| This | Tot
wks | | Peak |
|---|
| Number One |
| Sureshot |
| 1
| 6
|
| One Week at #1 |
| Top Tune: Weekly #1 |
| Top Tune: Sales |
| Top Tune: Personal Airplay |
| ...BABY ONE MORE TIME
| ...baby one more time
| | Britany Spears
| | 1
|
|---|
|
This has gone massive. Not only top of the pile for February. Not only top of the personal airplay pile. But selling 500,000 copies in one week, behind only Band Aid, Wham! and Elton John. Leading the personal airplay list for five straight weeks. And topping all three charts at the same time - something that has never happened. Britany has arrived.
|
| Sureshot |
| 2
| 5
| | 3
|
|---|
|
Back! Back!! BACK!!! We've heard nothing new from Debbie Harry and the boys since 1982. Indeed, their memories have been sullied by meaningless, pointless dance remixes a few years ago. But this is a new single, promoting an all-new album, and one of the best singalong songs of the year so far.
|
| 3
| 6
|
| One Week at #1 |
| PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY)
| Americana
| | Offspring
| | 1
|
|---|
|
This has to rank as one of the most surprising massive hit singles of the decade. An American punk band whose previous chart experience is confined to two hits, three weeks on chart, and nothing above #30, suddenly find themselves at the front of a punk/rock explosion. It's simple, dumb rock, made with such panache that the groupknow it's dumb. Which (er) makes it a rather wonderful, refreshing blast.
|
| 4
| 16
|
| Very Long Runner |
| Five Weeks at #1 |
| TRAGEDY / HEARTBEAT
| Step One / A Message To You (va) |
| Steps
|
| 1
|
|---|
|
A curious double A-sided single. On one, an uptempo ballad from the band's debut album; not a cover of the Buddy Holly number popularised by the piss-poor British drama, but a new ballad that reminds one of Abba's "SOS". On the other, a cover of the Bee Gees number, from the recent tribute album, done in the style of a popular 70s Scandanavian foursome. Both have attracted heaps of airplay, and spent a long time atop the piles. The band, often seen as a new Abba, were part of a medley of the Super Swede's hits at the 99 Brit Awards.
|
| 5
| 16
|
| Very Long Runner |
| WHEN YOU'RE GONE
| On a Day Like Today
| | Bryan Adams & Mel C
| | 2
|
|---|
|
Two of the acts who have the longest runs at #1 during the 90s combine to make a bog-standard rockout track that has one of the longest Top 10 runs of the decade. Vocals are provided by Spice Girl Chisholm (Sporty).
|
| 6
| 5
| | YOU DON'T KNOW ME
|
| | Armand van Helden
|
| 4
|
|---|
|
The man made his name after sampling Tori Amos' "Professional Widow" and turning it into a thumping dance hit during the second half of 96. Although the credit went solely to Miss Amos, van Helden has made his career on the back. This is his first significant solo hit since, sampling McFadden and Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now", recently subjected to a Clock cover. van Helden has just about blown a chance of joining the list of Dutch #1 hitmakers: Pussycat, 2 Unlimited, Doop, and (er) that's it.
|
| Single Of The Month |
| 7
| 4
| | ONE WEEK
| Stunt
| | Barenaked Ladies
|
| 3
|
|---|
|
In 1992, the albumGordon was released in the UK, to wild critical acclaim, and an assurance that the band were going to be huge. Only, four singles came and went, without troubling the chart compilers at all. The Toronto five-piece remained a distant thought in most British minds, and part of the ObCanCon overseas, until this single hit it big in the States last year, spending one week atop the Billboard listings. Now released in the UK, they soar into the top 10 first week out. Seven years to become an overnight success...
|
| 8
| 3
| | 3
|
|---|
|
Let's face it, we thought in 1995, Kravitz is past it. The Top 10 musings of 91's "It Ain't Over (Till it's Over)", and 93's "Are you Gonna Go My Way?" had given way to a bombastic album, fronted by the single "Rock N Roll Is Dead". Not as dead as your career, as the failure of the album and last year's newie showed. Until, that is, this track was used on a car commercial. Bingo! Top 5 hit, artifical career lift, six months to pack in a Best Of compilation. See if he doesn't.
|
| 9
| 8
| | PRAISE YOU
| You've Come A Long Way Baby
| | Fatboy Slim
|
| 6
|
|---|
|
The biggest hit under this name for Norman Cook, who has previously tasted the top slot with a remix of Cornershop (last February), Beats International (1990) and the Housemartins (1986). This is a piano-based house track, with authentic scratches at the start and it is something of a grower.
|
| Sureshot |
| 10
| 6
| | 7
|
|---|
|
A melancholy gangsta-rap track is appropriately dedicated to 2Pac, Notorious BIG and other ex-rappers. It vaguely reminds me of a second-rate "Tha Crossroads", Bone Thuggs & Harmony's big hit from 1996.
|
| 11
| 4
| | BOY YOU KNOCK ME OUT
| Kiss the Sky
| | Tatyana Ali
|
| 8
|
|---|
|
Second single from an over-paid, under-trained vocalist, with overdubs from Will Smith. Don't know why they bother, frankly.
