Hits 21 - 2006 (7): McFly, Fedde Le Grand, Westlife

Episode Date: January 14, 2024

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] Vault: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5O5MHJUIQIUuf0Jv0Peb3C?si=e4057fb450f648b0 Piehole: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FmWkwasjtq5UkjKqZLcl4

🎵 Hi there everyone and 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 on Twitter, we are at Hits21UK that is at Hits21UK

and you can email us too 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 2006, almost at the end of 2006, because this week we'll be covering the period between the 29th of October and the 18th of November. So we're almost at Christmas 2006. Normally at this point I would be announcing the poll winner from last week's episode,

but we have had such a response, and at this present moment in time, the vote is tied between My Chemical Romance is the Black Parade and Scissor Sisters' I Don't Feel Like Dancing. So, the Twitter poll poll when we open the poll we have to set a date for it to close that date is usually the day that we record the episode so unfortunately i can't do anything about that but what i'm going to do is i'm going to wait until next week's episode to announce the winner i'm going gonna extend the spotify poll so if you're listening to

this and you haven't voted yet for either the black parade or i don't feel like dancing or america which could sweep through with 22 votes this week and overtake the other two i'm not ruling anything out but let's be honest if you're a fan of my chemical romance slap a vote down scissor sisters get a vote down you got friends tell them to do it and then when we come to next week's episode the penultimate episode for 2006 we will announce the winner because it feels a little bit like we need longer to decide whether people like my chem or scissor sisters more or their offerings from last week whether they like them more because i've never seen such interest in one of our polls before.

I've never seen it get so many votes. I've never seen it tied after so long. It's just an incredible, a really, really incredible week watching people battle with this. So if you like it and you haven't already voted, get your vote down. I'm going to leave the Spotify poll open for everybody. Just out of out of interest rob just out of interest how many votes has america had just the one just the one oh my god whoever you are we see you and we respect your bravery well done johnny burrell yes when it when he named his album bur 1, he was referencing a vote that he would eventually give on the Hits 21.

No, of course not. But last week's episode, the Spotify poll is still open. So go ahead and slam your finger down on your favorite song. Now it is time to press on with this week's episode. And as always, it is time for some news headlines from around the time that the songs we're covering in this episode were at number one in the UK. Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is found guilty of several crimes against humanity after a trial that lasts over two years. He was later sentenced to death, a decision that was appealed but upheld by the Supreme

Court of Appeals. He was eventually executed via hanging on December 30th 2006. Tech giant Google announces that it has purchased video streaming website YouTube for $1.65 billion. At the time, YouTube was still a startup that had only existed for 18 months. I wish I could start a startup that then sold for 1.65 billion after 18 months but anyway. Google was indeed commended much later on for spotting the potential of YouTube years before anybody else did which I think is fair enough. YouTube is... I've heard of YouTube I reckon that's gonna catch on. Yeah, I've been out a couple of times, pretty good.

And in France, Isabelle Denoir, a 29 year old woman who had been mauled by her dog, prepares to become the first person in history to receive a face transplant. The operation was eventually completed at the end of November, but Denoir later died from cancer in 2016, aged 46. The films to hit the top of the uk box office during this period were as follows saw three for one week borat for two weeks and then casino royale begins a three-week run at the top and after six years off the air the royal family returns with the first of its one-hour specials, The Queen of Shiva.

Oh, what a wonderful episode that is. Oh, yeah. Madonna appears on Newsnight, where she is interviewed about her decision to adopt a baby from Malawi. She had received criticism from human rights organisations, but was supported by the baby's father, who said he wanted Madonna and Guy Ritchie, her husband at the time, to take care of his son.

And in America, Lindsay Lohan refers to Paris Hilton as a c*** when being hounded by paparazzi. However, immediately after making the statement, she retracts it and calls Paris her friend, before Lindsay, Paris and Britney Spears all hit the town together the following night. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they looking towards the end of 2006? Yeah, I've only got a few to tell you about this week and two out of the three are greatest hits so we've only got

one new studio album at the top in this period and it is Robbie Williams with Rudebox which is... And that went to number one for one week and went double platinum somehow, you can't trust the British public

Andy, why are you so nasty? Anyway, one week later that was toppled, rightfully by The Sound of Girls Aloud The Greatest Hits of Girls Aloud by Girls Aloud, which went to number one for one week and went quadruple platinum,

meaning the general public considered it at least twice as good as Rudebox by Robbie Williams. And I think it's at least twice as good as that, I think, to say the very least. But then, one week later, we had Jamiroquai at the top with their greatest hits, High Times, the singles 1992 to 2006. That went number one for one week only again and went triple platinum. And we've only got a few more albums left to see out the year now,

but we've got a few pretty big ones right around the corner. So some more interesting stuff next week. But this week, yeah, the only new studio album to top the chart is Rudebox by Robbie Williams. A bit of a dark moment for the album's charts i have to say lizzie what state are the states in well i've only one single to mention this week and that's my love by justin timlake featuring ti it stayed at number one for three weeks and was certified platinum in the us but was sadly held at number two in the UK by a song we'll be discussing next week. Over to albums then and

