Severin

Even allowing for the inevitable Mariah and Wham, I'm finding the top 10 of this countdown rather palatable. Pleasantly surprising

In years to come, people will look back at this and say 'here was where they crossed the line and the seeds were sown for losing the best circuit F1 ever had'. Go now while you can.

Zhou has always been perfectly OK as a driver in F1. OK though just isn't good enough.

Such a shame about Ricciardo. He'll be remembered as someone like Montoya. Came in a with a decent reputation, was fairly aggressive, impressed early on, won a hatful of races, then switched teams and his inability to master the technical and setup side of the sport eventually became his undoing. He really was very promising once

I should probably have thrown some points in the direction of Magical Mystery Tour but it's not anywhere near my favourite Beatles track and I immediately binned it from my first list, assuming there would be enough i liked more to not matter. Perhaps that was rash but I am glad She Loves You came out higher. Surprised at Pet Clark still being in though

The silliest thing about the whole mavity joke is that Newton didn't invent the term as such. He used the word gravity because it was based on the latin word gravitas, meaning weight. To switch that around to mavity makes Newton seem like something of an idiot. Albeit a genius as well

If I had to pick a ten best albums of the year, theis would be the list, with my favourite at the top - Mimi Barks – This is Doom Trap PROJECTOR – Now When We Talk It’s Violence Beyonce – Cowboy Carter Crimson Veil – HEX Poppy - Negative Spaces Bob Vylan – Humble as the Sun Heriot – Devoured by the Mouth of Hell Kid Kapichi – There Goes the Neighbourhood Allie X – Girl With No Face Delilah Bon – Evil, Hate Filled Female Linkin Park's From Zero in a very close 11th place

No surprises so far

Oh and thanks to Addy for hosting. Great work!

Wow! Thank you all so much for the votes and the kind words. I thought Curve might do OK but really had no expectations of higher than just inside the Top 10, as I don't tend to send entries with broad appeal, if previous contest results are anything to go by. Shame that I was otherwise engaged last night, so apologies for the late reaction. For those who liked them I would definitely recommend checking out their first three albums and early EPs. They were big on the underground in the early '90s and kind of laid the template that Garbage took and added a Pop polish to. There was some bitterness from the Curve camp about that but Shirley and co were glowing in their praise of Curve. They were one of my highlights from Glastonbury '92 as well. Curve had originally split in '94 having not quite cracked a Top 20 hit and the comeback didn't garner the same hype although Chinese Burn did get some airplay and was probablt most well known for appearing in this advert - EEtLV0o4MT Once again thanks for the great scores and well done to everyone else. It was a tough call to pick a favourite between all of my top 5. It was particularly great to be reminded how good I'm a Tree is as well. I'd forgot about that song.

Pre-season testing is two weeks before the season begins and still at held Bahrain's Sakhir Circuit on 26-28th February. The F1 launch event is held on 18th Feb where teams will present their 2025 drivers and cars. Although the cars are expected to be just a livery reveal and will be 2024 spec show cars. The real first glimpses will be in Bahrain

I don't think I've ever heard The Foundations described as 'noisy' before!

Total Scrobbles - 45,203 Artists - 2,246 1 Manic Street Preachers 659 scrobbles 2 Christian Death 458 3 Bruce Springsteen 437 4 Garbage 424 5 Prince 397 6 David Bowie 378 7 Pixies 324 8 Inkubus Sukkubus 318 9 Mimi Barks 314 10 Creeper 310 11 HotWax 294 12 Johnny Cash 292 13 The Beatles 254 14 Poppy 251 15 Blondie 248 16 Bananarama 246 17 Madness 242 18 The Sisters of Mercy 242 19 Public Image Ltd. 235 20 L7 229 Albums - 6,232 1 Garbage - Garbage 111 scrobbles 2 Mimi Barks - THIS IS DOOM TRAP 107 3 Beyoncé - Cowboy Carter 97 4 HoWax - A Thousand Times 97 5 HotWax - Invite me, kindly 97 6 The Clash - London Calling 94 7 Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists 87 8 Kid Kapichi - There Goes The Neighbourhood 79 9 Mimi Barks - DEADGIRL 78 10 Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain 78 11 Blondie - Parallel Lines 77 12 The Sisters of Mercy - Alice 73 13 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast 71 14 Elvis Costello - My Ain is True 70 15 Kate Bush - The Kick Inside 67 16 L7 - Smell the Magic 66 17 Prince & the New Power Generation - [Love Symbol] 66 18 PROJECTOR - Now When We Talk It's Violence 66 19 Bambie Thug - Cathexis 65 20 Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible 65 Tracks - 15,464 1 The Sisters of Mercy - Alice 59 scrobbles 2 Garbage - Only Happy When it Rains 57 3 L7 - Everglade 48 4 Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast 45 5 L7 - Fast and Frightening 44 6 Blondie - Heart Of Glass 41 7 Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights 41 8 Nirvana - Smells Liks Teen Spirit 40 9 Siouxsie and the Banshees - Dear Prudence 39 10 HotWax - Drop 38 11 Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life 36 12 Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry 36 13 HotWax - Phone Machines 33 14 The Sisters of Mercy - Marian (Version) 32 15 Blondie - Denis 30 16 HotWax - A Thousand Times 29 17 Madness - Michael Caine 29 18 Manic Street Preachers - Little Baby Nothing 29 19 Nine Inch Nails - Closer 29 20 Prince - The Continental 29

