Hits 21 - 2008 (3): Mint Royale, Coldplay, Ne-Yo

Episode Date: April 14, 2024

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every UK #1 hit single of the 21st century - from January 2000, right through to the present day. Twitter: @Hits21UK Email: [e-mail] Vault: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5O5MHJUIQIUuf0Jv0Peb3C?si=e4057fb450f648b0 Piehole: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FmWkwasjtq5UkjKqZLcl4

It's 21, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh 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 you can find us over on Twitter, we are at Hits21UK and you can email us too, send it on over to Hits21Podcast at gmail.com. Thank you ever so much for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 2008, we've been flying through this year, halfway through the year almost after just two episodes but this week we'll be covering the period between the 8th of June and the 5th of July. Looking back to last week, the poll winner, a little bit of a surprise, hits 21 HQ, was

4 minutes. Madonna just in Timberlake and Timberland. And it wasn't that close, to be honest. Yeah, big surprise. Four minutes was a fairly clear winner. So yeah, well done to four minutes. Very interesting. 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 were covering in this episode, wrote number 1 in the UK. Within the space of 8 days, both Gretna Football Club and Halifax Town both go out of business after existing for 62 years and 97 years respectively. Phoenix Club Gretna 2008 took over Gretna FC's stadium and now compete in the Lowland leagues in Scotland while FC Halifax Town formed around the same time and they're currently in the National League. Shadow Home Secretary David Davis resigns as an MP over the government's plans to detain terrorists for up to 42 days. Meanwhile, Labour fall 20 points behind the Conservatives

in the polls, with opposition leader David Cameron declaring the end of new Labour after a run of tough local by-election losses for Gordon Brown's government. And construction begins on the Olympic Stadium, which is to be built for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. The 80,000-all-seater stadium cost almost £500 million to build, although the final cost was close to £1 billion, adjusted for inflation. It was later renamed the London Stadium and its capacity was reduced to 60,000 when it became the home of West Ham Football Club. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows.

The Incredible Hulk for two weeks, The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian for one week and Hancock for one week. In more football news, Spain win Euro 2008 beating Germany 1-0 in the final to secure the country's first major trophy since 1964. England didn't qualify for that tournament. And something we couldn't fit into the last episode, but couldn't ignore, the Inbetweeners gets going on E4. Meanwhile, Noel Gallagher hits out after Jay-Z is announced as one of the main Glastonbury headliners, saying he was not having hip hop at the festival.

In response, Jay-Z started his set by singing Wonderwall in front of the crowd of almost 100,000 people. Good move that. I mean, what a knobhead. Shut the hell up, you slap. I know, just, I know, just fucking hell. Sorry for the language, but really, what a wazzak.

Good move from Jay-Z there. Really like that. And Madonna files for divorce from Guy Ritchie, ending eight years of marriage. And American comedian Joan Rivers is asked to leave the studio during an episode of Loose Women after swearing live on air. After referring to actor Russell Crowe as, quote, a fucking shit, Joan later admitted to thinking the broadcast was delayed and that her comments would be bleeped out. ICV later revealed that it had received 50 complaints from viewers.

Really? Well at least you didn't have to put out a grovelling apology to Ofcom like they did for the Britain's Got Talent 2008 finals. I just think I really wonder about the mentality of these people who complain about hearing us where we're at. Like come on, there's a lot of stuff going on in the world. I'm sure people have got their reasons, but I don't know what they are. Yeah. Andy, how are the fucking album charts doing? Well Rob, you knobbit.

So, obviously the last couple of weeks, because we've been going through about five years per week, we've had loads and loads of albums to talk about. Not the case this week, it's only two to talk about. It was very nearly the first regular episode where we only have one to talk about, but another one sneaked in there. The one that sneaked in there was at the very start, which is Paul Weller with his latest 22 Dreams, which only went gold

and only spent one week at number one. And the whole rest of this period, such as it is, it's quite short, but the whole rest of this period is taken up by Coldplay with their latest album, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, which went number one for five consecutive weeks and it would later return to number one as well. Five consecutive weeks and went five times platinum. So, yeah, it's it's I had a look because there's not much to say in this album segment. I had a look at everything else that was in the charts at this time.

And it does have to be said, it was a very quiet period on the charts. Most weeks it was Duffy with Rockfury just behind Coldplay, which has been number one before, but that was very popular at the time as well. The highest new entry I could find was Darren Styles with his album Skydiving which was in the top five most of those weeks. No idea, no idea. Yeah he was a producer and he had an album out that peaked at three and was in the top five most of those weeks so we very nearly had an obscure Darren Styles number one there but no this was this was the summer of Viva La Vida it was what everyone was listening to so maybe more on that another time eh? Wink wink. And Lizzie how are the states? I only have one single to

mention this week as there's a lot of back and forth happening between previous number ones around this time. So that single is Viva La Vida by Coldplay. It was their first single to hit number one in the US and was eventually certified five times platinum over there. Get this, it was also the first single since 1971 to be at number one in the US and the UK simultaneously. The last single to achieve this, anyone want to guess? Paul McCartney, something like that, don't know. Rob, any advance?

Just because I saw it today, is it Vincent by Don McLean? No, afraid not. You'll both know it. It's Maggie Mae by Rod Stewart. Ah, okay. Oh really? Interesting. Yeah. So over to albums, where we kick off with Here I Stand by Usher. Only one week but got to number one in the UK as well. Then we have Indestructible by Disturbed. One week, number 20 in the UK. And finally we have Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay.

