Ghoulian

“The Bad Touch” is one of my favourite songs of the year! “Don’t You Worry” is pretty good for a 2000 girlband hit though.

I haven’t had any #1 hits topping a group so far this year but “Ghost Town” is a very clear choice and fitting for a 31 October post. 9 The Specials Ghost Town 482nd #1: amazingly their last Top 40 but the best with brilliant social commentary, ghoulish backing vocals and guitar effects 8 The Jam Funeral Pyre I love the frenetic opening as the bassist and drummer jam with each other, and it's another great social commentary track 8 Odyssey Going Back To My Roots An excellent cover of a song about genealogy with an African American influence: I find this an incredibly soulful disco track 8 Ultravox All Stood Still A 4th hit from "Vienna" and all but the title track have been in a similar style, but it's another spiky and bouncy new wave track 7 Elaine Paige Memory From the "Cats" musical, this is one of the most iconic powerful showtune ballads, and Elaine does an excellent job with it 7 Third World Dancing On The Floor (Hooked On Love) Last Top 40 for this Jamaican reggae fusion band and their 2nd #10: this is a real earworm and a joyous well performed track 6 Linx Throw Away The Key I've rather enjoyed all their hits and this is another classy and well performed slice of soul funk, if not especially memorable 5 Imagination Body Talk 1st hit for this UK soul trio: it's a long track that I feel doesn't quite get going, though I like the dramatic violin bits in the chorus 5 Bucks Fizz Piece Of The Action I quite enjoy this as a rather understated follow up to "Making Your Mind Up": it's catchy and not so naff, but doesn't stand out 4 Gillan No Laughing In Heaven The spoken verses on this take some getting used to although I think it's meant to sound like crazy ramblings: it's intriguing 4 Kool And The Gang Take It To The Top Another of those funk songs that no matter how many times you listen you can never quite remember: fine but not distinctive 3 Whitesnake Would I Lie To You A 2nd hit of the year for them in a blues rock style: the "would I lie…" hook is repetitive and it all feels a little disinterested 2 Dead Kennedys Too Drunk To f*** Only Top 40 for this US punk band after "Kill The Poor" missed: the lyrics are meant to be silly but I don't really enjoy this at all 2 Phil Collins If Leaving Me Is Easy Unusual for an artist to receive a 10 and a 2 in the same year but this really is a turgid and sluggish track and a slog of a listen 1 Red Sovine Teddy Bear Only hit for this US country singer with a recitation track about truck drivers and a boy: it's very much not enjoyable for me 1981 Group 11: #477 30/05/1981 Randy Crawford You Might Need Somebody 11 67-55-47-34-28-17-12-{11}-14-17-24-32-63->13 #478 13/06/1981 The Evasions Wikka Wrap 20 59-35-31-{20}-23-23-32-59->8 13/06/1981 Bob Marley And The Wailers No Woman No Cry {1981} 8 63-38-20-12-9-{8}-12-18-23-43-60->11 #479 13/06/1981 Showaddywaddy Multiplication 39 60-{39}-42-51->4 #480 23/05/1981 Landscape Norman Bates 40 72-54-54-44-{40}-46-62->7 #481 27/06/1981 Bad Manners Can Can 3 18-{3}-3-3-3-6-6-16-26-36-48-58-71->13 #482 20/06/1981 Quincy Jones Razzamattaz 11 56-26-16-{11}-13-21-29-48-70->9 #483 20/06/1981 Rainbow Can't Happen Here 20 41-29-29-24-{20}-26-31-65->8 #484 20/06/1981 Tom Tom Club Wordy Rappinghood 7 66-30-14-10-{7}-8-16-22-38->9 #485 20/06/1981 The Beat Doors Of Your Heart 33 45-{33}-33-33-44-71->6 #486 20/06/1981 Dave Edmunds And The Stray Cats The Race Is On 34 52-{34}-39-35-46-53->6 #487 13/06/1981 Bruce Springsteen The River 35 69-43-{35}-35-41-57->6 #488 13/06/1981 Kirsty MacColl There's A Guy Works Down The Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis 14 71-47-40-22-16-{14}-24-32-62->9 #489 04/07/1981 Starsound Stars On 45 (Volume 2) 2 15-4-{2}-2-5-9-27-31-54-67->10 #490 13/06/1981 Depeche Mode New Life 11 55-54-43-27-21-19-15-12-{11}-15-18-31-42-57-74->15

Back to 0 weeks of decline: Feel Good Inc. Golden The Dead Dance Folded Waterfalls

I knew it had fallen away quite a bit but 6k SCR seems terrible for it. And what a strange time to re-set it, rather than when it was actually doing well.

