1968: Am I That Easy To Forget - Engelbert Humperdinck. (video)
1978: Wishing On A Star - Rose Royce. (video)
1988: When Will I Be Famous - Bros. (video)
1998: Angels - Robbie Williams. (video)
2008: Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number 6s.

1978: Wishing On A Star - Rose Royce (156)

Absolute genius song. If the World Trade Centre was still about, this song would be on top of it, weeing down on the other four. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

This was THE slow dance song when we were in grade school, well this and Stairway to Heaven - but no one could ever figure out what to do when things broke loose about 3/4 of the way through the track. Keep clinging to your partner or break apart and do more of the white people dance. I remember hearing it for weeks on end on Kasey Kasem's Top 40 on Saturday mornings when I would be forced to clean my room before being let outside. (jo)

Lovely gooey Norman "Roger" Whitfield production and Gwen Dickey vocals. (betty)

There’s a word for this, and the word is “Sumptuous”. (Erithian)

Well, you can see what they're aiming at with the big Motown strings. Well arranged, and I like the counterpoint wah-wah pedal, and Dickey's tremulosity just about wins through. (Simon)

A gorgeous lush voice that would place much higher in previous groups. (asta)

Gorgeous, but disconcerting. The syrupy sound of an obsessive? This is possibly the hopelessly optimistic precursor to the distraught husk of the following year's Love Don't Live Here Anymore. She got her man. And then he left her. Because she was a psycho. It's a lesson to us all. (imsodave)

I first heard this as the 80s cover by Fresh 4 feat. Lizz E, but the original is even better. (Adrian)

Ooh, I like this. It's a rather lovely, wistful and yet hopeful lament. Sadly, my liking of this song is rather ruined by the knowledge that Paul Weller has covered it....hideously. (SwissToni)

4 points. The reason for that "nearly" qualification; the disorientated strings from "Just My Imagination" (both Whitfield and Riser still on duty) turning in on themselves to face the opposite end of a less luscious decade than they might have expected. Note also the Sisyphus performance of Gwen Dickey; every time she threatens to go over the top and explode, Whitfield's finger rolls her back down to the bottom, especially in the extended fadeout. Still a dry run for the superior "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," however. (Marcello Carlin)

Kind of hypnotic. Can be annoying, depending what mood one is in. A reasonably good example of the late 70s liking for tunes, words that mean something however obscurantist. An all-round good song, but I could happily live without it. (Gert)

I'm sure at the time I'd have thought this annoying pap but it seems to have something after all. Timeless in its own way. (NiC)

This is more a kind of coda to the great years of soul and Tamla Motown, it's decent enough but heavily overshadowed by what went before. (Alan)

Wonderful voice, dreary song. (Z)

2008: Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna (127)

It's just so bloody good. Roots stretching wide and far through pop history, firmly planted in the moment, reaching far into the future. Commence accumulation of Rihanna songs (I have been blind and a fool to dismiss her as just some other contemporary nonsense...) (Simon C)

5 points, because it's her time (did the Klaxons even need to bother turning up last Wednesday?) and she drives whereas nearly everyone else in this list is still arguing about parking spaces. (Marcello Carlin)

I remember seeing her being interviewed on Much Music (Canadian MTV equivalent)shortly after Pon de Replay took off. She was just a girl from Barbados with looks and a catchy tune. Now she's sleek, slick, and cold as polished granite. She records to her strengths. Don't Stop the Music works. (asta)

Like H two O, a staple of MTV Dance at the moment. I like Rihanna very much and will buy her greatest hits when it comes out. (Geoff)

There's an automaton quality about her appearance/voice which I love. (betty)

Powerfully effective pop. She sells her own Rihanna branded umbrellas, you know. Of course she does. (SwissToni)

The bottom three aren’t particularly strong today, but this has more life to it than the others. Still, it’s a bit monotonous, from the woman who brought us the most overrated single of 2007. (Scrub that – I was forgetting “Bleeding Awful” or whatever it was called.) (Erithian)

Seems to be the logical extension to the mash-up movement, I guess. Mindlessly fun, and relentlessly danceable, yet it leaves me cold. Will almost certainly be forgotten in comparison to her other future classics. Good samples though. (imsodave)

You get the feeling that Rihanna could one day produce a stone cold production-led pop classic for the ages, but it's not happened yet (Umbrella reeks too much of a Top Of The Pops album studio band trying to be Linkin Park). This is her singing over a Janet Jackson record being played by the flat below. (Simon)

Now here's why I should probably not take part in these things. I listen to so little chart music these days that, 3 months or no, I'd never heard this before. Furthermore, and you're really going to roll your eyes here, although I keep hearing about this umbrella song, I've never heard that either. Anyway, taking this purely on what it is, I'm not a fan of modern R'n'B, but as far as it goes it could be a lot worse. Have to say I was finding it a bit monotonous by half way through though. (Alan)

Fine for the first minute or two, and then it grated more and more. It was too relentlessly thumpy for me. (Z)

I would like it a lot more without the retro-HI NRG computer beat. That would make it a decent-ish song. But IMO if you're going retro you have to do it better, not be a low-rent imitation. (Gert)

Had the misfortune to hear the new Akon/MJ duet of Wanna be Startin' Somethin' this afternoon. This tune instantly dropped a couple of places by association. (Sarah)

1998: Angels - Robbie Williams (127)

Do I have to apologise for really liking this? It is a great song. I could get all pointy-headed and deconstruct it, but being a great song, it transcends deconstruction. Yeah, lots of really uncool people like it, but maybe that's because it's a great song. (Gert)

A bit hackneyed from too many plays it may be, but it’s no accident that it became an alternative national anthem, it’s a terrific record. But you could win pub quizzes on the fact that it wasn’t the highest-charting single from the album – “Old Before I Die” was number 2 the week New Labour came to power. (Erithian)

North America never got caught up the mutual love/hate relationship between Robbie and the audience. I'd be lucky to find a dozen people on the street who even know who Robbie Williams is. It wouldn't occur to anyone around here to play Angel at a funeral. It wasn't played relentlessly for months on end on the radio. All that to say, stripped of the baggage, Angel is a big soppy power pop ballad of the first order. (asta)

Rarely heard on the radio now, but still massively overplayed on the many music channels on TV, yet despite EVERYTHING it remains a classic of its type. I always assumed the turning point was the Glastonbury performance where both crowd and performer suddenly realised that they weren't alone in thinking that he might actually be ok. Of course, someone had to then go and take things a little too far, but... (imsodave)

The one British male pop star I'll go out of my way to defend almost to the death is, coincidentally, Robbie. I thought Rudebox was by turns hilarious and genius, and I'm crossing my fingers its alleged "flop" status doesn't send him scurrying back into the MOR hell he was stuck in previously. As for "Angels", well it's low down on my list of favourite Williams singles, but I still get a lump in my throat when TV or radio broadcasts that Glastonbury performance. (jeff w)

There is just something about Robbie, I like him - I really couldn't tell you why if pressed further, but he has something. (jo)

5 points. I hate Robbie Williams but I'm being objective... (Dymbel)

5 Points - Oh I hate myself! He may be an irritating little twunt with the most punchable face in the music industry, but when he got it right, he really got it right, and he never got it so right as on this song. (Alan)

I'm not really a fan, but it's kind of hard not to have had this sort of seep under my skin over the years. There's a kind of underdog, vulnerable puppy-dog charm to our Robbie, and it's perfectly captured on this record. Women have been aware of this charm for years, of course, and have fallen for him in their droves....but just because he's straight and I'm straight doesn't mean that I won't acknowledge its power either. (SwissToni)

A karaoke classic, but with far too large a range for me (or almost anyone else) to do it justice. Doesn't stop many drunk blokes from trying... (Adrian)

I've heard it too many times but it's good to sing to when you've had a few too many. (Rebecca)

I was never a fan, and I think we (oh damn, I'm doing it too) need more time to forget just how tired we became of this, but I think it's holding up pretty well. (Z)

This one still shines for me despite its ubiquity. Though somehow it seems dimmer this time. Hmmm, maybe it's fading for me too at last. (NiC)

The sort of song loved by young mums who only liked one Oasis song, Wonderwall. I have to admit that I prefer this to Wonderwall, but then I don't have to listen to Heart FM or Magic all day, where I assume both are played to death. (betty)