Two weeks also got to number one over here, obviously. Alright then, thank you both very much and we are going to press on with the first song this week. And it is... This. I'm ready for more I'm going to go ahead and get started. Alright, this is Singing in the Rain by Mint Royale. Released as a standalone single, Singing in the Rain is Mint Royale's 7th single overall to be released in the UK and their first to reach number 1, however as of 2024 it is their last. The single is a remix of the song originally written by Arthur Freed in 1929.

The remix actually was originally released in 2005 when it got to number 20. Singing in the Rain re-entered the chart at number 28, reaching number one during its second week on the chart, knocking Rihanna off the top spot. It stayed at number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 47,000 copies, beating competition from Love Song by Sarah Bareilles, which climbed to number 6, and Sweet About Me by Gabriella Chilmy, which climbed to number 7. And in week 2 it sold 28,000 copies, beating competition from Forever by Chris Brown, which climbed to number 8.

When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Singing in the Rain fell 7 places to number 8. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Singing in the Rain fell 7 places to number 8. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 17 weeks. In total, the song has never received any official certification from the British phonographic industry. Kicking us off this week, Lizzy? Yeah, I've really liked some of what I what occurred this week while revisiting Mint Royale. Like, there is a lot of forgettable big beat tracks in the style of Fatboy Slim or Chemical Brothers, but there's also some really lovely sample D'Elia pop that isn't a million miles away from what the Avalches ended up sounding like. I'd give special mention to Falter featuring Lauren Byrne and Something New featuring Duffy two years before Rockferry. I

think they're both really good tracks. As for this, I think it's a fun twist on a well-known sample combined with a really good electro riff. But I do feel that you need the visuals to really sell this. You need either the original Volkswagen Golf advert, that's why it got to number 20 in 2005 by the way, or the George Sampson performance on Britain's Got Talent that it was based on and which obviously propelled it to number one this year. In my opinion this works better as a short audio visual experience rather than a longer dance track. Like going back to Fatboy Slim, I think I kind of place this in the same ballpark as tracks like Praise You and Right Here Right Now, which are both good songs in their own right, but I think are more well remembered when combined with their

respective videos. It's meant as a package rather than an individual piece. The best version of this, I think, might actually be the short radio edit, which runs for just over two minutes. It gives you everything you need without running out of steam towards the end like the longer edit does. Still, I do quite like this one overall and I think it's a quite a fitting farewell to that turn of the century big beat sound. I almost see it as like an acceptance that like Gene Kelly and Singing in the Rain, it is now part of the music of the past rather than the music of the future. And I think that's quite a sweet way to go out. Yeah, I agree with you, Lizzie, that without the visual of either George Sampson or, like

you say, the original advert, it's kind of hard to review the song in isolation because it does come as a, at least in this context, it does come as a complete package with George Sampson because they connected with him and they wanted something that reminded us of him, like with the public. We wanted to celebrate George Sampson in a way that we knew how, which was to buy this song that he danced to. And so I don't really think anybody cared about what this sounded like. So long as it sounded like George Sampson dancing. And in that moment for a couple of weeks, it did.

And looking back, it's a little hard to understand it, you know, without the context of Britain's Got Talent. I feel like, you know, future music historians, if it's not mentioned that George Sampson came as a package with this song, they would go, oh, what a oddity. And then they would have to look up why, you know, it doesn't just, it's not a traditional kind of pop song that makes sense on its own. But I think aside from, how do I put this, it's weaknesses when sort of not associated with other aesthetic experiences. I think it's still a solid enough remix. I'm glad you mentioned the avalanches because there's a thought in my head, especially towards the middle and the end where you get the sort of deeper register, the I'm ready for that bit, that does sound very praise you but also avalanches. It's like this, you know, have you seen Blade Runner 2049?

I've not, no. Regrettably I have. Oh Andy. But there's a scene towards the sort of middle end of the movie where the characters are in Vegas 70 odd years on from when Elvis is performing there. There's just a hologram of Elvis on a loop in the background performing and it's just this digital image that's been playing on a loop for about 60 years. That's kind of similarly how I feel with Gene Kelly's kind of voice in the background of all this, you know, it's like a

Something that's echoing forwards a little bit through time I think with remixes of classic songs like this You always run the risk of butchering it without really putting your own stamp on it But I think this is very, you know, recognizably a Gene Kelly remix, but it sounds very 2005 I actually thought it sounded quite similar to things like Dr. Pressure, the Milo Gloria Estefan thing, but also the Jackie Boddy, which coincidentally was also on a car advert in 2005, and was also back in the charts

after originally being released years previous. And so, you know, there's a few connections there and there is a little bit of context just within the pop charts itself so I think that this is definitely worth something I'm hardly gonna be vaulting it I haven't really been looking forward to it as I've seen it in the list for any particular reason but I yeah I'm glad that we've managed to sort of remember George Sampson in a way because obviously he was from round our parts.

You are? I think knowingly or not the three of us may, I mean Andy I don't know if you came over to Manchester at all in 2007 or 2008 but me and Lizzie definitely will have if not knowingly seen him dancing on Market Street. Oh, I definitely have, yeah. And then after he won, he went back and did it, didn't he? For a little while afterwards too, and he drew big audiences.

