superbossanova

Generally speaking, the rule is: If the nationality of the artist in question is British/Irish, then the label probably deliberately targeted a weak release week. If the nationality of the artist is anything else, then the label probably had no idea how lucky they'd be when picking their week of release. :P I say this half-jokingly, but it's pretty much true in a lot of cases. Steps definitely only got to #1 with Heartbeat/Tragedy because of the huge post-Christmas collapse of the Spice Girls and Chef and the fact that there were no significant new releases out (the highest new entry was a re-release of Prince's 1999 at #10). So they were also lucky using the above logic. Poor Steps, that's both their two #1s mentioned in here now :lol: I forgot a very obvious example in here, actually, thinking of songs slumping post-Xmas - Steve Brookstein's Against All Odds. Also took advantage of a huge post-Christmas slump of an Xmas song (Band Aid 20) to get to #1 on only something like not much above 20k.

Ja Rule was definitely one of the luckiest #1s ever. Although to be fair to him, it's not like he released on a completely dead week for new releases like that recent Nero example; it was more that Daniel Bedingfield and Dannii Minogue (who were expected by most to be an all-new top 2 that week) both significantly underperformed, and Eric Prydz was no threat after getting the lowest weekly sale for a #1 (at the time) the week before. But yes, he was lucky that those circumstances happened, for sure. Anyway, the week after was the week of the big all-American 5-way battle so he was cleared out in double quick time. Historically, the time for these kind of #1s used to be January. Examples of this include Iron Maiden in 1991, 911 in 1999, the aforementioned Limp Bizkit in 2001, Aaliyah in 2002. However, this isn't particularly the case anymore and January is actually a pretty good month for sales meaning these kind of #1s don't happen much or at all there, plus it's usually when the record companies unleash their hyped up stars these days since the Sound Of poll came in. These days it seems to be the tail end of Summer that's the worst time - late July and August... see Ne-Yo and Nero in recent years, for example.

I would say All I Want For Christmas Is You is far more 60s-inspired than 50s! I don't think it's ever really been hidden that it's essentially a rehash of the Phil Spector sound of the 1960s - indeed it was even made obvious with the styling of the second, lesser-known video of the track that you posted above. I should also note here that it shares a title and a rather similar lyrical theme to a country hit from several years previously but clearly not similar enough to get any opportunistic lawsuit slapped on Mariah's backside so it's largely irrelevant anyway. It's a song that captures the jovial feeling of excitement shared by many in the build-up to Christmas better than most which perhaps is the key to its continuing success. I myself have grown out of that kind of anticipation in recent years though which is largely why it has slipped in my affections, whereas several years ago I probably would have called it my favourite Christmas song of all. However, it remains a song that is a joy to hear again, usually in November, after 11 months of dormancy, but as you said it does end up grating by early December at the latest (depending on how tolerant one is feeling) and the cycle repeats itself again the next year. Looking forward to getting into the (better) second half of the 1990s, with my personal memories of the tracks only being able to increase as we hurtle further and further towards 1998, the year I fully woke up to the charts and became officially obsessed. In terms of 1994 I actually had no connection to any of the tracks here from my childhood which probably suggests my parents didn't buy much/any music from that year. Not even All I Want For Christmas Is You, which I don't recall hearing on the radio or anywhere at all in the late 1990s, perhaps because it was still too recent at the time to garner any classic airplay as I did hear the likes of Last Christmas, Merry Xmas Everybody and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday often over those respective Christmas seasons.

Ah, Come On Over was the first album I bought myself that wasn't given to me as a present from relatives! Good memories :D I can't hate it really. Actually it makes me wonder how many other people a similar age to me would have done the same considering it was the phenom of 1999 and young people are always more heavily influenced by whatever is at the top of the charts. Similarly a lot of kids might well be buying 21 as their first album purchase today. I own the majority of the albums listed here from the late 1990s onwards - and a few before. I can't say most of them aren't good albums and Keane, Amy Winehouse, Scissor Sisters and Spice Girls particularly gave me much pleasure at their respective times so I don't understand the snobby comments.

