Hits 21 - 2010 (4): Dizzee Rascal, David Guetta, Shout for England, Katy Perry

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Hits21UKBLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/hits21podcast.bsky.socialINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/hits21uk/We're back! Hits 21 has jumped 11 years into the future from 1999, landing in 2010. Things are different. Dizzee Rascal is trying to bring DISCO back, David Guetta is unfortunately making music, England are still shite despite the songs, and Katy Perry wishes we could all be California gUrls.Rob, Andy, and Ed take their first steps into the 2010s.

Hits 21. Hi there, everyone, and welcome back to Hits21, the 2010s. Where me, Rob, me, Andy. And me, you're midiak. Looking back at every single UK number one of the 2010s. Email us at Hitch21 Podcast at gmail.com. Follow us as well on Instagram and Blue Sky. Links to those pages are in the description.

And you can follow us on Patreon. well you can subscribe it's three pounds a month right now as of recording there's me ed and and andy discussing spice world and then there's me and ed chatting through our favorite albums of 2010 the year we are currently covering links to everything is in the description thank you ever so much for joining us again we are currently looking back at the year 2010 and this week we'll be covering the period between the 30th of may to the 10th of july so andy the uk album chart through, I guess, kind of like the summer. So we've got pendulum with immersion coming in at number one for one week and going platinum,

which is mainly notable to me because my husband, who I hadn't met at that point, went to that tour. He loved Pendulum. And in the early days of his being together, he used to wear the T-shirt from that tour, and that would be my kind of shirt that I'd take home to put on because it reminded me of him. So Pendulums immersion weirdly means a lot despite being a very noisy album. Anyway, that is toppled by probably the least noisy person who's ever lived, which is Jack Johnson with To the Sea,

which went number one for one week and only went gold more than it deserves there. And then we've got Christina Aguilera with her latest Bionic, which went number one for just one week and only went silver. And its performance is quite notable because it has a record. Do you two know what this record is that by? Ionic has. Couldn't begin to guess. It is the biggest second week drop ever in the history of the albums chart.

It went number one for one week, and then the following week, it fell 28 places to 29, going from 24,000 copies sold to 9,000 copies sold in that one week. That is what you call a fan base, ladies and gentlemen, and it goes only silver because of that. Tell you what, no one can name any songs off that album. Not at all. for completists. Then we've got another one for completus, which is time flies 1994 to 2009 by Oasis, which went number one for one week and went eight times platinum, even though everyone's got these albums anyway. Talk about fan base. And then we finally get two weeks at number one

and a quadruple platinum album for the return of M&M to the charts with recovery. And we'll be hearing plenty more from that as the years go by, as the weeks go by, I should say, not the years. Recovery was not that popular. In UK news, 12 people are killed and 25 more people are injured when 52-year-old taxi driver Derek Bird goes on a killing spree in Cumbria. Bird eventually turned the gun on himself. The incident was the worst mass shooting in Britain for 14 years. Weeks later, police in Northumbria chased down 37-year-old suspect Raul Mote after he murdered

as one person and in just two others, including a police officer. Moat eventually turns his gun on himself as well after being cornered by police in the town of Rothbury, Northumberland. In sport, the England men's football team are knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa in the round of 16 by Germany. That 4-1 defeat remains the heaviest England have ever suffered at a major tournament. The competition is eventually won by Spain, who lift the trophy after winning 1-0 against the Netherlands in the final.

The films to top the UK box office at this time were as follows Street Dance 3D, Sex and the City 2, killers get into the Greek and Shrek forever after. Ed, America. America! Well, Glee is back, exhibiting a release schedule for albums that makes King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard look like the Stone Roses,

because this in fact is volume 3, which isn't the same. album that was at number one last time. They will return in about 10 minutes with a completely different album as well, but there's two weeks at number one for volume three. Then, where did other good people go? The question remains unanswered as Jack Johnson takes a week at the top. Sorry, we've been very mean to Jack Johnson here. He's not, he's not that bad. I mean, it's some of his early stuff. My mum used to play it in the car. It's decent enough. He's not...

No, sorry, he's the male, Katie Meliwer. That's what he is. Okay. Show me the lie. Show me the lie. Okay, okay. Well, oh look, did you miss him? It's more Glee.

The Reginals. That's the finale. The Journey to Reginals album is the finale of season one, and it's very emotional, and it's the best episode of Glee, and I was very, very dedicated listener to that album. Oh, well, it is more exciting than it sounds then, because it's a bit like calling your album,

semi-final. runner-ups. It's one step below the Nationals, which they wouldn't do until season two. Spoilers there, everyone. But yeah, regional's, that's the big business. Okay, okay, take your word for it. One week of that, before Drake,

finally we're getting Drake, when we know we're in the 2010s, asks us to thank him later. Do you know, after nearly two decades of quantity over-quality slurry and embarrassingly thin-skinned public sniping,

I don't think I will, tar, still. Speaking of defensive fan base is an embarrassing hubris. It's Eminem, whose recovery begins a fair stint at the top in the USA as well. Now, on to singles, far less busy this time. F-U-N-E-M-N-N-M. A-F-O-M-G-O-M-G dozes at the top for another couple of weeks before California girls begins its chart

domination. And that's your lot for singles. All right then, so the first of four songs up this week is this. Okay, this is Dirty Disco by Dizzy Rascal. Released as the sixth

single from his fourth studio album titled Tongue and Cheap. Dirty Disco is Dizzy Rascal's 16th single to chart in the UK and his fourth to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to miss the Rascal during our 2010's coverage. Dirty Disco went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 70,000 copies, beating competition from Solo by Ayaz, Not Afraid by Eminem.

We dance on by end-ups and E-D-E-Meedy by Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber. After one week at the top, Dirty Disco fell, three places to number four. It stayed inside the top 104, 11 weeks. The single is currently officially certified Silver in the UK. As of 2026, Andy, you can kick us off with this Dirty Disco by Dizzy. Yes, Dizzy Daskill. That's the right name. Yeah. Is he Daskell?

