UK No 1s of 2009

Starting a Facebook group to get everybody to vote for Rage.

- even worse than last year
- why so many awful charity records?
- it's a positive that three separate british rappers scored no 1s, which would've been unimaginable even a couple of years ago. it's a negative that all their no 1s were such cheesy crap
- "run this town" becoming jay-z's first no 1 as a lead artist :(
- it amazes me that "fight for this love" was deemed acceptable enough to launch a high-profile solo career that presumably people hope will last a while, and it amazes me even more that this dishwater nothingness seems to have worked

"The Fear" vs "Poker Face" vs "Fight for This Love" but I've enjoy probably more than half of the others.

Possibly biased about "Fight for This Love" cos it's my daughter's favourite but I love the middle 8 on that tune. It might be a soap bubble but it's a v. pretty soap bubble.

Lily Allen - The Fear
Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
JLS - Beat Again
Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida - Bad Boys
JLS - Everybody In Love
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

^^these are the only acceptable ones. not good, acceptable. above 5/10. only "the fear" and "bad romance" actively enthuse me, of that selection.

Voted for "The Fear" in the end. It speaks to my mid-life blues.

that is amazing that Kid Rock crap from last year charted, wait... went to #1 in the UK!!! kudos uk. good luck!

KID ROCK - ALL SUMMER LONG - CLASSIC OR DUD?

Yeah I spent a lot of time last year explaining to people the difference between "Werewolves of London" and "Sweet Home Alabama".

Then trying to plug my ears.

the peas, then. i loved "boom boom pow" when i first heard it, it eventually levelled out as a solid 7/10 that i never actively want to listen to. "i gotta feeling" is completely shit and i don't get why everyone goes on about the mazeltov line. "meet me halfway" has a stellar chorus allied to verses of precisely nothing. i'm not a hater but this band's popular dominance is starting to aggravate me.

i wish fergie would do another solo album, actually.

i think the lily allen, kelly clarkson and la roux songs are all pretty stellar, and i'm coming around to bad romance

Bulletproof v the Fear

The Fear is the only song I truly love out of both the UK and US lists. How sad.

Black Eyed Peas for me, but I make that a pretty fine year, even with Joe thingy still to come. Compare to any 90s year, and be joyous

most 90s years were a LOT better than this - even at the height of shit britpop there were a few classic no 1s every year. honestly think 2009 is the worst year for chart pop since i first started paying attention to it.

This is exactly why I don't bother going out of my way to keep up with pop music at the moment.

The fact you have to wade up stream through a torrent of vomitus isn't worth the reward at the other end.

- why so many awful charity records?

^^^you really need to ask that? its for charity!

Compare to any 90s year, and be joyous

even if you combined the best elements of all of these, the result would not stand up to 'return of the mack'.

'Return Of The Sack' for Xmas #1 10

Could make it a "Stump Up Mark Morrison's Bail Money" charity event.

My 90s were endless oceans of Bryan Adams and Wet Wet Wet - at least young people decide what's no.1 nowadays.

voted rage just to cheer lex up

Am I the only one who thinks that a fairly good list?

xpost guess not.

at least young people decide what's no.1 nowadays.

ah, yes, young people -- famed for their taste, wit, charm, etc.

Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis & Akon - Just Dance - only listen to my mash-up of this
Lily Allen - The Fear - i like The Count's remix
Lady Gaga - Poker Face - one of the year's more memorable/biggest choruses
Tinchy Stryder ft. N-Dubz - Number 1 - quite like the chorus again but not enough
Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow - great apart from the anti-Irish racism
Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - Bonkers - grew on me massively, best Van Helden jam for about 5 years fwiw
Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh) - T2 and Donae'o remixes were quite good tbh
La Roux - Bulletproof - don't like the vocals, or the chorus (not enough words for the space - why stretch out the "beeeeee bulleeeeet" like that, its boring) not bad as an instrumental (just don't make a whole album out of this same dubious palette, oh wait you did...)
Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor - every time i think of this i go into faster version of Seb Tellier's 'Kilometer' which is almost a plus
Lady Gaga - Bad Romance - stupid fun, we surrender etc. - made up for shit Love Game (and Eh Eh)
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name - petty lols and its not voodoo chile but morello made this work

the 2nd half of the year was a piss poor run only slightly saved by the last two

Voted for Chipmunk, but there's at least a dozen of these I rate (7/10 or higher). Not a bad year.

i... i... don't think i've knowingly heard any of these songs

except for ratm which is a load of cacking shitebollocks and i'd rather stuff my eardrums with broken glass than ever hear it again

boom boom pow wins this by a mile imo.

Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis & Akon - Just Dance --- would be better done by xtina. post electrik red these rave synths are sounding a bit lazy. pitch quantising on the vocals really grates after a while.

Lily Allen - The Fear --- she's like the annoying popular girl at school you hate until one day she starts talking to you, you get on really well and you hate yourself afterwards. find it hard to pick out anything i really like about this, but when it's on i usually quite enjoy it.

Flo Rida ft. Ke$ha - Right Round --- completely over the top triplet-laden shaffel nonsense. its got balls (hi dere dr luke!). bit of a one trick pony tho.

Lady Gaga - Poker Face --- post electrik red these rave synths are sounding a bit lazy. really like the vocals on this. little peaches rip on the rap is a bit dohhh.

Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow --- yeh this is mazin. only single on this list that made me go WTF straight to itunes when i first heard it.

Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - Bonkers --- needs like daft punk or something. takes itself way to seriously. hate all the little chem brothers/jaxx flourishes. but y'know it's not terrible.

Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling --- i have no idea why i like this.

Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida - Bad Boys --- verses suck, chorus is ok. don't hate it, don't love it. 'x-factor' vocal track you are too loud.

JLS - Everybody In Love --- well cheesey, well fun, well good.

clarkson

"When Love Takes Over" >>> "Boom Boom Pow" > "Killing in the Name" >>>> other bullsh

A well above average year for Number Ones. The 5 single run from "Poker Face" to "Bonkers" is particularly fine - the best consecutive run of the decades, I'd day.

7 Alexandra Burke - Hallelujah
10 Lady Gaga ft. Colby O'Donis & Akon - Just Dance
10 Lily Allen - The Fear
6 Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You
6 Flo Rida ft. Ke$ha - Right Round
3 Vanessa Jenkins & Bryn West ft. Tom Jones & Barry Gibb - (Barry) Islands In The Stream
9 Lady Gaga - Poker Face
10 Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone
8 Tinchy Stryder ft. N-Dubz - Number 1
9 Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
10 Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - Bonkers
2 Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)
9 David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over
10 La Roux - Bulletproof
7 Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor
7 JLS - Beat Again
8 Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
8 Tinchy Stryder ft. Amelle Berrabah - Never Leave You
6 David Guetta ft. Akon - Sexy Bitch
7 Dizzee Rascal ft. Chrome - Holiday
9 Jay-Z ft. Rihanna & Kanye West - Run This Town
2 Pixie Lott - Boys And Girls
5 Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart
5 Chipmunk - Oopsy Daisy
6 Alexandra Burke ft. Flo Rida - Bad Boys
6 Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love
6 JLS - Everybody In Love
6 Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway
2 X Factor Finalists - You Are Not Alone
1 Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band - The Official BBC Children In Need Medley
10 Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
8 Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name

It's between "Bad Romance" and "The Fear".
Voting for "The Fear".

(Best consecutive run of the DECADE, not DECADES. That would be silly.)

can you explain the appeal of calvin harris to me? i don't get it at all. as a producer he sucks, as a personality he seems unpleasant (in a moany, grey way, not even in an outspoken way)

His 2009 stuff just induces a powerful rush of pleasure - simple as that, really. And I love the emotional undertow of "I'm Not Alone" - but then I used to be a huge fan of early Faithless.

this was a good year for singles but nothing was particularly amazing, stupendous, marvelous, exciting, damn, y'know?

but then I used to be a huge fan of early Faithless.

me too but the vocals still put me off 'Im Not Alone', otherwise i thought it was mediocre not terrible (i think this about most of his stuff as a producer).

My love for "I'm Not Alone" is also informed by seeing the crowds at Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder go absolutely MENTAL when it came on - the production works brilliantly in a big room.

i'd take it over bloody Basshunter at least. prefer 'I Remember' tho.

i'm pretty jealous that all of you got to hear that guetta/kelly rowland song so much. the only song of his to break out here was the akon one, which, yuck.

(new york's pop radio is a bit more dance-leaning than that in the rest of the country; it got some airplay on z100 here, which was nice. but it was overshadowed on the playlist by the likes of flo rida etc)

my faves from this list: lily, kelly c, 'bonkers,' guetta/rowland, la roux, and 'bad romance.' when i was in ireland in september i holed up in my room watching mtv hits uk, and heard a pixie lott song that was ok then -- was that 'mama do'?