Not to mention their rather bizarre massive US success - which seemed to outdo pretty much every other act of that type over there. Five Billboard Hot 100 hits, four of which reached the top 30 and two of which made the top 3!!! Indeed, Another Night was the 6th biggest hit of 1995 there :o Looking rather out of place up in that top 10 too.

As reluctant as I was to join in the lovefest in this thread for Rhythm Of The Night, I have no such problems doing so for Another Night. Indeed, for me this is perhaps the best eurodance song of all so I'm pleased at the glowing reception it's getting from the other contributors here. While it's perhaps not as musically proficient as Snap! or Corona, what it lacks in that department it certainly more than makes up for in charm and from the moment those opening piano notes come in I'm absolutely hooked. Even the tacky male vocal, which sounds awful on paper, somehow manages to sound good - perhaps because it actually adds to the narrative of the track rather than being as shoe-horned as it feels on their subsequent singles. Ultimately, however, my love for Another Night is probably a reflection of the fact that I only need a sweet-voiced female and a relatively catchy tune to make me happy musically - ah well, nothing wrong with being easily pleased, is there? :D I think Love Spreads is okay. Actually, lyrically and musically it's good. I think the biggest criticism you can throw at it is that the arrangement feels a little pretentious which is never a good idea in commercial terms - something that might not have been as much of a suicide if it wasn't for the fact that, as Gezza said, anybody but the diehards Stone Roses fans had probably all flocked over to Suede or Blur or whatever in the long time they were away. Anyway, I don't particularly care too much for The Stone Roses who are perhaps a bit too before my time and I think Ian Brown has put together an excellent solo career so neither do I care too much they didn't go on further. For me their best track was Waterfall, by the way - which I do admittedly think is pretty smashing though.

Like What Is Love? one year earlier, Rhythm of the Night is a song that really lifts itself during the chorus. The verses come and go by insignificantly, delivered with very little connection, slightly feeling like they're mumbled, and with almost nothing but that drumbeat underlying the track - then as soon as the chorus hits, the singer's vocal springs to life, the catchy synths come in to create that addictive groove and the general feeling is one more of uplifting euphoria. Undoubtedly it's a well-crafted eurodance track but somehow I find it a little boring personally - perhaps because my mind is thinking every time I hear it that it'd much prefer to be listening to the DeBarge song of the same name instead :D Though I'm sure once the chorus hit in the club setting it would have been a moment. The vocalist on this track was different to the other songs by Corona, which easily sets it apart. The likes of Baby Baby and Try Me Out suffer from a frankly annoying singer who turns them into boring eurodance songs compared to the distinctive vocals of the singer on this track. That's a shame. Always is absolute predictable dirge, obviously. I'm not sure Bon Jovi have ever made a song I actually like.

Oh finally, Liberty X are gone. Been voting for that garbage on the quiet since the very first round just waiting for it to get that final push. It really has RIDICULOUSLY overachieved in this game (like it did in the charts in general, it was just in the right place at the right moment anyway and has aged absolutely horrifically - not that I ever liked it in the first place, mind). Tough to pick between So What and Can't Get You Out Of My Head for the next one but I had to go for So What. Needless to say dyke anthems are not my cup of tea.

Wow, can't believe the positive reception here by both Gezza and Hitstatic for Compliments On Your Kiss. Maybe it's the fact I'm unable to listen to it with a nostalgic mindset but I think it's terrible!! Apart from the usual annoying rhythm that plagues 90% of reggae music, which plods on particularly laboriously in this song I might add, that vocalist in the verses sound like some bizarre hybrid of Shaggy and Bubbla Ranx or something equally as horrid. I was just about to say this surely must be the last reggae song we'll be seeing in this thread but having looked ahead I now see there's another awful one coming up in 1995, and one more reggae-influenced #2 in 1996. Sigh!!! Confide In Me is - obviously - a fantastic classy affair. Sad that it took her 16 years to make another song as wonderfully majestic as this :cry: These are the kind of songs she should make more of, not that awful gay disco tat or whatever you want to call it. On the 1994 discussion: from the perspective of someone who wasn't old enough to experience it at the time, for me it's the year the 1990s stepped up considerably and from 1995-1999 is an amazing time for the charts IMO thanks to the growth of alternative music and then the boom in pop and R&B at the end of the decade. I'm not sure why as in reality it's not that drastically different to 1993 in terms of styles, bar the further emergence of Britpop ready for its banner year in 1995. I suppose the odd hits that don't belong to any particular trend or scene can make the difference. Also, I guess these things are often coincidental - the way certain 'quality' acts just happen to decide to release their new material in this year or at similar times rather than a few months earlier in 1993 or whatever.