there is just two to mention this week. First up is Press Play by P. Diddy which stayed at number one for one week and was eventually certified gold but only got to number 11 in the UK. And finally this week it's two weeks at number one for Hannah Montana, the soundtrack album for series one of the TV show. The album failed to chart in the UK, but Montana did have a number 43 hit with The Best of Both Worlds in 2006, and continued to have minor hits into 2010. Her TV show was cancelled in 2011,

and her whereabouts have been unknown ever since. I should say, I was only expressing disgust at the chart position. I do like the song, I do think it deserved a bit better than 43. Thank you both very much for those reports, and we are going to move swiftly on to our first song this week. Please enjoy it. It is this. I was afraid when you cast me on your intergalactical friend bay I wonder why, I wonder why you never asked me to stay So wouldn't you like to come with me? Stuff in the sun as it starts to rise Whoa, your gravity's making me dizzy

Girl, I gotta tell you I'm feeling much better Make a little love in the moonlight Hey, there's nothing on earth that could change us When I fell in love with you and us I don't want to give you away Because it makes no sense at all Here's the way, got a problem Ground control couldn't stop them

I wonder why, I wonder why You never asked me to stay Stargirl is McFly's 10th single overall to be released in the UK and they're 6th to reach number 1 and it's not the last time that we'll be coming to McFly on this podcast either. Stargirl went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry knocking My Chemical Romance off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for one week. at number one for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 55,000 copies, beating competition from Put Your Hands Up for Detroit by Fede LeGrand, which climbed to number two,

Irreplaceable by Beyonce, which climbed to number five, and Rehab by Amy Winehouse, which climbed to number seven. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Stargirl fell eight places to number seven. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Stargirl fell eight places to number nine. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for nine weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2023.

It's another McFly classic, dropping a million places from number one out the charts in less than two months. So, Lizzie, open up the show for Stargirl. Yeah, I think it's definitely a contender for their best single overall. I don't know about you guys. I agree, yeah. I mean, all of the

usual McFly qualities are there at first. You know, you've got the bright and bouncy rhythm, the light-hearted lyrics, but for me, the chorus is where this one really shines. You get those lovely group harmonies, wistful drawn-out guitar chords. The second verse adds some like backing harmonies that I really wish were more prominent but you're just dying to get back to that lovely sighing chorus. But then you get to that really unusual almost psychedelic bridge

after the second chorus, you know the fly away bit. I suppose it's not too dissimilar to the part in Five Colours in Her Hair where it slows down and goes all kind of twangy but this part in particular really reminds me of Jellyfish, something like joining a fan club where it dips into a bridge section that sounds completely different before throwing you into a big instrumental section and then back into a final chorus. Side note, I would strongly recommend listening to Spilt Milk by Jellyfish if you're a fan of this era of McFly. The influence is very clear at points and that is not a bad thing. you're a fan of this era of McFly, the influence is very clear at points and that is not a bad thing.

It's a shame that the brass section is so low in the mix during the instrumental bit but I will chalk that up to a 2006 problem. Overall I'd say it's the McFly song that would probably fit most comfortably in the power pop canon if such a thing even exists there's a michael chabon quote about september girls by big star that i think also applies to star girl by mcfly it quote shimmers and chimes with all the hopeless longing you ever felt for someone you never got to hold or to keep yeah i think it's a really beautiful song and yeah my personal favorite by mcfly yeah very effective and concise uh analysis there lizzie beautiful quote about september girls by the way um i mean i do prefer september girls to this but i i'll totally see the comparison um yeah this uh this is glorious um i think that a um a rather

short stay on the charts is not necessarily reflective of the quality of McFly's singles. I always feel like they were very, very good at getting people to buy and commit in the first week so that they could get a number one, say they've got a number one, and then because they're basically just a teen band, they don't get that second week push, unless it's something like All About You, which obviously was for comic relief and had more of um should we say more of an appeal to adults and stuff you know and families uh if you will because the thing with the thing with this i think that i initially found to be so special at least listening to it this time you know when i was a kid um mcfly were a band i liked

but you know by the time i was in high school it was not i wasn't really about mcfly but looking back it's rare to get a pure power pop song at number one in the mid to late 2000s i mean it's kind of rare to get one at all to be honest after sort of like 1984 you know so how wonderful it is that this is it feels rare and special this you know i think definitely this is mcfly's best single definitely the peak of their career we've been talking a lot about how they have very obviously been listening to a lot of jellyfish records but i actually think this is better than most of the stuff that jellyfish recorded i do i do like jellyfish but star i do love stargirl that much um this just fills me with a smile from the word go more pop songs should start with someone shouting hey because words like hey and yeah and baby and

