THE SOUND OF 2019

So 2019 is now over and we are almost in 2020.

Seeing as everybody is doing End Of Year Reviews, I thought i’d join the party, albeit a bit belatedly.

So here is my Top 50 Songs Of 2019. There’s no scientific formula to this list. I just went through 2019s Friday Fives and decided to spend an hour and rank the songs in order of favouriteness.

In a change from previous years, it’s only a Top 50 as it would probably take me until 2021 to do a Top 100.

1. Vampire Weekend – Harmony Hill
2. Sigrid – Mine Right Now
3. Taylor Swift ft Brendon Urie – Me
4. Dermot Kennedy – Outnumbered
5. Catfish and the Bottlemen – Longshot
6. Liam Gallagher – Shockwave
7. Sam Fender – Hypersonic Missiles
8. Two Door Cinema Club – Talk
9. Freya Ridings – Castles
10. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Wandering Star
11. Tom Walker – Just You and I
12. Billie Eilish – Bury A Friend
13. Pet Shop Boys ft Olly Alexander – Dreamland
14. Of Monsters And Men – Alligator
15. Chvrches and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra – Miracle
16. Kygo ft Whitney Houston – Higher Love
17. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Black Star Dancing
18. Bastille – Joy
19. Coldplay – Orphans
20. Liam Gallagher – Now That I’ve Found You
21. Sam Fender – Will We Talk
22. Gang Of Youths – What Can I Do If The Fire Goes Out?
23. Editors – Black Gold
24. Bastille – Can’t Fight This Feeling
25. Bloxx – Go Out With You
26. Katy Perry – Never Really Over
27. Blossoms – Your Girlfriend
28. Muse – Hungry Like The Wolf
29. The Courteeners – Heavy Jacket
30. Billie Eilish – Bad Guy
31. Chemical Brothers – MAH
32. Jade Bird – Lottery
33. Haim – Now I’m In It
34. Crystal – Just Can’t Get Enough
35. Rick Astley – Every One Of Us
36. Chvrches – Death Stranding
37. OMD – Don’t Go
38. The Divine Comedy – Infernal Machines
39. Vic and Bob – Bono’s Cooking Some Pork
40. Miles Kane – That’s Life
41. Liam Gallagher – The River
42. The Divine Comedy – Queuejumper
43. Weezer ft Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World
44. The Vaccines – All My Friends Are Falling In Love
45. Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now
46. Shakespear’s Sister – All The Queen’s Horses
47. Lizzo – Juice
48. Rose Elinor Dougall – First Sign
49. Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
50. Dea Matrona – Let’s Go Crazy

Congratulations to Vampire Weekend. There’s no physical prize, but they can just boast about it everywhere they go. Ideally, they’d be doing so in Belfast before a concert. Hint hint.

If you care, here’s the list of previous winners (NOTE: The 2006-2008 Countdowns were on Bebo, and have now been wiped from internet history)

2018 Lovelytheband – Broken
2017 Liam Gallagher – For What It’s Worth
2016 The Strumbellas – Spirits
2015 Blossoms – Charlemagne
2014 Jamie T – Zombie
2013 Haim – The Wire
2012 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Getting Back Together
2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …… What A Life
2010 Marina and the Diamons – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1, 2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabian – Empire

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 18.1.2019

1. Muse – Hungry Like The Wolf
2. Ryan Adams – Manchester
3. Chemical Brothers – MAH
4. Catfish and the Bottlemen – Longshot
5. The Killers – Land Of The Free

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 18.3.2016

1. The 1975 – The Sound
2. Jake Bugg – Gimme The Love
3. James – Nothing But Love
4. The Last Shadow Puppets – Aviation
5. Gwen Stefani – Misery

First of all, apologies for not doing a St Paddy’s Day chart for you last week. I forgot. Too busy doing a Red Hot Chilli Peppers one.

Still, here’s some songs for you to get through your hangover today.

FIVE SONGS BY ACTS FROM NORTHERN IRELAND

1. Wonder Villains – TV
2. Ash – A Life Less Ordinary
3. The Adventures – Broken Land
4. The Divine Comedy – The Pop Singer’s Fear Of The Pollen Count
5. Baltimora – Tarzan Boy

FIVE SONGS BY ACTS FROM REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

1. U2 – The Fly
2. Heathers – Remember When
3. Phil Lynott – Yellow Pearl
4. The Cranberries – Dream
5. Kodaline – High Hopes

Meanwhile, this week saw the latest Belsonic headliner announced – Chemical Brothers. I love Chemical Brothers, but live dance music doesn’t do it for me. Anyway, i’ll be in France when they are in Belfast.

I saw them live at T In The Park once, so if you are going, you’ll probably have a good night.

Now, if Belsonic could hurry up and get Noel Gallagher, The 1975, Chvrches and Madness to do headline gigs, that would be nice. I’m not asking for much.

Anyway, here’s a Chemical Brothers chart for you.

FIVE SONGS BY CHEMICAL BROTHERS

1. Go
2. Galvanize
3. Do It Again
4. The Test
5. Out Of Control

THE SOUND OF 2015 : 1-25

So here we go, what you’ve been waiting for …….. The Top 25 songs of 2015. Enjoy.

