Weaver's UK Music Charts

Weaver's Charts

April 2000

Heavy notice: These charts are not intended as any representation of sales or airplay data on any station. They are merely intended as a guide to the most successful records in the UK at the moment. Unauthorised reproduction in print, electronic, broadcast or other media is not permitted without the consent of the author.
Ps wk TITLE (album)
Act Peak Hon
1 4 FILL ME IN
Craig David 2
The voice of the Artful Dodger's "Rewind" late last year, Craig David comes back with a singularly tedious track that comes on, potters about for four minutes, then shuts up again. It goes nowhere, does nothing, and sells in vast quantities for reasons that totally escape me. He's become the youngest solo male - just 18 - to top the charts since Glenn Mederios in 1988. And look what happened to him.
2 3 TOCA'S MIRACLE
Fragma 1x2
The story behind this record is well known. "I Need a Miracle" (Coco, #39 sales, 1997, vocals) + "Toca Me" (Fragma, #26, #408 for the year, 1999, instrumental). Result: massive seller, airplay fave, and bad interviews as Coco complains she's not getting her fair slice of the royalties.
3 4 THONG SONG (Unleash The Dragon)
Sisqo 3
The former Dru Hill frontman releases the second single off his album, in honour of a stripper he and his brother saw on a night out. It cannot be taken seriously, and ripped up the chart on its release.
4 7 SAY MY NAME (The Writing's On the Wall)
Destiny's Child 2
Third UK release, second in the States, a typical Child number. Well-structured soul vocals, but surely they're capable of more than this. Three weeks as the US #1, one in Canada.
5 3 THE BAD TOUCH (Hooray For Boobies)
Bloodhound Gang 4 SS
The breakthrough single for this British group is a raunchy number, that will never allow anyone who hears it to watch discovery.ca in the same way. Radio was slow to pick up on this track, but made up for their omission with a vengeance - and an edit. Sales held up far better than anyone could have predicted, with the track just the fifth in six months to climb above its entry position on the weekly sales listings.
6 6 NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN (Northern Star)
Mel C featuring Lisa Lopez 1x1
The Tony Slattery of TLC makes her second guest appearance on a massive hit, following her work with Donell Jones in January. This is a satisfying confection of pop and soul, but isn't at all a filling. It's not a patch on the minor (#55 in 1989) Danny Wilson hit of the same name.
7 34 SMOOTH (Supernatural)
Santana feat Rob Thomas 1x2 Mar
Rob is the vocalist from Matchbox 20, joining the rest of Carlos' group on a laid-back but still charged hit. America knows this is great; it spent a record-cracking twelve (12) weeks on top of the Billboard survey, the longest run since Brandy and Monica in the summer of 98, and just three weeks adrift of Mariah's all-time record. Just for good measure, "Smooth" spent four weeks at the top in Canada and led Santana to nine Grammy awards, including Record and Song of the Year for this track. In the UK, self-proclaimed home of great music, it made #75 on this sales chart last October, shifting around 3000 copies. But, just as it was dying Stateside, British radio suddenly leaped on "Smooth" with all the fervour of a new convert, and it began to move back up the listings ahead of a re-release. That moved forward from April to March 20, as the song was belatedly added to airplay lists across the country. On release, the track improved to #3 sales, #1 with airplay.
8 3 FLOWERS
Sweet Female Attitude 4
It's another of those records that seems to sell to a large fanbase, yet doesn't cross over in the slightest. The young duo has managed #2 on the weekly sales chart, but feel like a one-trick pony.
9 11 PURE SHORES (The Beach OST)
All Saints 1x2 SS
The biggest individual weekly sale of the year so far doesn't go to new Oasis but to new Saints. This is a quiet, contemplative number that bears all the hallmarks of producer William Orbit. It's the first new material from the Saints since 1998, and becomes their third number one, following "Never Ever" and "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" earlier that year. Co-writer Shaznay Lewis said that there was no "Never Ever" on the group's forthcoming album; we might beg to differ, as this was still #1 airplay after eight weeks on release.
