Hits 21 - 2008 (1): Basshunter, Duffy, Estelle & Kanye West

Episode Date: March 31, 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

Before we get going with the first episode of 2008, I just wanted to let you know about the five weekly poll winners from 2007. For 2008, everything should be running as normal, so the poll winner will be announced at the beginning of every episode, like normal. But for all of 2007, the weekly winners were, Mika's Grace Kelly, Give It To Me, that was Nelly Furtado, Timbaland and Justy Timberlake, Umbrella, Rihanna, With Every Heartbeat by Robin and About You Now by Sugar Babes. Grace Kelly got the most votes on that song's particular poll. Okay, on with the regular episode. Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo

Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo Hits 21, ooo-oo-oo-oo Hi there everyone, welcome back to Hits 21 where me, Rob Me, Andy And me, Lizzy 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're at Hits21UK, that is

at Hits21UK and you can email us too, send it on over to hits21podcast.gmail.com. Thank you so much for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 2008. It is our first step into a new year and this week we'll be covering the period between the 1st of January and the 19th of April. What? I think that's the biggest step into a new year we've ever made. Could well be. So just to get everybody sort of like reacquainted with where we were in our lives at this point, in 2008 I eventually turned 14 but what about you Lizzie? I would have been halfway

through my first year at college. 16, 17. I was 15 going on 16 at this time, yeah. Cool, all right then. It is time to press on 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.

In Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, nine-year-old girl Shannon Matthews is reported missing and a widespread police search gets underway. Three weeks after her disappearance, Shannon was found alive and well, but it was then revealed that the kidnapping was arranged by Shannon's mother, Karen, and her boyfriend's uncle Michael Donovan, and both of them were given 8 year sentences. In Surrey, 37 year old man Mark Dixie is found guilty of the murder of 18 year old model Sally Ann Bowman. He was sentenced to life in prison with a judge recommending that Dixie spend at least 34 years behind bars. And one person is injured when an earthquake of 5.2

on the Richter scale occurs in Lincolnshire with towns and cities as far away as Northern Ireland reporting tremors. And in Austria, Joseph Fritzl confesses to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar for 24 years, fathering seven children with her. He is subsequently ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison. Back in the UK, an estimated 3 million people fall sick after a huge spread of norovirus in the UK. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney and Heather Mills finalized their divorce after being married for six years. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. I am legend for two weeks. Alien vs Predator Requiem for one week.

Sweeney Todd for one week. Cloverfield for one week. Sweeney Todd for one week. Cloverfield for one week. National Treasure Book of Secrets for one week. Jumper for two weeks. The Bank Job for one week. Vantage Point for one week. 10,000 BC for one week. Horton Here's a Who for one week.

27 Dresses for two weeks. And 21 for two weeks. Lotta Films Hollywood actor Heath Ledger dies aged 28 in New York and TV presenter Jeremy Beedle dies aged 59 from pneumonia. Connie Hook presents her last ever episode of Blue Peter after working on the kids TV show for more than 10 years and EastEndEnders broadcast a one-off special episode called Pretty Baby featuring only Dot Cotton

who sends a recorded tape message to her husband, Jim Branning. Don't know if this is true anymore, but at the time I remember that was the only soap episode ever to feature only one person. In other news, Grange Hill is axed after 30 years on TV. But nevermind all that, because in more EastEnders news, Grange Hill is axed after 30 years on TV, but never mind all that, because in Maury Sender's news, Patsy Palmer returns as Bianca Jackson 9 years after leaving the

series, and the BBC soap opera is criticised by Ofcom after featuring too much violence in an episode that was broadcast before The Watershed. The episode in question, broadcast in 2007, saw a gang attack the Queen Vic pub. Andy, the album charts, a lot of time to cover but how are we getting on? Yeah we have got quite a lot of time to cover. Yeah and there's quite a few albums here. We've got I think eight all in all here. So quite a big one to start the year, one of my husband's favorites actually. It's In Rainbows by Radiohead which went number one for one week and went platinum quite good actually that's then replaced at the top by This Is The Life by Amy MacDonald which went triple

platinum for some reason and was at number one for one week that's then replaced by Scouting For Girls by Scouting For Girls which was Scouting For Girls' debut album that went number one for Girls, which was Scouting for Girls' debut album. That went number one for two weeks and was triple platinum. Then that was toppled by Are You Ready for a Name? A big name here. It only went number one for one week, but it's Adele with 19, her debut album. It was a modest hit at the time, only number one for one week, but owing to Adele's future superstar success, it did eventually go eight times platinum. It's a big, big seller this one but yeah only shows up at

one week at the top. The future stardom of Adele is very much still in the future at this time. Then we've got Jack Johnson with sleep through the static number one for two weeks and only went gold. Jack Johnson that was very easy listening music I think you described that as yeah and then another gentle noughties name comes in The Feeling with Join With Us their second album which went number one for one week and was certified gold. Then a deluxe edition of Back to Black by Amy Winehouse was released and that went number one for one week. That's lumped in with previous year's sales. It was 14 times platinum, biggest seller of the decade there.

But it was just returning to number one after last year. And then we have got the biggest seller of the year already in episode one. But we are in March here here it went number one for four weeks at first went seven times platinum it is Duffy with Rock Fairy that's a new name of course we might get a chance to discuss Duffy again at some point who knows but yeah that was the biggest selling album of the year it was briefly interrupted by REM who went to number one for a week with Accelerate which went gold before Duffy returned to the top for one more week closing out this period so yes hell

of a lot of albums that we went through there but big success for Duffy, Adele on the horizon as well, Amy Winehouse around, Amy McDonald around, it's very much a solo female a couple of months in the charts at the moment. All right then, Lizzie how were the states doing in the first sort of quarter of 2008? Yeah, very solo female dominated, but only if your first name begins with A. True, yeah. And Duffy, and Duffy.

