HiyaLuv!

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (04) Tate McRae: Just Keep Watching (31-6-4-1) 02 (03) Addison Rae: Fame Is A Gun (18-10-3-2) 03 (05) Max Dean, Luke Dean & Locky: Can't Decide (32-9-5-3) 04 (08) MK ft. Chrystal: Dior (24-8-4) 05 (NE) Fred Again.. X Skepta x PlaqueBoyMax: Victory Lap (5) 06 (07) Sammy Virji x Skepta: Cops & Robbers (14-7-6) 07 (01) Pulp: Got To Have Love (32-2-2-1-7) 08 (14) Sabrina Carpenter: Manchild (34-14-8) 09 (17) PinkPantheress: Illegal (35-17-9) 10 (02) Calvin Harris ft. Clementine Douglas: Blessings (11-3-1-1-1-2-10) 11 (22) Josh Baker x Omar+: Back It Up (22-11) 12 (06) Kettama: It Gets Better (Forever Mix) (11-4-6-12) 13 (30) Camo & Krooked x Tiga & Zyntherius: Sunglasses At Night (30-13) 14 (25) CMAT: Take A Sexy Picture Of Me (25-14) 15 (26) Ed Sheeran: Sapphire (37-26-15) 16 (16) Myles Smith: Gold (33-19-16-16) 17 (34) Marina: I <3 YOU (34-17) 18 (19) A Little Sound & Arcando: Stars (37-21-19-18) 19 (40) Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing (40-19) 20 (29) Beyoncé: BODYGUARD (38-29-20) 21 (15) Pulp: Tina (27-16-15-21) 22 (24) SG Lewis: Back Of My Mind (39-25-24-22) 23 (27) YUNGBLUD: Zombie (33-27-23) 24 (33) Djo: Delete Ya (40-33-24) 25 (38) wifiskeleton: Nope your too late i already died (38-25) 26 (NE) Muse: Unravelling (26) 27 (NE) Sam Fender & Olivia Dean: Rein Me In (27) 28 (21) Rihanna: Friend Of Mine (26-16-5-12-21-28) 29 (35) Mariah Carey: Type Dangerous (35-29) 30 (19) Wet Leg: CPR (28-23-19-30) 31 (09) Haim: Down To Be Wrong (37-19-6-7-3-9-31) 32 (37) Loyle Carner: about time (37-32) 33 (NE) Wunderhorse: The Rope (33) 34 (12) Miley Cyrus: Easy Lover (12-13-12-34) 35 (11) Wolf Alice: Bloom Baby Bloom (23-13-3-8-11-35) 36 (13) Robbie Williams ft. Tony Iommi: Rocket (30-10-7-13-36) 37 (10) Jorja Smith: The Way I Love You (28-16-3-4-5-10-37) 38 (NE) Mark Ronson & RAYE: Suzanne (38) 39 (NE) Ben Hemsley: Angel (39) 40 (20) The Wombats: I Love America And She Hates Me (34-21-27-8-11-20-40) OUT 23 (15) Lola Young: One Thing (33-20-6-15-23) 28 (28) MOLIY feat. Shenseea, Skillibeng & Silent Addy: Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix) (40-8-4-2-5-21-28-28) 31 (18) South Arcade: Supermodels (33-22-18-9-18-31) 32 (30) Jordan Adetunji: X In The City (23-15-10-22-30-32) 36 (NE) Pendulum: Save The Cat (36) 39 (22) Barry Can’t Swim & O’Flynn: Kimpton (15-12-4-2-17-22-39) Also, Alternative Now 121 is here if you want to hear all the best stormers from the past few months in a carefully-curated playlist!

It's a contractual obligation, you know this. And is The Great Pretender even that good? It's a cover too!

Mr Hadji, The lead times on vinyl are ludicrous. By the time the records were available, every song on the album would be absolutely ancient and there would be limited public interest in them. But you already know this, yet choose to persistently ignore these obvious massive obstacles. It's like talking to a brick wall. But you rarely respond to anything, you just double down on your crazy ideas, like this forum's pjex (if you know, you know), and just say "they should" a lot. Happy Monday!

2000 playlist looks massive, it's a long time ago but I was listening, did they just play fewer recurrents then to accommodate the extra stuff? Can't remember!

