WEA in the UK expects to release "Heartbreak Hotel" on its own as a single; we'll treat "HH" as a single in its own right once "Not Right" falls off the weekly listings.
| 3
| 5
|
| WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH (THE TOUGH GET GOING)
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| Boyzone
| | | 1
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|---|
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This year's Comic Relief single is a cheap, piss-poor cover of Billy Ocean's biggest hit, a 1986 Number One single. The flip side, though, is somewhat better; an Alison Moyet cover of "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye".
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| 4
| 8
|
| AS
| Ladies And Gentlemen the best of
| George Michael
| | | 8
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|---|
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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.
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| 5
| 10
| | 3
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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.
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| Single Of The Month
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| 6
| 8
| | 3
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|---|
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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.
|
| 7
| 8
| | RUNAWAY
| Forgiven, not Forgotten
| Coors
| |
| 5
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|---|
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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?
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| 8
| 7
| | STRONG ENOUGH
| Believe
| Cher
| |
| 6
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|---|
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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".
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| 9
| 8
| | 3
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|---|
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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.
|
| 10
| 8
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| LULLABYE
| Soul's Core
| Shawn Mullins
| | | 8
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|---|
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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.
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| 11
| 4
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| BETTER BEST FORGOTTEN
| Step One
| Steps
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| 4
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With their previous single still doing the rounds, Steps come back to the forefront with the (count 'em!) 5th single from their album. It's a mid-tempo number, without the easy appeal just about all their other records, and it looks set to turn into their least massive hit to date.
|
| 12
| 7
| | STRONG
| I've Been Expecting You / The Ego Has Landed
| Robbie Williams
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| 8
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|---|
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Hit single three from Robbie's new album is a quiet, reflective little number about the perils of aging that is a real grower, a la Angels.
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| 13
| 5
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| WE LIKE TO PARTY (THE VENGABUS)
| The Party Album!
| Vengaboys
| | | 13
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|---|
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Cheesy Euro-disco. Great for five year olds.
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| Sureshot
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| 14
| 6
|
| YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE
| Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
| New Radicals
| | | 3
|
|---|
|
The breakthrough single for the American act is well-known - a foot-stomping little number that is a lot more fragile than it might first appear. Wonderful one. Our overpaid and underworked "Sounds Familiar" team reckon this resembles the Waterboys: the same flag-waving pomp masking a fragile centre...
|
| 15
| 6
| | ERASE AND REWIND
| Gran Turismo
| Cardigans
| |
| 13
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|---|
|
The second single from one of the largest Swedish acts around at the moment is another big hit; this is a little like their other records, but novel enough to retain a lot of interest.
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| 16
| 4
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| YOU STOLE THE SUN FROM MY HEART
| This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours
| Manic Street Preachers
| |
| 12
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|---|
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The same song, again and again.
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| 17
| 5
|
| NOTHING REALLY MATTERS
| Ray of Light
| Madonna
| | | 15
|
|---|
|
The fifth single from her album is probably one too far: there's not the spark in this mid-tempo number that there was for "Frozen" or the most recent "Power of Goodbye".
|
| 18
| 4
|
| I WISH I COULD FLY
| Have a Nice Day
| Roxette
| | | 12
|
|---|
|
The comeback single for Per and Marie follows a three year fallow period during which Marie's had a child, and Per's polished up his Europop craft; not that there was much slippage. This is standard Roxette fare, a simple tune that somehow goes further than it ought.
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| 19
| 20
|
| Very Long Runner
| | WHEN YOU'RE GONE
| On a Day Like Today
| Bryan Adams & Mel C
| | | 2
|
|---|
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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).
|
| 20
| 3
| | 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".
|
| 21
| 8
| | 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".
|
| 22
| 3
|
| BLAME IT ON THE WEATHERMAN
| B*Witched
| B*Witched
| | | 6
|
|---|
|
Single four from their debut album is a slow ballad, unlike their previous hits. With C'est la Vie now taking off in the USA, this lot should be around for time to come.
|
| February's Single Of The Month
|
| 23
| 9
| | ONE WEEK
| Stunt
| Barenaked Ladies
| |
| 3
|
|---|
|
In 1992, the album Gordon 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...
|
| 24
| 3
|
| HOW LONG'S A TEAR TAKE TO DRY?
