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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 11, 2014 2:19:22 GMT 1
27 Russian Ballet - Magic Eight Ball 26 Picking Up The Pieces - Berlin Blue 25 Holes - Passenger **24 The High Cost Of Living - Sonic Boom Six 23 Poobrador - Parry Gripp
Sonic Boom Six moves to #20 with 2 more weeks in 2014.
Magic Eight Ball are a British band featuring Baz Francis.
Berlin Blue is the highest placed #3 hit of the year. They are a guitar pop-rock band, the kind of music I like, and come from Australia.
Passenger is a Jewish singer-songwriter. His song "Let Her Go" was a massive UK hit, and then they seemed to totally ignore the follow-up.
Sonic Boom Six have been the most successful band in my chart in the past 3 years, with 5 top 4 hits.
Parry Gripp is an American comedian, and this song was really meant as a joke. It is only just over 1 minute long, and surprisingly went quickly to #1 although it fell almost as quickly as it rose to the top and is the lowest placed #1 on the chart of the year in 2013 (counting in the extra weeks for those at the ends, thus Tich moves above it). It is still higher than the sum of Dropkick Murphys scores combining 2012-2013 (#26 in 2013 if you look above) but that wasn't actually a #1 in 2013.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 11, 2014 7:31:43 GMT 1
I preferred Holes as well but radio kept playing let her go and people kept singing it in x-factor so what can you do its top 10 in US now do good for him
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 11, 2014 11:15:12 GMT 1
"Let Her Go" wasn't his first hit in my chart either but I guess it's better they play one of his songs than none at all.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 11, 2014 11:28:59 GMT 1
I noticed I skipped "post 9 songs" and went from 10 to 8 which is why I am short of where I wanted to be. I will do 1 extra of 5 then two lots of 4 which will bring me back to where I would have been.
22 Harlem - New Politics 21 It's Just Not Cricket - Duckworth Lewis Method *20 Stupid Stupid - Alex Day 19 Bite Your Head Off - Friska Viljor 18 Big When I Was Little - Eliza Doolittle
* moves to #15 with extra week from 2012.
New Politics are a Danish band and this is from their 2nd album. It was on Spotify at first but then was withdrawn and I was assuming there was some promotion for a re-issue but that has yet to appear and so has the 2nd album, although the first one is still there on Spotify.
Neil Hannon gets yet another #2, this time with Duckworth Lewis Method, as part of an album all about cricket. This was around close to the first Ashes series that we actually won so we had a good feeling about it, although the lyrics are actually about banking and politics and the corruption that goes on within them, and not really about cricket at all. The video is cricket-related.
Alex Day had some kind of weird campaign a year before this and got a UK hit that peaked high but with a very short run. "Stupid Stupid" was then released in time for Christmas of 2012, but of course in my chart peaked just after, entering at #14 on the last week of 2012. In the video though there are Christmas decorations in the background. Was a good fun song to kick off the new year which actually started very well.
Friska Viljor is just above it. This is on spotify but doesn't have a proper youtube video. This was one of 3 consecutive #2 hits to appear on this list, spending a week at #2 just after Alex Day and just before New Politics. I think Friska Viljor is Swedish. It is a male vocal, not sure if a solo name or group name.
Eliza Doolittle got her 2nd number one, having had her first in 2010 with "Pack Up". I think this was the only NM #1 of the year to reach the UK top 40, although there is a UK top 40 hit above this that peaked only at NM #2.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 11, 2014 20:51:49 GMT 1
As suspected by its deletion from Spotify , New Politics - Harlem is due to be re-issued was played on radio last night.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 11, 2014 20:55:01 GMT 1
Well I know Tich was deleted recently because it's about to be re-released. I have a general rule I don't allow re-entries now and if one gets in by mistake it later gets removed, which means I am going to remove Pete MacLeod at some point, just couldn't find a track to flip it with so I will see what I need to do.
