Hits 21 - 2009 (2): Flo Rida, Ruth Jones & Rob Brydon, Lady Gaga

Episode Date: June 2, 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, blue Hi there everyone and welcome back to Hits21 where me, Rob, me, Andy and me, Livy are looking back at every single UK number one of the 2000s. If you want to get in touch with us you can find us over on Twitter, we are at Hits21UK, that is at Hits21UK, and you can email us too, send it on over to Hits21Podcast at gmail.com. Thank you so much for joining us again. We are currently looking back at the year 2009, our second episode of that particular year. And this week we'll be covering the period between the 8th of March and the 11th of April, so a much shorter period this week. Looking back to last week, three pretty solid favorite songs of ours and it seemed they all went over very well out there the poll was quite tight but the fear by Lily Allen emerged victorious nudged over the line by the Spotify poll the

Twitter poll was very close but the Spotify poll Lily Allen was just that little bit further ahead and it means that she takes it from Kelly and then from Lady Gaga. I mean of all the weeks to win, that's an impressive one to win. Well done. Well done Lillie. Yeah. It is time now to press on with this week's episode and as always, it's time for some news. This time from March and April 2009. In Mexico, doctors detect the first human case of the H1N1 swine flu in a five-year-old boy. The boy, who was from the Veracruz region of Mexico, was not believed to be the first person

infected with the virus, however. Swine flu would reach the UK a month later, eventually infecting a fifth of the world's population. The World Health Organization declared in June that it was a pandemic. Labour MP and Home Secretary Jackie Smith is found to have wrongly submitted an expenses claim. MPs fiddling expenses, whatever next. The claim, which amounted to £67, pertained to an internet bill, but also included a TV package that contained an adult film. The film had been watched by her husband, Richard Timoney. Both Jackie and Richard apologised after the revelation became public knowledge.

And in Pakistan, gunmen opened fire on a bus containing members of the Sri Lanka cricket team. Six police officers were killed in the incident, along with the bus driver. While none of the cricket players were killed, several were injured. Sri Lanka had only agreed to play matches in Pakistan after India had pulled out due to security concerns. Thief films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. Watchmen for one week, Marley and me for two weeks, Knowing for one week and monsters vs aliens for one week. And Claire Balding is forced to apologise after insulting the teeth of champion jockey Liam Treadwell live on air and Treadwell had just won the Grand National. Oh my god, I've completely forgotten about that. You can get them sorted now, can't you? Oh, I hadn't thought about that for like 15 years

and it instantly came flooding back. That was so funny. Oh, dear me. Comic Relief 2009 raises 57 million pounds, surpassing the 2007 telethon by almost 20 million pounds. The main features that night were Royal Family Special and French and Saunders last ever sketch. Meanwhile there were musical performances from Annie Lennox, Oasis, Franz Ferdinand and Adele.

And that would have been one of Oasis' final performances I think. Probably, yeah. And actress Natasha Richardson dies after sustaining severe injuries in a skiing accident in Canada. She was 45 years old. Natasha, who acted on the screen and stage, had initially walked away from the accident but died from a bleed on the brain. She was survived by her husband Liam Neeson, as well as her mother Vanessa Redgrave. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they?

Only a brief update from me this week, there's only three new albums to talk about. One of them a huge influential massive icon of 2009 which echoed through the ages. We'll get to that in a moment. First of all, it's not that it's U2 with No Line on the Horizon, which went to number one for two weeks and then went Platinum. And we've also got Ronan Keating with Songs for My Mother because someone's got to listen to it, which went number one for two weeks and went gold. And then The Fame by Lady Gaga, which went to number one for four weeks and went 11 times platinum. So like I say, they're that huge, huge icon of the era.

Ronan Keating with Songs for My Mother and two other albums there as well. Yeah, that U2 album is like, I think that's the first one of theirs where it's like, ah, bit over the hill now guys, I think it's over, might be time to call time if you will. Just to say about the fame as well, retrospectively it is the highest selling album from 2009. It wasn't within the year itself, that's something else to come later in the year, which you'll laugh at when that comes along. But yeah, within the rest of history, the highest selling album to come out of 2009 is The Fame by Lady Gaga, which I think surprises none of us really, does it? That's all you'll offer this week. Lizzie, over the horizon that you can see from the Western Irish coast,

the line on the horizon if you will, how are things in America? Well, at this point in time the US charts are extremely close to the UK charts, as you saw in the previous episode. Case in point, my first number one this week is Right Round by Flowrider featuring Kesha. In the US it stayed at number one for six weeks and was eventually certified eight times platinum. That was followed by Poker Face by Lady Gaga, which only stayed at number one for one week in the US, but was eventually certified Diamond with over 10 million sales recorded. We'll chat more about those very soon but I'll just say that a certain act comes to dominate the US singles chart for the rest of 2009.

If you live through 2009 you'll probably know who that is but I will expand on it in the next episode. So over to albums, first up this week is No Line on the Horizon by U2, one week at number one and also got to number one over here as you just heard. Then we have All I Ever Wanted by Kelly Clarkson, two weeks got to number three in the UK. And finally this week we have, now that's what I call Music 30 30 one week wasn't released over here But it did feature just dance by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donnis and about you now by Miranda Cosgrove Oh, oh, okay from the Disney Channel, isn't she? Yes, star of iCarly despite the fact that it only got to number 47 on the Billboard charts Wow. Wow. Friends in high places.