Truth be told, I was all for Life Thru A Lens at the time, even things like South Of The Border which he now says was his creative lowpoint and from this distance sounds like an attempt to be a Costcutter Northern Uproar. This, however, was never really anything but an attempt to show that just because he wasn't in a boy band any more couldn't mean he couldn't do great big lighter waving ballad anthemry. And only reached number 4, lest we forget. (Simon)

I'm basically on Robbie's side, albeit with reservations. There's something of the Magnificent Failure about Rudebox, which I can see eventually obtaining cult status, and as a live performer he is almost without parallel: it takes a lot to create "atmosphere" within the Birmingham NEC, but his sheer love of being on stage came across loud and clear, leaving me feeling at the time that he was our natural successor to Freddie Mercury (as reinforced by Brian May and Roger Taylor's presence at the same show). But yes, it's those lapses into MOR balladry which put me off most of all... (mike)

Problematic in a sub-"All Of My Heart" This Is Me sense, such that he verges more towards Freddie Starr than Martin Fry. Too much growling and indecision to make the song anything like the hymn intended, too many bad rhymes and schemata without Trevor Horn or Anne Dudley to cover for them. "I'm loving angels instead." And I respond with the same question I've been asking for the past decade - instead of WHAT? (Marcello Carlin)

I've disliked it ever since I first heard it, and its appropriation by drunken karaoke singers and warbly auditionees on reality TV shows hasn't helped. (Will)

Des O'Connor with tats. The other one who capitalised on Lady Di snuffing it. Horrible, mawkish bum-vomit. Fact: Every train-wreck of a relationship you see on Jeremy Kyle started with the male singing this to the female on Karaoke night. And if any of my friends have this as their funeral song, I am going to rip the coffin lid off and cling on to them as they go up the conveyor belt, getting in as many punches to their faces as possible. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

I once saw Robbie in Trafalgar Square. He was much taller than I'd imagined. Has he ever sung this live at a funeral? (Geoff)

1988: When Will I Be Famous - Bros (95)

5 points. I was too old for this back in 1988. Now, I'm not. (Z)

Maybe I was too young, maybe they were never big in Sweden. Either way, without any frame of reference, I have to say I like the song, quite a lot in fact. (Simon C)

They were nicely torpedoed by French and Saunders, various lines in “Only Fools and Horses” and their own interview in Q – but it has some merit. (God, how condescending does that sound – like Frasier Crane discovering karaoke.) (Erithian)

I remember, at some point in the late eighties, this Bros track playing loudly as I trepidly completed circuit after slow circuit of the local roller disco while the older boys did tricks on their skates. The song itself is surprisingly OK in hindsight. (Will)

Fond memories of this song (and what easy targets Bros were for p*ss-taking) - though it doesn't wear all that well with time. (Sarah)

Hmm, I was just too old to buy the Bros hype. Listening to it now, the over-production, late 80s artifical glam is really quite sickmaking. But the chorus is catchy and iconic, and with the wisdom of being a forty-something in today's celebrity culture, it has a delicious irony to it. (Gert)

I guess I was one of those puzzled by the next generation suddenly elevating Bros to Next Big Thing status. But as you say, the acid test is: how does it sound now? And whereas the Debbie Gibson song leaped out at me the other day as obviously great, Bros... don't. Then again, I do have previous as preferring female teenpop over male... (jeff w)

Have I really wasted 20 years of my life hating this record? Listening to it now, it all seems so...so... innocuous. How could I have expended so much passion loathing something that is ultimately this harmless? (SwissToni)

I agree it's not as bad as I remember, but it's still pretty bad. And remember, this may have been what all the "cool kids" were listening to, but at the time the "really cool kids" were listening to the Pixies and the Violent Femmes instead. (Alan)

When everybody is using the same synths with the same beats it's very hard to tell one group from another. (asta)

The look and sound of clattering metal. Hatred possibly coloured by the fact that just when I became interested in girls, the girls became interested in this bag of toss. (imsodave)

Joyless Hitler Youth Teenybopper nothingness, who should have stuck with their original band name, Caviar (Caviar!) 1988 seems to be the year where it all started to go horribly wrong for Pop, doesn't it? Somebody please make Tom Watkins write his memoirs, though, they'd be absolutely hilarious. And put him on the X Factor. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Cupid & Psyche '85 without the Baudrillard and Adorno and therefore without much point (I cringe at the Oliver!-type moment just before the last chorus). So you want to be famous? So what? (Marcello Carlin)

Was the idea of calling your song When Will I Be Famous? all postmodern and ironic in 1988? I seem to remember that they brought out I Quit just before they split as well. Perhaps they should re-form and bring out a single called A Paternity Suit And A New Conservatory To Pay For. (betty)

My mate - who had just started working for the Daily Star at the time - was mistaken for a Bros by a Mirror writer at a press launch, and even gave him an interview, which was splattered all over the paper the next day. That morning, he walked into the office to a standing ovation, as if he was both Woodward and Bernstein. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

1968: Am I That Easy To Forget - Engelbert Humperdinck (65)

Like Tom Jones and Glen Campbell I have a strange affection for this period/style of music. Hearing it reminds me of hearing my mom wandering about the house singing along and it remains a happy memory. Rose coloured glasses and all. (jo)

Engelbert is one my mum's favourites and I can still smell the Bush radiogram and blue Decca labels of my youth so I'm not going to say anything against him in this context. A fairly makeshift song, however, too flimsy to get him a fourth consecutive number one (if only Decca/Gordon Mills had gone with "Quando Quando Quando" as an A-side)... (Marcello Carlin)

I couldn't stand him back in the 60s and I'm rather relieved to find I'm not mumsy enough yet for him now. Horrible overblown backing and too much false emotionalism. Actually, given a different, edgier treatment, I think I could like the song. (Z)

Am I riding on horseback through the countryside? (Rebecca)

This doesn't really get going. You're letting the 60s down, my son. (Geoff)

Oh 60s, 60s, 60s it was going so well. (Stereoboard)

My parents ran his local pub (when he's in Britain) for a week in the early 90s. He wasn't in at the time. In my head everything he's ever done sounds like this - drowning in syrupy arrangements and an ironed-over smooth, well within himself delivery with one eye already on the Las Vegas club. (Simon)

The opening strings and crooning set me off badly. Then he comes in and it's even worse. Here's a guy who thinks he can sings but plays it safe and croons, then he fails to hit a high note. Surely on a studio recording the trick is to try and try again until it's hit. Or record the high notes first and splice them in. (Gert)

It's the moment where the cooing backing singers swoon in and the cloying strings begin to smother the dreadfully emotionless vocal that any chance of not wanting to forget The Hump is lost. This was the real sound of the sixties, I suspect. (imsodave)

The oily creepy 'uncle' who seemed far too interested in hearing about your high school gym classes at your parents' dinner parties. (asta)

1 point. Although, objectively speaking, his hairstyle was a mainstay in those posters you used to get in the windows of provincial barbers until about 1980, so perhaps that's where his strength lay. (betty)

Good heavens. Loving that orchestration and 'aahh-aahh-ahhh' stuff, but then old Hump comes along and ruins it with his sentimental old clap-trap. Are you that easy to forget? If only Hump, if only.... (SwissToni)

1 Point: Engeldink Humperbum. No, with a name like that you're not easy to forget, but the song is. (Alan)

Decade scores so far (after 4 days).
1 (1) The 1960s (17)
2 (1) The 1970s (16)
3= (4) The 1990s (12)
3= (3) The 2000s (12)
5 (5) The 1980s (5)

1968: Pictures Of Matchstick Men - Status Quo. (video)
1978: Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna. (video - link fixed)
1988: Say It Again - Jermaine Stewart. (video)
1998: Gettin' Jiggy With It - Will Smith. (video)
2008: What's It Gonna Be - H "two" O featuring Platnum. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number 7s.

