Popchartfreak

Gene, Dusty and Marianne, now there's a trio worth hearing! Dusty gets my vote, Marianne as a very close follow-up, I prob should pop that one in my current charts when her others drop out....

yay 39 Rollo and 36 Jade! round 1: 27 (peter gabriel big fun misunderstood that question eek😮) round 2: 39 3 in 10: 3 heart & soul, china in your hand, valentine

PITBULL 1 (9 20) ON THE FLOOR Jennifer Lopez/ Pitbull (411350) 2011 2 (10 16) ALL NIGHT LONG Alexandra Burke/ Pitbull (385850) 2010 3 (6 14) I LIKE IT (ALL NIGHT LONG) Enrique Iglesias/ Pitbull/ Lionel Richie (383900) 2010 4 (8 14) NOW OR NEVER Bon Jovi x Pitbull (315950) 2025 5 (20 11) DJ GOT US FALLING IN LOVE Usher/ Pitbull (140600) 2010 6 (19 8) RAIN OVER ME Pitbull/ Marc Anthony (116300) 2011 7 (23 6) TIMBER Pitbull featuring Kesha (86750) 2014 8 (40 5) FEEL THIS MOMENT Pitbull/ Christina Aguilera (56150) 2013 9 (66 6) GIVE ME EVERYTHING Pitbull, Ne-yo, Afrojack (35400) 2011 10 (52 3) BACK IN TIME (LOVE IS STRANGE) Pitbull (28200) 2012 11 (57 2) THERE SHE GOES Taio Cruz/ Pitbull (17000) 2012 12 (67 2) HEY BABY (DROP IT TO THE FLOOR) Pitbull/ T-Pain (12400) 2011 Co-incidentally PItbull is in the UK plugging a Hits collection, to which I would have expressed surprise he had enough material for one had I not actual proof that I do in fact like at least 12 of his tracks - or rather 6 of his tracks and 6 collabs.

71 (81) KEEPER OF THE CASTLE - The Four Tops The timeless Four Tops decided to leave Motown in 1972, I'm guessing because their primary classic hit song-writers/producers Holland-Dozier-Holland had left to form Invictus Records, and they were left to try and get hits with covers or lesser songwriters, which left them with less consistency, though still a big name. Signing with ABC-Dunhill, first single Keeper Of The Castle was a social commentary soul song in the vein of 1971's Moody Blues cover Simple Game which I adored, and coming after a reactivated Bernadette caused me to rush out and buy it, with this song making a hat-trick of chart-toppers inside 12 months in my personal charts of the time. Written and produced by Dennis Lambert, it was a good new start which they plugged quite well in the UK at the time - but the main result was no more big hits for the band until the 1981, despite Lambert writing and producing other hit songs and albums for other acts into the late 80's, and one US hit more for The Four Tops. I always rated this record, then went cool on it years later, but I'm back on board again now, playing it a lot again brought back the reasons I loved it in the first place, the message, the vocals, the production...

72 (NEW) LADY ELEANORE - Lindisfarne Lindisfarne had just had a chart breakthrough with the jaunty folk smash Meet Me On The Corner, a singalong anthem along the lines of their more-famous song Fog On The Tyne, very big in the Newcastle area and beyond. Corner just missed the rundown at 115, but I always did prefer this haunting ballad, which always left me with images of a mediaeval England for some reason. Time has been kind to the lovely song, one which just missed my rundown of the time, but now enters at 71 assisted by the folkey instrumental slow fade-out. Quite under-appreciated these days, it's not one that turns up on greatest hits radio, presumably because it's not a happy clappy nostalgia-fest and radio programming in the 21st century has one motto: don't depress the listeners, they might switch-over to a station a bit more upbeat. I liked radio when it would play anything and there was no formatting or target-audience in-depth studies. It was good? On the playlist it goes!

