Jaz13music

Message In A Bottle would be my favourite of the recent bunches. The Police were a real breath of fresh air in the late 70s charts

24 The Monster - Eminem Feat. Rihanna. Number one for 1 week Year end number 26 (93 in 2014) The fourth single released from Eminem’s album The Marshall Mathers LP2 , is another collaboration between Eminem and Rihanna, following Love The Way You Lie (Parts 1 and 2) and Numb, and is a hip-hop pop song, with lyrics highlighting the negative effects of fame and inner demons. It became both Eminem and Rihanna's eighth UK number one single. Unusually, it entered the charts at number one despite being released on the previous Tuesday, and having a 48-hour disadvantage on the rest of the week's new singles, it sold 74,674 copies. Then despite sales increasing to 96,059 copies in week two, it fell to number two in the charts. The original song ‘Monster Under My Bed’ was written by Bebe Rexha and was intended to be used on her own debut album. However after recording it she felt it would be perfect for Eminem who was looking for songs for his new album. The chorus was used for ‘The Monster’ and he added verses keeping Rexha’s background vocals and asked Rihanna to provide vocals for the chorus. In my opinion this feels like a poor attempt to recreate the lightening in a bottle moment of the wonderful ‘Love The Way You Lie’. In contrast to that song, here Eminem’s raps are poor and not too memorable aside from some of his ‘comical’ voices. It’s Rihanna who really carries the song in the chorus with soulful emotive vocals, and the propulsive almost dubstep like rhythm, I find myself waiting for that to kick in while I’m listening to it. Maybe you can go to the well too many times! 4 Quiz - Answer - Burn by Ellie Goulding How many times is ‘get lucky’ mentioned in the single version of Daft Punk’s of Get Lucky?

Ooh I initially thought I knew which uninspired dance record you meant, but maybe you’re right TheSnake, it could be that other dance record! We’ll have to see when we get to them!

A mixed bag for me. I like The Riddle’s almost folk like melody. Blasphemous Rumours has Depeche Modes trademark brooding menace. I’m So Excited is a little overused for me though I still enjoy its energy Wild Boys is great, a big sound, love the intro. Sexcrime has always been one of my favourite Eurythmics singles, more uptempo than usual for them. Louise is pretty but a bit inconsequential

Congratulations @jimwatts for a brilliant win, well deserved! I love First We Take Manhattan, it was one of the few I had heard before the contest and was literally my 11th place song, so it really only just missed some votes, sorry! The nominations were such a high level of quality, thanks to everyone involved. Congratulations also to @Spiceboy and @dandy* for the podium places. Special thanks to @dandy* for a great topic, excellent presentation and also for my first ever 12 points! Rufus Wainwright is the greatest songwriter of his generation IMO, so I always felt I’d like to choose one of his songs, and because the qualifying period was 20th Century it meant I had to pick from his debut album. April Fools is my favourite from that era, though I was a bit concerned about it being uptempo, and that it might not fit with everyone’s idea of a ‘singer songwriter song’. 18th is not bad though, so thanks to anyone who gave me votes, including @Spiceboy for 8! Great fun all round, already looking forward to the next one, thanks guys!

