Hits 21 - 2003 (4): Beyonce & Jay Z, Daniel Bedingfield, Blu Cantrell & Sean Paul

Episode Date: May 7, 2023

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every UK #1 hit single of the 21st century - from January 2000, right through to the present day. Twitter: @Hits21UK Email: [e-mail]

Hi there everyone, welcome back to Hits 21, where me, Rob, me, Andy, and me, Lizzie, all look back at every single UK number one of the 21st century from January 2000 right through to the present day. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us over on Twitter. We are at Hits21UK. That is at Hits21UK. And you can email us too to send it on over to Hits21Podcast at gmail.com. Thank you so much for joining us again. We are currently looking back at the year 2003.

And this time we'll be covering the period between the 6th of July and the 30th of August in that year I said at the end of the last episode that we'd only be looking as far as the 2nd of August but I realized that we're gonna all up when I came to do the script for this week last week our poll winner was evanescence bring me to Nice one. It was tighter on the Spotify poll than it was on the Twitter poll. But yeah, Bring Me to Life, a winner I'm totally fine with. It's kind of staying on last week, actually. A couple of days after we recorded the episode, I went down to Cheadle which is a sort of like a

village in stockport and they have like a little high street and there's a bernardo's charity shop in there and i went in and i was looking at some of the records that they had and as well as finding and me buying also um scilla black's debut album and like a Baccarat like compilation thing um I found Tomcraft 12 inch of loneliness and I just couldn't believe the coincidence so I was like well I'm buying this then and yeah that's lovely yeah yeah it's just such a great coincidence I couldn't believe it when I saw it the yeah the cover that we put on our artwork with all the hands and stuff. But yeah, so what a lovely coincidence. Anyway, on to this week's episode.

We're going to give you some news headlines from around the time that the songs we're covering this week were number one in the UK. The United States government reports that two of Saddam Hussein's sons have been killed by American troops in Iraq. Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein were both killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Meanwhile, John Gard, one of the last living participants of the First World War, dies aged 108. A Eurostar train travelling from London to Paris sets a new speed record for railways in the United Kingdom. While travelling under the English Channel, the train hits speeds of 208 miles per

hour, beating the previous record of 160 miles per hour. They kind of smashed that record there, wow. And meanwhile, British police use a taser for the very first time. And elsewhere, the social networking website Myspace is launched by founders Krista Wolf, John Hart and Tom Anderson. Myspace would become one of the first social networks to reach a global audience and had a significant impact on pop music, technology and popular culture. Meanwhile Ugandan military officer Idi Amin has fallen into a coma and would eventually die aged 77, meaning he was unable to access the wide array of features at my space office. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. Hulk for two weeks and Terminator 3

Rise of the Machines for one week. Meanwhile, Mastermind makes its return to British TV after originally going off the air in 1997 and Madonna and Britney Spears kiss each other on stage at the VMAs. Shock, horror,

bloody hell, scandal. Do you know what's funny about this is that before we did the podcast, it's only from doing this now and piecing the two things together that I've realised it must surely have been inspired by Tattoo, which was something that I'd never put together at the time. Possibly, yeah. Because that was like the big thing about Tattoo. It was like, oh, look at the women kissing.

That sells records. I feel like that must have been a bit of a straight line between the two. Meanwhile, the BBC airs the final episode of Tomorrow's World, which had been on the air since 1965. I guess that makes it Yesterday's World. Lord David Purry is named as the first chairman of Ofcom and American comedian Bob Hope dies at the age of 100. And elsewhere on British TV Cameron Stout wins the fourth series of Big Brother. He received

1.9 million votes which was half a million more than that year's runner-up Ray Shah. That series is regarded by Big Brother fans as one of the more boring iterations but is also remembered for a bomb scare that caused the house to be evacuated and also for introducing viewers to john tickle who would go on to co-present sky one show brainiac science abuse and who famously walked across a swimming pool filled with custard as part of a show experiment oh what an episode of brainiac the brainiac was great i loved brainiac that was good um yeah andy album charts in the uk how are they looking during this period yeah um funnily enough because it's such a short year like it's just in terms of both singles and albums, for some reason, that everything's quite

tightly packed, it was quite notable to me that, including this week's albums, there's only actually 10 more UK number one albums for the rest of this year, and there's three of them this week, so yeah, it's going to quickly, there's going to quickly run out of things for me to talk about in this section, but this week we've got quite a lot. We've got the choral first of all at number one with their album magic and medicine which has only spent one week at number one and only went gold so that was a bit of a flash in the pan for the choral um that was then replaced at number one for one week by escapology by robbie williams returning to number one um once again, after a gap of only about three, four months this time, but it does

keep on recurring at the top, which was seven times platinum. Very big hit. That is replaced at number one by Eva Cassidy with American Tune, which spent two weeks at number one and was certified gold. I don't know anything about that album. We've discussed

Eva Cassidy before, that she's one of those kind of stalwarts on the albums chart who always does the business but i feel like of our generation very few people really know anything by her but um yeah and then finally um taking us through the end of august and a lot of sept is The Darkness with their album Permission to Land, which spent four weeks at number one and went four times platinum, which kind of tells you that it was very big quite briefly. But yeah, this was the big debut for The Darkness. The album produced some very notable singles, which we may or may not ever get to discuss, such as I Believe in a Thing Called Love and Christmastime. But yeah, The Darkness, coming in for four weeks, though. That's a good record.

I like that album, that Permission to Land album. My favourite off that album was, apart from the obvious singles, but the one that I don't think it was ever released as a single, but it was Get Your Hands Off of My Woman, Motherfucker. It was the um the song from that i always remember great chorus on that there that's great that was a lovely rendition beautiful

um lizzie how are things looking in america yeah well after clay aiken's two-week reign at number one beyonce claimed her first solo number one single with Crazy in Love featuring Jay-Z, which we'll also be discussing on this very episode. Over in America, though, it stayed at number one for eight weeks and was certified six times platinum. And as well in the album's chart, Beyoncé was number one, but she only managed a week there in July and was usurped by Ashanti's second album, Chapter Two.

That stayed at number one for two weeks and was certified platinum, but only got to number five in the UK while Beyonce held the top spot. And just a couple more this week. We've got the soundtrack to Bad Boys 2 2 which scored the top spot for four weeks eventually going platinum and also producing the next us number one single after crazy in love however just like eight mile last year it was classed as a compilation album meaning it got to number one on the soundtrack charts but was ineligible for the main uk albums chart. And just one more to mention this week, we've got Greatest Hits Volume 2

and some other stuff by Alan Jackson, which got to number one for one week. Went six times platinum, but I can't find any data about this being released in the UK. Maybe it got to number one on the country charts. Do we even have a country chart? I don't know.

I don't think we do. No, I don't think so. Well, there you go then. Right then. Okay, excellent. Okay, so on to this week. Thank you very much for those report guys, those reports guys and our first

song up this week. We've briefly mentioned it, but here it is. It's this Oh, no, no. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, no. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, no. Oh, no, no. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, no. See ya. History in the making. Part two. So crazy right now.

