Day 63 means Now! #63, which takes us to 10th April 2006.
I’m as interested as anyone to know what the hits were in 2006, as I was listening pretty much exclusively to goth and industrial by this point and so I don’t remember the chart stuff.
Track 1: Corrine Bailey Rae – Put Your Records On
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
It’s a nice tune, but it’s not really my style – I find this kind of thing pretty dull.
Track 2: The Pussycat Dolls and will.i.am – Beep
Great atmosphere, great beat, but it could do with some more melody.
Track 3: The Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
Semi-repeated artist alert! We only just had the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am on the last track.
Awful then, still awful now. The lyrics are just terrible.
Track 4: Orson – No Tomorrow
Interesting guitar lines, but I find the tune pretty boring.
Track 5: The Ordinary Boys – Boys Will Be Boys
Great ska-tinged track – I’ve always really liked this tune.
Track 6: Meck and Leo Sayer – Thunder In My Heart Again
Remix of Leo Sayer’s 1977 track Thunder In My Heart. It’s highly danceable and uses the original song very nicely.
Track 7: Hi Tack – Say Say Say (Waiting 4 U)
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I appreciate the sample from Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s Say Say Say, and the rest of the track’s actually okay – it’s another one where the sample is used very well.
Track 8: Dead Or Alive – You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
The 1985 classic, back in the charts due to Pete Burns’ appearance on Celebrity Big Brother. It’s one of my favourite songs – I’ve loved it ever since hearing it as the theme to the Sounds Of The ’80s TV show in the early ’90s. Stunning track.
Track 9: Chico – It’s Chico Time
Awful novelty song that still troubles the music channels as part of their ‘Christmas party’ playlists.
Track 10: Shayne Ward – That’s My Goal
The second X Factor winner’s single and the first to get the Christmas number one. I’ve got a bad feeling that we’re going to be seeing X Factor winners on every spring Now! compilation for a good few years. The only good thing about this saccharine ballad is that it’s Shayne Ward’s original song, in contrast to the pointless karaoke you normally get with X Factor contestants.
Track 11: Sugababes – Ugly
Generic tune, and I find the theme on this one very hamfisted.
Track 12: Simon Webbe – No Worries
The beat’s a bit jarring, and in general the track is pretty messy – too much going on.
Track 13: Will Young – All Time Love
The tune’s nice, but it’s too slow for me.
Track 14: Kelly Clarkson – Because Of You
Another slow ballad, and those have to be super atmospheric or interesting for me not to find them bland. This one is not super atmospheric or interesting.
Track 15: Westlife – Amazing
Nice tune, nice atmosphere, but the chorus is a bit cheesy for me.
Track 16: Andy Abraham – Hang Up
The X Factor runner-up to Shayne Ward, fact fans. This track has a nice retro feel and could have come from the ’70s or ’80s, which is a great thing in my book.
Track 17: McFly – I Wanna Hold You
Good beat, interesting lines, but the vocals annoy me.
Track 18: Son Of Dork – Ticket Outta Loserville
Nice bit of daft pop-punk – quite like this tune.
Track 19: Friday Hill – One More Night Alone
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Good head-nodder, nice tune.
Track 20: Liberty X – A Night To Remember
Utterly pointless cover of the Shalamar classic, released as the official Children In Need single for 2005 (so insert usual disclaimer about the ‘point’ being charity fundraising). It’s pretty much identical to the original.
Track 21: Rihanna – If It’s Lovin’ That You Want
Interesting lines that come together to create quite a good atmosphere for this song. Quite like this one.
Track 22: Liz McClarnon – Woman In Love
Pointless cover of the Barbra Streisand classic. It’s a great song whoever does it, but there’s nothing new added here.
Track 23: Girls Aloud – See The Day
Pointless cover of the Dee C Lee classic. Also now a Christmas song, due to its ubiquity on the music channels’ Christmas playlists because of its wintry video. Again, I love the song whoever does it, but I just don’t see the point of releasing such a near-identical version.
Track 24: Nizlopi – JCB Song
Great song – gorgeous tune, brilliant lyrics, awesome theme, great chant-along section. A classic.
Track 25: Embrace – Nature’s Law
Nice piano instrumentals, lovely atmosphere. I normally find Embrace’s stuff really dull, but this is a nice tune, even with the slightly drone-y vocals.
Track 26: Robbie Williams – Advertising Space
Nice atmosphere, but it’s too slow for my liking.
Track 27: Coldplay – Talk
Great riff, but the vocals are depressing as ever from Coldplay.
Track 28: A-ha – Analogue (All I Want)
A welcome return to the charts for A-ha! This track has a suitably epic atmosphere, a great bassline, really nice piano and a lovely tune on the vocals.
Track 29: The Feeling – Sewn
Boring tune, too slow.
Track 30: Richard Ashcroft – Break The Night With Colour
Another tune that I just can’t get interested in.
Track 31: Texas – Sleep
Nice tune, but again it’s not uptempo enough for me.
Track 32: Kaiser Chiefs – Modern Way
Not the most interesting track off the Employment album, but I still really like the tune.
Track 33: U2 – All Because Of You
Great riff, but the tune’s a bit dull and repetitive.
Track 34: Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down
Love the guitar, but the vocals are pretty irritating.
Track 35: Goldfrapp – Ride A White Horse
I’m always disappointed that this isn’t a cover of T.Rex’s Ride A White Swan with alternative lyrics. Still, it’s a great electropop tune.
Track 36: Gorillaz – Dirty Harry
Some interesting lines and hooks, but it’s very repetitive.
Track 37: MVP – Bounce, Shake, Move, Stop!
Daft theme, and I’d prefer a bit more melody, but it is a good head-nodder.
Track 38: Sunblock – I’ll Be Ready
Bit of a repetitive sample mishmash, but it’s got a good beat. The sample is Jimi Jamison’s Baywatch theme from 1994, but I had to look that up – I never watched enough of the show (I always found the premise really daft) to remember the theme!
Track 39: The Shapeshifters – Incredible
Quite like the instrumentals, but the main tune is very bland.
Track 40: The Source and Candi Staton – You Got The Love [New Voyager Radio Edit]
We’ve already had this song TWICE, if you can believe that, on Now! #19 and Now! #36! The New Voyager mix is definitely not different enough to justify including it a third time!
See the first link for my review (including the Florence & The Machine annoyance that I keep being reminded of whenever another Now! compilation features this song) and the second link for the first time I got angry about this repetition!
Track 41: Kubb – Grow
Boring, slow and depressing.
Track 42: José González – Heartbeats
Oh, it’s this one. Again, it’s too slow for my taste, though the guitar lines are quite interesting.
