James Silkstone

Katy Perry. ‘I Kissed a Girl’. One of the Boys (2008) http://84d1f3.medialib.glogster.com/media/c3/c337298cc22f624d6f44eb1f221de67d2619df084c0b3917f80a42a8e2a1803d/katy-perry-i-kissed-a-girl-fanmade-lukedonegan-png.png A musical no homo. So, its summer 2008 and I’m on holiday with my family and some family friends in Portugal. My Dad brings our Sky Box card so we can access British coverage of that year’s Olympics whilst away but obviously, the coverage wasn’t 24/7 and whilst it wasn’t on – we’d always switch the music channels on just to add some color to proceedings and have something on in the background on a fairly constant basis. Oddly, I remember the exact moment this song first came into my life – it was Saturday, August 9th 2008 at about 10.30pm when this came on the television and for the first time in my life I was exposed to one Ms. Katherine Hudson or as we know her, Katy Perry. I quite like that I’m able to recall the precise moment one of the biggest pop stars of the last decade became known to me, and I think a benefit of that is how much of an impact and impression ‘I Kissed a Girl’ leaves behind in its wake. I was 13 years old when I first heard this, and at first I didn’t pay too much attention to the lyrics, though at 13 I obviously got at least some of what Perry was saying here and perhaps, rather progressively for a thirteen year old, in my mind I identified her as bisexual. I’m a sucker for a good pop beat, and ‘I Kissed a Girl’ is one hell of a ride when you hear it for the first time or listen to it for the first time in about three years as I’ve done for this purpose of this review (essay? I don’t really know what these things are) but yeah, in terms of enjoying it as an actual pop song – this still holds a little place in my heart because it sounds pretty bloody good to me and most people in a public place will both know it and happily sing-a-long too it but my feelings towards it have soured a little since 2008. I’m 20 now, and a proud member of the millennial generation. Yes, we have our issues and what not but as far as I can see in general we seem to be a far more forward thinking, progressive and LGBTQ+ friendly generation than most. My issue with ‘I Kissed a Girl’ rises from that. tAp9BKosZXs I’m not going to sit here and accuse Katy Perry of being actively homophobic, I have no evidence to support that claim and a lot of her subsequent music has had definite LGBT+ friendly themes within them (let’s leave ‘Ur So Gay’ alone for now because I’ll probably end up covering it at some point) but I definitely think it’s fair to say she’s occasionally guilty (as are most of us, I’m not condemning her here) of being passively homophobic. By this I mean, she’s guilty of using the gay community as a straight person in order to prop up her own desires and ends without really paying any service or acknowledgement to the struggles of the gay community. She’s likely – I assume – made up for that with actual charitable work but the legacy of ‘I Kissed a Girl’ will haunt her reputation until she addresses the seriously questionable themes of the record and acknowledges it’s fetishizing of lesbianism and use of queer-baiting. This is not, I repeat not, an objectively pro-LGBT anthem. This is a pro Katy Perry anthem, I guess you can make a case for this record being progressive in the fact that it shows Katy as a woman in charge of her own sense of sexuality and not catering to specific gender roles. That would be fine and I would accept that if not for the constant ‘no homo’ she pulls again and again throughout the song reminding us all that she’s not a lesbian, or bisexual, or interested in women at all – she has a boyfriend, and she hopes he won’t mind. Perhaps he won’t. But I do. Ultimately, in 2015, ‘I Kissed a Girl’ lives to serve as a cautionary tale for the millennial generation. Be as supportive as you want of oppressed groups, but do not use their struggles and community to prop yourself up.

Jessica Simpson. ‘I Wanna Love You Forever. ‘Sweet Kisses’ (1999) http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h371/jscolelctor/CD-S_-_I_Wanna_Love_You_Forever/21.jpg Where do we draw the line between love and obsession? Hello, and welcome to my new thread/blog/soapbox whatever you want to call it. I’ve used various threads over the past year to talk about pop music to combine my three favourite things – writing, popular music and self-gratifying narcissism however I’ve found myself increasingly unsatisfied with each of them as I find it very frustrating and hard to right about music I don’t at least, on some level, enjoy or find something to talk about within them. Reviewing every top ten single of a decade sounds like a good plan on paper, but not every song is noteworthy enough to warrant a conversation about it and that is something that has been frustrating me a lot in recent months. So, I decided to just throw caution to the wind and start this thread which aims to take a pop song I either love or at least know enough to be able to write at least a few hundred words on it, post it here and satisfy that itch I have. This doesn’t mean I’ve totally abandoned by other thread, but this one will be more active because I’ll be writing about pop music that I’m actually 100% invested in writing about. It’s not all going to be music I like – though most of it will be to some extent – and even if it is, I will be critical because heaven knows I have some very sketchy taste when it comes to what most people consider quality music. I think a testament to this thread already is the fact that my first entry is going to be discussing Jessica Simpson, when was the last time – if ever? – Someone decided they wanted to take a serious look at a Jessica Simpson record? Well, if you’ve been looking for that you have certainly come to the right place. I think my reason for picking this record as the first one to talk about here is because it has always utterly fascinated me in a way that doesn’t seem obvious when you only take the song at face value – if you even remember it, which many people don’t – and my friends get very tired of me bleating on about it all the time but I can’t help it – there’s just so much hidden in this song that you don’t notice until you really dig into it and uncover some very telling and quite chilling themes OK, so on the surface, what is ‘I Wanna Love You Forever’? Most people who recall it generally seem to remember it as a middle of the road, uninspired, quite soppy love song Mariah Carey-rip off ballad that was used to launch the singing career of one of the most plastic and least interested pop singers in the history of the genre. I believe it is all those things on the quality of Simpson’s recording which, whilst well sung, is a tad uninspiring but the reason I’m so fond of Simpson singing this as opposed to a Mariah, a Whitney or a Celine is because lyrically, the song is so f***ing disturbing and Simpson’s complete lack of awareness to this in her vocal performance makes it bloody (unintentionally) hilarious. 4bJ0F8KhhZ8 Let’s look at some choice lyrics: “Pour yourself all over me, and I’ll cherish every drop here on my knees” – OK, wow. Now we all know that at the beginning of their careers Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore and Simpson were all grouped together because of their apparent similarities as artists. They’re actually all very drastically different but they all debuted within nine months of each other, all were young pretty blonde haired white girls and all song cutesy pop songs. Even though she’s the oldest of the bunch, looking back at the earlier music of the four, Simpson is by far and away the most wholesome of the four and plays to that very well. She was, apparently, still a virgin when this became a hit and boy, does it show. I’ve never seen anyone quite – as a friend of mine termed her – “devout Christian senior year cheerleader” as Simpson comes across in this video. No skin on show, no sexy little winks to the camera. She’s just standing infront of a wind machine belting ala Celine Dion. But, the song is blessed with gems like this all the way through. Read the bolded lyric – that is filthier and more sexually explicit than anything found in what Britney, Christina and Mandy were putting out at this time but the thing is when those three had sexual lyrics and innuendo’s within their music – we’ll be covering ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ at some point – it was all done with a wink and a nod – they knew what they were saying, particularly Christina. But Jessica doesn’t. The rampant sexual imagery that line creates – whether that was its intention or not – goes unnoticed by Simpson as she stands on top of her hill, in the wind trying her best to look like some virtuous angel. It’s hilarious. The biggest problem with ‘I Wanna Love You Forever’ is the way in which it is framed – as a pure, reasonable, sane love song when lyrically it’s about the same level as The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”. Here are some more choice lyrics; “10,000 life-times together – is that so much for you to do?” “Be at the mercy of a man, I’ve never been, but now I only want to be right where you are” “I’m breathing for the next second I can feel you loving me” Does that not sound obsessive? Possessive? Like something a stalker would think and do? There’s a brilliantly dark song hiding somewhere in here – and in a way, it’s a good thing whoever decided to frame it in this way chose to do just that as Simpson, whilst a good singer, doesn’t possess the nuance to pull that off. But at the same time, having this sweet, virginal looking girl belt on and on and on about these dark, obsessive tendencies whilst passing it off as sweet, youthful and loving is just funny to me. One of the most deceptively interesting pop songs ever – it wouldn’t look out of place on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.