You know, I quite like the Big Mountain track. It's strangely endearing, the vocals are warm, and rhythmically it's nowhere near as annoying as other tracks of that type. For me, though, the best song of the mid-1990s reggae boom was China Black's Searching - could have easily passed for a good soul hit, that one! (and I didn't even notice you just mentioned it in your All-4-One commentary, ha! :D) Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm is such a terrible song. You were far too kind to it in your review! Worst chorus ever made (I'm sure I read before that the reason the chorus is only humming is because they couldn't think of any lyrics for it :manson: I guess the record label used it as a marketing gimmick) and a terrible throaty voice. Yuck!!! Hate it. In fact, I'm tempted to say it's the worst song to darken this thread as at least some of the other bad ones didn't take themselves so seriously. I like the main melody of I Swear a lot. It's much stronger than most of the songs you mentioned in that respect so I guess that's why it managed to do so well. Plus looking on Chartstats, the top of the chart looks awful at this point bar China Black, Warren G and Shampoo... and a few upcoming hits like Youssu N'Dour/Neneh Cherry lower down. When (Meet) The Flintstones is your biggest competiton for #2 something is definitely wrong :drama: But I still think the answer lies in that melody - especially in the chorus. There's something quite lovely about it which I can't put my finger on at the moment that lifts it above the, as you said, syrupy production and schmaltz.

It's just far too clunky for me. MUCH clunkier than the old one, which was actually starting to grow on me after initially hating it. This is why I so often prefer fan-made sites rather than the slicker, professional sites - the former are nearly always far more user-friendly and simpler in layout, with less baggage and thus are usually easier to load. Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned. Apart from improving the speed for a start, accessing the chart archives needs to be much easier also. At the moment, I have to go through three screens (each of which takes ages to load because of the general clunkiness of the site), go scrolling down a huge drop down menu on the second screen, and then looking through a long list of dates on the third screen - why?! Chartstats has the right idea on this - a simple box at the top where the user can easily ENTER a date themselves. Yes, I see, the OCC site now has that at the top, but first you have to pick the date from another bloody drop-down menu (did I mention I hate these things?) and then it only shows the top 10, and with no extra info like last week positions, etc.?! To get the 'full' top 40 with that information from a certain date, I have to go through the above process. And why do they have no running week tallys on their old(er) charts? The column is there but it's empty - this would be a genuine plus over other sites showing archive UK charts. That said, the artist page is still fine, and I'm glad they kept the information like record labels and catalogue numbers on those pages rather than sacrificing them for the sake of "flashiness" - but given that was already there before that hardly counts as an improvement. Oh, and design-wise, I far preferred the previous (predominately) blue personally. I do kind of like the design of the new chart pages accept for one thing: why oh WHY have they made the font smaller on them?

Err, no, it wasn't, but if you want to invent things to try and convince yourself that Poker Face is going to win, even though all signs show otherwise, then feel free.

Surely the other two would be In My Place and Clocks? IMP was #1 for 2 weeks in August 2002. Clocks didn't get to #1 but it was certainly a strong radio hit and was up against some big radio hits like Christina Aguilera and Room 5. I had no idea that all these random dance hits were getting so much support from the radio in 2002 - Shakedown, Moony, Milky (I ADORE this one, totally forgot about it until like a year ago), Divine Inspiration, Oakenfold!! I know that a lot of the reality TV/Pop Idol hits weren't getting played much on radio at the time though so something needed to fill up the playlists I guess.

