Jaz13music

Not much to say about Bohemian Rhapsody, of course it’s excellent but obviously ubiquitous now. There’s many Queen songs I’d rather hear nowadays though. I don’t mind I’d Like To Teach The Word To Sing, but it’s very saccharine. The message is a good one but I find it really hard to get past the association to the adverts at the time. Thanks Coke, for ‘inventing’ peace and harmony……they would later go on to introduce us to the idea of Christmas!

9 Crimes – Damien Rice We Are Glass – Gary Numan Feel So Close – Calvin Harris Hold Me While You Wait – Lewis Capaldi Chin Up – Sam Fender Found What I've Been Looking For – Tom Grennan Luna – Roosevelt Want You For Life – Mackenzy Mackay Cartier'god Icedancer – Bladee Lovekiller – Darin Diamonds – Sam Smith Hasta Luego – HRVY & Malú Trevejo I’ve voted as a non-participant in each of the categories Calum, hope I’ve done it correctly!

White Flag – Dido Hounds of Love – Kate Bush Bubblegum Bitch – Marina and The Diamonds Better In Time – Leona Lewis Selfmade – Agnes Ona nosi Pradu – Milica Pavlović Hello – Adele Influence (feat. Wiz Khalifa) – Tove Lo Love Me Land – Zara Larsson Talk To Me – Robyn Music Gets The Best Of Me – Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sauna – Jessie Ware

See You – Depeche Mode Ruined In a Day – New Order We Like To Party! (The Vengabus) – Vengaboys Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) – Bananarama Sleepwalk – Ultravox When We Are Together – Texas The Sweetest Taboo – Sade A Lucid Dream – Fontaines D.C. Play – iamamiwhoami & ionnalee Oblivion – M83 Take Shelter – Years & Years Misty Circles – Dead or Alive

Okay, here’s my top 40, I’m allowing one favourite song per artist: When Doves Cry — Prince Relax — Frankie Goes to Hollywood White Lines (Don't Do It) — Grandmaster Melle Mel & Grandmaster Flash Pride (In the Name of Love) — U2 Like a Virgin — Madonna The Caterpillar — The Cure Wouldn't It Be Good — Nik Kershaw Love Is a Wonderful Colour — The Icicle Works Wood Beez — Scritti Politti Dr. Mabuse (First Life) — Propaganda Thieves Like Us — New Order Madam Butterfly (Un bel dì vedremo) — Malcolm McLaren Smalltown Boy — Bronski Beat The Killing Moon — Echo & the Bunnymen My Ever Changing Moods — The Style Council I Feel for You — Chaka Khan I Want to Know What Love Is — Foreigner Together in Electric Dreams — Giorgio Moroder With Philip Oakey King of Pain — The Police 99 Red Balloons — Nena Radio Ga Ga — Queen Dancing with Tears in My Eyes — Ultravox You Take Me Up — Thompson Twins Shout — Tears for Fears The Reflex — Duran Duran Do They Know It's Christmas? — Band Aid Nelson Mandela — The Specials William, It Was Really Nothing — The Smiths Careless Whisper — George Michael Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops — Cocteau Twins Gimme All Your Lovin' — ZZ Top Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) — Eurythmics Everything She Wants — Wham! Michael Caine — Madness Dancing in the Dark — Bruce Springsteen One Love / People Get Ready — Bob Marley & The Wailers Your Love Is King — Sade Soul Train — Swans Way Perfect Skin — Lloyd Cole & The Commotions Time After Time — Cyndi Lauper Thanks once again for your fantastic work Julian, and also Jim’s in the accompanying thread of course! Great fun as always, with nostalgia, some new discoveries and some great rediscoveries.

A really great group! ELO with an excellent innovative Beatle influenced first hit. More innovation with Popcorn, unbelievable that it came from 1972. School’s Out is a real rallying call. I love I Get The Sweetest Feeling, it’s close to being the best Jackie Wilson song. Where Is The Love is gorgeous. I also really like You Wear It Well, but agree it’s not as great as Maggie May. All The Young Dudes is definitely my favourite of this group though. Fantastic melodic glam rock. One of my favourite songs of the 70s. It’s very rare for anyone to outdo Bowie with one of his own songs!

