Julian_

Britney about right The “more than a whiff of naff to it” one too high

“Day & Night” is decent but nothing original. I do think that’s too low for Chicane although I agree he has better tracks. The vocoder immediately made Bryan more interesting.

I find that Mariah performance quite affected and I don’t think she improves the track - OK it makes a change not just having Westlife on a track of theirs I suppose. I really like the instrumental sections in “Go Let It Out” where they pivot towards a Beatles-esque psychedelic sound. Overall I prefer the follow up singles from that album though.

I do think “Who” will make Week 25 but probably not 26.

“Fool Again” is very formulaic - slightly better than the others I guess. “American Pie” is so sanitised with its straight rhythms: takes the dynamic storytelling of the song and makes it boring.

Spice Girls meh Geri rubbish The Black Legend is a really interesting one off; the tinny bassline being the best part

Not feeling the Disco Lines track at all but really enjoying “Suzanne” and “The Contract”!

No “Shake It To The Max (FLY)” is surprising, but maybe it will be in the full certifications.

A1 and Westlife - garbage Bob is the best out so far: one of the best children’s TV themes and worked as a single

I really dislike both those covers - doesn’t help that I’m very fond of the original ABBA song whereas I know a lot of people see it as one of their weaker hits.

Well you’ll have plenty of time as I’m travelling back to 1980 next!

Fair for Five. Oxide And Neutrino are a bit low for me and that’s one that’s grown on me over the years. The sample is a terrible idea on the face of it but in the end they produced something quite interesting. It’s still not something I’d choose to listen to, and I think their subsequent hits were better.

Cool thread but yes I think I’m claiming it as one of ours haha. Please could a pre 2000 mod move it?

We’ve already worked out that 1980 will take 7 weeks, so allowing for breaks here and there it could take 1.5-2 years to cover the ‘80s.

Would be great if “Love Me Not” could have a turn, but it will surely be “Manchild” going back by default instead as it’s still way ahead. Of course “Ordinary” going to ACR still hangs in the balance.

She begged me for a second bite at the cherry after finishing 3rd

Yay for another good bunch! I went for J-Lo and Fat Joe. I’m not sure what the latter brings to the song but it’s quite funny when he tries to sing along with her!

We’re heading back to the ‘80s for our next Sunday Synctube marathon, hosted by @jimwatts . For those not familiar we’ve been doing these for a few years in the slot from 16:00 to 19:00 on Sundays when the chart show used to be broadcast! All are welcome.

Moving to Kelly - this still has the talent show winner feeling about it.

Jamelia’s been got good. “Something About You” was from her “Walk With Me” album and the 5th in her run of 6 Top 10 singles. It peaked at #9 in September 2006 was a little muted for the lead after a huge era, and the follow up was much better received. 8th: Jamelia - Something About You 8/27 votes (30%) 9th: Shaznay Lewis - Never Felt Like This Before 7/28 votes (25%) 10th: True Steppers featuring Dane Bowers - Buggin’ 14/34 votes (41%)

Being told not to come into Round 7 are Tom and the ‘Phonics. The song, about a strait laced man going to his first party, was written by Randy Newman in 1966 and recorded by Eric Burdon & The Animals. This cover reached #4 in March 2000. 5th: Tom Jones & Stereophonics - Mama Told Me Not To Come 12/30 votes (40%) 6th: Usher - U Got It Bad 9/30 votes (30%) 7th: Jay Sean - Ride It 11/31 votes (35%) 8th: McFly - The Heart Never Lies 10/31 votes (32%) 9th: Emma Bunton - Downtown 12/31 votes (39%) 10th: JoJo featuring Bow Wow - Baby It’s You 9/33 votes (27%)

