The Hit Parade

Charting 1997: 27th December

2012-12-21T19:00:00.000+00:00

So here it is, the big Christmas chart that everybody had been waiting for. Thanks go to Gezza76 at the Buzzjack forum for supplying some sales information for this post.

01.(NE) Spice Girls - Too Much
In a way we've come full circle, as the year started with the Spices' first Christmas Number One single and now we get their second, also featured in their film Spiceworld. Sold 252000 this week. It's kind of the end of their absolute peak: it was of course their sixth consecutive chart-topper, an unprecedented start to a career but a run broken by their next hit, 'Stop'. Even though four of them went on to enjoy a third consecutive Christmas Number One that year, a record matched only by the Beatles, they'd never be quite this big again. There are (now) six million-selling singles in this chart, but this isn't one of them.
02. (1) Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!
Sold 203000, giving the Spice Girls more of a run for their money than they'd had in 1996 when they won by miles.
03. (2) Various Artists - Perfect Day
Sold "only" 132000.
04. (4) All Saints - Never Ever
05. (6) Janet Jackson - Together Again
06. (3) Aqua - Barbie Girl
All the Top 6 sold into six figures this week.
07. (5) Robbie Williams - Angels
08. (8) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
09. (7) Boyzone - Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star
10.(NE) Mase - Feel So Good
Here's the odd one out in the Top 10! The first solo single from the Puff Daddy protege (who had of course already guested on hits by Puffy). The chorus is based on 'Bad Boy' by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine; Bad Boy was of course also the name of Puffy's record label on which this was released. Sales this week: 53000.
11.(10) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
12. (9) Steven Houghton - Wind Beneath My Wings
13.(13) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
14.(RE) Vanilla - No Way No Way
Just when you thought it was safe! They appeared on the first Top Of The Pops of 1998,(on their way down the chart, I guess they were short of acts just after Christmas) although they had to cut the spoken section because I suppose it was too hard to mime.
15.(NE) Chicken Shed - I Am In Love With The World
A hot tip that was getting odds as high as 4-1 from bookies at the start of the month, this came from the theatre company of which Diana had been a patron during her lifetime. It seems like a combination of John Lennon and St Winifred's in a Christmas chart battle, but for once people shopped with their ears instead of their hearts and a reported 250000 shipment only spawned about 34000 sales this week. The company continues to do good work but has thankfully steered clear of the singles chart since.
16.(11) Celine Dion - The Reason
17.(14) Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just The Way
18.(16) Reds United - Sing Up For The Champions!
19.(15) Five - Slam Dunk (Da Funk)
20.(20) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
21.(23) Louise - Let's Go Round Again
22.(22) Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies
23.(25) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
24.(27) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997}
25.(NE) Paul McCartney - Beautiful Night
Twenty years earlier he'd had the Christmas chart-topper as a member of Wings and thirty years back he'd done so as one of the aforementioned Beatles ('Hello Goodbye' was their fourth and last, a still unbeaten tally by any act). He wasn't a major contender with this third single from Flaming Pie, though with hindsight it's a pretty decent song. Features Ringo Starr on drums.
26.(28) The Seahorses - You Can Talk To Me
27.(29) The Verve - Lucky Man
28.(31) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
29.(18) Bryan Adams - Back To You
30.(19) Propellerheads And Shirley Bassey - History Repeating
31.(30) Gala - Let A Boy Cry
32.(NE) Rakim - Guess Who's Back
There's a bit of a clue in the question, isn't there? The vocal half of Eric B. & Rakim officially became a solo artist this year after a five-year hiatus, although this single was barely noticed in the Christmas rush. I don't know what he's up to now.
33.(12) U2 - If God Will Send His Angels
34.(17) Sting And The Police - Roxanne '97
35.(24) Levellers - Dogtrain
36.(NE) Fountains Of Wayne - I Want An Alien For Christmas
The only identifiable Christmas song in the chart, though a curiously forgotten song nowadays. I've got the CD single somewhere and this is probably the week to pull it out. Their second Top 40 hit of the year, but they didn't manage another until 2004 (and still haven't had a fourth).
37.(34) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
38.(NE) Aerosmith - Pink
Another veteran act burying a new release in a busy week, although this one got a second lease of life after the success of 'I Don't Wann Miss A Thing'. You can safely miss this though, it's a poor song notorious for the lyric "Pink, it's like red but not quite".
39.(36) Will Smith - Just Cruisin'
40.(33) Blackstreet - (Money Can't) Buy Me Love

57.(NE) Paid And Live featuring Lauryn Hill - All My Time
Well, there had to be a Fugee somewhere.
67.(NE) Gant - Sound Bwoy Burial/All Night Long

And here ends Charting 1997 (unless I ever get around to putting the album charts on, don't bank on it). If you have been, thanks for reading.
A reminder that all the hits I could find on Spotify from this year can be heard here, from '2 Become 1' to 'All My Time'.

Charting 1997: 20th December

2012-12-14T19:00:00.000+00:00

Here we are with what was by now the typical "blank" week, most big releases and novelty cash-ins being saved up for a shot at the Christmas chart-topper next week. So no new entries in the Top 10, and the only song joining the Top 10 is the returning Elton John, although Robbie Williams also sets a new peak.

01. (1) Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!
02. (2) Various Artists - Perfect Day
03. (3) Aqua - Barbie Girl
04. (5) All Saints - Never Ever
05. (7) Robbie Williams - Angels
06. (4) Janet Jackson - Together Again
07. (6) Boyzone - Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star
08. (9) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
09. (8) Steven Houghton - Wind Beneath My Wings
10.(11) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
11.(NE) Celine Dion - The Reason
So this becomes the biggest new hit of the week. As you might imagine, it's a bit shouty.
12.(NE) U2 - If God Will Send His Angels
Fifth single from their album within twelve months, and understandably not the most successful: it's one of only three hits for them in the entire decade not to make the Top 10 (four if you count the original version of 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'). It's not their finest work really, but the relatively underperforming album needed all the help it could get.
13.(13) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
14.(14) Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just The Way
15.(10) Five - Slam Dunk (Da Funk)
16.(16) Reds United - Sing Up For The Champions!
17.(NE) Sting And The Police - Roxanne '97
You can see the thought process, can't you? There was a Sting/Police best-of out, and Puff Daddy (as he then was) had of course that one of the biggest hits of the year with a sample of a Police song. There was a brief "Roxanne" craze in hip-hop in the early 80s so obviously it made sense to get Puffy to produce a rap version of the Police number... right?
18.(NE) Bryan Adams - Back To You
First single from his Unplugged album. My brother said, "they should have unplugged the microphone."
19.(NE) Propellerheads And Shirley Bassey - History Repeating

Haven't done an embed for a while. This was a song that many of us, myself included, thought was likely to give them a second Top 10 hit, but it wasn't to be. Mind you, I didn't buy it myself in the end, though I did get their first (and as yet only) album. That was released in February 1998 by the way, so why it was necessary to drop the lead single into the pre-Christmas rush is unclear. Apart from the chart position, the only thing not glorious about this is the announcer in the video using the word "phenomena" as a singular. I'm sure the BBC wouldn't have allowed that in 1961 or so.
20.(17) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
21.(NE) Bjork - Bachelorette
Another impressive video, directed by Michel Gondry (in a similar style to his Neneh Cherry clip at the start of the year). It was the first hit single from her album Homogenic, though an earlier single 'Joga' had been released in a non-chart-eligible format. Once she'd started, singles appeared sporadically from this album until the summer of 1999.
22.(12) Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies
23.(19) Louise - Let's Go Round Again
24.(NE) Levellers - Dogtrain
Another song that you could imagine being a big hit in January, a bouncy if ultimately irritating number. Possibly they were hoping to match 'Just The One', which had been one of their many Number 12 hits at Christmas 1995.
25.(25) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
26.(NE) Red 5 - Lift Me Up
The German producer's second hit of the year, not to be confused with identically-titled singles by Geri Halliwell and Moby.
27.(24) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997}
28.(15) The Seahorses - You Can Talk To Me
29.(21) The Verve - Lucky Man
30.(26) Gala - Let A Boy Cry
31.(28) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
32.(NE) Busta Rhymes - Dangerous
Not a song I'd heard before (except possibly once on this chart rundown 15 years ago) but I actually thought it's one of his better efforts. All those expensive Hype Williams promo videos seem to blend into one after a while though don't they?
33.(18) Blackstreet - (Money Can't) Buy Me Love
34.(29) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
35.(NE) Chicane - Lost You Somewhere
One of his purer trance tracks, more beloved of their fans than some of the more obviously commercial stuff he did later.
36.(23) Will Smith - Just Cruisin'
37.(22) Mariah Carey - Butterfly
38.(NE) Powerhouse - Rhythm Of The Night
This week's lazy dance cover version is of the DeBarge song (as opposed to the Corona one). This isn't the same Powerhouse who later had a hit with Duane Harden.
39.(20) Jamiroquai - High Times
40.(NE) Serious Danger - Deeper
Not the same song as the one by Delirious. Richard Phillips (for 'twas he) later released 'High Noon', which wasn't the same song as the one by DJ Shadow.

41.(NE) Vanessa-Mae - I Feel Love
43.(NE) The Corrs - I Never Loved You Anyway
If they'd put it out just a couple of weeks later, it could have been their first Top 40 single here. As it was they had to wait another six months.
50.(NE) No Doubt - Sunday Morning
The reflected glory of 'Don't Speak' finally runs out at this point, although of course they did come back. The video is notable partly for the rare appearance of the two brass players who are normally seen only on stage but more for the cameo by Terry Hall, returning the favour Gwen Stefani did in his video earlier in the year. Fortunately he doesn't attempt to re-enact the song's storyline.
51.(NE) The Course - Best Love
52.(NE) Maureen Rees - Driving In My Car
Back in the early days of what was becoming known as the reality TV boom, although of course observational documentary was as old a form as portable cameras. I suppose the introduction of the genre as a form of light entertainment was the novelty. This was one of the first attempts to score a hit single from one of the stars of these shows, with serial test failure Rees covering the Madness hit.
62.(NE) DJ Shadow - Camel Bobsled Race
The longest "single" to chart all year, this is a 24-minute continuous mix by DJ Q-Bert. It might have posed some problems for Mark Goodier had it made the Top 40.
68.(NE) Counting Crows - A Long December {1997 re-release}
It had peaked at 62, 53 weeks earlier but I suppose there was a limited window of opportunity to put it out again. As the NME review said at the time, December is actually the same length every year.

Charting 1997: 13th December

2012-12-07T19:00:00.000+00:00

01.(NE) Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!
OK, I realise this won't be everyone's favourite chart-topper, but it was hardly the worst one of the year.
02. (1) Various Artists - Perfect Day
03. (3) Aqua - Barbie Girl
04.(NE) Janet Jackson - Together Again
A song that seemed to hang around in the Top 40 for ages (only a couple of months really, but that was a long time then). I could appreciate what she was trying to do but I never found this interesting enough musically to be impressed.
05. (6) All Saints - Never Ever
06. (2) Boyzone - Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star
07.(NE) Robbie Williams - Angels
Two places below All Saints, who sold an unprecedented amount before topping the chart - but this sold even more without ever getting there (yet). As of 2012, it's the biggest-selling single not to make the Top 3.
08. (4) Steven Houghton - Wind Beneath My Wings
09. (5) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
10.(NE) Five - Slam Dunk (Da Funk)
Debut for one of the biggest UK boy bands at the end of the century. They went on to make several records I liked but this isn't one of them, getting off to a poor start with the misfiring intro: "Five!, what you waiting 4? If you wanna... 3-2-1?". Legend has it that the management spent a fortune making a video in a boxing ring before somebody pointed out that "slam dunk" was actually a basketball term.
11.(10) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
12.(NE) Sheryl Crow - Tomorrow Never Dies
After several James Bond-related tracks, we finally get to this year's official theme, which I believe is the only one to have been chosen by competitive tender: it displaced a selection written by kd Lang and David Arnold, presumably because Crow had included the title. Still, something doesn't quite work, it feels a bit too much like a pastiche.
13. (8) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
14. (9) Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just The Way
15.(NE) The Seahorses - You Can Talk To Me
Their fourth and last hit, not that we were to know it at the time. After writing separately on the previous singles, Chris Helme and John Squire collaborated on this non-album single, neatly writing one B-side each. A second album was partly recorded with a slightly different line-up of the band but never completed and little was heard from Squire for the rest of the decade.
16.(12) Reds United - Sing Up For The Champions!
17.(23) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
18.(NE) Blackstreet - (Money Can't) Buy Me Love
Despite the title being expanded for the hard of understanding, this is indeed a cover of the 1964 Beatles chart-topper. Presumably this is why they filmed the video over here, although why the elderly American tries to speak to the London cabbie in a New Zealand accent isn't so clear.
19.(15) Louise - Let's Go Round Again
20.(NE) Jamiroquai - High Times
Fourth single off the now eldery Travelling Without Moving album and to be honest I don't think the band were still interested by this point, though the single could sell itself on name in those days.
21. (7) The Verve - Lucky Man
22.(NE) Mariah Carey - Butterfly
And this week's unsuccessful follow-up to a Top 10 hit comes with this apparently rather personal song about her divorce. Presumably it was released for that reason rather than because somebody thought it was good. I'm pretty sure the animal in the video is actually a horse, rather than a butterfly but then I didn't do GCSE biology.
23.(NE) Will Smith - Just Cruisin'
OK, sorry. This is the unsuccessful follow-up of the week. Curiously, although Will Smith has plenty of major hits to his name, the follow-ups to both his Number Ones underperformed and fell short of the Top 20. This had the possible disadvantage of appearing on both the Men In Black soundtrack and Smith's solo debut album Big Willie Style.
24.(13) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997}
25.(17) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
26.(11) Gala - Let A Boy Cry
27.(NE) The Space Brothers - Forgiven (I Feel Your Love)
Important early trance hit, I believe.
28.(18) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
29.(24) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
30.(16) Todd Terry Presents Shannon - It's Over Love
31.(19) Aaron Carter - Crush On You
32.(25) Hanson - I Will Come To You
33.(26) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
34.(NE) Dreem Teem - The Theme
Who knew that a few years later Spoony would be doing a radio feature called Mills & Spoon or organising charity golf tournaments?
35.(20) The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
36.(NE) Beth Orton - Best Bit EP ft Terry Callier
[Best Bit; Skimming Stone; Dolphins; Lean On Me]
The first ever chart appearance for Callier (though in truth he appears only on the final two tracks), the brilliant Chicago soul singer who had famously had to retire from music and take a job as a computer operator to pay the bills. His records had gained quite a reputation here in Britain and he'd made some tentative returns to performing, but this admittedly minor hit was the start of a real revival, leading to a solo record deal and a special award from the United Nations (which did unfortunately cost him the day job). Nine years later he cracked the Top 20 as the featured vocalist on 'Live With Me' by Massive Attack. Sadly, he died in 2012 but if you have a spare few quid you could do worse than picking up his 1972 album Occasional Rain, which includes his original version of 'Lean On Me' (not to be confused with the similarly impressive song of the same name by Bill Withers).
On the other side of the disc, Orton and her regular backing group re-record an old B-side to surprisingly good effect. I don't really remember 'Skimming Stone' but I got my £1:99 worth for the other three tracks on the 12"... at least until I left it too close to a desk lamp and warped it.
37.(14) Kylie Minogue - Did It Again
38.(36) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
39.(21) USURA - Open Your Mind '97
40.(NE) Sparks Vs Faith No More - This Town Ain't Big Enough

Rather neatly, the Maels' last Top 40 hit was a reworking of their first. Not necessarily an improvement.