73 (NEW) I BELIEVE IN LOVE - The Pioneers I missed this one when it came out, if it got radio play it wasn't that much, despite having had a big hit in 1971 with Let Your Yeah Be Yeah The Pioneers, like most reggae acts, tended to be hit or miss with singles. Even the biggest names, Desmond Dekker and Johnny Nash, were never guaranteed a hit. This jolly singalong cropped up on a various artist collection, which started with Arcade and Ronco records cramming chart hits, edited and tinny-sounding compared to singles and full-prices artist albums, 10 per vinyl side. Soon others, like EMI, got into the market too with Greatest Hits collections not far behind as they mined the back catalogues they had rights to. It was more about quantity than sound-quality, but one happy side-effect was stuff like this getting included. Not a hit, but it jolly well should have been, catchy and fun, love the melody, love reggae.

74 (NEW) HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART - Al Green Talking of Al Green again, I wasn't even aware this cover of the 1971 Bee Gees Country smash (in the USA) existed in 1972, and indeed I had never heard the Bee Gees song either, not a UK hit. When I discovered it years later I was a huge fan, it's something of an annoyance that it's never listed among the Gibbs best songs, when it clearly is - witness this emotional soulful reading that became a US single and hit, and then became quite well known in the 90's after featuring in the Romcom Notting Hill. And here we are outdoing I'm Still In Love With You by 2 places...

75 (NEW) HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - The Animals Still famous, still a song buskers might play, and copyright free as nobody knows who wrote this Blues standard. The Animals version, with Eric Burden's passionate vocals, is a cornerstone of 1960's Pop/Rock culture, the rifftastic Alan Price organ supports the story as it unrolls and 8 years later on from topping the charts everywhere there was enough demand for it to chart all over again. As 1964 has never been reviewed by me (yet) as is my wont I include any pre-1967 oldies if they are a hit again and this, if anything, is obviously vastly under-rated here. And yet...I was aware of it as a kid and quite liked it, I knew it was a classic in 1972 and liked it - but I liked newer stuff more and it never made my year-end Top 100 list. 60 years on from release, and I still recognise it's a classic, and yet there are still tracks from both 1964 and 1972 that I rate higher. Put it down to early childhood vibes that it was a bit slow, with no singalong hook!

76 (NEW) I'M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU - Al Green Al Green was on a roll by the end of 1972, his soul ballads doing great business in the USA, and back-to-back UK top 10's in 1971/early 1972 which left him with lesser hits later in the year and into 1973, but which deserved better than they got. Maybe not so classic as Let's Stay Together and Tired Of Being Alone, but still classy. I don't recall them getting that much radio airplay as a rule, though, which is a shame, as they sound better half a century than they did at the time, what a voice! Oh how I wish I could sing like Al, pure emotion! I'm Still In Love With You kind of passed me by at 14, I liked it enough, but it never registered as a top fave. It's really great though, and totally deserves a Top 100 rating.

77 (102) CRYING, LAUGHING, LOVING, LYING - Labi Siffre Labi Siffre's follow-up to It Must Be Love was a lovely song, that took a theme and developed it, based around 4 words, with increasing emotional power on the variation of the basic song structure. There's no hook, no chorus, no bridge, and it works just fine as it is. The song was selling downloads again a few weeks ago, I'm not quite sure why, probably an ad or TV placement, Labi has been pretty good at controlling his own back catalogue the last decade or so, with his 4 main hits forming the backbone. I have always felt he is under-appreciated, given he was the first black British singer-songwriter to have any success in the folk genre. His voice on these early hits is pure honey.

Thanks for doing this Gezza, lots of facts I didn't know, and I enjoyed 1988 at the time - I thought it was probably my least-fave year of the 80's but these things are always relative and there are always classics. Kim ended the year on another chart-topper for me in Four Letter Word, which still sounds lovely (she did it a couple of weeks back live on Radio 2), but in retrospect Never Trust A Stranger should have been my number one, and this one top 5.

