Hits 21 - 2009 (3): Calvin Harris, Tinchy Stryder & N-Dubz, Black Eyed Peas

Episode Date: June 9, 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 1 of the 2000s. If you want to get in touch with us you can find us over on Twitter, we are at Hits21UK and you can email us too, just send it on over to hits21podcast at gmail.com. Thank you ever so much for joining us again, we are currently looking back at the year 2009. This week we'll be covering the period between the 12th of April and the 23rd of May. So pretty, pretty short period once again. Last week, the winner of the poll, I think it was a pretty foregone conclusion even before it started, it was Pokerface, Lady Gaga

Can we shout out though that votes did come in for Barry Islands in the stream? Yes! And I think that's a wonderful thing to have happened Yeah Please email in, please Someone who is particularly curious about the origins of those votes for Barry Islands in the stream is Ed, who of course everybody knows will be joining us for our 90s journey in a few months time. Speaking of Ed though, you can hear me and Andy

talking with Ed about ABBA, we appeared on an episode of In 5 very recently that came out just last week. I will leave a link to that episode in the description and you can get even more of a taste about what the future of Hits 21 will sound like. So it is time to press on with this week's episode and as always it is time for some current news headlines. The MPs expenses scandal kicks off with numerous parliamentary figures all being revealed to have inappropriately claimed expenses while in office. The most notable expense claim perhaps came from Tory MP Peter Vigors, who claimed over £1,000 for a small house for his duck pond. It was on an island in the middle. In the aftermath, Labour MP Phil Hope was ordered to repay over £40,000.

And against that backdrop, the recession is really getting going, which obviously is a nice coincidence. Figures published by the government reveal that employment in the UK has risen to its worst level since before new Labour came to power in 1997. 2.1 million people were out of work when the figures were published. Alongside that, Chancellor Alistair Darling also announces that the UK's debt will rise to 79% of GDP by 2013. In football, Manchester United win the Premier League title for the third consecutive season, equaling Liverpool's record of 18 top division titles. Chelsea win the FA Cup at Wembley, despite going behind to Louis Saha's goal for Everton after 25 seconds. At the time, Saha's goal was the fastest ever scored in an FA Cup final.

And Barcelona win the Champions League after beating Manchester United in the final. I remember watching that FA Cup final because I was brought up as an Everton fan. I didn't go to Wembley but they did put it on a big screen in Goodison Park. That fastest goal ever. It was a bizarre feeling because we were huge underdogs and we didn't expect to go after 25 seconds. Not the fastest goal in an FA Cup final anymore but we'll have to wait until 2023 to give you the full details of that one. Or you can just google it, you can just google FA Cup Final 2023. Why am I teasing people?

The films to hit the top of the UK box office during this period were as follows. Fast and Furious for one more week, Monsters vs Aliens again for one more week, State of Play for one week, X-Men Origins Wolverine for one week, Star Trek for one week and Angels and Demons for one week. And the funeral of Jade Goody is broadcast live on Sky News following her death from cervical cancer aged 27. Peter Andre and Katie Price announced that they are to separate after three and a half years of marriage. Meanwhile Alexander Rybak wins the Eurovision Song Contest for Norway with his song Fairy Tale. You may not

remember the name but I'm sure you'll remember the image it's that very young man with the violin and representing the UK that year was Jade Ewen later of sugar babes fame who finished fifth on the night with her song it's my time can I just say not to go on too much of a rant about this but it was such an annoyance around this time or well maybe after this that people who liked to paint the narrative of us always doing really badly in your revision loves to ignore that one loves to ignore that one, loved to ignore that ear where we came fifth. Lots of deliberate oversight of how well Jade

Ewan did. Well done Jade. Meanwhile, unemployed 47 year old singer Susan Boyle makes her first appearance on Britain's Got Talent, performing I Dreamed a Dream from the musical Les Miserables. She eventually finished second in the competition, beaten first place by the dance troupe, Diversity. Her debut album, also called I Dreamed A Dream, remains the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK. We will find out more about that later in 2009. Yeah.

Andy, the UK album charts, how are they looking right now? Well, I've only got a few to talk to you about this week because last week we finished right on the cusp of four weeks at the top for The Fame by Lady Gaga, which was number one for one week at the end of the last show. But that remains at the top for the rest of April and went 11 times platinum, as I said last week. It was the highest selling album of 2009 that is unseated eventually by none other than Bob Dylan with his latest Together Through Life

which went number one for two weeks but only went gold. Quite a rare thing that to be number one for more than one week and only get gold that's the kind of boring stat that I like I hope someone else appreciated it and the only other album to tell you about this week, which topples Bob Dylan, is 21st Century Breakdown by Green Day, which went single platinum and was only number one for one week, which is a little bit of a come down from American India. But can I just say, I was obsessed with that album. I think it's so underrated. I love 21st Century Breakdown.

But yeah, that's it this week. Lady Gaga, Bob Dylan and Green Day, that's a nice dinner party for you. Yeah. Lizzy, how are the states? Well, I mentioned in the previous episode that one act in particular was going to dominate the US singles chart in 2009. That act is not Lady Gaga, it's the Black Eyed Peas. That act is not Lady Gaga, it's the Black Eyed Peas. Their song Boom Boom Pow is the first of two number ones they'll have in 2009 in the US, where it stayed at number one for 12 weeks and was eventually certified five times platinum in the US.