LOL, Poker Face is clearly NOT going to win. Even if it survives this round (which is unlikely), it's already picking up loads of votes. No song with that many votes this early has won the entire thing. The winner will be something that's consistently only getting 0 votes or perhaps the one lone vote, obviously. To be honest, this poll is getting ridiculous, as people are just voting out Lady Gaga's songs to stop her from winning yet another BJ poll - while I'm hardly a Gaga fan, and I think Poker Face is a load of crapola to be honest, it's only skewing the results which is a shame. I'm just wondering how many people who voted Bad Romance honestly voted for it because it was their least favourite song here :lol:

Only Holiday - which is incredibly flimsy by Madonna's standards - I particularly dislike. Bad Romance also pales in comparison to the others but I do like it (even though it's technically an absolute mess of a song, but somehow it works!) so didn't tick it. Not a huge fan of Smells Like Teen Spirit either but I respect/appreciate it.

Bizarrely, I think I prefer that one! But still not up to much. I think the only early Take That single I quite like is Once You've Tasted Love. That's The Way Love Goes - Yes, the album this was taken from definitely represented a more mature Janet and I agree that not being so relient on the latest production techniques means this song haven't dated that dramatically at all. Anyway, I do love this song as well. It's not really a song you can gush about for ages and write god knows how much about how good it is - I guess it's just one of those songs that simply hits the right spot and plays everything exactly where it needs to be. These kind of sexy R&B slow jams definitely suit Janet down to a tee vocally as well so it's a shame she didn't more of them! What Is Love? - Well, if 1993 and 1994 could be characterised with any genre it would be eurodance so it's nice to get some actual decent representation for the genre in this year to show just why it was so big at this time - it certainly wasn't because of songs like Exterminate :lol: Mind you, this isn't my favourite eurodance song from that year (which would probably be Mr. Vain) but it's hard to deny the plain infectiousness of this single with a chorus that most songs would kill for. What's Up? - This is actually the first song on this thread I have some childhood memories attached to (my mum definitely owned MJ's Dangerous album, mind, which I listened to sometimes, but I do not remember Give In To Me from it at all so I guess I ignored that one), although obviously more from 1997/98 than at the time. I was just becoming more and more aware and interested in music then but didn't have my own CDs to play, so I basically just raided my mum's collection instead :lol: She didn't own the full album this was on as far as I remember but she did have a random compilation with this song on and it was immediately the one I kept coming back to on it - I guess the distinctive vocal and obvious strong melody just appealed to me back then. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed when I listened to it again many years later and it wasn't quite as great as I remember it being but I still think this is a good single, and in some ways it makes me as nostalgic for those times as the actual songs from the late 1990s. Still one more childhood favourite of mine to come in 1993, by the way... The Key The Secret - I think the first time I heard this song was in 2005 when it was remixed into some generic dance fodder and re-released. I did not like it at all I recall, so it probably put me off ever hearing the original as well. But naturally the original version is much better! Unfortunately I don't have much to say about this one either though :D Clearly I'm in inspiration overdrive this morning! I pretty much agree with Gezza about its charm. It's just another infectious song that worms its way into your ear with a pleasant but catchy melody and one that I quite like indeed.

