4 November 2004 Here's Britney's third Irish number one of 2004, making this in chart-topping terms her most successful year to date. This cover of 'My Prerogative', the new track (and title track) from her greatest hits album, feels of a piece with its predecessor 'Everytime' in that the main event here is the video … Continue reading Britney Spears – ‘My Prerogative’
Eric Prydz – ‘Call On Me’
7 October 2004 Is it possible to separate 'Call On Me' from its notorious video? After all, what you bought and heard on the radio was the record. Maybe people loved its generic Euro-house vin ordinaire and its repeated-to-death '80s soft rock sample. The 'Call On Me' CD single tracklisting doesn't include the video, though … Continue reading Eric Prydz – ‘Call On Me’
Brian McFadden – ‘Real To Me’
9 September 2004 The boy band solo bolter, 2004 edition. Brian McFadden had already co-written two Eurovision-connected Irish number ones, Simon Casey's You're A Star runner-up 'A Better Plan' and Chris Doran's You're A Star winner 'If My World Stopped Turning'. Both songs felt like continuity Westlife. Now here's Brian himself with his first solo … Continue reading Brian McFadden – ‘Real To Me’
Natasha Bedingfield – ‘These Words’
19 August 2004 Seeing the world from the top of the singles charts really puts things into perspective. In narrow terms of number ones, 2004 has been a rotten, demoralising year for pop music, pop culture, and me. At the time I just ignored them—luckily I had album reviews of landfill indie to grind out—but … Continue reading Natasha Bedingfield – ‘These Words’
O-Zone – ‘Dragostea Din Tei’
12 August 2004 Moldova and Romania weren't among the ten countries who officially joined the EU in an outdoor ceremony on a warm, sunny Irish day in May 2004. Their respective candidate status and accession come a few years later. Still, there's a nice serendipity to us also having that summer our first Irish number … Continue reading O-Zone – ‘Dragostea Din Tei’
The Streets – ‘Dry Your Eyes’
22 July 2004 I'm just like you. I see some of these Irish chart toppers from back in the day and I too go: really? That actually went to number one? Yes, I remember 'Dry Your Eyes' from 2004, but The Streets had until then been a sort of critically-acclaimed indie-garage UK rap act: Mike … Continue reading The Streets – ‘Dry Your Eyes’
Britney Spears – ‘Everytime’
17 June 2004 We're still a few years from public head-shaving and private conservatorship, but already by 2004 the Britney story was becoming uncomfortable viewing. I had the impression that 'Everytime' leant into that mood by design, so it didn't appeal to me greatly then and I haven't looked forward to revisiting it now. On … Continue reading Britney Spears – ‘Everytime’
Tim O’Riordan & Natural Gas – ‘The Langer’
20 May 2004 As a Kerry person, I have devoted my life to showing compassion to people from Cork. Yes, they live in their own filth and eat their young: we know all that; we don't need to rehash their many failings. Let's instead celebrate the positive in Cork. After all, Cork are the second-best … Continue reading Tim O’Riordan & Natural Gas – ‘The Langer’
Chris Doran – ‘If My World Stopped Turning’
29 April 2004 You're A Star, Ireland's early-'00s talent show format for Eurovision selection, had two crucial design flaws. First, it's one thing plucking a fresh-faced unknown from obscurity and planting them in the white-hot glare of national TV. But You're A Star went way beyond that: it then teleported them onto the unforgiving stage … Continue reading Chris Doran – ‘If My World Stopped Turning’
Eamon – ‘F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)’
15 April 2004 "Disingenuous" is probably not the first bone you'd pick with this single, I grant you. However, the expression 'Fuck It', the track's title, has an air of resigned acceptance: a world-weary shrug. The track itself, though, is a spittle-flecked, vein-bulging "Fuck you", repeatedly, to a woman he calls some quite derogatory and … Continue reading Eamon – ‘F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)’