More on that later, but in the meantime here are the albums that hit the top spot during this period. I know, I know Richie, I also don't like black eyed peas. Sorry. Listen, he's allowed to announce his dislike for the black eyed peas. I'm sure we will in due course. Anyway, albums we have Defying Gravity by Keith Urban. One week, fail to chart in the UK. Then we have Unstoppable by Rascal Flatts. One Week, also fail to chart in the UK. Then we have, you'll notice the theme here, Hannah Montana of Movie Soundtrack. One Week, also fail to chart in the UK, but that was technically

ineligible for the main album's chart being soundtrack. Oh well that's the worst of both worlds, isn't it? Clearly. And D. Probably. Then we have Diva Than Rap by Rick Ross, one week also failed to chart in the UK. Finally cutting through we have Together Through Live

by Bob Dylan, one week also got to number one in the UK. But finally we have Epiphany by Chrisette Michelle, one week also failed to chart in the UK. Alright then, we will jump in to our first song this week, which is... This! Can you find all that you stand for? Has been replaced with murns of gold You can untrain yourself to no tears To feel pain and swallow fear But can you stay up for the weekend till next year?

God, I can't do this anymore Though I'll be laid down on the floor As many feet walk through the door I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man

I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna be a man I'm gonna be a man, I'm gonna Alone by Calvin Harris. Released as the lead single from his second studio album, titled Ready for the Weekend, I'm Not Alone is Calvin Harris' fifth single overall to be released in the UK and his second to reach number one. And it's not the last time we'll be coming to Mr. Harris on this podcast. I Am Not Alone went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry, Knocking Lady Gaga,

off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for 2 weeks. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 67,000 copies, beating competition from Love, Sex, Magic by Ciara and Justin Timberlake which got to number 6. And in week 2 it sold 62,000 copies beating competition from We Made You by Eminem which got to number 8 and Not Fair by Lily Allen which climbed to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts I'm Not Alone fell 2 places to number 10. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, I'm Not Alone fell 2 places

to number 3. By the time it was done on the charts it had been inside the top 100 for 28 weeks. The song is currently officially certified platinum in the UK. As of 20, 24, Lizzy, how are we feeling about Calvin Harris? I quite like this, yeah. I don't think I remember it from the time. I had it confused with a different song, which I think is also by Calvin Harris. I won't hum it, I'll save your ears, but yeah. I can't really place it at the time.

Granted, I wasn't really paying attention to the charts. I was very much in my indie snob phase which yeah not great, but I sort of think of this now as like the start of the EDM boom that happened in the 2010s, at least in the UK. I think it has a lot of the elements that would make up some of the biggest hits of the next decade but I think it's distinctive enough to stand out on its own and not just sound like another example of a genre that becomes oversaturated quite quickly in the coming years, and I dare say Calvin Harris is a part of that. But yeah, this is good. I especially like the really icy synths in the chorus, like the higher ones.

They sound like something from The Knife or Sophie even. I think there's also elements of the original Calvin Harris sound, like his sort of David Bowie-esque vocals, but I almost think the vocal on this might be the weakest part. It's a bit aimless. It works better on something like the title track from the album Ready for the Weekend, which is... it sort of reminds me of Lola's theme by the Shape Shifters. But yeah, this seems like... I know Calvin Harris has already had a number one, but it seems like this is him sort of shaping into the mould that would become the sound of the 2010s

and would make him a global superstar. And yeah, I maybe don't love this as much as some of the other dance tracks that I've really come to love from this podcast, like Another Chance by Roger Sanchez or Loneliness by Tom Craft, but I found myself listening to this quite often this week. I've really quite like it. Yeah, I think that a lot of your notes have actually sort of ended up chiming similarly with mine. We are at the last of the holy slash unholy trinity of 2010's pop. We've had Viva La Vida, Just Dance, and now I'm Not Alone is here. I think that all three of them, at least in a UK context, lay down that foundation for what 2010's pop is going to sound like. I've already explained everything about Viva La Vida and Just

Dance so I won't go through that again. But with I'm Not Alone, I think that if you were to randomly turn on a radio in 2009 and hear the opening few bars of this, not knowing it was a Calvin Harris tune, you'd think that maybe the mid-2000s indie revival was still going strong because you've got that simple guitar line going in the back with the bass and drums, you know, traditional band set up and it takes at least one go-round of it for any synths or electronics to come in. I think if you were just a casual pop listener you could be forgiven for thinking that like Biffy Clyro have a new song out and it was

going to break out into a metal thing you know soon or a hard rock thing after the success of mountains. But then the template gets set much like how on me, all the way back in 2004, kind of thrusted into the face of the past as that bass kick thumped Steve Winwood into submission, I'm Not Alone annihilates that mid-2000s indie movement for good with that huge wave of super compressed, let's say, icy synths as if to say that was what was and this is what is and what is going to be. And okay, this isn't the first song to do that sort of thing, but it's the first number one we've had in this exact style. And after this, so, so, so many songs follow this exact template,

bit of a build up with vocals, bit of a, up with vocals, bit of a pre-chorus bridgey type thing with some vocals, then a sudden rush of percussion and then a big instrumental section which has loads of whiny screechy synths and often times the synth melody will just mimic the verse melody from before. Normally I would tune out because as we'll see this in like later years, so many artists who do these kinds of songs just repeat the exact same structure for part two of the song and kind of call it a day. We'll actually see it later this year

in a couple of episodes time I think. I won't leave people on the edge with this. It's the David Guetta Akon one where they do a minute and a half of Sexy Chick and then they just copy and paste and make it three minutes long. And it's disgraceful and I hate it and we'll get to that later this year. But this does at least have the wherewithal to introduce that, If I see a light flashing does this mean that I'm coming that section which kind of replaces the function of the first verse with something new and each section sees like at least a new texture come in or a particular track in the mix gets You know taken away and then added back and you know it's not like the most emotionally

Stimulating or like impactful thing I've ever heard in my life But it does at least have the good grace to try and keep me entertained for the duration with new things instead of doing the cut and paste job which would be very easy to fall into. Where it gets to the halfway point instead of trying to do something different. It's like, hey you, that first half, well we're just going to do it verbatim because we can only be bothered writing half a song, that's why I find Sexy Chick to be insulting in more ways than one. This isn't vault material but it does at least come in this period where Calvin Harris still seems like a relatively oddball presence in the charts, as opposed to just being the charts which is kind of where he

goes in the 2010s where it's like oh he's doing this again is he and sometimes you'd be a bit like is this Calvin Harris like there are occasionally you know quite sort of I think that Calvin Harris if you were to pick you know I really like Spectrum feels is nice slide is too, but we're kind of, this is like the breaking point, this song, where Calvin Harris, you can kind of feel him wanting to move behind the desk and away from the microphones a little bit, not singing much, getting other people in or doing remixes of other people's songs in the case of Spectrum. Just before I finish, I think if anyone out there listening to this is looking for something that's like this, but in a 2010s context where like, you know, Calvin, if Calvin had kind of stayed more this way, you know, that kind of leaned a bit more maybe into his kind of quirky sullen side rather than his open, open air EDM festival side. The band name's gonna sound like a joke but I promise it's genuine or at least the acts name.

