Ghoulian

Sorry edited

The sales for “How It’s Done” this week are a bit more than I had expected so its total may be a bit higher than my 339k. Interesting that “What It Sounds Like” actually overtook HID on audio streaming this week, but it’s way behind on video streaming which may make the difference. Anyway should be another Top 15 hit for them with “Your Idol” going to ACR. I suspect there’ll be no new or re-entries this week.

“Yeah!” is Usher’s greatest moment by miles and would be in my Top 5 too. “Radio” has also crept up on me over time - I didn’t think much of it at the time but I now really like the swaggy performance and the retro feel.

It seems putting a trigger warning on the poll increases the number of voters! Maybe I should come up with some other clickbait header for the others.

Sam’s music is generally in the pleasant category for me but yeah would have much preferred Fontaines or CMAT.

I wonder if the Top 3 could all be quite close next week if “Golden” avoids ACR. “…Ophelia” does seem to be holding up better than the other Taylor songs though.

“Elizabeth Taylor” must have dropped by 50% plus from 90k then. It’s the most immediately catchy on the album for me, though not sure about its replay value.

Why is Olivia Dean being at #8 “ironic”? Impressive performance for this album track anyway.

I wish I liked Tate’s voice more as the music is pretty interesting.

Q: What’s the opposite of a pineapple air freshener? A: “Lose Control” re-entering at #40.

9 weeks at #22 and #23 combined for this!

Except “Crazy” was a great song.

“Eyes Closed” is very meh but Top 40 freshness is pretty much always welcome at the moment. Great that “Dracula” is on the rise. Ugh at Teddy and Benson climbing but I did warn that would be a side effect of an ACR clearout.

A lot that I like but don’t love in this group, and on paper “Ceremony” should be the top pick but I’m actually slightly more taken by the quirky “Einstein A Go-Go”. 8 Landscape Einstein A-Go-Go 1st hit for this UK synth pop group using a wind instrument called a lyricon, and a wonderfully unusual and forward looking track 8 New Order Ceremony 1st hit for this UK band that was written by Joy Division with moody Ian Curtis lyrics: a very strong synth laden opening statement 7 Hazel O'Connor D-Days Her last one only made #41 but she's back in the Top 10 with another very enjoyable track that has an energetic marching feel 7 Ultravox Slow Motion A low peaking hit to follow up "Vienna" and quite different from the lush sound world of that, but another strong synth led track 7 Dave Stewart With Colin Blunstone What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted A cover of the Jimmy Ruffin '60s song with some synths and up to date touches: not my favourite song but a beautiful version 6 Linx Intuition Only atop 10 for the Britfunk duo: although I prefer the more catchy "You're Lying" this works well and I like the instruments 6 The Whispers It's A Love Thing Their 2nd Top 10 hit: I really enjoy the instrumental introduction and it's nothing new but a good and well sung disco soul track 6 Heatwave Jitterbuggin' Their last Top 40 and an enjoyable funk track with some particular nice instrumental touches like a wind solo and the brass 5 Bucks Fizz Making Your Mind Up 478th #1 and Eurovision winner: it's supremely catchy and very well written for its purpose, but I can't exactly say that I enjoy it 5 Iron Maiden Twilight Zone/Wrathchild I think both sides of this are decent, especially "Wrathchild": their best hit so far though nothing very memorable from them yet 4 Tony Capstick And The Carlton Main/Frickley Colliery Band Capstick Comes Home/The Sheffield Grinder A curious novelty double A from this UK actor about working in Yorkshire mines: quite effective, especially the spoken 1st side 4 The Polecats John I'm Only Dancing/Big Green Car 1st hit for this UK rockabilly covers band with a Bowie and a Jimmy Carroll song: both competent versions but nothing special 3 Elton John Band Featuring John Lennon And The Muscle Shoals Horns I Saw Her Standing There The only hit version of this and a nice tribute to John done as a live recording, but it doesn't really add a great deal to the song 3 Gillan New Orleans Their 2nd Top 20 hit with a call and response style: I much prefer the dramatic style of their last hit and don't get much from this 2 The Nolans Attention To Me It's the usual upbeat pop with harmonies from them, but I find the needy lyrics quite off putting and it's my least favourite so far 1981 Group 6: #403 21/03/1981 Graham Bonnet Night Games 6 69-43-26-12-{6}-8-8-11-31-33-57->11 #404 28/03/1981 Children Of Tansley School My Mum Is One In A Million 27 75-{27}-49-48->4 #405 28/03/1981 Bad Manners Just A Feeling 13 54-29-20-15-{13}-16-18-32-44->9 #406 28/03/1981 Sugar Minott Good Thing Going 4 57-31-14-7-{4}-4-7-13-29-40-58-74->12 #407 28/03/1981 David Bowie Up The Hill Backwards 32 42-{32}-32-36-42-66->6 #408 11/04/1981 Ennio Morricone Chi Mai (Theme From 'The Life And Times Of David Lloyd George') 2 19-4-{2}-2-3-5-9-20-28-39-62-70->12 #409 11/04/1981 Saxon And The Bands Played On 12 27-19-{12}-15-16-30-52-61->8 #410 04/04/1981 Spandau Ballet Musclebound/Glow 10 53-29-18-15-13-{10}-15-22-46-69->10 #411 04/04/1981 Public Image Ltd Flowers Of Romance 24 50-31-{24}-26-24-35-40->7 #412 04/04/1981 John Lennon Watching The Wheels 30 54-33-{30}-34-41-67->6 #413 28/03/1981 Shalamar Make That Move 30 60-42-36-32-33-{30}-37-41-61-69->10 #414 04/04/1981 Dire Straits Skateaway 37 55-{37}-38-46-64->5 #415 28/03/1981 Light Of The World I'm So Happy/Time 35 63-45-38-{35}-44-60->6 #416 04/04/1981 Keith Marshall Only Crying 12 60-39-25-21-14-{12}-17-17-29-36->10

I actually like all these to some extent. Going for George Michael though it isn’t a bad remake.

