#[[ i like the uk video better but i like the intro/outro lyrics in the us version ]]

[lovesongbracket]

Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

The Longest Time

Written By: Billy Joel

Artist: Billy Joel

Released: 1983

"The Longest Time" is a doo-wop song by Billy Joel, released in 1984 as the fourth single from the 1983 album An Innocent Man. Following the theme of the album in paying tribute to Joel's musical influences, the song is presented in the style of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. It reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. In the United Kingdom the song reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. The song features Joel on lead vocals, all backing vocals, and percussive sounds such as finger snaps and hand claps. The only other instruments in the song are a bass guitar and a snare drum being played with brushes. When the song is covered by vocal groups, the bass part is typically sung. Phil Ramone and Joel had intended to feature a vocal group, but Joel recorded each of the parts himself.

[Intro] Dum dum dum [Chorus] Whoa, oh, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time [Verse 1] If you said goodbye to me tonight There would still be music left to write What else could I do? I'm so inspired by you That hasn't happened for the longest time [Verse 2] Once I thought my innocence was gone Now I know that happiness goes on That's where you found me When you put your arms around me I haven't been there for the longest time [Chorus] Whoa, oh, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest [Verse 3] I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall And the greatest miracle of all Is how I need you And how you needed me too That hasn't happened for the longest time [Bridge] Maybe this won't last very long But you feel so right and I could be wrong Maybe I've been hoping too hard But I've gone this far and it's more than I hoped for [Verse 4] Who knows how much further we'll go on? Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone I'll take my chances I forgot how nice romance is I haven't been there for the longest time [Bridge] I had second thoughts at the start I said to myself, "Hold on to your heart" Now I know the woman that you are You're wonderful so far, and it's more than I hoped for [Verse 5] I don't care what consequence it brings I have been a fool for lesser things I want you so bad I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time [Outro] Whoa, oh, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time Whoa, oh, oh (For the longest) For the longest time…

Your Song

Written By: Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Artist: Elton John

Released: 1970

The song was composed and performed by Elton John but the lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. It originally appeared in his self titled and second album. Elton John hadn’t come out of the closet yet, but Bernie Taupin knew, which is part of the reason why the lyrics avoid using gendered pronouns. In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Elton John said: “What can I say, it’s a perfect song. It gets better every time I sing it. I remember writing it at my parents' apartment in North London, and Bernie giving me the lyrics, sitting down at the piano and looking at it and going, ‘Oh, my God, this is such a great lyric, I can’t fuck this one up.’ It came out in about 20 minutes, and when I was done, I called him in and we both knew. I was 22, and he was 19, and it gave us so much confidence. ‘Empty Sky’ was lovely, but it was very naive. We went on to do more esoteric stuff like ‘Take Me to the Pilot,’ of course, but musically, this was a big step forward. And the older I get, the more I sing these lyrics, and the more they resonate with me.”

[Verse 1] It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside I'm not one of those who can easily hide I don't have much money, but boy if I did I'd buy a big house where we both could live [Verse 2] If I was a sculptor, heh, but then again, no Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show I know it's not much, but it's the best I can do My gift is my song and this one's for you [Chorus] And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world [Verse 3] I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss Well, a few of the verses, well, they've got me quite cross But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song It's for people like you that keep it turned on [Verse 4] So excuse me forgetting, but these things I do You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue Anyway, the thing is, what I really mean Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen [Chorus] And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it's done I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world [Outro] I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you're in the world

#billy joel #the longest time #elton john #your song #polls #poll tournament #poll bracket #tournament #bracket #lovesongbracket #round2 #Youtube

[estrangedaframian]

@carliewinchester asked: ♫

Send me “ ♫ “ and I will randomly pick a song and use it as a starter for our muses

{ Insp. VANITY KILLS - ABC }

“… Glad I found you glancin’ in the mirror.” Dean’s feet practically glided as he walked towards Carlie. He propped his chin on her shoulder while she sat at the vanity, looking ahead; looking at how the two of them looked side by side. He did it almost every time he caught her like this. He thought about urging for a bigger bench, so he could sit by her when she did her makeup or brushed her hair or whatever it is women did when they thought they were improving what non-superficial types like Dean already found perfectly beautiful. But he was afraid she would think him a closet sissy.

Dean looked a little longer, then turned his gaze and kissed the side of Carlie’s head.

