Hits 21 - 2007 (2): Sugababes vs. Girls Aloud, The Proclaimers, Timbaland

Episode Date: February 18, 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

Do-da-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do- Hi there everyone, welcome back to It's 21 where me, Rob, me, Andy and me, Livy, 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, find us over on Twitter. We are at Hits21UK, that is at Hits21UK, or you can find us on emails. We are Hits21Podcastatgmail.com. Thank you ever so much for joining us again. We are currently

looking back at the year 2007, our second episode of the year. And this week we'll be covering the period between the 18th of March and the 21st of April. So a slightly shorter timeframe this week. With regards to poll winners, between 2006 and 2007, we have changed the way that we record the podcast and we're still working out a few things so if you have having a few teething problems with those changes so for now the polls will carry on and you'll be able to see the results in public but we won't be announcing them on the show just for the time being while we work while we work some stuff out um but with that being said, it is time to press on

and get ahead with this week's episode. And as always, it's time for some news headlines from around the time the songs we're covering in this episode were at number one in the UK. At the Olympic Stadium in Rome, dozens of people are injured when riot police become involved in clashes between supporters of Roma and Manchester

United during a Champions League match. Supporters threw missiles at one another while police set up on both sets of fans, primarily the United fans though, with batons and riot shields. Two British sailors are killed after an accident on the HMS Tireless submarine in the Arctic Ocean. Before 15 Royal Navy personnel are captured at gunpoint by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf, o'r HMS Tyallus yn ymddiad. Felly, 15 oes yn ymddiad yn rhan o'r gweithio ar gyfnodd o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r ddweud o'r gweithio ar gyfer y Persiwn Gulf. Byddai'n gweithio'n ddweud 13 oed. A yn ymddiad, 32 oed yn ddweud a 17 oed yn ymddiad yn ymddiad yn ymddiad yn Ymddiad Prydyniwyr.

Ymddiad wedi'u cyfnodd ymddiad byddai'n Gweithio Cyfnodd, ymddiad ymddiad. Yn ymddiad, mae'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweithio'n gweith The shooting was perpetrated by Soon-Koo-E-Choe, a student of the university. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, and it is still the deadliest school shooting in US history. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. 300 for one week, Mr Bean's holiday for two weeks, and Wild Hogs for two weeks and wild hogs for two weeks. ITV announces that Dermatoliri will replace Kate Thornton as host of The X Factor. In later years, Kate revealed that she had initially been told by Simon Cowell that her contract would be renewed before finding out she was to be replaced. Ben Shepard also

quits his role as host of The X Factor in protest for not being considered the next in line for the role. And the BBC broadcasts the final episode of Life on Mars and Jackie Outley makes history as the first woman to commentate on Match of the Day. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they? Well after last week as you may remember we had a great towering classic from the Nauties with Back to Black, the highest selling album of the naughties and it's another absolute monolith of the era this week with Doing It My Way by Ray Quinn which goes gold and it's number one for one week. Doing It My Way is an album of rat pack covers. It looks pretty unimaginative to be honest. It's 34 minutes long. Ray Queen is the only credited musician on the album, apart from bizarrely, strictly Dave Arch, who does all the

orchestration. That goes number one for one week and only goes gold. Sorry Ray. Before that's toppled by Take That, who are returning to the top with their album Beautiful World. That goes back to the top for two weeks and just to recap that was a huge huge hit it went nine times platinum and I've got one more album to talk to you about this week which beats Take That it's because of the times by Kings of Leon which say that number one for two weeks and went triple platinum it's not the one with Kings of Leon, which said at number one for two weeks and went triple platinum. It's not the one with Kings of Leon, but it's the one before that one.

Plenty more to discuss next year from them, but yeah, Kings of Leon are on the up at the moment. And that's all this week. So yeah, happy number one, Raekwinn. I'm sure you'll have plenty more. Does Raekwinn do my way on that album? He does, but only a track three. So for the first two tracks of the album,

he's kind of sort of falsely selling the album because for the first two tracks, he's not done my way. So he isn't doing it my way. But yeah. How disappointing. Just looking again at that Wikipedia page about this album, there is an unusual record with this album. It's the first album ever to reach UK number one without any singles released from it.

Isn't that an interesting fact? Oh wow, that is... Wonder why he didn't release any singles, that's just really strange. Yeah, I wonder. Yeah. Lizzie, how are the states? Well, over in America, Fergie scored her second number one hit around this time with Glamorous, featuring Ludacris.

It was the third single from her debut solo album, The Duchess, and it stayed at number one for two weeks. It was certified triple platinum in the US, and it peaked at number six in the UK around the same time. God damn it. After that, Acon returned to No. 1 with Don't Matter. It was the third single from his second studio album, Convicted, and it stayed at No. 1 for two weeks. It was certified Platinum in the US and peaked at No. 3 in the UK in May of

2007. And finally for singles this week, Timberland scored his first No. 1 hit as a lead artist with Give It To Me featuring Nelly Fatardo and Justin Timberlake. It was the lead single from his second studio album Shock Value and it stayed at number one for two weeks. It was eventually certified Platinum in the US and wouldn't you know it, it also washed up on our shores as well. More on that later. So over to albums now and I will run through these as quickly as I can. So we've got greatest hits by the notorious B.I.G. One week at number one got some number 57 in the UK. Loving music by Music Soulchild.

One week at number one failed to chart in the UK. We were dead before the ship even sank by modest mouths. Really? Yeah. Wow, okay. And that's spent one week at number one and got to number 47 in the UK. Then we have Let It Go by Tim McGraw one week at number one failed to chart in the UK. And now that's what I call Music 24. Two weeks at number one wasn't released here for obvious reasons but it did have some British representation on it in the form of Smile by Lily Allen, Put Your Records on by Corinne Bailey-Ray and Suddenly I See by Katie Tunstall.

