Hits 21 - 2009 (1): Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson

Episode Date: May 26, 2024

Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every UK #1 hit single of the 21st century - from January 2000, right through to the present day. Twitter: @Hits21UK Email: [e-mail] Vault: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5O5MHJUIQIUuf0Jv0Peb3C?si=e4057fb450f648b0 Piehole: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2FmWkwasjtq5UkjKqZLcl4

It's 21, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh where me, Rob, me, Andy and me, Lizzy are looking back at every single UK number one of the 2000s. If you want to get in touch with us you can find us over on Twitter. We are at Hits21UK, that is at Hits21UK and you can email us too. Send it on over to Hits21Podcast at gmail.com if you are so inclined. Thank you very much for joining us again. We are taking our first step into 2009, the final year of the 2000s, the last year that Lizzie will be with us for a while before myself, Andy and Ed go into the 90s. This week though we'll be covering the period between the 1st of January and the 7th of March. In 2009 there was no poll winner from the last episode because Alexandra Burke won a very big poll to win the X Factor. So it is time then to press on with this week's episode and as always it's time to press on with this week's episode, and as always it's time for some current news headlines from the first little bit of 2009.

In New York, an Airbus A320 plane crash lands in the Hudson River. In an incident later named the Miracle on the Hudson, a flock of birds had accidentally flown into the plane, causing dual engine failure. The plane's captain, Chesley Sullenberger, nicknamed Sully, made the decision to glide the plane into the river, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and staff on board. Conservative leader David Cameron announces the death of his 60-year-old son, Ivan, who had suffered with cerebral palsy and epilepsy during his short life. Meanwhile, Premier League footballer and husband to Cheryl, Ashley Cole,

is arrested in South Kensington on suspicion of drunk and disorderly behaviour. In the Netherlands, nine people are killed and 84 people are injured when a Boeing 737 plane crash lands at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. And back in the UK, the worst snowfall for 20 years causes travel disruption across the country. The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. Roll Models for one week, Slumdog Millionaire for three weeks, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for one week, Bolt for two weeks and then Slumdog Millionaire again for one more week and in music streaming news Spotify becomes free to use in the UK. Matt Smith is formally announced as the new Doctor. He will take over when David Tennant

leaves Doctor Who after the 2009 Christmas special later this year. At the time, Smith, who eventually took over in 2010, was the youngest man to ever play the Doctor. I believe he is still the youngest person to ever play the Doctor at the time of casting. Yeah. Is he 27? Something like that? Yeah, yeah. He's one of three Doctors that I am older than, which is quite a horrible thing to think about now. Him, Peter Davison, and Shooty Gatwell. Just, oh god, I feel so old. And in more BBC news, EastEnders broadcasts an episode consisting entirely of black actors,

which was the first and only episode of its kind on TV. Meanwhile, Carole Thatcher is axed from The One Show after she's overheard using racial slurs behind the scenes. Andy, the UK album charts, how are they looking in the first bit of 2009? Well as has been the case in most years so far, the first few weeks look very much like the year before because a lot of people are going to the Christmas sales and buying things that they wanted to buy all last year. Which means the first two number one albums of this year are Only By The Night by Kings of Leon which of course went ten times platinum last year and The Script by The Script which was the debut album by The

Script and that went four times platinum. So the first new album to reach number one this year is a proper 2009 cut it's To Lose My Life by White Lies which went number one for one week and only went gold actually. And then another one that only went gold but two weeks at number one, it's Bruce Springsteen with Working On A Dream. And then Lily Allen returns to number one with her second album It's Not Me, It's You, which went number one for one week and went four times platinum in the UK. Kings of Leon then returned to number one again with Only By The Night for another week and we see out this period with The Prodigy with their latest Invaders Must Die which

went to number one for one week and went double platinum. Lizzy how are the states? In terms of the US we have quite a busy start to the year in terms of singles at the very least. First up is Just Dance by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donnis. It spent three weeks at number one in the US and was eventually certified 11 times platinum. More on that later. Next up in the US is My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson. It spent two weeks at number one in the US and was eventually certified double platinum. More on that later. And finally for singles we have

Cracker Bottle by Eminem featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. It spent one week at number one in the US and was eventually certified triple platinum. No more on that later though, as it only got as high as number four in the UK. Oh no. So over to albums, most of this period is dominated by Taylor Swift's Fearless, which spent 11 weeks at number one in the US. Aside from that we have the following two albums, Working on a Dream by Bruce Springsteen, One Week, number one over here as well as Andy just mentioned, and we also have The Fray by The Fray, One Week, number eight in the UK and that's it from me this week. Thank you both very much for those reports and we will kick off the year with this! Thanks! All of the people start to rush An easy twist of dance, can't find my drink of men

Where are my keys? I lost my phone What's going on on the floor? I love this record baby but I can't stay straight anymore Keep it cool, what's the name of this club? I can't remember but it's alright, alright Just dance, gonna be okay Just dance, gonna be okay Just dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance, dance Okay, this is Just Dance by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donnis. Released as the lead single from her debut

studio album titled The Fame, Just Dance is Lady Gaga's first single to be released in the UK and her first to reach number 1, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Lady Gaga on this podcast. It is the last time that we'll be coming to Colby O'Donnis, however. Just Dance first entered the UK chart at number 3, reaching number 1 during its second week on the chart, knocking Alexandra Burke off the top spot. It stayed at number 1 for 3 weeks! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 66,000 copies, beating competition from Issues by The Saturdays, which climbed to number 6, Single Ladies by Beyonce, which climbed to number 8, and Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolph and Lil Wayne, which got to number 10.

In week 2, it sold 77,000 copies, beating competition from Day and Night by Kid Cudi, which climbed to number 2, and The Loving Kind by Girls Loud, which climbed to number 10. And in week 3, it sold 74,000 copies, beating competition from Take Me Back by Tinchy Strider and Teo Cruz, which climbed to number 3, Sober by Pink, which climbed to number 9, and Heartless by Kanye West, which climbed to number 9 and Heartless by Kanye West which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts Just Dance dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 59 weeks.