The album though that I would recommend is Trouble by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs from 2012. His song Garden was used on a lot of adverts for the Nokia Lumia phone. I could be wrong about that, but I think I remember those adverts. Garden is definitely the song you'll recognise, but the song Tapes of Money, I think that could easily be a Calvin Harris thing, because I really, really seriously got into that album when I was about sort of like 17, 18 and listening back to I'm Not Alone has made me think that like it's not actually all that different from the stuff that Totally

Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs was doing it was just that Teed as I will call him as he likes to be abbreviated his His was you know from a slightly more alternative point of view more interested in things like Future Garage and you know arty stuff but yeah Tapes of Money, Shimmer, Household Goods, Garden you know they were sort of like the big songs off of that album. Andy how are we feeling on Calvin? Yeah, I don't have a huge amount of swag to be honest, you both summed it up very well. With this, I'm trying not to repeat myself from previous episodes because there's been quite a few times already in 2009 where I've said there's a lot of this in the future, isn't there? There's a lot of this around this time and I kind of find myself saying that again really that yes this is definitely the sound of an era here. I completely agree with both

of you on that. I'm not necessarily sure that's a good thing. I think this is a sort of bell tolling for the future rather than an interesting spark of the future to be honest but it's not bad in and of itself. It's absolutely fine. I do think I have to kind of dwell on this point a little bit though that there really is such a noticeable changing of the guard in 2009 that there's just been so many songs already that we've covered so far this year that are from new-ish kind of names, new sounds and we've got plenty more of that coming this week alone. I don't know what it is about 2009 that there just seems to be a real closing of one

chapter and starting of the next which has its good and its bad sides but it's just an interesting thing to behold really because it's not one of those years that people tend to talk about as turning points but it is quietly a bit of a turning point this year. And as for this I think it's a little bit similar to Just Dance in what I have to say about it in that yes I recognize that this is page one of something that this is you know influential to a major extent I do completely get that but it's kind of being um outdone by a lot of other things really just like Just Dance. We're looking back on it, it looks a little bit plain and retrospect now I think. It's totally fine, it's decent but I think you know if where this goes in

like a couple years time to like Avicii and stuff like that I find that more interesting personally and I have a bitter taste in my mouth with Calvin Harris to be honest because yeah it's if you hear anything like this for like the next 15 years really you just kind of assume that it's him and this sound has become ubiquitous to a degree that is not healthy for pop music and it's not healthy for the charts and I don't like how much of this kind of thing we're gonna get in the future so it's sort of symbolic of that.

I really, really like those synths. I'm completely in agreement about that and I'm glad you mentioned that word, Icy Litty, because I was just trying to think of an adjective for it and that's a very good one. Yes, I really, really like that synth riff. That's obviously the highlight of the song, really. I don't like the vocals at all. I can see why he got behind the desk because yes he's sung before and he's not a bad singer but it's really out of step with something as slick and polished and tidied up as well as this. When you've got vocals that are a little bit wobbly and a little bit well not perhaps as auto-tuned as they should be, to be honest. It really stands out and his vocals are quite wobbly, they're a little bit out of tune in the first couple of lines, I find.

So yeah, the vocals really, really stand out and I can see why he got behind the desk a bit more in the future. But no, this is fine. It's never going to be one of my favourites. I respect the fact that this is bringing something to the table that will stick around for what feels like about a millennium afterwards, which is not entirely a good thing though. So I respect its presence and I do respect Calvin Harris for what he's bringing to the table but it's not that exciting for me, I don't think really. It's like a solid average entry on the charts. Yeah. Sorry, I don't have anything more interesting to say

than that, it's just fine for me, yeah. I wouldn't say it's exciting so much as it's like a benefit of hindsight thing. Yeah, yeah, because I also, because you said that you don't really remember this from the time, neither do I really. Like I recognise it, but I can't recall an occasion where I actually heard this at the time. Like it didn't feel like it was that big. I can't

really remember it from the time. I think there's a little bit of hindsight with that. I mean I was really not in touch with the pop charts at this time so maybe I was just out of the loop but it didn't feel like it was an obvious thing happening at the time with this, no. Alright then, we will shift on to our second song this week, which is this. I eat Tint you straight up And dubs There was nothing but a quick thing Kids games, kids chase Just a quick fling

Now I'm hoping you never go missing Now I'm telling you You can hold this ring Watch how it glistens Oh it was done as quick as the wind blows Didn't think I would ever be involved So I even read a song called Don't Go Now it's just you and me on a love road

We running like D-Law Us two tiptoes up that get low And now I care less about who knows So I even read a song called Don't Go Now it's just you and me on a love road We're gonna light the low Us two tiptoes up dive get low And now I care less about who knows Now we're deep in way past intro That be explained though See never did I think A boy like me would be in me When all I really wanted was to have some fun

Now I'm putting this in my head I'm telling you one thing You're number one See I don't understand how You're number one When it was just a fling before Okay, this is Number 1 by Tinchy Strider and N-Dubz. Released as the second single from his second studio album titled Catch 22, Number 1 is Tinchy Strider's third single to be released in the UK and his first to reach number 1, and it's not the last time we'll be coming to Mr Strider on this podcast, but it is the last time that we'll be

coming to N Dubs. Number 1 went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry knocking Calvin Harris off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for 3 weeks! In its first week atop the charts, it sold 72,000 copies in a week where there were no new entries or climbers in the top 10. In week 2, it also sold 72,000 copies, beating competition from Tiny Dancer by Ironic and Chipmunk, which got to number 3. And in week 3, it sold 57,000 copies in a week where there were no new entries or climbers in the top 10, and when the entire top 6 was exactly the same as the previous week's top 6, no ups, no downs, nothing. WHAT?