I'd like to have paid more attention to Steve Miller vs Deee-Lite. It seemed such a foregone conclusion that the latter would be #1 that it came as a genuine shock to see it lose.

It really wasn't as exciting as you'd be led to think by all those documentaries. Everybody I knew thought Roll With It was a bit underwhelming and as soon as you clocked that Blur had issued 2 CD singles instead of 1, like Oasis had, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion. The NME went mental for it though and the rest of the media follwed their lead. To be honest I thik a lot of people were surprised that Oasis lost out by only 50,000 or so. That being said, I'm from the South and in '95 Blur were a lot more popular down my way than Oasis. Might have felt different up North.

Rod Stewart, the Bee Gees and The Who were once lauded as legendary contemporaries to sit alongside many in the list. They seem to have waned in populalrity in the last 20 years. Many rock artists like Led Zep, Metallica or Pink Floyd tend to have fans listen to whole albums so that dilutes their chart potential. Madonna, Prince, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Meat Loaf and Diana Ross are the US acts I would've thought held up. But I think the overriding factor is that the audience for many of these acts is split between those that stream and many who still prefer a physical copy of an album. So only those that have reached a younger audience as well as retained their older fan base will have significant numbers There are many like myself who don't using streaming platforms to any great extent. For example in 2024 - I added 756 songs (all from 2024) to my library I added 45,064 listens to my Lastfm stats But according to my Spotify Wrapped I listened to only 659 songs this year and my top song was played 6 times in total.

I enjoyed S2 but it feels very incomplete. More like the first 7 episodes of a 10 season run than a full season.

Voted

Siouxsie and the Banshees - Israel 75 plays recorded by Lastfm since 2009. Thought it would be more.

Yeah, I'd like to see them do more. If only to entire viewers that may otherwise be put off by b&w material. Although I'd prefer if they made the vfx match the colourised footage more. It takes you out of it to see Gallifrey in modern HD quality when other stuff isn't so crisp. Also, the inclusion of certain other Doctors was a bad choice and trying to force us to think of the War Chief as a particular character was contentious. Did like the UNIT time controversy being hinted at though.