The song is currently officially certified 3 times platinum so it is triple platinum in the UK as of 2024. Andy, Lady Gaga, how are we going? Well I mean as for Gaga in general that's a bigger question that I feel able to answer right now but yeah I mean interesting some of the names that you read out there in terms of the other runners and riders this week like there's a lot of quite new names there that feel like they're from a different era to what we've been in before like Tayo Cruz jumped out there was like oh wow okay so that kind of person, Tinchy Stride yeah so those kinds of people are on the

scene now it feels like there is a bit of a sea change happening not not all you know coming from the same direction but it is needed for you know a sort of change of personnel to happen at the top of the charts and there is no one more indicative of that than Lady Gaga. It is undeniably a moment that she has arrived on the charts but this is a really tricky one to talk about it's really difficult this because I'm an absolutely huge Gaga that I'm just an absolutely at the time I was like a fully

signed up obsessive little monster you know I'm just absolutely adored her and still do but this is like it's not really the equivalent of like Spice Girls storming out the gate with wannabe you know it or I'm trying to think of a better example than that but this is more like the Beatles coming out of the gate with Love Me Do or Kylie coming out with I Should Be So Lucky, where it's like, yeah, yeah, these were good and they were hits and they got them off the mark, but they're not like,

you know, anyone's absolute favorite. And there is, I don't think there's anyone really who would describe Just Dance as their favorite Gaga song anymore. You know, it's not really very representative of her. There's a lot of stuff in this that's like, in the club, put your drink up kind of lyrics, which she would never ever do again after this album. And not really at all after this single, to be honest. So it's not indicative of her at all, lyrically. It is indicative

of her sonically though, where there is a huge amount of electropop production on there that's so fresh that we've not really heard on many songs before. We've heard it a few times on Timbaland songs and things like that for obvious reasons, you know, that it has been creeping in in the background, but this is the first real arrival of that kind of sound that will carry us through the 2010s. And it's refreshing to hear that. And Just Dance is really good song. Like it is really fun. It's a very well put together piece of pop music.

But I don't think this is the big moment of arrival for Lady Gaga. Like it's just it's a very good pop song and it deserves a number one. But it's poker face to me. That's the breakthrough, not this. So it's very hard for me to know really whether this deserves the status that it's automatically given as just as Lady Gaga's first single goes straight to number one, was a big hit worldwide. It's obviously got huge mythical status because of that.

But I don't think it's the big breakthrough moment for it. It could easily have been a one hit wonder if she didn't follow it up with a whole array of excellent singles to follow after this and a great album as well. But what I really do like about it is just that central idea of just dance, it's gonna be okay. Like it's just a nice thing really to sort of... There's a bit of a running theme through

two of the songs this week of like, let's not take things too seriously, let's just kind of celebrate the joy rather than focusing on the bad feelings. And I like that. And I think that takes us away from the huge dreary X-Factor schlock that we've had relentlessly over the past couple of episodes of the show. So it's nice to hear someone just wanting to have fun with life and I really do like that. But like I say it's not very representative of her so I can't go too crazy about it. There is also the Colby O'Donnor's thing as well which is, this is just the whole of the conversation because for one it's really really strange for Lady Gaga to have a rap interlude. There's only one or two other songs she ever does that have this, both of which are awful. It's really strange for her to do this and it's

particularly strange because it's just a total randomer, complete randomer. Colby O'Donnuss did this as a favour to fill in for Akon who I don't know why but wasn't able to do it on the day and so Colby O'Donnuss jumped in, like was a sort of new person on the label, but never really took, well, never took off at all. You know, sort of sits alongside the likes of Rick Rock from It Wasn't Me Really, as just complete strangers who managed to get number ones by being on bigger songs. He does a fair job with it, Colby Udonis,

but it's very, very weird to have him here sharing Lady Gaga's debut single. Again, a little bit similar to The Beatles who had that one with Tony Sheridan before they got started and no one talks about Tony Sheridan now apart from the fact that he once did a song with The Beatles. So yeah, some very strange elements about this, some very early installment weirdness, but it is a really nice pop song, it is a good start for Gaga and I can't wait to talk about all the rest that is to come Which it will take us a while to get there because we're not doing the 10 straight away but we've got one or two more this year which are very very juicy Lizzy, how are we feeling on Gaga?

Yeah I agree with a lot of your points Andy, I think in terms of where this sits I agree that maybe this is weaker than something like Poker Face, but I also feel like... sometimes feel... you know with lead-off singles from an album you don't want to put your best single first, especially if you're a new artist, because I think then there's an increased risk of a one-hit wonder. Because it's like if you release Poker Face first and then you release this it's kind of a step down whereas you release this first it's like oh you you thought that was good I'm just getting started then you release something like Poker Face you you keep people wanting I totally agree that this is a breath of fresh air after the miserable back end of 2008 just that even the first synth stabs of this song I feel like is blowing away all the cobwebs and the barlows and the cowls and all of that and we needed this.

I don't think it'll come as a surprise to people if I say that Lady Gaga will be coming up a lot in 2009 and not just for her own singles. Her influence looms over pop music as a whole for the next couple of years and you could even argue that she's the first big pop star of the 2010s because this is the way that pop is moving and sometimes you do find that with decades where like say in the ninth year of a decade you'll have something that kind of signals the way forward whereas it's not it's not exactly in that decade but it sounds like it could be it's this weird I think decade ology is the study of it but anyway and yeah I think this is great I don't like I agree with you Andy is the study of it, but anyway. Yeah, I think this is great.

I agree with you, Andy. I don't think it's her best single. I don't think it's her best single this year, but as a way of bursting onto the scene, yeah, it's fantastic. And Colby Adonis, yeah, he holds his own. And I particularly like the production from Red Wine, excuse me, Red One, yeah it brings it all together this sort of electro boom that kind of

happens all comes off the back of this and Poke Face and it's full on electro like all the sort of raw synths and the throbbing drums it's perfectly done. As a way of announcing yourself onto the scene I'm struggling to think of a better debut that kind of is it's almost like a mission statement as in it's not her best single but in terms of compacting a sound into three minutes and encapsulating and explaining what exactly this is, I think, yeah, this is pretty much as good as you can get. I would repeat wannabe. I would maybe shout that out again as like, here are the Spice

Girls and it's one of their biggest hits ever. I just want to do you one better about how it's not her best single from 2009. This is such a strong week for our show that this is actually probably my least favorite this week despite the fact that it's really good. This is probably my least favorite this week. It shows just how good the episode is this week.