99k as of this week!

I bet “Golden” is back to 0 weeks of decline for good measure.

“Elizabeth Taylor” is an earworm. That and “Ophelia” are the only tracks I really enjoyed from a couple of plays of the album.

A ____ Palace Reminds me of “Wet And Gushy”.

Good vocal performance on “FU and UF”. And nice to see 7 new entries in the Top 20 - that doesn’t happen very often these days.

Would need to average about 30k per week for the rest of the year, so would need to stabilise and stop dropping off very soon.

All of 38-40 have dropped 2 since Wednesday…

You can see how accurate it is. (The positions I post are official and only the sales are estimated.)

“Out Of Your Mind” for me - “Rock DJ” is not a Robbie highlight.

Can’t see them making it - they’re on about 310k and 340k respectively. There could be a few 2025 releases going gold before the year is out and still not making it: Chappell alone could end up with 2.

Thrown out with quite some velocity is Maximo Park. The Newcastle band had quite a string of hits in the period from 2005 to 2007. This was their only Top 10, reaching #9 in March 2007. 4th: Maximo Park - Our Velocity 16/28 votes (57%) 5th: The Script - Breakeven 12/30 votes (30%) 6th: Sarah Whatmore - When I Lost You 12/29 votes (41%) 7th: George Michael - Flawless (Go To The City) 10/28 votes (36%) 8th: 50 Cent - 21 Questions 10/26 votes (34%) 9th: Geraldine - Once Upon A Christmas Song 14/27 votes (52%) 10th: Brian Kennedy & Peter Corry - George Best - A Tribute 13/29 votes (45%)

Blown away like a bubble is Michael Bublé. This is one of the lowest peaking tracks in the whole series. It peaked at #38 in April 2007, but continued to do well on downloads thereafter. He wouldn’t have a Top 10 hit until 2009 when he really became the king of easy listening. 7th: Michael Bublé - Everything 10/27 votes (37%) 8th: Atomic Kitten - Ladies Night 10/31 votes (32%) 9th: Lil’ Bow Wow - Bow Wow (That’s My Name) 13/30 votes (43%) 10th: Lostprophets - Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) 23/33 votes (70%)

The Kittens - what a boring single.

10th: R Kelly - Happy People / U Saved Me 21/29 votes (72%)

Not yet: People Watching 512k for 2025 (615k total) Rein Me In 471k “Rein Me In” will definitely end up with higher 2025 numbers.

254k now and about to drop below 20k per week. Bar probably around 450k so will be short I think. Yeah the issue film tracks have is that they won’t necessarily have airplay beyond the film hype, so once they fall away they can really fall hard. Demon Hunters is defying any regular expectations so far though. I wouldn’t rule out “Ordinary” either which is looking incredibly sticky.

They’re all in the current bottom 5, and then there’s a struggling group from 89-92 that will come into play in a few weeks. There are new entries on the horizon but potentially nothing for next week. Will be interesting to see if “Another Love” can finally make it back in - I reckon it might have been #101 for the last 5 weeks straight! I have: Just Keep Watching 370k (but down to 11k per week so no longer outpacing the likes of “Another Love” by that much) What It Sounds Like 330k (but quite a margin of error on this) 12 To 12 323k The Fate Of Ophelia 291k Where Is My Husband! 235k

Ronan’s only excellent song

“That’s My Goal” is an original composition but it’s so much a product of the winner’s song formula that it might as well not be. “You Raise Me Up” did indeed feel like it was perfect for Westlife. I’d probably put that as the higher of these two but it’s still very uninspiring. I got more from the George Best tribute version that charted around the new year.

