Comments on: Which Decade Is Tops For Pops? Round 5: the Number 6s. https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s Lollards in the high church of low culture Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:39:27 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 By: sarlitchin https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-704756 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:39:27 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-704756 6 points – Sky (I never thought I’d be placing one of my Dad’s favourites at the top of a poll!)
5 points – Christie
4 points – Mandy Moore
3 points – Taio Cruz
2 points – Jimmy Jones
1 point – UB40

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By: Tom Lawrence https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-704624 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:36:18 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-704624 6 points Mandy Moore
5 points Sky
4 points Taio ft Ke$ha
3 points Christie
2 points Jimmy jones
1 point UB40 – no reason for them to exist ever

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-703888 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:36:44 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-703888 Still absolutely neck and neck between “Yellow River” and “Toccata” on this one, “Yellow River” now regaining the lead by a single point.

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By: RobMiles https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-703875 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 12:18:03 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-703875 6 – Christie
5 – UB40
4 – Mandy Moore
3 – Sky
2 – Jimmy Jones
1 – Taio Cruz

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By: a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-703760 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 09:00:37 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-703760 Sky’s part here writing = Sky’s part-writing here

There’s a semi-famous story of Bach improvising a five part fugue alone in a church organ (with pedals), and someone — knowledgeable — listening and thinking to self: wait, no one human has this many fingers and feet. when he quizzed jsb after, the great man confessed he had played some of the notes with his nose

so i don’t think he would have been totally against prog’s self of purpose: for technicians, technique is indeed occasionally its own reward, and plus toccata is kinda asking for the phantom of the opera stuff that’s befallen it over the centuries

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By: a tanned rested and unlogged lørd sükråt wötsît https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-703747 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 08:46:28 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-703747 6 for Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha – Dirty Picture
5 for Mandy Moore – Candy
4 for Jimmy Jones – Handy Man
3 for UB40 – Kingston Town
2 for Sky – Toccata
1 for Christie – Yellow River

Liked UB40 better than expected: this has a Culture Clubbish light melancholy to it, which I don’t routinely associate with them.

I spent yesterday in and around the house I lived in in 1970, with old friends of my dad. This song reminds me of then — I remember being frustrated that if you listen closely you don’t learn more (as in “Puff the Magic Dragon”: I like dragons and want a fuller story please); turns out this is because it is rather a boring and flimsy song!

Toccata is arguably Bach’s proggest work, but Sky’s part here writing is all propulsive sludge. I was hoping to like this more, if only in a shout-out to jeff w

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By: Rachiesparrow https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-703229 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:10:10 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-703229 Are you sure I can’t give all of these an equal score of nothing? i suppose I could just not vote…. But where’s the fun in that?

6pts Christie
5pts Sky
4pts Jimmy Jones
3pts Mandy Moore
2pts Taio Cruz and Ke$ha
1pt – UB40. Nothing can match the loathing I have for this band.

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By: Lord B https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-702756 Mon, 31 May 2010 22:04:42 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-702756 6 points – UB40 – although I’m not a fan, I actually quite like this record.
5 points – Christie
4 points – Mandy Moore – it’s alright, as **** pop goes…
3 points – It sounds like Nana playing a better record on her Bontempi organ. Eeeewwwww. Like Jean Michel Jarre without the lasers
2 points – Jimmy Jones – Does nothing for me, I am afraid
1 point – Taio Cruz and Ke$ha, by a country mile. Horrible

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-702556 Sun, 30 May 2010 18:25:35 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-702556 Blimey Z, your commitment impresses me!

As for my own commitment, which has been sorely lacking in recent days… the Number Threes should be along tomorrow (Monday May 30th).

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By: Z https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-702422 Sat, 29 May 2010 20:11:20 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-702422 6 – Christie. It may be nostalgia – and it’s a bit relentlessly plinky (I remember it as slower) but it’s the best of this lot.
5 – Sky – If I were a real Bach fan, I’d hate it. As it is, this rather perks up the relentlessly repetitive genius.
4 – UB40 – everything of theirs sounds exactly the same. Okay.
3 – Jimmy Jones – better listened to than watched. But not much. That this had three points is a reflection on what comes afterwards rather than appreciation of its quality.
2 – Mandy Moore. I’ve nothing to say about this.
1 – Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha – nondescript and mildly unpleasant..

