Julian_

“Ashes To Ashes” is right up there with Bowie’s best and I hadn’t realised that the lyrics continue the story of Major Tom. 9 David Bowie Ashes To Ashes 464th #1: the lyrics are a sequel to "Space Oddity" and it's a stunning song with the most wonderful riff, rhythm and structure 8 Bow Wow Wow C30, C60, C90, Go 1st hit for this new wave band and the 1st ever cassette single: a powerful track with tribal style drums and hypnotic rapping 8 The Clash Bankrobber A #12 peak actually makes this one of their biggest: a great song and the backing track with the mesmerising "ah" makes it 7 Nick Straker Band A Walk In The Park Only hit for this UK group whose membership overlapped with New Musik: a great track with a pre- Pet Shop Boys feel 7 Billy Joel It's Still Rock And Roll To Me A US #1 but here he still hasn't had a Top 10: as usual the lyrics are thoughtful and it's well performed with a retro charm 7 Roger Daltrey Free Me Last solo Top 40 for The Who lead singer: this is a big, passionate and dynamic rock track and he pulls it off very well 6 Sue Wilkinson You Gotta Be A Hustler If You Wanna Get On Only hit for this UK singer songwriter and a total one off with slapstick style lines and twinkling piano: it is rather enjoyable 6 Electric Light Orchestra All Over The World Another from "Xanadu: I don't feel like this is a standout in their discography but has all their usual sparkling elements 6 Mike Berry The Sunshine Of Your Smile His last hit was back in 1963 as Mike Berry And The Outlaws: this gentle ballad could be from much earlier but it is lovely 5 The Jam Start 465th #1: they've only had re-releases since their last #1 and this lacks a big melody but has a strong rhythm and bassline 5 The Piranhas Tom Hark I love the chaotic 1958 hit version: this adds vocals and is less all over the place: enjoyable but missing the original charm 5 Amii Stewart And Johnny Bristol My Guy/My Girl An intriguing mash up of the classic songs "My Girl" and "My Guy" done as a boy-girl duet, but it doesn't entirely work 4 Kelly Marie Feels Like I'm In Love 466th #1: this has been intended for Elvis before he died and it's a very catchy high octane number but really quite naff 4 Village People Can't Stop The Music Their last new Top 40 hit after quite a brief successful period: this is also on the naff side but it's quite an enjoyable tune 3 Sheena Easton Modern Girl Originally missed the Top 40 but became big on the back of the catchy "9 To 5": this one is rather prim and proper 2 Jermaine Jackson Burnin' Hot He won't have another Top 40 for a while: this has decent disco elements but is repetitive to the point of being grating 1980 Group 15 (quite the timing for a re-issue of “Paranoid” to come up, which received a 9 in my 1970 reviews). Paranoid {1980} 14 71-37-27-24-17-{14}-19-19-30-39-58-70->12 Biko 38 {38}-40-47->3 Circus Games 32 44-39-33-33-{32}-40-52->7 Summer Fun 37 68-40-{37}-37-48-72->6 I Die, You Die 6 8-{6}-12-18-34-58-68->7 Magic 32 56-{32}-34-34-60-51-73->7 It's Only Love/Beyond The Reef 3 34-17-7-{3}-6-9-20-31-49-75->10 I Got You 12 69-43-38-35-27-25-22-{12}-18-28-45->11 I Want To Be Straight 22 39-25-25-{22}-28-35-73->7 One Day I'll Fly Away 2 55-26-4-{2}-2-5-8-19-30-42-62->11 United 26 57-49-31-{26}-29-39-56-72->8 I Owe You One 13 50-32-24-23-16-{13}-21-30-39-63->10 The Whisper 36 63-44-{36}-44-61->5

Ooh just tied this. Enjoyed the jazzy take on “Waterloo”. Meryl’s version is well acted but you can’t out-Agnetha Agnetha.

“Beautiful Things” increasing again. Much as I don’t think it should be on SCR its stability is incredible - everything else that was big around the same time has fallen away.

Interesting idea! Would you like to run that? (A few would need tiebreaks first.)

