Ghoulian

Thought I’d already posted this! Week 33: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,618,000 2,720,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,534,000 2,220,000 3 3 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,017,000 3,200,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 1,005,000 1,610,000 5 5 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 978,000 1,220,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 913,000 1,290,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 893,000 8 8 Zara Larsson Lush Life 862,000 3,900,000 9 9 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 858,000 2,190,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 842,000 1,590,000 11 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 762,000 890,000 12 12 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 734,000 1,510,000 13 13 Djo End Of Beginning 730,000 1,910,000 14 14 Tame Impala Dracula 709,000 840,000 15 15 Sombr Homewrecker 692,000 16 16 Bruno Mars I Just Might 680,000 17 17 Sombr 12 To 12 662,000 1,190,000 18 18 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 645,000 750,000 19 19 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 624,000 790,000 20 21 Harry Styles American Girls 607,000 21 20 Alex Warren Fever Dream 605,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 585,000 4,100,000 23 24 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 576,000 610,000 24 25 The Killers Mr Brightside 563,000 7,360,000 25 23 Taylor Swift Opalite 563,000 970,000 26 26 Dominic Fike Babydoll 554,000 1,300,000 27 27 Harry Styles Aperture 540,000 28 28 Sombr Back To Friends 540,000 1,450,000 29 29 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 535,000 1,260,000 30 30 Milky Just The Way You Are 516,000 630,000 31 31 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 493,000 4,430,000 32 32 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 488,000 5,050,000 33 33 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 484,000 1,290,000 34 34 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 479,000 3,410,000 35 35 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 476,000 1,620,000 36 37 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 472,000 37 36 Dominic Fike White Keys 465,000 480,000 38 38 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 465,000 2,270,000 39 40 Justin Bieber Daisies 455,000 960,000 40 39 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 454,000 1,170,000 41 41 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 454,000 1,690,000 42 42 Michael Jackson Beat It 429,000 2,670,000 43 44 Fleetwood Mac Everywhere 420,000 4,590,000 44 43 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 417,000 600,000 45 45 Olivia Dean Dive 414,000 1,080,000 46 46 Sombr Undressed 412,000 1,290,000 47 48 Teddy Swims Lose Control 412,000 3,220,000 48 47 Olivia Dean OK Love You Bye 409,000 910,000 49 49 Myles Smith Stargazing 384,000 2,190,000 50 50 Olivia Dean Baby Steps 380,000 560,000 51 52 Noah Kahan Stick Season 380,000 3,630,000 53 51 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 374,000 470,000 56 62 ANOTR featuring 54 Ultra Talk To You 368,000 60 62 Prospa & Cloonee Free Your Mind 363,000 61 58 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 360,000 63 65 Oasis Wonderwall 352,000 5,670,000 64 61 Prince & The Revolution Purple Rain 351,000 2,120,000 65 64 Alex Warren Eternity 346,000 720,000 69 72 Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 339,000 980,000 72 69 Sonny Fodera, D.O.D. and Poppy Baskcomb Think About Us 336,000 430,000 73 74 Malcolm Todd Earrings 336,000 360,000 74 82 Olivia Rodrigo The Cure 333,000 79 80 Fleetwood Mac Landslide 326,000 1,930,000 80 78 Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me 326,000 620,000 84 92 Ariana Grande Hate That I Made You Love Me 322,000 89 89 Michael Jackson Human Nature 315,000 730,000 91 86 Olivia Dean Let Alone The One You Love 314,000 490,000 92 87 Bad Bunny DtMF 314,000 500,000 93 93 Chemical Brothers Go 307,000 740,000 98 - Taylor Swift I Knew It, I Knew You 295,000 - 100 Hozier Too Sweet 290,000 2,480,000

