Top 10 UK Hit Songs of 2017

Ah! It's about time that I do a retro countdown.
Recently, I have taken an interest in the music of 2017. I found it to be one of the most exciting years of music in recent memory, both in the mainstream scene and in the alternative scene. With the alternative scene, we had King Gizzard And The Lizard’s quintology of quality, Temples’ psychedelic trip and The xx’s emotionally driven blend of electronic influenced music
This interest started last December when I was listening to the 2017 albums by Stormzy and Harry Styles in order to prepare for their respective follow-up albums that were coming out at the time. I then looked at the weeks in which the album bombs for these albums on the UK charts happened and listened to the other new entries of those weeks. The week with the Harry Styles and J Hus album bombs (25th May 2017) was the last week in which the UK Singles Chart had these big album bombs (with the exception of those of popular soundtracks). There may be a reason as to why these sort of weeks don’t happen anymore.
In the middle of the decade, streaming was a big trend among the charts, with Drake and Ed Sheeran being some of the most popular artists from streams. The latter even managed to get the entirety of his Divide album (including the deluxe edition cuts) into the Top 20 following its release. However, the state of the singles chart in 2016, along with the first half of 2017, had been pretty static to say the least. So in order to have a better chance of newcoming acts breaking the Top 100, the Official Charts Company modified its rules. This includes the additions of the “three song per lead artist” rule and the ACR effect, the latter of which pushes songs that have spent 9-10 weeks on the chart, and have declined for three weeks in a row, down through a huge fall. Judging from the multiple album bombs that are occurring commonly on the Billboard Hot 100, the change in rules for the UK charts are understandable. Especially considering the fact that seven of the songs that made it onto the 2017 Year End were deep cuts from Divide (two of them would later be pushed as singles the following year).
Let’s end off the unexpected history lesson, and get to the rules



Rules:

• Song must have debuted on the UK End of Year Singles Chart Top 100 compiled by The Official Charts Company (or OCC for short)
• For a song to be eligible for a Top 10 Hit Singles of {Year} list. It has to have a maximum of five years between its year of release and the year it debuted on a year end list. So for this countdown, hits that came out before 2012 do not count. Alas, no Mr. Brightside!
• I also have a ‘one entry per lead artist’ rule in order for the list to have more variety. Bands and members’ solo material can be separate exceptions to this. 

Selected Transition Song picks

• Martin Solveig feat. Ina Wroldsen - Places (start at 0:38)
• Paramore - Hard Times (start at 0:32)
• Liam Gallagher - Wall Of Glass (start at 0:58)
• ZAYN feat. PARTYNEXTDOOR - Still Got Time (start at 0:55)
• Kyle feat. Lil Yachty - iSpy (start at 1:42)

Now onto the countdown

Number 10

That's What I Like by Bruno Mars

I can always count on Bruno to bring some damn good retro music. From the influences of The Police in Locked Out Of Heaven to the disco sound of Treasure. This song fits into the category, with elements of R&B from the late 80’s and early 90’s.

The synths and strings bring in a joyous feel to back up Bruno’s charismatic performance. He sings about the luxuries he has and what he’ll offer to this girl. His charm shines through in the song and is very convincing as a loverman. We are then offered a nice electric guitar line in the bridge to add to the retro style of his song (as well as Mars’ material in general).
That’s What I Like is definitely a song I like listening to!

Number 9

Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you, my song of the summer from 2017.

Feels by Calvin Harris feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry and Big Sean

2017 was the year Calvin Harris shifted from the big room house and electro influences of 18 Months and Motion to a more funk-inspired summer sound, and it was a great change in direction. I could have added the slow, sensual Slide onto this list, but this was the one I kept coming back to the most.

Pharrell is such a charmer on this song. Like with Bruno Mars on That’s What I Like, he does a good job at playing the role of a loverman and even makes some cheesy lines like “I’m wearing your goggles, virtual reality” work. Katy Perry also brings a great chorus as she encourages Pharrell to join with her in this love. We then get a rap verse from Big Sean, who is pretty corny on this, but the fun kind of corny. The production is also fantastic with Harris blending church organs and guitar grooves together to create a vibe.

We don’t know when Calvin will drop his next album, but for now, let’s swim in these funk waves and enjoy the music.

Number 8

After One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016, an important question was waiting to be answered. 