“His and hers!”

The exclamation indubitably sounded like a nutty professor, but Dean had indeed found the answer to the problem at hand.

“I- I don’ know about you, but I feel a disconnect when we disappear into respective rooms to primp an’ preen... I know I’d much rather spend my mornings an’ nights at your side... If we were in the wild, we’d be pickin’ everything under the sun off each other... I’m just sayin’, grooming together can be kinna romantic...”

#[[ i like the uk video better but i like the intro/outro lyrics in the us version ]] #carliewinchester #m; Dean-o

[pink-history]

Lady Marmalade

Release History 27th March 2001

Written by Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan, Kimberly Jones, Missy Elliott

Album Moulin Rouge! Soundtrack

Peak Position Australia – 1 Austria – 3 Canada – 17 France – 12 Germany – 1 Ireland – 1 Italy – 6 Netherlands – 2 Sweden – 1  UK – 1 US – 1

In 2001, the song Lady Marmalade appeared as part of a medley in the film Moulin Rouge!. For the film’s soundtrack album, Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa, and Pink recorded a cover version; it was released as the soundtrack’s first single in spring 2001. Produced by Missy Elliott and writing partner Rockwilder, it includes an intro and outro from Elliott. Lyrics were changed from the original version, transferring the song’s setting from New Orleans to the Paris nightclub Moulin Rouge.

This version of the song reached number-one in its eighth week on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spent five weeks at the top of the chart, 26 years after Labelle’s version had reached number-one, making Lady Marmalade the ninth song in history to top the U.S. chart as performed as different artists. It was the third airplay-only song in Billboard chart history (after Aaliyah’s 2000 single Try Again and Shaggy’s 2001 single Angel) to hit number one without being released in a major commercially available single format.

The song also holds the record for the longest reigning number one on Billboard‘s Mainstream Top 40 chart for an all female collaboration, topping the chart for nine consecutive weeks. Lady Marmalade is the best-selling single for Lil’ Kim and Mýa. Lil’ Kim also held the record for having the longest number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 for a female rapper, with Lady Marmalade being on the top of the charts for 5 consecutive weeks, until Australian rapper Iggy Azalea’s Fancy surpassed the record by holding on to the number one position for seven weeks in 2014. The song was included on non-US versions of Aguilera’s first greatest hits album, Keeps Gettin’ Better: A Decade of Hits. Lady Marmalade was the top selling song of 2001 and has sold 5.2 million copies worldwide as of December 2001.

The music video, directed by Paul Hunter, shows all four performers in lingerie in a cabaret-style video (with rapper Missy Elliott giving an introduction) and was filmed in Los Angeles with sets built to resemble the actual Moulin Rouge night club around the turn of the 20th century. Interviewed by MTV News, the singers expressed their excitement about the video. P!nk predicted the clip would be like a “circus on acid”. Christina gushed, “The video’s going to be dope”, while elaborating on the video’s concept, “We’re going to be having cabaret costumes. It’s something you’ve never seen from us before. So, it’s going to be fun.” The video’s art direction anachronistically merged hip-hop sensibility with the film’s French cabaret setting, thanks to some props and costumes actually used in the movie, according to Hunter’s office. Choreographer Tina Landon was hired to choreograph the video. Speaking on the collaboration, Christina said she embraced the idea of collaborating with Elliott, Pink, Mýa and Lil’ Kim on the track as soon as it was pitched to her. “I’m a fan of all of theirs, and just to be in the same song doing something with them—collaborating, which I love to do, is a really big thing for me”, she said. “And it’s cool to be out there before my next album comes out there, too.”

The video won the MTV Video Music Award for “Best Video of the Year” and “Best Video from a Film”. The song won the 2002 Grammy Award in the category of “Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals”.

Music video

Making of

Pink talks about Lady Marmalade 

Try This Tour

Grammy Awards

Wango Tango

MTV Movie Awards 2001

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

20 Years of P!nk… Lady Marmalade Lady Marmalade Release History 27th March 2001 Written by Bob Crewe, Kenny Nolan, Kimberly Jones, Missy Elliott…

#alecia moore #aleciamoore #lady marmalade #music #p!nk #pink #pink history #PinkHistory

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 10th March 2019

Top 10

We have the same #1 from last week, specifically “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi, hanging onto the top this week for a second stint at the top.

