HiyaLuv!

Not sure how to do this but guess I will (loosely) base it around my last.fm stats (going back thirty days each week so songs can actually have interesting chart runs - and not including things if I feel I was only passively listening to them or can't remember what they go like) and start with a Top 20. Might keep it to one entry per artist too and only current/recent songs. Someone let me know if I'm doing it wrong! This should be fun! More fun than the real chart anyway. 01 (NE) Jax Jones & Years & Years: Play (1) 02 (NE) Calvin Harris and Rag'n'Bone Man: Giant (2) 03 (NE) Circa Waves: Movies (3) 04 (NE) Sub Focus: Desire (With Dimension) (4) 05 (NE) CamelPhat: Breathe (Feat. Jem Cooke) (5) 06 (NE) Sam Fender: Play God (6) 07 (NE) Slowthai: Doorman (7) 08 (NE) Adelphi Music Factory: Javelin (Calling Out Your Name) (8) 09 (NE) FIDLAR: By Myself (9) 10 (NE) Fisher: Losing It (10) 11 (NE) Michael Bibi: Hanging Tree (11) 12 (NE) Nicki Minaj: Good Form (Feat. Lil Wayne) (12) 13 (NE) Prospa: Prayer (13) 14 (NE) Shy FX: Roll the Dice (feat. Lily Allen and Stamina MC) (14) 15 (NE) The Prodigy: Timebomb Zone (15) 16 (NE) Foals: Exits (16) 17 (NE) Grimes: We Appreciate Power (17) 18 (NE) Lizzo: Juice (18) 19 (NE) Mark Ronson and Miley Cyrus: Nothing Breaks Like a Heart (19) 20 (NE) Vampire Weekend: Harmony Hall (20)

Thought Sheeran would be higher. He is the king of achieving things it wasn't physically possible to achieve in the past. Will be a sad day when he overtakes the Pet Shop Boys, who have done better in this than I expected, probably because of loyal multi-format-buying fans in the late 90s and 00s. I can totally see Eminem leapfrogging U2, and Calvin is as popular as he's ever been.

Ironically I really liked Funky Friday (and to a lesser extent B.M.T.) - I could actually understand the appeal of them, but those moments are few and far between with modern London rap. Post Malone is utter trash though. The AJ Tracey song is just the latest in a long line of UK and US rap hits I just don't get at all. Yes, it's definitely the kids that are wrong!

I've always tried to avoid becoming one of these taste freeze people and have prided myself on not being stuck in the 90s Britpop era like some people my age. Hip-hop and R&B have definitely taken a massive turn for the worse though over the past 18 months - 2 years though. Stormzy's comeback can't come quick enough, really hope he maintains the uptempo, defiant grime (I know that's hardly a new movement in the first place) style and doesn't fill his album with plodding afro bashment.

Yes, people like Zedd and Garrix seem particularly guilty of this. Guetta has become a trend-chaser in that respect too. A lot of people saw Guetta as trashy (and I certainly did for a bit when I was still a bit of an indie snob) in the early 10s and his hits probably weren't the height of elegance but they were incredibly thrilling in hindsight. Then he changed his style to stay relevant and farted out plodding tropical rubbish like that Zara Larsson Euro 16 song. And Don't Leave Me Alone with Jessie J II!

I might actually stop looking at the charts because they are so frustrating and depressing. So many songs I do like are unable to crack the Top 100 even when Radio 1 and various other stations put their weight behind them. And the old hits that won't go away...This is Me, Shotgun and 2002 really need to do one! Even One Kiss has had its time and I love that. Definitely wouldn't say "music is shit", it's just the mainstream is now dominated with slow and dull songs that I don't understand the appeal of at all. It's disheartening to see things that would have easily done something chart-wise in the past get nowhere. Really getting into Sam Fender at the moment but know it's very unlikely he will ever have a Top 100 hit despite Radio 1 A-listing, acclaim and hype. Xanax has also done terrible things to the hit parade.

