Ghoulian

Tonight isn’t Craig’s night as he’s eliminated. “Rendezvous” was the 5th Top 10 hit from his hugely successful debut album “Born To Do It”. It reached #8 in March 2001, the same position that the lead single from the follow up album would reach. 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%)

Well Gwen is the best of this rather lacklustre final 3 and I’m not fussed which of the others makes the final. Went for The Fratellis as it’s slightly grating.

She’s still got her rock moves and doesn’t need us, but Pink has come 4th. Still it’s an improvement on its Year End #14 5th place. The 2008 track remains one of her biggest pure sellers and one of her Spotify Top 5, and is here on the strength of its 2009 downloads. 4th: Pink - So What 14/31 votes (45%) 5th: Ultrabeat - Feelin’ Fine 12/32 votes (38%) 6th: Bhangra Knights vs Husan - Husan 9/30 votes (30%) 7th: Kaci - Paradise 18/34 votes (53%) 8th: Kaci - I Think I Love You 13/32 votes (41%) 9th: Whitney Houston & Enrique Iglesias - Could I Have This Kiss Forever 10/31 votes (31%) 10th: Busta Rhymes featuring will.i.am & Kelis - I Love My Chick 8/34 votes (24%)

Eek a tie!

1 Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry (9) 2 ABBA - Super Trouper (9) 3 Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short (9) 4 Kate Bush - December Will Be Magic Again (9) 5 Adam And The Ants - Antmusic (8) Also receiving 8: Blondie - The Tide Is High John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over Stray Cats - Runaway Boys The Clash - The Call Up The Boomtown Rats - Banana Republic Gary Numan - This Wreckage

Mark Owen - Four Minute Warning #4 White Stripes - Seven Nation Army #7 Ten Sharp - You #10 (artist rather than title) Those were off the top of my head.

Very impressive numbers from Olivia. Remember that it will take huge numbers to get past “Golden” officially though and she isn’t there yet.

Week 34: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 411,000 780,000 2 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 279,000 380,000 3 3 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 255,000 2,290,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 237,000 1,700,000 5 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 216,000 1,450,000 6 6 Sam Fender People Watching 209,000 7 7 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 191,000 490,000 8 8 Elton John Diamonds 190,000 1,840,000 9 9 SZA SOS 186,000 670,000 10 10 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 186,000 5,490,000 11 12 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 181,000 530,000 12 11 Charli XCX Brat 180,000 470,000 13 13 Tate McRae So Close To What 169,000 14 14 Noah Kahan Stick Season 169,000 640,000 15 15 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 166,000 190,000 16 16 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 161,000 6,060,000 17 17 Michael Jackson The Essential 160,000 2,000,000 18 18 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 155,000 940,000 19 20 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 150,000 3,460,000 20 19 Arctic Monkeys AM 150,000 2,250,000 21 22 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 147,000 3,460,000 22 21 Lady Gaga Mayhem 145,000 23 26 Oasis Definitely Maybe 142,000 2,940,000 24 25 Linkin Park Papercuts 140,000 310,000 25 23 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 139,000 26 24 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 139,000 280,000 27 27 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 138,000 630,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 135,000 1,180,000 29 29 Calvin Harris 96 Months 115,000 190,000 30 30 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 113,000 240,000 31 31 Queen Greatest Hits 113,000 3,150,000 32 32 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 111,000 290,000 33 33 Pitbull Greatest Hits 111,000 580,000 34 34 Kendrick Lamar GNX 108,000 170,000 35 35 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 107,000 440,000 36 38 Ed Sheeran ÷ 106,000 4,430,000 37 36 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 106,000 38 39 Fontaines D.C. Romance 105,000 220,000 39 37 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow 105,000 40 40 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 104,000 1,650,000 89 91 Morgan Wallen I'm The Problem 62,000 100 - Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under 59,000 440,000 - 100 Paul Simon The Ultimate Collection 59,000 560,000

“I’m Too Sexy” is a guilty pleasure.“Deeply Dippy” isn’t, though it’s harmless enough. The Shamen were a force of nature and EG is a unique #1. I doubt I’ll prefer many of the top 7.

I think everything apart from “TV Off” will clear 295k, so “Rein Me In” will have to go some.