I’ve spent two hours of a Saturday night on this, Mike. And Eurovision on and all. I’ll return tomorrow.

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By: wichita lineman https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701868 Wed, 26 May 2010 17:53:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701868 6 Jimmy Jones – I didn’t know that flute substitute story. Reckless pitching, hiccups, fabulously odd
5 Christie – CCR go Eurovision. Double trouble!
4 Taio Cruz/Kesha – Repetition, like falsettos, is something I dig. It is pretty grubby, too
3 UB40 – never knew the original before this came out. Sleepy + melancholy = good combo
2 Mandy Moore – as Punctum said, not a patch on Mandy More and her proto Kate Bush-isms
1 Sky – I was on a German exchange in West Berlin when this came out. It wasn’t the soundtrack

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By: Al Ewing https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701776 Wed, 26 May 2010 10:35:22 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701776 Made the mistake of looking at videos for some of these rather than letting the pure sound wash over me.

6 points – Jimmy Jones. Plus points for the yodelling.
5 points – Tiao Cruz feat. Ke$ha – pronounced like Kilg%re presumably. Plus points for ‘witcha/pitcha’ rhyme. Anyway, a song ABOUT SEXTING, so of its time that presumably in 20 years it will sound as dated as…
4 points – Sky – Jeff Wayne flashback but without the martians.
3 points – Christie – Bearably dull.
2 points – UB40 – similar problems to Christie only slower and duller. Still, some warmth here unlike…
1 points – Mandy Moore – This is what Britney Spears would sound like if she was dead. Also, that video is like Mini Pops. YOU’RE NINE YEARS OLD BUILD A TREE FORT.

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By: Clair https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701634 Tue, 25 May 2010 19:09:05 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701634 6 points – sky
5 points – UB40
4 points – jimmy jones
3 points – christy
2 points – mandy moore
1 point – tiao & ke$ha

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By: Pete https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701454 Mon, 24 May 2010 22:23:58 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701454 Need to vote if just because I think Mandy Moore has has a pretty good career as a teensomething actress in the 00’s, and due to a preference of my mp3 player I think Candy may well be one of the most played songs of the 00’s for me, and I always love the spoken word breakdown. So Mandy gets 6.

And then it gets tough.
Tiao & Ke$ha get 5 because it sounds very jolly, even if it is not much cop.
4: Sky – cos its prog
3: Jimmy Jones, cos he’s handy
2: Yellow Fever Yellow Fever
1: Cos its UB40 and this is terribly tired bilge.

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By: Gordon https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701449 Mon, 24 May 2010 22:06:58 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701449 Ugh. Christie was a nice surprise, Sky was better than I remember when it was force fed up on me, and UB40 still have something that I grudingly like.

6 points: Christie – Yellow River
5 points: Sky – Toccata
4 points: UB40 – Kingston Town
3 points: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha – Dirty Picture
2 points: Jimmy Jones – Handy Man
1 point: Mandy Moore – Candy

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By: Tina https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701212 Sun, 23 May 2010 19:58:16 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701212 6 points: UB40
5 points: Christie
4 points: Sky
3 points: Jimmy Jones
2 points: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha
1 point: Mandy Moore

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By: Ben https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-701154 Sun, 23 May 2010 15:11:41 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-701154 6 – Sky
5 – UB40
4 – Christie
3 – Mandy Moore
2 – Jimmy Jones
1 – Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha

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By: DietMondrian https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700963 Sat, 22 May 2010 19:46:03 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700963 6 – Sky – obviously it’s pretty dreadful but it reminds me of things like The Adventure Game and Think of a Number, and as such was the only track here that gave me any kind of positive feeling
5 – Mandy Moore – sounds like a randomised version of a Britney Spears song but I’ve heard worse
4 – Jimmy Jones
2 – UB40
2 – Christie – quite an effort to be worse than UB40
1 – Taio Cruz – now I like a bit of filth as much as the next man, but this is just depressing

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By: Martin https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700940 Sat, 22 May 2010 17:56:53 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700940 6 points – Christie
5 points – Jimmy Jones
4 points – Sky
3 points – Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha
2 points – Mandy Moore
1 point – UB40

Not much to say — the last three tracks are pretty bad. The notable thing about Sky isn’t the cringeworthy arty pretension but the surf-pop elements. By rights JJ should be number 1 but I go for the thick, lush popness of Christie.