Well, isn't Duffy's name Amy Duffy? Amy Duffy, yeah. Speaking of A's, in America, I've got a couple of singles to mention this week, the first of which stayed at number one for 10 weeks in America. This is the debut single by Flowrider, Lowe, featuring T-Pain. It was eventually certified Diamond in the US with over 10 million sales.

Back here in the UK, it narrowly missed out on number one, held off the top spot by a song we'll be discussing in a bit. After that, Usher made his return to the top spot with Love in this Club featuring Young Jeezy. Shit. It really is isn't it? Yeah, terrible. This was his 8th number one single in America and was certified 5 times platinum in the

US. In the UK it got as high as number 4 in May of this year. Next up, the first US number 1 single for Leona Lewis with Bleeding Love. It spent 4 non-consecutive weeks at number 1 in the States and was eventually certified 4 times Platinum in the US. It also got to number 1 in the UK of course, and we discussed it on our penultimate episode of 2007. And finally for singles this week, Mariah Carey returns at the top spot with Touch My Body.

It was her 18th number one single in the US, making her the solo artist with the most number one singles in US chart history, surpassing the previous record holder Elvis Presley. It was certified three times platinum in the US, and back here in the UK it got to number five in April of this year. So that's it for singles, over to albums, and as ever I will give you the album, how long it spent at US number one, and where it got to in the UK. So first up we have Growing Pains by Mary J. Blige, one week at number one, number six in the UK. Then we have In Rainbows by Radiohead, one week as already mentioned, got to number one in the UK as well.

Then we have As I Am by Alicia Keys, three weeks, number 11 in the UK. Next up is Music from the Motion Picture Juno by various artists. Oh, I had that. That spent one week at number one, but obviously wasn't eligible for the UK albums chart as soundtracks often are not. Next up was Sleep Through the Static by Jack Johnson which spent three weeks at number one and as already mentioned got to number one in the UK. Next up was Discipline by Janet

Jackson one week number 63 in the UK. And next up was Good Time by Alan Jackson no relation one week failed chart in the UK. Next up was Triller by Rick Ross, one week, also failed to chart in the UK. Then we had Welcome to the Dollhouse by Danity Kane, one week, also failed to chart in the UK. And then we have Day 26 by Day 26, one week, also failed to chart in the UK. What? Finally this week we have Tr 26 by day 26, one week. What? Also failed to chart in the UK. What? Finally this week we have Troubadour by George Strait.

One week also failed to chart in the UK. We do not care about Americans in April. We just want British people singing about Americans. That's all we want. We're not interested. We're done. Well thank you both very much for those reports and it is time now to look at the first new number one of 2008 because obviously Leon Jackson had the first two weeks to himself.

So the first new number one in the UK of 2008 is this. Now you're gone, I realize my love for you are strong And I miss you here, now you're gone I keep waiting here by the phone With the pictures hanging on the wall Now you're gone, I realize my love for you are strong And I miss you here now you're gone I keep waiting here by the phone With the pictures hanging on the wall

Are you ready? Now you're gone I realize my love for you was strong And I miss you here now you're gone Is this the way it's meant to be? Only dreaming that you're missing me I'm waiting here at home Okay, this is Now You're Gone by Bass Hunter. Released as the lead single from his third studio album titled Now You're Gone, the album. Now You're Gone is Bass Hunter's first single to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one. However, as of 2024, it is his last number one. The single is a reinterpretation of the song Botan Anna, originally released by Bass Hunter in 2006, which did not chart in the UK.

Now You're Gone first entered the UK chart at number 14, reaching number 1 during its second week on the chart, knocking Leon Jackson off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for... FIVE WEEKS! Across its five weeks atop the charts, it sold 240,000 copies, and along the way it beat competition from Piece of Me by Britney Spears, Don't Stop the Music by Rihanna, Superstar by Lupe Fiasco, Elvis Ain't Dead by Scouting for Girls, Chasing Pavements by Adele, Homecoming Kanye West Be Mine by Robin Worth by Kelly Rowland Ready for the Floor by Hot Chip Just for Tonight by One Night Only

Sun Goes Down by David Jordan and Weightless by Wet Wet Wet When it was knocked off the top of the charts Now You're Gone fell 2 places to number 3 By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top of the charts, Now You're Gone fell two places to number three. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 40 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2024. So Lizzy, kick us off in 2008 with Bass Hunter. Yeah, I mean the only thing about this track that really stands out to me is the rhythm of it which makes it sound closer to like European folk music than most techno records. It brings to mind something like, what is it, Funicoli Funicola

aka the Spiderman pizza theme. Someone else might have a better example, you know, answers on a postcard, email, tweet, do whatever you want. Like, it's not bad, but I just find it a bit boring, unfortunately. Within the first sort of 45 seconds, you've heard pretty much everything this song has to offer. You get an extra bar a little bit later on in the track, and you get some choral synth pads, but that's your lot.

What's left is a perfectly okay Euro dance song. Just a shame there's not much here beyond its initial conceit. Like maybe we've just been sort of spoiled by better dance tracks in the past, who knows, but I didn't get much from this I'm afraid. Also just a side note before we move on, I don't think we'll come across a better collaborator name than DJ Mental Theo. It reminds me of that one office manager from the first episode. It's the first episode of Miami 7 with that manager. With his room full of mad employees.