Week 34: 1 1 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,499,000 2 2 Lola Young Messy 1,174,000 1,350,000 3 3 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 1,107,000 1,460,000 4 4 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 1,044,000 1,490,000 5 5 Gracie Abrams That's So True 959,000 1,400,000 6 6 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 885,000 1,520,000 7 7 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 834,000 2,620,000 8 8 Chrystal The Days 810,000 970,000 9 9 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 786,000 2,000,000 10 10 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 785,000 790,000 11 11 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 758,000 1,960,000 12 12 Teddy Swims Lose Control 700,000 2,530,000 13 13 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 681,000 2,430,000 14 14 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 675,000 1,270,000 15 15 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 665,000 1,460,000 16 16 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 653,000 890,000 17 17 Teddy Swims The Door 629,000 1,300,000 18 18 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 624,000 730,000 19 19 Tate McRae Sports Car 621,000 20 20 Myles Smith Stargazing 607,000 1,620,000 21 21 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 588,000 1,920,000 22 22 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 577,000 23 23 Hozier Too Sweet 562,000 2,020,000 24 24 Alex Warren Carry You Home 553,000 850,000 25 26 Sombr Undressed 540,000 26 25 Noah Kahan Stick Season 536,000 3,060,000 27 28 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 512,000 980,000 28 27 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 511,000 1,130,000 29 29 Ed Sheeran Azizam 508,000 30 32 Sombr Back To Friends 505,000 31 30 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 496,000 1,640,000 32 33 The Killers Mr Brightside 490,000 6,550,000 33 31 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 488,000 34 35 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 475,000 3,690,000 35 36 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 473,000 4,280,000 36 34 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 468,000 37 37 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 464,000 850,000 38 38 Doechii Anxiety 460,000 39 39 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 449,000 1,110,000 40 40 Post Malone featuring Morgan Wallen I Had Some Help 438,000 1,350,000 48 51 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 417,000 49 52 Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 413,000 54 57 MK featuring Chrystal Dior 390,000 66 71 Skye Newman Family Matters 346,000 75 79 Benson Boone Mystical Magical 331,000 92 - Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 297,000 - 100 Snow Patrol Chasing Cars 284,000 3,960,000

28/8: 1 1 Golden (1) 2 2 Ordinary (1) 3 4 No broke boys (3) 4 8 Soda pop (4) 5 3 The subway (1) 6 5 Dior (2) 7 8 Your idol (7) 8 6 Daisies (2) 9 9 Love me not (2) 10 10 Pink pony club (2) 11 - Man I need (11) 12 23 Nice to each other (12) 13 13 Back to friends (7) 14 11 Manchild (1) 15 14 How it’s done (14) 16 15 Undressed (4) 17 22 Rein me in (7) 18 16 Sapphire (8) 19 12 Blessings (5) 20 19 What it sounds like (19) 21 17 Beautiful things (1) 22 18 Victory lap (5) 23 27 12 to 12 (23) 24 28 Takedown (24) 25 20 Yukon (19) 26 21 Messy (1) 27 26 Which one (6) 28 24 APT. (2) 29 31 Show me love (4) 30 29 Good luck, babe! (2) 31 25 Eternity (5) 32 40 Free (32) 33 35 Lose control (2) 34 32 Mystical magical (18) 35 33 Dreams (22) 36 39 High on me (36) 37 37 That’s so true (1) 38 41 Iris (3) 39 36 Azizam (3) 40 42 Die with a smile (3) 41 38 Bad dreams (13) 42 45 Stargazing (6) 43 43 Survive (1) 44 44 Birds of a feather (2) 45 34 Family matters (5) 46 47 Shake it to the max (16) 47 49 The days (5) 48 46 Just keep watching (6) 49 50 A bar song (2) 50 - Everywhere (4)