10 30 I TRY (On How Life Is)
Macy Gray 5 Oct
Where Lauryn Hill has picked up flak for being too rich to have been miseducated, Macy appears to be the real item. She sounds like R&B diva Hill after a few too many ciggies - though her voice is entirely natural - and has come out with an absolute belter of a track. If you've never heard it, do so at once; if you've turned it off halfway through because it's going nowhere, go back and listen to it in full. The song projects a big city, late at night, and received hyper-enthusiastic airplay on London's breakfast show. It also set eyebrows aflame on the UK sales chart, for daring to climb up the chart for seven consecutive weeks. Such is the abuse of the sales list by record companies that no record has managed this trick since Celine Dion in 1994-5. Just to confuse matters further, this track has been making an upswing owing to new success in foreign markets, spending four weeks leading the Canadian pack.
11 10 AMERICAN PIE (The Next Best Thing OST)
Madonna 1x3
A long, long time ago, a plane crash killed three rock stars. A paperboy was moved to write a tale covering the next decade or so, and made a record out of it. There have been cover versions of Don McLean's classic in the past, but none of them have stood any sort of comparison to the original. Now the High Priestess of Pop turns her hand to the previously-untouchable for her 50th UK single and (hopefully) 47th Top 10 hit. Critics have savaged the recording, which takes only the opening stanza, second and final verses but only drops two minutes from Don's running time. For my money, this is as good a remake as we're ever likely to have, but it's still a pale shadow of the orignial.
12 2 HE WASN'T MAN ENOUGH (The Heat)
Toni Braxton 5
It's three years since Toni's last chart entry, and that was a re-activation of "Unbreak My Heart" in the first week of September 97. After filing for bankruptcy, taking time out, and composing some killer tunes, the Braxton is Back! This release follows the man-baiting theme common to Whitney, TLC and Destiny's Child albums last year, and deserves its high placings on both sides of the Atlantic.
13 3 DEEPER SHADE OF BLUE (Steptacular / Step One (US))
Bloodhound Gang 11 SS
You can probably guess how this one goes. Steps bynumbers, according to some commentators. It is still a wonderful piece of bubblegum pop, and is backed with a sensational video in which the group member get a bit sadistic. They're lambs, really.
14 10 ALL THE SMALL THINGS (Enema Of the State)
Blink 182 2 SS
The Blinksters establish themselves in the UK with this catchy single. The video spoofs the Backstreet Boys, Aggielera and Birtney, while the track itself is a hugely catchy upbeat number. It's not representative of their fast punk style, but it's a great hit.
15 8 AMAZED (Lonely Grill)
Lonestar 13 SS
Back last summer, this record spent a record-busting eleven weeks on top of the country charts in the US, and made a respectable showing on the overall airplay listings over there. We expected that to be the end of the story, leaving the group without the crossover hit they deserved. Then, just before Christmas, AC radio picked up on the track in a big way. It returned to the listings, obtained a single release, and shot to the top of the Hot 100. The stage was set for the group to take the UK market by storm; New Country has been hyped as flavour of the year for the past couple of years, but this was the first real chance to prove its value in single terms. If South Park's Officer Barbrady were around, he would be calling for shenanigans on this record. It's struggled to attract airplay away from Radio 2 and the few AC stations, isn't stocked by two leading record store chains, yet has attracted massive interest on every television appearance. This is going to be a classic hit that everyone will know in ten years. Whether it's remembered as a mass single at the time, or allowed to wither and die to be remembered later, is yet to be told.
16 11 BYE BYE BYE (No Strings Attached)
N'Sync 3 SS
With only one major hit to their credit, almost a year ago, the Sync needed another breakthrough to be taken seriously in the UK. This was the barnstorming track to do the trick. It reminds of such recent upbeat power pop classics such as "Larger Than Life" and "Keep On Moving", and is deservedly as massive a hit.