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I mean, obviously, for those who know me, you know, if there's one thing that I can confidently talk about as a white gay man from the North West, it's the London crime scene, that's, you know, that's my culture, isn't it? And, yeah, I'm not going to lie, I don't have very much on this.

It's what it says on the tin. It is disco, and it's pretty dirty, and it's by Disney Rascal. It is exactly what I'm not. I imagined it would be, and I did have to imagine what it would be, because I've never heard this before. And I think maybe I just wasn't in those circles at all where this was being played, but I didn't know this at all. But I had very fun, though, to be honest. I like how hard it lent into the disco, that it wasn't just a title. It's not just a silly name. Because a lot of things

that say disco or, you know, things like that, they just mean generally dancing, and I think they tend to cop out on it. But this actually does feel like it's using the tenets of disco, it's using the big strings, it's using the very, very straight down the line, one and three drum beats. And it's making reference points that feel very familiar.

Like, a lot of it sounds quite a lot like Boney M and Rasputin, in particular. I think it's a really nice little production. But it's not much more than a novelty, is it? Let's be honest. Like, it's just Dizzy Rascal doing something that disco inspired. And

that's it. That's all I've got. Wow. To be honest, I don't have much more. In a way, this is the quintessential dizzy rascal single for this period of his career, I think, because I think listening to it is a constant reminder of how far he was taken by his personality behind the mic. You know, this is, to be honest, this is basically just like an extension of, like, holiday, which was also one of his kind of less kind of great singles. but like he did on holiday, on dirty disco,

he still plays the kind of, you know, cheeky chappy with total confidence and that charm does come across quite well, and it does a lot of heavy lifting. Because I think as much as I enjoy the kind of deaf punk style disco pastiche that's kind of going on in the background, and as much as I love how it kind of winks

at the whole thing a little bit, this is built on very glossy, kind of like overstuffed mixing that's bordering on like pure kielk cacophony at points. You know, it is bursting with strings, multilayered backing vocals, loads of brass, deafening, like, flourishes of, like, you know, the things that signify retro. At times, it's so busy that Dizzy himself gets a bit swallowed by it or, like, his voice is fighting for space a little bit. But even when the mix drowns him out, and it does on occasion,

he never seems bothered by it, you know, and he's clearly having a lot of fun and the energy is infectious. And it's what I was on about in the last episode. really where like making a party song about having fun is completely fine as long as you have the tools to communicate those feelings with the degree of like there is a sense of emotional urgency with this you know it's like yeah come on you know woo you know that sort of thing and in truth yeah it is basically just a b side from the tongue-in-cheek era because this was yes it's the sixth single from the album but it's technically the second single from the deluxe edition of the album which you know like you know it literally is kind of like oh well we've got this line around so whatever let's have a go. It's a playful cast off from a period when Disney was churning out party anthems with ease, but things like bonkers are miles clear of this one for me. You know, that felt dangerous and a bit,

not scary, but, you know, a bit racy at points, whereas this feels quite sort of safe. You know, but his leftovers were still fairly entertaining at this point. And I guess the slightly throwaway nature ends up being part of the appeal. You know,

it's not trying to be clever or ground baking. It's just trying to get you moving and, you know, kind of do you can imagine him with a drink in his hand and no sense of embarrassment and that's fine because you know i feel the atmosphere here you know not more than when he's just kind of standing there shouting disco disco disco you can just imagine him with a pint in one hand and then kind of leaning back slightly in his chair and then fist pumping with the disco disco you know watching a friend on the dance floor who's doing the same motion back at him from across the club somewhere like he's a piss punter jumping up

and down somewhere. It's a hook that shouldn't work, but it does. It's stupid and it's loud and it's delivered with commitment. So, okay, fine. Laf along if you want. I think that's the track in a nutshell, though, really. You know, messy, excessive, but kind of charming and not a dizzy rascal highlight. I think I would have preferred from around this period, actually, it was a little bit afterwards, like baseline junkie, maybe getting this high instead. But never mind, you know, slices of Dizzy are always fine. One little thing that this did remind me of was love on my mind

by the Freemasons, which reached number 11 in 2005. The, I got love on my mind. Because that's sampled this time, baby, by Jackie Moore and when the heartache is over by Tina Turner. Dirty Disco, the sample seems to be hanging

out by John Davis and the monster orchestra. And in a lot of ways, basically all of these songs I've mentioned all sound like each other. So I'm kind of like, oh, this reminds me of this. And then when I listen to this, it reminds me of that. And when I listen to that, it reminds me of them. And when I listen to them, it reminds me of this.

And this time, baby, by Jackie Moore clears all of them by some distance. I think that's a fucking marvelous song. But this is pretty good. It's all right. It's, you know, it's dizzy. You know, it's fine. Ed, what about you? It's just so refreshing to hear dizzy in most contexts.

I mean, you said he does a lot of heavy. lifting, Rob. You're very right there. There is a bit more heavy, heavy burden lifting going on later in this program, perhaps. But yeah, there's just something about him. He's got a unique voice, a unique flow. He's got this lovely, inviting sense of humor. And while it never reviewed very well, tongue and cheek, the album that came out, well, before this, obviously, as you say, this was the deluxe version. I really liked. I actually liked it more than the previous one, where he started working with a lot of, you know,

American gangster rap artists and producers, and it felt a bit like, oh, he's trying to make a play for, you know, American hardcore circles, and it felt a bit contrived. It didn't lost a bit of character. And then he's just like, ah, fuck it.

And he does this album, which is like, you know, loads of UK dance producers and songs about playing FIFA with my mates and going out. And I found it really very charming. And he can really pull it off and make it sound like, He means it just as much as something, you know, introspective and claustrophobic off his first album,

which is still an absolute banger, by the way. Look, I mean, they say that there's certain people who can read the phone book and make it sound good. And I think it just goes to show how good dizzy is. There's nothing really interesting going on subject matter-wise. But at one point, he just lists drinks, and it's delightful. He's done it before. It's like, oh, remember when he talks about Tropicana

and happy shopper. Oh, dude. It just, it really works for him. And he's always got this sort of winking, you know, I don't know. It's just a tremendous sense of fun. It's, he always had something that elevated him above the, I think often overlooked UK hip-hop pack.

