THE MUSIC INDUSTRY'S DECADE FROM HELL, 2000-09

Part Four - 2009

So what did you make of 2009? Don’t worry about answering, because if you do there won’t be any need for me to have written the rest of this column. Thanks for your assistance in this matter. It’s been a funny old year really, when you stop and think about it. It started with Woolworths and Zavvi kicking the bucket and it’s ended with a superbly performed, heartfelt song making Simon Cowell very, very angry. Kudos to the people behind the original Facebook petition to get Rage Against The Machine to the top because they kick-started the first worthwhile battle for the Christmas Number One in years. It also proves that just because somebody "deserves" a Number one single, they won’t necessarily get it or if they do, they shouldn’t expect the country to sit back and accept it. You just have to look at the likes of AC/DC, Bon Jovi and some band from Essex to see that.

Anyway, 2009. What a year, eh? Certainly the best one ever with a 2, a 9 and two 0s in the number, that’s for sure. It was the year when HMV suddenly found itself all alone in the world of "proper" High Street music retail (yeah, like I’m going to count the supermarkets), which really isn’t a good thing - the more competition the better, I say. What else was there... oh yes, iTunes ditched DRM which was another "Have that" to the music industry’s increasingly desperate attempts to keep control of a situation it basically lost charge of the moment Shawn Fanning said, "I think I’ll call it Napster." Bless it, the industry’s still fretting over illegal downloads, which is ridiculous given the fact that so much music has been put online for people to access freely by the industry itself (on places like YouTube, MySpace and the artists’ own sites) they’ve helped make illegal downloading a waste of time and effort anyway. Never mind, I’m sure they’ll catch up with the rest of the world one day. In other news, Michael Jackson took 27 places in the Top 75 singles chart... the unfortunate thing being that he had to pop his clogs first. Stephen Gately also departed this earth during the year, which I’d argue was actually more of a surprise. Now, heaven knows I’ve criticised Boyzone’s music in the past, but if you ask me his bandmates dealt with the whole thing brilliantly and showed just how genuinely close they all were as a group... which brings me to Sugababes 4.0. What the HELL was that all about? I still maintain that the line-up they have now is no longer worthy of the brand name, and I know it’s been done before but getting the newbie in to record over the outgoing personnel’s vocals is a pretty shabby way of doing things.

So that’s the year rounded up (although I reckon the final shape’s probably more hexagonal than rounded), onto the best and the worst that this year had to offer. Oasis had always been a bit hit and miss, but the 22½ minute mix of Falling Down ensured they went out in style, although that’s not the best song this year. Neither’s Wrong by Depeche Mode, despite it being a fantastic song with a brilliant video. Nor’s Royksopp’s The Girl And The Robot, which unbelievably didn’t get to No.1 (or No.75 for that matter). Also missing the cut were the Jonas Brothers, who by now must be tantalisingly close to releasing something listenable, but there’s always next year. 3Oh!3’s Don’t Trust Me would’ve stood a chance if it was good, with the same rule applying to Cascada. Then there’s Marina and the Diamonds’ Mowgli’s Road, which is 57 varieties of amazing. Nope, the winner this year is Annie’s Songs Remind Me Of You. I can understand why factory-produced tosh like the X-Factor Finalists single can shoot straight to the top while pure pop songs with a personality of their own crash and burn, but that doesn’t mean I can accept it, not when they’re as finely crafted as this is. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand was my favourite album of the year, but why wasn’t Lucid Dreams a single, eh? They missed a trick there. Oh, and finally, because every other music article will no doubt mention her in gushing tones, here’s my contractually obligated mention of Lady GaGa. Right, that’s her done, and do you know something, I was writing these columns at the start of the decade so it’s rather nice to be able to see it out doing the same thing. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and all being well there’ll be some stuff worth listening to in 2010!