Sounds of Summer: NZ's number one hits from 2002 to 2009

This summer, we're looking back at 40 years of chart hits as we explore the Sounds of Summer.

Starting in 1978 and going right through to last summer we've collated the 40 songs that were all at one point the sound of summer. These songs all hit the top spot as the year opened to soundtrack New Zealand's summer holidays, our barbeques and our lives.

They were inescapable. They were everywhere. They were the most popular songs in the country. They were all Number One.

We invited John Campbell, Kanoa Lloyd, Jaquie Brown and Clint Roberts to walk down memory lane with us and share their memories of these classic summer anthems.

Today, we pick up in 2002, as we revisit some of the biggest bangers ever to hit the charts.

2002

The song: Something Stupid
The artists: Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman

It's still unclear why a soon-to-be Oscar-winning actress teamed up with Robbie Williams, but this unlikely cover topped the charts to become the soundtrack to the Kiwi summer for one whole week. We quickly came to our senses and gave Pink a Number One with her pop banger Get the Party Started.

Clint Roberts: I don't mind Robbie Williams. He's a great entertainer, one of the best solo pop artists of that era. He was a whirlwind. He's got massive Maori tattoos. He came and had sex with some of our top supermodels. He really took New Zealand onboard and got a taste for the culture. But this doesn't float my boat at all.

John Campbell: I interviewed Robbie Williams for National Radio and it started off abysmally. He was giving it the geezer routine, being a smart alec. It was a disaster and Katherine Saunders, my venerable producer in her 60s, stopped the interview. It's very rare for a producer to stop an interview, but she stopped it and said, 'I have no idea what you're doing dear, but you're wasting your time, you're wasting John's time and you're wasting the audience's time. Why don't we start again, dear? And this time I want you to make an effort'.

I'm sitting there thinking 'what the fuuu…,'. If I'd said that he would've walked out of the room. But he went, 'okay,' and we started again and he gave me a banging interview full of insight and empathy and understanding and self-reflection. Absolutely incredible. There's some part of me that has a secret affection for him because he knew enough to stop being a dick when someone called him on it.

2003

The song: The Ketchup Song
The band: Las Ketchup

The Ketchup Song was a viral hit before going viral was even a thing. It sprang off Las Ketchup's debut album and hit number one 27 countries, including ours, to become one of the best-selling singles of all time – and one of history's great one-hit wonders.

2004

The song: Angels Brought Me Here
The artist: Guy Sebastian

Guy Sebastian's first number one came fresh off the back of his Australian Idol win and was his official winner's single. It spent three weeks at number one and was certified platinum.

John Campbell: By and large songs with angel in the title are s**t. I think that's a rule we can all agree on.

2005

The song: Drop It Like It's Hot
The artist: Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell

This single saw Snoop Dogg break free of the constraints of rap and enter the mainstream after signing to Interscope and teaming up with The Neptunes to create his first number one single ever.

Jaquie Brown: It's one of those amazing songs where if you're not cool, you will be cool just by listening to it, purely by osmosis.

Clint Roberts: I worked the whole summer at the Luge in Rotorua and put all my money into a Sony Xplode sound system for my car. I put in a 12inch Subwoofer with an amp, two 6x9's, door speakers and an MP3 head unit. It was a $2500 Nissan Centra but it was banging. This is one of the songs I had in it because the bass is so good. I had to rip some foam off a camping mattress and stuff it underneath the number plates, front and back, so the car didn't rattle as I was driving. I was a cool guy. That car got stolen from the Warehouse car park on Christmas Eve. Not all stories have a happy ending .

2006

The song: Push the Button
The band: Sugababes

British pop girl-group the Sugababes released this as the lead single from their fourth album but it went on to become not only one of the best pop singles of the 2000s but also the group's biggest commercial success.

Clint Roberts: Sugababes are great. I was actually having a debate with someone the other day over what the best Sugababes song of all time is. It wasn't this one.

John Campbell: It sounds like Les Mills.

2007

The song: Smack That
The artist: Akon ft Eminem

Smack that saw Akon team up with Eminem, who wrote, produced and lent bars to the track which dominated the NZ charts for weeks and earned a Grammy nomination for best rap/sung collaboration.

Clint Roberts: This is a filthy song, and also one of the great Eminem songs. It's just after Akon had his New Zealand sabbatical. You gotta remember that Akon came up in New Zealand where he and P-Money got together. That's why you have this global superstar who has tracks with Savage and P-Money.

Kanoa Lloyd: I cannot stand Akon. I'm sorry. I said it. I've been keeping this close to my chest for a long time. Yuck. I hate Akon so much. Smack that away from me.

2008

The song: Bleeding Love
The artist: Leona Lewis

Jesse McCartney and One Republic's Ryan Tedder are the writers behind Leona Lewis' heartfelt jam and that unforgettable chorus hook. The best-selling single of 2008 worldwide, Bleeding Love remains Leona Lewis' most successful song to date.

Clint Roberts: I had to program this song for the radio station I worked for and this was huge. She never went bigger than this song though.

2009

The song: Poker Face
The artist: Lady Gaga

The second single from Lady Gaga's seminal debut album The Fame, Poker Face is a tribute to Gaga's bisexuality. After her first single Just Dance, Poker Face confirmed her as an unstoppable pop talent.

Clint Roberts: This changed the game. I remember my radio mentor took me aside to play this song and he said, 'this is gonna change pop music. This artist is gonna change pop music,'. And she did. Every party that summer this song got played three or four times.

Kanoa Lloyd: This was her first hit. I thought she was incredible. I was like, 'who is this woman? What are you?'. I didn't know if I liked it but I respected it. I didn't really get it at the time but looking back it's one of my favourite Gaga songs.

Jaquie Brown: I remember her bursting onto the scene and thinking, 'why is everyone so hyped about this woman? I'm not feeling the vibe of this music,'. I think she's an incredible talent and looking at her body of work and what she's done, I love it and love what she stands for. But this song I was like, 'what is it? I don't get it'.

Join us tomorrow when John Campbell asks, "Is this song about masturbation?" as we travel from 2010 through to 2010...