Popchartfreak

I can't listen to Living Years, not even these days, my grandma died in April and was ill from New Year onwards, so some tracks just bring it all back to me and that's one of them. Boy Meets Girl is quite pleasant, I'm glad they did it themselves, Whitney would have ruined it blasting it out, though Belinda could have done a decent version. I loved seeing childhood fave Gene Pitney back, with Marc Almond on board, and re-doing a fave from when I was 10. Not that I preferred it, I didn't, but it was great to see him back big. Even better, because we'd just lost Roy, was Jeff Lynne's gift to Roy going out on a highpoint with the Mystery Girl album and You Got It, in particular. Probably my 2 biggest enduring loves amongst male singers of the 60's was Gene and Roy, flawless singers who knew how to emote on powerful ballads that built to a climax. See In Dreams, Crying, It's Over, Runnin' Scared, I'm Gonna Be Strong, 24 Hours From Tulsa, Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart, and many others and weep along with me if I try and sing along. You Got It topped my charts.

Shifter DNC for me, just as well as typing the title too fast can have an unfortunate result. Attention needs paying! Moby's hit passed me largely, I much preferred ancient sample-era Moby, a 3/10. He has a track coming, though, that topped my charts in a massive remix over Xmas/New Year a few months ago. Shakedown I loved , another clubbing-era gem that one, deserves to be better remembered. 9/10. Cosmic Gate and 4 Strings troubled my chart not at all, but Mary J topped my chart, a classic soul ballad and a 10/10. Kiss Kiss was huge, and a bit of Turkish-styled fun, and an 8/10. Sunglasses at night is worth a 4/10, Oops as per with r'n'b of the time, tickled my taste buds and scraped into my top 10, but it's an 8/10. The other two mean nothing to me but sound like I would not enjoy them!

She Drives Me Crazy is a great single and kickstarts a peak year for FYC as they break the States proper. The Duran track is a decent one, though their classic years seemed behind them, and they had better minor hits in 1989. New member Warren quite happy to get his kit off it turned out, which is not necessarily a negative. These days it's obligatory 😇

Just going with the previous week is much easier than risking breaking copyright with another internet grab, and I'm very risk averse 😄

the Bucks Fizz original is a classic chart-topper for me, Lucky also topped my charts, and the Steps runner-up is one of their better records, and I also rated the Sinead Quin winner - I think it was a top 5! Well done on doing the run though, lots I love in it!

I'm with the voters I'm afraid, Stop! In The Name Of Love is peak Holland-Dozier-Holland/Motown and topped my charts as a reissued oldie, one I was vaguely aware of at the time, I started to love it when we borrowed the neighbours' Supremes Greatest Hits vinyl in 1970 and cherry picked tracks onto reel to reel tape. Classic after classic. The Kinks track is sub-par and one I dont recall on my Kinks Greatest Hits collection! The Barron Knights were always mildly amusing first time, and then extremely annoying 2 weeks on from hearing. Nowhere To Run is a great record, not my top Martha Reeves, but worthy anyway. Francoise Hardy's is a lovely tune, it's a melody that mildly takes me back to that era but not one I actively remember knowing until the 80's.

round 1: 39 round 2: 36 (I got beat to Dancing In The Moonlight so I'm being strict😄) 3 in 10: 3 Sweet Dreams, Who's that girl, there must be angel, love is a stranger, angel

Kim staying strong, so many classics in this chart/era 🥰 good to see George climbing, that was a number one for me, being as it was the surviving Beatles singing a George song about John. One Day In Your Life another number one for me, and Elton's Nobody Wins was under-rated, should have been a hit. Pure Prairie League and Jesse Winchester are two US hits I dont recall though!