This is the first time in any of my 3 (so far) threads that the winner of any group has been a song not on Spotify. I thought it might never happen as only a few % of Top 40 hits are not on Spotify and most that aren’t are justly forgotten. However Ms Bush’s Christmas track is just too magical not to receive the crown here: maybe it will appear on Spotify one day. Note that we’re passing over both the 473rd #1, “Imagine”, and “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” here but they will be due in my other thread in due time. 9 Kate Bush December Will Be Magic Again The piano and voice combination twinkle and it features all her usual quirkiness, making it 4 out of 4 brilliant hits this year 8 The Clash The Call Up This only scraped in at #40 but it's an excellent anti-war track with an almost deadpan, nonotonous and slightly sinister feel 8 Gary Numan This Wreckage His 5th hit and the 1st to miss the Top 10, but it's another great synth laden track with a slightly apocalyptic performance 7 Chas And Dave Rabbit Biggest hit yet for the Cockney duo based on the rhyming slang "rabbit and pork" meaning "talk": a highly entertaining track 7 The Specials Featuring Rico With The Ice Rink String Sounds Do Nothing/Maggie's Farm The Dylan cover is different from the original and works well, and "Do Nothing" is the usual ska style but also very enjoyable 6 The Beat Too Nice To Talk To Their 4th Top 10 in 5 releases over 12 months: a good song in their usual style, but nothing very different from their others 6 Bad Manners Lorraine Their 4th hit of the year with an interesting lyrical story about an abusive relationship, but musically I prefer "Special Brew" 5 The Police De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da Mocking the public's love for simple songs with its nonsense chorus, this is musically quite enjoyable but standard Police 4 The Nolans Who's Gonna Rock You I have to admit that I've caught myself humming this a few times and it's a good performance from Bernie, but a little naff 4 Matchbox Over The Rainbow/You Belong To Me Their last Top 40: credit for doing a relatively seamless mashup of two classics, making it a moderately interesting listen 3 Racey Runaround Sue Their last hit with an inessential cover of Dion's 1961 song, which is a little more polished but very similar to the original 3 The Barron Knights Never Mind The Presents Their last Top 40 but amazing that they're still having hits after so long: this isn't so enjoyable apart from the Floyd part though 2 Showaddywaddy Blue Moon Another cover of an old standard for them: it just feels like a sing through to me without much of the song's charm and power 2 Mike Berry If I Could Only Make You Care His last Top 40: "The Sunshine Of Your Smile" earlier this year was enjoyable, but this is a very dreary old fashioned ballad 1 Mac Davis It's Hard To Be Humble 2nd and last hit for this US singer who wrote "In The Ghetto" and other Elvis tracks: unfortunately this one is dire and not funny

Feeling decidedly middling are Ultrabeat. This was the Liverpool electronic group’s second biggest hit after “Pretty Green Eyes”. It reached #12 st Christmas in 2003, and notched up a 9 week Top 40 run. 5th: Ultrabeat - Feelin’ Fine 12/32 votes (38%) 6th: Bhangra Knights vs Husan - Husan 9/30 votes (30%) 7th: Kaci - Paradise 18/34 votes (53%) 8th: Kaci - I Think I Love You 13/32 votes (41%) 9th: Whitney Houston & Enrique Iglesias - Could I Have This Kiss Forever 10/31 votes (31%) 10th: Busta Rhymes featuring will.i.am & Kelis - I Love My Chick 8/34 votes (24%)

Switching to The Saturdays - I only like about five of their songs and this isn’t one. How was this the lead and not “Ego”?

The party’s over for Sharam. This was the only solo hit for the Iranian DJ who was also part of Deep Dish, and was a remake of Eddie Murphy’s 1985 song “Party All The Tike”. It climbed to #8 in January 2007. 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%)

Definitely Madonna - one of Avril’s weakest singles

Not a good Prince track - Charlotte definitely

The Big Brovaz song is very saccharine; the other is decent.

