Frag's Year-End Chart 2008 (COMPLETE)

[frag]

It's that time of year again...

More songs than ever have reached my chart this year: 364, up from 332 last year. I'll just post the top 200 here, but requests for positions outside the top 200 will be considered.

Songs at #120 and below have been ordered statistically, with the top 119 ranked on merit from the top 100 statistically, plus nineteen "wildcard" entries.

So let's begin with 176-200.

200 Better Days - Wolfmen
199 Consqeuences - Crisis
198 Nude - Radiohead
197 The Perfect Boy - Cure
196 I Heard Wonders - David Holmes
195 Paris - Friendly Fires
194 Get Over It - Guillemots
193 The Devil's Beat - Sandi Thom
192 Say It Like You Mean It - Pigeon Detectives
191 Back Me Up - Urbnri

190 Moscow State Circus - Eugene McGuinness
189 Sinners & Winners - Holloways
188 Cath - Death Cab For Cutie
187 Oh Girl - Cut Off Your Hands
186 Leftovers - Johnny Flynn
185 Gone In The Morning - Newton Faulkner
184 Strength In Numbers - Music
183 After Hours - We Are Scientists
182 Letting Go - Team Waterpolo
181 Discussions - Look See Proof

180 NW5 (I Would Give You Everything) - Madness
179 I'm A Realist - Cribs
178 (I'm Not) Superstitious - Troubadours
177 Good Morning - Sparks
176 Jimmy Dean And Steve McQueen - Julian Velard

Almost all of these songs spent three or four weeks on the chart, and the average peak is between 15 and 16. Two of them (Wolfmen and The Holloways) are still in my top 30.

[frag]

175-151

175 Is This Christmas? - Wombats
174 It Doesn't Work Like That - New Sins
173 Warm This Winter - Gabriella Cilmi
172 What Took You So Long? - Courteeners
171 Still Figuring Out - Elliot Minor

170 Human - Killers
169 Sister - Captain Black
168 Shine On - Kooks
167 Not Nineteen Forever - Courteeners
166 Back In Your Head - Tegan & Sara
165 By The Time I Get Home - Grand National
164 Take Back The City - Snow Patrol
163 The Lovers Are Losing - Keane
162 The News - Carbon/Silicon
161 Join With Us - Feeling

160 Worst Case Scenario - Hoosiers
159 Far Away - Cut Copy
158 What's Your Problem - Zutons
157 She Doesn't Belong To Me - Pete & The Pirates
156 Conquista - White Stripes
155 You Know Me Better - Róisín Murphy
154 Love Is Noise - Verve
153 Be The One - Ting Tings
152 I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked - Ida Maria
151 Look Out Sunshine - Fratellis

Most of these spent four weeks of chart, some of them reaching the top 10 during their brief sojourns, but most ending up just outside. The Wombats manage to get up to #175 with their Christmas song, after only two weeks.

[Earl Purple]

I'm glad that Julian Velard did well in your chart. He's really funny, and he made a video on youtube of him singing Last Christmas with some really funny captions.

I charted that one in 2007 so it wasn't eligible for me this year, although I was promoting its re-issue on Haven. Unfortunately didn't get many votes on Single of the Week and I didn't submit it as a Havenvision song (not yet anyway). Two others on your list so far were also 2007-listed for me, Urbnri and Carbon/Silicon, the latter being a fairly big hit.

The number of songs reaching my chart has climbed every year, although my chart has been stuck as a top 100 for a while so there's no real reason behind 2008 being more than 2007. It was understandable that 2007 was more than 2006 because of me having much bigger playlists from that point on and the year starting so much faster. For me it was 1101 in 2008 compared to 1046 in 2007, although for the real count I need to remove all the songs from the first chart of the year that were not new entries that week.

Most of those on your list were hits in my chart. Not sure that I see any I didn't playlist.

[Panda]

11 of those so far are in my top 100. I'm surprised Nude is that low...

[frag]

Jan 1, 2009 19:12:21 GMT 1 Panda said:

11 of those so far are in my top 100. I'm surprised Nude is that low...

Yeah, I really haven't got into "In Rainbows". Reckoner didn't even make the top 200 - it slunk in at joint #256.

Had 'Bodysnatchers' been released, it would have been in my top 100 for sure.