And My Way by Ray Quinn? Yes, of course! Alright then, thank you both very much and we are going to move swiftly on to the first song we're covering this week. And it is... This! You wanna talk this way Walk this way, you wanna talk this way Spectral clever, high enough to cover still a talk to your daddy say You ain't seen nothin' till you're down on a muffin and I'm sure I could change your way Crazy Better melt your leader with the reals, young pleaser all the times like a reminisce The best single ever was a brother and a cousin and a son with a little kiss and like this

Walk this way, talk this way Walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, walk this way, Alright, this is Walk This Way by Sugar Babes vs Girls Allowed. Released as a standalone charity single for comic relief, Walk This Way is Sugar Babes' 17th single overall to be released in the UK and their 5th to reach number 1. As for Girls Allowed, it's their 15th single overall to be released in the UK and their fifth to reach number one. As for Girls Loud, it's their fifteenth single to be released in the UK and their third to reach number one. It's not the last time we'll be coming to either of these groups on the podcast. The single is a cover of the song originally recorded by Aerosmith in 1975 which did not make the

UK chart but it's also a cover of the re-recording by Aerosmith and Rundi MC, which reached number 8 on the UK chart in 1986. Walk This Way went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry, knocking Take That 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 52,000 copies, beating competition from I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles by the Proclaimers, which got to number 3, and acceptable in the 80s by Calvin Harris which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Walk This Way dropped one place to number two. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 104... seven weeks? The song has never received any official certification from the British phonographic industry. Seven weeks. Seven.

A joke. Lizzie, how we feeling? This is a mess. It's a joke, isn't it? In every sense of the word, but sorry, carry on. I mean, I'll keep this brief because bloody hell, it's a team up between two groups I've really grown to love from doing this podcast especially. And it's produced by Dallas Austin, who also produced Push the Button and is the proud owner of the most American name in existence. But this cover just doesn't work, unfortunately. In particular, I found that the vocals sound like they're from a completely different song and the backing track sounds cheap and muddy compared to both of the originals. I really tried to like this because of the people involved, but

both of the originals. I really tried to like this because of the people involved, but this is a complete swing and a miss from both of them I'm afraid. I've got things we still have better songs to come from both groups, but this is a stain isn't it? Like there's a reason people don't remember this and yeah not good. Well that was brutal Liz is he? I mean, I completely agree though. I do completely agree. I think, you know what this makes me think of? There is a meaning to this, I will get to it don't worry, but remember that episode of The Simpsons called Homer Defined where Homer keeps thinking about what he will come to represent in the dictionary, what he is an example of. And I was thinking that with this, because this is the image I would put next to the phrase, less than the sum of its parts. This is like, it is that phrase

in a nutshell. It's that you've got the sugar babes and girls allowed and you know, I wasn't a huge fan of the sugar babes at the time, but I liked them and I bought into that sort of stage rivalry between them and I thought oh They're doing a single together. I remember hearing about it and thinking oh that's interesting And when I found out it was Walk This Way. I was like You know, I've never been the hugest fan of that song. I think it's a little bit overrated but it's it's still a good song and I thought with those two groups singing it together. That's gonna be something and then we get this which is just I mean it's just nothing really

it's it's it is almost nothing at all because they do so very very little with the song that they sort of have this weird approach to it where with one hand they are so reverent to it that they won't touch it but then with one hand the small amount of things that they do change are all bad things that they do to it. They add this, walk this way, you want to talk this way, which just, it's just so unnecessary. It just adds nothing to the song at all and it's just really distracting. And I think just in the fundamentals, it doesn't work. I agree that it's just a bad choice of song for two artists who just aren't really engaging with it properly, just fundamentally doesn't work. I agree that it's just a bad choice of song for two artists who just aren't

really engaging with it properly, just fundamentally doesn't work. But there's little things about it as well. Like Cheryl Cole is quite prominent in this one. And in the chorus, you can hear her accent, which you can't normally, but you can hear her going, walk this way, like walk this weird pet, you know, and you can sort of hear the walk and it really bothers me, it really put me off. And she gets quite a lot to do in this song and I kind of sort of laughed at her because at the time, well not at the time because she hadn't done X Factor yet but when she did do X Factor, there was this kind of running theme that she is absolutely clueless about rock music. There was a famous incident where someone sang Crocodile Rock and she called them out for doing such an obscure song and even

the other judges laughed at her for that. Yeah that was strange and on one occasion she demonstrated she didn't know what a chord was and what a riff was. She thought they were the same thing. So she is not up on this kind of music and she does her best with it but I just I don't know I couldn't get that out back of my head but yes I feel like if I didn't know this was Girls Allowed and Sugar Babes it would have taken me an awfully long time to work that out and no point and no point does it feel like you've got eight singers on this that's just it never feels like more than two to be honest it's just very very slight and very very

underwhelming for what it is. I don't think it's absolute garbage. I think you know we've had plenty of worse stuff for comic relief and for children in need or whatever you know I don't I don't think it's that awful but you've got girls allowed and sugar babes who are willing to do a classic song and this is the result like I say less than the song of its parts. It's just it's bland just really really bland and that is the last thing that either girls allowed or sugar babes are so that's the sort of biggest condemnation I can give to it really so it's okay for what it is but what it is ain't much not at all. Yeah, my notes for this are short. The only real conclusion