Yeah, it's kind of like, I tried to think of a comparison in terms of like a pretty good lead single and then a next single that just sort of sends it into the stratosphere. I was going to say Holiday followed by Like A Virgin but they were on different albums so that doesn't count. Answers on a postcard please listeners. Love Me Do and Please Please Me but Love Me Do wasn't very good. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I agree with both of you, actually, with a lot of your points.

I said it as we finished 2008, I think I said it about twice, actually, because I was so excited for it, that Just Dance is the single most exciting, new, fresh thing we've covered on this podcast for a long time. Maybe the newest thing or the biggest sign of the future since like Sound of the Underground or like maybe Arctic Monkeys or something. I was going to say Arctic, yeah. Yeah, like here's the future, have at it, you know, and then us, you know, the listening public actually kind of taking them up on that offer.

You know, I remember years ago listening back to Just Dance after everyone had kind of gotten over the initial shock of Lady Gaga. It was around the point she was at Art Pop. It was around that stage. And I realized in the opening kind of five seconds that it sort of inadvertently lays down the template for pop that Andy and Lizzie as you've both mentioned Everyone tries to copy this for years Afterwards, I think that Coldplay's Viva La Vida this you know just dance and I'm not alone by Calvin Harris I think those three songs I think basically every number one after this point until about 2017 can be traced back to at least one of them in some form or another. And I think that of those three songs I've just mentioned I think this is the strongest

because we're moving away from the CD single towards the mp3. We're really learning what social media is now. We're just about to enter the age of streaming, iPods and iPhones are gradually becoming the dominant media platform. And it's pretty clear that Gaga had been watching all of this as she came up very quickly through the industry, because I think she knew exactly what to do with this song to become the first genuine viral sensation of the social media age. Like, I think, I do think she is the first viral pop star. The first pop star who was actually new pop star who was described as viral. Like that actual word with this terminology

that we now use. Yeah. Because you were kind of mentioning it there, Lizzie. This sounds like the turn of a decade. Yeah. A little bit in hindsight, but it does sound like the turn of a decade. Yeah. A little bit in hindsight, but it does sound like the turn of a decade. This lands with such extreme force,

that songs about clubbing and partying are basically all that exists in pop for at least five years after this. Everyone wants to be Gaga in one form or another. Everybody wants to understand Gaga. Everybody wants to know who she is and what makes her tick and where she's come from. Because she really did arrive overnight. There's no warning of her in the end of 2008 and yet beginning of 2009 she is everywhere. You say that because like this single got released in the US like May of 2008 and it took weeks and weeks to climb up. Yeah, it had been out for a long time before then.

At least in a UK context then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. At least in the UK, yeah, she did arrive overnight. And I agree with both of you though that Poker Face is the better song, but this is a great way to build mystique while also giving people a big banger to start with. You know, at least in the UK, because from those opening synth lines, it sounds all dramatic and intense, and those kind of live-tracked sounding drums give it a real thump and a whack and then she's in. And she manages to sound at once both powerful and inebriated, in command vocally but also barely coherent

lyrically with the scenario she describes. You know, I think further down the line, songs like that, the, all my friends are wasted by snake hips, I think that can be traced right back to something like this. It's an effective environment she builds and then she launches into that chorus which I think was in everybody's heads for the entirety of 2009 in my you know at least at my school. And all just the sort of slightly weirdly enough we're coming to Lily Allen later in this episode and it's kind of a similar thing where she kind of fills in the gaps in the chorus just the da da da da just there just kind of humming her way through it like you were saying

Andy they're gonna be okay just dance great stuff you know i think it repeats itself a little too heavily in places but Gargar's such a fantastic pop star and spinning lines like wish I could shut my playboy mouth will always keep me on the edge of my seat I think the one area where I think this kind of falls a bit flat for me is everything between the end of Colby O'Donnis's verse which I think you know is serviceable it's not bad and the final chorus I would honestly listening back I would just hard cut the Half-psychotic hypnotic, cos I'm the guy taking 30 That bit, and the bit after that as well with the

Use your muscle, work it out baby, hustle that Just get rid of it Just go straight from Colby's good kind of Akon style verse Cos I mean I know Akon was supposed to be on this but they got like the most Akon sounding guy and then I think Akon does appear on it in the end anyway because he's I think he's the guy who does the ad libs in like the the I got it bit them paid it or something in the background I'm sure that's him he is in the video during that sort of section I think because he does make a little cameo in the video but either way just that bit just get rid of it just go from Colby's verse into the baby

you know the and then you've you know you've cut 45 seconds there I suspect a lot of the radio edits did they get definitely yeah they did and it makes it leaner faster more direct but I understand that part of the Gaga appeal in these days was kind of how weird and enigmatic she seemed as a teenager. You know, because there was all those like, it did seem like it was, there were lots of people looking into her backstory and where she got the, you know, trying to work out where she got the name from and how she kind of came from being... She was a performer in clubs or something, right? And then all of a sudden it was like she got snapped up and she was big in the US.