25 Impossible - James Arthur. Number one for 3 weeks (total) Year end number 42 (5 in 2012) James Arthur won the 9th series of the X Factor in 2012, and his debut/winners single was a cover of Shontelle’s ‘Impossible’ which was released as a charity single for Together for Short Lives. By 2014 it had sold over 1.5 million copies in the UK and overtaken Alexandra Burke’s ‘Hallelujah’ to become the best-selling winner's single in the show's history. Like many cover versions in this list, it just doesn’t go anywhere or offer anything new, though Arthur tries his best to inject some emotion into the overblown X Factor nonsense. However, compared to what came before and after, it was actually an okay winners song. I like his distinctive gravelly vocals and that he always seemed less polished than many of the reality TV output. One of Arthur’s main virtues was his everyman personality and backstory. He had overcome personal adversity in his early family life, and in the show he even won a ‘final showdown’ early in the contest (when the equally great vocalist Ella Henderson was eliminated). He was the first winner to have survived being in the bottom two of voting. But he always felt like a square peg in a round hole, his musical background being more in R&B hip hop and soul. Arthur himself had an initially controversial post X Factor career, including accusations of homophobia, though he later admitted he had been struggling with drug and mental health problems, and he eventually became an ambassador for a mental health charity. His musical career was to have a really quite rare resurgence for a former X Factor winner, but that story is for another time… 4 Quiz - Answer - Wake Me Up by Avicii Which 2013 UK number one contains the lyrics ‘When the lights started out, they don't know what they heard. Strike the match, play it loud, giving love to the world’?

And now you’ve picked my favourite Beach Boys and perhaps my favourite Stones single! Both undeniable songs!

Well done @Herbs , great song choice

Yay, points for everyone!

Catching up, having just got home. Some great songs separating themselves out at the top, and my favourite, Alanis, still in with a chance of the win. Thanks so much @dandy* for your 12 points, obviously I already knew you liked Rufus and that particular song but that is my first ever maximum points in a BJ competition!

So this is not necessarily my usual thing. Grizzled indie veterans Lambchop’s new release is a completely stripped back country folk album recorded over 3 days, with one banjo (played by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon) one acoustic guitar and a six part choral group adding “lined out singing", a centuries-old Scots-Appalachian call-and-response tradition in which a lone clerk leads a choir through hymns, word by word. Topped off by Kurt Wagner’s world weary lyrics and gravely deep baritone vocals, it’s absolutely gorgeous and perfect listening as we head into autumn.

26 Scream & Shout - will.i.am Feat. Britney Spears Number one for 2 weeks Year end number 18 (78 in 2012) Number 2 watch - I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift My Life - 50 Cent/Eminem/Adam Levine So we’ve now left behind the number ones of 2013 that I really don’t like much, and reached those which I am mostly either generally indifferent to, or barely remember. Scream & shout was the second single from the album ‘#willpower’ and became will.i.am’s fourth solo or collaborative single to top the charts. It was Spears' sixth number one and her first for almost a decade, since Everytime in 2004. Tulisa (N-Dubz) co-wrote the original version of "Scream & Shout" and recorded it under the title "I Don't Give a F*ck". The track was intended for her debut album The Female Boss. However, the producer, Lazy Jay, gave it to will.i.am, who then re-wrote the song with Spears in mind. Despite Tulisa's claim that her vocals can still be heard on the song, she was not credited with co-writing "Scream & Shout" until she eventually won a lawsuit in 2018 giving her 10% of publishing rights. ‘Scream & Shout’ famously includes a reference to the lyric ‘It's Britney, bitch’, which was first seen on Spears' 2007 single ‘Gimme More’ and is used before every breakdown on the track. And undoubtedly Britney is the most interesting thing about this, with lyrics about having a good time on a night out, ‘When you hear us in the club / You're gonna turn this s*it up’. I’m not really a fan of a dodgy accent though. This time it’s Britney’s English one, the track beginning with Spears rapping the first lines with Nicki Minaj like vocals. Musically it works almost like a forgotten Black Eyed Peas outtake, with its dark bouncy robopop club sound. Sure, there’s more auto tune overload but I especially like the ‘Oh we oh’ chorus and the nice synth ending. I even felt I heard some similarities to Azealia Banks’ groundbreaking ‘212’ in the fusion of hip hop and electro house, though it’s not even close to being as wonderful as that song. All in all an okay track, and it was great to have Britney back at number one, but it’s no Toxic either! 4 Quiz - Answer - Macklemore (Same Love) Which 2013 UK number one featured uncredited vocals by Aloe Blacc?

