Ghoulian

Feeling lucky that a lot of these voters weren’t in Bop Idol 3! 😝

Every decade so far has had one slightly surprising choice at either #9 or #10, and this time it’s “Sexy Boy”. I love what I know of Air and I included “Kelly Watch The Stars” in my songs that peaked at their year minus 1980 quiz haha. I’m very basic when it comes to favourite Oasis songs - “Don’t Loon Back In Anger” followed by “Wonderwall” followed by “Live Forever”, so I’m quite aligned with the streaming public. “Born Slippy” received my gold in the favourite #2 of the ‘90s poll. “Frozen” is my favourite from Madonna and got my silver behind “Don’t Look Back In Anger” in the favourite #1 of the ‘90s one. “2 Become 1” was also high in my votes but I think “Viva Forever” is creeping up now. I actually had a period in my early teenage years when I only listened to classical music so I do have nostalgia for “2 Became 1” and only really got to know “Viva Forever” as an adult, but am coming round to it being superior now. BJSC non qualifier “Unfinished Sympathy” is my other big favourite. That contest seems to have made some choices over the years!

1 Dido - Take My Hand: I absolutely love this, plus it will always be special to me now as my first ever contest winner 2 Adele - Rolling in the Deep: this could be from any period of music; a timeless record 3 Kate Bush - The Man With the Child in His Eyes: just gorgeous and those vocals hit every time 4 Jessie Ware - If You're Never Gonna Move: a lovely ethereal track 5 Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Me and My Imagination: enjoy the disco feel and the strings 6 Robyn - Hang With Me: a good track with her usual retro sound 7 Milica Pavlović - Crna jutra (Balkan S&M): I slightly preferred the week one song but still really enjoy the Eastern style 8 Agnes - EGO: not bad but “Selfmade” develops more 9 MARINA - Froot: some nice production but otherwise could take or leave 10 Leona Lewis - Come Alive: I appreciate that it’s something a bit different from her but it sounds rather of its time 11 Zara Larsson - Ain't My Fault: the least interesting for me

Good grief I’d missed this “Babydoll” thing taking off.

“Stop The Wedding” is one of the best pop songs of the year: hope it can go a bit higher.

“My Body Isn’t Ready” has grown on me: not to the point where I love it but it’s nice.

I haven’t properly got into anything from “The Great Divide” yet but “Willing And Able” is sounding really good today.

Was never a fan of “Free Your Mind” but “Good Girl” sounds pretty good on first listen.

Glad the holy trinity of back to back brilliance made #3, #4 and #5. I haven’t quite decided how my own top 5 would shake out but they might even be the top 3. One of your top 2 I’m thinking I would have around #7, and the other would be high but it’s tricky to place as it’s older.