Yeah, she was like piano bar. Wow. Sort of. Yeah, she just got picked up and took off very, very quickly because she's still really young here. She's only about 22, I think, here. So, yeah, they've snapped her up early. Yeah. But it's funny, isn't it? Because looking back at this song now,'re all saying like oh it's great and

a lot of people do seem to understand it as a great thing but for a little bit in 2009 she was kind of seen as the everything wrong with where pop was going if you know what I mean like I went and saw, oh god it's not good, but the We Will Rock You musical. I went and saw it only a couple of years ago and it's about these kind of punk rocker kids who live in a world where it's kind of like the warly world but the only education that exists is sort of like you know Capitol or Hunger Games style thing and all of like the people who go along with the doctrine of you know the sort of dictator they're all called like Gaga kids or something like that and it's like Gaga is a sign of you know the oh it's just

music for the masses and then people sort of look back and go actually no Lady Gaga was a huge individual but she was so kind of omnipresent and she kind of did corner the market you know 2009 is the year of Gaga when I think about it in my head she got three number ones coming up this year in the same way that 1973 that's to me that's the year, glam, but the year of Slade 1973 for me, because I think they get three number ones that year, and obviously everybody knows that 1984 is the year of Frankie. Of course. And both of those years start off kind of how 2008 has ended, because 1973, first UK number one, Jimmy Osmond, Or little Jimmy Osmond. And then the sweet come along with Blockbuster! With the big exclamation mark and everything and then Slade Hit with

Come on feel the noise! With its bastardized spelling mistakes and loud shouting. And 1984 begins with Pipes of Peace by McCartney and then Frankie Burst in with Relax immediately afterwards. And it feels like with, you know,, there's kind of like a bit of a baton being passed over from one year to the next. And I think this is a huge moment in pop and it kind of represents, I think, after the past sort of however many months we've covered on the podcast, where it all started with Kid Rock and all summer long. This feels like the kids fighting back.

This is why I have warmed a lot to 2009 as we've been doing this podcast and I've been looking ahead because it's kids buying pop music again, not pop music being bought for kids like you, you'll listen to this. Like you were saying, Lizzy, do you want this expensive ballad

or that expensive ballad? And whereas this is like, fuck the ballads. I just want really loud compressed synths and songs about alcohol. And I really appreciate it looking back for that. I do think that a lot of it in the second half could be removed and you wouldn't lose anything. But this is such a strong start to the year. It really is a strong start. I do. I think I do love really is a strong start. I do.

I think I do love it. Yeah, I think I do. But Poker Face and Bad Romance are better. Just one point of order, just a slight one, just because I think someone will surely message us saying this. I might as well say it out there now. The Gaga thing in We Will Rock You is about Radio Gaga, the song. It's referencing that, how they're all listening to rubbish, they're listening to Radio Gaga.

But they were all dressed up like Lady Gaga when I saw the production. Oh really? But that's it, I mean that's been in there since long before Gaga, that, yeah. So maybe they just kind of leant into that aspect of it, but that's it, well she's named after Radio Gaga and that line is about that. so maybe it's all wrapped up in the same thing but yeah I never thought about it that way before because I didn't know that that they dress as Gaga sometimes with her so that's interesting yeah because all they hear is radio Gaga but yeah they in the production when I saw it in Manchester at the Palace they've all got like really blonde shiny you

know like they look how she looks in the Just Dance video. That is interesting. With the box and stuff. Well, to be honest, as the production has gone on, they have made changes to it. They've kind of updated it with the times, like there are references to things like iPods, which I think have been changed to smartphones and things like that. They've kind of, you know, messed with the script so that it's more up to date. I mean, as up to date as that kind of thing can be, I suppose. Hmm. Interesting. Yeah.

I think that's quite cringe though, because I didn't like it. I didn't like it. I don't think she was ever seen as like, you know, what was wrong with music. Like, I think that's just kind of seeing the thing that's the most popular is inherently bad. Like she was always a very exciting part of pop music. Yeah, it's a very rockist, it is a very rockist perspective. Yeah, of course.

And We Were Rocking was a very rockist play. It's quite cringe that, yeah. Yeah, not a huge fan of it. Okay, we will shift on to the second song this week, which is this. I want loads of clothes and fuck loads of diamonds I heard people die while they're trying to find them And I'll take my clothes off and it will be shameless Cause everyone knows that's how you get famous I'll look at the sun and I'll look in the mirror

I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner I don't know what's right and what's real anymore I don't know how I'm meant to feel anymore When do you think it will all become clear? Cause I'm being taken over by the fear Life's about film stars and less about mothers It's all about fast cars and cussing each other But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic Okay, this is The Fear by Lily Allen. And I look in the mirror, I'm on the right track, yeah we're on to win Okay, this is The Fear by Lily Allen. Released as the lead single from her second studio album

titled It's Not Me, It's You, The Fear is Lily Allen's 7th single overall to be released in the UK and her 2nd to reach number 1, and it might be a while but it's not the last time that we'll be coming to Lily Allen on this podcast. The Fear went straight in at number one as a brand new entry knocking Lady Gaga off the top of the charts. It stayed at number one for...four weeks! In week one it sold 83,000 copies beating competition from Breathe Slow by Alicia Dixon, which climbed to number 6. 2. In week 2, it sold 69,000 copies, beating

competition from Cracker Bottle by Eminem, which got to number 4, and Change by Daniel Merriweather, which climbed to number 8. 3. In week 3, it sold 60,000 copies, beating competition from Omen by The Prodigy, which climbed to number 8, and T-Shirt by Chantelle, which climbed to number 10. And in week 4 it sold 46,000 copies, beating competition from Whatcha Think About That by Pussycat Dolls and Missy Elliott, which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, the fear fell four places to number 5. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 22 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK.

As of 2024... Lizzy, how does Lizzie feel about Lily? Well, yeah, this is another really good song to kick off the year. I really love the atmosphere of this one in particular. There is a real sense of unease that I don't think we've come across on the podcast since Crazy by Narls Barkley. I suppose Lily Allen's lyrics are obviously the main part of that, but I love her hushed tone on this song. Almost like she's info dumping on you in an environment where you're not best placed to give her the advice she's looking for, nor are you qualified to give

her the help that she needs perhaps. I also think the production really shines here as well. I love the low finger picked guitar in the intro, always reminds me of something like Portishead on third. Yeah, and I think it builds really nicely to the chorus with that pounding electro drum beat that comes in towards the end of the first verse. I love how the song shifts between quiet and loud too. The choruses are full of tension and anxiety. There's like two separate synth lines that are competing for space, one which is like oscillating up and down and another one which is just spaced out looking out into the distance. And then it all gets stripped back momentarily just before the verse. It's

like catching your breath after holding your head underwater. And like the lyrics as well, you could look at it in a sense that it's, you know, bragging or celebrating excess. Like I want loads of clothes and fuck loads of diamonds. I heard people die where they're trying to find them but there's a real sense of unease and anxiety there too and Like yeah, I think some critics have pointed out that in 2008 She did mention that she spent over a hundred thousand dollars on clothes that year alone did mention that she spent over a hundred thousand dollars on clothes that year alone,

but I think it's also not a coincidence that she revealed later on that she suffered from bipolar disorder and as much as I don't want to prescribe just based on lyrics, I think there is a sense of allusion to that as in, you know, referencing the kind of excess of it and all of these sorts of material things but then going into the chorus and talking about how she doesn't feel like she has this sense of identity, like I don't know what's right and what's real anymore, I think that is quite a pertinent statement. It also does make me wonder, is this the beginning of the end of Lily Allen's pop career? I think this sort of awareness about the reality of fame and the futility of your own art is a bit of a Pandora's box in pop music especially. Another big example I thought of was Chain to the