There were a few rumours around the time afterwards that like he injured himself and that's why he wasn't dancing much anymore. But then he seemed to reappear for a bit. He seemed kind of happy with his lot, I suppose. And yeah, he was happy to just kind of happy with his lot I suppose and yeah he was happy to just kind of carry on dancing doing his thing. Well on that note I suppose we should mention that he did try to launch a music career. He released a double A side I want to say towards the end of 2008 and one of them had

quite a prominent sample on it. What was it now? Was it Everybody Dance now? Oh yes I think I remember that, yeah. Yeah, so it's clear that this was on Simon Cowell's label. It's clear that they put quite a bit of money into this. It only got to about number 30, I think, and that was it, but they tried. Yeah, and I think it's fair enough, I think, with stuff like George Samson, because music wasn't his, you know, his MO, if you will. So they gave it a shot, didn't work, and George Samson was like, right, I'm going to happily trot on Back to My Life now, or bebop my way back to my life, I should say.

He doesn't trot. Andy, how are we feeling about Mint Royale? First of all, I just very quickly, because Sweet About Me by Gabriella Chilmy was mentioned, and I just very quickly want to jump in on that because as soon as you mentioned that I remembered one of my favourite clips from the Simon Amstel era of Nevermind the Buzzcocks when Gabriella Chilmy was on promoting that song and he was really teasing about the song and said, is there really nothing sweet about you? Like not one thing about you that's sweet? And he said, are you really such an awful bastard? And I always used to really love that. Obviously people who listen to the podcast, we had a break recently because I was in Florida. I was in Kissimmee, which is a sort of like a town just outside Orlando.

And so like the main kind of supermarket in Florida is Publix, the kind of like Tesco. And I was in a Publix just buying food and Gabriella Chillme, Sweet About Me was playing on the tunnel. Good song there, got quite a soft spot for that one. Anyway, so George Hampson, I do briefly want to mention on him that possibly the reason he disappeared is that he does actually have a disability which really should prevent him from dancing and he had to get some support to work through he's got a problem with

the curvature of his spine but he has managed to make his way through that good on him yeah but yes so this this is an interesting one for me this you know because for one reason or another it really took me back really really took me back in time listening to this I think one of the reasons for that is that this more than maybe any other song we've covered on the show so far is a flash in the pan moment in time song that is purely because it's gone big on a TV show and so it's zipped right to number one. Like, you know, songs have got to number one before because they've appeared in adverts, you know, more so back in the 80s and 90s but this is kind of the

noughties equivalents of that and probably because it is such a specific moment in time where everyone went crazy for this song for a couple of weeks it just had a huge nostalgic effect on me more than I expected to be honest briefly you know looking at why this took off the context of it, I do think that for George Samson, this is a really kind of great choice of song for this because it's kind of a combination of old whimsy with modern cool, really. So you kind of get that kind of pull at the heartstrings, ah, look at the boy dancing to musical theatre, but you also get he's actually quite cool.

Like it kind of want to be mates with him so he manages to straddle both lines really well and kind of won the public's hearts with that and I do want to say on that as well that as much as you know the Simon Cowell shows are not the nicest thing in the world and you would really kind of fear for a child on that show genuinely a pretty sweet story to be honest that you know this kid who's very talented at dancing has you know worked bloody hard at it he got kicked out on the first series of Britain's Got Talent and then he came back and auditioned again and because of that talent has won the show and he's made a career out of it kind of hard not to be a little bit moved by it to be honest because as much as those shows are all corporate and blah blah blah you know he is a kid

at the end of the day who's been given a massive platform and has you know made a career out of it hard not to be a little bit touched by that and hard not to be very happy for him and it was a very feel-good moment in TV really and it's no surprise that everybody including myself immediately rushed to iTunes and downloaded that song right after because it just fit the bill perfectly. As a song I do kind of like that combo of the Singing in the Rain sample with the modern stuff but it's much more reliant on new stuff than it is on Singing in the Rain to be honest it's a little bit of a novelty that includes that. If you look at the actual amount of Singing in the Rain that it

takes and puts into this it's very little it's only really about 20 seconds worth of it that makes it in. And it's mainly just that refrain of do, do, do, do, do, do. It's mainly just that. So it's a little bit of a gimmick, but it is still fun. I don't have a huge amount to say about the song, to be honest, except that I do like that combo. It kind of reminds me of some other more early naughty stuff that I really like, like the remix of 19 2000 by Gorillaz,

which is just like, I love that, I love that so much. It's just kind of really easy to listen to and really fun. But mainly, I just kind of was struck by how much this took me back in time and how much this put me back in the shoes of myself in 2008. Where the start of 2008 was like an awful time for me and I don't like to look back on it at all but the summer it was really nice to revisit that I was just like I remember

watching that final in the summer of 2008 and then right afterwards flipping over and seeing David Tennant and Catherine Tate fighting Sontarans through time and space and then going out going out into Ormskirk with my friends to sit in a park until midnight like a bunch of homeless people It's just a lovely lovely time to revisit for me and it was very nice I just left school so it was kind of like the world was my oyster and That was how it was with George Hampson as well the kind of world was his oyster in this moment So it's just a nice thing to look back on for me as for the song itself Like I said, I think I think it's a it's a cool remix. It's quite gimmicky