This is Theo, he's mad. Wack wack oops. This is Bass Hunter, he's always on the loo. I came into this week fully expecting to sort of look back and hate this to be honest, but there's something about it that I've found to be sort of sugary and endearing, you know? Like, I'll get the negatives out of the way first, I think. Like you were saying, Lizzie, this does not develop enough because we finish in roughly the same place that we started. I never really feel that different at the end. I don't feel like I've lived through anything in particular. Plus, I think this sets an ominous template for the future of songs that we're gonna have to cover, which is that for a considerable

amount of time a lot of dance tracks like this they prioritize superficial things like sound and volume over more sort of detailed aspects of it like writing and harmony and you know like trying to capture emotions like that that sort of thing. I think this is also basically how like 50% of the charts are gonna sound like for a fair period of time on the show after this point where there's like long instrumental sections where choruses should be because the now you're gone thing like that's like a good bridge like it's a pretty good bridge hook but then like it just does the good bridge hook but then like

it just does the instrumental section with the synth copy and the melody and it's like there's no other there is no other melody here like i prefer all i ever wanted by bass hunter just for the reason that like there is another melody in the song that isn't just the chorus um i think that unfortunately a lot of people just start to have really big appetites for this kind of stuff, but it's so big that it just it's the only thing that exists through certain points in like 2010 and 11 and stuff, but we'll get to that kind of later down the line. I think this kind of works roughly for the same reasons that Call On Me did actually, where it happens across a pretty effective hook and just repeats it over a short period

of time, gives you that quick blast of, you know, kind of sugary, saccharine energy without it becoming too tiresome, makes sure that it transmits it as quickly as possible because it's, yeah, it's designed for radios, but it's designed for radios but it's designed for clubs and it's where bass hunters come from and it's where his origins are as a musician and as a performer. You can tell there's a degree of method and science to all of it. It's a fairly well executed version of what it is. I don't love it but I do get it. Like, I understand it. And I think, you know, as much as this is a bit of a... like a canary in the coal mine, really, for kind of where dance music goes for like the next kind of five years, this is, like you were saying, Lizzie, you know, the kind of...

the folk rhythms, if you will. It's rare that you see jump style and hard style in the charts outside of like Scooter and Eventually some stuff that Swedish House Mafia do like four or five years from now, but it's fine I just think it's a bit empty calories. I think is how I would describe it, which isn't always bad, but Yeah, I thought that I was gonna hate this and I'm surprised that I don't But yeah, I prefer all I ever wanted. I think that's a better showing of Bass Hunter's talents, even if it is kind of the same thing again.

Andy, how are we feeling on Bass Hunter? I pretty much agree with both of you, to be honest. I've never had any strong feelings about this song and I think that's because it's just lightweight for what it is, which is ironic because the sound of it is anything but lightweight. The adjective I would use is obnoxious to be honest. It's very in your face. It really assaults the senses. Talk about calling himself bass hunter. I mean he obviously found it, didn't he? Because there's enough bass in this to raise the dead. You know in The Simpsons, Wacken Day, this is the song I would play

to attract the snakes with all that bass. It's a heavy sound that he's gone for here. And I get the point about it being made for clubs, made for radio, but I actually think it's sort of made for teenagers playing it out loud on their, made for clubs, made for radio, but I actually think it's sort of made for teenagers playing it out loud on their phones on the train because that's kind of what my experience of this was at the time, is do something really loud, really kind of just would attract everyone's ear who's sat around it, you know, sort of existing in a similar space to put your hands up for Detroit, that kind of thing. Yeah, it's very indicative of the era I think, cause there's that. And there's also the fact that I think this is the kind of mildly catchy, but

cheap frothy kind of annoying song that would not have done well or certainly would not have done as well in the pre-download area, um, era, because I can't see people going out to the shops actively to spend three or four pounds on a CD of this but I can see people like Rob for example with his many iTunes purchases you know just quickly while on the way 79p to get this on their phone I can totally totally buy that and I think if this had come out in the streaming era it would probably been at number one for much much longer because it's definitely got that, oh, I just kind of want to stick it on, it's a bit of an earworm quality to it. So perhaps more mercies that it was only number one for four weeks, really.

It's not bad, like particularly, but I do think it's a huge condemnation of the song, that it manages to only run for like two minutes, 25. But like Lizzie said, it really outstays its welcome even at that short length It does everything it can really do in 30-35 seconds and that's not good for a pop song Let alone a pop song that's you know, going to the top of the charts. I was really bored. It was a long two and a half minutes and that's not good so I have to knock off a few marks for that. Um, I would compare it to two songs. This, um, first of all, in terms of the sound, in terms of that,

dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, dum, there's a much better song this year, in my opinion anyway, that uses that sound and uses that rhythm, which is black and gold by Sam Sparrow. And I wish that I'd got number one instead of this this because it's kind of a better version of this, to be honest, in terms of that sound. It's a little bit less obnoxious, a little bit more deep with more elements added to those instrumentals and a better tune.

So yeah, this is kind of the inferior cousin of that. The other thing that really reminds me of, this is kind of throwing a huge shade here really, and I'm probably being harsher than I need to be, but this basic idea of let's have a big thumping dance banger that's about oh I realize that I miss you now that we've split up and I wish we could just have another go at getting back together. It's kind of like a really rubbish low rent version of Another Chance by Roger Sanchez back from 2001. Yeah that's true. And that was a great song that was a great song.