22nd March 1975 It's a first week on top for KC as the exciting funk disco classic Get Down Tonight gives KC a second band chart-topper after Queen Of Clubs: a US number one this huge fave of mine under-performed in the UK, peaking outside the top 20, though I felt justified in the 2000's when it was seriously chopped up and sampled for a big UK dance hit Bamboogie. The highest new entry is from Grand Funk Railroad, a great song called Bad Time, later covered in the 90's by The Jayhawks, neither version a UK hit, annoyingly. New at 42, while America return with Sister Golden Hair, at 61 a future US chart-topper, and needless to say not a UK hit, America didn't make the UK charts again until 1982. I have the vinyl Greatest Hits even if no-one else in the UK does... Making the club charts in New York it's future minor UK hit Dynomite, a funk goodie that was forgotten soon as it dropped out the charts never to be played again. Pity. Tony Camillo's Bazuka is new at 62, while a few places lower Albert Hammond is back yet again a great song - the non-hit (of course) 99 Miles From LA, later covered by Art Garfunkel around 1979, and a better version than Albert's, but hey he wrote it! Gladys Knight in concert is amazing, flawless vocally, so it's fair enough she grabbed at long last a big UK hit with The Way We Were, a live cover of the Barbara Streisand movie theme song, coupled with an intro Try To Remember, where every word remains relevant to every generation. New at 67 and retro charting since 1967. Justin Hayward & John Lodge take a Moody Blues break for a new album, the first single off it flopped sadly, but it's rather nice and in at 69, I Dreamed Last Night. Justin has a great version of Life In A Northern Town out at the moment, with Mike Batt doing the production honours and backing vocals. Behind it at 70 Barry Mann, of Missus Mann & Weil hit songwriters and Who Put The Bomp hitmaker, returns with a good track I've never heard of, written & produced by a couple of the then-current-line-up of The Beach Boys, Nothing Goods Comes Easy. Clearly it doesn't as it sank without trace. Robert Knight continues his mini-comeback with a great new track, The Outsider, which not only sank without trace, it seems to be pretty unavailable anywhere in a decent version, Alice Cooper drops his UK flop ballad, Only Women Bleed, which was a hit in the US, but a later hit in the UK for Julie Covington, a much better version told from a female point of view. Betty Wright returns after the Shoorah with Where Is The Love, Polly Brown drops another solo flop, sadly, but it's OK, ditto The Pioneers, and ditto The Hues Corporation. All of them will be dropped by record labels before too long, as was the reward for flopping in those days. OK, just for a bit of fun - who in this chart have I seen live? Brian Connolly's Sweet, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, 10cc minus Godley & Creme, and also minus Eric Stewart three times, Lulu, Olivia Newton-John, Cliff Richard, David Bowie twice, Albert Hammond, Les Gray's Mud, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Moody Blues, Alice Cooper, The Chi-Lites minus Eugene Record, and I had tickets for Steve Harley but sadly he died after having to postpone the tour. 1 ( 2 ) GET DOWN TONIGHT - KC & The Sunshine Band # 1 2 ( 1 ) MISTY - Ray Stevens # 1 3 ( 3 ) HONEY - Bobby Goldsboro # 3 4 ( 4 ) REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE - Gloria Gaynor # 1 5 ( 5 ) SKIING IN THE SNOW - Wigans Ovation # 5 6 ( 11 ) FOX ON THE RUN - The Sweet # 6 7 ( 6 ) PHILADELPHIA FREEDOM - Elton John Band # 1 8 ( 8 ) THE TIME WARP - Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Little Nell, Charles Gray & Cast # 8 9 ( 10 ) I CAN DO IT - The Rubettes # 9 10 ( 12 ) ONE DAY IN YOUR LIFE - Michael Jackson # 1 11 ( 7 ) YOU SEXY THING - Hot Chocolate # 7 12 ( 9 ) EL BIMBO - Bimbo Jets # 2 13 ( 14 ) STAND BY ME - John Lennon # 4 14 ( 15 ) #9 DREAM - John Lennon # 1 15 ( 17 ) JIGSAW GIRL - Clifford T.Ward # 15 16 ( 18 ) WONDERFUL BABY - Don McLean # 16 17 ( 16 ) JACKIE BLUE - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils # 4 18 ( 30 ) BYE BYE BABY - Bay City Rollers # 18 19 ( 42 ) THAT’S THE WAY OF THE WORLD - Earth, Wind & Fire # 19 20 ( 23 ) A LITTLE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING - Gilbert Becaud # 20 21 ( 24 ) AUTOBAHN - Kraftwerk # 18 22 ( 29 ) MY HEART’S SYMPHONY - Gary Lewis & The Playboys # 12 23 ( 21 ) SUPERGIRL - Graham Bonney # 8 24 ( 13 ) SWING YOUR DADDY - Jim Gilstrap # 4 25 ( 25 ) BLANKET ON THE GROUND - Billie Jo Spears # 8 26 ( 36 ) HANG ON SLOOPY - The McCoys # 26 27 ( 19 ) LOVE ME LOVE MY DOG - Peter Shelley # 19 28 ( 33 ) SWEET TRANSVESTITE - Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon & Barry Bostwick # 28 29 ( 20 ) JANUARY - Pilot # 1 30 ( 22 ) MAKE ME SMILE (COME UP AND SEE ME) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel # 1 31 ( 32 ) WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO? - Diana Ross & The Supremes # 3 32 ( 28 ) YOUR KISS IS SWEET - Syreeta # 5 33 ( 26 ) SAVE ME - Silver Convention # 10 34 ( 38 ) LOVIN' YOU - Minnie Ripperton # 1 35 ( 40 ) CHILD OF LOVE - Caston & Majors # 1 36 ( 44 ) GOODBYE MY LOVE - The Glitter Band # 9 37 ( 34 ) ROLL ON DOWN THE HIGHWAY - Bachman-Turner Overdrive # 19 38 ( 43 ) LET ME BE THE ONE - The Shadows # 38 39 ( 53 ) LIFE IS A MINESTRONE - 10cc # 39 40 ( 45 ) TAKE YOUR MAMA FOR A RIDE - Lulu # 40 41 ( 27 ) SLOW DOWN - Shabby Tiger # 23 42 ( NEW ) BAD TIME - Grand Funk Railroad # 42 43 ( 48 ) BE MY BABY - The Ronettes # 1 44 ( 35 ) FELICITA TA TA - Raffaella Carra # 17 45 ( 52 ) THE ORINOCO KID - The Wombles # 15 46 ( 31 ) HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW - Olivia Newton-John # 2 47 ( 39 ) WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH YOU - Barry White # 25 48 ( 41 ) SINCE I FOUND MY BABY - Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose # 15 49 ( 60 ) IT’S ONLY ME YOU’VE LEFT BEHIND - Cliff Richard # 49 50 ( 67 ) ONLY YESTERDAY - Carpenters # 50 51 ( 56 ) THE LAST FAREWELL - Roger Whittaker # 51 52 ( 57 ) CAN’T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD - Electric Light Orchestra # 1 53 ( 37 ) YOUNG AMERICANS - David Bowie # 16 54 ( 46 ) DON’T BE CRUEL - Mike Berry # 46 55 ( 58 ) I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU - Gary Shearston # 1 56 ( 59 ) DRACULA’S DAUGHTER - Thunderthighs # 12 57 ( 51 ) HOW DOES IT FEEL - Slade # 10 58 ( 49 ) ONLY YOU AND ROCK AND ROLL - Redbone # 9 59 ( 47 ) SHINING STAR - Earth, Wind & Fire # 46 60 ( 54 ) I’M ON MY WAY - Dean Parrish # 7 61 ( NEW ) SISTER GOLDEN HAIR - America # 61 62 ( NEW ) DYNOMITE - Tony Camilla’s Bazuka # 62 63 ( 69 ) IF - Yin & Yan # 63 64 ( NEW ) 99 MILES FROM L.A. - Albert Hammond # 64 65 ( 76 ) BILLY PORTER - Mick Ronson # 65 66 ( 55 ) THE SECRETS THAT YOU KEEP - Mud # 28 67 ( NEW ) TRY TO REMEMBER/ THE WAY WE WERE - Gladys Knight # 67 68 ( 50 ) PLAY ME LIKE YOU PLAY YOUR GUITAR - Duane Eddy & The Rebelettes # 50 69 ( NEW ) I DREAMED LAST NIGHT - Justin Hayward & John Lodge # 69 70 ( NEW ) NOTHING GOOD COMES EASY - Barry Mann # 70 71 ( 74 ) THE FILM OF MY LOVE - 10cc # 71 72 ( 75 ) HE DON’T LOVE YOU (LIKE I LOVE YOU) - Tony Orlando & Dawn # 72 73 ( NEW ) THE OUTSIDER - Robert Knight # 73 74 ( NEW ) ONLY WOMEN BLEED - Alice Cooper # 74 75 ( NEW ) WHERE IS THE LOVE - Betty Wright # 75 76 ( 79 ) I FORGOT TO SAY I LOVE YOU TILL I’M GONE - The Chi-Lites # 76 77 ( 80 ) SWINGING ON A STAR - Spooky and Sue # 77 78 ( NEW ) DIAL ‘L’ FOR LOVE - Polly Brown # 78 79 ( NEW ) SWEET NUMBER ONE - The Pioneers # 79 80 ( NEW ) LOVE CORPORATION - The Hues Corporation # 80

