Thursday 26 January 2017

Top of the Pops, 26th January 2017

Most of the songs climbing the top 20 are the same ones as last week, so this week's TOTP is mostly a pleasant stroll through the lower reaches. That means The Vamps (hanging around the chart for an unprecedentedly long time with this one), Robin Schulz, Sage The Gemini and album chart-toppers The XX. Nice selection.

We also have a big new entry from the incorrigible Chainsmokers and a number 1 reprise from man of the moment Ed Sheeran. And in a very special moment, none other than Robyn is here to duet with Calum Scott on his cover of her song.

Debuts: The XX, Migos, Robyn.

The Vamps - All Night

Up 2 to number 29

Chainsmokers - Paris

Highest New Entry - In at number 10

The XX - On Hold

High Climber - Up 40 to number 34

Migos - Bad And Boujee

Up 13 to number 37

Robin Schulz ft. Cheat Codes - Shed A Light

Up 5 to number 27

Sage the Gemini - Now And Later

Up 11 to number 32

Calum Scott with Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Up 2 to number 46

Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

Second week at number 1

PRESENTER: Duffy

Thursday 19 January 2017

Top of the Pops, 19th January 2017

And so the Year Of Sheeran begins. King Ed splats into the number 1 and 2 spots and is duly invited to perform both songs in their entirety - and even that is pretty restrained of us because he has a ton more re-entries lower down the top 40.

Other than that there are a few new year hits racing up the chart, mostly enjoyable dance bops aside from the Machine Gun Kelly track. Kelly's featured vocalist Camila Cabello is the ex-Fifth Harmony member, not wasting any time in getting some solo exposure. ZAYN is here to perform his bondage sequel anthem sans Taylor Swift, and Dua Lipa gives us a fun exclusive non-Sean Paul version of No Lie.

Debuts: Machine Gun Kelly, Camila Cabello (outside her group).

Jax Jones ft. Raye - You Don't Know Me

Up 24 to number 9

Machine Gun Kelly ft. Camila Cabello - Bad Things

High Climber - Up 29 to number 23

ZAYN - I Don't Wanna Live Forever

Up 6 to number 17

Starley - Call On Me

Up 18 to number 8

Dua Lipa - No Lie

Up 16 to number 28

Tom Zanetti ft. Sadie Ama - You Want Me

Long Runner: Up 5 to number 27 after 12 weeks

Ed Sheeran - Castle on the Hill

In at number 2

Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

Straight in at number 1

PRESENTERS: Abz Breen and Richie Neville

Thursday 12 January 2017

Top of the Pops, 12th January 2017

A change in chart rules means a lot of climbers this week, so everyone in the line-up is in the top 20. Among them are three acts with an X Factor connection, a two-song medley by friend of the show The Weeknd, and the week's big chart winner JP Cooper. Faceless dance dude Neiked is here too, and after just four and a half months on the chart I'm starting to credit his featured vocalist Dyo so well done to her.

Since Louisa Johnson is in the house, it would be churlish not to give her a go at singing her buddies Clean Bandit's number one hit, now in its GnarlsBarkleytastic ninth week at the top.

Debuts: Dyo (with credit).

Louisa Johnson - So Good

Up 3 to number 15

The Weeknd - Starboy / I Feel It Coming

Up 3 to number 5 / Up 6 to number 13

JP Cooper - September Song

High Climber - Up 29 to number 16

Neiked ft. Dyo - Sexual

Long Runner - Up 5 to number 6 after 19 weeks

James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go

Up 1 to number 8

Louis Tomlinson vs Steve Aoki - Just Hold On

Up 2 to number 10

Rag 'n' Bone Man - Human

Up 1 to number 2

Clean Bandit ft. Louisa Johnson - Rockabye

Ninth week at number 1

PRESENTER: Heidi Range

Thursday 5 January 2017

Top of the Pops, 5th January 2017

Which songs have been rebounding up the chart in the new year lull? It's a fairly healthy mix of US party tracks and friends of the show, with the occasional 2016 fave thrown in for good measure. The bigger, sadder news is the death of George Michael; we leave it until the end of the show before screening a classic performance in tribute.

Debuts: None.

Bruno Mars - 24K Magic

Up 2 to number 10

Maroon 5 ft. Skepta - Don't Wanna Know

Up 1 to number 16

Zara Larsson - I Would Like

Up 4 to number 2

Chainsmokers ft. Halsey - Closer

Up 4 to number 14

Little Mix - Shout Out To My Ex

Up 7 to number 6

Louisa Johnson - So Good

Up 7 to number 18

Clean Bandit ft. Anne-Marie and Sean Paul - Rockabye

Eighth week at number 1

From The Vault: George Michael - Careless Whisper

Back in at number 44

PRESENTER: JB Gill

Tuesday 3 January 2017

Fantasy Top Of The Pops 2016 round-up

Happy New Year, readers, one and all!