that I took away from this is, oh, much is left sugar babes. They have a mel in now. But yeah, they're well, I suppose, you know, they give the little ad lib for Cheryl, that stupid, like, bigly mentioned, they're, the, what is way you wanna talk this way? And hey, what do you know? I'm out of notes, like just cable, trying to be nice or even remotely asked about this, you know, think you know, the girls and the babes, you know, they do like a half decent job for charity, but like the whole thing is sort of bankrupt from the moment it starts you know you can tell it's been assembled in such a way that like you're not supposed to have a reaction to this other than hey it's sugar babes and

girls allowed doing Aerosmith and Run The MC because charity singles as we'll find out not just with this song but with the next one they're not really designed to do anything except to give a sense of familiarity combined with a degree of effort from contemporary faces. And that's exactly what this is. Like, I don't really want to give it any more of my words because that's just it. Like, that's the whole thing with charity singles where it's like, it's that thing you know, so buy it it but done by someone more current so kids you buy it and that's it and I always get feel I always feel if you're about charity singles because like it's like you can't criticize them because everybody goes oh they're doing

it for charity and it's like well are they doing it for charity though are they just doing it in association with the charity to make themselves look good. Yeah. And yeah, I come down on the latter side with this one. Just, you know, making no secrets about this. I'm slamming this straight into the pie hole before this week. I was like, oh, maybe it's not that bad, you know, because I kind of had it, you know, sort of maybe I'll pie hole it maybe. And then yeah, the more I've listened to this, I'm just like, the best thing

about it is I think how much Nadine puts into this how much more she puts into this compared to everybody else It's really funny as well in the video. We're like the other seven of them are sort of like looking around like Well, you know, we're getting paid to do this and gotta look nice on telly. Aren't we? whereas Nadine is just like look nice on telly, aren't we? Whereas Nadine is just like hairs everywhere and she's making faces at the camera and she's scowling and doing like all the talk of this away! You know, like some really angry Italian. And yeah, I just, yeah, not, no, no, not keen on this. Fair play to Nadine for giving it a go. Fair play to like Cheryl for

the ad lib I suppose. Because it's something new. But yeah, like you Andy, I'm not like that into the Run DMC Aerosmith version. It's fine. It's, you know, I think it's, I appreciate its significance rather than the thing that it is. Oh yeah, yeah. If I was going to recommend anything about this song to anybody, it's to watch one of the first episodes of Hip Hop Evolution, which is a Netflix hip hop documentary. And watch the episode where Roondi MC gets told by Russell Simmons that, so we've had an idea for your next single, Fellas.

It's gonna be this, and you're gonna rap the verses and the look that they give each other and then the looks that they have while they're in the studio. Cause like obviously on the track, they sound like they're really giving it and then there's like early takes of them singing the song and they're like, what are you making us do? This is gonna kill us.

This is gonna kill our career. This is gonna kill us. This is gonna kill our career. This is gonna end us. It's gonna ruin our credibility with our fans and the people who like Aerosmith won't take to us. What are you doing? And then it ends up being one of the biggest selling songs of all time. But that's the only thing I would recommend.

Thank you, Rob, for the guest appearance of the person who defends charity singles. I just adored that voice completely though. But it's the charity! Can we have more appearances from that person please? Yeah but also I just wanted to make a point about this, the whole point you made there Rob about how well it's the thing that you recognise done by people you recognise so there you go just go buy it and I completely like agree that it's totally cynical and like you're lazy but it does work like it got yeah so I think I think with any so I'm always having to remind myself of this

when we're talking about crap songs on the show that anything that we cover got number one so in some ways they're on to something just inherently but the thing is though with it being a charity single is that you think you want to raise as much money as possible, don't you? And seven... Yeah. You think, am I here for seven weeks in the top hundred? Yeah. That, you know, they didn't raise nearly as much money as they could have if they've come up with something good. Like Band-Aid was a charity single and my word, the money that

must have raised over the years and continues to raise through streaming and stuff like that you know I get that it's a charity single Last Christmas was a charity single that year. Was it really? Well there we go. Everything she wants. Yeah so I mean if if getting to number one is your goal and that means you've made money for the charity then fair enough but your goal could be so much bigger. We're not angry we're just disappointed. Yes that is exactly it. Hello you will notice that I sound slightly different. This is the first time I've ever, I think, recorded something for a hits 21 episode, way after we've finished recording and I'm actually just editing the episode right now. As I was listening again

to walk this way as I prepared the clip for the episode. I realized that I'd neglected to mention something in our initial analysis, which is that the the lyrics of the of the original are obviously gender swapped for the Sugar Babes Girls Allowed version because oh, we can't have the public thinking that any of the members of Sugar Babes or Girls Allowed are gay or bisexual. We can't have that, not on a comic relief charity single. But the bit that they've not gender swapped from the original is the creepy 1970s lyric about the sassy schoolgirl with the skirt climbing way up her knee. Yeah, that was a revelation. So yeah, back to the episode. Okay, so we're going to move on to the second single that we're gonna be covering this week, which is...

This! the man who wakes up next to you. Yeah I know. When I go out. When I go out. Well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you. When I get drunk. When I get drunk. Well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you. Yes! Yeah. And when I have a. Well it was easy for me. Well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's ever into you Now, I'm gonna roll 500 miles a hour Roll that hundred miles just to be the man who rolls a thousand miles To fall down at your door when I'm working While I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you. Shaka card? And when the money, comes in for the work I do, I pass almost every penny on to you. When I come home, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's coming home to you.