I am far from, you know, Andy, you're not alone. Outside Dizzy Rascal, I know next to bugger all about grind in the UK. But one thing I can say is, that nobody stuck out with the instant pop appeal. And I mean that in the best possible way of Dizzy Rascal. In fact, I'm not 100% sure if there's ever been a UK rapper outside, I don't know, someone like Slick Rick that has ever stuck out with that much immediate pop appeal.

He just, he does enliven anything he's in. And it's fortunate at that because as maximalist as the backing is, and as big as the sample is and as fun as it signifies itself as being it's not really got a centre point this it doesn't have as you kind of hit on Robb it doesn't really have a chorus he's trying his best to hype it up basically

but it's not really got a centre point it is just a loop basically with a sort of what am I thinking of reprise a bit in the a bit in the middle, basically, to glue it together. And it just, it feels like a little blast that doesn't really have anything that you, you could call a landmark to go back to.

Unless, of course, you listen to the version that is on the, on the extended version of tongue in cheek, which we only discovered before this program was a different version from the radio version. But it's one of the strangest radio edits ever, evidently, because all they did, was cut nine seconds off the beginning, pretty much. And it's basically just dizzy rascal making some sounds. That's why I introduced the show with going, you're miniak!

Miniak! Is he saying maniac, manlike? Nyak, nyak, yuck, yuck, yuck. But anyway. When you say it, you sound like a sort of wizened farmer? Mni-yneur and me-muck and mignac. Yeah, anyway, the fact that we talked about that probably more than we did the song in our chat is, says a lot, I think, about this.

But do you know what the really sad thing is? This is probably one of the better songs we're going to cover this week. Oh, it definitely is, yeah. Speaking of, the second song up this week is this. Bring it back. Hey, hey, I can't forget your baby. I think about your eight day. I tried to masquerade the pain.

That's why I'm next to the roof. But there is no, there is no. Baby, it feels so to dance to the beat of the moment. Life, we like to live. Okay, this is Getting Over You by David Gweta and Chris Willis, featuring Fergie and LMFAO. It's the collaborations era, everybody. Released as the fifth single from his fourth studio album titled One Love.

Getting Over You is David Gweta's 17th single to chart in the UK and his third to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Mr Gwetta or LMFAO during our 2010's coverage. The single is a remix of the David Gwetta song Getting Over, which reached number 86 in 2009. Getting Over You first entered the UK charts at number 41, reaching number one during its second week. It stayed at number one for one week! In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 49,000 copies beating competition from Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart by Alicia Keys. After one week at the top, Getting Over You fell three places to number four.

It stayed inside the top 1004-19 weeks. The single is currently officially certified Platinum in the UK. As of 2026, Ed, you can start with the one by these, all of these people. Well, I just heard a bunch of sounds stitched together, didn't I? I mean, it is basically, it's a tapestry of different textures. And in itself, I don't hate it. I don't find it unpleasant. it does move around, there is variety,

there is technically dynamism, even though everything is sort of basically compressed to the same level, there are women's voices, there are men's voices, there are loud bits, and there are quieter bits. And I don't really remember any of them, even though they really, really, really, really seem to want me to. Jesus

I mean Rob you mentioned in the last episode how narrow the subject matter of songs in this era seemed to be and you weren't lying they are all about hitting the dance floor they're all about the same fucking thing to various different degrees

and you know when you hear them back to back you realize there is more to life than being slightly drunk at you know like quarter past 11 or so something. But then again, I am Uncle Music. That does make me sound as old as I am. But yeah, I mean, it's probably fine in that context, but Jesus Christ, you can pick many better songs for that. Even bloody LMFAO and Black Eyed Peas have done better songs in that line than this. And I don't hate

this, but it's just, it's just, there's nothing here. It sounds a bit like other songs, all of the artists have done stitched together without the memorable hooks of any of those songs. Oh, and there's that horrible bit where Fergie holds that note and they digitally manipulate it. So it kind of goes, eh, it's like, oh, God, damn it. This was not meant for headphone listening, was it? But, yeah, like the previous track, it's like it represents something monumental, but there is no content to it. It's like, oh, okay. I could hate this more, though.

I keep them coming, 2010, I could hate it more. Yeah, the main feeling I always got from this and still get from it now is that it feels like David Guetta trying to recreate the kind of hit-making magic of, you know, I got a feeling. Except David's formula for that sort of thing is thinner and more obnoxious and noticeably, I think, a bit more desperate. Like, you can practically hear the blueprint being dragged back out, like, you know, the big synthetic stubs and the, Live your life. It's the weekend, nine to five, put your drinks up kind of chorus and you get a rotating cast of like, like hype merchants being brought in to like make the whole thing feel like an event, you know, no matter how flat their performances are. And of course, you know, yeah, everybody bought into this, didn't they? Because, ah, Fergie's there. Remember Fergie from I got a feeling? Well, it's that again, but more monotonous. And like, when did you were saying that last week, what? When did monotony become this popular? How did it happen so quickly? You know, and party, and party, and party,

when did it become so popular to not have choruses as well, all of a sudden? That whining synth thing underneath the dance sections, that grating kind of nasal drone that somehow made it through, it's astonishingly unpleasant, and that's not a chorus. It's not, you know, And it's the kind of production choice. It feels like it was added really, really late into the sessions and then like, oh, yeah, fuck it, whatever. The drop as a new thing in pop music right now feels like it doesn't quite get its due until about 2011.

Because, God, like, the drop as a thing in pop music felt like a, well, I'd say now, you've borrowed this from Brosteap. But this is, this is fun, you know, trying to, you know, add a huge dynamic shift after about 40 seconds to the point where, yeah, that you drop. and you feel like you're coming off a cliff with it. And it's like, is this the best we can do right now? 2011 feels like it uses these kinds of things much, much better. The whole LMFAO section in this is the clearest sign I think of how there's barely any inspiration actually occurring here. The synapses aren't exactly fizzing. They sound bored.