I like the stare so deep in your eyes. I touch on you more and more every time. When you leave, I'm begging you not to go. Call your name two, three times in a row. Such a funny thing for me to try to explain. How I'm feeling and my pride is the one I blame. Cause I know I don't understand. Just talk your love, you do it, no one else can.

Got me looking so crazy right now, your love. Got me looking so crazy right now. Got me looking so crazy right now, your touch. Got me looking so crazy right now. Got me hoping you'd play me right now, your kiss. Got me hoping you'd save me right now Got me hoping you'll save me right now Looking so crazy in love Got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love

Okay, this is Crazy in Love by Beyonce featuring Jay-Z. Released as the lead single from her debut studio album titled Dangerously in Love, Crazy in Love is Beyonce's second single to be released in the UK overall and her first to reach number one. As for Jay-Z, this is the 23rd single involving him to be released in the UK, but it is also his first to reach number one. It's not the last time we'll be hearing from either Beyonce or Jay-Z on this podcast. Crazy in Love went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, knocking Evanescence off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for three weeks. for three weeks. In its first week at number one, it sold 73,000 copies, beating competition from Fool No More by S Club 8. They're now masquerading as S Club 8, as opposed to S Club Juniors, which got to number four, and Can't Get It Back by Mystique, which got to

number eight. In its second week atop the charts, it sold 47,000 copies, beating competition from Hollywood by Madonna which got to number 2, Feel Good Time by Pink which got to number 3 and Real Things by Javine which got to number 4. In its third and final week at the top, it sold 35,000 copies and beat Competition from Satisfaction by Benny Benassi which got to number two, Pass It On by The Coral, which got to number five, and Invisible by D-Side, which got to number seven. When it was knocked off the top of the charts,

Crazy in Love dropped one place to number two. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 19 weeks. The song was certified triple platinum in the UK in October 2021. So big deal. Andy, you're opening the show. Go ahead. Oh, this is pressure to open the show talking about this. Wow. I mean, that's the thing. It's a monolith. This one, isn't it really? That it's, you know, it's, it's one of those songs a little bit like Can't Get You Out of My Head, which comes in and you're just like, whoa, even in context,

where did that come from? It's just such a thing to behold, really. And there isn't really any one reason why. It's just an extremely well-structured, well-put-together, well-produced, well, well performed pop song that just has literally zero flaws. I'm just gonna say it right out of the bat I just think this is amazing. It's obviously gone down as an absolute classic that's done the business in terms of numbers but

also it's just really really well regarded and still plays all the time everywhere even to this day and it's well deserved it's just one of those songs that just works um for me my favorite thing about it is how pacey it is how fast paced it feels that it's got that driving beat behind it all the way through that in terms of the way the lyrics come out in terms of the way that it's kind of placed rhythmically it feels very fast it feels like not a second is being wasted which is something like i said with um a couple of other songs you know that's something that i really go for is when you know the time is used really well i think beyonce like shows herself here as well to be just a really great performer at this type of song that with all that loud production and all the kind of trumpets and drums and all sorts going on it's very easy for an artist to get swallowed up

by a song like this and the fact that she not only doesn't get swallowed up by it but also kind of ends up on top and ends up as like the most powerful instrument in the room even surrounded by everything that's happening in this song, I think just makes it even better and really seals the deal for this as a big statement of intent, if I'm able to say, going forward. And it's been really nice to kind of see her evolution from the songs that we've covered so far

that with Survivor, you know, she showed that she was a very good vocalist, but I think her and the song, in retrospect, I'm not convinced that they are the best match for each other. survivor you know she showed that she was very good vocalist but i think her and the song in retrospect i'm not convinced that they are the best match for each other independent women was more like it that was the kind of thing you know that i wanted to see from beyonce and here it's like yeah she's found her niche she's found you know this kind of balls to the wall really loud really sort of party atmosphere r&b that's got kind of genre crossover in it, which is guided by her vocals at the heart of it.

And it just works. Like I say, it just really, really works. It helps that it's got a killer hook with the... And I think it's quite a brave choice to keep that, apart from the verses, to keep that going pretty much all the way through. Like, that refrain plays over the choruses, and like I say, could easily swallow Beyonce up, but it doesn't. It's just a refrain that you can't help

but dance to and can't help but get swept up in. And there's quite a few elements of the song that kind of build up throughout and then all kind of coalesce together at the end. It does that trick that... I can't remember the name of the producer, I'm sure one of you will tell me who it is but it's that thing that Britney songs do where the last chorus is a little bit different where it's instead of got me looking so crazy right now it's got me looking so crazy which is just something that I really enjoy and there's a little bit of a harken back to the Britney era a few years ago yeah I can't really pull together my thoughts any more coherently than this, to be honest, because my notes that I've got for this

are just like words of like, this bit's great, this bit's great, this bit's really great. It's just one of those songs where everything really comes together really, really well. It's just lightning in a bottle. And I think it really is just a perfect start for Beyonce as a solo artist the only other thing I want to mention is Jay-Z's part in this as well because it could very easily come across as just a tick box of I'll put a wrapper on it to sell a few more copies to give it some cash with with male listeners you know like we said this last week about Bring Me To Life and that it will later happen with other female artists launching themselves, particularly Lady Gaga.

But it does work here. I mean, aside from the fact that Beyonce and Jay-Z, you know, ended up husband and wife, so it's got credibility in that sense. But it's quite a memorable little verse from Jay-Z that it's kind of iconic in its own right, especially the crazy and deranged, crazy and deranged bit, I think really gets in your head um yeah i absolutely love this and i guess the only other question i want to ask of it is this is crazy in love but it comes from the album

dangerously in love which is it queen bee which is it i think the only thing we can the only thing we can determine is that this love is hazardous, that we should be cautioned against this love. It's both crazy and dangerous. But yes, I absolutely love it. I think it's fantastic. I think I only knew this,

I only sort of, well, I don't know it, but I've only picked this up during the research this week, that Dangerously in Love is a Destiny's Child song. Oh. Yeah, and so a bit strange. Apparently, so it seems like it was re-recorded. And so, like, they did, like, on the album,

there's a song called Dangerously in Love 2. And I don't quite know how it works. Because I also have, for for years found it a bit not confusing but just a bit like so guys you did like in the board meeting you do remember that like you know the lead single is called crazy in love right you know it's not called dangerously in love and like it's like someone's heard it down a phone and gone it sounds like she's saying dangerously but i can't quite make it out like and they've decided to go with dangerously in love as the title for yeah it is a bit i do find that a bit odd yeah yeah it's it's not mixed messages it's just like two messages that are so

close to each other that you wouldn't do both it's just it's like you know if you had two scenes in a movie that were basically the same it's like just do one um yeah it's strange but that's i mean that's not a flaw of the song it's just a random passing comment i do think this song is genuinely flawless i've been really trying to think of anything that i don't like about it and it's just not anything not anything i could just listen to it all day um and i think the kind of loud in your face party atmosphere of it really helps to sell that more than anything else it's just oh it's so good it's so good just to respond to your question about who the producer is

it's a guy called Rich Harrison who would go on to do One Thing by Amory and also a song that we will cover in 2005 on this show so we'll not spoil that for people who are gonna i mean

you could just google it what the hell like you know we don't hold we don't have this knowledge google has it all but yeah you can go and find it if you need um so for me with like with full hindsight crazy in love feels like one of those moments where you can kind of feel where pop shifted and you're like you know in the uk it feels like a door to the future has been opened by this i don't think it blasts it open to the point that like say girls aloud did or kylie minogue did this country anyway, but a door has been opened all the same. And I had this theory, I think I've mentioned it on the show before, that a lot of Americans are about to come through that door, you know, for better or worse. And so I thought,