girl and crazy they're what pop music is all about. It's where teenage feelings meet contemporary slang. So yes, more of this, please. You know, you'd really love the theme tune to the Tweenies. Or the theme tune to Arthur. Yeah. Are you ready to play? But more bands should also realise that going, ooh, is like the best thing that vocalists can do. Like, this is one of the reasons that, backing vocalists anyway, like, this is one of the reasons that backing vocalists anyway like this is one of the reasons i love weezer because they understand that ooze of the beach boys are like what makes the beach boys the beach boys that they go yes because they sound bittersweet and joyful at the same time with slightly older eyes as opposed to just looking

at this from being you know sort of 12 and 13 i think this just does even now to this day so many things that are unexpected like it never quite goes where you think it's going to go like even from the beginning where it starts on that like e flat and then it moves that weird slash chord thing where it keeps the root note but shifts the harmony down just like one step and then one more step and it's very unusual structure to play on the guitar um then the staccato stop before each chorus and then it launches in um after a couple of goes around you get that sudden change of atmosphere as you like you were saying that kind of psychedelic section in the third verse, the fly away, where Tom goes all falsetto-y.

And they sort of dip into a new key in that. Right, Andy? You're the expert on this. Thank you. Yeah, they do. They move into the minor fourth from where they were, which is, I guess you'd call it an imperfect cadence. It's not unexpected, but it's definitely a little off kilter.

And that's this week's Andy's Theory Corner. But unexpected, but there you go. We'd have a Theory Corner every week if we could, Andy. Maybe you could think about making it a feature, who knows. But then they transition back out of that so effortlessly and we're back and ready for what's surely going to be the final chorus. But no, we get a brass section because, don't know why the hell not and the release of that brass section is really phenomenal i agree with lizzy that they're a little too low down in the mix

for me but it doesn't quite diminish the effect um in my ears um and that amazing little touch after the brass section well it kind of happens in the brass section, but my ears don't pick up on it until it's over, where they suddenly start playing slightly looser. And there's a little bit of overdrive that just creeps in. And we go from a very stiff guitar playing clean chords, you know, the... In the first verse to sort of this and it really suddenly emphasizes the swing of the rhythm section in a way

that like it's like been secretly there all along and then the final chorus switches up the rhythm and the melody of the main hook but it still retains everything that made it work in the first place and then Danny comes in with the stuff in the sun as it starts to rain and when he dips into those triplets and it just keeps you guessing

all the way to the end it's so great how McFly were like a little Trojan horse for this in pop song writing if I had one criticism it's probably the lyrics some of them feel like they've not been thought through enough like i mean first up i'll commend anybody who can get intergalactical frisbee and when i fell in love with your anus into a number one single but i digress because the song sets its stall out early with the looking up for my star girl thing where it states pretty plainly

that it's about a girl who is so wonderful that he's to quote another power pop classic on another planet with her but then you get the houston we got a problem ground control couldn't stop them thing and it's like who's them who are they who are these people that the galaxy defenders line as well it feels like there's a a subplot about them saving the universe together that just never gets in it doesn't really get introduced it's just a bit like oh they've clearly just had to put a space line in haven't they um like where has this space disaster movie plot come from but that's really it i just think this is a magical intergalactical power pop song that goes right back to the genre's roots and has like the best time there it really does

have the best time there and so do i with this uh andy how about you absolutely adore this absolutely adore this i think if it wasn't for all about you this would be undoubtedly like laughably far ahead of everything else that we've had from McFly so far. I think it's about tied with All About You for me just because I absolutely adore that song and I adore this. I can't really split the two to be honest. Let's have a poll.

Let's decide between the two. Anyway. But yes, I absolutely love this. It's funny that at the time, perhaps because it dropped out like a stone from the charts, I don't remember this being around as much as a lot of their other big hits and it i mean i knew it but it didn't really like land with me very hard at the time it was out and then i went to see mcbusted when they toured um i went to see them with my sister and this song stood out so much more than everything else.

It was a surprisingly amazing night at McBusted. Every song was really high energy. The crowd was so up for it. It was actually a really, really, really good gig at McBusted. But when they did Stargirl, they walked to the middle of the crowd, to the middle stage, and that rose up as a giant neon spaceship.

I just had the best, best time. It was just, that song really works live, and I realised what a good song this is, so I listened to this quite a bit afterwards, and now this is totally in my regular rotation. I listen to this all the time, because it's brilliant!

