Julian_

Great to see the 3 best songs here all winning by miles - “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, “Satisfaction” and “Paint It, Black”. Agree Group 3 is quite meh all round - interesting to see such an even 4 way split.

“Mambo No 5” is the best out so far - it’s only about a 4/10 for me but it had a charm to it and was different from the original. “Queen Of My Heart” is just dreadful. “Something’ Stupid” is pretty poor really - the original has the slight creepiness of being a father daughter duet but otherwise has a vibrancy that this lacks.

Pleased that Chappell has come back with something actually good.

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%)

Gah Blink and Sugas tying in the last hour. Perhaps @Brer can help?

Going for Sisqó now: “Thong Song” aside he was pretty uninspiring.

We are heartlessly denying Kanye a medal position with the 2nd single from his “808s & Heartbreak” album. Like its predecessor, “Love Lockdown”, “Heartless” involved auto tune and electronic production. It first charted in December 2008 but took until February 2009 to peak at #10. 4th: Kanye West - Heartless 14/27 votes (52%) 5th: The White Stripes - Icky Thump 9/31 votes (29%) 6th: Paris Hilton - Stars Are Blind 10/31 votes (32%) 7th: Ian Van Dahl - Reason 8/30 votes (27%) 8th: Friday Hill - Baby Goodbye 14/31 votes (45%) 9th: Stuntmasterz - The Ladyboy Is Mine 14/30 votes (47%) 10th: Ronan Keating & LeAnn Rimes - Last Thing On My Mind 13/35 votes (37%)

We see for certain what we thought we knew as we tell Lee Mead he isn’t Joseph. This reached #2 in June 2007 and was the only hit for the Lloyd Webber talent show star. Lee went on to appear in various other West End shows and some TV dramas including “Holby City”. 10th: Lee Mead - Any Dream Will Do 21/32 votes (66%)

1 Sam 2 Oasis 3 Stones 4 Stones 5 Stones 6 Stones 7 Sam 8 Oasis Sorry Justin - but he did come close for 1.

Yeah not sure I’d quite put them bottom but they’re both pretty rubbish so no real quibble.

5 Victory Lap 4 Blessings 3 Golden 2 Daisies 1 Dior -1 Ordinary -2 Manchild -3 Eternity -4 Sapphire -5 Survive Gah I haven’t done this for quite a few weeks and last time I did “Blessings” was around the neutral mark, so the Top 10 has got quite a bit worse. At least it feels relatively fresh though. ”Golden” isn’t especially my thing but pretty good for its genre.

1 What Do You Mean? 2 Sorry 3 Despacito 4 Cold Water 5 Daisies 6 Love Yourself 7 I Don’t Care 8 I’m The One

Bump

There is a very good pop music only quiz at The Lexington in Islington every Monday that I go to sometimes.

I had a 10, 2 9s and 6 8s 1 ABBA - The Winner Takes It All 2 David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes 3 Diana Ross - Upside Down 4 Hazel O’Connor - Eighth Day 5 Ultravox - Sleepwalk Commiserations: Bow Wow Wow - C30, C60, C90, Go George Benson - Give Me The Night Peter Gabriel - Biko The Clash - Bankrobber

