Chez VampireBat

Yes, that is a thing xx

8. Sugababes - Push the Button #1 for 3 weeks W/E 8th October-W/E 22nd October #10 in EOY Well done to whoever predicted this #8 x Push the Button was the first single released from the 'Babes fourth album, at this point they had established a solid run of hits and seemed to be settling in what we now know as Sugababes 2.0 (for now x). It was produced by Dallas Austin and reflected a move away from the Xenomania produced electro, dance-pop sound of their last albums to one that is more sided to R&B. It was inspired by a crush that Keisha had for another artist working with Austin, whom she had dropped 'hints' so to speak but was seemingly unaware of her intentions, the relentless teasing by Austin to her included advising him to 'push the button' or move on and the song was born. An instant big hit both critically and commercially, it continued their fine run of form in the mid 00s and got to number 1 for three weeks. Positive as it seems though, things weren't all rosy behind the scenes and the group had become a press fixture due to rumours of catfights and resentment towards them behind the scenes, and later that year, Mutya, having recently had a baby (as can be seen by her iconically dancing while visibly pregnant in the video) had post natal depression and left the group to spend time with her daughter, being replaced by Amelle Berrabeh and leading to the 3rd incarnation of the Sugababes and leaving Keisha as the only original member...the dramas weren't done yet though as well knew, and you can hear this told through much more entertaining means in the recent BBC documentary, Girlbands Forever, so I'll recommend that and save me the essay x the song itself is still widely perceived as one of their best moments and was used in the playlist for the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony and covered by...Staffordshire firefighters as part of a promotional campaign for the nation to test smoke alarms, well that is a thing I learned x I really love the Sugababes' Xenomania productions and I don't think this one is quite as good, this is certainly a bit more simpler than the kind of pop they were offering at the time, but I do think it works very well as it shows they weren't willing to get too samey and works in a different way to their other hits. It's got a smooth, sultry feel throughout with some still fantastic production and addictive synth riff that feels both contemporary yet also calling back to retro girlgroup sounds. None of the girls feel sidelined either, they all get their shot at their verse and come together for that earworm of a chorus and the lyrics are an authentically unashamed and convincing young adults' frustrations associated with a young crush, wrapped in a knowing and humourous way. T I think the only thing that made it slightly tire on me was the fact it was never off the radio and a bit like Goodies and Don't Cha, it was kind of a song that left itself open to too many innuendoes to take seriously (never realised how common this was amongst the number 1s this year x), but it's aged pretty well compared to those and I always enjoy hearing it today.

All part of the grand plan, Crazy Frog is next 😎

9. Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock #1 for 1 week W/E 15th January #134 in EOY Elvis' final appearance here and the first of the anniversary re-releases and the 999th number 1, it was Elvis' second number 1 chronologically getting there in 1958, however it was the first reissue to chart as his first UK number 1 - All Shook Up - was not eligible for the Sales chart as it came with a collectors box with which to house the collection (had they waited a year, they may not have had to worry about that). Still it's a fitting one as it remains one of his most popular songs. On the soundtrack to the film of the same name, it was part of a then rather popular phase of music based in prisons and is a more light hearted take on themes similar to that seen in The Robins' Riot in Cell Block #9. There have been notable homoerotic themes sensed in the song that probably weren't picked up at the time, including 'you're the cutest jailbird I ever did see', not that Elvis particularly made them more noticeable. Following the conclusion of this exercise, Elvis' record label got pretty confident and tried this tactic again with his non number 1 singles from his Elvis the King album released in 2007, the 30th anniversary of his death, fooling the public twice proved to be shame on them as the download market had caught up with them then and none could crack the top 10, thankfully the message they needed to let him rest x I do agree with the sentiment earlier in the thread that Elvis' number 1s don't reflect his best work, In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds and Hound Dog are my top 3 from him and I wish they'd have instead gone for getting them a second chance, but I will give him this one as it's my favourite number 1 from him and possibly his biggest classic that made it. It's just a very joyful and fun track that still manages to be just as danceable all these years later, his growly vocals aren't quite as refined as they would become but they work well here on a brash and raw track like this. The 50s really were crooner central until the later years and this helped to revitalise them so it does sound pretty refreshing in the context of listening to them all. Cynical as this whole exercise was, I have to acknowledge the best of them and now get back to the present x