When it was knocked off the top of the charts, number 1 dropped 1 place to number 2. By the time it was done on the charts, it had been inside the top 100 for 38 weeks. The song is currently officially certified 2 times platinum, so it is double platinum in the UK as of 2024 Andy Tinchy Strada and in doves. How'd you feel? What's that accent? Good effort I'm laughing at the fact that it felt a number two because I just imagine like the jokes that would be made about that

I don't understand why it's number two because I just imagine like the jokes that were being made about that I don't understand why it's number two do you know what this song is really good for for end-ups boy it would be really really handy for them if Talisa needs a costume change on their shows because you wouldn't know that Talisa exists, really would you? From this. Or the other one. What was his name? Blaze? Phaser. Phaser. Phaser. That was it. Phaser. Not Blaze. Yeah. I can't believe I know that, to be honest.

But yeah, endubs were very of their time, weren't they? Dappy in particular. Those bloody dappy hats that everybody wore that made everyone look a little bit like a sort of mammal. Well, everyone, you know, not a mammal, they look like some sort of sea creature. Yeah. Didn't like those. But yes, I always found end dubs quite tiresome, to be honest. I thought they were getting by on not much, and I haven't changed my opinion on that to be honest

and I think it's notable that there is absolutely no reason at all that this needs both end-ups and Tinchy Strider. No reason at all. There's no real interaction, there's no real sense of duet, there's no real sense of back and forth, it's just two people kind of singing together, taking it in turns and there is no reason why this needs to be Endubs and Tinchy Strider, so I don't really know what that's about. And I can't help but sort of look back on that Dappy turned out to be a very not nice guy, despite the fact he really tried to present himself as one so yes not got a huge amount of time for this to be honest I also really don't like how you know sometimes I don't know if anyone else does this but sometimes songs that I don't know very well I remember them in my head as the version

that I would prefer it to be like it does things that I hoped it would do and I really wish that the chorus landed on the beat instead of going boom I don't understand why I just wish it would come right in with I don't understand why I just think it would be so much better rhythmically I just think it would bounce so much more if it came in on that first beat anyway it's there's nothing wrong with it I just think this is really like tacky kind of popcorn pop to be honest and I've not really got much more to say. It's a little bit naff but I'm going to be kind to it because it feels like flogging a little

bit of a dead horse to be honest so whatever, it's not really my thing to be honest, no. Bit of a theme this week. So you know last week when I was talking about how I was a committed emo slash scene kid at this point in 2009 and how I hated chav music and such like, and you know how Andy, we kind of, maybe we didn't disagree, but I think you kind of, we questioned whether Flowrider really was chav music at all. And I also sort of question that now. Well I don't have to tell you how I felt in 2009 about a collaboration between Tinchy Strider and N-Dubz and how I vocalized my anger and

dismay basically every day of the three weeks that this was number one for because like at the time I was sort of like well what substance is there to end up in Tinty Strider you're all brainwashed man it was all like cheap and disposable and lacking in intelligence and emotion and god it wasn't it wasn't it just so empty calories and like even looking back now, it's sort of, you know, they definitely Dappy especially they definitely like you were saying being very much of their time They definitely play up to the kind of chav stereotype Endubs like with their image and stuff like that. Like it felt a little bit like they really

leaned into that and it definitely worked and endubs were like a thing at my school before this even came out like all of their songs that came out in 2008 did really well on the ringtone charts things like ouch and um god i think i know the first verse to ouch without ever having heard it of my own volition the was it I'm walking in the door I'm on the second floor one step two step three step four no the bit the bit from that that everybody always quoted was a man named Shaniqua and what I still hear that sometimes to this day. I still hear people referencing that because in the video it does that like thing where she's kind of saying

it in someone else's voice. In the video there's an actress doing it with someone else's voice coming out of her mouth. It's so funny. Oh god. So how stunned was I to come to this fifteen years later and honest god love it. Similarly to Kelly Clarkson a couple of weeks ago, I can't really explain in detail why I feel the way I do about it except to just say that the vibes are good. I think it's just nice to have a song that is about the moment where you go, ah god shit I love this person I'm in too deep. And all the thoughts

that run through your head when you're not sure if they love you back and you know the lyrics are pretty basic but they're direct and they communicate the elated panic pretty clearly. The cheap midi strings give this a kind of novelty British edge that's kind of similar to what we were discussing after Barry Islands last week. Yeah. Because like this isn't cool at all and I'm not sure they're trying to be either. I'm not saying this is ironic or like super meta or anything like that but there's a little wink to this. I think Dappy especially looking back, you mentioned the hats Andy, like I think he was always kind of aware that he

was being laughed at in certain quarters because enough teenagers thought he was cool and it was worth the trade off. I don't think so, it turned out he was not good at taking criticism as it turned out, yeah. Maybe not like actual, if you know what, actual criticism but I think from a label point of view it's like well if everybody's buying these dappy hats then it's kind of doing its job, even if everybody over 30 thinks that he's a bellend. Everybody over 20 probably thinks he's a bellend, to be honest, in 2009. N-dubs were always definitely a group for like 15 year olds who were just about getting their own phones for the first time and it was like this was the music that like oh my parents wouldn't want me listening to this but I've

got my own phone now mum I can bluetooth it and that sort of thing but I just think that as well a lot of like things like that we've covered like rock DJ and even things like the ketchup song or don't call me baby or rub Ruby that we did, you know. It's just a well-constructed pop song. It introduces a new catchy melody after the halfway point, the, you lift me off the ground, I always want you, that bit. Tinchy and Dappy have pretty solid chemistry together. The song develops and builds in neat ways as it goes along and as a little bonus point It's very cute and adorable that Tinchy and Dappy could easily be playing characters that are singing about each other here Obviously that's not intended because there are very very very few mentions of girls in this song and the one line that does mention

