Ghoulian

Went for Madonna, although it was a competent cover from GA.

Mel - fabulous song, and Christina’s is a bit pedestrian.

I actually find No Doubt’s “Hey Baby” slightly grating, but it’s still far superior to the alternative!

Sara by miles - lovely ballad

Joss has a great voice but I’ve never really enjoyed her music. Went for Emma.

Jordin doesn’t do a whole lot for me - Paramore it is

I did a thingy - hopefully it went through.

Just a friendly word - please do spare a thought this week for those of us who don’t have a strong opinion either way on Ed or whether he’s doing well or flopping. Please consider the quiet majority who just want to read about the streaming charts before you post. That isn’t aimed at anyone who’s commented so far - just before we end up with pages and pages of more or less the same comments over and over about one artist!

Like those single use plastic cameras from the ‘90s 😃

“Just A Little” is my favourite in the Top 10 so far: just a fabulous song. “More Then A Woman” would be in my Top 10 too: quite a simple RnB track but beautifully done and poignant. “If You’re Not The One” is a cut above most slushy ballads and has a real sincerity to it. “Kiss Kiss” is my least favourite of the 4 and wouldn’t be anywhere near my Top 10, but it was an incredibly clever bit of sampling.

30 Weeknd (feat. Daft Punk) - Starboy 29 Glass Animals - Life Itself 28 xx – On Hold 27 Blossoms - Charlemagne 26 Lemon Demon - Touch-Tone Telephone 25 Major Lazer (feat. Nyla & Fuse ODG) - Light It Up 24 Sia - Cheap Thrills 23 Elle King - Ex's And Oh's 22 Alan Walker (feat. Iselin) - Faded 21 Kungs vs. Cookin On 3 Burners – This Girl 20 CHVRCHES (feat. Hayley Williams) - Bury It 19 Twenty One Pilots - Stressed Out 18 Weeknd (feat. Daft Punk) - I Feel It Coming 17 Adele - When We Were Young 16 Twenty One Pilots - Ride 15 Jorja Smith – Blue Lights 14 Ariana Grande - Into You 13 Frank Ocean - Pink + White 12 Javiera Mena - Otra Era 11 Imany – Don't Be So Shy (Filatov & Karas Remix) 10 Black Honey - All My Pride 9 Bon Iver - 8 Circle 8 Beyoncé - Hold Up 7 Mitski - Your Best American Girl 6 1975 - The Sound 5 Mystery Jets - Bubblegum 4 Jain - Makeba 3 LP - Lost On You 2 Two Door Cinema Club - Bad Decisions 1 Childish Gambino - Redbone

I might have a chance of listening to this one all the way through without giving up then. 😅

Also sorry for the delay - thanks for running @gooddelta and congratulations @AllStarBySmashMouth on the win! I haven’t entered a pop forum contest before although I have guest voted. I was considering entering Marina Kaye’s “Homeless” into the reality TV themed Bop Idol I hosted but went with something more obscure instead. Afterwards I really wanted to know how it would have done, and seeing that it fitted the theme for this made a spur of the moment decision to enter it here. And I think I’ve answered that it indeed would very likely have extended my Top 10 streak there haha! Oh well - I now have a streak of 1 here instead. Thanks for the votes! x

5 12 To 12 4 Your Idol 3 Nice To Each Other 2 No Broke Boys 1 Man I Need -1 Golden -2 Tears -3 When Did You Get Hot? -4 Soda Pop -5 Manchild

I always found their singles fun, but Tweenies.

She said it doesn’t matter as she knows we’re still nutty nutty nutty for her, but Janet Jackson is out. This reached #5 in August 2000, and the follow up “All For You” did even better, reaching #3 the following April. They remain her only 2 Top 10 hits of the century. 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%)

We’ve got girls’ sweet smoke in the air again, and going up in smoke are Blazin’ Squad. This reached #3 in June 2003 and was the 4th in their run of 6 Top 10 hits. It was the lead from their 2nd album - neither of their albums reached the Top 30 despite the success of the singles.