Very surprised at how badly The Vamps are doing, even though the song itself isn't that great.

Robbie probably?

Decade as of 10.01.2015 1 Gotye feat Kimbra Somebody That I Used To Know 2 Imagine Dragons It's Time 3 Drake & Rihanna Take Care 4 George Ezra Budapest 5 Lana Del Rey Young & Beautiful 6 Adele Rolling In The Deep 7 Lana Del Rey National Anthem 8 Bruno Mars Locked Out of Heaven 9 OneRepublic If I Lose Myself 10 Sia Chandelier 11 Fall Out Boy Alone Together 12 Ed Sheeran Give Me Love 13 Robyn Dancing On My Own 14 Ariana Grande feat The Weeknd Love Me Harder 15 Taylor Swift Blank Space 16 Zedd feat Foxes Clarity 17 Rihanna feat Calvin Harris We Found Love 18 One Direction Story of My Life 19 George Ezra Listen To The Man 20 Mariah Carey feat Miguel Beautiful 21 Kanye West feat Various All Of The Lights 22 Bastille Pompeii 23 Christina Perri Human 24 Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars Uptown Funk 25 Avicci Wake Me Up 26 Bastille Laura Palmer 27 The Vamps Somebody To You 28 Paramore Still Into You 29 Pink feat Nate Reuss Just Give Me a Reason 30 Bruno Mars Grenade 31 Bruno Mars Treasure 32 5 Seconds of Summer Don't Stop 33 Years & Years Desire 34 Ella Henderson Ghost 35 Cee Lo Green Forget You 36 Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble 37 Tinie Tempah feat Eric Turner Written In The Stars 38 Marina & The Diamonds Primadonna 39 The Wanted Glad You Came 40 Hozier Take Me To Church 41 Lana Del Rey Video Games 42 One Direction What Makes You Beautiful 43 Rihanna feat Drake What's My Name 44 Britney Spears Till The World Ends 45 Of Monsters & Men Little Talks 46 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Thrift Shop 47 Pitbull feat Ne-Yo Give Me Everything 48 Adele Set Fire To The Rain 49 Jake Bugg Broken 50 Jay-Z and Kanye West Paris 51 Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Mary Lambert Same Love 52 Taylor Swift We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together 53 The Civil Wars feat Taylor Swift Safe & Sound 54 The Saturdays Higher 55 Swedish House Mafia Save The World 56 Clean Bandit feat Jess Glynne Rather Be 57 Jessie Ware Wildest Moments 58 The Wanted Lose My Mind 59 One Direction You & I 60 OneRepublic Counting Stars 61 Avril Lavigne Rock N Roll 62 One Direction Kiss You 63 The Saturdays Ego 64 Ellie Goulding Lights 65 Lady Gaga feat R. Kelly Do What U Want 66 One Direction One Thing 67 Adele Turning Tables 68 Justin Bieber feat Big Sean As Long As You Love Me 69 Katy Perry Wide Awake 70 Emeli Sande My Kind of Love 71 Shontelle Impossible 72 The Saturdays Not Giving Up 73 Arctic Monkeys Do I Wanna Know? 74 The Saturdays What About Us 75 Gabrielle Aplin The Power of Love 76 Pink Try 77 Eminem feat Rihanna The Monster 78 Marina & The Diamonds How To Be a Heartbreaker 79 Adam Lambert Whataya Want From Me 80 Taylor Swift Shake It Off 81 Drake Find Your Love 82 Rizzle Kicks Down With The Trumpets 83 One Direction Best Song Ever 84 Katy Perry The One That Got Away 85 John Newman Love Me Again 86 Grouplove Tongue Tied 87 Austin Mahone What About Love 88 Charli XCX Boom Clap 89 Fun. Some Nights 90 The Veronica's You Ruin Me 91 Marina & The Diamonds Oh No! 92 Lana Del Rey Gods & Monsters 93 Bridgit Mendler Ready or Not 94 Birdy Skinny Love 95 Rihanna feat Mikky Ekko Stay 96 B.O.B So Good 97 One Direction Night Changes 98 Selena Gomez & The Scene Naturally 99 Usher feat Pitbull DJ Got Us Falling In Love 100 Jason DeRulo The Other Side