Rhythm by Katy Perry. It's another great song in its own right, but it makes the mistake of opening up that same Pandora's Box, and the result of that was a run of flop singles followed by an album which underperformed, both of which she never really recovered from as an artist. We're a few years away from that with Lily Allen, but I feel like it does become clear later on that she can't just go along with the flow of pop music anymore, as though acknowledging those deep-rooted problems within your art leads to uncertainty with regards to your identity as an artist. And that's how you end up with something like Jesus.

I think self-awareness can very quickly turn into self-doubt. And that is a very dangerous place to be in pop music, which is an environment that's full of sharks. But at least we have this single and it's brilliant. Oh man, sometimes... Sometimes I wish The Fear and Just Dance had been number ones the opposite way around. Because where Just Dance sounds like the beginning of a new decade,

I think that The Fear just is the definitive end of the noughties text for me. Yeah. I think if there's anybody listening to this who is like under the age of 20, I think, and maybe doesn't like this is how it felt at the end of the 2000s for me. It is placed so perfectly. It looks back on the decade that was, which was defined by tabloid cruelty, reality TV, weapons of mass destruction and prolonged war, and it anxiously looks out as we prepare for the ramping up of the

information age in the 2010s, social media, you know, Facebook and Twitter and smartphones and the tightening net of late-stage capitalism and the eventual emergence of things like AI, you know, I don't know what's right and what's real anymore. It's all here in very simple, easily quotable lyrics that are cheeky and witty, but sort of deliberately clunky and unsophisticated. Because there's so much that's present in this, you know, the Iraq War, the Sun and the Mirror, cosmetic surgery, celebrity obsession, tabloid gossip, existential dread, the diamond mines of Sierra Leone, credit cards, robots, fad diets, you know, it's all so decadent and ugly, the scene that this paints. And then there's

that rhetorical question of when do you think it will all become clear? You know, when will we understand the world that we've built? And all of it's delivered by Lily, who has this kind of, you know the away with the fairies thing I was kind of mentioning when we covered Smile with the la la la la la la la la la that third, like the third verse bridge thing. Those mannerisms, it feels like she's gone almost full on dream pop with this. Like there's loads of little things about like dream pop and psychedelia. Her delivery is rarely more than like a tuneful sigh. It's like she's looking at the world from above and is feeling apathetic about its doomed future. It's all a bit okay computer in that

regard and it kind of also reminds me of Andy, of course you will know this, that funny feeling, Bo Burnham, which is another bit me to it. Oh, sorry. But that is another almost numb, parodical, slightly flippant look at like a world on fire. I think this is genius. I think it strikes a wonderful balance with its lyrics because songs like this always walk a very fine line between achieving genuinely witty, sharp social commentary or just kind of st you know, it is witty and sharp. Because Lily has kind of watched the world change around her during the noughties, observing the, you know, the crushing reality that popular culture and capitalism has ultimately consumed everything we consider to be art and expression. You know, you can feel it dawning on her just like it did everybody else. This song is very,

is kind of, is complicit in prolonging the effects of capitalism just by existing as yet another piece of art to be bought and sold, turning emotion and expression and even depression into commerce, reaching number one with a few thousand sales at 59p, name your price, it sounds simultaneously peppy and defeated. She acknowledges that she is a weapon of massive consumption but then also sort of acknowledges that she's just kind of a cog in this industry, in this life that we have all built for ourselves. The whole thing is a deceptively tranquil nightmare. It all comes through so strongly in the video where there's this massive set, this big mansion house thing. Loads of dancers in it and there's those big cartoonish presents.

It's a bit like a Katy Perry video actually. But instead of being an active participant in it, Lily's just kind of being carried through it. Or carrying herself through it like some kind of listless dead weight. And it sounds so beautiful as well. I completely agree with you, Lizzie, that the bare bones of this, that kind of finger plucked acoustic that opens it, it's just so, like you were saying, it's so despondent and it does sound like something that Portishead would do until that first snap of the snare and you get this transition from sleepy acoustic pop into really majestic synth pop and it's the intelligent and

sparing use of studio effects that makes this so like each of them each of the like you say those two synth lines they enhance the poignancy and the disillusionment and the sadness of the topics covered by Alan's lyrics. I completely agree though, synths that lurk between the lines in the chorus, you know, they shimmer interview then away again then back again like some kind of Doppler effect. They're so distracting in a beautiful way, they're paired so delicately with Lily's various kind of rises and falls out of mood swings and things like that. I think this is in my top five number ones for the 2000s, maybe top three. I really do think it is the ultimate document to put a cap on the 2000s in terms of pop music's ability

to stand back from popular culture for a second and just kind of absorb, digest, and then spit out. And it's kind of like, this is what comes out of the machine once it's all been processed. I think this is, yeah, I really think this is wonderful. Andy, apologies about the Bo Burnham thing, but. Please, please, well, how do you feel? Oh, don't you worry, we all beat each other to the punch on these things, don't we?

