James Silkstone

I actually think One Dance is better than Everything I Do (I Do It For You) though. It's kind of like choosing between Clinton and Trump mind you, but still....

'I Need a Dollar'. Aloe Blacc. 14/05/2011. #2. A one-hit wonder turned two-hit wonder, I was always sad that after this Aloe Blacc disappeared because this was the first song for an age that really spoke to me as some kind of commentary and reflection on the ills and troubles of modern society. Whether it was meant to be or not I don’t know, but it really spoke to me more than say ‘Price Tag’ which on the surface it seems to have a lot in common with. When you look a bit closer, ‘Price Tag’ is essentially an idealistic notion of tearing down the system whereas Blacc’s ‘Dollar’ is more about trying to get by within the system. It’s a subtle, but I think important, difference. ‘Dollar’ also sounds great, Blacc has a lovely soulful voice and whilst the production is maybe a bit too chirpy vs. the subject matter, it does a great job of making the song catchy which will help Aloe get his hands on the dollar more quickly. Everyone seemed to be humming this for weeks on end when it was at its most popular. He’s popped back once or twice since but to me, he’s still really just this one hit because it’s the only one I’ve managed to connect with. nFZP8zQ5kzk

'Nobody's Perfect'. Jessie J. 14/05/2011. #9. You know, for someone who really wants to be seen as interesting and quirky, Jessie J hasn’t half released some dull music. We’ll meet a lot of them in due course but this one almost suffers from the opposite problem – if one watches the video – with Jessie pushing the weirdness factor to 11 probably to compensate for the nothing of a song she’s drudging her way through. I’ve never really been able to put my finger on why I find this so dull, it’s just so…boring. Jessie succeeds best when she’s a little strange or verging on quirky, I don’t think she believes in this song and as a result is on auto-pilot for most of it. I am not a fan of her whatsoever, but all of her other singles at least have some kind of gusto behind them whereas this is coma inducing. aSZVYZTze74

'Where Them Girls At'. David Guetta feat Nicki Minaj & Flo Rida. 14/05/2011. #3. Oh god, I hated this one at the time! I don’t know if it was just because I was 15 and in my desperate to appear cool and indie stage (I bought The Vaccines album, as if that proved anything) or if I just genuinely found the song bad but I absolutely detested this. I thought it annoying and I didn’t appreciate Nicki then nearly as much as I do now, very much buying into the general opinion that she was cheap, slutty and the death of all things good on the Earth. I don’t know when it was that I started to think this was an absolute jam, but five years on, and I could bop to this all day. I think it comes from the fact that at 15 I was very much under the belief that music needed to mean something, whilst now I’m 21 as of Wednesday, I just want a bit of fun from my music and ‘Where Them Girls At’ is nothing if not bags of fun. Nicki’s verse is arguably the best, she’s always at her best when she’s able to get on some quick flow but that’s not to take any credit away from Flo Rida who also serves the track very well. Despite what I’ve said, I can see why someone would hate this and it probably does get annoying if played on a loop, but I’ve grown very fond of this one. p4kVWCSzfK4

'Guilt'. Nero. 07/05/2011. #8. It’s strange to see just how much the charts have changed in the last five years, a song like this probably wouldn’t reach the top ten now. Not because of anything in the song itself – but more because it was a one-week #8 hit on rather low sales and would probably get to about #22 now. Essentially, the nature of the charts and one gets a hit has changed now and it’s a shame these fan-based or one/two hit dance acts are going to struggle for top ten hits in the future Anyway, on to ‘Guilt’ itself. I’d forgotten how much I liked this! I was pretty EDM’d out at the time but the stuff Nero were putting out was a cut above the rest and ‘Guilt’ is easily their best song. Some early dubstep inspired stuff going on in here as well, a genre I was always cold towards but Nero did some good stuff with it and I’m always a sucker for a dance track with lyrical output more profound than ‘yeah, we up in the club’ so points there too. r1ATFedwjnk

