Ghoulian

Whatever year you have something fabulous will have been released somewhere that never took off in the UK charts. The hard part is finding it.

Joining the Chip voters - gosh this is a not terribly exciting bunch.

Silly season is upon us and this one certainly has its fair share of novelty silliness. A good top 3 though, and “Cacharpaya” gets better with every listen. 9 Incantation Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Desi) A rather brilliant South American traditional folk instrumental track, including an exciting accelerando towards the end 8 David Essex A Winter's Tale I find this a very beautiful slushy Christmas ballad: something about the sincerity of how he performs it sets it apart 8 The Maisonettes Heartache Avenue Only hit for this UK band and it's an excellent slice of electropop that feels like it's harking back to the Motown sound 7 John Williams Theme From 'E.T. (The Extra Terrestrial)' His 2nd hit after the "Deer Hunter" theme: this is of course a great and instantly recognisable piece of classical music 7 Donna Summer I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Remix) This remix is long but very interesting, with some psychedelic and experimental parts that really do add to the track 6 Abba Under Attack I really like the new wave production on this but it's a relatively ordinary though nice song: the last hit before they split 5 Dionne Warwick All The Love In The World It's similar in style to "Heartbreaker" and also Bee Gees penned; not as good as that but pleasant and well performed 4 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Dear Addy The big hits have dried up now: the song itself is quite slow moving though I do enjoy the far Eastern sounding backing 3 Kool And The Gang Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho A track in their typical style but not particularly interesting, with a chorus that's not catchy and lyrically rather poor 3 Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees Singalong-A-Santa A medley of Christmas carols in a Cockney accent strung together: somehow nowhere near the worst of the bunch 2 Barry Manilow I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter A 1935 American standard that has covered covered many times: this radio friendly version has very little of interest 2 Keith Harris And Orville Orville's Song I want to find this sweet but find I can't even warm to Orville's words about being daft, let alone enjoy it musically 1 Cliff Richard Little Town This feels like a foreshadowing of "The Millennium Prayer" as it uses the words to a traditional carol and is fairly grim 1 Shakin' Stevens The Shakin' Stevens EP This is really a chore and seems longer than its 12 minutes: it's mostly live renditions and it feels like a karaoke set

Week 15: 1 1 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 253,000 530,000 2 2 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 249,000 3 3 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 128,000 1,960,000 4 4 The Weeknd Highlights 105,000 1,690,000 5 5 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 98,000 400,000 6 6 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 97,000 610,000 7 7 Michael Jackson The Essential 96,000 2,190,000 8 8 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 89,000 390,000 9 9 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 82,000 720,000 10 11 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 79,000 970,000 11 10 Noah Kahan Stick Season 79,000 970,000 12 14 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 78,000 2,490,000 13 13 Linkin Park Papercuts 77,000 470,000 14 12 Tate McRae So Close To What 76,000 330,000 15 15 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 74,000 3,630,000 16 16 ABBA Gold 73,000 6,210,000 17 17 Elton John Diamonds 66,000 1,990,000 18 22 BTS Arirang 65,000 19 18 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 64,000 5,680,000 20 19 Arctic Monkeys AM 64,000 2,390,000 21 28 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 63,000 22 20 Sombr I Barely Know Her 61,000 150,000 23 21 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 60,000 3,590,000 24 23 EsDeeKid Rebel 57,000 130,000 25 24 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 55,000 820,000 26 25 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 54,000 1,300,000 27 30 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 51,000 750,000 28 26 Mumford & Sons Prizefighter 51,000 29 27 Maroon 5 Singles 51,000 1,040,000 30 29 Pitbull Greatest Hits 51,000 670,000 31 35 Queen Greatest Hits 48,000 3,260,000 32 34 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 47,000 640,000 33 33 Sam Fender People Watching 47,000 330,000 34 32 Gorillaz The Mountain 47,000 35 31 Robbie Williams Britpop 46,000 36 36 Zach Bryan With Heaven On Top 46,000 37 38 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 46,000 2,470,000 38 37 Lily Allen West End Girl 45,000 130,000 39 40 Oasis Definitely Maybe 45,000 3,060,000 40 41 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 45,000 2,360,000 46 48 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 42,000 2,070,000 78 81 Kanye West Graduation 35,000 1,100,000 97 100 Madonna Finally Enough Love - #1s Remixed 30,000 330,000 100 - Nirvana Nirvana 29,000 1,590,000 - 98 Dave The Boy Who Played The Harp 29,000 140,000

