Trollheart's Chart Fifty

Trollheart · 02-17-2023, 03:31 PM

Back in time we go again then, to see what was topping the chart in 2011. Oh look, it's yer wan.

Title: “We Found Love”
Artist: Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris
Nationality: Barbadian (and Scottish)
Genre: Electro-House, Dance Pop
Written by: Calvin Harris
Original release date: September 22 2011
Progress to the top: Came straight in, but after spending three weeks at number one made a very slow drop to 3 and then 2, then experienced a resurgence and again took the number one spot for another three weeks. Dropped over four weeks to number 10 and then returned to number 5 a week after that, starting to drop then, almost leaving the top 40 on February 24 but yet again rallied and came back to the number 26 spot by March. After that it sort of bounced up and down a little but the highest it got was 39 on May 5, after which it began its slow retreat out of the top 100, falling finally to the bottom on August 18 2012.
Weeks spent at number one: 3 (6 non-consecutive)
From the album: Talk That Talk
What do I know about this artist? Very little. I’ve heard that song about the parasol and I know she was involved in various things but again she’s way outside my wheelhouse.
What do I think of this single? Meh. It’s pretty empty. As most reviewers have pointed out, it’s basically the one line repeated, and it gets tiresome. The house beat is enough to make you either want to get high and dance your brains out or dash those brains out on a wall. I know which I’d choose. No, it’s not the first. Hey, I admit it can be seen as catchy, infectious. But then, so is Covid.
What have I learned about this single? That it was written by Calvin Harris, who was pretty much unknown outside of his home shores, but that this made him a household name. Possibly the first time she teamed up with anyone. Or not. Don’t care.
My rating: C+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg

Trollheart · 02-28-2023, 06:09 AM

Ten years prior to that, and we were bothered with this at number one.

Title: “Have You Ever”
Artist: S Club 7
Nationality: English
Genre: Pop
Written by: Cathy Dennis, Andrew Frampton, Chris Braide
Original release date: November 17 2001
Progress to the top: Straight in, then a pretty standard slip down the charts till by January of 2002 it was outside the top 40, after which it continued on a fairly predictable slide - with the odd bump - to the bottom, exiting the chart at the beginning of March.
Weeks spent at number one: 1
From the album: Sunshine
What do I know about this artist? Created by the same guy who made the Spice Girls, Simon Fuller, they became another franchise and helped in the general slide towards mediocrity that is pop music today.
What do I think of this single? Christ on toast! It’s a basic sugary ballad with nothing new or original about it. I feel like I put on about three pounds just listening to the damn thing. Bet it only got to number one because of the charity thing. Also, did not hear any children’s voices (see below).
What have I learned about this single? Song was played on, though not written for, the BBC charity programme Children in Need, and apparently features the voices of kids from a whole lot of schools across Britain. Meh.
My rating: B-

Trollheart · 03-29-2023, 07:44 PM

Falling back into the twentieth century, when words like Al Quaeda. social distancing and Donald Trump were all but unknown... Ah! Good times!

Title: “Black or White”
Artist: Michael Jackson
Nationality: American
Genre: Pop Rock/Hip-hop
Written by: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell
Original release date: November 11 1991
Progress to the top: Came straight in but had a pretty rapid drop. Gone from the top 10 by Christmas and out of the chart by the end of January.
Weeks spent at number one: 2
From the album: Dangerous
What do I know about this artist? You jest! You jape!
What do I think of this single? I was never a huge fan of Jackson, but even I have to admit he had some great songs. This wasn’t quite up there with “Billy Jean”, “Earth Song”, “Thriller” or “Bad”, but it’s certainly better than some of the dross he would come out with towards the end of his career/life. Has a great message in it, even if he was kind of stymying that message by his determination to change his skin pigment, and no I don’t believe it was some complaint he had.
What have I learned about this single? Not really all that much. More about the need or desire for Jackson to leave the Quincy Jones days behind and move into a rockier idea, and about the controversy with his video, the seemingly wanton violence at the end which he addressed by turning it against racial slurs. Talk about turning a negative into a positive.
My rating: A+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ

something_or_other · 04-07-2023, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

My first random spin gave me number 33, so what's there this week and what was there this week up to fifty years ago? Well, this week (or as close to it as I can get anyway) we have this:

Title: “Super Freaky Girl”
Artist: Nicki Minaj
Nationality: Trinidadian
Genre: Hip-hop, Pop Rap
Written by: Rick James, Alonzo Miller, Lukasz Gottwald, Aaron Joseph, Lauren Miller, Vaughan Oliver (Lyrics by Onilka Maraj/Nicki Minaj and Gamal Lewis/LunchMoney Lewis)
Original release date: August 22 2022
Highest chart position (at time of writing): 10 (1 in the USA)
Chart position (at time of writing): 33
Progress, if any, at time of writing: Descending
From the album: N/A
What do I know about this artist? Very little; I know her name and that she’s a rapper/pop artist and usually has pink hair, but other than that, nada.
What do I think of this single? Okay, hands up anyone who thought I liked it? Huh? Oh, right. You just joined today. Well, you’ll learn once you get to know me. Look, it wasn’t as terrible as I had expected it to be, but let’s be honest here: the main thrust (ooer) or if you prefer the meat (double ooer) of the song is in the original: that instantly recognisable keyboard riff, the beat, it’s all James and then she’s spouting sexual not-quite-innuendos all over it. Yeah it’s okay and I can see how it was so popular, and you can’t fault the video (not that that should really factor into my decision, but this is the age of MTV, sort of). But really the only thing this song showed me was that I do actually know “Super Freak”, and it’s a cool song. This is okay but you know, meh.
What have I learned about this single? Seems to have been very successful, taking her to number one in the US, in fact debuting at number one, though it didn’t do quite as well over here, as you can see. Still made the top ten. Just. It’s not from any album, as seems to be increasingly the norm these days with pop artists - probably due to the popularity of streaming sites: indeed, this was the highest-charting debut for a female solo rap singer (well, it says biggest debut, but I assume that’s what it means) on Spotify. It liberally samples Rick James’s 1981 hit “Super Freak” (which then proves she didn’t exactly go outof her way to title it, just adding a “y” and “girl” to the song) but I’m no fan of James so could not tell you how, if at all, it compares to the original.

Some controversy apparently, if you care, about her being annoyed it was chosen as a pop rather than a rap single, which kind of seems like splitting hairs to me, but there you go. Then some sort of “Twitter battle” between her and some other rapper, Latte or Ladder or, no, Latto, that’s the one. As if I care.
My rating: A-

I find this song kinda silly. The first part of the chorus sounds like a sexual as seen on tv ad.

Mindy · 04-07-2023, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Falling back into the twentieth century, when words like Al Quaeda. social distancing and Donald Trump were all but unknown... Ah! Good times!

Title: “Black or White”
Artist: Michael Jackson
Nationality: American
Genre: Pop Rock/Hip-hop
Written by: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell
Original release date: November 11 1991
Progress to the top: Came straight in but had a pretty rapid drop. Gone from the top 10 by Christmas and out of the chart by the end of January.
Weeks spent at number one: 2
From the album: Dangerous
What do I know about this artist? You jest! You jape!
What do I think of this single? I was never a huge fan of Jackson, but even I have to admit he had some great songs. This wasn’t quite up there with “Billy Jean”, “Earth Song”, “Thriller” or “Bad”, but it’s certainly better than some of the dross he would come out with towards the end of his career/life. Has a great message in it, even if he was kind of stymying that message by his determination to change his skin pigment, and no I don’t believe it was some complaint he had.
What have I learned about this single? Not really all that much. More about the need or desire for Jackson to leave the Quincy Jones days behind and move into a rockier idea, and about the controversy with his video, the seemingly wanton violence at the end which he addressed by turning it against racial slurs. Talk about turning a negative into a positive.
My rating: A+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ

that tune reminds me of the 90s so much

Trollheart · 04-16-2023, 01:30 PM

Back another ten years, and this was at the top.

Title: “Under Pressure”
Artist: Queen and David Bowie
Nationality: English
Genre: Pop, Rock
Written by: Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, John Deacon
Original release date: October 25 1981
Progress to the top: Two weeks after release it entered the top 10 at number 8 and hit number one the next week, spending two weeks there before sliding fairly quickly down. By January it was out of the top forty, and fell off the chart two weeks later.
Weeks spent at number one: 2
From the album: Hot Space (Queen)
What do I know about this artist? Know both of them very well; who doesn’t? This was the first and only time Bowie duetted with Queen and the only time Queen teamed up with another star, so far as I know.
What do I think of this single? Always liked this one, both as a Bowie fan and as a Queen one. Hypnotic bassline, both singers at the very top of their game, a powerful and poignant song, the more now that its two vocalists have both passed on.
What have I learned about this single? Not much I didn’t already know. Bowie and Queen were recording at the same studio, met up and decided to work a few songs together, this being the best of them. Sampled later, without permission from either, by Vanilla Ice, which put him in the spotlight for probably the only time in his life due to a major lawsuit which he lost. Well how could he not? Sandwiched in between two of Bowie’s last great albums, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and Let’s Dance, after which he virtually vanished from the charts, and bridging an uncomfortable gap for Queen after the somewhat embarrassing soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon (which nevertheless gave them a big hit) and their comeback in 1984 with A Kind of Magic.
My rating: A+++

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I[/youtube]