A girl could easily be referring to Dappy's mother like Tinty Strider saying like you know look what this amazing woman did with this man and how she raised him and brought him and set him on the right path you know that sort of thing but I do like to fanfic a little bit that they're like singing about each other because like none of the lyrics are referencing one person in particular and it could easily be construed that way. I think if you were sort of of the mindset that I actually am, but I can't believe this. I hated this more than anything in the world in 2009. I was like proper anti-N-dubs like couldn't stand them I thought that like everybody who listened to them was stupid and I was really intelligent and oh look at me sort of thing but now I sort of I was listening to it like you know like a month ago in sort of preparation and I'm

sort of like there's way more to this than I thought there was there's even like, when they repeat that kind of sort of post-chorus-y section right at the very end, you still have Tinty Strider doing little ad-libs, like filling in little gaps, just to make sure that even the repeated post-chorus at the end is slightly different. You know, you might as well keep listening to the end. And I always like pop songs that make me like find new stuff in the last 30 seconds that would like punish me if I skip the track. If you know what I mean? And like as if to say, huh, well, jokes on you, you skip this after 90 seconds and look what you missed out on. And whenever I listen to this, I get that feeling. I don't like love it like you know

Would go to the ends of the earth for it or anything like that But there might be a little surprise at the end of the episode. Um Lizzie, how we feeling? I think your opinion on this might be more measured than mine. Yeah, I just think it's I think it's alright I think like you I was sort of very anti end-ups at the time just because they represented pop and I think it's alright. I think like you, I was sort of very anti-Endubs at the time, just because they represented pop and I think 2009 might be the most anti-pop I ever was. I grew out of it, but yeah, there was definitely a time where they represented, there's a pop rubbish now, fucking Endubs. I realise that this this I'm actually surprised that this is their only number one. I think Dappy has a number one, right? That sounds right. Yeah.

It's fine. I do like your point Rob, that it does sound like they're singing to each other. That gives it kind of a sweet aspect that I hadn't actually thought of before you mentioned it. Yeah, just going back to the acts because like I guess we're not gonna properly mention N Dups again. I think Tulisa kind of got screwed. There was like a she was arrested on like supplying drugs but it turned out to be a load of rubbish and she's been quite outspoken in in more recent years about you know her upbringing and her family life and suffering from Bell's palsy and things like that. She seems like she's got her head screwed on, but her career never really recovered from that sort of early 2010s period, which is a shame. Whereas Dappy,

you know how sometimes in a Wikipedia you get a heading which just jumps out? Yes. Like, I don't think we're ever going to get one as good as the Chris Moyles show incident. Oh no. I think to be fair, I think there's about probably about six celebrities that have probably got that on their wiki page somewhere because Chris Moyles's radio show cultivated this kind of atmosphere where like I think people forgot that they were on breakfast radio at nine in the morning. There was the whole thing with Rio Ferdinand about five years before this where like he just like on the air just shouted like the f slur at Chris Moyles and like there was a whole like public recriminations

thing like I'm really sorry I'm not homophobic I just said it like that sort of thing but is Dappy's worse? Well um someone sent a text message into a show the listener and just said that Daffy was like vile and a little boy with a silly heart she thought Enders were losers it's the sort of thing you get on twitter like five times a day now but Daffy for some reason copied her phone number from the studio console and then tried calling her and sent threatening messages to her telling her, you're going to die. You sent a very bad message toward the end dobs on the Chris Moyles show yesterday morning. And for that reason, you will never be left alone. You say sorry, I will leave you alone. You expletive.

So you know, when I sort of doubted what you said there Rob about self-awareness with Dappy, that's why. Because he does not seem to be able to cope with even the slightest bit of teasing. So I don't think he was self-aware of how people thought about him. And that's not the only reason why. There's a lot of other things where he really kicked off at like not getting number one with singles and stuff like that. I think he really was just that stupid and he seems like a world-class bellend. Yeah. Yeah, I mean like he later apologized and...

No, he didn't apologize, his management apologized and offered her free tickets to a concert of his. But yeah, End Up was subsequently dropped from a government anti-bullying campaign. Oh my god. And he's been sentenced for various things over the years, including a suspended prison sentence for assault. Yeah. And he's still recording to this day. Yeah, Endups tried to make a comeback, didn't they last year with with one of their songs that they do alright then we will move on to that third and final song this

week which is this Gotta get dip, gotta get dip, gotta get dip, gotta get dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip,

dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, dip, I got that hit to beat the block, you can get that bass on below I got that rock and roll, that future flow That digital spit, next level visual I got that boom boom pow, how to beat bank I like that boom boom pow, them chickens jacking my style They try to cover my swagger, I'm on that niche Now I'm so three thousand and eight, you sold two thousand and late I got that boom boom boom, that future boom boom boom Let me get in that boom boom boom, gotta get kept

Boom boom boom, gotta get kept Boom boom boom, gotta get kept Boom boom boom, gotta get kept Boom boom boom, that boom boom boom, that boom boom boom I'm on that supersonic boom, y'all hear that space ship? Okay, this is Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas. Released as the lead single from the group's 5th studio album titled The END, Boom Boom Pow is Black Eyed Peas' 12th single, overall to be released in the UK and their 2nd to reach number 1. And it's not the last time we'll

be coming to Black Eyed Peas on this podcast. Boom Boom Pow went straight in at number 1 as a brand new entry, knocking Tinchy Strider off the top of the charts. It stayed at number 1 for one week. In its first week atop the charts, it sold 74,000 copies, beating competition from Warriors Dance by the Prodigy, which climbed to number 9. When it was knocked off the top of the charts, Boom Boom Pow dropped 1 place to number 2, but it is not the end of our coverage of the song on this podcast. Andy, gotta get that review from you, so go ahead.