|
| 12
| 6
| | TEQUILA
| Shaving Peaches
| | Terrorvision
|
| 4
|
|---|
|
We have Snowy Bald to blame for this one. The solo host of Radio 1's breakfast show played this one to death just before Christmas, forcing the record company to release it as a single. The album version is dull, shorn of a children's choir and anthemic chorus; the single really hits the spot as a more lively, perky, track.
|
| 13
| 3
| | CHANGES
| Greatest Hits
| | 2-Pac
|
| 10
|
|---|
|
Dead American rapper craps all over the haunting piano figure from "The Way It Is". It's his second-biggest hit, behind only his 96 comeback "California Love".
|
| 14
| 4
| | 10
|
|---|
|
Mixing the Jacksons' single of that name with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (or, to be exact, Walter Murphy's 1978 US topper "A Fifth of Beethoven") to create a bed for more dull rap. Is there a sale on or something, as this is the second Jacksons sample to hit the top end in less than a year, after "Can You Feel It" went to the Tamperer.
|
| 15
| 3
| | RUNAWAY
| Forgiven, not Forgotten
| | Coors
|
| 5
|
|---|
|
Three times released in 1996, three times it failed to hit the charts. After their massive success last year, and the rare feat of putting two albums in the top 10 at the same time, the Coors revisit their 1995 debut album, and feed a track to K-Class to remix. Why oh why oh why do they ruin perfectly presentable songs by forcing them through this sausage mill?
|
| 16
| 3
| | IT'S NOT RIGHT BUT IT'S OK / HEARTBREAK HOTEL
| My Love is Your Love
| | Whitney Houston
|
| 2
|
|---|
|
The second single from an album that totally underperformed is a stonker. One side is heavily promoted in the UK, and is a slick semi-rap number, featuring some joyously heavily minor key work. Flip is the hit in the US, no relation to the Elvis hit, but with Faith Evans and a soulful croon. Deservedly massive.
|
| 17
| 2
| | EX-FACTOR
| The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
| | Lauryn Hill
|
| 6
|
|---|
|
The second solo hit for the ex-Fugee is a slow, mellow, but fast-growing slab of soulful rap. Good, but not as hook-laden as "Doo-Wop".
|
| 18
| 19
|
| Seven Weeks at #1 |
| Very Long Runner |
| BELIEVE
| Believe
| | Cher
| | 1
|
|---|
|
Well, she's back. Her fourth number one hit in a 33 year career is one of the strangest tracks I've ever heard a 50-year-old make. With almost all the vocals filtered through a Vocoder, this could be a Dalek singing. It was interesting for a few weeks, but then turned into a totally unbearable track. It's becomes the first single to win two consecutive months since Puff Daddy's "I'll be Missing You" in July and August 1997, and looks set to become her first US-UK Number One since "I Got You, Babe" back in MCMLXV.
|
| 19
| 4
|
| NATIONAL EXPRESS
| Fin de Siécle
| | Divine Comedy
|
| 10
|
|---|
|
The author of the best Eurosong that never was ("My Wonderful Horse", fromFather Ted) puts out the best ironic take on cheap travel. With a hum-along "Ba ba ba ba" chorus, and an accurate look at the perils of coach travel. Censored byTop of the Pops, where one cannot squeeze by when one's arse is the size of a small country.
|
| 20
| 4
| | CAN'T GET ENOUGH
|
| | Soulsearcher
|
| 12
|
|---|
|
Former Snap! singer (Pennye Ford) in Not Particularly Memorable Tune Shock.
|
| Sureshot |
| 21
| 3
|
| Top Tune: Airplay |
| LULLABYE
| Soul's Core
| | Shawn Mullins
| | 8
|
|---|
|
The 30 year old singer songwriter from Atlanta expected to sell maybe 20,000 copies of his latest album. Instead, radio all over the States picked up on this story, with twangy guitars and uplifting chorus (and another stunning video) and made it a monster hit. Now getting big airplay in the UK, it looks like Shawn will exceed his expectations by a long way. Sorry for the inconvenience.
|
| 22
| 3
| | 3
|
|---|
|
Compared in some quarters to John Lennin, this has very little to do with the rock of "Song 2", and still less with the Britrock of "Parklife". With help from the London Gospel Community Choir and William Orbit, Blur re-make themselves for the (count 'em) fourth time.
|
| 23
| 3
| | PROTECT YOUR MIND
|
| | DJ Sakkin
|
| 15
|
|---|
|
Belgian euro-trance. Or something.
|
| 24
| 4
| | DREAMING
| The best of...
| | M People
|
| 13
|
|---|
|
The usual M People formula, tunewise, but adopting a High Debut, Fast Fall policy for the chart. Hell, they're turning into the Iron Maiden of the dance world. Run to the hills!
|
| 25
| 12
| | END OF THE LINE
| Wonder #8
| | Honeyz
|
| 3
|
|---|
|
The second wonderful slice of R&B from this foursome. The words "gorgeous", "sweet" and "fab" spring to mind.