7 Somewhere Only We Know - Lily Allen. Number one for 3 weeks Year end number 31 Number 2 watch - Of The Night - Bastille Story Of My Life - One Direction Hey Brother - Avicii A cover version of the Keane song, taken from their debut 2004 number one album Hopes and Fears, which reached number three in the UK. It was included on Lily’s third album Sheezus and was her third, and most recent UK number one single. Obviously, however, the song is best known for its use in the John Lewis Christmas advert for 2013, The Bear & The Hare. Also a portion of the proceeds from the sales of the single were donated to Save the Children’s Philippine Typhoon Appeal campaign. The John Lewis Christmas advert somehow became a big cultural event towards year end for a period from the end of the 2000s, becoming an annual tradition and part of the countdown to festivities for many. It developed major media attention and anticipation at its peak of popularity. Most are cover versions of relatively famous songs, which have been simplified and stripped back. Many had great chart success but this was only one of two that reached number one in the UK charts. This particular campaign was an animated Disney style setting with woodland animals and told the story of the hibernating bear being woken up by the hare so it didn’t miss out on the Christmas celebrations. It used unique hybrid animation techniques that combine traditional hand-drawn 2D animation with physical stop-motion, it reminds me a lot of Watership Down. Now, in the days of the multitude of AI videos/music, it’s quite quaint and lovely to see something so ‘handmade’. Really, it’s absolutely gorgeous ,I didn’t think I’d be saying that about a John Lewis ad! Here’s a hypocrite alert! After earlier banging on about my negativity towards poor cover versions (and most charity records for that matter), I’ve now proceeded to put one in my top 10. I loved the Keane original and its parent album long before this version, but for me this passes the test of bringing something new to the song. Musically, I admit it’s nothing earth shattering, being another simple piano ballad cover version that became the John Lewis hallmark, though it does have that really beautiful swelling orchestral accompaniment. However it’s the vocals I love most, Lily’s voice always naturally has a certain vulnerability to it, I think even more so here, and that adds to the emotion of the song. It’s also forever tied to that tearjerker of a video. In my opinion it was the best song (and video) of the whole John Lewis thing and soon after the idea began to wear a bit thin. 7 Quiz - Answer - Biffy Clyro Who sang the US national anthem at Barack Obama's 2013 inauguration ceremony?

Yellow Ribbon is awful, always hated it My Sweet Lord is excellent, one of the very best solo Beatles songs, emotional and uplifting, love it!

I’ve had a think of some my favourites from the 80s (that haven’t been mentioned already). Got it down to a 40 shortlist, with difficulty! Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie Hands Off... She's Mine – The Beat Once In a Lifetime – Talking Heads Wordy Rappinghood – Tom Tom Club Temptation – New Order Come On Eileen – Dexys Midnight Runners Club Country – The Associates Say Hello, Wave Goodbye – Soft Cell Rock the Casbah – The Clash Senses Working Overtime – XTC Rip It Up – Orange Juice White Lines (Don't Do It) – Grandmaster Melle-Mel & Grandmaster Flash With or Without You – U2 The Boy with the Thorn In His Side – The Smiths The Sun Always Shines On TV – a-ha Like a Prayer – Madonna Pump Up the Volume – M/A/R/R/S Jack Your Body – Steve "Silk" Hurley She Bangs the Drums – The Stone Roses Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) – Soul II Soul You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dead or Alive Theme from S'Express – S'Express Orinoco Flow – Enya Big Fun – Inner City Walk This Way – Run-DMC Don't You (Forget About Me) – Simple Minds Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Tears for Fears Love Missile F1-11 – Sigue Sigue Sputnik Buffalo Stance – Neneh Cherry Need You Tonight – INXS There She Goes – The La's Ace of Spades – Motörhead House of Fun – Madness Moments in Love – Art of Noise Brass In Pocket – Pretenders Duel – Propaganda Don't Dream It's Over – Crowded House Pump Up the Jam – Technotronic Echo Beach – Martha And The Muffins Getting Away with It – Electronic

Ooh that’s a very mixed bag Tilt, from love, to like, to hate and everything in between!