Nah, they'd only go for it if it was big on Radio 2. This is what they're trying to do, it's airplay hits now. There was a time when Now only included Radio 1 and Top 40 songs but they had to change their approach after the charts slowed down ridiculously. Only thing is, even Radio 2 generally forget that a lot of their veteran act playlist choices even happened the moment they fall off their playlist. They played Spike Island by Pulp* to death in May, it probably won't be on ever again now as the only old songs they really play are actual hits. Radio 1 aren't much better for that, it's only old A-list songs that get on as recurrents really, most B-list songs are gone forever once they leave the playlist. So in a way, you could thank Now for ensuring anyone thinks about 2020s Pretenders songs ever again! *Wouldn't have been a bad shout for Now 121, maybe Rough Trade told them to pee off or they didn't try. It's been a pretty high-profile comeback!

I Second That Emotion. BOOM!

Not sure Chicane feels the same way!

I think this looks pretty strong to be honest. Not too many Radio 2 veteran flops hardly anyone will think about ever again and lots of genuine hits. Not buying it or anything but there have definitely been worse and weaker ones over recent years. It just makes my teeth itch when they add things from about six months ago as it ruins the 'time capsule' concept. Abracadabra came out ages ago, so certainly not a spring/summer 2025 song. Is she not releasing another single from this album? Thought Garden of Eden would have been pushed by now, it charted well.

It would be nice to see more rap but it's not really been that big recently. I'm sure it will be back with a vengeance before long especially with the popularity of the very banging Fred Again.. x Skepta track that I can't get enough of. Yes it does seem strange that they haven't opened with the much bigger option but hardly the end of the world, it's only a compilation album. I just make my own playlists of recent hits and guess what? Mine starts with Manchild! It was hardly going to be Ordinary as it's just too...Ordinary.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (02) Pulp: Got To Have Love (32-2-2-1) 02 (01) Calvin Harris ft. Clementine Douglas: Blessings (11-3-1-1-1-2) 03 (10) Addison Rae: Fame Is A Gun (18-10-3) 04 (06) Tate McRae: Just Keep Watching (31-6-4) 05 (09) Max Dean, Luke Dean & Locky: Can't Decide (32-9-5) 06 (04) Kettama: It Gets Better (Forever Mix) (11-4-6) 07 (14) Sammy Virji x Skepta: Cops & Robbers (14-7) 08 (24) MK ft. Chrystal: Dior (24-8) 09 (03) Haim: Down To Be Wrong (37-19-6-7-3-9) 10 (05) Jorja Smith: The Way I Love You (28-16-3-4-5-10) 11 (08) Wolf Alice: Bloom Baby Bloom (23-13-3-8-11) 12 (13) Miley Cyrus: Easy Lover (12-13-12) 13 (07) Robbie Williams ft. Tony Iommi: Rocket (30-10-7-13) 14 (34) Sabrina Carpenter: Manchild (34-14) 15 (16) Pulp: Tina (27-16-15) 16 (19) Myles Smith: Gold (33-19-16) 17 (35) PinkPantheress: Illegal (35-17) 18 (21) A Little Sound & Arcando: Stars (37-21-19) 19 (23) Wet Leg: CPR (28-23-19) 20 (11) The Wombats: I Love America And She Hates Me (34-21-27-8-11-20) 21 (12) Rihanna: Friend Of Mine (26-16-5-12-21) 22 (NE) Josh Baker x Omar+: Back It Up (22) 23 (15) Lola Young: One Thing (33-20-6-15-23) 24 (25) SG Lewis: Back Of My Mind (39-25-24) 25 (NE) CMAT: Take A Sexy Picture Of Me (25) 26 (37) Ed Sheeran: Sapphire (37-26) 27 (33) YUNGBLUD: Zombie (33-27) 28 (28) MOLIY feat. Shenseea, Skillibeng & Silent Addy: Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix) (40-8-4-2-5-21-28-28) 29 (38) Beyoncé: BODYGUARD (38-29) 30 (NE) Camo & Krooked x Tiga & Zyntherius: Sunglasses At Night (30) 31 (18) South Arcade: Supermodels (33-22-18-9-18-31) 32 (30) Jordan Adetunji: X In The City (23-15-10-22-30-32) 33 (40) Djo: Delete Ya (40-33) 34 (NE) Marina: I <3 YOU (34) 35 (NE) Mariah Carey: Type Dangerous (35) 36 (NE) Pendulum: Save The Cat (36) 37 (NE) Loyle Carner: about time (37) 38 (NE) wifiskeleton: Nope your too late i already died (38) 39 (22) Barry Can’t Swim & O’Flynn: Kimpton (15-12-4-2-17-22-39) 40 (NE) Dire Straits: Sultans of Swing (40) OUT 17 (16) James Hype: Don’t Wake Me Up (27-17-7-2-5-4-16-17) 20 (26) Tate McRae: Revolving Door (31-24-x-33-13-11-13-11-9-26-20) 26 (20) Lorde: What Was That (14-4-1-1-8-20-26) 27 (13) Chloé Caillet ft. Jocelyn Brown: The One (36-15-13-27) 29 (23) NewDad: Entertainer (32-25-23-29) 31 (19) Rudimental with Khalid: All I Know (35-19-31) 32 (14) sombr: undressed (37-27-22-17-12-14-32) 36 (15) Cheetah & Nia Archives: Get Loose (24-18-7-15-36) 39 (29) Sam Fender: Tyrants (21-16-12-11-29-39) And here it is, in all its streamable glory.