41.(NE) The Lightning Seeds - What You Say

One of two new songs on a best-of collection. I rather liked this but releasing it after the album seems to have killed it commercially.

43.(NE) Enya - Only If...
Also a new track on a (now-deleted) compilation.

44.(NE) Bruce Wayne - Ready

51.(NE) Amira - My Desire

53.(NE) The Catherine Wheel - The Delicious EP

54.(NE) Genesis - Shipwrecked

72.(NE) Christopher Just - I'm A Disco Dancer

Bonus: the Chart Show Indie chart this week

Charting 1997: 6th December

2012-11-30T19:00:00.000+00:00

01. (1) Various Artists - Perfect Day
02.(NE) Boyzone - Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star
Stuck in the runner-up slot again, even with two ballads for the price of one. The lead track sees Ronan Keating tackle the other Tracy Chapman song that everyone knows, even though this one only got to 94 in the charts: as a result, Chapman's 1988 debut album apparently dominated the mid-price album chart for months. On the other side, Steven Gately sings a song from the latest Disney film, although any hopes that this would break the band in America were dashed.
03. (2) Aqua - Barbie Girl
04. (3) Steven Houghton - Wind Beneath My Wings
05. (4) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
06. (5) All Saints - Never Ever
07.(NE) The Verve - Lucky Man
Third single off the Urban Hymns album, which was ticking off its millionth sale about now - it subsequently became the first album to sell in seven figures two years running. This was never one of my favourites of theirs, feeling a bit more like the Richard Ashcroft solo track it originally was. And his echoed vocal at the start always reminded me of the "you slag" sample in 'Professional Widow' at the start of the year, which probably wasn't the effect he was aiming for.
08. (7) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
09. (6) Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just The Way
10.(11) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
11.(NE) Gala - Let A Boy Cry
In the late 1990s European dance acts could easily score significant second hits. Not a bad tune, although the meter sounds very odd to a native English speaker. The first YouTube hit I found was a different version of the song from the UK hit, but it did have the benefit of a comment from Gala herself refuting rumours that she'd died.
12.(NE) Reds United - Sing Up For The Champions!
40 Man United fans chanting. England aside I think they're the football team with the most associated chart hits.
13.(12) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997}
14.(NE) Kylie Minogue - Did It Again
First stage in the rethink after the underperformance of 'Some Kind Of Bliss'. Presumably the song was already intended to be the next single, but the video, which depicts avatars of various Kylie images fighting, has an air of reassurance (and media-friendliness) about it.
15.(10) Louise - Let's Go Round Again
16.(NE) Todd Terry Presents Shannon - It's Over Love
One of the many appearances for Shannon as a credited vocalist. Todd Terry was still ploughing his usual disco-influenced furrow although it was getting a bit tired by this point.
17.(16) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
18.(17) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
19. (9) Aaron Carter - Crush On You
20. (8) The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
21.(NE) USURA - Open Your Mind '97
Remix of the 1993 hit. Not necessarily an improvement.
22.(NE) Dru Hill - 5 Steps
The juxtaposition of this and the act below is vastly more interesting than the song.
23.(22) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
24.(20) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
25.(14) Hanson - I Will Come To You
26.(21) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
27.(NE) Super Furry Animals - Demons
There is an official video for this single, but it's not very good by their standards. The song is a brilliant surreal epic, complete with the lyric "By the year four million, our skins will be vermillion".
28.(NE) Meredith Brooks - I Need
It's not a great idea to follow up a list song with another list song.
29.(13) Shola Ama - Who's Loving My Baby
30.(NE) Paul Weller - Mermaids
Yet another fourth single from an album, and indeed this is the final track on Heavy Soul to boot. It's not the one I would have chosen to be honest, although I did buy the 7" and the B-sides are pretty good.
31.(NE) Huff And Herb - Feeling Good ft Nina Simone
When they say "featuring Nina Simone" they mean that they've sampled the vocals from her classic track (which had only charted in 1994, thanks to an advert). It might have worked better had the rest of the track been in time with her.
32.(NE) Sex-O-Sonique - I Thought It Was You
Another act who'd been hanging round the Jazz section of the second-hand record shop, this being a cover of Herbie Hancock's vocodery disco single. It's not an interesting version, at least not once you've heard the original. Perhaps that's why they used this pseudonym, rather than any of the other names under which they'd had hits.
33.(NE) M People - Fantasy Island
A bit of a comedown as the follow-up to a Top 10 hit from an established act. It's not a great song but neither were a lot of their others.
34.(NE) Boyz II Men - A Song For Mama
Er, shouldn't they have released this in the spring?
35.(15) Robert Miles - Freedom ft Kathy Sledge
36.(31) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
37.(23) Ocean Colour Scene - Better Day
38.(25) The Woolpackers - Line Dance Party
39.(NE) Sleeper - Romeo Me
What proved to be their last single. The 7" B-side had a very rude title but if that was supposed to be a publicity stunt it didn't work.
40.(28) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart

44.(NE) Keith Sweat - I Want Her {1997 remix}
46.(NE) Del Amitri - Some Other Sucker's Parade
In September, the record company announced that a planned single 'Medicine' had been cancelled due to lyrics which were felt inappropriate in the light of Diana's death. The band themselves were happy to admit that it was really dropped due to lack of interest. Either way this title track from the album was chosen instead to little effect.
53.(NE) Partizan - Keep Your Love ft Natalie Robb
56.(NE) The Saw Doctors - Simple Things
60.(NE) Sinead O'Connor - This Is A Rebel Song
62.(NE) Bizzi - Bizzi's Party
64.(NE) Tanya Donelly - The Bright Light
65.(NE) Buckshot LeFonque - Another Day (In The Hood)
70.(NE) Chimera - Show Me Heaven
73.(NE) Machine Head - Take My Scars
No, really, you can keep them.

Charting 1997: 29th November

2012-11-23T19:00:00.000+00:00

Warning: this week's chart contains material that some may find offensive.

01.(NE) Various Artists - Perfect Day
So here's the track that was orginally commissioned as a promo for the licence fee, with a cast of star musicians performing Lou Reed's alleged drug anthem for "scale" fees. Due to apparent popular demand, it was finally released as 1997's official Children In Need single, the first release from this particular appeal to top the chart. It's also the only Number One single for Various Artists, who have tended to be more successful as an album act.
In fact, you may find it handy for pub quizzes to know that this is, to the best of my knowledge the only Number One single featuring the following performers: Skye Edwards [then a member of Morcheeba], Burning Spear, Thomas Allen, the Brodsky Quartet, Sheona White, Dr John, Robert Cray, Evan Dando, Emmylou Harris, Courtney Pine, Andrew Davis, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Heather Small [of M People], Visual Ministry Choir, Suzanne Vega, Lesley Garrett, Shane MacGowan, Huey Morgan [of Fun Lovin' Criminals], Brett Anderson [of Suede and later The Tears], Joan Armatrading and Laurie Anderson. It's also the only such success for Reed himself, who sings the last line: this means that three of the four UK Top 40 hits he had are connected to his album Transformer.
02. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
03.(NE) Steven Houghton - Wind Beneath My Wings
The second actor from London's Burning to score a chart hit, after John Alford's briefly successful career. Simon Cowell presumably saw him as the new Robson & Jerome, although he couldn't quite match the same heights of success: whilst this lost out on the top position behind two massive sellers, the follow-up (a cover of Lionel Richie's 'Truly' released in February 1998) missed the Top 20 and despite a gold-selling album that was it.
04. (2) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
05. (3) All Saints - Never Ever
06.(NE) Lutricia McNeal - Ain't That Just The Way
Debut hit from the Swedish-based American singer who was, like Connor Reeves, signed to the Capital FM-sponsored Wildstar label. It's a cover of a song by American singer and former Playboy model Barbi Benton.
07. (4) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
08.(NE) The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up
The highest new entry that was actually written in the 1990s, apart from the fact that the title lyric is sampled from a 1988 song by the Ultramagnetic MCs. It's fair to say that the title was more controversial than its source and indeed this track was not played nor even named on the Top 40 rundown that week - instead an instrumental B-side was announced as "from their new EP". The equally notorious promo video was seldom seen before midnight either, although the Prodge were big enough at this point to sell plenty of copies of this anyway. Apparently it even made Number One in Finland.
09.(NE) Aaron Carter - Crush On You
So here's a record that's offensive in an entirely different way, in which the younger (9, at the time) brother of a Backstreet Boy caterwauls his way through a version of the Jets hit (also covered by Nero in 2011). Amazingly he managed as many as six hit singles over the next five years.
10.(NE) Louise - Let's Go Round Again
Second single off the second album and she was already resorting to covers, in this case of the Average White Band's final hit. The first word of that group's name also describes this version.
11. (7) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 97
12. (6) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997 re-issue}
13.(NE) Shola Ama - Who's Loving My Baby
So by my maths this is the highest wholly original new entry, albeit not the most thrillingly inventive song ever recorded.
14. (5) Hanson - I Will Come To You
15.(NE) Robert Miles Featuring Kathy Sledge - Freedom
In the context of this chart, you'd half expect this to be a cover of the Wham! song. It's more of an attempt to repeat the big crossover success of his hit 'One And One' the previous year.
16.(12) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
17.(11) The PF Project Featuring Ewan McGregor - Choose Life
18.(NE) The Firm Featuring Dawn Robinson - Firm Biz
Sadly not the same people who did 'Arthur Daley (E's Alright)' and 'Star Trekkin', nor indeed the Led Zep spin-off group who charted an album in the 1980s. This was a gangsta rap supergroup including Nas and Foxy Brown, as well as En Vogue member Robinson.
19.(NE) Mary J Blige - Missing You
The ballady single releases really start to stack up in the Christmas shopping season.
20.(10) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
21.(15) Sash! Featuring La Trec - Stay
22.(18) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
23. (9) Ocean Colour Scene - Better Day
24.(NE) Salt-N-Pepa - R U Ready
Doesn't look people were, really.
25.(NE) The Woolpackers - Line Dance Party
In most people's lists of things the world needed in 1997, a second single by a country band of actors from Emmerdale would be a long way down. But with Steps proving the continued appeal of the line-dance craze, Simon Cowell must have thought otherwise.
26.(16) Moby - James Bond Theme
27. (8) Pulp - Help The Aged
28.(17) N-Trance Featuring Rod Stewart - Do You Think I'm Sexy?
29.(NE) Finley Quaye - It's Great When We're Together
I must admit I've warmed to the guy over the years and this isn't a bad song, helped by the relaxed vibe which makes his voice less grating.
30.(19) Gary Barlow - Open Road
31.(20) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
32.(14) Conner Reeves - Earthbound
33.(NE) Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott Featuring Da Brat - SockIt2Me
They'd never have recouped that video had this not been a hit in America. Perhaps it would have done better a few years later when DVD singles were popular.
34.(21) Dario G - Sunchyme
35.(23) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
36.(NE) Way Out West - Ajare {remix}
This had been their debut single exactly three years earlier, only peaking at 52 on that occasion.
37.(22) Clock - U Sexy Thing
38.(13) Metallica - The Memory Remains
39.(NE) Rosie Gaines - I Surrender
Not the Rainbow song.
40.(26) Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me

41.(NE) BT - Love, Peace And Grease

47.(NE) Erykah Badu - Apple Tree (To Be Free)

54.(NE) Teenage Fanclub - Start Again
I'm sure the official video for this track used to be on YouTube. I'm not bothered though because it wasn't that good anyway. Fair to say they're not a band who rely heavily on their visual appeal.
56.(NE) The Jungle Brothers - Jungle Brother
Supported by Drum & Bass remixes, as I believe they were signed to a UK-based label at the time. This would also explain why they're riding a London bus in the video. A repromotion took this to the Top 20 in 1998.
62.(NE) The Cure - Wrong Number
Which was doubtless what Robert Smith thought when he saw the chart position. The obligatory new track on their second volume of singles compilation.
66.(NE) 98 Degrees - Invisible Man
71.(NE) Truce - Nothin' But A Party
73.(NE) Capricorn - 20Hz (New Frequencies)

Now 38

2012-11-17T09:00:00.003+00:00

Disc one

Chumbawamba 'Tubthumping'
Spice Girls 'Spice Up Your Life'
Hanson 'Where's the Love'
Boyzone 'Picture of You'
Backstreet Boys 'As Long As You Love Me'
Eternal 'Angel of Mine'
Lighthouse Family 'Raincloud'
Janet Jackson 'Got 'Til It's Gone'
The Brand New Heavies 'You've Got A Friend'
All Saints 'I Know Where It's At'
Louise 'Arms Around The World'
Gala 'Freed from Desire'
Sash! featuring La Trec 'Stay'
Dario G 'Sunchyme'
Tina Moore 'Never Gonna Let You Go'
Hot Chocolate 'You Sexy Thing'
N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy'
LL Cool J 'Phenomenon'
911 'Party People...Friday Night'
Ricky Martin 'Maria'
Bellini 'Samba De Janeiro'
DJ Quicksilver 'Free'

Disc two

Wet Wet Wet 'Yesterday'

George Michael 'You Have Been Loved'

The Verve 'The Drugs Don't Work'

Oasis 'Stand by Me'

Embrace 'All You Good Good People'

Faithless 'Don't Leave'

Radiohead 'Karma Police'

Moby 'James Bond Theme'

PF Project featuring Ewan MacGregor'Choose Life'

Robbie Williams 'Lazy Days'

Ash 'A Life Less Ordinary'

Texas 'Black Eyed Boy'

Meredith Brooks 'Bitch'

Jon Bon Jovi 'Janie, Don't Take Your Love To Town'

Ocean Colour Scene 'Better Day'

Cast 'I'm So Lonely'

Conner Reeves 'Earthbound'

Peter Andre 'Lonely'

Boyz II Men '4 Seasons of Loneliness'

The third and last album in the Now! series this year, though a few tracks from late 1997 show up on Now 39 in the following year. It's notable for having 22 tracks on the first disc but only 19 on the second, due to the length of the Oasis and Embrace tracks (the latter is the full-length version rather than the radio edit). In an unfortunate error, the Hot Chocolate track is also the rubbishy 1987 remix as heard on Now 9, rather than the original version that was a hit in 1997. On the other hand, this breaks from the previous three albums by including a George Michael track in its original form rather than as a remix. It's also odd that three of the last four tracks are refer to loneliness in the title, couldn't they have shuffled them about a bit?