'The Lazy Song'. Bruno Mars. 07/05/2011. #1 I take periodic breaks from this now and then to allow some time to pass because I don’t want to get too close to modern day, and a lot of me just totally forgot I was even doing this during the latest hiatus which was mainly because of Uni work and then six months went by without me updating (oops!). So, anyway, I hope people are still interested in reading these because I’m very interested in starting them up again over the summer It’s a shame, however, that we have to come back on a song I dislike so much. I was pretty indifferent to Bruno at this point, I could have gone one way or the other, but this made me hate for quite some time. ‘The Lazy Song’ might be real or whatever, but he’s really douchie in this song. It’s not so much “haha Bruno, you’re so funny and relatable” as it is “get off the couch and stop being a dick”. Bruno will redeem himself in time, but May 2011 me was done. Done. fLexgOxsZu0

I mean, there are downsides. Drake will probably still be in the Top 40, if not the Top 20, at Xmas and only one or two hits entering the Top 40 each week has made the chart show a little dull. I think 2016 is one of the worse years for popular music in recent memory, though I'm one who thinks on the whole 2011-2013 and then 2015 were actually pretty superb years overall, so there's still been a fair few major hits this year I've liked. To me, at the end of the day, any record that reached the Top 40 in any era was a hit. In 2001, it was easier as you could have weeks of building up interest to a song being released which obviously made for higher, more front loaded sales but at the same time the song had to capture the public's imagination to do that. In 2001, we didn't have YouTube or Spotify which meant in the weeks prior to a songs release all the exposure the public had to it came from chance plays on TV or Radio and the odd promotional performance on TOTP, CDUK, GMTV exct. Therefore interest in a song really had to be captured and maintained over six-nine week periods without anyway for the consumer to really use the song regularly - I imagine that's why some would argue the actual quality of chart music as declined overall; songs back then had to create so much more of a buzz or memorability in order to keep it fresh in the record buying publics minds for two months before they could actually get their hands on it. Think now, do you still like and listen regularly to the songs you were into 8 weeks ago? One or two aside, I can't say I do or ever have done. Whereas now, songs are kind of thrown into the deep end straight away and have to really 'earn' that Top 40 spot. I would count a lot of the songs in the past few years that peaked between #41 and #75 as hits on their own merits, but because of the way the charts are structured now their high sales came gradually over months and months rather than in one straight flourish. This cost a few songs Top 40 positions but lead to silver or even gold certifications in the long run. I mean, if you compare Selena's "Same Old Love" which peaked at #81 in 2015 to a #81 peaking song from 2005; the difference is clear. 'Same Old Love' had a bad peak but has managed to sell over 100k and seems generally quite well known whereas, name me a #81 peaking song from 2005. One of the most culturally impacting hits of last year was Omarion, Chris Brown and Jhene Aiko's "Post To Be" thanks to it's rather tasteless eating booty like groceries line being shared and quoted over and over, yet it only slumped to #74 but I would argue a majority of people my age (21) or thereabouts are aware of it.

I'm in a minority on this but I actually really like the charts now. I like to know what's genuinely popular and it's great to see songs climb and build up momentum to their peaks over time. I never liked 6-12-20-34-45-67-75-OUT chart runs, I much prefer to see songs build week by week. One wonders how songs from 10/15/20 years ago would have done under this system - acts like Westlife and Boyzone would have lost a good few number one's for sure, if not a few top tens.

Shawn Mendes's chances of getting into the Top 40 with 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' are pretty much over now aren't they? I'd be up for him trying to re-push 'Something Big'