Akon - how the hell has that guy become ubiquitous?

^^ had to check the time stamp on that post

haaa

it's been bugging me for a while

Lady Gaga - Poker Face
Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow
Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden - Bonkers
David Guetta ft. Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over
La Roux - Bulletproof
Cascada - Evacuate The Dancefloor
Dizzee Rascal ft. Chrome - Holiday
Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name

these are all great

I continually question Akon's existence too. I haven't heard the song in question but I really don't want to hear an Akon song called 'Sexy Bitch'.

I'll go for 'Bad Romance', since all of the other ones I've liked I've become sick of.

I honestly think Killing in the Name is the best song here.

does anyone like When Love Takes Over but hate Clocks?

Something to do with having the established brand and just enough instant appeal to get to number 1, and being odd enough for there to be enough latecomers only just catching on to get a second week? See also "Don't Stop Moving" and "Hips Don't Lie".

The thing that's weird this year is that the inflated amount of number ones in the first half of the decade was due to physical sales collapsing, and if I remember rightly downloads were only integrated into the chart in 2005.

yeah otm - i think a lot of the no 1s this year, especially in the second half, felt manufactured somewhat - not in terms of popularity obv but in terms of scheduling, everything obviously being scheduled one week after another so everyone (where "everyone" = people connected to the x factor) could have a go at being no 1.

But 11 more than last year, 14 more than 2007, 7 more than 2006, and 3 more than 2005. The thing that's weird this year is that the inflated amount of number ones in the first half of the decade was due to physical sales collapsing, and if I remember rightly downloads were only integrated into the chart in 2005. It's reverting to that early 2000s/late 1990s pattern.

Not necessarily going to stay that way though. 1965 and 1980 were also years with lots of different UK chart toppers, but they were one-offs and didn't establish any trends.
The late 90s/early 00s trend was of course because singles were always a lot cheaper the first week than the next weeks, so everyone who bought singles would buy them already in their first week. Once singles sales collapsed, this stopped of course, and download has rather seemed to boost very long hitlist spans for some songs. (Plus is brings certain songs way up in the charts as re-entries every single Christmas)

I have despaired of ever seeing the back of "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody". "Use Somebody" has been in the Top 100 for 64 weeks solid, with 60 of them in the Top 75 - although it has reached an all-time low of 97 this week, so maybe there is hope. "Sex On Fire" has done even better: 67 straight weeks on the 100, 65 of them in the 75.

Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars' clocked up 94 weeks (non-consecutive tho - longest straight run was under 50 weeks i think) in the top 75 - a 00s record?

Looking at all these on paper, it does feel like 2009 was a bit of a paradigm shift in British pop. Barely any huge guitar bands or sensitive songwriters, and loads of rappers and Fisher Price electro-pop. That these records are mostly not very good is kinda beside the point, I'm interested as to whether it in retrospect looks like a blip or like the start of something.

If there's one thing that's characterised the 00s in mainstream British pop, it's been an endless and soul-destroying search for 'credibility'. Everything from Coldplay and the Sugababes onwards has felt like it's searching for some middle ground between Radio 1, Radio 2 and XFM. I don't actually like many of these, but I'm happy that British pop vulgarity is finally back.

The breaking of the glass ceiling by British rappers after about 20-something years is surely the biggest story here? I have faith that all three will make better records than these in the future, as they have in the past.

Had a British rapper ever topped the charts before "Dance Wiv Me"?

Credit to the Nation spent 15 weeks at number 1 in 1992 iirc

West End Girls

Loads if you count every member of So Solid Crew.

Musical Youth

RIP Derek B

(I never got around to saying that before now)

tho he'd be described as an MC, Maxim Reality doesn't count

Anyone want to hazard a guess at naming the artist(s) who spent the most weeks at #1 in UK singles chart this decade?

Guess?

um... gnarls Barkley?

Is it Credit to the Nation?

Jay-Z I think, if you include every track he says 'Roc-a-fella' over the intro

Westlife? just by sheer volume of early 00s releases

Dizzee Rascal and Lily Allen probably up there as I think a few of theirs managed to stay top for more than a fortnight

I'm sure it must be.

Oh, OK I think I know.. Peter Kay!

