The UK Top 40, 19/10/03

That REM single does get better and better every time I listen to it. It's like they've suddenly remembered they have a guitarist in the band. And the video...

WHAT A FANTASTIC TOP TEN! the charts have been vital/brilliant/U+K of late. and just when I thought Pop Idol and Fame Academy were about to kill them off for good too. i should have known better.

"Bad Day" is the worst song in the Top 10 by some way, I think.

How could you not hate this man;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/backstage/images/banner.gif

Anyway, I was wrong about Emma getting to number 1 but then I didn't realise it was out in the same week as ver 'Babes who I also thought would get to number 1.

What's out this week William?

Why the hate?

Robin otm, bad day isn't great at all, though perhaps better than Black Eyes peas. Does anyone else find that verse near the end with "curiosity", "animosity", "terminal velocity" whatever whatever to betray their lame indie rap past?

I think the Sugababes song is better than Round Round, in fact it may be my favourite thing they've done. The ghost of Cafe Del Mar bleeps that run through it really make it for me.

I don't know if I hate "Where Is The Love" because I'm cynical, or because my ears function properly. It's just impossible to believe this is the same band that recorded "Empire" just three years ago. (It's like they decided the only thing that was any good on "Bridging The Gap" was "Weekend", and decided to make a whole album based on it. Blech).

For everybody's information: "Bad Day" actually is an outtake from the "Lifes rich pageant" album.

Texas is the most interesting song there. From a marketing point of view. I mean a) the rub rap, which is mixed really low (though it wsn't on TOTP) and b) her elpee sleeve which hasher out of Texas as her out of Ver Yeah Yeah Yeahs. But all their fans don't like rapping much or the YYYs do they? Not that much anyway. But they don't want to feel left out? Any of the Kids who bought it have got serious false consciousness issues, it's not for kids, it's for homeowners.

Wes... the idiot makes one actually long that Goodier was still there; and I never used to like him much. Law of relativism I guess.
It was the best Top 10 for ages wasn't it? Rachel Stevens' is probably my least favourite there. REM tolerable, Emma Bunton surprisingly nearly-pretty-good as WBS says... 50 Cent; i like the steel drum but it's all really a bit dull. It's really not the most interesting hip-hop that's around... is "2 Gunz Up" ever going to be released as a single? (pardon me if it's slipped under the radar recently)
Sugababes and SEB i really liked, though not quite as much as Jamelia - Superstar... now that *is* sparkling, impudent pop of the very highest order; i love it more each week.

the Jamelia is ok but i am liking the Rachel track a lot. 50 Cent = yawnerama this time. no way is 'Hole In The Head' better than 'Round Round' tho.....NO WAY

"2 Gunz Up" couldn't be a crossover hit, though. Not in the US, not here. Not anywhere, in fact. Non-specialist, non-grimy audiences - the sort of people you need to get a record in the pop charts - just aren't ready for that kind of thing. It's the same in the US, despite hip-hop's much greater primacy there - out of all the Dipset tracks, only Cam'ron's funkiest and "blackest" moments, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", have made a meaningful impact on the Hot 100, and David Banner's completely arythmic "Like A Pimp" never became the sort of crossover hit that YoungBloodz' "Damn!" (which *does* have a residual funk pulse to it) is right now. You'll note that 50 Cent's mainstream hit singles have had some kind of sonic "blackness" about them, the sort of thing that pop audiences can relate to in hip-hop - his quasi-fascist-hop material hasn't crossed over, and I can't see the harpsichord-based "Stunt 101", even if it's released as a single off the soon-come G-Unit album, in the UK Top 10.

Just so you know - the scores for the prediction league have been updated here.

There is no league this week, but it will return next week.

Also - obvious factual error - last British UK #1 was Elton John.