Populist
I’m marking each of the singles out of 10. Marks will vary according to my mood and circumstances as well as by the quality of the record. No consistency is intended and none should be assumed – take them as seriously as you like. If you’re registered and logged in, you can give your OWN mark out of 10 to each record, and the aggregate shows up on the FT Readers Top 100 view.
Showing lowest standard deviations
- 1.38 SUGABABES - "Round Round" 8 (24th August 2002)
- 1.38 LL COOL J - "Ain't Nobody" 4 (8th February 1997)
- 1.38 JASON DONOVAN - "Any Dream Will Do" 2 (29th June 1991)
- 1.38 THE KINKS - "You Really Got Me" 7 (12th September 1964)
- 1.38 DONNA SUMMER - "I Feel Love" 9 (23rd July 1977)
- 1.37 THE MANIC STREET PREACHERS - "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" 7 (5th September 1998)
- 1.37 THE BEATLES - "Can't Buy Me Love" 6 (4th April 1964)
- 1.36 JOHNNY KIDD AND THE PIRATES - "Shaking All Over" 8 (6th August 1960)
- 1.36 THE STARGAZERS - "Broken Wings" 4 (10th April 1953)
- 1.36 THE BEATLES - "Ticket To Ride" 8 (24th April 1965)
- 1.36 MELANIE B ft MISSY ELLIOTT - "I Want You Back" 3 (26th September 1998)
- 1.35 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK - "The Last Waltz" 1 (9th September 1967)
- 1.35 BOMBALURINA - "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" 1 (25th August 1990)
- 1.35 ROBBIE WILLIAMS AND NICOLE KIDMAN - "Somethin' Stupid" 4 (22nd December 2001)
- 1.35 UB40 and CHRISSIE HYNDE - "I Got You Babe" 2 (31st August 1985)
- 1.34 ATOMIC KITTEN - "The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)" 2 (7th September 2002)
- 1.34 CRAIG DOUGLAS – 'Only Sixteen' 2 (11th September 1959)
- 1.34 KAY STARR - 'Rock And Roll Waltz' 5 (30th March 1956)
- 1.34 GEORGE MICHAEL AND QUEEN - Five Live EP 4 (1st May 1993)
- 1.32 MARVIN GAYE - "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" 9 (29th March 1969)
- 1.31 JIVE BUNNY AND THE MASTERMIXERS - "Swing The Mood" 2 (5th August 1989)
- 1.31 DONNY OSMOND - Young Love 4 (25th August 1973)
- 1.31 CHUCK BERRY - "My Ding-A-Ling" 2 (4th November 1972)
- 1.31 T REX - "Get It On" 8 (24th July 1971)
- 1.3 DONNY OSMOND - "The Twelfth Of Never" 4 (31st March 1973)
- 1.29 GARY BARLOW - "Love Won't Wait" 4 (10th May 1997)
- 1.29 MARTINE McCUTCHEON - "Perfect Moment" 3 (17th April 1999)
- 1.28 TAKE THAT - "Sure" 4 (15th October 1994)
- 1.28 SUGABABES - "Freak Like Me" 10 (4th May 2002)
- 1.28 WET WET WET - "With A Little Help From My Friends" / BILLY BRAGG ft CARA TIVEY - "She's Leaving Home" 4 (21st May 1988)
- 1.28 NICOLE - "A Little Peace" 2 (15th May 1982)
- 1.27 RENEE AND RENATO - "Save Your Love" 1 (18th December 1982)
- 1.27 SLADE - "Coz I Luv You" 5 (13th November 1971)
- 1.27 THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN - "Fire" 6 (17th August 1968)
- 1.27 ANOTHER LEVEL - "Freak Me" 4 (18th July 1998)
- 1.27 WILL YOUNG - "Light My Fire" 6 (8th June 2002)
- 1.26 CHRISTINA AGUILERA, LIL KIM, MYA AND PINK - "Lady Marmalade" 5 (30th June 2001)
- 1.26 THE BEATLES - "I Feel Fine" 6 (12th December 1964)
- 1.26 ASWAD - "Don't Turn Around" 4 (26th March 1988)
- 1.26 SHAGGY ft RAYVON - "Angel" 4 (9th June 2001)
- 1.25 MARVIN RAINWATER - "Whole Lotta Woman" 4 (25th April 1958)
- 1.25 KRAFTWERK - "The Model"/"Computer Love" 8 (6th February 1982)
- 1.25 CHER, CHRISSIE HYNDE AND NENEH CHERRY WITH ERIC CLAPTON - "Love Can Build A Bridge" 3 (25th March 1995)
- 1.25 NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - "Hangin' Tough" 3 (13th January 1990)