I'll put this theory to the test. And so the years that we've covered so far, 2000, 2001, 2002, And so the years that we've covered so far, 2000, 2001, 2002, the average percentage of Americans on number one singles in those years is 22%. So 22% of the number one singles in the UK over the last three years that we've covered those songs contributed to by Americans. In 2003, that goes up to 27%. And then between 2004 and 2006, the average is 42%. And then the average between 2007 and 2009 is about 39%. And so I was right. And I can't believe I was right. I thought it was just a feeling rather

than an actual thing that could be proven so yeah now we have data isn't that wonderful good old data but with this door like I say it doesn't blast it open but it doesn't knock politely either you know it introduces itself

firmly with that Shylight sample declares itself immediately you've got jay-z basically acting as a hype man for the solo career that he's about to launch uh like giving beyonce like you know like yo here she is like you know this is like you know he even calls it history in the making before beyonce's even turned up and it's like, yeah, Jay, you were right there. Um, so just that intro, like you say, Andy is just like immediately, like it's something that you feel like an artist could get lost in, but she doesn't at all. Um, the, the moment at the beginning that, uh, oh, uh, oh, oh, no, no, that moment really makes this click i remember it making it click

with a uk audience that hook and that dance that she did with the wiggling hips and like the thrusting pelvis thing at the same time was unlike anything i think anybody in the general music buying public had seen in this country in that way like on a mass scale that short like that short phase where everybody was do you remember that phase that everybody went through where they tried to do that dance in the playground at office parties in front rooms all around the country trying to copy beyonce and doing the hook at the same time and And I remember my whole family trying this dance in my gran's living room whenever this music video came on the TV, such was the reach and crossover appeal of this. And because of all this, it feels like a kind of like a birth of a pop star moment.

You know, I mean, she's already, we've already covered Beyonce on this show as a member of Destiny's Child, but I think Beyonce, the way that she's been since she's gone solo, that has, I mean, how many times have we heard now of a soloist leaving a group and, oh, they're doing a Beyonce, and it's like, Beyonce set the template in the 21st century for how you're supposed to leave a pop group and become bigger than the group you were part of. I feel like Justin Timberlake's also on a similar trajectory. It's just that he's not as prolific with his releases as Beyonce was in the 2000s. In terms of the exclusive club of number one singles in the UK,

this feels like it picks up a bit from where Lady Marmalade left off. Something sexy, confident, ostentatious in the way that Americans can only be. Something they've bestowed upon us quaint Brits to get all excited about. Who we still in this country don't quite know how to do fame in the same way as Americans. You know, like Crazy in Love is excess. It's paparazzi camera flashes, like, Jay, like I said at the start, you know, he refers to it as history in the making before the song has even really got going, you know, there's this, like, bold, brash confidence to Americans

that, like, especially to people like Jay-Z, who, like, I could never make a claim like that about anything I do, you know, I think, to put it more simply, this song sounds like the image of Hollywood, and nothing in the UK really feels like that, and in my research for this, I went and looked at the Top of the Pops performance that she does, and I think that explains two things which is a why beyonce was going to take off and b why top of the pops kind of not had to die but like why it was on the way out like pop stars and especially american pop stars they're about to get bigger than any other pop artists in history i think they're about to be able to spread themselves across not only the pop charts,

but reality TV, Hollywood. We're not far off, you know, we've mentioned MySpace, like, you know, we're not far off the advent of social media. Like, we're on the cusp of that. And also, they're about to haul the fuck out of every penny that's available to them and lock themselves away in the Hamptons,

only descending to, like, attend parties to attend parties and sell their next thing. You know, the era of the recognisable human pop star is already long dead by this point, in my opinion. There's a brief resurgence in the mid-2000s in this country, but I don't think it lasts very long. I think the idea of Beyoncé appearing on something as innocent and sort of slapdash and 70s as Top of the Pops, it feels kind of otherworldly now. You know, looking at it from the vantage point of like 2023, it's like an alien descending to Earth. Like, you know, she does appear on Top of the Pops a few times again before it goes in 2006, but it's mostly made up of repeat performances and videos, music videos.

And that's not to put Top of the Pops down. I love it. But it's kind of to make the point that Crazy in Love feels like a nail in a coffin. Not the final nail, maybe the first. That pop stars really are on the brink now of becoming utterly unreachable. Like, Top of the Pops will soon be unable to reach people like Beyonce. Pop stars are about to become businessmen and women first. Like, Jay-Z's immortal line on the subject, literally less than two years away from his verse on Kanye's Diamonds of Sierra Leone where he says I'm not a businessman

I'm a business man there's this feeling present throughout Crazy in Love that you person watching at home could never be this you could never be Beyonce now you know obviously this is arguably something that's been present in pop for years you You know, you couldn't be Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston or Madonna, because that's what makes them so special. But usually that kind of reverence was only reserved for, like, absolute greats who had been around for a really long time and sold hundreds of millions of records. Now it's happened to someone who's literally just released their first solo album and will be bestowed upon artists who have less than a dozen top 10 hits between them

in the future um and we'll discuss the repercussions of that down the road um but back to the song itself crazy in love is amazing um it's so exciting and fresh and it's stood the test of time quite comfortably. If I was going to criticize it for anything, it's that Beyonce still sounds in little places like she's still leaving her Destiny's Child voice behind. There are points where she sounds like she's still in her nose a little bit and needs to learn to be in her chest a bit more with the vocal delivery but that all comes with time and we'll be here again with beyonce on a few occasions um if i remember rightly um so yeah i think this is a landmark moment in pop for a lot of um a lot of reasons um and yeah it's a really really, great single and a huge turning point.

Lizzie, you can round us off. Yeah, I mean, you've both summed it up really well. I will just, a couple of small things I want to pull you up on. It's time for a bollocking because Destiny's Child were actually still together and they have a number two single in 2004. Yes. So yeah, Rob. Yeah, Rob. were actually still together and they have a number two single in 2004 yes so yeah rob but yeah i do agree with your points that it feels like um a bit of um a landmark moment of like a shift towards that big american sound kind of dominating everything and i think like definitely you get the sense of the gap

between the artists at the very top and the ones at the very bottom getting a lot wider. You know, it used to be like, even 20 years before this, you could have someone like Dexys Midnight Runners getting a number one in America. And now it just, that feels impossible in this day and age. It feels like it's dominated by the same sort of five people in and out. And if you want to get up there, you've got to have a leg up from someone like Jay-Z or Beyonce or Drake or whatever.

