Day 71 equals Now! #71, which came out on 17th November 2008.
Let’s see what the Christmas party songs were that year.
Track 1: Girls Aloud – The Promise
Nice feelgood retro-tinged tune, quite like this one.
Track 2: Katy Perry – I Kissed A Girl
Appalling theme, but it’s a great pop tune.
Track 3: Pink – So What
Another classic from Lego Rock Band that I used to drum along to. Love this chant-along track.
Track 4: Kings Of Leon – Sex On Fire
Daft lyrics that everyone took the piss out of at the time, but it’s a great rock tune and has turned into a bit of a classic.
Track 5: Kid Rock – All Summer Long
Feelgood nostalgic song based around the riff from Sweet Home Alabama. I’ve actually always quite liked this one.
Track 6: Rihanna – Disturbia
Great atmosphere – quite like this tune.
Track 7: Ne-Yo – Miss Independent
Great electro hook, but the vocals are a bit too saccharine for me.
Track 8: The Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
Another great chant-along chorus. Really like this track.
Track 9: Madcon – Beggin’
Good beat, nice retro tune – happily nodding along.
Track 10: Chris Brown – Forever
Nice feelgood atmosphere, but I find the tune pretty dull.
Track 11: Jennifer Hudson – Spotlight
I find the vocals on this ballad pretty generic, but the backing track is lovely.
Track 12: James Morrison – You Make It Real
Boring and slow, with an irritating tune. Not keen.
Track 13: Will Young – Changes
Another one that’s too slow for me, but the retro-tinged tune’s quite interesting.
Track 14: Jordin Sparks – Tattoo
Cheesy vocals, too slow, but there’s some interesting stuff going on in the background.
Track 15: Geraldine McQueen – The Winner’s Song
How many tracks have there been during this Now! project where I’ve mentioned that I’ve got a soft spot for the song because it was used to great effect in Peter Kay’s Britain’s Got The Pop Factor, his brilliant X Factor parody? Well, I’ve lost count, but it’s been a lot, and now we’ve finally got to autumn 2008, when it was first shown on TV (I can’t believe it’s nearly a decade old – Geth and I still watch the DVD every Christmas). This ballad was written specially for the show’s fictional winner, Geraldine McQueen (by Gary Barlow no less), neatly parodying the overblown ballads that were always released as X Factor winners’ singles at the time.
Incidentally, while Geraldine is supposed to be Northern Irish, you can hear Peter Kay’s Lancashire accent a mile off in his singing voice.
Track 16: Sugababes – Girls
Great pop track based around Here Come The Girls, a ’70s song that never really took off at the time but was eventually used in a series of Boots adverts in 2007. Love this tune.
Track 17: The Saturdays – Up
Nice danceable track, good solid pop.
Track 18: Boyzone – Love You Anyway
Great instrumentals – quite like this one.
Track 19: Katy Perry – Hot N Cold
Repeated artist alert! We’ve already had Katy Perry on track 2. It’s a particularly egregious repetition as both tracks are solo singles, though I suppose they have both become pop classics.
This one I always enjoyed dancing to on Just Dance for the Wii. Between that and Lego Rock Band, this era of the Now! project is really making me want to plug the Wii back in!
Track 20: Sash! and Stunt – Raindrops (Encore Une Fois)
Mash-up of Sash!’s Encore Une Fois and Stunt’s Raindrops. It’s not horrible – even if I still don’t think these tracks work together at all – but I’ll definitely be lining up the original Encore Une Fois to listen to after this playlist is done.
Track 21: Basshunter – Angel In The Night
Takes a while to get going. Once it does, there’s some random rock guitar that doesn’t go with the dance track, but I like rock guitar so I’m going to let it slide just this once.
Track 22: Eric Prydz – Pjanoo
Great piano hook, as you might expect from the title. Good stuff.
Track 23: Steve Mac – Paddy’s Revenge
Dance track with Irish music over the top. It sounds bizarre but it actually works okay.
Track 24: Coldplay – Viva La Vida
One of the few Coldplay tracks that I actually unashamedly like. This is a great tune with a wonderful atmosphere.
Track 25: The Script – The Man Who Can’t Be Moved
A bit cheesy and soft-rock for my liking.
Track 26: Razorlight – Wire To Wire
Nice tune, nice atmosphere. Good track.
Track 27: Noah & The Whale – 5 Years’ Time
This is from the early years when Laura Marling was still with the band, and her backing vocals are really great on this. Lovely tune.
Track 28: Iglu & Hartly – In This City
There are some interesting instrumentals going on, but the tune’s very generic and forgettable.
Track 29: The Ting Tings – Shut Up And Let Me Go
My favourite of the Ting Tings’ hits. Great beat, awesome chant-along track.
Track 30: Kaiser Chiefs – Never Miss A Beat
Nice tune – bit of a ’60s rock tinge, too.
Track 31: Snow Patrol – Take Back The City
Boring tune, not particularly keen on this one.
Track 32: The Verve – Love Is Noise
Lots of messy, irritating lines. Pretty awful.
Track 33: Guru Josh Project – Infinity 2008 [Klaas Vocal Edit]
Remix of the 1989 track. The instrumental hook’s okay, but I could do without the other stuff going on with this one.
Track 34: Christian Falk and Robyn – Dream On
Irritating vocals, but I quite like the backing track.
Track 35: Duffy – Stepping Stone
Nice atmosphere, but it’s too slow for me.
Track 36: Flobots – Handlebars
Daft theme, daft instrumentals. Quite like this one.
Track 37: Keane – Spiralling
Messy, but I appreciate the retro tinge.
Track 38: McFly – Lies
Another good retro feel to this track.
Track 39: Alphabeat – Boyfriend
Good solid piece of electropop – really like this one.
Track 40: Biffy Clyro – Mountains
Once it gets going, this is a cracking rock song.
Track 41: Ida Maria – I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked
Boring tune, nowhere near as good as the title suggests. The chorus is okay, though.
Track 42: Little Jackie – The World Should Revolve Around Me
Nice feelgood atmosphere, but again the tune’s just not interesting enough for me.
Track 43: Gym Class Heroes and The-Dream – Cookie Jar
Another nice atmosphere, but the song’s pretty forgettable.
Track 44: Taio Cruz – She’s Like A Star
Quite a nice tune, but it’s a little repetitive.
Track 45: Platnum – Love Shy (Thinking About You)
Fairly generic dance track. This Now! compilation has generally tailed off in quite a rubbish way.