[frag]

150-126

150 Be Mine - Robyn
149 Seattle - The BPA feat. Emmy The Great
148 Bigmouth Strikes Again - Smiths
147 Can't Go Back - Primal Scream
146 Ultraviolet - Stiff Dylans
145 Karaoke Plays - Maxïmo Park
144 Beat It - Fall Out Boy feat. John Mayer
143 Hooray - Delays
142 Run Run - Those Dancing Days
141 Age Of The Understatement - Last Shadow Puppets

140 Never Miss A Beat - Kaiser Chiefs
139 Bang On The Piano - Jack McManus
138 Always Be - Jimmy Eat World
137 The Other Side - Pendulum
136 What Is Happening - Alphabeat
135 We'll Live And Die In These Towns - Enemy
134 Elvis Ain't Dead - Scouting For Girls
133 So Called Summer - Team Waterpolo
132 Never The First - Lost Levels
131 It's Christmas Time - Status Quo [/color]

130 Backfire At The Disco - Wombats
129 Run To Your Grave - Mae Shi
128 William, It Was Really Nothing - Smiths
127 God - Attic Lights
126 Something Anything - Travis

Most of these spent five weeks on the chart, and peaked in the lower half of the top 10. A few Smiths songs here, and even a #1 this low: Status Quo's Christmas tune didn't get given a wildcard, and makes it to #131 on the strength of its three weeks in the chart so far.

[frag]

125-101

125 How Soon Is Now - Smiths
124 J Smith - Travis
123 How Come Loretta - Ryes
122 Put The Sun Back - Coral
121 What Difference Does It Make - Smiths

--- Statistical sorting ends; On-merit sorting begins ---

120 Never Before Have I Seen A Man Alive Who Looks So Exactly Like A Skeleton - Ghost Frequency
119 And It Rained All Night (Burial Remix) - Thom Yorke
118 Everybody Wants Me - Pigeon Detectives
117 That's That - Cass McCoombs
116 Never Get Sick Of The Sea - Attic Lights
115 Beat Control - Tilly And The Wall
114 The Misbegotten - Charlatans
113 Book Of Lies - Flipron
112 No Sunlight - Death Cab For Cutie
111 Crying Blood - VV Brown

110 Tickle Me Pink - Johnny Flynn
109 Me & Mary - Asobi Seksu
108 We Are The People - Feeder
107 Oranges - Brian Houston
106 Patty Lee - Les Savy Fav
105 Turn It Up - Feeling
104 Teenage Kicks - Undertones
103 Cheer Up Boys (Your Make-Up Is Running) - Foo Fighters
102 The Colourful Life - Cajun Dance Party
101 Somebody Somewhere - Cazals

No further #1s, but nearly half of these got into my top 5. Feeder's comeback single surprisingly fails to make my top 100, and Cazals are the unlucky ones to go away with the #101 spot.

[frag]

100-91

100 Kim & Jessie - M83 (23-11-12-15-22)
99 UFO - Sneaky Sound System (13-5-6-9-18-30)
98 The Girl I Love - Hamfatter (7-3-5-17-26)
97 The Boy Does Nothing - Alesha Dixon (16-6-7-8-19-18-14-*)
96 Summer Grof - Spinto Band (20-10-6-7-11-23-29)
95 Hot N Cold - Katy Perry (12-4-4-10-17)
94 Free Things For Poor People - Infadels (24-10-10-11-23-29)
93 Turn Tail - Young Knives (16-16-15-18-25)
92 Moving To New York - Wombats (13-6-11-14-21)
91 Run - Leona Lewis (14-3-2-3-*)

Where the run ends in a *, the song appeared in the last chart of 2008.

Three out-and-out pop songs enter the top 100 here; there is a fourth song quite a bit higher up that could also be considered to be a pop song.

Year-end chart history[/u]
M83 were last seen in my Year-End Top 100 back in 2005, reaching #32 with "Teen Angst".
The Young Knives have had three previous YEC appearances, with FragChart #1 "Terra Firma" being their best, reaching #58 in 2007.
The other eight artists are making their YEC débuts.