Yes sorry about this, I didnt check my mail but Simon def did send these ahead of the games and asked me to post them soon as BJ was up and running, sorry about that! I would have otherwise done it on the lunchtime it came online! Sorry Simon! Great predicting I thought, though the Bournemouth and Southampton results were clearly Fake News spread by Far Right activists....😇

Cliff pipped Yazz at the post, then! I dont recall that headline at the time, but Kylie & Jason I knew did well on sales even before the end of the year. Record Mirror usually didn't do a Xmas/New Year edition, I think....at least with up-to-date info. It was great having The Four Tops back in the top 10, one of my fave groups of the 60's and 70's and I caught them on tour in 3 months time, original 50's line-up still intact. Buffalo Stance is a great track too, What's 'e like?!

yes sorry about that, lazy typing on my part. It was also a BJSC track if I recall. It topped my chart anyway, love it. Bet Lana Del Ray would like it! :)

Just watched it. Its like 2 mobsters attacking a helpless shopkeeper. Pair of bullying c**ts. Im going to repeat that because no other word will do. c**ts. Extorting the victims of a democracy invaded by a tyrant by saying you have no choice do what i say give me your minerals you bast*rd and i don't give a shit if putin invades again. Not my problem. Zelenskyy trying to reason in his second language to 2 men who only care about money. We know thats true. Trump doesn't care about anyone. Then a rant about biden and not caring about previous deals. Sign the f***ing deal Putin is God he is the true leader you are a piece of shit sign the f***ing deal. Im paraphrasing but that was the clear intent and any whataboutery about Zelenskyy is bollocks. Sorry but its true. The man is a hero and so are the people of Ukraine they were expected to rollover in 3 days and become another putin satellite fascist regime but they stood up for what is right. Putin is the bad guy and so is the USA under Trump. If you arent strong in their eyes then you are fair game to exploit. Giving in to bullies is not a solution. It just puts it off for a bit to allow putins economy and forces to build up.

1 2 1 5 HAMMER TO THE HEART - Teddy Swims 533750 2 19 2 3 ORDINARY - Alex Warren 141400 3 1 1 8 MORE THAN A WOMAN - Tavares 420000 532450 4 36 4 4 WHO I AM - Alan Walker featuring Putri Ariana & Peder Elias 92800 5 3 1 9 THE PROUD ONE - The Osmonds 635000 6 18 6 7 COLD DREAMING - Doves 124000 7 16 7 5 CONTROL OF ME - Topic x Daecolm 117400 8 4 4 6 PINK PONY CLUB - Chappell Roan 191400 9 5 5 4 CHASING PARADISE - Kygo & OneRepublic 231000 10 12 10 7 LET ME IN - The Osmonds 131650 11 14 11 6 NO BAD VIBES - Jazzy & KILIMANJARO 123400 12 8 8 9 BEAUTIFUL THAT WAY - Miley Cyrus 195300 13 10 10 5 A TEAR IN SPACE (AIRLOCK) - Glass Animals 146000 14 9 1 15 PEOPLE WATCHING - Sam Fender 621900 15 7 7 5 RIPPLE - Good Neighbours 192500 16 28 16 4 BORN WITH A BROKEN HEART - Damiano David 67800 17 6 2 12 THE DARK END OF THE STREET - Pet Shop Boys 510850 18 13 1 15 LATE NIGHT PHONE CALL - Reverend And The Makers 1360800 19 20 19 7 I’M IN LOVE... - Andy Bell featuring Dot Allison and Michael Rother 103400 20 31 20 2 BUSY WOMAN - Sabrina Carpenter 37900 21 26 21 4 AS TEARS GO BY - Marianne Faithfull 63150 22 27 22 4 WAY OUT - Jet Trouble 61700 23 35 23 4 LIGHTHOUSE - Kim Wilde 50250 24 11 1 15 EXTREME WAYS - Armin van Buuren & Moby 1230250 25 15 7 15 ALL YOUR FAULT - Gwen Stefani 340000 26 17 1 14 APT. - ROSE & Bruno Mars 797850 27 22 20 7 KEEP ME SATISFIED - Jungle 113100 28 24 5 8 EUPHORIA - Armin van Buuren, Norma Jean Martine & LAWRENT with Alok 236300 29 30 29 4 FANCY - Artemas 77700 30 21 21 12 LIVE FOREVER - Chesney Hawkes 169000 31 25 18 12 BOUQUET - Gwen Stefani 167000 32 23 11 13 CAN’T SLOW DOWN - almost Monday 271050 33 38 33 4 DO THINGS MY OWN WAY - Sparks 57000 34 49 34 4 CRYING, LAUGHING, LOVING, LYING - Labi Siffre 47700 35 37 35 8 GIMME LITTLE SIGN - Brenton Wood 103850 36 43 36 4 THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN - Marianne Faithfull 48100 37 51 37 3 ANDY (A GUY LIKE YOU) - The Waterboys 36550 38 56 38 3 WEIGHT OF DESIRE - Tennis 33800 39 40 39 4 HUNT YOU DOWN - ALT BLK ERA 56200 40 29 14 11 BARBARELLA - Betty Boo 173650