It's an inferior cousin of Black and Gold. It's a very very inferior cousin of Another Chance. But yeah, I've not got much else to say about it really other than that. It's really slight. It's definitely made for immediate mass consumption and not to be really thought about afterwards, which is fine. You know a bass hunter obviously had something here which took off really well so can't really criticise for that the only thing i will leave you with is the most 2009 story ever that i have about this song well not about this song just about bass hunter in general get ready for all the retro references in this one, that I was, back in 2009, I was

supposed to go on a date with someone I'd met on MSN, but he cancelled the date so we could go and see Bass Hunter turn on the Wirral Christmas Lights. Oh wow. And that was the end of that. Oh wow. So thanks for that, you know who you are if you're listening. But yeah, no, this is okay, but it's not great really. I'm looking forward to the other two songs we're covering this week, far more than this

one. But well done, Bass Hunter, you obviously found the bass. Successful hunting, well done. I have to say, fair play to the people of New Brighton for managing to get a pretty chief chart concern to do the Christmas lights. Like Bass Hunter was still a fairly big deal in 2009. Yeah, it wasn't New Brighton, I mean it was all of the Wirral, so I think it had a bigger

catchment area than that, like it would have been a big deal for New Brighton, you're right about that. Yeah, I didn't go. He said instead of the date would I like to go along to see the whirl like to turn down by bass on to and I said no. Yeah. I think you made the right decision. I made the right choice. Yeah.

Yes. All right, we will move on to our second song this week, which is this. I love you, but I've got to stay true My morrow's got me on my knees I'm begging please, stop playing games I don't know what this is, but you got me good, just like you knew you would. I don't know what you do, but you do it well. I'm under your spell. You got me begging you for mercy, why won't you release me? Okay, this is Mercy by Duffy. Released as the second single from her debut studio album, titled Rock Fairy, Mercy is Duffy's second single overall to be released in the UK and her first to reach number one, however as of 2024 it is her last number one. Mercy went straight in at number one as a brand new entry knocking Bass Hunter off the top of

the charts. It stayed at number 1 for 5 weeks! Across its 5 weeks atop the charts, it sold 257,000 copies, beating competition along the way from What's It Gonna Be by H2O, I Thought It Was Over by The Feeling, A&E by Goldfrap, Wow by Kylie Minogue, Stop & Stare by OneRepublic, Come On Girl by Taiyo Cruz, Fascination by Alphabeat, Us Against the World by Westlife, Low by Flo Rida and T-Pain, Better in Time by Leona Lewis and Something Good 08 by Utah Saints. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Mercy dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 57 weeks! The song is currently officially certified two times platinum so double platinum in the UK as of 2024 Andy, Mercy, Duffy how do we feel? Well a few points

of order first first of all I've got to give a shout out to Fascination by Alphabeats that's oh yeah great disappointing that that didn't get to number one Alphabeat were. Really missed them. They were great. Yeah. And the other point of order is 57 weeks, did you say? In 57. Yeah. I just, my brain immediately went to pull Leon Jackson. What was that? Like seven weeks or 10 weeks or something?

Like it managed 10. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. She really had Leon's breakfast, didn't she? Anyway, so this is great this is really really really good and I think well I've kind of made reference to it at the start of the episode about how it's very female solo oriented charts at the moment but that specific niche that really I think Amy Winehouse can take credit for starting of a kind of 60s Motown, you know, a little bit more of a modern reinvention of that. That coming to the fore as well, because Duffy does have a voice that's quite a lot like Amy Winehouse and it's that sort of thing. But she manages to put her own identity on it and that voice is actually really really enchanting.

I really like her voice. At the time I didn't. I found her quite sort of grating to listen to. I think it's just because it's a very expressive voice. It's very kind of a little bit nasal and quite sort of loud. But I really love that now because these days I'm more kind of go big or go home. So I really really like now, because these days I'm more kind of go big or go home. So I really, really liked the sound of it. That kind of retro, like female 60s kind of girl band sound

that we were going for around 2007, 2008, I wish that would just stay around forever. But like this specific version of it, where it's kind of like a postmodern take on it, while sort of paying reference to the kind of lyrical content that they used to do around that time as well. Because this whole idea of begging you for mercy, it kind of feels similar to like,

like misery by the Beatles or chains, you know, or kind of, please, please release me. Like that was kind of a metaphor that was around quite a lot in those days. It kind of feels like Duffy's doing her homework with this sort of thing. It's also extremely catchy, very very catchy like once it's in your head you find yourself singing it all day and not one particular bit of it like sometimes it's the begging you for mercy and sometimes it's the I'm begging you for mercy and sometimes it's just that baseline line. I mentioned last year when

we covered Beautiful Girls by Sean Kingston that I loved Stand By Me that that's like one of the greatest bass lines of all time for me and the bass line in this is very similar to Stand By Me. It's got that same rhythm to it and it's not quite the same sort of melody but it's still a very sort of similar space that it occupies so I appreciate that as well. It's just kind of one for me to enjoy as a fan of music history and as a fan of the era that this is referencing that it feels like it's really done with love but done with a refreshing take on it as well. And I'm very regretful that at the time I was just probably because of the age I was at but also just because of my temperament at the time, I was just probably because of the age I was at, but also just because of my temperament at the time, I sort of dismissed Duffy. And if she had come along now, I would

be so into her because it's just, this is really up my street these days. And I really kind of like what she was about as an artist as well, that she didn't really rush music out. She kind of took her time doing it, thought about what she wanted to do. She had a very open-minded attitude to like methods of consumption, you know wasn't too asked about piracy or anything like that and she really seemed to have a big career ahead of her. There was a few things that kind of stopped that in his tracks, there was a lot made of that Well Well Well song that she did and the Coca-Cola advert but obviously it's come to light since the real reason why she was out of the

spotlight for about 10 years was because she went through a terrible ordeal which I won't go into too much but she had an awful, awful experience at the height of her fame and I just think it's obviously so sad on a human level but particularly so because I think she really is a fantastic artist here. This is a really exciting thing and the more I listen to it the more I like it. So I think I'm going to be listening to a lot more Duffy after this. I think I'm going to really give her a proper revisit. This is lovely. It's so