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By: Mark Davis https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700939 Sat, 22 May 2010 17:56:13 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700939 6p: Jimmy Jones – Handy Man
5p: Christie – Yellow River
4p: Sky – Toccata
3p: Mandy Moore – Candy
2p: UB40 – Kingston Town
1p: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha – Dirty Picture

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By: Lena https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700556 Fri, 21 May 2010 13:11:43 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700556 Well, as the immortal Mike Holmes of Holmes on Homes would say, “I’m looking at a world of crap.” Nevertheless I will try to rate this as best I can.

6 – Taio “Pablo” Cruz and Ke$ha, Queen of the Desert – I’m not much for M. Cruz and His Sunglasses, but I like Ke$ha.
5 – Mandy Moore – Candy rarely doesn’t work for me as a metaphor/reference, same as Cupid really.
4 – Sky – What ‘hip’ people in the 70s avoided I guess, which means its hipness, if it has any, is still intact. For now.
3 – UB40 – The sort of song you hear on the radio before something more exciting comes on…
2 – Jimmy “Hello Metaphor” Jones – If only because it’s interesting to hear how, um, VIVID the song’s original version is, compared to the James Taylor lullaby one I grew up knowing…
1 – Christie does nothing for me but make me want to listen to CCR, but then as a Californian I need no prompting to do that anyway.

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By: grange85 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700381 Thu, 20 May 2010 23:04:41 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700381 OK – pretty tired bunch – quite liked Sky and Christie, quite didn’t like UB40 (I have always had such a problem with UB40 that I was never going to love this – but I do feel that my dislike is justified in this case). Mandy Moore was awful – it looked like a by-numbers shot at a pop song… but that was so much more enjoyable than the vile Taio Cruz…

6 – Christie
5 – Sky
4 – Jimmy Jones
3 – Mandy Moore
2 – UB40
1 – Taio Cruz

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700333 Thu, 20 May 2010 17:36:31 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700333 Poor old Jimmy. Only two voters out of 21 have awarded him 1 point, and yet he’s still trailing behind the pack. Elsewhere, the 6s and the 1s are being thrown around so haphazardly, that they’re sort-of cancelling each other out…

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By: jeff w https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700330 Thu, 20 May 2010 17:28:26 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700330 Oh, I looooved Sky 2 back in 1980/81. Right up my street it was, what with being a proper musician what played in school orchestras and stuff. Or at least I wanted it to be right up my street. Secretly, I thought half the (double) album was a bit boring and much preferred The Higsons and The Pretenders and Rush. Still, Tristan Fry was something of a hero (I was a percussionist in said school orchestra) and “Toccata” still stands up now, is still great to air drum-fill to.

6 pts – Sky
5 pts – Mandy M

And after those two, everyone deserves 1 point. They cut cards for the honours shown below. You wouldn’t think 1970 was one of the classic pop years from the selections so far, would you? And much as I like both Taio Cruz and Ke$ha separately, this collab is a bit of a disaster.

4pts – UB40
3pts – Christie
2pts – Taio Cruz ft. Ke$ha
1pt – Jimmy J

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By: intothefireuk https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700329 Thu, 20 May 2010 17:22:24 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700329 This decades thing is like pulling teeth so far…….

6 UB40 – cos I heard it a lot when I was in Barbados in 1990.
5 Sky – What we need is more musos in the charts.
4 Christie – Despite the p*ss references a nice mediocre song.
3 Jimmy Jones – purely for the dancing (& whistling).
2 Mandy Moore – cos she isn’t Taio Cruz.
1 Taio Cruz – disgusting nonsense.

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By: Erithian https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700319 Thu, 20 May 2010 16:41:30 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700319 6 pts: 1980 Sky – Yah boo to all the hataz, I enjoyed this a lot back in the day and still do – stylish (apart from Tristan Fry’s glasses of course) and stands up as a fine record regardless of the “look we can do a classical piece as rock” aspect. I saw them at Manchester Apollo! – only gig I’ve ever seen where the band remained seated throughout.

