Ghoulian

I expect the gap would be 100k+ now.

I think morbid curiosity is a natural human reaction to an extent.

22Ozzy & Kelly Osbourne - ChangesScore: 1/10 20/12/2003 Ozzy And Kelly Osbourne Changes Peak: 1 Chart run: {1}-3-2-2-4-6-8-14-11-14-20-27-37-53-61-57->16 “Changes” was originally a 1972 Black Sabbath album track. Very unusually for them it featured neither drums nor guitars. The original is a very lovely heartfelt ballad. This was right in the middle of Kelly Osbourne’s fairly short lived pop career, and she had reached #3 with a “Papa Don’t Preach” cover and the Top 20 with “Shut Up”. By far her best single, the synth laden “One Word”, wouldn’t come until 2005. Anyway she had said to her father that he had done some songs for her siblings and should do something for her. This led to the decision to re-record “Changes” as a duet about their relationship, which Ozzy hoped would boost her career. So this was very much a case of the road to hell being paved with good intentions. Unfortunately the vocals on this cover managed to be fist clenchingly ghastly. You’d have thought the producers could have improved them somehow. Maybe they didn’t see the need. After all the single was a huge commercial success, reaching #1 the week before Christmas and making the year end Top 10. It also reached the download Top 10 just a couple of months ago following Ozzy’s passing. Fortunately it didn’t make the official chart as the streaming public thankfully listened to some of Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s good songs instead.

23David Sneddon - Stop Living The LieScore: 1/10 25/01/2003 David Sneddon Stop Living The Lie 1 Chart run: {1}-1-3-8-10-20-26-30-35-46-54-52-56-48-36-58-68-74->18 I actually agree with Last Dreamer that “Fame Academy” was a good series for talent. In some ways it was an antidote to the “Pop Idol” juggernaut that was more about coaching singer songwriters and aiming at longer term success than instant fame. The first series had Lemar who went on to have an impressive run of hits, pop rock girl Sinead Quinn and Ainslie Henderson who I all liked to an extent. The second series had Alex Parks who seemed to have huge promise though vanished quickly, James Fox who went on to do Eurovision and Alistair Griffin who had a few hits, including one with Robin Gibb. But of all the songs that could have ended up being the flagship winner’s release why did it have to be this? The lyrics are clichéd and embarrassing - rhyming “café” and “coffee” and “saviour” and “favour”, and there’s nothing remotely interesting or flowing about it musically. The vocals aren’t even that strong and don’t sound particularly engaged. It’s quite baffling that he won the show looking back, but even David himself had better songs available.

Funny you should say that…

And so we come to the year of “Finding Nemo”, Madonna and Britney’s kiss and the launch of iTunes. But who will have my favourite #1 of 2003? It was a year when single sales plummeted, and turnover at the top of the chart also dramatically slowed. With the biggest new release only doing about 30k in many weeks it became much more feasible for a huge smash to hang on for 2, 3 or 4 weeks. Like Roba. I am going to include the 1st #1 of the year even though it is a repeat of one of 2002s. That gives us 23 chart toppers: List of #1s Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground David Sneddon - Stop Living The Lie t.A.T.u - All The Things She Said Christina Aguilera - Beautiful Gareth Gates and the Kumars - Spirit In The Sky Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheetham - Make Luv Busted - You Said No Tomcraft - Loneliness R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix) Evanescence - Bring Me To Life Beyoncé featuring Jay Z - Crazy In Love Daniel Bedingfield- Never Gonna Leave Your Side Blu Cantrell featuring Sean Paul - Breathe Elton John - Are You Ready For Love The Black Eyed Peas - Where Is The Love? Sugababes - Hole In The Head Fatman Scoop featuring The Crooklyn Clan - Be Faithful Kylie Minogue - Slow Busted - Crashed The Wedding Westlife - Mandy Will Young - Leave Right Now Ozzy Osbourne & Kelly Osbourne - Changes Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules - Mad World

