Ghoulian

I’d have given “What You’re Made Of” quite a high score. This one isn’t so great but still pleasant and the first to drop that I might listen to voluntarily.

Thanks to the 18 participants so far. The first 16 entries from Thursday have survived the first mod screening. Hopefully we can get to 20 soon!

Nothing really to add about “The Climb” or “Everybpdy Hurts” here. A little surprised at several people expressing indifference towards the original which is up with the most moving records of all time for me!

Hooray that I’m not in the lowest scorers for the first time as I gave “What A Girl Wants” a whopping 3. It’s really very meh though.

I’d enjoy listening to you but suspect the average listener would find you unusual.

I doubt it was close…

Not especially a Zara fan but “Midnight Sun” is a great song and fully deserves its slow burn success.

The guitar solo in “Beat It” is incredible.

Heaven 17 - Temptation The Police - Every Breath You Take Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding Bob Marley - Butfalo Soldier Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train

Plenty of very good stuff here but “Temptation” is a one of a kind song. 9 Heaven 17 Temptation 1st and biggest Top 40 after some misses for this UK act with a soulful, genre bending and utterly electrifying song 8 Tears For Fears Pale Shelter A re-recording of an earlier flop giving them their 3rd Top 5 in just a few months, and it's another excellent song 8 Eurythmics Love Is A Stranger {1983} Another earlier flop re-released: this has a much gentler feel to it than "Sweet Dreams…" but is also mesmerising 8 Bauhaus She's In Parties Shame that most of their singles missed the Top 40: this is their last single and a great menacing piece of goth rock 7 The Human League (Keep Feeling) Fascination A 2nd straight #2 hit for them unusually including vocals from 4 of the band, and a delightful catchy upbeat number 7 Men At Work Overkill A #1 follow up missing the Top 20, which is a pity as it's a lovely track, suitably about the pressure of sudden fame 6 Fun Boy Three Our Lips Are Sealed Another Top 10 hit after which they will suddenly split: this is a Go Gos cover but a strong single to end with for them 6 Toto Rosanna A Top 20 follow up to "Africa": it doesn't have any of the sparkle of that but it is a sweet well produced soft rock song 6 Spandau Ballet True 520th #1: I apprecaite how different in style this is from their earlier hits and it's well performed but not that exciting 5 Thompson Twins We Are Detective Their 2nd Top 10 in quick succession with a humorous song, though it doesn't have the quality of "Love On Your Side" 5 Iron Maiden Flight Of Icarus Based on the Greek myth, this is a big and bold track in their usual style: not one of their best but I quite like it 4 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Dancing Tight 1st hit for this group featuring British Jamaican producer Phil Fearon: it's a not bad but forgettable post disco song 4 Sweet Dreams {1983} I'm Never Giving Up The UK's Eurovision entry that came 6th and the only hit for this trio: it's quite a nice jolly pop song but not great 3 Chill Fac-Torr Twist (Round 'N' Round) Only hit for this US group based on "The Twist" by Chubby Checker: not a terrible reimagination but it goes on a bit 2 Cliff Richard And The London Philharmonic Orchestra True Love Ways A cover of the beautiful Buddy Holly song also covered by Peter and Gordon: this version doesn't bring anything 2 The Kids From 'Fame' Friday Night (Live Version) Performed by actor Carlo Emparto and the last hit with this credit: it's a good performance but rather grating song 1983 Group 8: #1046 09/04/1983 Julio Iglesias Hey! 31 61-44-48-35-{31}-48-50->7 #1047 23/04/1983 The Creatures Miss The Girl 21 51-37-26-{21}-23-42-70->7 #1048 23/04/1983 Saxon Power And The Glory 32 66-38-{32}-46-58->5 23/04/1983 The Beatles From Me To You {1983} 40 45-{40}-46-74->4 #1049 07/05/1983 Blancmange Blind Vision 10 28-12-{10}-14-20-35-51-68->8 #1050 30/04/1983 The Beat Can't Get Used To Losing You 3 50-29-10-5-{3}-5-10-22-28-36-55->11 #1051 16/04/1983 New Edition Candy Girl 1 70-49-44-30-7-3-{1}-3-5-17-31-39-65->13 #1052 07/05/1983 Pink Floyd Not Now John 30 33-{30}-32-63->4 #1053 30/04/1983 Daryl Hall And John Oates Family Man 15 67-35-24-{15}-22-31-50->7 #1054 30/04/1983 Kiss Creatures Of The Night 34 45-36-{34}-51->4 #1055 07/05/1983 Thin Lizzy Thunder And Lightning 39 {39}-42->2 #1056 16/04/1983 The Belle Stars Sweet Memory 22 55-46-43-40-29-{22}-29-52-72->9 #1057 07/05/1983 Modern Romance Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm 14 43-26-{14}-21-33-49->6 #1058 07/05/1983 D Train Music (Part 1) 23 51-32-27-{23}-24-44-67->7 #1059 07/05/1983 Bob Marley And The Wailers Buffalo Soldier 4 56-33-17-11-6-{4}-7-14-24-31-47-69->12 #1060 07/05/1983 Hot Chocolate What Kinda Boy You're Looking For (Girl) 10 64-35-13-{10}-12-20-28-38-61->9 #1061 30/04/1983 David Grant Stop And Go 19 65-41-36-34-27-{19}-26-35-64->9