Apologies for zoning out of this for a couple of weeks! Right let’s get the year finished. Either of these top 2 could easily have been 10s: probably my favourite song from each artist and they both have plenty of other great songs. And that means one of my favourite ever novelty hits has to settle for 3rd, aww! 9 Eminem Lose Yourself 942nd #1: the tension builds so beautifully throughout the verse and then releases on "lose": simply a marvellous track 9 Robbie Williams Feel The piano accompaniment on its own carries a good deal of emotion and Robbie has so much mature presence here 8 Liam Lynch United States Of Whatever Just 1:26 and the only hit for this US performer: it's so irreverent; delightfully random lyrically and lacking in structure 8 Bjork It's In Our Hands This was a greatest hits album release: as usual she brings us into her little world with hypnotic and sensual production 7 Daniel Bedingfield If You're Not The One 943rd #1: it is slushy and doesn't come close to his boundary pushing debut, but I think he carries this incredibly well 7 Bruce Springsteen Lonesome Day His only Top 40 so far this century: a reflective number that's very charming with a warm orchestral accompaniment 6 Atomic Kitten The Last Goodbye/Be With You I don't mind the 1st side which is safe but sweet, but the 2nd is a strong disco track that deserved more prominence 6 Rainbow (DJ George And MC Zippy) It's A Rainbow This is like the "Trip To Trumptown" style early '90s hardcore rave meets children's TV theme hits: I actually quite like it 6 The Cheeky Girls Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) 1st hit for this Romanian duo who appeared on "Popstars: The Rivals": this is a simple but very fun and danceable track 5 Liberty X Holding On For You This is quite tame after the raunchy "Just A Little" and Mantronix cover, but it has a sweet sincerity that I rather enjoy 5 Darius Rushes This doesn't have the unique charm of "Colourblind" but it's a decent follow up: I enjoy the vocals and backing strings 5 TLC Girl Talk Their last hit recorded just a few days before Lisa's death, a well put together RnB track but nowhere near their best 4 Matt Darey And Marcella Woods U Shine On Matt's last hit with the same vocalist as the superb "Beautiful": this is in the same style but doesn't hit like that at all 4 Scooter Posse (I Need You On The Floor) It's the usual format with a techno track and high pitched sung track: not as strong a melody as "Neesaja" but not bad 3 Alicia Keys Girlfriend Another single from her that has a soulful style but lacks a little in melody and isn't so likely to grab anyone's attention 3 Ms Dynamite Put Him Out She's back to the man bashing with this 3rd single: again I do quite like the production but not so much the rest of it 3 Celine Dion Goodbye's (The Saddest Word) After 2 surprisingly invigorating singles she's back to the old fashioned power ballad style here: she does sing it well 2 Enrique Iglesias Maybe He sounds almost desperate on this ballad that's similar in style but inferior to "Hero": I prefer his more Latin material 2 Ronan Keating Featuring Lulu We've Got Tonight The original was Bob Seger's only Top 40: this cover is unnecessary and Lulu's rasping the only real point of interest 2 Anastacia You'll Never Be Alone She does best with retro style power pop: with this kind of soft ballad her strange vowel sounds and vocal twang grate 1 Nickelback Never Again The underperforming 3rd single: a hard hitting track about domestic abuse that's a grim listen and not in a good way 2002 Weeks 51 and 52: #1640 21/12/2002 Blue Featuring Elton John Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 1 {1}-4-4-6-8-16-21-24-27-30-41-45-40-36-49-66-73->17 #1641 21/12/2002 Gareth Gates What My Heart Wants To Say 5 {5}-15-16-19-35-53-64-58R(3)-49-35-26-48-67->13 #1642 21/12/2002 S Club Juniors Puppy Love/Sleigh Ride 6 {6}-11-12-16-40-60-75-68R(2)-65-62->10 #1643 21/12/2002 Pink Family Portrait 11 {11}-16-14-12-20-23-31-44-65->9 #1644 21/12/2002 Ja Rule Featuring Bobby Brown Thug Lovin' 15 {15}-20-19-21-28-40-46-70->8 #1645 21/12/2002 Holly Valance Naughty Girl 16 {16}-25-22-22-30-42-50-51-58->9 #1646 21/12/2002 Russell Watson Nothing Sacred - A Song For Kirsty 17 {17}-22-29-40-56->5 #1647 21/12/2002 Bon Jovi Misunderstood 21 {21}-42-46-63-73R(6)->5 #1648 21/12/2002 Declan Featuring Young Voices Choir Tell Me Why 29 {29}-43-44-61->4 #1649 21/12/2002 David Gray The Other Side 35 {35}-51-62->3 #1650 28/12/2002 Girls Aloud Sound Of The Underground 1 {1}-1-1-1-3-5-9-15-19-19-22-27-38-42-57-56-71-67-56-71-73->21 #1651 28/12/2002 One True Voice Sacred Trust/After You're Gone 2 {2}-3-5-9-17-27-31-41-71->9 #1652 28/12/2002 Love Inc {CA} You're A Superstar 7 {7}-7-7-7-13-14-18-21-26-36-39-45-57->13 #1653 28/12/2002 Avril Lavigne Sk8er Boi 8 9-9-{8}-11-15-20-27-37-64->9 #1654 28/12/2002 Death In Vegas Featuring Liam Gallagher Scorpio Rising 14 {14}-21-27-33-55-68-69R(2)-75->8 #1655 28/12/2002 Pascal Featuring Karen Parry I Think We're Alone Now 23 {23}-25-34-46-67->5 #1656 28/12/2002 The Rolling Stones Don't Stop 36 {36}-64->2

It’s definitely the best song I’ve heard by them - was impressed!

I argue that people are choosing the playlist because of what’s on it. If it doesn’t have what people want to listen to in the first place they’ll move to another playlist. It’s a bit chicken and egg, but when people say “Wham!” only have the most popular Christmas song because it’s top of the playlists I say that it’s at the top of the playlists because it’s the most popular and not the other way round.