| Quench
| Beautiful South
| |
| 13
|
|---|
|
The third single from their album is a rather good one. Probably the best of the album. One every album still holds true.
|
| 25
| 24
|
| Seven Weeks at #1
| | Very Long Runner
| | BELIEVE
| Believe
| Cher
| | | 1
|
|---|
|
There is no stopping this one. Top of the pile for November and December 98, and now four weeks as America's Number One, this is Cher's biggest hit in a 35 year career. Now around for just under 6 months and still no sign of stopping.
|
| 26
| 21
|
| 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 - look for that in next month's chart.
|
| 27
| 4
| | JUST LOOKING
| Performance and Cocktails
| Stereophonics
| |
| 17
|
|---|
|
Not the most tuneless of tracks, but not anything that will stand out in the end of year reviews.
|
| 28
| 2
| | 1
|
|---|
|
A slow, boring techno tune, that's nothing more than bass and bass. The USP of this track is its use in a jeans commercial with a yellow glove puppet. Of course, it's just a cheap imitation of the original glove puppet Phillip Schofield, who with his mentor Gordon T Gopher went from kids tv to prime-time gameshows and can now be seen in "Dr Doolittle" on London's West End. But I digress. This is the creation of French film director Quentin Dupieux, who really should have stuck to making micro budget movies. He becomes the first French act to hit the top slot since Charles Aznavour in 1974.
|
| 29
| 2
| | 7
|
|---|
|
The first single lifted from the group's fourth album is not an unusual slice of their work, but not a wonderful single.
|
| 30
| 8
| | YOU DON'T KNOW ME
| 2 Future 4 U
| 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.
|
| 31
| 2
| | HONEY TO THE B
| Honey to the B
| Billie
| |
| 4
|
|---|
|
The title track to her album is slow and sultry. This just about kills her image as a sweet, cherubic schoolgirl, and turns her into a more sultry act. The words "Minogue" and "Kylie" (or is it "Dannnniiiiiiiiii") spring to mind; the words "Spears" and "Britany" do, too.
|
| 32
| 11
| | 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.
|
| 33
| 4
|
| DEAD FROM THE WAIST DOWN
| Equally Cursed and Blessed
| Catatonia
| |
| 5
|
|---|
|
The first single from their third album is a refreshing ballad asking the world to "make hay not war" and with a video featuring singer Cerys Matthews in a rather revealing peasant-girl top. Isn't she a bit old for that lark? Whatever, it's a pleasant ballad, if not quite as good as some of their earlier work.
|
| 34
| 3
| | MY LOVE
| Everybody's Somebody
| Kele le Roc
| |
| 18
|
|---|
|
Almost a carbon copy of her debut, but it's not as good.
|
| 35
| 3
| | WRITTEN IN THE STARS
| Aida
| Elton John & Leann Rimes
| |
| 21
|
|---|
|
From Elton and Sir Tim Rice's new musical, this should have been a massive hit. Quite why it's not may be one of the year's bigger mysteries; perhaps they didn't do enough promo work together, or perhaps the song wasn't as good as the billing suggested.
|
| 36
| 2
| | WITCH DOCTOR
| Cartoon World
| Cartoons
| |
| 9
|
|---|
|
Mad, bad, and kinda dangerous Danes. A total novelty act, as was Aqua just a few months ago. The song itself comes from the original Chipmunks project, the brainchild of David Seville in 1959.
|
| 37
| 5
| | PROTECT YOUR MIND
|
| DJ Sakkin
| |
| 15
|
|---|
|
Belgian euro-trance. Or something.
The dull side of British hit music.
|
| 38
| 5
| | ANGEL OF MINE
| The Boy Is Mine
| Monica
| |
| 34
|
|---|
|
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.
|
| 39
| 3
|
| I STILL BELIEVE
| Ones
| Mariah Carey
| | | 23
|
|---|
|
Yet another torch song, with the almost obligatory Morales mix (the one that sounds like every other Morales mix, ever). Unless it rises, this will become Carey's smallest hit since 1991.
|
| 40
| 12
| | YOU GOTTA BE
| Des'ree
| Des'ree
| |
| 12
|
|---|
|
Originally a hit in 1994, making #20, and re-released the following year to peak at #14. Now subtly remixed, used in a commercial, and made available again, the perrenial airplay favourite still falls short of a top 10 placing. Maybe she should give up before it gets embarrassing.
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