Day 84 equals Now! #84, which came out on 25th March 2013.
Let’s see what the hits were that spring.
Track 1: One Direction – One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks)
Pointless cover mash-up of Blondie’s One Way Or Another and the Undertones’ Teenage Kicks. This was the Comic Relief single for 2013, so I guess charity fundraising is the excuse for ruining both of these classic songs.
Track 2: will.i.am and Britney Spears – Scream And Shout
I really like this danceable track, especially the well-done callback to Gimme More.
Track 3: Taylor Swift – I Knew You Were Trouble
I quite like this tune, and it’s got a good atmosphere.
Track 4: Pink and Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason
Great song – love the way the duet works here.
Track 5: Rihanna – Diamonds
Another pretty tune. Very nice.
Track 6: Bastille – Pompeii
Epic and anthemic – love this one.
Track 7: James Arthur – Impossible
The annual inclusion of the most recent X Factor winner, this year doing a pointless cover of Shontelle’s Impossible, which was not a great song to begin with.
Track 8: Olly Murs and Flo Rida – Troublemaker
I quite like this jaunty track – it’s got a great singalong chorus.
Track 9: Bruno Mars – Locked Out Of Heaven
This is from my favourite Bruno Mars era, when he started doing all these pastiches of artists that were big circa 1980. This song sounds like it should have been released by the Police.
Track 10: Kesha – Die Young
Nice beat, but the tune’s pretty forgettable.
Track 11: Bridgit Mendler – Ready Or Not
Irritating vocals, boring tune, and the chorus has a poorly-done interpolation of the Delfonics ’60s song (which was already done much better by the Fugees). Nothing impressive here.
Track 12: Little Mix – DNA
Great epic atmosphere, but the tune’s a bit weak.
Track 13: The Saturdays and Sean Paul – What About Us
Another bland, forgettable song.
Track 14: Girls Aloud – Something New
Love this one! Girls Aloud sort of came to a natural finish at the end of the ’00s, and so this special tenth anniversary track is really the only thing they’ve done as a group this decade. Better one cracker than lots of poor tracks, though, and this song is great.
Track 15: Nicole Scherzinger – Boomerang
Good rhythm, but this is another uninspired tune.
Track 16: Disclosure and Sam Smith – Latch
I appreciate that it’s a bit different from most stuff that was in the charts at the time, but it’s not my kind of thing – the tune is generic and I’m not into this kind of chillout/trance stuff.
Track 17: Rita Ora – Radioactive
I usually get this one confused with the identically-titled Imagine Dragons song that came out around the same time. This one’s probably my less-preferred (though there’s not much in it – the Imagine Dragons song is pretty dull too), because the tune’s very bland, but it does have a good electro backing track.
Track 18: Alicia Keys – Girl On Fire
I quite like the instrumentals, but the tune on the vocals annoys me.
Track 19: Christina Perri – A Thousand Years
Boring ballad off the Twilight soundtrack, but at least she doesn’t sound quite as horribly off-key as she does in Jar Of Hearts.
Track 20: Emeli Sandé – Clown
I find the theme a bit awkward, and it’s too slow for me.
Track 21: Gabrielle Aplin – The Power Of Love
This was one of the first of the big ‘Christmas advert’ hits that have been a feature of Christmas music this decade. Take a classic song, record a slow, melancholy, piano-based cover with female vocals, slap it over the top of an expensive John Lewis Christmas advert, debut the advert during an X Factor ad break in early November, job done. Christmas classic guaranteed.
Of course, this was already a Christmas classic, and has been ever since Frankie Goes To Hollywood released the original in 1984. Gabrielle Aplin’s version is very pretty, but it doesn’t have the pure emotional power of the Frankie version – Holly Johnson’s performance of the second verse is capable of moving me to tears when I’m in the right place, and Aplin just can’t compare. Still, it is enjoyable, even if July is really not when I want to be hearing Christmas songs.
Track 22: Avicii and Nicky Romero – I Could Be The One
I love this dance track – obviously it’s got a great beat, but there’s also something very wistful about the vocals. I actually can’t think of anyone who was better than Avicii (RIP) at emotion-inducing EDM.