5 pts: 1970 Christie – this and others in the lower half of 1970’s top ten remind me that this was the month after the Beatles finally broke up, when it was all to play for as regards what pop and British pop in particular would sound like. This was one option, and good to spend time with, although Christie were not to stick around as major players. Of course we’ve stumbled upon two elements of “Karma Chameleon” unconnected except by the coincidence of being number 6 in charts ten years apart – “Yellow River” for the intro and “Handy Man” for the “karma-karma” hook.

4 pts: 1990 UB40 – take it in isolation leaving aside the knowledge of the band’s long history of retreads, and it lopes pleasantly enough – it’s worthy, encourages empathy with the Windrush generation and all that, but it’s a wee bit boring by the end.

3 pts: 1960 Jimmy Jones – this of course was the year that historic Kennedy-Nixon TV debate. They say Nixon won convincingly among those who listened to it on the radio, whereas Kennedy won it with the TV audience. Same goes here – this is a far better track if you only hear it! Without the dancing and the bemused audience, the vocal is endearingly quirky.

2 pts: 2000 Mandy Moore – dull and generic. But still infinitely preferable to…

1 pt: 2010 Taio Cruz – this would have been better if two things had happened: (i) the vocalists hadn’t turned up; (ii) the track had stopped after about 35 seconds. Up until then I was pleasantly surprised. As it is, it’s not even good soft porn.

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By: David Belbin https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-2#comment-700316 Thu, 20 May 2010 16:16:29 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700316 I’m nearly in agreement with you on this lot.

6 points: Christie – Yellow River reminds me of the summer before I became a teen, boy scouts and a holiday in Jersey
5 points: UB40 – Kingston Town I saw them on their first tour, back in 82. They were quite hip then
4 points: Jimmy Jones – Handy Man I much prefer the James Taylor version, which is lovely, and in which he sort of takes the piss out of his ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ persona
3 points: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha – Dirty Picture
2 points: Mandy Moore – Candy When she married Ryan, I thought she was a porn star, but no – worse
1 point: Sky – Toccata now this is porn, and certainly worse, Ayers connection not withstanding

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By: pink champale https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700307 Thu, 20 May 2010 15:36:51 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700307 6: tiao and kesha — i really like this, though no one else seems to. that great farting bass noise is excellent.
5: sky – compellingly horrible is something at least. a poor show when this is the second best
4: mandy more – do not remember this or her at all. rightly by the sounds of it.
3: UB40 – they’re nice chaps who are sincere and unpretentious about what they do. i just wish they wouldn’t do it.
2: jimmy – sam cooke meets freddie is dead right.
1: christie – um, i just don’t like it.

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By: scott woods https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700300 Thu, 20 May 2010 14:49:47 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700300 Okay, wait, I screwed up — I thought the “Karma Chameleon” reference above WAS to the Jimmy Jones track, not the Christie (even though I repeated that it was about Christie).

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700291 Thu, 20 May 2010 14:04:16 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700291 Ke$ha fans should note that there’s an alternative “Ke$ha edit” of “Dirty Picture”, with more of her vocals. On Amazon, I think it’s the only version available for purchase.

Interesting to see “Karma Chameleon” mentioned a couple of times in relation to “Yellow River”, as it was widely thought that George ripped the “karma-karma-karma” bit from “Handy Man”…

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By: Steve Mannion https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700284 Thu, 20 May 2010 13:55:13 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700284 Pretty much nothing between these six shades of slop.

6: Sky
5: UB40
4: Mandy Moore
3: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha
2: Christie
1: Jimmy Jones

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By: scott woods https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700278 Thu, 20 May 2010 13:39:58 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700278 YouTube was just blocked at work so that’s it for me — finding time at home to go through all these is not likely to happen, and I’m averaging about one-per-round thus far that I actually know well enough that I wouldn’t need to do more than a cursory listen (there are probably four-per-round I don’t know at all, and another one or two I may be vaguely familiar with). In short, little point trying to bluff my way through these.

Anyway, I won’t rank these because I’ve only listened to the medley, but based on that a few comments:

– Sky is a gas — maybe not a “Classical Gas” (one of my top 40 records of 1968), but at least in the same vicinity of sheer look-how-smart-we-thinks-we-is incidental/accidental loopiness. (I imagine it wears its welcome after 90 seconds or so.)

