1. UPSIDE DOWN - 10.05
HIGH: 11 (
@iheartpoptarts,
@tylerc904,
@Posh Spears) / 10 (
@VivaForever,
@Angeleyes,
@GhettoPrincess,
@Conan,
@Anticonformity,
@ufint,
@send photo,
@Weslicious,
@Remorque,
@Rooneyboy,
@MollieSwift21,
@DJHazey,
@WhenTheSunGoesDown,
@Sprockrooster,
@unnameable)
LOW: 8.5 (
@Hudweiser)
σ: 0.52
MY SCORE: 11
Oh, hey there, Peter the Great! Just… wow, guys. ‘Upside Down’ was set to finish with an average of 10 on the mark until our final voter
@Posh Spears pushed it over the top. With a standard deviation less than half that of the next-closest challenger, it truly is loved by us all!
It’s the single that kicked off the A*Teens’ post-ABBA career. Most would say it’s their signature song. My former junior high school crush anthem and forever fave, it’s graced the Top 25 Most Played of every iPod I’ve owned over the years. And as per the Ultimate Popjustice list I put together in summer 2015, which remains extremely accurate, it’s my all-time #3!
So there we have it, immortalized in PJ history. Look at me spoiling my 11 before the rate even started!
In what hardly comes as a surprise, Grizzly, Tysper, and Mack are our songwriting/production victors. To recap a bit, we also thank those three for ‘Halfway Around the World’, ‘Floorfiller’, ‘Cross My Heart’, and ‘Let Your Heart Do All the Talking’, while ‘A Perfect Match’, ‘I Promised Myself’, ‘Don’t Even Know Your Name’, ‘Can’t Stop the Pop’, and ‘Shame Shame Shame’ each involve at least one of them in some capacity.
Check out the Grizzly/Tysper ‘Upside Down’ remix while we’re at it, and let me give
@VivaForever another shout-out for bringing so many A*Teens remixes to my attention in the first place! She’s honestly been such a help!
Once again, in Sweden, ‘Upside Down’ fell victim to the #2 curse, though it did stay there for a non-consecutive six weeks! At fault here are LeAnn Rimes’ ‘Can’t Fight the Moonlight’—understandable—and Wyclef Jean’s ‘911’—huh? For some reason, the latter was disproportionately successful in Scandinavia. Who knew?
Meanwhile, it was the A*Teens’ biggest US hit at #93, and biggest UK hit at #10. Shall we have a look at the UK charts this time?
…Yeah, unless you’re a big S Club stan, I can’t see how any of the competing songs are better!
As always,
@YourTerribleMuriel (9.5) is our resident chart expert…
“This was my proper introduction to the group and I remember it had great airplay on UK music channels. I overplayed my cd and cassette (proper stan) so much. Although the lyrics are so simple the chorus is just proper pop fantastic, especially the key change at the end. Always loved Sara's middle 8 too. Great music video. I think that they should of released Teen Spirit immediately after it charted at no.10 in the UK as at the time they had decent exposure here.”
That key change got a lot of love, with
@Weslicious (10) singling it out…
“A well deserved key change.”
While
@Remorque (10) spotlights it in all caps. I'm ecstatic now, too!
“You cannot believe how fucking ecstatic I was when they came back with this after The ABBA Generation. This just spoke so much to me as a teenager and I remember seeing the video on the music channels while the fall sun was beaming down and getting all sorts of feels from this. They give us a stellar performance (KEY CHANGE!), the production is as sparkly as it should be and this is sheer fucking JOY wrapped up in 3 minutes and 17 seconds.”
In general, the ‘Upside Down’ comeback was universally acclaimed. Ask
@WhenTheSunGoesDown (10), who’s still not over ‘Floorfiller’…
“Such a great pop song. So good that Ch!pz stole the chorus for Captain Hook. It’s like they decided to show the world they could do more than ABBA covers, and proved it by releasing the ultimate bop. Well… until they released the ultimate-er bop one album later.”
@Rooneyboy (10) got a little too excited about the A*Teens’ return—well, almost!
“My nearly 11, I remember first hearing this and wetting myself (almost) they were back, and better than before. More polished and just awesome. This was amazing.”
But perhaps not as excited as
@VivaForever (10)? I love it.
“Ugh, god, I was going to write actual, using-my-brain commentary for this, but all I’ve got is OH MY GODDDDDD FUCK YESSSSS SL*Y ME QUEENS OH MY GOD I AM SLAIN DEAD AND ALL I CAN SAY IS THANK YOU THIS IS SOME GOOD SHIT YES GOD WHAT DID ANY OF US DO TO DESERVE THIS??? FUCKING THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALL.”
@DJHazey (10) correctly identifies ‘Upside Down’ as the eventual winner, and has some harsh words for its detractors. It’s nice to know there really aren’t any!
“My 11 has to go elsewhere, but I'm not going to complain if this wins and represents them as it should really. Sara gets her moments to shine, especially with that opening "you and me together" and a middle-8 that makes me feel like I'm in heaven. "GOT NO CLUE, WHAT I SHOULD DO" still gives me butterflies. I wish I could bottle up the feeling it gives me and experience with all my fav pop songs. Seriously, if someone gives this less than a 9 they shouldn't be participating in this rate. Any pop fan who can't appreciate what they're hearing here, should probably go stan for another genre of music.”
But
@Hudweiser (8.5) is absolutely welcome, and he can bring his flawless playlist with him!
“This is where things got good. Bubblegum in the extreme but so very uplifting in the longrun. I still listen to it now and have it in a playlist named 'Super Happy'.”
@send photo (10) pays tribute to the iconic video, and it’s about time…
“Between this and Mandy’s Candy a punch buggy was my dream car. I’d still drive one bring them back.”
That's 'Upside Down' for you, featuring hilariously dated instant messaging technology and the car of the turn of the century! Sara and Marie hang out in a yellow VW Beetle, rather than green like Mandy circa ‘Candy’ and the kids who go to ‘Aaron’s Party’.
@unnameable (10) considers it a high point of the era…
“This song genuinely felt like the best scandipop could offer in 2000.”
@Sprockrooster (10) remembers…
“So much good memories. Yas.”
@GhettoPrincess (10) still stans to this day…
“Oh wow, I still love this. Infectious bubblegum pop at it’s finest. How can anyone not love a song that has the lyrics “upside down, bouncing off the ceiling”? Marie sounds sublime.”
And
@Angeleyes (10) keeps it simple but accurate…
“Perfect, a classic. What more can be said?”
Well, much more, as it turns out!
@Posh Spears (11) is a fan for life…
“Absolute sugary bubblegum teen pop perfection. So-bad-they’re-good type of lyrics and a completely life affirming key change at the final chorus! This song was so important to my childhood, but even to this day I find myself bouncing off the ceiling jamming to this transcendent BOP.”
And for some of us, it’s an all-time fave! Me too,
@tylerc904 (11), me too.
“Such an important song. Despite being standard teen-pop fare, I very seriously consider it one of my all time favorite songs. I had the CD single (Called Bouncing on the Ceiling (Upside Down) in the U.S.) and played it on my walkman every single night. My friend and I used the DVD they released after Sugar Rush to learn every step of the choreography. Sits right alongside Baby One More Time, Say You'll Be There, and Robyn's Show Me Love (even though it came a bit later than those) as one of those quintessential pop songs that cemented my life-long love of pure pop.”
Pure pop forever! Love y’all!