I have spent the last couple of days listening to the best hits of 2012 and feck me, there is so much fire, passion, melody and energy going on. I absolutely adore songs like Sweet Nothing, Don't You Worry Child, Latch, I Cry, Va Va Voom, Million Voices, Goldie, Swimming Pools (Drank), Tidal Wave, Spectrum (Call My Name), Bonfire, Bangarang, R.I.P, Silhouettes etc etc. These are some of the most intoxicating bangers of all time. It's not as if I was even a spring chicken then as I was 29. I could go on. I am feeling increasingly disconnected from late 10s music and I really don't think it's because of my age. Since streaming started to dictate the charts, it just seems like almost everything is a generic, lifeless, down-to-midtempo borefest, and it's not that easy to find hugely melodic and vibrant bangers outside of the Top 40 either. Tropical house and future bass annoyed me like hell, and hookless trap and identikit afro bashment streaming hits leave me feeling similarly cold. I know I am 36 but I thought I'd be alienated by something a bit faster, louder and more abrasive at this point. It seems like streaming has just encouraged the powers that be to commission easy uneventful, mumbly, humdrum and predictable Spotify-friendly background music with songs that generally sound the same and have no real bite. Plus Jess Glynne's "everywoman" M People b-sides. Can hugely euphoric bangers even be a thing in 2019? Logic suggests that it should be the kids that want everything to be a bit faster, angrier and impassioned as opposed to me. Thanks. I liked it when Sweet But Psycho got to #1, obvs, and Calvin seems to be keeping the banger flag flying. Generally the Radio 1 hits I approve of end up stuck on the B and C-lists and don't make any real mark on the general public. You know something's gone wrong when you're cheering on landfill indie stereotypes Catfish and the Bottlemen for penetrating the Top 40.

Yes, many, many times a week since it was released. I have paid close attention to the lyrics and I know she has been through a lot but I find the music/melodies very drab. No Tears Left To Cry is much more up my street.

GREAT One Kiss - Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa (don't seem to get bored of this, fantastic summery production, love the horns in particular) Solo - Clean Bandit ft. Demi Lovato (shame about the phoned-in generic tropical toss album, they needn't have bothered) Nice For What - Drake (actually very banging for a late 2010s Drake single, I know it owes a lot to Ms. Lauryn Hill) Funky Friday - Dave ft. Fredo (this could be something to do with all the pisspoor Soundcloud rap and afro bashment making it sound better than is, but I genuinely really enjoy this) Shallow - Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper (never thought she'd reach such chart heights again!) GOOD Promises - Calvin Harris and Sam Smith (this could have been in the 'great' section if it had a female vocal - does SS even like dance music or was he just trying to rescue his second era after various underperforming singles?) Shotgun - George Ezra (this would have been nowhere near as successful if the weather hadn't been so glorious) Three Lions - The Lightning Seeds, David Baddiel & Frank Skinner (great song in its time but belongs in the 90s really so relegated to the good list) River - Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran (the Kamikaze era has been much more enjoyable but still liked seeing this at #1 in spite of Mr. MOR) In My Feelings - Drake (far from his worst, at least it has a bit of zest to it) We Built This City - LadBaby (obviously as tacky as feck but great cause, fun video and admire the way it came out of nowhere at a time when they said novelty hits could never be a thing again) EXTREMELY AVERAGE BUT NOT DREADFUL God's Plan - Drake (bit of a dirge but okay in the right mood) BORING AND BLAND Eastside - Benny Blanco, Khalid and Halsey (almost everything Khalid does bores me to tears) These Days - Rudimental ft. Jess Glynne & Macklemore & Dan Caplen (what the hell has happened to Rudimental?) I'll Be There - Jess Glynne (flaming yodelling?!) Thank U, Next - Ariana Grande (very glad this snoozefest missed out on Xmas #1) MINDLESS AND SOMEWHAT SINISTER SHITE Freaky Friday - Lil Dicky ftr Chris Brown INSIPID, CALCULATED, CYNICAL, OVEREXPOSED ABSOLUTE WORST Perfect - Ed Sheeran

So happy to see the tedious, monotonous and lifeless Best Life and No Stylist on here. They are pretty much the opposite of what I want from rap! Friends is musical hell too.