What will each of the individual members sound like in their solo careers? 

This was an interesting question, especially for those who listened to the solo material of the respective members of The Beatles, Take That, Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child.

With Zayn Malik, he did moody R&B and changed his name to ZAYN. With Niall Horan, he did acoustic guitar material in a slightly similar manner to Ed Sheeran, but recently tried out different styles along with it such as synthpop. With Louis Tomlinson, he did EDM with Steve Aoki and Digital Farm Animals before moving on to adult contemporary stuff a few years later. With Liam Payne, his style was similar to ZAYN but less atmospheric and more poppy. He also did an EDM song with Jonas Blue, as well as a reggaeton song with J Balvin. Now comes another question.

What will Harry Styles sound like in his solo material?

Sign Of The Times by Harry Styles

Turns out that what Styles would do for his solo career was a nice surprise. The thought of him making music that sounds like a mix of Oasis and David Bowie wouldn’t have been possible in 2016, but he went and delivered nearly 6 minutes of fantastic rock.

The piano chords set an emotional tone for the song and that’s before we get to the addition of the explosive guitars and drums on the chorus which make the song feel anthemic. Styles’ voice sounds brilliant over this rock instrumentation.

What’s also brilliant are the lyrics, which encourage the listener not to run away from their problems and emotional conflicts, and instead enjoy the bright side of life. This is further conveyed by the metaphor of bullets in the pre-chorus. The lyrical themes of the song especially fit well into the context of the album, with songs like Ever Since New York, which deals with the loss of a relative, and Two Ghosts, which shows a couple feeling torn on whether they should continue their relationship.

Styles would later try out a more pop driven style for his follow-up Fine Line, which is just as sublime as his self-titled debut, and the singles off that album have gained more chart success than that of the predecessor, as well as Watermelon Sugar recently getting a music video boost. Looking forward to working on my Top 10 UK Hits Of 2020, because there is a good chance that Harry will pop up.

Number 7

Back in December 2015, I became interested in an annual music poll held by the BBC called “Sound of…”.  The poll being held at the time was the Sound Of 2016, which had a longlist of then new coming musicians that showed promise in the future. A couple of them would become more recognizable in 2017. Mura Masa put out a great electronic album. Rat Boy came through with an album of punk bangers in the form of SCUM. Loyle Carner’s debut Yesterday Gone was one of my Top 10 Albums Of 2017 (and probably still is). Mabel and J Hus made it onto the UK Year End of 2017 with their respective songs Finders Keepers and Did You See, with the latter even getting a Mercury nomination for his Common Sense album, along with the debut albums by Loyle Carner and Blossoms. Plus one particular nominee is sitting at this spot.

Be The One by Dua Lipa

This spot was originally going to go to New Rules, but in the end, I gave it to this. I vaguely remember hearing Be The One when it came out around the time the Sound Of 2016 poll was being held, but would soon become more familiar with it after it blew up on the charts. 

The spacey, transcendent production is what makes this slightly better than New Rules. I just love the sound of the synths playing on this. There’s also a hint of 80’s in the synth chords that were added in the chorus, possibly foreshadowing the retro style that Dua would take on for her follow-up album.

The lyrics focus on Dua feeling guilty for the downfall of her relationship. She wants to prove to her lover that she is worthwhile to him. The mellow tone of the song generates a good contrast to this sense of despair.

She will go on to do better for her Future Nostalgia album, but even back then, she showed a lot of potential as an artist, and this song is proof of that.

Number 6

Memories...Do Not Open by The Chainsmokers was an album that wasn’t well received by critics and listeners alike, but for me, I thought it was pretty decent. I do prefer Sick Boy though (the album that followed it up), but two of the singles off of Memories were even better than the highlights of Sick Boy. The first being Paris with its carefree, vibrant nature, and the other being my #6 pick.

Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay

The song takes the ideas of superheroes such as Spider-Man and connects them with Greek legends and myths such as Hercules. Chris Martin uses them to show how he is nothing like these heroes and gods, but he comes across a girl who tells him that he doesn’t need all these powers and that she likes him for who she is. The lyrics deliver upon this message in a pretty unique way.

