Top 40 Singles of 2006 #40-31

31) MYNC Project – Something On Your Mind
Faceless dance track #2. Well not quite faceless as it featured the vocals of Abi Titmuss lookalike Abigail Bailey, who was last seen on Herd & Fitz’s anthem I Just Can’t Get Enough, but near enough. And indeed it’s her vocals which set this track apart from all the other millions of Clubland compilation tracks you’ll see this next to. Reached the dizzy heights of #74 in the charts but deserved much better.

32) Starsailor – This Time
They’ve got a bit of a reputation as being “bedwetter music” but on anthemic, pounding songs like this, it’s hard to understand why - they’ve certainly got more “oomph” than a lot of their contemporaries. Another band who seem to have been totally forgotten about, which is surprising considering their last album was their most self-assured yet, and this second single was a huge radio hit at the start of the year.

33) Madonna – Jump
I’ve not been totally convinced by Madonna’s attempt at restoring her former glory with Confessions On A Dancefloor. For someone who is the Queen of Pop, I think you’re entitled to expect something better than the kind of stuff Rachel Stevens would have as B-sides. But her singles have gradually got better and Jump, the fourth from its parent album was the classiest and least contrived of the lot.

34) Coldplay - The Hardest Part
Certainly an act I never thought I’d be seeing in an end of year top 40, Coldplay, like Keane, Snow Patrol, etc are one of those bands that aren't particularly offensive but are nowhere near worthy enough of the critical acclaim or multi-million sales they get. The Hardest Part was a bit of a departure for them in that it wasn’t trying to be some U2-type stadium anthem (In My Place) or cynical life-affirming ballad, (Fix You) it was just a simple radio-friendly pop song with a great video that showed they don’t always take themselves too seriously. It’s also the first of three download only songs on this chart.

35) Shapeshifters - Incredible

Shapeshifters are a rare breed – a chart dance act which did more than just blatantly rehash their first single and had enough good material to actually release an album. Of course, everything they do will always be overshadowed by THAT song but it’s a shame that Incredible, another example of their soulful string-soaked house, and its subsequent single Sensitivity was pretty much ignored.

36) Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous

Her shift from acoustic folk to urban pop isn’t as much of a departure as people think – her first two albums both dallied with R&B. But working with Timbaland upped the ante considerably and it was a slightly courageous move that completely paid off. This slinky second single was a brilliantly executed call & answer track which showed Maneater wasn’t a fluke. It’s not the last we’ll see of Nelly and indeed she’s one of only two acts to have two songs in the top 40.

37) The Similou – All This Love
Destined to be a one-hit wonder, indeed this Scandinavian four-piece should have had a much bigger hit than the No.20 placing they did. An 80s retro pop-dance track with a wonderfully uplifting chorus that could have come straight from Gwen Stefani’s last album, this was the dance song of the late Summer.

38) Guillemots - Made Up Love Song #43

Another Mercury Music Prize nominee and another strange band, this time a mixture of folk, pop and makeshift instruments such as typewriters that could sound pretentious but instead sounds wonderfully eclectic.

This track seemed to appear in every TV drama going in the Summer, but its ubiquitousness doesn’t take away from what is a brilliant and unique love song.

39) Aaron Smith - Dancin

One of two rather faceless and generic dance songs making up the bottom half of this chart, there isn’t much to say about this record other than the fact it charted in the first week of this year and yet despite it being rather unremarkable, has still left some impression on me 12 months later.

40) Hot Chip - Over And Over

So we start with probably one of the most “credible” songs on the list and what a strange song it is. Combining electro pop with guitar solos, eye test recitals and lyrics about monkeys with miniature cymbals, it also came with a genius green-screen parody video.

The sight of the keyboardist, the most unlikely looking pop star ever, bouncing up and down is one of the joyous music video moments of the year. Their album, which was Mercury Prize nominated, was also just as infectious and provided one of the few high points in a rather barren year for pop music.