Hi JSG Welcome back! I missed you, wondered where you went.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (01) Calvin Harris ft. Clementine Douglas: Blessings (11-3-1-1-1) 02 (02) Pulp: Got To Have Love (32-2-2) 03 (07) Haim: Down To Be Wrong (37-19-6-7-3) 04 (11) Kettama: It Gets Better (Forever Mix) (11-4) 05 (04) Jorja Smith: The Way I Love You (28-16-3-4-5) 06 (31) Tate McRae: Just Keep Watching (31-6) 07 (10) Robbie Williams ft. Tony Iommi: Rocket (30-10-7) 08 (03) Wolf Alice: Bloom Baby Bloom (23-13-3-8) 09 (32) Max Dean, Luke Dean & Locky: Can't Decide (32-9) 10 (18) Addison Rae: Fame Is A Gun (18-10) 11 (08) The Wombats: I Love America And She Hates Me (34-21-27-8-11) 12 (05) Rihanna: Friend Of Mine (26-16-5-12) 13 (12) Miley Cyrus: Easy Lover (12-13) 14 (NE) Sammy Virji x Skepta: Cops & Robbers (14) 15 (06) Lola Young: One Thing (33-20-6-15) 16 (27) Pulp: Tina (27-16) 17 (16) James Hype: Don’t Wake Me Up (27-17-7-2-5-4-16-17) 18 (09) South Arcade: Supermodels (33-22-18-9-18) 19 (33) Myles Smith: Gold (33-19) 20 (26) Tate McRae: Revolving Door (31-24-x-33-13-11-13-11-9-26-20) 21 (37) A Little Sound & Arcando: Stars (37-21) 22 (17) Barry Can’t Swim & O’Flynn: Kimpton (15-12-4-2-17-22) 23 (28) Wet Leg: CPR (28-23) 24 (NE) MK ft. Chrystal: Dior (24) 25 (39) SG Lewis: Back Of My Mind (39-25) 26 (20) Lorde: What Was That (14-4-1-1-8-20-26) 27 (13) Chloé Caillet ft. Jocelyn Brown: The One (36-15-13-27) 28 (21) MOLIY feat. Shenseea, Skillibeng & Silent Addy: Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix) (40-8-4-2-5-21-28) 29 (23) NewDad: Entertainer (32-25-23-29) 30 (22) Jordan Adetunji: X In The City (23-15-10-22-30) 31 (19) Rudimental with Khalid: All I Know (35-19-31) 32 (14) sombr: undressed (37-27-22-17-12-14-32) 33 (NE) YUNGBLUD: Zombie (33) 34 (NE) Sabrina Carpenter: Manchild (34) 35 (NE) PinkPantheress: Illegal (35) 36 (15) Cheetah & Nia Archives: Get Loose (24-18-7-15-36) 37 (NE) Ed Sheeran: Sapphire (37) 38 (NE) Beyoncé: BODYGUARD (38) 39 (29) Sam Fender: Tyrants (21-16-12-11-29-39) 40 (NE) Djo: Delete Ya (40) OUT 24 (21) Sebestian Ingrosso ft. Namasenda: No Enemies (34-21-24) 25 (34) Elton John & Brandi Carlile: Little Richard’s Bible (34-25) 30 (17) Sam Fender: Little Bit Closer (21-20-10-21-x-24-14-19-13-12-12-9-13-17-30) 34 (37) Charli xcx: Party 4 U (37-34) 35 (24) Remember Monday: What The Hell Just Happened? (36-24-10-9-24-35) 36 (33) Avicii ft. Elle King: Let’s Ride Away (33-36) 38 (14) Addison Rae: Headphones On (27-10-8-6-14-38) 40 (RE) Pulp: Spike Island (38-21-23-xx-40)