Charting 1997: 22nd November

2012-11-16T19:00:00.000+00:00

01. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
02. (2) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
03.(NE) All Saints - Never Ever
The biggest new hit of the week, hidden behind the two immovable objects at the top of the chart. It was still a big seller at the time and in the long run a consistent one too.
04. (3) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
05.(NE) Hanson - I Will Come To You
Their third hit and it's November so of course it's a power ballad, and of course it isn't any good. I don't suppose they realise that video looks like a Ready Brek advert.
06.(NE) Hot Chocolate - You Sexy Thing {1997 reissue}
Reaching the Top 10 for the third decade in a row (it didn't repeat this success in the 2000s, but there's still plenty of this decade to go) thanks to its extensive use in the film The Full Monty. This was the original version rather than the remix that had been a hit in 1987, but this was never one of my favourites of theirs.
07. (5) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
08.(NE) Pulp - Help The Aged
Their first new single since 'Something Changed' in early 1996; and of course even that was from a 1995 album so this was effectively their first new material in two years. It finds Jarvis Cocker in something of a bleak mood, albeit that he disguises this cri de coeur with typical humour. For his trouble he was threatened with legal action from the charity of the same name, although this was settled for a donation and some publicity on the sleeve. The premise for the video was originally to be "Stairlift to Heaven" but the manufacturer unsurprisingly didn't like their product being associated with death so he goes to outer space instead. It also features an early appearance by Kelly Brook.
I bought the 7" of this which has three tracks (good value) but plays at a different speed on each side (irritating). One of those B-sides is their rejected submission for the James Bond theme, 'Tomorrow Never Lies' - I'd always assumed they changed the title for contractual reasons a la R.E.M.'s 'Winged Mammal Theme' but apparently that was the original title of the film.
Their last Top 10 single.
09.(NE) Ocean Colour Scene - Better Day
Also their last Top 10 and their least deserved, an autobiographical but ultimately uninteresting song with a rubbish video. Annoyingly, the chorus repeatedly uses the phrase "get blown away", which is the title of a far better track from the album that they should have released as the single instead.
10. (4) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
11. (6) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
12.(11) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
13.(NE) Metallica - The Memory Remains
A fairly typical Metallica single of the era, big and crunchy but still with a recognisable chorus, It does have the addition of Marianne Faithfull, for whom this was the first Top 20 success since 1965.
14.(NE) Conner Reeves - Earthbound
Second single from the bland but well-connected singer.
15. (9) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
16. (8) Moby - James Bond Theme
17.(12) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
18.(NE) Steps - 5, 6, 7, 8
Yes, it all starts here with a cash-in record from the brief linedancing craze of the late 1990s. A very odd single, and an even more rubbish one, but it was one of the biggest sellers of all time not to make the Top 10. There are Steps records I don't mind but this is not among them.
19. (7) Gary Barlow - Open Road
20.(17) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
21.(15) Dario G - Sunchyme
22.(19) Clock - U Sexy Thing
23.(18) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
24.(NE) Brainbug - Benedictus/Nightmare
The AA side is making its second chart appearance in six months as a supporting feature to the not dissimilar new track.
25.(NE) Portishead - Over
Second single from the untitled album, a song that's more haunting than catchy and possibly not an obvious hit. I remember hearing it used as backing music in a documentary about something really serious.
26.(10) Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me
27.(16) 187 Lockdown - Gunman
28.(NE) Happy Clappers - I Believe 97
Third chart run for this one. That's just greedy
29.(13) Jon Bon Jovi - Janie, Don't Take Your Love To Town
30.(NE) Aaliyah - The One I Gave My Heart To/Hot Like Fire
Not yet a star here on the same scale as she was in the US, although I do remember the second track from the time. It was later covered by the XX. Parts of its video are slightly unfortunate now.
31.(14) Cast - I'm So Lonely
32.(RE) Jewel - You Were Meant For Me
One of the big breakthrough stars of 1996-7, the serious Alaskan singer-songwriter always found it harder to convince a British audience, but was a natural occupant of the Number 52 chart position. Indeed this had peaked at 53 only a couple of months earlier but was redistributed after a bit of extra promotion to be become the first and the larger of her two Top 40 hits.
33.(25) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
34.(22) Peter Andre - Lonely
35.(28) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
36.(23) Double 99 - RIP Groove {1997 Re-Release}
37.(31) Toni Braxton With Kenny G - How Could An Angel Break My Heart
38.(27) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
39.(NE) David McAlmont And David Arnold - Diamonds Are Forever
Another Bond moment, although a bit of an underperformer as the follow-up to Arnold's Top 10 collaboration with Propellerheads. I suppose it looks better if you see it as the follow-up to McAlmont's Number 40 instead. I was among the few who did buy it.
40.(NE) Bobby Brown - Feelin' Inside
And coincidentally, this video also opens with a bit of a Bond theme, though that's not part of the record itself. It ends with a "surprise" celebrity cameo. In between there's a song I've already forgotten.

43.(NE) The Sundays - Cry

Their last single. Not their finiest work but it might still have been nice to hear more from them.
45.(NE) Kamasutra - Happiness ft Jocelyn Brown
55.(NE) DSK - What Would We Do?
Dance track which was re-issued and remixed several times over the years although it only became a major hit when sampled on Wiley's 'Wearing My Rolex'.
56.(NE) Full Intention - America (I Love America) {1997}
60.(NE) God's Property - Stomp
62.(NE) 'N Sync - I Want You Back
We'd hear from this again when it went Top 10 in 1999.
70.(NE) Mike Oldfield - Woman Of Ireland
72.(NE) Alabama 3 - The Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness
74.(NE) Myron - We Can Get Down
75.(NE) Vanilla - No Way No Way
And this was to reappear even sooner.

Charting 1997: 15th November

2012-11-09T19:00:00.000+00:00

01. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
02. (2) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
03.(NE) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
Below the unchanged Top 2, this is the highest new entry, a song every bit as subtle and understated as you'd expect. Apparently from a film called The Mirror Has Two Faces.
04. (3) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
05. (4) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
06.(NE) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
Another film tie-in, sampling McGregor's opening monologue from Trainspotting. The track itself is obviously not in the film but appears on the second volume of the soundtrack album.
07.(NE) Gary Barlow - Open Road
Title track from his solo album becomes the fourth single from it. Actually not bad as solo Barlow goes, but for a song about leaving greyness behind it's a little, er, grey.
08.(NE) Moby - James Bond Theme
Back to the movies with our second Bond-theme hit of the year, but the first official one. This was connected to the soundtrack of that year's Bond picture Tomorrow Never Dies, though it's just a cover of the familiar Monty Norman theme.
09. (5) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
10.(NE) Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me
Another fourth single to remind people the album was out in time for Christmas shopping. I remember Sharleen Spiteri bringing a ghetto-blaster on stage to provide the (muted) beats for this song (shades of Stop Making Sense perhaps?), although the single mix is a bit more conventional. I see from the YouTube upload that this on the soundtrack to something called Ever After.
11. (7) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
12. (9) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
13.(NE) Jon Bon Jovi - Janie, Don't Take Your Love To Town
Technically, this is from a film too, but Jon Bon Jovi made a film of his own album so that doesn't quite count.
14.(NE) Cast - I'm So Lonely
A song that was never in a film at all, apparently! Another fourth single, and the track that ended their run of Top 10 hits (they did manage one more in 1999). It's not a bad track, if not earth-shattering. I'm tempted to say Jake Bugg was listening, but he'd only have been a toddler at this point.
15.(10) Dario G - Sunchyme
16.(NE) 187 Lockdown - Gunman
Well, the video is a movie parody, so it fits the theme. It might actually date from the 1998 re-release of the track, but it's good enough anyway.
17.(12) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
18.(11) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
19.(16) Clock - U Sexy Thing
20.(NE) Roni Size/Reprazent - Brown Paper Bag
Rare Top 20 appearance for the Mercury winners. One of their most commercially appealing singles, a great jazzy rap track, although I couldn't be bothered with the nine-minute album version.
21.(NE) Faithless - Don't Leave {1997 remix}
Third hit associated with A Life Less Ordinary, albeit a remix of a song that had already been a hit for them. A bit of a different sound from their most famous tracks.
22. (6) Peter Andre - Lonely
23.(19) Double 99 - RIP Groove {1997 Re-Release}
24.(NE) Peter Cox - If You Walk Away
Sounds like Westlife with a more soulful singer.
25.(17) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
26. (8) Embrace - All You Good Good People EP
27.(13) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
28.(21) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
29.(15) LL Cool J - Phenomenon
30.(14) Michael Bolton - The Best Of Love/Go The Distance
31.(22) Toni Braxton With Kenny G - How Could An Angel Break My Heart
32.(25) Dannii Minogue - Everything I Wanted
33.(NE) Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Inkanyezi Nezazi (The Star And The Wiseman)
As featured in an advert for baked beans in case you were wondering.
34.(NE) Fabulous Baker Boys - Oh Boy
If house tracks with chipmunk vocals are your thing, enjoy this. Just don't expect to see Michelle Pfeiffer.
35.(30) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
36.(NE) Delirious? - DeEPer {1997 Re-release}
[Deeper; Summer Of Love; Touch; Sanctify]
Second appearance this year for the lead track, though the other three were new to the chart. Not sure what the point of this re-release was, it didn't seem to get any more airplay than first time around and charted lower.
37.(29) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
38.(18) The Bee Gees - Still Waters (Run Deep)
39.(40) Oasis - Stand By Me
40.(31) Diana King - I Say A Little Prayer

47.(NE) Dust Junkys - (Nonstoperation)
One of those many British acts combining hip-hop, dance and rock who were tipped for big things at the end of Britpop but never quite made it, led by sometime 808 State rapper MC Tunes. Maybe if they'd been able to spell the word "junkies" it might have helped.
50.(NE) Radish - Simple Sincerity

52.(NE) Gina G - Every Time I Fall
Six singles was at least one too many.
53.(NE) UB40 - Always There
54.(NE) Paul Van Dyk - Words/Moonlighting ft Toni Halliday
57.(NE) Quad City DJ's - Space Jam

59.(NE) D*Note - Lost And Found
60.(NE) Randy Crawford - Give Me The Night '97
68.(NE) Karen Young - Hot Shot '97

Charting 1997: 8th November

2012-11-02T19:00:00.000+00:00

Would you like a Spotify playlist of this Top 75? Probably not, but I've already made one so here it is.

01. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
Still there.
02.(NE) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
Not being a regular viewer of Neighbours, I'd never heard of her until this charted, and when Mark Goodier explained who she was, I was pleasantly surprised that she could actually sing. For the same reason I was subsequently confused by the controversy surrounding the fact that this was a cover version as if anybody would expect a soap actor to have written their own debut single. This went on to be a massive hit - so much so that I believe the album was rushed forward - and goes down in history as one of those big Number 2 hits that was only denied by something even bigger. Rather like the original 'You Sexy Thing'.
03. (2) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
04. (3) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
05. (4) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
06.(NE) Peter Andre - Lonely
Apparently he doesn't sing this one live any more, it's a bit too high now. It did reappear on a love songs album a couple of years ago though.
07. (8) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
08.(NE) Embrace - All You Good Good People EP
Listed on the chart as an EP, although in fact the two CD formats are different. One offers the full-length version of the title track and three further songs, whilst the other has three other versions of it - including the original version released as a limited 7" on Fierce Panda records earlier in the year - plus the Perfecto remix of 'One Big Family'. I remember Jo Whiley playing that remix on Radio 1 and describing it as sublime. "And from the sublime to... Ginuwine's version of 'When Doves Cry'". Anyway, this is just a single as far as I'm concerned, but if you disagree all eight tracks are on Spotify.
Even though this track is already a re-recording, it was re-recorded again for the album the following year, which is the version used in the US video.
09. (7) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
10. (6) Dario G - Sunchyme
11.(11) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
12.(10) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
13. (5) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
14.(NE) Michael Bolton - The Best Of Love/Go The Distance
His last major hit. The second track was in a Disney film, the first had no such excuse.
15. (9) LL Cool J - Phenomenon
16.(18) Clock - U Sexy Thing
17.(12) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
18.(NE) The Bee Gees - Still Waters (Run Deep)
The last of their production line of little-known hit singles in the 1990s, not counting collaborations.
19.(14) Double 99 - RIP Groove {1997 Re-Release}
20.(NE) Stereophonics - Traffic
Not their best-known song, perhaps, despite (or because of?) moving away from the small-town subject matter of most of the rest their debut album.
21.(23) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
22.(NE) Toni Braxton With Kenny G - How Could An Angel Break My Heart

23.(NE) Beck - Deadweight

As the video makes clear amid all the surrealism, this was the second single released from the soundtrack of A Life Less Ordinary. And the better of them too, as far as I'm concerned but in 1997 Ash were (and possibly still are) the bigger commercial draw in this country.
24.(25) Will Smith - Men In Black
25.(15) Dannii Minogue - Everything I Wanted
26.(26) Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray?
27.(NE) North And South - Breathing
Boy-band + third single + third quarter of the year = rubbish ballad.
28.(NE) Michelle Weeks - Don't Give Up
Not the Peter Gabriel song, no.
29.(21) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
30.(27) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
31.(17) Diana King - I Say A Little Prayer
32.(20) Puff Daddy And The Family - Been Around The World
33.(NE) Sundance - Sundance
More instrumental dance fun. Odd time to release a song with this title.
34.(32) Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
35.(13) Goldie - Digital ft KRS One
36.(22) Roy Davis Jr - Gabriel ft Peven Everett
37.(NE) Rialto - Monday Morning 5:19
Their first hit and though not the biggest, the one that they seemed to keep re-recording, reworking and even translating into French for various releases. Still a pretty decent song.
38.(31) Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun
39.(NE) Coco - I Need A Miracle
Technically already a re-release of a single released on an indie label, this is better known as part of what we'd now call a mash-up with Fragma's hit 'Toca Me'. When officially released (credited to Fragma) that version topped the chart in 2000.
40.(37) Oasis - Stand By Me

41.(NE) Olive - Miracle {1997 Re-Release}
Clearly, the record-buying public only needed one miracle.

46.(NE) Armand Van Helden - Ultrafunkula
48.(NE) 3 Colours Red - This Is My Hollywood
Like Embrace, they were reviving a limited edition debut single. Unlike them they already seemed to have peaked in interest. In fact, 3CR's biggest hit was still to come, but with a power ballad some way from this style.
50.(NE) Echo & The Bunnymen - Don't Let It Get You Down

51.(NE) Soul II Soul - Pleasure Dome
56.(NE) Echobelly - Here Comes The Big Rush
Clearly, Echobelly and Echo & The Bunnymen releasing singles in the same week was just too confusing and neither of them could make the Top 40 then or since. In fact I quite liked this at the time, although I'm not sure how well it's stood the test of time. I never liked that Bunnymen song to start with.

58.(NE) Awesome - Rumours
59.(NE) Common - Reminding Me (Of Sef) ft Chantay Savage
60.(NE) Sandy B - Ain't No Need To Hide

70.(NE) The Knowledge - As (Until The Day)
Dance version of the Stevie Wonder song covered more successfully by George Michael a year later.

Charting 1997: 1st November

2012-10-26T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (2) Aqua - Barbie Girl
Of course, the Spice Girls began their chart career with a new entry at 2 behind a more established act, which climbed to the top the following week. So it's only fitting that they became victims of the same process just over a year later.