It does feel like that kind of, not a glass ceiling as such, but just a widening of that birth. And I totally agree with you, Rob, that something like Top of the Pops can't really exist in that environment. And especially because even at this time, they were struggling to get a lot of the artists in. So they had to resort to playing the music video. So it's like, well, what's the point of having this show but anyway we're not chart music although they did talk about this song and the episode it was from on that show so go and check that out um they described it as the arthropocene

which i thought was a fun little description but yeah this is fantastic it's like again i agree i totally agree with you, Andy, that it's kind of like Can't Get You Out of My Head, that it is just this big, immediate, like, bang, here it is. This is, you know, your new favourite pop song. And in a way, I kind of find it quite difficult to talk about purely because I can't really envision what pop music would be like without it. Like, it's like asking me to find new things to say about

Canon in D by Packel Bell. It's just one of those things that seems so elemental to your understanding of music that it's sort of like, well, if you cut that out, I mean, sure, I'm sure music might have developed in the same way, but again, it feels like a language you've learned from birth or something, just something you've always known. And I think, in a way, it also kind of defies analysis, just because there's not really much to analyse in the way there is with, like, later Beyonce hits, and especially albums,

way there is with like later Beyonce hits and especially albums where I think she does get a bit deeper and we get to see a bit more of her as a person and more of you know not just her successes but also her fears and her worries and her her dramas and her internal strife whereas this is just a solid pop song it's just like straight out of the gate you know what this is this is it this this is kind of all there is on the surface but that's enough sometimes it is enough for a song just to be really good and this is that it's fantastic I say um I don't think the Jay-Z bit detracts from the song but I don't think it adds much to it either like apparently he recorded this at like 3 a.m. and improvised in about 10 minutes and it sounds good for that don't get me wrong but yeah you do get the kind of sense that it's a

little bit of an afterthought and like you say he's mainly there just to be the hype man for Beyonce and that works because yeah it does give you the sense of like confidence in Beyonce's solo career and that turned out to be absolutely correct in the end because like here we are like 20 years later and you could argue Beyoncé's still, like, top ten, maybe even top five in the world, just in terms of, like, if you ask the average person on the street to name five pop stars, chances are, like, a good seven or eight of them would say Beyoncé, right?

Yeah, definitely. I think she is maybe the top one. I think maybe she is, like, the absolute pinnacle of famous pop stars. Yeah, definitely. I think she is maybe the top one. I think maybe she is the absolute pinnacle of famous pop stars. Yeah, maybe. I can't think of anyone bigger, to be honest. I can only really think of... I'd maybe say Drake has been more successful in terms of chart hits, but that doesn't necessarily count for everything these days.

I think in terms of pure adoration from fans and casual fans alike, Beyonce's hard to beat, really. Yeah. Who else is up there? Taylor Swift, The Weeknd. Ed Sheeran.

Ariana Grande. Yeah. Lady Gaga to some extent but she's probably slightly past the peak yeah but I but she is way up there

yeah none of them are as big as Beyoncé and just I was going to make this as a point anyway it's just a good time to say it that I completely agree with both of you

about how Beyoncé is someone that just is too inaccessible to something like Top of the Pops that she is beyond that kind of exposure.

But I do think that actually Beyonce is a very special case in that I think even to this day, she is above kind of any form of media exposure, to be honest, that like people don't really engage with. They're like adoration is exactly the right word, Lizzie, because Beyonce just kind of comes along, drops a bomb every couple of years with an album and doesn't really do any promo, very rarely does any live performances, never does interviews, and that's just it.

Just maintains her mystique, drops this album that goes nuclear and then walks away. And I think she is like completely inaccessible even in today's world let alone for something like top of the pop so i do think she's a very special case but the point still stands i do agree but um you know the the same would be true of someone these days you know like like adele or ed sheeran who was too big for something like top top of the pops but beyonce is really a very special case, I think, for that. Yeah, I think the only person who's really come close

in the last 40 years even is Michael Jackson, and even he came with a ton of baggage that you'd never really managed to shift. Whereas, like you say, I think Beyonce can come along, release even a mediocre song and just change the culture. Yeah, yeah, 100%. Even if it's only for a short time, release even a mediocre song and just change the culture. Yeah. Yeah, 100%. Even if it's only for a short time. Exactly, yeah.

Even if it's just for a year or something like that and everybody will be on that for an extended period. Yeah, wow. Okay. Well, welcome to the show, Beyonce. Yeah. The only other thing to say about this is I mentioned a few weeks ago about Beautiful by Christina Reguilera,

that it has that one bit that goes, you know, you're delirious. And I realised that was inspired by that one bit in Just a Little by Liberty X, which is the compliment. So I'm trying to make this a bit of a regular feature now, that one bit of a song and in this song it's the making a fool of me

when that harmony comes in it just absolutely sends me it's fantastic so yeah I just had to acknowledge that one little bit that's like oh chef's kiss oh a chef's kiss moment yeah that's a cool thing to take forward.

We can't be credited with that phrase. No, no, no. No, not like coffee pop. But anyway, speaking of coffee pop, next up on the episode is this. I feel like a song without the words the episode is this. I feel like a night without a soul, the sky without the sun, cause you are the one. I feel like a ship beneath the waves, a child who's lost its way, a door without a key, a face without a name I feel like a breath without the air And every day's the same since you've gone away

I gotta have a reason to wake up in the morning You used to be the one that put a smile on my face There are no words that could describe how I miss you And I miss you every day And I'm never gonna leave your side And I'm never gonna leave your side Again, still holding on, girl I won't let you go

Cause when I'm lying in your arms You know I'm home Okay, this is Never Gonna Leave Your Side by Daniel Bedingfield. Released as the fifth single from his debut studio album, titled Gotta Get Through This, Never Gonna Leave Your Side is Daniel Bedingfield's fifth single overall to be released in the UK, and his third to reach number one.

However, it is his last, and this is the last time we'll be discussing Daniel Bedingfield on this podcast, unless he has a mad revival in the next couple of years. Never Gonna Leave Your Side went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, knocking Beyonce off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week at number one, it sold 37,000 copies, beating competition from Maybe Tomorrow by Stereophonics which got to number 3, Deepest Blue by Deepest Blue which got to number 7 and Give Me A Reason by Triple Eight which got

to number 9. When it was knocked off the top of the charts Never Gonna Leave Your Side fell three places to number 4. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for just 11 weeks. It has never received any official certification from the British phonographic industry. Lizzie, the last time we'll be discussing Daniel Bedingfield, so make it count. Yeah, because he certainly didn't. I mean, this is pretty boring stuff really. Like, Bedingfield's got a nice enough voice, but overall, this sounds like royalty-free music. Like, you'd hear it on an ad for, like, Warner Leisure Hotels or, like, playing in the background as you're browsing through the listings on Sky Digital.

