100. Katy Perry feat Nicki Minaj – Swish Swish 99. Rasmus Seebach – Bli' Her Lidt Endnu 98. Ten Fé – Another Way 97. Lido feat THEY. - Not Enough 96. Sheppard – Edge Of The Night 95. Tone Damli - Pinnacle 94. Choirs With Purpose feat Michelle McManus – We All Stand Together 93. Kelde – No Reason 92. Pound Shop Boys – Fireman Sam (It's Pontypandemonium) 91. Enrique Iglesias feat Sean Paul & Matt Terry – Subeme La Radio 90. Little Mix – Is Your Love Enough? 89. Jessica Mauboy - High 88. Shotgun Fakes – Depression Intervention 87. Mariette – A Million Years 86. Sigala feat Ella Eyre – Came Here For Love 85. Kamaliya feat Anne Judith Stokke Wik – Plastic Cup 84. PANG! - One Big Laugh 83. Dacia – Muistot 82. Alyss – Pyramid 81. The Corrs – Road To Eden 80. RAM & Arctic Moon with Stine Grove – A Billion Stars Above 79. Oonagh – Aulë Und Yavanna 78. FO&O – Gotta Thing About You 77. CNCO feat Little Mix – Reggaeton Lento (Remix) 76. Lucie Jones – Never Give Up On You 75. Owe Thornqvist – Boogieman Blues 74. Taylor Swift – Dancing With Our Hands Tied 73. Saint Etienne – Obvious 72. Carly Rae Jepsen – Cut To The Feeling 71. Illusion – Run 70. Hannah Jane Lewis – Raincheck 69. Alan Walker – Alone 68. Dua Lipa – Be The One 67. The Kelly Family – No Lies 66. Steps – September Sun 65. French Montana feat Swae Lee – Unforgettable 64. Oh Laura – (Re) Release Me 63. Lorde – Green Light 62. Troll – Jimmy Dean 61. O'Neill Hudson – Lucky 60. Steps – Dancing With A Broken Heart 59. ALI – Cocoon 58. FOOL – Outcast 57. Steps – Firefly 56. Emma Watson, Luke Evans & Ensemble – Belle 55. The Fizz – Up For The Fight 54. Wiktoria – I Won't Stand In Your Way 53. Jowst – Grab The Moment 52. Take That - Giants 51. Salvador Sobral – Amar Pelos Dois 50. Missy Higgins – Torchlight 49. Saint Etienne – Sweet Arcadia 48. Jonas Blue feat William Singe – Mama 47. The Corrs – Dear Life 46. Taylor Swift – Look What You Made Me Do 45. Robin Bengtsson – I Can't Go On 44. Rak-Su feat Wyclef Jean & Naughty Boy - Dimelo 43. Steps – Dear Santa 42. Clean Bandit feat Zara Larsson – Symphony 41. Loreen - Statements 40. Balbina – Die Regenwolke 39. Jax Jones feat Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don – Instruction 38. Alma - Requiem 37. Bella & Filippa – I Think Of Yesterday 36. Delta Goodrem – Take Me Home 35. E^ST – Life Goes On 34. Huntza – Aldapan Gora 33. Emma Bale – Worth It 32. Steps - Happy 31. Calvin Harris feat Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big Sean – Feels 30. Sanna Nielsen – Inte Ok 29. The Kelly Family – Fell In Love With An Alien 28. The Corrs – Son Of Solomon 27. Ace Wilder – Wild Child 26. Heavy K feat Bucie & Nokwazi – Inde 25. Francesco Gabbani - Occidentali's Karma 24. Black Motion feat Nokwazi – Imali 23. Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill 22. Katy Perry feat Skip Marley - Chained To The Rhythm 21. Ed Sheeran – Galway Girl 20. Tina Guo – Super Mario Bros. 19. Jasmine Thompson – Old Friends (Jonas Blue Remix) 18. Nicki French – Teardrops (On The Discofloor) 17. Ed Sheeran - Perfect 16. O'G3NE – Lights & Shadows 15. Yaşar Gaga & Sezen Aksu - Şahane Bir Şey Yaşamak 14. Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat Justin Bieber – Despacito 13. Kamferdrops – Jag Trodde Änglarna Fanns 12. Tom Fall - Kaamos 11. The Corrs – SOS 10. Danny L Harle – 1UL 9. Rae Morris – Do It 8. Ed Sheeran – Shape Of You 7. Rita Ora – Anywhere 6. Dua Lipa – New Rules 5. P!nk – What About Us 4. Steps – Neon Blue 3. Steps – Story Of A Heart 2. Steps – Scared Of The Dark 1. Wiktoria – As I Lay Me Down