02. (1) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
03. (3) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
04. (4) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
05.(NE) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
So this is the highest new entry, and they were already onto the first single from their second album. This is one of their better efforts, wisely sticking to the disco-influenced style rather than doing another sloppy ballad.
06. (5) Dario G - Sunchyme
07.(NE) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
And speaking of disco... Another attempt to exploit the formula of their previous hit versions of 'Stayin Alive' and 'DISCO', though this ups the ante somewhat by sampling the original, hence Rod Stewarts co-credit.
08. (6) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
09.(NE) LL Cool J - Phenomenon
Not his biggest UK hit ever, or even this year, but it seems like one of the songs he's most associated with nowadays. It's a catchy track, although mainly because it uses (with permission) the bassline from 'Who Is He What Is He To You' by Bill Withers (actually sampled from a cover version). LL's whispered boasting sounds to me like his mum's in the next room and he doesn't want her to overhear.
10. (8) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
11. (7) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
12. (9) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
13.(NE) Goldie - Digital ft KRS One
His first album had made him a very high-profile person without any major hit singles, so he had to wait until this single from the second one to make the Top 20. KRS One's lyric makes this, I believe, the first hit single to mention the Internet.
14.(NE) Double 99 - RIP Groove {remixes}
One of the big speed garage hits of the year returns. I'm slightly surprised this wasn't an even bigger hit, it seemed massive at the time.
15.(NE) Dannii Minogue - Everything I Wanted
Heavily used in trails for ITV at the time, if I remember correctly.
16.(NE) The Charlatans - Tellin' Stories
An unprecedented fourth hit single from a Charlatans album. No wonder they were too tired to make a proper video. I do love this track though. Incidentally, the B-sides of this single are their first songs with writing credits to new keyboard player Tony Rogers.
17.(NE) Diana King - I Say A Little Prayer
A rather belated follow-up to her 2005 hit 'Shy Guy', though I presume she'd released other singles elsewhere in the world in the meantime. I'm not sure why she bothered to cover this.
18.(11) Clock - U Sexy Thing
19.(NE) Hurricane #1 - Step Into My World {Perfecto remix}
Six months after it had been their first single, this remixed verion became their first Top 20 hit. Though a fairly straight trad-rock band most of the time, Hurricane #1 did encourage remixes of their work - or more to the point, made more of a feature of it than most rock groups who just used the mixes to pad out B-sides.
I bought this single on 7" and got a receipt that said "HURRICA STEPISS".
20.(NE) Puff Daddy And The Family - Been Around The World
Puffy's fondness for unlikely samples continues with the beat from Bowie's 'Let's Dance' and a chorus derived from Lisa Stansfield's 'All Around The World'. If only the original parts of this were as memorable.
21.(12) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
22.(NE) Roy Davis Jr - Gabriel ft Peven Everett
Rather decent soulful house track, as it turns out.
23.(15) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
24.(NE) Black Grape - Get Higher
Yet another first single from a much-awaited second album. Well, I say that but compared to the Top 10 success of the singles from their first album, this didn't make much impact and the album itself was something of a flop. That can be the trouble with following a suprise hit sometimes. I suppose the creatively-edited Ronald Reagan samples are the main point of interest.
25.(16) Will Smith - Men In Black
26.(13) Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray?
27.(20) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
28.(NE) Depeche Mode - Useless
Yes, they really did have a song called 'Useless' on the same album as one called 'It's No Good'. They weren't really helping themselves there.
29.(NE) Scott Garcia - A London Thing ft MC Styles
Another of the big garage tracks of the era. The title gives a hint as to why it wasn't in the Top 20 though.
30.(NE) Natural Born Chillers - Rock The Funky Beat
More conventional dance here. I didn't mind this one.
31.(19) Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun
32.(10) Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
33.(14) Propellerheads With David Arnold - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
34.(NE) Fatboy Slim - Everybody Needs A 303
Norman Cook's first Top 40 hit under what was probably his best-known alias, and certainly his longest-lasting. This was a remix package of track that had been released the previous year without charting. A 303, for those not in the know, was a type of drum machine.
35.(18) Lighthouse Family - Raincloud
36.(21) Louise - Arms Around The World
37.(22) Oasis - Stand By Me
38.(NE) Byron Stingily - Sing A Song
Apparently he's a teacher now.
39.(24) M People - Just For You
40.(NE) Laguna - Spiller From Rio (Do It Easy)
No connection to the dance act Spiller, as far as I know.

42.(NE) Changing Faces - I Got Somebody Else
47.(NE) Revival 3000 - The Mighty High
48.(NE) Nalin And Kane - Beachball
49.(NE) Bush - Bone Driven
51.(NE) Death In Vegas - Rocco
56.(NE) Tindersticks - Rented Rooms
The video is for the swing version on the second CD format. Maybe I should have bought this one.
60.(NE) Deep Dish - Stranded
72.(NE) Pizzicato Five - Mon Amour Tokyo
75.(RE) Peter Andre - All About Us

Charting 1997: 25th October

2012-10-19T19:00:00.000+01:00

Well, Elton had to be deposed eventually. This of course shows one reason why compiling lists of the "Top Singles Ever" on chart performance is flawed: 'Candle In The Wind '97' was already the biggest-selling single ever but its very fast sales meant a relatively short run.

01.(NE) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
So, here we go then, a sea change from the serious hand-wringing of the Elton track, a song that's self-referential and silly even by Spice standards, and is one of their least-remembered chart-toppers. Despite (or because of?) this, I rather liked it. It does sound a tiny bit like they're shouting "wanker!" in the middle eight, or so I convinced myself at the time.
02.(NE) Aqua - Barbie Girl
And speaking of frivolity... I'm struggling to remember now whether I actually like this record or merely enjoy how much it annoys some people. Either way I win.
03. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
04. (2) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
05. (3) Dario G - Sunchyme
06. (4) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
07. (5) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
08. (6) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
09.(11) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
Their first - and as yet only - Top 10 appearance.
10.(NE) Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
Their only hit this year, and their first with second guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, was the title song of the film that was marketed as a follow-up to Trainspotting: it's not a sequel but it has the same director and some of the same actors. Having got the commission, Tim Wheeler wisely avoided trying to actually sing the song title, but it sounds even more like he's saying "wankers" - apparently the real lyric is "put on your dress, white goddess".
Drummer Rick McMurray was taken ill during the filming of the video, which is why you see so little of him in close-up. Luckily he had a stunt-double anyway.
11.(12) Clock - U Sexy Thing
Another small climber. Maybe Spice Girls fans really liked 70s cover versions?
12. (8) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
13.(NE) Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray?
I think he was supposed to be a sort of 90s version of Shakin' Stevens or something, although it's debatable whether the target audience would have known who Fay Wray and Link Wray were. Oddly this song had some success in America.
14. (7) Propellerheads With David Arnold - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
15.(17) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
16.(14) Will Smith - Men In Black
17.(NE) Primal Scream - Burning Wheel
The opening track from the classic Vanishing Point album, which wins the prize for most abrupt 7" edit of the year - it just seems to start in the middle of a note. Buyers were compensated by the brilliantly funky instrumental 'Hammond Connection', possibly my favourite ever Primal Scream track.
18. (9) Lighthouse Family - Raincloud
19.(NE) Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun
First hit for the US rock act who presumably were riding on the success of No Doubt (though they weren't really as ska-based). I can't remember whether the lyric "I want to buy the world a toke" was left in the UK radio edit. Either way this is a lot better than their bigger US hit 'All Star'.
20.(20) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
21.(15) Louise - Arms Around The World
22.(13) Oasis - Stand By Me
23.(NE) Lil' Kim - Crush On You {1997 Re-release}
Also features Lil' Cease and - for contrast - Notorious BIG. I presume this swift re-release was marketed as a tribute, though it did improve on the original peak.
24.(19) M People - Just For You
25.(NE) Jay-Z - Sunshine ft Babyface And Foxy Brown
One of his more obviously commercial tracks. Not very good, to be honest.
26.(NE) Rolf Harris - Sun Arise {1997 re-recording}
Yes, it's a new version of the song that brought the (faked) sound of the didgeridoo to Britain in the 1960s. Believe it or not, 808 State were involved, and supplied remixes.
27.(22) 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La
28.(NE) 2K - Fuck The Millennium
The KLF at their most pointless and tiresome. Scooter's song of the same title is better.
29.(21) Coolio - Ooh La La
30.(18) Supergrass - Late In The Day
31.(NE) Nuyorican Soul - I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun ft Jocelyn Brown
Pretty if not especially catchy track. I think they were only supposed to be a one-off project.
32.(NE) Belle And Sebastian - 3... 6... 9... Seconds Of Light
[A Century Of Fakers; Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie; Beautiful; Put The Book Back on The Shelf]
Finally they make the Top 40! And with an EP that has no title track, as well. The lead track features the same backing track as 'A Century Of Elvis' from the previous one, but with a sung vocal instead of the spoken word. The second track is based on some graffiti that Alex Kapranos (later of Franz Ferdinand) saw written on a local branch of Greggs.
The other two songs are exclusive to the CD and 12" formats, as is the hidden bonus track 'Songs For Children'. Not bad for £1:99.
33.(23) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
34.(16) Busta Rhymes - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
35.(27) Roachford - The Way I Feel
36.(NE) Lalo Schifrin - Bullitt
Yes, the music from the film, reissued thanks to this advert - cutting edge if controversial at the time.
37.(10) Mansun - Seven (EP) - Closed For Business
38.(NE) Travis - Happy
The only one of their first 11 charting singles not to outpeak the one before it, fact fans.
39.(31) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
40.(34) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You

44.(NE) Poppers Presents Aura - Every Little Time
45.(NE) Lynden David Hall - Sexy Cinderella
48.(NE) The Supernaturals - Prepare To Land
Remixed slightly from the album version. Seemingly one single too far though.
49.(NE) Martha Wash - Carry On '97
51.(NE) De Bos - On The Run
54.(NE) Vanessa-Mae - Storm
58.(NE) The Corrs - Only When I Sleep
First single from the Talk On Corners album, which was to be one of the biggest of 1998.
60.(NE) Hardfloor - Acperience
68.(NE) Cecil - Hostage In A Frock
70.(NE) Sparks - Number One Song In Heaven {1997}
In what seems coincidentally in tune with the trends of late 2012, they did an album re-recording a load of their old songs in modernised versions. I believe Jimmy Somerville contributed to this track.

Charting 1997: 18th October

2012-10-12T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
02.(NE) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
It's another Number 2 for Sash! - if you're taking notes it's his third in a row to enter and peak at this position. It's also his third consecutive hit in a different language; English in this case.
03. (2) Dario G - Sunchyme
04. (3) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
05. (4) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
06. (7) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
07.(NE) Propellerheads With David Arnold - On Her Majesty's Secret Service

I don't normally think of 35th anniversaries as being a cause for big celebrations, but there seem to have been a lot of tie-ins for the anniversary of the James Bond films in the final quarter of 1997, probably because there was a new film out that year. We'll come to that in due course, but our first taste comes with this cover version of the instrumental theme from the 1968 Bond film: the original was not a hit, and coincidentally the other big song from that movie hadn't been a hit until the 1990s either ('We Have All The Time In The World' by Louis Armstrong finally charted in 1994).
This track was taken from Arnold's Shaken And Stirred Bond covers album, although by the time of release he had become an offical Bond composer himself. It proved to be the first Top 10 single for both Arnold and Propellorheads, and remains the only one to credit either of them directly. It's a rather good update of the original too, respectful but of its time. Some classic London Underground architecture in the video too, and there's a poster for fellow 1997 chart act Ginuwine at 3:17.
08. (9) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
09. (6) Lighthouse Family - Raincloud
10.(NE) Mansun - Seven (EP) - Closed For Business
After only five hit singles from the first album they rounded off the year with four entirely new songs (plus a selection of acoustic and live offcuts for the second CD and limited 7" - it was the 1990s after all!). For completists, the other tracks were 'K.I.Double.S.I.N.G.'; 'Everyone Must Win' (co-written by Howard Devoto from Magazine) and 'The World's Still Open'
11.(NE) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
A cover of the slushy Carole King song, and it sounds like they were desperate for a hit.
12.(NE) Clock - U Sexy Thing
Another cover. And not the last version of this song we'll hear this year, either. At least it's less slushy than the BNH record, and it's Clock doing what you'd expect.
13. (5) Oasis - Stand By Me
14. (8) Will Smith - Men In Black
15.(10) Louise - Arms Around The World
16.(NE) Busta Rhymes - Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
One of those songs where the elaborate Hype Williams promo video is really more memorable than the track itself, but to give Busta his due he's still having hits in this decade so he must be doing something right.
17.(11) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
18.(NE) Supergrass - Late In The Day
Their first "serious" single, so they did a video where they're jumping about on pogo sticks but it's in black and white. I like this song and bought it on 7" (it's on gold vinyl and all) but it's not an obvious hit. That fade-in was not what you'd call radio-friendly.
19.(13) M People - Just For You
20.(15) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
21.(14) Coolio - Ooh La La
22.(18) 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La
23.(17) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
24.(NE) Feeder - High
Already their fourth hit of the year, this was their first of many Top 40 appearances. I was never keen on it though, a rather washed-out grunge ballad that sounds a bit too much like a conscious attempt at a hit.
25.(NE) Sheryl Crow - Home
And here's a fifth single from the self-titled album, another song that I quite liked as an album track but it didn't work so well of context. I didn't buy any of the three CD single formats.
26.(NE) The Wildhearts - Urge
By this point they were consciously burying any traces of a song under waves of noise, but could still rely on the fans to snap it up in droves.
27.(20) Roachford - The Way I Feel
28.(NE) Levellers - Celebrate
Features Eddi Reader on backing vocals. What's she doing on this piece of shhhhhhhhhh...surely very high-quality folk-rock?
29.(19) DJ Flavours - Your Caress (All I Need)
30.(12) Foxy Brown - Big Bad Mamma ft Dru Hill
31.(24) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
32.(16) The Seahorses - Love Me And Leave Me
33.(NE) Universal - Make It With You
Still with the Seventies covers. You can see how much the grannies in that studio audience loved seeing them dry humping the set.
34.(27) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
35.(NE) Silver Sun - Lava {1997 re-issue}
I'd bought this the first time it came out and here I was buying it again, although I have to admit that I never liked it quite as much once I found out what the words were. I still ended up buying all three formats of this re-release, the coloured 7" and two CDs: one of them was a newfangled enhanced CD with the video. Ironically, that video isn't on YouTube.
36.(NE) The Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy
This video is on YouTube of course, but far too creepy to embed. Click at your own risk.
It's fair to say that this sounded rather out of place on the Top 40 countdown, even in this fairly oddball week. I'm not sure how much sense it makes in sound only anyway.
37.(NE) Omar - Golden Brown
Well, an eighties cover for a change. Although quite why he thought covering this song made any sense at all is not really clear.
38.(23) Catch - Bingo
39.(31) Hanson - Where's The Love
40.(NE) Catatonia - I Am The Mob

The first single from their second album, which was originally supposed to come out a few weeks later but was postponed into 1998, presumably because this single wasn't going to do much. Fortunately for the band's short-term future at least, they pulled off some massive hits in the new year and Cerys Matthews was briefly one of the biggest pop stars in Britain. It's debatable whether there was ever a better showcase for her than this lowly Number 40 hit, assertive but silly. Is this the only hit single with the word "kecks" in it?

42.(NE) Morrissey - Roy's Keen
See what he's done there? "We've never seen a keener window cleaner" indeed.
49.(NE) Malandra Burrows - Carnival In Heaven
52.(NE) Sharada House Gang - Gypsy Boy, Gypsy Girl
58.(NE) Rampage - Take It To The Streets ft Billy Lawrence
60.(NE) Lustral - Everytime
62.(NE) Howie B - Switch

66.(NE) Apache Indian - Real People
67.(NE) Scarfo - Cosmonaut No 7
One of them is now more famous for being married to Kate Moss.
71.(NE) Edwyn Collins - Adidas World
Still his last charting single to date (not counting the recent re-entry of 'A Girl Like You') this is Collins at his splenetic best. Not one that was ever likely to go down well with radio programmers, alas.

