19 June 1971 With five number one singles dotting the decade like bird droppings, Brendan Shine can claim to be Ireland's biggest chart-topping star of the '70s. It may somewhat colour this accolade for you to know that his nearest competitor in this was Red Hurley with four; the showband-dominated '60s Irish charts congealed into … Continue reading Brendan Shine – ‘O’Brien Has No Place To Go’ →

7 August 2015 It was the fate of most boy bands and girl groups to have one member leave. In the case of One Direction, we probably all thought it would be high-profile Harry who'd be first to do a Robbie-style bolt for solo success. Instead, Zayn left for personal reasons. 'Drag Me Down' was … Continue reading One Direction – ‘Drag Me Down’ →

5 June 1971 Anyone who writes 'I'm A Believer' can't be all bad. Therefore, to say that every Neil Diamond song is knuckle-gnawingly dreadful would be incorrect. It's the other 99.9 percent of them that's the problem: his gauche, self-satisfied lyrics that amount to the wrong-headed knowingness of a parish priest telling a class of … Continue reading Neil Diamond – ‘I Am… I Said’ →

10 July 2015 Country-core fashion and country-adjacent pop have been huge in 2024-25. The countrifyin' of chart pop goes back a lot further, though. In particular, the colossal success of Avicii's 'Wake Me Up' in 2013 helped make country vocal-hook choruses a cheap, easy and popular option for shoehorning a bit of basic-bait sentimentality into … Continue reading Lost Frequencies – ‘Are You With Me’ →

10 April 1971 Knocking Marc Bolan off the Irish number one spot: a welder from Cork, an actual metal guru. Some more chopping and changing saw Lynn Anderson's 'Rose Garden' and T. Rex's 'Hot Love' each reclaim the top bunk, before 'When We Were Young' by Pat Lynch and The Airchords vanquished both again to … Continue reading Pat Lynch and The Airchords – ‘When We Were Young’ →

12 June 2015 Diplo, one part of Major Lazer, has most recently been in the news due to various sexual assault allegations, which he denies and which in one instance has been settled out of court. The video for 'Lean On' is someone doing their big shop in the Bollywood aisle of Cultural Appropriation. Singer … Continue reading Major Lazer and DJ Snake ft. MØ – ‘Lean On’ →

3 April 1971 It happened on 24 March 1971, according to biographer Lesley-Ann Jones in her book Ride A White Swan. T. Rex were at the BBC to record 'Hot Love' for that week's Top Of The Pops as the new UK number one. They had performed the track on the show before, but this … Continue reading T. Rex – ‘Hot Love’ →

17 April 2015 Paul Walker's death in a car crash in November 2013 was the motivator for this rap-pop ballad from the movie he was making at the time, the seventh instalment of the Fast & Furious series. From its use on the film's elegiac coda, the sentiment behind it was clearly heartfelt, plus I … Continue reading Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth – ‘See You Again’ →

27 March 1971 Lynn Anderson is not Canadian. This information is for any other '80s kids like me who first encountered her singing 'Rose Garden' as a sample on 'I Beg Your Pardon' by dour Canuck electro act Kon Kan, a sort of New-foundland Order. Their name comes from the regulation that music radio stations … Continue reading Lynn Anderson – ‘Rose Garden’ →

10 April 2015 Even if you don't recognise the artist's name—and Omi won't be gracing the Irish charts again—or the song title, you'll surely remember the distinctive trumpet hook that heralds this global one-hit wonder. What we get here at the top of planet Earth's 2015 charts is actually a deep house remix by a … Continue reading Omi – ‘Cheerleader’ →