Belatedly wrapping up 2002: thanks all for commenting and I hope to be back with 2003 before long! Average score in 2002 was 5.39, down from 5.46 in 2000 and 5.50 in 2001. 17 tracks received the dreaded 1, compared to 11 in 2001 and 20 in 2000. Worst hit of the year: Billy Bragg - Take Down The Union Jack Exactly 40 tracks received 9 or higher, with 3 receiving 10s. My Top 40 of the year: 1 Shakira - Whenever Wherever 2 Mercury Rev - The Dark Is Rising 3 Coldplay - The Scientist 4 Eminem - Lose Yourself 5 Rob Dougan - Clubbed To Death 6 Robbie Williams - Feel 7 Doves - There Goes The Fear 8 Garbage - Cherry Lips 9 Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way 10 The Coral - Dreaming Of You 11 Fischerspooner - Emerge 12 Alizée - Moi… Lolita 13 Puretone - Addicted To Bass 14 Pink - Just Like A Pill 15 Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You 16 The White Stripes - Fell In Love With A Girl 17 Roykssop - Remind Me / So Easy 18 Jimmy Eat World - The Middle 19 N*E*R*D - Rockstar 20 DJ Shadow - You Can’t Go Home Again 21 Aqualung - Strange And Beautiful 22 Badly Drawn Boy - Silent Sigh 23 Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out 24 Nelly - Hot In Herre 25 Liberty X - Just A Little 26 Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows 27 Paul Oakenfold - Southern Sun / Ready Steady Go 28 Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground 29 Chemical Brothers - Come With Us / The Test 30 No Doubt - Hella Good 31 The Music - Take The Long Road And Walk It 32 Christina Aguilera - Dirrrty 33 The Cooper Temple Clause - Who Needs Enemies? 34 Aaliyah - More Than A Woman 35 The Chemical Brothers - Star Guitar 36 Angie Stone - Wish I Didn’t Miss You 37 Las Ketchup - The Ketchup Song (Asereje) 38 Nickelback - How U Remind Me 39 Felix Da Housecat - Silver Screen Shower Scene 40 The Electric Soft Parade - Silent To The Dark II

Empire Of The Sun now - extraordinary how many streams they have generally and it’s a very nice track but everything else is a level above for me.

9th: Robbie Williams - Supreme 14/33 votes (42%) 10th: Wu-Tang Clan - Gravel Pit 14/32 votes (44%)

Moving to S Club, though I did quite like the way they used the classical sample.

Paris has been sent to jail again. This was the former model’s only Top 40 hit, reaching #5 in August 2006. The follow up could only make #55 in November. 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%)

MIA to win ❤️

Some voters may have cause to riot as the Kaisers’ ship sinks in Round 8. “I Predict A Riot” originally reached #22 in November 2004 as a stand-alone release. After they’d had 2 Top 10s it was re-released as this double A side, which had a 29 week Top 75 run in the early download era after reaching #9 in August 2005. 3rd: Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot / Sink That Ship 12/32 votes (38%) 4th: Cascada - Everytime We Touch 12/31 votes (39%) 5th: Fountains Of Wayne - Stacy’s Mom 11/35 votes (31%) 6th: Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out 16/31 votes (52%) 7th: Beyoncé - Work It Out 14/34 votes (41%) 8th: Scooter - Weekend! 10/33 votes (30%) 9th: Artful Dodger featuring Lifford - Please Don’t Turn Me On 11/33 votes (33%) 10th: Hermes House Band - Country Roads 11/31 votes (35%)

Echo that this was an unusually strong pairing: just about went for Bat For Lashes

I went for Slow Moving Millie as although I was far from convinced by it, she did more with the song.