1978: Uptown Top Ranking - Althea & Donna (162)

The best of this bunch and a classic. One of those tunes that’s always been there. (Sarah)

Legendary track and critic-proof as far as I can tell. (jeff w)

5 Points, by dint of being original and at the time (feeling depressed that I'm old enough to remember) like nothing I'd heard before. (Alan)

At the time I wasn’t too happy with them for denying a certain other single its historic 10th week at number one, but whenever I hear it now the reaction is of pure unpretentious joy – which is pretty much what you hear in the vocals. I’d love to see the face of a Lily Allen fan hearing this for the first time as well. (Erithian)

By default they should receive honorary damehoods for displacing "Mull Of Kintyre" from the top, but this felt like a punk number one (and not just because Strummer was in the habit of namechecking or quoting from it at Clash gigs); contentedly young and explosively confident and its meaning and intent (even though Record Mirror felt itself obliged to print a glossary of Jamaican patois and a "translation" of the lyrics) are latent and luscious. Note the crucial hooks of the "oo!"s and that brief but devastating harmonic modulation near the end. (Marcello Carlin)

A beautiful pop record, nothing to do with going to the bingo apparently. (Geoff)

Looking back, I modelled my own personal '70s look on Althea (or was it Donna..) - big hair and even bigger glasses, and also at times an 'alter back (see me gi you heart attack most definitely). I still jig around the kitchen when this comes on the radio - oooh. Ting. (Tina)

5 points, although obviously it's jumping on the bandwagon of Reggae Like It Used To Be by Paul Nicholas. (Simon)

Lovely, but destined to be a one hit wonder, or to be considered as a "novelty" record by really stupid people. Shame. (betty)

Not a fan at the time, but it's grown on me every year since. (diamond geezer)

If retrospective TV documentaries are anything to go by, this was much more influential than it sounds to me. (Adrian)

This duo had zero impact in North America...and I've never been a big fan of reggae. I like it in principle, but it does nothing for me. (asta)

Top quality stuff, obviously. But not top marks. It's a great song but I find myself drifting off before the end. Maybe I'm too white and too male? And ting? (imsodave)

Rather drab and repetitive attempt at the genre. (Stu)

I recognise that this is regarded by some as a seminal track, but I've never really liked it very much. I suppose I don't like the reggae-disco fusion. Be one or the other, not both. (Gert)

1968: Pictures Of Matchstick Men - Status Quo (137)

The finest Quo song ever - I am a sucker for psychedelia. (Stereoboard)

I remember this coming out - I was a big Small Faces fan at the time and this was in a similar vein. SQ were almost cool back then (almost) - and seemed to know more chords, which they subsequently erased from their repertoire. (Tina)

I'd always associated Status Quo with the school bullies and heads down no nonsense mindless 70s boogie. That was until I heard this gem on a cheap psychedelic compilation we got about 10 years ago. It's not Status Quo. It doesn't look like them or sound like them. It can't be them. The bullies certainly wouldn't have recognised them. (Geoff)

Gloriously gormless pop-psych which fits snugly into the lemon belly/tangerine bread bin where-are-we-all-going mood of inventive early '68 teenpop. Still their only American hit (as THE Status Quo) but see also the undervalued follow-up "Ice In The Sun," one of several strange '68 hits written by the unlikely team of Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott. (Marcello Carlin)

Four points for the riff, and the fifth for the crazy phasing effects that clearly encourages the listener to sway their arms in a suitably 'far out' manner. The sound of bad drugs gone good. (imsodave)

You can picture Rossi and Parfitt, can't you, on some nostalgia TV show watching Top Of The Pops footage of this and chortling about how they thought they were part of the counter culture, haw haw haw, while trying to shove out another few copies of their latest warmed over boogie and just before the bit where they start boasting about being off their heads on coke at Live Aid. Or worse, Steve Wright on TOTP2. Great skeletal riff, lovely phasing, beautifully of and out of its time. (Simon)

I love the story of how Rossi wrote this. None of us can hear it now without knowledge of the long career to follow, but that opening guitar sound must have been pretty cool back then. A nice little time capsule of a song. (Erithian)

There's something not quite right about this. It's almost as if someone has tried to make a psych pop record having never heard one before and relying solely on an Ikea-style instruction manual. This is a compliment btw! (jeff w)

Everyone can play that opening riff on anything, including plastic rulers and rubber bands. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

I've a soft spot for the Quo generally (although a soft spot that involves owning none of their records, I note). This is not typical Quo of course, but sounds...er... a bit like that early Spinal Tap thing "(Listen to the) Flower People" (you know.... "Shhh. Listen"). Actually, that's exactly what this is, isn't it? Spinal Tap. It's no "In the Army Now" for sure... (SwissToni)

Pleasant enough, but whenever I hear it I can remember it being on the radio in 1968 and I'm thrown into a state of depression about the passage of time :( I once covered as a temp in Ian Gittins' brother's job. That's how sad my life is: I can remember things like that. (betty)

False nostalgia for this tune as The Divine Comedy covered it during one of their tours (as they did ‘Mr Blue Sky’, now I come to think of it). I prefer Mr Hannon’s version but thanks to him this remains in the top three. (Sarah)

The singing is strangely slow, but it still sounds good. (Z)

Suffering quite badly as you say from its GreenShield Production but still there's something there. Is it still in their set I wonder? Was it ever? Don't think it was when I saw them in '78 (shameful I know). (NiC)

Plodding and uninspiring, but better than their later offerings. (Adrian)

Yes it was a poor man's psychedelia, but still better than the rest of this twaddle. (Alan)

Another group that I really like but have never bought one of their albums. This isn't one of my faves of theirs, but it nicely breaks the 60s formula. A good classic track but not one that actually does anything for me emotionally or intellectually. (Gert)

That Quo riff depresses me. To these ears, it sounds forlorn, bleak and broken (i.e. not qualities that I respond to well), and a hundred years old in a way that makes me shudder. (mike)

"I see your face beneath my pillow"? Right, Did she choose suffocation over having to listen to that guitar solo? I would have. (asta)

1998: Gettin' Jiggy With It - Will Smith (110)

Well, I think I was about the only person who said they thought Warren G's I Shot The Sheriff was great last year. I'm consistent at least! Come on, what's to hate about Will? This is infectious and a lot of fun. (jeff w)

How can you possibly dislike Will Smith? Even if - like me - you generally can't abide rap. Ah, but this isn't rap is it? It's sun captured on tape. Uh. Ah yeah. Look, it's got kiddies helping with the chorus and everything. It's about as street as Coldplay. Unlike Usher though, at least our Will realises that this is all ridiculous and not to be taken too seriously... (SwissToni)

Cheap formula, but the end result is surprisingly good. Too many aim too high, and as a result space is filled with debris. Or something. (Simon C)

Unbearably catchy. Usually this sort of thing would have me cringing, and indeed Will Smith himself makes me cringe, but his summery pop tunes just seem to get under your skin, don’t they? (Sarah)

My appetite for Mr. Smith never regained the heights of his initial offering Summertime, but this sounds better than I remember. A surprise first placing. (Adrian)

Five points: I have trouble believing this. On paper, he's everything I object to- but even with repeated listening I can't help wanting to dance to this. However, I refuse to have anything to do with oversized shiny track suits. (asta)

I cannot give any reasonable reason for why I like Will Smith, but I can't help myself. 5 points. (jo)

Love the big ass video. Its got me doing strange things with my hands. (Tina)

Uncool perhaps, but I prefer rap with a smile rather than a snarl, or with a message (or indeed The Message) – and a smile is what Big Willie’s giving us here. Not one I’d search out, but fun. (Erithian)

Big Willie expresses the pressing issues of the nineties male, by tossing off some nonsense over the butchered remains of a classic. I'd much rather get jiggy with the instrumental version. (imsodave)

Karaoke mock rap was unfortunately the late nineties rage and this is as bad as Stars on 45 or Mark Ronson. Where did all the gusto of "Boom! Shake The Room" go? Should we ask Will's accountant? (Marcello Carlin)

His affability is his undoing. (betty)

Did the cloying tabloidese of 'jiggy' predate or post-date this? Good luck to him and all that, but it is really as if the Vibrators were the biggest selling punk band ever. (Simon)

Let's face it, Will Smith was to gangsta rap what Busted are to the hardcore death metal scene. The one great thing about Will's successful movie career is that he rarely sings any more. (Alan)

How to ruin a classic tune in one easy lesson. Get Will "Multiplex" Smith to do one of his tedious little "raps" over it. Give me MC Hammer any day. At least he's funny. (Geoff)

Oh god, it's pathetic. A song assembled by committee to ensure that it will tick enough boxes to sell. (Gert)

2008: What's It Gonna Be - H "two" O featuring Platnum (85)

You know, I'm really excited about the music scene right now. Because the really great moments usually come along at times of horrendous musical stagnation, and I can't remember a time when music has been as stagnant as it is now. If this is the big new sound, how come it has absolutely nothing in it I haven't heard a hundred times before? (Alan)