I like “Southern Sun” even more, but “Starry Eyed Surprise” is a belter too.

I know you like it… but not that much, as the Pussycat Dolls finish 3rd. It’s a step down on their runner up result in the year end #5 survivor. The single reached #1 in September 2005, and continued to be downloaded enough in 2006 to appear here. 3rd: Pussycat Dolls - Don’t Cha 13/31 votes (42%) 4th: Panic! At The Disco - Nine In The Afternoon 10/29 votes (32%) 5th: Rob Thomas - Lonely No More 10/31 votes (32%) 6th: Saturdays - Forever Is Over 12/29 votes (41%) 7th: Craig David - Rendezvous 11/30 votes (37%) 8th: Sharam - PATT (Party All The Time) 14/32 votes (44%) 9th: McFly - Room On The 3rd Floor 12/30 votes (40%) 10th: UB40 featuring United Colours Of Sound - Swing Low 19/31 votes (62%)

“Gotta Get Thru This” and “Sound Of The Underground” are both brilliant debuts and would be in my Top 10, though neither right near the top.

Joni Mitchell Kate Bush Carly Simon

A mixture of soul and rock here but this simple and stunning ballad has to be at the top. 9 Roberta Flack The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face A US #1 and the 1st hit for this soul singer with a 1957 Peggy Seeger folk song: this version is slow and utterly beautiful 8 Elvis Presley An American Trilogy A medley of three old folk songs which doesn't promise to be compelling, but Elvis gives a brilliant rousing performance 8 Gary Glitter Rock And Roll Parts 1 And 2 His 1st hit split into a vocal and non vocal part: the beat across both parts is very compelling and the riff mesmerising 7 The Staple Singers I'll Take You There 1st hit for this US gospel group with a US #1 and a very recognisable rousing tune: not my favourite genre but it's great 7 Argent Tragedy This doesn't have the menacing brilliance of "Hold Your Head Up" but it's still great and a very dramatic performance 7 The Chakachas Jungle Fever Only Top 40 for this Latin group and an unusual but enjoyable instrumental with groans that got it banned by the BBC 6 Slade Take Me Bak 'Ome 314th #1: they've definitely found their groove: it doesn't do anything unexpected but it's a gritty powerful number 6 The Kinks Supersonic Rocket Ship Their last hit for a very long time: this is slightly sugary and not a favourite, but it has a very nice calypso character to it 6 The Chi-Lites Oh Girl Another very emotion laden slow ballad from them: the vocal performance is great and you can feel the heartbreak 5 Free Little Bit Of Love Similar in style to "All Right Now" and a pleasant rock track, but it washes over without leaving very much impression 5 Frederick Knight I've Been Lonely For So Long Only hit for this US soul singer with a falsetto heavy track that's quite nice but has a slightly dragging spoken section 4 The New Seekers Circles Their 4th straight Top 5: this has a sweetness and sincerity to it but it's quite schmaltzy and becomes a little repetitive 3 The Pearls Third Finger, Left Hand 1st hit for this UK duo who did '60s covers: good song but the Martha And The Vandellas original sounds much richer 2 Wings Mary Had A Little Lamb The nursery rhyme set to a tune written by Paul and Linda: an interesting stylistic direction but it does very little for me 1 The Sweet Little Willy Their biggest US hit and it does have catchy elements but it's very irritating lyrically and musically after multiple listens 1972 Group 8: #3980 17/06/1972 Donny Osmond Puppy Love 1 36-13-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-4-4-10-17-19-30-35-33-38-50R(2)-45-46R(8)-46-46-48R(3)->23 #3981 17/06/1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day 8 40-18-12-{8}-11-11-21-19-29-31-45->11 #3982 17/06/1972 Love Unlimited Walkin' In The Rain With The One I Love 14 44-31-21-19-16-16-{14}-21-27-44->10 #3983 17/06/1972 Gladys Knight And The Pips Just Walk In My Shoes 35 45-42-47-39-36-42-{35}-49->8 #3984 24/06/1972 The Who Join Together 9 36-22-16-12-{9}-13-15-18-35->9 #3985 24/06/1972 The Stylistics Betcha By Golly, Wow 13 38-32-25-25-{13}-15-16-14-23-23-34-41->12 #3986 24/06/1972 Donald Peers And The Les Reed Orchestra Give Me One More Chance 36 41-44-{36}-41-44-41->6 #3987 24/06/1972 Dr Hook And The Medicine Show Sylvia's Mother 2 44-28-13-4-3-{2}-3-5-8-16-26-35-44->13 #3988 24/06/1972 Johnny Nash I Can See Clearly Now 5 46-25-12-7-{5}-7-8-8-16-15-19-22-33-38-45->15 #3989 24/06/1972 Bruce Ruffin Mad About You 9 48-43-35-23-14-{9}-13-13-19-21-32-37->12 #3990 24/06/1972 David Bowie Starman 10 49-41-29-20-18-{10}-12-11-18-35-43->11 #3991 01/07/1972 Hawkwind Silver Machine 3 49-40-37-20-12-7-7-{3}-3-4-7-13-19-41-47->15 #3992 08/07/1972 The Partridge Family Breaking Up Is Hard To Do 3 30-13-7-4-5-{3}-6-8-16-20-24-26-38->13 08/07/1972 Richard Harris MacArthur Park {1972} 38 46-47-47-{38}-40-45->6 08/07/1972 Mary Wells My Guy {1972} 14 48-38-26-20-{14}-15-22-34-33-42->10 #3993 15/07/1972 Terry Dactyl And The Dinosaurs Seaside Shuffle 2 29-12-5-4-{2}-2-5-10-15-26-37-46->12 #3994 15/07/1972 The Supremes Automatically Sunshine 10 35-25-17-{10}-12-17-30-37-47->9