And when I grow, well I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be 500 Miles by the Proclaimers featuring Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin. Released as a standalone charity single for comic relief, I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles is the Proclaimers' 10th single overall to be released in the UK and their first to reach number one. However, as of 2024 it is their last number one. This is also the only song in UK chart history that's credited to Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin. The single is a re-recording of the Proclaimers song which originally reached number 11 in 1988. I'm gonna be 500 miles first to enter the UK chart at number 3, reaching number 1 during

its second week on the chart knocking Sugar Babes vs Girls Allowed off the top. And it stayed at number 1 for 3 weeks. In its first week at number 1 it sold 126,000 copies beating competition from Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne which climbed to number three and Destination Collaboria by Alex Gaudino which climbed to number five. In week two it sold 56,000 copies beating competition from Glamorous by Fergie which climbed to number five and in week three It sold 48,000 copies beating competition from Stop Me by Mark Ronson and Daniel Merriweather

Which got to number six when it was knocked off the top of the charts I'm gonna be 500 miles fell three places to number four By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 13 weeks. The song is currently officially certified silver in the UK as of 2024. Andy, your namesake is technically credited on the song so you can begin. Should just clarify my surname's not Pibkin. No.

Yeah, well this is a funny one, isn't it? I'm disappointed that it's the only song credited to the two of them. Would have quite liked a whole album called Doing It Their Way where they just absolutely butcher a bunch of classics. Would have loved that. Yes, this is a difficult one because what are we analysing here? Are we analysing 500 miles by the Proclaimers or are we getting into whether we find Peter Kay and Matt Lucas

funny? Are we getting into do we find them funny as these characters? And also it's a Charity single so there's that once again. So there is a lot to kind of work around here and I don't really know what angle to come at this from except for it's supposed to be funny and it's not funny but it's just not funny at all until the proclaimers come in this is like actual garbage like just actual shit this until until the proclaimers come in like I would never ever have chosen to listen to this again. I still won't, to be honest, but I like the original by the proclaimers.

My mum and dad are huge fans of the proclaimers. They've seen them like over 20 times. And in 2007, actually, I went to a gig with them where me and dad got to meet them afterwards, which was lovely. They were very nice people. We did that because people used to say me and my dad looked like the proclaim afterwards, which was lovely. They were very nice people. We did that because people used to say me and my dad looked like the Proclaimers, which

we did a bit because we would do it with glasses. But I digress. I really like the original. It's not one of the very greatest I think, but like it's a very, very solid song. I can see why it was such a huge hit. And once again, the problem we've got here is nothing is being added to the song and instead what we do get is actively detracting from the song because I think the whole shtick here of P.K. and Matt Lucas is just not funny. I don't really get it to be honest. It's just kind of heavily accented singing of the lyrics with the occasional catchphrase thrown in, with the occasional y'all know or shaka card thrown in and it's just it's the laziest, most lowest common denominator form of humor ever. And I've got to say this is partially sort of in the shadow

of the fact that that's how I feel about Little Britain in general and I never liked Little Britain. I was never into it, which is, you know, back in the early, well early, mid-noughties that was actually like the hottest of hot takes. I genuinely didn't like it and I felt like the only person in the world that didn't. I don't really know why to be honest because there was other sketch comedy like Mitchell and Weblook and Katharine Tate Show which I really loved but I was never into little Britain at all. particularly not this I want that one yeah no just just absolutely mind-numbing because you'd hear it in the playground all the time and this is 2007 not 2005 like it's I know that there's only a

small difference there but that's an age for a child and the joke was so dead by 2007, so so dead and yeah so it didn't raise a smile at all. But yeah as a song it's fine but I just don't really know why this exists to be honest except as another kind of mildly indulgent exercise for Peter K. I'm not really sure where this came from as an idea because you would think Peter K because he's done Amarillo but then can't be a coincidence that I know that Matt Lucas is a huge huge fan of the Proclaimers. Some of my mum and dad's albums of the Proclaimers that they've got by them have got forwards from Matt Lucas. He's like he knows the band, he loves them. So it was probably Matt Lucas' idea to some extent,

but the whole thing is like I say it's just a bit of an exercising indulgence. We've got the video once again which is crowned full of celebrities. This time we've got David Tennant hanging out with Rod Jane and Freddie which is strange enough. It's just kind of amarillo done again but much, much less eye catching and even less funny. Uh, yeah. Like I say, nothing against the original. Love the proclaim- well not love the proclaimers but I like the proclaimers, like the original but this is thumbs down.

Don't like this at all, no. Yeah, you know about like five, ten minutes ago when I said that charity singles aren't really designed to do anything except give a sense of familiarity combined with a degree of effort from contemporary faces? Yeah, um, yeah. This was funny at the time. At the time. You know, because I was twelve and an idiot, you know, so like, but like it kind of works as a comic relief

sketch where you get a load of faces in to have a laugh as part of some large comedy bit and everybody goes home happy having seen people on the telly that they've not seen in about 15, 20 years, you know, it's a lot like Amarillo in execution, though it kind of takes on a life of its own afterwards in the same way that Amarillo did, but it means that we're left with it in audio form 17 years later. Because Amarillo's just the song replayed, there's no new bits added to it, it's technically just a re-release with Peter Kay's name on it. But with this version, obviously that's not the case.