Thanks Jade, doh at just missing out on Jason Donovan, and Rollo on Mott, almost there! round 1: 36 1 year out round 2: 39 3 in 10: 3 wont get fooled again, substitute, my generation

Doves is a good track 7/10, though top Doves track is yet to come. They have a great single out right now, Cold Dreaming is lush and epic-sounding. The Chemical Brothers DNC for me, Sugababes was a classic 10/10 number one great sample choice. New Order a good 8/10 but not heard that one since. Drowning Pool also a DNC. Pulp a decent 7/10 and their last track to chart for me 😯 Push DNC, Idlewild a good 6/10, and their biggest track, *NSYNC n Nelly a strong 8/10 with Girlfriend. Kosheen's Hungry was their first top 10 for me, they were improving with each release as each did worse in the charts, tch. 9/10. Oasis I recently played Time Flies and was pleassntly surprised by a lot of 00's stuff, Hundu Times included on a good 8/10. S Club Juniors, it's a 3/10. Haven's hit I have forgotten, but I liked it enough for a 7/10 rating. The Streets never really got that much, DNC. The 2 garage tracks DNC, Wheels On The Bus was my introduction to that nursery rhyme, it was amusing for 3 weeks and then done. 6/10 at best. LFO, oddly, I wasnt a fan of the cheesier tracks but this one a 7/10.

Oops I Did It was a chart-topper for me I think, and love Cant Speak french, Sitting Down Here, I Kissed A Girl, No Good Advice, and Somethin Stupid, though as Ive mentioned before Nancy Sinatra's original (and her 60's career) are massive faves of mine. Christina's, See The Day (again I prefer the original), H & Claire are all decent, and the rest I don't know/remember well. Russell Watson sang a great TV theme around 2002, Star Trek Enterprise. Should have been a hit.

Lazy was fab, a chart-topping 10/10 from me, and another Clubbing era track that has stayed a radio staple since, Faithless/Dido oddly wasnt playlisted on the pop dancefloor, but it tickled my tastebuds anyway 9/10. Havent heard it since 2002, so the youtube link is a nice excuse to re-acquaint myself with it. Galleon So I Begin was another big track for me and a strong 9/10, and keeping up the top 10 status, 1 Giant Leap, Maxi & Robbie were also a 9/10. From one Xtreme/Talking Heads to another, Barthezz DNC, ditto Agent Sumo never got into the arena, So Solid Crew were never in with a shot, and The Vines didnt chart either but others had better luck. Garbage were always fab, that's a 9/10 and reminded me of Pretenders. Usher scraped a 4/10, and I've forgotten it, while Ryan Adams and 3SL managed a decent 7/10.

Congrats to Josh for a first win, always nice to see a regular get there! Thanks to Klumzee and Leww for the fab hosting, and thanks to all Split Enz voters, I was expecting in the 30's, but have had a 34th before (and 15 peak between 31 and 39 but never had a 35th - doh! Should have given Jim that one extra point 😄 Thanks especially to Bronze and Silver pointers, Spod Empire and Bronzil Jim - oh the irony, our top pointer losing a tiebreak as a result 😮 and our pointers Jadakiss, Danev, Persephonia, Cheiron, FARC, Nelionoir, Macromia, Cumulonimbia, Kylienips, Trifoski, Lotunia, Summericia, Mothertopia, and Lookylion!!

round 1: missed the beginning (busy hoovering after the 6-year-old usual stopover weekend), oops: 18 (def got the Joss Stone Not-Guy song title wrong) Pet Shop Boys yay! round 2: 33 (beat me to Sting) 3 in 10: 3 I Cant Go For That, maneater, She's Gone

I'm still liking some recent Tiesto collabs with other banger DJ's and guest singers, though not all of them, so curious to hear this one as I never charted it - I didnt chart anything until 2004 (Love Comes Again). I like the crowd noises for upping the excitement if one is pissed or on some substance or other but it didn't grab me as a song as such, more of a mood thing. Pop dancefloor me. I'll give it a retrospective 4. Ditto Executioners too, not one I remember. Ditto Roger Goode, that passed me by. Ditto Future Breeze. Bit of a theme going on... Great stuff alert with Del Amitri, not a band I generally rated much but this ballad was a chart-topping 10/10 for me, far and away their best record, not even close. Michelle Branch is also a good track, 7/10 with a future classic with Santana still in the wings. Elton was mostly past his sell-by date for me and I ignored Original Sin. What he needed at this time was a cool collab with a hot new band with roots in the 70's, or a synth duo combo with a great remix old or new....😇 Soak Up The Sun is OK, a 4/10, but she's done much better stuff both before and after. Aurora, she didnt have a long run (5 weeks) but hit 20 in my chart, so a likely 7/10. I've forgotten it. Playing it now, like the throbbing intro. She should try and get a cameo in the next Batman movie. Quite moody, actually, I still like it. Talking of famous brothers, Aaron Carter was teenybop appeal, and never ever charted for me, being as I was 43 at the time.... 😨 Talking of being past a sell-by date, I'll stick with The Shadows' 1975 Eurohit, Cliff did not chart for me. Britney's ballad I found a tad dull, but gifted a 5/10 anyway. Stereophonics have always been annoyingly hit and miss with me, sometimes classic, sometimes good, sometimes OK, sometimes very dull. Vegas Two Times did not chart for me, so I'll leave that one to make assumptions about. Ladies First I don't recall, but I love the Nu Shooz original to bits, so how did I feel at the time about this cover? 5/10, so I was OK about it, then!