- 1.25 A-HA - "The Sun Always Shines On TV" 8 (25th January 1986)
- 1.25 BLONDIE - "Maria" 5 (13th February 1999)
- 1.24 FERRY AID - "Let It Be" 2 (4th April 1987)
- 1.24 LITTLE JIMMY OSMOND - "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" 1 (23rd December 1972)
- 1.23 LIBERTY X - "Just A Little" 6 (25th May 2002)
- 1.23 ROBSON AND JEROME - "Unchained Melody"/"The White Cliffs Of Dover" 2 (20th May 1995)
- 1.22 THE SHADOWS - "Apache" 7 (27th August 1960)
- 1.22 ANDY WILLIAMS - "Butterfly" 3 (25th May 1957)
- 1.22 ATOMIC KITTEN - "Eternal Flame" 2 (4th August 2001)
- 1.22 FIVE + QUEEN - "We Will Rock You" 2 (29th July 2000)
- 1.22 ALL SAINTS - "Pure Shores" 8 (26th February 2000)
- 1.21 BORIS GARDINER - "I Want To Wake Up With You" 4 (23rd August 1986)
- 1.19 CLIFF RICHARD - "The Minute You're Gone" 4 (17th April 1965)
- 1.18 SHAKIN' STEVENS - "Oh Julie" 2 (30th January 1982)
- 1.18 BOYZONE - "When The Going Gets Tough" 2 (13th March 1999)
- 1.18 BROTHERHOOD OF MAN - "Figaro" 2 (11th February 1978)
- 1.17 LAS KETCHUP - "Asereje (The Ketchup Song)" 5 (19th October 2002)
- 1.17 PETER ANDRE - "I Feel You" 3 (7th December 1996)
- 1.15 DARIUS - “Colourblind” 4 (10th August 2002)
- 1.15 JIVE BUNNY AND THE MASTERMIXERS - "That's What I Like" 3 (21st October 1989)
- 1.14 ROBIN BECK - "First Time" 3 (19th November 1988)
- 1.13 CLIVE DUNN - "Grandad" 2 (9th January 1971)
- 1.13 GARETH GATES - "Unchained Melody" 3 (30th March 2002)
- 1.13 LENA MARTELL - "One Day At A Time" 2 (27th October 1979)
- 1.13 AQUA - "Turn Back Time" 6 (16th May 1998)
- 1.12 RONAN KEATING - "If Tomorrow Never Comes" 2 (18th May 2002)
- 1.11 PINK - "Just Like A Pill" 6 (28th September 2002)
- 1.1 DES O'CONNOR - "I Pretend" 3 (27th July 1968)
- 1.09 RAY STEVENS - "The Streak" 3 (15th June 1974)
- 1.08 HALE AND PACE - "The Stonk" 1 (23rd March 1991)
- 1.04 PETER ANDRE - "Flava" 3 (14th September 1996)
- 1.04 BOYZONE - "Words" 2 (19th October 1996)
- 1.03 GARY BARLOW - "Forever Love" 1 (20th July 1996)
- 1.02 THE BEATLES - "A Hard Day's Night" 8 (25th July 1964)
- 0.99 NICK BERRY - "Every Loser Wins" 1 (18th October 1986)
- 0.97 THE KINKS - "Sunny Afternoon" 8 (9th July 1966)
- 0.97 ROBSON AND JEROME - "What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted?" / "Saturday Night At The Movies" / "You'll Never Walk Alone" 2 (9th November 1996)
- 0.96 JJ BARRIE - "No Charge" 2 (2nd June 1976)
- 0.94 JASON DONOVAN - "Sealed With A Kiss" 3 (10th June 1989)
- 0.94 ROBSON AND JEROME - "I Believe"/"Up On The Roof" 2 (11th November 1995)
- 0.89 JIVE BUNNY AND THE MASTERMIXERS - "Let's Party" 1 (16th December 1989)
- 0.88 WESTLIFE - "I Have A Dream"/"Seasons In The Sun" 3 (25th December 1999)
- 0.73 WESTLIFE - "Queen Of My Heart" 2 (17th November 2001)
- 0.73 911 - "A Little Bit More" 2 (23 January 1999)
- 0.57 ST WINIFRED'S SCHOOL CHOIR - "There's No One Quite Like Grandma" 1 (27th December 1980)
- 0 EMINEM - “Lose Yourself” 8 (14th December 2002)
- 0 CHRISTINA AGUILERA ft REDMAN - "Dirrty" 8 (23rd November 2002)
- 0 WESTLIFE - "Unbreakable" 2 (16th November 2002)
- 0 T.A.T.U. - "All The Things She Said" 7 (8th February 2003)
- 0 DANIEL BEDINGFIELD - "If You're Not The One" 4 (7th December 2002)
- 0 GIRLS ALOUD - "Sound Of The Underground" 9 (28th December 2002)
- 0 BLUE ft ELTON JOHN - "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" 3 (21st December 2002)
- 0 DJ SAMMY & YANOU ft DO - "Heaven" 5 (9th November 2002)