10 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor 04 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Take Me Home 05 Soulja Boy Tell’em – Crank That (Soulja Boy) 05 Steps - Chain Reaction / One For Sorrow 05 Steps - It's The Way You Make Me Feel / Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby 00 Sugababes – Get Sexy 03 Supermen Lovers feat. Mani Hoffman - Starlight 10 Sweet Female Attitude - Flowers 07 T.I. feat Rihanna – Live Your Life 09 T2 feat. Jodie Aysha - Heartbroken 10 Take That – Rule The World 10 Take That – The Flood 10 Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble 09 Taylor Swift – Love Story 09 Taylor Swift – Shake It Off 06 The Glee Cast – Don’t Stop Believin’ 11 The Killers – When You Were Young 08 The Noisettes – Don’t Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go) 06 The Saturdays – Forever Is Over 02 The Saturdays – Just Can’t Get Enough 08 The Script – The Man Who Can’t Be Moved 09 The Vamps – Can We Dance 05 The Vamps – Last Night 07 The Wanted – Chasing The Sun 05 The Wanted – Heart Vacancy 06 The Wanted – Lightning 01 The Wizard Of Oz Film Cast – Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead 03 Tinie Tempah feat. Labrinth – Frisky 08 True Steppers & Dane Bowers feat. Victoria Beckham - Out Of Your Mind 07 U2 - City Of Blinding Lights 08 U2 - Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of 03 U2 & Green Day – The Saints Are Coming 09 Ultrabeat - Pretty Green Eyes 02 Union J – You Got It All 05 Usher - Pop Ya Colla 02 Westlife - What Makes A Man 04 Westlife – What About Now 00 Westlife Feat Diana Ross - When You Tell Me That You Love Me 09 Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag 04 White Stripes – Icky Thump 03 Wiley – Wearing My Rolex 05 Will Young - Don't Let Me Down / You And I -1 will.i.am feat. Justin Bieber - #thatPOWER 00 will.i.am feat. Miley Cyrus, French Montana, Wiz Khalifa & DJ Mustard – Feelin’ Myself 06 Willow – Whip My Hair 05 Wretch 32 feat. Example – Unorthodox 06 X-Press 2 feat. David Byrne - Lazy 10 Years & Years - Shine 06 Zedd feat. Hayley Williams – Stay The Night 01 Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400

08 P!nk feat. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason 06 Passenger – Let Her Go 04 Philip George - Wish You Were Mine 07 Plain White T’s – Hey There Delilah 02 Puretone - Addicted To Bass 07 Pussycat Dolls Feat Will.I.Am - Beep 05 R. City feat. Adam Levine - Locked Away 08 Rachel Stevens - Some Girls 10 Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex 07 Razorlight - Somewhere Else 08 Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way 08 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California 04 Rihanna - Pon De Replay 08 Rihanna - S.O.S. 01 Rihanna – Rude Boy 06 Rihanna – Russian Roulette 08 Rihanna – Unfaithful 04 Rihanna feat. Drake - Work 00 Rizzle Kicks – Mama Do The Hump 07 Robbie Williams - Tripping 03 Robbie Williams – Bodies 01 Robbie Williams & Gary Barlow – Shame 05 Robbie Williams & Kylie Minogue – Kids 03 Ronan Keating - I Hope You Dance 10 Ronan Keating - Lovin' Each Day 01 Ronan Keating - She Believes (In Me) 05 Ronan Keating & Yusuf - Father And Son 03 S Club - Say Goodbye / Love Ain't Gonna Wait For 07 S Club 7 - Reach 05 S Club 7 - Two In A Million / You're My Number One 03 S Club 7 - You 05 S Club Juniors - Automatic High 10 S Club Juniors - New Direction (Sorry not sorry) 09 S Club Juniors - One Step Closer (Sorry not sorry) 10 Sam Sparro – Black & Gold 10 Samantha Mumba - Gotta Tell You 08 Sash - Adelante 05 Scooter - The Logical Song 07 Sean Paul - We Be Burnin 08 Sean Paul – She Doesn’t Mind -1 Shaggy & Ali G - Me Julie 09 Shakira - Whenever Wherever 02 Shane Richie - I'm Your Man 10 Shayne Ward - No Promises 05 Shayne Ward – No U Hang On / If That’s OK With You 09 Sia feat. Sean Paul - Cheap Thrills 01 Sidney Samson feat. Wizard Sleeve – Riverside (Let’s Go!) 09 Sinead Quinn - I Can't Break Down 11 Snoop Dogg feat. Justin Timberlake - Signs 04 Sonique - Sky