3 well known classics at the top here. U2 ends up being just slightly the least of the 3 but they’ve already had a 9 with “New Years Day” and I’m sure will have more. “Purple Rain” is in a different league from most of Prince’s material for me, and “Smootb Operator” really is right at the top of its genre. 9 Prince And The Revolution Purple Rain His magnum opus that will have several chart resurgences, and an epic, dramatic and hugely powerful song 9 Sade Smooth Operator One of the best songs in existence of its kind and beautifully smoothly done indeed, but what a poor peak it had 8 U2 Pride (In The Name Of Love) Easily their biggest hit so far, and an excellent and rousing song with lyrics about the civil rights movement 8 Nik Kershaw Human Racing The title track from his debut album but only the 5th single, and it's a beautiful ballad about the daily rat race 7 Queen Hammer To Fall A 4th single but a very good one that they'll do at Live Aid: I like the drama and the big processed backing vocals 7 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Tesla Girls I think their earlier work has a little more sparkle, but this is fun with lyrics about the alternating current inventor 6 David Bowie Blue Jean The lead from his 16th album, and artistically it's quite a simple number about picking up girls but I still enjoy it 6 Freddie Mercury Love Kills His 1st solo hit: it's produced by Giorgio Moroder and does sound very slick, but it's not hugely remarkable 5 Animal Nightlife Mr Solitaire 1st Top 40 for this UK jazz influenced group: the lead vocals are very smooth and it's a perfectly pleasant track 5 Bronski Beat Why? A 2nd Top 10 that for me is pretty good but rather similar to "Smalltown Boy", but it's also been well sampled 4 Adam Ant Apollo 9 His last Top 40 until he makes a '90s comeback: this has some good production but overall feels a bit messy 3 UB40 If It Happens Again An original song from them about social injustice, which doesn't really manage to hit hard or be at all exciting 2 Stephanie Mills The Medicine Song Her 2nd and last Top 40 and it is more medicinal rather than pleasurable overall, although her voice is great 2 Shakin' Stevens A Letter To You Also an original song and not his worst effort but as that usual slightly grim jolliness about it that I can't enjoy 1984 Group 17: #1497 29/09/1984 Big Country East Of Eden 17 27-{17}-24-34-49-66->6 #1498 29/09/1984 Dio Mystery 34 36-{34}-43-67->4 #1499 29/09/1984 The Cars Drive 5 37-15-{5}-6-7-11-17-27-40-52-68->11 #1500 01/09/1984 The Bluebells Cath 38 65-51-48-44-{38}-40-60->7 #1501 22/09/1984 Giorgio Moroder With Philip Oakey Together In Electric Dreams 3 74-39-21-9-5-{3}-4-5-15-21-33-47-59->13 #1502 06/10/1984 Culture Club The War Song 2 3-{2}-3-6-14-25-30-54->8 #1503 06/10/1984 Paul McCartney No More Lonely Nights (Ballad) 2 28-6-4-{2}-3-4-13-22-29-28-38-43-49-49-59->15 #1504 06/10/1984 The Stranglers Skin Deep 15 32-21-{15}-18-26-39-60->7 #1505 29/09/1984 John Waite Missing You 9 70-38-16-10-{9}-10-15-20-31-49-70->11 #1506 13/10/1984 Wham! Freedom 1 3-{1}-1-1-2-4-9-20-25-36-41-39-35-51->14 #1507 13/10/1984 The Style Council Shout To The Top 7 13-{7}-10-16-26-33-55-74->8 #1508 13/10/1984 Paul Young I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down 9 20-{9}-11-22-23-35-52->7 #1509 06/10/1984 Meat Loaf Modern Girl 17 46-34-26-{17}-17-19-21-37-57->9 #1510 13/10/1984 Alison Moyet All Cried Out 8 35-12-{8}-8-8-8-13-22-37-55-73->11

“Unforgivable Sinner” was a fairly big hit though and it was inescapable on Radio 1 at the time. A non hit by her would have been fine.

Belatedly my ranking: 1 Price Tag (feat. B.o.B) — Jessie J 2 What's My Name? (feat. Drake) — Rihanna 3 Promises — Nero 4 We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) — Rihanna 5 Someone Like You — Adele 6 Louder (feat. Sian Evans) — DJ Fresh 7 Give Me Everything (feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer) — Pitbull 8 Heart Skips a Beat (feat. Rizzle Kicks) — Olly Murs 9 Loca People (What the F**k!) — Sak Noel 10 Grenade — Bruno Mars 11 On the Floor (feat. Pitbull) — Jennifer Lopez 12 Don't Go (feat. Josh Kumra) — Wretch 32 13 Don't Hold Your Breath — Nicole Scherzinger 14 Changed the Way You Kiss Me — Example 15 Party Rock Anthem (feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock) — LMFAO 16 Glad You Came — The Wanted 17 Stay Awake — Example 18 We R Who We R — Kesha 19 Wherever You Are — Military Wives, Gareth Malone & London Symphony Orchestra 20 What Makes You Beautiful — One Direction 21 Dance With Me Tonight — Olly Murs 22 All About Tonight — Pixie Lott 23 No Regrets — Dappy 24 Read All About It (feat. Emeli Sandé) — Professor Green 25 The Lazy Song — Bruno Mars 26 She Makes Me Wanna (feat. Dev) — JLS 27 When We Collide — Matt Cardle 28 Swagger Jagger — Cher Lloyd 29 Cannonball — Little Mix 30 Don't Wanna Go Home — Jason Derulo 31 Wishing on a Star - X Factor Finalists

Olivia’s is one of the most streamed studio albums of the decade so it would have been nice for her to stay at #1.