Thank you both very much for those reports. And we are going to move on to our first song this week, which you've heard a little bit about already. It is this. You spin my head right round, right round When you go down, when you go down, down You spin my head right round, right round When you go down, when you go down, down Hey, walk out the house with my swagger Hop in that window, I got places to go People to see time is precious I look at my car, the A out of control Just like my mind where I'm going No that whip, yo, I got places to go People to see time is precious, I look at my car, the A out of control

Just like my mind where I'm going, no women, no shorties, no nothing but clothes No stopping at my Pirelli's homes, unlike my Dewey, that's always on I know the storm is coming, my pockets keep telling me it's gonna shower Call up my homies in stone and pop in the night, cause it's meant to be ours We keep a fadeaway shot, cause we ballin' and splattin' up Patron and be power Lil' mama ow you just like the flowers Girl you the truth with all that goody powers You spin my head right round, right round When you go down, when you go down, down You spin my head right round, right round When you go down, when you go down, down Right Round by Flo Rida featuring Kesha.

Released as the lead single from his second studio album titled Roots, Right Round is Flo Rida's fifth single overall to be released in the UK and his first to reach number one, and it's not the last time that we'll be coming to Mr Rida on this podcast, nor is it the last time we'll be coming to Mr Ryder on this podcast, nor is it the last time we'll be coming to Kesha. Right Round went straight in at number one as a brand new entry knocking Kelly Clarkson off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 72,000 copies, beating competition from Just Can't Get Enough by the Saturdays. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Right Round dropped

one place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts, it'd have been inside the top 100 for 25 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2024. Lizzy you can kick us off with Flowrider. Yeah it's a shame we don't get to talk about the Saturdays. I think it would have helped us come full circle with the whole S-Club thing. I don't think Just Can't Get Enough is great, but it would have been nice to see them at number one even once. That was kind of the whole thing with their fandom I remember is that they were always obsessive about trying to get them to number one because they never ever got there they had so many

near misses like even more than Girls Aloud. It became a real like early meme of the Saturdays never getting number one. Yeah with this one I sort of didn't remember it to be honest I remembered the interpolation of You Spin Me Round but I remembered it as being a sort of faster EDM style song rather than what it is which is like a glam stomp. Yeah. I don't have much to say about it to be honest I think Flow Flowrider is okay, but it's nothing special. And I wish we were talking about another Kesha song, because she does leave a big mark on the culture, but this isn't the moment. Yeah, for some reason I had it in my head that this influenced things like, you know, things that are around now, like I'm Good by David Guetta yeah and that kind of wave of retro interpolations it's nothing new it was happening in hip-hop

in the 90s all the time but yeah I wish I had more to say about this I hope Pete Burns got a good paycheck from it that's not all all I have. It's just the most okay sort of pop song I've heard in a while and I'm really sorry. Do either of you have anything on this? Full disclosure, as we all know, we're in 2009 now, which means we're currently in a year where I have gone full emo scene kid. I'm listening to basically nothing except pop punk and hardcore bands off myspace and weird chiptune songs on youtube. Shout out Henry Homesweet and Shyrobon. I'm wearing girl skinny jeans at home out of choice. My left eye is permanently covered by a fringe. I'm hanging around the baby cake shop in Manchester trying to meet Paul Griffiths, if you know

you know. It's happened very quickly but I've gone from very much being like a solid pop kid, like you know, half way through 2008 to being a full on anti-pop kid before spring 2009. That's how fast everything changes I guess when you're a teenager. Everything mainstream is garbage and soulless and corporate. Everything I deem to be alternative is where it's at, and if it's mainstream and rap at the same time, well that's chav music, and seeing kids and chavs are mortal enemies.

So that makes chav music the worst music of all time, because as we all know, chavs are stupid and tasteless and mean and they don't know how to spell or speak properly. Years later obviously you grow up and you realise that you only really hated chavs when you were 15 because of weird class war politics you've been slightly drip fed ever since you were old enough to talk. And you look back on some of the chav music you dismissed as empty and frivolous and pointless in 2009 and you realise that it had a lot more going for it than you thought at the time. Because I'm, I hated this so much in 2009. Everything it stood for, I stood against.

But I have to be honest, you know, past sort of a month or so as I've been listening ahead, I'm sort of, I'm not digging it, but like I'm sort of digging it. I'm nearly there. I think it's got way more ideas in it than I thought it did. It rephrases different sections when it comes back to them at later points. A lot of Flowrider's lyrical content isn't exactly gonna like touch your heartstrings or get your brain working, but it's perfectly suitable for the environment of the song. And he's just about in the pocket, which means that the verses kind of bounce along, you know, at a good sort of speed, you know and he's just about in the pocket which means that the verses kind of bounce along you know a good sort of speed you know it's a it's just a song about a fun night where he feels good looks good and he's happy to throw his money at pole dancers for their impressive physical feats there's a big

electro influence that feels very much 2009 and I think it gets bonus points from with me at the moment for sounding like it's 4 kids. I say this as someone pushing 30 but current pop is always meant to alienate people over 25 and frighten people over 50 and that's exactly what this tries to do, even if it's main hook is kind of, as we've mentioned, kind of clumsily cribbed from a song that's 24 years old by this point. But as much as I'm slightly unsure as well about why Kesha is there, her presence does kind of feel crucial to this song not being another smack that, if you know what I mean. Because this is true, decadent and it's definitely on the brink of being something like a smack that, nasty girl,

etc. But it keeps things relatively PG-13 and Kesha being there as a sort of safety net kind of works in that regard. I can do without all the vocal effects that are on the end of basically every line. We're flying head first into an era where random pitch shifting from high to low happens in basically every other song now because in this you get the down down down down and then you even get it actually funnily enough in kesha's tiktok where you get the po po shirt as doh and things there's a lot of that happening yes that happens a lot in 2009 it's very gimmicky and a bit annoying. I think it also it does bear repeating that the content of Flowriders' verses, it doesn't really benefit from repeated listens. I looked up the abbreviation for Roots, the name of the album. It's an

abbreviation for Root Out of Overcoming the Struggle, which is one of the funniest clever album titles I think I've ever heard. Oh Jesus. Yeah, Root Out of Overcoming the Struggle. Not Root Out of the Struggle, Root Out of Overcoming the Struggle. Roots. It's a worse pun than the bloody one that we're gonna get later this year from the Black Eyed Peas, the end. The energy never dies. So and then their next album was called The Beginning because oh god they're so good at subtlety. But his music's not really meant to be intellectually stimulating now is it? You know he even says it himself actually in the song that they're building castles made out of sand. Sand castles are great fun when you're making them,

but they're built to be washed away by the tide. And with this it's not supposed to last forever, but it is fun while it's there. You know not my thing really, I don't really regard it as like chav music now and it didn't end the world like I thought it was going to in 2009, but you know, it's kind of I'm On the fence with it, which is a huge huge step forward from where I was with it when in 2009 Yeah, I kind of just to follow your point. I think Flowride is kind of in that pitbull mould, where he's someone that can bring a bit of energy to a track, but he's not like, you're never going to consider him the best rapper of all time.