Time to start my thoughts on 1993, the year that I turned 2 (to make everyone else feel VERY old!!) and was probably now happily running around the house getting up to mischief :dance: Exterminate - And we kick off, like with 1992, on a bit of a wimper. Personally speaking I don't think much of Snap! but perhaps if I was old enough at the time and got sucked into the eurodance craze it would be different (although even that seems unlikely, as I never got sucked into the eurotrance craze that was happening when I got into music). While the appeal of Rhythm Is A Dancer with its excellent synth riff can't be denied, too many of their songs fall into that dated early 90s style that I just don't get. It's fair to say that Exterminate is more for eurodance-heads only as I just find this a little boring and frankly trying to get anything out of it it's beginning to give me a bit of a headache. On to the next one... Why Can't I Wake Up With You - Was there ever a more homoerotic boyband than early Take That? Their music videos up until 1993 were just embarrassing with gratituous shots of their chests constantly. Anyway, this is the kind of song that could not be any more in the background if it tried so I'm surprised it got as high as #2 though I guess by this point they were building up a bit of a fanbase. If this is actually the remix version, I dread to think how boring the original actually was. I also think that despite its chart position at the time, this is hugely ignored in comparison to the rest of their back catalogue. In fact, I recall watching a Take That: Through the Years program on one of the music channels a while ago and IIRC this song was skipped; the only other ones they skipped were Do What U Like and Promises as I recall, neither of which made the top 30 so it's not surprising they were. Not a good start to the year at all it's fair to say. Give In To Me - Ah, now this is better! After commenting on the last two songs this feels like a breath of fresh air with its brooding guitars and the heavily passionate vocal from Michael couldn't be more of a change than the last two borefests. Yes, this is just in another world than Snap! and Take That and indeed Heal The World quality-wise. Not my favourite single from the Dangerous album though; that would be the excellent Remember The Time - but impressive he was still getting such big hits while milking this album dry! And with no re-releases too, unlike most of these modern stars :D Informer - I guess these days this song is looked on as more of a novelty track but it's not really that bad. The main problem that makes it seem like so is that, as you said, nobody has a frickin' clue what he's rapping about in the verses, so it just sounds ridiculous and like it was written in gobble-de-gook. Personally speaking I would happily listen to this though and think it's a pretty harmless catchy rap track (I'd happily take it over the shite rap tracks in the chart these days, at least) - and come on, you have to admire his impressive flow! :D

I actually didn't notice that! That's handy :D Looking at the full list, that actually puts the Tears Dry On Their Own position into a bit more context as I believe KT Tunstall - Hold On knocked it off #1 and that drops out here at #768. A distinct lack of big airplay hits at that time, and the big chart performers not being massively to radio's taste I suppose. Did Stronger and With Every Heartbeat not make the chart? I guess the latter might have made if it had more 'legs' though which I imagine it would have, especially since I'm not sure it had much support from commercial radio before it got to #1. But I'm rambling now... And in regards to Fragma at #751 - how many more songs from the year 2000 are there? I except and might be still to come if any but not certain of that or any others.

I think ultimately there's not a lot of things to say sometimes, unless you're just going to be making trite comments or observations. But it's obvious you've put a lot of work into this and I'm sure a lot of people (including me, as I've already said) do appreciate it and are at least looking. There's also the fact the airplay chart is simply not as widely followed as the official chart (even people on this forum only glance at it once in the week, I would guess) so it's hard to put the positions in context. People will probably only remember if a song is hammered to death on the radio or not, really. Plus, with all due respect, the way it's being counted down can be a bit of a blur. I've been at work all day and come online to find like 150 positions posted since I was online last night :lol: But that's not really a criticism of such, and lord knows we would be here forever if it was going any slower, just that unless you're following it closely it can be hard to keep up.

Oh I AM enjoying this. I'm glad you decided to do the full top 1000 and not just the "big" positions as I'm loving the appearances of flop stars of yesteryear and the random and forgotten hits. I absolutely adored that Wayne Wonder track at the time but it has been rather unfairly forgotten along with all the other dancehall songs from 2003, for example. These lower positions will probably be more interesting than the top ones for me. Not really many surprises in the recent entries, though I would have expected the Amy tracks to be a little higher - especially Tears Dry On Their Own which I recall was an airplay #1 for a good few weeks in August 2007 but I guess it was staying there by default more than anything.

Lose Yourself IS liked on this forum. It did very well in the Record of the Decade game that was run by RabbitFurCoat on this very board and finished not even a month ago!!! I can't remember where it came but I'm pretty sure it was in the top 50. I don't understand where this perception that it's disliked has come from. Not every non-female song is hated on this board, you know. Eminem is pretty much the only rapper who gets any acclaim here, to be honest. And as for Simon Cowell - he's entitled to his opinion, yes, but likewise I can't take the opinion of someone who has been behind some of the worst atrocities ever aimed into the music charts in the last two decades seriously. To start with With Every Heartbeat has a more emotive, engaging vocal and a more interesting structure than any song he has anything to do with in his entire career, that's for sure :drama: Also, maybe I'm taking the title too literally, but to me "universally" means it's a song that almost EVERYONE has to know for starters, which would instantly rule out the likes of Titanium and My Immortal to me.