A day late, but let's go x 10. Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes - Don't Cha #1 for 3 weeks W/E 17th September-1st October #5 in EOY The Pussycat Dolls originated from the world of Burlesue as far back as 1995, under the management of choreographer, Robin Antin, they had no consistent line up at this point and performed 1950s and 60s staples at nightclubs, they started gathering further press attention in 1999 after posing semi-nude and after a few late night talk show and movie appearances as well as performing with celebrities like Pink, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera and frequent performer, Carmen Electra, began to grow in popularity to the point they caught the attention of Jimmy Iovine from IGA who suggested to Antin that they should try their hand at pop music and turning them into a brand, following negotiation, Antin secured a record deal, though Carmen Electra could not commit to the group full time, stating financial concerns, so new lead singers Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton and Kaya Jones (one of them did just a little bit more singing than the others). They started out with a few covers for film soundtracks including their cover of Sway which served as their debut single, but Antin knew to really break them they had to differ from their burlesque roots and needed to go a more contemporary R&B direction, and the label were looking for takers on a song called Don't Cha, written by then just behind the scenes songwriter Cee Lo Green and Busta Rhymes, this interpolated the chorus to Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1988 song Swass and was originally recorded in 2004 by Tori Alamaze, a former backing singer for Outkast, only achieving minor success and dissatisfied with her label, she relinquished her rights to the song to Universal. It was first offered to Sugababes and Paris Hilton, and that's where the Dolls came in, with the songwriters having a more active role as Busta Rhymes featured on the song and Cee Lo appeared on backing vocals, something that would gain him further recognition with Interscope and paved the way for his own success story next year. the song was a huge hit, while it just missed out on a Billboard number 1, it reached the top in 15 countries and was one of the biggest worldwide hits of the Autumn. The Dolls would go on to be a pretty damn successful cash cow and have a few more hits and another album cycle and smash hit film soundtrack, but cracks were beginning to show in the treatment of lead singer Scherzinger compared to the others who may as well have been backing dancers, and when Scherzinger inevitably ditched them for a solo career and other ventures, the group went silent until 2019 with a reunion tour and new album planned, but COVID intervened and alongside a general lack of enthasiasm and good will between the members, the tour was cancelled in 2022 and the group remain inactive. A Burlesque dance troupe being big feels very on brand for the mid-2000s FHM boom in horny young male content, so you can view this as a product of it's time, but I do still enjoy hearing this. A bit like Goodies, it's one I heard a lot at the time (and never realised it was a cover and sample oh my x), and the meme ready chorus always gave it a bit of a novelty feel, but I do think the fact that they are not taking it so seriously makes it work better. The production is suitably cool and sultry, Scherzinger is instantly captivating (before she started believing her own hype a bit too much) throughout and Busta, though not on his wildest form, is quite a fun addition to to the song as well, and darn those Cee Lo vocals are really good even if he is only in the background, adding an extra soulful layer to the song. The obvious issue is the rest of the group as if you'd told me this was a solo Nicole debut, I'd believe you, the rest of the group are really anonymous, I think it's only Beep which I think works the best as a group song as at least the others are able to contribute. Overall, I got a bit sick of this at the time and it is at heart a bit fluffy so it's not one I go back to a lot, but it's still quite fun and I'll definitely take that over their other one this year.

Oh wow, that's the first time in what, years since I've won one of these! I did go with a sort of recency bias with most of them as a lot of the questions were very wide reaching, it helped that Taylor Swift could fit into most of the answers! The only one I took a gamble on was Blue Monday as it was the first that came to my head and there wasn't an obvious recent hit with days of the week in the title. I had no idea for the top 40 and out one as there was so many different answers so at least was spread out, and I very nearly put Ordinary for the reshuffle question, but went with the one with the most weeks at the bottom (I cannot believe Beautiful Things has still been in the top 10 that long a year after it's release, wtf x) Thank you for hosting!