But he definitely has better songs than this one. I'm thinking like Good Feeling or Green Light or Wild Ones even. Or Low. Andy, how are we feeling? The last, the three songs that we covered last week, all for one reason or another, were very kind of emblematic of the time. Just Dance was obviously, you know, a big game changer going forward. My Life Would Suck Without You was, you know, cribbing off criminal genre that was very big at this moment with

the Disney Channel stuff and then we had The Fear which said a lot about society at the time so it was a really good this is 2009 kind of week last week and oddly enough I feel like we're continuing it here but that's not a good thing because the other side of 2009 said there was a lot of this, a lot of this kind of guff that was litter in the charts that was just kind of, sounds exactly like this, I can't really describe it, it's just a lot of songs that are this. Probably a lot of them are Flowrider to be honest, but yeah, really not my thing at all. I think you've both been very kind to it if I'm honest. What I will say is that I agree with both of you that this doesn't

actually merit much actual analysis or discussion that it's not meant for that. You know when Lizzie was saying you know you couldn't really think of much to say about it I think it's kind of designed for there not to be much to be said about it. This is musical fast food like I think what you said there about the lyrics is probably the most analysis it's ever had in terms of lyrics really. And there's nothing wrong with that, I just think it's just, it's loud, it's obnoxious. I wouldn't say it's chavvy but it's definitely got a sense of like, it's not particularly listenable. Not the most kind of authentic music I've ever heard.

I don't really remember it at all from the time. I knew it when I heard it but I don't remember it being out so I had no opinion about it at the time. But this is an aspect of the end of the noughties, beginning of the tens, that I'm really happy to have left behind in modern music where it's just like the club and put my drink up and you know just all of that. This is a really straightforward example of that and it's not my thing at all to be honest. I think featuring Kesha as well, that phrase featuring Kesha is a phrase that's doing some quite heavy lifting. You know if they'd said and Kesha that would have been

way too far but I feel like even saying featuring Kesha was going a bit too far because she's kind of in this in the same way that Mark Hamill's in The Force Awakens, like he's technically in it but you wouldn't really want to advertise it would you? Like Kesha just has that one line that's repeated over and over again like five times and I just picture what it must have been like in the studio for a recording this it must have been like Krusty the Clown walking in going in hey kids it's Krusty here comes Sideshow Mel, Sideshow Mel, Sideshow Mel you know I just imagine it being like that and to be fair Kesha is at the very very early stages of her pop career here she's not blown up yet so I imagine if this was

coming along in one or two years time it'd be a very different story she. You should get given a lot more to do. And you do still recognise her voice instantly. And she does, I agree with Rob completely, she does add a layer to this that's not just, yeah, girls in my crib, you know, she adds a layer to this that's not just like total nasty girlness. But really, like it's one of the easiest feature spots I've ever heard anyone ever do. I don't like the interpolation just because I don't like when any song does that. That feeling good feeling alright thing of Blue Dabber Dee is like one of my least favorite songs of recent times and I just don't like when... I've got no problem with songs doing it,

as long as they're gonna do something with it, as long as they're gonna develop the idea, not just reference it and move straight on. Because there's no reason why this song needs to use that right round thing. Like it doesn't like layer through the song at all, it's just a thing and then it's not musically connected to the rest of it at all.

It just feels like a kind of cheap thing to do, to be honest. And it just leaves a bit of a sour taste. So this is not for me it's perfectly serviceable and it's not the worst thing in the world but there was a lot of this around and I just don't really like this sort of thing. Easy paycheck for Kesha and I hope she did well out of it other than that I've not got a huge amount positive to say about it It's just that it is what it is. Yeah.

I've just had a thought actually. Pete Burns wouldn't have got any money because it's stock Aiken and Waterman, isn't it? Oh god. The thought of Pete Waterman doing well off of this. Oh, we'll have more money for trains. That connects two eras of our show. Yeah. I know.

Just Pete Waterman just getting paychecks from Flowrider. San Marino's finest, let's not forget. Oh dear. Alright then, we will move on to our I'm very happy, Ness, and I'll tell you for why Baby, when I met you there was peace unknown I set out to get you with a fine-tooth comb I was soft inside, there was something going on There was something going on

You do something to me that I can't explain Hold me closer and I feel no pain Every beat of my heart We've got something going on Tender love is blind Going on Tender love is blind It requires a dedication All this love we feel Needs no conversation We ride it together, aha