Yeah, I remember that comment now you mention it (it was Rachel Hylton who sung it, btw). This is the man who said once on Pop Idol that Daniel Bedingfield's If You're Not The One is the greatest pop song of modern times though :lol: Those songs he gives (gave) to the likes of Robson & Jerome, Susan Boyle and Westlife to cover on their albums pretty much encapsulate his music taste... awful, bland, sappy crap. Anyway, I echo With Every Heartbeat as Simon Cowell doesn't count as a valid music opinion. I would also add Natalie Imbruglia - Torn and The Human League - Don't You Want Me as songs which have reached a certain level of ubiquity but never seem to have become disliked with it.

It's My Life - While the female vocal hook is probably indeed what lifted this up in the charts for me what puts it a cut above the other eurodance tunes from this time is actually the piano during the intro and the chorus which seems to be what gives it its 'uplifting' quality to me. It also has a really great groove to it IMO. Can definitely see why this was so big, once you get past the dodgy 'rapping' which is indeed even worse than usual on these type of songs - and seems to be in badly strung together English too having just looked up the lyrics on a website! Funny though, it actually "feels" like the lyrics are rather profound... :lol: People Everyday - This is my last favourite left in 1992! Maybe it's nothing special to you but for me it's all about the rhythm of this track which is great, and the whole track really does flow absolutely effortlessly. Then again I'm actually a big fan of this kind of music when it's done well (although it has an awful lot of crap to wade through) so perhaps it takes me less to be easily won over. I guess Arrested Development stood out at the time with their hard-hitting song topics and the fact they had the sung choruses/harmonies rather than just a rapper over a beat also made them more easily appealable to the pop crowd (something that would be later used to even greater success by the Fugees/Lauryn Hill - who are probably a very good if not lazy parallel to this group actually, even down to the biggest hit with a cover angle). Heal The World - I don't have much to add to your comments here! I don't think it's an awful song as such but the whole predictable nature of the track does indeed ruin it somewhat. I also think Michael's vocal is actually sincere but then he does have a naturally emotionally rich voice so if anyone can make anything sound like such it's him. Regardless at least this isn't completely pompous and overwrought so I do prefer this to Earth Song which was the absolute nadir in his "Jesus complex" for me. Right, 1992 finally over! Thought it was never going to end (once we get to the late 1990s every year is going to be long like this though, but at least the songs will be better :heehee:) - will comment on the first of 1993 later as I can't be arsed right now again. I don't plan to be two songs behind the whole time from now on but you know...

Tonight more popular on the radio than Unbreakable! :lol: Not that it's by much though. I always thought the Tonight/Miss You Nights double-A side was one of their more flash-in-the-pan releases (although nothing beats the hilarity of Bop Bop Baby in that respect, of course, although that seems to be at least remembered by people who followed the charts at the time for how abysmal it is) so I'm surprised it beat a fairly successful #1 for them. Eugh, Toploader :puke2: Horrible band. This should be their only appearance though? Thank God the cut-off for this is after the main airplay success of Dancing In The Moonlight otherwise it would be ridiculously high no doubt giving how ubiquitous it was on the radio at the time - not to mention when you turned on the TV that bloody Sainsbury's ad was on seemingly EVERY damn break . TRULY one of the worst songs ever [/ranting]

How on Earth did this song get in?! It was a total flop (#55), and it's not like it's normal for dance songs to have airplay far exceeding their level of sales, mainly because of the whole faceless thing that kind of goes with the genre. And it's not like he had any hits before (or after) this either. I wouldn't have even heard this track at the time if it wasn't included on Now 52! Did it really get so much airplay? What is the general level of radio support (in terms of rough peak, I guess) needed to get in the bottom reaches here anyway? Obviously it's not THAT high as we're in a sort of hits but not exactly big hits kind of area at the moment, with a few radio favourites like KT Tunstall thrown in with some of their less successful singles. Regardless, by far the biggest WTF in the countdown thus far. Would have expected Bodies and Lost Without You to be higher, although the former was overshadowed by You Know Me a bit I guess.