Chart oddities

Review 2005 / Music: There was no predicting what worked and what didn't in 2005, writes Kevin Courtney

AT THE end of 2004, a strange phenomenon occurred which confounded chart pundits and scientists alike. A wormhole opened up in the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart, allowing a fresh-faced alien with faraway eyes to land smack on the top of the heap.

For Conor Oberst and his band Bright Eyes to have even one mainstream US hit seemed an impossibility - to have two songs simultaneously in the charts at Nos 1 and 2, well, that defied all laws of physics. But fans of Oberst's honest alt.rock understood: this was the Donnie Darko generation on the rise, reclaiming the mainstream from country kickers and rap knuckleheads, and making room for the spaced oddities to shine.

As Oberst's twin albums, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, kicked off a bright new year for the young star, pop-pickers watched the skies to see when this chart anomaly would occur again.

A year later, four likely lads from Sheffield suddenly materialised at the top of the UK charts, leaving Madonna and Robbie Williams wondering why their multi-million pound marketing campaigns were being undermined by these cheeky young oiks.

Arctic Monkeys had subverted the system by using readily available online resources; instead of fighting the internet, these musical youths used it as a weapon to market their music, giving free downloads and creating a community of devoted fans who were ready and willing to push the button and send their new favourite band rocketing to the top slot. Arctic Monkeys' generosity has paid off in spades, and makes a mockery of stingy record companies who won't even spare a throwaway B-side as a free download.

It didn't take long for the New Year to throw up two bands from either side of the Atlantic who were tipped for greatness, and hailed for their "exciting" blend of punk and 1980s pop. London's Bloc Party were seen as worthy successors to The Cure, while New York's The Bravery were nothing less than Duran Duran with a twang. By the end of the year, The Bravery were nothing more than Duran Duran with a twang, and Liam Gallagher was writing off Bloc Party as looking like "something off University Challenge". But, as Coldplay know, a slagging-off from Liam can be a ticket to superstardom.

While the Yanks and the Limeys battled it out, a Canuck collective named The Arcade Fire stole hearts and minds with their excellent album, Funeral.

The biggest-selling singles artist of 2005 wasn't 50 Cent, Coldplay or U2, but a guy who's been dead quite a few years, and whose fans can't seem to let him rest in peace. No, not Tupac, but Elvis Presley, who had no less than 17 reissued singles in the UK Top 10 during the first few months of the year.

The King must have mentioned it to his celestial neighbour Bob Marley, because in the autumn the prince of Rastafari was releasing a single a week and also regularly hitting the Top 10.

If you wanted to sell a lot of records in 2005, and you didn't fancy being dead, you could have simply morphed into a cartoon. On the side of good were Gorillaz, whose second album, Demon Days, spawned a trio of superb singles (Feel Good Inc, Dare and Dirty Harry). On the minus side was a nasty little creature named Crazy Frog, who topped the charts with a song that has been scientifically proven deadly to the human ear (and brain).

But a sound even more irritating than the annoying amphibian was lurking just around the corner. The perpetrator of this niggling noise was human, but listening to the high-pitched whinney which emanated from the creature, you'd have been forgiven for thinking it was yet another cartoon creation. Ex-army officer James Blunt swapped his gun for an acoustic guitar, had the biggest-selling UK album of the year with Back to Bedlam, and topped the charts with syrupy ballad You're Beautiful.

Er, James, if you're not using that gun anymore, can we borrow it, please?

PICK 2005

SINGLES

Feel Good Inc: Gorillaz

I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor: Arctic Monkeys

Fix You: Coldplay

My Doorbell: The White Stripes

I Predict a Riot: Kaiser Chiefs

ALBUMS

Engineers: Engineers

Arcade Fire: Funeral

Doves: Some Cities

Elbow: Leaders of the Free World

Kanye West: Late Registration