HiyaLuv!

I don't like it when they go 'out of season' (even as a kid The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite which peaked in Feb' 93 getting on the autumn one annoyed me as it ruined the 'time capsule' effect) but then again some songs are rinsed by radio so hard for so long it can be easy to forget their original release dates anyway these days. Amazed the labels are happy with so many vintage songs blocking their new acts out of the chart or maybe they don't care about that anymore. This is definitely going down as the year when the public went almost fully retro and barely gave a turd about new music. What are most people gonna even remember about 2026 musically? Mid Harry Styles and Olivia Rodrigo comeback songs but mainly Billie Jean, Lush Life and Go? This year might end up with no defining big new pop moments unless someone pulls their finger out. Let's hope the second half of the year is stronger.

They're going to have to scrape the barrel harder than ever. Personally I'd just use anything that's recently been on the Radio 1 playlist that they can possibly license but that idea might not have that much commercial appeal even if I'd love seeing all the B and C-list dance get on and bands like South Arcade, then again they're only really selling to dedicated collectors anyway now who'll buy whatever. Did someone say the last one sold 7,000 in its first week? Let's face it, this is just a dying concept now people can just make their own playlists of recent airplay tunes.

I don't expect every track to have gone Top 40 or even Top 100 but Now 123 had several that hadn't even touched a radio playlist as far as I know. Now that's scraping the barrel! Unless things pick up very quickly I don't see how they can credibly produce a summer edition this year.

Two discs of Rein Me In. As I think I said before, they probably really should do a 1990/1991 etc and just skip the summer one this time, the previous one was hit-starved enough!

Are these posts supposed to be amusing?

Still two more weeks than I thought she'd get! My prediction that it would be this year's Padam Padam was very far off the mark sadly.

Amazing FM were ever deemed uncool!

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (04) Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter: Bring Your Love (36-19-4-1) 02 (35) Calvin Harris x Jazzy: Satisfy (35-2) 03 (28) Slayyyter: BRITANNY MURPHY (28-3) 04 (02) Prospa ft. Cloonee: Free Your Mind (17-10-3-2-2-4) 05 (27) FISHER & Tones & I: Favour (27-5) 06 (01) Bebe Rexha & Faithless: New Religion (13-1-1-1-6) 07 (03) Nia Archives: Danger (12-7-3-7) 08 (05) John Summit ft. Julia Wolf: WITH ME (11-4-5-8) 09 (14) Olivia Rodrigo: drop dead (35-18-14-9) 10 (11) Fatboy Slim & The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Skank (40-13-xx-40-x-35-37-17-11-10) 11 (23) Florence Road: Hanging Out To Dry (23-11) 12 (07) Noah Kahan: Porch Light (36-5-3-7-12) 13 (08) Wasia Project: 2515 (31-13-8-13) 14 (18) sombr: Potential (40-22-18-14) 15 (06) LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER: Eins, Zwei, Drei (36-25-13-11-12-10-16-6-15) 16 (15) MUNA: Wannabeher (33-14-15-16) 17 (09) Sabrina Carpenter: House Tour (21-9-9-17) 18 (12) Jessie Ware: Automatic (35-31-25-27-25-24-12-18) 19 (24) Teddy Swims: Mr. Know It All (34-24-19) 20 (10) Disclosure: The Sun Comes Up Tremendous (15-8-10-10-20) 21 (17) Jim Legxacy: idk idk (22-9-11-17-21) 22 (37) Laufey: Madwoman (37-22) 23 (19) Lady Gaga & Doechii: Runway (19-6-2-6-19-23) 24 (13) Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj: Beauty And A Beat (19-8-13-24) 25 (38) Mitski: I'll Change For You (38-25) 26 (32) Marmozets: Cut Back (39-39-32-26) 27 (20) KATSEYE: Pinky Up (39-13-23-20-27) 28 (NE) Sonny Fodera x Libianca: Let Me Be In Your Arms (28) 29 (31) Pola & Bryson & Emily Makis: Pretender (31-29) 30 (16) Joy Anonymous x Ezra Collective x STUSH: JOY (This One) (19-7-5-16-30) 31 (22) Kacey Musgraves: Dry Spell (27-9-6-20-22-31) 32 (RE) Zara Larsson: Midnight Sun (32) 33 (21) Tyla ft. Zara Larsson: SHE DID IT AGAIN (32-15-21-33) 34 (NE) Muse: Cryogen (34) 35 (NE) James Blake ft. Dave: Doesn't Just Happen (35) 36 (25) Kehlani ft. Usher: Shoulda Never (37-25-36) 37 (36) Michael Jackson: Beat It (36-37) 38 (NE) p-ralllel: Bring it Back (38) 39 (NE) The Strokes: Going Shopping (39) 40 (NE) Charli xcx: Rock Music (40) OUT 26 (25) Take That: You're A Superstar (21-14-25-26) 29 (12) FLO: Leak It (24-6-2-4-12-29) 30 (21) ANOTR ft. 54 Ultra: Talk To You (10-4-3-1-5-16-21-30) 33 (27) Sonny Fodera ft. Chrystal: My Loving (17-5-3-4-3-4-22-27-33) 34 (26) Big Thief: Words (29-20-26-24) 39 (29) CMAT: The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station (23-8-24-29-39) 40 (38) The Jam: In The City (38-40)

