This
month |
Chart
weeks |
| Peak
position |
| Number One |
| 1 |
12 |
| NEVER EVER |
All Saints |
| All Saints |
| 1 |
| The second single off the 4-piece girl band's debut album. It took nine weeks to climb to the top slot, selling an unprecedented 750,000 copies before getting there. The follow-up, a cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge" was due for release Jan 18, but has now been put back till March. Probably the closest thing to a half-British half-Canadian En Vouge, All Saints have a bright future ahead of them. See Spice Girls... |
| Sureshot |
| 2 |
8 |
| HIGH |
Postcards from Heaven |
| Lighthouse Family |
|
2 |
| The second single from their second album, and quite possibly the best thing they've ever done. A swooping, soaring vocal, underpinned by a string arrangement even more lush than usual contribute to a wonderful, magical atmosphere. |
| 3 |
9 |
| ANGELS |
Life Thru a Lens |
| Robbie Williams |
|
4 |
| Alarmingly, it's the fifth single from his debut album, but the first to be much cop. A sweet, touching ballad with a chorus that sounds a lot like a tampon commercial (!), Williams has finally proven that he can write songs as well as his erstwhile Take That colleague, Gary Barlow, and has now outsold every Barlow composition. |
| 4 |
9 |
| TOGETHER AGAIN |
The Velvet Rope |
| Janet Jackson |
|
4 |
| The second single from Janet's fourth studio album, "Together again" is an unremarkable funk workout. |
| 5 |
11 |
| PERFECT DAY |
|
| Various Artists |
|
1 |
| Originally the b-side to Lou Reed's "Walk on the wild side", "Perfect Day" was resurrected by the BBC for a self-promoting commercial during 1997. It features 30 artists, including Suzanne Vega, Evan Dando and Bono performing a line or two from the song. Due to massive public demand, the song was released as a single in November, becoming the first record to enter at No 1 since May. Following further exposure, it returned to the top after Christmas. Already a large hit in Europe, a distribution deal for the USA is imminent. |
| 6 |
7 |
| ALL AROUND THE WORLD |
Be Here Now |
| Oasis |
|
1 |
| Two words. Why. The overblown - and almost irredemably overhyped - third album has now produced three massive hit singles. This is as pompous, overblown and tiresome as any they've produced in a very long time. What's worse is that - at nine minutes - it's the longest record ever to take the top slot. Originally scheduled for release before Christmas, Creation records held back, knowing they couldn't beat the Spice Girls, or the Teletubbies. With any justice, this will be the last release from them. |
| 7 |
17 |
| TORN |
Left of the Middle |
| Natalie Imbruglia |
|
1 |
| The debut single from the former Australian soap star kept "Barbie Girl" from the top slot during November. A hard-edged ballad, "Torn" came in for some stick in January when tabloid newspapers "revealed" that a very similar arrangement of the song had already been recorded by a Norwegian act. Personally, I don't find that at all interesting, as the record is already something of a classic, and is well on the way to becoming only the second record in the rock era to sell a million without hitting the top of the weekly sales chart. |
| 8 |
4 |
|
2 |
| Effectively, a re-make of KC & the Sunshine Band's 1975 hit "Get Down Tonight". The video is lifted straight from 1920s cartoons, in a similar way to Steve 'Silk' Hurley's 1987 list leader, "Jack your body". Like that, this debut track will not provide the foundations for any lasting career. |
| Single Of The Month |
| 9 |
5 |
|
8 |
| Wow! The first single from the Scousers' sophomore set, "Avenging Angels" is a subtle rock workout with a clear sensitive edge. Dedicated to friends and relatives who have died previously, the single features an interlude straight out of the 1920s, and gained massive airplay prior to release over Christmas. |
| 10 |
8 |
| TOO MUCH |
Spiceworld |
| Spice Girls |
|
1 |