2014 01. George Ezra – “Budapest” 02. One Republic – “If I Lose Myself” 03. Sia – “Chandelier” 04. Ariana Grande feat The Weeknd – “Love Me Harder” 05. Taylor Swift – “Blank Space” 06. George Ezra – “Listen to the Man” 07. Christina Perri – “Human” 08. The Vamps – “Somebody To You” 09. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Don’t Stop” 10. Years & Years – “Desire” 11. Ella Henderson – “Ghost” 12. Hozier – “Take Me to Church” 13. Mark Ronson feat Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk” 14. Clean Bandit feat Jess Glynne – “Rather Be” 15. One Direction – “You & I” 16. The Saturdays – “Not Giving Up” 17. Taylor Swift – “Shake It Off” 18. Charli XCX – “Boom Clap” 19. The Veronica’s – “You Ruin Me” 20. One Direction – “Night Changes” 21. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Amnesia” 22. Ariana Grande feat Zedd – “Break Free” 23. Oh Honey – “Be Okay” 24. Lorde – “Team” 25. The Vamps – “Wild Heart” 26. The Vamps – “Oh Cecilia (You’re Breaking my Heart)” 27. Paloma Faith – “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” 28. Ella Henderson – “Yours” 29. George Ezra – “Blame It On Me” 30. Beyonce – “XO” 31. Zedd feat Hayley Williams – “Stay The Night” 32. Shakira & Rihanna – “Can’t Remember to Forget You” 33. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj – “Bang-Bang” 34. David Guetta feat Sam Martin – “Dangerous” 35. Avicii – “Hey Brother” 36. 5 Seconds of Summer – “She Looks So Perfect” 37. Sara Bareillis – “Brave” 38. Sigma – “Nobody To Love” 39. Avicii – “Addicted to You” 40. Troy Sivan – “Happy Little Pill” 41. Olly Murs – “Wrapped Up” 42. GRL – “Ugly Heart” 43. Duke Dumont – “I Got U” 44. Nico & Vinz – “Am I Wrong” 45. Vance Joy – “Riptide” 46. Maroon 5 – “Maps” 47. Gwen Stefani – “Baby Don’t Lie” 48. MKTO – “Classic” 49. Ariana Grande feat Iggy Azalea – “Problem” 50. Tiesto feat Matthew Koma – “Wasted” 51. Katy Perry – “Dark Horse” 52. Rita Ora – “I Will Never Let You Down” 53. Taylor Swift – “Out of the Woods” 54. Calvin Harris feat Ellie Goulding – “Outside” 55. Charli XCX – “Break the Rules” 56. Eminem feat Rihanna – “The Monster” 57. Sia – “Elastic Heart” 58. Pharrell Williams – “Happy” 59. Lea Michele – “Battlefield” 60. Echosmith – “Cool Kids” 61. Katy Perry – “Unconditionally” 62. Ed Sheeran – “Sing” 63. Iggy Azalea feat Charli XCX – “Fancy” 64. Pitbull feat Ke$ha – “Timber” 65. Lady Gaga – “G.U.Y” 66. One Republic – “Love Runs Out” 67. Kiesza – “Hideaway” 68. Sam Smith – “Like I Can” 69. Kylie Minogue – “Into the Blue” 70. Cheryl Cole feat Tinie Tempah – “Crazy Stupid Love” 71. One Direction – “Steal My Girl” 72. Idina Menzel – “Let It Go” 73. Meghan Trainor – “Lips Are Moving” 74. 5 Seconds of Summer – “Everything I Didn’t Say” 75. Paloma Faith – “Can’t Rely On You” 76. Ed Sheeran – “Don’t” 77. Ellie Goulding – “How Long Will I Love You” 78. Lilly Wood – “Prayer in C” 79. Beyonce – “Pretty Hurts” 80. Clean Bandit – “Extraordinary” 81. Magic – “Rude” 82. Taylor Swift – “Style” 83. Fifth Harmony – “Sledgehammer” 84. Ed Sheeran – “Thinking Out Loud” 85. Tove Lo – “Stay High” 86. Paramore – “Ain’t It Fun” 87. One Direction – “Story of My Life” 88. Calvin Harris – “Summer” 89. The Script – “Superheroes” 90. Katy Perry – “This is How We Do” 91. Nick Jonas – “Jealous” 92. Jason DeRulo – “Trumpets” 93. George Ezra – “Cassy’O” 94. Mr. Probs – “Waves” 95. Pitbull feat GRL – “Wild Love” 96. George Ezra – “Did You Heart The Rain” 97. Fall Out Boy – “Centuries” 98. Rixton – “Wait On Me” 99. Olly Murs feat Demi Lovato – “Up” 100. Lea Michele – “Cannonball”

