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2003 was a year of wall-to-wall bangers. If it was belting, we were buying! Forget music trends - nobody was sticking to the rules. Pop was punky, with Busted breaking the mould. Bhangra was funky, as Panjabi MC launched a monster hit with Mundian To Bach Ke – and Jay-Z jumped on with a remix to make yet another hit. R&B loved an emcee in our brightest girl band Mis-Teeq. Guitar bands ruled, as stadium rockers The Darkness staked their claim for greatness, The Libertines arrived as the post punk poets of Albion, and Electric Six landed from Detroit with their fuzzed-up, high octane and high camp disco rock. Beyoncé ruled the summer with her first solo single, and all year long the chart was a race for those fresh from the stable of ITV’s Popstars and Â鶹Éç’s Fame Academy, but it was Girls Aloud who romped to victory as the clear favourites.

As the world’s biggest music show was relaunched into an all-new era, Chris Cowey bowed out after six years at the helm and Andi Peters returned to the Â鶹Éç as Top of the Pops head honcho, bringing a new theme, new graphics and a new presenter in Tim Kash. Exclusive performances and future hits were key to the all-new TOTP, and an extended show was launched on the new Â鶹Éç Three with added spice.

The race for Christmas number one was lit with The Darkness’s Don’t Let the Bells End as the clear contender, before Gary Jules and Michael Andrews pipped them to the post with a cover of Tears for Fears’ Mad World, rounding off the year on a melancholic note.

Contributors include Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson of Busted, Panjabi MC, Sabrina Washington of Mis-Teeq, Carl Barat and Peter Doherty of The Libertines, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Kimberley Walsh of Girls Aloud and Dick Valentine of Electric Six.