More interested in the NYE one - the Xmas episode is a who's who of blandness but Christine and the Queens could save the second one. Shame Years and Years will almost certainly perform their Steve Mac discount holiday ad song. Clean Bandit should be okay as the singles have been pretty great, terrible album though. I look forward to Jax Jones too.

I have a few friends who still follow things but they are few and far between. My social media (RIP, got sick of it) was littered with people that thought being woefully uninformed about modern pop music and not knowing what the #1 was for the past 15-20 years somehow made them better people. They wore their ignorance like a badge of honour. I still check the chart and the chart updates every week and add Radio 1's latest playlist entries to my own playlist every Friday morning, I don't think I will ever stop. Have been doing it 30 years so there's no point quitting now!

Think I first started watching TOTP when I was six in early '89 when Like a Prayer was #1 and started listening to the Top 40 a few months after, definitely remember Ride on Time being #1 on a Sunday night. I'm 35 now and still tune in most Fridays when I can, even though the streaming age has sucked a lot of the excitement out of it. ACR has caused annoying chart runs but it was as frustrating as hell seeing songs barely move before.

The Ben Howard one is tough, the OCC site says 'Burgh Island' reached #32 in early-to-mid Oct '12 but was that the title track of the EP or the full EP? Wikipedia says the full EP didn't come out until the 31st October, could be wrong though.

There are songs listed as double A-sides that have charted since though as we have discussed in this thread. I know EPs and to a lesser extent double-AA sides are still released quite a lot, I'm just trying to find out what the last release that was actually listed as an EP or double-A side in the chart was.

The most recent I can get for EPs being listed as EPs is Jamie T's Chaka Demus EP of Sept 2009. Any advance on that?

Not sure, but appears to be listed as the title track rather than an EP. All very confusing. The Pet Shop Boys released their Xmas EP in 2009 but only the lead track It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas is listed.

Just wondering if anyone can help me settle a debate - when did the final double A-sides/EPs reach the singles chart? The most recent double-A side I can think of is Paul Weller's No Tears to Cry/Wake Up the Nation back in 2010 when he could still score minor hits with relative ease. Are double-A sides even eligible anymore or are they always listed as separate tracks? I know EPs now go into the budget albums chart or something. Hope someone can help!

removed

The Official Charts Company have just responded to someone on Facebook with this: "The final hour of the show will feature chart-related content, with more details coming soon." Sounds like more Radio 1's Repetitive Greatest Hits, possibly some old 1#s we've all heard a gazillion times!

Izzy Bizu - White Tiger OneBit feat. Noah Cyrus - My Way There will be more as I think of them.

When this happens, I'm out. Do unpaid-for Spotify streams count towards the chart? Insane if so.

This will probably happen. I am a massive Greg fan but I love MistaJam doing the chart show, such an intelligent and knowledgeable presenter!

Yes, whenever I hear an old hip-hop song on Radio 2 it always seems to be a 'novelty' one, as if rap fandom is an embarrassing phase people go through, grow out of quickly and look back at in laughter. How long can they get away with ignoring decades-old gangster rap chart smashes? It's not just hip-hop - I was never a fan of nu-metal, but where's Rollin'? That is a pretty ancient chart-topper now!

Where's the commercial radio station that playlists Janelle Monae, George FitzGerald and Muse alongside Rae Morris, The Vaccines, Virtual Self, Wolf Alice, Years & Years, Fickle Friends and CHVRCHES as well as various Top 40 stars? Of course I'm going to pick Radio 1! The idea that I'm told to go away when it still appeals to me so much and there is no alternative just seems like madness to me. I'm 35, not 65! Also, how can they tell the thirtysomethings to do one when so many of their presenters are outside the "target audience"?