They sound inconvenienced actually, as if they kind of wandered into the studio with like half an idea. And then we're like, well, this is vaguely on brand. So, sure, let's do this. Their actual hits, LMFEO, which come a bit later, for me, they have all the fun and frivolity that this is lacking. Their trademark kind of like, yeah, we're bros at the party, you know, kind of energy is nowhere here. It's all perfunctory, filler, flat shit. And the part is that David Guetta makes music for sounds so fucking miserable as well. And I was going to talk about sexy chick here, so I may as well to say, this doesn't.

the same fucking thing where David Guetta just copy paste the first half and then calls it a day to its minor credit there's at least that attempt to abridge this time with Fergie but it's that really awkward like speed bump in the road where it's like a reference

to boom boom power again the people in the place if you want to do that's not that's not real that's oh I just and then the and party and party and party do do do do do do do do do do do do No, it's not for me.

Like, being an alternative kid in the summer of 2010 fucking sucked, man. Jesus Christ. Every time I turned on a radio, it was this. And it all, like, something from last week, like, oh, M.G. And if you turned around, like, oh, I don't like this. Why is everything sounding the same? You would just have a bunch of people sort of, like, turning and looking at you as if you were strange.

And I'm like, well, I don't know. I care about this stuff. you know, I wasn't averse to like, I mean, I've never really been much of a drinker, to be honest. I've never really had a phase in my life where I have drank or anything like that. And so maybe I'm on the outside of this. You know, like some music, people say, oh, sounds so much better when you're high. And maybe this is one of those where it's like, oh, it sounds so much better when you're drunk. But like, I don't know, if you're in a state where you can't drive a car,

then you shouldn't really be judging music in that state, as far as I'm concerned. I think I can judge it fairly well sober, and I think this is a big pile of fucking nothing, really. Yeah, this is another one of those where didn't like it at the time. I've come to it now after a few years, still think it's a bag of shit.

I can't ride a car, Rob. Do I automatically get disqualified? No, you know what I mean. I know. I know. I'm being pedantic. Sorry, Andy, you carry it. No, it's right. I certainly don't dislike it as much as that, partly because this was my going out era.

And so I think is when I saw getting over you, I was like, getting over you. I remember the tune that getting over you, but I couldn't like, I'm going to need to refresh memory. And when I heard that dirty, dirty, dirty sensor, do, do do. I was like, oh, it's that one. It's that one. And this was so, so big in 2010, in the club, so to speak. and I was going out a lot several times a week at that time. You know, I went to uni in this year.

And it was fun, and it definitely suits that environment. Because nobody sits and listen to this stuff on their headphones, do they? Like, that's mental. Like, I felt really weird sitting and listen to this while stood completely still. Like, it's just not a thing that you do. And there's some songs of this era that are still like, yeah, but your drinks up that managed to balance that line that you can still sit and listen to this in headphones and have a good time.

like party rock anthem you know I think that's one of the pleasures of that song and I'm not going to say too much on it because we've got that coming up in a few episodes time but you know I really like how that's like gentle enough that it's not just like it makes you feel weird to listen to it outside of a nightclub

but also you can put it on in a nightclub and it'll blow the roof off this is just like it is kind of just very very noisy and the whole stitching together of different elements It's really weird. It's really weird, because first of all, you've got that really straightforward copy of the I've got a feel and sound that

and Fergie singing over it. And then you've got, well, I didn't realize that LMFIO were on this. And then I thought, oh, God, of course they are, because that sounds just like something they would do. Like, either they were involved in that or they took inspiration from it. Like, it does sound like the drop from party rock anthem. And it's just, yeah, it's very, very,

noisy. It's very much stitched together of like, oh, I'll do this bit, you do that bit, and then we'll put it all together. And it makes me think, you know, that quote, I'm not going to get this exactly right, that quote from Winston Churchill about Dunkirk, where he says, it's something like, you know, never have so many owed so much to so few. With this, it's like, never have so many artists produced so little with so much noise. It's just, it's almost a marvel, really, but it's like, you've got big, names on this, big producers, all of whom, well, I'm not so sure about all of whom, but many of whom, you know, would go on to great success in their own right. And we get this, we get this. It's a time of laziness more than it is a time of creative bankruptcy, I think. I think it's a time where it's really easy to cash in, really, really easy to cash in because the formula is so tight and it always works. Who can blame people for adherence to the formula? I don't think they've not got ideas. I think they don't need ideas. Because something that's... like this gets the number one

and is really successful. So who can blame them really? Very cynical view of it, but I think that's how it is really. And yeah, I don't hate it because I do think that incredibly dirty synth is really quite memorable and it's definitely grabs you that sound. And I don't think it's like

badly made. It's just total fluff. So, yeah, don't hate it anywhere near as much as Rob does, but I certainly frown on this sort of thing. Yeah. All right then, so, song number three this week is this. All right, this is Shout by Shout for England, featuring Dizzy Rascal and James Corden.

Released as a standalone single, Shout is the first and only single to be credited to Shout for England in the UK charts. This is also the first number one to be credited to James Corden and the fifth and final number one to be. credited to Dizzy Rascal. Shout went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 113,000 copies beating competition from Frisky by Tiny Temper and Labyrinth, waving flagged by Canaan, and three lions by Bedil and Skinner under lightning seeds.

And in week two, it sold 84,000 copies beating competition from kickstarts by example, All the Lovers by Kylie Minogue, Dancing on My Own by Robin, and Alejandro by Lady Gaga. After two weeks at the top, Shout fell two places to number three. It stayed inside the top 100 for seven weeks.

The single has never received any official certification from the British phonographic industry, but it probably should be certified silver, considering it has apparently sold over 200,000 copies. which is one of my three questions about this already. So one is, what the hell is that? Number two, what the fuck were we doing in week two, guys?