No huge classics that everyone knows in this group and a bit of a mixed bag, but some lovely discoveries all the same. 8 Hazel O'Connor Eighth Day 1st and biggest hit for this UK singer: it's a thrilling powerhouse of a song with a fun "Frankenstein" style lyrical theme 8 Peter Gabriel Biko An anti apartheid song about Steve Biko's death: it's a great track that has a suitably African and ritualistic feel to it 7 Gary Numan I Die, You Die His 4th straight Top 10: this has a lovely sparkly keyboard riff and the usual futuristic synth feel and slightly robotic vocals 7 Skids Circus Games Last Top 40 for the Scottish group: it's a really interesting track and the stompy chorus with the children's choir works well 7 Split Enz I Got You Only Top 40 for this long standing band from New Zealand, and a really strong and well performed piece of new wave pop 6 Olivia Newton-John Magic Another from the "Xanadu" soundtrack and a US chart topper but less successful here: this has a really endearing melody 6 The Selecter The Whisper Their last hit aside from a '90s collaboration: this feels more explicitly reggae than it's predecessors and it's a good tune 5 Randy Crawford One Day I'll Fly Away This feels like it's from a Disney film and I can only give it so many points but it is sweet and an excellent vocal performance 5 The Beat Best Friend/Stand Down Margaret (Dub) "Best Friend" is really enjoyable and vigorous track; the other side is about the Prime Minister and isn't quite so punchy 4 Cliff Richard Dreamin' A step down from the darkly interesting "Carrie" and back to standard easy listening, but it's a perfectly pleasant track 4 Elvis Presley It's Only Love/Beyond The Reef "It's Only Love" is a very nice song, albeit it's quite similar to the BJ Thomas original, but "Beyond The Reef" is very plodding 3 Shakin' Stevens Marie Marie This very much feels like an Elvis cover but in fact it's a not very exciting original song in the old rock 'n' roll style 3 The Barracudas Summer Fun Only hit for this UK rock revival group including a 1960 advert excerpt: it's a jolly but not a very interesting song 2 Shalamar I Owe You One Biggest hit yet for them: this is one of those soul disco tracks that doesn't have much of a hook or really go anywhere 2 Judas Priest United This seems like a football team anthem, presumably intentionally, but it doesn't move me and I find it tedious and turgid 1 Ian Dury And The Blockheads I Want To Be Straight Ian and his band have had some excellent stuff but I find this one terrible, with silly lyrics and a grating melody 1980 Group 16: TBC

“Dancing In The Dark” looks like it will be replaced by something soon, be it a re-entry or a fresh oldie.

Week 30: 1 1 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,310,000 2 2 Lola Young Messy 1,092,000 1,270,000 3 3 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 1,027,000 1,380,000 4 4 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 933,000 1,380,000 5 5 Gracie Abrams That's So True 896,000 1,330,000 6 6 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 823,000 1,460,000 7 7 Chrystal The Days 753,000 920,000 8 8 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 746,000 2,530,000 9 9 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 723,000 1,940,000 10 10 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 688,000 1,890,000 11 11 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 664,000 670,000 12 12 Teddy Swims Lose Control 633,000 2,470,000 13 13 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 628,000 1,220,000 14 14 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 628,000 2,380,000 15 15 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 615,000 1,410,000 16 16 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 591,000 830,000 17 18 Teddy Swims The Door 573,000 1,240,000 18 17 Tate McRae Sports Car 573,000 19 19 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 569,000 680,000 20 20 Myles Smith Stargazing 547,000 1,560,000 21 21 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 533,000 1,870,000 22 22 Hozier Too Sweet 509,000 1,970,000 23 23 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 509,000 24 24 Alex Warren Carry You Home 501,000 800,000 25 25 Noah Kahan Stick Season 487,000 3,010,000 26 26 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 481,000 1,100,000 27 27 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 467,000 940,000 28 28 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 460,000 29 29 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 458,000 1,600,000 30 35 Sombr Undressed 443,000 31 32 Ed Sheeran Azizam 443,000 32 33 The Killers Mr Brightside 435,000 6,500,000 33 30 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 434,000 34 31 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 433,000 820,000 35 34 Doechii Anxiety 426,000 36 36 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 412,000 1,070,000 37 37 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 410,000 4,220,000 38 38 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 407,000 3,630,000 39 43 Sombr Back To Friends 404,000 40 39 Gracie Abrams I Love You, I'm Sorry 397,000 880,000 58 63 Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng, Shenseea Shake It To The Max (FLY) - Remix 316,000 61 70 Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 312,000 64 75 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 310,000 82 93 Skye Newman Family Matters 274,000 93 98 Benson Boone Mystical Magical 262,000 98 - MK featuring Chrystal Dior 257,000 100 - Tom Odell Another Love 249,000 3,610,000 - 99 Snow Patrol Chasing Cars 249,000 3,930,000 - 100 Tate McRae It's OK I'm OK 247,000 430,000