– @ 12 taDOW calling Christie’s song “chopped & screwed karma chameleon” is OTM, and I like the casualness of his vocal swoops (it runs roughshod over JT’s version, though, which ain’t devoid of prettiness but is fairly nondescript).

– The arrangement of Christie is lovely — that big player piano bit at the start says “Prepare thee for an epic…” but do they deliver? Mmm, not based on the ho-hummable chorus that follows.

– I have a soft spot for a bunch of UB40 songs, none of which I ever listen to anymore, at least one of which I avoid like the plague, but for a band that you can at least credit as once upon a time having some melodic smarts, this is really pretty drab shit.

– Agree with Mike’s sentiments about Taio Cruz’s “Break Your Heart,” paint-by-numbers radio fodder that ain’t nothing but cloying, but as others have mentioned he’s likely rescued here by his partner.

– Mandy is fine with me. I like this sound on just about anyone. There’s no “her” there it’s just an “it” but it’s a nice it.

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By: thefatgit https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700250 Thu, 20 May 2010 12:12:00 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700250 Six 6’s (666,666) and the worst quality round so far. Did we accidentally invoke a Dogma-esque shit demon?

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By: Amanda S https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700249 Thu, 20 May 2010 12:08:12 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700249 6 Points: UB40
5 Points: Christie
4 Points: Sky
3 Points: Mandy Moore
2 Points: Jimmy Jones
1 Point: Taio Cruz ft Ke$ha

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By: Tom https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700247 Thu, 20 May 2010 12:00:15 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700247 RIGHT finally carved out some time to attend to Which Decade? again so let’s work backwards from the 6s. Contrary to much of the above this is a pretty tight, solid round: nothing amazing but few horrors either.

6 points – Mandy: This hasn’t worn quite as well as I thought it might but I still like it a great deal (though not as much as her latinised romp “In My Pocket”) just because I like that pneumatic overdriven post-Britney style so much.

5 points – Christie: The overwhelming jolliness of it wins me over.

4 points – Taio ft Ke$ha: is this the first hit song based around the scary barter economy of sexting? Addictively callous.

3 points – Sky: I take great pleasure in the classical bosh end of semi-prog; also this makes me remember a holiday with my parents’ best friends, who owned NO RECORDS AT ALL apart from Sky ones as far as I could tell.

But honestly those four could have been in any order, I like ’em all on this hearing. Big gap between them and

2 points – Jimmy Jones: the pseudo-exotica ‘tribal’ busy-ness of the backing is pretty good, but yeah, he’s a bit of a dick.

And then a really VAST gap to

1 point – UB40: Yes I like the “robs from the cloth-eared, gives to the talented” model of Ali Campbell’s activities but the collateral damage to the rest of us, viz. we had to hear latter-day UB40, was too great.

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By: Martin Skidmore https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700245 Thu, 20 May 2010 11:58:21 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700245 6 Christie
5 Mandy Moore
4 Jimmy Jones
3 Ke$ha
2 UB40
1 Sky
What a lousy selection! Christie would get maybe 5/10 from me, yet it’s an easy first place.

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By: JonnyB https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700244 Thu, 20 May 2010 11:51:29 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700244 I’ve worked out – this is the Polly Toynbee round. Hold your nose and vote for…

6 – Sky
5 – Christie
4 – Ke$ha
3 – UB40
2 – Jimmy
1 – Mandy

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700228 Thu, 20 May 2010 10:42:53 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700228 Easily our closest round yet in terms of scoring – only five points are separating the first four tracks. This is where crap rounds become EXCITING!

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By: Alan not logged in https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700224 Thu, 20 May 2010 10:39:14 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700224 (just noticed me and thefatgit cross-post mentioning Tomita within mins of each other.)

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By: punctum https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700216 Thu, 20 May 2010 10:18:29 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700216 Sometimes I wish I really could be Anthony Burgess and pump all this stuff out.

Anyway, I’m cranky and un peu depressed today so it’s my duty to overcome both.

But really:
6 points – Ke$ha and Gerry Munroe
Sadly the bespectacled Tyneside falsetto pub singer has long since checked out but he would have been a much better counterpart to Kwazy Ke$ha’s Kooky Kutz (which, if you’re not already aware, is No Bad Thing) than the ‘phone-in/a word about your last American Express card payment please Mr G Staid tones of Mr Cruz. I did enjoy how she thoroughly erased the despicable 3Oh!3 on her “Blah Blah Blah” but this doesn’t quite match up.