2013 01. Lana Del Rey – “Young & Beautiful” 02. Fall Out Boy – “Alone Together” 03. Zedd feat Foxes – “Clarity” 04. One Direction – “Story of my Life” 05. Mariah Carey feat Miguel – “Beautiful” 06. Bastille – “Pompeii” 07. Avicii – “Wake Me Up” 08. Bastille – “Laura Palmer” 09. Paramore – “Still Into You” 10. Pink feat Nate Reuss – “Just Give Me a Reason” 11. Bruno Mars – “Treasure” 12. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Thrift Shop” 13. Jake Bugg – “Broken” 14. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Ray Dalton – “Can’t Hold Us” 15. One Republic – “Counting Stars” 16. Avril Lavigne – “Rock N Roll” 17. One Direction – “Kiss You” 18. Lady Gaga feat R. Kelly – “Do What U Want” 19. Arctic Monkeys – “Do I Wanna Know?” 20. The Saturdays – “What About Us” 21. Eminem feat Rihanna – “The Monster” 22. One Direction – “Best Song Ever” 23. John Newman – “Love Me Again” 24. Lana Del Rey – “Gods & Monsters” 25. Bridgit Mendler – “Ready Or Not” 26. Rihanna feat Mikky Ekko – “Stay” 27. Jason DeRulo – “The Other Side” 28. Naughty Boy feat Sam Smith – “La, La, La” 29. The Vamps – “Can We Dance” 30. Tim McGraw feat Taylor Swift – “Highway Don’t Care” 31. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Mary Lambert – “Same Love” 32. The Summerset – “Boomerang” 33. Demi Lovato – “Heart Attack” 34. Gabrielle Aplin – “Please Don’t Say You Love Me” 35. Foxes – “Youth” 36. Diana Vickers – “Cinderella” 37. Icona Pop – “I Love It” 38. Capital Cities – “Safe & Sound” 39. Katy Perry – “Unconditionally” 40. Lawson – “Learn To Love Again” 41. Fergie – “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody” 42. Nina Nesbitt – “Stay Out” 43. Fall Out Boy – “Miss Missing You” 44. Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball” 45. Ariana Grande feat Mac Miller – “The Way” 46. Gabrielle Aplin – “Home” 47. American Authors – “Believer” 48. Fall Out Boy feat Foxes – “Just One Yesterday” 49. The 1975 – “Chocolate” 50. Avicii – “You Make Me” 51. Taylor Swift – “22” 52. Lady Gaga – “Applause” 53. One Direction – “Rock Me” 54. Ellie Goulding – “Burn” 55. Little Mix – “Move” 56. Zedd feat Matthew Koma – “Spectrum” 57. Selena Gomez – “Come & Get It” 58. Imagine Dragons – “Demons” 59. Lady Gaga – “G.U.Y” 60. Calvin Harris feat Ellie Goulding – “I Need Your Love” 61. Pitbull feat Christina Aguilera – “Feel This Moment” 62. Daft Punk – “Get Lucky” 63. Lily Allen – “Hard out Here” 64. Demi Lovato – “Without The Love” 65. Avril Lavigne – “How You Remind Me” 66. Drake – “Hold On, We’re Going Home” 67. Justin Timberlake – “Mirrors” 68. Phillip Phillips – “Home” 69. Little Mix – “How Ya Doing?” 70. Avicii vs. Nicky Romero – “I Could Be The One” 71. Ellie Goulding – “Explosions” 72. James Arthur – “Recovery” 73. Pink feat Lily Allen – “True Love” 74. One Direction – “You & I” 75. Disclosure feat Sam Smith – “Latch” 76. Passenger – “Let Her Go” 77. Maroon 5 – “Love Somebody” 78. Bastille – “Things We Lost in the Fire” 79. Austin Mahone – “What About Love” 80. David Guetta feat Ne-Yo & Akon – “Play Hard” 81. Bastille – “Of The Night” 82. Ariana Grande – “Baby I” 83. Rihanna – “What Now” 84. Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive” 85. A Great Big World feat Christina Aguilera – “Say Something” 86. The Wanted – “We Own The Night” 87. Zedd feat Hayley Williams – “Stay the Night” 88. Fall Out Boy – “The Phoenix” 89. One Direction – “Diana” 90. Lana Del Rey vs. Cedric Gervais – “Summertime Sadness” 91. Jason DeRulo – “Talk Dirty” 92. Mariah Carey – “Almost Home” 93. Calvin Harris – “Thinking About You” 94. Avril Lavigne – “Here’s To Never Growing Up” 95. The Wanted – “Show Me Love” 96. Will.i.am feat Miley Cyrus – “Fall Down” 97. Austin Mahone – “Say You’re Just a Friend” 98. The Saturdays – “Disco Love” 99. Beyonce – “XO” 100. Celine Dion – “Loved Me Back to Life”

2012 01. Gotye feat Kimbra – “Somebody That I Used to Know” 02. Imagine Dragons – “It’s Time” 03. Lana Del Rey – “National Anthem” 04. Bruno Mars – “Locked Out of Heaven” 05. Ed Sheeran – “Give Me Love” 06. Taylor Swift – “I Knew You Were Trouble” 07. Marina & The Diamonds – “Primadonna” 08. Of Monsters & Men – “Little Talks” 09. Taylor Swift – “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” 10. The Civil Wars feat Taylor Swift – “Safe & Sound” 11. Jessie Ware – “Wildest Moments” 12. One Direction – “One Thing” 13. Katy Perry – “Wide Awake” 14. Emeli Sande – “My Kind of Love” 15. Gabrielle Aplin – “The Power of Love” 16. Pink – “Try” 17. Marina & The Diamonds – “How To Be a Heartbreaker” 18. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away” 19. Grouplove – “Tongue Tied” 20. Fun – “Some Nights” 21. B.O.B – “So Good” 22. Ke$ha – “Die Young” 23. Imagine Dragons – “Radioactive” 24. Olly Murs feat Flo Rida - "Troublemaker" 25. The Gaslight Anthem – “She Loves You” 26. Christina Aguilera – “Your Body” 27. Ellie Goulding – “I Know You Care” 28. Justin Bieber feat Big Sean – “As Long As You Love Me” 29. Carrie Underwood – “Blown Away” 30. Florence & The Machine – “No Light, No Light” 31. Marina & The Diamonds – “Power & Control” 32. Kris Allen – “The Vision of Love” 33. Pink – “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” 34. Emeli Sande – “Next to Me” 35. Jake Owen – “Alone With You” 36. Hunter Hayes – “Wanted” 37. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Call Me Maybe” 38. Loreen – “Euphoria” 39. Carrie Underwood – “Good Girl” 40. Fun – “We Are Young” 41. Ellie Goulding – “Figure 8” 42. Justin Bieber feat Nicki Minaj – “Beauty and a Beat” 43. Neon Hitch – “Love U Better” 44. David Guetta feat Nicki Minaj – “Turn Me On” 45. Labrinth feat Tinie Tempah – “Earthquake” 46. Lana Del Rey – “Blue Jeans” 47. Justin Bieber – “Boyfriend” 48. Karmin – “Brokenhearted” 49. Carly Rae Jepsen – “Curiosity” 50. Cheryl Cole – “Call My Name” 51. Rihanna – “Diamonds” 52. Little Mix – “Wings” 53. Jessie J – “Domino” 54. Rudimental feat John Newman – “Feel The Love” 55. Ellie Goulding – “Anything Could Happen” 56. PSY – “Gangnam Style” 57. Madonna – “Masterpiece” 58. Demi Lovato – “Give Your Heart a Break” 59. Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen – “Good Time” 60. Swedish House Mafia – “Don’t You Worry Child” 61. Will.i.am feat Eva Simons – “This is Love” 62. The Lumineers – “Ho Hey” 63. Marina & The Diamonds – “Starring Role” 64. Rita Ora – “How We Do” 65. Flo Rida feat Sia – “Wild Ones” 66. Taylor Swift – “Red” 67. Mumford & Sons – “I Will Wait” 68. Pitbull feat Chris Brown – “International Love” 69. Calvin Harris feat Ne-Yo – “Let’s Go” 70. Lana Del Rey – “Born to Die” 71. One Direction – “More Than This” 72. The Wanted – “Chasing the Sun” 73. Connor Maynard feat Ne-Yo – “Turn Around” 74. Emeli Sande – “Read All About It” 75. Maroon 5 – “Payphone” 76. One Direction – “They Don’t Know About Us” 77. Katy Perry – “Part of Me” 78. Taylor Swift – “All Too Well” 79. Nicki Minaj – “Va-Va Voom” 80. Marina & The Diamonds – “Lies” 81. Coldplay feat Rihanna – “Princess of China” 82. Lana Del Rey – “Ride” 83. Far East Movement feat Ryan Tedder – “The Fighter” 84. Usher – “Scream” 85. Adele – “Skyfall” 86. David Guetta feat Sia – “Titanium” 87. Kelly Clarkson – “Dark Side” 88. Florence & The Machine – “Spectrum (Say My Name)” 89. Nicki Minaj – “Pound The Alarm” 90. Kelly Clarkson – “Catch My Breath” 91. All Time Low – “Somewhere In Never Land” 92. Lana Del Rey – “Summertime Sadness” 93. Calvin Harris feat Example – “We’ll Be Coming Back” 94. Girls Aloud – “Something New” 95. JoJo – “Disaster” 96. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Thrift Shop” 97. The Wanted – “Warzone” 98. Little Mix – “DNA” 99. Olly Murs - "Dance With Me Tonight" 100. Cher Lloyd – “Want U Back”