Top of the pile this year is Swedish singer Wiktoria, with As I Lay Me Down, her entry to the Swedish Eurovision heats Melodifestivalen, which I was lucky enough to go to in Stockholm in March. Following up her 2016 entry Save Me, As I Lay Me Down very much built on the country-tinged pop of its predecessor but added an extra retro 90s flavour. The end result was a song that sounded a little bit like something from B*Witched's debut album minus an Irish jig breakdown, and I loved every second of it. This pure pop song stood out hugely to me in a world of generic tropical house and future bass made purely to get onto Spotify playlists. Following Melodifestivalen, where she ended up sixth despite coming second on the public vote for the second year running, the song reached No.2 in the Swedish charts and clearly had the legs to go further had the record label promoted it outside of her home country. As is so often the case, it wasn't to be but hopefully Wiktoria can still get her global breakthrough at some point as she is one of the most promising artists in Scandinavia right now. Taking positions 2, 3 and 4 are comeback kids Steps with the excellent Scared Of The Dark, Story Of A Heart and Neon Blue. Scared Of The Dark was Faye, Lisa, H, Lee and Claire's long-awaited comeback single, actually only their first single since 2012's Light Up The Dark but the general public at large were probably not really aware of that so for most people it was their first exposure to new Steps music since 2001. It certainly felt like a huge event, quickly smashing its way to No.1 on iTunes and succeeding where many others failed by knocking Ed Sheeran from the top of that chart. Sadly it wasn't a streaming hit of any sort and this cost it dearly, ending up at No.37 officially but at least unexpectedly giving the band their first top 40 hit in 16 years. The track itself is a pop masterpiece. A blistering string-laden intro gives way to a classic Faye verse (she almost always starts their hits) before moving onto vocal powerhouse Claire and the biggest schlager chorus I've heard in years. Complete with a huge key change, a dance routine - naturally - and the band's first music video in 16 years, everything about this release was spot on and was the perfect way to reintroduce the band to the general public and set up a gold selling comeback album.
Follow-up single Story Of A Heart is a cover of a 2009 single by Benny Andersson Band. I loved the original version of this, written by Benny along with ABBA bandmade Bjorn Ulvaeus, but the Steps version definitely elevates it to another level. Highlights of the track include the perfect vocals - Claire sounds delicate yet stunning on the first verse while Faye smashes the second verse out of the park, 'the house by the lake' lyric delivered with such purity and clarity that she really reminds you of Agnetha Faltskog. Special mention goes to the 7th Heaven remix, which was almost as good as the radio edit, and indeed on tour the band performed a medley combining the two versions.
Kylie-esque uplifting pop stomper and album highlight Neon Blue gives Steps three songs in my top four of the year while the ever relevant P!nk rounds off the top five with recent hit single What About Us, sounding just as good in 2017 as she did at the turn of the century when she launched her career.
Also in my top ten of the year are huge UK hit singles by Ed Sheeran (Shape Of You), Rita Ora (Anywhere) and Dua Lipa with New Rules, possibly the most quotable song of the year as she gives everyone a literal new set of modern rules to live by. PC Music icon Danny L Harle's electronic dance stomper 1UL and Do It by the eternally underrated but always genius Rae Morris complete the top ten.