good that I'm begging it for mercy. Release me. Oh you're mentioning that well, well, well. I listened to it for the first time this week. It's not great. It's not great. No. No, it feels like it was it feels like it was workshops though. That's the thing. I think with it being the sort of difficult second album, I think that the lead single kind of gets a lot of industry input and it just it doesn't really feel like the finished product feels a bit made by committee so I sort of give her a pass on that one to be honest yeah yeah I agree with you though Andy that it should be mentioned that what happened to Duffy after Mercy and

after the rock ferry and stuff it's worth reading about it is a I mean I'm sure everybody with listening is aware, but just on the off chance that you're not, you know, it is a dark and sad story. It isn't really a fable about fame or anything like that. It's literally just an example that like there are truly just like disgusting people in the world and unfortunately they're a normal everyday folk who fall foul of them and what happened to her even reading about it years hence because actually she's posted on Instagram this week for the first time in about three years and so you go back and do a little bit of reading about it

and it still doesn't feel real and I honestly don't know if I would be able to recover from something like that. I really don't know. Because, I mean, honestly, it feels like it's out of some kind of TV show, like a gritty crime thriller. You would just find it so hard to trust anybody ever again. You'd find it hard to leave your own front door. I know I would. So yeah, I always, you know, commend Duffy for being able to put herself back in the spotlight after everything that happened. As for the song, Mercy, I agree with you, Andy. I think it is a very clear case. I think its success and it's kind of it's being catapulted to where it was. Well, top of the charts for five weeks is an example of labels trying to capitalize

on this kind of retro soul thing that's in at the moment, not just because of Amy Winehouse, but I also think back as far as like Joss Stone and even Paola Nuttini around at this time and obviously Adele isn't far away now from being like you know the biggest superstar on the planet. People who vaguely remind us of the 70s or the 60s in one very very early 70s you know like in one way or another and it means that quite a lot of her material unfortunately has always kind of struck me as a little bit pastiche-y. So obviously indebted to its influences that it kind of becomes hard to see it as anything else. I can't see past the marketing and the sort of like the facade, if you will.

I remember getting on a train about five or six years ago listening to Rock Ferry in full for the first time actually. And I was always struck by, weirdly, how much it reminded me of like a less weird surrealistic pillow. You know, the Jefferson Airplane record. There is a sound to the singles like Somebody To Love and obviously White Rabbit, it feels similar to what she was going for on Rock Fairy but I was kind of struck by how much weaker most stuff on that album was in comparison. But that said, I don't think Duffy is someone, she doesn't have the kind of voice she can forget, which I think is always really important for a pop artist. I think the look and the video and the song together make quite a convincing package for

people to buy into. That melody, the chorus melody is so strong and the way that she delivers it is so impressive. It almost makes me forget how calculated it probably was. Whenever this plays, I do always get that image in my mind of her performing on a stage. I think the music video with the northern soul aesthetics and everything like that was really, really convincing. And even listening to this, you know, 17 years hence, or 16 years hence, you know, I think a lot of the mixing and mastering and, you know, her performance and stuff, it has done this great job of crafting an image

and it makes sure that you associate colors and sounds and smells with the music. I think it's managed, but it is evocative. The arrangement builds carefully, doesn't get overbearing for me towards the end when the strings are in and everything's really going. So I think yeah, this is solid. I think this is solid. I will always be prevented from loving it because like you say Andy, I also think of Stand By Me or even just the fact that this feels so closely associated with Amy Winehouse's explosion in 2006-2007 but yeah hats off

to Duffy for this my favorite of hers has always been Warwick Avenue if this was Warwick Avenue I would be putting that in the vault. I think that's a beautiful song. But Lizzie, how do we feel on Mercy? Yeah, I think you've both put it pretty much spot on. This is definitely better than I remember it being. I remembered it being much more firmly as like a 60s pastiche, but I think it actually kind of straddles a line between like dipping into that. It just about manages to stay on the right side without turning into like Zubi Zubi Zoo or something like that. And I think the way it does that is obviously, you know, Duffy's voice, it's quite unusual in the context of modern pop. She sounds

closer to someone like Lulu than any particular modern pop star. I actually don't think she sounds like Amy Winehouse. I think Winehouse has a much richer voice, whereas Duffy, as you say, very expressive, but also quite shrill. Yeah, I agree. In a way way that works in her favor and she's able to, you know, move within this and like flex her vocals quite a bit. I also like that, I think there's a juxtaposition here between like really cheap sounding instruments, particularly the bass, which sounds like a rubber band. And you know that

organs very Bon Temp like me but you've got this kind of expensive lavish production backing it up which I think that really works because it and the track kind of builds as well I for some reason remembered it as way more organ heavy but for the most part you can't actually hear the organ in the later choruses which I think is good. I like how the track sort of gradually builds and it becomes this huge kind of almost wall of sound type production. Yeah the overall structure of it is very basic. It is just 12 bar blues, which you don't really hear much in pop anymore, but nice to hear it again.