Making love with each other, aha Islands in the stream, that is what we are No one in between, how can we be wrong? Stay the way with me, to another world And we rely on each other, aha From one lover to another, aha Okay, this is Barry Islands in the Stream by Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon with Tom Jones and Robin Gibb. Released as a standalone single for Comic Relief, Barry Islands in the Stream is the

first and only single to be released by Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon, and their first to reach number one. However, as of 2024, it is their last. As for Tom Jones, this is his third and final number one, and for Robbie Gibb, single is a cover of the song originally recorded by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, which reached No. 7 in 1984. Barry Islands in the Stream went straight in at No. 1 as a brand new entry, knocking Flowrider off the top of the charts. It stayed at No. 1 for 1 week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 87,000 copies, beating competition from Falling Down by Oasis, which got to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Barry Islands in the stream fell 2

places to number 3. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for five weeks. The song has never received any official certification from the British phonographic industry. I was going to say this before but I thought I would reserve it for now. Which is that, you know we were saying earlier that our charts are mimicking the US charts quite a lot at the moment. And it just made me laugh that like, at least in our charts, I don't like this, but at least there is a space for something like it still in our charts where something so openly just naff and crap just interrupts the superstardom, international superstardom of flowrider

well thank you for stealing my point love sorry no no no it's all right so so funny um i will take this verse because i have virtually nothing uh andy i know that you'll have a lot to say not necessarily about the song, but its origin point shall we say, and so we'll let you have the floor once me and Lizzie are done. This is basically just the same deal, a spirit in the sky or 500 miles or whatever, but with the stars of 2009 as opposed to the stars of the early 2000s and all the way back to the 1970s. Although Nigel Lithgow does make a cameo in this music video which, whatever, got

basically nothing on this really. It's just a straight cover of violence in the stream that's made to feel a bit novelty and cheap and that's a lot. And it's also, I haven't seen Gavin and Stacey but I am aware that there is a scene where Vanessa and Rob Brydon's character, whose name has gone on my head, Brinn, sorry, yes, it's just a recreation, right, of a scene that they do, where they do it at a line dancing thing and all that. This is performed ably enough. I think the harmonies are alright. You know, Tom Jones is a good enough sport for being involved. I don't know what to say about these things

anymore. They just don't represent much or make me think about much that's extra-textual or extra-curricular. You know, it's another example, I think, as you've said, Andy, in the past, of decision makers behind these songs've said, Andy, in the past of decision makers behind these songs thinking that, oh, charity singles don't need to be taken seriously. They don't need to be any good. Just give people any old shit, raise a few bob, and then we can all go back to our lives and be rich and famous. What I do find interesting about this is the B-side, which is a cover of Wise Men by James Blunt, which is another thing from Gavin and Stacey and Rob Brydon has performed Wise Men on stage with James Blunt, but I

cannot tell you, I haven't found it and I want to find, I'm going to buy the CD single and get it because I want to hear the fully recorded version of Rob Brydon singing wise men by James Blunt. I found it on Amazon, it's about £2.99. I'm seriously considering it. That may be the new Hits 21 Holy Grail for like a week because it'd be easier to track down than Steve Brukstein in a charity shop. Lizzie, would that be a waste of my £2.99 if I were to spend money on this? Yeah, I'll be able to find it for you. I found that Silla Black album, so.

Oh yes, the skin, let's hear it for skin. Have a gander at a panda. Have a gander at a panda. I've seen a fair bit of Gavin and Stacey. I don't dislike it, but it's not something I would go out of my way to watch. I think it's okay. But this song, yeah, like you say, it is a cover of Islands in the Stream, which is a

song I'm not a huge fan of anyway. This is a song, it's a cover done in a way that, like you say, is meant to be deliberately kind of tatty. But like you, like you kind of introduced us with, I'm glad we have this sort of thing in the UK charts. I've been doing the US rundowns for the best part of nine years in terms of podcast years anyway, and what I've noticed is that America doesn't get these, or at least they don't get to number one. Whereas in the UK we have kind of a proud tradition of novelty singles. When you go into the 90s, spoiler alert, you will find a lot of them, and a lot of them aren't very

good. However, what I think that does is solidifies our own culture in a time when Americanisation of British culture is becoming more and more prevalent. Even like a year after this, you start to see like the last of the football hits, because they just die out, like because England aren't very good, and they're not worth cheering for. And like even later on when they do turn out to be good, we just recycle something from 30 years before, because what's the

point of trying again? And then like later on you'll get things like Lad Baby as well which I don't like but I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that as much as a lot of these British novelty singles aren't very good, I do think they have their place within British culture, even if it's just a way for, say, other countries to gawk at us online and like, say you have things on YouTube like, Americans react to Mr Blobby, it's like, oh my god, British people are so weird. Yes, and you're not. And like, that's how you end up with Donald Trump as president, because you have no sense of your own weirdness. All you have is this internalised sense of pride,

and you don't allow yourselves to be laughed at. And we do. We put stupid shit like this up on a pedestal, and in a way, we feel better for it because we allow ourselves to get that release from self-deprecation so there's that going for this song at least and I also just before I go I can't hear this song without thinking of one of the earliest singles I remember which is ghetto superstar so so on the end of every

line it's like, Ireland's in the stream, superstar, watch out! I hated that, hated that. I don't know why that's like one of the first singles I remember but it just, I think when I heard this in 2009 I was like, where do know this song from because I didn't know the original and it took me a while I was like get a superstar of course anyway Andy take the floor yeah I mean I've got a bit more than you two to say but I don't think I'm going to beat Lizzie's implication that the absence of Gavin and Stacey from the US pop charts may have contributed to the downfall of American democracy. I don't think

we're going to beat that for a hot take this week. I have to say, I don't think Lizzie's point is entirely like, without merit. No, no, no, do I. I didn't mean to suggest it was. Oh, no, no, no. I know, but I will say that like I didn't say anything there and it might have seemed to people listening that like I was quietly laughing at what Lizzie was saying but like hopefully somewhere it does feel like it's dying out a little bit apart from around Christmas now that kind of novelty stuff because I think that Gen Z are more Americanized obviously they're going to be more Americanized because social media has kind of flattened a lot of cultural differences and we see Americans every day all of the time and I do think that it's a bit of a shame

because between like you know that as long as the pop charts have been a thing there has always been an Ernie the fastest milkman in the West kind of hanging around. There's always been something like that and I totally agree. I'm reading a book at the moment it's called Leave the Capital by Paul Hanley, he was drummer in the fall in the early 80s. It's a book about 13 recordings that were done in Stockport and Manchester and one of the ones that he mentions is a song I don't like, but he gives it this kind of, this same, like you've just said there, Lizzie, this kind of weight and substance that I hadn't considered before. And it's, um, match-dork men with match-dork,

you know, the cats and dogs thing from 1978, which features St. Winifred School choir who have the Christmas number one, two years after that, and like how that that kind of stuff we have it we do we're kind of prideful in our ability to let our pride go a little bit sometimes. We do things differently here. For balance, I'm not saying that it's all upside because you did make Boris Johnson Prime Minister. It did. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, Andy, I'm sorry. Oh no, it's okay. And I will also say as a further caveat to all of that, that if Boris Johnson had ever chosen to release a charity single, it probably would have gotten a one. Yeah, probably.

