Weaver's UK Music Charts

Weaver's Charts

May 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 OOPS I DID IT AGAIN (Oops I Did It Again)
Britney Spears 1
x3 SS
Is this going to go down as the ultimate Martin / Cherion record? Probably, coz they're going to have to go the distance to beat it. This became a classic in its own pre-release, scoring unprecedented support on video and radio request lines, and it would be churlish to join the line of Birtney's knockers. Instead, I will point out that it's uberproducer Max Martin who speaks the lines in the slow bit in the middle, replacing the written-for Leonardo di Caprio. And that the chorus really is a dead ringer for that of Barbara Streisand's 1980 chart-topper "Woman In Love." Toni Braxton kept her off being the planet's biggest hit, but this situation looked to be remedied during June.
2 7 THE BAD TOUCH (Hooray For Boobies)
Bloodhound Gang 2 SS
The breakthrough single for this 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. It persisted as a popular tune right through May, finishing second only to the Spearsmeistress herself.
3 6 HE WASN'T MAN ENOUGH (The Heat)
Toni Braxton 5
It's three years since Toni's last entry, and that was an airplay-led 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. It's not been a huge seller in the UK, but has become a firm airplay favourite. It's also spent three weeks as the planet's #1.
4 8 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. Radio proved far more friendly to this than anyone could have expected, and the track remained popular well into June.
5 2 IT FEELS SO GOOD (Hear My Cry)
Sonique 1x1 May
Sonique was the singer with S-Express through their period of success, from 88 to 91. Since the group disbanded, she carved out a small niche as a club DJ who sang over the tracks, with a lucrative sideline as a session singer, belting out some great vocals to unappreciative audiences. Two single releases in 1998 drew minor attention, this track the larger of the pair peaking at #40 in late November. This track gained attention on farmclub.com, a dance music site. That led to massive play on US radio, where the single went top 10 - the first UK act to pull that trick since Five in November 98. Re-promotion in the UK led to a deserved #1 hit at the end of May. Two weeks at the top of the Canadian charts further advanced her international credentials.
6 3 DON'T CALL ME BABY
Madison Avenue 4
Originally released in November last year, when it peaked at #55, the Australian duo's track is re-released owing to public demand. It's anodyne stuff, without an obvious attraction.
7 5 BOUND FOR THE RELOAD
Oxide & Neutrino 1
x1
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, though airplay was almost non-existant.
8 7 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.
9 4 HEART OF ASIA
Watergate 3 SS
The debut single from this trance collective is a speeded-up and souped-up version of Ryuchi Sakamoto's theme from the 1983 film "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence." Never a hit in its own right, the theme has become a standard on chill-out, moody, and other tranquil albums. It was only a matter of time before some enterprising band spotted the track's potential and turned it into a major hit.
10 11 SAY MY NAME (The Writing's On the Wall)
Destiny's Child 2
Third UK release from this album, second in the States, a typical Child number. Well-structured soul vocals, but it still doesn't showcase the band as well as it might. Three weeks as the US #1, one in Canada, and lingering airplay support in the UK.
11 6 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. In the UK, the record sold strongly and received major airplay, but without showing signs of quite crossing over to become the major hit it deserves to be.
12 8 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.
13 10 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, though attracted streets more airplay.
14 3 SEX BOMB (Reload)
Tom Jones & Mousse T 13
The fourth single off Tom's album of duets with contemporary hitmakers is long on how sexy some people find the Welsh greasemeister, and short on anything approaching a groove.
15 12 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. The portents are good, though, as the record remained in the sales top 40 for eight weeks without breaking the top 20, an achievement that hasn't been equalled in donkey's years. By late May, even the most reticent of chains were considering that they might have missed the boat, and belatedly stocked the tune. It could yet turn into a massive hit.
16 2 DAY AND NIGHT
Billie Piper 6
It's been a long time out of the spotlight for The Artiste Formerly Known As Billie. Originally launched on a pop magazine promo campaign in early 98, Billie took some slightly rebellious numbers to the top end of the chart later that year, before showing a more funky side on later singles. By then, Birtney Spears had stolen the innocent-ish girl crown from her, and Billie retired to consider her next album. Over a year later, she comes back with a track that - depending on your point of view - is aping Birts to the nth degree, or is a slice of funk that the US team wouldn't dream of. Either way, Billie has maintained a large fan base, though it's not big enough to better Spears' popularity in her first week out. Followers of the UK sales charts have Billie down as the youngest solo female to make three #1s; I'm still waiting for her to beat the #3 peak of second single "Girlfriend."
17 34 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 made an upswing during the spring owing to new success in foreign markets, spending five weeks leading the Canadian pack, and four leading the World Chart.
18 38 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.
19 15 MARIA MARIA (Supernatural)
Santana 12 NB