A great winner which would be 2nd for me. I don’t love “Heaven” as much as you guys but I agree it’s a very inspired cover, turning an unremarkable song into something more. My version, based on the scores in my thread. It’s a very strong top half. 1 Eminem - Lose Yourself (9) 2 Pink - Just Like A Pill (9) 3 George Harrison - My Sweet Lord (9) 4 Liberty X - Just A Little (9) 5 Daniel Bedingfield - Gotta Get Thru This (9) 5 Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground (9) 7 Christina Aguilera - Dirrrty (9) 8 Aaliyah - More Than A Woman (9) 9 Las Ketchup - The Ketchup Song (Asereje) (9) 10 Sugababes - Freak Like Me (8) 11 Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation (8) 12 Sugababes - Round Round (8) 13 Daniel Bedingfield - If You’re Not The One (7) 14 DJ Sammy featuring Yanou and Do - Heaven (7) 15 Eminem - Without Me (7) 16 Darius - Colourblind (7) 17 Oasis - The Hindu Times (6) 18 Westlife - World Of Our Own (6) 19 Holly Valance - Kiss Kiss (6) 20 Gareth Gates - Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake) (5) 21 Will Young - Light My Fire (5) 22 Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland - Dilemma (4) 23 Will Young - Anything Is Possible / Evergreen (4) 24 Atomic Kitten - The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling) (4) 25 Enrique Iglesias - Hero (3) 26 Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman - Something Stupid (3) 27 Blue featuring Elton John - Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (3) 28 Ronan Keating - If Tomorrow Never Comes (2) 29 Will Young & Gareth Gates - The Long And Winding Road / Suspicious Minds (2) 30 Westlife - Unbreakable (2) 31 Blazin’ Squad - Crossroads (2) 32 Gareth Gates - Unchained Melody (1)

Going for Tweet - it has a nice rhythm to it but doesn’t really do much beyond that.

The Wombats are moving to the survivor dustbin next after a close battle. This was their biggest chart hit, peaking at #13 in January 2008 and spending 8 weeks in the Top 40. The band was formed in Liverpool and had a #1 album as recently as 2022. 5th: Wombats - Moving To New York 13/35 votes (37%) 6th: Janet Jackson - Doesn’t Really Matter 12/31 votes (39%) 7th: The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York 8th: A1 - No More 15/29 votes (52%) 9th: Akon - Belly Dancer (Bananza) 10/26 votes (38%) 10th: Ronan Keating - The Long Goodbye 18/28 votes (64%)

“Rockstar” is pretty annoying and can go.

Belief only gets you so far, and The Tweenies are out. This spent 3 weeks at #9 in December 2001. It was part of a run of 6 Top 20 hits for the children’s TV stars. 8th: Tweenies - I Believe In Christmas 21/30 votes (70%) 9th: Blazin’ Squad - We Just Be Dreamin’ 14/31 votes (45%) 10th: Steve Brookstein - Against All Odds 11/25 votes (44%)

MGMT by miles and miles - how is it 3-3? 😅

#72. It’s been doing worse than I expected too - may even end up not making it.

Another tie 🧵

You can’t ask that and not have a guess surely.

Sugas would both be a little lower for me but they’re both excellent so no major complaints. “Freak Like Me” I think is the stronger of the two. I agree with Rich that it felt odd so soon after another cover of the song had been a Top 20 hit, but this one was a fantastically well executed mashup. I love one of the top 2 and really like the other.

It looks like the end of the road for Disturbed sadly which dropped to #100 this week, but it’s had an incredible run.

“Soda Pop” next week and “Your Idol” the week after.

Bar will be about 65k so he should

Week 37: 1 1 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,628,000 2 2 Lola Young Messy 1,228,000 1,410,000 3 3 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 1,155,000 1,510,000 4 4 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 1,121,000 1,570,000 5 5 Gracie Abrams That's So True 1,000,000 1,440,000 6 6 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 928,000 1,560,000 7 7 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 895,000 2,680,000 8 9 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 858,000 870,000 9 8 Chrystal The Days 847,000 1,010,000 10 10 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 827,000 2,050,000 11 11 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 809,000 2,010,000 12 12 Teddy Swims Lose Control 748,000 2,580,000 13 13 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 719,000 2,470,000 14 14 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 709,000 1,310,000 15 15 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 702,000 1,490,000 16 16 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 692,000 930,000 17 17 Teddy Swims The Door 665,000 1,330,000 18 18 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 660,000 770,000 19 19 Tate McRae Sports Car 653,000 20 20 Myles Smith Stargazing 643,000 1,660,000 21 21 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 625,000 1,960,000 22 22 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 621,000 23 24 Sombr Undressed 606,000 24 23 Hozier Too Sweet 597,000 2,050,000 25 25 Alex Warren Carry You Home 588,000 890,000 26 27 Sombr Back To Friends 580,000 27 26 Noah Kahan Stick Season 570,000 3,090,000 28 28 Ed Sheeran Azizam 547,000 29 29 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 542,000 1,010,000 30 31 The Killers Mr Brightside 529,000 6,590,000 31 30 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 528,000 1,150,000 32 32 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 524,000 1,670,000 33 34 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 520,000 4,330,000 34 33 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 518,000 3,740,000 35 37 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 517,000 36 35 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 509,000 37 50 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 500,000 38 37 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 493,000 39 39 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 482,000 1,140,000 40 38 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 482,000 870,000 44 45 MK featuring Chrystal Dior 466,000 61 64 Skye Newman Family Matters 383,000 65 68 Benson Boone Mystical Magical 378,000 83 94 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 345,000 86 91 Sam Fender & Olivia Dean Rein Me In 344,000 87 89 Ed Sheeran Sapphire 344,000 90 99 Disco Lines & Tinashe No Broke Boys 341,000