Charting 1997: 11th October

2012-10-05T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
Still not budging.
02. (3) Dario G - Sunchyme
03.(NE) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
So this is the highest new entry of the week. One of their most popular songs although I never liked it. And "people say... I am blind, risking it all in a glance" doesn't quite work as a metaphor.
04.(NE) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
Possibly their sappiest song, which if anything I hated even more than the Backstreet Boys. Their last single as a trio and their last to make the Top 10, it was later a US chart-topper for Monica, though her version flopped here.
05. (2) Oasis - Stand By Me
06.(NE) Lighthouse Family - Raincloud
Lead single from their second album and the point where their ubiquity started to grate. Also, it's a watered-down version of 'Another Star' by Stevie Wonder isn't it?
07. (5) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
08. (9) Will Smith - Men In Black
09. (6) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
10. (4) Louise - Arms Around The World
11.(11) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
12.(NE) Foxy Brown - Big Bad Mamma ft Dru Hill
So called because it samples the old funk hit 'She's A Bad Mama Jama', this was from the soundtrack to the film How To Be A Player. No, neither had I.
13. (8) M People - Just For You
14.(NE) Coolio - Ooh La La
I have a vague idea this might have been in a film too, but it was also the second single from his album, and his last major UK hit. It samples 'Pull Up To The Bumper'.
15.(10) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
16.(NE) The Seahorses - Love Me And Leave Me
The chart debut of Liam Gallagher as a songwriter (he co-wrote it with John Squire). Fittingly, the first line of the song is copied from a John Lennon number.
17.(12) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
18.(13) 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La
19.(NE) DJ Flavours - Your Caress (All I Need)
The model in the video was Emma Morton-Smith, who had a Top 5 hit of her own in early 1999 with a cover of 'More Than This' by Roxy Music.
20.(NE) Roachford - The Way I Feel
Another comeback single from a soul act. Not his best work, but not as boring as the Lighthouse Family.
21.(NE) Paul Weller - Friday Street
One of his best singles of this era, not least because it's so concise. As you can see from the making-of footage on YouTube, the video was shot in the street where he used to live, which seems to suit the vibe well enough even if you can't tell when it's supposed to be set.

22.(NE) DJ Shadow - High Noon
His highest UK chart position (as a solo artist) came with this track, a non-album single until he released a best-of last week. No really, he did, it just went completely unnoticed. Anyway, though I don't remember this at all from the time I bought it on 12" subsequently and think it's rather good. Creepy video though.
23.(NE) Catch - Bingo
Another creepy video, though in a slightly different way. At least it's the uncensored version. A short-lived act somewhere on the border between Britpop and boyband, they were evidently much fancied within the industry, but this proved to be their only Top 40 hit and their album was only released in Indonesia.
That video already had an unfortunate place in history: it was showing on the late-night repeat of the ITV Chart Show when it was faded out for the announcement of Princess Diana's car accident.
24.(14) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
25.(NE) Green Day - Hitchin' A Ride
The first single from their "experimental" fifth album which is slightly more interesting than the one-dimensional punk-pop they'd made their millions from. 15 years on, Billie Joe Armstrong has recently checked into rehab, which lends a certain irony to the lyric "I'm off the wagon and hitching a ride".
26. (7) U2 - Please
27.(18) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
28.(15) Blackstreet - Fix
29.(NE) East 57th Street - Saturday ft Donna Allen
Later sampled as a theme tune for Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.
30.(NE) The Jam - The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had To Swallow) {1997 re-issue}
Double dose of Weller this week, a single re-issued as part of the group's 20th anniversary celebrations and to promote a single-disc best of: all four tracks on the CD single had already appeared on the boxed set earlier that year so I didn't bother buying this.
31.(20) Hanson - Where's The Love
32.(17) Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
33.(16) No Doubt - Spiderwebs
34.(19) George Michael - You Have Been Loved
35.(21) Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
36.(26) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
37.(25) Mariah Carey - Honey
38.(33) Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
39.(NE) Filter And The Crystal Method - (Can't You) Trip Like I Do
Another song from a film, combining the "talents" of second-rate grunge band and second-rate electronica act whose name nobody here understood at the time.
40.(24) House Traffic - Every Day Of My Life

43.(NE) Strangelove - Freak
45.(NE) D-Influence - Magic
50.(NE) Lo-Fidelity Allstars - Disco Machine Gun
Big favourites at the NME and late-night Radio 1, who seemed about to have their first Top 40 hit... until the single was withdrawn after two days due to an uncleared sample of 'Cannonball' by the Breeders. That's already been excised from the promo video but you can hear it just before the vocal comes in here. As part of the settlement, not only did the sample have to be removed but even the song title was ruled to be too similar, so the track eventually appeared on album as 'Blisters On My Brain'.
53.(NE) Morcheeba - Shoulder Holster
58.(NE) Kaleef - I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)
73.(NE) Progress Funk - Around My Brain

Charting 1997: 4th October

2012-09-28T19:00:00.000+01:00

Some big names this week, and even a couple of climbers. No change at the top of course.

01. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
In percentage, or indeed nominal, terms there was a big sales decrease from the previous week, but it was still in seven figures, and demand was still at least keeping pace with supply if not outstripping it.
02.(NE) Oasis - Stand By Me
The week's biggest new single and a big seller by most standards at 137,000, but obviously no match for Elton. Ironically, it's probably the most loved of the three singles from Be Here Now but the only one not to top the chart.
03. (2) Dario G - Sunchyme
Actually sold more this week than last, but was still overtaken by Oasis.
04.(NE) Louise - Arms Around The World
Launching her second album with her highest chart peak to date on a song where somebody's pressed the button marked "ethnic" on a synthesiser.
05. (3) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
06.(NE) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
Joni's second singles chart appearance comes via a sample of her first ('Big Yellow Taxi' of course). I always thought this record was a bit of a mess but then I've never got what the fuss was about with Janet Jackson.
07.(NE) U2 - Please
It only seems like a couple of weeks since 'Last Night On Earth', but here's the fourth single from Pop, a song about the Northern Ireland peace process. Yep, Bono's saving the world again.
08.(NE) M People - Just For You
Another big comeback act. I actually thought this was an OK single, atypically subtle.
09. (5) Will Smith - Men In Black
10. (4) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
11. (9) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
12. (8) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
13.(NE) 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La
Dance record sampling 'Gypsy Woman'. I suppose it had to happen.
14.(13) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
15. (7) Blackstreet - Fix
16.(NE) No Doubt - Spiderwebs
Their third UK hit, which I'd totally forgotten about. Mind you, I don't remember hearing much of it at the time either, I think it was selling on reflected glory. It does mean that this Top 40 features alumni of both my primary and secondary schools.
17.(10) Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
18.(12) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
19. (6) George Michael - You Have Been Loved
20.(11) Hanson - Where's The Love
21.(16) Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
22.(NE) The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby?
The first single from their last album of the century, Bridges To Babylon. The chorus is so similar to kd lang's 'Constant Craving' that she (and co-writer Ben Mink) get a credit and share of the royalties. It also features former Beach Boy Blondie Chaplin on backing vocals and percussion. Still not really any good though.
23.(NE) Pixies - Debaser
Reaching their highest chart position five years after they'd split (and another five or six before they reunited). This was a belated single release of the opening track from their 1989 album Bossanova, promoting a best-of compilation. Each of the three formats lead with a different version of 'Debaser' itself - a radio mix on one CD, a live version on the other and a demo on the 7".
24.(NE) House Traffic - Every Day Of My Life
Italian house music. You kind of know what to expect.
25.(18) Mariah Carey - Honey
26.(17) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
27.(NE) Super Furry Animals - Play It Cool

I'm not making a point of embedding all the Super Furries videos, but this one is so brilliant I couldn't resist it. The track itself isn't their best to be honest, although it's re-recorded from the album version. I still bought it on 7" in a poster-bag sleeve.
28.(NE) Sleeper - She's A Good Girl
The comeback lead single from their third album which was probably expected to be a lot bigger. It's not bad - and it's certainly better than that weird soap about a female rock band that Louise Wener's had on Radio 2 this week in 2012 - but people were obviously starting to lose interest. Many of the other Britpop acts were about to find themselves in the same position.
29.(35) Chris De Burgh - So Beautiful
Creeping into the (singles) Top 30 for only the fourth time in his career, though two of the others had made the Top 3.
30.(NE) Daft Punk - Burnin'
The point where they crossed the line from exciting dance music to sounding like a fire alarm.
31.(19) Mark Morrison - Who's The Mack!
32.(24) Gala - Freed From Desire
33.(37) Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
Unusual for a single to climb from such a low entry in those days.
34.(NE) Mrs Wood - Joanna {1997 mix}
Remix of a Number 40 from two years earlier. She was really called Jane Rolink, I don't know whether there was a Mr Wood.
35.(34) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
36.(20) Adam F - Circles
37.(32) DJ Quicksilver - Free
38.(30) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
39.(31) The Sundays - Summertime
40.(14) Robbie Williams - South Of The Border

54.(NE) Rangers FC - Glasgow Rangers (Nine In A Row)
How times have changed.
58.(NE) Pierre Henry And Michel Colombier - Psyche Rock

62.(NE) T2 - You Got The Love ft Robin S
Apparently not the same song as the Candi Staton/Source one.
63.(NE) Mint Condition - Let Me Be The One
64.(NE) Black Science Orchestra Vs Lisa Stansfield - The Line/D Disco
Another remix granted her a fourth chart single of the year.
68.(NE) Rootjoose - Long Way

Charting 1997: 27th September

2012-09-21T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
Its first full week of sales and the biggest weekly sale in UK chart history: 1,546,688.
02.(NE) Dario G - Sunchyme
As a result, this record holds the unenviable record for biggest ever losing margin by a Number 2 single; it "only" sold about 86000. I was never a fan but I can deny it made its mark - if you're trying to remember it, it's the dance track that samples 'Life In A Northern Town' by Dream Academy.
03. (5) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
04. (3) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
05. (4) Will Smith - Men In Black
06. (2) George Michael - You Have Been Loved
07.(NE) Blackstreet - Fix
Not one I remember at all from the time, but it proves to be a soul-rock-rap crossover featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Slash. Despite that it's actually not bad, although one of Blackstreet keeps shouting over it annoyingly.
08.(NE) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
Very much the era of the vaguely Latin dance track.
09.(12) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
10. (6) Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
11. (7) Hanson - Where's The Love
12.(11) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
13.(14) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
Not sure why this climbed. It hadn't got any better.
14.(NE) Robbie Williams - South Of The Border
Missing the Top 10 for the first time in his solo career (and the last time until 2006) with this poor-even-by-his-standards Oasis pastiche. The title would fit neatly with the Bellini song were it not blatantly about blowjobs.
15.(NE) Blur - MOR

Also the end to a long run of Top 10s: their previous seven singles had got there and only one missed the Top 5. That's despite this being heavily re-worked from the album version - though confusingly, the video is cut to the US single version, which is different again. The original idea for the video was for the stuntmen to be wearing realistic masks of the band members, but apparently when they arrived on set they were so unconvincing they had to be covered by balaclavas, which rather ruined the concept. I still like it though.
Though not Blur's biggest hit, it did attract attention from lawyers for David Bowie and Brian Eno, who pointed out that the composition is not entirely unlike 'Boys Keep Swinging' and resulted in a change to the writing credit.
16.(10) Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
17. (9) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
18.(16) Mariah Carey - Honey
19.(13) Mark Morrison - Who's The Mack!
20.(NE) Adam F - Circles
Alvin Stardust's son with a dance track I actually do remember from the time. It's aged pretty well, better in my opinion than all the shouty rap records he made a few years later.
21.(NE) Brownstone - Kiss And Tell
This week's forgotten RnB girlgroup hit..
22.(NE) Joe - The Love Scene
...And this week's forgotten RnB loverman hit. Ever consider a more exciting stage name?
23.(19) N-Tyce - We Come To Party
24.(20) Gala - Freed From Desire
25.(NE) Wyclef Jean - Guantanamera ft Refugee Allstars
I'm not sure whether the Refugee Allstars actually existed or were just a subtle way to remind you which band Wyclef and Lauryn Hill came from, but either way his second solo hit was a version of the Cuban song known to football fans as 'There's only one [insert name here]'.
26. (8) Portishead - All Mine
27.(25) Finley Quaye - Even After All
28.(NE) TJR - Just Gets Better ft Xavier
Another anonymous dance act, but an OK song.
29.(NE) Genesis - Congo
Their first single since the departure of Phil Collins. The two remaining original members recruited replacement singer Ray Wilson, previously of chart-topping grunge cash-in act Stiltskin, though he wasn't granted full band membership. I presume they brought in a new drummer too, but nobody ever mentions him.
Either way, this was the only Top 40 hit by this incarnation of the act, and the album performed poorly, particularly in America (it had entered at 2 here but tailed off fast) so they called it a day. They did of course reconvene a decade later with Collins for a tour but no more new material.
30.(27) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
31.(15) The Sundays - Summertime
32.(23) DJ Quicksilver - Free
33.(24) Cast - Live The Dream
34.(26) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
35.(NE) Chris De Burgh - So Beautiful
His last Top 40 single, barring a guest vocal on a charity single at the back end of 2010.
36.(29) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
37.(NE) Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
One of those irritating US frat-boy hits that would make minor but persistent incursions to the UK chart around this time.
38.(28) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
39.(36) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
40.(18) Jaydee - Plastic Dreams

44.(NE) Eat Static - Interceptor
46.(NE) Fluke - Squirt
48.(NE) Vicki Sue Robinson - House Of Joy
50.(NE) Mike Scott - Love Anyway
During the brief period when the only constant member of the Waterboys wasn't using the name. You can tell he wasn't keen on making videos.
55.(NE) Savage Garden - To The Moon And Back
For a while they looked like one-hit-wonders. We should have enjoyed it while it lasted.
61.(NE) JDS - Nine Ways
65.(NE) Niagra - Cloudburst

68.(NE) Freakyman - Discobug '97
69.(NE) The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Ca$h {1997 remix}
Good song, poor mix. Can't remember whether there was any good reason for this.
74.(NE) China Drum - Somewhere Else

Charting 1997: 20th September

2012-09-14T19:00:00.000+01:00

01.(NE) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
OK, you knew this one was coming didn't you? And I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that this went on to become the biggest-selling single of the year, and indeed of all time. The nominal A-side was the single he'd been planning to release anyway, although the original cover art would probably have seemed inappropriate now.
02.(NE) George Michael - You Have Been Loved
It's not uncommon for a single to lead the pack all week long and then be overtaken on the last day - indeed it could happen this weekend - but in no such case has a record ended up with a losing margin of over half a million. This was of course because the Elton John single was rush-released on the Saturday.
I'm sure he wouldn't have anyway, but at least in this case he can hardly complain that the Number One position was stolen away from him by external events; though this song was over a year old (as was its sometimes listed flipside 'The Strangest Thing') and the release had obviously been scheduled long in advance, a song about bereavement was well-placed to tap into the public mood after Diana's death. And of course, this was the sixth single from his Older album to make the Top 3.
03. (1) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
04. (2) Will Smith - Men In Black
05. (2) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
06.(NE) Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
In other news, the UK chart debut of the former Menudo singer and Spanglish superstar. It was almost another two years until 'Livin La Vida Loca' became so big as to obliterate popular memory of his earlier hits.
07. (4) Hanson - Where's The Love
08.(NE) Portishead - All Mine
The first fully-released single from their long-awaited second album (although in retrospect, three years doesn't seem that long) became their first and only Top 10 hit. It's also their only song to have been covered by Tom Jones.
09. (6) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
10.(NE) Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
Another song mopey enough to have gained from the mood.
11. (5) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
12. (9) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
13.(NE) Mark Morrison - Who's The Mack!
His comeback hit from the stopgap mini-album Only God Can Judge Me, which also includes interviews and prayers.
14.(NE) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
The legendary reggae rhythm section who've played on countless hits but only had a couple in their own names. Here they and Mick Hucknall cover the old Gregory Isaacs hit to underwhelming effect.
15.(NE) The Sundays - Summertime
An act who'd kept their fans waiting even longer than Portishead's for new material, so I'd never heard of them until this single. But I liked it and bought the red vinyl 7". I later discovered the guitarist went to my school.
16. (8) Mariah Carey - Honey
17.(NE) The Chemical Brothers - Elektrobank