So that's something to ponder. That's a timeline that we perhaps shouldn't tease out of the universe. Completely lost my point now. Yes, I do have a bit more to say than both of you two, but not too much more about the actual song. Mainly about where this came from. So this song, I mean, I love the original mainly because I just love Dolly Parton. I think she's great. I hope we one day go back far enough down the charts to discuss Dolly Parton in a bit more detail. But yeah, I like the original. This is just like a very, very straight cover of it. I don't know what Tom Jones and Robin Gibb are doing in there because, weirdly enough,

Gavin and Stacey, because I know you two are not as familiar and it has this running theme this running joke of Nessa having close relationships with celebrities and neither of them are Tom Jones or Robin Gibb they never mentioned and there's ones that they could have used that are Welsh because obviously they're there because they're Welsh but like in the show off screen Nessa lives with Noel from here say Who's Welsh they could have had him on this? Oh? Yeah, there's other Welsh people that are involved like Supposedly have relationships with the characters like and I don't know why they didn't use that as an angle And that's kind of my main problem with the song is that there's no actual jokes. It's not really a comic relief thing

It's just a straight cover. They have a few quick oh what's occurring etc but like Gavin and Stacy isn't a catchphrase based show and so it doesn't really translate like the scene that this that inspired this doesn't really translate it's got like context that doesn't come across in the song so this is just like fine but i don't really know why uh Tom Jones and Robin Gibb are on it and it just seems like a sort of cheap cash-in really on something that was really popular at the time but it's fine. I yes once again bang the drum I repeat repeat repeat the point of why don't you make charity songs absolute bangers because they will make more money but whatever I also take the point that we have a long proud tradition of novelty songs and they are quite fun to talk about at least you know I remember back in whatever year it

was 2005 or something where we'd had a bit of a run of like Beddingfield and Shane Ward or whatever and we had Chico come on with it's Chico time and it's it's fun to encounter one of these like we always have a laugh talking about something like that or spirit in the sky or you know, even if they're bad we have a bit of fun talking about them. So I'm glad this kind of thing is here, I do agree with that. But that's all I've got to say, it's just sort of fine, could be better, could be worse. But I do want to talk about Gavin and Stacey because I'm never going to get another opportunity to really talk about it and I just have to because I'm

just so glad to see that it got a number one single that it reached that level of popularity because it's one of my favorite shows ever I absolutely adore God Is Stacey for me easily the best comedy of the 21st century for me easily it's just my favorite at least. High praise? The very best episodes of it, every single line, has me absolutely creasing with laughter. And this came out at just the right point where the first series on BBC Three did quite well, it was a sort of cult here, got moved to BBC One for its second series which is the best series, and then the Christmas special happened which is, I think a lot of people would agree,

the best episode of the whole show and That was on Christmas Day, and it went massive and then this comes out a few months later And so the strike of all the irons hot here because it was a bit of a slow burn thing It built and built with every series and then by the time it finished later in 2009 It was at like eight or nine million viewers or something and then a long period passed ten years time Without no without any episodes. And a lot of people like me just kind of happened upon it. And it's so funny that you made that point earlier, Rob, about,

oh, I just missed like Chavvy Music with Right Round, because that's what I did with this show. I think a lot of people did that because like, oh, it's one of those BBC three shows. You know, it's sort of tacky, really, because there was a lot of those that I kind of turned my nose to part at the time. I was into furious channel four comedy, like Peep Show and Inbetweeners and things like that.

And I'd never bothered with Govan and Zacey cause it seemed a bit mainstream, a bit, you know, bit popular for me, to be honest. And then my best friend from school, he was still best friend, he listens to the show, I think, so hello. He said like, no, you need to watch this, like it's really funny, you know, give it a go. And we sat and watched the first few episodes together and I loved it. And then I just had to binge the entire thing.

And since then I've binged the entire thing like 20 times. It helps that it's got British shortness, it's like 19 episodes plus Christmas specials, like it's really quick to watch the whole thing. But I just love it more every time, it's got so much detail to it, I care about the characters so much, it's got like this oddball humour, which like, you don't even know why the lines are funny, they just are. And I think a lot of people over those 10 years where it was away found it and were like, oh, actually, this was really good. I should have got on board at the time. Which meant when it came back Christmas 2019, it had those absolutely absurd ratings of

like 18 million viewers or something. Just absolutely like crazy viewing figures for it. So many people have found it and fallen in love with it. And I think it proves a point about modern TV that the only things anyone's watching these days are things that are really good. Governor's Ace is a show that is often dismissed as lowest common denominator because it's really popular, but it's really popular because it's really good. It's not because it's lowest common denominator, it's just really, really funny and really endearing and really emotionally evolving as well.

I could go on about how great that show is forever, but if I can recommend an episode to you, 2008 Christmas special, best Christmas episode of anything ever, I think, yeah. So I'm so, so happy that Gavin and Stacey got a moment in the sun and got a number one, but it could have done so much better than this. It could have had a much, much funnier charity single to come out with it, but I'm just glad it's here. So thank you for listening to my Ted talk about how great Gavin and Stacey is.