Odell (sorry @gooddelta )

This is the 1st time I’m reviewing an ABBA track here. As I was about 4 when I was introduced to ABBA’s hits it’s quite hard for me to be totally objective about them. But I really think “The Winner Takes It All” deserves its 10: it’s an incredible performance from Agnetha and also the others in the midst of their real life emotional turmoil. Diana’s classic deserved highlighting here too: this may be the only time she gets as high as 9 from me with a solo hit, and I think it’s one of the best ever tracks of its genre. 10 Abba The Winner Takes It All 463rd #1: melodically incredibly simple yet with extraordinary depth and each verse conveying a slightly different emotion 9 Diana Ross Upside Down Written by Nile Rodgers and his bandmate, this has an effortless brilliance to it and every line seems to slide into place 8 Ultravox Sleepwalk 1st hit for this UK new wave band and an excellent synth laden track: I love the repeated rhythmic whispering of the title 8 George Benson Give Me The Night 1st big hit for this US RnB singer with another of the best soul disco tracks of its time: effortlessly compelling again 7 John Foxx Burning Car His 3rd hit to peak in the 30s, and it's another quite sparse but very strong track with really arresting synth elements 7 Grace Jones Private Life 1st hit for her with a Pretenders cover: it's a great song and this version gives more emphasis to some of the spoken parts 6 New Musik Sanctuary Last hit for them and it doesn't reach the level of the last 2 but it's still very charming and has an enjoyable and catch tune 6 Dexy's Midnight Runners There, There My Dear A Top 10 follow up to "Geno": it's very much their usual style with a hint of reggae, brass instruments and thumping energy 5 Roxy Music Oh Yeah (On The Radio) It's not hard to see why this was another big hit for them and it indeed works well on the radio, but it's nothing remarkable 5 Sheena Easton 9 To 5 Biggest hit for this Scottish star: it's a catchy stompy tune and all in all a fun listen, but does veer towards the cheesy side 5 Hot Chocolate Are You Getting Enough Of What Makes You Happy A track with a less other worldly theme from them: not such a memorable track but I enjoy the rhythm of the accompaniment 4 The Gap Band Oops Upside Your Head Quite an odd record with nursery rhyme and other strange lyrics, but it has some merit and has been widely covered 4 George Duke Brazilian Love Affair Only hit for this all round US musician: it's pleasant jazzy background noise but certainly not something I would seek out 3 Tom Browne Funkin' For Jamaica (NY) Only Top 40 for this US jazz trumpeter: the vocal parts on this sung by Toni Smith are nice but I don't get much from the rest 3 Gene Chandler Does She Have A Friend? "Can you set me up with a friend of your girlfriend?" isn't the most endearing of themes, and this is quite a plodding track 2 The Whispers My Girl The Temptations version wasn't yet a Top 40 at this point though Otis had made it: this cover doesn't bring much that's new 2 The Gibson Brothers Mariana Their last Top 40 which mystifyingly out peaked their previous double A: the main melody doesn't work and is quite grating 1980 Group 14: #199 26/07/1980 Jermaine Jackson Burnin' Hot 32 48-{32}-32-42-47-65->6 #200 19/07/1980 Amii Stewart And Johnny Bristol My Guy/My Girl 39 61-41-{39}-41-59->5 #201 02/08/1980 Electric Light Orchestra All Over The World 11 57-24-18-{11}-15-18-29-48->8 #202 02/08/1980 The Piranhas Tom Hark 6 56-26-13-9-{6}-7-9-17-32-33-56-67->12 #203 02/08/1980 Kelly Marie Feels Like I'm In Love 1 61-29-16-8-5-3-{1}-1-4-7-12-27-34-50-58-69->16 #204 02/08/1980 Mike Berry The Sunshine Of Your Smile 9 48-37-22-13-10-{9}-11-12-18-30-43-61->12 #205 02/08/1980 Roger Daltrey Free Me 39 68-{39}-39-42-58-65->6 #206 02/08/1980 Sue Wilkinson You Gotta Be A Hustler If You Wanna Get On 25 70-40-30-26-{25}-29-37-74->8 #207 16/08/1980 David Bowie Ashes To Ashes 1 4-{1}-1-2-3-7-15-36-57-71->10 #208 09/08/1980 Village People Can't Stop The Music 11 64-27-21-17-{11}-14-13-23-39-58-75->11 #209 09/08/1980 The Clash Bankrobber 12 60-31-24-19-{12}-13-16-26-50-66->10 #210 09/08/1980 Billy Joel It's Still Rock And Roll To Me 14 68-33-30-20-20-15-15-{14}-16-28-46->11 #211 26/07/1980 Bow Wow Wow C30, C60, C90, Go 34 75-47-47-{34}-36-42-62->7 #212 05/04/1980 Sheena Easton Modern Girl 8 60-62-56-74R(16)-35-25-18-13-10-{8}-9-15-29-38-56->15 #213 02/08/1980 Nick Straker Band A Walk In The Park 20 65-44-40-28-28-22-{20}-20-20-24-37-65->12 #214 23/08/1980 The Jam Start 1 3-2-{1}-2-5-11-32-51->8