23rd February 2025 Teddy Swims is back on top for week 2, as Alex Warren leads a top 10 clear-out up to 2, both are emotional, epic-sounding gems. Alan Walker is no stranger to the top 10, and hasn't been since topping my charts in 2016 with Faded, Who I Am is as good as his usual best at 4. Doves have been absent from the top 10 for 20-odd years and Black & White Town, Cold Dreaming has a great epic, string-driven vibe to it at 6, and Topic tales afrobeats to 7, very compelling that one as is Jazzy at 11. Some old Eurovision faves return with new material, Mans Zelmerlow at 49 with Revolution, KEiiNO at 75 with Halo, Marina is diamond-less but back again after a break away, The Lottery Winners follow-up their chart-topper for number 2 in the chart, and The Weekend adds to the 2 already in the chart. That leaves tribute entries from Roberta Flack, and the only one her classics that hasnt already re-charted for me - Killing Me Softly With His Song returns for the first time in 52 years, and The Jam lost Rich Buckler so Eton Rifles is back for a 4th run, great drumming on it. The Jam singles had at least 3 charts runs in the 70's and 80's for the most part, but Eton Rifles never made the top 10, peaking top 20 only. 1 2 1 5 HAMMER TO THE HEART - Teddy Swims 533750 2 19 2 3 ORDINARY - Alex Warren 141400 3 1 1 8 MORE THAN A WOMAN - Tavares 420000 532450 4 36 4 4 WHO I AM - Alan Walker featuring Putri Ariana & Peder Elias 92800 5 3 1 9 THE PROUD ONE - The Osmonds 635000 6 18 6 7 COLD DREAMING - Doves 124000 7 16 7 5 CONTROL OF ME - Topic x Daecolm 117400 8 4 4 6 PINK PONY CLUB - Chappell Roan 191400 9 5 5 4 CHASING PARADISE - Kygo & OneRepublic 231000 10 12 10 7 LET ME IN - The Osmonds 131650 11 14 11 6 NO BAD VIBES - Jazzy & KILIMANJARO 123400 12 8 8 9 BEAUTIFUL THAT WAY - Miley Cyrus 195300 13 10 10 5 A TEAR IN SPACE (AIRLOCK) - Glass Animals 146000 14 9 1 15 PEOPLE WATCHING - Sam Fender 621900 15 7 7 5 RIPPLE - Good Neighbours 192500 16 28 16 4 BORN WITH A BROKEN HEART - Damiano David 67800 17 6 2 12 THE DARK END OF THE STREET - Pet Shop Boys 510850 18 13 1 15 LATE NIGHT PHONE CALL - Reverend And The Makers 1360800 19 20 19 7 I’M IN LOVE... - Andy Bell featuring Dot Allison and Michael Rother 103400 20 31 20 2 BUSY WOMAN - Sabrina Carpenter 37900 21 26 21 4 AS TEARS GO BY - Marianne Faithfull 63150 22 27 22 4 WAY OUT - Jet Trouble 61700 23 35 23 4 LIGHTHOUSE - Kim Wilde 50250 24 11 1 15 EXTREME WAYS - Armin van Buuren & Moby 1230250 25 15 7 15 ALL YOUR FAULT - Gwen Stefani 340000 26 17 1 14 APT. - ROSE & Bruno Mars 797850 27 22 20 7 KEEP ME SATISFIED - Jungle 113100 28 24 5 8 EUPHORIA - Armin van Buuren, Norma Jean Martine & LAWRENT with Alok 236300 29 30 29 4 FANCY - Artemas 77700 30 21 21 12 LIVE FOREVER - Chesney Hawkes 169000 31 25 18 12 BOUQUET - Gwen Stefani 167000 32 23 11 13 CAN’T SLOW DOWN - almost Monday 271050 33 38 33 4 DO THINGS MY OWN WAY - Sparks 57000 34 49 34 4 