Should we move on to some music now? Anytime. And Gavin and Stacey is available now on BBC iPlayer. And it's coming back this Christmas, for I suppose the last episode. So I'll be taking five weeks off work to deal with that grief. Yeah. Alright then, we will move on to our third and final song this week, which is this. I wanna hold them like they do in Texas, please Fold them, let them hit me, raise it, baby,

stay with me, raise it, baby, stay with me Love game, intuition play The cards with spades to start And after he's been hooked, I'll play The one that's on his heart Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh I'll get him high, show him what I've got Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

I'll get him hot, show him what I got Can't read my, can't read my No, he can't read my poker face She can't read my, nobody Can't read my, can't read my No, he can't read my poker face She can't read my, no he can't read my poker face She's got no, there's nobody B-b-b-boker face, b-b-boker face

B-b-b-boker face, b-b-boker face I wanna roll with him, a heart that we will be A little gamble and it's fun when you're with me Russian roulette is not the same without a gun Okay, this is Poker Face by Lady Gaga. Released as the second single from her debut studio album titled The Fame, Poker Face is Lady Gaga's second single overall to be released in the UK and her second to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Lady Gaga on this podcast.

Poker Face first entered the UK chart at number 30, reaching number one during its 10th week on the chart, knocking Barry Islands in the stream off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for... 3 weeks! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 54,000 copies, beating competition from Beautiful by Akon and Colby O'Donnis, which climbed to number 8, and Halo by Beyonce, which climbed to number 9. In week 2 it sold 58,000 copies, beating competition from Don't Upset the Rhythm by The Noisettes which got to number 2, Jai Ho by AR Ramen and Pussycat Dolls which climbed to number 5, and Shake It by Metro Station which climbed to number 9. In week 3 it sold 55,000 copies beating competition from In For The Kill by La Rue which climbed

to number 7. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Pokerface dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 84 weeks! The song is currently officially certified 3 times, platinum, so triple platinum, in the UK as of 2024. Oh, Metro Station, shake it. My 15-year-old heart never grows older whenever that song is playing. It just got preserved somewhere in the spring of 2009 when this was in the charts.

And like, I already knew it because I'd followed Metro Station on MySpace for about three months beforehand. And then it came into the charts and I was like, oh my God, is it gonna get to number one? Is it gonna, and it got to number six, but I was proud of that number six and then nothing they did charted again.

And it was such a one hit wonder. But a little moment there, moment of silence. Andy, Poker Face, Lady Gaga, how are we feeling? How'd you get Lady Gaga to crack a smile? Poker face! Hey! Hey! I had to get that one in early. You know what the most impressive thing about all of those stats you just read out Rob is that this was not a quiet period at all. Some of the songs that saw off there not just not just shake it but also like it it stopped Halo from getting number one like i've always wondered

why halo didn't get number one and this is why and all sorts of really good stuff like in for the kill and don't upset the rhythm like not a quiet period it saw off some really big heavy hitters very very impressive stuff um i said last week that i was kind of holding back my ammunition a little bit about Just Dance because I didn't feel that was the real breakout moment. I felt that Poker Face was the breakout moment. And here we are, yes. I think those stats somewhat back it up.

But also just when you listen to this, yeah, this is Lady Gaga. Just Dance I think is a little bit of an appetizer and this is what she's really all about. It's got something about it that's intrinsically just a little bit odd while still being a really straight down the line pop banger for everyone. And that's kind of Lady Gaga in a nutshell. That like she's never been in this kind of weird sort of alternative space like Kate Bush or Bjork or anything, but she's actually manages to be like weird, but also be very,

very commercially appealing. And that's so much harder than it sounds. And this is kind of the starting point for that really. She gets weird when she goes on, but like I remember when I first heard this, I was in the car with my dad and he was, and this was on and he was about to change the channel to something else and I said, can you leave this on?

He said, I want to know what this is because it was just hooking me and the bit that was hooking me was the oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, because there's something about the way it sounds, like it's double tracked, there's something in the production about it that makes it sound a bit weird and wobbly. Like it's, this is an era where like you would expect your singers to try and do something like a sexy sound to try and do something a bit alluring and she's doing this kind of odd whoa whoa whoa it just it's like there's something strange about it that stood out to me and then the pop pop pop poker face obviously that stands out as well again that it's a kind of

monotonous kind of sound you wouldn't expect that to be a good hook. And this sense of strangeness starts to come through, this sense of like, oh she's something really different. But then you pile that against all sorts of really, really great, you know, just standard pop tricks as well, where she's got really, really great chorus, packs in so many lyrics that really play on that metaphor so heavily about gambling about poker. I love songs that just commit to the metaphor all the way through. And it does that. And then it's got that great interlude as well with the, I won't tell you that. It's just brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant stuff. I still think, although it's been surpassed, it's not one of the best anymore, but I do still think it's got a magic about it

that is so exciting that you hear this, you're like, oh, who's she? I wanna know more about her. I remember getting home and Googling her and like sort of thinking, oh, that's not who I imagined. Like she looked quite sort of young and timid. Like I expected this big pop superstar because she's still kind of growing into

there's earlicks with that. she's still becoming that big pop star like it's hard to describe for people who weren't there at the time like how big and how rapid and um constantly evolving her rise to fame was like from here to um bad romance to like the peak in fame monster it's it's like a year that all. There's like a year's time it's an incredibly rapid rise to the absolute top of stardom and She quickly starts growing in confidence and starts doing more of the strange quirky touches doing more kind of expression and put in her creative control all over songs and

She only blossoms from here and I think the Fame Monster is like one of the greatest pop albums in recent memory I absolutely adore it but all of that starts here like this is the real kernel of that where you can see what she's capable of you can see she's got real songwriting chops she's got real imagination she can sell the hell out of a song and she's just so exciting so this is brilliant really I mean it's poke face, what do you want me to say? It's superb. I almost feel like I can't possibly do it justice. It's brilliant, yeah. Lizzy, how are we feeling?