“Giant” by Calvin Harris and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man is also not moving at number-two.

Mabel is up two spots to number-three with “Don’t Call Me Up”.

Ariana Grande’s “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” is currently at number-four, down one position from last week.

There’s another song from Ariana down only one space from last week at number-five, this one being “7 rings”. Both of these tracks aren’t falling fast enough, by the way.

The most interesting story of this week in pop music is the return of the Jonas Brothers and their impact on the charts. In the US, they debuted at #1, which kind of perplexes me to be completely honest, but they’re also at number-six here, so there must be some hole in the public’s consumption of music worldwide that the Jonas bros are filling I suppose. If you’re interested in stats, their last charting song in the top 40 here was in 2008, with “Burnin’ Up”, and this is actually their highest charting song ever in the UK, being their fourth top 40 but first ever top 10. Congratulations... I guess?

“Dancing with a Stranger” by Sam Smith and Normani is down a spot to number-seven.

Tom Walker’s “Just You and I” is up two spaces to number-eight.

P!nk’s “Walk Me Home” surprisingly doesn’t falter off the debut despite lack of a video, only dropping a single space to number-nine.

Oh, and NSG’s “Options” featuring Tion Wayne is down three spots to #10.

Climbers

We have exactly two, both in the top 20. “Please Me” by Cardi B and Bruno Mars moves up seven positions probably thanks to the video, to #13, whilst YNW Melly enjoys his first ever top 20 hit whilst incarcerated and on trial for double murder, as “Murder on My Mind” slips up 11 spaces to #20.

Fallers

We have a lot more of these, although it’s still relatively dry in this area too. “Wow.” by Post Malone continues its gradual fall, down five to #19, “Going Bad” by Meek Mill and Drake is down seven to #23, joining “Advice” by Cadet and Deno Driz down six to #24, “Kitchen Kings” by D-Block Europe is down seven to #26, “Shotgun” by George Ezra is down five to #31, “thank u, next” by Ariana Grande is down six to #36, and that’s it, it seems.

Dropouts

Thanks to streaming cuts, two long-running chart hits have dropped out as they always do because of these arbitrary UK chart rules: “Play” by Jax Jones featuring Years & Years is out from #22 and “Lost Without You” by Freya Ridings is out from #25. Otherwise, we just have a few natural dropouts, with “Promises” by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith dropping out from the return last week at #37, “Undecided” by Chris Brown dropping out from #38 (Good riddance) and the sad loss of “Black” by Dave from #40, although there’s no questioning it’ll rebound at a much higher position once the album impacts – which, by the way, you should check out. It’s called PSYCHODRAMA and it’s fantastic.

Returning Entries

“Leave a Light On” by Tom Walker is back at #37. Please go away.

NEW ARRIVALS

#34 – “Don’t Feel Like Crying” – Sigrid

Produced by Oscar Holter – Currently charting at #15 in Scotland

So, I like Sigrid quite a bit, actually. I had a really negative reaction to “Strangers” more than a year ago when it first debuted on the charts but that opinion has waned with time, although it’s still probably one of the worst she’s released, especially on the album Sucker Punch, which I admit I haven’t finished but contains some pretty great UK synthpop, especially the title track, which is awesome and I’m quite sad that didn’t turn out to be the hit from the record, but instead we’ve got the second top 40 hit from young Norwegian singer and BBC’s “Sound of 2018”, which seems to be the token break-up hit on the record (Although there’s probably more songs on the topic throughout), and honestly, it’s pretty epic. I love the orchestral strings that start the track off, they step the fine line between classical-tinged and more electronic sounds by having that synth harmonising with it and the unnatural sound of the slick, polished pop song. The chorus, despite a somewhat concerning falsetto, is catchy and anthemic, and especially in the second verse, it’s such an effective kiss-off, despite being really clean and inoffensive. Similarly to “Sucker Punch”, it’s just Sigrid doing what she knows best: singing some cool synthpop songs (With a rock edge that I appreciate) that she only co-wrote, with enough indie cred in the interesting vocal mannerisms and 808s to seep through what I would usually see as manufactured and boring. Yeah, this is pretty good, even though I feel it could be improved by being less repetitive and more developed, since it’s two and a half minutes long and I feel it needs a proper bridge instead of an admittedly weak post-chorus. Next.