All the lovers dancing on my own, Alejandro, all missing out, fuck me. And then the third thing, and this is a question for you both, if Dizzy Rascal and James Corden are catalogued here and credited here as featured artists, who or what is shout for England who are they what was it I'm not sure is it all the people in the background is it Simon Cowell

yeah I think it's all the other people because you can't really make out James Corden on this because there's so many other voices so I guess it's that Rob it's the Dunkirk spirit that binds us all yes exactly it's the friends we made along the way to the round of 16

it's the it's the chorus of people screaming when Frank Lampard's goal that crossed the line wasn't given. That's what it is. Ed, shout, but quietly. Oh, I was going to make a hilarious joke when I made the audio peak. Well done for intercepting. Did I mention that Dizzy does heavy lifting earlier on? That said, I mean, yeah, he comes in with full energy. He's like, right, this is going to be amazing and blah, blah, blah. He's really giving it 110%. musically

considering what this is this is actually a lot better than I was expecting especially for a football single featuring Dizzy Rascal and James Corden which sounds like liquid piss there's not any other type of piss

really unless you froze it but you get my drift I do I like the slouchy verses I do like the cool discordant piano cord that's that's out of on the chorus. I think that's a neat bit of a turn around. So they're not keeping it completely straight. I have a feeling that Rob might have some thoughts about the kind of the attitude of

this song towards England and English football in an international sense. I may be just stabbing in the dark there. But the minute I had that come to. and have a go if you think you're hard enough. I'm like, oh, oh, Rob's going to have some things to say. And I mean, so do I. It represents a lot of the shit that the stereotypical shit that scares people like me off from football and makes, you know, masked football supporters seem a little bit scary.

But I gather there is a bit more doing that. I've heard. But yeah, I mean, I can't hate this. simply because I think it has energy. It actually has some ideas, aside from the fact that it is, yeah, it's just co-opting a bloody chorus from a, I'll be honest, the song I was never too struck on in either of its other two versions. But as football cash in songs go, is actually one of the more musically engaging ones I've heard, which is not saying very much. And it is ignoring a lot about the lyrics. but to be honest, I never really

listen to the lyrics in football songs. Anyway, anyone else? Thoughts is? Yeah, okay. So, look, I appreciate the honesty that Dizzy's going for, but the opening lines of this,

feel like it goes for a three lines 96 thing where it kind of sets the scene by saying, look, things haven't been good for this team for a while, but Diss's lyrics feel like he's attacking them on a personal level. All those lines are like, pull your fucking fingers out, put the fucking champagne down. Forget about your wives and girlfriends.

I just play some fucking football. And I enjoy that it sums up the frustration, the resignation, the gallows humor of most football fans. But as an opening statement, I think it sets a weird tone that this song never quite seems to know whether it wants to big England up

or bring England down. It's sort of like, come on England, win that football. But then in the same breath, it's a bit like, fucking hell, England. Just win the fucking football,

you useless bastards. Beyond that, I think the mix is horrible, absolutely disgusting, genuinely overwhelming. You get the crowd chanting, the Black Street sample, the razor synths, the football commentary, the big synth lead, the arpeggiated sins, the tears for fears interpolation, it's like, ah, you know, it's so busy to the point where the bits that James Corden is apparently singing on, sound like they're drowning him. Maybe that's a small mercy, actually, that we don't hear too much of. James Corden on this, but throwing those bits that are like, so much to play for,

or whatever, in my head, I'm just like, let's get ready to rumble, let's get ready to rumble. Dizzy sounds okay in his parts. He's doing as much as he can with pretty weak material. Whoever thought that Aaron Lennon would be referenced in a song, but there we go. And not just a song, actually, a number one song, kind of like his appearance in Band-A-20, Dizzy. trying to do his best with pretty, you know, weak material. The no-digity sample is fun. There's that forceful, quite kinetic synth baseline underneath the chorus that gives it a bit of bounce and a bit of edge.

Sort of like do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do. It's fun. But everything else is loud. And quite a lot of it feels like a bunch of people kind of just fulfilling contractual obligations that they signed up for 12 months ago, possibly while drunk, and now they can't get out of it. And to be honest, this was kind of the death of the new England song.

It's a tired thing by this point, and this is basically the last new one to get any kind of traction. Since 2014, we've just gone back to Three Lions 96 every summer, you know, and every new attempt is kind of giggled at or tolerated for a bit, and then that's it, like the atomic kitten one, where they just got them back into the studio to just say, football's coming home again, and then re-released the entire thing. And even that didn't get very high in the charts.

It got to like the top 20, but that was about it. Three Lions kicked things off again from 96 onwards, you know, because obviously there was things like back home in the 70s and, you know, things like that. And Three Lions really was like a new kind of like, you know, it's Brick Pop, it's current, it's about this, it's about that. And it's about us welcoming the football world to our shores again and all this stuff. And then everybody wanted to have a go. And it meant that for about a decade, you got loads of full.

stupid novelty stuff like, you know, granddad and his son Elvis, you know, the, ooh, we got a quarter, you know, that one. And then you've got,

um, uh, the Sven, Sven, Sven, Sven, Scor and Erickson. And you've got We're on the ball by Anton Deck.

And, you know, there's all these attempts to do songs like that. And obviously, you get the Mike Bassett film around this time. And there's a bit of fun novelty stuff going on there. With regards to like, pop culture,

influenced by the England national team. But then this comes along and that's it. And in 2012 we get Sing for England by Chris Kamara. That doesn't chart. A re-recorded version of Greatest Day with vocals by Gary Linneker, Michael Owen and Peter Shilton, which does chart, but I've never heard it. And I'm not doing that kind of like, well, I've never heard it. So it mustn't be famous kind of thing.

But like, no one ever seems to bring it up. No one ever seems to mention it. There's a re-recorded version of three lines that they, did in 2022 that didn't even chart. Like, this is it. You know, I think England not qualifying for Euro 2008 and then doing absolute shite at the next two World Cups and the next two Euros killed off that sense of like, yeah, we're the golden generation.

We're going to win the thing. We're going to, you know, you really want to buy this record, you know, that sort of thing. I think that things like this, dizzy rascal, and especially the embrace one from 2006, world at your feet, it made it very corporate. all of a sudden and all that novelty element kind of got kicked out of it a bit and embraced doing world at your feet where it was like with the world at your feet there's no one you can beat yes it can be done you know when you have songs like that it's like okay the joke has moved on we're no longer even doing the joke we're doing genuinely sincere songs about football and okay but i think that that coupled with the fact that i mean 20 10 out in the first knockout rounds. Euro 2012 out in the first knockout round. 2014, out in the group stage.