I like the original. It's not Sunshine on Leith, but it's lovely. The proclaimers are occasionally I think very great. And thank God that they turn up here to remind us why we all like the song in the first place because oh, the joke gets old pretty fast. And even like the vocals aren't even mixed very well. They're just loud. They're very, very loud. It felt like, because the video version is slightly different. There are ad libs and there are certain things changed and taken out of the live, sort of like the TV version. They're different compared to the single version. And the single version, the vocals are mixed horribly, far too close to the far too close, far too loud, they drown the track out, which is, it means that the joke

becomes hard to laugh at because it's just not a nice experience if they were mixed a bit further back all the deliberately shit singing wouldn't be too bad but it's just because you know you listen to it after 17 years and it's like oh I don't remember it being this close to my head um but then the proclaimers turn up and it's like oh yeah lovely and then it makes me think that maybe the whole thing should have been more of a collaborative close to my head, but then the proclaimers turn up and it's like, oh yeah, lovely. And then it makes me think that maybe the whole thing should have been more of a collaborative effort because the last minute of this isn't too bad. You know, Matt Lucas and Peter Kay come back in, but because the proclaimers are there and because Matt Lucas and Peter

Kay are a bit further in the distance, it's like, yeah, okay, it gets a communal feel to this and you are reminded of the video with all the people in it singing the, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, you know, all the famous faces, and you get the sense of camaraderie and nostalgia and all of this. I will say as well, I do sort of love the moment

where Matt Lucas does the, working hard for you, because it's like, like oh you can sing, why aren't you just doing this for the rest of the song? Why aren't you singing this nicely, even in character? Why are you not doing it? But I do think that moment and the Proclaimers coming back into it, they're the things that save it from the piehole for me. But when the Proclaimers do come in, it's like they've suddenly changed the CD and decided to play the original. It's quite a bizarre effect. I'd be kind of curious,

though, to play this for a kid who wasn't born in 2007, you know, some 13, 14, 15 year old and ask them if they find it a funny or be if they even have any idea of Who Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin are? Just to see their look on their faces when they get told that they're wrong that they're not real people but they're these These two characters from TV shows of the day Because with Amarillo, it's like you could play it and everyone, you know, it sounds like the era that it was recorded.

Whereas with this, obviously with all of the added vocals on, it just feels like this thing that is suspended between two time periods. And I feel like if you played it to somebody now, it's, even though it was number one for three weeks and sold a lot, I just feel like it's not something that you can really hand down the generations or even begin to understand if you're not part of the generation that experienced it which okay fine you just it's only supposed to be there to make

money for charity and whatever but I definitely get it how like oh it's for charity and it's just just you know a silly kind of shameless cash-in thing for that but it's weird that they didn't need to do that they weren't those type of flash-in-the-pan comedians that needed to do that because I get the point about kids today but kids today probably would know who Matt Lucas and Peter K are like they're still working this they've actually both of them have gone the distance like Matt Lucas is doing Bake Off Peter K is still really popular but they didn't need to do this silly little let's create a pop career just to keep

ourselves in the limelight for five more minutes they didn't need to do it I could totally understand if this was like oh I don't know I'm trying to think of some different flash in the pan people say if this was like Robbie Williams friend Jonathan Wilkes doing a duet with Armstrong and Miller, you know, I could sort of get that. But you know, these are two genuinely big names who did go the distance and looking back, you're like, why did you bother with this? You didn't need to do this. Strange, isn't it? When I was looking at the sort of like the information for this, I was a little bit,

I had forgotten whether it had been credited to Peter K. and Matt Lucas, or whether it had been credited to Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin. And I feel like it would have been a bit wordy to have the proclaimers featuring Peter K. as Brian Potter and Matt Lucas as Andy Pipkin. For, yeah, I just wonder if it would have just

the cataloging of crediting purposes, just have it be Peter K and Matt Lucas. So that 17 years down the line, it can be like, oh, it's Peter K and Matt Lucas. They're the guys off the telly. They're the guy that my he's the guy that my mom's going to see in 2025 and she bought tickets in 2022. You know, like that, you know, like that sort of thing you can maybe relate it to. With the charity thing, although you're trying to raise money at the time, you know, like that sort of thing you can maybe relate it to, but mmm. With the charity thing, though,

you're trying to raise money at the time. You're not trying to raise money 12 years in the future. But you're not think that Peter K. and Matt Lucas would have shifted that number of copies as well. You mean if it's just their names? Yeah. I don't know, actually. I think Peter K. probably might,

but I don't know about Matt Lucas as just a name. I think everybody who bought this knows that they're Peter K and Matt Lucas, so I think it could only have been more rather than less if they just used their real names, but I don't know. Lizzie, how do we feel about the song? Well, I mean, I chose to focus on Lucas and Lucas and Williams of my notes because we'll cover Peter K again, spoiler alert. And sadly, Thank You Baked Potato did not get to number one. It got to number 34 in the height of the first COVID lockdown. So this is my only chance to actually talk about them at any length. And I don't think we have done a post-mortem on Little Britain that perhaps we should.

They are a frustrating double act, Lucas and Williams. You watch their really work like Mashed Peas and Rock Profile and you get shows full of imaginative parodies of pop culture figures, many of which are quite venomous towards established names like Michael Barrymore, Victoria Ward, Gary Barlow, Elton John. Like, sadly there is some blackface here too, like their otherwise very funny take on Prince of the Glaswegian Bosca. It's just an unwelcome reminder of what their comedy eventually became and where we find them in 2007. So by this point Little Britain had moved from BBC Three to BBC One and the first episode of series three the year prior pulled in 10 million viewers for the first episode on a

random November evening if I recall. Series one of Little Britain showed glimpses of the old Luke and Williams, but by Series 3 that was long gone. All that was really left were the catchphrases, the gross out humour and of course the punching down. Lew and Andy I think are a prime example of that decline. For most of Series 1, the joke was that Andy was quite insightful off-screen, in contrast to his lack of speech on-screen,