The piano chords provide a positive atmosphere for the song. They sound like they’re using a IV-IV-I-I chord progression, but the tonic major chord of D major is replaced with its relative minor of B (Interesting subversion right here!). Then we get to the drop which, while it sounds very similar to the one on Roses, sounds very uplifting and provides a great sense of release from the chorus. There’s a guitar solo added near the end, which was pretty nice.

Number 5

Planning the Top 5 was pretty tough as all of them look like they could be contenders for the number #1 spot. I think I like them all equally, but arrangements had to be made.

We start this Top 5 with an artist who I have admired for quite a long time now, who got his first hit back in 2012, but would become more popular with each passing era. And in 2017, he finally got an ample amount of chart success to land him on the UK year-end.

So let’s welcome to the stage, King Kendrick!

HUMBLE by Kendrick Lamar

It was such a treat to see Kendrick receive chart success from his singles. Guy’s one of my favourite hip hop artists of the decade, along with Run The Jewels, Danny Brown, BROCKHAMPTON, Loyle Carner, Little Simz, Dave and Stormzy (we’ll get to him). This wasn’t his first Top 20 hit in the UK as the single version of “i” barely scraped into that section of the chart in 2014. 

The minimalist piano line, despite it only having three unique notes, backs up Kendrick’s assertive tone as he comes with bars upon bars of quotable lines such as “My left stroke just went viral / Right stroke put lil’ baby in a spiral”, “Get the fuck off my dick, that ain’t right”, “Soprano C, we like to keep it on a high note” and the best easily being the controversial Photoshop line. That line is just excellent considering the fact that many magazines often show these edited images of models as more beautiful than the average person. We then get to the chorus, which, even though it’s repetitive, ends up sounding infectious.

Number 4

And while we’re on the topic of hip hop that sounds fire...

2017 was the year Stormzy finally broke out. He won a BRIT for his debut studio effort Gang Signs & Prayer, which became the first grime album to ever reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. It marked a landmark period of the UK rap subgenre, along with the Grime4Corbyn movement around that time. I don’t know if I would call Big For Your Boots my favourite off of the album (Lay Me Bare may also take that spot), but it’s still a banger of a song.

The beat on this is just fantastic. Foozine and Sir Spyro throw in some choir vocals to carry the melody as they emphasise the dark, assertive tone of the track. Between this, Sounds Of The Skeng and the remix of Ed Sheeran’s Take Me Back To London, Spyro’s production seems to bring out the best in Stormzy’s works.

On the topic of him, his bars go hard as he calls out those who flex too much and would even threaten those who ‘twist up the truth’. His role as a bad boy is very convincing throughout. He also raps about his love for Adele and how he’ll still do his job, even without his ‘creps’.

Number 3

There’s no denying that Divide by Ed Sheeran was the biggest selling album of 2017. I already talked about the multiple tracks from the album peaking in the Top 20 at the start of this countdown, so let’s move on to what I think is one of the easy highlights from the album along with Eraser.

Castle On The Hill by Ed Sheeran

The song has a nice alternative rock pulse to it that reminds me of U2 and Kings Of Leon a fair bit, which has its energy backed up by the fast tempo. I especially like the musical explosion during the chorus. It provides a nice sense of release to fit with the themes of the song.

The song tells a story of nostalgia back to Sheeran’s childhood to his teenage years before finally cutting to the present day. He mentions the time when he broke his leg as a six year old, but rather than see it as a bad scene, he sees it as a fond memory of his past. The phrase ‘break a leg’  can also mean good luck. Either way you put it, there’s some interesting things to say about it. I could have done without the detail of him and his friends throwing up from drinking too much, but again, Sheeran uses his nostalgia to overlook the negative aspects of that memory. The bridge shows us where his old friends are now and how he can’t wait to reunite with them. It feels very heartfelt and makes the last chorus sound even better.

I’ve heard a handful of music reviewers compare this to Summer Of 69 by Bryan Adams and it’s not hard to see why. Both tell a similar story of nostalgia, both have a rock style to it and both are set in the key of D major.

Ed would later go for a rock style again with BLOW two years later, and that song is just as amazing.

Number 2

Back in the Summer of ‘18, I did a scorecard with my ratings for the 2017 UK Year End. The scorecard is mostly outdated. Some songs have shrunk on me, some songs grew on me. It’s interesting to see how tastes evolve overtime.

This particular song was my number one according to that scorecard, and it still is.

-But wait!