It's latin for Land of Birds, because I was still in that pretentious phase of thinking Latin made me stand out. Though Google Translate has in the past said it's meant to be Terra Aves, so maybe I've been mistaken for thirteen years, who knows x I don't recall any other names I may have had, maybe some other animal-related pun or Chez insert I guess would make sense

Block Rockin' Beats would be a contender for my favourite this year! Not as good as Setting Sun, but that's a high bar and it's still a brilliant big beat song, a staple of my running playlist x Quite like the two Spice Girls songs and Aqua is a classic cleverer-than-it-looks song.

Tomorrow the top 10 will start! Thanks for sticking with me so far, see below if you need a reminder of what's still to come x Top 10 songs 2Pac feat. Elton John - Ghetto Gospel Arctic Monkeys - I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers Gorillaz feat. Shaun Ryder - DARE Madonna - Hung Up Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle Pussycat Dolls feat. Busta Rhymes - Don't Cha Stereophonics - Dakota Sugababes - Push the Button

11. Ciara feat. Petey Pablo - Goodies #1 for 1 week W/E 29th January #59 in EOY Last to fall before the top 10 is the debut single from Ciara. Previously released in June 2004, it had already spent seven weeks at the top of the US Hot 100 by the time they pushed her over here. Co-written and produced by Lil Jon, it was written to be a female counterpart to Usher's Yeah!, another Lil Jon production, and was written as a direct response song to Freek-a-Leek by Petey Pablo presenting as a rebuff to the overt sexual nature of that song and implying he's going to have to work a little harder to get the 'goodies' from the 'jar'. Pablo himself features on Goodies playing up this overconfident character before leaving Ciara to put him in his place. It was part of the popular Crunk&B sound that was very popular in the 90s and 2000s in the US and parts of it were spilling over to the UK, with the aforementioned Yeah! being one of the most prominent example. With a lot of hype already behind it and a smart decision to launch in the barren January music landscape, it was the sole saviour of current music at the top of the charts for January, notably beating Elvis' second reissue of Heartbreak Hotel and breaking up his trifecta. This is to date her only number 1, though she did go on to have several other hits throughout the decade before a slight commercial decline in the 2010s, though she is still releasing as of 2025 with her eighth album, CiCi. Outside of music, she has also modelled with IMG and had a few film roles including most recently in the 2023 remake of The Colour Purple. Goodies is, ahem, good, but she definitely had better songs that deserved to be her only number 1, Oh, Like a Boy and particularly the banging 1, 2 Step (which did outsell this one despite only peaking at 3). Still, it is nice to see the start of 2005 was still open to some new music. Like Get Right, your tolerance for this will depend on how long you can listen to the main instrumental line, in this case, a whirring car alarm synth that placates the entire track, I don't mind it myself and does add a spacey, unique feel, but I can definitely see how it can get annoying. Ciara does a good job here and the production is jam-packed to back her up, perhaps overly so, and Petey does a well here playing his role and working with the bassline. I think my main objection is I find it a difficult song to take seriously, the 'goodies in a jar' metaphor is just a bit too inviting of innuendo for me to really be captivated by it and it's almost slightly novelty, but then I was at an age where I could particularly read into that. It's solid and a good listen whenever I come to it, but not an example of a number 1 represents their best work (the fact that puts it as high as 11 says a lot about this year!).

Didn't take long for this to get ridiculous, I will be livid if I have to pay my license fee money to appease this scumbag, the right have long hated the BBC and want it gone or replaced by a GB News-alike and errors of judgement (minor really, but dumb and unnecessary given there was so many other ways to show he did it than editing a clip) like this is like catnip.

