I Love #1s - 2002

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I know it's early, but wipe the cobwebs from your eyes and crack your knuckles out, it's another Number Ones poll!

Last week the Shadows rocked the bottom with their Apache song to claim the crown of 1960 ticky-love. Poor Me? Poor you, Adam Faith! Not a tick to be had for him. But without further ado, lets find the best number one of 2002! Plenty of Pop Idol action, plus double dosage of Ver 'Loife in case you'd been missing them. And what's this? Blazin' Squad and Atomic Kitten? It's like teen pop never died, kids!

[Poll #973612]
(Daniel Beddingfield was no.1 in 2001 as well so he's been left off here)

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I put Pink as my worst over Wasis because she is capable of so much more and has FAILED MISERABLY to capitalise on her talents. Wasis are a lost cause.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I was v generous to Pink here - mostly because the lyrics to 'Just Like A Pill' are so bad that they're funny, and I have to acknowledge that they have indirectly provided me with much amusement.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

This was exactly my reasoning.

Wow this year was awesome!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

- The start of Xtina's world domination! As I remember this wasn't a single which everyone loved straight away - she'd had a massive period of skankitude before, everyone thought she was washed up compared to Britney (oh how things change), and the ultra-skank of 'Dirrty' was more "OMG what has she done" than "OMG she's amazing", which came after 'Beautiful' and 'Fighter'.

- The start of Sugababes' UK domination! And Girls Aloud at the end there...

- Second-tier acts keeping the pop alive in between the big anthems with first-tier songs - Holly V, Liberty X...I've said in the past that the first sign of the death of teenpop/dancepop was that we found that we had to wait for the big acts (Sugababes, GA, Britney, Xtina et al) to release singles, when during this period we always had disposable desperadoes to tide us over

- Eminem! Still really good in 02. I've never thought of his decline as an actual artistic decline because it always seemed deliberate to me - it's not that he's "lost it", it's that he doesn't want to have it any more, which is fair enough

- Nelly'n'Kelly bring the gorgeousness

- And still Aaliyah towers above all - even now when I listen to 'More Than A Woman' I'm captivated by a different bit of it, a different vocal inflection or production trick. I think the last time I noticed the outro most of all, when the string phrase really subtly slightly unhooks itself from the beat, so for the last couple of bars it's just slightly out of time and disjointed.

Aaliyah

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I saw the video for this on Hits!tv the other day, and it's still spellbinding. I am sad that I had no clue who she was until she died :(

Re: Wow this year was awesome!

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

going down the list, it's a slow start and then you get a MASSIVE KICK

Sugababes - Holly - Liberty X - Eminem

a gap with "oo smashing las ketchup" before being TOTALLY HIT OVER THE HEAD

xtina - eminem - Girls Aloud

Wasis

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say I have a soft spot for the Hindu Times, because I don't - it is shit. But there is something wonderfully stupid about calling yr single "The Hindu Times" simply because it has a sitar on it. Also it's not as bad as "Go Let One Out".

Re: Wasis

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

It's not even a sitar though, is it? It's just a guitar part that sounds a bit like a sitar, as far as I can tell. Which makes the title even more stupid!

Re: Wasis

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Yes, it actually seems reasonably good if you think of it in comparison to almost everything they've done in the last, what, 10 years.

Re: Wasis

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha who dares me to do a Wasis canon? :-)

Re: Wasis

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Go Let It Off! CIBIN!

Injusticewatch

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Nelly I - luv you
Kelly I - luv you

This is getting stiffed.

So is "Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake)" though I think me and Popjustice are the only people in the world who like it.

Re: Injusticewatch

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I honestly can't remember how it goes.

Re: Injusticewatch

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Oh I'd completely forgotten how good that was, I just saw GGareth's name and skipped past it - it is indeed a fantastic pop song. I have now gone back and ticked it.

Re: Injusticewatch

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I paused at this tickybox because I remembered Tom championing the song at the time. But like others, I cannot recall a note of it. A youtube link or an mp3 may further its cause!

Re: Injusticewatch

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Even when I'm with my boo
Boy you know I'm crazy over you

It makes adultery sound very innocent and touching. I didn't live in London then but I bet it got played to death by the Kidz On The Bus.

I hated 'Anyone Of Us'! It was mildly catchy but the operative word is MILD.

Re: Injusticewatch

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Absolutely brilliant. Easily one of my favorite pop singles of the decade.

Re: Injusticewatch

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

i ticked anyone of us. it's the good one he did. i'd love to hear someone else have a go at it, cos his voice is well rub.

Re: Injusticewatch

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I gave G-g-g-g-g-g a tick, that's a great song. Well, the chorus is anyway, can't remember the rest.

Kiss Kiss

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Love it, ticked it, but still not as good as Tarkan's original. They should have released that here.

Re: Kiss Kiss

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I'm actually surprised they didn't. Surely it would've broken him. Was he just not interested?

Re: Kiss Kiss

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

There is the perception that foreign language records won't do well here, so record companies don't often release them. Although I think they are too cautious on that front - the record was getting a lot of exposure on the Graham Norton show at the time, and it has enough of the novelty factor that radio needs to play foreign language stuff over here (which was clearly a factor in Las Ketchup getting to no. 1 later in the year).

Also:

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

If UK teen pop has indeed died, who/what killed it? strange_powers sez Channel U. I say: JAMIE OLIVER is to blame! Kids no longer eating as many e numbers = less affection for brightly coloured pop, Scooch aside...

Re: Also:

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I have never rly understood the economics of teen pop - it seems to take a colossal amount of money and work to put together and break a teenpop band, scrappy guitar bands must be more cost effective surely. (Even though the idea that they have a longer lifespan is a total myth).

Is the shift away from physical singles to downloads a factor? How easy is it for under-16s without their own credit/debit cards to download? Maybe they're all buying ringtones instead etc etc. [/grandad]

Re: Also:

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I don't think kids of that age will ever care about that kind of pop again sadly. It's all about bands and R&B once you hit 11 these days, it seems - they seem to be aware of the difference between pure pop and supposedly 'credible' acts a lot earlier on now.

These days I suppose we have the likes of McFly, who probably appeal to the pre-teens up until the point where they graduate to Fall Out Boy and the like.

Nice cuddly pop music will rise again though! They just have to find some way of successfully getting it to the very young kids who will want it.