I did ask you two actually, like when was the last time we had a 12 bar blues structure in a number one, other than Jailhouse Rock, which was from, you know, 50 years prior. I think it might be Hot Love by T-Rex but I could be wrong. Wow. I think there's probably been one since then I think it depends whether it's 12 Bob Blues all the way through the song or whether it just kind of uses it for a section because this I think there would have been something along the way oh I'm gonna think about that one. Well there's a part where it goes into 16 but the um the final four bars are just

a repetition of the previous four. Yeah I mean if Rehab had got number one that that it's not quite 12 bar blues but it's very similar. It's tricky because there has been a lot of songs that have done it but not got number one. I did also like yourselves get to thinking like where this soul revival thing came from like Amy Winehouse I think is the obvious one, Joss Stone's a great shout. I also got to thinking like Mad Men started in 2007 obviously didn't take off straight away but it was a big cult hit and like it was the first time the early 60s had become cool rather than the late 60s which was what the 90s focused

on. I do think as well that there's probably something in things like the live lounge being very popular where like there is a moment there is a little bit of a how do I put this at least in mainstream pop markets obviously songs with AutoTune are doing very well we've just gone past T-Pain for example but there is a bit of a mainstream counterculture thing backlash against like oh you know like singers who use autotune and things like that you know that i want a real pop star you know that sort of thing and i think Duffy fits right in alongside the likes of Palinutini and that where it feels like in terms of number one concerns it probably feels like it's come from nowhere but like i saying you know Palinutini and um

uh joss stone you know that they've been shifting big figures uh behind the scenes away from the number one i mean we've just talked about like she wasn't soul or anything like that but she was marketed as real which is Amy Amy McDonald she's just shifted loads and loads of copies and off the back of those two singles this is the life and mr rock and roll so i think people are very much they have an appetite for stuff that's real at the moment and i always like it though when there's a balance of this kind of stuff in the charts you know like there's a bunch of people who buy stuff because it's real and then there's a bunch of this kind of stuff in the charts, you know, like there's a bunch of people who buy stuff because it's real and then there's a bunch of people who buy stuff because it's

aspirational or slightly false or you know, and I always like it when there's a balance of this kind of stuff and this is I think to go back to kind of like bass hunter and really start to register my complaints for the early 2010s now which is that there is no balance to the number one singles in the early 2010s. There's nowhere near as much variety. Through this week alone, we are going to go through jump-style hard dance, into retro soul 60s pastiche stuff, into new disco and sort of like electro funk. And we've done this in the past where I think we went

out of Busted into Afro Man and you know, like there was a lot more variety in terms of number one singles in 2000 and in the 2000s and I think towards the end of the 2000s and I think it starts this year. I think it's specifically the second half of this year, the variety of songs getting to number one suddenly just shrinks on itself and Of course yeah, everything stays the same for fucking ages and at least in terms of variety In terms of you know genres and kinds of voices and people that you know get to number one the kinds of acts that get to number one I think the early 2010s are of they're a wasteland I think and this week jump I'm not a massive fan of base hunter I'm not putting Duffy in the vault but I

appreciate that we've been able to jump from one to the other and that there are these strands in the charts at the moment where you can kind of detect where that particular line has come from, where the line from Duffy drawn backwards to some kind of origin point five or six years ago, where it's kind of riding the crest of a wave now. But I digress. I think on that point, yeah, 2008, this does feel like kind of the end of a golden age of British pop. And by the end of this year, you will see the rock very much set in and it is going to be, would you like this expensive slow ballad or this expensive slow ballad? Who the fuck cares? And I have theories about why that is. I think like the global financial crash is a big reason for it,

like labels kind of not really taking a chance on people like Duffy, like relative unknowns don't get a look in. Instead it's just all the established names that get vaulted up and you know it's quite safe music that pops up especially like in the next sort of three years or so, which is a shame. And I am glad we get to see this retro wave on like the optic though, because give it like Meghan Trainor and The Boy Does Nothing. That real dogshit side of retro revival. This is the stuff I like. This is when it was still cool and yeah this is a very... if you had one word to describe this song it's cool and yeah Duffy nails it. Maybe not quite vault worthy like you Rob but yeah I really like this. I just want to pick up on that mention of Meghan Trainor though Lizzie because that's

exactly the point I was going to make that you two both mentioned about whether this falls around the line of pastiche or not and I don't think it does. I think this is you know it's referential enough that you certainly get the point but without it being just simple parody and I think that kind of sound that you get from Megan Treanor or for other eras like the likes of like Eliza Dugalittle on that sort of thing, you know, that's that to me is pastiche. Whereas this I feel like it's a very loving, very, very deep referential delivery of that era but it is at least trying to add something to it, it is at least trying to not just do it as a performance.

So I don't think that this is a pastiche, I do think that this has merit in its own right and I'm glad you mentioned Meghan Trainor because that was always my problem with her music. Yeah, to borrow a critic's phrase is a nod to Aretha Franklin. A nod, yeah. At her style of cool 60s sophisticated Motown pop. I do think ironically the one thing that, I mean I wouldn't say this but I do think the one thing you could like have a go at accusing it of outright copying is not anything from the 60s itself, it's actually Rehab by Amy Winehouse. I think

this is very similar in a lot of respects and I think if you were to point the finger at it like taking off anything, it would actually be that rather than the original source. So yeah, it's interesting how this little bit of a self-sustaining genre that's emerged here. emerged here yeah all right then on to our third and final song this week which is this this is number one champion sound yeah astel we're about to get down who the hottest in the world right now just touchdown in london town bet they give me a pound tell them put the money in my hand right now Set up a motor, we need more seats We just sold out all the floor seats

Take me on a trip I'd like to go someday Take me to New York, I'd love to see LA I really want to come pick it with you You'll be my American boy He said, hey sister It's really, really nice to meet ya I just met this five foot seven guy who's just my type Like the way he's speaking, his confidence is peaking Don't like his baggy jeans But I might like what's underneath it And no, I ain't been to M.I.A.