It's just so good. I completely agree with what you said, Rob, that you just have a great time listening to this. It's just so good. I completely agree with what you said, Rob, that you just have a great time listening to this. It's just so joyous and fun and happy. I think it really captures the adventure that you would get from space travel, that kind of childlike glee that you would get. And so I'm going to make an odd point of comparison here,

but it is always something that's stuck in my head, is that a year after this, in 2007, McFly made a cameo appearance on Doctor Who, where they endorsed the Master for Prime Minister, alongside Sharon Osbourne and Anne Whittakin, as you do. And at the time, well, sorry, not at the time, but afterwards, I heard this, and I was like, oh, they must have been inspired

by Doctor Who to write this because there's a lot in this that's like wouldn't you like to come with me and stuff which is like the language of Doctor Who when you ask someone to come with you but this is a year before that so I don't know whether maybe it was the other way around that they did this song that kind of got on the fan base's radar and so they ended up appearing in Doctor Who but anyway I always thought that if they were to do a movie adaptation like a fresh restart of Doctor Who, then you could play this over the end credits. It's like, it feels

really heavily inspired by it. So I love it for that reason because I love Doctor Who so much. But it's just, it just comes together so well here. Like, I think all of their songs so far have just nearly, nearly been there. I think, like I say,

All About You is one that really kind of hit the bullseye, but in terms of their up-tempo stuff, it's been a little bit more of a work in progress, where Five Colors In Her Hair was decent, Don't Stop Me Now was straightforward cover, really.

I'll Be Okay, I really did like that. That was far better than I remembered, but they've never quite just hit the bullseye straight out of the gate, and here they do. Their whole formula just comes together, where they've got silly kind of tongue-in-cheek lyrics but with a really, really catchy melody

huge infectious production, they've still managed to incorporate that kind of old-fashioned Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons kind of harmonies going on as well with the ooh-ooh. And the one thing that really brings us together, I think, more than anything else, is that brass section. I would compare it to the breakdowns in All the Things She Said

and in Freak Like Me, the way that you just need something at that moment and then it hits and it's like, oh! Just at the point where you think the song might start to run out of steam a little bit because that bridge really, really takes things down, that fly away bit. And you think, oh, that's the bridge

and we'll go back into the chorus. But you're not quite feeling ready for the chorus so they hit you with that massive, massive instrumental section and i agree about the brass being a little bit low in the mix but that's mainly because i just want that thing as loud in my ears as possible like i just want to be assaulted by it it's like you know that meme of someone like hands in the air crying while they listen to something which they turn up that kind of blurry image that's that uh for me um and i love that brass section i think

it's just the kind of pièce de résistance that really powers you into that last chorus that little silence they do the tiny little moment of silence before the last chorus where they come in with the one more time just brilliant just i just i have no criticisms of this song it's just pure fun it's just pure joy and it's executed brilliantly, you can see how much thought they put into so many different aspects of this song, I've said it once, I've said it again, they do not get enough credit as songwriters

McFly are really really, really excellent pop songwriters and they deserve far more credit for that than they get it kind of makes me sad to see them sometimes described as a boy band because it's like they're so much more than that like they they really do have so much to bring to the table and this is their peak for me this song i adore it yeah um and one other thing as well is that the galaxy defenders thing does sound that was a little

bit strange because that's like what's that got to do with the song but did you know that mcfly fans well some of them anyway they call themselves galaxy defenders that's like the name for the fan base that line yeah so i think this song is a fan favorite because that's that's how they refer to themselves as galaxy defenders yeah so that's sweet i'm more of a dairy milk defender personally east of the room um andy just what you said there about the brass section it made me think of the Spartan soldier alarm clock meme where the kid is sitting up in bed screaming

as a Spartan soldier stands above him with a massive trumpet like that that's what I want it to be like and there's the other meme where that girl is walking with her hands over her ears while that boy plays a trumpet directly at her. Oh, yeah. The other one as well.

I was thinking, yeah, okay, I'd be happy if the brass was at that level too. It's funny you should mention the alarm clocks. Have you heard the story about the space station, about the International Space Station with this? Oh, yeah. Using the Starbell. Yeah. That Tom Fletcher started a successful campaign

and that was backed by a lot of people to um have nasa play this as the alarm clock in the international space station for a couple weeks oh isn't that cool how many songs can boast that yeah it's quite good to wake up to because it goes hey like oh jesus are you ready to play sorry can't get that out of my head now. What a wonderful kind of day. We will move swiftly on and try to get both of those TV theme tunes out of your heads, everybody.

To this. To this. Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up for Detroit I love this city Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up for Detroit Put your hands up

Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up for Detroit Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up Put your hands up for Detroit, I love this city Okay, this is Put Your Hands Up for Detroit by Fede LeGrand.

Released as a non-album single, Put Your Hands Up for Detroit, is Fede LeGrand's first single overall to be released in the UK, and his first to reach number one. However, it is his last, and this is the last time that we'll be coming to Mr. LeGrand on this podcast. Put Your Hands Up for Detroit first entered the UK chart at number 95, eventually reaching number one during its ninth week, knocking McFly off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 34,000 copies beating competition from Yeah Yeah by Body Rocks, which climbed to number 2, and The Saints Are Coming by U2 and Green Day, which got to number six. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Put Your Hands Up For Detroit fell three places

to number four. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 30 weeks. However, the song is only officially certified gold in the UK as of 2023 I expected more for this, especially for something that stayed in the chart for 30 weeks but meh Andy, Fede LeGrand how do we feel? Yeah, I mean I'm glad

that we all had a fair amount to say about McFly because I feel like this might be a short segment, this one it certainly will for me, I think McFly because I feel like this might be a short segment, this one. It certainly will for me. I think I have to acknowledge the run that we have just had between last week and this week. Okay, take America out of the equation, but we've

had Don't Feel Like Dancing, Black Parade and Stargirl, the three of those almost back to back. All three of them 10 out of 10 songs for me. That's a bit of a peak for a bit of a bit of a minor peak, at least, for the singles chart of my childhood. That's like, wow, those three songs. Again, interrupted by Razorlight, as they often do.