2011 Based on performance in my personal charts. A Top 40 weekly rank of my favourite songs, a song at number one automatically receives forty points, whilst number forty receives one point. However, as some weeks are stronger than others, a number one on a week where there was very tough competition can gain up to 50 additional points; hence why some songs from very late in the year chart well here as late 2011 was a very strong period for me. 01. Drake & Rihanna – “Take Care” 02. Adele – “Rolling In The Deep” 03. Rihanna feat Calvin Harris – “We Found Love” 04. Kanye West feat Various – “All of the Lights” 05. Bruno Mars – “Grenade” 06. The Wanted – “Glad You Came” 07. Lana Del Rey – “Video Games” 08. One Direction – “What Makes You Beautiful” 09. Rihanna feat Drake – “What’s My Name?” 10. Britney Spears – “Till The World Ends” 11. Pitbull feat Ne-Yo – “Give Me Everything” 12. Adele – “Set Fire to the Rain” 13. Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Paris” 14. Swedish House Mafia – “Save the World” 15. Ellie Goulding – “Lights” 16. Adele – “Turning Tables” 17. Rizzle Kicks – “Down with the Trumpets” 18. Birdy – “Skinny Love” 19. Beyonce – “Countdown” 20. Chase & Status feat Delilah – “Time” 21. Marina & The Diamonds – “Radioactive” 22. Brad Paisley & Carrie Underwood – “Remind Me” 23. Joe Jonas – “See No More” 24. David Guetta feat Jennifer Hudson – “Night Of Your Life” 25. Joe Jonas – “Just In Love” 26. Avril Lavigne – “Smile” 27. Rihanna – “S&M” 28. Black Eyed Peas – “Just Can’t Get Enough” 29. The Wombats – “Jump Into the Fog” 30. All Time Low – “Timebomb” 31. Ed Sheeran – “The A Team” 32. Christina Perri – “Jar of Hearts” 33. Kanye West – “Power” 34. Beyonce – “Best Thing I Never Had” 35. Wiz Khalifa – “Roll Up” 36. Ke$ha – “The Harold Song” 37. Lady Gaga – “The Edge of Glory” 38. Calvin Harris feat Kelis – “Bounce” 39. Avicii – “Levels” 40. Gotye feat Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used to Know" 41. Rihanna – “Only Girl (In The World)” 42. Avril Lavigne – “Wish You Were Here” 43. Diddy – “Coming Home” 44. Beyonce – “End of Time” 45. Avalanche City – “Love, Love, Love” 46. Jessie J feat B.O.B – “Price Tag” 47. Katy Perry – “Last Friday Night” 48. Coldplay – “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall” 49. Katy Perry – “Firework” 50. Nicki Minaj feat Drake – “Moment 4 Life” 51. Pink – “Perfect” 52. Adele – “Someone Like You” 53. The Wanted – “Gold Forever” 54. David Guetta feat Flo Rida & Nicki Minaj – “Where Them Girls At” 55. Sean Paul feat Alexis Jordan – “Got 2 Love You” 56. Alexis Jordan – “Hush, Hush, Hush” 57. Martin Solveig – “Hello” 58. Selena Gomez & The Scene – “Love You Like a Love Song” 59. Britney Spears – “Hold It Against Me” 60. Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull – “On The Floor” 61. JLS feat Dev – “She Makes Me Wanna” 62. Lady Gaga – “Judas” 63. Alexandra Stan – “Mr. Saxobeat” 64. Katy Perry feat Kanye West – “E.T.” 65. Ed Sheeran – “Lego House” 66. Pixie Lott – “Broken Arrow” 67. Wynter Gordon – “Dirty Talk” 68. Selena Gomez & The Scene – “Who Says” 69. Lady Gaga – “Hair” 70. Cobra Starship feat Sabi – “You Make Me Feel” 71. M83 – “Midnight City” 72. Nicki Minaj – “Super Bass” 73. Usher – “More” 74. Maroon 5 feat Christina Aguilera – “Moves Like Jagger” 75. Kelly Clarkson – “Mr. Know It All” 76. Chris Brown & Justin Bieber – “Next To You” 77. Jennifer Lopez – “Papi” 78. Taylor Swift – “Mean” 79. LMFAO – “Party Rock Anthem” 80. Birdy – “People Help the People” 81. Jessie J – “Domino” 82. Foster the People – “Call It What You Want” 83. Pitbull feat Marc Anthony – “Rain Over Me” 84. Nicole Scherzinger – “Don’t Hold Your Breath” 85. Adele – “Rumor Has It” 86. Swedish House Mafia – “Save the World” 87. Natalia Kills – “Wonderland” 88. Sean Paul – “She Doesn’t Mind” 89. Demi Lovato – “Skyscraper” 90. Lady Antebellum – “Just a Kiss” 91. Gym Class Heroes feat Adam Levine – “Stereo Hearts” 92. David Guetta feat Sia – “Titanium” 93. Ed Sheeran – “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” 94. Lady Gaga – “Marry The Night” 95. The Saturdays – “My Heart Takes Over” 96. Katy Perry – “The One That Got Away” 97. Britney Spears – “I Wanna Go” 98. Hot Chelle Rae – “Tonight, Tonight” 99. Avril Lavigne – “Goodbye” 100. Ed Sheeran – “Grade 8”