and he'd intentionally use Lou's agreeableness against him in order to wind him up. An early example was Andy asking Lou for some dark chocolate from the shop, to which Lou reminds him that he once said that, quote, dark chocolate has a bitter edge to it and lacks the aura likes to see if it's milky or cousin. That's funny. That is a that is a joke. That's really funny. But it's only in the final episode of series one that you get Andy getting out of his wheelchair behind Lou's back. But that unfortunately becomes the running gag going forward. There were a couple of problems with the portrayal of Andy in the first place, but this running

gag in particular I think caused a lot of the harm to disabled people in Britain at the time, especially at the time when there was a strong media narrative around benefits cheats and scrounges. And the worst people you know saw this sort of thing as confirmation of their biases against disabled people in general. In terms of Pete K. as well, he did have an odd tendency towards characters and wheelchairs. Not just Brian Potter in Phoenix Nights, but also Two Up Two Down in Britain's Got the Pop fact of the year after this. However, I never got any sense of nastiness about Brian Potter. It's mostly just an extension of Peter K who just happens to be in a wheelchair. Much like Little Britain, series Two of Phoenix

Knights did tend a little bit too much towards the reactionary, especially the illegal immigrant storyline, but it's not remembered with the same kind of ick that Little Britain is, which I think is telling. And what's also frustrating with Lucas and Walliams is how they can't seem to make their minds up about the legacy of Little Britain. So one moment you'll have Matt Lucas saying that he regrets the jokes about transvestites and the racial stereotypes. And then a couple of years later they'll show up on the big night injure in the pandemic, playing the Emily Howard character again and doing a Lew and Andy

routine about eating bats. Like there's been rumors very recently about them reviving the show, which I really hope doesn't happen. Yeah, I think Matt Lucas has been quite quick to say that's not happening. Thank God. But having seen Con Fly with me, it's easy to see how they could go down a very similar path. And I don't know, Matt Lucas especially does seem to be serious about making up for the mistakes made in the past, but I don't see how that can be done if those same mistakes keep getting dredged up for a quick cash in every now and again. Just, I don't know, just let it lie or own your legacy. Not both. I don't know. I realised I've not actually talked about

the song so I'll do that very quickly. I agree with you, the Potter and Pippkin bits are painfully unfunny but the Proclaimers singing their own bit about halfway through the song is a blessed relief and it's enough to remind me of why I like the song in the first place. So as much as I don't like this particular version overall I'm still very glad the Proclaimers have a UK number one under their belt as I think it's one of the loveliest pop songs to ever come out of Scotland and it would be a damn shame if they didn't have a number one, I think. So yeah, sorry about that, but thought I'd get that off the

chest. Yeah, well not to skip right ahead to what you said at the end there, but I also thought that before when I was like, these guys did Let It From America, Sunshine on Leith, I'm on my way, and none of them were number one, so at least they get something. At least they get a little moment in the sun again at the very least. Yeah, with Little Britain, I haven't watched it for a long time. I think I might go back through it just to see how it changes. I re-watched it this week. It's bad.

Yeah. It's real bad. Is the first season even like okay or is it just never any good? The first season is okay. It has its moments. There are still a lot of the same problems, but overall I found it like night and day compared to series two and especially series three that fucking stinks. But yeah, it's not so good that I'd recommend it's people but I would say in the context of Little Britain it is the better series. So one last thought on 500 miles. When we talked about Amarillo we discussed it in relation to how pop culture was on the edge of a radical

shift where the Nauti still had a connection to the 80s. And like, you know, we talked about how the Nauti still had a stronger connection to the 80s and about how Amarillo was, you know, one of the last examples of the 80s pop culture still surviving as mainstream culture in the 2000s. But surely this, with 500 miles with all those faces in the video, just looking at them. And I honestly think there are more people in it who are dead than still famous now. And so surely, surely is this the last vestige

of that whole thing? Well, like, you could have Jasper Carrot, Weegeme Cranky, the, I forget what the dustbin thing is called. Is it Dusty Bin? Yeah, Dusty Bin. Yeah, like all of them in the same place and have everybody watching go, Oh, I remember all of those people. Like, is this the last time? Surely this is the last example we get.

Is there anything more that comes after this where I'm forgetting, is there something from like 2011 that I've forgotten about? But surely this is it. There was some adverts for I think a Norwegian channel that had a load of TV faces lip-syncing to the fairyriade version of Let It Be. Have you seen this? No, I've heard the song but not the, I think, anyway. Oh, I'll have to

send you this because it's one of those, like it's him. Oh my God, it's him. It's a similar kind of thing. But I think that may have even been before this. In terms of having them all in the same room, I think this is it. Like you occasionally get them on like, you know, like this morning, that sort of show where it's like, and he's got a new album out and about three people buy it. But yeah, in terms of all having them all in one place and, you know, your family being able to pick out most of them. Yeah, I can't think I've been thinking that I can't think of anything else. This is the all in one place and you know your family being able to pick out most of them. Yeah I can't think, I've been thinking now I can't think of anything else. This is the cartoon characters one but that doesn't count obviously.

That's that's all I can think of yeah. Okay then we are going to move on to our third and final song this week which is this. I'm the type of girl let me go get my robe I'm a supermodel and mommy, see mommy Amnesty International, got bank card to Montaque on loan Love my abs and my abs in the video, I'm from Mischievous My style is ridiculous, ridiculous, ridiculous If you see us in the club, we like to be nice Alright, this is Give It To Me by Timberland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake. Released as the lead single from his second studio album titled Shock Value, Give It To Me is Timberland's

eighth single overall to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one, but it's not the last time we'll be coming to Timberland on this podcast. This is the second and last number one to date for Nelly Fatardo but it's not the last time we'll be coming to Justin Timberlake. Give it to me first enter the UK chart at number 99 reaching number one during its third week on the chart knocking the proclaimers and them other two off the top. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week at number 1 it sold 30,000 copies, beating competition from Beautiful Liar by Beyoncé and Shakira, which climbed to number 5. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Give It To Me fell two places to number 3.