I was sad for Lynsey too, she never really got to sort her back catalogue out for the modern world and get some sort of appreciation as a good pop songwriter, I would like her to have seen a bit of that in later life.

Now available on the Blogs section, my IT skills permitting...! cheers! John

Alex Warren holds at 1 on the Single Track chart, and The Lottery Winners lucky number comes up in albums. That number is 1. Alex Warren makes it week number 2 at number one for Ordinary, a great ballad with gospel choir touches, making it the first time since Kate Bush was Running back Up That Hill that my personal chart and the Official Chart have the same number one. Alex’s previous good hits also get a boost with Carry You Home at a new peak of 10 (and his second top 10 hit) and Burning Down is up to 23. It’s neck and neck on streaming “sales” for Chappell Roan and Doechii at 2 and 3 - except that Chappell’s The Giver has dropped from 2 to 5 and her Pink Pony rears back up to leap over Gotye. Sorry, I mean Doechii’s Anxiety. Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things, meanwhile, really don’t know when to confess they have lost their sparkle after a year clogging up the charts at 4, though his much fresher Harry-Styles-ish Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else is back up, to a new peak of 24, which is good news. The upper end of the chart is otherwise giving me a sense of Groundhog Day, bar Gaga’s relatively newie Abracadabra, until one gets down to a climber for WizTheMc & bees & honey who want to Show Me Love at 14. Using commas instead of ampersands will be enough, thanks, mates. Drake is up to a new peak of 12 with NOKIA. I have literally, as I type this, just had 3 calls from a random woman claiming I rang her and wanting to know why. I have made zero calls on my mobile today, and that incident is only marginally less annoying than a new Drake track wittling on about himself and the trials of being rich and famous. Lots of famous rich people give it all up for a less stressful life. Just saying. Ravyn Lenae sounds like a club under the arches in London, but the American singer is very much not a dancehall. Love Me Not is up to a new peak of 19, and it sounds like a decent r'n'b tinged pop record, with a vocal that really is quite pleasant. Lil Tecca meanwhile has Dark Thoughts at 20, climbing up from 30. Given the furore about the seven dwarfs in Snow White, I’m surprised anyone still feels the need to re-re-re-re-use the term “Lil” unless that is Lil as short for Lillian. I just googled. It’s not. Tyler-Justin Sharpe is a perfectly good name for a rapper/singer and this track despite the obligatory autotune is fairly decent. New entry: Leon Thomas debuts at 26 with MUTT. I love dogs, and records featuring them - Who let the dogs out! Ruff Mix! He’s A Tramp! Mutt Lange! Leon is an American soul-singer-songwriter, and is something of a throwback to earlier decades in the musical roots department, which comes as a nice surprise to this old Soul fan. I’ll forgive the B word, as it might be about another dog not his ex. Ely is a great old Biblical name which one of my great-great-uncles had, so nice to see it back in vogue up two place to 36 with Ely Oaks taking dance track Runnin’ Around into the charts. Ely is from Austria, and I’m not entirely sure my great-great-uncle would have enjoyed this OK track being as he was more likely to have been singing along to The Pirates Of Penzance in the 19th century. That leaves Adele's Hometown Glory oldie up two to 29 and 2 re-entries, Olivia Dean's Bridget Jones track is back at 40 and Sonny Fodera and Clementine Douglas' Tell Me at 39. I get very nostalgic for 1960's USA when I hear names like Sonny & Clementine are now back in fashion. ********************************* In the album charts, it’s straight in on top for The Lottery Winners with these-days decent sales of over 11,000 for KOKO, almost all of them paid-for. Streamers might not be fans, but the band is good and the current and previous singles You Again (with the fabulous Reverend And The Makers) and current Radio 2 A/B list Turn Around, both great. Their previous studio album, Anxiety Replacement Therapy, topped the album chart two years ago and it’s their 4th top 40 album in 5 years. Guests on the album include Shed Seven, who recently dropped the fabulous single Waiting For The Catch, Frank Turner, and the very unexpected Chad Kroeger of Nickelback fame/infamy (delete as appropriate). The latter song is Ragdoll, not to be confused with the Four Seasons classic and is clearly the best track Chad has been on in 20 years. The number 3 slot is comfortably grabbed by Deacon Blue, 36 years into their album chart career. The Scottish band had a long run of hit singles from 1987 through to the mid-90’s and recent airplay from Radio 2 as well has helped a bit of a revival for their best material in 30 years. They last topped the album chart in 1988 with When The World Knows Your Name, but The Great Western Road gets them a highest chart position in 34 years and keeps up their ongoing revival in fortune in the 2020’s in terms of radio-friendly 80’s-referring good singles, not least Late ’88 and current fave Turn Up Your Radio. It’s also their 11th top 40 album, they’ve never flopped, and their 5th top 10. Sabrina Carpenter is holding at 2 with her ever-present Short n’ Sweet, the recent addition of new tracks not hurting one iota, while Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco have an unlikely collaboration on the heels of recent minor hit single Call Me When You Break Up (with added Gracie Adams) and the current excellent Sunset Blvd which deserves to be a huge hit, but probably won’t be. I Said I Love You First enters at 4 to become Selena’s 4th studio album in 12 years, and only the second to go top 10. Quite apart from her music career, I love her in the fabulous Only Murders In The Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short and a host of famous names. Benny Blanco has had quite the career as music producer/songwriter since 2008 and artist since 2018 but no previous charting albums under his own name. Hit collaborations include quality pop like Hot ‘n’ Cold, Teenage Dream, California Gurls and I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry), Dynamite (Taio Cruz), Moves Like Jagger (Maroon 5), Diamonds (Rihanna) some Ed Sheeran monsters, and just about everybody significant in the music industry since 2008. So he’s quite good then! Lady Gaga’s Mayhem, not to be confused with Imelda May’s Mayhem, may, ahem, be the first or second-best album with that title. I haven’t decided yet, but I did buy the lovely Imelda’s album after seeing her in concert and having a chat while she signed her debut album for me. Gaga, to date, hasn’t been too fussed about having a chat with me. It’s her loss, clearly! Anyway Gaga is at 5, and the next new entry is at 16 for The Horrors. My old mucker John used to greet stress at work with an impression of Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now: “The. Horror!” and that’s what I always think of when I hear their name. Night Life is the Sarfend-on-Sea band’s 6th studio album since 2007 and the 4th to go top 20. Lower down the top 40, Alex Warren just scrapes in with his album You’ll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) debuting at 30, no doubt from all the streaming success of the 3 singles rather than belated physical sales, and the rest of the chart is comprised of albums plummeting, streaming hit compilations albums grabbing a one millionth week on the chart collectively (note: Maths may not be a strong point) and Teddy Swims’ I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Parts 1 and 2 and presumably to be joined by 3 and 4 at some stage.