#32 – “Bally” – Swarmz featuring Tion Wayne

Produced by DABEATFREAKZ

Apparently this is a returning entry according to the BBC, and so is “Don’t Feel Like Crying”, but they also think Swae Lee isn’t on “Sunflower” with Post Malone so you know, it’s not exactly like they’re the most reliable in their top 40 countdowns they have available on their Radio One website. Anyway, this is Swarmz, a UK rapper from the same irk as all the faux-reggae-influenced British hip hop artists that break through nearly every week now, sometimes twice, with a slightly bigger name as a feature, in this case Tion Wayne, who also features on a top 10 hit right now by NSG (Making this his second top 40 hit and obviously Swarmz’s first). It sounds really similar to “Options” actually, with a blunt piano-lead beat, almost reggaeton or dancehall percussion as well as a deep 808 drowning out everything else, except, in this case, the piano is completely or at least partially off-beat for the intro and outro due to how washed out the percussion and claps are. The mix is okay, but Swarmz’s autotune especially is pretty muddy, with the multi-layering making the song especially cluttered but I do love his verse and chorus actually, since he has so much charisma and he’s pretty funny and exciting due to his happy delivery despite dark lyrics about shooting people. Maybe it’s because of the BlocBoy JB level of stuttering in the hook or his elongated syllables, but something about this dude is hilarious. Tion Wayne is okay here too (I especially like his pre-chorus), and the beat is decent enough for both of them once it really gets started, so to be honest, I can’t really complain about this one too much, it has a cool almost afrobeat swing to it and I quite like it. Maybe it’s just because I’ve heard so much of this trash that any slightly better forms of this style of British hip hop amazes me, but at least I’ve started to see the reason for this co-existing with people like Dave and people like Loyle Carner; there is some quality to be found in faux-dancehall-gangsta-rap, sometimes.

#18 – “How it Is” – Roddy Ricch, Yxng Bane and Chip featuring the Plug

Produced by SpeakerBangerz

Okay, let’s name off everyone here, starting with probably the most well-known. Yxng Bane is perhaps the most recognisable here as he’s a rapper from East London who is one of the few of the rappers in this style who know how to have a pop sensibility and still be decent, but honestly when he charts his songs are painfully and pathetically bad. His song “Vroom” is probably even worse than I dubbed it in retrospect. This is his fourth Top 40 hit and second top 20. Chip is definitely the artist with the biggest (And probably best) discography here, and can be seen as more of a legacy act in recent years, being one of the few UK rappers to have connections with the US hip-hop scene that aren’t forced, probably because he used to be on T.I.’s record label. He’s collaborated with people like Emeli Sandé, Chris Brown, Trey Songz, Keri Hilson, Stormzy, Elton John and even Big Shaq (No, the last two are not on the same track, although that would be interesting to say the least), and 16 UK Top 40s under his belt, including 10 Top 20s and a number-one hit, although this is his first hit since 2013. Roddy Ricch is an American rapper heavily affiliated with Meek Mill and somehow Marshmello, who seems to be gaining buzz for his trap-rap mixtapes recently. This is his first ever charting song in the UK. The Plug is seemingly a collective that pulls everything together, we’ve seen another collaboration between UK and US rappers initiated by the Plug end up on the chart before, making this their second hit. The song itself isn’t as interesting as any of these backstories if you’re wondering, its piano melody is nice and I like the ambience it builds until Roddy Ricch comes in with the beat and drowns out whatever was there, sounding like a slightly less watered-down version of Young Thug than, say, Lil Baby, but still a shameless rip-off with not near enough quirkiness to make it work. Chip’s verse is mixed awfully and he sounds pretty bad with that autotune anyway. I may as well add that every single verse goes on for a few too many bars to make this song in any way tolerable, and that it’s nearly five freaking minutes, with only three verses but an incessant repetition of the hook. Yxng Bane doesn’t add anything but for once he doesn’t really subtract anything. I actually kind of like the distorted vocals he pulls off. Otherwise, this is gutter trash. Let’s talk about the Jonas Brothers.