Now you’ve got me intrigued as to which Prince song it is? Don’t spoil the surprise though, I’ll wait til it comes up….. unless it’s something that’s already been?

Two great ones to start with! The VU & Nico album is one of my favourite ten albums ever, so I pretty much love everything on it. Venus In Furs is fantastic of course, such a unique song both lyrically and musically. If pushed, I think All Tomorrow’s Parties might be my first choice. Light My Fire is excellent of course, such drama. And I especially love the instrumental break too.

Ah, Pop Musik. What seemed like a novelty record, actually turned out to be groundbreaking for so much synth pop to come. A US number 1, too I believe?

Wonderful new single from the synth pop champions, so soon after this years glorious Big Decision album!

That’s a great idea, looking forward to seeing what you go for! I hope I didn’t spoil any of your surprises by asking you about your favourite 5 songs in Gezza’s 70s best sellers thread!

27 Skyscraper - Sam Bailey Number one for 1 week Year end number 84 The first appearance of Simon Cowell, now known as the official ‘Praying Mantis of Popular Music’ (in honour of @Iz様 🌟) Another year, another X Factor winners song at Christmas number 1, it was almost as if the Rage Against the Machine protest had never happened. And yet looking back I feel that it was the first real sign of its iron grip loosening, It was now starting to feel like there was less general public interest in the show, song, or winner outside the program’s bubble, especially compared to previous years (Nicholas McDonald anyone?!) and the usual parade of number ones off the back of guest appearances on the show appeared to dry up this year. It’s sales reflected that, though still having a big first week and entering the charts ahead of a future monster single, it was the second lowest opening week so far, behind Steve Brookstein from the fledgling series 1. Which is a shame because Sam herself certainly seemed likeable and relatable with her working mum turned popstar story and, being one of the oldest winners, hers was a story of perseverance. She was given a Demi Levato ballad as her winners song and in general sings it well. However all the X Factor hallmarks are there, the slow build, dramatic powerful vocals, OTT bombastic production, full of ‘rising from the ground’ type metaphors about believing in yourself, overcoming adversity and making your dreams come true, and of course the key change. I prefer the more subtle beginning and end of the song to the histrionics, and of course Demi’s much more emotional and personal original version. Proceeds were given to Great Ormond Street Hospital and Together For Short Lives charities, so some good came of it. And, with no further UK hits, Sam joined the ranks of true ‘one hit wonders’! 3 Quiz - Answer - Rihanna Which act performed their 2013 pro-marriage-equality hit at the 2014 Grammy awards alongside a live mass wedding of 33 couples?

Wow, that’s quite an undertaking, great choice of 5 songs though! Out of interest, what ended up winning?

28 Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo Feat. 2 Chainz. Number one for 2 weeks Year end number 25 This was the second single from his third studio album Tattoos and features rapper 2 Chainz. It prominently contains a sample of ‘Hermetico’ by the Israeli band Balkan Beat and became Derulo's third number-one song in UK and 2 Chainz's first. It was a bit of a change of direction for Derulo and I admire the attempt to get some unusual musical cultures into the song, especially the Middle Eastern vibe in the chorus and the honking horns, which funnily are similar to those in other (much better) 2013 chart toppers that we’ll hear later. He also brought in a rap collaborator for the first time. However I just can’t get past Derulo himself and also his braggy sexualized lyrics and cultural ignorance, in this case claiming that even if he cannot speak the language of a foreign woman, her "booty don't need explaining". Oh Jason, he’s certainly had a panning during these early 2010s countdowns hasn’t he? At least it’s a bit fun though, and he certainly made sure we know his name! 3 Quiz - Answer - "Blurred Lines". The song that became Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" was originally intended for what other artist?

