thing a bit of refresh, which given the ending seems pretty like what will happen with the next one. But it's certainly not on par with the other Daniel Craig era Bond films in my opinions, not that much could come close to Skyfall or Spectre for me. I think it's been severely damaged by having such a long wait for it to come out, if it had been a three year gap between this and the last film in the full knowledge there'd be another one a few years, it might have been passable - it certainly doesn't feel like a film that should have took six years to make. It neglects a lot of the famous bond action in favour of relatively surface level and not all that convincing 'personal trauma' sub plot for Bond that whilst it pays off in the end is all a bit contrived. It's almost trying too hard to be serious and deep at times, it's a Bond film - just show me the chase scenes, ridiculous action sequences and Bond's latest flings. (Although gratuitous shots of women are rather pleasingly replaced frequently by gratuitous shots of Daniel Craig quite a bit in this one - but given there wasn't a single woman in the audience at my screening that might have been to no avail aside from gay men)

Companies are going to have to start raising wages to retain people soon. The issue has been decades of the vast majority of low-skilled jobs being slapped bang on minimum wage because an over-supply of Labour meant they could do that just fine for the past decade or so. That over-supply of Labour is diminishing fast. Although furlough finally ending is likely to change that landscape, probably why the government need to end it now and throw the million or so people who are still on it into the labour supply pool. Since Covid many of the industries have raised wages to retain people, but many haven't - unsurprisingly at least around here it's the companies and industries that haven't upped staff pay that are haemorrhaging staff to companies that have upped pay often in entirely different industries, raising minimum wage is not going to fix this problem - as the biggest players are going to be able to raise wages again as long as there is a staff shortage. I know loads of people who've left what would have once been highly respectable and still are very necessary jobs on a good wage to get a few quid an hour more at jobs that would have once been considered poor jobs.

Time shifting over the course of the later series really makes series by series comparisons more and more difficult on a show running this long but it's interesting to see those figures, it's certainly felt like Tennant's era was much more event TV from memory. Either way the pattern is fairly obvious with Series 12 being down to 5.4m.

But the second and third series were the more hyped weren't they, Tennant was when it was a smash hit.

Out of frustration yes :lol: , I think it's the fact she's one of those artists that dominates everything as soon as it goes in for build up until the album comes out. It might only be a few weeks but it's going to feel like months....

Looking at the level of radio teasing and social media about this the single must be this Friday or next Friday unless we're in for the longest single build up in history.

I'm honestly not sure RTD coming back is brilliant news. If it works great, if it doesn't that's probably the show gone. Think about how heavily RTD leaned on the introduction of old monsters in his first series, something he can't do now which means plot arcs and spectacle are going to need to be through the roof to recapture the public's imagination. I'd be interested to see if RTD's first episode gets higher viewing figures than Jodie's first episode as Doctor, depending on which actor they get the combined hype could be insane.

The most interesting thing about this album is going to be the cover isn't it?

Anyone listened to this. So far, I reckon it's good but not outstanding. On first listen I'm finding it a bit patchy, the songs themselves alright but it seems to miss the truly stop you in your tracks effect that Ok, I'm Sick had for me aside from Tethered and My Funeral which all sound like they could have been on the first album - so does Machine Gun (and Family and Don't Hate Me from the singles) . It's probably unfair to put that expectation on it though, I'm aware. There's just a slightly self indulgent feeling to the opening tracks on this album. Stalker is absolutely hilarious as is f***boi, unsuprisingly Don't Hate Me, Family and Johnny Wants to Fight are among the best tracks on the album - that's what lead singles are for. I think the musical tone of the album needs addressing to, there's a very Postal Service (and similar bands of that ilk) feeling to the music itself on a lot of the songs - more indie in tone than rock, which is clearly a much softer tone than on Ok , I'm Sick. Although of course that's not on every song, there's still heavier songs on then, but I think weirdly the softer music actually hits much better.

I checked out a few years ago, is it even worse than it was then?

Sorry for the slacking off on this over the weekend. Been busy. I haven't forgotten about it. Might make this Mon-Fri soon, will see how we go. #16 Doris Day - My Love and Devotion Debut: 21 November 1952 Peak: #10 WoC: 2 Chart Run: 10-10 HVjS2JGwp2I A tune based on Violin Concerto No 2 by Henryk Wieniawski from 1862 this was a minor hit for Doris Day in 1952, scraping a two week stint at No 10 on the UK Singles Chart. It would later be covered by Matt Monro in 1962, which we'll get to at some point as that version ascended to No 29 on this very chart. The old tradition of pseudonymous writers pops up again here - with the song credited to Milton Carson - a name collective used by Howard Barnes, Harold Fields and Joe Roncoroni who would also write Nat King Cole's A Blossom Fell - they'd also write a number of other UK Top ten hits throughout the early 1950s.

The Bad Day song might be silly, but I can't stop listening to it...

So Adele either the 12th or the 26th.

She can't get them out on time, fair enough. :w00t:

Well he may have known ABBA was coming and worked around that. I wouldn't be surprised if he's in contact with Adele casually anyway they certainly have been in the past, not surprising giving their the two biggest solo British artists of the last decade. I think it's quite likely we'll get Ed Sheeran - 29th October ABBA - 5th November Adele- 12th November Taylor - 19th November

Why on earth she calling it 30, she's 33....

The Office.

The Big Top 40 occasionally gets a listen from me, it at least feels less like it's made up at the drop of the hat.

Read the title as Greg Davies and wondered if novelty songs were becoming hip again :lol:

This is sarcasm surely, if not go listen to the song.

I really hope she does go the same week as ABBA just to watch the insanity unfold.

Cool to see, but by god do we live in strange times. :dance:

What annoys me here is the circular logic, the government are refusing to bail out 'failing companies' but those companies are failing due to the energy price cap. Whilst I understand the idea of wanting to reduce bills for consumers, I don't think you can really artificially deflate prices to avoid a political difficulty of rising bills and then talk about failing companies. In a normal competitive market without restriction these companies may have eventually been eating up by bigger companies in this situation but here their being eaten up by government policy. The big question is obviously whether the same principle will be applied to the Big Five if one of them ends up in this situation.