Week 15: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 836,000 1,940,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 671,000 1,360,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 598,000 840,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 575,000 1,180,000 5 6 Alex Warren Ordinary 509,000 2,690,000 6 5 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 501,000 1,250,000 7 8 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 500,000 880,000 8 7 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 499,000 1,830,000 9 9 Djo End Of Beginning 480,000 1,660,000 10 10 Zara Larsson Lush Life 438,000 3,480,000 11 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 407,000 540,000 12 14 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 392,000 13 12 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 390,000 1,160,000 14 13 Bruno Mars I Just Might 377,000 15 15 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 358,000 530,000 16 16 Sombr 12 To 12 350,000 880,000 17 17 Harry Styles Aperture 340,000 18 18 Taylor Swift Opalite 333,000 740,000 19 19 Sombr Back To Friends 298,000 1,210,000 20 20 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 289,000 1,010,000 21 22 Sombr Homewrecker 265,000 22 21 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 259,000 360,000 23 23 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 247,000 1,060,000 24 25 The Killers Mr Brightside 240,000 7,040,000 25 24 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 239,000 960,000 26 26 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 238,000 2,050,000 27 28 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 235,000 1,370,000 28 27 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 234,000 410,000 29 34 Tame Impala Dracula 234,000 370,000 30 33 Dominic Fike Babydoll 233,000 790,000 31 29 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 226,000 4,790,000 32 31 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 223,000 3,150,000 33 30 Sombr Undressed 223,000 1,100,000 34 32 Olivia Dean Dive 221,000 890,000 35 35 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 218,000 4,150,000 36 37 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 214,000 310,000 37 40 Milky Just The Way You Are 213,000 320,000 38 36 Olivia Dean OK Love You Bye 210,000 710,000 39 45 Harry Styles American Girls 204,000 40 38 Olivia Dean Baby Steps 203,000 380,000 42 53 Alex Warren Fever Dream 197,000 54 70 Dominic Fike White Keys 174,000 61 63 Myles Smith Stargazing 165,000 1,970,000 73 75 Alex Warren Carry You Home 155,000 1,200,000 77 88 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 150,000 79 81 Vance Joy Riptide 148,000 4,890,000 81 83 Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under 148,000 2,800,000 83 92 Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me 144,000 430,000 84 86 Kings Of Leon Sex On Fire 144,000 4,570,000 100 - Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 135,000 3,500,000 - 99 Katseye Gabriela 134,000 350,000

16/4: 1 1 Rein me in (1) 2 2 Man I need (1) 3 3 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 4 7 Ordinary (1) 5 4 Where is my husband! (3) 6 5 Raindance (2) 7 9 Dracula (7) 8 6 Stateside (5) 9 8 So easy (5) 10 13 Lush life (3) 11 12 Fever dream (4) 12 15 Homewrecker (12) 13 14 Babydoll (13) 14 16 Golden (1) 15 10 American girls (1) 16 17 The fate of Ophelia (1) 17 21 I just might (7) 18 18 Nice to each other (5) 19 20 White keys (19) 20 23 Just the way you are (8) 21 22 12 to 12 (8) 22 25 End of beginning (2) 23 26 Die on this hill (12) 24 24 Aperture (1) 25 27 Back to friends (7) 26 28 Opalite (1) 27 29 Midnight sun (27) 28 19 Click clack symphony (19) 29 36 Dreams (22) 30 32 No broke boys (3) 31 31 Mr Brightside (10) 32 50 Choosin’ Texas (32) 33 11 Swim (2) 34 30 The visitor (15) 35 38 Beautiful things (1) 36 40 Pink pony club (2) 37 37 Manchild (1) 38 33 Iris (3) 39 39 Love me not (2) 40 34 The hardest part (23) 41 41 Undressed (4) 42 44 Everywhere (4) 43 42 Ready, steady , go! (6) 44 47 Dive (28) 45 43 OK love you bye (29) 46 - The chain (43) 47 45 Give it up to me (31) 48 48 A couple minutes (29) 49 - Lose control (2) 50 - I run (14)