Like, in fairness, I don't think even the biggest and most expressive voices in pop could do much with such an anonymous track like even beyonce probably couldn't do much with this and with beddingfield in general i think he maybe painted himself into a corner with if you're not the one and his label wanted to capitalize on that Enrique wave as much as possible. The problem is, I don't think Bedingfield ever had the big personality or the sex appeal to really pull that off, and I don't mean that as an insult, because very few people do have that. So what you're left with is an ordinary song by an ordinary musician, and it's no surprise that the end result is as ordinary as it is.

And that's about it, really. There's just not that much to say about it. Oh, that was brutal. Yeah, I'm feeling kind of similar. Andy, what about you? Do you have any more to say than that? I do have some more to say, but none of it any more complimentary than that, unfortunately.

I think this is a contender, by the way those who follow you know the list of songs we've covered i think this is possibly a contender for the biggest gulf in quality between two songs that we've ever had um the only other one i can think of is going from mambo number five to can't get you out of my head um that's bob's mambo No. 5 of course. But this, oh, I mean you beat me to it Lizzie with the Enrique comparison, not that that was a particularly difficult one to spot because this literally is Hero. It's the same song just with different lyrics. It's brazen. I'm quite surprised that there wasn't a copyright claim to be honest because it's certainly, I mean in terms tone, it is exactly the same.

And in terms of the general kind of structure of it and the flow and the lyrical content, it's very, very much playing on the same ideas as well. And the reason that that kind of annoys me is that the ideas they're playing on is from the back catalogue of our friend Ernest Manpain, once again, which is just... I really don't like this. And, yeah, we joke about it, and it is a bit silly, you know,

I'm not that bothered about it, but there is a serious point here, which is that I think there is a side to the Ernest Manpain that really comes out here that is actually quite toxic. There is a certain type of toxic masculinity expressed in this song where it's like the man literally cannot be without the woman even for a moment like he's obsessed with her and that's supposed to be a good thing that's painted as like oh you want your man to be utterly obsessed with you but even the title never gonna leave your side it's like what never even when i'm like on the toilet or like in a job interview like you're never gonna leave my side you know it's like what never even when i'm like on the toilet or like in a job interview like you're

never gonna leave my side you know it's just it's too much and i think it's the kind of thing that is just a bit vulgar and it like really is over the top in the way that as you said enrique manages to pull off with sex appeal and with charisma by packaging it in that sense of like well i am this kind of you you know, Spanish lover man who you want to just spend all your time with and be swept off your feet. So I can get away with this. Whereas, again, I agree, it's not an insult to Bedingfield because very few people have the kind of oozing with sex appeal thing that Enrique has. But Daniel Bedingfield doesn't have that.

And it comes across as very misplaced and very kind of toxic, and also just a little bit kind of cringe. But more than anything, it's just really boring, really, really boring. And I feel let down by Bedingfield, to be honest, because his first song, just to remind everyone, the first single we covered was Gotta Get Through This, which was really good. We all really liked it. And it seemed to have excitement about it, you know, an energy of something new that I think you said, Rob,

that, you know, he really felt like he'd sat in his bedroom making this, really putting every ounce of energy into it and really being creative and had come up with something that was innovative. And then he did If You're Not the One, which was, I think by his own admission, just a little bit of a cash-in on Westlife and just kind of by-the-numbers balladry, which he's able to write very easily. And I could forgive that because we all need to pay the bills, but then he does another one, which is even more gloopy and syrupy and nothing key and it

makes me think well is he just doing this like to pay the bills or actually has he decided to embrace this all the time and has he just decided to opt for laziness because it's so easy to churn out a song like this that is just balladry with strings and whatever and talks about oh i can't be without you and because you know he's famous now, it'll sell. Like he probably didn't expect it to get to number one. And it sounds like it was a quite a few weeks. So, you know, maybe that was a bit of a fluke. But it just kind of like, where's the energy here?

It's not the worst song that we've ever covered, not by a long chalk. But I do think it's a real contender for the laziest song that we've ever covered, not by a long chalk, but I do think it's a real contender for the laziest song that we've ever covered. Like, there is just no originality here. It's perfectly, like, decent, perfectly well put together, like, as a piece of music. It's not, like, unlistenable. But as a piece of songwriting, it's fucking awful.

Really, really bad. Like, it's just... A child could have written it. And, yeah, all I come away with from this is just i feel like my time has been wasted and the more i've listened to it the more i've resented the time that i've spent listening to it so um like i say it's really not the worst song we've ever covered but it's by the numbers to the point of madness um And I really don't like it. No, not at all. Yeah, I am not going to disagree with either of you on this. I feel kind of the same.

I don't know if I find it as creepy as you do, Andy, but something you touched on where you said that this is basically if you're not the one, but gloopier. So these are my notes, which is that the bare bones of this are basically identical to if you're not the one, but it just

aches more in a more annoying way. And those, word for word, I've just read that straight off the screen. And so it is basically just if that straight off the screen and so it is basically just if you're not the one but just more of the bits that made that annoying if you're still not the one still not yes

he's taken the wrong notes from it he's just like he's took the worst stuff and done that again if you're not the one too yeah it's just I'm like you though, Andy. I'm surprised by how fast I've become bored of Daniel Bedingfield. Yeah.

Because, gotta get through this, and I will shout out James Dean. They're both of a, James Dean is more the kind of, you know, soft garage end. Where he was with, gotta get through this. But I get the feeling that he did and his label did just cave they just like yeah he's he's admitted hasn't he he's basically said westlife are making loads of money so i thought fuck it i'll just do that instead and you can tell i i feel like it's so transparent this song where like he's singing all these oh god the fucking yeah it's not quite yin and yang but like how many times are we gonna go through these various

things where it's like i feel like a thing if an important part of that thing has something missing like do something else with the lyrics like yeah it just starts getting silly like okay fine a song without the words whatever but lots of instrumental music is fine a man without a soul yep okay a soul is integral a bird without wings yep but then we get to

a knight without a sword a door without a key a door without a key so that's any door that's not the front door yeah and what if you're a flightless bird you don't need wings so yeah we could go around in circles with this but like

god it just never ever stops yeah but again that's hero would you dance if I ask you to dance would you blah blah blah if I ask you to that's the same writing trick it's the same thing would you be a key if I ask you to dance? Would you blah blah blah if I ask you to blah? That's the same writing trick. It's the same thing. Would you be a key if I was a door? Yeah, exactly.

And it just goes on with itself. I feel like once the original kind of like, once you've digested the general concept of the lyrics, there's not enough to grab onto round the sides. There's nothing to hold onto around the sides like you know there's nothing

to hold on to with this it just it's like i was forgiving of um if you're not the one because i appreciated the down tempo vibe and there were little subtle it i think that's it really which is that this is if you're not the one but with any degree of subtlety just kind of removed it is just quite naked and transparent and quite cynical i think um if you're not the one was cynical but it didn't feel cynical to the degree that this does and with if you're not the one i was never bored of it the way that I am just bored of this so bored and like I don't hate it like he has a nice voice

and the chorus is memorable to a degree like I don't think I'm going to put this in the pie hole or anything but like it's teetering over the edge like it is teetering over the edge I feel, it is teetering over the edge.

