100 Plays Later is a series that is exactly how it sounds. I try to explain how I’ve managed to reach a century of plays on songs you may not even recognise. Or explain what it’s like to listen back to my favourite songs for the 238th time. 

Holiday (Feat. Chrome) – Dizzee Rascal – 111 Plays

Ask anyone who knew me back in 2009 what my Karoake song of choice was and the only possible answer would be this #1 hit from Dizzee Rascal. I would rap/sing/recreate the breakdown every single time anyone suggested we played SingStar. Holiday never fails to make me smile, ‘I know you’re really busy and I know you got plans, but are you really too busy for a sun tan?’ is a killer lyric from Dizzee, it’s such an infectious summer hit.

Holiday isn’t just the peak of Dizzee Rascal’s crossover into the mainstream, but it’s also probably the breakthrough moment for the now global force of dance music Calvin Harris who wrote and produced the track. It’s the build up and eventual explosion of a payoff near the end of the song that makes Holiday one of the best dance records of the 00s and the blueprint for the endless slew of hits that Calvin would lend his name to in the decade to come (See: We Found Love). Dizzee may have failed to recapture the magic of Holiday (His next #1 was a World Cup collaboration with James Corden…) but Holiday stands as an end of the decade banger that will still have me rapping along with every lyric.