Now you really are trolling but must admit it was fun to get Pete & Bas in my own chart recently. Call Me Back slapped! Eventually there WILL be 60+ rappers on Radio 1, they just had a 62-year-old dance DJ headlining their festival and on the playlist sampling some eightysomethings (who were admittedly in their twenties when they recorded it) and his set was one of the most youthful, energetic and exhilerating performances I've ever seen. Age ain't nothin' but a number!

I haven't heard this yet, guessing it actually has a hook + energy and isn't just him droning on for four minutes. I will find out in about 30 mins! He used to be quite good! Feels like he just completely dropped any sense of quality control from 2016 onwards and started putting out various musical farts as actual singles.

Your comments are really quite something, I'll give you that. I'm sure they'll add Duran Duran ft. Nile Rodgers, Paul McCartney ft. Ringo and Delta Goodrem whilst they're at it. But thanks for letting me know about Glorilla x Latto, that was a reasonably sensible suggestion.

I can’t wait for the playlist to go back to normal. I don’t even listen to that much Radio 1 at the moment, but I still follow the playlist very closely because it’s basically my guide when I’m Spotifying current stuff and the actual chart is pretty useless now for telling you what the most exciting songs are so these two weeks always mess my system up! I’ve treated the Radio 1 playlist as an unofficial Top 40 for well over 15 years and they work hard to find the most daytime‑friendly tracks, and loads of my favourite R1 anthems in the digital and streaming eras never even touched the Top 100. I probably wouldn't have even known most of them if they weren't playlisted. There are over 100 new tracks on New Music Friday every week so you definitely need some sort of filter! Feels like Spotify say "HERE'S EVERYTHING!" and Radio 1 go "here are the ones worth bothering with". Still, it was good to hear a few slightly less immediate specialist dance things get some rare daytime play when I did tune in. Thank God there are no more playlist freezes until December now! Hope that all makes sense, many thanks.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (01) Bebe Rexha & Faithless: New Religion (13-1-1-1) 02 (02) Prospa ft. Cloonee: Free Your Mind (17-10-3-2-2) 03 (07) Nia Archives: Danger (12-7-3) 04 (19) Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter: Bring Your Love (36-19-4) 05 (04) John Summit ft. Julia Wolf: WITH ME (11-4-5) 06 (16) LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER: Eins, Zwei, Drei (36-25-13-11-12-10-16-6) 07 (03) Noah Kahan: Porch Light (36-5-3-7) 08 (13) Wasia Project: 2515 (31-13-8) 09 (09) Sabrina Carpenter: House Tour (21-9-9) 10 (10) Disclosure: The Sun Comes Up Tremendous (15-8-10-10) 11 (17) Fatboy Slim & The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Skank (40-13-xx-40-x-35-37-17-11) 12 (24) Jessie Ware: Automatic (35-31-25-27-25-24-12) 13 (08) Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj: Beauty And A Beat (19-8-13) 14 (18) Olivia Rodrigo: drop dead (35-18-14) 15 (14) MUNA: Wannabeher (33-14-15) 16 (05) Joy Anonymous x Ezra Collective x STUSH: JOY (This One) (19-7-5-16) 17 (11) Jim Legxacy: idk idk (22-9-11-17) 18 (22) sombr: Potential (40-22-18) 19 (06) Lady Gaga & Doechii: Runway (19-6-2-6-19) 20 (23) KATSEYE: Pinky Up (39-13-23-20) 21 (15) Tyla ft. Zara Larsson: SHE DID IT AGAIN (32-15-21) 22 (20) Kacey Musgraves: Dry Spell (27-9-6-20-22) 23 (NE) Florence Road: Hanging Out To Dry (23) 24 (34) Teddy Swims: Mr. Know It All (34-24) 25 (37) Kehlani ft. Usher: Shoulda Never (37-25) 26 (25) Take That: You're A Superstar (21-14-25-26) 27 (NE) FISHER & Tones & I: Favour (27) 28 (NE) Slayyyter: BRITANNY MURPHY (28) 29 (12) FLO: Leak It (24-6-2-4-12-29) 30 (21) ANOTR ft. 54 Ultra: Talk To You (10-4-3-1-5-16-21-30) 31 (NE) Pola & Bryson & Emily Makis: Pretender (31) 32 (39) Marmozets: Cut Back (39-39-32) 33 (27) Sonny Fodera ft. Chrystal: My Loving (17-5-3-4-3-4-22-27-33) 34 (26) Big Thief: Words (29-20-26-24) 35 (NE) Calvin Harris x Jazzy: Satisfy (35) 36 (NE) Michael Jackson: Beat It (36) 37 (NE) Laufey: Madwoman (37) 38 (NE) Mitski: I'll Change For You (38) 39 (29) CMAT: The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station (23-8-24-29-39) 40 (38) The Jam: In The City (38-40) OUT 28 (28) RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer: Click Clack Symphony (29-14-28-28) 30 (38) Lizzo: Don't Make Me Love U (38-30) 31 (15) Chris Stussy and Tom Did It: Wide Awake (18-10-2-1-15-31) 32 (26) Baby Queen: Feel Something (28-26-32) 33 (27) Jungle: Carry On (36-10-7-27-33) 35 (34) Jorja Smith: Price Of It All (33-34-35) 36 (23) Paris Paloma: Miyazaki (32-11-23-36) 40 (NE) Honey Dijon ft. Jacob Musk: Satisfied (40)