I am going to LOVE this

ONE DIRECTION 03/09/2011 | #01 | 22 weeks on chart | 'What Makes You Beautiful' (1 week @ #1) 03/12/2011 | #01 | 25 weeks on chart | 'One Thing' (1 week @ #1) 31/12/2011 | #08 | 16 weeks on chart | 'More Than This' 14/04/2012 | #27 | 02 weeks on chart | 'Up All Night' 02/06/2012 | #20 | 09 weeks on chart | 'I Want' 02/06/2012 | #37 | 01 weeks on chart | 'Taken' 08/10/2012 | #15 | 10 weeks on chart | 'Live While We're Young' 24/11/2012 | #01 | 20 weeks on chart | 'Kiss You' (1 week @ #1) 29/12/2012 | #11 | 11 weeks on chart | 'Heart Attack' 29/12/2012 | #16 | 12 weeks on chart | 'Rock Me' 02/03/2013 | #38 | 02 weeks on chart | 'One Way or Another' 13/04/2013 | #09 | 12 weeks on chart | 'They Don't Know About Us' 03/08/2013 | #01 | 21 weeks on chart | 'Best Song Ever' (1 week @ #1) 09/11/2013 | #01 | 31 weeks on chart | 'Story Of My Life' (4 weeks @ #1) 07/12/2013 | #09 | 19 weeks on chart | 'Diana' 07/12/2013 | #01 | 27 weeks on chart | 'You & I' (2 weeks @ #1) 04/10/2014 | #06 | 16 weeks on chart | 'Steal My Girl' 13/12/2014 | #01 | 20 weeks on chart | 'Night Changes' (1 week @ #1) 08/08/2015 | #03 | 06 weeks on chart | 'Drag Me Down' *currently charting

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER 08/03/2014 | #01 | 17 weeks on chart | 'She Looks So Perfect' (2 weeks @ #1 between 05/04/2014 - 19/04/2014) 31/05/2014 | #01 | 21 weeks on chart | 'Don't Stop' (1 week @ #1 between 05/07/2014 - 12/07/2014) 28/06/2014 | #22 | 05 weeks on chart | 'Good Girls' 02/08/2014 | #04 | 14 weeks on chart | 'Everything I Didn't Say' 09/08/2014 | #01 | 22 weeks on chart | 'Amnesia' (1 week @ #1 between 20/09/2014 - 27/09/2014) 20/12/2014 | #33 | 03 weeks on chart | 'What I Like About You' 15/08/2015 | #10 | 05 weeks on chart | 'She's Kinda Hot' *currently charting 12/09/2015 | #40 | 01 weeks on chart | 'Jet Black Heart' *currently charting

TAYLOR SWIFT 22/11/2008 | #01 | 21 weeks on chart | 'Love Story' (2 weeks @ #1 between 07/03/2009 - 21/03/2009) 31/01/2009 | #04 | 17 weeks on chart | 'White Horse' 04/07/2009 | #01 | 30 weeks on chart | 'You Belong With Me' (1 week @ #1 between 03/10/2009 - 10/10/2009) 04/07/2009 | #16 | 09 weeks on chart | '15' 04/07/2009 | #30 | 02 weeks on chart | 'Fearless' 25/07/2009 | #39 | 01 weeks on chart | 'Teardrops On My Guitar' 05/09/2009 | #23 | 07 weeks on chart | 'Our Song' 13/02/2010 | #07 | 11 weeks on chart | 'Today Was a Fairytale' 02/10/2010 | #02 | 21 weeks on chart | 'Mine' 04/12/2010 | #18 | 18 weeks on chart | 'Back to December' 04/12/2010 | #20 | 11 weeks on chart | 'Mean' 26/03/2011 | #39 | 01 weeks on chart | 'Speak Now' 09/07/2011 | #05 | 15 weeks on chart | 'Story Of Us' 21/01/2012 | #02 | 27 weeks on chart | 'Safe & Sound' 12/05/2012 | #19 | 09 weeks on chart | 'Eyes Open' 30/06/2012 | #09 | 10 weeks on chart | 'Both Of Us' 25/08/2012 | #01 | 29 weeks on chart | 'We Are Never Getting Back Together' (1 week @ #1 between 01/09/2012 - 08/09/2012) 06/10/2012 | #25 | 05 weeks on chart | 'Begin Again' 13/10/2012 | #01 | 37 weeks on chart | 'I Knew You Were Trouble' (3 weeks @ #1 between 22/12/2012 - 12/01/2013) 17/11/2012 | #07 | 59 weeks on chart | 'All Too Well' 17/11/2012 | #13 | 20 weeks on chart | 'Red' 01/12/2012 | #06 | 16 weeks on chart | 'Everything Has Changed' 02/03/2013 | #03 | 23 weeks on chart | '22' 06/07/2013 | #05 | 20 weeks on chart | 'Highway Don't Care' 30/08/2014 | #01 | 26 weeks on chart | 'Shake It Off' (1 week @ #1 between 06/09/2014 - 13/09/2014) 25/10/2014 | #03 | 07 weeks on chart | 'Out of the Woods' 08/11/2014 | #14 | 04 weeks on chart | 'Welcome To New York' 08/11/2014 | #01 | 33 weeks on chart | 'Blank Space' (1 week @ #1 between 29/11/2014 - 06/12/2014) 08/11/2014 | #21 | 11 weeks on chart | 'All You Had To Do Was Stay' 15/11/2014 | #01 | 39 weeks on chart | 'Style' (1 week @ #1 between 07/03/2015 - 14/03/2015) 13/12/2014 | #04 | 15 weeks on chart | 'Wildest Dreams' (on chart at the moment) 23/05/2015 | #09 | 12 weeks on chart | 'Bad Blood'

Just for example, here's this weeks "all female" top ten chart Pos/Artist/Single 01. Rachel Platten - "Fight Song" 02. Jess Glynne - "Don't Be So Hard On Yourself" 03. Demi Lovato - "Cool For The Summer" 04. Birdy - "Wings" 05. Jess Glynne - "Hold My Hand" 06. Rita Ora - "Poison" 07. Ella Eyre - "Good Times" 08. Ellie Goulding - "Love Me Like You Do" 09. Jessie J - "Flashlight" 10. Taylor Swift - "Wildest Dreams"

Those last two are just......

