Ghoulian

Please can Ashe somehow be the next #1 and not this bland slush?

Oh my goodness - just when I thought I’d heard it all what in the heavens is this?

By the way I’ve no idea what’s going on with “Just The Way You Are”. It has genuinely dropped off a lot but it’s still well inside the dance chart, so the speed it’s falling here doesn’t seem to add up.

If it enters the Top 100 it will be faatured in the update. If it doesn’t I have no info. (Being on SCR for a long time can make something look like it’s doing better than it is. In reality it’s only doing similar numbers to something like “Don’t Stop Believin’” which is near to the bottom of the YTD.)

1 Kate Bush - Cloudbusting: another stunning piece of storytelling 2 MARINA - I Am Not a Robot: a strong and relatable song 3 Jessie Ware - Hot N Heavy: I like the effortless and retro feel to this 4 Agnes - 24 Hours: a nice classic feeling track 5 Zara Larsson - Can't Tame Her: a pretty good electropop track with a slightly retro feel 6 Adele - Chasing Pavements: a competent debut hit but slightly clunky; I do appreciate we’ve had a song from all 4 albums but they aren’t the ones I’d have chosen 7 Robyn - Keep This Fire Burning: an R&B style song that lacks a little sparkle 8 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Bittersweet: I noticed this has similarities with “Untouchable”, and it doesn’t really hit for me 9 Leona Lewis feat. Avicii - Collide: I don’t think this brings very much to the Avicii sample

Week 40: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,857,000 2,960,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,804,000 2,490,000 3 3 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,170,000 3,350,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 1,125,000 1,730,000 5 5 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 1,084,000 1,320,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 1,029,000 1,410,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 1,006,000 8 8 Zara Larsson Lush Life 965,000 4,000,000 9 9 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 963,000 2,290,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 940,000 1,690,000 11 12 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 833,000 1,610,000 12 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 832,000 960,000 13 14 Sombr Homewrecker 806,000 14 13 Djo End Of Beginning 799,000 1,980,000 15 15 Tame Impala Dracula 797,000 930,000 16 16 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 761,000 860,000 17 17 Sombr 12 To 12 757,000 1,280,000 18 19 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 754,000 790,000 19 18 Bruno Mars I Just Might 749,000 20 20 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 734,000 900,000 21 21 Alex Warren Fever Dream 693,000 22 22 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 693,000 4,210,000 23 23 Harry Styles American Girls 688,000 24 24 The Killers Mr Brightside 684,000 7,480,000 25 25 Dominic Fike Babydoll 628,000 1,370,000 26 26 Taylor Swift Opalite 619,000 1,030,000 27 27 Sombr Back To Friends 617,000 1,530,000 28 28 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 597,000 1,320,000 29 29 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 588,000 5,150,000 30 30 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 587,000 4,520,000 31 31 Harry Styles Aperture 578,000 32 32 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 568,000 3,500,000 33 33 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 568,000 34 34 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 560,000 1,700,000 35 36 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 546,000 1,350,000 36 35 Milky Just The Way You Are 545,000 650,000 37 37 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 539,000 2,350,000 38 38 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 533,000 1,770,000 39 39 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 529,000 1,270,000 40 40 Dominic Fike White Keys 521,000 530,000 42 43 Fleetwood Mac Everywhere 502,000 4,670,000 46 47 ANOTR featuring 54 Ultra Talk To You 479,000 49 52 Olivia Rodrigo The Cure 469,000 53 54 Ariana Grande Hate That I Made You Love Me 456,000 57 65 Olivia Rodrigo Stupid Song 438,000 61 62 Malcolm Todd Earrings 435,000 460,000 65 67 Stella Lefty Boston 424,000 68 70 Harry Styles Sign Of The Times 410,000 2,600,000 74 76 Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under 396,000 3,050,000 85 86 Taylor Swift I Knew It, I Knew You 377,000 96 100 Sienna Spiro Material Lover 362,000