some great tracks out, and some absolute classics too, so I'll mention the ones that would have got big points from me: Pet Shop Boys, Madonna, Al Green, Toploader, The Doors, with mid points for cardigans Dre, Beach Boys, Verve.

round 1: 39 - why oh why do quizzes keep bringing up my national humiliation and mention Genesis Invisible Touch at every opportunity?! happily this time I didnt blank. 😄 round 2: 30 (Friend Or Foe, Pulp) 3 in 10: 3 Wonderful Tonight, Promises, Layla, I Shot The Sheriff

23rd March 2025 It's 4 week son top for Alex Warren with Armin van Buuren on his 3rd top 10 in 3 months at 5 - Keep The Faith also bringing Bon Jovi back into the top 5 for the first time since it hit number one in 1992. The Waterboys first went top 10 in 1985 with The Whole Of The Moon, and returned there again in the 90's to take it to number one - but they've never made my top 10 again, until now. So 40 years on, better late than never thanks to a lovely Andy Warhol-based song. Keiino make it two top 10's and a couple of others since Eurovision, and pretty much ditto for Mans Zelmerlow as Sam Ryder enters lower down and would also get a ditto, except he is still waiting for his 2nd top 10. Will this one do it? Seven years before Crowded House grabbed a number one in 1987, the Finn brothers were in Split Enz, and started a run of great synth-rock-indie-pop tracks with the fab I Got You, which peaked at 2 for me, and in the 30's in the UK charts of the time. sadly their other singles weren't UK hits, but I thought they were great. I Got You is back at 30, 45 years on. Stela Cole debuts in my chart with StereoQueen, good dance track, and in a quiet week for new entries Benson Boone gets a 4th track charting doing his best Harry Styles impression. 1 1 1 7 ORDINARY - Alex Warren 821400 2 2 2 9 CONTROL OF ME - Topic x Daecolm 467400 3 3 1 12 THE PROUD ONE - The Osmonds 950000 92095 4 8 4 8 AS TEARS GO BY - Marianne Faithfull 248150 5 11 5 4 KEEP THE FAITH - Armin van Buuren & Bon Jovi 127000 6 4 2 10 PINK PONY CLUB - Chappell Roan 481400 7 14 7 7 ANDY (A GUY LIKE YOU) - The Waterboys 154950 8 22 8 6 HALO - KEiiNO 103500 9 7 7 7 WEIGHT OF DESIRE - Tennis 184800 10 12 10 5 REVOLUTION - Mans Zelmerlow 125550 11 5 5 6 BUSY WOMAN - Sabrina Carpenter 244900 12 6 1 9 HAMMER TO THE HEART - Teddy Swims 758750 13 13 10 8 BORN WITH A BROKEN HEART - Damiano David 215800 14 9 9 8 CRYING, LAUGHING, LOVING, LYING - Labi Siffre 162200 15 10 8 13 BEAUTIFUL THAT WAY - Miley Cyrus 326300 16 15 10 9 A TEAR IN SPACE (AIRLOCK) - Glass Animals 262000 17 24 17 8 FANCY - Artemas 157100 18 56 18 2 LIFE IN A NORTHERN TOWN - Justin Hayward & Mike Batt 32600 19 21 1 19 LATE NIGHT PHONE CALL - Reverend And The Makers 1446550 20 16 2 8 WHO I AM - Alan Walker featuring Putri Ariana & Peder Elias 317800 21 18 1 12 MORE THAN A WOMAN - Tavares 523750 532450 22 40 22 4 THE WAY I ARE - Don Diablo 58150 23 29 23 12 LOVE ME FOR A REASON - The Osmonds 142650 24 20 5 8 CHASING PARADISE - Kygo & OneRepublic 344000 25 30 25 7 ABRADACABRA - Lady Gaga 102650 26 57 26 2 SUNSET BLVD - Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco 28900 27 19 11 10 NO BAD VIBES - Jazzy & KILIMANJARO 220300 28 34 28 5 TURN AROUND - The Lottery Winners 73150 29 28 7 19 ALL YOUR FAULT - Gwen Stefani 413450 30 NEW 30 1 I GOT YOU - Split Enz 18000 599800 31 27 27 