


Brandy Clark – Big Day in a Small Town
Stewart, in addition to being an awful lot pop, is also a little bit country. Here he is on one of the genre's finest, Brandy Clark.

Janet Jackson – R&B Junkie
Damn it, Janet. Dan Poliak on the complete madness of 2004.

Kim Wilde – A Miracle’s Coming
In which necessity is the mother of re-invention.

Frazier Chorus – Typical
Don't bore us, get to the Frazier Chorus.

Darren Hayes – Darkness
Had it, lost it, got it back on his own terms: here's Derek on the very wonderful Darren Hayes.

Kirsty MacColl – Terry
It's one of Kirsty MacColl's greatest songs. Terry's ALL GOLD.

Jody Watley – I’m the One You Need
Category is: dancefloor eleganza. Yes, it's the Morales-booster that is "I'm the One You Need".

Étienne Daho – Week-end à Rome
In which familiarité breeds contentement.

Bright Light Bright Light – Little Bit
Ooh-aah, just a Little Bit: the greatest pop moment of 2016.

Eg and Alice – Indian
1991: the year that wanted to sex you up. Possibly one of the reasons why Eg and Alice never troubled the charts.

Milla Jovovich – Gentleman Who Fell
Film star in Moomin-pop-courtly-love-quite-good-album shocker!

Kimbra – Cameo Lover
She's just some pop star that you used to know. As it turns out, a ruddy brilliant one.

Randy Newman – Falling in Love
Probably the best record ever made about the fuzziness of falling in love.

Spagna – Easy Lady
You're a mid-tempo, mid-eighties filth-fest, I'm a downtown, downbeat guy.

Blue Pearl – Running Up That Hill
Yes, it is that Running Up That Hill.

Alphabeat – What is Happening
Alphabeat exerted a certain fascination on the British public in 2008 - for precisely three singles. The fourth, annoyingly, was AMAZING.

Jagwar Ma – O B 1
Stewart writes about embracing the new, as long as it sounds a bit old.

Tracey Thorn – Joy
Christmas. It's for the grown-ups really, isn't it?

Billie Piper – Misfocusing
The entire pop career experience squeezed into a little under two years: it's the one and only Billie Piper!

Thunderbugs – It’s About Time You Were Mine
Saluting the fallen girl bands of our time: it's the here today, gone today story of the Thunderbugs.