Official Charts Flashback 2009: Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow

It’s five years since the Peas showed off their Boom Boom Power and landed the first of three consecutive Number 1s in just six months.

Back in 2009, nobody could accuse Black Eyed Peas of slacking when it came to the hits. With eight Top 10 singles behind them, including massive Number 1 Where Is The Love, many popstars could happily call it a day. But not Black Eyed Peas.

The group had been on hiatus since 2006, when they featured on Sérgio Mendes’ reworking of his Sixties classic Mas Que Nada, and had pursued solo projects. Will’s biggest hit at that point was a collaboration with his future BFF Cheryl Cole – Heartbreaker reached Number 4 in 2008. Fergie had also enjoyed some solo success, most notably reaching Number 2 in 2007 with Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal). You could be forgiven, then, for thinking the Peas as a unit were over, never to return. But you couldn’t be more wrong, because back they came, and back with a bang.

Sounding like almost nothing else on the radio at that time, Boom Boom Pow was futuristic, minimalistic and really very brilliantistic (NOT a word – Grammar Ed). A complete departure from the Peas’ previous material, the track lacked the catchy choruses and big production of their back catalogue. A risky strategy maybe? The Peas didn’t think so, and they were proven right.

The lead single from the band’s fifth album The E.N.D. went straight in at Number 1. It was knocked off the top spot the following week by Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers, but returned to the summit after two weeks.

The band’s decision to 'bring the beat back' was certainly the right one – Boom Boom Pow was the first of three consecutive chart-toppers for the band in 2009 alone. I Gotta Feeling – the band’s biggest seller on over 1.4 million copies – would follow three months later, and November’s Meet Me Halfway completed the hat-trick.

Boom Boom Pow lands fourth on Black Eyed Peas’ countdown of bestselling singles, with 740,000 copies sold. It was the band’s second Number 1 – they’ve had five altogether so far. Their most recent chart-topper was 2010’s The Time (Dirty Bit). The band have enjoyed 17 Top 40 hits, all but four going Top 10.

Watch the video for the band’s bestselling single I Gotta Feeling before we count down the rest of the Top 5 this week in 2009.

2: Tinchy Stryder FT N-Dubz – Number 1

After three weeks at the top, it was time for Tinchy to step aside. The aptly titled – well for a whiole anyway – Number 1 was Tinchy’s first ever, erm, Number 1 – he’d have another later in the year with former Sugababe Amelle Berrabah. Altogether, Tinchy has had seven Top 10 hits, with Number 1 shifting over 660,000 copies in the UK. It was the first and only chart-topper for N-Dubz, aka Dappy, Tulisa and Fazer.

3: La Roux – In For The Kill

So close and yet so far, after a month at Number 2, La Roux finally slip to third place with their debut single. Then a duo (it’s emerged that producer Ben Langmaid and vocalist Elly Jackson have since parted company, leaving Elly alone), they did go one better with follow-up single Bulletproof, which hit Number 1 in the summer. It may not have reached the summit, but In For The Kill is still La Roux’s biggest seller – it’s shifted over 860,000 copies.

4: Eminem – We Made You

Scoring a 19th Top 10 hit, and going no further than Number 4, is the Rap God himself, Eminem. Never afraid to mock his fellow popstars and the crazy showbiz world that created his fame, the video for We Made You makes digs at stars like Jessica Simpson and Kim Kardashian that seem pretty tame these days. Did you know that until The Monster hit the top of the Official Singles Chart in late 2013, Eminem hadn’t had a Number 1 since his feature on Akon’s Smack That from 2006? As lead artist, he’d not topped the charts since 2005, when Martika-sampling Like Toy Soldiers spent a week at Number 1. We Made You shifted over 330,000 copies and is just outside Eminem’s Top 10 sellers.

5: Lily Allen – Not Fair

Moving up three this week it's the follow-up to Lily’s massive Number 1 The Fear. With its risqué lyrics about wet patches and a video pastiche of old country and western TV specials, Lily was on top of her game as ever. Sadly, the song didn’t make it any higher than Number 5, but it’s still sold over 455,000 copies.

See the full Top 40 from this week in 2009.