I feel a bit, I don't know, because I don't want to rag on, like, you know, people too much on the show or anything like that, because we are ultimately a poptimist show, whether we like it or not. But, like, I feel like with this, the way that he was so arrogantly transparent about this where he was like i know it's shit but i know it sells look at me and all the stuff in like the fucking liner

notes of his album whatever the nonsense was that he had in the liner notes of his album and just and to just sort of walk away from the stuff he was doing that he could genuinely tell in that top of the pops performance he did have got gotta get through this that he genuinely had a belief in that song and i think that's what he wanted to do and like there are singles he does after this uh on his later albums like one i remember from the time that charted fairly well which was called friday which was more up tempo which was the she's coming back on friday it was a bit more up tempotempo and a bit more energetic and stuff, and so, you know, maybe with the second album, fandom secured, do something, you know, you've got a bit more freedom to be yourself as an artist, that kind of thing, but this was released as a single and then added

on to a re-release at the end, and so it's another one of those where it's like, okay, well, people liked the style of If You're Not The One, so why don't we just stick with that and we'll just rake some more cash in and yeah okay that's all pop is like you know it's a product to be bought and sold and whatever but if i'm gonna be sold to i'd like to feel something before i buy it and i don't really feel much among the whatever the fucking lyrics are in this that I can't even be bothered looking up again just yeah it's nothing I'm kind of glad we've seen the back of him is that if

this was all he was going to give us to get to number one totally totally agree and I think that's a really good point about his attitude to all this that yes okay he is undoubtedly a good song writer because he can just churn this stuff out he knows exactly how to do it he knows the formula okay fine but that in and of itself

does not make him above it all in the way that he kind of seems to project himself as because he's releasing these songs that are basically the same as Enrique or Westlife and it's like well if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck it's a duck you know like it's you are making this turgid gloopy stuff that is the same as them so you are basically the same as them and yes you've got the short-term gain from profiting on it but you've become characterized as being like westlife so you've killed your career and it's it's like you are not above it all if you release that kind of music then that's your music and you own that stuff and you can't have it both ways and yeah it's it's a good point to make there because it really annoys me because you get other artists who try this i remember matt cardell tried this sort of

thing after he won x factor where he was like oh yeah yeah i'm just playing the game you know i'm a serious artist really but everybody wants to hear me do ballads and so he just constantly does ballads and it's like well then you're a ballad singer like that you've made your lot in life you're a ballad singer you can either own it or you can reject it and do something different you can't have it both ways you can't release this stuff and then distance yourself from it because that is your product at the end of the day and i don't like that i don't like that attitude no it stinks yeah that's something you said there's made me kind of think that like in the end there are two kinds of pop artists which is that there's the

artists who are able to set a portion at least of the zeitgeist by themselves and they not they adapt to trends but they can become the biggest thing in that trend even if they're not the first to do it and then there's other artists who just kind of have to follow trends to stay afloat and so I don't know I think Bedingfield he kind of fell into the latter

on the well I mean he has three number one singles and we don't but you know but this is our show and we can talk about what one singles and we don't, but... True. You know, but this is our show and we can talk about what we want and we can diss who we like, so... I just wanted to say as well, I reckon Ernest Manpain probably bought all of the Coffee Pop compilations, like the best Coffee Pop anthems ever,

the second best Coffee Pop anthems ever, the worst Coffee Pop anthems ever, the second best coffee pop anthems ever, the worst coffee pop anthems ever, which this was on. Yeah, I was going to say, was you thinking this would be on second best or worst? Yeah. Maybe I can imagine that he's singing this to a coffee waitress, like he just won't

get out of the shop because he's never going to leave her side. He's like, Daniel, I'm at work. Go and listen to Daniel Pauter or something instead. Look, I've made you an American at work. Go and listen to Daniel Powder or something instead. Look, I've made you an Americano. Now go and sit down. Please. Okay then. Last up on our show this week is

this. Remix that gon make them heads swell yo Yo, ay, yo, boo Yo, ay, yo, naughty So what's that supposed to be about baby? Girl free up your vibe and stop acting crazy Reminisce about all the good times daily Why you tryna pose like I be acting shady? What's that supposed to be about baby? Girl free up your vibe and stop acting crazy

Chant the poem and give it a good love in daily Now you love me But you're never there for me, yeah You'll be crying slowly, dying when I decide to leave All we do is make up, then break up Why don't we wake up and see When love hurts, it won't work Maybe we need some time alone We need to let it breathe So what's life supposed to be about, baby?

Get free of your back and stop acting crazy Living in for all the good times, baby Why you trying to pose like I be acting shady? Okay, this is Breathe by Blue Cantrell and Sean Paul. Released as the lead single from her second studio album entitled Bittersweet, Breathe is Blue Cantrell's

second single to be released in the UK and her first to reach number one. This song also features Sean Paul, this is his fourth single to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one as well. This is the last time we'll be discussing Blue Cantrell on this podcast, but we'll be hearing from Sean again soon enough. Breathe first entered the UK charts at number 59 and reached number one in its fourth week on the chart, knocking Daniel Bedingfield off the top. It stayed at number one for four weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 47,000 copies,

beating competition from Never Leave You by LumaD, which got to number two, and Something Beautiful by Robbie Williams, which got to number three. In its second week at number one, it sold 49,000 copies, beating competition from Pretty Green Eyes by Ultrabeat,

which got to number two. Devastated about that. Hooray, hooray, it's a cheeky holiday by the Cheeky Girls, which got to number three. And Four Minute Warning by Mark Owen, which got to number four. Appropriately. In its third week at the summit,

it sold 44,000 copies, beating competition from Sleeping With The Light On by Busted, which got to number three, and Complete by Jameson, which got to number 4. In its fourth and final week at number 1, it sold 40,000 copies, beating competition from Dance With You by Lamar, which got to number 2, and Life Got Cold by Girls Aloud, which got to number 3. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Breathe dropped one place to number two and initially left the charts in December 2003. However, it re-entered the charts in 2013 for three more weeks, meaning that when it had finally left the charts a second time, it had been inside the top 100 for a total of 24 weeks.