-Aren’t we at number two?

Yeah! But the thing is…

...this was my number one, until just recently.

Human by Rag 'n' Bone Man

The lyrics deal with our roles in the human race as a species, how we deflect blame onto each other and how we fail to express ourselves, as well as to accept our faults. There’s an excellent range of characteristics covered in this song, and the lyrics go through this with an amazing execution.

The backbeat claps feel very early 20th century as they accompany Rag ‘n’ Bone, who switches between a low vocal tessitura in the verses and a gravelly Hozier like vocal at a high range in the chorus. Pretty funny that I compared him to Hozier because Cameron Adams of The Daily Telegraph (the Australian one) made a similar comparison in an article about the album it was from. The song as a whole contains some blues influences in its timbre. We also get some nice string arrangements that built up to the chorus, resulting in a wonderful sense of release. It ends up giving this song a cathartic feel.

I don’t think I like the Human album as much as I did back in 2017, but there’s still this opening title track that I can come back to.

And before we get to the number one spot, let’s take a look at some honorable mentions:

HM1. Swalla by Jason Derulo feat. Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign

A sexually explicit song but there’s a charm to it. This is thanks to Jason Derulo’s performance, as well as the innuendos that hide the content. Ty Dolla $ign’s verse isn’t as good, but it’s pretty amusing, and Nicki delivers a pretty great rap verse too.

HM2. Green Light by Lorde

So… I finally listened to Melodrama while preparing for this list. It’s a brilliant album with a gripping journey of emotions. While Green Light isn’t my favourite off of the album, it does have some nicely produced textures to it.

The song starts off with Lorde throwing shots at her ex for his deception, but she is then wanting the memories of the lover to fade away so that she can move on. This progression is highlighted by Jack Antanoff’s upbeat IV-I-V piano chords. After that, the chorus comes in with an explosion along with the call and response between Lorde and the backing vocals shouting “I’m waiting for it! That green light! I want it”. It bursts with a lot of energy and makes for a great hook.

HM3. Scared To Be Lonely by Martin Garrix and Dua Lipa

After listening through the year-end to prepare for this retro list in order to refresh my thoughts on the songs, I ended up finding this song to be better than I remember. 

The lyrics take a look at a relationship where the flaws are magnifying with each passing day and the listener starts to question why they’re still together. Well, the main answer lies in the chorus. The couple choose to remain together as they are scared of loneliness. Pack it all in with some fab production (and a drop) and you’ve got yourself an EDM great.

HM4. Silence by Marshmello feat Khalid

The song that broke Marshmello into the UK charts. In this song, we see Khalid go through his memories of being abused and use them to move forward. It’s a nice theme to touch upon in a song. The drop that comes after the chorus establishes a colourful contrast to the heavy themes of the song. 

HM5. What About Us by P!nk

Upon first glance, the lyrics may detail some problems occuring in a relationship, but the metaphors throughout might also represent P!nk calling out a corrupt government for betrayal. Whatever way you put it, they show some sublime themes.

I also give credit to the piano chords to present an appropriately moody feel for the song.

HM6. You Don’t Know Me by Jax Jones feat. RAYE

This song follows a similar concept to No by Meghan Trainor. Female protagonist is in a bar with her friend, guy approaches them, protagonist proceeds to call him out. The thing is that You Don’t Know Me executes this better. While No tried to pass the scenario off as a female empowerment anthem, this song shows RAYE as just someone having a fun time with her friends, as well as the guy causing a disruption by taking unnecessary pictures of them. The part in which she tells the guy that just because they could ‘throw shapes together’ doesn’t mean that he’s in her circle made me chuckle.

We also get a catchy sample from the 2005 German club classic Body Language by M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade that plays throughout, as well as a repetitive, but infectious hook.

I don’t know if the scenario was done as well as on P!nk’s U + Ur Hand, but nevertheless, it’s a great tune to dance to.

HM7. Man’s Not Hot by Big Shaq

DigDat’s Airforce may have been the first UK drill track to have become a Top 20 hit, but Man’s Not Hot is probably the British mainstream’s first taste of that hip hop subgenre.

As part of the BBC Radio 1Xtra series Fire In The Booth, which focuses on rap artists showing off their freestyles, comedian Michael Dapaah did so while playing the character of Big Shaq (or Roadman Shaq). It went viral and spawned the release of this hit single.

