Julian_

I doubt it was close…

Not especially a Zara fan but “Midnight Sun” is a great song and fully deserves its slow burn success.

The guitar solo in “Beat It” is incredible.

Heaven 17 - Temptation The Police - Every Breath You Take Robert Wyatt - Shipbuilding Bob Marley - Butfalo Soldier Flash And The Pan - Waiting For A Train

Plenty of very good stuff here but “Temptation” is a one of a kind song. 9 Heaven 17 Temptation 1st and biggest Top 40 after some misses for this UK act with a soulful, genre bending and utterly electrifying song 8 Tears For Fears Pale Shelter A re-recording of an earlier flop giving them their 3rd Top 5 in just a few months, and it's another excellent song 8 Eurythmics Love Is A Stranger {1983} Another earlier flop re-released: this has a much gentler feel to it than "Sweet Dreams…" but is also mesmerising 8 Bauhaus She's In Parties Shame that most of their singles missed the Top 40: this is their last single and a great menacing piece of goth rock 7 The Human League (Keep Feeling) Fascination A 2nd straight #2 hit for them unusually including vocals from 4 of the band, and a delightful catchy upbeat number 7 Men At Work Overkill A #1 follow up missing the Top 20, which is a pity as it's a lovely track, suitably about the pressure of sudden fame 6 Fun Boy Three Our Lips Are Sealed Another Top 10 hit after which they will suddenly split: this is a Go Gos cover but a strong single to end with for them 6 Toto Rosanna A Top 20 follow up to "Africa": it doesn't have any of the sparkle of that but it is a sweet well produced soft rock song 6 Spandau Ballet True 520th #1: I apprecaite how different in style this is from their earlier hits and it's well performed but not that exciting 5 Thompson Twins We Are Detective Their 2nd Top 10 in quick succession with a humorous song, though it doesn't have the quality of "Love On Your Side" 5 Iron Maiden Flight Of Icarus Based on the Greek myth, this is a big and bold track in their usual style: not one of their best but I quite like it 4 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Dancing Tight 1st hit for this group featuring British Jamaican producer Phil Fearon: it's a not bad but forgettable post disco song 4 Sweet Dreams {1983} I'm Never Giving Up The UK's Eurovision entry that came 6th and the only hit for this trio: it's quite a nice jolly pop song but not great 3 Chill Fac-Torr Twist (Round 'N' Round) Only hit for this US group based on "The Twist" by Chubby Checker: not a terrible reimagination but it goes on a bit 2 Cliff Richard And The London Philharmonic Orchestra True Love Ways A cover of the beautiful Buddy Holly song also covered by Peter and Gordon: this version doesn't bring anything 2 The Kids From 'Fame' Friday Night (Live Version) Performed by actor Carlo Emparto and the last hit with this credit: it's a good performance but rather grating song 1983 Group 8: #1046 09/04/1983 Julio Iglesias Hey! 31 61-44-48-35-{31}-48-50->7 #1047 23/04/1983 The Creatures Miss The Girl 21 51-37-26-{21}-23-42-70->7 #1048 23/04/1983 Saxon Power And The Glory 32 66-38-{32}-46-58->5 23/04/1983 The Beatles From Me To You {1983} 40 45-{40}-46-74->4 #1049 07/05/1983 Blancmange Blind Vision 10 28-12-{10}-14-20-35-51-68->8 #1050 30/04/1983 The Beat Can't Get Used To Losing You 3 50-29-10-5-{3}-5-10-22-28-36-55->11 #1051 16/04/1983 New Edition Candy Girl 1 70-49-44-30-7-3-{1}-3-5-17-31-39-65->13 #1052 07/05/1983 Pink Floyd Not Now John 30 33-{30}-32-63->4 #1053 30/04/1983 Daryl Hall And John Oates Family Man 15 67-35-24-{15}-22-31-50->7 #1054 30/04/1983 Kiss Creatures Of The Night 34 45-36-{34}-51->4 #1055 07/05/1983 Thin Lizzy Thunder And Lightning 39 {39}-42->2 #1056 16/04/1983 The Belle Stars Sweet Memory 22 55-46-43-40-29-{22}-29-52-72->9 #1057 07/05/1983 Modern Romance Don't Stop That Crazy Rhythm 14 43-26-{14}-21-33-49->6 #1058 07/05/1983 D Train Music (Part 1) 23 51-32-27-{23}-24-44-67->7 #1059 07/05/1983 Bob Marley And The Wailers Buffalo Soldier 4 56-33-17-11-6-{4}-7-14-24-31-47-69->12 #1060 07/05/1983 Hot Chocolate What Kinda Boy You're Looking For (Girl) 10 64-35-13-{10}-12-20-28-38-61->9 #1061 30/04/1983 David Grant Stop And Go 19 65-41-36-34-27-{19}-26-35-64->9

#21 would have been a finer place for this to die but at least it knocked “Ordinary” back out!