| Six from six for Sporty, Ginger, Scary, Sporty and Married. Last year's Christmas number one sticks around into 1998, but won't pull last year's trick, when "Two become one" was still present at Easter. The film Spiceworld will keep the girls in the public eye. Expect a third release from this album within a few months. |
| 11 |
11 |
| BABY CAN I HOLD YOU TONIGHT |
|
| Boyzone |
|
2 |
| Released in ample time for the Christmas market, this Tracey Chapman cover provided the Irish quintet with their 11th Top 5 hit from as many releases. Three of the first ten were covers, but only "Words" was well-known before this lot got their paws on it. |
| 12 |
14 |
| AIN'T THAT JUST |
|
| Lutricia McNeil |
|
5 |
| An unremarkable funk / r&b / soul single that provides the UK debut for a female singer. This radio-friendly track - somewhat over-exposed since release last November - has one hit wonder stamped over it. |
| 13 |
8 |
| RENEGADE MASTER |
|
| Wildchild |
|
11 |
| First released in April 95, "Legends of the Dark Black (Part 2)" scraped a number 34 peak. It came back in October that year, remixed and retitled, making 11. Now slightly remixed by Norman Cook, this jungle / rap track proves how far ahead of its time it was when first made by falling just short of the top 10 again. In spite of all the success, it still leaves me wanting it to end, as it's a total cacophanous din. |
| 14 |
2 |
| YOU MAKE ME WANNA... |
My Way |
| Usher |
|
2 |
| A sizy hit for the American teen sensation, crashing the monthly Top 20 after just two weeks on release. Like a lot of R&B, I find this track doesn't respond well to repeated playing. But, it's been topping the dance charts since December, and attracting decent airplay for a rising act, so this must be one of my blind spots. |
| 15 |
10 |
| LUCKY MAN |
Urban Hymns |
| Verve |
|
12 |
| The band that came back from the dead score a third hit single. This, like their previous work, shows exactly what's wrong with British music these days. It's insipid, it plods along without going anywhere exciting, the vocals are more mumbled than sung, and the journey isn't worth the candle. So how come this Wigan five-piece are being hailed as the Best Band In Britain all of a sudden? I really don't know. |
| Sureshot |
| 16 |
2 |
| MULDER AND SCULLY |
International Velvet |
| Catatonia |
|
5 |
| The third single from the Welsh band's breakthrough album, this angst-ridden song about unrequited love has finally given them the hit they've been threatening for most of last year. And, no, it's not a geeky reference to any tawdry American show. |
| 17 |
4 |
| THAT'S THE WAY (I LIKE IT) |
|
| Clock |
|
15 |
| Another KC & The Sunshine Band cover - in this case, very straight to the original. And it's another cover from Clock, now a solo act, previously responsible for the inspired re-working of "Axel F", proving that "December 63 (Oh What a Night)" defies all attempts to ruin it, the catchy original "It's over" - and the totally unnecessary re-make of "You sexy thing", timed to catch sales from the film The Full Monty. |
| Sureshot |
| 18 |
3 |
| NO SURPRISES |
OK Computer |
| Radiohead |
|
10 |
| The third single from what has to be seen as a superlative album. Yes, it's depressing. But even from this arrangement of minor chords comes music to stir the passion, arouse the soul, and not wholly in a nihilistic manner. |
| 19 |
3 |
|
16 |
| The fourth single for the Irish band billed as the new Boyzone. They've had two hit covers and one minor hit original; this is another original and becomes as sizy a success as they've had. It's totally unremarkable though, in spite of being co-written with Spice Girls producer Richard Stannard. |
| Sureshot |
| 20 |
5 |
|
18 |
| A lush soul track that has obvious crossover appeal. Quite why national radio stations haven't picked up on this one is beyond me; local radio has, and I salute them. |
| December's Single Of The Month |
| 21 |
10 |
|
21 |