Week 40: 1 1 Michael Jackson The Essential 518,000 2,620,000 2 2 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 503,000 780,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 397,000 4 5 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 319,000 5 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 318,000 2,150,000 6 6 The Weeknd Highlights 276,000 1,860,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 252,000 760,000 8 8 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 227,000 9 9 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 219,000 520,000 10 10 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 219,000 2,630,000 11 11 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 209,000 510,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 205,000 600,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 192,000 910,000 14 14 ABBA Gold 186,000 6,330,000 15 15 Elton John Diamonds 185,000 2,110,000 16 16 Michael Jackson Thriller 179,000 4,930,000 17 17 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 178,000 3,730,000 18 19 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 177,000 5,790,000 19 18 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 175,000 1,070,000 20 24 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 174,000 810,000 21 20 Michael Jackson Bad 157,000 4,610,000 22 21 Drake Iceman 156,000 23 22 BTS Arirang 153,000 24 23 Arctic Monkeys AM 152,000 2,480,000 25 25 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 147,000 3,680,000 26 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 145,000 1,390,000 27 27 Tate McRae So Close To What 143,000 400,000 28 29 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 142,000 840,000 29 28 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 141,000 30 30 Pitbull Greatest Hits 141,000 760,000 31 31 Maroon 5 Singles 135,000 1,130,000 32 34 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 133,000 33 32 Sombr I Barely Know Her 133,000 230,000 34 33 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 132,000 900,000 35 39 Sienna Spiro Visitor 124,000 36 35 Calvin Harris 96 Months 124,000 360,000 37 36 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 121,000 2,150,000 38 37 Queen Greatest Hits 121,000 3,330,000 39 40 Oasis Definitely Maybe 120,000 3,130,000 40 38 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 119,000 2,430,000 52 54 Ariana Grande Petal 100,000 76 77 The Killers Rebel Diamonds 85,000 330,000 81 85 Dua Lipa Live From Mexico 83,000 86 87 Ella Langley Dandelion 80,000 87 88 Sade The Best Of Sade 80,000 400,000 93 94 Linkin Park Meteora - 20th Anniversary Edition 78,000 320,000 98 - Fontaines DC Romance 74,000 340,000 - 100 Dire Straits Sultans Of Swing - The Very Best Of 74,000 1,020,000

8/10: 1 - Patient zero (1) 2 1 Rein me in (1) 3 2 Man I need (1) 4 7 Stupid song (2) 5 3 Great expectation (3) 6 - Cleveland! (6) 7 - Babylon (7) 8 4 Movin’ to the sun (4) 9 5 Choosin’ Texas (4) 10 - Clouding (10) 11 12 Babydoll (11) 12 6 Boston (6) 13 8 Ordinary (1) 14 11 The cure (3) 15 9 Nicole Kidman (9) 16 14 Stop the wedding! (15) 17 10 Training season (5) 18 33 The fate of Ophelia (1) 19 20 Mr Brightside (10) 20 17 My body isn’t ready (17) 21 14 Free your mind (8) 22 18 Die on this hill (22) 23 16 Hate that I made you love me (1) 24 19 Ain’t in LA (19) 25 13 Dai dai (2) 26 23 So easy (5) 27 22 Homewrecker (10) 28 21 Where is my husband! (3) 29 24 Material lover (19) 30 26 Raindance (2) 31 25 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 32 27 Bloodstream (27) 33 28 Midnight sun (8) 34 31 Iris (3) 35 30 On 2nite (15) 36 36 Loser (19) 37 37 Drop dead (1) 38 39 Wonderwall (2) 39 41 Dreams (22) 40 32 Billie Jean (1) 41 32 Golden (1) 42 35 Nice to each other (1) 43 29 Earrings (26) 44 38 12 to 12 (8) 45 42 Lush life (3) 46 - Danceteria (46) 47 48 Willing and able (47) 48 40 Orbiter (40) 49 - Stick season (1) 50 44 Beautiful things (1)