Week 33: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 446,000 720,000 2 2 Michael Jackson The Essential 443,000 2,540,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 374,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 267,000 2,100,000 5 5 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 242,000 6 6 The Weeknd Highlights 224,000 1,810,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 212,000 720,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 191,000 500,000 9 9 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 185,000 490,000 10 10 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 183,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 176,000 2,590,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 169,000 560,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 161,000 880,000 14 14 ABBA Gold 156,000 6,300,000 15 16 Elton John Diamonds 154,000 2,080,000 16 15 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 154,000 1,050,000 17 17 Michael Jackson Thriller 153,000 4,900,000 18 18 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 150,000 3,700,000 19 19 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 142,000 5,760,000 20 20 BTS Arirang 140,000 21 21 Drake Iceman 136,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Bad 135,000 4,590,000 23 23 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 132,000 770,000 24 24 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 130,000 25 26 Arctic Monkeys AM 127,000 2,450,000 26 25 Tate McRae So Close To What 127,000 390,000 27 27 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 123,000 3,660,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 121,000 1,370,000 29 30 Pitbull Greatest Hits 119,000 740,000 30 29 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 119,000 820,000 31 31 Sombr I Barely Know Her 115,000 210,000 32 32 Maroon 5 Singles 112,000 1,100,000 33 33 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 111,000 880,000 34 34 Calvin Harris 96 Months 104,000 340,000 35 35 Queen Greatest Hits 103,000 3,310,000 36 36 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 101,000 2,130,000 37 37 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 100,000 2,410,000 38 38 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 97,000 2,530,000 39 39 Oasis Definitely Maybe 96,000 3,110,000 40 40 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 94,000 590,000 41 41 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 94,000 690,000 42 42 Rihanna Good Girl Gone Bad 92,000 2,620,000 43 48 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 91,000 44 43 The Beatles 1967-1970 91,000 1,420,000 45 44 OneRepublic The Collection 90,000 140,000 46 45 Green Day Greatest Hits: God's Favorite Band 89,000 830,000 47 46 David Bowie Legacy 88,000 1,240,000 48 49 Lady Gaga The Fame 87,000 3,680,000 49 47 EsDeeKid Rebel 87,000 160,000 50 51 Ed Sheeran ÷ 86,000 4,570,000 51 50 Sam Fender People Watching 86,000 370,000 52 52 Teddy Swims I've Tried Everything But Therapy 85,000 180,000 53 53 Charli XCX Brat 84,000 610,000 60 62 Avicii Avicii Forever 80,000 150,000 61 60 SZA SOS 80,000 800,000 62 61 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 80,000 640,000 63 64 Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You 78,000 710,000 64 63 Harry Styles Harry's House 78,000 1,010,000 67 66 Bad Bunny Debí Tirar Más Fotos 77,000 140,000 69 69 Zach Bryan With Heaven On Top 74,000 70 71 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 74,000 370,000 71 72 The Cure Greatest Hits 74,000 1,290,000 72 70 Bruno Mars The Romantic 74,000 74 73 CoCoMelon Nursery Rhymes By CoComelon 73,000 430,000 75 77 Eminem Curtain Call 2 72,000 580,000 76 76 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 72,000 1,060,000 77 75 Don Toliver Octane 72,000 78 79 The Killers Rebel Diamonds 71,000 310,000 79 78 Olivia Dean Messy 71,000 190,000 81 81 Madonna Confessions II 70,000 84 84 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 69,000 410,000 86 86 Fred Again… USB 001 EP 67,000 240,000 87 - Sienna Spiro Visitor 67,000 88 89 Little Mix Between Us 67,000 730,000 89 90 Taylor Swift Folklore 67,000 1,050,000 90 87 Lily Allen West End Girl 67,000 150,000 92 88 Mumford & Sons Prizefighter 66,000 93 93 Luke Combs The Way I Am 66,000 94 92 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 65,000 390,000 96 98 Ella Langley Dandelion 64,000 98 95 Gorillaz The Mountain 62,000 - 96 Elvis Presley E1vis 62,000 2,540,000

