There are not many teenagers who can claim to get their GCSE results and a number one single in the same week, but that is precisely what happened for the ten piece Walthamstow collective Blazin' Squad...
The Story of Pop: 2002 (Chapter 34)
Category: Boyband
The Story of Pop: 2002 (Chapter 8)
Emerging with a new found confidence - and desire - to step away from the stools, Westlife topped the charts for a landmark 10th time with one of the biggest and best known singles of their career...
The Story of Pop: 2002 (Chapter 4)
With their third album, and after a tragic set of circumstances forced them to reevaluate their priorities, A1 took a step in a more mature direction away from their boyband roots to guitar pop...
A definitive ranking of all of Blue’s singles.
20 years ago. That is exactly how long it has been since British boyband Blue released their debut album. When I first learnt of this on Instagram a week ago, I had two immediate reactions.Firstly, I am that mature now (I was 12 in 2001 for reference, date fans). Secondly, after cranking up that album … Continue reading A definitive ranking of all of Blue’s singles.
#CrazyStupidAlbum: JLS (@JLSOfficial) – ‘2.0’
Just over two years ago in 2019, when we wrote our 10th anniversary blog for the release of their debut album, we confidently predicted (or at least hoped) that JLS would both get back together and return to the UK and Ireland's arenas in December 2020 to tour and mark the occasion properly. Whilst the … Continue reading #CrazyStupidAlbum: JLS (@JLSOfficial) – ‘2.0’
Pop Essays #19: V feat. Tom and Danny from McFly, ‘Chills In The Evening’
Hello, hope you're having a good Thursday and week generally so far - which is about to be that little bit better as I give you another great hidden gem from my own personal archives with this week's Pop Essays. So without any ado let's get to this week's entry... Artist: V feat. Tom and … Continue reading Pop Essays #19: V feat. Tom and Danny from McFly, ‘Chills In The Evening’
Pop Essays #8: BBMak, ‘Back Here’
Hello and welcome to this week's Pop Essays, your weekly series where we bring new light to those forgotten pop gems of years gone by. This week: anyone fancy a British invasion of America? Then read on... Artist: BBMak Song: Back Here Release Date: 16/08/1999 (Original) / 12/02/2001 (Reissue) Writers: Christian Burns / Mark Barry … Continue reading Pop Essays #8: BBMak, ‘Back Here’
Pop Essays #1: Ultra, ‘Rescue Me’
Firstly a happy new year to you all, albeit one that seems to be starting suspiciously just as the last one did globally speaking. But no matter, I'm a firm believer, in the words of D:Ream, that things can only get better. Especially as today, I write both my first blog post of 2021 and … Continue reading Pop Essays #1: Ultra, ‘Rescue Me’
#CrazyStupidAlbum: McFly (@mcflymusic) – ‘Young Dumb Thrills’
15th November 2010. That was the last time, almost 10 years to the day, that McFly last released a full studio album. Said album - Above the Noise - is probably still up there with Spice Girls' Forever and The Human League's Crash as a potentially brilliant but wonkily executed tap into an unexpected territory … Continue reading #CrazyStupidAlbum: McFly (@mcflymusic) – ‘Young Dumb Thrills’
The Story of Pop: 2000 (Chapter 36)
It's Thursday, and midday, and time once again for another revisitation of another poptastic nugget of the UK singles chart from Y2K with The Story of Pop: 2000. This week: one of the 00s biggest boybands cover an 80s classic and claim their first chart topper... Founded by the same management team behind Steps, A1 … Continue reading The Story of Pop: 2000 (Chapter 36)
The Niche Reference 