| A recent survey showed line dancing to be Britain's second favourite organised leisure activity, behind only bingo. This is the first single to cross over from that simplified version of country and become a major hit. Based very loosely on a 1991 track called "Boot Scootin' Baby", Steps has created a record that has sold wonderfully since mid-November, but has picked up virtually no airplay at all. It's a tribute to the inherant quality of the record that it's lasted so long without this additional exposure. |
| 22 |
9 |
| BACK TO YOU |
Unplugged |
| Bryan Adams |
|
12 |
| Cheesy Canadian rocker takes his guitar away from a socket, sings as badly as usual, sends a whole nation to sleep, and has a hit record. At least it didn't spend 16 weeks at the top like it usually does. |
| Sureshot |
| 23 |
2 |
| AMNESIA |
Tubthumper |
| Chumbawumba |
|
9 |
| After the monster that was Tubthumping, the Leeds anarchists return with a single that isn't quite as catchy, but still screams out to be sung along with. Lamenting the loss of the socialism from Britain's Labour party, the nine-piece succeed in writing the first hit protest song about a left-wing government in British history. This song also goes down as the first played on the TV Pepsi Chart show, the first serious rival to Top of the Pops in many years. |
| 24 |
18 |
| AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME |
Backstreet's Back! |
| Backstreet Boys |
|
5 |
| The massive hit they've been threatening for a long time finally arrived with the second single from their sophomore album. A perky, upbeat little number that comes with more hooks than a strip of velcro, "As long as you love me" placed highly for much of the last quarter of 97, and only now starts to fall out of the survey. |
| 25 |
3 |
|
16 |
| The first single for this dance diva in over three years, this track has been hot on dance floors since October, without really being any cop, unlike her largest, 1994's "Caught in the middle" |
| Sureshot |
| 26 |
5 |
| PRINCE IGOR |
Rhapsody (Various Artists) |
| Warren G featuring Sissel |
|
17 |
| What happens when one mixes classical opera and modern rap stars? Something almost exactly like this. Imagine Borodin's "Prince Igor Suite" - or the verse from Simon & Garfunkel's "Hazy Shade of Winter" - played on a slowly winding sax, add angelic vocals from someone who sounds a lot like Enya, and top it all off with the unmistakable rap of Warren G. It shouldn't work, but it does. Sissel is a Norwegian operatic vocalist, whose work also features on the current Titanic soundtrack. |
| 27 |
21 |
| SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT |
The Big Picture |
| Elton John |
|
1 |
| Even by Elton's standards, this is a massive single. In fact, it's the biggest selling single of all time, both in the UK and across the world, with UK sales alone pushing the 5 million mark so far. Quite why success has come so widely for this single isn't hard to see - a haunting power ballad that bears just a smidgeon of a resemblence to Chris de Bergh's 1986 list leader "Lady in red", but not enough to spoil a quite wonderful track. Picking up one week on the weekly lists before its release, it shot to the top based on just one day's shop-clearing sales, and only now shows signs of heading for the exit doors. Oh, and apparently, the odd person bought it for the B-side, a rather ham-fisted remake of "Candle in the wind" with one or two lyrical alterations. |
| 28 |
9 |
| TELETUBBIES SAY EH-HO |
|
| Teletubbies |
|
1 |
| Dipsy! Po! Laa-Laa! Tinky-Winky! Make a theme tune, jazz it up with unexpected nursery rhymes - and input from the sarcastic flowers - shout about your favourite milk-based dish, and have a Number One Record! The follow-up, provisionally entitled "Noo-Noo's Anthem" will be in the stores for Easter, in time for their American breakthrough from April 6. |
| 29 |
31 |
|
3 |
| Here's a thing. One of the biggest and longest lived hits of last year is re-mixed and re-released, and does almost nothing. This is also one of the very few dance tracks to be wholly original - from the vocal to the annoyingly familiar guitar riff at the start, it's all brand new. |