It's quite sort of throwaway to be honest, but it was nice to hear it again. But mainly just a very pleasant thing to revisit. Pleasant to sort of reflect on the success that this gave to George Shampson, who is still doing really well. He's in LA and everybody's talking about Jamie. He's still doing really well. And just a nice time in my life to look back on as well. So yeah, I'm very glad this came along. Yeah, it's just fine as a piece of music but I'm really glad

it came along. Yeah. Yeah, I've forgotten about his brief acting career as well because he'd been in Waterloo Road, I think he was in Emmerdale for about a year. Not brief, that's his job, that's what he's been doing like since he, since like the early 10s. He's been in theatre basically the whole time. Yeah. Yeah, sorry, I meant more TV acting. That seems to have kind of slowed down. Apparently he reappeared on Britain's Got Talent, The Champions. He did.

As himself, which I don't really remember, but... I don't really remember much of 2019, for reasons we'll explore when we get there. Um, okay! So onto the second song this week. Which is, oh just a little thing. It's this. I used to rule the world, Seas had rise when I gave the word Now in the morning I sleep alone, Sweep the streets I used to roll the dice, feel the fear in my enemy's eyes, listen as the crowd would sing Now the old king is dead, long live the king One minute I held the key

Next the walls were closed on me And I discovered that my castle stand Upon pillars of sand, pillars of sand I hear jarrison of elves ringing Roman cavalry choirs are singing Beamer mirror my sword and shield My missionaries in the foreign field For some reason I can't explain Once you're gone it was never, never an honest word Alright, this is Viva La Vida by Coldplay. Released as the second single from the band's fourth studio album, titled Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, Viva La Vida is Coldplay's 13th single overall to be

released in the UK and their first to reach number one. It's not the last time they will be coming to Coldplay on this podcast. Viva La Vida went straight in at number one as a brand new entry, knocking Mint Royale off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for… one week! In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 23,000 copies, beating competition from No Air by Jordan Sparks, which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Viva La Vida dropped 1 place to number 2. It initially left the top 100 in June 2009, but it re-entered the chart in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2023, and is currently at number 88 in the UK chart in April 2024. At present, the song has been inside the top 100 for 118 weeks and it is currently officially certified 5 times platinum,

so quintuple platinum in the UK as of 2020 for in terms of the songs we have covered on this podcast thus far it has sold the most and has been in the charts for the longest so Andy go ahead yeah I mean those are some stats but it it's you know obviously what comes through in those stats there is that this was a grower. And that's how I remember it, is that it is the definition of one that really, really grew. I actually remember, it may not have been the first time it was mentioned to me, but the first time I remember it being mentioned to me was, it was probably long after it had been number one, because it would, you know, it only sold 23,000.

It wasn't that big a hit. And I remember my dad mentioned to me um he said oh I hope that it could be in the car he said I hope that new Coldplay one comes on I really like it have you heard that Coldplay song and you know I was a bit like all right dad you know you know the way like Bart and Lisa treat Homer in that episode of the Simpsons Home of Palooza where do I get the latest releases by bread you know You know, I kind of treated it a bit like that, like it's probably not good is it? But then some of my friends at school were also like, have you heard that new Coldplay song? It's really like interesting, like it's really good actually. And Coldplay were not cool, like really not. They were you know, really kind of down there with Katie Melua in terms of street cred in my school. But people were like, kind of begrudgingly like, oh this is quite good actually. And then when it came on I was like, oh okay I see what the fuss is about here.

Because it's very, very different. Not just for them, because it is different for them, but also just in the landscape. This is something quite fresh, quite new. And certainly has a bit of a sound world that is different to a lot of what's been number one so far, but also lyrically is very different as well. I'm never quite sure how I feel about these arty farty lyrics about Saint Peter and old mythology and Roman cavalry choirs and stuff because you know it's a little bit wanky really isn't it, it's a little bit pretentious, but I kind of say that with retrospect, I kind of say that with like you know it's a little bit wanky really isn't it, it's a little bit pretentious but I kind of say that with retrospect, I kind of say that with like you know so many other groups and so many other

acts have done that now, I think of like Pompeii by Bastille and stuff where it's like it's a bit old it's a bit old hat now to reference like Roman empires and stuff but it wasn't then, like it was a different take then, it was a different sort of thing to put in pop music then. And it's just worn very thin as the years have gone by. So I kind of don't want to punish Coldplay too much for that. The problem that I have with this is the problem I have with every Coldplay song, which is Chris Martin's voice. This is going to be like the shadiest comment ever, but it's genuinely how I feel. I feel all of Coldplay's success is in spite of Chris Martin rather than because of him, to be honest.

I think there are very few songs of theirs that his voice actually suits, and I think it's quite a testament to their songwriting that they've managed to rise above his thin, whiny voice, to be honest. Especially live. I've never understood why there's such a big live act because his voice live is atrocious. Atrocious. One of the worst live voices I have ever heard. And this is one of the few songs where it kind of works.