|
| 26
| 14
| | MIAMI
| Big Willie Style
| | Will Smith
|
| 5
|
|---|
|
The third release of the year is about his home city. Gosh, no-one's ever recorded anything on that topic before, have they?
|
| 27
| 21
|
| Very Long Runner |
| THE SWEETEST THING
| Greatest Hits 1980-89
| | U2
| | 4
|
|---|
|
Originally the B-side to 1988's "Where the Streets Have No Name", this is re-recorded, re-made and released as an A-side. And it's really rather good, a complete contrast to their recent experimental work - sticking around for the best part of 5 months suggests that.
|
| 28
| 2
| | STRONG ENOUGH
| Believe
| | Cher
|
| 8
|
|---|
|
Twenty years too late, Cher returns to disco, and follows up the International Megasmash with a record that almost has the unadulterated joy of "Knock on Wood", if not the kitsch of "YMCA".
|
| 29
| 4
| | THESE ARE THE TIMES
| Enter The Dru
| | Dru Hill
|
| 10
|
|---|
|
Slushy, close-harmony R&B that does well, but it's not setting the world afire.
|
| 30
| 15
|
| Very Long Runner | | NO REGRETS
| I've Been Expecting You
| | Robbie Williams
| | 4
|
|---|
|
Hit song number two from this album features uncredited appearances from Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys - having his biggest hit since 1993's "Go West", and Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy - it's his highest hit yet, even with the success of "National Express". It's the obvious Second Single, a swooping, soaring ballad that apologises for nothing. Maybe not as anthemic as "Angels", his Christmas release for 97 that became Brit Single of the year for 98, but a sizy tune nevertheless.
|
| 31
| 3
| | BUENA VIDA (GOOD LIFE)
|
| | Inner City
|
| 8
|
|---|
|
In 1989, this made #4 as a happy house tune. Ten years on, it's turned into a Flamenco tune, sounds even better for it, and has made a welcome return to the top reaches.
|
| 32
| 3
| | YOU DON'T BRING ME ANYTHING BUT DOWN
| The Globe Sessions
| | Sheryl Crow
|
| 19
|
|---|
|
Nothing more and nothing less than her well-worn formula. She can do better than this.
|
| 33
| 6
| | 5
|
|---|
|
Cover That! A slightly bizarre techno-dance cover of the last Roxy Music hit becomes a surprise success story of the new year. Emmy's eighteen, from Manchester, and may well be a one-hit wonder. This is more frantic, but of lower quality, than 10,000 Maniacs' cover a few years back.
|
| 34
| 2
| | I WANT YOU BACK
| N-Sync
| | N-Sync
|
| 19
|
|---|
|
Another American boy band import launches with a dodgy uptempo number that just sits and squirms. It worked for the Backstreet Boys, so why not for this mob?
|
| 35
| 3
| | AS
| Ladies And Gentlemen the best of
| | George Michael
|
| 25
|
|---|
|
With Mary J Blige, on a cover of a Stevie Wonder album track. Mary's biggest hit to date was a top 10 duet with Method Man; George hit the top in partnership with another soul diva, Aretha Franklin, in 1987.
|
| 36
| 10
| | CHOCOLATE SALTED BALLS
| Chef Aid
| | Chef
|
| 2
|
|---|
|
If it's from the "South Park" album, it must be incredibly toffee-nosed, completely correct down to the last P and Q. Well, maybe. This is a song that eschews the double entendres traditional in Christmas entertainments, and substitutes single entendres. But it is rather a good tune that bears plenty of listens, which distinguishes it from many comedy tracks. Chef is, of course, soul singer Issac Hayes, whose biggest hit before now was the "Theme from Shaft", a Number 4 hit in 1972.
|
| 37
| 6
| | I WANT YOU FOR MYSELF
| Another Level
| | Another Level
|
| 7
|
|---|
|
Another slab of poor R&B from one of the most clichéd acts around.
|
| 38
| 21
|
| Very Long Runner |
| OUTSIDE
| Ladies And Gentlemen the best of
| | George Michael
| | 2
|
|---|
|
The first of three threatened tracks of his singles collection released as part of his agreement to leave Sony records. It's based around his experiences in a park last April, and features a TFM (Middlesborough) newsreader buried deep in the mix. It's a lot like "Fastlove", only without the "Forget-Me-Nots" sample on the end. Or the darned quality.
|
| 39
| 1
| | ANGEL OF MINE
| The Boy Is Mine
| | Monica
|
| 35
|
|---|
|
Originally a Top 5 hit for Eternal, this note-perfect cover by the young American soulstress should help catapult the British trio into the limelight over there. Especially if someone releases "I Wanna be the Only One" to radio soon.
|
| 40
| 3
| | 34
|
|---|
|
If CIN ever need proof that these charts aren't based on theirs, I'll point to the success of this record. On commercial release, it peaked at #41 last November, then sank without trace. On this chart, it's continued to build on its strong showing and now makes the monthly 40 entry it's been threatening for a very long time. It's the first time Jewel's had a hit of this size in the UK; some promotional work (hint) would help change that.
|