#6 – “Sucker” – Jonas Brothers

Produced by Frank Dukes and Louis Bell – Currently charting at #1 in the US and Canada

I’ve never heard a Jonas Brothers song before this, and I’m frankly not going to bother researching a Disney-grown boy band that probably didn’t even make interesting enough music to commentate on despite most probable lack of quality. I have heard some stuff they’ve done outside of this project, with Nick Jonas having two boring solo hits that aren’t much to speak of, Joe Jonas being the frontman of the band DNCE, who had two excellent hits over here, with “Cake by the Ocean” and the funky Nicki Minaj featuring “Kissing Strangers”, and not going to lie, has probably aged the best out of the brothers, musically and in appearance. Sorry, I’ll try to keep it professional – Kevin Jonas, well, I’m sure he existed too, but he didn’t really make music, he just went into either acting or off the face of the Earth until they made their return. Well, I can’t really discern their voices from each other, but I can tell that the shaky falsetto comes from Nick, and the bland, dime-a-dozen production comes from producers Frank Dukes and Louis Bell, both of which known for their aggressively pointless and emotionless, manufactured instrumentals, especially the guitars here, which are so watery and gross. I like the melodies here and I’d be lying to say it wasn’t catchy, especially the whistling in the post-chorus, but there’s nothing really of interest to speak of here, other than the striking similarity to “Feel it Still” by Portugal. The Man, and in response, I see it, but I don’t care.

Conclusion

Not much here was outright bad except the obvious stinker, so Worst of the Week goes to the Plug, Roddy Ricch, Yxng Bane and Chip for “How it Is”, while Best of the Week probably goes to Sigrid for “Don’t Feel Like Crying”, although I feel like I should mention that I do like “Bally”, so Honourable Mention goes to Swarmz and Tion Wayne for making British faux-dancehall hip hop interesting for a brief three minutes. See you next time!

e

[aphroditelion]

But Have You Got Me? – The Streets live in The Olympia Dublin - Tuesday 17th April 2018

I distinctly remember buying Has It Come to This on CD Single back when it first came out in 2001 so I am not sure why I never saw The Streets play in the 17 years between then and now. So last Tuesday, sitting up in the Circle, was my first opportunity to see Mike Skinner and his crew in action. From viewing the social media posts from the Monday evening, particularly the videos of Mike diving from the boxes into the crowd, it was clear this was going to a lively, celebratory affair.

Mike didn’t waste any time and went into the crowd during opener Turn the Page, and around me more or less the whole circle area stood up and stayed that way for the nigh. Mike was backed up by guitar, bass, keys & drums as well Kevin Mark Trail on vocals. The guitar was played by Rob Harvey, formerly of The Music, who featured on Computers and Blues and was in The. D.O.T. with Mike. Sometimes during the first song or two at a gig the sound is sub-optimal until they get the mix right. Unfortunately it took about half the show to get it right on Tuesday, firstly with the bass overpowering the mix and then the whole mic breaking up.

With the energy on stage, as well as the bad sound, the vocals were pretty lost too. Maybe I’m expecting too music to be able to hear Mike’s lyrical dexterity in the live context but I for large parts of the show all vocal & musical subtly was lost. The hits did come thick and fast though with Let’s Push Things Forward, Don’t Mug Yourself & Has It Come to This? all making early appearances. They did drop the pace for the numbers like Never Went to Church where Rob switched to acoustic guitar. I’d never realised before then how much the song owes to Let It Be.

It think the sound problems reached their nadir about 8 songs in on It’s Too Late so by the time Going Through Hell came along things were sounding much better and Rob got to show off his vocal skills why Mike dowsed everyone in Champagne. They finished the main set with Dry Your Eyes, which got to number 1 back in 2004. Somewhat fittingly / ironically the band played (Everything I Do) I Do It for You as the intro, which holds the UK record for longest unbroken number 1 record.

The encore started a bit messy with short blasts of a couple of songs from Mike’s The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light project: Your Wave God’s Wave God & Open the Till, as well as quickly abandoned Boys Will Be Boys. Reverting back to hits we had Weak Become Heroes which had a very different arrangement including a funky guitar part and a long outro. Blinded by the Lights brought the crowd right to the boil before the boiled us over with Fit But You Know It. Fit..has always been a bit cringeworthy but they spiced it up on the night with bit of War Pigs and  Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor while Mike explored the crowded further. So a fairly mixed bag of greatest hits, designed for a Saturday Night our than a chin-stroking Tuesday night tosser like me.