CRYING, LAUGHING, LOVING, LYING - Labi Siffre 47700 35 37 35 8 GIMME LITTLE SIGN - Brenton Wood 103850 36 43 36 4 THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN - Marianne Faithfull 48100 37 51 37 3 ANDY (A GUY LIKE YOU) - The Waterboys 36550 38 56 38 3 WEIGHT OF DESIRE - Tennis 33800 39 40 39 4 HUNT YOU DOWN - ALT BLK ERA 56200 40 29 14 11 BARBARELLA - Betty Boo 173650 41 32 1 22 YOU AGAIN - The Lottery Winners featuring Reverend And The Makers 1077200 42 33 1 25 NEVER GOING HOME TONIGHT - David Guetta & Alesso featuring Madison Love 1150000 43 47 43 3 ABRADACABRA - Lady Gaga 31200 44 50 44 8 LOVE ME FOR A REASON - The Osmonds 73500 45 39 3 14 DISCO AT THE STRIP CLUB - Reve 742350 46 46 46 5 MESSY - Lola Young 54650 47 34 16 12 NIGHTMARE - Geowulf 214850 48 48 48 5 FOLLOW ME - Special Interest featuring Amanda Lear 52300 49 NEW 49 1 REVOLUTION - Mans Zelmerlow 12100 50 55 50 3 REVELATION - The Knocks & Dragonette 33600 51 73 51 2 LAST NIGHT I DREAMT I FELL IN LOVE - Alok & Kylie Minogue 17150 52 42 4 16 WITHOUT YA - Bakermat featuring Gladys Knight 529100 53 44 13 19 TABOO - Kylie Minogue 347700 54 59 54 5 NO ONE NOTICED - The Marias 41500 55 53 4 44 FEEL - Pet Shop Boys 1116050 56 57 1 25 THE GIRL THAT I CALL HOME - Tears For Fears 1037700 57 63 10 28 DIE WITH A SMILE - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars 469250 58 45 20 12 ANOTHER NIGHT - Grace Davies 174500 59 41 14 14 MIDNIGHT TRAIN - Kim Wilde 214450 60 62 60 4 GOOD NEWS - Shaboozey 29600 61 67 61 2 CRY FOR ME - The Weeknd 14100 62 65 62 3 LUTHER - Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA, Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn 20200 63 54 1 25 HEART LIKE MINE - Sam Feldt featuring Rosa Linn 1102950 64 61 52 5 THE KILLING MOON - Echo & The Bunnymen 41500 65 NEW 65 1 BUTTERFLY - Marina 7000 66 NEW 66 1 TURN AROUND - The Lottery Winners 6800 67 52 44 9 HURT - OneRepublic featuring Jelly Roll 90350 68 74 68 3 SOMEBODY’S SON - Empire Of The Sun featuring Lindsey Buckingham 16000 69 75 64 5 CRIMINALS - Meghan Trainor 31500 70 71 68 6 BUILD IT UP - Franz Ferdinand 35600 71 76 71 3 NEW YORK MINUTE - Dion 14600 72 78 72 2 VICE - Rizzle Kicks 10000 73 NEW 73 1 WAKE ME UP - The Weeknd featuring Justice 5400 74 NEW 74 1 KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG - Roberta Flack 5200 75 NEW 75 1 HALO - KEiiNO 5000 76 77 76 3 SWEET SISTER SORROW - The Primitives 14000 77 64 64 7 HEY YA! - Tom Speight featuring Lydia Clowes 37400 78 79 78 2 THE ABYSS - The Weeknd & Lana Del Ray 8600 79 NEW 79 1 ETON RIFLES - The Jam 4200 80 72 72 4 ARM’S LENGTH - Sam Fender 19600 drop outs 58 10 12 TRUCKS - Cars On The Road Cast 235300 60 4 18 FANTASY - JADE 551050 66 8 15 DISCO WITCH - LEXXE 352400 68 38 8 NIGHT OR DAY - Franz Ferdinand 99850 69 1 15 SCREAMLAND - Father John Misty 656850 70 8 14 NOW OR NEVER (IT’S MY LIFE) - Bon Jovi x Pitbull 315950 80 79 2 HOT FOR YOU BABY - Tina Turner 8200