But anyway, that's over now. I think it's safe to say that that peak is now over. This isn't bad, so to speak. I don't think it's awful to say that that peak is now over this isn't bad so to speak like i don't think it's like awful or anything like that but i think it is a real contender for the most kind of slight most sort of nothing key song that we've ever had on the show to be honest that it's it's two and a half minutes long and that feels too long for what it is um which is a little bit of a condemnation of it really so i have to take some points off for that but um it does everything it can do in the first 40 seconds or so and then just repeats it for the other two minutes and that's it there

just isn't anything to this at all i will give it some for, it's one of the very first that we've had of what will become a much, much more common thing in a couple of years' time of just build up, build up, build up with hype and then the drop and some annoying wiki-wiki kind of thing that goes on for 20 seconds and then

we just rinse and repeat. There's a lot of songs like that coming up. Hi there Will.i.am. Hi there LMFAO. A lot of that coming up. And this is one of songs like that coming up hi there will i am hi there lmfao a lot of that coming up and this is one of the first that we've had in that genre not the very first though because when i'm kind of deciding what i think of these songs and trying to find my level i have to always try and compare to something else that we've covered to try and find that point of comparison and with this honestly the thing that jumps out that this reminded me of is crazy frog it's just kind of oh that's a shout it's sort of similar really it's like

crazy frog for teenagers and that it's just sort of noise and not much more to it than that to be honest and that's fine like i don't think this is bad at all i just think it's kind of brainless um and given that we've had some extremely rich extremely imaginative well-developed groundbreaking pop music over the past couple of weeks i don't know i feel deflated listening to this and i don't really have anything more to say about it except that this is fine but bland um and i also have to mention the thing with the lyrics that I think, I don't know, was it Rob that you told us this week that it's not I love this city,

which I think everyone in the whole world thought it was I love this city for quite a few years. And it's not, it's our lovely city, isn't it? Which I never ever would have realised. Kind of feeling similar, but we'll go to Lizzie first. How do we feel about this?

Yeah, I'm feeling very similar on this. I think I agree with you, Andy, that in terms of sound, I think Crazy Frog is actually quite a good comparison. But in terms of why I think the single got to number one, the obvious comparison to be made here is Call on Me by Eric Pritz and also Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. Yeah. Yeah. Because like those two, this is a big floor filler with a softcore music video centered around scantily clad women, which was the style at the time. You'll remember this particular one had like, it was like robot nurses in the distant future of 2027,

which is three years away. But anyway, yeah, these sort of robot women. And I think Fede Legrand is there and tries to escape, something like that. It doesn't really matter because it's just, it's the sort of thing they'd play a lot on like TMF or The Box because yeah it's what it is you know what you're getting with it those other two songs both had a separate gimmick though it wasn't just the video the video was a big part of it like Call On Me had that

gym video Satisfaction had the one with all the drills and whatnot but in terms of the music Call On Me had that immediately recognisable sample and Satisfaction had the Apple Mac text-to-speech vocals. This one doesn't really have a gimmick, it has the Our Lovely City bit and then it just plays that kind of riff over and over again. It's a pretty average electro house song. It was the style at the time, I suppose. Rob, you mentioned Yeah Yeah by Body Rocks during the chart rundown, which I feel is a much better example of this sort of genre. I wish that could have got to number one instead of this.

I so wish that got to number one. I know. That is actually quite gutting because, yeah, it's a shame that Rehab didn't get to number one that is i know that is actually quite gutting because yeah it's a shame that rehab didn't get to number one but at least it was star girl instead whereas oh i still listen to yeah yeah by body rocks i still go back and i'm like oh yeah great time you know that's yeah exactly that yeah that to me is more um representative of the genre you know things like justice and digitalism like does it offend you yeah that sort of thing yeah this just comes off as like a successful cash-in on two separate

trends in dance music like i don't think it's terrible per se but it doesn't leave much of a lasting impression either yeah it i honestly i was coming into this expecting it to have gone platinum at some point me too the past 10 years and then to come and find out that it was gold it was like oh maybe it wasn't a big deal like because obviously when you're 12 all pop music is a big deal and when you're 12 and listening to the radio and you care about the charts and you care what number one is of course it's going to be a big deal because it's number one but other than like vague recollections of the video which i had to re-watch recently um just to kind of refresh my memory what happens is yes um what happens in the video is that this laboratory is making all these male clones for no established reason, really. It's just that

it's like, say, in the distant future of 2027. And they try to wake these models up with various, shall we say, stimulus. And so the doctors in the skimpy uniforms, oh, they've all got bikinis on underneath and all this stuff. But then the male clone thing realizes that he's a clone in a factory and so he tries to escape and i don't remember or care how the video ends to be honest because like whatever man with this like my memories of this were like yeah you know it's decent kind of you, looking forward to discussing this. And then, like, I'm just so bored of it now. So bored of it now.