Could end up at #3 at this rate, maybe even #2 if the boost lasts long enough. Worst case probably #4 if Fleetwood Mac do have some sort of comeback. I guess I’m assuming we also don’t get anything absolutely huge from the likes of Taylor or Sabrina.

Week 29: 1 1 Alex Warren Ordinary 1,256,000 2 2 Lola Young Messy 1,070,000 1,250,000 3 3 Rosé and Bruno Mars APT. 1,006,000 1,360,000 4 4 Chappell Roan Pink Pony Club 904,000 1,350,000 5 5 Gracie Abrams That's So True 880,000 1,320,000 6 6 Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars Die With A Smile 808,000 1,440,000 7 7 Chrystal The Days 737,000 900,000 8 8 Benson Boone Beautiful Things 722,000 2,510,000 9 9 Billie Eilish Birds Of A Feather 703,000 1,920,000 10 10 Chappell Roan Good Luck, Babe! 672,000 1,870,000 11 14 Ravyn Lenae Love Me Not 630,000 640,000 12 12 Teddy Swims Lose Control 617,000 2,450,000 13 11 Gigi Perez Sailor Song 615,000 1,210,000 14 13 Sabrina Carpenter Espresso 614,000 2,370,000 15 15 Sabrina Carpenter Taste 602,000 1,390,000 16 16 Teddy Swims Bad Dreams 576,000 820,000 17 17 Tate McRae Sports Car 560,000 18 18 Teddy Swims The Door 559,000 1,230,000 19 19 Myles Smith Nice To Meet You 554,000 660,000 20 20 Myles Smith Stargazing 530,000 1,540,000 21 21 Shaboozey A Bar Song (Tipsy) 519,000 1,860,000 22 22 Hozier Too Sweet 494,000 1,960,000 23 24 WizTheMc & Bees & Honey Show Me Love 493,000 24 23 Alex Warren Carry You Home 485,000 780,000 25 26 Noah Kahan Stick Season 475,000 3,000,000 26 25 Kendrick Lamar Not Like Us 473,000 1,090,000 27 28 Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D. Somedays 454,000 930,000 28 27 Lady Gaga Abracadabra 452,000 29 29 Sabrina Carpenter Please Please Please 448,000 1,590,000 30 30 Sabrina Carpenter Busy Woman 425,000 31 31 Sabrina Carpenter Bed Chem 424,000 810,000 32 34 Ed Sheeran Azizam 424,000 33 33 The Killers Mr Brightside 420,000 6,480,000 34 32 Doechii Anxiety 416,000 35 36 Sombr Undressed 414,000 36 35 Chappell Roan Hot To Go! 403,000 1,060,000 37 38 Goo Goo Dolls Iris 395,000 4,210,000 38 42 Fleetwood Mac Dreams 389,000 3,610,000 39 37 Gracie Abrams I Love You, I'm Sorry 389,000 870,000 40 39 Kendrick Lamar & Sza Luther 388,000 480,000 43 48 Sombr Back To Friends 381,000 63 69 Moliy, Silent Addy, Skillibeng, Shenseea Shake It To The Max (FLY) - Remix 299,000 66 68 Morgan Seatree featuring Florence + The Machine Say My Name (Remix) 294,000 70 87 Calvin Harris And Clementine Douglas Blessings 283,000 75 93 Sabrina Carpenter Manchild 278,000 93 - Skye Newman Family Matters 252,000 96 - Oasis Don't Look Back In Anger 245,000 3,950,000 98 - Benson Boone Mystical Magical 243,000 - 99 Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag 240,000 2,860,000 - 100 Tom Odell Another Love 240,000 3,620,000 - 98 Mark Ambor Belong Together 239,000 980,000