2016, out in the first knockout round, you know. In my lifetime, I think this is probably when the enthusiasm and passion for the England's men team was actually at its lowest. I don't rate him that much as a tactician, but I really rated Southgate as a man-manager and a public relations guy because the enthusiasm and love that he got for the England team like to come back from such a low place during the Capello and Hodgson years, I actually find really admirable,

but I think that period between like 2008 and 2016, with Shout for England being the exception, that was enough to kill off like proper bids at novelty England singles, films, TV shows, all those things. And now they're just not cool. Like, even with the improving quality and fortunes of the England team under Southgate and Thomas Tuchel, they're just not cool, unless Stormsy does one, maybe.

But anyway, also, is that Carol of the Bells in the, back the the it's not literally it's not literally Carol the bells but it is the same tune I don't think they're

actually doing that on purpose I didn't think so but weird Andy shout for England quietly oh god you know

a little bit of mild inside baseball for the audience here that I you know I was like oh am I going to

come back to do the 2010s and I was like oh but 20 the year 2010 itself that was like such a big year

for me I've got to reminisce about that year and here we are now and oh my God these last two episodes like goodness me and the three songs we've had so far I just don't know how much

I can carry on can we negotiate my contract and double my pay live on the air please because Jesus thank God we've got something that's pretty all right coming up next and there are brighter days ahead

because man it's just desolate out there in the summer of 2010, isn't it? And you know what? It's actually not, and that's just annoyed me even more here and that, that we lost out on dancing on my own this week, which is an absolutely fantastic pop song, which would have been getting maybe a 10 for me. It would have been certainly going.

Same. And just, oh, what are we doing? And, you know, obviously, we have only ourselves as a nation to blame because we always, as a nation, put these bloody, things at the top of the charts, or at least as Rob says, we did until about this point. And I said, oh, God, I've spoken a lot about football songs in the past because we've had a fair few of them. Like, World in Motion, I like because that's an actual good song, I think, that just has

football slapped onto it. And three lines, whereas this, I just like, no, don't get this at all. And it falls into the category of football songs we've talked about. That's like, the phrase I used at the time was, it makes me. feel physically unsafe. And I'm sort of going to invoke that for this one, to be honest, because it sounds and feels like, and is designed to be like a bunch of blokes in a pub who are just following a vague, formless tune that they can all stick to. Like, there's no coincidence that they've picked something here that is really easy to sing that has about three

notes in it, you know, three different, different notes in it. And, you know, if you think about the songs that go really, really big in that kind of football chant crowd, sweet Caroline, you know, that's not difficult to sing. Three lions is not difficult to sing. You know, it's, it's, these things are chosen carefully. And, you know, these are crafted. And this is no different. It's very corporate.

It's very sleazy and very just cheap. And the thing that I struggle with is that I'm hesitant to say, oh, it's music for people who don't like music. Because I don't think that's true, because I struggled to define this. as music. Not in the sense that it's so awful that it's not even music at all, but in terms of what it is, what the product is, it's, it's, no one actually cares about this as a song, do they?

Like, this is England in the World Cup, and no one actually, like, cares about this. I'm not going to say no one actually likes it, but no one cares about this. No one's putting this number one because of its quality. And what's this got to do with the World Cup, really? And it kind of reminds me of what, I said about helping Haiti with everybody

hurts where it's like there's something going on that people are thinking about a lot but unavoidably it has nothing to do with us we are not on that pitch we can't give tactic advice you know we whether we watch it on telly or not makes no difference to the outcome

same as with Haiti nothing we do makes any difference we just kind of want to feel like we're involved and I think this is just your free ticket to feeling a bit like well not free ticket you're a 79p ticket to feeling like you're little bit involved in something that you're absolutely not involved in and it

just helps you feel a little bit part of the national conversation and so I think this isn't really music at all this is a sort of corporate massaging of the national ego and I don't like that at all I think as a piece of music this is not like it's not awful like we've heard so much

worse like yeah this is trash but considering you know this is fucking James Corden of all people it could have been so much worse you know need to remind you that we've had the likes of, you know, in the past as Lizzie brought up and likes to remind us, you know, actual current as a

26 U-CIP leader, Neil Hamilton, with England and Jolly Dee with Christine Hamilton as well. We had that back in the noise. And Stan Bordman with the borderline, straightforwardly racist. Who do you think you are kidding, Juergen Klinsman? Stan Bordman there who once had a slang and match with my whole family

had a puntons because of the behavior of a baby. what? Yeah, yeah, he was Yeah, he was getting to Just skip past that one, Andy. Yeah, we went to We went to Ponsons for like a weekend in in Blackpool to cheer my Nana up and the whole family went.

It was a quiet weekend. We didn't, it wasn't really in season. And the club was quite empty of the evening. But Stan Bordman was on that night. I think I might have told the story about seeing the bananas and pajamas out of costume with their heads off and that was that was on the same holiday. Yeah. But anyway, Stan Bordman was on one night.

It was hardly no one in there. And we had my little baby cousin, who was really, he was loudly like six months at the time. Didn't know what was going on. And he started crying. Not Wayland, just crying. And Sam Bordman interrupted his whole act. Go, we'll show him or someone shut that fucking baby up.

Take that fucking tieg out of here. And, yeah, just a class act of a man, him, isn't he? Yeah. We also had Keith Harris in Orville one night singing. We're a shack and fly, but it can't. Yeah. Would have referred back to this. I'm honest.

But yeah, this isn't music at all as music is intended, as an art form. This is just a thing for us to have. And we're not here to discuss things. We're here to discuss music. So on to the next one, please. Yes, the fourth song and the final song this week is this. Greetings, loved ones. Let's take a journey.

Okay, this is California Girls by Katie Perry and Snoop Dog. Released as the lead single from her third studio album titled Teenage Dream, California Girls is Katie Perry's seventh single to chart in the UK and her second to reach number one, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Ms. Perry during our 2010's coverage. California Girls went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for two weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 124,000 copies, beating competition from Love the Way You Lie by Eminem and Rihanna. And in week two, it sold 93,000 copies, beating competition from airplanes by B.O.B and Haley Williams.