I heard the Cali never rains But New York's wide awake It's first I see the West End I'll show you to my bedroom I'm liking this American boy American boy Take me on a trip I'd like to go someday Take me to New York, I'd love to see LA

I really want to come pick you with you You'll be my American boy, American boy American Boy by Estelle featuring Kanye West Released as the lead single from her second studio album titled Shine, American Boy is Estelle's sixth single overall to be released in the UK and her first to reach number one. However, as of 2024, it's also her last number one. But it's not the last time we'll be coming to Mr West though. American Boy first entered the UK chart at number 72, reaching number 1 during its second week on the chart, knocking Duffy off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for... 4 weeks! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 52,000 copies, beating competition from 4 Minutes by Madonna, Justin Timberlake and Timberland which got to number 7 and can't speak

French by Girls Aloud which climbed to number 9. In week 2 it sold 60,000 copies beating competition from Black and Gold by Sam Sparrow which climbed to number 4 and With You by Chris Brown which climbed to number 8. In week 3 it it sold 50,000 copies, beating competition from Always Where I Need To Be by The Coops, which climbed to number 3, and Touch My Body by Mariah Carey, which got to number 6. And in week 4, it sold 39,000 copies, beating competition from Cry For You by September, which climbed to number 9. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, American Boy dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 45 weeks.

The song is currently officially certified 3 times platinum, so it is triple platinum in the UK as of 2024. Lizzie, Estelle, how are we doing? Yeah, this might be the most American sounding British song we've discussed on the show so far. Granted I had no idea this was a Will.i.am production until just this week, so thank you for that Rob. But yeah, I hadn't checked out much of Estelle's work before now but it's pretty good. It's not a million miles away from the likes of Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. I kind of wish I'd

given it more of a chance before because there's a lot of it I really like including this. I will say upfront as much as I kind of stayed quiet on the Kanye thing last time he came up, I do think the song is missing something without the Kanye part. There is a version on streaming services without the rap bit if you prefer but I do like that little interjection. I like the balance that they provide and he comes at it with, you know, quite good humor. But he's not the star of the show here. The star of the show is Estelle and she absolutely nails it.

I love the production on this, like you say, Rob, that kind of, I don't even know what you'd call this, it's like electro-f funk slash disco slash kind of electro clash in a way um and yeah I'm kind of struggling for things to say about it already but I do really like it I'd love to hand over to you and maybe bounce off you but yeah I'm a big fan of this oh all right then Andy how are we feeling? I, I actually don't have that much more to say about it myself. It's one of those songs that like, completely throw my hands up here to being, you know, to making a really shit comment for a podcaster, but it's just pretty good.

Like, it's just good. I will go a little bit more in depth than that. One thing that I really go for that was a little bit more in depth than that. One thing that I really go for that was around quite a lot in the songs that we covered back at the start of the decade is songs that kind of have this sort of air of not really bothered, just kind of, I'm singing about this, but like it's no big deal. Like it's just, you know, a very kind of relaxed vocal delivery against a bit of a banger of a song. We got that with obviously almost everything almost everything Sophie Ellis-Beckster has ever done.

But we also got that with Don't Call Me Baby by Madison Avenue and a couple of others. I really like that. And I really like Estelle's delivery on this where it's like, you know, it's just kind of it never really goes hard. It's just kind of chill and I mean, chill chill in a good way, like it's cool, it's refreshing, it's chilled out. And I really, really like that style of vocal delivery. It's also, the whole character of the song

is kind of atonal, like it lands on some really strange chords in the chorus, like some really weird progressions. And as much as I don't really have a lot of praise for Will.i.am in general, that is kind of a little bit of a trademark of his and I do quite like that about his production. So yeah, there's a lot of kind of interest here, a lot of elements being combined together that I quite like. I did forgo the Kanye West element because I'm not going to feed the demon, but I do remember that rap section very, very well

because it was referenced on Gavin and Stacey in a very funny scene where Smithy and Rudy learn the whole thing and recite it down the phone to Gavin just because they were bored, which is a very funny scene. But yeah, I just really like how, it's interesting that you described Mercy by Duffy as cool, Lizzie, because that's exactly how I describe this. It's just a really cool song. It's just something that you described Mercy by Duffy as cool, Lizzie, because that's exactly how I described this.

It's just a really cool song. It's just something that you kind of want to walk down the street in the sun, kind of vibe into. It's cool in a different way. Yeah. This is cool in a kind of impenetrable, kind of on a different level kind of way, where you kind of feel like you're accessing a different type of music here. Like it's not your Common and Garden pop song. And that sounds really pretentious, and I don't think it's on like some higher plane or anything but like I say it just lands in some weird places and it's an artist who we've not heard from before

with Estelle and it's a little bit of a shame that she will, she will in the passage of time be remembered as a one-hit wonder which is a little bit of a shame really because she is an interested artist, love that voice. Quite similar to Khalees I think who I absolutely love. I wish we had more Khalees to talk about and Khalees does a lot of kind of similar stuff to this actually. Justice for acapella. Wish I'd got number one. But anyway, yeah I really really like this. I don't have much more to say about it other than that. It's just really cool, really fun and really nice. I don't think it's like the greatest thing ever. i actually don't even think it's the best song of this week to be honest um but yeah it's really good i suspect that rob will like it a lot more than i do and

i would be interested to be enlightened by that but yeah this is pretty good really like this yeah andy you don't know how well you know me. I said everything I needed to say about the wider issue of Kanye West when Stronger got to number one so I'm not going to go into all that again. If you want to go and listen to it just go back a few episodes if you want. But I will say that like you Lizzy it's kind of like hard to deny him in this. I just think, you know, he brings a lot of bounce and energy to this. If you're going to compare him to something like, you know, Jay-Z's contributions to Deja Vu and Umbrella, I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I think because it's