I wasted days in the 90s stuck at the back of clubs listening to this breed of characterless tinny rubbish, hoping in vain that the DJ might play a decent track, but they never did, they just spun the 12 inch version afterwards, and I went home miserable and unfulfilled, and this rubbish is just continuing the awfulness, it's such a bland grim attempt at music, and the singer even namechecks herself which is a sure sign of shallow desperation, and as for the misspelling of Platnum that's just unforgivable, but I guess in this age of txtspeak not entirely surprising, and this has no redeeming musical features whatsoever, and basically I despair. (diamond geezer)

Oh God. The name. The music. Make them stop. In the name of all that's holy make them stop. (SwissToni)

OK, so I’m in that vast majority you spoke of! 1 point. (Erithian)

So, it sounds exactly the same as hundreds of other tracks that have been assembled in exactly the same way. I am tempted to go off into a rant about the cynical marketing of meaningless products to people who are too young and naive to realise that a) you don't have to have it b) that the test of good music isn't its fashionableness and c) advertising is never the equivalent of critical judgement. (Gert)

Council House. Not even the fact that it's one of the few successes of the Trent Tempo (recorded in a toilet at the Golden Fleece, Notts Kids), can save it. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

It's music for thickos. For those who have no knowledge of, or interest in, the huge scope and breadth of the history of popular music. And that's fine. Everyone needs a soundtrack to their own misdemeanors, but that's no reason to imply that this is in any way a good pop song. (imsodave)

With the opening bars of this I wondered if it would be an unexpected high ranker, but as it progrssed it became clear that my expectations were right all along. (Adrian)

Following the Britpop revival, the speed garage revival was inevitable. My problem with this sort of thing is slightly obtuse, in that I have Channel 4's Freshly Squeezed on over breakfast, and at the moment they're playing a lot of records that sound like this, before which Nick Grimshaw will always go "this is bassline house!" in a really smug fashion even though he might as well be reading it from Latin for all the knowledge of what that means he clearly has. (Simon)

Having videos puts a whole different complexion on this - are they trying to recapture the whole Britney business of more innocent days with the schoolgirl thing? Although Britney did in those days actually look like a teenager and this lot look like they're about 33. (Tina)

The video is ridiculous, the female singer's voice is grating and yet I still like it. A lot. (asta)

Despite my better judgement, I quite like this. I liked ‘Heartbroken’ too. I’m far too old to be frequenting the kind of clubs where this will be played. Instead, I’ll throw a nostalgic nod to my first Mediterranean holidays sans-parents and jig about while I’m doing the ironing. (Sarah)

They'd hate to know I like this, when I could be their granny. Heh heh. (Z)

Christ that was just like my schooldays. This is a real grower as the one girl who went to my school probably said to someone (not me). (Geoff)

Why do people have such a downer on songs that teenage girls would probably like? Er, rant over ... it would be wrong and slightly creepy of me to show too much knowledge or enthusiasm for bassline house but I prefer My Destiny by Delinquent featuring K Cat. I'm having a midlife crisis and will be using terms such as "rinsing" and "dropping some hot joints" next. So embarrassing. (betty)

Top two too close to call really - Althea & Donna is an all-time classic but H Two O is a right now classic and deserves its moment in the sun, especially as I've been crossing my fingers on it crossing over for the last 8 months. (Down with the kids? Moi?). Upcoming T2 single, "Gonna Be Mine", is the best bassline pop smash yet BTW. (Tom)

This is as completely and uncompromisingly fabulous as Althea and Donna and Mel and Kim were; it's the latest in a glorious line of fuck-you-but-we're-nice-girls-really pop classics; unruly and all over the Top Shop but brilliantly propulsive and deliciously insolent as all great pop should be (and if it gets to number one, as it ought, it will possess the best bassline on any chart topper since "Babycakes." As a 44-year-old I am glad that I lived long enough to hear and love this wonderful record. (Marcello Carlin)

The kids (on the bus) are all right. As per. (jeff w)

1988: Say It Again - Jermaine Stewart (76)

Found myself liking this, rather surprisingly. Nice clear voice and a good hook to the tune. (Stu)

Deserves more! I actually luv the plastic sound of the late 1980s, even when I don't remember the song, but I also appreciate this is just mourning for the adolescence I wasted listening to The Wall. (Tom)

I probably danced to this in a Walsall nightclub when it was snuck in between the Vandross and Alexander O'Neal played on a loop, without knowing who it was. God, they don't know they're born these days. (betty)

3 Points - and if you'd told me beforehand I'd be rating this colourless twaddle so highly I'd have hit you with a baseball bat. (Alan)

It's not terrible. That's about as nice as I can be about this. The chorus is alright, if you can get past the nasty production, I suppose. (SwissToni)

Michael Jackson lite. Unmemorable - although I did like his other one about not having to take your clothes off - a bit cold IMHO for that sort of tomfoolery. (Tina)

"We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off" was really his moment and this was OK but hardly the beginning or even the middle of time - it sounds ready to be covered by LEON. (Marcello Carlin)

Dull. Comparing it favourably with Debbie Gibson's song is faint praise indeed. (Z)

Jermaine's funk is particularly insipid here. There were a lot of very badly produced songs in the 80's, and weak tunes like this just seem horribly exposed. I want to give it a cuddle. (imsodave)

Yea, i used to like Terrence Trent D'Arby too. Sad I know. A repeat listen reveals that I should have sliced my ears off years ago. (jo)

People should be laughing at the late 80s in the way people in the late 80s laughted at the 70s. Did the record company have an expense account with C&A and Staples for the wardrobe budget? (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

The worrying thing is, there are still records being made that sound like this aural sludge of cream drum machines and aural compression in the name of wine bar funk. (Simon)

Generic, forgettable, squeaky. (Sarah)

The whole thing is pathetic. (asta)

Crap. Sorry, I know he's dead and all that, but I don't like this idea that making ugly strangulated noises is an adequate facsimile for emotion. I much preferred We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off. (Gert)

Please don't say it any more times. Please. (Adrian)

Decade scores so far (after 3 days).
1. The 1960s (13)
2. The 1970s (11)
3. The 2000s (10)
4. The 1990s (8)
5. The 1980s (3)

1968: Fire Brigade - The Move. (video)
1978: Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra. (video)
1988: Valentine - T'Pau. (video)
1998: You Make Me Wanna... - Usher. (video)
2008: Work - Kelly Rowland. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number 8s.

1978: Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra (155)

This is very near to pop holy writ for me for reasons too personal to talk about here but it is touching in its ruefully celebratory way. It points to both past and future - "Sparky's Magic Piano" prepares to welcome "O Superman" - and it comes out of ideas posited in '67 but presumes there will still be a now thirty years later; hence goodbye "I Am The Walrus," hello Arcade Fire. "Please turn me over" makes me melt every time. (Marcello Carlin)

Class act. Quite possibly my most favourite band of whom I own zilch records. It really is about time I got a Greatest Hits of ELO. I suspect this might prove to be one of my favourites of the entire 100. Tune, orchestration, harmonies, words with meaning and that one can identify with. Plus, there was a time in the mid 80s that every time I heard this on Piccadilly Radio it was interrupted by "It's a goal, United have scored" so much so that I was expecting that to break into it now! (Gert)

With this in the selection the other tunes didn’t stand a chance. I gave it 5 points before I started listening. Nostalgia getting in the way? Yes, and tough. (Sarah)

Bloody hell, why was I ashamed at owning this on blue vinyl only a few years ago? Excellent. (NiC)

5 points. The obvious choice but the right choice, even if the Hoosiers have done their best to handicap it for yer ultra-modern listener. (Tom)

Doomed by association with Sean Rowley's anti-snobbery snobbery, but not only a great singles band but one who had plenty of ideas to go round, even if most of them were built on top of the Beatles back catalogue. The Hoosiers haven't managed one yet. (Simon)

My favourite track by one of my favourite acts. I especially like the false ending followed by the jarring key change that heralds the coda. (jeff w)

The overblown ending almost loses it some points, but by then the battle is won. (imsodave)

Mr Blue Sky is the only track so far that I own. It's also the only one so far that's been in Doctor Who. It was played at a friend's birthday party last year and the DJ almost got lynched for chopping off the last minute. All such nostalgia aside, it's still marvellous. (Will)

I'm a bit surprised, but this tops today's offerings. It's not going to change the world, but who said pop had to? (Adrian)