Yeah, I think you've summed it up perfectly. I think like you, I was kind of, not lukewarm, but I was reserving a lot of my praise with Just Dance because I did have a... it was good. I like Just Dance a lot but I did kind of get the sense that it could have been anyone. Like it could have been Katy Perry or Kesha. Whereas this is unmistakably Lady Gaga and it's because it's, like you say, it's festooned with weirdness all the way through. Like in, particularly in the verses where she's sort of monotone with her own like, I wanna hold them like they do in Texas state, but then you get to the bit after that, it's kind of, I sort of, I tried to place it and it seems a bit like klezmer music, almost Eastern European.

That particular line where she goes, love game and Jewish and play that, it's like, do do do do do do do. It's like hanging around the edge of notes. It's very, it is very Eastern European, very odd. It's almost like kind of like sort of Jewish music or something, it really dances around notes. It's very strange.

Yeah, like I say, the kind of kle music or something. It really dances around notes. It's very strange Yeah, yeah, like I say the kind of klezmer vibe and I think and this because this sort of weirdness doesn't usually Translate but I think the way she manages to do that is that the verses are very weird and abstract and there's elements of like Eastern European music in there, but then the chorus is just a Four chord earworm as in once you hear it that thing is not leaving your head for a month that's the hook that's what you heard on things like south park that's what kind of made her a household name that cari mac cari mac because that's just four chords straight up is a chorus that instantly latches onto you and you're hooked. So while you're trying to figure out what's going on in the verses, you've got this killer chorus

just waiting around the corner and when it comes around again it's like, oh finally. Yeah, it's a brilliant piece of pop. It's what sort of, like I say, it's what made's a brilliant piece of pop it's what sort of like I say it's what made her a household name is what made her what she is and it feels like the first time in a long time that we've had a bonafide star like I feel like we felt that with Mika in 2007 but obviously that was more of a UK thing. This is like, no you can't afford to ignore Lady Gaga. She's here and like if the rest of her stuff is as good as this, which it is, then you're in for a treat. Rob, what do you think? Yeah, best song this week by Miles. I agree with both of you.

Probably one of the best songs we'll cover all year as well. Yes, definitely one of the best songs we'll cover all year. This is the one that really sets Gargar up, instantly quashes any fears that she's a one hit wonder, makes it clear to everyone that she's going to be around for a while as well. And this isn't hindsight, we all felt this at the time. This is like, oh, this isn't like a flash in the pan, like this is poker face, like whether you like her or whether you don't, Gaga has staying power. Another song of hers where we all want what she's giving because it doesn't sound like anything that's come before, especially in the context of this podcast, so we all went out and bought it, you know, it sounds mysterious and slightly

oblique and generates just as much interest in the song as it does interest in the artist, because I think this is the one where it's like, just who is Lady Gaga? You know, it's even in the lyrics that can't read my poker face Even in them even in the video. She's wearing masks and big sunglasses and obscuring her face So it's like, you know, it's like boxed in like cuz you she wears She has that massive blonde fringe as well And then you get that blue leotard outfit and those huge sunglasses with the LED screens that say Gaga pop culture and that is her mission statement and it's like I said last week

She was the first pop superstar. I think you could describe as viral with the correct 2010s terminology in the social media kind of digital age 2010s terminology in the social media kind of digital age. Hard to believe that just six months ago it felt like the 2000s were kind of juddering to a dead halt. And now here comes Gaga, who's already transported us into the next decade, even if we don't know it yet. Also worth mentioning that in a UK context this is all happening against the backdrop of the big digital switchover. It feels like we're moving into a new age in more ways than one, whenever I think about Gaga. More stuff in the same way that the music video doesn't follow much of a narrative, where it's just kind of like a sequence of vignettes and unusual images that arrest your

attention, like her emerging out of a swimming pool, fully clothed, with a big glittery mask on, while two ginormous dogs sit either side of her. The lyrics don't really follow a conventional path either. Like, it draws comparisons between card games and sex and, like, but that's about it. You know, mostly it's about piling instantly memorable sections in front of each other and then kind of running through them like it's checking off a list because you get all the ad-libs like the I love it and the obviously the one at the beginning the mom mom mom mom and then you get the one that you were saying Andy the kind of wobbly go go go go go and uh she got me like nobody and it's all it's it's also got those sections

where she sticks on one note for the whole line like you're saying those monotonous bits lizzie the baby when it rubbed it straight at you and it does something as well that a number one hasn't done since umbrella and i wish that more songs did this where it just uses the space provided in the post chorus to repeat the song's title in a way that is instant meme material. Why don't more songs do the Ella Ella eh ba ba ba poker face ba ba why why don't more songs do that? And all of that is not even discussing my favorite bit of the song which is that third verse where she kind of goes into that baby-ish it girl voice that I won't tell you that I love you

kiss or hug you but the the specific bit that even as a contrarian 15 year old that I loved and didn't want to say because it would ruin my Karang credibility Was that is the bit where she goes? Stunning with my love good gunning. I just remember that sticking at me and sticking in me and Striking me over the head and just sort of sit in there rather in the back of the car or in school or wherever I heard this and just kind of quietly thinking like that's amazing and I want more I want more of that but quietly so that none of my emo friends find out that I listened to stupid mainstream Lady Gaga. She is the kind of pop star I think that you cannot take your eyes off at this moment in

time and material like this, if anything, means you know sort of even less about her, despite spending more time with her. My favourite kind of major major pop artists aren't always necessarily the ones who are the most talented, but the ones who acknowledge right from the get go that pop is a lie and that pop is a game, and then they use that chance to invent a second side of themselves and let that live in front of the cameras instead you know M&M Madonna Bjork Kanye West Mark Boland Demi Harry David Bowie Kate Bush Brett Anderson I think Lady Gaga lives in that kind of category way up there with all