#The Streets #Mike Skinner #Rob Harvey #Dry Your Eyes #War Pigs #The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light #Dublin #The Olympia

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 23rd September 2018

Listen, sorry if I come off as miserable and exhausted, but, yeah, that’s because I am. It’s late, I’m tired, but I have to get this out before Friday so I can finish that BLAST TO THE PAST episode on Snoop Dogg. Hopefully once I move the timeslot back to Sundays I’ll have more time and passion to do these, but for now, here is a shorter, slap-dash episode of REVIEWING THE CHARTS, where I’ll end up somehow rambling despite not having much to say. Enjoy.

Top 10

It’s not exactly an over exaggeration here to say nothing really changed in the top 10, or the top 40 as a whole. This is a pretty routine and chill week so hopefully we can get through this rather quickly. “Promises” by Calvin Harris and Sam Smith stays at the number-one spot this week, which should be a depiction of the charts right now: kind of odd yet still dreary and not worth bothering with.

Also not moving from last week is “Eastside” by benny blanco, Halsey and Khalid. I’m still impressed by this song’s longevity.

I’m even more impressed, however, by how Lil Pump and Kanye West’s “I Love It” featuring Adele Givens has kept its place at number-three on its second week. This track has actually transcended the meme at this point. It has massive streaming and you better believe the recently-implemented YouTube rules are helping this one out quite a bit.

“Body” by Loud Luxury and brando doesn’t move an inch at number-four.

“Happier” by Marshmello and Bastille isn’t making me any happier as it jumps up a space to number-five. Joy.

“Taste” by Tyga and Offset is expectedly down a space to number-six.

Thanks to the video, “Lucky You” by Eminem featuring Joyner Lucas has increased two spots to number-seven.

“In My Mind” by Dynoro and Gigi D’Agostino has crept into the top 10 as it’s up six spots to number-eight, and, listen, I’m not mad these guys are charting, in fact, all power to them, but what is basically a sloppily-made mash-up shouldn’t be in the top 10 of any country.

“Girls Like You” by Maroon 5 and Cardi B is down two spaces to number-nine.

Finally, “Electricity” by Silk City and Dua Lipa is up five spaces to #10, being our second top 10 entry this week. Now for our climbers:

Climbers

There were just a few this week. We have fine-position increases for “This is Me” by Keala Settle and the Greatest Showman Ensemble somehow up to #35, “Be Alright” by Dean Lewis up to #22, and “Don’t Leave Me Alone” by David Guetta and Anne-Marie entering the top 20 at #18, but that’s it other than a whopping (and unexpected) 16-space increase for “RAP DEVIL” by Machine Gun Kelly at #15. It really makes me wonder how “KILLSHOT” will fare, if all, next week.

Fallers

Naturally, Eminem suffered a bit this week with “Fall” featuring Justin Vernon fittingly falling five spots to #13, and “The Ringer” decreasing seven spaces to #17, but we also have some other big fallers for songs that have lasted a hell of a while, due to the streaming cuts that they received after being in the charts for long enough. “In My Feelings” by Drake featuring City Girls is down five spaces to #26, while other tracks that suffered much worse fates were “God is a woman” by Ariana Grande down a 17-space rollercoaster all the way to #30, and “Lucid Dreams” by Juice WRLD falling close behind at #31 after a 15-spot leap. Otherwise, there’s nothing to see here.

Dropouts

No returning entries this week, so we just have two inconsequential drop-outs that were pretty expected to worry about, which are “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong out from #34 and “Jackie Chan” by Tiesto and Dzeko featuring Preme and Post Malone out from #38. Now I suppose it’s straight into the new arrivals, where we only have two, meaning it’ll be pretty slim pickings for the titles this week. Let’s listen, shall we?

NEW ARRIVALS

#37 – “Just Got Paid” – Sigala, Ella Eyre and Meghan Trainor featuring French Montana

I think this is just Sigala’s song featuring the artists but it’s credited strangely on BBC’s website so I’ll just go with that because there must be some rhyme or reason to how they’ve ordered this foursome. Oh, speaking of the artists here: what an all-star cast of mediocre UK Top 40 fodder. Sigala is an EDM producer who... sure knows how to make a beat, that’s for definite, but lacks any real uniqueness, while Ella Eyre is a pretty great raspier-voiced singer who often lands on the wrong production in her charting singles. We also have some American imports here, including Meghan Trainor, polarising pop singer who I personally really like, for the record, and French Montana. Let’s just not talk about French Montana. So, what does this hodgepodge of artists make?