00 Lee Mead – Any Dream Will Do 05 Lemar - Dance (With U) 08 Leona Lewis – Better In Time / Footprints In The Sand 04 Leona Lewis – Happy 08 Libertines - Can't Stand Me Now 04 Liberty X - Got To Have Your Love 05 Lisa Maffia - All Over 07 LL Cool J feat. Jennifer Lopez - Control Myself 08 Loick Essien feat. Tanya Lacey – How We Roll 07 Lumidee - Never Leave You (Uh Oooh Uh Oooh) 02 LunchMoney Lewis - Bills 03 Madonna - American Life 05 Madonna - Hollywood 10 Major Lazer feat. MØ & DJ Snake - Lean On 09 Manic Street Preachers - Empty Souls 07 Manic Street Preachers - The Love Of Richard Nixon 10 Manic Street Preachers feat. Nina Persson – Your Love Alone Is Not Enough 11 Mariah Carey - We Belong Together 07 Mario - Let Me Love You 06 Mark Ronson feat Daniel Merriweather – Stop Me 09 Mark Ronson feat. Amy Winehouse – Valerie 07 Maroon 5 - Maps 06 Maroon 5 – Makes Me Wonder 09 Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera - Moves Like Jagger 07 Martine McCutcheon - I'm Over You 05 Mary J Blige feat. U2 - One 05 McFly – One For The Radio 07 Meghan Trainor - Lips Are Movin 06 Michael Jackson - You Rock My World 09 Michael Jackson – Man In The Mirror 08 Mis-Teeq - All I Want 10 Mis-Teeq - Scandalous 10 Moloko - The Time Is Now 09 Mr Hudson feat. Kanye West – Supernova 06 Mutya Buena – Real Girl 08 N Sync - Girlfriend 05 Natalie La Rose feat. Jeremih - Somebody 06 Nick Jonas - Jealous -1 Nickelback – Rockstar 03 Nicki Minaj – Starships 00 No Doubt - Hey Baby 05 Oasis - Let There Be Love 05 Oasis - Little By Little / She Is Love 09 Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out 10 One Direction - Perfect 10 One Direction – Best Song Ever 10 One Direction – Story Of My Life 04 One True Voice - Sacred Trust / After You're Gone 07 Outkast - Ms Jackson 02 P!nk - Get The Party Started

08 Girls Aloud - The Show 08 Girls Aloud – Something New 06 Gordon Haskell - How Wonderful You Are 08 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc 07 Gwen Stefani feat. Akon – The Sweet Escape 08 H ‘Two’ O feat. Platnum – What’s It Gonna Be 05 Holly Valance - Down Boy 10 Hozier - Take Me To Church 04 Ice Cube feat. Mack 10 & MS Toi - You Can Do It 06 Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grande – Let Me Think About It 09 IIO - Rapture 07 Infernal - From Paris To Berlin 07 Jamelia - Thank You 04 James Arthur - You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You 10 James Bay - Hold Back The River 08 James Morrison feat. Nelly Furtado – Broken Strings 09 Jason Derulo – The Other Side 09 Jason Derϋlo – Ridin’ Solo 05 Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind 06 Jay-Z feat. Beyonce Knowles - 03 Bonnie & Clyde 00 Jedward feat. Vanilla Ice – Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby) 10 Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah 09 Jennifer Lopez feat. LL Cool J - All I Have 03 Jessie J – Do It Like A Dude 06 JLS – Take A Chance On Me 04 John Legend – All Of Me 07 JoJo - Leave (Get Out) -1 Jonas Blue feat. Dakota - Fast Car 07 Just Jack – Starz In Their Eyes 08 Justin Bieber – Boyfriend 11 Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River 10 Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You 10 Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body 10 Justin Timberlake feat. T.I. – My Love 08 K’naan – Wavin’ Flag (Coca Cola Celebration Mix) 06 Kanye West Feat Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger 10 Kate Nash – Foundations 10 Katy Perry – Teenage Dream 05 Kelis - Milkshake 10 Kelis - Trick Me 10 Kelly Rowland - Stole 09 Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On 08 Kid Cudi vs. Crookers – Day ‘N’ Nite 08 Kings Of Leon – Use Somebody 10 Kylie Minogue - I Believe In You 07 Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight 10 Kylie Minogue - On A Night Like This 04 Kym Marsh - Cry 06 La Roux – In For The Kill 10 Labrinth feat. Tinie Tempah – Earthquake