I only noticed when I played my old chart from 2011 and Rolling Stone was in it.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 11, 2014 21:50:09 GMT 1
Well I will chart it as it kind of underachieved for me, 'Tonight Youre Perfect' did way better.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 16, 2014 1:42:06 GMT 1
17 Lifesaver - Sunrise Avenue 16 One Night Stand - Sam Gray 15 Dumb - Tich 14 The Day That Thatcher Dies - Hefner
Sunrise Avenue are from Finland and have been active for about 20 years. They have had previous hits in my chart but none anywhere near as big as Lifesaver which reached #2. This was Milliways's #1 of the year and also Carol's.
Sam Gray makes catchy pop and it's a shame he didn't try to enter this for Eurovision for the UK instead of entering some dance-track for Denmark. He wasn't picked and obviously Denmark made the correct choice because they won with the one they did pick. This followed up the #1 hit "This Girl" thus he joins the list of artists who have had a #1 and a #2.
At #15 we have Tich back, and there's more to come. This was kept out of #1 by the Levellers or she would have started with 4 straight number ones. This did reach #23 in the UK chart too, the highest placed UK chart hit.
Then at #14 we have something that wouldn't normally be eligible for the chart: an album track from 2000, that got a lot of interest when Margaret Thatcher died. At one point it looked like this might get them back into the UK top 75 but it fell a bit short, as the UK went "Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead", a song that this "samples" too. The single entered straight in at #1, one of two singles that did so this year.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 18, 2014 22:37:50 GMT 1
4 more then bringing us inside the top 10:
13 Obsession - Tich 12 Butterflies - Sensible Sam & Japan 11 Waiting For Something To Happen - Veronica Falls 10 Hormone Soup - Damn Jammage
More Tich. Obsession did return her to #1 but stayed on top for just one week.
Sensible Sam & Japan is an interesting track - starts with a ukulele then is instrumental for a while but eventually vocals do come in.
Veronica Falls have had a few hits before and won HIT once but they had never got even close to #1 before, but this got them there.
The Damn Jammage meanwhile had reached #1 before, in 2012 with "She Drowned" and they had a hit "Stockpiling Poison" in 2011. Interestingly when they reached #1 in 2012 they did so ahead of Tenacious D's "Rise Of The Fenix". Now I do like songs in multiple parts, and "She Drowned" wasn't of that style but this one is - slower and faster parts in several different sections with different melodies, which means you need to get used to it. It did race to #1 above Records And Tapes but then gave way to it after just 2 weeks.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 21, 2014 0:19:40 GMT 1
9 One More Pope To Go - Akira The Don 8 Lazer Gun Show - Hey Geronimo **7 Could Have Been Me - Struts
The Struts - Could Have Been Me was #15 in the final chart and had 2 further weeks in the chart in 2014, at #30 and #59. Such is the nature of the top end of the chart that those extra weeks moves it just up one more position.
A welcome back to the top of the chart for Akira The Don. The title of the song was based on a prediction about the total number of popes there will be. His real name is Adam Narkiewicz and that he raps is what makes it a surprise that he has had 3 number ones on this chart. The first was from "Akira The Don's First EP" back in 2004, but it wasn't the first song on the EP but the second, "Akira The Don's Drinking Song" based on "Wheels" that took him to the top. His second number one "Clones" also sampled a song, that being Alice Cooper's song of the same title, and that was in 2005 so a big gap between that and the recent #1 which I don't think samples anything but I cannot be certain.
Hey Geronimo are an Australian pop group, and Lazer Gun Show reached #1 replacing "Obsession" by Tich after just one week and denying the Manic Street Preachers' "Show Me The Wonder". They had two other hits in 2013 both peaking at #4, and had released a couple of singles previously but none of them had reached the playlist.
The Struts are total newcomers to the chart. This is such an anthemic rock/pop anthem, and he goes a bit "Freddie" style towards the end. I'm hoping for more.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 21, 2014 0:43:48 GMT 1
Hey Geronimo and the struts are good , the struts made my top 75, I won't even comment on Akira The Don
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 21, 2014 17:13:56 GMT 1
I didn't mention that Sensible Sam & Japan is the highest placed #2 and above them are all #1s.
#6 and #5 are:
6 The Recruiting Sergeant - Levellers
5 Do All Dogs Go to Heaven? - Bombskare
For the Levellers it is their 5th #1, with none in the 2000s, 3 in the 1990s and two in the last 2 years. This song prevented Tich getting to #1 with all their hits. It's about a man who goes to fight in Afghanistan having been in financial trouble and taken to crime.