I like it by Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull, and Commander by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta. After two weeks at the top, California girls dropped one place to number two. It stayed inside the top 100 for 35 weeks. The single is currently officially certified three times platinum in the UK. As of 2026, Andy, you can begin the end of the show with California Girls. Well, it was worth hanging on for me because we're now finally in the 2010 that I remember. And my God, all of those songs you just read out there, oh God, it's just taken me back. like just a few of them. I mean, love the way you lie. I've always had a real soft spot for that.

I used to love that at the time and that's just one of those now whenever I listen to it. I'm instantly there. I'm back. I'm in my tiny little room the size of a box at uni. Fancy and Dominic Monaghan in the video and not fancy an M&M. And Commander, I've got to talk about that one. There's an infamous photo of me on my 18th birthday party when someone decided to get me a tray of 18 shots to celebrate. celebrate my birth, which I did all in one, but that would break, drank all 18 of them. And that was a really bad idea because there was an infamous photo taken about half an hour later of me sat outside this bar so unwell that my face was actually green, like a

cartoon. And Commander was playing while I was spewing up. And me and my sister always looked like, I remember that time where you were just spewing out your soul to Commander? And that was in the summer of 2010. happy happy times. Yeah, and that's the reason I don't drink shots at all now. It genuinely is.

Anyway, this, I feel like this is the only song we've covered this week that you could really expect anyone to really remember. I mean, of course we all remember California girls. They're unforgettable. But no, this is definitely of a higher quality to everything that we've covered this week. Because for starters, it's got verses bridges and choruses, which, you know, feel like all of the twists going up with my plate here, but I don't think it's too much to ask to have a verse of chorus.

The bridge. And I think this really suits Katie Perry with her kind of sugary sweet, like almost sickly sweet delivery that she puts into all of her songs. Like, this suits it because this is just like, yeah, my girls, we're going to have fun. Snoop Dog is entirely unnecessary. I don't know what he's doing on this. And a lot of the time, I don't know if you to remember this, that when it's on the radio at the time,

a lot of the time Snoop Dog was edited out and you didn't miss him like it just wasn't really needed at all I will say that Teenage Dream which was the follow-up signal to this I think is basically this but tightened up and improved sort of the same song really

like it's got pretty much the same chord structure the same tempo it's in a slightly different key but on similar themes and similar kind of vibe to it and I think that's better that's like a better second attempt to the same thing but this is really fun and it feels

like summer, but it's got like a nice kind of relaxed, almost kind of languid pace to it at times that feels like you're sort of lazing out in the sunshine rather than off your tits on Coke at a festival, which getting over you feels like a lot of the time. Like it's the nice side of summer. It's the fond memory side of summer that I associate with 2010. And yeah, it's hard not to at least like this. I think it hits the spot in too many ways for to not at least like it. Like it's very catchy. It's lyrically very fun. It's got nice kind of rise and fall throughout. It's well produced, and it's a good match of singer and song.

It's hard to go too wrong with this, to be honest. It's not my absolute favorite thing in the world, but oh my God, do I love having this here? Because it's just nice to have a good song. Thank you, Katie. And it's the only thing I'll thank Katie for, but thank you at least for this. Ed.

California girls, are they as under, are they as under- as Andy finds them, do you think? Well, East Coast girls are hip. I really dig those styles they wear. Anyway, that was inevitable. But, right, I like this, yeah. And is completely right that this is

by far and away, not even, there's not even any proximity to it as to this being the most memorable song this week. This is a genuinely memorable song from that era. The verse is catchy. The chorus is catchy. It knows

exactly what it's doing. Why do I never like it as much as I want to? Because it broadcasts fun. It is catchy. It is memorable. It is well done. I think it's because it doesn't really change gear at all. You know, basically all they do is double up the vocals for the chorus. And it doesn't really move beyond this kind of bubbly, a low energy electronic burble. So it always sounds a little bit skeletal throughout. And as a result, it's just like, when Snoop dog appears, it's just like, he sounds very exposed.

And it really draws attention to the fact that it's like, oh, well, he doesn't belong here. I mean, it's the only time I've ever heard Snoop in something where he doesn't feel like he actually fits somehow, because he will do absolutely fucking anything, really. He will. He will. He makes no illusion of the fact.

But really, why did they think of him for this? I mean, I trust the gin and juice line came, you know, came about after the collaboration, rather than it's like, oh, we've got gin and juice in there. We've got to get Snoop Dog in. But, yeah, I just, it becomes a bit listless for me after about the two and a half minute mark, because it's like, well, this doesn't really go anywhere. It just doesn't seem as big or as fun as it should. I don't know if that's really going to, I don't know, maybe other folk can't quite relate to that predicament, but I just feel like it's not, it needs a bit of an extra kick at certain points in the song and it doesn't get it, so it seems a little flatter than it should, but it is a good song. I do see that. I do see that.

I think it's definitely got scope to go further. It plays it slightly safe. I do agree with you on that, yeah. That's it, really. It is a good song, and it's clearly the most memorable song this episode. I just, for something that I remembered being a lot of fun, it just sounds a little skimpy, oddly. So for me, I think that this song actually captures Katie Perry

at the exact moment when her like kind of cartoonish and kind of candy-coloured, you know, brand of like synth pop, you know, it still felt pretty fresh and fun and, you know, like, bearable because some of her stuff from a bit later is not bearable. Before all the overexposure and before the exhausting pivoting, to empowerment anthems and before the eventual downfall that everyone now retroactively claims they saw coming when they didn't. She was leaning into that cheeky, sexy, slightly bubblegum aesthetic and her music, you know, it went a long way thanks to like aesthetic synergy that she achieved

on things like one of the boys and teenage dream. You know, it was a bit naughty. It was a bit, you know, bottom lip bit, bitey, you know, it was a bit candy flossy and a tainty bit kind of flapper showgirlish, you know? And let's be honest. after things like left shark and woman's world, I have noticed people trying to pretend that we didn't all love this stuff in 2010, that we didn't as a public keep telling her that silly candy renditions of her visions of pot were actually great because, oh, we did. We did.