Just wanted to point out that Tafty was joking and it's all fine now, it was some Buzzjack in-joke stuff that went right over my head and we're all fine now, sorted it over DMs!

It ain't going away, there'll be two or three big ones every year for the rest of our lives! Some will have multiple hits and long careers, others won't.

I have tried and tried to like that Sombr song but turns out it was just too whiny for me. Also put a lot of effort into getting Djo but just not clicking!

Again, didn't mean to pee anybody off but it certainly seems to have inspired a fun debate!

As Yard Act once said, "we CAN'T have that!". One of the reasons I got so into Sam Fender was that I expected him to be like this but then he completely surprised me with loads of Springsteen-esque songs about austerity and life in the North East. Gotta admit, I completely presumed he'd be one of the beige ones when he first emerged back in 2018. But then I heard Dead Boys!

Yes of course there's three Pulp songs in 2025. Welcome to... THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (01) Calvin Harris ft. Clementine Douglas: Blessings (11-3-1-1) 02 (32) Pulp: Got To Have Love (32-2) 03 (13) Wolf Alice: Bloom Baby Bloom (23-13-3) 04 (03) Jorja Smith: The Way I Love You (28-16-3-4) 05 (16) Rihanna: Friend Of Mine (26-16-5) 06 (20) Lola Young: One Thing (33-20-6) 07 (06) Haim: Down To Be Wrong (37-19-6-7) 08 (27) The Wombats: I Love America And She Hates Me (34-21-27-8) 09 (18) South Arcade: Supermodels (33-22-18-9) 10 (30) Robbie Williams ft. Tony Iommi: Rocket (30-10) 11 (NE) Kettama: It Gets Better (Forever Mix) (11) 12 (NE) Miley Cyrus: Easy Lover (12) 13 (15) Chloé Caillet ft. Jocelyn Brown: The One (36-15-13) 14 (12) sombr: undressed (37-27-22-17-12-14) 15 (07) Cheetah & Nia Archives: Get Loose (24-18-7-15) 16 (04) James Hype: Don’t Wake Me Up (27-17-7-2-5-4-16) 17 (02) Barry Can’t Swim & O’Flynn: Kimpton (15-12-4-2-17) 18 (NE) Addison Rae: Fame Is A Gun (18) 19 (35) Rudimental with Khalid: All I Know (35-19) 20 (08) Lorde: What Was That (14-4-1-1-8-20) 21 (05) MOLIY feat. Shenseea, Skillibeng & Silent Addy: Shake It To The Max (FLY) (Remix) (40-8-4-2-5-21) 22 (10) Jordan Adetunji: X In The City (23-15-10-22) 23 (25) NewDad: Entertainer (32-25-23) 24 (21) Sebestian Ingrosso ft. Namasenda: No Enemies (34-21-24) 25 (34) Elton John & Brandi Carlile: Little Richard’s Bible (34-25) 26 (09) Tate McRae: Revolving Door (31-24-x-33-13-11-13-11-9-26) 27 (NE) Pulp: Tina (27) 28 (NE) Wet Leg: CPR (28) 29 (11) Sam Fender: Tyrants (21-16-12-11-29) 30 (17) Sam Fender: Little Bit Closer (21-20-10-21-x-24-14-19-13-12-12-9-13-17-30) 31 (NE) Tate McRae: Just Keep Watching (31) 32 (NE) Max Dean, Luke Dean & Locky: Can't Decide (32) 33 (NE) Myles Smith: Gold (33) 34 (37) Charli xcx: Party 4 U (37-34) 35 (24) Remember Monday: What The Hell Just Happened? (36-24-10-9-24-35) 36 (33) Avicii ft. Elle King: Let’s Ride Away (33-36) 37 (NE) A Little Sound & Arcando: Stars (37) 38 (14) Addison Rae: Headphones On (27-10-8-6-14-38) 39 (NE) SG Lewis: Back Of My Mind (39) 40 (RE) Pulp: Spike Island (38-21-23-xx-40) OUT 19 (08) Morgan Seatree feat. Florence + The Machine: Say My Name (Remix) (30-20-6-3-8-19) 22 (14) David Guetta & SIA: Beautiful People (16-11-4-2-2-2-5-14-22) 23 (29) Linkin Park: Unshatter (29-23) 26 (38) Mclusky: autofocus on the prime directive (38-31-26) 28 (07) Lana Del Rey: Henry Come On (17-5-3-7-7-28) 29 (27) Sub Focus & bbyclose: On & On (40-32-15-24-26-25-30-26-27-29) 31 (10) WizTheMc & bees & honey: Show Me Love (20-3-1-1-1-1-6-10-31) 36 (NE) Clean Bandit x Tiësto x Leony: Tell Me Where U Go (36) 38 (NE) Jess Bays & Jem Cooke & Kelli Leigh: Ascension (38) 39 (NE) Zara Larsson: Pretty Ugly (39) 40 (NE) INJI: U WON’T! (40)