The third single from Dig Your Own Hole was never likely to follow the first two to the top of the charts but it falls way short here. Memorable video though.
18.(NE) Jaydee - Plastic Dreams
Not bad electronic number, though I don't especially remember it from the time.
19.(12) N-Tyce - We Come To Party
20.(13) Gala - Freed From Desire
21.(NE) Snoop Doggy Dogg - We Just Wanna Party With You ft JD
JD is famous producer Jermaine Dupri, of course.
22.(NE) Kylie Minogue - Some Kind Of Bliss
The start of the Indiekylie persona, a song with writing and production input from members of the Manic Street Preachers only five years (or one week) after they'd failed to get her onto 'Little Baby Nothing'. Unfortunately, it was for a long time her smallest ever solo hit and the album probably would have been postponed even if it didn't have the potentially controversial title Impossible Princess.
23.(11) DJ Quicksilver - Free
24. (7) Cast - Live The Dream
25.(10) Finley Quaye - Even After All
26.(15) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
27.(18) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
28.(NE) Marilyn Manson - Tourniquet
Following his other hit in the same vein. Ahem.
29.(19) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
30.(22) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
31.(NE) Tin Tin Out - Strings For Yasmin
OK as Tin Tin Out songs go. Coincidentally, they would later have a major hit with a cover of a Sundays song
32.(14) Staxx - Joy {1997}
33.(27) Mary J Blige - Everything
34.(17) Chicane With Power Circle - Offshore '97
35.(NE) Praxis - Turn Me Out (Turn To Sugar) ft Kathy Brown
I do actually remember Mark Goodier announcing this as a new entry. More so than I remember the record, alas.
36.(28) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
37.(NE) Deni Hines - I Like The Way
This must have been when they realised the UK wasn't going to be a big market for her.
38.(24) Ginuwine - When Doves Cry
39.(32) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
40.(20) Ocean Colour Scene - Traveller's Tune

41.(NE) Dubstar - Cathedral Park
Their first single to miss the Top 40, albeit only just.
45.(NE) B-Crew - Partay Feeling ft Barbara Tucker, Ultra Nate, Dajae And Mone
52.(NE) Mr President - I Give You My Heart
My brother bought this single. Not many other people did.
55.(NE) Monaco - Shine (Someone Who Needs Me)
59.(NE) Chilli - Tic Tic Tac (Dance To Boi Bumba!) ft Carrapicho
64.(RE) Gary Barlow - So Help Me Girl
66.(NE) KRS-One - Heartbeat/A Friend/Step Into A World
70.(NE) Chevelle Franklyn - Dancehall Queen ft Beenie Man
71.(NE) Helen Love - Does Your Heart Go Boom?
Dissing fellow 1997 hitmakers Bush and Kula Shaker, but namechecking Atari Teenage Riot.
72.(NE) PJ - Happy Days
Apparently not Ant McPartlin gone solo.
75.(NE) Shades - Serenade

Charting 1997: 13th September

2012-09-07T19:00:00.000+01:00

Interesting times for the chart this week, as the sales period officially began on Sunday the 31st of December, the day when Britain woke up to the news that Diana Princess of Wales had died. Whatever you felt about that at the time, it had a massive impact on what songs got played on the radio this week, and the knock-on effects are visible here.

01.(NE) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
Of course, this one was already hotly-tipped for the top anyway, but the sombre mood abroad this week probably gave it a hand too. I loved them at the time although I never got round to buying this single.
02. (1) Will Smith - Men In Black
03. (2) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
Only falling one place on the sales chart, but more like 40 places on the airplay one (it did recover later)
04.(NE) Hanson - Where's The Love
Their second British hit, complete with a video shot here in London the day after 'Mmmbop' entered at 1. Topically, also the first record Chris Moyles played at Radio 1.
05. (6) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
There was some speculation that this might actually return to the top again. It never happened, possibly because the Verve sopped up some of that market.
06. (4) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
07.(NE) Cast - Live The Dream
Their sixth consecutive Top 10 single, with a title that became a catchphrase for Steve Lamacq, coincidentally or otherwise. One of their prettier songs but a bit inconsequential.
08. (3) Mariah Carey - Honey
09.(11) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
10.(NE) Finley Quaye - Even After All
A rather more likeable track than his first single, at least in retrospect.
11. (7) DJ Quicksilver - Free
12.(NE) N-Tyce - We Come To Party
Oddly-spelt girl-group klaxon!
13. (9) Gala - Freed From Desire
14.(NE) Staxx - Joy {1997 remix}
A dance track that was a Top 30 hit in 1993, now reworked to give them their only Top 20 appearance.
15.(12) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
16.(NE) Kavana - Crazy Chance '97
And speaking of remixes... Hard not to suspect that the point of the new version was mainly to sell this to his fans again.
17.(NE) Chicane With Power Circle - Offshore '97
A few years before mash-up hits became ubiquitous, this was a legit version of a bootleg combining Chicane's 1996 hit 'Offshore' with a vocal from Power Circle's 'A Little Love A Little Life', hence the credit. Presumably Power Circle's management couldn't persuade the label to represent their song title as well.
18.(14) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
19.(13) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
20. (5) Ocean Colour Scene - Traveller's Tune
21.(NE) Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love
You know how everybody goes on about Led Zep not releasing singles? They tend to forget about this slightly pointless (and as it turned out, not ideally-timed) release. Presumably this was intended to promote the upcoming BBC sessions album, although this is the studio version. Either way it was probably intended to make a bigger impact after all those years.
22.(15) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
23.(NE) Boris Dlugosch Presents Boom! - Hold Your Head Up High
The German producer later famous for remixing Moloko's 'Sing It Back', and apparently Mousse T was also involved.
24.(10) Ginuwine - When Doves Cry
25.(21) Conner Reeves - My Father's Son
26.(NE) Ce Ce Peniston - Finally {1997 remix}
Apparently the 1st of September was National Release A Remix Day. Not sure this song needed it really.
27.(22) Mary J Blige - Everything
28.(19) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
29. (8) Radiohead - Karma Police
30.(NE) Echo & The Bunnymen - I Want To Be There When You Come
Underwhelming performance for the follow-up to a Top 10 comeback, but then it's not really much of a song.
31.(NE) Roni Size/Reprazent - Heroes
Sorry the video cuts off a bit early there. First mainstream hit for the Bristol DnB producer and his band. Good soul track really, seems a bit forgotten now.
32.(23) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
33.(18) Refugee Allstars/Lauryn Hill - The Sweetest Thing
34.(NE) SWV - Someone ft Puff Daddy
Despite man of the moment Sean Combs appearing, a single that underperformed in both the UK and the US.
35.(NE) Eels - Your Lucky Day In Hell
This probably wasn't going to follow their previous two singles into the Top 10 anyway, but it's an obvious victim of its release date. A very good song though, one of the first I ever heard by them.
36.(16) No Mercy - Kiss You All Over
37.(27) Ultra Nate - Free
38.(17) Bentley Rhythm Ace - Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out!
39.(24) Boyzone - Picture Of You
40.(NE) 'N Sync - Tearin' Up My Heart
First sighting of Justin Timberlake in the UK chart, although 'N Sync always seemed to suffer in European markets from the fact that Backstreet Boys got here first. This did go on to become a Top 10 hit in 1999, though.

41.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - Motorcycle Emptiness {1997 re-issue}
Their biggest pre-1996 song (in sales and familiarity, if not chart position) leads the pack of a set of re-releases of all six singles from their debut album. It's a safe bet that this would have gone T40 a week earlier.
43.(NE) Nine Inch Nails - The Perfect Drug
49.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - You Love Us {1997 re-issue}
This is of course a re-release of the 1992 re-recording, which had gone Top 20, rather than the original version from the previous year.
50.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - Little Baby Nothing {1997 re-issue}
Later quoted in a Steps press release, apparently. Notable for the appearance in the video of Shampoo, whose entire chart career took place between the original release and this re-issue.
52.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - Stay Beautiful {1997 re-issue}
Had been their very first Top 40 hit in the summer of 1991.
54.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - Slash 'N' Burn {1997 re-issue}
The only one of these releases to differ in content from the original - in 1992 this included the rare early single 'Motown Junk', which was probably a major contributor to its Top 20 placing, but that was dropped on this occasion.
55.(NE) Manic Street Preachers - Love's Sweet Exile/Repeat {1997 re-issue}
Presumably selling worst of the six because there was only one track not already available on the album. And little casual trade for these songs, I'd imagine.

60.(NE) Stereolab - Miss Modular
63.(NE) T-Shirt - You Sexy Thing
A big hit in Australia, apparently. One of the members was Miranda Cooper, later famous as part of the Xenomania songwriting/production collective.
64.(NE) Tilt - Places
66.(NE) Jimmy Somerville - Dark Sky
74.(NE) Arab Strap - The Girls Of Summer (EP)
[Hey! Fever; Girls Of Summer; The Beautiful Barmaids Of Dundee; One Day, After School]

Charting 1997: 6th September 1997

2012-08-31T19:00:00.000+01:00

Bit of a special this week - it's the chart that was never broadcast on Radio 1, due to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales the night before. It was finally announced when Music Week was published later that week and it's in all the books now so it's not exactly exclusive, but still a bit of a change from the norm. I've even made a Spotify playlist of the 35 available tracks in countdown order.

01. (2) Will Smith - Men In Black
02. (2) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
03.(NE) Mariah Carey - Honey
So, this was the biggest new hit of the week, another much hyped Mariah release with the hippest names of the day and a massively expensive video.
04.(NE) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
The chart debut of the second biggest girl group of this era, who were taken irritatingly seriously at the time. Actually, with hindsight this isn't that bad, apart from the really clumsy rapping in the middle.
05.(NE) Ocean Colour Scene - Traveller's Tune
A re-recording of a B-side (from the second CD format of 'The Day We Caught The Train') became their fifth consecutive Top 10 hit and the second single from the Marchin Already album. Rarely mentioned nowadays but even my brother didn't mind it at the time, a punchy if not completely convincing Northern Soul pastiche.
06. (4) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
07.(NE) DJ Quicksilver - Free
Not the same song as Ultra Naté's hit holding on at 27, though I believe they were on the same label. It's more instrumental trance.
08.(NE) Radiohead - Karma Police

Second single from OK Computer of course. I don't think I've mentioned it on here before, but I actually heard the album being played over the speakers in Andy's Records a couple of weeks before it came out, which was really exciting back then. I remember noticing that there was a track that sounded a bit like 'Dark Night' by Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, and here it is, although the resemblance isn't quite as clear when you can hear the production in full; I've always loved the way they got the acoustic guitars to sound on here.
It's accompanied by one of the great videos of the year too, although one that wasn't being shown much in early September for obvious reasons.
09. (5) Gala - Freed From Desire
10.(NE) Ginuwine - When Doves Cry
Around the turn of the century, Timbaland gained a reputation as one of the greatest producers in the world, but it sounds like he's learning his craft here, although it would have worked better with a more interesting singer than Ginuwine. The minimalism and tension of the original are totally lost.
Oh, and you know how he says he's going to take you way back? The original of this song was in the Top 20 exactly 13 years earlier, so was newer then than this is now.
11. (7) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
12. (3) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
13. (6) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
14. (8) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
15. (9) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
16.(NE) No Mercy - Kiss You All Over
Frank's boys return with a cover of Exile's not very good 1970s hit. They don't make it a lot worse.
17.(NE) Bentley Rhythm Ace - Bentley's Gonna Sort You Out!
Jokers in the pack of big beat, the Brummie duo score their only major hit with this major-label reissue of their early "carbootechno" single. Unfortunately, they didn't follow it up for another three years, by which time interest had waned.
18.(NE) Refugee Allstars/Lauryn Hill - The Sweetest Thing
Little did we know that the Fugees had already had their last hit, as they splintered into various projects. This was Hill's first success outside the group, and a song I found surprisingly pleasant in a laid-back way.
19.(11) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
20.(NE) En Vogue - Too Gone, Too Long
Unexciting Diane Warren ballad pretending to be RnB.
21.(12) Conner Reeves - My Father's Son
22.(13) Mary J Blige - Everything
23.(15) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
24.(17) Boyzone - Picture Of You
25.(NE) Gina G - Gimme Some Love
Still milking the one big hit.
26.(14) UB40 - Tell Me Is It True
27.(19) Ultra Nate - Free
28.(10) Jon Bon Jovi - Queen Of New Orleans
29.(21) OTT - All Out Of Love
30.(NE) Hurricane #1 - Chain Reaction
Third single and perhaps their most blatant Oasis pastiche yet. Maybe this was Andy Bell's way of auditioning? They proved not to be much more than a footnote, but even for them this is an overlooked hit.
31.(23) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
32.(20) Wet Wet Wet - Yesterday
33.(29) Livin' Joy - Deep In You
34.(16) Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
35.(NE) The Cardigans - Your New Cuckoo
The eventual follow-up to the 'Lovefool' re-issue, and the only hit they didn't include on their Best Of album. Apparently they don't like it very much and it doesn't look like many other people did either but I thought it was cute.
36.(26) Texas - Black Eyed Boy
37.(28) Sash! - Ecuador
38.(18) Foo Fighters - Everlong
39.(30) Peter Andre - All About Us
40.(27) N-Trance - The Mind Of The Machine

48.(NE) Nu-Birth - Anytime

50.(NE) Future Breeze - Why Don't You Dance With Me
51.(NE) Fuzz Townshend - Hello Darlin'
The live drummer for Bentley Rhythm Ace (he'd been in Pop Will Eat Itself with BRA man Richard March) recording solo in a similar style.
53.(NE) Cappella - Be My Baby/Turn It Up And Down
55.(NE) Sunscreem - Catch Me (I'm Falling)
66.(NE) Qwilo And Felix Da Housecat - Dirty Motha'
68.(RE) U2 - Last Night On Earth