I hated ELO as a young progger, especially this song. The lyrics couldn't compete with Yes. I've grown to love them over the years. Roy Wood gets the nod over Lynne though cos at least he didn't join the Travelling Pillsbury Dough Boys. (Geoff)

Very enjoyable, rather too much in it; slightly too clever for its own good - I was a little too conscious of the arrangement. (Z)

Not my favourite of theirs, but it's got a railway crossing warning/alarm in it. Bonus. (asta)

One of those bands I have a closet, box set type of love for, but can only listen to handful of tracks before his voice makes me want to grate my eyes out. Also see Supertramp and Yes. (jo)

Yes, finely crafted and all that, but ELO are almost a reverse Guilty Pleasure for me – everyone says how much they liked them, yet I have to admit to finding them routinely over-produced and stultifying in places. (Erithian)

Second place but I always hated the bland Beatles copyists. Shame because they started so well with 10538 Overture early on. (Stu)

There are other singles I prefer by them. 10538 Overture and Strange Magic specifically. When they go overboard with the Sergeant Pepper influences it tends not to work so well. (betty)

Would have got 5, but nowadays it reminds me of a steaming argument I had with a mate in the Social over how better The Ballad Of Horace Wimp is. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Can't agree with you here, for me this was a band that started off interesting and got progressively more dull with every pompous overblown release until they finally imploded under the weight of their own ridiculousness. (Alan)

Didn't Take That write this? (SwissToni)

1968: Fire Brigade - The Move (142)

Solid Gold Classic. Roy Wood is a genius of pop. And I'm not just saying that because we once had a curry on the table next to him. (Geoff)

Yeah, Roy Wood, the only celeb we've shared a curry house with apart from Paul Shane (who ordered chicken tikka massala, like someone's mum). I prefer California Man, but this is a stonker nonetheless. I can get away with using a word like "stonker" because I'm a thick Brummie. (betty)

Marvellous. That riff is worth the 5 points in itself. (Z)

Loving that cheeky "Ooh!" in the lyrics. And the siren noises. Brilliant and bonkers. (SwissToni)

Very easy decision today. Essentially it’s the DOINNNG-da-da bits that do it for me too. I was struck by the cut-and-paste heads on the TOTP chart rundown: without giving too much away, the top 20 was almost wall-to-wall groups, and the graphics gave it the feel of a fan’s scrapbook. And being almost the same age as you, Mike, it was my first image of the exciting world of pop. (Erithian)

And this is their best single too. That bit where Wood throws in the Duane Eddy twangy guitar for just half a bar and then cutting to the chorus is one of pop's great "moments". Against anything else we've had so far this would have got 5 points easy. (jeff w)

Unfortunate Brum clash here but superbly deranged pop(were any "mainstream" '67-8 Britbeat group as fearlessly OUT OF IT as the Move? Ace Kefford's behaviour at times made Keith Moon seem like Keith Potger!). Neither of these great pop singles is at all undermined by the trademark clunky drumming of top Tory drummer Bev "Bev" Bevan. (Marcello Carlin)

I was never a fan of The Move but they were an influential and seminal sixties band. Good songwriting and not forgetting Roy Wood can play 3,058 instruments including the pipes (very badly). Nice catchy 45 though. (Stu)

I don't think I've ever listened to the lyrics before, not that I'm much the wiser having done so. A solid sixties song. (Adrian)

I have dreadful memories of Cilla Black performing this on location one Surprise Surprise around the house and workplace of some long married fireman. Even if the bells in the intro is less "never a dull moment down the station" and more "bring out your dead", it's still tremendous British Invasion whimsy. Shame, really, that Roy Wood has never managed a pop cultural position greater than "man with large beard in 70s Christmas hit that isn't by Slade". (Simon)

What Which Decade has taught me is that most Sixties songs have the same beat and pretty much the same tune. The ones that don't really stand out. This is a superior working of the formula but I don't ever need to hear it again in my life. (Gert)

Sounds like (and could well be) novelty psychedelia. It could be so much more. (Stereoboard)

The musical juggernaut skips along relentlessly, but at about half-way I find myself wanting to get off. And not like that either. (imsodave)

Ok, I guess. That chorus would irritate the hell out of me if I had to listen to it again though. (Sarah)

It must be an English thing-like the taste for marmite. This got annoying as soon as the OOOO was over. (asta)

1998: You Make Me Wanna... - Usher (89)

Five points: It's R&B that's managed to move beyond Al Green while still remaining true to the cornerstone of the genre- slow and smooth love grooves. The drums aren't too shabby either. (asta)

I thought, in the first few seconds, that I was going to hate it; but not at all. (Z)

I wasn't expecting much from this, but it's better than I expected. Has it been ten years already? (Adrian)

Pleasing slice of R&B from the king of R&B. ("Surely that's John Lee Hooker" - Ed). (Geoff)

Yes, to me this felt like the first number one of the new millennium - way ahead of its time in both production and approach and it was underacknowledged as such at the time (1998, for those who care to investigate, was one of the great years for number one singles - lots of classics). (Marcello Carlin)

Can't believe I've given high marks to nineties soul records two days in a row; I usually hate all soul recorded after 1971 but that's because it always sounds overproduced, and I like the stripped back feel of this one. (Alan)

3 pts - Usher. Who I despise for being a nob and the poster child for women with Bestwood Facelifts who mill about outside Burger King, but this is passable. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Helped forge a path for the next few years of male R&B, but Jermaine Dupri is the most overrated producer in urban music this side of Pharrell. (Simon)

Far too smooth for his own good. (Stereoboard)

Somewhere in there is a melody, I'm sure. If this is indeed the symbolic start of a dominating branch of 00's music, then it is everything that's wrong about everything. Almost. (imsodave)

No points. You heard. NONE. Usher - cretinous no mark. You make me wanna what? eh? (SwissToni)

There’s only one thing this record makes me wanna, and it wouldn’t be pretty. (Erithian)

You Make Me Wanna stick pins in my eyes. Is it possible to take points away, Mike? In a word - garbage. (Stu)

2008: Work - Kelly Rowland (87)

Thank goodness for this one to wake us up at the end of the selection. Scuse me while I get up to dance around the living room. This would easily be at the top if ELO hadn’t made an appearance. (Sarah)

As overtly-sexualised, up-tempo, crowd-pumping, sports-tastic, leotard-clad, crotch-pumping, fist-in-the-air, sisterhood-empowering, pseudo-anthems go, this is a belter. (imsodave)

Nice vibe going on there, as well it might given its clear influences – the verse modelled on “Crazy in Love”, the chorus on “Hips Don’t Lie”. Nice girl, scrubs up well, but none too original. (Erithian)

I see we're still following the Destiny's Child trademark of singing really really fast. I like the gratuitous South Asian sampling in the remix. (asta)

Pleasing again and very pleasing on the eye as ever. Kelly is so much more gorgeous than Beyonce. (Geoff)

The 5 points are really for the remarkable Freemasons. How they manage to make gold from really quite rubbish RnB tracks (see Beyonce) is amazing. I *heart* Freemasons. (Oliver R)

Competent enough, but nothing special. (Z)

Like title, like approach...reasonable standard issue R&Booty but nothing particularly special... (Marcello Carlin)

Wasn't the bhangra-Knight-Rider thing done a few years ago? Is pop eating itself that quickly now? I quite like it though. (Adrian)

You'd be able to guess it was a non-Beyonce Destiny's Childer whatever surrounded the voice, but the remix varying between retro electro and Mundian To Bach Ke doesn't help. (Simon)

Alright, I suppose, but MY GOD is there only one song in the whole wide world of music that these people think is worth sampling? (SwissToni)

Yeah, the remix is a bit overrated isn't it? Too early for 2002 nostalgia surely! (Tom)

I think this is meant to be a "return to form". It's okay, but there doesn't seem to be a point to any ex-members of Destiny's Child now we've got Rihanna. Er, in my opinion ... (betty)

I truly believe you could play this record to me 100 times and tell me who it was every single time, and when I heard it the 101st time I still wouldn't remember. (Alan)

The only decent members of Destiny's Child were 1) Beyonce and 2) Beyonce's arse. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

So, "the kids" are opining that this is better than all but 7 songs around right now. My god, the rest must be dross. (Gert)

1988: Valentine - T'Pau (67)

Always thought they were harshly treated by the crits – somewhat underrated. (Erithian)