As “Harry’s Game” was reviewed just in the batch before last, RIP Máire Brennan.

Oh “Holiday” is my favourite out so far by a long way, though mainly for the production. The switch up part is great.

Well done @elgornio . I do love Florence and that opening run of “Rabbit Heart”, “Queen Of Peace” and “Spectrum” was my favourite of the whole competition! I think you could have afforded to go a bit less hard so early but it was great hearing the songs again anyway (and they wouldn’t have helped this round in any case). Shame we’ll miss out on “Dog Days…” especially. And as for @Chez Wombat , it was wonderful having Bowie here. Please do enter next time as we need the diversity. “Warszawa” was absolutely my favourite discovery of the whole 2 seasons and of course it was great hearing the classics too. A shame we didn’t quite get to “Space Oddity” but as you say it was pretty clear your time was gong to be up this round so “Blackstar” was a lovely way to end. The old man would be very proud.

Guessing Chez for Bowie and elgornio for FloMac. Sorry to see them both go!

It does show Calum chose the judges to ensure balanced taste - he did too good a job if anything!

Ooh well you might usually expect Jim to go with Florence…

I’m assuming that everyone saying “this was easy” got either ‘80s or ‘90s and everyone seeming nonplussed or confused got something earlier. 😝

I also have a bit of a soft spot for “Oopsy Daisy”, though it was probably only the sung parts I really enjoyed. It’s not that great in retrospect but still preferable to that Saturdays thing.