Charting 1997: 30th August

2012-08-24T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Will Smith - Men In Black
02. (2) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
03.(NE) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
Her version of 'You Might Need Somebody' had never advanced beyond 4 in its lengthy chart run, but the follow-up was able to outpeak it instantly and become the biggest new hit of the week, though I don't think it came close to challenging the sales of the Top 2.
04. (3) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
05. (5) Gala - Freed From Desire
06. (4) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
07.(NE) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
This had only been a minor hit on the US R&B chart, but thanks to its being sampled on Double 99's breakthrough speed garage hit 'RIP Groove' and a package of UK remixes in the same style, it became a bone-fide success over here. Not one I've heard recently though.
08. (6) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
09. (7) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
10.(NE) Jon Bon Jovi - Queen Of New Orleans
A more surprising example of an American act doing better than in their homeland - although this single was not granted a commercial release in the US and thus wouldn't have charted anyway, the album was a relative flop there. And this Dave Stewart co-penned number didn't seem to do it a lot of favours.
11. (8) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
12.(NE) Conner Reeves - My Father's Son
Not to be confused with 'Son Of My Father' by Chicory Tip, or any other memorable record. This was the first hit for the flat-capped singer-songwriter signed to the Capital FM-backed Wildstar label. I guess that makes him a bit like the Wanted, but even more boring.
13.(12) Mary J Blige - Everything
14.(NE) UB40 - Tell Me Is It True
Yes, it is true, UB40 were still able to have hits with very dull songs way into the 1990s. I'd always thought this was a cover version, but apparently not. Unlike Keanu Reeves, this appears in Speed 2.
15.(10) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
16.(NE) Missy 'Misdemeanor' Elliott - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)
Her first chart appearance, perhaps as memorable for the video as the song itself. I suppose it was nice to see some personality creeping into hip-hop.
17.(14) Boyzone - Picture Of You
18.(NE) Foo Fighters - Everlong

Speaking of memorable videos, the second single from The Colour And The Shape was already their fifth Top 20 single but it seemed to mark the point where they really crossed over as a mainstream act, no longer having to rely on the reputation of Dave Grohl's previous band. It's also notable for the acting debut of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who of course doesn't even play on the track.
19.(16) Ultra Nate - Free
20.(13) Wet Wet Wet - Yesterday
21.(11) OTT - All Out Of Love
22.(NE) The Sneaker Pimps - Post Modern Sleaze
That's a very 1997 title from a very 1997 chart act.
23.(18) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
24.(NE) Aaliyah - 4 Page Letter
Another appearance of Missy Elliott, who co-wrote this with Timbaland. Not one of her biggest hits anywhere.
25.(NE) Symposium - Fairweather Friend
Going a bit ska-punk, which was probably not the right direction for them.
26.(19) Texas - Black Eyed Boy
27.(15) N-Trance - The Mind Of The Machine
28.(23) Sash! - Ecuador
29.(17) Livin' Joy - Deep In You
30.(20) Peter Andre - All About Us
31.(NE) The Beloved - The Sun Rising {1997 remix}
Remember when they were sort of cool, before they started doing naff songs like 'Hello' and that one where they were naked in the video? This was presumably supposed to remind you of it.
32.(NE) Radish - Little Pink Stars
It doesn't matter how many people try to tell you everyone lost interest in grunge when Kurt Cobain died, the hits kept on coming. This very young act tasted only brief success, though lead singer Ben Kweller went on to enjoy a critically acclaimed solo career.
33.(NE) Slacker - Your Face
With a name like that they should have been a grunge band too, but this is actually more dance.
34.(26) The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin' {1997}
35. (9) Suede - Film Star
36.(27) Lil' Kim - Not Tonight
37.(24) Levellers - What A Beautiful Day
38.(NE) Le Click - Call Me
Frank Farian's answer to Clock or 2 Unlimited. This proved to be their only Top 40 success in the UK, though it was one of three tracks to make the US dance chart.
39.(NE) Soul II Soul - Represent
Their first single for Island, and probably not the kind of success either party was hoping for. At least it charted, though, which is more than could be said for the album.
40.(28) Olive - Outlaw

41.(NE) Way Out West - Blue
43.(NE) Teenage Fanclub - I Don't Want Control Of You
The slightly unexpected Top 20 breakthrough of their previous single doesn't seem to have had a massive impact on the rest of their career. But even my brother liked this song.
44.(NE) Zhane - Crush

53.(NE) Human Nature - Whisper Your Name
54.(NE) Gisele Jackson - Love Commandments
55.(NE) Tanya Donelly - Pretty Deep
56.(NE) Bob Carlisle - Butterfly Kisses
A single that was clearly tipped for massive success, judging by the number of unsold copies hanging around shops for the rest of the century.
60.(NE) Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha
Their first Top 75 hit, thanks to a moderate amount of airplay and some very positive reviews. But Norman Cook didn't think there was enough bass on it, and the rest is history.
61.(NE) David Bowie - Seven Years In Tibet
Third single from Earthling and not a major hit, although he was keen enough to get the message across that he recorded a version in Mandarin.

65.(NE) Transa - Prophase
66.(NE) H2O - Satisfied (Take Me Higher) ft Billie
Not the same H20 who had a hit in the 1980s. And not the same Billie who had hits in 1998-2000.
75.(NE) Veruca Salt - Benjamin

Charting 1997: 23rd August

2012-08-17T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Will Smith - Men In Black
02.(NE) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
One of the surprise hits in a year with many of them, this followed the veteran anarchists' signing to a major label in Germany. They came up with this not-obviously-political drinking song and suddenly scaled the British charts - then even more surprisingly hit big in the US. I never thought I'd see people sing the phrase "Pissing the night away" on MTV promos.
03. (2) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
04.(NE) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
The second enhanced CD single to chart, which seems to fit in with the nature of the video. Another of several comebacks for Minogue Minor, which usually involved a couple of big hits followed by an album that lost a fortune and the record company pulling the plug.
05. (3) Gala - Freed From Desire
06. (5) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
07. (7) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
08. (8) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
09.(NE) Suede - Film Star
The fifth consecutive Top 10 hit from the album Coming Up. That was a particularly impressive achievement considering the line-up changes they'd been involved in, and the fact that this song is really no good at all.
10. (9) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
11.(NE) OTT - All Out Of Love
All out of ideas too, resorting to the usual ballad covers boybands fall into if the career hasn't taken off. In the harsh atmosphere of 1997, even getting to 11 wasn't really good enough.
12. (6) Mary J Blige - Everything
13. (4) Wet Wet Wet - Yesterday
14.(10) Boyzone - Picture Of You
15.(NE) N-Trance - The Mind Of The Machine
There aren't any obviously film-based new entries this week, but N-Trance do the next best thing by hiring no less than Steven Berkoff as lead vocalist on a track that couldn't be much less like the cover of 'DISCO' it followed up.
16.(13) Ultra Nate - Free
17.(NE) Livin' Joy - Deep In You
In contrast, Livin Joy were a more conventionally formulaic dance act, essentially revisiting their biggest hit 'Dreamer' as much as possible. This was the last time they got away with it.
18.(16) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
19.(15) Texas - Black Eyed Boy
20.(12) Peter Andre - All About Us
21.(NE) K-Ci And JoJo - You Bring Me Up
An unusually upbeat track from the ex-Jodeci duo better known for ballads.
22.(NE) Stereophonics - A Thousand Trees
It's not always a fashionable thing to admit, but this is a genuinely good piece of songwriting and probably the song they should be remembered for, rather than 'Have A Nice Day' or the awful covers.
23.(18) Sash! - Ecuador
24.(19) Levellers - What A Beautiful Day
25.(NE) Blueboy - Sandman
Follow-up to the massive 'Remember Me', a more melodic track based on an Undisputed Truth sample. Last time I checked this was on Spotify and the big hit wasn't.
26.(17) The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin' {1997}
27.(11) Lil' Kim - Not Tonight
28.(14) Olive - Outlaw
29.(NE) Mark Owen - I Am What I Am
After two Top 5 hits, he must have been expecting this to go a bit further. Not a bad track, although the album version isn't as good.
30.(NE) Travis - Tied To The 90's
Not the Number 38 hit you might have been expecting. And if you were expecting a decent song, you're wrong again. What were people thinking?
31.(NE) Echobelly - The World Is Flat
Another underperforming comeback, this was their final Top 40 appearance. Hasn't aged that well, although the video does it no favours.
32.(24) North And South - Tarantino's New Star
33.(22) Stretch 'N' Vern Presents 'Maddog' - Get Up! Go Insane!
34.(NE) Kadoc - Rock The Bells
Another dance follow-up, though not an especially memorable one.
35.(20) Kym Mazelle - Young Hearts Run Free
36.(23) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
37.(25) Todd Terry - Something Goin' On
38.(NE) The Source - Clouds
Yes, it's The Source doing a song that isn't 'You've Got The Love'. Odd.
39.(NE) My Life Story - Duchess
Not very good cover of a not very good Stranglers song, recorded as part of EMI's centenary celebrations. That wasn't enough to stop them getting dropped a few weeks later.
40.(27) R Kelly - Gotham City

42.(NE) Alison Limerick - Put Your Faith In Me
45.(NE) Sarah Brightman - Who Wants To Live Forever
46.(NE) Chakra - Home
48.(NE) Feeder - Crash
53.(NE) David Holmes - Gritty Shaker
You do know this track, even if you think you don't. He's recycled it in several of his soundtracks as well. And in true 90s dance style, Holmes makes a cameo appearance in the video.
56.(NE) Bloodhound Gang - Why's Everybody Always Pickin' On Me?
My brother bought this. Blame him!
60.(NE) Gifted - Do I?
61.(NE) A Tribe Called Quest - The Jam EP
[Jam; Get A Hold; Mardi Gras At Midnight; Same Ol' Thing]
63.(NE) Northern Uproar - A Girl I Once Knew
65.(NE) Jay-Z - Who You Wit?
72.(RE) The Smashing Pumpkins - The End Is The Beginning Of The End
75.(NE) Grass-Show - Out Of The Void

Charting 1997: 16th August

2012-08-10T19:00:00.000+01:00

01.(NE) Will Smith - Men In Black
A new Number One at last! And the second consecutive rap song at the top, which was a notable event back then. It's also the second chart-topper within 18 months based on the bassline from 'Forget-Me-Nots'. And of course it's from a film, too, like a lot of this chart.

02. (1) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
03. (2) Gala - Freed From Desire
04.(NE) Wet Wet Wet - Yesterday
Including this, I believe. Their last release of the 20th century before a split over royalties, and their second dip into the Lennon/McCartney songbook.
05. (4) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
06.(NE) Mary J Blige - Everything
And another cover version, her first UK Top 10 hit.
07. (6) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
08. (8) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
09. (9) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
10. (7) Boyzone - Picture Of You
11.(NE) Lil' Kim - Not Tonight
Also featuring several other female rappers and a sample from 'Ladies Night' by Kool & The Gang. Inevitably, it was from a film.
12. (3) Peter Andre - All About Us
13.(11) Ultra Nate - Free
14.(NE) Olive - Outlaw
The utterly forgotten, but actually quite decent, follow-up to their chart-topper.
15. (5) Texas - Black Eyed Boy
16.(10) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
17.(12) The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin' {1997 re-issue}
18.(16) Sash! - Ecuador
19.(13) Levellers - What A Beautiful Day
20.(NE) Kym Mazelle - Young Hearts Run Free
From the Baz Luhrman film of Romeo and Juliet. I'm not sure whether they couldn't afford the Candi Staton version, or whether somebody actually thought this suited the movie better.
21.(NE) The Wildhearts - Anthem
They'd already split and reformed at least once by this point, so this was a significant comeback hit for them. And a testament to their famously loyal fans that they could make such a big impact with this less than obviously commercial song. I don't often mention Top of the Pops performances here - I mostly leave that to On This Top Of The Pops Day - but this one does have rather a cult following.
22.(17) Stretch 'N' Vern Presents 'Maddog' - Get Up! Go Insane!
23.(19) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
24.(18) North And South - Tarantino's New Star
25.(20) Todd Terry - Something Goin' On
26.(NE) Robyn - Do You Know (What It Takes)
Not to be confused with Robin S., from whom we heard a month ago. But this is the same Robyn who topped the chart a decade later. She's not brilliantly served by this second-division Max Martin song, but it's not terrible.
27.(21) R Kelly - Gotham City
28.(22) Eternal - I Wanna Be The Only One ft BeBe Winans
29.(37) Universal - Rock Me Good
30.(14) Paul Weller - Brushed
31.(23) Shaggy - Piece Of My Heart ft Marsha
32.(15) Makaveli - Toss It Up
33.(NE) D-Influence - Hypnotize
One of the many British soul groups of this era who seemed on the verge of a major breakthrough but never quite made it.
34.(24) The Seahorses - Blinded By The Sun
35.(NE) The Klubbheads - Discohopping
The follow-up to Klubbhopping of course. Happy hardcore but not that good.
36.(39) The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You {1997 re-issue}
37.(NE) Coldcut - More Beats And Pieces
A sequel to their 1987 debut single and their first Top 40 hit since 1989 (aside from their contribution to the 'People Hold On' remixes in January). Also, in keeping with their multimedia interests at the time, the first hit single ever to be released as an enhanced CD. It seemed like the future then, but feels like the distant past now.

38.(NE) Geneva - Best Regrets
Their fourth hit. The momentum seemed to have waned by now.
39.(28) Michael Jackson - History/Ghosts
40.(31) Hanson - Mmm Bop

49.(NE) Rhythm Masters - Come On Y'All/Let Me Tell You Something
50.(NE) Mad Moses - Panther Party
51.(NE) Faith No More - Last Cup Of Sorrow
54.(NE) Vincent De Moor - Flowtation
56.(NE) California Sunshine - Summer '89
61.(NE) Newton - Don't Worry
71.(NE) Jesus Jones - Chemical #1
74.(NE) Camp Lo - Luchini! AKA (This Is It)

Charting 1997: 9th August

2012-08-03T19:00:00.000+01:00

It's the battle of the deceased rappers this week.

01. (1) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
02. (4) Gala - Freed From Desire
Almost another climber to the top of the chart, something we didn't often see in 1997. Presumably a bit embarrassing for...
03.(NE) Peter Andre - All About Us
...The first single from the new album by the big teenybop star of the time; he'd had two chart-toppers from the previous album.
04. (3) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
05.(NE) Texas - Black Eyed Boy
This by contrast is already the third single from the hugely successful White On Blonde set, though it's a slightly remixed version. At the time, I didn't like the fact that this mix adds a synth over the bass solo, but it has grown on me since. I'm not sure why but I've always loved the way Sharleen Spiteri sings the word "deceit" on this track.
06.(NE) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
His second posthumous hit shares the Top 10 with a tribute to him. Although even if you skip Puff Daddy's hammy acted sequences in the video, it's remarkable how far into the song you get before BIG himself actually shows up. At least the music itself is pretty solid, a chunkier version of the sample from Diana Ross's gay anthem 'I'm Coming Out'.
07. (2) Boyzone - Picture Of You
08. (6) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
09. (7) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
10. (5) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
11. (8) Ultra Nate - Free
12. (9) The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin' {1997}
13.(NE) Levellers - What A Beautiful Day
Unusually, a Levellers single not peaking at 12! Towards the end of their commercial peak here, and they were commercially-minded enough to release this one on multiple CD formats as well. I presume it was just the increase in sales overall that stopped this becoming their biggest hit.
14.(NE) Paul Weller - Brushed
His first single under an unusual deal whereby his releases were jointly marketed by Island (which had acquired the catalogue of Go! Discs, the label he'd originally recorded it for) and Independiente (a new label set up by Go!s founder). Over time he was supposed to transfer gradually to Independiente.
This is one of his less-remembered big hits, not necessarily the best song he ever wrote but boosted by the unusually experimental production. I bought the four-track cassette EP of this.
15.(NE) Makaveli - Toss It Up
The late 2Pac, of course, a man not familiar with British slang terms. The video was apparently the last he ever filmed, though it seems to have been finished after his death - or at the very least edited after it, going by the many creepy slow-motion shots of him cut in seemingly at random.
16.(11) Sash! - Ecuador
17.(NE) Stretch 'N' Vern Presents 'Maddog' - Get Up! Go Insane!
A not wholly successful attempt to replicate the success of 'I'm Alive'.
18.(NE) North And South - Tarantino's New Star
I remember my brother convinced the kid next door that Tarantino was the name of their manager.
19.(12) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
20.(15) Todd Terry - Something Goin' On
21.(14) R Kelly - Gotham City
22.(17) Eternal - I Wanna Be The Only One ft BeBe Winans
23.(13) Shaggy - Piece Of My Heart ft Marsha
24.(20) The Seahorses - Blinded By The Sun
25.(NE) Snakebite - The Bit Goes On
As you might have guessed, a dance cover of the Sonny & Cher hit.
26.(25) Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
27.(NE) Airscape - Pacific Melody
Yeah, you probably guessed where this was going too didn't you? More vocals than I'd expected but otherwise typical.
28.(18) Michael Jackson - History/Ghosts
29.(10) U2 - Last Night On Earth
30.(NE) Gene - Speak To Me Someone
Another single I bought this week, a big ballad that they played live around the time of their first album but ended up releasing as the fourth single from their second. Apparently it was intentionally held back for greater impact, although it didn't quite turn out as hoped. In one promotional appearance, Martin Rossiter was asked "Your new song sounds really sad. Is it meant to be like that?"
31.(22) Hanson - Mmm Bop
32.(NE) Spiritualized - Electricity
First single from one of the most critically-acclaimed albums of the year, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. Not necessarily typical of the album as a whole, which tends more to the ethereal than this sort of scuzzy blues-rock.
33.(NE) Damage - Love Lady
34.(NE) Code Red - Is There Someone Out There?
Two boy bands being outsold by Spiritualized. Back to the drawing board for both, although Damage managed to make a comeback in the early years of the new century.
35.(26) Mr President - Coco Jamboo
36.(24) Da Mighty Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride
37.(19) Universal - Rock Me Good
38.(27) Robbie Williams - Lazy Days
39.(33) The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You {1997}
40.(NE) David McAlmont - Look At Yourself
And yet another single I bought that week, which is probably why I economised by getting the Paul Weller one on cassette. His first solo single after splitting from Bernard Butler, and his only ever solo hit. I later acquired the second CD format which includes an album version, but in the end this song never made it to an album. Seems I may actually have been the only person who liked it.

