gasman449

5 points Creedence Clearwater Revival- Fortunate Son (UK chart peak: did not chart, 2x platinum 17/05/2024) The Notorious B.I.G.- Big Poppa (UK chart peak: 63, platinum 04/02/2022) Meghan Trainor ft. John Legend- Like I'm Gonna Lose You (UK chart peak: 99, platinum 27/01/2023) Chris Stapleton- Tennessee Whiskey (UK chart peak: did not chart, platinum 16/06/2023) Kiiara- Gold (UK chart peak: 48, platinum 26/05/2023) Polo G ft. Lil TJay- Pop Out (UK chart peak: 41, platinum 13/05/2022) "Fortunate Son" is CCR's most successful song in the digital era. Written in protest of the Vietnam War's drafting procedures, the track was a top 3 hit in the US but never charted here- it has since become synonymous with the war and almost every piece of media set during the time period uses the song. The late Biggie Smalls loses the first of his two eligible tracks. "Tennessee Whiskey" was first written in 1981 and performed by David Allan Coe but this 2015 version by Stapleton is the best known version: he has performed the track with Justin Timberlake on multiple occassions. The two would later collaborate on JT's number 9 hit "Say Something". "Pop Out" is the first song to peak at number 41 to appear here.

4 points Birdy- Keeping Your Head Up (UK chart peak: 57, platinum 16/06/2023) Frank Ocean- Nights (UK chart peak: did not chart, platinum 03/05/2024) Two songs from 2016 albums here- Birdy's most successful single is a cover of another track that is eligible for this rate, but her only eligible song is this track co-penned with Steve Mac and Wayne Hector. Another song from Frank Ocean's Blonde appears which never charted- a version featuring Kendrick Lamar was leaked in August last year.

3 points Slipknot- Psychosocial (UK chart peak: 67, platinum 14/06/2024) Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem- Forever (UK chart peak: 42, platinum 11/06/2021) Ed Sheeran- Kiss Me (UK chart peak: did not chart, platinum 07/01/2022) Childish Gambino- 3005 (UK chart peak: 79, platinum 17/07/2020) Frank Ocean- Pink + White (UK chart peak: did not chart, 2x platinum 16/08/2024) A few tracks to highlight here- Psychosocial is Slipknot's 2nd most successful in the UK behind their highest charting song "Duality" which reached number 15 in 2004. "Forever" was recorded for the soundtrack to 2009 LeBron James documentary More Than A Game- Kanye and Wayne were so impressed by Em's verse that they rewrote their verses to match it. "Kiss Me" from Ed Sheeran's + is the only one of his 3 eligible songs to get any points. Donald Glover loses the first of his 4 eligible tracks, all of them received points. "Pink + White" has never charted but would have done so in 2023 had it been given a reset- the song is produced by Pharrell and features additional vocals from Beyonce.

2 points 2Pac ft. Outlawz- Hit 'Em Up (UK chart peak: did not chart, platinum 26/01/2024) The late Tupac Shakur's legendary diss track towards the Notorious B.I.G. and other East Coast hip-hop stars is often considered the best diss track ever, and surely inspired Kendrick Lamar when creating his number 1 hit "Not Like Us" as Pac is name-dropped twice in that song. It was the B-side to Pac's number 17 hit "How Do U Want It" here in the UK.

1 point Hugh Jackman/The Greatest Showman Cast- Come Alive (UK chart peak: 55, 2x platinum 07/03/2025) Ella Mai- Trip (UK chart peak: 47, platinum 09/05/2025) We start with the two songs that only achieved 1 point: "Come Alive" is from the chart-conquering soundtrack to the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman: looking at the streaming charts it would've likely made the top 40 without the 3-song-per-artist rule. "Trip" was a number 11 hit in America for British singer Ella Mai but didn't reach the same heights in her home country- it being produced by Mustard surely helped its chances abroad.

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED! Thank you to the 30 voters who have contributed, way more than I expected. I'll start tallying up the scores now and will start posting results once they are completed, either tonight or tomorrow. @CianS I'm going to count your 40-11.

@CianS you can only vote for 30 songs. Is it okay if I count your 40-11 or do you want to change your votes?

Thank you Rollo! It's the perfect format for any rate with a big pool of songs. 4 hours left until I start counting up the scores! Hate to single people out but @Brer you were one of the first people to give approval of this rate, you still up for voting?

Nice impact from Sam and Olivia, would be top 10 if combined! Fred Again top 5 is also good to see (and Muse at 109!)

Didn't realise Loyle or Yungblud were releasing also, think the latter has the best chance out of all of them

Sorry Haim's last album opened with 17.5k, Benson's opened with 5k.

Think their last one opened with 17.5k. Might be pretty close but it all depends on how much of a fanbase Benson has built up

Pretty sure Shake It To The Max is in this week with either Prada or Who dropping out. 505 could possibly cause both to fall out but I don't think it's done quite enough.

+5 Blessings +4 Undressed +3 Back To Friends +2 Ordinary +1 Pink Pony Club -1 Love Me Not -2 Manchild -3 Family Matters -4 Dior -5 Sapphire

Good to see Weezer's Island In The Sun go platinum, great track for the current weather conditions! Also like the two gold certifications for the Beatles this week

Just one extra track this week- "Alexander Hamilton" by Hamilton Cast, taking us back to 438 (actually 437, counted one song twice by mistake)

437 tracks now as Coldplay's "Sparks" makes an unexpected top 40 entry!

Good to see Fred Again up on Spotify, hope it gets a high official debut next week

Just under 48 hours until closing for any final voters!

The playlist argument is fair but AFAIK the major UK radio stations are available for free whereas you have the option to pay for streaming. Would also argue that songs on radio are more like "adverts" for songs, showcasing them to the general public and encouraging them to seek them out in their own time. Again you could argue Spotify playlists also act like this but you can just skip a song if you don't like it, on radio you'd have to change to another station which is likely playing the exact same track because their playlists are all so similar. Major labels and acts also have the instant advantage on radio, it would be near impossible for indie acts that don't do well on radio to get anywhere unless the radio's ratios were terrible.

No way- the chart should continue to reflect what people CHOOSE to listen to, not what some suits at a radio company/label want people to listen to. Also you'd have the chart dominated by acts repeatedly labelled as "boring" on this forum eg Teddy Swims, Myles Smith and the like

They usually say "the songs you've been streaming, buying and listening to on the radio the most" so would assume it's iTunes, a tiny bit of Apple Music and Global airplay (which can easily be fabricated). It's a better format than the BBC's show, seeing as they actually acknowledge the stats of their chart and talk to the artists but they do skip new entries quite a bit and I much prefer Jack's presentation to Will's.

The only official number one I think is worse than a 5/10 this year is That's So True and the only Big Top 40 one I think is better than a 5/10 is Blessings 😂- shame we can't have the turnover of the Big Top 40 and the quality of the Official Chart at the same time

Despacito definitely did! Plus the old Christmas songs

Doesn't "Let It Snow" do better when it's snowing? 😂 The weather really is the silent dictator of the charts