“Anyone Of Us” is decent but I’ve never liked his voice very much and it would be lower for me. The other two are brilliant - “Aserejé” is a joyous one off and “My Sweet Lord” a folk crossover masterpiece. I’d put them both in the Top 10.

“Dirrty” is a great song and there’s never been anything quite like it from a pop girl. That would be very high up for me. “Without Me” might be slightly higher for me but it is quite silly and I prefer all his other 3 big early #1s.

Average score for 1980 was 5.55 - we’ll see how that moves as the decade progresses but that’s towards the higher end for the years I’ve completed. I only gave 6 songs a 1, and my least favourite hit of the year is Mac Davis - Hard To Be Humble. I gave 3 10s, 22 9s and 47 8s. My Top 40 of the year therefore only has room for 15 of the 47 8s. 1 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart 2 Blondie - Atomic 3 ABBA - The Winner Takes It All 4 The Cure - A Forest 5 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes 6 Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers 7 OMD - Enola Gay 8 Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry 9 Bob Marley - Could You Be Loved 10 Blondie - Call Me 11 Lipps Inc - Funky Town 12 Peter Gabriel - No Self Control 13 Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach 14 Korgis - Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime 15 Rush - The Spirit Of Radio 16 ABBA - Super Trouper 17 Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short 18 Queen - Another One Bites The Dust 19 Kate Bush - Breathing 20 Diana Ross - Upside Down 21 The Jam - Going Underground 22 Kate Bush - Army Dreamers 23 The Vapors - Turning Japanese 24 Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again 25 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Three Little Birds 26 Jon & Vangelis - I Hear You Now 27 Adam And The Ants - Antmusic 28 John Foxx - Underpass 29 Hazel O’Connor - Eighth Day 30 The Buggles - The Plastic Age 31 The Sweet People - Et Les Oiseaux Chantaient 32 Elvis Costello & The Attractions - New Amsterdam 33 Ultravox - Sleepwalk 34 Jona Lewie - You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties 35 Motörhead - Ace Of Spades 36 Kate Bush - Babooshka 37 Amii Stewart - Paradise Bird / The Letter 38 Bow Wow Wow - C30, C60, C90, Go 39 Siouxsie & The Banshees - Christine 40 New Musik - Living By Numbers