#21 would have been a finer place for this to die but at least it knocked “Ordinary” back out!

Wonderful to have “Go” here: their best since “Galvanize” for me. Hadn’t realised it’s Q-Tip rapping.

Madonna can still sing then… just. Not a bad track I suppose.

“Baby Steps” really taking a baby step this week. Nice for it to get a play.

Very Twenty One Pilots this… rather like it

That “Boston“ thing wasn’t great.

I suppose at least with “Heroes” they were moving away from the grandiose power ballad sound. It might be the least horrific of the 4 Finalists’ #1s from 2008-2011, but they are all dreadful. “The Club Is Alive” is sort of comical in a way because it’s such an obviously naff concept. But yes that autotune is really quite unpleasant.

“Doors” isn’t bad but went for “Baby Steps” only, which is one of my favourites from Olivia.

I didn’t specifically ask 2nd to 7th apart from Scene, but Addy! and gooddelta are the previous two hosts and Chez had TBSCITWE on his hands, and Juan Carlos and RobBot have only participated a couple of times. So I thought it would be easier to keep this one in the mod team.

And I know you’re all crying out for another contest so please head straight over to Bop Idol 7!

Entrants (36): Julian_ Scene jimwatts Herbs Josh! matto Dobbo DaTilt gooddelta Roba. Paddington James CowTzy Lukuzz Tafty nine3/4 AllStarBySmashMouth Jaz13Music danG awardinary King Rollo Lee_J11 Viper* Chez Wombat Cody Rusanov Doug WoW73 vibe dandy* Mamgø Addy! lewistgreen RabbitFurCoat Jade spiceboy Bror dhwe

Welcome to the latest edition of the 21st Century Throwback forum song contest: Bop Idol 7! Congratulations @dhwe on your Bop Idol 6 win and sorry you aren’t able to host. I was thinking the other day what a varied collection of winners we’ve had now: Phoenix - 1901 Muse - Butterflies & Hurricanes Dido - Take My Hand Agnes - I Trance Black Box Recorder - These Are The Things Crystal Castles - Baptism What will we be adding to this eclectic list? Well as you may have guessed from the clues Scene and I dropped we’re taking another opportunity to celebrate 20 years of Buzzjack by going back to the year of its birth. The theme is 2006. We’ll accept songs either recorded or released in this year. The song can be any genre but must not be a UK Top 40 hit. Non singles are allowed. It should also not be a previous Bop Idol entry or a Top 20 finisher in any other song contest on the site (I appreciate the latter is not entirely straightforward to check so the mods will do some of that). As always we reserve the right to veto anything else that is deemed too well known. As a rule of thumb anything with a Spotify count of fewer than 100 million plays is usually fine. More may be OK too, especially if it’s only well known in the USA for example. As usual this is an anonymous song contest, so please do not reveal or hint at your entry. You have until 23:59 BST on Thursday 14 May 2026 to submit your entry. Please submit your entry by PM to me, giving your artist and title and a link. Do also message me if you have any questions.

Hooray for Britney finally being out - going for the slushy Backstreet Boys now.

Thanks very much Chez for the great concept. Well done dandy*. And seven for almost giving us such an eclectic winner - slightly kicking myself for not giving that more points. It isn’t an easy year but maybe a pioneering slice of Turkish folk wasn’t the way to go for 1964z I had considered some other options all of which I love in different ways. Julie Grant might have been quite up Buzzjack’s street with hindsight.

Great to see love for the majestic “Wavin’ Flag”. Might be the best football record of the century for me, though not that much competition. This on the other hand is ghastly. I do love the original “Shout” but it’s about shouting as a form of therapy so the meaning is totally mangled. You know you’ve sold out when you go from “Bonkers” to this in the space of a year.