40. Nelly Furtado – The Ride 39. Francesco Gabbani – Magellan 38. Walk The Moon – What If Nothing 37. Frida Sundemo – Flashbacks & Futures 36. Public Service Broadcasting – Every Valley 35. Maroon 5 – Red Pill Blues 34. Yaşar Gaga – Alakasiz Sarkilar, Vol.1 33. St. Vincent – MASSEDUCTION 32. Hey Violet – From The Outside 31. RAT BOY – SCUM 30. Nerina Pallot – Stay Lucky 29. Ten Fé – Hit The Light 28. Galantis – The Aviary 27. P!nk – Beautiful Trauma 26. Loreen – Ride 25. La La Land OST 24. The Sound of Arrows – Stay Free 23. Pete Tong & The Heritage Orchestra – Ibiza Classics 22. Helene Fischer – Helene Fischer 21. Sia – Everyday Is Christmas 20. Hurts - Desire 19. Beauty & The Beast OST 18. Jessie Ware – Glasshouse 17. Shakira – El Dorado 16. Kelly Clarkson – The Meaning Of Life 15. Saint Etienne – Home Counties 14. Lorde – Melodrama 13. The Fizz – The F-Z Of Pop 12. Lana Del Rey – Lust For Life 11. Alex Christensen & The Berlin Orchestra – Classical 90s Dance 10. Take That – Wonderland 9. Frances – Things I've Never Said 8. Dua Lipa – Dua Lipa 7. Zara Larsson – So Good 6. The Kelly Family – We Got Love 5. Taylor Swift – Reputation 4. Katy Perry - Witness 3. The Corrs – Jupiter Calling 2. Ed Sheeran - ÷ 1. Steps – Tears On The Dancefloor
Some fantastic albums this year, including long-awaited debuts from Zara Larsson, Dua Lipa and Frances as well as strong returns from Katy Perry, Take That and Taylor Swift, even if the critics and sales figures didn't really agree. Also a surprising but great collection of old and new songs from Irish/American family band The Kelly Family, one of those acts that are huge in parts of mainland Europe, particularly Germany, but are not well known elsewhere.
Surpisingly only third, probably the first time ever that a new album by The Corrs hasn't finished at either No.1 or No.2 in my end of year chart, is Jupiter Calling, the family foursome's new offering that was released last month. A more traditional, organic offering than the band's previous few albums, it had to battle against two very strong albums that I've had most of the year to enjoy but there's no denying that it's not as good as White Light or Borrowed Heaven. Nevertheless, a lesser Corrs album for me is still better than most albums by anybody else and there are plenty of gorgeous highlights on here - SOS, Son Of Solomon, Dear Life and Road To Eden are my absolute favourites but Bulletproof Love, Chasing Shadows, Butter Flutter and Hit My Ground Running are also all very good. And their October return to the Royal Albert Hall, where they played many of these tracks for the first time ever, was absolutely excellent.
At No.2 is Ed Sheeran with ÷. As a fan of Ed for coming up to a decade, it's been great to see him grow and grow, I don't think anybody would have expected him to become the world's biggest male artist. And ÷ is definitely the sound of an artist at their peak, every song sounding like a hit (and actually becoming one) despite most of them also sounding quite different to everything in the charts at the same time.
÷ is a grab bag of styles and gave me plenty to enjoy this year. Along with his four giant hit singles - Shape Of You, Castle On The Hill, Galway Girl and Perfect, my favourite tracks from the album include Dive, What Do I Know, Supermarket Flowers and Nancy Mulligan.
And at No.1 - the album I never expected to happen, but one that has completely defined and dominated my year and is probably my favourite album released by anyone since Sheppard's Bombs Away in 2014. 90s pop band Steps released a Christmas album, Light Up The World, in 2012, which limped into the top 40 and it looked as if that would be it in terms of new music from them. But the demand for brand new, original material was clearly still evident in 2017 and it turns out the band had been beavering away on preparing a new album for their 20th anniversary.
Everything about this campaign was perfect - Scared In The Dark was a monster lead single up there with their all-time best while the album was packed with songs just as good, including the other singles Neon Blue and Story Of A Heart. But it was far from filler beyond that - Happy and Firefly are both triumphant modern pop while I Will Love Again is a soaring cover of the Lara Fabian song. Glitter and Gold and No More Tears On The Dancefloor were amongst the other highlights. Later in the year Faye, Claire, H, Lisa and Lee released a deluxe edition, and made the best even better by covering a Delta Goodrem track, Dancing With A Broken Heart, to lead the re-release with. This was joined by a beautiful Xmas song, Dear Santa, and the excellent September Sun, along with a couple of other nice new tracks. The supporting arena tour was an absolute moment, perhaps the best concert I've seen in years with great polished new versions of the classics plus many of the aforementioned tracks from this album, stellar live vocals from the entire band and incredible staging.