Week 37: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 431,000 800,000 2 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 301,000 400,000 3 3 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 282,000 2,310,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 261,000 1,730,000 5 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 235,000 1,470,000 6 6 Sam Fender People Watching 216,000 7 7 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 209,000 510,000 8 8 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 205,000 5,510,000 9 9 Elton John Diamonds 203,000 1,860,000 10 10 SZA SOS 195,000 680,000 11 11 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 192,000 540,000 12 13 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 189,000 210,000 13 12 Charli XCX Brat 189,000 480,000 14 14 Noah Kahan Stick Season 181,000 650,000 15 15 Tate McRae So Close To What 179,000 16 16 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 174,000 6,080,000 17 17 Michael Jackson The Essential 173,000 2,010,000 18 18 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 165,000 950,000 19 19 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 163,000 3,480,000 20 20 Arctic Monkeys AM 161,000 2,260,000 21 21 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 159,000 3,470,000 22 22 Oasis Definitely Maybe 158,000 2,950,000 23 23 Linkin Park Papercuts 153,000 320,000 24 24 Lady Gaga Mayhem 152,000 25 25 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 149,000 640,000 26 26 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 147,000 290,000 27 27 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 145,000 1,200,000 28 28 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 143,000 29 29 Calvin Harris 96 Months 124,000 200,000 30 31 Queen Greatest Hits 121,000 3,160,000 31 30 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 121,000 240,000 32 32 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 119,000 300,000 33 33 Pitbull Greatest Hits 118,000 590,000 34 62 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 118,000 35 34 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 117,000 450,000 36 35 Ed Sheeran ÷ 114,000 4,440,000 37 36 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 114,000 1,660,000 38 37 Fontaines D.C. Romance 113,000 230,000 39 39 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 111,000 40 38 Kendrick Lamar GNX 111,000 170,000

18/9 I don’t think I’ve seen the official #20 nearly miss the Top 50 before, and it’s possible it even did as that and “Birds Of A Feather” were very close. 1 1 Golden (1) 2 2 Man I need (2) 3 3 Tears (3) 4 4 Ordinary (1) 5 6 Soda Pop (5) 6 7 No broke boys (3) 7 5 Manchild (1) 8 10 Your idol (7) 9 13 Nice to each other (9) 10 9 When did you get hot? (9) 11 21 12 to 12 (11) 12 24 Back to friends (7) 13 11 House tour (11) 14 18 How it’s done (14) 15 26 Love me not (2) 16 8 My man on willpower (8) 17 14 Nobody’s son (14) 18 22 Daisies (2) 19 23 Dior (2) 20 19 Rein me in (7) 21 28 What it sounds like (18) 22 15 Go go juice (15) 23 31 Undressed (4) 24 25 Pink pony club (2) 25 - The dead dance (25) 26 16 The subway (1) 27 12 Sugar talking (12) 28 17 Goodbye (17) 29 30 Takedown (22) 30 32 Beautiful things (1) 31 33 Victory lap (5) 32 34 Sapphire (8) 33 35 Free (28) 34 36 Blessings (5) 35 37 Eternity (5) 36 38 Messy (1) 37 27 Never getting laid (27) 38 41 Lose control (2) 39 40 Iris (3) 40 20 We almost broke up again last night (20) 41 43 APT. (2) 42 39 Good luck, babe! (2) 43 48 Yukon (19) 44 42 Mystical magical (18) 45 - Survive (1) 46 - Die with a smile (3) 47 - Just keep watching (6) 48 47 Sparks (46) 49 45 Yellow (4) 50 46 Which one (6)

I do hope you’re right that this is just a lone wolf event in history with no real wider significance, otherwise I do really worry about where things are heading. Sure Charlie Kirk’s views were extreme and pretty unpleasant in some areas. But if we’re saying the sanctity of human life isn’t such an important value anymore if someone’s deemed a political enemy, whoever it is, and that huge swathes of the population would cheer on a lynching, whether against someone on the left or right, I think we’re on the path back to savagery. I’ve seen this from the left too - “let’s get X next”. I find that sort of thing very chilling wherever it comes from.

“Colourblind” wouldn’t be in my Top 10 but that’s mainly because it’s a very strong Top 10. It’s a lovely charming song and head and shoulders above most of the Pop Idol stuff. Aww there goes my #1. It’s my top Eminem song, even above “Stan”. It doesn’t have the narcissistic or aggressive features of much of his work, and the way the tension builds through the track is masterful.