After a couple of surprisingly great groups this one is rather more typically ‘70s, with plenty of soppy numbers and covers. Still there’s some very good stuff as well as one of the most unusual chart toppers ever. 8 T.Rex Children Of The Revolution Yet another Top 2 hit for them with an incredibly powerful statement of a glam rock song with rich layers of sound 8 David Bowie John, I'm Only Dancing A non album single and his only early hit to miss the Top 10, it's conventional in style but a great piece of storytelling 7 Lieutenant Pigeon Mouldy Old Dough 320th #1: 1st of a couple of hits for this experimental group and a charming, very unusual, honky tonk piano track 7 Elton John Honky Cat More honky tonk piano here: not one of his best remembered hits but it has a really charming and jazzy energy 6 Family Burlesque Their last hit, and I don't think it's hugely distinctive, but it is an enjoyable track with relentless jangling guitars 6 Dandy Livingstone Suzanne Beware Of The Devil 1st of a couple of hits for this British-Jamaican reggae musician, that's not hugely memorable but very nicely done 5 Gary Glitter I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock And Roll) A similar stark style to this and "Rock And Roll Parts 1 And 2": it's quite a good track but not as striking as that 5 Peter Skellern You're A Lady Debut single from this UK singer songwriter: it's an interesting intimate style, though the song itself is a little soppy 4 The Sweet Wig-Wam Bam This is bubblegum pop mixed with glam rock in style, and it's very catchy but becomes a little irritating fairly quickly 4 David Cassidy How Can I Be Sure 319th #1: not a bad cover of a nice song but the original from 1967 by the Young Rascals has much more sparkle 3 The Seashells Maybe I Know Only hit for these UK ladies with a cover of an early '60s Lesley Gore track that's competent but nothing much more 2 Hurricane Smith Who Was It? His 3rd and last hit: the other songs were better; this is quite plodding and his very husky voice is rather grating 1 Donny Osmond Too Young Originally a 1951 Nat King Cole song intended to bring the youth to popular music: this cover is not a pleasant listen 1 Parchment Light Up The Fire Only hit for this UK Christian folk group with a school assembly hymn style track that couldn't be much less for me 1972 Group 12: #4039 23/09/1972 10cc Donna 2 46-25-17-10-{2}-2-3-3-13-16-20-39-47->13 #4040 23/09/1972 The Pearls You Came, You Saw, You Conquered 32 47-36-{32}-33-41->5 #4041 23/09/1972 The O'Jays Back Stabbers 14 48-30-22-18-20-{14}-30-36-48->9 #4042 23/09/1972 Lindisfarne All Fall Down 34 50-39-40-{34}-37->5 #4043 30/09/1972 Elvis Presley Burning Love 7 21-11-8-{7}-8-9-14-25-35->9 #4044 30/09/1972 Carpenters Goodbye To Love 9 35-27-22-18-11-11-{9}-15-15-22-27-42-40-40-40->15 #4045 30/09/1972 Bread The Guitar Man 16 40-28-21-22-{16}-20-24-31-46->9 #4046 30/09/1972 Python Lee Jackson In A Broken Dream 3 49-18-9-6-{3}-4-7-12-24-29-36-48->12 #4047 07/10/1972 Johnny Nash There Are More Questions Than Answers 9 26-19-12-{9}-10-12-18-27-38->9 #4048 07/10/1972 Alice Cooper Elected 4 34-17-9-{4}-5-4-11-17-25-38->10 #4049 07/10/1972 Simon And Garfunkel America 25 35-29-29-{25}-27-34-42->7 #4050 07/10/1972 Chairmen Of The Board Elmo James 21 46-26-{21}-23-22-32-38->7 07/10/1972 The Animals The House Of The Rising Sun {1972} 25 48-30-{25}-30-33-45->6 07/10/1972 Neil Sedaka Oh! Carol/Breaking Up Is Hard To Do/Little Devil 19 49-38-33-31-26-26-24-22-{19}-26-25-32-32-35->14 #4051 07/10/1972 Archie Bell And The Drells Here I Go Again 11 50-45-36-27-24-{11}-14-14-26-35->10 14/10/1972 The Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack {1972} 3 37-30-21-6-8-{3}-6-8-20-21-28-28-32-48->14 #4052 14/10/1972 Junior Campbell Hallelujah Freedom 10 39-24-18-13-{10}-17-18-34-44->9

Like all those 5 #2s a lot but my favourites are “White Noise” and “Pompeii”. “I love It” is very good and “Mirrors” is epic.

Duffy - quite a good single but not particularly a highlight.

Went for Kate this time, though it’s quite a sweet song.

Tough this one but went for Appleton

Ten Walls for me soz!

Oops flopped a bit! Well done to the winners and thanks Mangø.

Day-andria?

Vengas coming to do a HAIM style 1st to last?

Well that will be my 2 favourite Dido songs gone: great to see them but not sure where she’ll go afterwards.