5 points – Mandy Moore
I have to remind myself not to confuse her with Mandy More, the strange British actress/seventies singer-songwriter, whose And This Is Me album has recently been reissued on CD (worth it for “If Not By Fire” alone; imagine Cilla Black singing Annette Peacock while Sun Ra’s clavichord malfunctions behind her), but in this lame competition the Britney knockoff isn’t too bad (Samantha Mumba’s “Gotta Tell You” was probably the best of this category, and its having been written and produced by StarGate was probably a major factor in its status).

4 points – Sky
Tristan Fry played vibes on John Martyn’s Solid Air and One World (including “Small Hours”) and tympani on “A Day In The Life,” and Francis Monkman was in Curved Air. Yes, it’s all Holiday With Judith Chalmers (yes, I know they were two different shows on two different stations, don’t bother to write in and correct) and more pressingly what my best friend at school liked in terms of “modern music” (he wasn’t much of a fan of music and was considerably more interested in Dungeons and Dragons, wargames etc.). Richard Cook reviewed an album of theirs in the NME in one line: “Look, I’m a tolerant bloke, but Sky’s the limit.” Plus the album from which this is taken made number one so I have to write about it/them. John Williams and his pals, getting paid, but I have a bit of a soft spot for it.

3 points – Christie
The only thing I remember about Jeff Christie is that Ruby Wax shared a flat with him when she came over from Chicago way back in the kwazy kooky seventeez. Also that the song was intended for the Tremeloes but the demo was so good that CBS opted to run with it. Civil War as analogy, trying to get back home – all very 1970, of course, but unfortunately years of “Yellow Pages! Yellow Pages!” have removed the song’s minimal bite.

2 points – UB40
“Hi, it’s Dale, and it’s UB FOR-TYYYY, with the 12th of their nine number nine hits, on its way up from last week’s number eight to this week’s number 15. VERY strange!” OK, so the guy got paid, but that’s the only reason this is getting two points. Paracetamol-inducing pabulum.

1 point – Jimmy Jones
“Now then now then it was like Mis Ter JimmEE Jownes you see not content with like aving one record in the charts he had two records owowowooo goodness gracious and it was like the Hand E Mann you see God rest my sowel one and own-ly Sir Cliff Mister Forever Guy Uncle Ted”

WTF with that video? It’s SCARY! All I know is that he had these two humping great hits at the same time then effectively disappeared forever and James Taylor’s version is much better. It’s creepy, in an Eraserhead kind of way.

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By: punctum https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700211 Thu, 20 May 2010 09:55:00 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700211 See also the Radio 2 edit of “She Said” which just leaves a huge gap where the rap should be, thereby rendering the song nonsensical. Or indeed the recent 1999 edition of Pick Of The Pops where Eminem’s “My Name Is…” was skipped over, despite the fact that it was a new entry at number two.

Yes, I know that’s the “challenge” but really this is a Dale Winton list if ever there were one and unfortunately some days I just don’t have it in me to make gold out of dung.

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By: Mike Atkinson https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700199 Thu, 20 May 2010 08:59:09 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700199 Ah, but ranking the crap rounds is all part of the challenge!

Depressed to learn that Radio 2 is currently playing an edit of the Keane single, with K’Naan’s rap snipped out. QED, etc.

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By: punctum https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700193 Thu, 20 May 2010 08:37:15 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700193 Remembered? Brandy and Monica are still releasing great records and still having huge hits in the States. “Everything To Me” by Monica – a brilliant performance, astonishing song, if Dave Godin were still here he’d put it on his Deep Soul Treasures compliations – has been top of both Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks there and the fact that nobody’s playing it here because of the British music industry’s stupid combination of misogyny, ageism, racism and latent pederasty should make this pasty-faced, racially arrogant, cramped, spotty and joyless country ashamed of itself.

Truthfully I don’t feel like giving most of these records even one point. Apart from the Ke$ha elements of “Party Animal” they’re all worthless.

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By: weej https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700156 Thu, 20 May 2010 04:28:21 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700156 Brandy, Monica and Aaliyah were pretty well exposed over here, but I’d say they were more remembered as pop/r&b than as teenpop.