Something actually pretty great. Yeah, so it starts with a really brief but pretty great strings solo, before cutting out to Ella Eyre laying her multi-tracked vocals perfectly over the slick guitar strumming, while it slowly builds up with cash-register sounds accentuating the beat, leading into a drop that is incredibly fun and worth the wait, with not only the orchestral elements but what I believe are trumpets? Yeah, the horn section really adds a lot to this track... you know who doesn’t? Mr. French Montana, whose two best songs are either handled by Swae Lee or literally a meme-worthy interlude on a Kanye album, so you know what we’re in for. Meghan Trainor isn’t as great as Eyre but she doesn’t sound as awful as French, with subtle autotune and pathetic bars. Look, I don’t expect Kendrick Lamar from a French Montana feature on an EDM song, but put some bloody effort into your rhymes, because constantly showing up on otherwise pretty decent songs and throwing up all on them for a brief 30 seconds cannot be a great long-term business model. Frenchie here doesn’t last for long though, and he soon drifts off into the distance, allowing me to enjoy that pounding drop one more time. God, this is so good for the most part, so it’s unfortunate that Meghan Trainor doesn’t have much involvement and French Montana is... well, French Montana, because we could have some pop perfection on our hands. Props to Sigala and Ella Eyre; I love this.

#33 – “Goodbye” – Jason Derulo and David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj and Willy William

Oh, hey, another popstar foursome of two singers, a producer and rapper, instead here we have two male singers and a female rapper. It’s like these songs are simultaneously the same and the polar opposite. Now, I love Jason Derulo to death and I’ve made that clear before when I gushed over “Swalla” (also featuring Nicki Minaj) in my 2017 best list and when I mentioned “Tip Toe” (also featuring French Montana) way back in the first few episodes. He’s made some trash in the past, but, God, he’s improved so much since. Hell, I can say the same about David Guetta here, who’s come far from the days of “Sexy Chick” to say the least. Nicki Minaj, I’ve said enough on in recent episodes, but Willy William is someone who I have only briefly reviewed when he added nothing but an annoying bleating sound to “Mi Gente” (which landed onto my 2017 worst list), so I have no idea what he’s going to bring to the table. So, what does this hodgepodge of artists make?

Well, it’s listenable. That’s a good start. There are a lot of things I like about this track but nothing I really love. All the good ideas are kind of in a cluttered pile and they don’t develop or shine. I like Nicki’s multi-tracked and autotuned intro, it sounds pretty interesting but it soon drowns out into a reggaeton beat where, yes, Derulo sounds fantastic and full of swagger as always (even with some of his dumbest lyrics), but that vocal sample (and Derulo’s pitch-shifted line in the pre-chorus) is kind of grating and I feel like the drop is a bit anti-climactic, and in the first verse, completely non-existent. Wily William doesn’t add much either other than a verse that goes pretty fast and some brief ad-libs. Nicki’s verse is nice, actually, I like when she dips into Patois, but it’s not exactly different from what she does usually, with some sex bars and such, although the Roman flow was a nice touch. The synth in the outro is blaring and awful, though, which is unfortunate because I like Derulo’s vocals there. It ends with Nicki Minaj rolling an ‘R’ seductively, and wow, where was Willy William here? He’s not exactly the best artist here, far from it, but come on, he was there for just 20 seconds, while Nicki and Jason basically duet, even though Nicki is supposedly just a feature. Ugh, well, the production’s tolerable enough, Nicki’s okay, Jason’s great and Willy’s... barely existent, so it’s not like it’s bad, I just feel it could have used a bit more stripping down to really make it work.

Conclusion

Two songs, eight artists, all of which I’ve said my peace on before in my end-of-year lists and older episodes of REVIEWING THE CHARTS. Yeah, you see why I was late to this one? Best of the Week obviously goes to Sigala, Ella Eyre, Meghan Trainor and unfortunately French Montana for “Just Got Paid” but I don’t think the other song is good or bad enough to achieve either title. See ya next time, on a Sunday, for BLAST TO THE PAST and REVIEWING THE CHARTS!