fanguts

I love Martine. Not the most dynamic or charismatic of singers but she has a sweet little voice and enough charm to pull it all off. Of her singles, I'd go with "I'm Over You" as being the best, though it seems to have been forgotten by any one who isn't a pop nerd. Gina G, and this is becoming a running theme here for me it seems, is only familiar to me through her big hit that everyone knows. I do like it though, probably the last real Eurovision classic our country has produced (no offence to Scooch or Blue) Fergie is confusing because she really feels like she should be considered an absolute joke, yet she's kind of not? I can't say I care for much of her solo material bar a weird morbid fascination with Fergalicious which I try and listen to at least once a fortnight to prove to myself it's actually a real thing that exists. Other than that, I find her either dull (Big Girls Don't Cry, Glamorous) or just plain awful (London Bridge).

I've always found 'They Don't Know' to be a charming little record. I like what Ullman does with it as well, she's no world class vocalist but she has a sweet voice that carries her through the track with ease, though I have heard the high-pitched 'Bay-Be' in the middle was still MacColl's original vocal as Ullman wasn't able to hit it. Didn't realize she'd had such a reasonably successful career musically though. Annie Lennox is an icon of British music, probably our second best female artist after Kate Bush in my view. Katy B always seems to get a bit lost and looked over when you think of the new British female superstars of the 2010's so I'm glad she's made the list. Adele, Jessie J, Ellie Goulding exct. have been more successful but Katy is my favourite breakout female star of the decade. Crying For No Reason is just exceptional. One of the best pop records of the last decade for sure.

Is 'Nothing Compares 2 U' near a million sales yet? I imagine it's responsible for a good 3/4 of O'Connor's total there?

Can't say I know enough about Barbara Dickinson to have an opinion on her. Tiffany's only good song was "I Think We're Alone Now". Can't say I care for any of her other stuff. The best teen breakout of '88 for me is Debbie Gibson (Kylie would prove her worth later down the line) who definitely had some duds (Out of the Blue, Electric Youth) but also made Foolish Beat which is one of my favourite melodramatic teen break up anthems ever. I'm also guilty of having something of a spot for the ludicrously cheesy but fun Shake Your Love. I'm guessing she won't be making this list though. Rather like Sam Fox, and I'm sure this is the only way the two could be compared, the only Sinead O'Connor song I know is the one everyone knows. And what a song it is.

I guess it's impossible to ever know for sure, but I do often find myself wondering how the 2000's charts would have looked with the current chart system.

That said, without the Elvis covers, I think we would have had Manic Street Preachers dropping from like 1-21 in one week.

I'd forgotten all about those Elvis re-issues clogging up the chart in early 2005 (and people complain about Ed!), that was a very frustrating time. Whilst I'm still pleased 'Goodies' managed to make it, I'd sacrifice it's number one status for the vastly superior 'Only U' if I could.

Can't say I have had much exposure to Sam Fox (musically, there's plenty of other exposure out there I'm sure) outside of her big hit. Though I do enjoy 'Touch Me' for what it is - a slightly trashy but undeniably catchy slice of 80's pop. Ciara strikes me as objectively more talented than her immediate obvious competition, Rihanna. I guess it's kind of a Britney/Christina tale five years later, in a different genre, with a much bigger gap in career fortunes between the more and less successful act. And I do remember Ciara being very much the big buzzed about new thing for a few months in 2005 before all the hype just seemed to disappear. Still, she's trucking on bless her, and 'Jackie' was probably her personal best for me. Solo wise, I'd go with 'I Bet' as my favourite single of hers though overall 'Lose Control' with Missy Elliott & Fatman Scoop just pips it.

A lot more instant for me than 'Treat You Better' was and without the kind of awkward gender power play issues thematically that TYB had, so I'm definitely a fan. I know he gets a bit of critique for his voice sometimes - and no one's saying he's a world class vocalist or anything, but he's really strong vocally on this. There's enough power there to really sell it. I hope this has a fair shot at #1 over the coming weeks with sales so low, Ed steadily declining, Clean Bandit probably soon too as well and little competition elsewhere (I can only think of that foreign language track with Bieber in throwing a spanner in the works).

Sober is probably my favourite Pink song ever, it used to be 'U & Ur Hand' but these past few years I've really come to love Sober. Beautiful record.

The Vamps are probably a good way of looking at the rapid changes in chart format and how hits are measured. Their #24 hit 'All Night' is probably going to outsell at least three/four of their five top ten singles.

That's a very good way of looking at it, though the categories would shift back a bit when looking at previous sales periods. In 2004, for example, 200k was probably about the equivalent to Big or even Huge hit for that time.

It's interesting that although peaks are now more irrelevant than ever before in registering what's a hit and what's not, a higher peak from sustained success now means more than ever. Getting to number one in 2017 is a lot more impressive than getting one in 2007 (this is why I've never been against streaming too much). There were more than a few number one's in the late 90's and throughout the 2000's that I don't think would be hits in today's chart climate. It's interesting to think how the charts of 2003 may have looked with the method we use today.