- 0 DAVID SNEDDON - "Stop Living The Lie" 1 (25th January 2003)
- 0 NELLY ft KELLY ROWLAND - “Dilemma” 7 (26th October 2002)
- 0 CHRISTINA AGUILERA - "Beautiful" 6 (8th March 2003)
I added the grey circle (tho will look square on older browsers) thinking it might subtly encourage more avatar usage ha. I don’t mind if we have them or don’t personally although they can be quite useful for poster ID and I am always happy to see little DJ Alan and Sukrat’s Joan of Arc party face).
SOONER IS BETTER THAN LATER!
we should add a link to gravatar.com in the ‘add your comment’ bit when people are logged in (and show the current one too obv)
Regarding the low rating of the most of the 1990s hits, this for me has always been fairly worrying as it feels like the closer we get to my musical golden era the further away most regular commentators are getting from theirs. While I can see Tom’s ratings remaining fair, the Popular in a few years time when every song is getting a 1 or 2 at most from most readers doesn’t sound very pleasant to me.
Looking at the last couple of years I can see two easy 10s for me in the year 2012, and some strong 8 or 9s at least in 2013. But I fear, for the most part, I might be alone there.
#94 If it makes you feel better, I’m 41 years old and think some of the best music ever to grace the top of the UK or US charts has been in the past three years. There will probably be a 10 from me in 2012, and would be a strong 10 in 2011 except that I keep forgetting it only peaked at UK#2 (its close cousin was a UK#1 and will probably get a 9 from me).
And I don’t think I’m alone as said songs may not be loved by everyone, but I have yet to meet anyone who actively hates them….of course, these may not correspond to your 9’s and 10’s!
Better for rapping over, for a start.
Enitharmon @82: I don’t think “music gets better with each succeeding decade” is exactly what the progressive view of pop means.
It’s more that music changes with each succeeding decade (year, month…), and the changes are a big part of what makes pop exciting and fun.
So The Beatles were fantastic in the 60s, but sounding like The Beatles in the 80s or 90s wasn’t. Were M.A.R.R.S. and The Prodigy better than The Beatles and the Stones? I am not sure. But I think it’s possible to endorse progress as a state of continual change without necessarily seeing it as a process of continual improvement.
Also the ‘progressive’ view Ed outlines means that the vocabulary of pop is continuously expanding. This is one important part of the discussion we started on the “Wannabe” thread. The progressive view says “pop is constantly changing, hurrah”, but implicit in that turns out to be a sense that pop has to shed its skin and move on – its previous versions become obsolete (i.e. pop works according to the same logic as technology, not surprising since technology changes are a massive, massive part of pop change). The ‘post-progressive’ view – also enabled by technological change – says hold on, WHY does this old stuff have to become obsolete? Why can’t it all still be in play?
(That said the initial comment that Rosie brings up from time to time was part hype, part hope and part trolling. I doubt, at this late stage, that any year is going to top ’79 in terms of the average Number One scores. That being the metric for “better” I implicitly set with the structure of this project, I need to honour my own judgements.)
I can see that the post-progressive view is one possible approach to pop.
