Radar

It's funny how some things can just pass you by. Living in Chile means that I don't really know who The Sugarbabes are, what the deal is with Frightened Rabbit, or how Chris Moyles became so popular. The tentacles of UK popular culture do sometimes extend to south America, Paul Potts and that other show tunes Scottish woman of curious looks, with their viral YouTube fame, made it on to my radar. Of course, like swine flu, Coldplay never fail to spread their latest mutation, and Duffy managed to get a fair bit of airplay, as did Katy Perry (who is not from the UK I know) and Lilly Allen. According to the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) the 50 global best selling albums of 2008 include Leona Lewis, Exile, Namie Amuro and One Republic - all of who I would fail to recognise if I bumped into them in aisle 3 of Jumbo when out buying empanadas.

Strangely, Amazon's best selling MP3 album of the year 2008 was Nine Inch Nails' Ghosts I-IV, which was actually available free (legally) elsewhere. I'm not sure what that says about people who buy Nine Inch Nails albums. The best selling UK singles of last year also contain numerous artists that have failed to penetrate my consciousness or cross the Andes. Who are Girls Aloud? Or Wiley for that matter? But, and this is where I have been meandering to, how did I miss the Ting Tings? Number one album and single?

They Came From Manchester: The Story of Mancunian Pop is a lightweight BBC affair which is basically a string of clips with that TOTP 2 tickertape news rolling thing at the bottom, telling you daft things about the artist. It was nice to see Ian Brown's limp wristed abuse of the microphone while miming to Fools Gold again. That daft dance from Freddy and the Dreamers always baffles me as this was a time before irony. Wrapping up the whole thing are the Ting Tings with (what I now know to have been a big hit) That's Not My Name, which I am sure everyone in the UK is now royally sick of, but impressed me no end. I have no idea why but it reminded me of Lene Lovich, or perhaps one of those shouty all-women groups, or even Haysi Fantayzee, none of who I particularly like but I like That's Not My Name. Judge for yourself.