Rihanna's 10 for Umbrella plus another 2-3 weeks for Take A Bow and Run This Town

If you count their Band Aid 20 appearance, Sugababes or Dizzee

Officially, it's Jay-Z with 15 for Run This Town (1), Umbrella (10), Deja Vu (1) and Crazy In Love(3)

Jay-Z 15
Westlife 14 (+1 Brian McFadden)
Leona Lewis 13
Rihanna 13
Will Young 12
Peter Kay 12 (includes 3 as Brian Potter)
Gareth Gates 11
Sugababes 11
Black Eyed Peas 11
Robbie Williams 10
Madonna 10
Dizzee Rascal 10
Atomic Kitten 9
McFly 8
Bob The Builder 8 (includes 2 with Peter Kay's All Star...)
Girls Aloud 8 (Cheryl Cole +2 additional)
Beyoncé 8 (+additional 2 with Destiny's Child)
Shakira 8
Alexandra Burke 7 (Includes X-factor single '08)
Timbaland 7
Take That 7
Tony Christie
Lady Gaga 7
Kanye West 7
Elvis Presley 7
Calvin Harris 6 (Includes Dance Wiv Me)
JLS 6 (Includes X-factor single '08)
Lily Allen 6
Christina Aguilera 5
Pussycat Dolls 5
Pink 5
Busted 5
Eric Pyrdz 5
James Blunt 5
U2 5 (+ Bono 3 on Band Aid 20)
Elton John 5 (and +4 as writer of 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin')

If you count their Band Aid 20 appearance, Sugababes or Dizzee Included Dizzee forgot Sugababes on that so add 3 to them.

and McFly need four more for similar reasons.

No they don't, Busted were on that not McFly. This is hard! Feel free to correct any inevitable mistakes, I tried to capture everyone on 5 weeks+

I feel I deserve this accolade about as much as Jay-Z, to be honest

Why, what did you do?

ffs i'd forgotten this happened

1 Peter Andre Mysterious Girl (re-issue) Mar 2004

I'd dispute the figure for Peter Kay: he was on the video and the sleeve for Amarillo, but the track itself was a straight reissue of the Tony Christie original.

that's the most rockist thing I ever heard

I went with a credit on the sleeve. So Justin T doesn't get included for "Where Is The Love?" but does with Madonna.

Looking at all these on paper, it does feel like 2009 was a bit of a paradigm shift in British pop. Barely any huge guitar bands or sensitive songwriters, and loads of rappers and Fisher Price electro-pop. That these records are mostly not very good is kinda beside the point, I'm interested as to whether it in retrospect looks like a blip or like the start of something.

First and foremost, it's a very eclectic and schizophrenic list, and it doesn't really incidate much about anything at all. Guitar bands seemed on the way out in 1998-99 as well, but then Travis and Coldplay arrived on the scene, followed by a new generation of "noisier" indie kids, and suddenly guitar bands were back again. Guitar bands have generally been more album oriented than singles oriented, though, so apart from Oasis (who are now no more) they don't exactly dominate the list of UK #1s. For instance, Franz Ferdinand are one of the biggest UK indie names of the 00s, but they have never had a #1 single.

If I see any sign for the future, it must be Lady Gaga, who seems to have taken on the world, and you may well have a lot of Gaga copycats coming the next couple of years.

You totally misunderstand my point about tastefulness/credibility vs vulgarity but whatever, you are Geir after all.

"Killing in the Name" makes me <3 tHe UK.

"the

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"run this town" becoming jay-z's first no 1 as a lead artist :(

you know what? i'd rather this than what happened in the US - EMPIRE STATE OF MIND becoming Jay-Z's first no. 1 as a lead artist.

sexy bitch is kinda awesome imo also both JLS songs are great and I like bad boys but mainly for the dancing in the video

Anyone who votes for "The Fear" should be shot.

Anyone who votes for "Bulletproof" should be...well, you get the general idea.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

18 people have no ears.

that cascada song is a fucking banger imo

Heavens, you people have terrible taste.

absolutely shocked rage against the machine came in second

i'm infected by the sound tbh

rap verse is tied with the jonas bros' bodyguard's rap on "burnin up" as the most lol & unnecessary rap verse on an otherwise amazing pop song in recent memory

La Roux - Bulletproof 7

^^assume all these people just wanted to goad me

lol @ the 2 votes for peter kaye

lol @ the 18 votes for etc etc