Live and Let Dido In At No.15

Well, I expect that I'm courting charges of hypocrisy with my selection of best singles for 2003 following my recent dig at some of the Freaky Trigger crew. So let's clarify this: as a precursory glance at my selections for 2001 and 2002 would show, I'm not at all against pop or dance music. What I am against though is pretentiousness about pop; a me-too culture that seems to have invaded online music criticism recently, and music snobbery that's as inverted as the Kate Moss nipples.

And while there have been some tremendously enjoyable pop and dance and R&B records released this year (see below) let's not pretend there's been any more innovation or evolution in these fields in 2003 than there has been in rock or indie music. With 2004 beckoning, it's time for us all to change our (Emperor's New) clothes and go.

Anyway, less jaw-jaw and more score-score, with my wildly subjective deliberations on the top 50 singles released in the UK in 2003. No time to link one and all, so recommend using the search facility on Amazon for details on availability, etc.

Parallax View Top 50 Singles Of The Year

1. Vapour Trail/In A Song - Trespassers William
2. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
3. In Da Club - 50 Cent
4. Crazy In Love - Beyonce
5. 7 Nation Army - The White Stripes
6. Hey Ya - Outkast
7. She Loves She - Four Tet
8. Pass That Dutch - Missy Elliott
9. Beautiful - Christina Aguilera
10. Hurt - Johnny Cash
11. House Of Jealous Lovers - The Rapture
12. Evil - Ladytron
13. Don't Look Back Into The Sun - The Libertines
14. Time Is Running Out - Muse
15. White Flag - Dido
16. Fix Up Look Sharp - Dizzee Rascal
17. Breathe - Blu Cantrell feat. Sean Paul
18. We Wish You A Protein Christmas(ep) - The Fall
19. Fight Test(ep) - The Flaming Lips
20. There There - Radiohead
21. Bring It On - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
22. Cry Me A River - Justin Timberlake
23. All The Things She Said - tATu
24. Re-Offender - Travis
25. Bandages - Hot Hot Heat
26. Daybreak vs Pride - Medium 21
27. Big Sur - The Thrills
28. Sweet Dreams My LA Ex - Rachel Stevens
29. Strict Machine - Goldfrapp
30. The Golden Path - The Chemical Brothers feat. The Flaming Lips
31. On Parade(ep) - Electrelane
32. The Execution Of All Things - Rilo Kiley
33. 7176(ep) - The Applicators
34. Red Morning Light - Kings Of Leon
35. Creepin' an' a Crawlin' - The Zutons
36. Honestly - Zwan
37. Teenage Wristband - Twilight Singers
38. Coma Girl - Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
39. Scandalous - Misteeq
40. All Over - Lisa Maffia
41. Attack Of The Ghost Riders - The Raveonettes
42. American Life - Madonna
43. Real Things - Javine
44. The Closest Thing To Crazy - Katie Melua
45. Ignition (Remix) - R Kelly
46. Everybody In The Place(ep) - The Rocks
47. Change Clothes - Jay-Z
48. In Hollywood - Madonna
49. Blue Jeans - Ladytron
50. P.I.M.P. - 50 Cent

Trespassers William get the 'coveted' #1 slot for making the one single of the year that made me stop whatever I was doing whenever I heard it. Which is a damned nuisance when driving, I can tell you.

Feel free to send your heartfelt protests of spluttering indignation this way.