17 3 BLOW YOUR MIND
Lock & Load 6
Two Dutch DJs with a piece of mental floss: in one ear, out the other.
18 11 MARIA MARIA (Supernatural)
Santana 12 NB
Vocals this time from Wyclef Jean, under the name "The Product". This is more of a showcase for Carlos Santana's languid guitar skills than the frenetic "Smooth", and would sound utterly wonderful on a hot summer's afternoon with a cool breeze and cool drink to hand. UK release is very provisionally scheduled for July, when we'll be in the height of the rainy season. Seven weeks on top of the World Chart, five in the US, two in Canada.
19 8 SITTING DOWN HERE (Playing My Game)
Lene Marlin 6 SS
The debut single for a young Norwegian songwriter-with-a-guitar has turned into a massive hit. If she can do it, how come the technically similar (if slightly superior) Jewel has never managed it?
20 6 THE TIME IS NOW (Things to Make and Do)
Moloko 5
Returning to their indie-dance roots after the success of last summer's "Sing It Back", Moloko notch up a second smash. This starts out with a serene female vocal over a swirling background, but soon drops into a similar groove to their last hit. It does, though, have something that is less irritating than the previous work.
21 8 IT FEELS SO GOOD (Hear My Cry)
Sonique 18 NB
Sonique was the singer with S-Express through their period of success, from 88 to 91. Since the group disbanded, she's carved out a small niche as a club and session singer, belting out some great vocals to unappreciative audiences. From nowhere, this track of hers has attracted massive play on US radio, where the single has gone top 15. Re-promotion in the UK, where the track stiffed in 1998, is now under way, with a full re-release following in May.
22 6 CRASH AND BURN (Affirmation)
Savage Garden 15 SS
After the tedium of their last record comes this return to barnstorming form. It's as makers of upbeat, almost tribal, records that Savage Garden make their best work. A welcome comeback.
23 3 A SONG FOR THE LOVERS
Richard Ashcroft 8
The former Verve frontman has his first solo hit with a song that sounds like it's something his erstwhile group rejected as not being up to scratch. It sold passably in its first week, but fell like a stone straight after. His status as the next Morrissey seems assured, at least in chart terms - a fading irrelevance.
24 14 SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY (Millennium)
Backstreet Boys 2
This one's a soft ballad, but with the usual power pop punch we've come to associate with the band. It's come in for a lot of critical stick, primarily for not being "Larger Than Life"; comparisons between the two records may be too similar to chalk and cheese. Much more similar is Tina Turner's 1995 Bond theme "Goldeneye"; both records share the same triple chord stab.
25 2 PRIVATE EMOTION (Ricky Martin)
Meja / Ricky Martin 9 SS
After the faux-Latin stomp of "Livin La Vida Loca" turned him into an A-list star, Martin returned to his crooner roots for the epic ballad "She's All I Ever Had." That was a deserved hit everywhere. Except, that is, in the UK, where the single was overlooked in favour of the singularly abysmal "Shake Your Bon-Bon." With a shattered reputation to recover, and cries of "He looks like a muppet" ringing in his ears, Martin delved into the celebrity phone book and turned up trumps. Enter Meja, the Swedish songstrel who put the squeaky-good "All About the Money" into the top ten in autumn 98, but who disappeared as swiftly as she rose. Put the two together and the result is this atmospheric, slightly spooky, ballad, that stands or falls on Meja's contribution.
26 4 FOOLED AGAIN (Westlife)
Westlife 2
British record buyers were, when their chart gave the Irish band yet another list leader in late March. They slumped to #8 the following week, showing just how shallow the group's fanbase is, and consequentially how easy it is to buy a sales number one these days. For information, it never rose above #14 on the running four-week summary chart. It's the fifth single off their album, and sounds exactly like their other four, only more boring.
27 1 BOUND FOR THE RELOAD
Oxide & Neutrino 1
Two eighteen year old producers cut this record in their bedroom, based on the riff from the long-running BBC comedy-drama "Casualty." It sold packets, and is one of five singles - alongside Craig David, Sweet Female Attitude, Lene Marlin, and Jessica Simpson - from teenagers on the list this month.