I like Burnham. I also know the papers will try to tear him limb-from-limb. I do not like Streeting or anyone else that I would regard as a smarmy self-serving Tory in a red tie, cliché that it is, and neither do that many of his colleagues if this week is anything to go by. There's absolutely no sense that he genuinely gives a TO55 about anyone else, he's just very ambitious yet completely devoid of charm and charisma just like the guy he's trying to topple, and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he eventually defected to Reform if this doesn't work out for him. See less

I dread to imagine how bad the quality control is on these albums. Does he just put EVERYTHING out?

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (01) Bebe Rexha & Faithless: New Religion (13-1-1) 02 (03) Prospa ft. Cloonee: Free Your Mind (17-10-3-2) 03 (05) Noah Kahan: Porch Light (36-5-3) 04 (11) John Summit ft. Julia Wolf: WITH ME (11-4) 05 (07) Joy Anonymous x Ezra Collective x STUSH: JOY (This One) (19-7-5) 06 (02) Lady Gaga & Doechii: Runway (19-6-2-6) 07 (12) Nia Archives: Danger (12-7) 08 (19) Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj: Beauty And A Beat (19-8) 09 (21) Sabrina Carpenter: House Tour (21-9) 10 (08) Disclosure: The Sun Comes Up Tremendous (15-8-10) 11 (09) Jim Legxacy: idk idk (22-9-11) 12 (04) FLO: Leak It (24-6-2-4-12) 13 (31) Wasia Project: 2515 (31-13) 14 (33) MUNA: Wannabeher (33-14) 15 (32) Tyla ft. Zara Larsson: SHE DID IT AGAIN (32-15) 16 (10) LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER: Eins, Zwei, Drei (36-25-13-11-12-10-16) 17 (37) Fatboy Slim & The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Skank (40-13-xx-40-x-35-37-17) 18 (35) Olivia Rodrigo: drop dead (35-18) 19 (36) Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter: Bring Your Love (36-19) 20 (06) Kacey Musgraves: Dry Spell (27-9-6-20) 21 (16) ANOTR ft. 54 Ultra: Talk To You (10-4-3-1-5-16-21) 22 (40) sombr: Potential (40-22) 23 (13) KATSEYE: Pinky Up (39-13-23) 24 (25) Jessie Ware: Automatic (35-31-25-27-25-24) 25 (14) Take That: You're A Superstar (21-14-25) 26 (20) Big Thief: Words (29-20-26) 27 (22) Sonny Fodera ft. Chrystal: My Loving (17-5-3-4-3-4-22-27) 28 (28) RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer: Click Clack Symphony (29-14-28-28) 29 (24) CMAT: The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station (23-8-24-29) 30 (38) Lizzo: Don't Make Me Love U (38-30) 31 (15) Chris Stussy and Tom Did It: Wide Awake (18-10-2-1-15-31) 32 (26) Baby Queen: Feel Something (28-26-32) 33 (27) Jungle: Carry On (36-10-7-27-33) 34 (NE) Teddy Swims: Mr. Know It All (34) 35 (34) Jorja Smith: Price Of It All (33-34-35) 36 (23) Paris Paloma: Miyazaki (32-11-23-36) 37 (NE) Kehlani ft. Usher: Shoulda Never (37) 38 (NE) The Jam: In The City (38) 39 (39) Marmozets: Cut Back (39-39) 40 (NE) Honey Dijon ft. Jacob Musk: Satisfied (40) OUT 17 (03) Alok & Khalid: Dive Into Me (35-5-3-17) 18 (23) Mclusky: As A Dad (36-23-18) 29 (32) Lykke Li: Knife In The Heart (32-29) 30 (20) Muse: Be With You (22-18-20-30)