I believe it was you and Vulker/Vulkyria joint hosting iirc x

BJSC 64 where the hosts disappeared midway through and mods had to step in and go to One Big Final, and the semis weren't revealed I think until a year later or something, was an experience

12. Jennifer Lopez - Get Right #1 for 1 week W/E 26th February #23 in EOY Jenny from the Block was going for a literal Rebirth on her fourth album, after a successful movie and music breakout from the Latino market in the late 90s/early 00s, J-Lo received some scrutiny due to the breakdown of her public relationship with Ben Affleck and tabloid depiction of her as a diva, not helped by them both starring in box office bomb and widely ridiculed romcom, Gigli. The album was hoped to lead to a new start for her, and though it overall wasn't as successful as her last few in the US and led to brief career blip in the years that followed, the lead single was very successful. Get Right was a move to a more R&B, funk influenced sound and contains heavy use of the horn and saxophone riff from Maceo and the Macks' Soul Power The song itself managed number 1 in the UK with far healthier sales than had been before and gave us some much needed new music, and also #12 in the US, with it's video getting heavy airplay on MTV at the time. After a slight career decline in the later part of the 2000s, helped by a stint on American Idol, she would go on to have a revival by getting a third UK number 1 in 2011 and some successful acclaimed film roles later in the decade. The tale behind the scenes that led to this song's conception is interesting though - It was produced by Rich Harrison (fresh off Crazy in Love's fame) and was conceived in collaboration with Usher for his Confessions album originally called Ride, he wasn't satisfied with it and it was left off the final tracklist, Harrison decided to rework it and give it to J-Lo, but without Usher's consent which led to a bit of resentment on his part when it became a hit. Usher's version is on YouTube and did sometimes get played at the same time by DJs. There's another player here though - while he was with Usher, Harrison was already working with another up and comer called Amerie and a song of his, 1 Thing, was favoured for her, but the label wouldn't allow her to release it, keeping it in mind for J-Lo who had expressed interest. Not taking no for an answer, Harrison and Amerie leaked it to radio in late 2004 where response was positive and though the label tried to suppress it, they weren't successful and Harrison instead compromised with giving J-Lo's Usher's Ride which became Get Right. I suppose J-Lo didn't do too badly out of it here as it outsold it in the year (not sure if that's still the case, though 1 Thing was bigger in the States and critically) So I've always liked this song but knowing that story does give me a whole new perception, I'm not sure how I missed it before reading some commentaries on it but WOW, this does sound like a second rate 1 Thing doesn't it? I mean, it's not like it's a blatant rip-off, it's the same producer, but he really wasn't giving this the same attention 1 Thing got and it shows. I mean, I won't compare them for the whole review as that seems harsh - I still like Get Right, I've always been quite fond of it even if it isn't up with J-Lo's best work. The main issue really is her voice is just not very strong and can't really add a lot that the horns don't already, and yeah the track does lean a bit too much on the horns that could make someone already irritated positively explode, though I've always thought the sample works well. It's still a lot of fun though, the beats work great and J-Lo is at least good at steering the song into that danceable chorus which is what the track is aiming for. I think wit a different singer it could've really been a modern classic, but as it stands, it's still enjoyable, but more of an of the time thing than one that transcends that.

13. U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own #1 for 1 week W/E 19th February #76 in EOY U2's second single from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb had been around as a song for a while before the album and was initially in draft stage in the All That You Can Leave Behind era's recording inspired as Bono learned his father had terminal cancer with a working title of Tough reflecting Bono's own impression of his father. They spent extensive time rehearsing but couldn't quite make the song work and it was not included on the album. His father died in 2001 and Bono sang a version of it at his funeral. They revisited the song for their next era and finally realised that they were missing that key chorus and it was what gave the song it's new name. It was their second number 1 from the album and marked the first time one of their albums had more than one number 1 (and they very nearly managed 3 with City of Blinding Lights later in the year if it weren't for that pesky Frog). It is to date their final number 1 in the UK and they slowly transitioned to a legacy/album act in the UK in the digital era, though there certainly was an attempt at adapting to the iTunes market in 2014 with...probably not the response they were hoping for xx This is definitely not a particularly memorable number 1 both in their back catalogue or on its own, it's one of the lowest selling of the year, and it was something I didn't hold on high regard from them despite being a fan, although I will admit it's grown on me quite a bit recently. Quite the opposite to the huge, stadium filling Vertigo, Sometimes... does work as an expression of genuine emotions and not designed to do this artificially. The lyrics are really raw and Bono's slightly understated vocals and tone throughout I think works well in showing his vulnerability and honest emotion, it's at time conflicted reflecting their sometimes distant yet respectful attitufe to them such as 'I don't need to hear you say/That if we weren't so alike/You'd like me a whole lot more'. It's got a similar tone to One, which had that raw yet quiet vocal and powerful lyricism. All that said, I still wouldn't rank it as one of their best, it still doesn't quite have that timeless sound they were so good at and the ultimate moment it builds up to is nice, but doesn't stand up to some of their greatest choruses. It's one I appreciate the sentiment of and is a nice listen, but don't return to it all that often.

30; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God 29; Father John Misty - Screamland 28; Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe! 27; Cure - Alone 26; Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us 25; Charli xcx (feat. Lorde) - Girl, so confusing 24; Vampire Weekend - Capricorn 23; Billie Eilish - Chihiro 22; Magdelena Bay - Cry For Me 21; English Teacher - R&B 20; Fabiana Palladino - I Can’t Dream Anymore 19; Charli xcx - Von dutch 18; Magdalena Bay - Death & Romance 17; Sabrina Carpenter - Espresso 16; Billie Eilish - Birds of a Feather 15; Ariana Grande - We can't be friends (wait for your love) 14; JADE - Angel Of My Dreams 13; FKA Twigs - Eusexua 12; Charli xcx - 360 11; Linkin Park - The Emptiness Machine 10; Fontaines D.C. - Starburster 09; Addison Rae - Aquamarine 08; Charli xcx (feat. Billie Eilish) - Guess 07; Charli xcx feat. Ariana Grande - Sympathy is a Knife 06; Tyler, The Creator - Noid 05; Beyoncé - Texas Hold 'Em 04; Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy) 03; Nilüfer Yanya - Like I Say (I Runaway) 02; Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim 01; Last Dinner Party - Sinner Sorry I’m late, but couldn’t miss out on one of the best years for pop music recently ❤️

First time in a while that all my votes qualified! Finals gonna be a bloodbath if Semi 1 brings it x

Eledan was a wonderful entry, it reminded me of Original Pirate Material in places <3

Ayy, random.org being kind to me *.* I was quite confident with this, but you never know and especially in a semi so competitive! Persephonia definitely back on form with that one so hopefully a bigger hit in the final, POPHub a wonderful unexpected gem as well x And two great Qs there too!

Yes indeed (one addition in my commentary I forgot to include x), there's not a lot of information online but Ring Ding Ding by Pondlife was a track that happened to sample the same Crazy Frog sound as Axel F and have very similar cover art, to me clearly intended to make a quick bit of money off people that couldn't tell the difference. Apparently to avoid legal issues with Jamster (even though they claimed they had the idea first), they recorded the frog sounds themselves, it somehow got a label’s attention and got all the way to number 11 and had an OK chart run! It's still on YouTube, got a bit more of a garage vibe to it.

Director General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness have resigned as a result of a published memo by the Telegraph that recommended that Panorama edit two parts of Donald Trump's speech in 2021 to make it look like he explicitly encouraged violence. BBC NewsBBC director general Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turne...It comes after a leaked memo criticised the editing of a documentary about Donald Trump and accused the BBC of bias in a number of areas. Annoying that it's a bias against Trump of all things, but putting my thoughts on him aside, that is a big journalism no-no and a correct response. Potentially a good opportunity for Labour here to get someone in less obviously favoured by the opposition, or maybe they'll go back to the old reform so that the government don't have a say. I would hope they would depoliticise it overall, and it's reporting can now be unbiased as it should be. I noticed yesterday they were so quick to report that the Algerian escaped prisoner had happened in October 2024, before realising it was earlier and could've been under the last government, just frothing at the mouth to continue this divisive narrative. (Changed the thread title also as we are potentially approaching the era of Reform Bias, joy xx)

Deandria ❤️Glad that didn't need my help in the end, maybe I was underestimating the appeal x

Godley And Creme - Under Your Thumb The Police - Invisible Sun Altered Images - Happy Birthday New Order - Everything's Gone Green Laurie Anderson - O Superman I have decided that something like the Birdie Song can't be ranked alongside these other mere songs, it wouldn't be fair on them x Shoutout to Portsmouth Sinfonia which might just be the worst sounding song I've heard (but fascinatingly so).

