28 August 2020 A warm welcome to any of you who don't know what the title stands for. I'll give you a minute to look it up. [A minute later] Welcome back. There's a long lineage of bawdy chart-toppers from male rap acts—my mind summons up The Outhere Brothers—so an all-female duet doing likewise is … Continue reading Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – ‘WAP’ →

24 July 2020 'Head & Heart' caught my attention at the time because of its split-screen video, which you can see below, with the parallel working days of someone living their worst life and their best life. (It was made using identical twins.) As this was in the days of Covid-enforced remote working, the office … Continue reading Joel Corry and MNEK – ‘Head & Heart’ →

17 July 2020 I'm a big fan of Jason Derulo's habit of starting his tracks by saying his own name. It's a considerate signal from him that I should change the station. After all, not everyone loves Jason Derulo as much as Jason Derulo seems to love Jason Derulo. Thanks, Jason. It's not quite out … Continue reading Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo – ‘Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)’ →

29 May 2020 Earlier in May 2020 the UK had two number ones that were charity records in response to the Covid pandemic. Neither of them made the Irish top fifty—and you can look them up online yourself to understand why—nor did we have any native Covid charity hits. Perhaps the closest we got was … Continue reading Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande – ‘Rain On Me’ →

15 May 2020 Neither of the two acts here are easy to like. Roddy Ricch faced charges of domestic violence earlier in 2020, though the charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. In 2018 DaBaby shot a man, who later died, but pleaded self-defence and avoided serious charges. He also struck a woman in a … Continue reading DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch – ‘Rockstar’ →

1 May 2020 Don't worry, everyone. Here to save us poors from the drudgery of Covid lockdown is... Drake, showing us around his real-life mansion in the video (below) for 'Toosie Slide', from his trophy room to his marble kitchen island to his indoor pool, before a fireworks display by his outdoor pool and all … Continue reading Drake – ‘Toosie Slide’ →

6 March 2020 You can still see them here and there: old decal signage and path markings asking us to keep two metres apart. Other effects from March 2020 onwards have also endured. The Covid pandemic changed lives, upended lives, and took lives. Lockdown and social distancing brought an almost instant move for millions to … Continue reading Saint Jhn – ‘Roses’ →

21 February 2020 I was intrigued, back in early 2020, when the writer and performer of the title song for the imminent new James Bond film was announced to be Billie Eilish. Wouldn't it be gas, I though, if the song turned out to be 'Bad Guy'-style bleepy, mopey lo-NRG electro-pop full of angsty teenage … Continue reading Billie Eilish – ‘No Time To Die’ →

31 January 2020 I live almost five miles away from Croke Park. Nonetheless, I caught the faint but familiar strains of 'Blinding Lights' in the night air from the first of The Weeknd's back-to-back August 2026 shows there. It must have been some kind of echoing effect caused by a half-empty stadium. I'm not sure … Continue reading The Weeknd – ‘Blinding Lights’ →

24 January 2020 Our trip through 2020 begins on a morbid note. Juice Wrld here joins Jim Reeves, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Jackie Wilson, Jim Morrison, Graham Chapman, Freddie Mercury, Chris Moore, Pérez Prado, Tupac Shakur, Stephen Gately, George Michael, Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl on the list of people who've had posthumous number one … Continue reading Eminem ft. Juice Wrld – ‘Godzilla’ →