07 Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me 08 Christina Aguilera – Ain’t No Other Man 05 Christina Milian - Dip It Low 07 Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne – Real Love -1 Cliff Richard – 21st Century Christmas / Move It! 06 Coldplay - In My Place 08 Coldplay - Speed Of Sound 01 Conor Maynard – Can’t Say No 04 Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On 03 Craig David feat. Sting - Rise & Fall 06 D12 - My Band 06 D12 - Purple Pills / Purple Hills 11 Daft Punk - One More Time 07 Daniel Powter - Bad Day 08 Dannii Minogue - I Begin To Wonder 03 Dappy feat. Brian May – Rockstar 09 Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) 07 Darkness - I Believe In A Thing Called Love 04 Destiny's Child - Bootylicious 10 Destiny's Child - Lose My Breath 08 Dido - White Flag 08 Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge – White Noise 05 DJ Sammy - The Boys Of Summer 07 Donell Jones - U Know What's Up 04 Duke Dumont – Won’t Look Back 01 Duncan James & Keedie - I Believe My Heart 08 Ed Sheeran & Rudimental - Bloodstream 04 Electric Six - Danger High Voltage 04 Ellie Goulding – Your Song 10 Embrace - Nature's Law 08 Emeli Sandé – Heaven 09 Emeli Sandé – Next To Me 05 Eminem – Bezerk 09 Eminem feat. Rihanna – Love The Way You Lie 07 Eric Prydz – Pjanno 08 Eric Prydz vs. Floyd – Proper Education 05 Example – Say Nothing 07 Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t A Scene It’s An Arms Race 01 Fast Food Rockers - Fast Food Song 06 Felix Jaehn feat. Jasmine Thompson - Ain't Nobody (Loves Me Better) 08 Fergie – Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) 08 Fifth Harmony feat. Ty Dolla $ign - Work From Home 08 Flo Rida – Whistle 10 Flo Rida feat. T Pain – Low 02 Florence +The Machine feat. Dizzee Rascal – You Got The Dirtee Love 03 Gary Barlow – Let Me Go 02 Geraldine – The Winner’s Song 06 Girls Aloud - Jump 07 Girls Aloud - Love Machine 10 Girls Aloud - No Good Advice

00 4-4-2 - Come On England 07 5 Seconds Of Summer – Don’t Stop 01 50 Cent feat. Eminem & Adam Levine – My Life 08 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland – Ayo Technology 10 A1 - Caught In The Middle 10 Adele – Chasing Pavements 10 Adele – Rolling In The Deep 09 Adele – Skyfall 07 Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar 05 Alyssa Reid feat. Jump Smokers – Alone Again 07 Amelia Lily – You Bring Me Joy 03 Appleton - Fantasy 08 Arctic Monkeys – Brianstorm 09 Artful Dodger & Romina Johnson - Movin' Too Fast 08 Ashanti - Only You 10 Atomic Kitten - Last Goodbye / Be With You 06 Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend 06 Baha Men - Who Let The Dogs Out 05 Basshunter – All I Ever Wanted 08 Bastille – Of The Night 11 Bastille – Pompeii 02 Benny Benassi presents The Biz - Satisfaction 07 Beyonce feat. Sean Paul - Baby Boy 05 Big Brovaz - Favourite Things 08 Black Eyed Peas - Shut Up 06 Blazin' Squad - Flip Reverse 09 Blink 182 - All The Small Things 05 Blue - Guilty 03 Bodyrox feat. Luciana – Yeah Yeah 03 Bomfunk MCs - Freestyler 04 Booty Luv – Boogie 2Nite 07 Britney Spears - I'm Not A Girl Not Yet A Woman 03 Britney Spears – Piece Of Me 07 Britney Spears feat. Madonna - Me Against The Music 10 Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven 06 Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man 01 Busted - Air Hostess 07 Busted - Year 3000 07 Calvin Harris - Feel So Close 08 Calvin Harris + Disciples - How Deep Is Your Love 08 Calvin Harris feat. Example – We’ll Be Coming Back 07 Calvin Harris feat. Kelis – Bounce 07 Calvin Harris feat. Ne-Yo - Let's Go 07 Cascada – Everytime We Touch 08 Chamillionaire feat. Krayzie Bone – Ridin’ 09 Charlotte Church - Crazy Chick -1 Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) 09 Chipmunk feat. Chris Brown – Champion 06 Chris Brown - Run It 05 Chris Brown – Don’t Wake Me Up