16th April 2011 - Mann feat 50 Cent - "Buzzing" http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_bzxO404V3Mc/TQMwhCgY6zI/AAAAAAAAAKI/veiIpBQcSdA/s1600/Mann-Buzzin-500x500.jpg Peak: 6 Weeks in Top 10: 4 US Peak: 53 I don’t know if it will ever happen, but if I was to ever review top ten hits between 2007 and 2009, it would be full of records that I know on an objective level are terrible but I hold a soft spot for them regardless such as ‘Heartbroken’ or ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’ plus about half of Cascada’s output. Around late 2009, the dirty, dirty appeal of tracks like that utterly disappeared for me and the ‘bad’ tracks in the chart throughout 2010 were one’s that were bad and I took no pleasure in. I can’t really think of song from that year that I knew was rubbish but liked anyway because I just found myself smiling when it came on, so for that, I was pleased when ‘Buzzing’ came along because it brought that dirty guilty pleasure song back. Many of my friends actually expressed surprise when I revealed that I actually thought this was actually a really bad song; one that is lazy in every sense of the word and offers the listener no real merit for sitting through it. But, my god, do I love listening to this. Take it as a contrast to ‘Black & Yellow’ which we’ve just had, and the difference between that and this for me, is that Khalifa was trying to come across all hard and street tough and it didn’t work whereas Mann comes across as never having had a serious thought in his life. ‘Buzzing’ is played totally straight, it wouldn’t be so charming to me if it was tongue in cheek to be honest, but it’s just put across in such a lazy and generic way that I actually warm to it. It’s stupid, it’s shallow and it’s sure as hell going to be forgotten by the masses (if not already) but god do I love nothing more than having a shameless jam session to this and others like it. yfYBiVAzo9s

16th April 2011 - Katy Perry feat Kanye West - "E.T." http://hiphop-n-more.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/katy-perry-et.jpg Peak: 3 Weeks in Top 10: 5 US Peak: 1 Though it can be read as a weakness in that she never really has a distinct personality, one of my favourite things about Katy Perry particularly back in this era was just how easily she adapted to a new look for each of her songs. Thus far in the ‘Teenage Dream’ era we’ve had Valley Girl Katy, In Love Katy and Life Guru Katy – next we’ll have 80’s movie Katy, tortured old lady Katy, marine Katy and Wise Katy. But for now, we have Alien Katy. I suppose a reason to decry this could be that there’s no subtlety to what Katy’s going on about here, no metaphors or anything, she’s just straight up talking about wanting to have sex with an alien but I’ve always just found that funny and I guess, if you want to, you could read a metaphor or deeper meaning into this but I really don’t know why you’d want to. For me, this was actually the single from ‘Teenage Dream’ that I’d most forgotten before re-listening to it for the sake of this thread. I’m aware that for most people it is likely ‘The One That Got Away’ (the only song we won’t be touching) but I always adored that and have listened to it consistently over the past few years, so for whatever reason it was this one that ended up being the one I forgot. I don’t really know why either, especially as Perry goes to every length to ensure that this is so weird you’d never dare forget it, as the previously mentioned singles don’t really push the boat out in terms of quirkiness. ‘California Gurls’ is outrageous but not shockingly so and ‘Teenage Dream’ and ‘Firework’ are good but fairly ordinary sounding singles; this is weird, it feels alien. I honestly think this may just be down to me not being all that enamored with the song at the time it was out, I always skipped it on my album plays and it just didn’t enter my radar much so it kind of just slipped out. Plus at the time, Gaga was fulfilling the weirdness quota so Katy just kind of looked like she was playing catch up. Four years on, it’s OK, still probably my least favourite single from the album and Kanye’s verses add nothing but some strange and frankly worrying lyrics but nothing overwhelmingly horrible. t5Sd5c4o9UM

Damn 'Up' is a good pop tune, I'd forgotten!

Frustrating one place climb for Little Mix there. Yay for Stitches becoming a genuine hit, hope it translates over to the UK.

2010 001. Robyn - Dancing On My Own 002. Cee Lo Green - Forget You 003. Tinie Tempah feat Eric Turner - Written In The Stars 004. The Saturdays - Higher 005. The Wanted - Lose My Mind 006. The Saturdays - Ego 007. Shontelle - Impossible 008. Adam Lambert - Whataya Want From Me 009. Drake - Find Your Love 010. Marina & The Diamonds - Oh No! 011. Selena Gomez & The Scene - Naturally 012. Usher feat Pitbull - DJ Got Us Falling In Love 013. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream 014. Alicia Keys - Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart 015. Example - Won't Go Quietly 016. Cheryl Cole - Parachute 017. Jason DeRulo - In My Head 018. The Hoosiers - Choices 019. Lena - Sattelite 020. Ellie Goulding - Starry Eyed 021. Girls Can't Catch - Echo 022. Biffy Clyro - Many of Horror 023. Muse - Undisclosed Desires 024. Sean Kingston & Nicki Minaj - Dutty Love 025. All Time Low - Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don't 026. B.O.B feat Bruno Mars - Nothin' On You 027. Lady Gaga - Dance In The Dark 028. Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way 029. Inna - Amazing 030. Justin Bieber feat Usher - Somebody To Love 031. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance (#1 in 2009) 032. Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man 033. Travvie McCoy - Billionaire 034. Ke$ha - Tik Tok 035. Taio Cruz - Dynamite 036. Katy Perry - Firework 037. 30 Seconds To Mars - Closer To The Edge 038. Mike Posner - Cooler Than Me 039. Ke$ha - Take It Off 040. Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over 041. Jay-Z feat Mr. Hudson - Forever Young 042. Rihanna feat Drake - What's My Name? 043. Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body 044. Maroon 5 - Misery 045. Eminem feat Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie 046. Enrique Iglesias feat Pitbull - I Like It 047. Adam Lambert - If I Had You 048. Katy Perry feat Snoop Dogg - California Gurls 049. Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway 050. Taylor Swift - Mine 051. Jason DeRulo - What If 052. Nelly - Just a Dream 053. Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are 054. Shakira - Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) 055. Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World) 056. B.O.B feat Hayley Williams - Airplane 057. David Guetta feat Kid Cudi - Memories 058. Swedish House Mafia - One 059. Taylor Swift - Back To December 060. 3!OH3 - Don't Trust Me 061. Selena Gomez & The Scene - Round and Round 062. Lady Antebellum - Need You Now 063. Eminem - Not Afraid 064. B.O.B - Magic 065. Rihanna - Te Amo 066. Iyaz - Replay 067. Pink - Raise Your Glass 068. Jason DeRulo - Ridin' Solo 069. OneRepublic - All The Right Moves 070. Tim Berg/Avicii - Seek Bromance 071. Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber - Eenie Meenie 072. Ellie Goulding - Guns & Horses 073. Ke$ha - We R Who We R 074. Afrojack feat Eva Simons - Take Over Control 075. Rihanna - Rude Boy 076. Timbaland feat Katy Perry - If We Ever Meet Again 077. Lady Gaga & Beyonce - Telephone 078. Paramore - Playing God 079. Pixie Lott - Turn It Up 080. Olly Murs - Thinking Of Me 081. Britney Spears - 3 082. Beyonce - Why Don't You Love Me? 083. Tinie Tempah - Pass Out 084. Jay-Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind 085. Nicki Minaj - Your Love 086. Ke$ha - Your Love Is My Drug 087. Cheryl Cole - Promise This 088. Take That - The Flood 089. Sugababes - About a Girl 090. Example - Kickstarts 091. Alexandra Burke - All Night Long 092. The Ready Set - Love Like Whoa 093. The Wanted - All Time Low 094. Ellie Goulding - Under The Sheets 095. JLS - One Shot 096. Ne-Yo - One In a Million 097. Inna - Hot 098. Roll Deep - Good Times 099. Diana Vickers - The Boy Who Murdered Love 100. Chipmunk feat Esmee Denters - Until You Were Gone