| 30 |
7 |
| THE REASON |
Let's Talk About Love |
| Celine Dion |
|
13 |
| Another screechy hit from the Quebecois chanteuse, with massive over-production this time due to the involvement of Carole King. Celine still holds the accolade for longest climb to #1; "Think twice" took 16 weeks compared with "Never Ever"'s 9 week sprint to the summit. |
| 31 |
12 |
| TOMORROW NEVER DIES |
Tomorrow Never Dies OST |
| Sheryl Crow |
|
9 |
| The woman who's had as many airplay smashes as flops, Sheryl now becomes the latest in a line of artists to hit with a James Bond theme. She becomes the third successive female soloist to receive this honour, following Tina Turner's classic Goldeneye in 1995, and Gladys Knight's Licensed to Kill from 1989. No Bond theme has ever hit the top in the UK, but none has reached as lowly a position in the weekly listings as Sheryl. The reason? It's just not a Proper Bond Theme, more a rock record. |
| 32 |
3 |
| SHELTER |
Shelter |
| Brand New Heavies |
|
21 |
| The British funk combo release a fourth single from their third album. Unlike the others, this features a male vocal from the band's drummer, Jan Kinciad. |
| 33 |
3 |
|
22 |
| After seminal indie band the Stone Roses split in 96, members went their own ways. John Squire formed the Seahorses, and had three sizy hits last year. Now Ian Brown, the former lead singer, has his solo debut with a workmanlike piece about people in space. It's vaguely similar to the work his group did, but bodes ill for the looming album |
| 34 |
2 |
| GETTIN' JIGGY WITH IT |
Big Willy Style |
| Will Smith |
|
7 |
| After the flop of "Jus Crusin" before Christmas, Smith was looking for a more substantial single to follow up last summer's massive "Men In Black". This has given him that hit, albeit a somewhat insipid slab of rap that does namecheck his first Top 10 hit, 1991's Summertime. |
| 35 |
3 |
| SOMEBODY ELSE'S GUY |
Greatest Hits... |
| Cecille Peniston |
|
13 |
| The woman responsible for inflicting "Finally" on an unsuspecting planet three times this decade has decided the market is right to tolerate her greatest hits album, in spite of a distinct lack of hits (two top 10, another 5 making the forty), never mind the great ones (er, nil). This is a cover of Jocelyn Brown's #13 hit of 1983, spookily peaking at the same place. |
| 36 |
7 |
| YOU CAN TALK TO ME |
[album?] |
| Seahorses |
|
14 |
| We saw from Ian Brown just a few places above. This is the third single from John Squire's band's album, and is a melodic guitar workout that doesn't really rise above the pedestrian. |
| 37 |
2 |
| TIME OF YOUR LIFE (GOOD RIDDANCE) |
|
| Green Day |
|
20 |
| The neo-punk rockers return with a ballad, of all improbable creatures. It sarcastically sends an ex-lover good wishes in the chorus, but not in the verse. It also becomes one of their biggest hits since they were really popular back around 1995's Dookie album. |
| 38 |
2 |
| YOU MAKE ME FEEL (MIGHTY REAL) |
|
| Byron Stingley |
|
18 |
| The former Ten City has his first substantial hit in a year. It's a cover of the Sylvester classic from the late 70's, and isn't a patch on Jimmy Sommerville's version - complete with trumpets - from 1990. |
| 39 |
3 |
| ALL RIGHT ALL NIGHT |
Time |
| Peter Andre |
|
22 |
| A drastic re-make of the album track (featuring Coolio), this single falls between serious dance, the screaming girlie market, the gay market, and arrogant rock. It does feature the vocals of Warren G, making this his second duet of the month to make the 40. |
| 40 |
14 |
| BARBIE GIRL |
Aquarium |
| Aqua |
|
2 |
| Ah, you know this one. Just clinging in there come the Danes who dared to be different. This homage to Mattel's classic toy brought nothing but lawsuits and the attendant free publicity to the record, which promptly shot to Number One in every chart except this one. Sadly, it doesn't look as if they're going to be one-hit wonders. Why? Take a look at my breakers chart... |