1. Blossoms – Charlemagne
2. The Strypes – Get Into It
3. Chvrches – Leave A Trace
4. Muse – Revolt
5. Chemical Brothers – Go
6. Muse – Mercy
7. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Ballad Of The Mighty I
8. Ellie Goulding – Love Me Like You Do
9. Florence and the Machine – Queen Of Peace
10. Everything Everything – Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread
11. Calvin Harris ft Haim – Pray To God
12. Mumford and Sons – The Wolf
13. The 1975 – Love Me
14. Little Mix – Black Magic
15. Taylor Swift – Style
16. Mini Mansions – Death Is A Girl
17. Florence and the Machine – Ship To Wreck
18. Muse – Dead Inside
19. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – SOB
20. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – You Know We Can’t Go Back
21. FFS – Piss Off
22. John Newman – Come And Get It
23. Everything Everything – Regret
24. Soak – Sea Creatures
25. Paul Weller – Saturn’s Pattern

So, congratulations to Blossoms. I bet they didn’t think that supporting Paul Weller and The Charlatans on tour could be topped, but it has.

If you haven’t heard the song before, here you go …..

They join an illustrious list of winners. Sadly, Bebo has wiped their archive, so I can’t link you 2006-2008.

THE SOUND OF …… PAST WINNERS

2014 Jamie T – Zombie
2013 Haim – The Wire
2012 Taylor Swift – We Are Never Getting Back Together
2011 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – AKA …. What A Life
2010 Marina and the Diamonds – Shampain
2009 Little Boots – New In Town
2008 Sons and Daughters – Darling
2007 Feist – 1,2, 3, 4
2006 Kasabian – Empire

THE FRIDAY FIVE – 31.7.2015

1. Chemical Brothers – Go
2. Sunset Sons – She Wants
3. Hidden Cities ft Tim Halperin – Hungry Like The Wolf
4. New Order – Restless
5. Andreya Trian – Gold

Tomorrow, is International Yorkshire Day. So, to celebrate, here’s a musical chart from Yorkshire’s musical output.

FIVE SONGS BY ACTS FROM YORKSHIRE

1. Pulp – A Little Soul
2. Kaiser Chiefs – Oh My God
3. Kiki Dee – Star
4. Def Leppard – When Love And Hate Collide
5. Human League – Tell Me When

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : VOX – AUGUST 1995

It’s the summer of 1995 and Britpop is on the rise, but it’s an American, Michael Stipe of REM, who is the cover star of this edition of Vox.

In news, Depeche Mode are now down to three members following the departure of Alan Wilder, while Oasis have announced that their second album, “Morning Glory” is finished and ready for release in September, while there were rumours that Paul Weller would join Oasis on stage at Glastonbury.

The Cure announced plans for a new album in February 1996, Nancy Sinatra posed for Playboy at the age of 52, and the BBC were planning six hours of programming to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Live Aid.

Vox looks at the trend of Indie bands becoming pin-ups, and Boybands getting serious, with contributions from PJ Harvey, Holly Johnson, and Martin Carr from Boo Radleys.

Bands tipped for success include Whale, Thurman and Cast.

Armando Ianucci is interviewed, ahead of the launch of his new satire show, Saturday Night Armistice, which is accompanied by a picture of him licking an iron.

Chemical Brothers get a two page interview about heir recent successes, while three pages are dedicated to Oasis singles cover art, with comments and anecdotes from Brian Cannon (Art Director) and Michael Spencer Jones (Photographer)

There’s more Oasis a few pages later, as Paul Slattery, a photographer who accompanied them on tour, shows off his best photos from the year he spent with them.

Therapy? get a four page interview, accompanied with a photo of them dressed as clowns.

The National Lottery has recently been set up, so Vox asks various bands such as Dodgy, Shampoo, Supergrass, Pulp, Sparks and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin what they would do if they won the lottery.

Gene were that months guest reviewers, sticking the boot into Paul Weller’s single “Wings Of Speed”, with Martin Rossiter stating “This is a dreadful ballad. If Mariah Carey sang this, we’d all be slagging it right off”

The Verve are interviewed over two pages in LA, with the introductory line “Can The Verve follow in Oasis footsteps?”

Jim and William Reid from Jesus and Mary Chain are asked about their most hated things, aiming their vitriol at UB40 and Chris De Burgh.

Cover star Michael Stipe is interviewed, speaking about how REM are getting back on track, following Bill Berry’s onstage collapse earlier that year.

Mick Jones of The Clash gets a full page interview of his memories of punk.

MAGAZINE ARCHIVE : Q – JUNE 1997

Paul McCartney, promoting his new album ‘Flaming Pie’ is the cover star of this edition of Q, from the summer of 1997.

Former Primer Minister Ted Heath also features, being the subject of the monthly “Who the hell does ……..” column.

In news, there is an interview with the country’s biggest band, Swing Out Sister. Not this country, but Japan about how unappreciated they are in their home country and their love of Japan.

Louise Wener, lead singer of Sleeper, gets a double page spread as she sits online, answering questions from fans via a chatroom on the Q website.

How primitive, seeing as celebrities do this everyday now via Twitter.

Tipped for greatness was Fountains Of Wayne ……… only the seven years before they had their only big hit “Stacey’s Mom”

A whopping twelve pages gets dedicated to an interview with Paul McCartney, including a buyers guide to his back catalogue, both as a Beatle and a solo artist.

In chart news, Chemical Brothers top the album chart, beating off competition from Spice Girls and Wet Wet Wet. Bee Gees have two albums in the top twenty.

In other news, Channel 5 is launched and Q dedicates two pages to this by looking back at the launches of the four other terrestrial channels.

Gary Barlow, then trying to make his name as a solo artist, is featured in a short interview at the end where he reveals that Adam and the Ants was his first concert, that he was the hardest boy in his year at school, and that he doesn’t like Reggae.

Gary Barlow also stated that “I like a girl who can dance and really knows how to move her body”

Something to bear in mind if you are entering X-Factor 2012.