Week 38: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 1,794,000 2,890,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 1,731,000 2,420,000 3 3 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,126,000 3,300,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 1,093,000 1,700,000 5 5 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 1,054,000 1,290,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 997,000 1,370,000 7 7 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 976,000 8 8 Zara Larsson Lush Life 939,000 3,980,000 9 9 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 936,000 2,270,000 10 10 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 908,000 1,660,000 11 11 PinkPantheress Stateside 814,000 940,000 12 12 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 805,000 1,580,000 13 13 Djo End Of Beginning 781,000 1,960,000 14 15 Sombr Homewrecker 775,000 15 14 Tame Impala Dracula 775,000 910,000 16 16 Bruno Mars I Just Might 733,000 17 18 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 732,000 830,000 18 17 Sombr 12 To 12 731,000 1,260,000 19 20 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 705,000 740,000 20 19 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 701,000 870,000 21 21 Alex Warren Fever Dream 671,000 22 22 Harry Styles American Girls 668,000 23 23 Michael Jackson Billie Jean 666,000 4,190,000 24 24 The Killers Mr Brightside 650,000 7,450,000 25 25 Dominic Fike Babydoll 609,000 1,350,000 26 26 Taylor Swift Opalite 600,000 1,010,000 27 27 Sombr Back To Friends 595,000 1,510,000 28 28 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 582,000 1,300,000 29 29 Harry Styles Aperture 573,000 30 30 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 562,000 4,500,000 31 31 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 559,000 5,120,000 32 32 Milky Just The Way You Are 550,000 660,000 33 33 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 544,000 3,470,000 34 34 Olivia Rodrigo Drop Dead 543,000 35 35 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 535,000 1,670,000 36 36 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 530,000 1,340,000 37 37 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 518,000 2,330,000 38 38 Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 513,000 1,750,000 39 40 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 508,000 1,250,000 40 39 Dominic Fike White Keys 507,000 520,000 46 49 Prospa & Cloonee Free Your Mind 460,000 48 50 ANOTR featuring 54 Ultra Talk To You 455,000 53 55 Olivia Rodrigo The Cure 428,000 54 60 Ariana Grande Hate That I Made You Love Me 422,000 62 63 Malcolm Todd Earrings 407,000 440,000 65 68 Shakira & Burna Boy Dai Dai 398,000 69 70 Harry Styles Sign Of The Times 387,000 2,580,000 70 78 Olivia Rodrigo Stupid Song 386,000 77 85 Stella Lefty Boston 376,000 89 92 Taylor Swift I Knew It, I Knew You 356,000 100 - Journey Don't Stop Believin' 340,000 4,630,000 - 100 Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla One Dance 340,000 5,230,000

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

Week 38: 1 1 Michael Jackson The Essential 498,000 2,600,000 2 2 Olivia Dean The Art Of Loving 487,000 770,000 3 3 Harry Styles Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. 390,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 303,000 2,130,000 5 5 Olivia Rodrigo You Seem Pretty Sad For A Girl So In Love 297,000 6 6 The Weeknd Highlights 262,000 1,850,000 7 7 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 240,000 750,000 8 8 Noah Kahan The Great Divide 214,000 9 9 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 211,000 520,000 10 10 Sabrina Carpenter Man's Best Friend 203,000 510,000 11 11 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 203,000 2,610,000 12 12 Linkin Park Papercuts 194,000 590,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 183,000 900,000 14 14 ABBA Gold 178,000 6,320,000 15 15 Elton John Diamonds 177,000 2,110,000 16 16 Michael Jackson Thriller 172,000 4,920,000 17 17 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 170,000 3,720,000 18 18 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 169,000 1,060,000 19 19 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 164,000 5,780,000 20 20 Michael Jackson Bad 151,000 4,600,000 21 21 Drake Iceman 151,000 22 22 BTS Arirang 150,000 23 23 Arctic Monkeys AM 144,000 2,470,000 24 24 Taylor Swift The Life Of A Showgirl 142,000 780,000 25 26 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 140,000 3,670,000 26 27 Tate McRae So Close To What 138,000 400,000 27 25 Raye This Music May Contain Hope 138,000 28 28 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 138,000 1,390,000 29 30 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 135,000 830,000 30 29 Pitbull Greatest Hits 135,000 760,000 31 32 Maroon 5 Singles 128,000 1,120,000 32 31 Sombr I Barely Know Her 128,000 220,000 33 33 50 Cent Best Of 50 Cent 126,000 890,000 34 35 Katy Perry The Ones That Got The Plays 121,000 35 34 Calvin Harris 96 Months 118,000 350,000 36 36 Queen Greatest Hits 116,000 3,320,000 37 37 Katy Perry Teenage Dream 115,000 2,150,000 38 38 Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits 114,000 2,430,000 39 40 Oasis Definitely Maybe 111,000 3,130,000 40 39 Bruno Mars Doo-Wops & Hooligans 109,000 2,540,000 41 47 Sienna Spiro Visitor 107,000 57 61 Ariana Grande Petal 94,000 70 72 The Cure Greatest Hits 85,000 1,310,000 89 91 Ella Langley Dandelion 76,000 92 96 Dua Lipa Live From Mexico 75,000 98 - Nirvana Nirvana 71,000 1,630,000 100 - The Beatles 1962-1966 70,000 1,180,000 - 98 Lily Allen West End Girl 69,000 150,000 - 99 Mumford & Sons Prizefighter 69,000 70,000

Fun concept! Went for Iglu & Hartly.