I wish I could've given this three points, but it's been quite a strong selection this time. Endearingly rubbish, with the usual terrible lyrics. Ahem. I used to have hair a bit like that in 1988. There, I've said it. (betty)

The edginess of the lyric gave it the - er - edge. (Z)

Quite liked the naff rap sections of "Heart And Soul" but even Carol Decker in interviews of the period was keen to point out that she was "boring" and alas so was the music of the first (and last?) Salopians to top the chart. (Marcello Carlin)

Just because I sometimes like to get drunk and listen to T'Pau songs, it don't mean they're actually any good tho, innit. Well some are, but this is just a pretty power-ballad-by-numbers. (Oliver R)

Who was responsible for miking drums in the mid-80s? No wonder the Musician's Union got worried, machines made a much better job of such things without sounding much like an actual drum being hit. Power grab-enabling ballad by rote, naturally. (Simon)

Ah the power ballad. Most of its power seems to have seeped away. (Adrian)

Not exactly in the class of China in Your Hand. I don't even remember this. It has something of that pre-Black Wednesday feel of the late Eighties. All glamour and no substance. And yet later in the year, the pop charts experienced a mini-false dawn. (Gert)

You can almost hear their 80's hair can't you? I don't remember this song at all though it does sound like the whole thing was made from "Chine in Your hands" out-takes. (NiC)

Sorry. I fell asleep while listening to this. One of my best friends at school had Carol Decker hair – awash with Body Shop henna. Does that qualify for an incisive comment? (Sarah)

Has not aged well. Unlike Carol herself. Would she have been viewed as so feisty if her hair wasn't quite so red, I wonder? (imsodave)

I used to know someone who originated from Shrewsbury and was most proud of 2 things: the town's status as most polite town in Britain and the birthplace of Carol Decker. It's the most polite town because they are forever apologising for Carol Decker. (Geoff)

Incredibly bland and boring from everybody's favourite Leicester housewife (not including Rosemary Conley obviously). (Stu)

Portentous, self-involved cobblers. (SwissToni)

Let's face it, this lot were always terrible. This plods even worse than I remembered. (jeff w)

Excessive, and oblivious. It's the musical equivalent of what happens when little girls get into their mothers' make-up. (asta)

This is not nearly as bad as all the comments suggested. Emphasis on "as bad" though. (Tom)

1968: Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) - John Fred & His Playboy Band. (video)
1978: Love Is Like Oxygen - The Sweet. (video)
1988: Shake Your Love - Debbie Gibson. (video)
1998: High - The Lighthouse Family. (video)
2008: I Thought It Was Over - The Feeling. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number 9s.

1968: Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) - John Fred & His Playboy Band (147)

5 points, since it stands several continents, not to say cosmos, above the rest of them - yes it's something of a pisstake of its times but it still sounds smashing, especially in the context of the UK charts of the period which were already sinking slowly into the swamps of bellicose balladry. Great Northern Soul-type thrust as well. Sadly Mr Fred checked out a couple of years ago, although I dimly recall some attempt at the time of the 2004 Presidential elections to allege that John Fred was actually John Kerry. (Marcello Carlin)

What is it with the name Judy, which isn't that common in swinging groovesters and hip chicks, and songs? Off the top of my head, besides this I can think of Judy Is A Punk, Judy Teen, Judy Blue Eyes, Judy And The Dream Of Horses and, well, Judy. Great proto-soul groove, and the unexpected attempt at a pathos ending is something to behold. (Simon)

Actually I think this is a great tune. It embodies a time in music when it was still appropriate to be seen to be having fun. Great hook, great brass. Catchy and memorable. (Stu)

I've always had a soft spot for this song. I love the kick drum and bass chase in the beginning. It's just a really happy song. (jo)

Good inventive musicianship wins me over every time. (Alan)

The kind of stuff that gives bubblegum a good name. I might even have first heard this on Junior Choice. (Erithian)

It's got pep. and.. um.. yeah, pep. One of my neighbours used to swear the lyric was " Judy in the sky. Molasses." (asta)

Dig that psychedelic video - with glasses. (Tina)

A proper Imperial Phase Radio Trent tune (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

1 point: I don't understand what the rest of you like about this one! (Lizzy)

I'm with Lizzy. This is not a good song (and I love novelty tunes usually). Just about bearable in the Silicon Teens' cover version, but the original just screams: smack me hard. (jeff w)

Another piece of proof that Sixties music is mainly overhyped and disposable. (Gert)

1978: Love Is Like Oxygen - The Sweet (130)

I think this is a classic. Mind you I also thought it was by 10cc, so what do I know? (Stereoboard)

5 pts - as long as it's not the extended version with the horrible Mike Batt-like guitar solo. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

Has a wistful pathos. (betty)

More ELO, more obviously...mixed with the vocal earnestness of Chris de Burgh. (asta)

They may be ripping off ELO (and to an extent 10cc?) but I like ELO (and, to an extent, 10cc). (Will)

One of my favourite 70s bands. Glad they had a last chart hurrah with this song, and it's a decent tune... but it sounds just a wee bit pedestrian now. (jeff w)

A last hurrah maybe, but not a bad one as last hurrah's go. Oh and, by the way Mike, as a mountaineer I can confirm that when you decend rapidly from altitude to an oxygen rich environment, you can spend the next half a day feeling like you've smoked the world's biggest doobie. (Alan)

Hmm. Guilty Pleasure time. I really like this but then – thanks to the dodgy musical taste of an ex-boyfriend – I have a soft spot for certain types of harmony-ridden soft-rock. (Sarah)

Ah, I'm a sucker for those guitars, and I'm even prepared to overlook those silly high-pitched vocals too. Awful lyrics, mind. (SwissToni)

4 points – though at least partly out of brand loyalty. They were MY band of the glam era - like many I moved on to Queen soon afterwards, but surely there was room for both. But compared to the Sweet glories of ’73-74, this one’s bilge. (Erithian)

Meh. A token three points, two of which are purely for Blockbuster. This effort is neither here nor there. (imsodave)

I suppose we're getting near to the 80s now aren't we. And this sounds like it could be from either decade. I wouldn't have said it was the Sweet though. (Adrian)

I need to be careful here. In the seventies one could be drummed out of the Led Zeppelin appreciation society for admitting to liking...Sweet. The band self-professed their 'we're heavy really when we play live' stance. but sold out to Chapman/Chinn in spite of a few memorable riffs. Extra points for Brian Connolly being the brother of Mark (Taggart) McManus. (Stu)

4 to the Sweet, though that's no indication of superior quality; the song's central metaphor is biologically and philosophically suspect (how exactly can you die from too much love, or was this a far-seeing premonition of Brian May's "Too Much Love Will Kill You"?). Indeed the hapless Mr Connolly sounds like a stranded Freddie Mercury who's missed his chance, and much the same could be said of the Sweet from '74 onwards once Queen got going commercially. (Marcello Carlin)

This is not the version I remember hearing in the States, but close enough for government work. Child of the 70's. Say no more. (jo)

Someone's been listening to ELO. Not much call for facial glitter here. (Simon)

I feel there is a decent song waiting to get out of there, but not on this performance. I don't care for it. (Gert)

1998: High - The Lighthouse Family (121)

This song made little impact over here, which is a shame. I can't say I think all that much of the chorus, but the bridge leading into the chorus perfectly hits every "wistful yearning" note. "At the end of the day..' is likely to stick with me. (asta)

5 points. I'll probably regret this in the morning. Like asta, I found the "At the end of the day" bit appealing. And the competition isn't up to much. That's my excuse. (Will)

I rather like this, but it appeals to my cheesy side, which I'm not going to encourage. (Z)

Like Simply Red without the annoying ginger gimp, a nice bit of relaxing soul with a decent hook. (Alan)

I was never a big fan but always enjoyed them when they came on the radio. I like his voice although I suspect it would get very boring very soon. Nice atmosphere about the song. But to be honest, it only gets such a high ranking because the others are so bad. (Gert)

This should really be higher as it's a good and tasteful tune. What turns me off the band are the extremely limited range in the slightly dreary vocals of the lead singer. Pity. (Stu)

2 to the tiresomely reliable Lighthouse Family, the band who still thought it was 1987 with smooth and vaguely soulcialist intentions - had to remind myself which one this was since they all were minute variations on the group's one song. Not offensive but then again possibly offensive in its relentless inoffensiveness. (Marcello Carlin)

The epitome of effortless bland (diamond geezer)

Taupe, with big shoulder pads. (betty)

