Julian_

Actually I completely didn’t consider Oasis when I said “12 To 12” was my favourite song in the Top 40. 😝

Somehow not convinced The Ks will hold on to #1. 🤔

Meh at “Slide Away” being skipped when they’ll very probably play “Don’t Look Back In Anger” yet again. Nice for “Back To Friends” having 3 straight climbs after looking like it was dropping out.

I don’t think “d£aler” has the bite of her other 2 current hits.

Aww “You Make My Dreams Come True” is a sweet feel good bop. Also happy to have my bottom 3 out though - Lily, Denver and The 1975. I wish I had birthday buddies who I could relate to more than Lily Allen and David Beckham.

Ha well technically “The Subway” isn’t in the current Top 40 for another few hours… (And I do like it a lot but prefer “12 To 12”.)

I can’t say I especially enjoy listening to “It Wasn’t Me”, but it is very clever and you could tell immediately it was a huge smash.

Not lightning progress for the best song in the current Top 40, but progress nonetheless!

I think it’s the relentless rhythm on “Hold Your Head Up” that I really love. I doubt many of Chelsea Football Club’s songs will be coming as high as 3rd from bottom. 9 Argent Hold Your Head Up An incredibly striking and captivating progressive rock record with a bracing, stompy rhythm and a great electric guitar solo 8 The Partridge Family It's One Of Those Nights I was expecting more bubblegum from this sitcom band, but this is an incredibly lovely, tender and sincerely performed track 8 Lindisfarne Meet Me On The Corner Lovely 1st hit for this UK folk rock band complete with harmonica and warm harmonies: it reminds me of Marmalade's style 7 Pagliaro Loving You Ain't Easy Only hit for this French Canadian singer and it's a great soft rock song with warm production that could be a Beatles track 7 C.C.S. Brother Another interesting instrumental led hit from this jazzy group: really enjoy this and the lead vocalist sounds like Bowie 6 The Supremes Floy Joy A Smokey Robinson penned Top 10 hit for them: it's nice and has a somewhat vintage sound that harks back to their early hits 6 The Hollies The Baby An interesting late hit for them that's quite stark and hard hitting, about an unwanted pregnancy, but I do think it works 5 Gilbert O'Sullivan Alone Again (Naturally) His 1st Top 3 hit: this has his usual mundane conversational style and has a charm to it without being musically remarkable 5 Olivia Newton-John What Is Life A George Harrison cover: it is mostly the same as his but she does sing it very nicely and brings the song a different colour 4 Donnie Elbert I Can't Help Myself A Four Tops cover this time: once again his vocals are exemplary but all in all there isn't much about this version that's new 3 The New Seekers Beg, Steal Or Borrow 2nd in Eurovision for this and a 3rd straight Top 2 hit: a catchy breezy bubblegum track but it slightly grates after a few plays 2 Engelbert Humperdinck Too Beautiful To Last His last Top 20: it's quite restrained and not unpleasant but very much in the crooner style and with no memorable features 2 Chelsea Football Team Blue Is The Colour They'll have a few hits but this is the only pre 1990 one: it's raucously sung but the tune has stuck and is still heard today 1 Cliff Richard Jesus An evangelical Christian track which I might not mind in itself but it's quite preachy and a rather limp and plodding track 1 Wings Give Ireland Back To The Irish I rarely enjoy explicitly political songs unless they're art first and message second: I don't get any musical enjoyment from this 1972 Group 4: #3919 11/03/1972 Neil Young Heart Of Gold 10 49-33-25-17-11-{10}-11-17-25-38-47->11 #3920 18/03/1972 Buffy Sainte-Marie I'm Gonna Be A Country Girl Again 34 46-{34}-39-42-49->5 #3921 18/03/1972 Blue Haze Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 32 47-{32}-32-32-43-50->6 18/03/1972 The Chiffons Sweet Talkin’ Guy {1972} 4 50-24-15-8-5-{4}-4-5-10-11-24-28-39-47->14 #3922 25/03/1972 Labi Siffre Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying 11 33-23-20-{11}-13-15-18-43-45->9 25/03/1972 The Drifters At The Club/Saturday Night At The Movies {1972} 3 39-41R(2)-41-40-28-20-19-8-8-{3}-6-4-5-10-23-21-31-32-35-47->20 #3923 25/03/1972 Ray Stevens Turn Your Radio On 33 43-37-{33}-36->4 #3924 25/03/1972 Greyhound I Am What I Am 20 45-33-37-25-27-{20}-22-27-46->9 #3925 25/03/1972 Jo Jo Gunne Run Run Run 6 46-29-21-17-9-8-{6}-8-10-17-33-35->12 #3926 25/03/1972 Middle Of The Road Sacramento (A Wonderful Town) 23 49-36R(2)-28-{23}-25-33-49->7 #3927 25/03/1972 The Osmonds Down By The Lazy River 40 50-47-{40}-40-46->5 #3928 01/04/1972 Ringo Starr Back Off Boogaloo 2 18-15-4-3-{2}-2-11-12-28-41->10 #3929 01/04/1972 Tom Jones The Young New Mexican Puppeteer 6 19-13-7-7-{6}-11-13-25-37-43-38-50->12 #3930 01/04/1972 Elvis Presley Until It's Time For You To Go 5 26-18-19-{5}-10-13-16-36-41->9 #3931 01/04/1972 The Pipes And Drums And The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Amazing Grace 1 31-3-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-3-8-11-18-23-26-28-32-28-30-31-37-42-39-41-43-42R(15)-42-42->27 #3932 01/04/1972 The Potters We'll Be With You 34 {34}-34->2 #3933 01/04/1972 Deep Purple Never Before 35 {35}-47-42-37-35-41->6