Will we love him when he’s down and out? Probably not as 50 Cent is eliminated. This was his 2nd hit, following up the huge “In Da Club” and reaching #6 in July 2003. It’s Nate Dogg’s 2nd highest peaking hit after “Regulate”. 8th: 50 Cent - 21 Questions 10/26 votes (34%) 9th: Geraldine - Once Upon A Christmas Song 14/27 votes (52%) 10th: Brian Kennedy & Peter Corry - George Best - A Tribute 13/29 votes (45%)

Going for Divine Inspiration now, but it’s a nice uplifting dance track.

Rocked so much that they’ve fallen out are Eve and Alicia. The track was based on “Don’t Stop The Music” from 1981 by Yarbrough And Peoples which was a #7 hit. This went 1 place better, peaking at #6 in September 2002. 5th: Eve featuring Alicia Keys - Gangsta Lovin’ 12/26 votes (46%) 6th: Esmée Denters - Outta Here 11/28 votes (39%) 7th: Five - Don’t Wanna Let You Go (12/27 votes (44%) 8th: The Script - We Cry 8/28 votes (29%) 9th: Nickelback - Rockstar 11/31 votes (35%) 10th: Orson - Bright Idea 8/27 votes (30%)

Difficult as “Rooftops” is in my top half based on song quality but I still have no desire to see it progress. 🤷‍♂️

Apologies for the delay in getting this one up. Obviously it’s very spooky timing for the first poll involving Lostprophets, but I’ve decided to run it as normal and only include video features for the other 9.

The top 6 is now very aligned with my taste. Not sure “Mysterious Girl” would have quite made my Top 10 but I do think it’s one of the best pop reggae crossovers of its kind. U2 are very hit and miss for me but “Vertigo” is a really strong bit of mid 00s rock.

Really wish I’d had chance to enter this (although I find timed quizzes almost unbearably stressful). I’d have got most of them so far but I definitely wouldn’t have recognised The Doors and not sure I’d have managed to work back from Orson, plus I’d have also been thrown by Westlife / Bob.

Week 41: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 456,000 830,000 2 - Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 423,000 3 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 331,000 430,000 4 3 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 314,000 2,350,000 5 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 291,000 1,760,000 6 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 267,000 1,500,000 7 6 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 249,000 5,550,000 8 8 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 225,000 520,000 9 7 Sam Fender People Watching 225,000 10 10 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 220,000 240,000 11 9 Elton John Diamonds 220,000 1,870,000 12 12 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 207,000 550,000 13 11 SZA SOS 207,000 690,000 14 13 Charli XCX Brat 203,000 490,000 15 14 Noah Kahan Stick Season 199,000 670,000 16 18 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 194,000 17 15 Tate McRae So Close To What 194,000 18 16 Michael Jackson The Essential 194,000 2,030,000 19 17 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 191,000 6,090,000 20 19 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 181,000 3,500,000 21 21 Arctic Monkeys AM 177,000 2,280,000 22 20 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 177,000 960,000 23 22 Oasis Definitely Maybe 176,000 2,970,000 24 23 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 174,000 3,490,000 25 24 Linkin Park Papercuts 171,000 340,000 26 25 Lady Gaga Mayhem 165,000 27 26 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 165,000 660,000 28 27 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 160,000 1,210,000 29 28 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 157,000 300,000 30 29 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 147,000 31 30 Calvin Harris 96 Months 135,000 210,000 32 31 Queen Greatest Hits 133,000 3,170,000 33 32 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 132,000 470,000 34 33 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 131,000 250,000 35 34 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 131,000 310,000 36 35 Pitbull Greatest Hits 128,000 590,000 37 36 Ed Sheeran ÷ 126,000 4,450,000 38 37 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 126,000 1,670,000 39 38 Fontaines D.C. Romance 123,000 240,000 40 39 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 118,000 74 75 Ed Sheeran Play 89,000 90 - Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 75,000 - 100 Frank Ocean Channel Orange 70,000 570,000 - 99 Linkin Park From Zero 70,000 140,000

I have 317k for “How It’s Done” so a bit to go yet. I don’t think a non charting track has ever made the year end chart before and “What It Sounds Like” might still have a chance, though I suppose it should enter the weekly chart anyway when “Your Idol” goes to ACR. “The Fate Of Ophelia” and “12 To 12” should make it plus the usual Christmas songs. At risk of not making it: Tell Me Denial Is A River The Giver Guess Move Mutt Dakota Burning Down A Sky Full Of Stars Cruel Summer Dog Days Are Over Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else Every Breath You Take Sex On Fire Roughly the further you go down the list the higher the survival chance. I’d be very surprised if we actually lost “Sex On Fire” although it has been underperforming recently.