The song was certified double platinum in the UK in September last year, So September 2022, after we started this podcast. Lizzie, breathe. Have at it. Okay, well, yeah, I think it's really good, obviously. I think the remix is actually a lot better than the original, where it is just Blue Cantrell. Because I think with remix is actually a lot better than the original, where it is just Blue Cantrell. Because I think with the instrumental especially, you know, that sample of the Dr. Dre track,

which is itself a sample of a Charles Aznavour track, I think there is a kind of discomfort and sort of anxiety to it that obviously the Dr. Dre song gets across really well. This is when Eminem is like, you know, like early Eminem, where he's quite sort of agitated and... Yeah, yeah. And I think with the original, I do like the original. Obviously, you know, it's about kind of a relationship

that maybe needs to slow down and, you know, well, have space to breathe. But I think the inclusion of Sean Paul here introduces, like, a bit more tension and, like, a bit more angst even because you've got two angles that this relationship is coming at now. You've got Blue Cantrell who wants to give it more time and just, like I say, let things breathe. But you've got Sean Paul who's sort of

making the situation quite uncomfortable and like sort of really pressing the issues like you know what what's what's going on here this is kind of all new to me and I just I basically disagree with your position so you've got like a bit of a standoff and I think that complements the instrumental really well in the way that I don't think the original quite worked as well that combination but yeah the inclusion of Sean Paul here I think is what put this over the top and there was definitely a period in like 2003 2004 where it felt like sean paul had a new single out like every week he was just everywhere at this time and then all of a sudden he was nowhere but yeah i think the inclusion of sean paul in the charts is

generally a good thing i think he brought something different to the table I think he brought something different to the table and he's still sort of knocking around I'm pretty sure he had a hit only a couple of years ago so good to know he's doing okay but yeah overall this song I think it's really good I wouldn't say it's up there with like Crazy in Love but again very few things are and this holds up really well

yeah I like this one a lot cool uh andy how about you yeah completely agree with with you there lizzie i i do really really like this it's definitely not as good as crazy in love and i doubt many people will think that it is i think it's one of those that in our weekly poll, in any other week this would probably win the poll but it probably won't this week. Yeah, it's really good. I think the main thing that stands out to me

about this is that it manages to do two contradictory things at once, which is no mean feat really, which is that it's got this really kind of loud, brash kind of whompy, whompy kind of sound in the background with the way it's produced. But also it manages to have this chill-out vibe at the same time

and feel like a song you can just kind of have on while you're doing the dishes. It manages to do kind of both things at once, which is really impressive. Like, it really kind of gets the nail on the head with the production in terms of pitching it. I'm quite surprised it's never really made a comeback on TikTok for the younger generation maybe it has I'm not particularly okay with it but because it's got that kind of really kind of

in your face production and it's got that um you know that loud instrumentation at the back I'm quite surprised it's never really made a comeback because it's quite memorable but um at the same time yeah it has a nice duet feel about it in which it's you know the best kind of duet where it's two artists who are able to kind of sonically argue with each other sonically argue one way on about they're all arguments involve sound um you know kind of musically argue with each other um yeah it's it's it's really good. I do think that it's a shame for Blue Cantrell that this is, because Sean Paul is a much bigger star, it's kind of remembered as a Sean Paul song, this.

And I was quite surprised listening back to it how little he's actually involved with this song. He's got the quite extended section in the bridge in the middle where he gets a longer rap section, but other than that, he only contributes those same two lines to each chorus. He's quite minimally involved in this. It's very much Blue Cantrell

featuring Sean Paul. It's not really that much of a duet. She does the lion's share of the work, and she really does a good job with it. I think all of her bits are the bits that I tend to look back on and sing along to and get in my head, especially the, all we do is make up

and break up. Her bits are really good and really catchy, and I think actually there is a world in which this song becomes big without Sean Paul, because it's just quite a good song for a female artist who is going for that kind of chill-out vibe. I think there's quite a lot

in common with the kind of stuff Khalees is putting out around this time as well, that it's got that kind of vibe to it like Trick Me by Khalees, which is a song I absolutely love, always happy to bring that up and it has a similar tone to it as that I think but then you get Sean Paul as well

and I'm not the world's greatest fan of him because it's just not really my thing, but he does undoubtedly have a signature that he puts on songs. You know, he's got a very memorable voice. He's got a style to him that people just really respond to and really like. And he does add something to this song. Like I say, I'm not convinced that it's actually necessary, but it does, like, put this song on the map

in a way that it perhaps wouldn't have been without him yeah I really do like this and I think if I was to pick a Sean Paul song as it were to go back and listen to it it would always be this rather than Get Busy or anything else because I just think this is something a little bit different, that this is something

where it's got more styles going on than just the usual kind of Sean Paul thing that we all know quite well. And Blue Cantrell is kind of one of those blind alleys of pop that briefly looked like she might be a big star and wasn't really, unfortunately,

but she does really well here. Yeah, I like this. I think this is very typical of 2003. There's a lot going on in this that it's like, yeah, you could listen to this and be able to immediately figure out yes this was 2003 in the way that Heaven by DJ Sammy was very 2002

I think this is very 2003 I think Crazy in Love the same you know obviously that was a big like I say a big monolith of the year but this as well you know it feels very much of it's time and I mean that as a compliment that you know this really gets into that zeitgeist. Yeah, really, really like it.

I wouldn't say it's, like, amazing, like, favourite song ever, but it's just really pleasant. And I'm really glad that it got number one and we've been able to cover this. Yeah, it's nice. I would say one thing I would give Sean Paul credit for is that you kind of can't forget the name Blue Cantrell because of

that intro yes that Sean Paul and Blue Cantrell remix yeah yeah it's like that's the most memorable bit of the song for me like not to say it's a bad song at all I love it but yeah that's the bit that always like just popped into your head every now and then. Isn't it interesting that it has that similarity with Crazy in Love, with Jay-Z introducing Beyonce? Yeah. Yeah. So it's the same function. We've had a couple of songs recently where it's like a female lead

and a male doing sort of backup duty. And they're all very different styles. But this whole thing of the male artist acting as the hype man, as Rob said earlier, that is an ongoing thing that keeps going into the rest of the decade. Like Jay-Z does it again with Rihanna, with Good Girl Gone Bad at the start of Umbrella. We love our sunshine, Rihanna, where you at?

Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. Well, full disclosure for me about this um i loved this as a kid um i remember watching this music video on like all the music channels and stuff waiting for the car crash bit i don't know why in the instrumental um i remember being like pretty transfixed because it's not often you hear samples of car crashes and music and stuff it's another car crash we talked about the prevalence of car crashes yeah um but these days because obviously you know i've grown up and like got into rap and stuff and yeah these days i

can't hear the intro without expecting the uh what's the difference between me and you um as soon as the song starts yeah coming back to this it's been nice to kind of revisit it um you know like getting past the initial shock that this isn't what's the difference um god this is like it's such a smooth r&b hit like it does that great job of taking that dre beat and kind of like recontextualising it even though it basically just plays it completely straight you know it sounds like a conflicted relationship you know like Lizzie you were saying

that beat kind of sounds agitated and it sounds like there's an element of discomfort to it like it sounds like there's conflict in the music for that reason I don't know if I'd call it smooth I think it's quite sort of ominous and brooding I would say the same. That's true

but the textures are quite relaxed and kind of horizontal I guess it's smooth in the sense that like I trust it, the experience is smooth I don't need to keep an eye on the song it is cool

if you know what I mean it's kind of you know it kind of effortlessly so you know what it's similar to in that way well it's sorry rob but what it's similar to in that way family affair mary j blige that it's like yeah it's got that slickness to it that it feels very slick smooth r&b but there's tension in the song at the same time i guess that's what i was getting at before with the doing two things at once thing with the uh and it's the same sort of thing of being heavy on the ones and threes as well with the yeah yeah um this kind of feels like you've walked in halfway through a scene in a soap opera where someone's found out their partner's cheating um but one of them is particularly mad to the point where they feel like they could grow