28 11 BREATHE (Breathe)
Faith Hill 20 NB
Lead single from Faith's latest album looked like it would settle for a minor placing in the US. Then it became available to buy, and rocketed to #2, eclipsing the peak of "This Kiss". A massive UK hit surely follows.
29 3 BE WITH YOU (Bailamos)
Enrique Iglesias 20 NB
The third single off the album is a mid-tempo tune, not quite as fast as "Bailamos" but a lot more memorable than his Christmas release, which stiffed out of sight. This has moderately large hit written over it.
30 7 BAG IT UP (Schizophonic)
Geri Haliwell 5 SS
Single four from her debut album was promoted by an appearance at the Brit awards just before release: emerging from the middle of a pair of giants legs, Haliwell cavorted with some scantily-clad (male) dancers. The thrust of the video is that men require taming and shouldn't be trusted in the slightest. This becomes Halibut's smallest hit, scraping a place in the weekly top 5 in spite of topping the UK sales tally for a single week.
31 8 DON'T GIVE UP (Behind the Sun)
Chicane featuring Bryan Adams 3
Though never the most consistent of hitmakers, Chicane have had their moments, most notably late 96's classy instrumental "Offshore". The Manchester duo also turned their hand to remixing, working on Bryan Adams' hit "Cloud #9" last year. Now the Too Far Gone From The Too Far West returns the favour, adding some half-strangled vocals to a plodding tune. Of course the public likes this; one should never underestimate the lack of taste that clubbing inspires. This will have only one minor footnote in rock history: the record that brought Bryan Adams back to the top of the sales chart after that movie song.
32 2 I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER (Sweet Kisses)
Jessica Simpson 21 Apr
If Birtney Spears - of whom more next month - is the queen of pop-disco-dancey stuff, and Christina Aguilera is the princess of powder pop, Jessica Simpson must be the next Mariah Carey. She certainly has the lungs and vocal range to equal Ms Cantsing, but already has more vocal control and restraint than the probable comparison. This is a perfect demonstration of her talents.
33 3 THERE YOU GO
Pink 28 NB
One part Destiny's Child to two parts homogenous R&B does not make for a memorable single.
34 1 JUST AROUND THE HILL (Thrillennium)
Sash! / Tina Cousins 24
Reuniting the hit duo behind 1997's "Stay," this is the first of Sash!'s ten hits that isn't an out and out floor filler. It's a more slow track, and probably benefits from the change of pace. Deserved to be bigger than this, all told.
35 5 GET IT ON TONITE
Montell Jordan 17
It's not an obvious hit, it's not a massive hit, but it is a subtle, appealing slice of soul. Montell has never quite picked up steam in the UK, but has never released a track with such crossover potential as this one.
36 4 OTHERSIDE (Californication)
Red Hot Chili Peppers 32 SS
The third single off the album comes with a hugely expensive video, and is the standard Peppers rock-funk. Huge in the US, pifflingly small over here.
37 1 YOU SANG TO ME (Marc Anthony)
Marc Anthony 31 NB
After his first release stiffed on sales in spite of huge airplay, Marc returns to his roots for a strange beast of a follow-up. It's clearly Latin in influence and structure, yet is much slower than any other hit Latin track. It reminds me of sultry nights on a tropical beach, with someone strumming his guitar. One for a long hot summer.
38 1 AIRWAVE
Rank 1 13
Scraping a place this month is a Dutch producer duo, responsible for a contemplative piece of trance music.
39 1 BUGGIN' ME
Truesteppers / Dane Bowyers 9
Originally set for release in February, this track had to be pulled when Nicole Appleton of the All Saints couldn't get permission for her vocals to be used. This leaves a slight hole in the centre of the track; though production and a new vocal cut by the lead singer with Another Level have covered the gap well, it still sounds incomplete.