I've seen people trying to pretend that they didn't. But, you know, I feel like we, you know, I feel like retrospectively, a lot of people have tried to pull the whole like, oh, I always hated her because she worked with Dr. Luke. And even back in 2012, I knew something was wrong with her. I knew. No, you didn't. No, you didn't.

We were all on board with this. We all loved it. You all put fucking Roar at number one. Don't fucking lie. Wait together. I've got to interrupt you on that one. I definitely, definitely did dislike her by then. Raw was, that was past the point, I think, with Raw.

Oh, yeah. No, I will say, you know, like, I also hate Raw. I think it is one of those few songs where I'm like, when it comes on the radio, it's one where the radio has to go off or I have to rip it out the dashboard. You know, I'll happily pay £400 for a new radio than listen to that. So I'm not going to say that I was alone in that. But it still got to number one. And there's a lot of people now who like to pretend that like,

oh yeah, I kind of went off at the beginning. I never really liked. No, no, we're not doing that. We're not playing that game. This was the era where her pop instincts were still relatively sharp. Her persona was still playful rather than grating. And the whole package worked for a lot of people. It's another three years before I start hating her music and finding her

annoying as much as I'm not keen on firework really but at the time that was kind of on its own the song itself to me is quite good I think you know it's kind of fizzy soda pop you know it's drenched in sun it's cheeky bits of disco it nails the brief you know it sparkles without blinding me the chorus is memorable you could say undeniable and it does feel engineered for the summer without tipping over into like you know self-parody of that kind of stuff Snoop Dog's appearance is fine He does okay It's the West Coast

So of course, you know If you mention the West Coast enough Snoop Dog will manifest Fine But he doesn't steal Katie's spotlight So whatever His verse is more of a vibe Than a necessity

But you know It's breezy And so is the track All he really has to do Is sound cool And he does that Even if it probably calls for a rapper With I think a slightly higher voice

But you know This for me was the song of that summer. Teenage Dream remains her best album cycle, I think, or era, as we're apparently required to call it now. And California Girls is one of the pillars that made it so, I think. It's

confident and it's colourful and it's catchy. It feels kind of effortless at this point for her rather than forced. I think by the time she's doing things like woman's world or even things like what do you call it, chain to the rhythm, where it felt

like you're trying something. thing here and I don't think people want you to try anything. I think people just want you to do naturally, but I think there's only so far that can go. One of the songs most charming touches to me arrives right at the end as well, that kind of vocoder-soaked outro that introduces a genuinely, I think, quite potent melody that is so potent. I'm surprised it comes in after the final chorus. California, California girls. I always thought that was in way earlier, but it turns out it's not. She sneaks in one last hook for good measure. It's a small detail

but it adds a lot of texture, leaves a song lingering in your head a little bit longer. So yeah, I find this cheeky, playful, memorable. It's a bright highlight I think from Perry's strongest era. And at the moment, I have to be honest, I am currently trying to find a set list

of Snoop dogs. You know how Ed you were saying he would put his name on basically anything. There is a short set list of his somewhere on Setlist FM from this paid gig that he did where like it's a Christmasy thing I seem to remember and he does like covers of white Christmas

and Santa Claus is coming to town and then he does a full version of that you know the the Just Eat thing that he's on that did somebody and you know who else you know who then took over and did the next JustEat song Katie Perry yeah

who they got next Harry well they had another one to Katie Perry that was really big. I can't remember where it was, but they had another... Chris Brown. Just... We're just going down and down. I want to say Cardi B. It might have been. It was someone

big. It's a Craig David has done one recently, hasn't he? Yeah, Craig David did one. Yeah, he did. God's sake, just looking at this now. The fucking... Oh my God. The set list of this night, did somebody say Justeat 30th in the set list of

35? So I know a lot of people want a full song to be released of. I don't know who does it, but whoever the band is that does the, Gillette, the best a man can get. People want a full version of that. Andy, dirty disco, getting over you,

shout, and California girls, where they all going? Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere. Yeah. Ed, dizzy rascal, David Guetta, dizzy rascal again, and Katie Perry. What about all of that?

No, nowhere, nowhere, nowhere, no where, Nowhere. No, well, in a little more detail. No way, no way. We're losing the thread here. Let's bring this. Let's bring this into the harbour. Disco, disco, disco is nowhere in particular, unfortunately,

but it's not for the want of trying. Getting overused crazy paving of trendy voices stays flat on the ground, low to the ground to be sure where it belongs. I'll be honest I mean maybe I am crazy Shell is not half as apocalyptic awful as I feared

though if this were anyone other than dizzy I would be you know this would be probably deep deep in the pie hole for me but it is dizzy and isn't he charming though so slow or fast it gets to the line

but just teeters on the edge of the pie hole like look up football reference later there is a place where the songs are semi-decent I wish them are the... So I've got to apply the vocal effect she does. Put my face in a cup. I wish them are the best.

But there have been a vote recently. And you also have to do that weird sort of half-wetching sound effect that she does on the word world. You can travel to world. I could travel to world. you suddenly inherits the spirit of Mick Jagger for a second? That'll do, actually. There was a not very funny bit.

I was going to do the... I was singing into the glass. Yeah, it's not far off. I think they've all given us exactly the same bloody score, to be honest. Yeah, we have. But it's good, but it's just... It's not got the rocket attached. And I have a feeling that if I do really listen to the follow-up,

as Andy indicates, that might... Just hit that. Was that a number one or did it not make it? No. No. Piss balls. It might be born to run up, I'm not sure. Ah, well, I'll have a look.

As for me, Dirty Disco, that's going nowhere. Getting over you, firmly in the pie hole. Shout just over the line of the pie hole, but I've not got a referee to ignore that this time. That's a joke about Frank Lampard's non-goal. Oh, you gave it to him. California girls, much like England in 2010. Close, out of the group stage, but not quite vault material.

So, when we come back, we will be continuing our journey through. 2010. 2020, yes, 2020, and we will see you for it by bye now. Bye.