I would feel happier about it, though, if the new music that is apparently consistent with that view didn’t sound like the sort of thing I would crawl over broken glass to avoid: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/the-trouble-with-contemporary-music-criticism?page=show
(HT to Tom for that post, which he discusses at Blue Lines Revisited.)
Yes, I like the analysis of the problem in that post – the solution (let’s listen to vaporwave!) rather less, though I do enjoy that James Ferraro album that got talked up in the Wire a couple of years ago, and a lot of the Ghost Box stuff.
I think the current charts – including the critical lists – are firmly in the post-progressive mode, though: the bad stuff as well as the good. We’ll get there eventually, I hope! The Retromania argument is right in that the big shift has been a disruption in the technology of distribution rather than (as in previous shifts) changes in the technology of production – but I think (obviously) the analysis of the resulting landscape is too pessimistic.
Back to site glitches: aren’t the recent comments all showing in the wrong labelled spaces at the moment?
Update: oops no they aren’t, but I think the leading should be tweaked above and below the labels, so that they more obviously adhere to above than below.
(It’s kind of obvious which goes where once you read them but it still threw me at a quick glance)
we’ve moved the post title underneath the comment, and steve will be styling it to make that more obvious in due course
I think it may still prove confusing.
Cornershop clinging onto the Top 50 here, but comfortably (AFAICS) the favourite 90s single so far.
Killer “only” 0.11 (or 8 places) behind. That could be quite close or it could be quite far away dependent on the number of people who have voted on either/both. How many 10s would Killer need to move past Cornershop? Or how many 1s would Cornershop need to slip behind?
#101: When you say the current charts seem to hold to a post-progressive view: surely ANY chart could be described by “some of it sounds like new stuff, some of it sounds like old stuff”? I can’t see much distinction b/w “why can’t this old stuff still be in play?”, “retro”, “revivalism”, and plain old “influence” (except perhaps as judgements of quality).
(I read the linked article – always nice to be reminded that merely not being S**** R******* is no defence against writing like S**** R*******)
I’m expecting the number 1 position to be seriously troubled when we get to the summer of 2003 but not before
I’m not expecting anything to trouble the number 1 position unless a bunch of people go into the I Feel Love thread and start marking a load of 1s next to it to bring it down to earth. I also think that the closer we get to the present, the less consensus around what is good we’re going to get, which is why I don’t think anything is going to trouble IFL unless there is some down-weighting going on.
Woe be with the man who underestimates Tomcraft…
As of 19th Oct 2014, Tom has just posted the May 99 Backstreet Boys “I Want It That Way”. The reader top 100 songs per year are…
1956 1
1957 0
1958 3
1959 0
1960 3
1961 3
1962 2
1963 2
1964 7
1965 6
1966 8
1967 1
1968 1
1969 3
1970 1
1971 5
1972 1
1973 2
1974 1
1975 4
1976 1
1977 4
1978 3
1979 4
1980 4
1981 5
1982 2
1983 1
1984 2
1985 1
1986 3
1987 3
1988 2
1989 3
1990 2
1991 1
1992 1
1993 0
1994 0
1995 1
1996 0
1997 1
1998 1
1999 1
which ranks the top 10 (or so because of ties) years as
rank/year/count of reader top 100 singles
1 1966 8
2 1964 7
3 1965 6
4 1971 5
4 1981 5
6 1975 4
6 1977 4
6 1979 4
6 1980 4
10 1958 3
10 1960 3
10 1961 3
10 1969 3
10 1978 3
10 1986 3
10 1987 3
10 1989 3
The “Ave v Std Dev*” graphs now look identical to a map of the West Country.
My sympathies are with those who live on Lizard Point.
* My sympathies are with those who watched that episode of Corrie.
We are now out of the 90s enough that the Popular readers 90s ‘canon’ feels fairly fixed, viz: “Nothing Compares 2 U”, “Brimful Of Asha”, “Killer”, “Baby One More Time”, “Gangsta’s Paradise”, “3AM Eternal”, “Your Woman”… and “Dub Be Good To Me” is just propping up the bottom at the moment. Any changes likely to be slow.
Though speaking of slow changes, the gap between “I Feel Love” and what’s below it – which used not to be “Grapevine” – is gradually narrowing.