Yeah, this is an interesting one, this. It's a real curatech because I think you have to put this into context of what it was, what Black Eyed Peas were very open about this being and what this whole album was, which is that they were making a concerted effort to set the sound of the 2010s. That was their whole mission statement with everything off this album and particularly this. It didn't really catch to be honest and I think ironically both the other songs that we've covered this week sound a lot more like the early 10s than this does. This is a little bit more similar to where things would be at the end of the 10s with like chill pop kind of stuff to be

honest but I because of that because this exists in a bit of a vacuum I can never really decide whether I like it or not and I think I kind of fudged it a little bit and just be like it's okay but it is a huge Emperor's New Clothes to some extent. Like this was such a big hype thing and there was so much interest in this because it felt like it might be worth the 2010s were gonna go in a big way. But really it is a bit of an Emperor's New Clothes

because there's so little to it. There is an astonishing amount of empty space in this song where I just feel like it almost feels like it's giving me anxiety. There's so much space where nothing is happening, like between levels of the song, between frequencies and between lines. There's just a lot of emptiness,

a lack of quantity in this song, which makes it feel like a lack of substance. And that is kind of the point. It's supposed to be minimalist and it's supposed to be just a little bit of an earworm with nothing more to it than that no bells and whistles but I don't think I like that I don't think I do I need a little bit more to it than that and Will.i.am has this thing from sort of this point onwards that just drives me nutty where he will like deliberately not be verbose, deliberately

not be performative and theatrical and will pick like a boring thing and just strain at it like deliberately. Like where he's in, I got a feeling where he says we're going to have a good night and that's all. I'm like the word good, especially in dirty bear where he says, I'm having a good time with you. It just, there's just this kind of taking the edges off everything and just like keeping things in an extremely cool, I don't mean cool as in like frozen,

not cool as in hip and cool. Like just in this very cool, frozen, emotionless kind of state, very robotic almost. And yes, that makes it sound a bit futuristic and a bit weird and I admire the effort and I do think there is imagination in this. I don't think it's like the throwaway garbage that they will be releasing over the next couple of years but it's just not really to my taste and it is a bit of it like I say a bit recurious because this

kind of thing didn't really catch on to be honest. I think it was well overhyped and it's not much to it to be honest but it is fine it does get in my head and everybody still remembers this and still gets that boom boom boom like refrain in their head even to this day so I have to give it points for that. It's decent, but it's not worth the hype that I got at the time as far as I'm concerned. Lizzy, how are we feeling about Boom Boom Pal? I mean, I sort of admire Will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas for their commitment to making incredibly ugly pop music around this time.

I think the absolute apex slash nadir of this is one that gets to number one in 2010, which I think is one of the most confounding number ones of all time. But this is kind of a good precursor to that. I think I agree with you Andy that there are some interesting ideas and I do think Will.i.am is someone who genuinely seeks to innovate and as I say I think he has successfully formed a sound that is very much his. But I think the problem is, well there's a couple of problems actually, one, Rob there was a conversation we had a while back I think it was about like a G6 by Far East movie. Oh, yeah.

That's right. And you made me aware of something. It was like, sometimes I can like those as guilty pleasure, but what I noticed about a lot of these sort of turn of the decade party anthems is that they're not fun. This in particular is weirdly tense and off-putting. It's like it doesn't want you to be there at a party. in particular is weirdly like tense and off-putting. It's like it doesn't want you to be there at a party. Like it's sort of, it's like a party

you're not invited to. Maybe that's the point. It's like aspirational in that sense. I think it's supposed to be like more inspiring, I think. Like you're supposed to admire it rather than enjoy it, I think. Yeah, but it's also it's it's like party at a distance which I find like really odd and also I think my other

problem with it is that there's there's parts of this where I think wow this is this is getting good it's going somewhere and then they'll they'll have like a certain production choice that just ruins it. Like they do the thing in this, like the tear through, where it goes down. They do it on Fergie's vocal and it just kind of sucks you out of the moment. That's one thing I noticed. The other one is towards the end of the song where someone like brings in a like a theremin. It's so funny. I know. That's in my notes. That specific moment is so funny. But like, it's sort of building to... Like the song is...

There is kind of a build there. And I'm like, OK, this is getting quite good. And then they throw something in. It's like, oh, you've ruined it. Another really good example of this doesn't get to number one. But do you guys remember that power by Justin Bieber and Will.i.am? Vaguely, very vaguely. Because the intro is really good. It's like,

Whoa, I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive. And it's like, all right, I quite like this build up. And then you get the drop and it's like, do, do, do. And so, for God's sake, it's that sort of thing every time with Will.i.am, where you'll have kind of a good thing building and then he'll throw his own stink on it and it just ruins everything. Like I say, that one from 2010 is a notorious example of that where the drop is one of the ugliest and silliest things I've ever heard.

I can't get angry at this. is one of the ugliest and silliest things I've ever heard. I can't get angry at this. I kind of appreciate that they've at least tried to do something different, but I think there's just too much here to mark against it for me to say that I like it. Do you know how I would sum it up? Cause I have similar,

it sounds like we have some kind of similar feelings about Will.I.Am really is that, yes, he does have a lot of ideas. It's just that he has a lot of bad ones. He has no filter. Like nobody to tell him no. He doesn't stop the ideas getting out of the gate. And some of them, particularly next year,

I'm just going to name it, the time, don't you? Some of the ideas he has are fucking atrocious and like should have him thrown in jail they're so bad. But some of them are good and there's genuine imagination here. But I can't help but see him as someone who believes his own hype to some extent because anyone who puts out things like that song has to sort of believe their own hype to some extent and so I think sometimes he gets lucky with a fluke of like something is actually genuinely really interesting because he just puts everything out there there's no filter and it's not it's not great for consistency

yeah yeah with like Dirty Bit I just imagine like what if DJ Sammy had done that time of my life thing? We'd probably be all over it, but because it's Will.i.am, he sort of does that, but then he's like right, I'm gonna do this really shit sounding thing. Even within this album, this album is like 20 tracks long, it's like almost 80 minutes. I had to listen to it when I listened to every album I own because I bought this album at the time and even within this album there is some absolute hot garbage on that album. Omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie omobie And they have good choices of singles because all the singles on this were well chosen and they very, very big hits, but like, oh God. I think if people knew more about the deeper cuts from Black Eyed Peas, they'd be even more of a laughing stock than they ended up as, yeah.