Thanks for all your comments so far guys, it’s much appreciated ! I just wanted to add something about Blurred Lines. I knew it would be my most controversial decision, putting it where I did. In hindsight, and after some thought, I admit I’ve probably been a bit overly harsh in my assessment, but I think I did it because I’ve always been angry that a song I superficially initially liked a lot turned out to be such a mess and felt ‘cheated’ by it all. Especially when one of the artists, Pharrell, is one on my musical heroes. A bit like I feel about Morrissey these days. But as some of you have pointed out, it was pre #metoo so I maybe should have given it a bit of slack. Also Mack. is right, and I admitted myself in the post it was a cop out, I should have ranked and scored it. So I’ve decided to do that. I still hate it though, so it’s still last (31st) with a score 2/10. Normal service with be resumed tomorrow!

Got my vinyl of Westside Cowboy’s debut album It Goes On today. Also a properly signed copy of Phoebe Bridgers Lost Weekend last week. Both are excellent!

29 Let's Get Ready to Rhumble - PJ and Duncan. Number one for 1 week Year end number 126 (71 in 1994) Number 2 watch - Just Give Me A Reason - Pink/Nate Ruess So why was Rhumble spelt with a ‘h’ ?! The alter egos of Ant and Dec were originally characters in their BBC teen drama TV show Byker Grove. Rhumble was originally released in 1994 reaching number 9 and nearly two decades later reached number 1 on re release. This time sales royalties went to the Childline charity and the song was performed by the two on their Saturday Night Take Away show (a big reunion episode) in celebration of its return, including the full energetic now ironic dance moves. This prime time exposure helped propel the song to number 1. The song included a sample of boxing and wrestling announcer Michael Buffer saying his famous catchphrase. But “Rumble” was apparently deliberately spelled as "Rhumble" to avoid copyright problems, since Buffer had trademarked the phrase and also as a pun on the dance the Rumba. Anyway, this is the worst of 90s comedy rap records with stacks of ‘humorous’ catchphrases and cheesy lyrics. ‘Partners in crime, we’ll never do time’…..is almost Shakespearean. The music is limp and tinny with little redeeming qualities outside the ‘so bad it’s good’ throwaway nature, the sirens, the dance routine and A&Ds good guy images. I do love the 90s curtain haircuts in the video though! Also, I can’t forgive it was one of the songs which stopped the excellent Just Give Me A Reason from reaching number one (along with another much better song coming later)! 2 Quiz - Answer - Calvin Harris with 5 To which song did Miley Cyrus "twerk" to at the 2013 VMA awards?

Not quite as many highlights this time. I Feel For You is fantastic though, it still feels very futuristic and testament to Prince’s songwriting skills. Absolutely love Stevie’s harmonica too. Never Ending Story is gorgeous especially the lovely vocals and twinkling synths. Love’s Great Adventure is one of Ultravox’s great uptempo songs. Too Late For Goodbyes is really nice, as you say, very reminiscent of his dad Caribbean Queen is good but not outstanding. I do have a soft spot for Gimme All Your Lovin’s unapologetic rock though

30 One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) - One Direction. Number one for 1 week Year end number 24 Their third number one single, this time released in support of Comic Relief. Now I wanted to have no further controversy, but I’m afraid straight away I might be upsetting some fans by putting One Direction at the bottom of the list. In my defence I have no problems with them and like a lot of their back catalogue, I just don’t like this song. I much prefer Best Song Ever or Story Of My Life, both of which were number 2s later in the year, for example. I make no secret of the fact that I mostly dislike cover versions, especially if they add nothing new to the original. There are obviously some wonderful exceptions to this. In this case they somehow manage to butcher not one but two fantastic songs, first Blondie then The Undertones, and mash them together in a very awkward way, a ‘one two three four’ piecing the two completely differently paced songs together. As a positive I admit I do like the chanting ‘na na na na’ bridge and the bouncy pop energy and I also accept that the end justifies the means in terms of charity. And something has to be last doesn’t it!! 2 Quiz - Answer - Royals - Lorde Which artist had the most UK top 10 singles in 2013?