Colm

A side note - the ability to keep this contest going in such an efficient manner month after month is nothing short of astonishing. I know it's a well oiled machine but the effort put in appears superhuman to me.

I prefer Who's That Girl to La Isla Bonita but both are very good.

Not to mention Bombalurina to Del Amitri.

The absolute best ones

What a teaser!

07 - Ace of Base - The Sign While it's not as good as All That She Wants, it is a decent song. Listening back, it's not as satisfying as I remembered. The USA seemed to love this band in 1994 - appearing 3 times in the top 10 of the year, with The Sign topping the chart. I didn't know that chorus of this song is a common misheard lyric, with some people hearing 'I saw the Sun'. This finished the year as the 11th best seller in the UK. Colm's score 7.1

It was mid.

AI: Your mum does the prompting

I have my shredded wheat ready, Bre.

Fljótavík should start prepping 184 now

Looking forward to this. You've put so much work into it. 🙂

08 - Come On You Reds - Manchester United & Status Quo I actually like this. This would definitely have been top 4 of 1993. Finished 1994 as the 12th best seller. This is a very cramped top 8. Colm's score 7.0

I'm favouring anonymity for one contest, not to combat favouritism or unconscious bias. Just because I think it would be fun to be part of.

That's a great idea. Are there any downsides?

How can Sasha & Because Of Art // Fused not be in the final!? I am handing back all my BJSC trophies in protest!

Glad you got through. Loved your song.

I thought you might like it, Jade.

Yay!

2 things not to put too much stock in - predictions and the listen throughs.

09 - Boyzone - Love Me For A Reason And their successors. Boyzone were a laughing stock in Ireland among a generation of conservative simple people who had first encountered them watching a TV chat show where the boyz simply "danced" instead of sang, like pop bands should. If you haven't seen that footage, prepare yourself for some second-hand embarrassment should you choose to check it out on Youtube. As boybands are wont to do, this was a cover version and the first of 17 consecutive top 5 hits (16 in the 1990s and then a comeback single in 2008) Marginally better than Everything Changes but still relatively poor. It finished the year as the 19th best seller. Colm's score 5.6

10 - Take That - Everything Changes An average enough song from Take That. They managed to get a Mercury Nomination in 1994, lord knows why. Then again M People won so the panel were obviously sniffing some very toxic permanent markers. I don't really like Robbie's voice here. The 4th of their 8 number 1s of the 1990s. They'd have had 9 consecutive chart toppers if Love Ain't Here Any More hadn't got stuck behind the all-conquering Love is All Around and the less conquering I Swear by All-4-One in July 1994. This finished as the 20th best seller of 1994. Colm's score 5.5

I found semi 2 to be fairly average. Nothing truly awful but hardly any standouts.

I forgot to comment on this thread. When I say thread, I mean entry. Tori's Hotel is absolute fking genius. Certainly not her signature sound but most of that (brilliant) album is not her signature sound. It's compelling it its complexity, moving from gothic, piercing vocal passages to marching drums to synth squiggles, circling through these phases until that almighty middle 8 comes crashing in, where she pulls off the piano performance of her career. The approach of adding live drums to the array of synths that flit around Hotel gives it a much earthier tone than if her music was matched with synthetic drums. This was on my short list to send to BJSC

Firestarter is among my favourite number 1s ever. I loved it at the time but it's only got better with time. The layering is incredible in this and it just keeps getting more and more exciting as it goes on. It's one of the most original songs ever despite the punky nature of the vocals. All you have to do is have a look at this video to appreciate that Liam Howlet is a genius.

I'm going to see Beluga Lagoon tonight because I discovered them through BJSC.