“Lost” is beautiful: it would definitely have gone Top 40 but for them clinging to the no resets for a track more than 3 years old rule.

Belatedly posting my ranking based on the scores in my Top 40 ratings thread. I had to slot in “I Had A Dream / Seasons In The Sun” as it will be rated in 1999 and “It Feels So Good” and “Don’t Call Me Baby” as they first reached the Top 40 in 1998 and 1999 respectively so weren’t rated there. It was an incredible year for chart toppers. For comparison my 10th favourite of 2001 is only a 6; here the Top 10 nearly all received 9. 1 Pure Shores (10) 2 It Feels So Good (?) 3 Black Coffee (9) 4 Toca’s Miracle (9) 5 Groovejet (9) 6 The Real Slim Shady (9) 7 Oops.. I Did It Again (9) 8 Stan (9) 9 I Turn To You (9) 10 Music (8) 11 Can’t Fight The Moonlight (8) 12 Rise (8) 13 7 Days (8) 14 Never Be The Same Again (8) 15 Don’t Call Me Baby (?) 16 Independent Women - Part 1 (8) 17 Life Is A Rollercoaster (8) 18 Lady (Hear Me Tonight) (8) 19 Fill Me In (7) 20 Beautiful Day (7) 21 The Masses Against The Classes (7) 22 Breathless (7) 23 Same Old Brand New You (7) 24 Spinning Around (7) 25 Don’t Give Up (6) 26 Born To Make You Happy (6) 27 Go Let It Out (5) 28 Can We Fix It? (5) 29 Never Had A Dream Come True (4) 30 Rock DJ (4) 31 Holler / Let Love Lead The Way (4) 32 Day And Night (4) 33 You See The Trouble With Me (3) 34 Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty) (3) 35 Fool Again (3) 36 American Pie (3) 37 Bag It Up (3) 38 Stomp (2) 39 We Will Rock You (2) 40 My Love (2) 41 Take On Me (2) 42 I Have A Dream / Seasons In The Sun (?) 43 Against All Odds (1)

I’ve just revisited the scores from my review thread for these so I can post my ranking at the end. I’m surprised to find I gave “Pure And Simplistic” a 5 and said it was a rousing song! I expected to find it was a 2.

“Gotta Get Thru This” is brill. I’ve just checked back to my Top 40 hits of 2001 and in fact only 4 #1s made it. On that basis “Gotta Get Thru This” would be my #3 here. I controversially think it’s the best thing released by either of the Bedingfield siblings. I love the rawness of the bedroom production and it has such an excitable energy. “Murder On The Dancefloor” was a bit higher in my Top 40 of 2001, but I believe it was a long way behind on sales so was never really challenging.

“Pure And Simple” is like a record designed by a committee. Each member gets a very carefully calculated amount of airtime to sing generic words in a pleasant but uninspiring way. It’s devoid of any artistry for me.

Have always loathed “Could I Have This Kiss Forever” - it’s like they took the worst features of both artists.

Not keen on “Have You Ever”. “Never Had A Dream Come True” is definitely superior and even that I don’t exactly enjoy these days. “Uptown Girl” is a decent cover: they gave it the energy it needed. Neither of these would have been anywhere near the Top 10 for me, but above 1 of the actual Top 10.

“Mesmerize” is pretty unremarkable.

I reluctantly went for “Run”

Dancing out and taking his thong with him is Sisqó. His “Unleash The Dragon” album had spawned 4 Top 20 hits. However this was the only hit from the follow up “Return Of The Dragon”, reaching #6 in July 2001, and he never troubled the chart again. 8th: Sisqó - Dance For Me 12/29 votes (41%) 9th: Doctor Dre featuring Knoc-Turn’Al - Bad Intentions 16/32 votes (50%) 10th: Lee Mead - Any Dream Will Do 21/32 votes (66%)

5th: Gorillaz - 19/2000 13/31 votes (42%) 6th: Blink 182 - I Miss You 10/31 votes (32%) 7th: Sugababes - Stronger / Angels With Dirty Faces 10/31 votes (32%) 8th: Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People 8/34 votes (24%) 9th: Robbie Williams - Supreme 14/33 votes (42%) 10th: Wu-Tang Clan - Gravel Pit 14/32 votes (44%)

I think Chappell will be comfortably over 50k and Demon Hunters not that far short. “Ordinary” very likely dropping to 3 on old rules.