20/8: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 3 Dai dai (2) 4 6 Choosin’ Texas (4) 5 9 Movin’ to the sun (5) 6 7 Ordinary (1) 7 8 Stupid song (2) 8 4 Hate that I made you love me (1) 9 10 Talk to you (5) 10 11 Free your mind (8) 11 15 Great expectation (11) 12 13 Billie Jean (1) 13 - Love sensation (13) 14 26 Boston (14) 15 17 On 2nite (15) 16 14 Where is my husband! (3) 17 16 The cure (3) 18 5 Petal (5) 19 25 Material lover (19) 20 20 Midnight sun (8) 21 21 So easy (5) 22 19 Mr Brightside (10) 23 23 Lush life (3) 24 24 IloveitIloveitIloveit (2) 25 27 Golden (1) 26 28 American girls (1) 27 18 I knew it, I knew you (1) 28 12 Homewrecker (10) 29 - Loser (29) 30 31 Drop dead (1) 31 33 Raindance (2) 32 34 The fate of Ophelia (1) 33 35 Earrings (26) 34 29 Animal (30) 35 36 Nice to each other (5) 36 40 Dreams (22) 37 - Espresso (1) 38 42 Fever dream (4) 39 37 Dracula (4) 40 - 12 to 12 (8) 41 38 Die on this hill (12) 42 30 Wonderwall (2) 43 46 Iris (3) 44 43 Bloodstream (43) 45 46 Beautiful things (1) 46 48 Beauty and a beat (5) 47 44 Beat it (3) 48 50 I just might (7) 49 - Everywhere (4) 50 - Janice STFU (3)

My notes: Year Artist Song Language Final Points Semi Points 1993 Put "Don't Ever Cry" Croatian, English 15 31 3 51 A very sweet melody to this and I remember hearing it at the time, but not a whole lot else to it 1994 Tony Cetinski "Nek' ti bude ljubav sva" Croatian 16 27 No semi-finals There's not much distinctive about this ballad, but the backing harmonies are nice 1995 Magazin and Lidija "Nostalgija" Croatian 6 91 No semi-finals The last note and operatic singing are very impressive, but the effect is rather old fashioned 1996 Maja Blagdan "Sveta ljubav" Croatian 4 98 19 30 Top 10 1997 E.N.I. "Probudi me" Croatian 17 24 No semi-finals This has something of the B*Witched about it though it pre-dates them; it's not bad 1998 Danijela "Neka mi ne svane" Croatian 5 131 No semi-finals Top 10 1999 Doris "Marija Magdalena" Croatian 4 118 No semi-finals Top 10 2000 Goran Karan "Kad zaspu anđeli" Croatian 9 70 No semi-finals Another of those not very distinctive and plodding romantic ballads 2001 Vanna "Strings of My Heart" English 10 42 No semi-finals I really like the violin in this which plays the part of the heart strings, but overall it's unremarkable 2002 Vesna Pisarović "Everything I Want" English 11 44 No semi-finals A nice performance but I find that this has a rather straight laced and unimaginative chorus 2003 Claudia Beni "Više nisam tvoja" Croatian, English 15 29 No semi-finals This has the Britney and *Nsync early 2000s pop style to it, and sounds a little formulaic 2004 Ivan Mikulić "You Are the Only One" English 12 50 9 72 Nothing really special but it has a nice intensity and the performance is strong 2005 Boris Novković feat. Lado members "Vukovi umiru sami" Croatian 11 115 4 169 Top 10 2006 Severina "Moja štikla" Croatian 12 56 Top 11 in 2005 final Top 10 2007 Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić "Vjerujem u ljubav" Croatian, English Failed to qualify 16 54 Their first DNQ and it is rather a head scratcher with two singers and styles that don't really gel 2008 Kraljevi ulice and 75 Cents "Romanca" Croatian 21 44 4 112 At the time 75 cents was the oldest ever performer, but it's rather an odd song and delivery 2009 Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea "Lijepa Tena" Croatian 18 45 13 33 Too many competing vocals at the same time, and nothing really distinctive happening 2010 Feminnem "Lako je sve" Croatian Failed to qualify 13 33 This builds well and the performance is well put together, but it's not interesting musically 2011 Daria "Celebrate" English Failed to qualify 15 41 A rather cheesy piece of Eurodance, but it's sweet enough 2012 Nina Badrić "Nebo" Croatian Failed to qualify 12 42 Top 10 2013 Klapa s Mora "Mižerja" Croatian Failed to qualify 13 38 Another performance that verges on the classical: it's impressive and touching but old fashioned 2016 Nina Kraljić "Lighthouse" English 23 73 10 133 Quite Ellie Goulding in sound this; it's pretty but with nothing to make it stand out 2017 Jacques Houdek "My Friend" English, Italian 13 128 8 141 This has a rather Disney feel to it and the lead vocal has an odd split personality: it isn't for me 2018 Franka "Crazy" English Failed to qualify 17 63 A vintage jazz feel to this and it is nicely performed, but I don't think the song quite hits 2019 Roko "The Dream" English, Croatian Failed to qualify 14 64 This isn't bad but the ideas have all been used before and it has the feeling of trying too hard 2020 Damir Kedžo "Divlji vjetre" Croatian Contest cancelled A shame this performer didn't get a second chance but the song is quite ordinary 2021 Albina "Tick-Tock" English, Croatian Failed to qualify 11 110 This was top 10 with both the juries and televote alone, but for me is the soulless kind of catchy 2022 Mia Dimšić "Guilty Pleasure" English, Croatian Failed to qualify 11 75 A second straight semi 11th was very unlucky, but this is quite basic lyrically and not exciting 2023 Let 3 "Mama ŠČ!" Croatian 13 123 8 76 Top 10 2024 Baby Lasagna "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" English 2 547 1 177 Top 10 2025 Marko Bošnjak "Poison Cake" English Failed to qualify 12 28 Top 10 2026 Lelek "Andromeda" Croatian 15 124 6 175 Top 10