I actually found “Night Porter” less good than most of Japan’s singles on the first couple of listens and thought “Our House” would win the group. Now it might even be my favourite of all their hits - up there with “Ghosts” at any rate. 9 Japan Night Porter This is inspired by a film and the piano part is influenced by Satie's "Gymnopédies": it's a beautiful and intimate track 8 Malcolm McLaren And The World's Famous Supreme Team Buffalo Gals 1st hit for this producer that broke ground in hip hop and scratching techniques, which Trevor Horn helped to produce 8 Madness Our House Their most streamed and probably most culturally significant song: the pinnacle of their bouncy and witty ska pop style 8 Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners Let's Get This Straight (From The Start)/Old The 1st side is good but it's "Old" that I love here: a very slow and emotive track accompanied by warm piano and brass 7 Adam Ant Desperate But Not Serious His 3rd single and a surprisingly small hit, but it has his usual driving rhythm, spaghetti western feel and intense vocals 7 Soft Cell Where The Heart Is A #21 after 5 straight Top 5s, but it's a lovely track very tenderly sung with a rich and warm orchestral accompaniment 7 David Bowie And Bing Crosby Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy Recorded just before Bing's death 5 years before and popularized by MTV, this is a very sweet mash up of an old carol 6 Phil Collins You Can't Hurry Love 513th #1: a shame this and not "In The Air Tonight" is his 1st chart topper, but a good cover faithful to the Motown style 6 The Jam Beat Surrender 511th #1: the last single before they disbanded, and I like the urgency of the beat but prefer their other chart toppers 5 Bucks Fizz If You Can't Stand The Heat Their 5th Top 10 certainly doesn't have the magic of the 4th and is more standard pop fare of the time, but quite nice 4 Culture Club Time (Clock Of The Heart) A 2nd Top 3 hit in a funk style and very different from the debut: it's nice enough but the chorus is a little limp for me 3 Evelyn King Back To Love Very similar in style to "Love Come Down" but only scraping in at #40: it just doesn't manage to be compelling like that 2 Shalamar Friends A #12 hit following 3 straight Top 10s: to me this is a terribly dull and repetitive 5 minutes: funk at its most interminable 1 Young Steve And The Afternoon Boys I'm Alright A #40 hit for Steve Wright and the crew of his Radio 1 show with a Madness style energy, but it's exceptionally grating 1982 Group 21: #933 04/12/1982 Donna Summer I Feel Love (Patrick Cowley Remix) 21 42-33-22-23-23-22-{21}-22-33-55->10 #934 11/12/1982 Shakin' Stevens The Shakin' Stevens EP 2 35-4-{2}-2-7-25-58->7 #935 04/12/1982 Kool And The Gang Hi De Hi, Hi De Ho 29 55-37-{29}-32-32-35-42-73->8 #936 04/12/1982 Cliff Richard Little Town 11 63-38-21-{11}-11-18-44->7 #937 11/12/1982 Dionne Warwick All The Love In The World 10 73-27-14-14-{10}-12-15-23-34-52->10 #938 11/12/1982 Santa Claus And The Christmas Trees Singalong-A-Santa 19 58-28-{19}-19-30->5 #939 11/12/1982 David Essex A Winter's Tale 2 65-30-7-7-3-{2}-6-15-29-44->10 #940 11/12/1982 Abba Under Attack 26 46-31-{26}-26-26-26-42-73->8 #941 11/12/1982 Kid Creole And The Coconuts Dear Addy 29 51-34-{29}-29-31-39-69->7 #942 04/12/1982 Incantation Cacharpaya (Andes Pumpsa Desi) 12 59-48-39-28-28-16-14-{12}-14-26-42-52->12 #943 04/12/1982 Barry Manilow I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter 36 62-43-40-{36}-36-44-62->7 #944 18/12/1982 Keith Harris And Orville Orville's Song 4 55-33-33-8-{4}-5-9-18-31-46-60->11 #945 18/12/1982 John Williams Theme From 'E.T. (The Extra Terrestrial)' 17 48-34-34-24-{17}-21-30-45-59-75->10 #946 11/12/1982 The Maisonettes Heartache Avenue 7 67-43-39-39-29-15-{7}-7-13-23-43-68->12

I went for Evanescence but there isn’t a huge amount in it.

“Everybody In Love” is fairly dreary but a pleasant enough listen at least. “Right Round” is a little trashy and uninteresting like much of Flo’s output. I’d certainly put “Bad Boys” above “Hallelujah” as it’s a serviceable pop song - the main positive of the latter is that it brought the other versions to a new audience and otherwise it’s just all kinds of wrong. Certainly there’s nothing more than a 4 or 5 out of 10 to appear so far though.

I’ll bookend the period with “Trouble” by Coldplay and “Everything I Wanted” by Billie Eilish.

The “Sign Of The Times” chart run looks virtually prehistoric! Only a few weeks in the Top 10 and no ACR crash.

Ooh this Anotr track is really good!

I’ll have to revise this year properly at some point but great to see “Elusive Butterfly” and “Homeward Bound” winning. “Pied Piper” is such an earworm but I agree it has to be Dusty really in the last group.

They’re three highlights of the round for me too, but none of them are the poppiest so I worry for them all!

We’re thinking to resume a week on Sunday now x

I see it as something between those two possibilities - meeting someone who would change her life, though not necessarily entirely for the better. It’s quite eerie when you consider Agnetha retired from public life for a long time and had some problems with stalking. I connect “Super Trouper” with her phobia of performing as well - that’s why these aren’t just bubblegum pop songs.