Does this actually sample/interpolate Finally by CeCe Peniston or is the synth hook just very similar? Anyway I like it, shame it's flopping a little, hopefully it'll do better when they sky isn't totally grey and dismal.

As it so often does, it made a certain person round here convinced I'm Always On Stage by Sam Fender was his current official single even though nobody was playlisting it anywhere, it wasn't charting and he wasn't promoting it at all!

I always thought it was a good result for Go to get on daytime R1 (they'd been around a good 20 years by then and hadn't had a Top 40 hit for eight years) and in the Top 50 in the first place so the fact it's heading for the Top 10 is sensational. It doesn't feel long ago enough to be nostalgic about but I'm 43 so of course 2015 feels like three years ago at best! Plus it's their best song if you ask me, I was weirdly never massively bothered about their two #1 hits when I was a teenager (always hugely preferred Hey Boy Hey Girl), but this was always instant euphoria/dopamine. Are Radio 1 playing it outside of the chart show? Are we entering into a new era where new music is only one part of what the charts are about these days due to the sheer number of viral throwbacks resurrected by new TV shows, films and social media movements? Answers on a postcard I guess. 2026 is putting 1987 to shame in resurrected throwback terms!

I like the ancient classics coming back (and it's unlikely they will be back for an annoyingly long period of time) but not the ones from the past year or so hanging around indefinitely by default just because nobody's put out much that really clicks with the masses recently. Even Harry Styles and Olivia R couldn't manage it properly and they are massive names. Rein Me In keeps seeing these big comebacks come and go. TL;DR: FFS WILL SOMEONE FINALLY RELEASE A REALLY GOOD ANTHEMIC SONG THAT APPEALS TO A HUGE RANGE OF PEOPLE ACROSS VARIOUS DEMOGRAPHICS SO WE CAN FINALLY REIN REIN ME IN IN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. And I LIKE Sam Fender! But even he must know this is average by his standards.

1 Sam Fender & Olivia Dean - Rein Me In 2 Tame Impala - Dracula 3 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean 4 Alex Warren - FEVER DREAM 5 Olivia Rodrigo - drop dead 6 Zara Larsson - Lush Life 7 The Chemical Brothers - Go 8 sombr - Homewrecker 9 Michael Jackson - Beat It 10 Justin Bieber feat. Nicki Minaj - Beauty and a Beat I'm old enough to remember when the charts were dominated by this thing called "new music", remember that? Still, it's amazing to see Go finally getting its flowers after 11 years. Tbf I love all the throwback songs. Most new stuff really isn't clicking with the public this year. Only three of these originally came out in 2026. How many genuine new hits have we had so far? It's MAY! Think we urgently need some new chart rules tbh as much i love rediscovering the viral classics.

I made a virtual 5CD box set of songs that weren't already on my 90s Alternative Nows and this is the result. A lot of the tracks are ones from people who had two out in the same Now 'window' so I had to make difficult decisions i.e. for AN28 I choose Supersonic over Shakermaker but now songs like that can finally have their day in the sunsheeeeine. There are also a few things that didn't go Top 40 then but have achieved "indie classic" status since like Razzmatazz by Pulp. I'd love to say I didn't use AI for the artwork but sadly I did. Looking forward to soundtracking my Sunday with this in any case. You know it's the start of a new CD when you hear a big old bomb blast. Glad I remembered Mr Blobby, it would have been cultural blasphemy to omit him. As ever 'alternative' doesn't mean blokes with guitars although there are lots of them on here, this is a spin-off from my main series of reimagined numbered Nows that feature my own personalised tracklists of recent chart and radio hits. Capiche? https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WxUlpni9p1SVT3jwdUvfV?si=8f0dae6d2efe4c61 Here's the 2010s counterpart.