02-17-2023, 03:31 PM	#31 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Back in time we go again then, to see what was topping the chart in 2011. Oh look, it's yer wan. Title: “We Found Love” Artist: Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris Nationality: Barbadian (and Scottish) Genre: Electro-House, Dance Pop Written by: Calvin Harris Original release date: September 22 2011 Progress to the top: Came straight in, but after spending three weeks at number one made a very slow drop to 3 and then 2, then experienced a resurgence and again took the number one spot for another three weeks. Dropped over four weeks to number 10 and then returned to number 5 a week after that, starting to drop then, almost leaving the top 40 on February 24 but yet again rallied and came back to the number 26 spot by March. After that it sort of bounced up and down a little but the highest it got was 39 on May 5, after which it began its slow retreat out of the top 100, falling finally to the bottom on August 18 2012. Weeks spent at number one: 3 (6 non-consecutive) From the album: Talk That Talk What do I know about this artist? Very little. I’ve heard that song about the parasol and I know she was involved in various things but again she’s way outside my wheelhouse. What do I think of this single? Meh. It’s pretty empty. As most reviewers have pointed out, it’s basically the one line repeated, and it gets tiresome. The house beat is enough to make you either want to get high and dance your brains out or dash those brains out on a wall. I know which I’d choose. No, it’s not the first. Hey, I admit it can be seen as catchy, infectious. But then, so is Covid. What have I learned about this single? That it was written by Calvin Harris, who was pretty much unknown outside of his home shores, but that this made him a household name. Possibly the first time she teamed up with anyone. Or not. Don’t care. My rating: C+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

02-28-2023, 06:09 AM	#32 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Ten years prior to that, and we were bothered with this at number one. Title: “Have You Ever” Artist: S Club 7 Nationality: English Genre: Pop Written by: Cathy Dennis, Andrew Frampton, Chris Braide Original release date: November 17 2001 Progress to the top: Straight in, then a pretty standard slip down the charts till by January of 2002 it was outside the top 40, after which it continued on a fairly predictable slide - with the odd bump - to the bottom, exiting the chart at the beginning of March. Weeks spent at number one: 1 From the album: Sunshine What do I know about this artist? Created by the same guy who made the Spice Girls, Simon Fuller, they became another franchise and helped in the general slide towards mediocrity that is pop music today. What do I think of this single? Christ on toast! It’s a basic sugary ballad with nothing new or original about it. I feel like I put on about three pounds just listening to the damn thing. Bet it only got to number one because of the charity thing. Also, did not hear any children’s voices (see below). What have I learned about this single? Song was played on, though not written for, the BBC charity programme Children in Need, and apparently features the voices of kids from a whole lot of schools across Britain. Meh. My rating: B- __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

03-29-2023, 07:44 PM	#33 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Falling back into the twentieth century, when words like Al Quaeda. social distancing and Donald Trump were all but unknown... Ah! Good times! Title: “Black or White” Artist: Michael Jackson Nationality: American Genre: Pop Rock/Hip-hop Written by: Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell Original release date: November 11 1991 Progress to the top: Came straight in but had a pretty rapid drop. Gone from the top 10 by Christmas and out of the chart by the end of January. Weeks spent at number one: 2 From the album: Dangerous What do I know about this artist? You jest! You jape! What do I think of this single? I was never a huge fan of Jackson, but even I have to admit he had some great songs. This wasn’t quite up there with “Billy Jean”, “Earth Song”, “Thriller” or “Bad”, but it’s certainly better than some of the dross he would come out with towards the end of his career/life. Has a great message in it, even if he was kind of stymying that message by his determination to change his skin pigment, and no I don’t believe it was some complaint he had. What have I learned about this single? Not really all that much. More about the need or desire for Jackson to leave the Quincy Jones days behind and move into a rockier idea, and about the controversy with his video, the seemingly wanton violence at the end which he addressed by turning it against racial slurs. Talk about turning a negative into a positive. My rating: A+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFE8cirkdQ __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-16-2023, 01:30 PM	#36 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Back another ten years, and this was at the top. Title: “Under Pressure” Artist: Queen and David Bowie Nationality: English Genre: Pop, Rock Written by: Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, David Bowie, John Deacon Original release date: October 25 1981 Progress to the top: Two weeks after release it entered the top 10 at number 8 and hit number one the next week, spending two weeks there before sliding fairly quickly down. By January it was out of the top forty, and fell off the chart two weeks later. Weeks spent at number one: 2 From the album: Hot Space (Queen) What do I know about this artist? Know both of them very well; who doesn’t? This was the first and only time Bowie duetted with Queen and the only time Queen teamed up with another star, so far as I know. What do I think of this single? Always liked this one, both as a Bowie fan and as a Queen one. Hypnotic bassline, both singers at the very top of their game, a powerful and poignant song, the more now that its two vocalists have both passed on. What have I learned about this single? Not much I didn’t already know. Bowie and Queen were recording at the same studio, met up and decided to work a few songs together, this being the best of them. Sampled later, without permission from either, by Vanilla Ice, which put him in the spotlight for probably the only time in his life due to a major lawsuit which he lost. Well how could he not? Sandwiched in between two of Bowie’s last great albums, Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and Let’s Dance, after which he virtually vanished from the charts, and bridging an uncomfortable gap for Queen after the somewhat embarrassing soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon (which nevertheless gave them a big hit) and their comeback in 1984 with A Kind of Magic. My rating: A+++ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a01QQZyl-_I[/youtube] __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018