I think once you've heard the first kind of like... And the first... Like, that's kind of... You've heard it all. That is it. You have heard the whole song it has like one idea after that which is the staccato the um bit that comes in after the second like just in the second half after the halfway mark

that sounds a bit dramatic and unexpected in a way that a lot of this just isn't it's very plain that's the only bit of the song I actually think, oh, he's done something there, hasn't he? You know, like that jazz and super hands bit where the third layer of this house track comes in. And they go, oh, he's done something there, hasn't he? And with this, it's like, just when he goes, that's like the only bit in the song where I'm like, oh, yeah, I wasn't expecting that.

But then it just goes back to the same, like, two note, like, da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da. It's just not a fan. It's a shame that we don't get to talk about Let Me Think About It instead, which is a much better example of what Fede the Grand can can do you know i i honestly think that the most interesting thing about this song was debating with people whether it was i love this city or a lovely city or as we've now found out our lovely city and then he went and answered the question so even that bit of intrigue

that it had was extinguished like the one thing that people are sort of still questioning after all this time he's like don't need to question it anymore don't even need to think about it i can just answer the question for you and once you have a question answered you stop thinking about it it stops being a mystery and it's just information and i don't really want information about pop like i want things to still change their meaning over time like pop songs aren't questions to answer if you know what i mean and so i don't know why he didn't let the myth live a little bit longer you've seen lost haven't you rob oh i don't think this is terrible terrible the cut to silence and the our lovely city drop is effective

a couple of times I just think it's so heavily in debt to things like satisfaction that it's kind of hard to look past that and it's nowhere near as gimmicky in a good way or as memorable either because with satisfaction beyond the video

you still have the touch me i did like you know it's kind of funny and not very serious and it also has that that really really really bit crushed synth the sort of gnarly and ugly personality that it has and the change in filter where they get the it goes from a low to a high and whatever but this is yeah very plain. Yeah I think I totally agree I think you mentioned satisfaction this feels like years too late. I do think that the basic bones of this is kind of where pop music

is going about four years after this and that it's basically build up to the drop and then instrumental like there's a lot more of that in the future so it's kind of in between two eras where it would have been more suited really maybe yeah i think you're totally right andy to mention that i think i think there's a bit of a gap but by the start of the 2010s, there is a lot of just... kind of pop. And like you say, this would have been maybe better placed. If it was just a little bit more maximalist,

I think it would have been plonked into 2012 or 2013 well enough. Yeah. But we will move on to our third and final song this week uh and hey it's time to say goodbye because our third song is this Some say love, it is a river that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless icky need I say love It is a flower And you It's only seed

It's only seeing The Rose is Westlife's 20th single overall to be released in the UK and their 14th to reach number one. However, and I cannot believe I am about to say this, it is their last number one. This is the last time that we'll be discussing Westlife on this podcast. The single is a cover of the song originally recorded by Bette Midler, which had never charted in the UK before this point. The Rose went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry knocking Fede Le Grand off the top of the charts, and it stayed at number 1 for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts it sold 44,000 copies beating competition from Rock Steady by All Saints which climbed to

number three, Easy by Sugar Babes which climbed to number eight and Jump by Madonna which climbed to number nine. When it was knocked off the top of the charts the rose fell two places to number three by the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for just eight weeks. The song is currently officially certified silver in the UK as of 2023. Andy, The Rose, how do we feel? Yeah, parting is such sweet sorrow, eh? Tell you what comes to mind when I listen to The Rose. A few years ago, I think it was during lockdown, me and my husband watched Glee all the way through.

Because at the time when it was on, when we were teenagers, we both watched season one and two and then stopped like everybody else did. And we decided to revisit it and watch the whole thing. And by the way, quick review. Season one, genuinely really good. Totally worth it. Season two and three, fine. Then the show kills itself by accident

and it has three zombie seasons. But anyway, later on, I think it's in the last season of the show, there is this scene that really stuck out to me that it was the perfect choice of song for the moment, which was that the lead character, Rachel, Lea Michele's character, she goes for an audition

and they just want to have a very brief snippet of what she's like, like five seconds, and she misunderstands and sings the whole of the rose at this boardroom full of people. And we, the viewer, sit through the whole of the rose as well. And all the way through, they keep showing shots of the panel of judges who are just kind of fidgeting in the seats and they're like, yep, okay, got it.

Yep, okay, let's wrap this up. Like, we'll sit patiently through this, but yeah, okay. And I think the choice of the rose for that is absolutely perfect because that's just exactly how this song makes me feel. In that it's kind of like, yep, I've got this. This is kind of one. It has this effect on me of it feels like one continuous verse. And I know it isn't.