[frag]

90-81

90 Always Where I Need To Be - Kooks (10-3-4-7-20-28)
89 Party - Envelopes (14-10-8-14-17-21-24)
88 Where Do You Go? - Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong (12-5-12-17-13-16-27)
87 Dyed In The Wool - Young Knives (13-4-4-9-24)
86 Man-Sized Wreath - R.E.M. (13-4-4-14-15-16-24)
85 Ghosts - Laura Marling (15-6-7-5-9-27)
84 Scheme Eugene - Red Light Company (22-25-24-10-12-21-20-28)
83 Cassius - Foals (12-8-4-9-18-26)
82 I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids (8-6-4-9-15-19)
81 Dusk 'Til Dawn - Ladyhawke (14-8-10-10-18)

A collection of top 5 hits here, with Ladyhawke, REM and Red Light Company all making their first of multiple appearances.

Year-End Chart History[/u]
Kooks make their first appearance in the Year-End top 100 after reaching #112 in 2006.
The Young Knives appear for the 2nd time this year and the 5th overall.
R.E.M. make their first YEC appearance since 2003, and their fourth overall, with their best being "Imitation Of Life", which made #10 in 2001.
The other seven artists are making their YEC débuts.

[Panda]

Another 9 in my top 100.

Maximo Park's Karaoke Plays was in my top 100 of '07.

Turn Tail was a Hamster Hits #1 and is #30 in my end of year chart. Black Kids and Envelopes reached Hamster Hits #2 and #3, respectively and are both in my end of year top 20.

[TheThorne]

6 in my top 100 out of those 100-81, 14 made my top 40

[Earl Purple]

Jan 3, 2009 13:05:23 GMT 1 frag said:

100-91

100 Kim & Jessie - M83 (23-11-12-15-22)
99 UFO - Sneaky Sound System (13-5-6-9-18-30)
98 The Girl I Love - Hamfatter (7-3-5-17-26)
97 The Boy Does Nothing - Alesha Dixon (16-6-7-8-19-18-14-*)
96 Summer Grof - Spinto Band (20-10-6-7-11-23-29)
95 Hot N Cold - Katy Perry (12-4-4-10-17)
94 Free Things For Poor People - Infadels (24-10-10-11-23-29)
93 Turn Tail - Young Knives (16-16-15-18-25)
92 Moving To New York - Wombats (13-6-11-14-21)
91 Run - Leona Lewis (14-3-2-3-*)

An NM #1 and an NM #2 in there...

I would like to see more pop like Alesha Dixon doing well in the UK chart. And I'd like to see bands like Hamfatter breaking in to the top 40. At least it went top 75.

[frag]

Jan 3, 2009 23:19:37 GMT 1 Panda said:

Maximo Park's Karaoke Plays was in my top 100 of '07.

It was #152 in 2007, so had slightly more points in early 2008. Overall, it managed 126 points, which would have put it at #58 this year statistically, enough to be considered for top 100 inclusion.

Its chart run was a bit strange: 13-11-17-21-23-10-10-21-27.

[frag]

After a busy few days, back to YEC posting today.

80-71

80 Hollow Man - R.E.M. (16-14-10-11-14-25)
79 Keep It Simple - Delays (20-5-6-7-12-21-27)
78 Hitten - Those Dancing Days (17-12-7-25)
77 Don't Drink The Water - Stone Gods (18-12-6-7-14-20-26)
76 Cops And Robbers - Hoosiers (9-5-8-8-29)
75 The Step And The Walk - Duke Spirit (12-5-6-6-16-24)
74 Meccano - Red Light Company (14-7-7-11-13-19)
73 I Wouldn't Be Like This If You Were Here - Futureheads (17-5-5-6-*)
72 Mistress Mabel - Fratellis (12-8-9-13-19-19)
71 Broken Watch - Orson (12-7-5-16-17-29)

R.E.M. and Red Light Company make their second appearances in quick succession, and we have the first of four showings for Futureheads.

Year-End Chart History (Top 100 only)[/u]
R.E.M.: second this year, 5th overall.
Delays appear for the 3rd year running, with their best being "Valentine" (#58 in 2006).
Red Light Company: second this year, 2nd overall. New peak.
The Futureheads reach the top 100 for the 7th time (with "Area" managing the feat two years running), with the best so far being "Decent Days And Nights" (#13 in 2005)
The Fratellis have their second appearance, after being #101 last year. Their first was, of course, "Chelsea Dagger", which got to #7 in 2006.
The other five artists are making their Year-End chart débuts.