(I think that's all the uniquely of their time number 1s now so the remaining commentaries shouldn't quite be as long )

14. Crazy Frog - Axel F #1 for 4 weeks W/E 4th June-W/E 25th June #3 in EOY I suppose you were all wondering when this was to come, well here it is! A song that is probably rooted in a place and time so far in this list, Crazy Frog was the creation of Swedish actor and playwright Erik Wernquist. The inspiration for this came when Wernquist encountered a recording of a student, Daniel Melmadahl, imitating sound effects produced by a two stroke engine. It was uploaded on a website and eventually caught the attention of TV researchers where it was performed live on air and became a donwloadable MP3 that was shared widely in the early days of the internet and file sharing. Fast forward to the 2003 where Wernquist found this and was inspired to create a creature imitating these sounds using 3D Modelling, dubbing it The Annoying Thing, it was a popular attraction in the pre-YouTube days, and Melmadahl eventually called Wernquist to confirm it was him to receive a credit, and one of the first internet memes was born. Before the story continues though, it is important to understad something the huge popularity of ringtones at the time though. With the leaps forward in making phones mobile and as we are still pre-smartphone, songs were finding a new home here and sales of ringtones were quite insane, they were higher than CD sales for some songs and were even projected to take them over in the dismal state they got to, and some songs were genuinely making more money through ringtones than CDs. In addition, there was nothing the public loved more than hearing sound effects and novelty rubbish on their phones. I could not count the number of ad breaks at the time where there was ten random sound novelty sound effects or catchphrases, there were many characters such as Sweetie the Chick, Nessie the Dragon and that's where the frog comes in. Market leaders, Jamster spied an opportunity from the internet hype in 2004 and turned the Annoying Thing into Crazy Frog, a change Wernquiest didn't approve of but he'd already sold it off so didn't make any money from it nor was Melmadahl credited as a writer, a classic bit of innocent fun turned capitalist venture. But with the huge popularity of the ringtone, a song was bound to follow it and it was chosen to be a reworking of Axel F 2003 by the Off-Cast project with the added frog vocals, which was itself a remix of the banging synth instrumental from Harold Faltermeyer which peaked at number 2 in 1985 and served as the theme tune to Beverly Hill Cop. With additional production from the German eurodance group Bass Bumpers and Wolfgang Boss (what a name x) and a ridiculous marketing campaign where it took up multiple commercial breaks on the main channels (the ASA had to put out a statement as they received complaints for the frequency), Crazy Frog's Axel F went on to become a massive summer hit, reaching number 1 in ten other countries and even charting in Japan where it wasn't widely known. They marketed the hell out of this thing, there was merchandise, video games and even a potential animated film and TV Series which were thankfully cancelled, Crazy Frog managed three other hits. a reworking of Popcorn and some Christmas covers of Jingle Bells and Last Christmas and three albums were churned out but only one made the top 5. The character was retired in 2009 as interest faded with the quick descent of the ringtone market. There was a revival attempted in 2020 and even a new single in 2021 possibly trying to bank in on nostalgia, but sadly this frog had hopped on. So why have I ranked this dated piece of novelty trash so high? Well, several reasons, as you can see I'm quite fond of nostalgia and that does definitely apply here, I do definitely remember this guy popping up here, and at my age, I always found it kinda funny (I don't think I actually had a phone at the time, it may have been this year or the year after I got my first one), but also I'm more OK with novelty songs as I don't think this was ever really intended to be good - it's a song based off a ringtone and while many loved it, it wasn't called the annoying thing for anything and many got wound up by it, it's kinda like Mr Blobby, it's not written with quality in mind so it's hard to judge it as that, but dare I say it, it's not THAT bad? Lazy yes, Dated yes, but arguably works pretty well for what it is, the Frog can do his scat and the instrumental can maintain its epic, danceable features. The first part of 2005 was so barren for any sort of creativity and classic songs that it honestly stands out as at least something different. It's dated, trashy and a product of it's time, but I still can't help but enjoy it so halfway between songs that genuinely work well as songs and the naff and boring stuff feels right.