40 6 STILL DRE (Dr Dre 2001)
Dr Dre / Snoop Dogg 11
There's something about this track that makes it stand out a little from the usual parade of formulaic, bland rap. Probably the backing track.
SureShots on yellow, Singles of the Month on red, records Not British hits on green.

Ps	wk	TITLE (album) Act	Peak	Hon
1	4	FILL ME IN Craig David	2
The voice of the Artful Dodger's "Rewind" late last year, Craig David comes back with a singularly tedious track that comes on, potters about for four minutes, then shuts up again. It goes nowhere, does nothing, and sells in vast quantities for reasons that totally escape me. He's become the youngest solo male - just 18 - to top the charts since Glenn Mederios in 1988. And look what happened to him.
2	3	TOCA'S MIRACLE Fragma	1x2
The story behind this record is well known. "I Need a Miracle" (Coco, #39 sales, 1997, vocals) + "Toca Me" (Fragma, #26, #408 for the year, 1999, instrumental). Result: massive seller, airplay fave, and bad interviews as Coco complains she's not getting her fair slice of the royalties.
3	4	THONG SONG (Unleash The Dragon) Sisqo	3
The former Dru Hill frontman releases the second single off his album, in honour of a stripper he and his brother saw on a night out. It cannot be taken seriously, and ripped up the chart on its release.
4	7	SAY MY NAME (The Writing's On the Wall) Destiny's Child	2
Third UK release, second in the States, a typical Child number. Well-structured soul vocals, but surely they're capable of more than this. Three weeks as the US #1, one in Canada.
5	3	THE BAD TOUCH (Hooray For Boobies) Bloodhound Gang	4	SS
The breakthrough single for this British group is a raunchy number, that will never allow anyone who hears it to watch discovery.ca in the same way. Radio was slow to pick up on this track, but made up for their omission with a vengeance - and an edit. Sales held up far better than anyone could have predicted, with the track just the fifth in six months to climb above its entry position on the weekly sales listings.
6	6	NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN (Northern Star) Mel C featuring Lisa Lopez	1x1
The Tony Slattery of TLC makes her second guest appearance on a massive hit, following her work with Donell Jones in January. This is a satisfying confection of pop and soul, but isn't at all a filling. It's not a patch on the minor (#55 in 1989) Danny Wilson hit of the same name.
7	34	SMOOTH (Supernatural) Santana feat Rob Thomas	1x2	Mar
Rob is the vocalist from Matchbox 20, joining the rest of Carlos' group on a laid-back but still charged hit. America knows this is great; it spent a record-cracking twelve (12) weeks on top of the Billboard survey, the longest run since Brandy and Monica in the summer of 98, and just three weeks adrift of Mariah's all-time record. Just for good measure, "Smooth" spent four weeks at the top in Canada and led Santana to nine Grammy awards, including Record and Song of the Year for this track. In the UK, self-proclaimed home of great music, it made #75 on this sales chart last October, shifting around 3000 copies. But, just as it was dying Stateside, British radio suddenly leaped on "Smooth" with all the fervour of a new convert, and it began to move back up the listings ahead of a re-release. That moved forward from April to March 20, as the song was belatedly added to airplay lists across the country. On release, the track improved to #3 sales, #1 with airplay.
8	3	FLOWERS Sweet Female Attitude	4
It's another of those records that seems to sell to a large fanbase, yet doesn't cross over in the slightest. The young duo has managed #2 on the weekly sales chart, but feel like a one-trick pony.
9	11	PURE SHORES (The Beach OST) All Saints	1x2	SS
The biggest individual weekly sale of the year so far doesn't go to new Oasis but to new Saints. This is a quiet, contemplative number that bears all the hallmarks of producer William Orbit. It's the first new material from the Saints since 1998, and becomes their third number one, following "Never Ever" and "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" earlier that year. Co-writer Shaznay Lewis said that there was no "Never Ever" on the group's forthcoming album; we might beg to differ, as this was still #1 airplay after eight weeks on release.