Week 29: 1 1 Sabrina Carpenter Short n' Sweet 376,000 750,000 2 2 Ed Sheeran +-=÷x (Tour Collection) 241,000 340,000 3 3 Sam Fender People Watching 197,000 4 4 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years: Don't Stop 196,000 1,660,000 5 5 The Weeknd The Highlights 187,000 1,420,000 6 9 Oasis Time Flies... 1994-2009 181,000 2,210,000 7 6 Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess 170,000 470,000 8 7 SZA SOS 168,000 650,000 9 8 Elton John Diamonds 166,000 1,820,000 10 10 Charli XCX Brat 160,000 450,000 11 11 Billie Eilish Hit Me Hard And Soft 154,000 500,000 12 12 Tate McRae So Close To What 152,000 13 13 Noah Kahan Stick Season 147,000 620,000 14 14 Taylor Swift The Tortured Poets Department 140,000 920,000 15 15 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits 140,000 6,040,000 16 16 Lady Gaga Mayhem 136,000 17 17 Michael Jackson The Essential 136,000 1,970,000 18 18 Central Cee Can't Rush Greatness 132,000 19 23 Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory 131,000 5,440,000 20 19 Arctic Monkeys AM 131,000 2,230,000 21 20 Eminem Curtain Call: The Hits 128,000 3,440,000 22 22 Fleetwood Mac Rumours 126,000 2,670,000 23 21 Gracie Abrams The Secret Of Us 124,000 260,000 24 24 Olivia Rodrigo Guts 118,000 610,000 25 25 Linkin Park Papercuts 117,000 290,000 26 26 Olivia Rodrigo Sour 116,000 1,170,000 27 27 Alex Warren You'll Be Alright Kid (Chapter 1) 107,000 130,000 28 36 Oasis Definitely Maybe 100,000 2,900,000 29 31 Calvin Harris 96 Months 100,000 170,000 30 32 Benson Boone Fireworks & Rollerblades 99,000 220,000 31 29 Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshine 99,000 280,000 32 30 Kendrick Lamar GNX 99,000 160,000 33 28 The Weeknd Hurry Up Tomorrow 99,000 34 33 Queen Greatest Hits 97,000 3,140,000 35 34 Pitbull Greatest Hits 96,000 560,000 36 35 PartyNextDoor & Drake $ome $exy $ongs 4 U 94,000 37 38 Ed Sheeran ÷ 91,000 4,420,000 38 37 Post Malone The Diamond Collection 91,000 420,000 39 39 Billy Joel Piano Man: The Very Best Of Billy Joel 88,000 1,630,000 40 40 Fontaines D.C. Romance 87,000 200,000

Thanks - knew you’d be troubled by Drake’s absence.

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

Paris now but this wasn’t a bad song really.

Evicted with no reason given are Ian Van Dahl. This was their 3rd hit, reaching #8 in May 2002. They had a perfect diminishing returns run with successive singles peaking at #3, #5, #8, #15, #20 and #27. 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%)

This is very hard but purely because “Sink That Shipl” is slightly weaker I’ve gone for the Kaisers.

A touch of the eject button sends Cascada flying. This was their 1st hit and reached #2 in August 2006. It went on to notch up a 39 week run in the Top 75 that a streaming era hit would have been proud of, and hence also made the 2007 year end list. It was the #15 of 2006 and also managed 4th place in that survivor. 4th: Cascada - Everytime We Touch 12/31 votes (39%) 5th: Fountains Of Wayne - Stacy’s Mom 11/35 votes (31%) 6th: Pixie Lott - Cry Me Out 16/31 votes (52%) 7th: Beyoncé - Work It Out 14/34 votes (41%) 8th: Scooter - Weekend! 10/33 votes (30%) 9th: Artful Dodger featuring Lifford - Please Don’t Turn Me On 11/33 votes (33%) 10th: Hermes House Band - Country Roads 11/31 votes (35%)