41.(NE) Belle And Sebastian - Lazy Line Painter Jane
Yet another single I bought, in the big Virgin Megastore in London. Can't remember whether it was this exact week though, but I remember that at this point I'd only heard of them and hadn't heard the song, so I again went for the cheap option of the 7" single rather than the full EP (I bought that a few years later though). When the band were nominated for a Brit Award in 1999, this was the track that was played in Radio 1's trails, although they actually used a line sung by guest vocalist Monica Queen. It was funny enough hearing Dave Pearce say "Belle And Sebastian", never mind that they won.
42.(NE) The Heartists - Belo Horizonti
53.(NE) Jewel - You Were Meant For Me
58.(NE) G Nation - Feel The Need ft Rosie
60.(NE) Moonman - Don't Be Afraid
61.(NE) Richie Stephens - Come Give Me Your Love/Girls Galore ft General Degree
62.(NE) Jimi Polo - Express Yourself {1997 re-issue}
65.(NE) China Drum - Fiction Of Life
66.(NE) Trisha Yearwood - How Do I Live
Yes, this is the very same song that Leann Rimes spent most of 1998 in the chart with. I guess people weren't as interested in hearing an adult sing it.
67.(RE) Gary Barlow - Love Won't Wait
70.(RE) Kula Shaker - Hush
72.(NE) Victoria Wilson James - Reach 4 The Melody
73.(NE) Benz - On A Sun-Day

Charting 1997 extra: the Radio 1 playlist

2012-07-30T22:20:00.000+01:00

A little bonus feature, for anyone who hasn't seen it on Twitter: cribbed from the Buzzjack forum, here's the Radio 1 playlist as published in the early days of their website, in July 1997. The week this applied they hired a new overnight DJ called Chris Moyles, I wonder what happened to him?
How many of these do you remember?

I've also created a Spotify playlist of the tracks, or at least those that were available. Most of the others will show up on here at some point.

Spellings are as I pasted them.

A List

Peter Andre - All About Us
* Mary J Blige - Everything
Boyzone - Picture of You
Edwyn Collins - The Magic Piper
Coolio - C U When U Get There
Dubstar - No More Talk
Embrace - One Big Family (Perfecto Mix)
Gala - Freed From Desire
Michael Jackson - History
R Kelly - Gotham City
The Levellers - What A Beautiful Day
Lil’ Kim - Not Tonight
Morrissey - Alma Matters
Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
Oasis - D’ You Know What I Mean - EP
Listed as such because they sometimes played the B-side, 'Stay Young'
* Olive - Outlaw
Omar (Feat. ODB) - Say Nothin’
Prodigy - Narayan
Seahorses - Blinded By The Sun
Shaggy - Piece Of My Heart
Will Smith - Men In Black
* Suede - Filmstar
Texas - Black Eyed Boy
U2 - Last Night On Earth
Robbie Williams - Lazy Days

B List

Arkarna - So Little Time
Howie B - Angels Go Bald
Gary Barlow - So Help Me Girl
* Bloodhound Gang - Why’s Everybody Pickin’ On Me
Bone Thugs n Harmony - Look Into My Eyes
Meredith Brooks - Bitch
BT - Flaming June
Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
Cath Coffey - Say What You Say

In the middle of an eight-year gap between Stereo MCs albums, their female singer found the time to pursue a solo career, although since this single failed to chart (and thus doesn't otherwise appear on this blog) the album ended up only being released in Japan.
Bobby D’Ambrosio - Moment Of My Life
Fountains Of Wayne - Survival Car
Gene - Speak To Me Someone
* Geneva - Best Regrets
G Nation - Feel The Need
* Alison Limerick - Put Your Faith In Me
* Mad Moses - Panther Party
Massive Attack - Risingson
David Mc Almont - Look At Yourself
No Doubt - Just A Girl
Portishead - Cowboys
Limited edition 12" single released to prepare the ground for their comeback.
Puff Daddy - I’ll Be Missing You
Robyn - Do You Know (What It Takes)
Sash - Feat. Rodriguez-Ecuador
Shena - Let The Beat Hit ‘Em
Strangelove - The Greatest Show On Earth
Todd Terry - Something Going On
* Travis - Tied To The 90’s
Ultra Nate - Free
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Paul Weller - Brushed

C List

Airscape - Pacific Melody
Backstreet Boys - Everybody
* The Blue Boy - Sandman
Damage - Love Lady
Delirious - Promise
Elate - Somebody Like You
* Elcka - Supercharged
* Grass Show - Out Of The Void
John Lydon - Sun
Mighty Dub Cats - Magic Carpet Ride (Club Edit)
Mulu - Pussy Cat
North And South - Tarantino’s New Star
Reef - Yer Old
Spiritualised - Electricity
* Stretch ‘n’ Vern - Get Up! Go Insane!

Charting 1997: 2nd August

2012-07-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

01. (1) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
02.(NE) Boyzone - Picture Of You
Musically, by far their best single, a strutting soul-flavoured track, although Ronan Keating overdoes it a bit.
03.(NE) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
A record that I suppose should get some credit for outlandishness. Mrs Brown pointed out that the bizarre lyric "Am I sexual?" made sense in that the Backstreet Boys presumably don't reproduce through cell division. I replied that it would have explained a lot about N-Sync.
04. (3) Gala - Freed From Desire
05. (2) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
06.(NE) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
Apparently when this charted in the US, some newspapers refused to print the full title. She refused to be photographed without her guitar in those days.
07. (4) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
08. (5) Ultra Nate - Free
09.(NE) The Mamas And The Papas - California Dreamin' {1997 re-issue}
Finally making the Top 20 only 31 years after it was originally released, thanks to its use in an advert. Coincidentally, a hit for River City People exactly seven years earlier.
10.(NE) U2 - Last Night On Earth
Another week, another Top 10 U2 hit that nobody remembers. Actually a decent song.
11. (6) Sash! - Ecuador
12.(14) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
13.(12) Shaggy - Piece Of My Heart ft Marsha
14.(13) R Kelly - Gotham City
15.(15) Todd Terry - Something Goin' On
16.(NE) Morrissey - Alma Matters
His first single for Island, which got a few mentions in that company's 50th anniversary spin-offs, doubtless the first time most people had thought about it for about ten years. Also notable as part of the notorious conspiracy theory that Morrissey foretold the death of a well-known person (though nobody seemed to have noticed it at this point).
17.(17) Eternal - I Wanna Be The Only One ft BeBe Winans
18. (9) Michael Jackson - History/Ghosts
19.(NE) Universal - Rock Me Good
Debut hit from the Australian boy band. Apparently this was big in South America.
20. (7) The Seahorses - Blinded By The Sun
21.(NE) Reef - Yer Old
Funniest song in this chart. Possibly not intentionally.
22.(18) Hanson - Mmm Bop
23.(NE) Bobby D'Ambrosio - Moment Of My Life ft Michelle Weeks
Dance track I don't really remember.
24.(NE) Da Mighty Dub Katz - Magic Carpet Ride
I do remember this one though, one of Norman Cook's many pseudonyms. Rather cheery track.
25.(10) Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
26.(21) Mr President - Coco Jamboo
27. (8) Robbie Williams - Lazy Days
28.(NE) Shena - Let The Beat Hit 'Em
Biggest solo hit by the former JX singer, covering the Lisa Lisa hit.
29.(NE) Omar - Say Nothin' ft Ol' Dirty Bastard
Comeback hit from the British soul singer with the distracting hairstyle.
30.(11) Gary Barlow - So Help Me Girl
31.(19) Babyface - How Come, How Long ft Stevie Wonder
32.(NE) Edwyn Collins - The Magic Piper (Of Love)

You see, he did have another Top 40 hit (two if you count Orange Juice). I keep forgetting how great this song actually is. Wish I'd bought it, now.
I believe that video was inspired by his experiences touring the world promoting 'A Girl Like You'.
33.(25) The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You {1997}
34.(23) No Doubt - Just A Girl {1997}
35.(22) 911 - The Journey
36.(16) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Look Into My Eyes
37.(NE) Peter Cox - Ain't Gonna Cry Again
Solo hit by the singer from Go West. Later covered by Joe Cocker, although it already sounded enough like him.
38.(27) Rosie Gaines - Closer Than Close
39.(28) Sarah Brightman And Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro)
40.(32) Paula Cole - Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

42.(NE) John Lydon - Sun
His first and only solo "hit" after the Pistols, PiL and Leftfield/Lydon.
46.(NE) Arkarna - So Little Time
50.(NE) Mulu - Pussycat
53.(NE) Prefab Sprout - Electric Guitars
Their last charting single. Includes the lyric "We were quoted out of context, it was great". Which I've just quoted out of context.
56.(NE) Alexander O'Neal And Cherrelle - Baby Come To Me
Not their most famous collaboration.
58.(NE) Dave Angel - Tokyo Stealth Fighter
61.(NE) Death In Vegas - Dirt
A re-release of an uncharted single from the previous year. Brilliant rock-dance - so good I was going to embed the video until I saw how scary it was.

Charting 1997: 26th July

2012-07-20T19:00:00.000+01:00

It's the week of the big battle between to ex-members of Take That! And, er nobody cares that much, because neither of them is even the highest new entry.

01. (2) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
Despite Oasis outselling them more than 2-1 the week before, they had little momentum and this was comfortably able to return after only one week away.
02. (1) Oasis - D'You Know What I Mean?
03. (4) Gala - Freed From Desire
04. (3) Coolio - C U When U Get There ft 40 Thevz
05. (8) Ultra Nate - Free
06. (6) Sash! - Ecuador
07.(NE) The Seahorses - Blinded By The Sun
Yes, this is the biggest new song of the week. One of the few tracks on their first (and, as it turned out, only) album written by lead singer Chris Helme. As a result we're spared the cod-metal tendencies of a lot of John Squire's work at this time and this might in fact be their best single.
08.(NE) Robbie Williams - Lazy Days
The first of many Williams hits co-written by Guy Chambers (though he had also produced 'Old Before I Die'); it's apparently based on an unreleased song by Chambers' former band The Lemon Trees.
09. (5) Michael Jackson - History/Ghosts
10.(NE) Changing Faces - G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.
One of many hits R.Kelly was writing for other acts around this time. I know you're supposed to read the title as "get out" but I can't help seeing "ghetto ut" instead.
11.(NE) Gary Barlow - So Help Me Girl
His third solo hit, and the second in a row to be a cover version, despite his success as a songwriter in Take That. It paid off to the extent that it managed to make the US Top 50, his biggest success there.
12. (7) Shaggy - Piece Of My Heart ft Marsha
13. (9) R Kelly - Gotham City
14.(12) The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
15.(13) Todd Terry - Something Goin' On
16.(NE) Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - Look Into My Eyes
Supposedly a diss track about Three Six Mafia, or some other rap group I don't really remember.
17.(16) Eternal - I Wanna Be The Only One ft BeBe Winans
18.(14) Hanson - Mmm Bop
19.(10) Babyface - How Come, How Long ft Stevie Wonder
20.(NE) Delirious? - Promise
One of their more convincing rockers, partly reworked for single release apparently.
21.(18) Mr President - Coco Jamboo
22.(17) 911 - The Journey
23.(15) No Doubt - Just A Girl {1997}
24.(NE) Super Furry Animals - The International Language Of Screaming

Super Furry Animals - The International Language Of Screaming on MUZU.TV.
Zany video and all, a brilliant shot of pop music that doesn't outstay its welcome. Why wasn't this massive? Why wasn't it even a big hit by their standards?
25.(29) The Rembrandts - I'll Be There For You {1997}
26.(19) BT - Flaming June
27.(25) Rosie Gaines - Closer Than Close
28.(24) Sarah Brightman And Andrea Bocelli - Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Partiro)
29.(NE) Grace - Down To Earth {1997 reissue}
One of her many, not-hugely-dissimilar, follow-ups to the big hit. This had peaked at 20 in 1996, so the re-release probably wasn't worthwhile.
30.(11) Massive Attack - Risingson
31.(22) Sheryl Crow - A Change Would Do You Good
32.(30) Paula Cole - Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?
33.(20) Dubstar - No More Talk
34.(NE) Full Intention - Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
If in doubt, dance producers, throw in a Jacksons cover.
35.(28) The Course - Ain't Nobody
36.(NE) Strangelove - The Greatest Show On Earth
Return of the intense indie band who must have cursed Suede for getting there first. Seemingly not big fans of the music industry either.
37.(27) Ghostface Killah - All That I Got Is You
38.(NE) Elate - Somebody Like You
Dance act sampling Clannad. One member was Nigel Ipinson, who had been among the replacements for John Squire in the Stone Roses.
39.(NE) Marradona - Out Of My Head {1997 remix}
A Number 38 hit from 1994. Slightly less popular in this form.
40.(31) Ocean Colour Scene - Hundred Mile High City

48.(NE) Terry Hunter - Harvest For The World
50.(NE) Rahsaan Patterson - Stop By
53.(NE) Fountains Of Wayne - Survival Car
Perhaps they should have made this the second single.
54.(NE) Adeva - Where Is The Love?/The Way That You Feel
55.(NE) Sybil - Still A Thrill
58.(NE) Dreadzone - Moving On
64.(RE) Gary Barlow - Love Won't Wait
71.(NE) Movin' Melodies - Rollerblade