Hey Sven! 🙂 Hope all is good! Great top 2, and massive entry for Gaga at 4 🤗 The Weeknd bounding top 20, Euphoria holding, and Pink Pony Club and Chasing Paradise new entries into the 40 hooray! 🥰 Sam Fender in the Breakers and new ones from ABBA and Alex Warren 😍I must rechart that ABBA classic later in the year (I am off to Voyage again)! Back in 2016, still quite recent to me oops 😄 lots of goodies and some classics in Faded, Coldplay, Hello, 7 Years and Dua Lipa fab charts! 😎

HI AH! 🙂Hope you have a good weekend and relax! Take it easy and look after yourself, hope the toothache has eased! Fab chart as always, hope to delve more into ones I dont know when things calm down a bit here 🙂 cheers! 😎

Hi SSP! Gaga top 10, Messy & SOS climbing, Abracadabra and Scowl climbing, I like the new Gwen Stefani new entry, Alok and Tame Impala too are 2 I have bought. The Weeknd I need to check out, not heard that one. great chart! 😎

Hi Sergej! 🙂 Hope all is well, Luther topping your chart and the US chart too! 🤗Gaga & Red Pony Club top 10 hooray! Kendrick, Sabrina & Shaboozey top 20, lots o faves dropping or climbing back a bit, lots of Sam Fender too, great chart!😎

Hi AH! 🙂 No worries about commenting every week, life gets busy! 😮I've retired and i still dont have enough hours in a day, not even close!!🙄 Looking after your own well-being is much more important, and staying fit and well is the priority. See the dentist about the toothache, there is no relief like ending toothache even if it means losing a tooth 😱 Sam actually topped my charts too, and the song has just been on Radio 2 yay🤗 Not heard Vagabond Ways properly but Im always going to like Marianne, and Lucy Jordan should indeed have been a big hit, but she did well to get that comeback mini-hit after the sea-change in pop music since she last had a hit and jumping right back into relevance and new sounds. I might have to enter Amanda Lear into BJSC sometime, it's one of those out-there tracks that might appeal to the more Indie-leaning crowd, and I just can never resist fuzzy-guitar-sounds. Take it easy and thanks as ever for the comments and picks! 😎

Hey Sven!🙂 Tavares are fab to dance to, loud on a dancefloor pretty irresistible! Thanks for the picks and comments 😎

Hi Sergej! Thanks for the comment and picks, hope all is well with you! 😎 Thanks for the picks and dropping in SSP! 😎

Downtown is a classic. Loved it as a 6-year-old, and found the remix acceptable in the absence of the original. Pet is a forgotten national treasure these days and Cut Copy should have given her a 2010's boost but didnt, sadly. When this hit again she had already been singing and acting for 50 years, and was first recorded by the BBC during the height of the Blitz as a child😮 She is 92 and has an 85-year-long career.