Track 23: Bingo Players and Far East Movement – Get Up (Rattle)
Daft tune, but it’s a good head-nodder.
Track 24: Pitbull and TJR – Don’t Stop The Party
Messy and irritating.
Track 25: Calvin Harris and Tinie Tempah – Drinking From The Bottle
Good beat, and I really like Tinie Tempah’s rap on this one.
Track 26: Dizzee Rascal – Bassline Junkie
Daft theme, but I find it very funny. Good stuff.
Track 27: Wiley, Chipmunk and Dayo Olatunji – Reload
Boring tune, and there’s too much going on with the track.
Track 28: Rudimental, John Newman and Alex Clare – Not Giving In
Slow and dull intro, and the tune’s very irritating.
Track 29: Conor Maynard and Wiley – Animal
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Wiley on track 27.
The rap’s very bland, as is the tune, and the whole thing’s just a bit repetitive.
Track 30: Disclosure and AlunaGeorge – White Noise
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Disclosure on track 16.
This one takes ages to get going. The electro hook’s okay, but the vocals are super bland.
Track 31: Devlin and Diane Birch – Rewind
Another very forgettable song. Also, part of the melody on the chorus rips off Heart’s Alone, which has been an irritating theme in recent Now! compilations.
Track 32: Lawson – Standing In The Dark
A little more upbeat than previous Lawson tracks, but it’s still a very bland, saccharine song.
Track 33: Biffy Clyro – Black Chandelier
I saw Biffy Clyro once. It was the worst gig I’ve ever been to. Not because of Biffy Clyro, I hasten to add – they were fine to listen to, although the heavier stuff they were playing as the second support band in 2003 wasn’t really my thing. The main act was Linkin Park, who were okay (and I am glad I got to see them given sad future events), but the SECC in Glasgow had done this thing (I don’t know if it was by band request or what) where they barriered off a huge semicircle around the stage and only let about fifteen people into it, leaving the remaining hundreds of gig-goers to squash uncomfortably round the outside of the barrier and completely ruining the atmosphere. The only person onstage who seemed to be on the audience’s side was Ian Watkins of Lostprophets, the main support band, and I don’t really want to give him credit seeing as how he turned out to be a sex offender.
Anyway, I never went back to the SECC again. Barrowlands all the way if it was a Glasgow gig, even if I did lose a lot of brain cells and earrings over the years through being booted in the head by crowdsurfers.
I think what I’m trying to say is that this song’s a lot more interesting than the stuff Biffy were doing back in 2003. I quite like the vocal hook at the start, and the chorus is great.
Track 34: Fall Out Boy – My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up)
There’s a nice atmospheric chant-along bit on this one – quite like the track.
Track 35: McFly – Love Is Easy
Twee and irritating. I should note that Geth appreciated the It’s A Wonderful Life sample though.
Track 36: Ben Howard – Only Love
I find this tune pretty annoying.
Track 37: The Lumineers – Ho Hey
It’s a bit twee, but it’s quite a nice, jaunty song.
Track 38: One Direction – Little Things
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had One Direction on track 1.
This one is an irritating saccharine ballad with an irritating black and white video where One Direction sit around and play acoustic guitars in an attempt to look like serious musicians. The song was apparently written by Ed Sheeran, which will surprise no one.
It was also number one on Geth’s and my wedding day, which is far from ideal.
Track 39: Pink – Try
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Pink on track 4.
This one is a gorgeous tune though – really like it.
Track 40: Gabrielle Aplin – Please Don’t Say You Love Me
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Gabrielle Aplin on track 21.
The only thing this song achieves is proving that she should have been a one-hit wonder. Dull and uninspired.
Track 41: Fleetwood Mac – Everywhere
1987 classic, back in the charts due to a mobile phone advert. Not complaining here at all – I’m very partial to Fleetwood Mac, and this is one of my favourites.
Track 42: Ellie Goulding – Explosions
Not keen on that choral bit at the start, and on the whole it’s too slow for me and I don’t find the tune interesting enough.
Track 43: The Justice Collective – He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Charity cover of the ’60s classic to raise funds for Hillsborough victims’ charities, and the Christmas number one for 2012. Some good voice-spotting to be done here.