Old Helvetica is so tight with its data. 😭

There’s actually a fair gap beteeen the top 2 here, but we have a very 9 that’s close to a 10 and a low 9 that’s close to an 8. “Close (To The Edit” is a wonderful, unique and forward looking masterpiece. I actually have such a big soft spot for “Run To You” because in 2016 I made a video running up and down the front of my building in a rhino costume to it while raising money for Save The Rhino! I do think it’s one of his very best songs. 9 The Art Of Noise Close (To The Edit) 1st hit for this UK group: an incredibly avant garde Trevor Horn produced track sampling car sounds and other things 9 Bryan Adams Run To You One of Bryan's very best songs: I love the guitar sections on this and it creates a real sense of running to someone 8 Kirsty MacColl A New England Her only solo Top 10: quite straightforward but beautiful and doesn't quite sound like anything else in the charts 7 Pat Benatar We Belong 1st Top 40 for this US singer: it's a very feel good and rousing pop rock song that's well remembered and streamed 7 Big Country Just A Shadow Their usual big hearty sound and good lyrical storytelling, with a strong riff in the accompaniment and a good build 6 Phil Collins Sussudio The title is a word Phil made up when practising the drums: I don't love it but it's a strong and well remembered track 6 Bucks Fizz I Hear Talk I am impressed with how many different kinds of sound Bucks Fizz explored with their hits: this has a rousing energy 5 Billy Ocean Loverboy This has a dramatic '80s power ballad feel and it's a great vocal performance, though the song is less remarkable 5 The Colourfield Thinking Of You The only Top 40 for this UK band, and it's a nice quirky number with a jazzy feel and slightly rudimentary vocals 4 Big Sound Authority This House (Is Where Your Love Stands) Another quirky and different sounding track and the only Top 40 for this UK group, though it's all a bit singalong 4 Commodores Nightshift Their last new Top 40 and one of their very biggest hits that I have heard around: nice tune but not an exciting track 3 Cashmere Can I Only Top 40 for this US soul group: it doesn't leave a big impression on me and is quite a typical song of its style 2 George Benson 20/20 Similar to his usual style and a not exciting track about the benefits of hindsight, like Cashmere but with less flow 1985 Group 3: #1597 09/02/1985 Howard Jones Things Can Only Get Better 6 18-7-{6}-7-10-19-30-45->8 #1598 09/02/1985 David Bowie And The Pat Metheny Group This Is Not America 14 22-{14}-17-23-29-50-74->7 #1599 02/02/1985 Killing Joke Love Like Blood 16 46-32-24-19-{16}-19-28-46-65->9 #1600 26/01/1985 Chicago You're The Inspiration 14 61-41-34-20-{14}-14-23-31-44-72->10 #1601 09/02/1985 The Smiths How Soon Is Now? 24 35-26-{24}-28-46-72->6 #1602 02/02/1985 Eugene Wilde/Simplicious Personality/Let Her Feel It 34 43-38-{34}-34-43-61->6 #1603 01/12/1984 Dead Or Alive You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) 1 55-49-51-58-65-55-48-45-41-42-40-19-5-2-{1}-1-6-12-20-30-36-49-64->23 #1604 09/02/1985 Sharpe And Numan Change Your Mind 17 43-28-20-{17}-24-32-56-74->8 #1605 09/02/1985 Kool And The Gang Misled 28 50-36-{28}-32-42->5 #1606 09/02/1985 Don Henley The Boys Of Summer 12 63-39-22-13-{12}-20-23-37-53-63->10 #1607 23/02/1985 Prince And The Revolution Let's Go Crazy/Take Me With U 7 27-9-{7}-10-16-30-42-54-68->9 #1608 23/02/1985 Eddy And The Soul Band Theme From 'Shaft' 13 30-19-{13}-23-27-46-69->7 #1609 16/02/1985 Mick Jagger Just Another Night 32 42-39-35-{32}-38-65->6

As the October nights draw in you find yourself drawn to the wonder of the night sky. If only you could find the perfect ambient song to watch it…

Is that a prediction or just Scene’s taste? 🧐

Went for Geri

The above are possible and I’ll also guess: Dido - Wardy M83 - AllStar Dead Or Alive - DaTilt Don’t have a clue for the male eliminations!