Cheesy choirs for a sentimental chorus? No, ta. Brings to mind a nasal karaoke singer. (Sarah)

I don't seem to be able to get away from this song. I used to like it. Now it just makes me want to apply a brillo pad to my ears. (The commenter formerly known as)

Paroled maybe but not quite forgiven. (Tom)

Interminably dull. I've always found the singer's voice to be particularly grating and, almost, tuneless. Even by 90's soul standards, this is strangely soulless. Not something I would willing listen to for either motivation or pleasure. (imsodave)

God, I hated the Lighthouse Family's iron-crease soul at the time. And, by the sounds of it, still do. (Simon)

2008: I Thought It Was Over - The Feeling (119)

This song annoyed me slightly when I first heard it but it's grown on me a lot. And obviously I approve of what they're trying to do. (I'm not sure why everyone's citing 70s acts as their inspiration by the way. Duran Duran is who I thought of first!) (jeff w)

Lots of individual bits I liked, but all thrown together into a bit of a mess with a tedious refrain. Still can't decide if I like their first album. (Will)

I bought their first album and every time a song comes up on random play I find myself hitting the skip button straight away. One of those I can enjoy in moderation. (Alan)

It's got bits and pieces of Steve Miller guitar sounds, ELO arrangements, and what I think of as a Scissor Sisters pop feel with a the sincerity of Mika. That's too many people for such a small song. (asta)

Annoyed that I didn't hate this as much as previous songs I've heard by them ... not that that's saying much. (betty)

I don't care for the faux-profound 'You were there when the wall came down'. I assume most buyers of current pop music will not have a clue as to the reference. The best of a forgettable to bad bunch. (Gert)

Surprisingly effective dancefloor-filler, sounds wretched in its natural habitat on Costcutter Radio next to the Wombats. (Tom)

Caitlin Moran in “Pop on Trial” gamely championed the Noughties as encompassing all the influences of the previous decades, and here you might think she has a point – this could really have been from any one of the decades under review. (Erithian)

Ah, now what's happened here is Dan Gillespie-Sells has bought another Guilty Pleasures volume since Twelve Stops And Home and got to the early attempts to cash in on disco tracks. Still, they're not Scouting For Girls, and for that we should be grateful. (Simon)

Why are the 70s getting two entries? It's the Sweet again, innit? The boy can write, but he really needs to escape his 70s fixation. (SwissToni)

70s-lite. The real thing is better. (The commenter formerly known as)

I actually don't dislike this tune but found myself tiring of it after...oh...one and a half plays on the radio. (Stu)

Had you not told me so, I would never have guessed this is a current track. It can now slip into obscurity please. (jo)

1 to the Feeling, since the Lighthouse Family might have been monointentioned but at least they knew where they stood, rather than the abysmal 2008 trend of cut-and-paste for spurious exhibition of catholic tastes or facile nostalgia rather than singing about what they feel and believe. What are they hiding from? (Marcello Carlin)

This is the worst selection of songs ever. I didn't think I would ever find a band as tiresomely dull as the Lighthouse Family, but The Feeling have managed it. After listening to the few seconds of them on your clip, I truly did wish it was all over. (Oliver R)

Yesterday I thought the 00s could make a comeback this year, but not with this. I thought it was over but it's not. Yes, quite. Ah, it is now. (Adrian)

1988: Shake Your Love - Debbie Gibson (83)

I hated most late 80s chart pop when it was happening (and went around boosting the likes of My Bloody Valentine and similar Melody Maker-supported art rock bands instead). Boy was I stupid. This is brilliant. (jeff w)

There were a few posters of Miss Gibson adorning the walls of my teenage bedroom, but then it was the primetime of my buying Smash Hits... Not as dated as some of the other album tracks (she pops up on party shuffle from time to time). (Adrian)

Freestyle rip-off but that's as close as we're going to come to freestyle in this poll so it gets big points for its simple joy. (Tom)

5 points. It's overwhelmingly sugary, but sometimes my ears have a sweet tooth. (imsodave)

I prefer Tiffany in the 'Shopping Mall Rock' stakes but I'm a handclap merchant so third place. (Stu)

3 to Debbie Gibson - this is a bit like Billie Davis doing Madonna at 78 rpm on the Freddie "Parrot Face" Davies Show but props to her for reading out the Melody Maker review of the Sugarcubes' Life's Too Good on American TV in full in protest against the US authorities' decision not to grant Bjork a visa. (Marcello Carlin)

3 pts - only because it has the same intro as Play Your Cards Right (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

You could bottle this as the absolute essence of the late 80s, along with that clip they always show of the yuppie lasciviously fingering the wad in his top pocket (who IS he and I hope he’s selling the Big Issue nowadays). Not at all bad, but even then it was aimed at a younger audience than me and the competition’s strong today. (Erithian)

The wrong-footing of the title pronunciation at the end of the chorus is appealing in a very odd way, but here's someone not yet willing to give up their Fairlight. (Simon)

Typically over busy '80's pop production. (betty)

Concentrated lollipop sickness (diamond geezer)

To think that ten years later she'd have been packaged as a Britney or a Christina, but here she's just so wholesome and sickly sweet you'd get diabetes from watching too much of it. (Alan)

Hm. She did Playboy, didn't she? This sounds a bit like something Gloria Estefan (wisely) rejected. (SwissToni)

Meh. All five of these would be right at home any big box store's retail sound system- music to buy ratchets,toilet paper and 400-grit sandpaper. I'm surprised the Disney Channel isn't using this tune as a Saturday morning programming lure for the under 10 set. (asta)

1968: Gimme Little Sign - Brenton Wood. (video)
1978: Sorry I'm A Lady - Baccara. (video)
1988: The Jack That House Built - Jack 'N' Chill. (video)
1998: Together Again - Janet Jackson. (video)
2008: A&E - Goldfrapp. (video)
Listen to a short medley of all five songs.

Running totals so far - Number 10s.

2008: A&E - Goldfrapp (160)

Brilliant. Yes indeed it probably is the pills, dear. We middle-class westerners have embraced pharmaceuticals to a startling degree in search of numb. If we surround ourselves with enough stuff and pretty we can block out just about anything - for a while. (asta)

Kazuo Ishiguro remixes Marianne Faithfull's "Sister Morphine" and Billy MacKenzie is somewhere in the shower. Staggering. (Marcello Carlin)

Gorgeous and slightly disorientating when you realise what she's singing about.
(SwissToni)

Dreamy, and a beautiful song…then you hear the lyrics (which I may never have noticed without a certain POTW nomination) – and yoiks! (Sarah)

First Goldfrapp record I've really enjoyed, actually. (Tom)

I was all set to take the mick out of Baccara's dodgy rhymes - stranger/danger, lady/shady (FGS) - right up until Alison Goldfrapp dropped Saturday/slip away in front of me. And yet, the sheer classiness of her track means she carries it off where Baccara...really don't. (Will)

This isn't the theme-tune to a rebranded Casualty then? Shame. A fine progression from Felt Mountain (my only Goldfrapp CD). (Adrian)

I have been slightly disappointed by Goldfrapp since "Felt Mountain" (Top 10 albums of all time definitely), but this sounds like I might be buying the new album. (Stereoboard)

Know little about them but this has a nice, smooth and cultured sound. I like. (Stu)

Very palatable, and possibly the sound of Kylie in a year or two’s time. I swear that when I first heard “Two Hearts” I was convinced it was Goldfrapp’s latest. (Erithian)

I rather fancy The Seventh Tree is going to be on a lot of peoples 'best of 2008' hits on the basis of what I've heard so far. But "A&E", while it oozes quality, still hasn't grabbed me emotionally as yet. (jeff w)

It's admirable. It's low key. It has hidden depth. But is it really a great single? The depths are submerged beneath an ocean of blandness. I don't know what to feel about it really. Is her hospital visit a result of a suicide bid or mere over indulgence? I can't sympathise with something I do not understand. And I certainly can't dance to it. (imsodave)

Still not sure what to think of this Alison'n'Will-go-Wicker Man-via-Kate Bush's Wow route, and bar Alison's ever inventive vocal stylings there's already well established 'folktronica' (urgh) acts who do this kind of thing better. Winner by rote, I s'pose. (Simon)

I wouldn't rush out to buy it, but it's quite pleasant. She has a decentish voice, and there's a nice ambience to the track. I haven't a clue about the words, though - I'm in a backless dress on a pastel water. Yes dear, of course you are. (Gert)