“Call Me Maybe” - I don’t think I’d place it any higher but it’s a perfect example of bubblegum pop that couldn’t be any better made. “Somebody That I Used to Know” is a fabulous track with sublime storytelling and I think would likely be my #1. “Paradise” is great even though their overall output wansn’t as special as their earlier stuff by this point. That intro really has an epic feel to it as it builds. “Feel The Love” is a marvellous summer anthem - I went to Radio 1’s big weekend in Hackney (not something I’d done before or since but it happened to be on my doorstep at the time) and it was great hearing it there. “We Are Young” was another really special one off #1, although I did also like “Some Nights” a lot.

It was brilliant - it really built to a roar as the race went on. I used to follow athletics more but haven’t for a while so I had no idea what I was in for when I arrived.

I was in the stadium for this!

I’ve been thinking about that more generally - in anonymous contests you don’t get the chance to say anything at all about your song and why you’ve chosen it. I wonder if there could be the OPTION to send a few sentences in with the confirmations. I don’t think it should fall on the host to do commentaries. I’m not sure how it would be presented in the voting thread though and whether the writing style would give away the sender in some cases.

I probably can’t make the listenthrough so doing my own here. Let me know if I’ve got any versions wrong.

No Top 40 hits and a rule of thumb that anything with over 100 million Spotify streams will be reviewed is what we’ve settled into for Bop Idol, and I think that gets the balance about right. “Forget About The World” was not only a Top 40 hit but on the 7th biggest selling album of 2001 that everyone bought at Christmas! 😝 And I hadn’t heard of “Marlene On The Wall”, though I’ve had a listen and it’s excellent. So I’d probably have made different decisions in those 2 cases, but I know it’s tough. Excited!

Country 11: Croatia Croatia joined the contest in 1993, right after the break-up of Yugoslavia. They have competed almost every time since, aside from a hiatus in 2014 and 2015 after 4 successive DNQs. That means they have 32 entries in total including 2020. Their early years in the contest were very successful, including 6 top 10 finishes in 7 years. However their results haven’t been so good since the introduction of the semifinals. Despite their early success they had to wait until 2024 for their first top 3 finish, when they were the runners up. Overall I don’t think there’s a signature Croatian sound in their entries, but they’ve certainly had some great moments. For me they’ve really hit a run of strong form in the last few years.

Those 6 streaks above 20 are just crazy. I guess those countries are just very in tune with what works.

I was hoping for a morning magic mushroom.

I’ll give @Jaz13music a nudge for this one too. (No pressure - I know there are quite a few coming at once and you’re going away.)

Dear me there’s more to life than length! 😉

A couple of huge losses for me: 12 Aelandor - this was totally entrancing for me. 8 A-Konohagakure - this was my favourite of the all out rock songs! Quite a few others I really liked but didn’t quite point - sorry to Wholune, Ennea, Persephonia and Mothertopia.