But yeah, the reason I was going to bring that up is because I love this idea of the fear, which oddly enough considering that's the title of the song and considering that's like the main landing point of the chorus, that isn't really discussed that much. Like a lot of it is, like you say, looking back on the decade and talking about like the effects of this industry and the way this industry is consumed and perceived and stuff and that actual feeling of the fear is only really there in that line of the chorus and I love that idea of it of like all of this that I'm talking about when I stand back and think about it I just sort of think like oh there's something not right here there's something not right um like there's something not right, like there's something dystopian about it that I can't quite put my finger on and I'm really really taking with that idea and it's the exact same concept as the funny feeling

that Bo Burnham talks about that there are some things sometimes in the showbiz industry or in the world or in politics or in general that you just kind of think hmm something's gone wrong here that's that's not the way things should be and you can't really dwell on that too much because it's too big a concept to really get your head around and so she does very well at getting into the detail and getting into what she's actually getting at with these things but what I really love about those lyrics is the sense of irony in them that a lot of it, almost all of the verses is told sarcastically, you know, from the point of view

of, oh well my life's great because I've got all of this, you know, I'm in the tabloids all the time and everyone's consuming my music and it comes across as this kind of material girl sort of vibe but it's all sarcasm, like that's the point that, you know, this is something that you would read these lyrics on paper and read it in an entirely different way. But that's not the point. The point is that this is all someone needs to stop and question this and say, is this all OK? Yeah, the lyrics are absolutely brilliant. And I also love the production as well.

I like you both said with that guitar, but also with those synths in the chorus and the actual writing of this as well, the chord progressions, that chord that she lands on, on the word, how to feel anymore, that little turn that it's a completely unrelated chord. It's very strange. And I think that really helps create that sense of unease that like this comes across as quite a whimsical light light easy to listen to pop song But there's a moment of extreme unease in the actual musical texture of the song there where she jumps to that chord how to feel

It's weird and that's that's really really clever. So yeah, I don't I don't have a lot bad to say about it I don't really have much to add other than what you two have said to be honest because it is really really wonderful And it is a very good, it is a very, very good product of its time. Absolutely. The only thing I would knock off it and it's a minor point, but I do think it just needs to be said similar to what Lizzie said about, you know, Lily Allen herself in all this.

It does need to be said that she did kind of indulge in this lifestyle herself. You know, she had her own chat show and things like that. And she is also an epo baby. So like she has always been rich and always been in this world a little bit. And I do think there's just a tiny 1% bit of hypocrisy in that. But I don't think it detracts at all from the point she's making. I think this is still something that absolutely applies to her. I think it slightly distracts from the authenticity of it but what's really clever encountering that is that I think

she is very keen throughout the song to, purely by the existence of the song and the way it comes across, she's quite keen to make it clear that like all of this does apply to her and she recognizes that and I think it turns some of the criticisms of her that people made of the first album on their head that like she was given this quite sort of street girl chavvy kind of image which would have been put on air by the label and here she's incredibly articulate, rather poetic a lot of the time and has got a completely different sound really to something like Smile or LDN and it's making that point evidently by its own existence it's saying you know all of this applies to me you don't know me you've seen like this first album and you've seen like

what's been put out there of me and you've thought I'm this kind of rough and ready chavvy kind of girl you don't know me at all all you've seen is the parts of me that you're supposed to see and you've consumed what you're supposed to consume. And I could turn this on its head right now and you wouldn't know what to make of me and that would make you feel uneasy. All of that applies to her and she's a really great example of that. That is particularly timely because we're in the year here where Jade Goody dies, where that is a huge media exercise in completely changing

the public's perspective on someone who have been, just a few years earlier, completely forced to see that woman in a particular negative way. And then we are completely forced to see her in a very different, very positive way, where it's taboo to say anything negative anymore. And it's very timely for Lily Allen. Obviously, she didn't know about that, but it's very timely for it to be making that point of like, all you really see of any of us is what you're being told to see, what you're being told to consume. And it applies to her as well. So I do think she counters the thing about her own authenticity very well.

But it's just a very, very slight thing to track from it. But no, otherwise, no, this is really, really great. It's I don't love it quite as much as Rob does, like it's not one of my favourites of the whole decade, just because of my own sensibilities really, but I can't help but recognise that this is really really clever, it's really immaculately executed and it's a crowning achievement for her. Yeah, it's a great great number one this. Third and final song this week, and it's been a good week, and we're gonna try and finish it well too. It is this! Guess this means you're sorry You're standing at my door

Guess this means you take back All you said before Like how much you wanted Anyone but me Said you never come back, but here you are again Cause we belong together now Yeah Forever united here somehow Yeah You got a piece of me And honestly My life was a good one without you

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye Alright this is, Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson. Released as the lead single from her 4th studio album, titled All I Ever Wanted, My Life Would Suck Without You is Kelly Clarkson's 9th single overall to be released in the UK and her first to reach number 1 and as of 2024 it is her last. My Life Would Suck Without You went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry knocking Lily Allen off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for one week. In its first and only week atop the charts, it sold 51,000 copies, beating competition from Love Story by Taylor Swift? Anyone heard of Taylor Swift?

Nah, you made that up. That climbed to number 2. Pokerface by Lady Gaga, which climbed to number 3. And Dead and Gone by T.I. and Justin Timberlake, which climbed to number 4. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, My Life Would Suck Without You fell 3 places to number 4. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 17 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK as of 2024. Andy, Kelly Clarkson, how we do it? Yeah, so I slightly referenced this one earlier on when I was talking about the kind of fun

and joy that was returning to pop music with Just Dance. Now this is, it is a coincidence, but we kind of get the same thing here, that what I really really like about this song is that it really goes into the joy and the happiness that comes from making up with someone who you love or getting back together with someone who you love. That's so much of pop music and particularly that in recent years that your kind of way to approach that topic usually would be oh I've realized I love you so much like you, it'd be some huge sweeping thing of like, as sure as the seas meet the shore, I will always come back to you.