The song is ridiculously quotable, with lines such as “No ketchup, just sauce”, “nose long like garden nose”, “Two plus two is four / Minus one, that’s three, quick maths” and let’s not forget that “ting goes skrrah” refrain. There’s a part in which Big Shaq is threatening your 44 year old father and even that ends up being pretty humorous.

HM8. Stay by Zedd and Alessia Cara

The production on this is fantastic. The multi-tracking on the vocals in the chorus sound great and that post-chorus is loaded with synths that sound like they came straight outta Geometry Dash. The clock ticking sound would later become a gimmick for Zedd (e.g. The Middle, Lost In Japan Remix, Never Really Over [Katy Perry]), but when it comes in during the line “The clock is ticking”, it showcases a good use of word-painting.

Alessia Cara (another nominee from the Sound Of 2016 list) also provides a swell vocal performance as she sings about the joys of living while young but also tells her partner to listen to why she’s leaving that lifestyle.

HM9. 2U by David Guetta feat. Justin Bieber

And that’s probably the last of the EDM related honorable mentions. David Gueta provides a nice atmosphere, as well as a great drop, for this song. Bieber sings about wanting to start a serious relationship with a girl and it’s way better than the love songs from his Changes era.

HM10. Malibu by Miley Cyrus

A nice, breezy love song with some relaxing guitar sounds. This feels more indie than the usual stuff from Miley and is also a great song for the summer.

And speaking of songs that sound great for this season...

HM11. Passionfruit by Drake

While the Moodymann sample in the intro disrupted the momentum (I do give it credit for making the listener feel like he/she is listening to the song at a DJ set), the song overall still manages to present a pleasant tropical style which Drake’s vocals are a great fit for. The  producer Nana Rogues also produced a few of Dave’s works, so that’s another plus.

The lyrics show Drake in a relationship that’s falling apart and how he and his partner are trying to resolve the conflict. The chorus also uses a clever use of alliteration with almost each word beginning with “Pass-”. 

And that's all of them. Let's get to...

NUMBER ONE

But what could be better than a blues-influenced song so powerful?

Well, it happened back in March when I was going through this artist’s discography in order to prepare for his new album. I already loved this song and knew it was a surefire contender for the list, but I didn’t expect it to reach the very top. But as both an individual single and an album closer, I have grown to like it more and more. Maybe I might give the number one spot back to Human after posting this list, but for now, this number one, by a small margin, goes to The Weeknd.

I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd feat. Daft Punk

The lyrics and the instrumentation feel more uplifting compared to most of The Weeknd’s other material, which sound dark and moody.

The keyboard and synths blend together brilliantly to form a nice 80’s aesthetic that makes the song perfect for a night-time drive. Abel is no stranger to 80’s influences as he sampled Siouxsie And The Banshee’s Happy House and even covered Michael Jackson’s Dirty Diana in his trilogy of 2011 mixtapes. There were also hints of MJ’s influence in Wanderlust and Can’t Feel My Face.

In the song, we see The Weeknd console a girl who goes through similar emotional turmoil that he went through in the arc running through the previous albums. The chorus then hints at a serious relationship that’s about to come for them. It’s nice to see this progression in character, especially in the context of the Starboy album. The relationship sadly crashes down in the My Dear Melancholy EP two years later. As the song gets closer to the end, we are treated to a marvellously soothing talkbox solo from Daft Punk which goes great with the atmosphere of the song.

I would have loved to see False Alarm become a big hit, but still, this is some awesome stuff! Can't wait to see you again when I work on my Top 10 UK Hits Of 2020!

And that's the end of it!

Thanks to those who have read this! I was planning on doing a Top 10 UK Hits Of 1999, but my recent interest in the year of '17 led me to do this one instead. Maybe I might do 1999 next time! We'll wait and see!

The year end list: https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/end-of-year-singles-chart/20180101/37501/

Sources:

[1] BBC Newsbeat (June 2017). Official Singles Chart rules are changing to help new bands break through (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/40405357/official-singles-chart-rules-are-changing-to-help-new-bands-break-through)
[2] Hits Daily Double (January 2019). Rumor Mill. New Rules For UK Singles Chart
https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=314709&title+-NEW-RULES-FOR-U.K.-SINGLES-CHART