Wrong thread oops 🙊

Week 30: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 383,000 760,000 2 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 249,000 350,000 3 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 204,000 1,670,000 4 3 Sam Fender People Watching 199,000 5 6 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 197,000 2,230,000 6 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 193,000 1,430,000 7 7 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 174,000 470,000 8 8 SZA SOS 172,000 650,000 9 9 Elton John Diamonds 171,000 1,830,000 10 10 Charli XCX Brat 164,000 450,000 11 11 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 160,000 510,000 12 12 Tate McRae So Close To What 155,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 152,000 620,000 14 15 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 144,000 6,050,000 15 19 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 143,000 5,450,000 16 14 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 143,000 930,000 17 17 Michael Jackson The Essential 140,000 1,980,000 18 16 Lady Gaga Mayhem 138,000 19 20 Arctic Monkeys AM 135,000 2,230,000 20 18 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 133,000 21 21 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 132,000 3,450,000 22 22 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 131,000 2,670,000 23 27 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 128,000 150,000 24 23 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 126,000 260,000 25 24 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 122,000 620,000 26 25 Linkin Park Papercuts 122,000 290,000 27 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 120,000 1,170,000 28 28 Oasis Definitely Maybe 109,000 2,910,000 29 29 Calvin Harris 96 Months 103,000 170,000 30 30 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 102,000 220,000 31 31 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 102,000 280,000 32 32 Kendrick Lamar GNX 102,000 160,000 33 34 Queen Greatest Hits 100,000 3,140,000 34 33 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow 100,000 35 35 Pitbull Greatest Hits 99,000 570,000 36 36 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 97,000 37 37 Ed Sheeran ÷ 94,000 4,430,000 38 38 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 94,000 430,000 39 40 Fontaines D.C. Romance 93,000 210,000 40 39 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 91,000 1,630,000 70 71 Sleep Token Even In Arcadia 67,000 98 - Myles Smith A Minute… 53,000 60,000 - 99 Harry Styles Harry's House 53,000 900,000

31/7: 1 1 Ordinary (1) 2 6 Daisies (2) 3 2 Dior (2) 4 3 Love me not (2) 5 - Eternity (5) 6 14 Golden (6) 7 4 Manchild (1) 8 7 Pink pony club (2) 9 5 Blessings (5) 10 10 Undressed (4) 11 9 Victory lap (5) 12 8 Sapphire (8) 13 11 Survive (1) 14 18 Beautiful things (1) 15 13 Back to friends (7) 16 25 No broke boys (16) 17 16 Family matters (5) 18 33 Your idol (18) 19 12 Messy (1) 20 17 Rein me in (7) 21 22 APT. (2) 22 15 Nice to each other (16) 23 - Soda pop (23) 24 24 Birds of a feather (2) 25 23 Mystical magical (18) 26 48 How it’s done (26) 27 20 Azizam (3) 28 21 Just keep watching (6) 29 19 Show me love (4) 30 40 Dreams (22) 31 - Bloodline (11) 32 28 High on me (28) 33 29 Shake it to the max (16) 34 36 Stargazing (6) 35 42 Good luck, babe! (2) 36 38 Lose control (2) 37 34 That’s so true (1) 38 26 Don’t look back in anger (1) 39 - Carry you home (16) 40 30 Live forever (8) 41 39 Can’t decide (15) 42 41 Illegal (32) 43 37 One thing (23) 44 49 Die with a smile (3) 45 31 The days (5) 46 35 Wonderwall (2) 47 - Iris (3) 48 46 Bad dreams (13) 49 50 The door (13) 50 - Mr Brightside (10)

Wow at “Back To Friends” being #2 - shame it’s both on ACR and no doubt hugely over-performing on Spotify as ever. Good that “12 For 12” is doing OK too.

Yes surprisingly this is its highest year end placing of the ‘00s!

It will be hard to know how to deal with some of these repeats, but at any rate Lee Mead can go straight in the bin.