Leading this group we have Ultravox at their dramatic best, and a very beautiful and iconic TV theme tune. 9 Ultravox Hymn They're back on top form with this pseudo-religious track about corruption that has an epic and diabolical feel to it 9 Clannad Theme From 'Harry's Game' For a TV series about the Northern Ireland troubles, a beautiful evocative track that will be sampled effectively in future 8 A Flock Of Seagulls Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) By far their biggest hit about a chance encounter, with a hypnotic riff and beautiful wall of sound style production 8 Simple Minds Someone Somewhere (In Summertime) A small hit for them but I find it an excellent dreamy and longing track with a very effective punchy accompaniment 7 Duran Duran Rio The 3rd Top 10 hit and another very strong and well remembered song from a hugely successful campaign for them 7 Talk Talk Talk Talk {1982 Re-Release} A re-release after it initially peaked at #52: I like "Today" even more but this is another arresting synth pop offering 7 The Human League Mirror Man One of their biggest hits, with the backing "ooh"s paying tribute to the Motown style: very good but I don't quite love it 6 Yazoo The Other Side Of Love A #13 hit in the midst of their Top 3s, and it's a good song complete with their usual synths, but lacks a little oomph 6 Donna Summer State Of Independence A cover of a Jon and Vangelis song that missed the Top 40: this version includes an all star choir and is very well done 5 Wham! Young Guns (Go For It) The duo's 1st hit: it's quite an all over the place track but it is bursting with energy and you can see why it did well 4 Whitesnake Here I Go Again/Bloody Luxury A mix of the 1st side will go Top 10 in 1987: it's a pretty good hard rock song but the other side sounds like Status Quo 3 Musical Youth Youth Of Today The less successful follow up to their chart topper: the style is similar but it lacks the infectious quality of the debut 2 Modern Romance Best Years Of Our Lives Their highest peak and a catchy number in their usual salsa style, but it grates slightly and doesn't have very much to it 2 Lionel Richie Truly His 1st solo hit after "Endless Love": this is a very moribund and overly sentimental ballad that does very little for me 1 Renee And Renato Save Your Love 512th #1 and the only Top 40 for this duo whose operatic and pop voices don't blend, and the song is an overblown mess 1982 Group 20: #919 27/11/1982 Madness Our House 5 32-17-12-{5}-5-5-5-13-10-21-35-53-73->13 #920 27/11/1982 Culture Club Time (Clock Of The Heart) 3 34-9-5-{3}-4-4-6-8-17-26-44-70->12 #921 20/11/1982 Japan Night Porter 29 50-35-{29}-39-35-40-40-49-64->9 #922 20/11/1982 Evelyn King Back To Love 40 55-{40}-43-63->4 #923 04/12/1982 The Jam Beat Surrender 1 {1}-1-2-10-10-15-24-44-62->9 #924 27/11/1982 Shalamar Friends 12 44-25-19-{12}-15-15-19-20-30-47->10 #925 04/12/1982 Soft Cell Where The Heart Is 21 32-{21}-24-27-27-36-48->7 #926 27/11/1982 Adam Ant Desperate But Not Serious 33 42-{33}-42-57-65-65-70->7 #927 04/12/1982 Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners Let's Get This Straight (From The Start)/Old 17 35-18-18-{17}-17-21-23-36-68->9 #928 27/11/1982 Bucks Fizz If You Can't Stand The Heat 10 53-37-29-20-20-20-13-{10}-16-32-64->11 #929 04/12/1982 Malcolm McLaren And The World's Famous Supreme Team Buffalo Gals 9 38-24-19-18-18-11-{9}-11-16-23-37-61->12 #930 27/11/1982 David Bowie And Bing Crosby Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy 3 73-39-22-10-{3}-3-9-46->8 #931 27/11/1982 Young Steve And The Afternoon Boys I'm Alright 40 69-{40}-41-47-63-63->6 #932 04/12/1982 Phil Collins You Can't Hurry Love 1 52-27-17-6-6-2-{1}-1-2-3-8-17-26-37-53-70->16