THIS WEEK'S TOP 40 01 (13) Bebe Rexha & Faithless: New Religion (13-1) 02 (06) Lady Gaga & Doechii: Runway (19-6-2) 03 (10) Prospa ft. Cloonee: Free Your Mind (17-10-3) 04 (02) FLO: Leak It (24-6-2-4) 05 (36) Noah Kahan: Porch Light (36-5) 06 (09) Kacey Musgraves: Dry Spell (27-9-6) 07 (19) Joy Anonymous x Ezra Collective x STUSH: JOY (This One) (19-7) 08 (15) Disclosure: The Sun Comes Up Tremendous (15-8) 09 (22) Jim Legxacy: idk idk (22-9) 10 (12) LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER: Eins, Zwei, Drei (36-25-13-11-12-10) 11 (NE) John Summit ft. Julia Wolf: WITH ME (11) 12 (NE) Nia Archives: Danger (12) 13 (39) KATSEYE: Pinky Up (39-13) 14 (21) Take That: You're A Superstar (21-14) 15 (01) Chris Stussy and Tom Did It: Wide Awake (18-10-2-1-15) 16 (05) ANOTR ft. 54 Ultra: Talk To You (10-4-3-1-5-16) 17 (03) Alok & Khalid: Dive Into Me (35-5-3-17) 18 (23) Mclusky: As A Dad (36-23-18) 19 (NE) Justin Bieber ft. Nicki Minaj: Beauty And A Beat (19) 20 (29) Big Thief: Words (29-20) 21 (NE) Sabrina Carpenter: House Tour (21) 22 (04) Sonny Fodera ft. Chrystal: My Loving (17-5-3-4-3-4-22) 23 (11) Paris Paloma: Miyazaki (32-11-23) 24 (08) CMAT: The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station (23-8-24) 25 (27) Jessie Ware: Automatic (35-31-25-27-25) 26 (28) Baby Queen: Feel Something (28-26) 27 (07) Jungle: Carry On (36-10-7-27) 28 (14) RAYE ft. Hans Zimmer: Click Clack Symphony (29-14-28) 29 (32) Lykke Li: Knife In The Heart (32-29) 30 (20) Muse: Be With You (22-18-20-30) 31 (NE) Wasia Project: 2515 (31) 32 (NE) Tyla ft. Zara Larsson: SHE DID IT AGAIN (32) 33 (NE) MUNA: Wannabeher (33) 34 (33) Jorja Smith: Price Of It All (33-34) 35 (NE) Olivia Rodrigo: drop dead (35) 36 (NE) Madonna & Sabrina Carpenter: Bring Your Love (36) 37 (35) Fatboy Slim & The Rolling Stones: Satisfaction Skank (40-13-xx-40-x-35-37) 38 (NE) Lizzo: Don't Make Me Love U (38) 39 (NE) Marmozets: Cut Back (39) 40 (NE) sombr: Potential (40) OUT 16 (14) Jennifer Lopez & David Guetta: Save Me Tonight (28-28-18-14-16) 17 (07) Ella Langley: Choosin' Texas (21-15-12-9-7-17) 18 (04) Fisher: Rain (40-10-7-2-1-1-1-2-4-18) 24 (09) Taylor Swift: Elizabeth Taylor (28-xx-21-10-8-9-24) 25 (31) Tame Impala: Dracula (10-8-4-4-10-12-26-xx-31-25) 26 (08) Rosalía ft. Björk & Yves Tumor: Berghain (37-23-33-30-xx-10-3-2-1-8-26) 30 (NE) CamelPhat, Mike Trix & Rafael Cerato: Miami Bass (30) 31 (16) Ewan McVIcar: Share The House (32-13-11-14-4-14-16-16-31) 34 (38) Holly Humberstone: Cruel World (39-32-38-34) 37 (37) Kancelled West ft. Andre Troutman: ALL THE LOVE (37-37) 38 (15) Harry Styles: American Girls (34-9-8-7-15-38) 40 (NE) Foo Fighters: Caught In The Echo (40)

Think I set my Madge expectations way too high (#1!) but Top 20 would be great if she can hold on.

Amazed how much I liked and streamed Fever Dream. Inevitably back to beige now!