By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 104 36 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2024. So Andy Timbaland featuring Ellie Furtado and Justin Timbalake. How about it? Yeah, weird this that although it is for me the best song of the week, it's the only one of the week that I didn't know. Never heard this in my life until I started listening to this for the show, and I suspect in general that I'm far less clued up about Timberland than either of you two are to be honest, and I think at the time he just completely passed me by, largely because this type of stuff is not

really my bag in recent years I've become more appreciative of it but once again I do have to come back to this theme of less than the sum of its parts because Timbaland Nelly Fatardo and Justin Timberlake you've got three very big talents there and this is just fine it's fine like I say I hadn't heard it before and it didn't really grab me to be honest. I think all of them give quite good vocal performances. I like the production on it which is not something I can say about a lot of R&B music of this era. But I just kind of wish it had a little bit more of a lift to it to be honest and despite the fact it

is the best song of this week I think it's a bit of a low bar it's not been a great week and I find myself having surprisingly very little to say about it. Yeah like I say I think that all three of them do very well on it and it made me reflect on the fact that it's a shame that both Nelly Fatardo and Justin Timberlake don't get better number ones than the ones they've had because they keep on sort of having okay ones hit number one and then not have their very best hit the top which is a little bit frustrating but now I did like this um but I am a little bit mystified about how it took off and other than the star power behind it which I guess is probably the main thing I'm a little bit kind of in the dark about this one to be honest so I'm not going to take up

too much time talking about it because I'm sure you two will have far more to say than I. But yes this is good but I have so little to say about it. For me this is like the definition of bank average so prove me wrong if you like yeah Lizzie what about Timbaland and them other two the other other two well yeah I think it's quite good until you look deeper into the lyrics like yeah to start with the positives I'm a big fan of that hypnotic Timbaland production and I think Nelly Fasado in particular really suits this kind of beat much like on Say It Right that we've praised a few times on this podcast. I also find Timbaland's voice

quite striking. You don't often hear singing voices that full and resonant in pop music and it provides a nice contrast to Nelly Furtado's more sort of nasally airy singing style. It's very catchy and enticing in terms of its sound, and it's not usually the sort of track that would encourage you to scrutinise the lyrics. However, I think just in Timberlake's verse on this is embarrassing to say the least. Like, for some reason he decides to take a part shot at Prince of all people. Nearly because Prince made some comment at an award show party about how, quote, sex he never left. Not even a particular insult to Timberlake or what have you, just a reminder of how Prince injected sex into mainstream pop,

where it remains pretty firmly to this day. Timberlake decides to take this personally, like he's Michael Jordan in a big armchair, and he starts taking aim at Prince for not having chart hits anymore, and the year after this he's doing like hype jokes about him, as if anybody gives a fuck, especially not Prince. Like I don't get it, I don't see what part of that comment Tim Blake thought he's taking aim at me personally rather than oh my god Prince is acknowledging me, that's amazing, that is a dream come true. I dare say it, like if not for Prince I don't think Tim Blake would exist, or at least I don't think he'd be able to break out of a boy band the way he did, and sort of reinvent himself in. Dare I say it, a very Prince-like mould.

You also get Tim Blank taking shots at Scott's torch. He was kind of done at this point anyway, after squandering a lot of his fortune on coke and what have you. Talk about kicking a man while he's down. In addition to that, Nelly Fattardo was expressed some regret in recent years for her involvement on this track and I'm honestly not surprised because on the surface it's another solid Timbaland pop hit, but underneath that is a thick layer of pettiness that makes it very hard to love and once you know the details, very hard to ignore. I think it's a real shame because I went in really liking this and then the more you read into it, the more it sort of reveals itself as something quite rotten. What a shame.

I don't feel too dissimilar actually. I will say Andy though, first answer your question about like how this got to number one. I think this is the start. Well it's the earliest, it's an early prominent example of something that we're going to get a lot of over the next kind of 15 years on the show. Yes. Which is less and less in terms of groups and more and more in terms of collaborations. Yes. Where it's just solo artists not bothering to go into groups anymore because groups are

a thing of the 90s and the 90s. We're going to be, you know, heading towards the 2010s and we want solo artists who are cool and trendy working with each other. Because then Justin Timberlake, Nelly Vitardo and Timberlens fans can all go, oh, this is interesting and it becomes like a huge deal for artists to like work together. And obviously because of things like the internet, it becomes a lot easier. Just in Timberlake doesn't even have to be in the same country as Timberland and Nelly Vitado for this to work now. Ever since the early 2000s, I think being able to have international

global studios and mobile studios and home studios and all that, it makes all of it so much easier to accomplish. You know, by this stage I imagine Justin, Nelly and Timberland can email things back and forth where even as only as recently as 2003 you had the Postal Service, Ben Gibbard and D&Tel, the electronic producer, having to use the thing that gave the group the name just to send CDs back and forth, like to create this album entirely separate from each other. And we've come such a long way in five years and the rest of pop sounds like this, where it's like, produce a guy with a singer and another singer, and thinking of literally everything DJ Khaled does that we have to cover on this show.