It kind of works. Fix You is the other one where I think that kind of thin, vulnerable sound kind of suits it. I do think it suits it. I don't really like Fix You that much, but I do think that thin, kind of vulnerable thing suits that song. And yeah, it's kind of okay with this,

but God, his voice is hard to listen to. There's just something so grating about it, which I can't put my finger on what it is a little bit like James Blunt's voice to be honest but yes musically I really really like this again something that's old hat now but was not then is this string thing which kind of sounds like the vitamin string quartet sort of thing really that would get so big through the next decade again old hat now because you've got stuff like rather B

with that violin intro and all sorts of other things that you kind of string intros and string back in all the way through now. But again, quite revolutionary at the time. And I can remember how big a deal this was in terms of, whoa, this is different. This is something that's like got a lot of new ideas about it.

Very catchy, at least that, oh, a bit, very much that caught on at least. It's just a very good song, to be honest. I don't think it's perfect. Like I say, I'd rather almost anyone else was singing it than Chris Martin. And I do think the lyrics do border on the indulgent and the look how many books I've read kind of

thing. I do think it borders on indulgent to a degree that's not good to be honest. But overall I actually really like this. Still to this day I don't like Coldplay, I just don't like them but I kind of have to give this credit to be honest. And I can see why it's stuck around for so many years because it is one of those songs that you kind of discover. I imagine the kids have kind of discovered this you know they've looked back on this as a song like of our generation they've been like oh yeah I don't think it'll

ever really go away to be honest which is the highest compliment I can give it. I don't think it's like the greatest song that's ever existed but it's definitely the biggest stamp the Coldplay have ever put on the charts and it is pretty good. It's pretty good. Yeah. For a lot of reasons, good and bad, I really think that Viva La Vida is the single most influential and probably important song we've ever covered on the podcast. And I say that because I think its blueprint is plastered all over the next decade. This is the 2010s kind of coming into view now. I think that not only does this turn Coldplay from one of the biggest bands in Britain to

being probably the biggest band in the world, I mean they're at number one in the biggest bands in Britain to being probably the biggest band in the world. I mean they're at number one in the US as well and it sets up their success for the next few album cycles as more of a kind of like an electro-y, pop-rock-y concern. You know it has huge ripple effects on all the dominant pop music strands of the 2010s, especially the EDM movement, the millennial Whoop as they called it, you know, chorus is no longer containing lyrics or hooks, just kind of being these kind of like sweeping instrumental passages, pop rock bands like The Killers and Maroon 5 and One Republic looking at the success of Coldplay and deciding to drop their guitars

and buy keyboards and do stringy stuff instead. Music producers thinking that these long instrumental sections always conjure up catharsis regardless of where you place them in the song. And to laboriously prove this point, I'm going to point it out every time we come across a song where you hear Viva La Vida somewhere in the distance. Because this feels like the origin point for Bastille. where you hear Viva La Vida somewhere in the distance. I'm glad you mentioned it first, Andy, because this feels like the origin point for Bastille. It feels like the origin point for Imagine Dragons.

It feels like the origin point for what Mumford & Sons eventually pivoted to after two albums, but even stuff like Swedish House Mafia. I think it points towards a future in pop music where everything is fuchsia and glittery paint, and music festivals become places for normies to hang out It points towards a future where in pop music everything is fuchsia and glittery paint, and music festivals become places for normies to hang out rather than society's freaks. I think this precise moment on the map is the beginning of the 2010s, for better or

worse, which means that it's kinda hard to discuss Viva La Vida in isolation, so I tried my hardest. Because the thing is, over the years I have blamed Viva La Vida in isolation. navigating their path out of clubs and pubs towards stadiums and you know big arena-sized pop rock stuff you know X&Y in my opinion suffered a little bit from the transition I think that is a transitional record in every sense of the word but for this album they get in Brian Eno who helped you too expertly through a similar phase in their career 20 years before this. And they get John Hopkins in as well, who was a curious name to see among the credits. He becomes a much bigger deal in alternative dance circles around five years from this

point. And I think the album, Viva La Vida, is a colourful, spirited, focused pop record that finds Coldplay really bringing to life something that I think they kind of fumbled on X and Y to be honest. I remember being taken to the tour for this in 2009 when they toured with Jay-Z and it was a good show. I think on that tour they kind of made the leap from a band with a huge following to just kind of a universally popular group.

And Andy, I was trying to think before when you were mentioning, you're not a fan of Chris Martin's voice. I'm fine with it. I don't really have any intense like or dislike for it, but I think as a production band, Coldplay are very, very good. And that's why their shows are, that's why they get so many people to go and look at their stage productions and their shows and stuff like that. They know how to fill a large space, if you know what I mean. I don't like all of their music, but they know how to fill a large space, so fair play to them for that. And I think that making this kind of transition into universal popularity, this is the kind of ideal single to do it with.

It's a shame it wasn't Violet Hill and that Violet Hill wasn't as influential as this because that sounds more like Elbow than anything else that Coldplay have done. But this is big and it's fist-pumpy and it's got like big driving rhythms everywhere. Like absolutely everything about its arrangement pushes and strains to drive it only forwards and upwards. You know, that kind of, the string quartet is, it's nicely kind of syncopated against the back beat, but its only thoughts are forwards. Nothing ever slows down in this, and if it is going to slow down ever so slightly or

be more sparse, it goes up to compensate for that. Lyrically, I think it's a curious and unusual thing. How often do we get pop songs about someone observing their fallen empire, realizing that they're not going to heaven, kind of like an Ozymandias thing. It's quite weighty subject matter, but they manage to boil it down and make it accessible and memorable. And then by the time you reach the, oh, oh, oh, oh, bit, which is mostly rep, I think the actual origin point is probably way caught by Arcade Fire in terms of what Chris Martin

was probably listening to. It does feel like a cathartic release. It's just a shame that literally every pop songwriter and producer for the next decade thinks that, oh, if we do this in the first third of the song, will have the same impact. No it fucking doesn't. And unfortunately over time I think this has kind of gone the way of Bohemian Rhapsody or Mr. Brightside or Don't Look Back in Anger where it's not really a song with individual parts anymore, it's just a universally accepted familiar noise that doesn't really evoke a specific feeling anymore.