1. Steps - Happy 2. Rak-Su feat Wyclef Jean & Naughty Boy - Dimelo 3. Little Mix - Is Your Love Enough? 4. Pop Chorus - Always 5. Sheppard - Coming Home 6. Rae Morris - Atletico 7. Loreen - '71 Charger 8. Grace Davies - Roots 9. My Indigo - My Indigo 10. Grace Davies - Too Young 11. Taylor Swift - Gorgeous 12. P!nk - Beautiful Trauma 13. Sia - Ho Ho Ho 14. LOKE feat Thomas Gregersen and Alexander Rybak - Det Vakreste Som Fins 15. Maren Morris - My Church 16. Craig David feat Bastille - I Know You 17, Kate Rusby - Big Brave Bill Saves Christmas 18. Sia - Candy Cane Lane 19. Pete Tong with The Heritage Orchestra - Promised Land 20. Robbie Williams - International Entertainment
2. Steps - September Sun 3. Jessica Mauboy - High 4. Steps - Dear Santa 5. The Kelly Family - No Lies 6. The Corrs - Road To Eden 7. Himig Heswita - Come One And All 8. The Corrs - Dear Life 9. Taylor Swift - Dancing With Our Hands Tied 10. Kelly Clarkson - I Don't Think About You 11. TheFatRat feat Laura Brehm - The Calling 12. Taylor Swift feat Ed Sheeran & Future - End Game 13. MK - 17 14. Clean Bandit feat Julia Michaels - I Miss You 15. Oh Laura - (Re)Release Me 16. Taylor Swift - New Year's Day 17. Wiktoria - Not Just For Xmas 18. The Fizz - Amen 19. Mick Gordon - Everything Is Going To Be Okay 20. Highasakite - Golden Ticket
1. Rae Morris - Do It 2. The Corrs - Son Of Solomon 3. The Corrs - SOS 4. Steps - Dancing With A Broken Heart 5. Saint Etienne - Obvious 6. Hannah Jane Lewis - Raincheck 7. RAM & Arctic Moon with Stine Grove - A Billion Stars Above 8. The Fizz - Up For The Fight 9. Motiv8 - Rockin' For Myself 10. Jay Hardway - Thanks A Million 11. Darin - Tvillingen 12. Jessie Ware - Alone 13. Courage My Love - Constant Craving 14. Jorja Smith X Preditah - On My Mind 15. Someone - Say Something 16. Walk The Moon - One Foot 17. Anne-Marie - Heavy 18. Emeli Sande - Starlight 19. Kelly Clarkson - Love So Soft 20. Camila Cabello feat Young Thug - Havana
1. P!nk - What About Us 2. ÁLI - Cocoon 3. O'Neill Hudson - Lucky 4. Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do 5. Dacia - Muistot 6. Kamaliya feat Anne Judith Stokke Wik - Plastic Cup 7. James Hype feat Kelli-Leigh - More Than Friends 8. CNCO feat Little Mix - Reggaetón Lento (Remix) 9. Heavy K feat Bucie & Nokwazi - Inde 10. Tom Fall - Kaamos 11. Delta Goodrem - Take Me Home 12. Avicii feat Sandro Cavazza - Without You 13. Kamferdrops - Tusen Bitar 14. Cymbals - Splitting 15. Illusion - Run 16. Nadine - Go To Work 17. Gabrielle Aplin - Waking Up Slow 18. Logic feat Alessia Cara and Khalid - 1-800-273-8255 19. Justin Bieber & Bloodpop - Friends 20. Clare Maguire - Elizabeth Taylor (Mulholland Edition)
1. Nicki French - Teardrops (On The Discofloor) 2. Dua Lipa - New Rules 3. Bella & Filippa - I Think Of Yesterday 4. Kelde - No Reason 5. Enrique Iglesias feat Sean Paul & Matt Terry - SÚBEME LA RADIO 6. Lido feat THEY. - Not Enough 7. Phoenix - Goodbye Soleil 8. Steven Wilson feat Ninet Tayeb - Pariah 9. Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still 10. DJ Licious - I Hear You Calling 11. Lana Del Rey feat Stevie Nicks - Beautiful People Beautiful Problems 12. Rita Ora - Your Song 13. Kadebostany - Mind If I Stay 14. Kesha - Praying 15. The Fizz - Dancing In The Rain 16. Coldplay feat Big Sean - Miracles 17. Loreen - Body 18. Linda Sundblad - Bridges 19. Simon Webbe - Nothing Without You 20. Ann My Guard - Callisto
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