Where it's just guy with money, guy with desk, singer, other singer, maybe a rapper. You know, like, and yeah, that's the, this is the future of pop. Yeah, you're Gwetters and you're Harris is and you're that lot. Yeah. Yeah, you bet. Yeah. With this, back in the day, I was absolutely obsessed with shock value. And in many ways, it started me down a road to where I am today as a music listener and a songwriter. And as a person, actually, you know, a few windy indirect roads roads but it leads me to the place where I am now and in quite a big way we will come back to this story in 2013 so we'll park that for a

second. Because me and a friend at school we were really obsessed with this and we I think I've mentioned before we started following what Timberland was doing. Like this is how I got into things like Nelly Vitardo's Loose at the time, you know, we were following the acts that he was producing for and kind of looking back at the things he had produced for other people, you know, like Missy Elliott and whatnot. I listened to this back to front, quite a lot, shock value. All the big singles were a big part of my iTunes library in 2007. I think it was after this came out actually that we thought, oh, okay, what's, you know, what's shock value?

What's this thing? You know, let's go and listen. All the big singles were quite regular, you know, the regular rotation of my iPod in like late to mid to late 2007. So the first songs I ever had transferred over to me on MSN were Shock value songs which means it's a little bit of a shame to come back to this after all this time and have it be Less than the sum of its parts. I agree with you Andy. I think what still stands up is the beat Timbalands productions are almost always gonna sound great around this era. This is no exception

I love the menacing, shimmering instrumental lead on this. I'm a fan of the way that everybody's vocals are mixed and I think Timbaland's done a great job of putting three distinctly different vocalists together on the same track and still pulling them into an environment that sounds cohesive. You wouldn't know that they hadn't been in the same studio just on the off chance that they haven't been, because now we have that capability, but you wouldn't know unless you were told. I'm even a fan of Timberland trying to do his best Nate Dogg impression on this and actually kind of pulling it off.

But like you Lizzy, it's just a shame that everything they have to say, it just isn't even that interesting. Even as a boast braggadocious track, like, love my ass and abs in the video for promiscuous, my style is ridiculous. Yeah. Come on, is that the best you can do? I know. This is what I mean about it being less than the sum of its parts. It's three of the biggest names and the best minds in pop at the moment, and we get this, which is fine.

I feel a similar way about a Timberland, Timberlake, female vocalist thing that we get next year as well, where I remember the hype for that particular track, four minutes, really distinctly. And then I remember when it dropped and I remember everybody going, oh, is that it? You know, it's still got to number one, but like it was like, whoa, this is gonna change the world. And maybe that's our fault.

But instead, you know, we get told this four minutes to save the world and we're like, ah, didn't change the world or save the world. Really did it. It just kind of breathed in and just sort of like when and then it went away again. Lyrically, this is very flat. It's a very boring diss track with wrong targets. I'm even less sure about the Nelly Fatardo's lyrics. I'm even less sure about Justin Timberlake's whole verse. I'm not even sure if it's worth it. I just think they were trying so hard here to be like provocative and controversial and it isn't convincing. None of the content really lands

and I think it's a waste of a great instrumental and the waste of a pretty good chorus I think. And the chorus is endured actually. It's still a thing on TikTok, isn't it? Like where you get it, I mean obviously because everything's sped up on there, but like you still hear, you know You be see us in the club you be acting real that and you do have it on videos played every now and again and I think that's a sign of its longevity, but like everything else around it thankfully seems to have been erased from history Just a little bit. Okay so

before we finish the show and check about pie holes and vaults and whatnot we're going to do the second edition of Did Rob Buy It. So on the 18th of March 2007 I made five purchases in the iTunes store, billed to a total of five pounds and five pence. So I've bought another video and it's I'm gonna be 500 miles by the Proclaimers. Oh, damn. Shame on you. My fault. I have also bought the radio edit of The Creeps by Camille Jones and Fennie LeGrand. I'm really, uh, really wanting Fennie LeGrand. Like, I'm a bit of a stan of him apparently when I'm 12.

The radio edit of Destination Calabria featuring Crystal Waters by Alex Galdino. So that's just the song. Oh dear, I bought Walk This Way. Oh no! I'm back in the winning horse but I regret it This Way. Oh no! I'm back in the winning horse, but I regret it so much. And also The Sweet Escape by Quenstaphane. Nice. And the day after this period ends on the episode that we're covering.

So I bought Acceptable in the 80s by Calvin Harris. That's there. Okay. And our velocity by Maxim O Park new shoes by Palo Newtini candy man by a Christina Aguilera love today by Mika I also bought give it to me Timberlake Timberland Nelly Vitado and also the Mark Ronson Daniel Murray where the one and away from here by the enemy Also the Mark Ronson Daniel Merriweather one and away from here by the enemy And I also then bought the song. I'm gonna be 500 miles Apparently I bought the version that was on now 66

And brine storm biartic monkeys, so yeah, I've become a bit more discerning in future episodes, I think So before we go, we're just gonna check check. Andy, walk this way 500 miles, give it to me. Piehole, vault, nowhere, what's happening? Walk this way isn't walking anywhere. 500 miles is going 500 miles into the piehole. It's actually not that bad, but it is going into the piehole, yeah. And give it to me, I'm not giving anything to it. No, it's not going anywhere.

OK, then. Lizzie, Sugar Babes, Proclaimers, Timberland. Piehole, none, none. Cool, then. I am pieholing, not pieholing, and not pieholing either. So, that is it for this week's episode. Thank you very much for listening. When we come back, we'll be continuing our journey through 2007. So take care everyone and thanks for listening.

Bye bye now. See ya. Bye bye. And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me. Speaking words of wisdom, let it be. Let it be, let it be, let it be. Let it be, oh, a spoon of wisdom, let it be.