basically the same role. Introduces the song, pops up for a verse later, you know, and that line, dress smart like a London bloke before he speak his suit bespoke. Oh god that is genius. He compliments Estelle really nicely and it's always funny actually to listen to this and hear an American rapper acknowledge things like Ribena and use words like rubbish, which he plays up to the joke very very well his finger was you know his fingers always on the pulse with stuff like this I just think he's a very very sharp cool he's just he pays attention to pop

culture and he pays attention to well paid attention to society and just added little things in his songs that he knew that would just win people over. Obviously he's a Belen these days. Astell, the, well, beautiful stuff from Astell as well. So smooth and slick and sophisticated, just like everything that surrounds her. Like this is probably the greatest thing that Will.i.am has ever been involved with. And I, like you, Lizzie, was stunned to learn that he basically wrote this. You know, he did the whole instrumental. There's a song of his called Impatient, I think, from about last year or the year before. But hey, like, what a way, like, to pay a modern tribute to disco with a bit of funk thrown in. I feel like this manages to be very 70s but without drifting into pastiche territory.

A bit like how Janelle Monae's first proper record, The Archandroid, was very clearly a tribute to her musical ancestors but with a defiant stamp of personal authority from on it from herself where her second album the electric lady felt It felt like it drifted a bit too close to the pastiche line in my opinion much as I like the electric lady I will say and This feels similar in that regard plus you have the lovely transatlantic dynamic going on lots of playful You know wordplay. There's, I was saying before about Kanye acknowledging Rai Bina,

but Estelle is saying words like sneakers rather than trainers. And there's just little things about American culture and society that we just kind of take for granted, but they've clearly paid attention about how each British and American cultures have kind of infected this

relationship between the two of them. It's playful and really, really entertaining. I almost don't have too much more to say about this except that I agree with you two that Estelle basically being a one-hit wonder is a bit of a crime. You know, she's had, you know, top 40 hits outside of this, but not many top 20 hits. In fact, I don't think she's had any top 20 hits outside of this. Could be wrong. But at least she had this moment and at least we had this song. I feel like around this time, sort of between, sort of like 2006 and 2009, maybe as far ahead as like 2011, Kanye had this habit of working with artists who were kind of on the fringes of the mainstream and then he just gave them a push either by featuring on their songs or bringing them to work on his albums. There's

a huge list of them, you know, there's Estelle obviously, Mr. Hudson, Dwellle, Rhymefest, even Kid Cudi and Nicki Minaj eventually. You know, like Kid Cudi is, I think, a bit of an underrated presence with regards to the full creation of 808s and Heartbreak, which is obviously out later this year. He's very much involved from sort of like from the ground floor with that album. His instincts, Kanye's instincts in that regard, they get less sharp but around this time he's definitely doing a lot of favors to a lot of quite talented people who add a lot of stuff to his work and vice versa. And I'm glad that the majority of them

sound like this. I think that this is a really magical pop song that I've always loved and always liked. I think it manages to be very evocative of a particular era while still very much sounding of the present day. I think that between kind of Mercy and American Boy, I think that looking back at the songs I've given like exceptionally high marks to, not just putting the vault, I think that I like pop music that looks forward in one way or another. And there are certain pop songs like this that look backwards, but also look forwards. Whereas when I'm looking at Mercy, I struggle to see a part of it that really looks forward. It's happy to be of the present moment, I think.

And I will say that it is only a little pastiche. I don't think it's like you were saying, totally right to bring up Meghan Trainor and Olly Murs and other acts of such esteemed quality. So when you obviously put Duffy next to something like that it's obviously not like you know it's obviously not a total pastiche but yeah with this I think it manages to be very comfortably itself and full credit to Will.i.am for bringing quite a lot of that. So do we have anything more to say about any of the songs this week? I really want a Ribena now. Yes I might go and make myself a ribena. Ribena's great. Kitchen

downstairs. Yeah. Americans are missing out. Nobody talks about Ribena anymore. I feel like it was like a big deal in the 90s and it's fallen off but Ribena like Blackcurrant is the jam. It's really good. Yeah I think it's because people over time realise that vimto is better. It's not though. That's the thing. Everybody's wrong about that. Vimto is rubbish. So it is. But OK. You do you, Lizzie. If we were doing drinks on this show, then vimto would be getting put in the pie hole and Ribena would be in the vault. For me at least. So, you know. Drinks 21, a new spinoff.

Andy, Now You're Gone, Mercy, American Boy, how are we feeling? Well, Now You're Gone isn't actually going anywhere unfortunately. I was umming and ah-ing about Mercy and I decided to show it some Mercy and put it in the vault. And American Boy, American Boy, I've got no pun on that one except Ribena that they're drinking is in the vault but the song is not in the vault sorry. So just Mercy for me this week yeah. Okay alright then. Lizzie Bass Hunter, Duffy, Anistelle and Kanye West. Well now you're gone I realised my love for it is not that strong, so...

I'm not going anywhere. Um... I'm begging you for mercy, but I'm not begging you to put this in either the vault or the pie hole. Just Mrs. Aldo, it's's up there but not quite. But I am going to put American Boy in the vault and I can't think of a pawn for it but Rob you convinced me there. I like this enough to bump it into that lovely green zone. So there you go. Awesome stuff. Bait Hunter is going nowhere for me. Mercy also nowhere. But American Boy slamming it in the vault.

Absolutely no debating over that in my own head. Thank you very much for listening to this week's episode. The first week back after Christmas and you know we're in 2008 now. So thank you very much for listening. Next time we'll be continuing our journey through 2008 and we'll see you then. Bye bye now. See ya. Bye bye.