8 THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN - Marianne Faithfull 120300 32 17 8 11 I’M IN LOVE... - Andy Bell featuring Dot Allison and Michael Rother 240200 33 35 33 4 WHIRLWIND - Lainey Wilson 51700 34 26 7 9 RIPPLE - Good Neighbours 267600 35 44 35 3 LOVE IS LOVE - Kim Wilde 40750 36 33 1 19 PEOPLE WATCHING - Sam Fender 700500 37 39 18 16 BOUQUET - Gwen Stefani 235500 38 31 6 11 COLD DREAMING - Doves 213100 39 43 39 7 SOMEBODY’S SON - Empire Of The Sun featuring Lindsey Buckingham 68300 40 36 36 6 LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I FELL IN LOVE - Alok & Kylie Minogue 82450 41 37 37 5 BUTTERFLY - Marina 61400 42 32 20 8 WAY OUT - Jet Trouble 131750 43 45 43 4 WANT U - Hayley May 49000 44 48 44 3 TURN UP YOUR RADIO - Deacon Blue featuring Lorraine McIntosh 33050 45 23 23 8 DO THINGS MY OWN WAY - Sparks 115750 46 38 32 7 REVELATION - The Knocks & Dragonette 99150 47 53 47 5 KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG - Roberta Flack 46650 48 49 48 4 MARIAH CAREY THROUGH DEATH VALLEY - Blossoms 38000 49 25 20 8 LIGHTHOUSE - Kim Wilde 130600 50 54 50 4 WISH I DIDN’T MISS YOU - Angie Stone 40400 51 55 51 3 BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE - David Guetta & Sia 32650 52 41 35 7 HUNT YOU DOWN - ALT BLK ERA 116400 53 42 1 19 EXTREME WAYS - Armin van Buuren & Moby 1290450 54 62 54 2 IT’S NOT RIGHT BUT IT’S OK - Felix Jaehn & Whitney Houston 18400 55 52 52 6 CRY FOR ME - The Weeknd 58200 56 68 56 3 LOVE COMES QUICKLY (LIVE AT THE ROYAL ARENA COPENHAGEN 2023) - Pet Shop Boys 22000 285550 57 66 57 3 CAFE DEL MAR - Pete Tong & Jules Buckley & The Essential Orchestra 23000 58 63 58 4 TIL A MAWNIN - Shaggy featuring Sting 27600 59 61 59 4 GRANITE MILLS - Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Russell Moore 30600 60 73 60 2 SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN - Avalan Rokston 15400 61 69 61 2 HOW BAD DO U WANT ME - Lady Gaga 13700 62 67 62 3 SORROW REPLACED - Kim Wilde featuring Midge Ure 19600 63 65 63 5 WAKE ME UP - The Weeknd featuring Justice 31800 64 60 4 48 FEEL - Pet Shop Boys 1157300 65 59 10 32 DIE WITH A SMILE - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars 503950 66 74 66 3 HIGHER - Tom Speight 16800 67 70 67 3 CONFESSION - Louise 16800 68 46 2 16 THE DARK END OF THE STREET - Pet Shop Boys 566550 69 51 1 18 APT. - ROSE & Bruno Mars 846900 70 NEW 70 1 STEREOQUEEN - Stela Cole 6000 71 72 71 6 THE ABYSS - The Weeknd & Lana Del Ray 30200 72 80 72 2 LOUD! - Chesney Hawkes 9600 73 77 73 2 THE GIVER - Chappell Roan 10000 74 47 5 12 EUPHORIA - Armin van Buuren, Norma Jean Martine & LAWRENT with Alok 285300 75 79 75 2 FIDA KNOWN - Gloria Gaynor 9200 76 76 76 2 MANDINGO - Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics featuring Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Method Man & Cappadonna 9600 77 NEW 77 1 WHITE LIES - Sam Ryder 4600 78 75 70 4 LIFELINE - Jonas Blue featuring Izzy Bizu 21000 79 NEW 79 1 SORRY I’M HERE FOR SOMEONE ELSE - Benson Boone 4200 80 78 78 3 SCORPIO - Kim Wilde 12800 DROP OUTS 50 1 25 YOU AGAIN - The Lottery Winners featuring Reverend And The Makers 1116100 58 1 28 THE GIRL THAT I CALL HOME - Tears For Fears 1069300 64 1 28 NEVER GOING HOME TONIGHT - David Guetta & Alesso featuring Madison Love 1181600 71 11 16 CAN’T SLOW DOWN - almost Monday 301950