It's just, oh yeah, that. And I always think the worst thing that can possibly happen to a song is for it to stop being a mystery, where society understands it too well. It's been observed and overplayed and picked at to the point where it's impossible to get much out of it anymore. It's never sounded like a song I could personally connect to on any level that's important or intimate. I think it's always sounded a bit too expensive to me, but that stuff that's been piled on afterwards and that's not necessarily the song's

fault, I think it's solid. I think it does kind of tower over the rest of the decade, which at least, you know, like, in terms of just the song on its own good feat well done everybody involved and to their credit Coldplay do deserve a cookie for kind of setting the template for everything going forward even if i hate it um but Lizzy how about you how we feeling on Viva La Vida? Yeah you've hit the nail on the head there particularly the thing about how it stops kind of being a pop song and it just becomes like an anthem. It becomes like God save the Queen, like blasting out of the telly while it goes to bed, but you're still wide awake. It's sort of just nothing. It's noise.

And yeah, like you, I wish I could kind of go back and listen to it completely out of that context because I did like this in 2008, like you Andy. I was kind of surrounded by people who weren't really into Coldplay but like, yeah, the new one's not too bad. And I still think it's one of their better singles, especially from the first decade where they were clearly more fond of those slow reflective ballads like Fix You, The Scientist, In My Place. Even some of the more up-tempo tracks from their early years like Clocks or Speed of Sound, they always felt to me like they were lacking something to keep the energy up, So they just kind of meandered for a few minutes and resolved with a bit of a shrug. This one has no problem sustaining that energy all the way through. There is a sense of building tension that runs

throughout that culminates in that wordless bridge, the wooooooow, that like you say seems to have formed the basis for so many pop choruses of the 2010s. And yeah, like I totally agree with you Rob, the lyrics are very unusual. It's, again, how often do you hear about songs about like a fallen empire and a sort of king who's been left desolate, I guess. I think maybe it is just a metaphor for I'm having a bit of a rough time. I went to Sainsbury's, I didn't take an umbrella. Yeah, I think there's something there to be able to work that into a pop hit without sort of, you know, confusing people. Sometimes it can be the case that you hear a song like that on the radio,

you think, what the hell is this? But it obviously works because the overall sound of it is anthemic. It is stirring and at least out of context, if you kind of forget about everything that's come afterwards, in the right context it can be quite affecting even, certainly more so to me than any of their previous stuff which, you know, like Fix You, I just find it so boring and I think it brings out the worst in Chris Martin's vocal in particular because he really tries to stretch, he really tries to push his voice right up to the tippity top and it sounds crap. He doesn't do that as much here, he's sort of, he's a bit more grounded. And as such, yeah, I think I've waffled a bit there, but

genuinely I do think it is one of their better singles. Just not something, probably not something I'll vault, but yeah, out of context, pretty good. In the context of everything that came after it, I never want to hear it again. Do you know, in terms of the lyrics, in terms of like, oh, how do you relate to it? Like, how do you get that feeling of what this actually means?

I do think the line that makes it work is the, but that was when I ruled the world. I think that can just click of like, oh, but you know, that was when things were better. That's what makes it relatable. That's what makes it click. I think if can just click. Of like, oh, but you know, that was when things were better. That's what makes it relatable. That's what makes it click. I think if it wasn't for that line, I think it would be really quite impenetrable,

but that line makes it work. Yeah, it's the pain of nostalgia. I think most people can relate to. Yeah. I just wanted to come in as well on the point about, the wordless choruses. I do take your point Rob about, this is definitely a point where it blows up

exponentially and I definitely don't disagree with that. I do think it goes back quite a lot further though really like it's definitely been attempted in this kind of form before. As much as it's like crap I do think there are quite a lot of similarities to the Earth song to be honest that that has a wordless chorus and is extremely weighty over the top topics as well and I was thinking what's the actual Genesis point of like you know just oh oh oh or ah ah ah or nah nah nah and honestly hey Jude it's probably the absolute big bang moment for that kind of thing maybe but that's more of a coda section. You know what it is.