At last! The Spotify 8+ playlist – those tracks that I gave 8+ to – has been updated. http://open.spotify.com/user/freakytrigger/playlist/2vyeAG3bflk5omhE7cQWoA – with the 80s, 90s and 00s (so far) tracks, and the 50s and 60s stragglers that weren’t on Spotify when we first did it.
The only things it’s now lacking are The Beatles (inevitably) and “3AM Eternal”
Spiller inside the reader Top 20 (after 1 day) – 14 and a half years between it and the next most recent Top 20 song.
Fixed now – thanks for the heads-up.
I’ve been putting together playlists of the hits of 1990 and subsequent years on Spotify of late (don’t judge me) and how I miss the following labels: Champion, Ten, KLF Communications, Circa, Debut.
Spotify hasn’t everything.
How generous are you being with the definition of ‘hit’ Beryl? I put together playlists for the 80s last December covering anything available (and making a note of all the songs that weren’t) that made the top 75 – linked at http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/2010/10/popular-the-80s/#1520588
Have been trying to find the time to do the same for the 90s but please link yours either here or perhaps on http://freakytrigger.co.uk/popular/2015/01/popular-the-90s/
Presentation: 8.5
Instrumentation: 4.0
Vocals: 5.0
Originality: 9.0
Lasting appeal: 10.0
Overall: 7.3
#119 WEEJ, I’m surprised you liked my rating system, but I didn’t say you could use it for yourself.
By the way, what song did you rate? Personally, I only give very high scores under strict criteria.
I forgive you now. You can use my rating system as much as you like, but take care with ratings. Read what I said at the “Here In My Heart” entry.
Hello all – I’ve been reading Popular for the last 3 years (came in around the time of Earth Song) and it has fast become my favourite music site, particularly after reading Mr Lineman’s wonderful hostory of pop, Yeah Yeah Yeah.
I was really taken aback by my own anticipation levels for an upcoming bunny this Easter (one that I Find Hard To Expunge From My Mind), and it got me thinking about the whole Popular enterprise, and how much it’s enriched my appreciation of music.
Over the years I’ve generally relied on my memory of these songs while reading Popular, playing them back in my mind rather than actually listening to them. Thar changed recently when I discovered the option to list the entries by score – I put all the 9s and 10s on a playlist, LOVED it, added the 8s and 7s, in quick succession, and suddenly I had 10 hours of wonderful pop music spanning 50 years!
As someone who listens mainly to albums, hearing these hits back-to-back has been a revelation. No filler tracks to grimly push through – every song sparkles with vitality, and the range of styles is astonishing, even in a single year. I’ve rediscovered many songs I thought my Uni disco had ruined forever (ABBA, The Buggles) and songs that my teenage indie self would have dismissed out of hand (Backstreet Boys and, unbelievably, Livin’ Joy), as well as digging some old favourites out for the first time in far too long.
I’ve now cut the list down even further to my own selection of the 100 best, and it’s just terrific. I’m going to get so much fun out of these songs – soundtracks to exercise, making my siblings mix CDs that they’ll actually play, and (most importantly) introducing my baby daughter to the wonder of pop music.
So thankyou Tom and all you marvellous comments people – you’ve reminded me how amazing pop music can be!
Thankyou Neil! I missed this comment when you posted it!
Early days of course but we currently have a new 00s number one. I can see it holding that position too.
Very cool toy here – http://polygraph.cool/history/ – which lets you play through a visualised rundown of the US top 5 from 1956-2016, not sure where to put it but sure a lot of people on here might spend an evening playing with it. Hope we can get one for the UK top 5 too.
is so good
[…] by Tom Ewing’s “Popular” (which traces the history of UK #1 singles) and Tom Breihan’s “The Number Ones” (which […]
[…] by Tom Ewing’s “Popular” (which traces the history of UK #1 singles) and Tom Breihan’s “The Number Ones” (which […]
[…] by Tom Ewing’s “Popular” (which traces the history of UK #1 singles) and Tom Breihan’s “The Number Ones” (which […]
[…] by Tom Ewing’s “Popular” (which traces the history of UK #1 singles) and Tom Breihan’s “The Number Ones” (which […]
[…] by Tom Ewing’s “Popular” (which traces the history of UK #1 singles) and Tom Breihan’s “The Number Ones” (which […]