David Bryant
@23daves.bsky.social
"I don't mean half the things I say/ So just ignore the half that you don't like"
All views expressed are personal, not those of my employer.
Writer of "Everybody's Number 1 to Someone", about NME Indie Chart toppers: https://indienumber1s.blogspot.com
All views expressed are personal, not those of my employer.
Writer of "Everybody's Number 1 to Someone", about NME Indie Chart toppers: https://indienumber1s.blogspot.com
Pinned
88. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! (Raw TV)
All the singles to top the NME Indie Charts since its launch in 1981, complete with an overview of the other music in the charts each week.
indienumber1s.blogspot.com
Blog update: The Soup Dragons topped the NME Indie Chart in November 1986 with "Hang Ten!" - a two minute burst of pop noise which was one of the finest singles issued that year. Their future was assured, even if none of us quite saw what was coming...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
Reposted by David Bryant
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
We are at an airport restaurant. A robot just drove up to us with our food, said, "Hi! Here I am!" and then drove away with our food.
February 15, 2026 at 10:10 PM
douglas adams was our most accurate futurist
Reposted by David Bryant
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 3:40 PM
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I've seen this before, but the delivery of one line here still managed to catch me.
I had a conversation with Rob Auton once about Frank Spencer's frequently impeccable logic (we were talking about his joy at realising he was a failure: "A lot of people go through life not knowing what they are").
I had a conversation with Rob Auton once about Frank Spencer's frequently impeccable logic (we were talking about his joy at realising he was a failure: "A lot of people go through life not knowing what they are").
The first episode of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was originally broadcast on this day in 1973.
February 15, 2026 at 6:50 PM
I've seen this before, but the delivery of one line here still managed to catch me.
I had a conversation with Rob Auton once about Frank Spencer's frequently impeccable logic (we were talking about his joy at realising he was a failure: "A lot of people go through life not knowing what they are").
I had a conversation with Rob Auton once about Frank Spencer's frequently impeccable logic (we were talking about his joy at realising he was a failure: "A lot of people go through life not knowing what they are").
Reposted by David Bryant
Also covered lower down the charts:
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
Blog update: The Soup Dragons topped the NME Indie Chart in November 1986 with "Hang Ten!" - a two minute burst of pop noise which was one of the finest singles issued that year. Their future was assured, even if none of us quite saw what was coming...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
88. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! (Raw TV)
All the singles to top the NME Indie Charts since its launch in 1981, complete with an overview of the other music in the charts each week.
indienumber1s.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Also covered lower down the charts:
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
Also covered lower down the charts:
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
Blog update: The Soup Dragons topped the NME Indie Chart in November 1986 with "Hang Ten!" - a two minute burst of pop noise which was one of the finest singles issued that year. Their future was assured, even if none of us quite saw what was coming...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
88. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! (Raw TV)
All the singles to top the NME Indie Charts since its launch in 1981, complete with an overview of the other music in the charts each week.
indienumber1s.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Also covered lower down the charts:
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
* The Very Things - This Is Motortown
* The Wolfhounds - Anti-Midas Touch
* Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Cut Me Down
* Erasure - Sometimes
* McCarthy - Red Sleeping Beauty
Blog update: The Soup Dragons topped the NME Indie Chart in November 1986 with "Hang Ten!" - a two minute burst of pop noise which was one of the finest singles issued that year. Their future was assured, even if none of us quite saw what was coming...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
88. Soup Dragons - Hang Ten! (Raw TV)
All the singles to top the NME Indie Charts since its launch in 1981, complete with an overview of the other music in the charts each week.
indienumber1s.blogspot.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Blog update: The Soup Dragons topped the NME Indie Chart in November 1986 with "Hang Ten!" - a two minute burst of pop noise which was one of the finest singles issued that year. Their future was assured, even if none of us quite saw what was coming...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
indienumber1s.blogspot.com/2026/02/88-s...
Reposted by David Bryant
‘I wouldn’t touch a Jewish woman’: Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
via @manchestermill.bsky.social
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
via @manchestermill.bsky.social
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
'I wouldn't touch a Jewish woman': Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
manchestermill.co.uk
February 14, 2026 at 8:43 PM
‘I wouldn’t touch a Jewish woman’: Meet the Reform team in Gorton and Denton
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
via @manchestermill.bsky.social
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
Members of Reform's campaign team shared racist content online and aligned themselves with far-right groups
via @manchestermill.bsky.social
manchestermill.co.uk/goodwins-gan...
Reposted by David Bryant
Matt Goodwin driving up and down the extremely non-residential end of Ashton Old Road with a loudspeaker is such a tell that he's never been there before. That's a product of googling "main road Gorton".
February 14, 2026 at 6:21 PM
Matt Goodwin driving up and down the extremely non-residential end of Ashton Old Road with a loudspeaker is such a tell that he's never been there before. That's a product of googling "main road Gorton".
As it's nearly 11:30am on a Saturday, why not tune into the 2025 Chart Show Special? Yes, you did read that correctly.
youtu.be/rvwMU7wrgBc?...
youtu.be/rvwMU7wrgBc?...
The Chart Show: Rewired - 2025 Christmas Special
YouTube video by The Chart Show: REWIRED
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 11:18 AM
As it's nearly 11:30am on a Saturday, why not tune into the 2025 Chart Show Special? Yes, you did read that correctly.
youtu.be/rvwMU7wrgBc?...
youtu.be/rvwMU7wrgBc?...
Killer end line to this piece, which - while being funny - also makes me think about how far we've sunk. I can remember a time when social media was a connection tool, not a poisonous and rabid version of Speakers Corner (if Speakers Corner were moved outside a porn shop in Soho owned by the mafia).