But it's the bit that everybody knows. I've just figured it out, it's Tarzan Boy by Baltimore. Oh, I mean, that is just a wonderful song. And actually, yeah, that's actually not too far off. Yeah, so like it has been there through the decades, but this is the point at which for some reason it really, really clicks and blows up and there's no doubt about that but i do think this tracks back quite a lot further really i'd be interested to do more of a deep dive on that on the wordless chorus because um yeah why does it blow up so much here i mean we we nearly had another one this year with you somebody by kings

of leon that's a that's an awful song oh joy oh Thank god we avoided that. I never ever thought in my life I would be in a position where I was grateful for Sex on Fire instead. Genuinely. Just our final song this week is this Turn the lights off in this place And she shines just like a star And I swear I know her face I just don't know who you are Turn the music up in here I still hear her loud and clear Like she's right there in my ear Telling me that she wants to own me To control me Come closer, come closer And I just can't pull myself away Under a spell I can't break I just can't stop I just can't stop I just can't stop I just can't stop

And I just can't bring myself away But I don't want to escape Closer by NEO Released as the lead single from his third studio album titled Year of the Gentleman, Closer is NEO's eighth single overall to be released in the UK and his second to reach number one, and it isn't the last time that we'll be coming to NEO on this podcast. Closer first entered the UK chart at number 22, reaching number one during its 8th week on the chart, knocking Coldplay off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for 1 week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 31,000 copies, beating competition from We Made It by Buster Rhymes and Linkin Park, which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Closer fell one place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 39 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2024.

These stats are kind of more in keeping I think with earlier years like you kind of become standard on this podcast you know 30 odd weeks platinum that's fine it's not the numbers of Viva La Vida I feel less in awe of this and less daunted by it. Lizzy, Nio, how we feeling? Just before I go into the song I had a great term for the sort of singles that take a little while to get to number one. Someone described them as a chart tipper. Oh god yeah I'll leave that in your head. Anyway, it was only in the last episode that I mentioned how much Neo's songwriting had improved since So Sick in 2006, and I think this is another example of that. I think this is significantly better than So Sick, and

yeah, I'd go as far as to say better even than Take A Bow from last week, which I also really liked. I love how this one straddles the line between romantic and tense, halfway between like an R&B ballad and a club banger. The beat changes in this keep you on your toes, adding to the sense of unpredictability that the lyrics convey. Like Take A Bow last week, it's the sort of songwriting that I'd describe as clever. There's a way that Neo could have written and produced this that would have produced a pretty decent ballad, but certain choices in the production

and the pacing of the track elevate this to something quite special, I think. I do have a small gripe about the mixing. Overall I think the mix sounds a bit too flat but the drum beat in particular is a bit too prominent so as a result some elements like the layered harmonies in the chorus don't stand out the way they should which is a shame and it's all the more frustrating because Neo clearly has a fantastic voice and I'm glad he kept this one for himself rather than offering it up to someone like Rihanna. He really sells that sense of desperation in the lyrics and I think it's what makes this track so compelling overall.

I'm a really big fan of this. Yeah, this is interesting for me because I've been interested to hear you know what you both might have to say about this because I feel like I'm sort of missing something a little bit with this where I like it, it's a decent pop song but I don't really think it's anything special. I think part of what makes me feel that way is, I'm glad you mentioned about the drums Lizzie because I do have a problem with the mix that too much drum's not enough bass, which is a bit of a weird thing really. It makes it feel quite light in a way that I don't really,

it shouldn't really be given what it's going for and what the subject matter is and the idea and the tension that should be in the song. It's weird for it to be light in that way. So I don't know. I think this is just part of, I've gone on about this so many times about problems in mixing in this era and I think it's just, it's made for mobile phones basically, which fair enough, I get it. I get where they're

coming from with that. I do like when a song really commits to an idea where it just like strains at that idea, which is the whole close thing all the way through. Completely agree that this is a big improvement on So Sick and it's definitely improving as a songwriter. This is much more of a confident song, this much more of an overall pop package, really, that it has that drive to it. It definitely has so many catchy elements to it as well. But it doesn't quite like Rise to the very top for me.

I don't know what it is, I just don't think it's particularly stand out or special. But this again, it might be in retrospect because there are a lot of copycats to this sort of thing from Nioh himself as well. Like there are a lot of different kind of takes on this sort of thing over the next few years. So it might just be, you know, the opposite of Roast into Glasses really, which is affecting this. My main memory of this song, by the way, is the 2010 World Cup coverage. They had a montage of the German player, German player? I think he was German, Miroslav Klose, to this, which I thought was it.

Genius, genius. Someone in the editing suite deserved a raise for that one. But yes, I do like this and it's instantly recognizable. I, it's one of those ones where I kind of forgot about it, but then I was like, how could I forget about this? Like, this is a huge hit. And it serves the purpose very well. It's a very confidently written song.

I have no particular problem with it But I also don't think it's like the bees knees either For me, it's just kind of fine and I can't put my finger on what more I need from it other than a bit more of an all-round Meatier sound and I all I can think of is that's what it is. That's what I need from it. But Just to be absolutely clear. I do really really like this I do think it's pretty good I just don't think it's great and I don't think it's as good as Viva La Vida and I don't think it's as good as Take A Bow unfortunately yeah. With regards to Miroslav Klose there's a rather

brilliant stat about him Andy do you know what that stat could be? No. Did he take 8 weeks to get to number 1? Well not quite. But he is at number 1 in something. He is the player to have scored the most goals at World Cup finals. He has scored 16 goals across 4 World Cup tournaments from 2002 2002 and 2014, winning it once. Yes, Kloser Neo as opposed to Miroslav. I never thought I would ever discuss Miroslav Kloser on this podcast. Thank you. Happy to help. I agree with you both on the production being slightly flat. That is my mark against the song but the song itself I