So, following a brief discussion with some friends the other night, I've been having a bit of an internal debate with myself over what makes a 'hit' record. Being a bit of a chart nerd, I've always been interested by this concept, because I've always kind of known that a 'hit' record can have many different meanings. It can mean a song that was a hit at the time but the fact it has not been well remembered could call that status into question, or a song may attain 'hit' record status even if it performed poorly at the time but has become a well-known classic today (Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams probably being the best example of this). First off, I think a songs chart peak is ultimately irrelevant, now more than ever. In 2017, I think a song can miss the Top 40 all together and still be considered a hit - 'Post To Be' by Omarion & Chris Brown from 2015 got no higher than #74 but was still pretty well known and sold well due to longevity where it's sales were more steadily flowed rather than in a few big bursts. Conversely, I would say that 'Focus' by Ariana Grande was not a hit despite it achieving a top ten placing. It fell off quickly and didn't sell particularly well and I don't think it will be remembered all that well. Peak's have always been irrelevant. Back in 1996-2006, a song could chart very highly but I wouldn't consider a lot of top tens (and even a few top fives) from this era 'hits' as like the Ariana Grande example, they fell off quickly and sold relatively poorly after a first week flourish due to being held back. It would make sense then, and this is as close to an answer as I can get, that it's longevity which makes a 'hit' record but that depends on the climate of the chart at any particular song. I don't think you can use the same methodology to measure what's a hit in 2017 as you can do with 2002. The way that chart back in 2002 worked, I would argue that any song that managed to last at least ten weeks in the Top 40 would be considered a hit single. Due to the nature of songs generally being held back so long and then selling a bulk of their copies in week one for a high peak, I think any song that managed to last ten weeks after it's debut within the Top 40 was definitely a hit. I don't think a song which peaked at number six but was at #72 six weeks later can really be considered. In terms of sales, I don't really know where you'd draw the line. Back in 2003, I'd say any song hitting 100k was a bonafide hit whereas now I'd say failing to get to 300k is edging towards disappointing for a Top 20 hit. I don't know if weeks in the Top 40 is a good method to use in 2017 as most songs spend at least ten weeks on the chart, is it 20? Is it if the song manages to sell well comparative to its peak? It's becoming very hard to define so I was wondering if people on here had any input?

I can't imagine anything will be even near competing with Adele by the end of the decade, it would have to be something truly earth shattering

Hope Louisa can make the Top 10, or at least get a new peak, she may need streaming to pick up a bit though. Shawn Mendes seems to have risen a little with 'Mercy' as well. Hope he stays in the charts until Xmas as he'll have had a full year with at least one song in the Top 40 if he does so.

I hope Mariah manages to go top ten this year, I imagine she will. Though I do wonder who is still buying the song every year but as streaming is here to stay, Mariah's festive dominance will likely never end.

Best years: 1980s - 1984 1990s - 1998 2000s - 2006 2010s - 2012 Worst year's 1980s - 1988 1990s - 1993 2000s - 2008 2010s - 2010 I don't know enough pre-1980 to make any proper judgement though I'm lead to believe, by my parents and one uncle, that 1976 to 1979 was one of the beat era's for music ever.

Funnily enough, my birth year (1993), is the only year of that decade I'm not overly enamored with. I don't think 1993 is a bad year at all but it lacks a number of really stand out tunes like every other year of the 90's. Just looking at the list of top 10's from '93, the only one's I can safely say I adore are I'd Do Anything For Love, Dreams, I Have Nothing, Mr. Vain and Dreamlover. Still, overall, there's more good than bad but just not as much good as the other 90's years.

Going to throw this out there and it may be an unpopular opinion - but I think 1988 was absolutely terrible for the UK charts. It was dominated by SAW who I think it's fair to say had released their best hits in the years prior - even Kylie was crap this year with the exception of 'Je Ne Sais Pas Pourqoi' - and a lot of the pop music just seems to embody the cheesier, lamer aspects of 80's pop. There were more than a few good songs in the Top 40, don't get me wrong, and Michael Jackson was dominating with the singles from 'Bad' which is my favourite album of his. I just don't know if a year dominated by Glenn Medeiros, Bros, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Cliff Richard, Billy Ocean, Jason Donavon and Milli Vanilli is any better than what we're getting in 2016.

Pleased to see The Vamps are climbing steadily, I hope it continues for them.

Good lord. I didn't think this would actually happen. Very worrying.

It's interesting looking at the Sales only chart these days, because the older acts are still getting their on sales, it's just streaming letting them down.

I think it was the week after Xmas 2014 - I remember Ariana having like 3 or 4 singles in between #60 and #70.

How do we all feel about 2009? Because it's genuinely one of my favourite years ever for chart music. Looking through the Top 40's of the year there's literally one or two songs that I adored entering every week. It was good for the Billboard charts as well if I recall. Just an all around solid year.