10	30	I TRY (On How Life Is) Macy Gray	5	Oct
Where Lauryn Hill has picked up flak for being too rich to have been miseducated, Macy appears to be the real item. She sounds like R&B diva Hill after a few too many ciggies - though her voice is entirely natural - and has come out with an absolute belter of a track. If you've never heard it, do so at once; if you've turned it off halfway through because it's going nowhere, go back and listen to it in full. The song projects a big city, late at night, and received hyper-enthusiastic airplay on London's breakfast show. It also set eyebrows aflame on the UK sales chart, for daring to climb up the chart for seven consecutive weeks. Such is the abuse of the sales list by record companies that no record has managed this trick since Celine Dion in 1994-5. Just to confuse matters further, this track has been making an upswing owing to new success in foreign markets, spending four weeks leading the Canadian pack.
11	10	AMERICAN PIE (The Next Best Thing OST) Madonna	1x3
A long, long time ago, a plane crash killed three rock stars. A paperboy was moved to write a tale covering the next decade or so, and made a record out of it. There have been cover versions of Don McLean's classic in the past, but none of them have stood any sort of comparison to the original. Now the High Priestess of Pop turns her hand to the previously-untouchable for her 50th UK single and (hopefully) 47th Top 10 hit. Critics have savaged the recording, which takes only the opening stanza, second and final verses but only drops two minutes from Don's running time. For my money, this is as good a remake as we're ever likely to have, but it's still a pale shadow of the orignial.
12	2	HE WASN'T MAN ENOUGH (The Heat) Toni Braxton	5
It's three years since Toni's last chart entry, and that was a re-activation of "Unbreak My Heart" in the first week of September 97. After filing for bankruptcy, taking time out, and composing some killer tunes, the Braxton is Back! This release follows the man-baiting theme common to Whitney, TLC and Destiny's Child albums last year, and deserves its high placings on both sides of the Atlantic.
13	3	DEEPER SHADE OF BLUE (Steptacular / Step One (US)) Bloodhound Gang	11	SS
You can probably guess how this one goes. Steps bynumbers, according to some commentators. It is still a wonderful piece of bubblegum pop, and is backed with a sensational video in which the group member get a bit sadistic. They're lambs, really.
14	10	ALL THE SMALL THINGS (Enema Of the State) Blink 182	2	SS
The Blinksters establish themselves in the UK with this catchy single. The video spoofs the Backstreet Boys, Aggielera and Birtney, while the track itself is a hugely catchy upbeat number. It's not representative of their fast punk style, but it's a great hit.
15	8	AMAZED (Lonely Grill) Lonestar	13	SS
Back last summer, this record spent a record-busting eleven weeks on top of the country charts in the US, and made a respectable showing on the overall airplay listings over there. We expected that to be the end of the story, leaving the group without the crossover hit they deserved. Then, just before Christmas, AC radio picked up on the track in a big way. It returned to the listings, obtained a single release, and shot to the top of the Hot 100. The stage was set for the group to take the UK market by storm; New Country has been hyped as flavour of the year for the past couple of years, but this was the first real chance to prove its value in single terms. If South Park's Officer Barbrady were around, he would be calling for shenanigans on this record. It's struggled to attract airplay away from Radio 2 and the few AC stations, isn't stocked by two leading record store chains, yet has attracted massive interest on every television appearance. This is going to be a classic hit that everyone will know in ten years. Whether it's remembered as a mass single at the time, or allowed to wither and die to be remembered later, is yet to be told.
16	11	BYE BYE BYE (No Strings Attached) N'Sync	3	SS
With only one major hit to their credit, almost a year ago, the Sync needed another breakthrough to be taken seriously in the UK. This was the barnstorming track to do the trick. It reminds of such recent upbeat power pop classics such as "Larger Than Life" and "Keep On Moving", and is deservedly as massive a hit.
17	3	BLOW YOUR MIND Lock & Load	6
Two Dutch DJs with a piece of mental floss: in one ear, out the other.