And yet they're a band who have like really good deep cuts from their early stuff, like their early hip hop stuff. And even, you know, big songs, like, Let's Get It Started and Pump It, like they're good pop songs. Shut Up, Shut Up is a great song, love that song. Yeah Shut Up is a great song, they've even got one this year which is better than this. Yeah Will.i.am, we'll probably talk about him more when we come to the 2010s but that's a while away and people will have forgotten the Specifics of this episode. So I will just sort of say that I think that will I am

The thing is a lot of what he makes something happens to him in 2008 and I'm not sure what happens to him But like he just sort of completely changes his image Well, like he just comes across like a proper like first rate like Bellend like a proper like first rate like Belend. Like he really does come across that way. And the single that I think defines this era of his career more than anything is that, that THE the hardest ever. Another abbreviation silly thing that he did

with Jennifer Lopez and Mick Jagger. That is him all over, where like, it feels like he's trying to make pop from a thousand years in the future, while also commenting on the pop of today. But it's kind of like the satire, but it's not clear that it's satire, but also it's genuine and sincere,

but it's not entirely clear whether it's sincere or not because, as Andy, I think you were saying, it takes all of the emotion out of it. It's just straight at you like numbers and figures. It's not information you're downloading and absorbing. It's just information that's just kind of bumping you on the head and there is you're not supposed to eat and digest you're just supposed to look and stare and your eyes are supposed to glaze over um lizzie you were saying that um the time dirty bit is one of the most confounding number ones of all time i think this is the most confounding number one of all time. Fair enough. This song over the years has, with the time dirty bit, it's like

that is a like new galaxy of shit. Whereas with this is just... I... this song has broken me slowly over 15 years. I hated it when it was first out and then over time I've been like as I've learned more about alternative music and I can't believe I'm even mentioning stuff like this but like drone music, a noise music, and I'm just like wait what hang on I cannot put I cannot like put the dots together What hang on I cannot put I cannot like put the dots together So get ready for a hits 21 first with this one. I'm just gonna say up top I am pie-holing this and I am vaulting it it has Destroyed my ability to rate it. It also makes the way that I look at the world feel inadequate Because this is this this is this is terrible, this is tuneless, largely hookless,

large parts of it don't sound finished or even remotely serious. All of the lyrics are awful, they disappear into some of the most thoughtless non sequiturs ever put down in films like Blade Runner 2049 or Tron Legacy or In Time, you know we're just in Timberlake from a few years ago, cyberpunk films that are kind of set in a near distant future sort of thing. Whenever they go into a nightclub or something, this is the kind of music that's playing. Like even in films like Warly or Alita Battle Angel or Ad Astra or something like that you know because music directors on those films they always assume the pop music has less soul and imagination today than it did in 1970. So they naturally presume that the pop

of the future will continue down that path to the point where all music is musack, where it's just a flat 4-4 beat, minimal electronics and gestures towards very basic and simple emotions. It's usually implied that all music production and art creation has been taken over by the fascist government that our heroes need to defeat and that our heroes are the only people, you know, they're the only ones who aren't mindless drones. Our heroes know that the Matrix exists, if you will, and this feels like if the Matrix did exist in our world and we were living inside a system that's like, you you know preordained,

this would be like the thing where I was like well of course because boom boom pow exists, how could I not have seen this earlier? But you will have noticed that I have transitioned into talking about very vivid images for me that the song makes me think of and I think that like that the song makes me think of and I think that like it's sort of genius this it is sort of genius because this does sound like the music of a very far-off incomprehensible future. Busted have been to the year 3000 but the Black Eyed Peas have been to the year 3008 and like hey okay I believe you've been there Fergie like Liz, you've already mentioned to me that the time, dirty bit, is a borderline Dadaist expression of pop music. And I think that this is also very much in that ballpark because this is borderline satirical nonsense executed in a way that's

normally the opposite of everything that people like in pop music This is about was close to like formless as you can get in Pop there's barely a melody less of a harmony. There's that screeching Hiss in the mix that just is just always there. It's just static It's just static. It never goes away. It never goes away. It's just mind blowing. There are no emotional peaks and troughs. The only thing that comes close to a hook is the boom boom boom and they repeat that ad infinitum and it runs under the whole song basically. There's that entire back section with the fucking lalalalalala let the beat rubba rubba raw, let the beat rubba rubba raw at really odd intervals and then Lizzie that theremin thing you mentioned that's like comedy noise thing the woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo It sounds like something an orchestra would do to signify the sound of a housefly buzzing

about in a living room, not knowing where it's going. Fergie sounds terrible in her bits because there's no anchoring note for her to go off. So she sort of has to freestyle. But it leans into all of this awful stuff with such conviction that it flips back on itself. And I'm certain that this is some kind of experiment just to see what people will buy if you put the name Black Eyed Peas on it, which is why I'm sort of not entirely convinced that this isn't some

practical joke, by will.i.am. And boy did people buy into this! Like, this was number one for four months in America! Four months! And it goes back to number one in four months in America four months Yeah, it goes back to number one in the UK as we as we've implied it remains incredibly popular to this day this I'm this this has to be Surely it has to be like otherwise everything I've ever thought about this song is a lie And I can't have that just this strips everything down. It's like between like 2009 and 2014 it felt like Will.i.am had a dare with himself to strip everything away from pop, make it as robotic and binary and computer programmed and lifeless as it possibly could be and just see what happens.