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By: taDOW https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700143 Thu, 20 May 2010 03:21:23 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700143 a little disturbing that of the teenpop girls that emerged late 90s/early 00s over there apparently only the white ones crossed over to the uk! i’d always dismissed lex’s rants before but were aaliyah, maya, tatyana ali, brandy, monica, inoj, nicole wray, etc really more obscure (on the radio at least) than jessica simpson?

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By: taDOW https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700140 Thu, 20 May 2010 03:06:05 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700140 6 – mandy moore, can still remember when mtv pop used the intro as their bumper music, still love the spoken bridge; not as strong as top tier trl era britney but much better than second tier. at the time i always put this on mixtapes w/ ‘playground love’, steady pervin.

5 – sky, walter murphy meets harry thumann, later that year the drummer would kill john lennon

4 – taio cruz feat ke$ha, somehow actually needs more ke$ha

3 – christie, intro is very nearly chopped & screwed karma chameleon intro

2 – jimmy jones, loved them moves though

1 – ub40, abe otm

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By: swanstep https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700137 Thu, 20 May 2010 02:51:09 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700137 I’m not really participating in Which decade? but I thought that Mandy Moore’s acting career deserves a shout out if the early ’00s popettes’ subsequent careers are going to be scored in passing. She gave one of the better performances in Southland Tales for example, and is good (and game!) on Gossip Girl.

And what the hell is up with that mushy/blurry harpsichord in the Sky? They might all be great players, but that instrumentation choice makes this one of the most unpleasant Bach recordings ever in my view. (I’d take Jem’s strip-mining of one of B’s preludes over this, any day. And Bach is absolutely fool-proof for techno/dance…)

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By: Abe Fruman https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700103 Wed, 19 May 2010 23:08:49 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700103 Dearie me……another mediocre half-dozen. It appears this was a bad week for the charts over all the decades ( well, so far anyway ).

God, what a load of shite – impossible to pick a best, all I know is UBfucking40 will be last.

6 Sky – Hmm, all a bit wank but at least it’s a decent tune.

5 Taio – Erm, for the Audi. Seems like 2 songs spliced together?

4 Mandy – Bland, safe, anodyne.

3 Jimmy – Standard early 60s fayre.

2 Christie – Rock n’ Roll never felt so good!

No, they’re not getting any points from me. If you wish to allocate them one, Mike, then on your own conscience be it – UBfucking40

Surely there must be some decent tunes on the way?

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By: Alan https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700076 Wed, 19 May 2010 20:56:31 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700076 dittoing ‘not much in this’. sky is way ahead, then there’s little in 5-2 and mandy is just pff. the sky track had quite an impact on me and has reminded me of a brief interest in Tomita I had (sue me)

6 1980: Sky
5 1970: Christie
4 1990: UB40
3 2010: Taio Cruz
2 1960: Jimmy Jones
1 2000: Mandy Moore

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By: thefatgit https://freakytrigger.co.uk/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops/2010/05/which-decade-is-tops-for-pops-round-5-the-number-6s/comment-page-1#comment-700074 Wed, 19 May 2010 20:52:56 +0000 https://freakytrigger.co.uk/?p=18649#comment-700074 Hmm it becomes harder to choose when faced with bleakness of this calibre:

6 points-UB40
5 points-Jimmy Jones
4 points-Mandy Moore
3 points-Taio Cruz
2 points-Christie
1 point-Sky

Sky represent the folly and pointlessness of taking a well known piece of classical music and bringing nothing new or imaginative to the table. It’s about “chops” for “chops” sake. I can imagine Williams and Lloyd-Webber high-fiving after listening to the master being played back through the cans. Tomita had his moog. Orbit had his trance mixes. These fellas just have smugness.
I should like “Yellow River”, but all I’m reminded of is schoolboy sniggering as you cross piss streams in the boys bogs.
Taio Cruz down the boozer showing porno pics of his latest conquest to his mates does not a good pop song make. Even if Ke$ha was a willing participant. Misogyny sux bro!
Mandy’s Candy…never liked it then. Still don’t like it now. If we had Britney, then what was Mandy for?
Jimmy Jones’ whistle really grates on this.
UB40. One word. Meh!

None of the above really deserve top marks. So the track I hated least got the 6.

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