And you know, some big, big, you know, kind of grandstanding about it. Whereas this has fun with it and is like, yay, we're back together. My life would suck if you weren't in it. You know, it just kind of keeps it real. It keeps it down to earth. And I love that. I love that. That is how you feel when you make up with someone, whether it's a partner to earth. And I love that, I love that, that is how you feel when you make up with someone, whether it's a partner or a friend or a family member that

when you've got them back you're like, oh yeah, you just feel really happy, I've got you back, let's not do this again. And it's a rare and refreshing thing to just see that pure joy lent into. I also just think it's a really really upbeat easy to listen to appealing song that is made for radio that is made for singing along and it's in the right hands as well that Kelly Clarkson has earned her number one she's had you know quite a few over the years that have been pretty good she's had a few songs that I think you know if it was in a easier week for her she probably should have deserved to get number one like since you've been gone I think she really kind of deserved a shout out there because that was quite a big hit at the time but I mean this is if I had to choose one to get a number one for

her I would choose this because I just think it's really fun it's really warm-hearted it's really celebratory it's made for singing along to and it's made for the dance floor as well And I just love that. I love that tone that it strikes that it's not saying Oh, I would be utterly devastated without you here. It's just all my life would suck without you And I think it's light-hearted while also being sincere, which is a really really hard thing to strike and I really like that I also want to shout out as well that this is one of the Many songs from this era that we're going to start getting into more and more, which is mainly in my head due to its appearance in Glee, which I was a huge fan of back in the day. And this one, this closes out what they thought might be the last episode at the time. It closes out the initial

run of 13 episodes where Will Schuster, the teacher, realises he's in love with another teacher and goes to try and stop her from leaving. It sort of potentially would have closed out Glee in general, which is a big status to give to this song. So I can't hear this without hearing Lea Michele's unnecessary many adlibs added to this because that's just what she does in those songs. But yeah, yeah, really, really great song, this. Another belter for this week. Not as good as the fear, but probably a little bit better than Just Dance because it just fills my heart with happiness and you can't say better than that, can you? Yeah, great song, this. Oh, this is one of the few songs we've had on this podcast where I feel like I can just explain my relationship with it by saying, I just like it for the vibes. It's vibes alone, you know? Like I do have

issues with it, I think it represents another point on the timeline where pop rock artists from the mid 2000s are trying to ditch the suffix there and just go pure pop. But because it has to have something in common with breakaway and my December, it means it still contains just about enough power pop influence to make this make sense for Kelly Clarkson. It feels a little over produced and underwritten though, I will say that. I feel like a lot of the bells and whistles and trinkets have been added into the production of Mastering just to give it an oomph that maybe the composition doesn't quite have

And I think it's a little too close in places to don't if you remember those Disney's girls rock Compilations from around this time which is like songs like it's stuff like Miley Cyrus Demi Lovato Hillary Duff Allian AJ it feels like they're trying to cash in on that a little bit Alien AJ. It feels like they're trying to cash in on that a little bit. It's very much a hairbrush classic as well, which I don't think is a bad thing because I think it gives it this sweet, sugary warmth. It has a lot of energy. It takes a tricky subject with, you know, weird kind of moral grounds on it and just makes it fun and digestible and leans into, like you were kind of saying Andy, it leans into the teenage hormonal

silliness a little bit which I like because ultimately it's a song about a young relationship right? When you're in that stage of your life where you think arguments and fighting are to be expected in a relationship and that your love thrives off of falling out and then having lots of great makeup sex and you know, it's all that stuff It just it's filled with all these kind of youthful emotions and I've always liked it for that I'm glad we get to talk about Kelly Clarkson at least once because having a collection of singles like since you've been gone behind these Hazel eyes and this you know and not getting a number one I think that would that would be a shame because I feel like whatever Kelly Clarkson is doing at a particular any particular time she

does put a lot into it she has a big personality as a vocalist and it really shines through here it feels like she's a continuation in a way of like Anastasia or like Avril Lavigne but with a better voice and she found a nice little niche for herself and her eventual move towards electro pop and Christmas albums and soul albums that she did, it feels like we're at a point where the transition is being carefully managed by her team where this is still recognisably Kelly Clarkson but wouldn't be too much of a culture shock on the next album if the guitars just weren't there. It's a minor point of criticism really,

but she's just adapting to current trends. And I think that My Life Would Suck Without You is a pretty standout track from the kind of Disney-save mini girls rock genre which kind of originates with the Lizzie McGuire soundtrack in 2004, peaks with Camp Rock and that whole phenomenon in 2008 and sort of ends around the time of the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack in 2011 where it's kind of like pop rock with little pop punk and grunge leanings exclusively for girls aged 13. Like I do think that that is a little mini-mico genre in itself which has got a lot of really lovely pop songs including the theme tune to Hannah Montana, Best of Both Worlds.

That's a key change at the end which I normally wouldn't go for but I see that version, I wish that that key change happened with every chorus because it's a great lift. I think this is good for like a quick hit but it's something more substantial than like empty calories. You know it's not quite a ready meal, it's nice freezer food, it's not quite McDonald's, it's more Nando's. You know it's just it feels like it's just that little step up, it just has that little more substance and weight behind it Which I've always been drawn back to and a little mention as well. I do have a slight story About this just because of the time that it is and I don't know why my brain makes me remember these things

But this was the first song I heard immediately like almost immediately after my very first kiss. I was 14 going on 15, I was around her house, we were just sitting watching TV and etc. I don't need to give you the rest of the horrifically awkward details. And then immediately afterwards her mum said that she needed to go to Tesco so we all got in the car and this was on the radio as we drove off and I actually remember saying very quietly to her like over the back seat like that I would probably end up remembering this exact moment and that it was Kelly Clarkson that soundtracked it. It's weird because I always try to remember as well, I don't know if you two do this, but I always try to remember like what the last song is I hear in a particular year before midnight and then the first song I hear the following year, like how in 2015 the last song I heard before midnight was Run Away

with Me, Carla Rae Jepsen, and then the first song I heard in 2016 was Hamburger Lady by Throbbing Gristle, but if you want a glimpse into my music library for a second. But I do think that this captures something about the volatility of adolescent relationships and how when you've not really got responsibilities outside of that, that kind of drama can seem fun. You know, I think it's the second song we've covered this week that is almost It's the second song we've covered this week that is almost exclusively for kids, about kids, and I'm glad because not enough pop, as I've complained at length at the end of 2008, not enough pop at the end of 2008, at least number ones, is for kids. And I'm glad that in 2009 it feels like numbers are slightly healthier. Like, the lowest, I think the lowest selling number one for just a week at number one is like 42,000 copies this year, which is way higher than the averages we were getting in like 2007 and 2008.