love this basically for the same reason that I love American Boy I think it is sleek and sophisticated and smooth and very very infectious I think that as much as So Sick prioritized Neo's voice and this kind of prioritizes vibe over vocals if you will I think this is his best vocal performance because he's moving at quite a pace here and he shows amazing control over the whole thing and I actually think it has quite a lot in common with some UK garage stuff in the verses I'm reminded of Craig David especially with the acoustic guitar just kind of decorating gently

you know in the background I do like that I do like that by the way I forgot to mention that but I like that little touch yeah and I see what you mean with that garage connection yeah but do you know who it really reminds me of and who should be doing stuff like this and instead he's releasing some of the worst pop music I've ever heard in my life right now. Usher! Usher should be doing this kind of stuff right now but he's not, he's doing Love in this Club which, oh my god. Because as much as this reminds me of Craig David's stuff, it reminds me of Caught Up from Confessions which is sadly a song that didn't get to number one but it is my favourite single of the selection that Usher released from

that album. I think Neo carries the aesthetics over from something like that. The smart suit and the Trilby, the modern R&B touches and flavors, the dance moves, the all male dance troop wearing suit and tie, you know, that it's very, very reminiscent of that. But a lot like American Boy, as much as it has an eye on that you know very recent past it has that eye on the future. I think we will come to a lot of songs in the future who try this kind of stuff without the same kind of class or restraint. We may not come to them in full detail because they get to number one but they will at least be mentioned in passing during like the stats bit at the start of each segment. Because I do think that this is another song that kind of again I can see the 2010s. I mean this kind of more sets a template that's a little bit more short term.

I feel like this sets a template for over the next 2 or 3 years, as opposed to the next 10 years. Because I think with Coldplay they also kind of get reinforced with I'm Not Alone by Calvin Harris which is another kind of everybody tries to do that for a while as well. Nioh's Closer didn't quite have that second song kind of backing it up to make people realise oh we can combine this thing and this thing to make this thing. I feel like not a lot of people learn a lesson from this, which is a bit of a shame because even Neo, like, I think this is the last song we're going to cover involving Neo that, like, I like because he just attaches himself to, he leaves all of this stuff behind yeah he just attaches himself to he leaves all of this

stuff behind and he just attaches himself to this coming wave of oh god just like pitbull and the beautiful monster and all those songs that we're going to have to do but for this moment in time I think he really reaches a good kind of peak here. I don't think I've ever listened to Year of the Gentleman in full, maybe I will seek this out, but I do like this one. I think that amongst quite sort of serious songs we've had recently, you know with Viva La Vida, Take a Bow as well which we only touched on uh just last week um mercy i suppose as well as quite a serious one four minutes was all very serious you know this is just kind of like yeah it is fun pop is fun you know that that kind of nice balance that kind of nice reminder

um i will say that obviously i think this is the last episode of 2008 and the last episode for a long time where I will be happy with everything in it to a degree. Yeah. I don't think it's a coincidence that I turned 14 while these songs were at number one. I do think my age and taste at the time have more to do with it but yeah I'm not gonna be... it's gonna be a while before we come across another episode where I'm like... there might be one in 2009 actually and I'll mention it but apart from that I think it will be... there will be at least one song each week where I'm like ehh and then every other week I'm... I'm, I'm, I've been fairly

kind with regards to pie-holing stuff. I feel like we've had a lot of occasions where you two have like, you know, gone like, no, I'm, I have to pie-hole this because of this and I've been kind of less sure-footed at the kind of negative ends of my opinions, but not from this point on, to be honest. Does anybody else have anything more to say about the songs this week before we check whether we're going to vault or pie hole anything? There's one episode in 2009 which I think is great but yeah we're in for a rough period let's just say.

Yeah hopefully we'll... Stay tuned folks. Yes yes please stay tuned don't give up on us when we're miserable. Andy, Mint Royale, Coldplay, Nioh, how are we feeling? Well Mint Royale was good, but I don't think it was mint. So it's not going in the vault or the pie hole. As for Viva La Vida I've been umming and ahhing about whether it should actually be Viva La Vault and it's

gonna be yeah what the hell do it I'll put in the vault it's certainly gonna be the only time I vault Coldplay so let's do it yeah and as for Neo it's Nino as far as I'm concerned and it's not going in either. It's not going in either the vault. Sorry. It's not going in either the vault or the pie hole. I had worse puns than that and I settled on Nino. So I'll be grateful for small mercies, you too. Oh, Andy, Andy, if I could vault your puns this week.

Definitely. Lizzie, singing in the rain, Viva La Vida and Closer. Singing in the rain will be singing in neither the vault nor the pie hole. It's going nowhere. Singing in the middle. Viva La Vida, it may have ruled the world, but it will not rule either the vault or the pie hole. It's going nowhere for me. And Closer, come closer into the vault. I'm putting it in.

Excellent stuff. Singing in the rain, yep, that's going absolutely nowhere for me. So it's raining in between the pie hole and the vault, unfortunately. Lots of songs getting drenched right now. Viva La Vida, that is just missing the vault, just. St. Peter won't call its name. I'm not calling its name either. And closer.

Well, Andy, you said knee no, but it's knee yes for me. It's going in the vault. Definitely going in the vault for closer. Glad that we got to that one. I'm just giggling about how he said, oh, St. Peter didn't call its name, but I will, which really kind of made it seem like Saint Peter was a panellist on our show. Which to my knowledge he never has been. If you're listening.

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 2008. We will see you for it. Bye bye now. See ya. Bye bye.