Hi AH! 🙂 Not long till the weekend! Fabulous chart as always, lots to love, and much to play as per usual, I'll try and play some now as I reply! 😎

Hi AH! 🙂 Glad you got a break, and well done on dumping Heart FM, but doh! on the replacement 😄 I'm into week 4 on top for Ordinary but I feel it's just hanging on due to lack of serious competition now. Life In A Northern Town has traditional northern roots in Mike Batt's arrangement, it's really good and Mike just responded to a Wombles-related tweet from me, I keep meaning to buy his autobiography but I dont want to give Amazon any cash if I can buy it in a bookshop 😎 Die With A Smile I loved, then fairly quickly I overdosed on it, then I kept hearing it in Florida and got hols memories attached to it and I've stayed faithful ever since - if anything I think it peaked too low (at 10) in my chart but the 7 month run has more than made up for it. 🙂 Thnks as ever for the fab long list of picks!! 😎

Hey Sven! 🙂 My fave top 40 upwardly mobile tracks: - LADY GAGA - ABRACADABRA -PP❤️ / - (2x🥇@) 04 06 04 - Alex Warren - Ordinary 08 10 05 - Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club 17 17 05 - Kygo & OneRepublic - Chasing Paradise 18 NE 01 - Benson Boone - Sorry I´m Here For Someone Else / - (tip09) 19 28 03 - Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman 20 40 02 - David Guetta & Sia - Beautiful People -PP❤️ 29 35 02 - Morgan Seatree & Florence + The Machine - Say My Name (remix´24) 33 33 02 - Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco & Gracie Abrams - Call Me When You Break Up 34 NE 01 - WizThe Mc & Bees & Honey - Show Me Love -PP❤️ / - (tip01) and from the bubblers: DOECHII - ANXIETY -PP❤️ 03 03 - Sam Fender - Arm´s Length 19 NE - Alok & Kylie Minogue - Last Night I Dreamt I Fell In Love 20 NE - Chappell Roan - The Giver / - (Qmusic AlarmSchijf 🔔 week 12) 21 years ago these were my faves: 02 01 11 - Jamelia - Superstar / - (1x🥇@) 03 02 06 - Britney Spears - Toxic / - (2x🥇@) 06 26 02 - Usher & Ludacris & Lil´Jon - Yeah! / -AS🔔 08 12 02 - George Michael - Amazing -PP❤️ 09 09 04 - Kylie Minogue - Red Blooded Woman -PP❤️ 12 11 11 - Gary Jules & Michael Andrews - Mad World -PP❤️ 30 NE 01 - Anastacia - Left Outside Alone / -AS🔔 great charts!!😎