18	11	MARIA MARIA (Supernatural) Santana	12	NB
Vocals this time from Wyclef Jean, under the name "The Product". This is more of a showcase for Carlos Santana's languid guitar skills than the frenetic "Smooth", and would sound utterly wonderful on a hot summer's afternoon with a cool breeze and cool drink to hand. UK release is very provisionally scheduled for July, when we'll be in the height of the rainy season. Seven weeks on top of the World Chart, five in the US, two in Canada.
19	8	SITTING DOWN HERE (Playing My Game) Lene Marlin	6	SS
The debut single for a young Norwegian songwriter-with-a-guitar has turned into a massive hit. If she can do it, how come the technically similar (if slightly superior) Jewel has never managed it?
20	6	THE TIME IS NOW (Things to Make and Do) Moloko	5
Returning to their indie-dance roots after the success of last summer's "Sing It Back", Moloko notch up a second smash. This starts out with a serene female vocal over a swirling background, but soon drops into a similar groove to their last hit. It does, though, have something that is less irritating than the previous work.
21	8	IT FEELS SO GOOD (Hear My Cry) Sonique	18	NB
Sonique was the singer with S-Express through their period of success, from 88 to 91. Since the group disbanded, she's carved out a small niche as a club and session singer, belting out some great vocals to unappreciative audiences. From nowhere, this track of hers has attracted massive play on US radio, where the single has gone top 15. Re-promotion in the UK, where the track stiffed in 1998, is now under way, with a full re-release following in May.
22	6	CRASH AND BURN (Affirmation) Savage Garden	15	SS
After the tedium of their last record comes this return to barnstorming form. It's as makers of upbeat, almost tribal, records that Savage Garden make their best work. A welcome comeback.
23	3	A SONG FOR THE LOVERS Richard Ashcroft	8
The former Verve frontman has his first solo hit with a song that sounds like it's something his erstwhile group rejected as not being up to scratch. It sold passably in its first week, but fell like a stone straight after. His status as the next Morrissey seems assured, at least in chart terms - a fading irrelevance.
24	14	SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY (Millennium) Backstreet Boys	2
This one's a soft ballad, but with the usual power pop punch we've come to associate with the band. It's come in for a lot of critical stick, primarily for not being "Larger Than Life"; comparisons between the two records may be too similar to chalk and cheese. Much more similar is Tina Turner's 1995 Bond theme "Goldeneye"; both records share the same triple chord stab.
25	2	PRIVATE EMOTION (Ricky Martin) Meja / Ricky Martin	9	SS
After the faux-Latin stomp of "Livin La Vida Loca" turned him into an A-list star, Martin returned to his crooner roots for the epic ballad "She's All I Ever Had." That was a deserved hit everywhere. Except, that is, in the UK, where the single was overlooked in favour of the singularly abysmal "Shake Your Bon-Bon." With a shattered reputation to recover, and cries of "He looks like a muppet" ringing in his ears, Martin delved into the celebrity phone book and turned up trumps. Enter Meja, the Swedish songstrel who put the squeaky-good "All About the Money" into the top ten in autumn 98, but who disappeared as swiftly as she rose. Put the two together and the result is this atmospheric, slightly spooky, ballad, that stands or falls on Meja's contribution.
26	4	FOOLED AGAIN (Westlife) Westlife	2
British record buyers were, when their chart gave the Irish band yet another list leader in late March. They slumped to #8 the following week, showing just how shallow the group's fanbase is, and consequentially how easy it is to buy a sales number one these days. For information, it never rose above #14 on the running four-week summary chart. It's the fifth single off their album, and sounds exactly like their other four, only more boring.
27	1	BOUND FOR THE RELOAD Oxide & Neutrino	1
Two eighteen year old producers cut this record in their bedroom, based on the riff from the long-running BBC comedy-drama "Casualty." It sold packets, and is one of five singles - alongside Craig David, Sweet Female Attitude, Lene Marlin, and Jessica Simpson - from teenagers on the list this month.