another 10 feet due to like how angry they are like they're towering over the other one and it that like lizzie you picked up on it as well the use of that charles asnavore sample is like really terrific um it makes it sound like they've pulled it from the Godzilla soundtrack like how, you know, Simon Says by Farrah Munch with the get the fuck up from Internal Affairs like they pull that from a Godzilla soundtrack and oh god, the drop into that beat is so good just the

that's so great, it makes you feel huge, but in this kind of context where, you know, like in the music video, it's all like smooth whites and sky blues and stuff like that, it's really the aesthetic relationship I feel like this song has with its music video, and its single artwork, and stuff like that, it all, it does have the effect of, you know, like, when you look at the art cover, at the artwork for 2001, where it's like, you know, it's the black with the green leaf, and like, the kind of like, web 1.0 text on the front of the, and like the kind of like web 1.0 text on the front of the you know it does like placing it in this kind of aesthetic like r&b environment as opposed to a hip-hop environment it it does change it and i think it's convincing you know blue control has a really lovely voice um i think

sean paul really brings it with that hook and he also in song, he plays a great villain. I think the fact that Sean Paul's voice is double-tracked, or maybe even triple-tracked, whereas Blue Cantrell is just kind of on her own, it makes Sean Paul feel like he's speaking to her through some kind of speaker system, like he's giving her some kind of, not like a warning or anything like that, but Blue Cantrell is having to

listen to his shit again like you can definitely tell that this this song is not the beginning of a of a an argument this is like the 10th argument they've had this week and they're getting sick of each other um and i think they both play really compelling protagonists and their relationship problems are believable, which means that you get through the song in what feels like fairly quick time. I think the hook is great. I love Blue's chorus. I love the,

all we do is make up the bridge. Andy, you picked it out as well. Yeah. And Andy, you know, you were saying, you know about Crazy in Love where it does the kind of Max Martin thing of rephrasing. That's the name I was looking for, Max Martin. The final chorus.

This does it as well. Because it goes from, Baby, we need some time alone, so we can let it breathe. But then it goes to, So we can just breathe, let it breathe. And it adds like a soft full stop on proceedings um so it's like it's over but also you know the song is over but you know the story kind of has one more chapter yeah to go um i think it relies on the sample a smidge too much i think if you could move away from it every now and again

to go back it would hit harder each time and it's recontextualisation in an R&B setting as opposed to a rap setting would probably be much stronger if they moved away from it every now and again the thing I found quite surprising when

I was looking this up, I'm really surprised that this was so successful here, but basically bombed in the US. It's really strange. She's like a double one hit wonder, but her two one hit wonders were different in the US and the UK. It's really odd. Yeah.

But like, this feels like one of those songs that we've had a few times in like a few episodes in the in the last sort of 18 months that we've covered where a song gets released in the us in the summer and it picks up traction and gets to number one and then like a month later it will get to number one in the uk the one i'm thinking of is dilemma um where that was that was number one all summer in america and then it finally got released over here and it was number one around like september october time and like you know with this it was number one for four weeks you know it was certified double platinum you know like last year and stuff and it got to number 17

in america like, it still... I mean, if you get on the Billboard Hot 100, that's kind of like the equivalent of getting in the top 40 in the UK because of how they arrange their charts and stuff. But, like, that's kind of like the equivalent of... I mean, what's 70% of 40? Like, you know, whatever that is.

You know, it just... Yeah. So, thank you, Andy. God, that's quick maths. So, like, if it got to number 28 over here, would anybody really think about it or remember it? How many songs that get to number 28 do people really

think about? You know, I just can't believe Lisa's got a name on it. She got to number 23. But as we know that's a bit shit, isn't it? It's shit, isn't it? But yeah, no, I think this is great I don't think it's like absolutely

amazing but it is a shame that Crazy in Love is probably going to take like you know song of the week because this would win it I think in some of the other weeks that we've had definitely but that's the way the cookie crumbles, or in the case of this song,

the bonnet crumples in the car crash. Do we have anything more to say about Breathe before we round up? Just to kind of come back to something you said, Rob, about how this feels like it's not the first time they've had this argument. In a way, that sort of, that brass sample sounds like someone approaching and it's like, oh time they've had this argument, in a way that sort of that brass sample sounds like someone approaching and it's like oh bloody hell here they come

yeah this shit again barrelling towards you you're ready to bark at you again yeah would highly highly recommend everyone go out and listen to Who Hasn't Already, Simon Says by Farrah March, that beat alone oh my god

that point about it's the same argument that's happened hasn't already, Simon Says by Farrah March. That beat alone, oh my god. That point about it's the same argument that's happened a million times and the thing I said about arguments happening musically in a duet as well. The other song this kind of feels like to me is Shut Up by Black Eyed Peas. Yes, great shout.

I'm not the biggest fan of Black Eyed Peas, but I do like Shut Up that it's got that similar kind of verbal sparring in it that I just can't help but admire that it just works really well in that song the same way that it does here. Yeah and one from very recently actually just from last year which was We Cry Together with

Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Page although that does not go for it doesn't really go for any kind of appeal, to be honest. It's quite horrible to listen to, but very good because of that. So, rounding up, before we go, just want to check. Crazy in Love by Beyonce and Jay-Z. Is that going in the vault for anybody?

Yes, of course. A piehole for anybody? Yes. A pie hole for me. A pie hole for you, Andy. A vault, of course. Yeah, a vault for me too. So, triple vaulter. Of course. Cool. Never gonna leave your side. Pie hole, vault.

Pie hole for me. Hated it. Pie hole for me too. I will abstain from pushing it into the pie hole, but it's teetering over the edge, and two votes is condemnation enough, I think. And

last up, Breathe by Blue Cantrell and Sean Paul. I'm going to put it in the vault. Me too. Yep, vaulting that. Okay, two triple vaulters this week. That's excellent to put it in the vault. Me too. Yep, vaulting up. Oh, okay. Two triple vaulters this week. That's excellent. That's a good week. And a double piehole. Oh, Rob, if you

had put Bedingfield in the piehole, then every song would have been tripled. I know, I know. I apologise for spoiling everybody's fun. I just caved into peer pressure, for God's sake. Well, that is it for this week's episode.

Thank you so much for listening again, everyone. When we come back, we'll be covering the period between the 31st of August and the 25th of October. We are four episodes in and almost at the end of the year. Thank you so much again, and we'll see you next time. Bye-bye for now. See ya. Bye-bye. Ruff on your titties. Yeah, I said it. Ruff on your titties. New York City, pretty committee.

Pity the fool that act shitty. In the midst of the calm, the witty. Y'all know the name. Farrell fucking March ain't a damn thing. Change. You all up in your range of shit. Ineviated. Straight from your original plan.

You deviated. I alleviated your pain with long-term goals. With my underground loop. Without the gold. You sold platinum round the world. I sold wood in the hood. But when I'm in the street and shit is all good. Outro Music