Nothing particularly interest me for the rest of the year so this is probably my final list for 2024. 185 separate live sets in total, which is a big drop from last year's 229 but hopefully next year will be back stronger Jan 6, 2024: HotWax, Jar of Blind Flies, Velvetine, mary in the junkyard - Green Door Store, Brighton, England Jan 11, 2024: Slaughter to Prevail - O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, England Jan 25, 2024: Saint Agnes, CRASHFACE, BEX - The Garage, London, England Feb 3, 2024: Bat Sabbath, Margarita Witch Cult - Chalk, Brighton, England Feb 11, 2024: SNAYX - Resident Music, Brighton, England Feb 23, 2024: Projector - Green Door Store, Brighton, England Mar 3, 2024: HAWXX - Prince Albert, Brighton, England Mar 6, 2024: Lake Malice, TheCityIsOurs, fakeyourdeath - Green Door Store, Brighton, England Mar 16, 2024: Creeper, Zetra, Naut -Chalk, Brighton, England Mar 24, 2024: Amaranthe, Infected Rain - Roundhouse, London, England Mar 27, 2024: Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Walt Disco - Winter Garden, Eastbourne, England Apr 3, 2024: Lordi, All for Metal, Crimson Veil - Electric Ballroom, London, England Apr 13, 2024: Gaffa Tape Sandy, The Wytches, City Dog, Jar of Blind Flies, Dumfun - Homegrown 2024, Various venues, Brighton, England Apr 20, 2024: The Dirty Nil, Sick Joy - The Boileroom, Guildford, England May 4, 2024: Tribe Of Ghosts, Beyond Extinction - Green Door Store, Brighton, England May 10, 2024: Pop Will Eat Itself, Interrobang‽ - Chalk, Brighton, England May 15, 2024: Kulk, Forlorn, EL MOONO, fakeyourdeath - Daltons Showrooms + Bar, Brighton, England May 18, 2024: PROJECTOR, Monakis, Laurie Wright - Black Lion, Brighton, England May 18, 2024: Monakis, PROJECTOR, Cowz, H_ngm_n - East Street Tap, Brighton, England May 24, 2024: Ice Nine Kills, Graphic Nature, The Hara - Guildhall, Portsmouth, England May 29, 2024: Jane's Addiction - Roundhouse, London, England May 31, 2024: Vended, The Gloom in the Corner, Profiler - The Arch, Brighton, England Jun 13, 2024: Jar of Blind Flies, SOWT, Tummyache - Green Door Store, Brighton Jun 16, 2024: L7, The Priscillas - Electric Ballroom, London, England Jun 18, 2024: Kerry King, Celestial Sanctuary - Electric Ballroom, London, England Jun 27, 2024: Stitched up Heart, The Hara - The Dome, London, England Jun 29, 2024: Gnarlah, Tribe of Ghosts, WREX - Green Door Store, Brighton Jul 10, 2024: Boston Manor, Dead Pony, Lambrini Girls, Exit Child - 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham, England Jul 11, 2024: The Gaslight Anthem, Manchester Orchestra, Kids in Glass Houses, Cassyette, The Pale White, Naked Lungs, KNIFE BRIDE, The Oozes, Knives, Exit Child, Cherym - 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham, England Jul 12, 2024: The Chats, Hot Milk, Bob Vylan, CLT DRP, Nova Twins, Crawlers, As December Falls, King Nun, Burner, Cruelty, Slotface - 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham, England Jul 13, 2024: Don Broco, Wargasm, Creeper, Frank Turner, Cleopatrick, Harpy, The Mysterines, Amigo The Devil, The Nightmares, Every Hell, Cauldron, Panic Shack, snake eyes, The Meffs - 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham, England Jul 20, 2024: Garbage, Jehnny Beth - OVO Arena Wembley, London, England Jul 27, 2024: HotWax, SNAYX, CLT DRP - Burger Jam Festival 2024, Hastings Aug 8, 2024: Evergrey, Hellripper, South of Salem - Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Aug 9, 2024: Opeth, Clutch, MaB, Hatebreed, Rotting Christ, Grand Magus, Green Lung, Nervosa, Haliphron, Burner - Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Aug 10, 2024: Architects, Whitechapel, Combichrist, Red Rum, Deicide, Unleash the Archers, Mimi Barks, Ludovico Technique, Crypta, Ignea, Deitus, Cauldron - Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Aug 11, 2024: Satyricon, Amon Amarth, Carcass, Flogging Molly, Xentrix, Sadus, Beast in Black, Septic Flesh, Soen, Cultura Tres, Grove Street - Bloodstock Open Air 2024 Aug 15, 2024: HotWax, City Dog, Shtëpi - The Boileroom, Guildford, England Aug 30, 2024: Bambie Thug, The Darklings - Chalk, Brighton, England Sep 7, 2024: KNIFE BRIDE, Tribe Of Ghosts, CHVPTERS, WREX, Terraborn, Tether. - Daltons Showrooms + Bar, Brighton, England Sep 13, 2024: HotWax, Wytch Pycknyck - The Piper, St Leonards-on-Sea, England Sep 27, 2024: Iamwarface, Torrid (A Love Affair), UrgentSea - Daltons Showrooms + Bar, Brighton, England Oct 04, 2024: WREX, Our Nameless Boy, Sansom - WaterBear, Brighton, England Oct 22 2024: Bob Vylan, CLT DRP, Hyphen - Chalk, Brighton, England Nov 05 2024: Crimson Veil, Crowgod - Green Door Store, Brighton, England Nov 07 2024: WARGASM, Eville, Karen Dió - Concorde 2, Brighton, England Nov 16 2024: Projector, MP3 Chainsaw - The Lanes, Bristol, England Nov 29 2024: Gaye Bykers on Acid, Eddie Roxy & The Adjacent Kings - Green Door Store, Brighton, England Dec 07 2024: Slung, Dumfun, Laverge - A L P H A B E T, Brighton, England Dec 19 2024: SNAYX, congratulations, Hypsoline - Green Door Store, Brighton, England