Thank you for the votes all! Poor poor Aeropickles - I couldn’t find space for it but it was in my top 15 in a strong bunch: very sweet track. Scotland 2 was another I couldn’t quite fit in.

We both missed the most important one that only we have won.

I didn’t know “Madame Butterfly” before. I don’t always warm to songs that try to combine pop with classical music but this one really hits the sweet spot in a way that’s quite moving. 9 Malcolm McLaren Madam Butterfly (Un Bel Di Vedremo) A astonishing reimagination of Puccini's aria as an electronic track that shouldn't work but is very powerful 8 Ray Parker Jr Ghostbusters 1st hit for this US singer written for the film, and a track that manages to be both catchy and genuinely excellent 8 Alphaville Big In Japan Only hit for this German synth pop band whose best known song failed to chart: that's better but this is great 7 The Smiths William, It Was Really Nothing Another excellent and melancholy piece of storytelling from Morrissey about his friendship with Billy MacKenzie 7 Depeche Mode Master And Servant At the time the S&M subject matter caused controversy: it's a very good song and the robust production suits it 6 The Jacksons Torture A big improvement on their Mick Jagger collaboration, and a strong and slightly rocky song giving them a late hit 6 Bucks Fizz Talking In Your Sleep A cover of a Romantics song: this adds some good synthpop elements to what was already an enjoyable track 6 Break Machine Are You Ready Their 3rd and last hit: I do also like this one but they've certainly arrived in quality as well as success level order 5 Heaven 17 Sunset Now Not a stellar performance from a lead single and it's ordinary compared to their previous great run of hits 5 Spandau Ballet I'll Fly For You A 9th Top 10 although their hit machine will start to falter soon, and another that's quite nice but unremarkable 5 Stevie Wonder I Just Called To Say I Love You 538th #1: I do have a soft spot for the tenderness of this, but most of his discography is more sophisticated 4 Aztec Camera All I Need Is Everything/Jump Sadly the "Jump" cover is very limp, but "All I Need Is Everything" is enjoyable with good instrumental parts 4 Michael Jackson Girl You're So Together His group has the edge over his solo effort this time: it's well produced but the chorus is rather saccharine 4 Level 42 Hot Water This isn't bad by any means but it just sounds like a typical '80s record and is the worst of a very good bunch 1984 Group 16: #1483 15/09/1984 U2 Pride (In The Name Of Love) 3 8-4-{3}-4-8-13-19-25-34-55-61->11 #1484 15/09/1984 Shakin' Stevens A Letter To You 10 23-11-{10}-12-19-28-37-57->8 #1485 08/09/1984 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark Tesla Girls 21 48-33-{21}-25-26-36-42-54->8 #1486 15/09/1984 Nik Kershaw Human Racing 19 38-20-{19}-20-30-44-59->7 #1487 18/08/1984 Animal Nightlife Mr Solitaire 25 72-49-46-41-40-36-32-{25}-27-32-36-60->12 #1488 22/09/1984 David Bowie Blue Jean 6 17-{6}-7-17-27-39-54-75->8 #1489 22/09/1984 Queen Hammer To Fall 13 19-{13}-19-28-37-53-72->7 #1490 22/09/1984 Bronski Beat Why? 6 22-7-{6}-7-11-16-27-31-58-66->10 #1491 22/09/1984 Prince And The Revolution Purple Rain 8 25-16-{8}-10-14-21-33-43-69->9 #1492 22/09/1984 Freddie Mercury Love Kills 10 27-12-{10}-14-18-28-41-58->8 #1493 22/09/1984 Adam Ant Apollo 9 13 28-15-{13}-15-21-33-44-65->8 #1494 22/09/1984 UB40 If It Happens Again 9 33-17-{9}-12-16-27-37-48->8 #1495 15/09/1984 Sade Smooth Operator 19 45-34-29-22-22-{19}-20-30-40-62->10 #1496 15/09/1984 Stephanie Mills The Medicine Song 29 59-39-33-{29}-29-29-35-46-71->9

Well maybe Kylie lifts it but that sounded fairly poor oops. Really like this Sienna song though - good to see something decent benefitting from the ACR outflux.

Nice to have fresh climbers in the Top 10 I guess but they’re both pretty dismal. I haven’t heard the Madonna & Kylie song but I can’t say I have high hopes for that either. 😅