8 Roar - Katy Perry. Number one for 2 weeks Year end number 6 (88 in 2014) Roar was the lead single from Katy’s fourth studio album Prism and her 4th number one of 5 to date. After the huge success of Teenage Dream (plus The Complete Confection) and its singles, Katy had a lot riding on the first single of her new era and she certainly produced a successful very catchy song. Roar returns to a lot of the lyrical themes of her earlier single Firework, those about standing up for yourself, positively and overcoming adversity, though some rhymes here are a bit easy and some lines feel a little cliched, especially all the tiger metaphors. Musically it’s obviously a pop song but at times feels almost like arena rock with its driving rhythm and heavy bass and drums. I particularly love the ‘plonky’ piano melody in the verses, which really reminds me of Jay-Z’s Hard Knock Life, and that can never be a bad thing! Katy certainly shows off her powerful diva like vocals, especially in the uplifting chorus, and I like the repeated little ‘Hey!’ through the verses, reminiscent of The Lumineers’ Ho Hey. Not necessarily groundbreaking, or as critically adored at Teenage Dream, but I have a real soft spot for Roar’s catchy power pop and empowering message. 7 Quiz - Answer - Disclosure Which Scottish alternative rock band scored their first UK Number 1 album in February 2013 with Opposites?

I like These Are The Days Of Our Lives, it’s pretty, wistful and nostalgic, and one of my dad’s favourite songs. I’d have it a little higher I think. The KLF and Prodigy number twos are fantastic though

Not ready to put them in order just yet, but these are my favourites of the year so far: The Singer In My Band - This Is Lorelei Believer - Angela Autumn Who Loves The Sun - Chat Pile Bloodwork - Rubber Band Gun Punching The Clown - Lambchop It Goes On - Westside Cowboy Lost Weekend - Phoebe Bridgers Cannonball - Man/Woman/Chainsaw I Can See - Nick Hakim MY SKYSCRAPER - Nirosta Steel Role Model Hermit - mary in the junkyard you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love - Olivia Rodrigo Highway To Hell - Star Moles Inferno - Boards of Canada Beauty Land - Greg Mendez Lavender Networks - Fire-Toolz Train On The Island - Aldous Harding Something Worth Waiting For - Friko My New Band Believe - My New Band Believe It’s The Hope That Kills You - The Itch WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA - Slayyyter Written Into Changes - Avalon Emerson Girlfriend- Grace Ives U - underscores Big Disgrace - Haute & Freddy Trying Times - James Blake The Mountain - Gorillaz Blame The Clown - Twisted Teens the apple tree under the sea - hemlocke springs URGH - Mandy, Indiana Singin’ To An Empty Chair - Ratboys IT’S THE LONG GOODBYE - The Twilight Sad

Fantastic hosting @uhsting, it was great fun thanks! Congrats Jim, an absolutely emphatic victory with an epic song. I’ve liked stuff by The Joy Formidable before, but I hadn’t heard this one, that was a great find. 27th is nothing earth shattering for Sheer Mag but I accept that throwback 70s influenced rock is not exactly boundary pushing, so not too disappointed.

Now I understand…..loved your song, thanks!

Loved that song thanks Jade!

Thanks Jim and thanks for the 10! Sorry for recycling that song, but I thought everyone had ignored it in RotD so I thought I’d have a go at entering it into a contest! 😆

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Two massive instrumental hits. I don’t particularly like Amazing Grace, though the Judy Collins version is good. Eye Level is pleasant enough. There’s been some, let’s say, less good songs in places 20-10. Hope the top 10 is better, I do think there’ll be some songs I like there!