Wonderful to have “Go” here: their best since “Galvanize” for me. Hadn’t realised it’s Q-Tip rapping.

Madonna can still sing then… just. Not a bad track I suppose.

“Baby Steps” really taking a baby step this week. Nice for it to get a play.

Very Twenty One Pilots this… rather like it

That “Boston“ thing wasn’t great.

I suppose at least with “Heroes” they were moving away from the grandiose power ballad sound. It might be the least horrific of the 4 Finalists’ #1s from 2008-2011, but they are all dreadful. “The Club Is Alive” is sort of comical in a way because it’s such an obviously naff concept. But yes that autotune is really quite unpleasant.

“Doors” isn’t bad but went for “Baby Steps” only, which is one of my favourites from Olivia.

I didn’t specifically ask 2nd to 7th apart from Scene, but Addy! and gooddelta are the previous two hosts and Chez had TBSCITWE on his hands, and Juan Carlos and RobBot have only participated a couple of times. So I thought it would be easier to keep this one in the mod team.

And I know you’re all crying out for another contest so please head straight over to Bop Idol 7!

Entrants (36): Julian_ Scene jimwatts Herbs Josh! matto Dobbo DaTilt gooddelta Roba. Paddington James CowTzy Lukuzz Tafty nine3/4 AllStarBySmashMouth Jaz13Music danG awardinary King Rollo Lee_J11 Viper* Chez Wombat Cody Rusanov Doug WoW73 vibe dandy* Mamgø Addy! lewistgreen RabbitFurCoat Jade spiceboy Bror dhwe

Welcome to the latest edition of the 21st Century Throwback forum song contest: Bop Idol 7! Congratulations @dhwe on your Bop Idol 6 win and sorry you aren’t able to host. I was thinking the other day what a varied collection of winners we’ve had now: Phoenix - 1901 Muse - Butterflies & Hurricanes Dido - Take My Hand Agnes - I Trance Black Box Recorder - These Are The Things Crystal Castles - Baptism What will we be adding to this eclectic list? Well as you may have guessed from the clues Scene and I dropped we’re taking another opportunity to celebrate 20 years of Buzzjack by going back to the year of its birth. The theme is 2006. We’ll accept songs either recorded or released in this year. The song can be any genre but must not be a UK Top 40 hit. Non singles are allowed. It should also not be a previous Bop Idol entry or a Top 20 finisher in any other song contest on the site (I appreciate the latter is not entirely straightforward to check so the mods will do some of that). As always we reserve the right to veto anything else that is deemed too well known. As a rule of thumb anything with a Spotify count of fewer than 100 million plays is usually fine. More may be OK too, especially if it’s only well known in the USA for example. As usual this is an anonymous song contest, so please do not reveal or hint at your entry. You have until 23:59 BST on Thursday 14 May 2026 to submit your entry. Please submit your entry by PM to me, giving your artist and title and a link. Do also message me if you have any questions.

Hooray for Britney finally being out - going for the slushy Backstreet Boys now.

Thanks very much Chez for the great concept. Well done dandy*. And seven for almost giving us such an eclectic winner - slightly kicking myself for not giving that more points. It isn’t an easy year but maybe a pioneering slice of Turkish folk wasn’t the way to go for 1964z I had considered some other options all of which I love in different ways. Julie Grant might have been quite up Buzzjack’s street with hindsight.

Great to see love for the majestic “Wavin’ Flag”. Might be the best football record of the century for me, though not that much competition. This on the other hand is ghastly. I do love the original “Shout” but it’s about shouting as a form of therapy so the meaning is totally mangled. You know you’ve sold out when you go from “Bonkers” to this in the space of a year.

I couldn’t agree more - all stinkers!