Anyway, I respect other people's opinions and one man's 'beige' is another man's 'powerful timeless songwriting'. There has definitely been a trend though over the past 15 years, and there's no doubt it was well underway before, only the blokes were called James* rather than Tom. I'm sorry if I've insulted anybody's heartfelt solo bloke favourites, but there's definitely a pattern of their music being omnipresent, the same basic chord sequences over and over, the melodies and lyrics only changing slightly and them quickly being replaced after a few years with virtually identical chaps with or without growly voices doing largely the same thing. I suppose you could call it 'landfill beige'. Can feel like they're taking up the space bands used to fill! *Blaming Oasis/Snow Patrol/Coldplay and even Radiohead for the plodding ballad 'James' thing. Actually, I suppose we could even point the finger at The Beatles and Hey Jude if we went back far enough.

Maybe I should have said 'beige' instead of 'acoustic'.

I refused to include Ben Howard in this list because he's pretty much a genius compared to the ones I did opt for as well as starting around the same time. And his music is too complex/not bland enough. Feels like he realised he was being put in that bracket and changed direction immediately after his BRITS win. If only they all had the talent and creativity of Ben Howard!

Ironically, I quite like Gold by Myles Smith. Though feel he missed a trick by not releasing it later in the year as it has a very autumnal/festive feel to it. Most of these guys have at least one track I don't mind tbh!

Surely 'Worst topic in all of BuzzJack’s history' is some sort of an achievement so I'll take that. People on here DO get tired of these samey bland acoustic blokes ruling the charts and airwaves for months on end and this would be a good thread for people to vent about it, without changing anything. And why should it be deleted just because you don't like it? Sounds a bit entitled to me, like someone clicking their fingers in a restaurant. I completely fail to see why this isn't a valid topic, thought this was supposed to be a place for discussion around big pop music trends.

It can feel like there are one or two "here today, gone tomorrow" underdressed, "authentic" and rather Ordinary acoustic guitar-wielding, streaming-dominating blokes every year or who are quickly replaced after twelve months with their successors, so I thought I'd compile this list of almost-identical Sheeranseque guys that have been big for a while over the past 14 years or so before everybody moved onto the next Tattooed Tom, admittedly including some who are hot right now but unlikely to be dominating the chart scene in three years, nevermind ten. I accept a few do stick around for a bit longer, like the guy who wants a party on the day that he dies. Also Hozier, who made a dramatic return to the chart scene etc. Here we go! Have I missed any? Alex Warren Benson Boone Calum Scott Cian Ducrot Dermot Kennedy George Ezra Hozier Jamie Lawson James Arthur James Bay JP Cooper Lewis Capaldi Myles Smith Michael Marcagi Noah Kahan Passenger Rag’n’Bone Man Tom Grennan Tom Odell Tom Walker