When ministers defended Starmer over Mandelson’s links to Epstein this week, they rushed to X - a platform that lets users strip photos of women and girls.
Is it surely time for the government to log off X? And is social media too toxic for all of us?
My col: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Is it surely time for the government to log off X? And is social media too toxic for all of us?
My col: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Given the toxicity of social media, a moral question now faces all of us: is it still ethical to use it? | Frances Ryan
With so many platforms rife with racism, misogyny and far-right rhetoric, there must be a point where decent people walk away, says Guardian columnist Frances Ryan
www.theguardian.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Killer end line to this piece, which - while being funny - also makes me think about how far we've sunk. I can remember a time when social media was a connection tool, not a poisonous and rabid version of Speakers Corner (if Speakers Corner were moved outside a porn shop in Soho owned by the mafia).
Because it's such a sunny day today - the first in weeks in my neck of the woods - the dog decided she'd wake us up especially early.
At first I thought she was desperate to do her business, but nope. She just wanted to get out there. Sometimes it's as if my mother is still alive.
At first I thought she was desperate to do her business, but nope. She just wanted to get out there. Sometimes it's as if my mother is still alive.
February 14, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Because it's such a sunny day today - the first in weeks in my neck of the woods - the dog decided she'd wake us up especially early.
At first I thought she was desperate to do her business, but nope. She just wanted to get out there. Sometimes it's as if my mother is still alive.
At first I thought she was desperate to do her business, but nope. She just wanted to get out there. Sometimes it's as if my mother is still alive.
I can believe he did get a call from Bedfordshire Police, but I doubt any aspect of the call contained the line "Tommy, we're a bit concerned about your safety".
Fighting age man flees his homeland to seek asylum on overcrowded island.
February 14, 2026 at 10:47 AM
I can believe he did get a call from Bedfordshire Police, but I doubt any aspect of the call contained the line "Tommy, we're a bit concerned about your safety".
If #totp has left you hungry for more this evening, somebody has reimagined a Chart Show episode if it had been made in February 1984. This is astonishingly well put-together.
youtu.be/IIpp8fxSQFI?...
youtu.be/IIpp8fxSQFI?...
The Chart Show: Friday 10th February 1984
YouTube video by The Chart Show: REWIRED
youtu.be
February 13, 2026 at 11:26 PM
If #totp has left you hungry for more this evening, somebody has reimagined a Chart Show episode if it had been made in February 1984. This is astonishingly well put-together.
youtu.be/IIpp8fxSQFI?...
youtu.be/IIpp8fxSQFI?...
Just remembering that some people had Eminem pegged as a Bart Simpson styled novelty act at first. Unjustified and wrongheaded, but... you can kind of hear it on this live version. #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Just remembering that some people had Eminem pegged as a Bart Simpson styled novelty act at first. Unjustified and wrongheaded, but... you can kind of hear it on this live version. #totp
People at the time genuinely thought "Dead From The Waist Down" would go to number one. It's pretty enough, but let's be honest, it only got to number seven because it was Catatonia. If it had been a debut single for anyone else, it would have been number 55 with some minor Lamacq airplay. #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:48 PM
People at the time genuinely thought "Dead From The Waist Down" would go to number one. It's pretty enough, but let's be honest, it only got to number seven because it was Catatonia. If it had been a debut single for anyone else, it would have been number 55 with some minor Lamacq airplay. #totp
Reef always looked like one of those early 70s rock groups signed to Pye who didn't believe in "dressing up, man" and only had one minor hit. #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:44 PM
Reef always looked like one of those early 70s rock groups signed to Pye who didn't believe in "dressing up, man" and only had one minor hit. #totp
If anyone did "Help A London Child" now, social media would be aflame with people saying they're all foreigners living there anyway and even if they're not, they deserve their fate for being woke and remaining in London anyway. #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:43 PM
If anyone did "Help A London Child" now, social media would be aflame with people saying they're all foreigners living there anyway and even if they're not, they deserve their fate for being woke and remaining in London anyway. #totp
Reposted by David Bryant
Nobody, but nobody actually bought this. Now I’m not saying the record company got people to go an buy copies from chart return shops, but I’m saying that they got people to buy copies from chart return shops #TOTP
February 13, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Nobody, but nobody actually bought this. Now I’m not saying the record company got people to go an buy copies from chart return shops, but I’m saying that they got people to buy copies from chart return shops #TOTP
My wife has just asked for a Flat Eric toy off eBay for Valentine's Day (despite the fact that she doesn't "really believe in Valentine's Day" and I always get nothing).
£100 or thereabouts! Not happening. #totp
£100 or thereabouts! Not happening. #totp
I still want a Flat Eric toy. Never did get one. #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:34 PM
My wife has just asked for a Flat Eric toy off eBay for Valentine's Day (despite the fact that she doesn't "really believe in Valentine's Day" and I always get nothing).
£100 or thereabouts! Not happening. #totp
£100 or thereabouts! Not happening. #totp
Reposted by David Bryant
Billie Piper married Chris Evans at just 18 and yet somehow he still wasn’t the worst marriage she found herself in.
February 13, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Billie Piper married Chris Evans at just 18 and yet somehow he still wasn’t the worst marriage she found herself in.
"Trying to holler at me" is the fairest comment in this song, because generally they're moving at a speed where all anyone hears is "...eas..." #totp
February 13, 2026 at 7:16 PM
"Trying to holler at me" is the fairest comment in this song, because generally they're moving at a speed where all anyone hears is "...eas..." #totp