Thanks a lot, trying to crack as many out as I can over the next 4 weeks before Uni starts up again

9th April 2011 - Katy B - "Broken Record" http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N2mdolB9AlM/TbBb4FuTCHI/AAAAAAAAKAQ/9D13g--OeyQ/s1600/Katy+B+-+Broken+Record+Lyrics.jpg Peak: 8 Weeks in Top 10: 1 So, after two singles that didn’t really capture my attention all that much as much as I did like them, Katy B’s third single had me jumping on the bandwagon. I don’t know what it is about ‘Broken Record’ that makes me like it more than two songs that on the surface are probably objectively better but there’s an earnestness in Broken Record that I just totally love, and I can’t resist a good old melancholy dance tune. I wasn’t surprised this didn’t do quite as well as her previous singles but I didn’t particularly care because I absolutely loved it and it spurned me to buy her debut album which became one of my favourite records of 2011. Maybe I always want to fight for the underdog a little, and ‘Broken Record’ is sadly underrated and forgotten but sometimes the better pop isn’t the more popular pop. Next time we meet Katy, she’ll be back with a song that is everything that’s good about this but about ten times better. oES929aenGc

9th April 2011 - LMFAO - "Party Rock Anthem" http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUBXsh8QeXY/Tgqi524_eLI/AAAAAAAABYo/PJBLXIzfBH8/s1600/2866855-lmfao-party-rock-anthem.jpg Peak: 1 (4 weeks) Weeks in Top 10: 12 US Peak: 1 Back in my review for Adele's "Someone Like You" I maligned the dance-pop/RnB music scene that had been dominating the years prior to 2011, and I do stand by what I said then. A lot of it, simply put, was terrible but for me the worst a song of that ilk could be was boring and just so formulaic it didn't even manage to do what songs in that vein should do, and that is make you want to have a good time in a club. There were songs that were dance songs merely because that was the trend at the time, they were doing it for commercial reasons rather than a desire to create a dance track, or at least something upbeat and fun. 'Party Rock Anthem' is probably about as anti-'Someone Like You' and whilst I appreciate 'Someone Like You' more as a song, if you asked me to pick what I'd rather listen to out of that and this, LMFAO would win that competition Despite my criticism of the genre, I did also state that I don't hate it. When done and applied properly, it can create music that is genuinely good and makes for creating some great memories. 'Party Rock Anthem' works because it does all of that and more. It's probably the most fun, optimistic and proudly stupid song I will cover. It's lyrics are simply about having a great time and when your 16, approaching the end of your compulsory school career, in a relationship for the first time and looking forward to a great long summer of freedom with your friends, this was the perfect record to soundtrack that experience. And I do have a lot of great memories attached to this record, including one rather messy weekend trip away to Brighton, the full details of which I don't think I'll ever be able to disclose, which stands this record in good stead in terms of nostalgic appeal for the rest of my life. As much as I appreciate artistry and everything, it's not music that makes memories, if 'Someone Like You' came on, I would sit back and listen to it and appreciate it but it wouldn't be a particularly funny experience. If this comes on, all I'll ever remember is the good times I had during the summer of 2011. What's more valuable? I'm not gonna give a definitive answer and I know comparing this to 'Someone Like You' is like comparing apples to oranges; but hey, apples and oranges are both fruits and we all have our preferences KQ6zr6kCPj8

Scanadalous is an absolute classic!

9th April 2011 - Jennifer Lopez feat Pitbull - "On The Floor" Peak: 1 (2 weeks) Weeks in Top 10: 8 US Peak: 3 My relationship with Jennifer Lopez as a singer, person and all around entertainer is weird. On one hand I'm like good on you love, not many people can boast both singing and acting careers that have lasted decades and have been fairly successful in both commercially, and there's no doubt J-Lo's had some massive hits in the past. My issue comes with the fact that as good as some of her songs are - I can think of 5 off the top of my head I just adore - she has no real legacy as a performer. She's never taken a step deeper, she's always played it safe in both the theme and nature of her records, only ever venturing out of her Pop/RnB sound to do a Spanish album or two. Now, that's true of artists such as Britney Spears or Katy Perry too, but at the very least they have strived to at least put meaning and some kind of substance into their pop music - whether they've been successful is a matter of opinion, but they've at least left behind a legacy. When Britney is no longer with us, people will remember 'Baby One More Time' the same with Katy with 'Firework'. What will we say when J-Lo has gone? Her music is often good but not memorable, she's still most famous for her ass and dating Ben Affleck. That's no legacy. No offence Mr Affleck. Is this is a bad thing? Well, no, if you're being honest about the kind of artist that you are and that you're trying to be. If J-Lo wants to make catchy, inoffensive but ultimately unmemorable pop music then more power to her but there always seems to be the aura around her that treats her as if she's one of the greats, that she's going to be remembered for something. I just don't know what that thing is supposed to be, perhaps I'm missing something. The closest she's come is arguably 1999's "Waiting For Tonight" but a general ask around of my Uni halls has proved to me that not many people remember that, in fact, the most remembered J-Lo song (other than this, though that may be down to the fact it's still relatively recent) seems to be 2002's "Jenny From The Block" - and it's not remembered in a good way. Now, 'On The Floor' is a fine pop record, a brilliant comeback from J-Lo, and was a genuine surprise hit at the time as Jen hadn't been seen in the top ten for about five years. It was nice having her back, for all I've said in this review, she does also possess an air of familiarity - you don't realize you've missed her until she comes back, at least that was the case for me in the context of 2011. I'd actually go as far as to say that this is the best record Lopez has ever put out, if she will be remembered for anything in years to come, it may as well be this. Shame she's kind of ruined it's legacy by trying to force lightning to strike twice over the last few years. t4H_Zoh7G5A