28	11	BREATHE (Breathe) Faith Hill	20	NB
Lead single from Faith's latest album looked like it would settle for a minor placing in the US. Then it became available to buy, and rocketed to #2, eclipsing the peak of "This Kiss". A massive UK hit surely follows.
29	3	BE WITH YOU (Bailamos) Enrique Iglesias	20	NB
The third single off the album is a mid-tempo tune, not quite as fast as "Bailamos" but a lot more memorable than his Christmas release, which stiffed out of sight. This has moderately large hit written over it.
30	7	BAG IT UP (Schizophonic) Geri Haliwell	5	SS
Single four from her debut album was promoted by an appearance at the Brit awards just before release: emerging from the middle of a pair of giants legs, Haliwell cavorted with some scantily-clad (male) dancers. The thrust of the video is that men require taming and shouldn't be trusted in the slightest. This becomes Halibut's smallest hit, scraping a place in the weekly top 5 in spite of topping the UK sales tally for a single week.
31	8	DON'T GIVE UP (Behind the Sun) Chicane featuring Bryan Adams	3
Though never the most consistent of hitmakers, Chicane have had their moments, most notably late 96's classy instrumental "Offshore". The Manchester duo also turned their hand to remixing, working on Bryan Adams' hit "Cloud #9" last year. Now the Too Far Gone From The Too Far West returns the favour, adding some half-strangled vocals to a plodding tune. Of course the public likes this; one should never underestimate the lack of taste that clubbing inspires. This will have only one minor footnote in rock history: the record that brought Bryan Adams back to the top of the sales chart after that movie song.
32	2	I WANNA LOVE YOU FOREVER (Sweet Kisses) Jessica Simpson	21	Apr
If Birtney Spears - of whom more next month - is the queen of pop-disco-dancey stuff, and Christina Aguilera is the princess of powder pop, Jessica Simpson must be the next Mariah Carey. She certainly has the lungs and vocal range to equal Ms Cantsing, but already has more vocal control and restraint than the probable comparison. This is a perfect demonstration of her talents.
33	3	THERE YOU GO Pink	28	NB
One part Destiny's Child to two parts homogenous R&B does not make for a memorable single.
34	1	JUST AROUND THE HILL (Thrillennium) Sash! / Tina Cousins	24
Reuniting the hit duo behind 1997's "Stay," this is the first of Sash!'s ten hits that isn't an out and out floor filler. It's a more slow track, and probably benefits from the change of pace. Deserved to be bigger than this, all told.
35	5	GET IT ON TONITE Montell Jordan	17
It's not an obvious hit, it's not a massive hit, but it is a subtle, appealing slice of soul. Montell has never quite picked up steam in the UK, but has never released a track with such crossover potential as this one.
36	4	OTHERSIDE (Californication) Red Hot Chili Peppers	32	SS
The third single off the album comes with a hugely expensive video, and is the standard Peppers rock-funk. Huge in the US, pifflingly small over here.
37	1	YOU SANG TO ME (Marc Anthony) Marc Anthony	31	NB
After his first release stiffed on sales in spite of huge airplay, Marc returns to his roots for a strange beast of a follow-up. It's clearly Latin in influence and structure, yet is much slower than any other hit Latin track. It reminds me of sultry nights on a tropical beach, with someone strumming his guitar. One for a long hot summer.
38	1	AIRWAVE Rank 1	13
Scraping a place this month is a Dutch producer duo, responsible for a contemplative piece of trance music.
39	1	BUGGIN' ME Truesteppers / Dane Bowyers	9
Originally set for release in February, this track had to be pulled when Nicole Appleton of the All Saints couldn't get permission for her vocals to be used. This leaves a slight hole in the centre of the track; though production and a new vocal cut by the lead singer with Another Level have covered the gap well, it still sounds incomplete.
40	6	STILL DRE (Dr Dre 2001) Dr Dre / Snoop Dogg	11
There's something about this track that makes it stand out a little from the usual parade of formulaic, bland rap. Probably the backing track.

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00-may-01