BJSC #189 Grouper - Alien Observer Grouper is a solo American musician - real name Liz Harris. She has been going since 2005 and this track is from 2011. Her style can be described as ambient or psychedelic folk. I stumbled on this by chance as a Spotify recommended track - not sure now what I was listening to when it came on, and was instantly stunned. The repeating bassline has a slightly irregular, off kilter rhythm that I find mesmerising. The vocals on top seem to have overlapping lines, like thoughts being projected into space. It’s incredibly atmospheric and fits in with the New Helvetian love for simple and acoustic but unusual sounds. My bosses instantly loved it, and we hope you will too.

OK I’ll go for Kelly as well: all production and no song.

BJSC 188: Lankum - Ghost Town Semifinal: 10th (77 points) Final: 36th (138 points) Votes given: 18 Aelandor | The Midnight - Crystalline 15 The Spodic Empire | DJ Shadow - Stem / Long Stem (Medley) 13 Fljótavík | Juno Reactor - Return Of The Pistolero 12 POPHub | HMLTD - Blitzkrieg 11 Land of DW | Calva Louise - Con Corazón 10 Sovarasma | Marina Herlop - Jaque 9 Herbilore | Cibo Matto - Sugar Water 8 Lentyll | Angine De Poitrine - Sherpa 7 Jadakissnia | Kidskin - HEAVEN 6 Séyetana | Trooper Salute - Zetsuen 5 Neliönoir | Tamara Flores & Tourist - Bésala Mucho 4 Dalisska | Chanpan - i got a gun 3 Zephyra Continuum | Livka - poza Tobą nic 2 Vaskla | paris jackson - adagio (feat. Manchester Orchestra) 1 Bøtanikkä | GALA - Come Into My Life (Molella And Phil Jay Mix) Votes received (19): 18 Ennea 18 Terra Avium 13 Eledan 12 Jadakissnia 12 Sovarasma 12 Zanmatony 12 Pestolia 9 Skall 7 Scotland 2 5 Aeroche 3 Fljotavik 3 Persephonia 3 Dalisska 3 Séyetqna 2 Lentyll 2 Dobago 2 Deandria 1 Danaeviia 1 Kluminican Republic A belated thank you to @Chez Wombat and @nine¾ for the 18s. I’m glad you loved this track like I did. After a pronising semi result and some early hype it unfortunately underperformed in the final, again attracting mostly low scores from many who did vote for it. I guess for some the fact of it being a cover was a turn off, inclusijg for some who I know love The Specials original. And to add insult to injury it wasn’t even a unique finishing position in only my 3rd contest! Great to have qualified again anyway though and shared another interesting song with everyone.

Ridiculous result but I think can happen with singer songwriter stuff if you just miss the alt votes. I thought it was really lovely though. Reminds me of inexplicably bombing with Imogen Heap in the contest you won.

Wonder how the voting in this one ended up being so pop leaning oops. Anyway I was impressed with that Christina song, enough to give it 1 point. I’m glad I did as it means I’ve maintained my record of voting for (or providing) every Bop Idol winner to date. Congratulations Scene and good to have another from within the mod team. Thanks Rollo and thank you for that stunning Peter Gabriel track which I’m sure I would never have heard even though I sent Peter myself in the One Word One Noun contest. And I know seeing Kate again got a bit of a groan but I really think this is a beautiful later ballad from her: the imagery is just exquisite.

Unless the last voter was the Rice. In which case he just managed to avoid shooting himself in the foot by ranking Lewis too high.

Well given the style of our entry and which countries are in each semi we can’t be too sad at losing our 100% semi 1 record! Will the qualification record be going with it too though? 😬

RIP Lena Martell. I’m sure Jim can find a better tribute than her #1; not a high bar bless. x

I thought it was quite fun and quirky.

Aww well I actually didn’t mind that Lewis song but yay for variety going through and not another balladeer with a growly voice. 😅

Sorry Lewis but Damien has more to offer 😔