Another 2 great songs to make up the top two. I hope I didn’t spoil your reveal a bit by incorrectly putting Love Will Tear Us Apart in my best of the 70s list?! At least it shows how great a song it is though, when I want to include it in both decades! It’s fantastic but I also sometimes find it can be a hard listen when the context of the lyrics and release are taken into account. Absolutely love it though. Like a lot of early 80s synth classics Fade To Grey still sounds futuristic. It’s also so cool. I love the sparseness of the whole thing and also the gorgeous vocals. Great choice for number one.

9 La La La - Naughty Boy Feat. Sam Smith. Number one for 1 week Year end number 5 La La La was the second single from Naughty Boy's debut album Hotel Cabana and it appears on the deluxe edition of Smith's debut album In The Lonely Hour. It was Sam’s first of 8 UK number ones, and Naughty Boy’s only one. Naughty Boy originally intended to write the song with Emeli Sande but she was on tour at the time, and he wrote it with Sam instead. I’m always a sucker for a bit of UK garage but this has great R&B and pop elements too. Sam’s excellent falsetto vocals first came to my attention on Disclosure’s fantastic Latch, but here they have a warmer soulful tone. The catchy la la la hiccup chorus hook was apparently a relatively obscure Bollywood sample. The title and lyrics alludes to heartbreak, not wanting to hear the painful truth and having to deal with the consequences, covering your ears like a kid would and saying, 'La La La’. It’s probably still my favourite of Sam’s singles, I love their uptempo songs more in general. There would be many more number ones to come though. 7 Quiz - Answer - Gentleman Which brotherly electronic duo topped the album charts in June 2013 with their highly acclaimed debut album Settle?

Unfortunately I missed the registrations😔, though I’ve only just come across these Pop Factor competitions for the first time tbf. It all looks intriguing so I’ll be following closely along, and cheering for my favourites. Good luck all!

I love Vienna, much more now than at the time in fact. I was very much Team Dolce (that’s a joke btw)! It has a very cold icy feel that I find fantastic. Blue Monday is also brilliant and obviously groundbreaking, moulding new wave with dance music. New Order must be one of the greatest ever singles bands, they were great live too. My favourite would probably just about be Bizarre Love Triangle, with its perfect bridge and breakdown, absolutely gorgeous. After 8 wonderful songs, I’m intrigued to see what makes your top two!

Even after all that’s happened in the 50+ years since, Mouldy Old Dough still manages to sound weird. And very British. With its pub Winnie Atwell like piano, odd whistling refrain and growling vocals it sounds like pretty much nothing else. Still not sure if it’s brilliant or awful… or both YMCA is obviously ubiquitous, some good some not so (Trump) good, but I still manage to enjoy its enthusiasm.

10 Look Right Through - Storm Queen Number One for 1 week Year end number 62 Into the top 10 and we arrive at my biggest revelation on listening through the 2013 number ones. When I first saw this song on the list I admit I didn’t really remember it at all, however hearing it again I was very pleasantly surprised. Look Right Through is a song by the American record producer Morgan Geist with vocals by Damon C. Scott. It had a bit of a convoluted journey though, it was originally released in October 2010, and first remixed in 2012. Then late in 2013, Ministry of Sound re-released the song with new remixes, and the vocal remix by MK became the most successful version in the UK and this took it to number one. Like a lot of dance record successes at the time it had been very popular in the European islands over the summer, building anticipation ahead of its relaunch. It also became a true ‘one hit wonder’. I note that this is one of a few relatively unexpected, often dance related, number ones towards the year end. This was, in recent years, what had traditionally become the home of a parade of songs which were massive hits off the back of X Factor guest appearances. I think the waning of that influence allowed some great songs to peak higher. Listening again this is essentially right up my street. I love the minimalist house styling which is almost late eighties sounding and also the synths especially in the chorus. With great vocals and all round upbeat vibe it’s no wonder it became popular over the summer. Still surprised (but very happy) it made number one, especially amongst such big selling songs at that time. It’s a great song though! 7 Quiz - Answer - Cedric Gervais Which track by Psy followed up "Gangnam Style" and reached the UK Top 10 in April 2013?