It had to happen at some point that there’d be the first group of 1983 that isn’t so great. Still an excellent top end, with a fantastic relatively unknown winner and a runner up that looks about to re-enter the Top 20 this week! 9 Kissing The Pink Last Film Only hit for this group that formed at the Royal College Of Music and is still going: a fabulous wartime themed track 9 Michael Jackson Beat It The 3rd single from "Thriller" and a wonderful gang rivalry themed and rock style song produced by Quincy Jones 8 F.R. David Words Only Top 40 for this French singer: it's a very lovely, sincere and tender song sung in a gentle, part falsetto style 7 Kevin Rowland And Dexys Midnight Runners The Celtic Soul Brothers {1983} A re-release of a #45 from last year, this is a fun, folky and pacey track and I like how the vocal lines interweave 6 Tracey Ullman Breakaway 1st hit for this actress and singer from her covers album and this is a '60s song re-worked in a very fun lively way 5 Culture Club Church Of The Poison Mind A #2 hit to follow a #1 and a #3, this has a soulful Stevie Wonder influenced sound and it's nice but not knockout 5 U2 Two Hearts Beat As One A fairly nice single but something of a let down compared to the dramatic statement of intent of "New Year's Day" 4 Kajagoogoo Ooh To Be Ah A follow up Top 10 that has the fun and quirkiness of "Too Shy" but it brings nothing new and the hook doesn't land 4 Wah! Hope (I Wish You'd Believe Me) A big comedown from a #3 hit and it isn't hard to see why: it's a heartfelt performance but the song's hook is weak 3 Twisted Sister I Am (I'm Me) 1st hit for this US heavy metal band: I find the lyrics to this quite basic and find it all power without much meaning 3 Sunfire Young Free And Single Only hit for this US soul group, and another of these nicely performed but not engaging or memorable funk songs 2 Tracie The House That Jack Built 1st hit for this UK singer who was discovered by Paul Weller: unfortunately it's quite a flaccid and lightweight song 1 Kenny Everett Snot Rap A Top 10 novelty hit for this UK comedian playing a character called Sid Snot: it's a dreadful rap over a disco track 1983 Group 7: #1030 09/04/1983 Eurythmics Love Is A Stranger {1983} 6 49-23-{6}-7-12-17-31-52->8 #1031 09/04/1983 Men At Work Overkill 21 55-34-30-25-24-22-{21}-30-49-61->10 #1032 09/04/1983 Bauhaus She's In Parties 26 42-35-{26}-28-38-56->6 #1033 09/04/1983 Toto Rosanna 12 50-36-19-{12}-15-20-30-57->8 #1034 16/04/1983 Cliff Richard And The London Philharmonic Orchestra True Love Ways 8 37-14-{8}-11-14-25-39-66->8 #1035 09/04/1983 The Kids From 'Fame' Friday Night (Live Version) 13 64-38-24-17-{13}-15-18-31-56-59->10 #1036 02/04/1983 Chill Fac-Torr Twist (Round 'N' Round) 37 51-43-39-{37}-39-37-41-60->8 #1037 16/04/1983 Thompson Twins We Are Detective 7 40-21-9-{7}-8-11-24-41-53->9 #1038 23/04/1983 Spandau Ballet True 1 10-{1}-1-1-1-2-10-16-29-35-49-73->12 #1039 23/04/1983 The Human League (Keep Feeling) Fascination 2 16-4-3-{2}-6-15-23-45-68->9 #1040 23/04/1983 Iron Maiden Flight Of Icarus 11 28-{11}-14-23-40-67->6 #1041 16/04/1983 Heaven 17 Temptation 2 43-31-14-8-3-{2}-4-9-14-25-32-41-59->13 #1042 09/04/1983 Sweet Dreams {1983} I'm Never Giving Up 21 45-41-34-23-{21}-28-53->7 #1043 23/04/1983 Galaxy Featuring Phil Fearon Dancing Tight 4 39-20-6-5-{4}-6-16-22-31-44-58->11 #1044 30/04/1983 Tears For Fears Pale Shelter 5 22-{5}-6-8-18-25-41-69->8 #1045 30/04/1983 Fun Boy Three Our Lips Are Sealed 7 31-16-9-{7}-9-14-23-34-48-75->10