A brilliant top 5 in this group, but it’s also well endowed with not so good stuff, with relatively little in-between. “Just The Two Of Us” may be a controversial top pick but I think it’s one of the best examples of its style ever. Amazing that Hazel O’Connor had 3 Top 10s but everything else missed the Top 40, including 2 #41 leakers. A fab final big hit from her anyway. 9 Grover Washington Jr Just The Two Of Us Only hit for this US saxophonist with Bill Withers singing: one of the most beautiful and dreamy smooth soul songs in existence 9 Hazel O'Connor Will You Her 3rd Top 10 and final Top 40: a beautiful high drama and emotionally performed ballad with an extraordinary saxophone solo 8 Kraftwerk Pocket Calculator Their 2nd Top 40 6 years after the 1st: a fab and innovative single, and I love the bleepy noises like tapping calculator buttons 8 Squeeze Is That Love A minor hit for them but a really special and beautifully performed bouncy Beatles-esque pop song about at troubled marriage 8 Siouxsie And The Banshees Spellbound They're back after a #41 and this is indeed spellbinding with their usual punchy vocals and swirling electronic accompaniment 7 George Harrison All Those Years Ago His 1st hit in a long time and a tribute to John: like most George tracks this has a lovely warmth and a familiar intimate feel to it 7 Vangelis Chariots Of Fire The film theme and the Greek composer's only solo Top 40: an iconic instrumental though has more impact alongside visuals 6 The Polecats Rockabilly Guy Their only other Top 40 after the double A of covers with an original Rockabilly song: this is well done with a strong guitar solo 5 Michael Jackson One Day In Your Life 481st #1: I used to think this was a dirge but I do like the soaring vocal lines, and it's an excellent performance from Michael 4 UB40 Don't Let It Pass You By/Don't Slow Down A 4th consecutive double A side hit from them: "Don't Let It Pass You By" does just that but the other side has more oomph 3 Champaign How 'Bout Us Only hit for this US soul bands: it gets a few points for the big production and rich vocal harmonies but overall it's quite sleepy 3 Coast To Coast Let's Jump The Broomstick A 1959 song which Brenda Lee had covered earlier: there's nothing wrong with this version but it doesn't feel very necessary 2 Kate Robbins And Beyond More Than In Love Only hit for this "Crossroads" actress who had appeared in Eurovision with her sister last year: this is a dull and soppy track 2 Paul Shane And The Yellowcoats Hi-De-Hi (Holiday Rock) The theme to the "Hi-De-Hi" sitcom: it's very far from good but an inoffensive and chirpy little 1950s style rock and roll number 1 Enigma Ain't No Stopping A project by UK producer Nigel Wright: this is a bloated medley of clips of various tracks that doesn't give me any enjoyment 1981 Group 10: #462 06/06/1981 The Jam Funeral Pyre 4 {4}-4-12-24-38-54->6 #463 30/05/1981 Odyssey Going Back To My Roots 4 44-23-8-6-5-{4}-5-9-17-27-42-58->12 #464 30/05/1981 Kool And The Gang Take It To The Top 15 55-33-24-22-{15}-18-25-31-62->9 #465 06/06/1981 Ultravox All Stood Still 8 46-17-9-{8}-11-20-24-37-65-73->10 #466 13/06/1981 Red Sovine Teddy Bear 4 22-{4}-4-9-19-35-54-75->8 #467 06/06/1981 Bucks Fizz Piece Of The Action 12 57-25-17-{12}-13-15-16-34-53->9 #468 30/05/1981 Phil Collins If Leaving Me Is Easy 17 58-44-29-27-{17}-23-31-36->8 #469 16/05/1981 Imagination Body Talk 4 68-54-45-43-31-19-11-7-6-{4}-5-8-13-20-34-43-65-73->18 #470 06/06/1981 Elaine Paige Memory 6 66-34-15-9-{6}-7-10-19-28-38-53-75-69R(23)-70-67->15 #471 30/05/1981 Dead Kennedys Too Drunk To f*** 36 65-41-{36}-42-57-72->6 #472 06/06/1981 Whitesnake Would I Lie To You 37 60-{37}-37-48-50-67->6 #473 06/06/1981 Third World Dancing On The Floor (Hooked On Love) 10 64-38-31-27-25-13-12-{10}-10-12-17-24-38-60-67->15 #474 20/06/1981 The Specials Ghost Town 1 21-6-2-{1}-1-1-2-5-12-22-30-47-56-73->14 #475 13/06/1981 Linx Throw Away The Key 21 51-32-23-{21}-22-22-31-38-74->9 #476 20/06/1981 Gillan No Laughing In Heaven 31 33-32-{31}-34-60-73->6

DC - that really took them to another success level.