It's three, I think three verses and it's very, very long ones. But it feels almost like it's one continuous thing, like with stanzas in between, like a poem set to music. It's not really to my taste that. to music um it's not really to my taste that i think it just it feels like you're being put into this kind of drawn out listening experience and i don't know why that is i don't know why it comes across that way but it just feels quite long and drawn out and a little bit tedious to sit through which makes it a perfect choice for westlife. I think they're going out very much in character, as they were. Except for one thing, which I was surprised by.

It caught me off guard. I was so ready for a key change that didn't come. It's kind of giving me the opposite of Welcome to the Black Parade. I mean, in every possible sense, it's giving me the opposite of Welcome to the Black Parade. But particularly in that sense where it's like, oh yeah, here we go, here here we go and then it doesn't um i definitely think it's a good thing that they don't go to a key change because the song doesn't need it

and it's tedious enough without that but um it's strange of westlife to show that restraint to not go for the the big climax the big key change there um i don't really know why and i'd be interested to see what you two think about that why they didn't do a key change on this one because it felt like the ground was absolutely set up for them to take that run and do it and they don't so other than that this is perfectly in character dreary kind of by the numbers westlife cover that i expect from them. And I'm going to be honest, I won't miss them one bit. Pretty much the only one that we've covered by Westlife that I've kind of liked a bit was My Love. Everything else, I would happily never hear

again. So, you know, no offence to them personally, but they've been very dull and I'm happy to say goodbye to Westlife. And yeah, parting ising is not Sweet Sorrow, I'm afraid. Lizzie, how do we feel about Westlife's final offering on this podcast? Well, just regarding that key change, Rob, I think you explained this in the group chat the other day, in that the original doesn't have one, right? No, it doesn't. But that's so often the case.

That's so often the case with songs that they cover. They cover it and then will stick a key change in that wasn't there before. I think it might just be the fact that it comes from a fairly straight covers album that they don't want to screw with the formula too much, especially if they're essentially interpreting other people's songs. Could be wrong. I don't know. Maybe it's just that, as we've kind of seen,

key changes have fallen out of favour a bit. It's not the last time they do one, though. They've got a big one coming up. It doesn't get to number one, thankfully. In terms of my thoughts on this version of the song, I can sum it up fairly quickly. It's a nice song performed in the most perfunctory way imaginable. It is very expensive sounding but there's no real emotional weight. It is Westlife by numbers.

I thought I'd find something interesting to talk about from Our Story, the Westlife book that I've mentioned on here a few times. However I did a control F and I only found one mention of this song and even that was a passing reference to a completely different topic. I did a control F and I only found one mention of this song. And even that was a passing reference to a completely different topic. I did find something interesting about the Love album, which this is from. Apparently this was not going to be the lead single. It was supposed to be a cover of Total Eclipse of the Heart. Oh no. Oh my God, we've been spared there.

Yeah, that song is on the album. But yeah, this is very nearly a completely different song. That must be illegal. That's just, oh, my God. Yeah. Well, as I've already mentioned, that album is entirely covered with the exception of one song, as far as I can tell,

which to me suggests an acknowledgement of what Westlife stood for after Brian McFadden's departure. Like, pop music isn't the primary concern of the likes of Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh anymore. It's big stadium ballads because that's where the money's at in the long term. And they were right. As much as Westlife might hate to admit it in the book yeah they they

were very successful from that and continue to be with that said they're not completely done they have four more top 10 hits to come including a number two single in 2009 and I should point out that they do technically have another number one coming up on the podcast, but I'll have to put a pin in that one for a couple of years yet. But yeah, anyway, this is Westlife. What more can you say? Come to the final Westlife song on this podcast and they finally decide to do something a bit different. Well, different for Westlife.

In the sense that not only does it not have a bit different, well, different for Westlife, in the sense that, like, not only does it not have a key change, but the song has quite a minimal structure as well, just those two long verses and then the outro, I guess well done and a handshake for not doing the key change, arguably a sign of where pop is heading, a world where key changes completely go out of fashion, heading, a world where key changes completely go out of fashion, and even Westlife are acknowledging that, in a way. I think this is marginally better than the majority of stuff that Westlife have offered up on the podcast so far. I still think it's verging on the edge of tasteless, they still don't understand the source material that they're adapting, and they still don't try to do anything interesting with the arrangement, but i feel like this only

hits me over the head as opposed to hammering my skull into oblivion with its various things um but to be honest i'm less interested in the song to be honest i was more interested in like its place and the fact that it's the last time westlife get a number one and you know whether we like it or not westlife are an institution of British pop and for an institution to like have its last big moment or its last massive moment anyway because like you say Lizzie they get another handful of top tens I always trying to think about the landscape that they're leaving and I was quite struck actually listening to this by the realization that it's been a while since we discussed a song that felt like it would have been at home in the 90s or at least you could detect its origins in the 90s or like trace it back like i don't want to waste everyone's time

