Chez Wombat

Wow Top 10 *.* Thank you for the many generous medal positions!

Well this has been a bit of an all or nothing start, thanks to the three top 5 votes propping me up! Rontvia would be a great winner if it holds on

I was hoping for a position above my recent 27th-30th finishes, but I've seen one of the predictions put me in 28th so maybe not 😅 Still, had a few top 10 predictions too so who knows. Very few of the talked about songs as contenders appealed to me much, so hoping for a surprise at the top x

7. Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers #1 for 1 week W/E 12th February #45 in EOY Eminem's second single from Encore was a much more serious and deeper take that was inspired by and a statement of the hip hop 'beefs' that he was involved in at the time, offering a truce and expressing regret, wishing to walk away from it. There's a lot going on in these lyrics so I'm trying my best to summarise here - Eminem's regret at his own beef with Benzino (Raymond Scott), which sparked from his magazine giving his album a negative review, the beef between Ja Rule and 50 Cent which he has said he wished to stay out of, but felt that he had to become involved when Ja Rule made an insult towards his ex-wife, family and daughter in one of his songs, an offset from Ja Rule's own beef with Eminem's Murder Inc. crew. He even goes into his mentor Dr Dre's conflict with Death Row's Suge Knight, one that he was advised to stay out of but felt like he had to join through loyalty to Dre. There's probably more here you can gather from the Genius lyrics, but that's the crux of it. It's a heavy song where Eminem reflects on how pointless and destructive these feuds are and pleads with the community to stop before it leads to premature deaths of iconic talents in hip hop like Notorious B.I.G and Tupac Shakur. The song is tied together in the chorus by a sample of Martika's 1980s top 3 hit Toy Soldiers, a song about a similar tragic and pointless losing battle with addiction. The music video features many cameos from rappers such as 50 Cent (who did of course go on to have other feuds with the likes of Jadakiss, Fat Joe and The Game, but Eminem refused to get involved) and envisions a fictionalised tragic death of D12 member Bugz (played by Proof, another member), though tragically life imitated art just over a year later as Proof was shot and killed in a nightclub altercation, sadly indicating the community had a long way to go. This was Eminem's final UK number 1 of the 2000s. It is thankful after the absolute nadir that was Just Lose It, that Eminem wasn't incapable of still making something good. I think this one of his most mature and introspective songs and it's constructed really well. There is another entry in the list where Eminem's attempts to make conscious hip hop with a universal message can be explored further, but it's clear from this that he is pretty good at not just his hard-hitting lyrics but also making it sound so good. Toy Soldiers is a perfect sample for this, it not only adds a new perspective to the themes of the original but also adds the drama and intensity of the emotions the song intends to create, in the context of Biggie, 2pac and the many young rappers that lost their lives, it hits very hard. I don't want to hold Eminem up as a saint here, he's far from it and perhaps you could call this rather heavy-handed given it came from the most commercially successful rapper around at the moment, but I think the regret and sentiment of the song is strong. I don't think this has the same power of Stan nor the perfect flow of Lose Yourself, but it's a really affective and bright spot of the early 2005 charts.

First episode of this was great, perfectly paced and left just enough mysteries to keep you hooked without being overly vague or expositionary like Sci-Fi dramas can be. This should hopefully fill the Severance-shaped gap for me atm x

New show from the creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Vince Gilligan, in a nutshell, the most unhappy person in the world finds herself trying to save the world from happiness x Episodes 1 and 2 are available now with weekly releases every Friday.

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!