T Boy

I’m not sure I prefer it to the original, but I do like Madonna’s version. It’s nowhere near as bad as people made out at the time. Shalala Lala is a dreadful song and it shows steam was beginning to run out for Vengaboys. It was nowhere near as fun as the previous singles or even the one that came after. What on Earth did Naima from Honeyz have on her head?

Got the 99 extra from HMV this morning. Haven’t listened to all of it yet but I did check that Radio is indeed the Unplugged version which is a relief.

Omg WHY did they just not use Chelsea for like 3 years when she’s one of the best they’ve got?

I’m living for Sheila just pulling out wads of cash at the drop of a hat whenever anyone needs anything. Not quite sure why she’s indulging Gray. It’s annoying me that they’re all calling Craig ‘Craig’ instead of his police title. None of these characters bar Jack knew him before last week. Obviously he’s going to be a fairly big character but it’s a little too soon. He’s clearly going to have it off with Amy. Would you even be able to meet with a 17 year old on her own at her home without another adult present?

I think it’s more to do with the fact that Jake Wood has electric chemistry with almost every other actor in the show so they use that despite him not being conventionally attractive.

I should think Jean would be relieved 😂

I quite liked The Man Who Cant Be Moved at the time but I’ve always just found the Script sort of just there. Hall Of Fame does nothing for me and neither did the Ne Yo track that held it off first week. Much preferred the Pink track that arrived in third that week.

Bring back Shenice Quinn

So it seems!

Kathy is such an unserious character these days. Why not just tell Ian that Chelsea didn’t make it in time and was stuck on the tube? She didn’t have to mention the appeal but she could have done better than asking him the daftest questions.

I don’t know, it’s been a lot worse and in recent memory too. Prison storylines are always a little bit ridiculous. The teen stuff has petered out and the Bea stuff was horrendous (thank goodness that’s over!) but I’m generally enjoying everything else right now.

I can suspend my disbelief about Ian and Gray being in prison together. After all Sharon got locked up for contempt of court and placed in the cell next to her ex stepmother who had been doing 19 years for murdering her father. Things have been less realistic. I am starting to wonder if Vicki had something to do with Joel’s attack. I hope not but I have a feeling. I was living for Chelsea, who does not want any of her family finding out she’s speaking to Sheila, just meeting her in broad daylight in the middle of the Square where all her friends and family live. I just hope the prisoner actors in Ian’s story aren’t as hammy as the ones from when Mick got sent down.

Yeah but in real life they would definitely have checked. If only to see if they’d taken any pictures of the crime scene that could easily get posted over social media. Jean going back into detective mode is all we need.

So the police took 8 statements but didn’t examine anyone’s phone for that video? Well it makes sense now that Ian manages to get out of prison in time for New Year but it’ll be the end of November by the time he gets out. Max will have a month to choose him as best man.

I’m willing to give it a chance with it just being a couple of episodes. Wadey despite his faults has managed to salvage characters before. Max, Cindy, Lauren and Elaine are all much better under him. Janine’s last stint was pretty poor. There was no clear plan. They were desperate to improve the show and the lack of steady work during Covid meant Charlie would definitely say yes. Janine’s ties were almost non existent then and the only relationships they built for her were with the Carters and that was really bad. The fact that all anyone is mentioning with this news is Linda kind of proves how misjudged it all was. She struggled to play off anyone-Ian wasn’t even around! I did like her double act with Sonia though. She shouldn’t have come back poor and she shouldn’t have been portrayed as a neglectful mother. It would be great to have her establish new relationships to keep her relevant but that’s unlikely to happen in 2 episodes. I’m going in with an open mind though.

It does irritate me just how much she is associated with Mick now. What awful developments. I know it’s only brief and we may not get an interaction but I’d be here for more of this.

Wadey isn’t great but the show IS still in a better place than it was back then.

I mean, no one is saying that Golden isn’t popular. Just that you can’t compare like for like. Heartbeat/Tragedy was insanely popular in 98/99 but out of context it only looks as popular as no.26 hit Golden if you look as sales figures. Music wasn’t more popular in 2021 than it was in 1999 just because a no.26 was pulling in the same figures as a no.1 was back then. The charts were just very different back then. If the charts worked the same way, fifth single or not, Golden likely would have gone top 10 but probably wouldn’t have pulled in over a million sales. It’s always frustrated me that streaming was just added to the chart without much thought to how it would be counted alongside sales. Chart records have become more meaningless because the playing field is no longer level. There is no solution but that doesn’t mean we can’t point this out.

We love to see it.

I’ve mainly gotten into Go Let It Out more in the last couple of years. Never rated this era for Oasis and have never listened to the album. I quite enjoy GLIO to listen to now but it was so fleeting at the time I never paid it much attention.

I mean all I said was ‘you have to laugh’ which I don’t think was that much of a bad thing to say? And of course I drew up with evidence from this very thread. Gezza even noted she was the highest selling singles act of the decade not to get a no.1-and quite a way above any of the others (I didn’t even use specific examples of those.) All I was trying to do was remark about an artist’s success in the context of a recent discussion. There was no attempt at all to insult anyone with what I said and I’ll definitely be thinking twice before I enter any discussion about anything from now on.

I’m not sure you understood my response because I’m having trouble understanding yours. Janet sold over 3 million singles in the 90s. Only 18 other acts managed that. That is sustained success over a 10 year period. She also broke out in the mid 80s and could still hit the top 40 up to the mid 2000s. She is unquestionably a big artist, you can’t really frame it any other way? She never got that no.1 single but she was a constant chart force. If anything Together Again was unlucky in that it was released in a period where so many songs were selling in high amounts. It didn’t even go top 3 but outsold so many songs that did.

Not all of those hits were minor and even so, it’s sustained success across the decade. Only 18 artists sold more singles throughout the decade. I mean, where is your bar for ‘huge’? I think you’ve taken what I said a little too personally. On brand for you of course but, once again, you have to make at outright personal dig at me.

You have to laugh at anyone in the ‘biggest artist not to have a no.1’ thread who said Janet just isn’t that big. That is just one decades worth of her sales.

There is no solution. Just accept that the charts won’t ever be the same and will likely never be viewed as important ever again. Rule changes have pushed it to its limits and the charts have still gotten more stagnant than ever. Everyone’s listening habits contribute to the chart. A large majority of those people aren’t as interested in music as we are and it’s just background sound to them.