[Panda]

Those Dancing Days and the Duke Spirit were in my top 100. Delays have done well in the past but I'm not keen on their recent stuff.

[Milliways]

Orson? Must've completely missed that one - I didn't realise they were still going.

[yeahyeahtron]

79 Keep It Simple - Delays (20-5-6-7-12-21-27) - Was a big big BIG fan of "Valentine" but I wasn't keen on their recent material...
78 Hitten - Those Dancing Days (17-12-7-25) - Excellent!
75 The Step And The Walk - Duke Spirit (12-5-6-6-16-24) - LOVE this!

[yeahyeahtron]

198 Nude - Radiohead
195 Paris - Friendly Fires
194 Get Over It - Guillemots
170 Human - Killers
166 Back In Your Head - Tegan & Sara
164 Take Back The City - Snow Patrol
163 The Lovers Are Losing - Keane
156 Conquista - White Stripes
155 You Know Me Better - Róisín Murphy
154 Love Is Noise - Verve
153 Be The One - Ting Tings
152 I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked - Ida Maria
150 Be Mine - Robyn
149 Seattle - The BPA feat. Emmy The Great
142 Run Run - Those Dancing Days
141 Age Of The Understatement - Last Shadow Puppets
138 Always Be - Jimmy Eat World
122 Put The Sun Back - Coral
115 Beat Control - Tilly And The Wall
112 No Sunlight - Death Cab For Cutie
109 Me & Mary - Asobi Seksu
102 The Colourful Life - Cajun Dance Party
100 Kim & Jessie - M83 (23-11-12-15-22)
99 UFO - Sneaky Sound System (13-5-6-9-18-30)
92 Moving To New York - Wombats (13-6-11-14-21)
89 Party - Envelopes (14-10-8-14-17-21-24)
82 I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Black Kids (8-6-4-9-15-19)
81 Dusk 'Til Dawn - Ladyhawke (14-8-10-10-18)

This is what I like / love from your chart so far

[frag]

Jan 6, 2009 15:26:03 GMT 1 Milliways said:

Orson? Must've completely missed that one - I didn't realise they were still going.

It was right at the beginning of 2008 (so released on the last Monday of 2007), but doesn't appear to have made the top 75.

[frag]

70-61

70 Steve McQueen - Automatic (14-1-3-7-12-23)
69 International Love Affair - Laurel Collective (14-12-15-10-18-27)
68 Young Love - Mystery Jets (19-14-9-7-11-19)
67 Silent Cry - Feeder (8-2-3-3-7-23)
66 Spiralling - Keane (16-10-10-16-26-29)
65 My Delirium - Ladyhawke (13-1-3-5-*)
64 There She Goes - La's (8-3-5-7-11-14-22-28)
63 Story Problem - Envy Corps (17-9-5-7-6-8-19-24-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-20-8-9-15-25)
62 The Bones Of You - Elbow (16-11-5-5-7-6-9-13-19-26)
61 Letter From God To Man - Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip (14-6-4-11-17-20-21)

A couple more number ones in this list, including Ladyhawke, who is still in the top 5 with "My Delerium". After "Teenage Kicks" missed the top 100, another old classic is under-represented here, and it's The La's with "There She Goes". I feel that year-end charts should be representative of a song's impact during the year as well as its quality, so the re-releases don't do well.
Envy Corps were actually up at #13 statistically, because "Story Problem" was released twice in five months. Its first run would have had it at #41 statistically, but as songs in the first quarter are generally weaker, it's lower than that here.

Year-End Chart History (Top 100 only)[/u]
The Automatic make their 4th appearance, having had two songs in the top 10 in 2006. Their best is "Monster" (#2 in 2006).
Feeder record their third-lowest ever chart placing (including "We Are The People", #108 this year), reaching the top 100 for the 13th time with their 16th hit. Nine of those have reached the top 20, with "Just A Day" (#6, 2002) and "Just The Way I'm Feeling" (#6, 2003) being joint-best.
Keane make their Year-end chart début, mainly because there wasn't a YEC in 2004.
Ladyhawke: 2nd appearance in 2008, 2nd overall. PEAK
Envy Corps: 2nd appearance overall. PEAK
Elbow appear for the 5th time, with two more to come this year. Their best was "Forget Myself" (#4 in 2005).
The other four artists make their YEC débuts.