It feels a little bit like kids are sort of engaged with pop music again, which is why these songs are getting to number one. Over, you know, like, maybe, you know, Pink's not quite at the top of the charts anymore because it feels like she's moving more towards adult contemporary and little things like that. It feels like, Andy, you were saying at the right at the top of the episode, it feels like a bit of a sea change is underway where like the Saturdays have turned up all of a sudden and there's all these new names and like next week is a couple of new faces as well because you have Flowrider and Kesha, they both turn up next week and they set a good template, you know, for a couple of years as well. Lizzie, how are we feeling on Kelly Clarkson? You can finish us off this week. I'll start with a good, I think this is kind of a sister song to About You Now by the Sugar

Babes. Oh yeah. Both written by the same person, more on that in a minute. I did mention at the time that was their most American sounding song up to that point and this was the song that I had in mind when I made the observation. I think it's got a lot of energy to it, it's quite bright in terms of its sound and yeah I agree that if you think about this in terms of like a friend sometimes you do have that way you have like a dysfunctional relationship but you ultimately miss them enough that when they

eventually get back in touch you feel sort of so relieved and like you have completely lost without them I've been in that place many times so yeah I can relate to it on that level. But in terms of the flip side, I think if you look at this from the standpoint of like a romantic relationship, I think it sounds kind of toxic and not great and if you've already broken up once there is a good chance you'll do it again. And if you acknowledge that you are dysfunctional then you will stay dysfunctional and no amount of getting back together will ever fix that. Additionally, I also am slightly uneasy about listening to this these days just because Kelly Clarkson revealed that she was blackmailed into working with Dr Luke and also testified on behalf of Kesha on her case.

So yeah, a bit awkward, but the song's good. Yeah, you mentioning about you now, that was of course covered by Miranda Cosgrove, wasn't it? Yeah, it was. Who was also part of this kind of Hillary Duff, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Demi Lovato, kind of. So that all makes sense actually. The kind of, you know, girls rock scene of the mid to late 2000s. Well the Disney thing is a whole other

thing but yeah just going back to Lucas Gotwald. His thumbs are all over this year and I think there's probably a more pertinent time to discuss what went on with him and Kesha, but I think it is also worth mentioning that Clarkson has some mixed feelings towards this song and she has some long-standing issues that I think are worth addressing. And given that this is her only number one, it's probably the only chance to actually discuss those gripes. I will say that I just wasn't aware of any of this. No, I mean, no, no. Yeah. No, no, thank you for telling us, yeah.

She was a big part of the wave of support behind Kesha and I'll always appreciate her for that. The only other thing I wanted to add was I think the shouts about About You Now and the Disney Channel kind of genre were really really good shouts. The only other thing I wanted to add to that is we're still only a couple of months on from So What by Pink and I Kissed a Girl which both had you know quite I wouldn't say heavy guitar elements but at least noticeable guitar elements in there as well that there is a little bit of a Girls rock kind of vibe from both those songs that are carrying through here as well

So it is definitely excellent shout with Disney Channel music that it does fit into that But I think the market is clearly there that it's like a proven quantity Definitely from something like so what by pink as well, so I just want to mention that yeah And guess whose hands are all over I Kissed a Girl. Well, yeah. Mmm, yeah, true. Just on Pink actually, I was just gonna, I was almost gonna compare this to Who Knew, like it's a more energetic kind of take on that almost.

Well I think Who Knew is a song that you could easily give to Kelly Clarkson, like of all of Pink's songs that feels like one that you could that really could be a Kelly Clarkson song really easily. They're quite similar in a lot of ways I think they're both kind of consistently in their niche and doing very well at it but not often getting an actual number one so you know there's quite a lot of crossover with Pink and Kelly Clarkson I think and I've got a lot of time for both of them yeah. Well guess who co-wrote who knew Yeah So Lizzy Lady Gaga Lily Allen Kelly Clarkson, how we feeling? I'm just gonna vault just dance

Hey, you have to say that as a bursting off the scene. Yeah, it's a fantastic arrival. I Don't know what's real and what's right anymore but I do know that the fear is going into the vault my life wouldn't suck without my life would suck without you so I'm not gonna put it either way I think it's pretty good but not good enough to vault Andy just dance the fear my life would suck without you how we feeling just but not good enough to vault. Andy, Just Dance, The Fear, My Life Would Suck Without You. How are we feeling? Just Dance, well, as for Just Dance, no need for discussion. Just vault, yes.

As for The Fear, ugh, it's being taken over by The Vault. And My Life Would Suck, If My Life Would Suck Without You wasn't in The Vault. So for me, it's a triple vault this week. I've loved all of them. Yeah, triple vault this week. I think this is the best lineup we've had for a long time. It's going to be a long time again,

I think, before we have another one as good as this. I've really, really enjoyed all three songs this week. Yeah. The last time you had a vault for every song in an episode was the beginning of 2007, Andy. Shut up! So that's a while ago. Wow.

2008, not the best year. As for me, Just Dance, more than going to be okay. I'm putting that in the vault. So we have a triple vault for Just Dance. Well done. The fear, I mean, I've extolled the virtues of that at length. I'm obviously putting that in the vault. So it is a double triple vault this week.

So that's two songs where we've all put it in the vault. My Life Would Suck Without You is just missing the vault, just missing. But I do like it and I look back on it very affectionately. This has been a lovely week. After just the... After dragging ourselves through the mire. This is like, we've tunneled out of the prison in the Shawshank Redemption and we're What's His Face being rained on as he has his Shawshank Redemption.

Okay, I'll go with that. Alright, we will see you next week when we'll be continuing our journey through 2009. We will see you then and bye bye. See ya. Bye bye. the ocean at your door the live action lion king the pepsi halftime show 20 000 years of this seven more to go

carpool karaoke steve okey logan paul Carpool karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul A gift shop at the Gun Range, a mass shooting at the mall There it is again, that funny feeling that funny feeling there it is again that funny feeling