Because even with scream and shout it's like I wanna scream and shout and let it all out and everything's very much on the beat. Even his haircut on that Will I Am album that he did, I forget the name of it. It was hashtag Willpower wasn't it? Hashtag Willpower Was the name of the album Even his hair on the album cover is like Crops, so that it has like a square missing On like his right temple

And there's all of these things And it's just the fact that like No one tried this ever again So it sort of stands alone in its achievements Because I think that Will.i.am is the only person Who could do something like this because I don't think anybody else would be able to touch it and not like completely fluff it. And they just, this specific song is, like I say, I couldn't find a place to put it.

I just, I don't know where it belongs. In my head, in my heart, how I feel about it. So it's Piehole and it's Vol. It is not out of ten, it is ten out of ten. It is both and all of those things. And like, it somehow managed to be number one in America for half a year with two songs. I got A Feeling makes much more sense to me. That totally makes sense to me as a pop song. But yeah, it completely makes sense. But this is like, I can't believe this and I Got A Feeling are on the same album. And that they're even about the same band. I just, yeah, this is like, I remember watching Snakes on a Plane and just sort of thinking like, oh my like, I remember watching snakes on a plane and just sort of thinking like,

oh my god, I don't know how to feel about this. It's kind of like The Room as well, where like, it's so terrible, but it's delivered with such conviction and so much heart that like, you sort of, well, that's why, you know, there are special screenings of it 30 years later where Tommy Wiseau comes and answers people's questions. And I had a friend at the time, he won't be listening, but just in case he is, hi Terry from Middlesbrough, we play the Xbox Live together every day for 18 months. It's just how friendships go. But he was obsessed with the Black Eyed Peas and he went to see them on this tour. And so I, you know, brought in a lot of this album and like, I remember Amabe, even though it wasn't really that big of a single over here, I only really know it because of him. And so this felt like a huge event and it was a huge event, but it's just like, everything

about this huge event makes no sense. People normally reject this stuff that's kind of like even remotely uncomfortable. The fact that one of the genre tags for this on RateYourMusic.com is drone and like we're talking about a number one single that was number one for like how many weeks was it number one in America for? Was it like 14 weeks? And then I got a feeling did 12. No, this was 12 weeks. It was at the top of the episode. Yeah, the other way, of course.

Yeah. Three months, four months. Like, how? I just, how? I don't know where to finish this because there is no concluding remark to this. I won't be alive in the year 3008, but if this is what pop sounds like,

I wouldn't be surprised. Probably sound a bit more bubbly, considering eight eight years on they're probably still living underwater. I just wanted to point out that there is a Manchester aspect to this because it does sample Rowetta. Does it? Yeah it samples Reach Out by Sweet Mercy. Bloody hell Rowetta. Wow. Featuring Rowetta. Yeah. That is so cool. Good for her.

Manchester is 3008 and London is 2008. There you go. Oh, the only other thing I would say, the only thing I would say is that Rob with your like grapple of is this good? Is this bad? Is it both? Is it like every end of the spectrum? I do think possibly you have a very generous reading of Will.i.am, potentially.

I think there is a possibility that maybe some of his ideas, I don't think in this case, to be fair, but I do think there is a possibility that some of his ideas are so bad that they break the ability to analyze them. And they are so profoundly bad that it's an art form. I don't think this is one of those but I do think they are songs in the future that's like you can't possibly have thought this was good and he's not on some higher plane he's just that bad. Is it not

possible that you can have a brilliant idea but execute it in such a ham-fisted way that it comes off as a bad idea? Yeah, totally. Willem does that a lot in 2013. Oh yes he does. And through quite a lot of the 2010s. One thing I will say to finish off the podcast actually with the comment about N-dubs which I forgot to say before and Tinti Strider is that is the first and to date only number one single in the UK to reference and have the term number one in its title. Ah wow! Is it?

Yep. Jesus. That's so cool. That's so cool. Alright then. That is it for this week. Before we go, we're just going to check. Andy, I'm not alone.

Number one. boom boom pow, how we feeling? I'm not alone is not alone in not going anywhere because all three of them are not going anywhere this week. So you spared my other two puns. Yeah, it's three bang in the middle this week, yeah. Okay, Lizzie, how about you? I'm not alone, but I'm also not gonna put it in the middle this week. Yeah. Okay, Lizzy, how about you? I'm not alone, but I'm also not gonna put it

in the vault or the pie hole. I don't understand why you're number one, but you should understand that you're not going in either the vault or the pie hole. And boom boom pow is just sneaking into the pie hole for me. I was sort of on the fence but the more I've talked about it I think the execution of this just about pushes it in as a straight entry rather than a half and half. Alright then and for me

I'm not alone just misses out on the vault. I was gonna put number one in the vault but I think when it actually comes down to it and declaring it publicly I realized that I didn't I didn't want it as much so it misses the vault by a shade but big apologies to the music of Tinchy Strider and N-Dubz Even if two-thirds of N-Dubz basically had nothing to do with this and are only in the video for about 15 seconds. And boom boom pow as you know is going in the pie hole and in the vault. I can't work it out and I hope I never work it out. To be honest, I want to stay confused. When we come back, we will be continuing our journey through 2009 and

we will see you for it we will see you soon. See ya! Bye bye! I'm sorry, I'm so loose These won't hold me no longer I'm never working on the world you know Solar, solar, solar, solar, solar, solar We don't fail, we don't It's the month, it's the month, it's the month, it's the month, it's the month, it's the month We don't fail, we don't Solar, solar, solar, solar, solar, solar, solar

We don't have enough It's so loud, it's so loud, it's so loud, it's so loud, it's so loud