Bombskare have been around a while and did a whole ska cover of Beatles songs. They are from Scotland and this is just really a fun piece of ska, which about 2 minutes in slows down then speeds up. In spite of ska being one of my favourite types of music, it was the first proper ska #1 since Reel Big Fish topped the chart with "Sell Out" in 2002. This song remained at #1 for 5 weeks.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 25, 2014 23:42:05 GMT 1
I'll see if I can finish this in 4 days thus before the end of the month. Anyway, 4 songs to go, one each day, and I'll post videos from this point:
4. On Our Way - Royal Concept
Being a hit during the "catch-up" period where I am compiling 2 charts a week is a huge advantage and this was the first new #1 of that period and got 5 weeks on top. It's an advantage of course because I don't get "bored" of the song as it piles up its weeks at #1.
This is of the energetic pop-rock style that I like, a bit similar to fellow Scandinavians New Politics (who are from Denmark while the Royal Concept are from Sweden) and like American band Walk The Moon who had a big hit with Anna Sun. Like that one, this featured on Hidden Indie Treasures and did well although it didn't win.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 26, 2014 7:42:20 GMT 1
Yes brilliant song they have a new single called ' d -d -d disco' out soon you can see the vid on youtube as it came out a year ago.
I am adamant that we haven't heard the last of 'on our Way' either it is ripe for being featured on an ad maybe center Parcs can use it for their next ad after helping American Authors to eventually chart
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 26, 2014 11:59:09 GMT 1
3. It Could've Been Me - Boy Least Likely To ft Gwenno
Now here is another one that the modern music scene doesn't allow to be a hit. The Boy Least Likely To have been active for about 10 years and did narrowly scrape the top 75 in 2006 when the chart was more receptive to this kind of music, but by all rights songs like this are being ignored and I'm sure there is a big audience for them. They have had several hits in my chart previously (including a few top 10 hits), but never getting close to #1.
Gwenno was a member of the girl-group the Pipettes.
This song was replaced at #1 by the one above, being #1 at the start of the 3 weeks. That it remained at #1 for as long as 4 weeks was partly due to this, I think the Yearning might have otherwise replaced it at #1, instead of being stuck at #3.
Of course that means we had two different #1 songs with similar titles both being #1 for 4 weeks.
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 26, 2014 14:21:59 GMT 1
I don't agree The Boy Least likely To have not be ignored I think most indie fans are aware of them just there are other groups that do this stuff better and they haven't had a killer single to separate them from the pack. Twee has never been a major seller even back in the mid 80s when most indie was like this. Even Belle & Sebastian who are probably the biggest name in this genre are still not a household name. It's music for introvert students mostly and although most people wouldn't switch it off if it came in the radio they would have forgotten it not much later.
To prove the point I know the boy least likely to have had a few small hits in my chart but i couldn't name one or hum it now.
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Post by greendemon on Feb 26, 2014 17:22:06 GMT 1
even i have heard of TBLLT (saw them live in 2006 or 2007) and i'm not exactly what you would call finger-on-the-pulse. didn't know they were still around though so that's good to see.
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Post by Earl Purple on Feb 27, 2014 0:12:14 GMT 1
"Twee" falls in that category between pop and indie. The most archetypal "twee" major hit was "Happy Birthday" by Altered Images. Beaten to #1 by the Police by 14 copies?
I do agree that looking at the list of BLLT's hits I recognise many of the names but can't remember most of the songs, not even "Hugging My Grudge" which is probably their most famous song.
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Post by Razzle Dazzle on Feb 27, 2014 1:20:24 GMT 1
The boy least likely to...write a song people remember a few years down the line Nice top 20 so far. Lots of songs ive play listed in my best of 2013 playlist
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TheThorne
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Post by TheThorne on Feb 27, 2014 8:07:29 GMT 1
Yes Altered Images would certainly be one of the early examples. In fact many of the 'Twee ' bands actually come from Scotland like The Pastels , The Shop Assistants and Camera Obscura. My favourite Twee band apart from b&s are The field Mice who I think I have entered in HIT
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