Week 18: 1 1 Olivia Dean Man I Need 984,000 2,080,000 2 2 Sam Fender and Olivia Dean Rein Me In 841,000 1,530,000 3 3 Dave featuring Tems Raindance 688,000 930,000 4 4 Raye Where Is My Husband! 669,000 1,280,000 5 5 Alex Warren Ordinary 610,000 2,790,000 6 6 Olivia Dean So Easy (To Fall In Love) 588,000 960,000 7 7 Taylor Swift The Fate Of Ophelia 572,000 1,320,000 8 8 Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast Golden 571,000 1,900,000 9 9 Djo End Of Beginning 540,000 1,720,000 10 11 Bella Kay Iloveitiloveitiloveit 530,000 11 10 Zara Larsson Lush Life 518,000 3,560,000 12 12 PinkPantheress Stateside 492,000 620,000 13 13 Olivia Dean Nice To Each Other 458,000 1,230,000 14 14 Bruno Mars I Just Might 445,000 15 15 Sombr 12 To 12 418,000 940,000 16 16 Sienna Spiro Die On This Hill 412,000 580,000 17 17 Harry Styles Aperture 386,000 18 18 Taylor Swift Opalite 382,000 790,000 19 20 Sombr Homewrecker 356,000 20 19 Sombr Back To Friends 353,000 1,270,000 21 21 Disco Lines and Tinashe No Broke Boys 341,000 1,060,000 22 22 Tame Impala Dracula 341,000 480,000 23 23 Dominic Fike Babydoll 313,000 1,050,000 24 24 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 303,000 1,110,000 25 25 Haven featuring Kaitlin Aragon I Run 293,000 390,000 26 31 Alex Warren Fever Dream 291,000 27 26 The Killers Mr Brightside 290,000 7,090,000 28 27 Olivia Dean The Hardest Part 283,000 1,000,000 29 28 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 282,000 1,420,000 30 29 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 281,000 2,090,000 31 32 Milky Just The Way You Are 279,000 390,000 32 30 Olivia Dean A Couple Minutes 274,000 450,000 33 37 Harry Styles American Girls 274,000 34 38 Zara Larsson Midnight Sun 271,000 370,000 35 33 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 271,000 4,830,000 36 34 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 268,000 3,200,000 37 36 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 268,000 4,200,000 38 35 Sombr Undressed 266,000 1,150,000 39 39 Olivia Dean Dive 262,000 930,000 40 41 Dominic Fike White Keys 253,000 260,000 47 57 Justin Bieber Daisies 225,000 730,000 57 58 Ella Langley Choosin' Texas 211,000 250,000 69 71 Alex Warren Carry You Home 189,000 1,230,000 72 74 Sean Paul featuring Keyshia Cole (When You Gonna) Give It Up To Me 185,000 470,000 74 77 Vance Joy Riptide 181,000 4,930,000 76 78 Sam Fender Seventeen Going Under 180,000 2,830,000 79 85 Kings Of Leon Sex On Fire 173,000 4,600,000 84 - Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj Beauty And A Beat 172,000 1,410,000 88 - Michael Jackson Billie Jean 168,000 3,690,000 97 98 Florence And The Machine Dog Days Are Over 163,000 3,530,000 99 - The Verve Bitter Sweet Symphony 162,000 3,140,000 - 96 Tate McRae Sports Car 162,000 980,000 - 100 The Cure Boys Don't Cry 161,000 1,260,000 - 99 Esdeekid 4 Raws 158,000 280,000

7/5: 1 2 Rein me in (1) 2 3 Man I need (1) 3 4 Iloveitiloveitiloveit (2) 4 1 Drop Dead (1) 5 5 Beauty and a beat (1) 6 6 Dracula (4) 7 8 Ordinary (1) 8 9 Fever dream (4) 9 7 Daisies (2) 10 11 Homewrecker (10) 11 12 So easy (5) 12 10 Where is my husband! (3) 13 13 Raindance (2) 14 16 Lush life (3) 15 14 Stateside (5) 16 17 Babydoll (12) 17 15 White keys (14) 18 - Doors (18) 19 18 Golden (1) 20 19 The fate of Ophelia (1) 21 - Billie Jean (1) 22 23 12 to 12 (8) 23 22 American girls (1) 24 25 Just the way you are (8) 25 20 I just might (7) 26 21 Nice to each other (5) 27 27 Choosin’ Texas (24) 28 - The great divide (13) 29 31 Midnight sun (27) 30 26 End of beginning (2) 31 38 Mr Brightside (10) 32 30 Back to friends (7) 33 35 No broke boys (3) 34 29 Manchild (1) 35 - Porch light (30) 36 - Beat it (3) 37 33 Die on this hill (12) 38 - End of August (38) 39 - Dashboard (39) 40 - American cars (40) 41 37 Opalite (1) 42 50 The hardest part (23) 43 42 Love me not (2) 44 32 Dreams (22) 45 45 Beautiful things (1) 46 - Don’t stop ‘til you get enough (3) 47 48 Pink pony club (2) 48 46 Iris (3) 49 - OK love you bye (29) 50 - Dive (28)