by running the whole list back that we've covered this year but in 2006 i think it's been a year where pop has really looked forward i think something switched during the summer holidays of 2005 and loads of acts that have formed in the 2000s have suddenly burst onto the scene as well, and it feels very quickly like the names are very different. lots of first number ones this year like freddie legrand my chemical romance razor light nars barkley orson lily allen etc and even acts from previously years like mcfly sugar babes madonna you know they're keeping up with current trends and to be fair sugar babes have changed two members now at this point since their kind of 90s uh iteration and i think it does prove my point that like the mid-2000s are a great time for pop because pop should be about new stuff it should be about older artists trying to keep up and

pushing themselves and it should be about younger people setting the template for them and then Westlife just kind of turn up and they do the same thing that they've been doing for almost a decade at this point and they sound very much out of place this definitely sounds a bit like a you know like say they still have a bit of success um on the charts anyway for like you know for the next sort of four years until streaming entirely kills them off but it does feel a little westlife very much feel out of place here they didn't feel as out of place with You Raise Me Up, to be honest, because that, I don't know why, but in my memory, I always associate that with 2005, and the other racks around it, even though I didn't like it as much, it felt kind of of a piece with that year, whereas this, it's been so long since Westlife

have had a number one, based on their, you know, usual trajectory and hit rate on this chart and on this show that them just kind of quietly dropping in with something that's, you know, a little different for them but it's still broadly the same thing, I think it just exposes, like, the, not that their race is run exactly exactly i think that's too strong a term to use but the the future is being defined and it's being things are being set up for later but i can't hear any of this in the next two or three years of pop whereas i can hear things even though i don't like it i can hear things like freddie legrand um and so yeah it's kind of like a last garrison kind of thing i guess um obviously all of this is said with hindsight but i do think that we're definitely

in a new era now i feel like 2006 is like yeah definitely in a new era absolutely in the 2000s but then westlife just kind of quietly shuffle in yeah this is all right ish it's kind of less than all right it's like it's nearly there it's nearly bearable for me i do think though that the the volume that they perform stuff like this at like i don't understand really why they can't try and do something a bit different with this because you know the original is performed as a you know a solo female singer who's like you know one voice against you know whatever tide she's swimming through whereas with westlife it's like when there's suddenly five of them four of them plus a choir it's like doesn't feel so fragile anymore it doesn't feel like a rose it just it doesn't feel delicate it just feels like westlife slapping me again with

strings and a choir and drums and eastenders sound effects and whatnot i just i can't be bothered like by the end of the song i'd much prefer the beginning where it is you're kind of piano and vocalist and you know standing against whatever tide is coming at them. Speaking of the 90s, I do find it funny that take that kind of pass the baton to Boyzone, who passed it on to Westlife, and now Westlife are passing it back to take that. Who have re-arrived in a different guise. Well, that is it for this week's episode.

Before we go, we're just going to check. Andy, Stargirl, Fede the Grand, Westlife, Piehole, Vault, where are we sending things? Stargirl? Oh, more like Vault Girl. Yes, absolutely powering that one into the Vault. That's just exceptional. Fede the Grand is going nowhere. Put your hands

up for blandness, more like. And then The Rose, I've got no pun for that one because the song title is so dull that I can't even think of a pun. No, that's not going anywhere either. And I really do have to feel a little bit sorry for Westlife in that they've been featured

on this podcast so heavily and never have any of us even once nominated any of their songs for the vaults. And that's a little bit sad. Why would we? No, I know, but just they've had so many opportunities and not one has ever been taken by us.

So, soz Westlife, but no, not good enough. So, just McFly for me this week, everything else in the middle. Lizzie, Stargirl, put your hands up for Detroit, The Rose. Where are they going? Well, Stargirl is my star song this week, so I'm definitely putting that one in the vault. I might be putting my hands up for Detroit,

but I'm not putting that song in either the vault or the pie hole. And with The Rose, I'm not feeling too thorny towards it. So I'm not going to put it in the pie hole and with the rose i'm not feeling too thorny towards it so i'm not going to put it in the pie hole but it barely misses out only because there's worse coming see you next week beautiful disguised pun there lizzie that was very very good um for me star girl is easy vault material put your hands Hands Up for Detroit is languishing just above the piehole, as is The Rose. So, when we come back,

we'll be continuing our journey through 2006. One more proper episode to go before the big Christmas bash of 2006, our sort of two, three monthly tradition on the show. Thank you very much for listening this week. Vote for the songs this week on this week's poll, and also you need to go back one week to decide the winner of My Chemical Romance and the Scissor Sisters.

Who will reign the universe forever? That's what we'll put it up, that's what we'll put it down to. That can be the result. The winner gets to reign the universe forever. We'll email them and everything. I've got connections. We will see you then. Thank you very much.

Bye-bye now. See ya. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. I can't face your threats and stand up straight and tall and shout about it. I think I'm on another world with you, with you. I'm on another planet with you, with you. You get under my skin, I don't find it.