I liked it well enough, but I forgot it as soon as it finished. I can't remember anything about it and I only stopped listening five minutes ago. (Z)

Never got what the fuss was about, this is bland overproduced and truly forgettable. (Alan)

We'll end up buying the album and I'll play half of it and say, "Sorry, I can't go on." (Geoff)

1968: Gimme Little Sign - Brenton Wood (147)

A yearning plea for recognition that all can relate to. Brenton emits signs of being an obsessive stalker, but in a manner that cannot fail to win over the girl in question. I like a good begging song, and this will do for now. (imsodave)

It's clambakes on the beach in August- beer in stubby bottles- and a flirting so sweet it gets laughed at these days. And, as you pointed out, catchy beyond belief. (asta)

Makes me dance and sing INSTANTLY. Catchy, great vocals, Timeless in my opinion. (jo)

5 points – not just for being a right sprightly piece of soul, but also for giving me the chance to tell my The Night I Met Paul Weller story. It was back in 1984 when I went to a National Film Theatre screening – they were having a Pop on TV season not unlike the one BBC4 just had, and this particular night they were showing the very edition of TOTP that was on BBC4 a few weeks ago. We’d spotted Weller, not yet the Modfather but then just a Style Councillor, in the queue, and once inside the cinema he spoke to me. He said, “Scuse me mate” as he squeezed past to take his seat. I imagine “Gimme Little Sign” was one of the songs he most enjoyed. (Erithian)

This song is a typical example of a genre that has some amazing one-hit wonders. The sound is dated but the tune remains instantly memorable. (Stu)

I played them all three times (don't say I don't take this just a little too seriously) and this was the only one I liked as much the third time as the first. (Z)

Keep the faith, in an Emperor Rosko kind of way (come to think of it, probably more in a Mike Raven kind of way). (Marcello Carlin)

Could this be from any other decade? harmless, tuneful, inoffensive fluff.
(SwissToni)

Still has signs of the fluffy-pop the earlier years of the 60s have given us, but the complexity of the music seems to have moved up a notch. However, I can see why I have no knowledge of either Brenton or his sign... (Adrian)

The Oogum Boogum Song is even better, AND it got banned because the BBC thought he was singing 'Check out the pussy' at the end. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

I'd forgotten this song, but it's a good slice of sixties soul and head and shoulders above the rest of the pap in this selection. (Alan)

Sounds like it should be a Trunk Records curio rather than a hitmaking soulster from the name. Nice enough, but it feels like Atlantic Records filler. (Simon)

1998: Together Again - Janet Jackson (134)

Happy song, roof down in the car, sun on the face, wind in the hair everything will be just fine. (jo)

Funny, you thought of towelling and I thought of a warm scented bath deep enough to float in. (asta)

Never thought I’d be giving one of the Jackson clan four points, but this one really grew on me. It was one of a spate of songs (Tubthumping, Never Ever etc) that hung around the top ten for absolutely ages, and didn’t outstay its welcome. And 40-plus or not, she has an awesome body. I know that’s not among the criteria we should be considering, but it has to be said… (Erithian)

It's perfectly pleasant, though I suspect that Janet is as flighty as the tune itself. No doubt, in between being back together with her man, she's been pursuing other options. The heartless cow. But she was certainly, back then. Y'know. Sex-wise. Which helps. (imsodave)

Ah, once this starts I remember it. I wouldn't leave the dancefloor if this started, but I wouldn't be rushing onto it either. (Adrian)

As with Kim Appleby's "Don't Worry," mourning's pretence towards brightness undermines the song somewhat; compared with the devastating "Come Back To Me" this is rather lightweight but it has lasted better than the bottom two. (Marcello Carlin)

Don't know about cool producers, if you'd told me it was Stock Aitken Waterman I wouldn't have blinked. But gets second place just by dint of being catchy. (Alan)

It's better than it should be with the drum machine basic programming and wafer thin nature of the lyrical message, and my recollection of a dance remix which Radio 1 played incessantly at the time. (Simon)

I don't like it. It's a waste of effort. No tune, uninspiring beat. Words poorly enunciated. Singing too breathy. Over-produced. It's not like it's bad, it's just so utterly nothing. (Gert)

1978: Sorry I'm A Lady - Baccara (82)

I've only heard Yes sir, I can boogie before, but you can spot the similarities. I think I'd rather listen to this one though as Yes sir... has worn a little through popularity. (Adrian)

Look at that cover. I'm becoming a lesbian. Right now. (The commenter formerly known as)

Totally kitsch but the memory of the ladies themselves gives them a sentimental vote. (Actually I spent most of that era wanting to listen to The Clash and The Jam and trying to avoid this tripe on the radio.) (Stu)

Maybe the nostalgia is kicking in. But while this is trivial and disposable, it has the main elements of a half-decent pop song, catch tune, words with some semblance of meaning and a disco beat that was just the thing for Primary School discos. And back then, the poor pronunciation didn't really come over on Medium Wave. (Gert)

Well after the stranger/danger rhyme I couldn't figure out what the hell she was singing. Something about being sorry she was a lady? I'm sorry she recorded this. (asta)

Oh good heavens no. That accent is criminal. It's like low rent Boney-M, if such a thing could ever exist. Hideous! (SwissToni)

Everything that was wrong with the seventies, just looking at the middle-aged people in the dinner jackets on the video tells you why this should never have been allowed within a million miles of the charts. (Alan)

Yes, they definitely needed a certain song, and this isn't it. (Simon)

One more thing to add to the list of 'what was wrong with the '70s.' Not nice, especially the Vaseline-on-cheeks look. (Yes, I know it's the music that counts, but a woman can bitch once in a while, can't she?) (Z)

Even I, a child of the 70's and rather proud of it if you might ask, yet still I would not have missed this track either by it's absence nor its is exit from the planet. (jo)

Strangely sinister. But still shit. No one would look good dancing to this. (imsodave)

Proof that "poptimism" has its inbuilt flaws. No, this isn't a lost camp classic or a g**lty pl**s*r* - sometimes, folks, crap is just crap. (Marcello Carlin)

1988: The Jack That House Built - Jack 'N' Chill (78)

This is the only one I recognised by title alone! This early house stuff is always overshadowed by the acid house that followed, and I don't understand why. Interesting to read the different takes; I guess it's the difference between getting a residency around that time and getting old enough to go to Woolworths on your own around that time... (Adrian)

Entertaining enough in a Rod Hull House sort of way at the time but as with other late eighties hits of which I've recently been reminded ("I Love My Radio" by Taffy, anyone?) it doesn't really stand up (whereas contemporaries like Krush's "House Arrest" and even "Tired Of Being Pushed Around" by a Gift-less Fine Young Cannibals under a silly pseudonym - 2 Men, A Drum Machine and A Trumpet, wasn't it? - have proved more durable). (Marcello Carlin)

All over the shop, but it has some snarl to it. (Tom)

I love the early years of House music but this isn’t one of the tunes I have any nostalgia for. Just a bit too empty and dated for me. (Sarah)

Oh the name! I see what they did there, but still.... unimaginative rubbish on a synth. Back when synths were thought clever and sophisticated, I suppose? (SwissToni)

Ooh look I've got a computer. It can make a drum track. I think this is one of the major contributors to my 'all modern pop music is crap' mentality. (Gert)

Yes, you've got some synths and drum machines. Now make them do something interesting. (Simon)

Someone probably shouldn't have been given that Bontempi keyboard for Christmas. (Alan)

Someone's been having fun with their drum machine haven't they? (chris)

Reminds me of a music making CD ROM I used to have. (Geoff)

Jack 'N' Chill took some effort on my part as I wanted to switch it off after a few seconds, but forced myself through all the silly groaning and grunting on YouTube. (Will)

For a lovely moment there I misread it as “The House That Jack Built”, that lovely piece of nu-mod by Tracie earlier in the decade, but no such luck. This typifies a time when the charts were going down the crapper in a big way. (Erithian)

Ugh. Just brings to mind pencil-tached gibbons in stripey grandad shirts and chinos pretending they've done 5 E's on Hitman & Her. (Nottingham's 'Mr Sex')

If ever there was background music, then this is it. Rubbish then and rubbish now. (imsodave)

It has 'n' in the middle, what more need I say. (The commenter formerly known as)

This made it onto a chart? I can only be thankful that it so utterly unmusical, that I've forgotten it already. (asta)