Complete scores Pos/Title/Points 1 When Doves Cry 252 2 Purple Rain 216 3 Sign o' the Times 206 4 Little Red Corvette 191 5 1999 183 5 Kiss 183 7 Raspberry Beret 180 8 Let's Go Crazy 165 9 Take Me With U 133 10 U Got the Look 128 11 Diamonds and Pearls 113 12 The Most Beautiful Girl in the World 110 13 Alphabet St. 109 14 I Would Die 4 U 108 15 Gold 106 16 Thieves in the Temple 98 16 Money Don't Matter 2 Nite 98 18 Gett Off 97 19 7 95 20 The Cross 84 21 I Could Never take the Place of Your Man 78 22 If I Was Your Girlfriend 74 23 Cream 72 23 Thunder 72 25 I Wish U Heaven 70 26 Batdance 67 27 Sometimes it Snows in April 66 28 Paisley Park 61 28 Controversy 61 30 Starfish and Coffee 57 31 My Name is Prince 51 32 Fallinlove2nite 45 33 New Power Generation 42 34 I Wanna Be Your Lover 40 35 Delirious 32 36 Glam Slam 31 37 Mountains 29 37 Girls & Boys 29 39 Dirty Mind 26 39 Sexy MF 26 41 Why You Wanna treat Me So Bad? 25 41 Come On 25 43 The Arms of Orion 24 44 Pop Life 19 45 Black Sweat 17 46 Partyman 16 46 Get Wild 16 48 Pretzelbodylogic 15 48 The Morning Papers 15 50 The Holy River 13 50 Dinner With Delores 13 52 A Case of U 12 52 Peach 12 52 Cinnamon Girl 12 55 Dance4Me 11 56 Letitgo 10 56 Betcha By Golly Wow 10 58 Guitar 9 59 Musicology 7 59 Rock N Roll Love Affair 7 61 Anotherloverholeinyohead 6 61 Scandalous 6 63 Soft And Wet 1 64 I Hate U 0 65 The Truth 0 65 The Greatest Romance Ever Sold 0 65 The Work Pt. 1 0 65 Supercute 0 65 Fury 0 65 Breakfast Can Wait 0

That completes our countdown. Once again thank you all for voting and commenting along the way. It's been a pleasure to present this for you and has allowed me to overindulge my love of his work for a good month! Of note that Popchartfreak is perhaps the voter most in tune with the site as they voted for all bar five of the top thirty. dandy* and HausofKubrick were next with only six of the top songs missing scores from them.

1st When Doves Cry Points 252 - Jimwatts (30) Popchartfreak (30) Julian T (30) Bjork (30) dandy* (30) Severin (29) Chartjack2 (27) Hausofkubrick(26) King Rollo (23) Artist – Prince and the Revolution Released – 1984 Album - Purple Rain UK Chart peak - #4 UG3VcCAlUgE Deservedly winning the whole shebang is this breakthrough UK Top 10, taking maximums from dandy*, Bjork, Popchartfreak and JulianT and strong scores from almost everybody. The lead single from the soundtrack to the film Purple Rain gave Prince his first US #1and first major UK hit. The song was the last to be written for the film and specifically created for a segment of the film featuring the themes of parental conflict and a budding romance. The song features no bass line which is not only unusual but was done deliberately to create the stark atmosphere and tension of the song. Prince did originally write a bass line but felt it made the song to conventional and dropped it.

2nd Purple Rain Points 216 - HausofKubrick (30)Julian T (29) Jimwatts (29) Bjork (28) Chartjack2 (28) King Rollo (27) Severin (27) dandy* (18) Popchartfreak (0) Artist – Prince and the Revolution Released – 1984 Album - Purple Rain UK Chart peak - #6 TvnYmWpD_T8 Coming in second with 216 points is Purple Rain. Popchartfreak's complete indifference and zero points wasn't the difference however as it would have required a further 6 points from someone else just to draw level at the top. The title track from his mega selling, star making album is rightly regarded as one of his signature songs and is easily one of his most loved. It remained a staple of his live shows, with perhaps its greatest moment coming at the 2007 Superbowl halftime show when, with the song nearing its climax and the stadium bathed in purple lighting, a downpour began, the rain reflecting purple in the lights. The song was originally a slightly Country tinged piece and was intended for Stevie Nicks. prince sent her a 10 minute instrumental version for her to write the lyrics but she passed on the song saying it was too much for her and she couldn't do it justice. Then when prince tried it at a rehearsal guitarist Wendy Melvoin added some chords and the band worked through it and the track became the one we know now. The album version was recorded live in Minnesota, August 1983 with Wendy making her live debut for the band. Prince removed a solo and a final verse and added a few overdubs in the studio afterwards.