Basshunter though I’m not hugely keen on either

“Stop The Cavalry” is one Christmas record I can happily hear any time of year: I guess it helps that it isn’t all that Christmassy in the first place. 9 Jona Lewie Stop The Cavalry His 2nd and last Top 40, stuck at #3 behind Lennon and Winifred's, this is a glorious march style anti war turned festive song 8 Adam And The Ants Antmusic Antmusic would become the general name for their sound: this is similar in style to "Dog Eat Dog" but even more compelling 8 Stray Cats Runaway Boys 1st hit for this US band: a great track with quite a stark sound to it thanks to the throbbing baseline, and a frenetic guitar solo 7 Madness Embarrassment Another really enjoyable single from them: I like how this has a harsher edge to it than their better known ones from this time 7 Robert Palmer Looking For Clues 1st Top 40 after a few misses for this UK singer, with a great fun and quirky track that blends some different styles and sounds 7 Eddy Grant Do You Feel My Love His 1st Top 10 hit with a great and catchy piece of pop with a simmering lilting reggae beat and bags of emotional energy 6 Daryl Hall And John Oates Kiss On My List 1st Top 40 for the US duo and a US #1: it's the usual bouncy feel good pop from them and enjoyable but not outstanding 6 Queen Flash The theme song to "Flash Gordon": I love the electropop come opera elements but am less keen on the spoken film parts 6 Electric Light Orchestra Don't Walk Away The last of the "Xanadu" hits: the track does have something of a Disney feel to it but it's well done with a strong lead vocal 5 Neil Diamond Love On The Rocks A US #2 that did less well here: this gentle number has nice orchestral backing but doesn't rise above pleasant for me overall 5 Status Quo Lies/Don't Drive My Car "Lies" is fairly banal and sounds like many of their others, but "Don't Drive My Car" is very good with a seething intensity to it 4 AC/DC Rock 'N' Roll Ain't Noise Pollution Oddly a much bigger hit than "You Shook Me…", this isn't a bad rocky number but somehow doesn't quite pop as you'd hope 3 Kenny Rogers Lady It was written by Lionel Richie and indeed sounds very like him: a fairly dull track but I prefer it to "Coward Of The County" 2 St Winifred's School Choir There's No-One Quite Like Grandma 472nd #1: having appeared on the #1 "Matchstalk Men…" this Stockport choir released another single but it's not very good 1 Dr Hook Girls Can Get It Could do with this not having scraped a #40 peak as it's even worse than their other hits and the lyrical message is comical 1980 Group 21: #310 29/11/1980 Showaddywaddy Blue Moon 32 50-35-{32}-32-34-34-32-46-70->9 #311 29/11/1980 Matchbox Over The Rainbow/You Belong To Me 15 72-38-31-24-19-19-18-{15}-21-31-59->11 #312 06/12/1980 Kate Bush December Will Be Magic Again 29 39-{29}-30-32-32-36-74->7 #313 06/12/1980 The Clash The Call Up 40 {40}-42-49-69-69-69->6 #314 13/12/1980 The Police De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da 5 9-{5}-6-6-7-9-24-54->8 #315 29/11/1980 Chas And Dave Rabbit 8 66-43-34-18-13-13-11-{8}-18-30-53->11 #316 06/12/1980 The Barron Knights Never Mind The Presents 17 69-36-27-{17}-17-22-37-61->8 #317 06/12/1980 Bad Manners Lorraine 21 59-37-38-36-36-33-29-22-{21}-25-36-65->12 #318 06/12/1980 The Nolans Who's Gonna Rock You 12 66-40-39-31-31-24-{12}-17-27-32-62->11 #319 13/12/1980 The Beat Too Nice To Talk To 7 50-31-23-23-20-{7}-7-13-23-46-72->11 #320 13/12/1980 The Specials Featuring Rico With The Ice Rink String Sounds Do Nothing/Maggie's Farm 4 70-34-24-24-15-{4}-5-11-18-30-57->11 #321 20/12/1980 Gary Numan This Wreckage 20 35-28-28-27-{20}-31-43->7 #322 15/11/1980 Mac Davis It's Hard To Be Humble 27 61-59-46-50-47-36-29-29-34-{27}-34-33-48-56-71-73->16 #323 29/11/1980 Mike Berry If I Could Only Make You Care 37 60-46-44-40-{37}-37-38-45-59->9 20/12/1980 John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir Happy Xmas (War Is Over) {1980} 2 45-4-4-{2}-3-9-23-49-69->9 27/12/1980 John Lennon Imagine {1980} 1 9-9-{1}-1-1-1-4-6-17-23-32-49-56->13 #324 20/12/1980 Racey Runaround Sue 13 61-40-40-29-18-{13}-15-27-42-74->10

“The Best Things In Life Are Free” was terminally overplayed by my local radio station - even well into the ‘00s it was still a big favourite. So I’d quite happily never hear it again.

I have “Sapphire” on 284k which I can’t see being enough. “Rein Me In” is only a few k behind depending on pre remix sales and has just leapfrogged it in the weeklies. “Nice To Each Other” has brought itself into the frame now too with 255k. Edit: oh “Rein Me In” is on 271k so a bit lower than I’d estimated.

Oh I Iove “Out Of Time” - felt it was underrated.