Does Rachel play the oboe on the record?! Or are you just highlighting 2 separate good things about “Natural”? 😆 x

I quite like the production on Love Don’t Cost A Thing”, but mid table overall.

As expected the excellence didn’t last, but this Colin Blunstone song is a lovely discovery. 8 Colin Blunstone Say You Don't Mind He was the lead singer of The Zombies, but this is a gorgeous and rather quaint solo hit with a masterful vocal performance 8 Slade Look Wot You Dun This will be followed by 10 straight Top 3s and was only a #4 for them, but it's great: I love the stompy blues style feel to it 7 Badfinger Day After Day Their last Top 40: another that sounds like mid period Beatles and indeed it was produced by George; it's very lovely though 7 Nilsson Without You 311th #1: he'll have no more Top 40s; hard to imagine this in a world without overblown covers but a lovely emotive piece 6 Holly Sherwood Day By Day (Godspell Medley) Only hit for this US singer with a cover from the "Godspell" musical: this is an interesting track with different sections 6 The Fortunes Storm In A Teacup Last of their 5 hits: it's a very nice bright and breezy song and much better than the grating "Freedom Come, Freedom Go" 5 Paul Simon Mother And Child Reunion His 1st solo hit that will be his 2nd highest peaking in a reggae style: it's enjoyable with interesting lyrics but not essential 5 Jimi Hendrix Johnny B. Goode Chuck Berry's 1958 original was never a UK hit: this version isn't needed but unsurprisingly has excellent guitar playing 4 The Temptations Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are) This is attacking their former band mates David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks: it's a fine but unremarkable track of its style 4 Peter Straker And The Hands Of Dr Teleny The Spirit Is Willing Only hit for this British Jamaican based on Bach's "Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring": interesting but not sure it entirely works 3 Michael Jackson Got To Be There His 1st solo hit aged only 13, and it's a technically strong performance but vocally slightly piercing and not that enjoyable 3 Bee Gees My World Quite a repetitive song which maybe is meant to evoke the turning of the world, but I don't find the vocals so pleasant 2 The Sweet Poppa Joe Bubblegum pop with a Caribbean feel and instruments such as steel drums, but I find the song lightweight and grating 2 Jonathan King Flirt A cover of a French song "Pour Un Flirt": the "teasin' teasin'…" and melody are a little irritating and the lyrics slightly silly 1 Les Crane Desiderata Only hit for this US broadcaster reading from a 1927 poem: I find this very cloying, especially the gospel style chorus 1972 Group 3: #3904 19/02/1972 Pagliaro Loving You Ain't Easy 31 50-42-36-{31}-36-40->6 #3905 26/02/1972 Chelsea Football Team Blue Is The Colour 5 15-9-{5}-8-11-12-19-23-25-32-40-48->12 #3906 26/02/1972 Lindisfarne Meet Me On The Corner 5 36-22-10-9-{5}-6-6-13-24-30-39->11 #3907 26/02/1972 Donnie Elbert I Can't Help Myself 11 39-19-16-{11}-13-13-29-31-38-50->10 #3908 26/02/1972 The Hollies The Baby 26 40-32-29-27-{26}-43->6 #3909 26/02/1972 The Partridge Family It's One Of Those Nights 11 47-33-25-19-14-{11}-12-15-21-24-38->11 #3910 26/02/1972 Wings Give Ireland Back To The Irish 16 49-21-19-17-{16}-27-45-46->8 #3911 04/03/1972 The New Seekers Beg, Steal Or Borrow 2 12-4-3-{2}-2-2-3-6-12-26-28-37-48->13 #3912 04/03/1972 Gilbert O'Sullivan Alone Again (Naturally) 3 23-9-6-4-{3}-4-8-10-21-29-40-48->12 #3913 04/03/1972 Argent Hold Your Head Up 5 44-30-21-7-{5}-5-6-8-16-17-41-50->12 #3914 04/03/1972 Engelbert Humperdinck Too Beautiful To Last 14 47-37-26-19-{14}-17-20-29-36-46->10 #3915 04/03/1972 C.C.S. Brother 25 49-38-32-28-{25}-26-32-47->8 #3916 04/03/1972 The Supremes Floy Joy 9 50-27-18-10-{9}-10-14-16-42-50->10 #3917 11/03/1972 Cliff Richard Jesus 35 {35}-38-37->3 11/03/1972 The Four Tops Bernadette {1972} 23 46-41-31-40-{23}-35-39->7 #3918 11/03/1972 Olivia Newton-John What Is Life 16 47-34-21-20-{16}-18-17-41->8