One of @Jade ’s favourite songs of the 1970s getting its moment here and it’s very close to another 10. What an epic whirlwind of a song. Some really interesting discoveries from Lynsey de Paul and Duncan Browne, but in the end I’ve given Roxy Music the runner up position. I think they’re one of those bands that became more middle of the road as they went on, but this is a fab debut. 9 Derek And The Dominos Layla 1st (and essentially only) hit for this mixed UK-US group, and a brilliant song with one of the greatest ever rock riffs 9 Roxy Music Virginia Plain 1st hit for this UK rock band with a really original and quirky song merging a folk feel with synthesised sounds 8 Bill Withers Lean On Me His 1st hit, with a cover of what should have been a big hit for him also here: this is a powerful and timeless song 8 Lynsey De Paul Sugar Me 1st and biggest hit for this UK singer and TV personality, and it's an incredibly punchy, addictive and striking debut 7 Duncan Browne Journey Only Top 40 for this UK classically trained folk rock singer with a really lovely and different sounding gem of a song 7 Junior Walker And The All Stars Walk In The Night Their 1st hit in a while: I really like the soulful style of this, and how the vocals almost seem to accompany the instruments 6 The Hollies Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress Their biggest Us hit but only a small UK one, perhaps because the style is so similar to CCR, but it is a good track 6 Blackfoot Sue Standing In The Road Only big hit for this UK group with a strong but not distinctive track in a singalong rock style very similar to Slade 5 Slade Mama Weer All Crazee Now 318th #1: their 2nd chart topper in 3 months with a decent song, and they're into their period of enormous success 5 Bobby Hebb Love Love Love His 2nd and last hit and it's actually a 1966 song that isn't as good as "Sunny" but is enjoyable, bright and breezy 4 Michael Jackson Ain't No Sunshine Bill's didn't chart originally so this is the song's 1st appearance: it's very competently done but he's still so young 4 Al Green I'm Still In Love With You It's hard not to compare this to "Let's Stay Together" and find that it's very similar in style as well as much less good 3 Cliff Richard Living In Harmony I do like the tempo change towards the end but it's not one of Cliff's better tracks and the lyrics are a little trite 2 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Band Heykens Serenade/The Day Is Ended Two versions of popular tunes with this uninspiring double A: it feels like hearing the band play at the village fair 1 Judge Dread Big Six 1st hit for this UK reggae artist that had a very long run, but it's quite grating and I don't really get the humour at all 1972 Group 11: #4025 02/09/1972 Dandy Livingstone Suzanne Beware Of The Devil 14 46-33-28-18-16-{14}-14-16-32-40-48->11 #4026 02/09/1972 Hurricane Smith Who Was It? 23 47-38-29-{23}-24-29-41->7 #4027 09/09/1972 Elton John Honky Cat 31 40-34-{31}-32-36-49->6 #4028 09/09/1972 The Seashells Maybe I Know 32 45-45-{32}-34-43->5 #4029 09/09/1972 The Sweet Wig-Wam Bam 4 48-25-15-6-{4}-6-8-10-17-25-36-38-43->13 #4030 16/09/1972 David Cassidy How Can I Be Sure 1 10-3-{1}-1-2-4-12-18-35-41-50->11 #4031 16/09/1972 T.Rex Children Of The Revolution 2 14-{2}-2-2-5-10-17-29-39-47->10 #4032 16/09/1972 Donny Osmond Too Young 5 22-9-{5}-5-7-14-22-25-30-28-37-46-47R(3)-47-47->15 #4033 16/09/1972 Lieutenant Pigeon Mouldy Old Dough 1 38-20-4-3-{1}-1-1-1-2-5-12-14-24-23-31-31-34-41-43->19 #4034 16/09/1972 David Bowie John, I'm Only Dancing 12 43-30-23-20-{12}-13-13-16-28-39->10 #4035 16/09/1972 Parchment Light Up The Fire 31 47-34-{31}-45-47->5 #4036 23/09/1972 Gary Glitter I Didn't Know I Loved You (Till I Saw You Rock And Roll) 4 27-14-8-{4}-5-6-12-17-32-34-49->11 #4037 23/09/1972 Peter Skellern You're A Lady 3 43-18-6-{3}-3-7-8-16-35-43-50->11 #4038 23/09/1972 Family Burlesque 13 45-37-30-23-19-19-14-{13}-16-26-37-45->12

Thanks for the 18 Terra Avium! Sorry we couldn’t return points on this occasion.