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas period, and especially the real life Christmas Day Top Of The Pops. I thought Skepta and Christine and the Queens had the best performances. I haven't watched the New Year one yet but I sure will.

Artists of the year 


Once again, I'm going to round off the year by running down the most featured artistes and friends of the show here at Fantasy Top Of The Pops. Without further ado, the most frequent top poppers of 2016 were:

In eighth place, Craig David (10 appearances). Craig hadn't been on the show at all in 2013-2015, but he made a storming comeback in 2016 with multiple hits and was always delighted to appear.

In equal eighth place, Coldplay (10 appearances). Coldplay lacked a huge smash this year but their singles and album tracks tended to have long chart runs with multiple small climbs. They were often here to fly the flag for guitar-based music, and managed several fun collaborations with different backing vocalists on Hymn For The Weekend.

Also in equal eighth place, Clean Bandit (10 appearances). These friends of the show only had two singles this year but both were big successes. In particular, Rockabye's long run at number 1 kept them coming back.

In fifth place, Shawn Mendes (11 apparances). The well-groomed Shawn had one appearance in 2015 but 2016 was his breakout year, with Stitches and problemato-pop anthem Treat You Better staying in the chart for long periods.

In equal fifth place, Major Lazer (11 appearances). These electro-raggamuffins often skulk behind featured vocalists but they can't keep themselves off the show. Cold Water and Light It Up combined in 2016 to exceed the Spotify-conquering success of Lean On the year before.

Also in equal fifth place, Little Mix (11 appearances). Friends of the show Little Mix continue to prove that girl bands are still a thing and are in many ways the perfect act for TOTP. 2016 brought the end of the last album campaign and the triumphant start of a new one, which looks set to bring them many more appearances in the coming year.

In third place, The Chainsmokers (12 appearances). Closer was the smash, but the duo's AOR-in-disguise actually gave them several noteworthy hits, all with different singers. They actually had one appearance in 2014 with #SELFIE so they aren't completely new, but this was an astonishingly good year for 2016's least predictable runaway success.

In equal third place, Ariana Grande (12 appearances). Young Ariana has very smoothly become one of the world's premier pop singers during 2016. At the start of the year she might have been on a par with Selena Gomez, but she's now eased her way into the big leagues and might be considered as big as Katy Perry or Olly Murs - almost Rihanna territory. Even when not in the top ten her tracks were frequently found climbing the top 20 or 30, making her and her astonishing voice a TOTP mainstay.

In second place, Drake (13 appearances). When you spend 15 weeks at number one, you rack up a lot of TOTP time. In Drake's case, he wasn't always available, so the summer saw One Dance sometimes performed by his collaborators in various permutations. Nevertheless, it's a rare week when Drake isn't in the chart somewhere so even despite his international commitments he makes it to number 2 on this list.

In first place, 2016's premier friend of the show Zara Larsson (15 appearances). After four TOTP spots at the end of 2015, Zara went on to dominate the show in 2016 and was rarely out of the studio. Multiple hits at once meant that she was often able to appear in consecutive weeks. The achievement is all the greater when you consider that she did it in a year of long-running number one hits without having one herself. Well done Zara!

The wider trend of more appearances for the top artists continues, with Zara's 15 outdoing The Weeknd's impressive 13 from last year and twice as many performers making it into double figures. As streaming continues to slow the chart down I expect more of the same in 2017.

The all-time top ten


Finally let's have a look at the updated list of all-time Fantasy TOTP performers:

RankLast yearActAppearances
1(1)Ed Sheeran32
2(5)Ellie Goulding25
3(8)Little Mix24
4(8)Clean Bandit23
5(3)One Direction22
=(2)Sam Smith22
7(3)Jess Glynne21
8(33)Ariana Grande20
=(22)Coldplay20
=(27)Major Lazer20

Dropouts: George Ezra (6th last year), Jason Derulo (7th), The Weeknd (8th), Avicii (8th), Calvin Harris (8th).

It's been a good year for Little Mix, Clean Bandit and especially Ariana Grande (the only non-Brit on the list apart from Major Lazer), and a quiet one for Sam Smith and George Ezra, who were all over the show not so long ago. It's also been quiet for Ed Sheeran, but still nobody comes close to him at the top of this list, and if he comes back in 2017 he's likely to extend that lead if anything. Hail King Ed.

See you all on Thursday - thanks for reading.