of them they are the kind of artists who at their peaks understood firmly that the worst thing a pop artist can be is understood and figured out. Not all of them were made in good faith as well, but there were so many rumors about Lady Gaga's origins and backstory that they all kind of coalesce into this myth that she took advantage of and produced a wonderful string of singles which lasted a long time. I think the first single of hers that was maybe a bit like oh to me anyway was uh Perfect Illusion. That was the first time that I heard a Gaga song and I was a bit like oh the mystique's kind of not there'm not huge on applause applause I'm not hugely keen on but it

is still I would still regard that as a solid you know a solid single whereas perfect illusion was the first Gaga single not necessarily just somber single where I thought something's missing here there There's a mystique. There is an extra cult of personality, which isn't quite there. I think Born This Way is a bit pandering. It felt like a bit of a moment at the time though. Yeah. Looking back, I'm sure.

Looking back it is, but it felt like quite a moment, Born This Way happening, yeah. But even then, that came on an album with that cover with her head at the top of a motorbike so yes that too was like who decided that i know this when that leaked because i remember that leaked like a couple of months ago i was like on gargar forums at this stage i was obsessed and that leaked and everyone assumed that was fake because it's like it's like objectively bad. It uses that word art font and the picture of her in the bike is just so stupid and like everyone is sure well that's got to be a fake but that's

another example like I said earlier of her not doing the cool thing of not doing some, you know, big dramatic pose. She's a bike with a word art font. She just does whatever the hell she likes and I hated that cover at the time. I was like, oh, this album's not gonna sell, she's ruined herself. But it was a stroke of genius. I don't think I've actually made it clear how much I loved her at the time. I've just said that now and I was on Gaga forums and stuff but oh my god. I had sort of a opposite experience to Rob, you know, where you said you have to sort of keep it down to keep your current credentials. I, in 2008, I'd come out and my God, I had timed it well because there was no way I was going to be able to keep quiet about Gaga. I'm so

glad I was able to enjoy her openly. Yeah. I'm glad you both explained where you were in 2009 because I was, I was very much in my pitchfork phase and so I probably would have heard Lady Gaga and thought oh she's just ripping off Uffy who nobody remembers. She's not Radiohead. I mean I've not changed to be honest. I listen to pop now and it's like they're not cocktoe twins. You never grow out of it really. But Andy, something you said before has resonated with the last thing in my notes. I was looking this up before. Lady Gaga was the most searched celebrity on Google images in 2009. Ahead of Michael Jackson and Megan Fox. And Poker Face is like a 101 explanation for why.

Yeah, you just you need to know more. You just like it's Martin Prince in the arcade. Tell me more. My dinner with Gaga. She's one of those people, though, that like, if you could choose to meet any celebrity and see what they really like, Gaga would be absolutely top of my list. Like it would ruin the Mystique, of course.

And she's sort of, you know, she's sort of a little bit more in the real world now. But back in those days, if there was any celebrity I could have chosen to meet to see what are they like, you know, what makes them tick, 100%, every single day I would have chosen Gaga. I think a lot of people would, because she was on this like different plane,. It's just excellent PR to some extent

but also just her as a personality. You just had to know more about her. Right then, do we have anything more to say about any of the songs we have covered in this week's episode? My mum is like notorious for being really bad at mishearing lyrics. Even really obvious ones that you think, you sort of sonically can't actually hear that. Like, for example, Billie Jean, my mom thinks it goes, the child is not my son.

Like, I don't know how she hears that, but she genuinely thinks it goes, the child is not my son. Oh wow, okay. Yeah, no idea. But with this, she genuinely thought, and I thought she was joking when she told me, but for years she genuinely thought that Gaga was singing,

cherry pie, cherry pie. And she said, why did she say cherry pie? She thought it was just part of Gaga's weirdness. Because it goes with red wine. Goes with red wine? Yeah. Glad to mention that, because I always think cherry pie would have hit us.

Lizzie, that's actually reminded me of what you and your mum thought about hung up the tango spice so slowly. Oh yeah, tango spice. Alright then, Andy, right round, Barry Island's in the stream, Poker Face, where are we sending them? Well, right round is going right round the vault and the pie hall and's in the stream, Poker Face, where are we sending them? Well, right round is going right round the vault and the pie hole and landing in the middle, it's going nowhere. Islands in the stream is on a little island in the middle of the streams of the vault and the pie hole, i.e. that's also going nowhere. And as for Poker Face, I'm poking it hard into the vault. Right into the vault.

One of the easiest vault decisions I've made in a long time there. Andy, quick question before I go to Lizzie. How'd you get Pikachu on a bus? Pokemon. Lizzie. Flowrider. Ruth Jones, Robb Bride and Tom Jones and Robin Gibb. And Lady Gaga. How are we feeling?

I'm exactly the same as Andy this week. Flow Rider going nowhere. Islands in the Stream going nowhere. Lady Gaga straight into the vault. Yep. I am also exactly the same. So we have another triple Volta. Well done Lady Gaga.

But yeah, right round, nah, it's just sitting in the middle. I like it more than I did, but it's never gonna get near the vault. Barry Allen is in the stream, kind of flirted with the pie hole, but then I kind of remembered that you know, it's fine if your heart laughs every now and again. And Poker Face, well, it's had a one-way ticket to the vault really for a long time ever since we sort of thought about doing this podcast really. I've been waiting to vault that. So well done.

That is it for this week's episode. When we come back we'll be continuing our journey through 2009. We will see you for it. Bye bye now. See ya. Bye bye. I'm really sorry enough for what they've done There were three wise men just trying to have some fun And look who's alone now, it's not me, it's not me Those three wise men have got a semi-magicy