Vocals this time from Wyclef Jean, under the name Product G&B. 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. Nine weeks at the top in the US, seven on the World Chart, two in Canada.
20 7 BE WITH YOU (Bailamos)
Enrique Iglesias 18 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.
21 7 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.
22 15 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.
23 15 PURE SHORES (The Beach OST)
All Saints 1x2 SS
The biggest individual weekly sale of the year didn't go to Oasis, nor to Britney, but to the All 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. It's remained popular since.
24 15 BREATHE (Breathe)
Faith Hill 15 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 should have followed, but it stiffed at #33 sales after one leading middle-market chain (the same one that hadn't taken "Amazed") refused to stock the single.
25 2 ACHILLES' HEEL (Onka's Big Moka)
Toploader 13 SS
After the 70s cover that broke them into the big time, Toploader returns with something a little more typical of their work. Just for a change, this turns into a bigger hit than the cover. It's a sparse number that worms its way in and doesn't let go. After a dozen plays, it's genius.
26 1 REACH (7)
S Club 7 3 SS
A year on from their debut, the smashing seven return with their second album, tying in with the UK showing of the second TV series. The lead single is a fantastic cod-Mowtown number, showcasing all the zip and zing of the group. They're beginning to conquer the US, though this won't be a single there for some months, if ever.
27 1 IT'S MY LIFE
Bon Jovi 4 SS
It's been a very long time since the last BJ project. We have to go back to 1995 for the "Dry County" album, and 1994 for the group's biggest hit, the million-seller "Always." This is something of a return to the hard-rocking anthems that made the group's name in the mid-80s, while not sounding in the slightest dated.
28 10 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.
29 5 YOU SANG TO ME (Marc Anthony)
Marc Anthony 23 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.
30 14 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 original.
31 14 RISE (Rise)
Gabrielle 1x1 SS
The second single lifted from Gaby's third album becomes her second track to top the weekly sales lists. Like her breakout hit, 1993's "Dreams", this is a soft soul track, based on a classic sample. Then, it was Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car"; now, it's Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". This is the first time that the patron saint of folk rockers has allowed his work to be sampled, and marks the third time in the last decade that a variant of the tune has ridden high in the UK. Back in 1992, Guns & Roses took their metal cover to #2. A variant of the song with changed lyrics hit the top in 1996, and is generally regarded as the most crass chart-topper of the decade. Gabrielle, though, has remained an airplay staple for the year so far, and shows no signs of slacking.
32 1 KOOCHIE
Armand Van Helden 10
The sample of Gary Numan's 1979 hit (and many subsequent re-releases) "Cars" is thrown into a heavy drum beat without care or attention. The vocals are heavily vocoded, and the result something of a crass mess.
33 4 EVERYTHING YOU WANT (Everything You Want)
Vertical Horizon 27 SS
This starts out with a piece of guitar feedback that can only herald two types of tune: the abysmal, and the fantastic. This falls into the latter category, falling squarely into the sort of adult rock that ships by the bucketload in the USA yet never ever gets a crack of the whip in the UK. I hope this will turn out to be the exception to test the rule, but I doubt it will. Sigh.
34 1 MASTERBLASTER
DJ Luck & MC Neat 7
The Stevie Wonder track is covered by the one-and-only genuine stars to emerge from the garage house scene that took the UK by storm over the winter. This remains reasonably faithful to the original, but has still not cut the mustard with airplay chiefs.
35 10 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. It's also showing a remarkable tenacity to remain in the lower reaches of the survey.
36 5 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.
37 7 THERE YOU GO (Can't Take Me Home)
Pink 28 NB
One part Destiny's Child to two parts insipid R&B does not make for a memorable single. Small amounts of UK airplay may not lead to huge commercial success on release in June.
38 8 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.
39 2 CRAZY LOVE
M J Cole 18
The latest in a long succession of here-today and gone-tomorrow rappers.
40 1 I TURN TO YOU (Christina Aguilera)
Christina Aguilera 39
The scheduled third single from her album missed the release date on May 22 after Aggie fell ill with a knee problem. Or was that Birtney? Anyway, the record company isn't confident enough to release the single without the star promoting it - which suggests a distinct lack of confidence in their product. Try again in late June. This Diane Warren song was originally recorded by "I Swear" heroes All-4-One in 1997, without significant success.
SureShots on yellow, Singles of the Month on red, records Not British hits on green.

Ps	wk	TITLE (album) Act	Peak	Hon
1	4	OOPS I DID IT AGAIN (Oops I Did It Again) Britney Spears	1 x3	SS
Is this going to go down as the ultimate Martin / Cherion record? Probably, coz they're going to have to go the distance to beat it. This became a classic in its own pre-release, scoring unprecedented support on video and radio request lines, and it would be churlish to join the line of Birtney's knockers. Instead, I will point out that it's uberproducer Max Martin who speaks the lines in the slow bit in the middle, replacing the written-for Leonardo di Caprio. And that the chorus really is a dead ringer for that of Barbara Streisand's 1980 chart-topper "Woman In Love." Toni Braxton kept her off being the planet's biggest hit, but this situation looked to be remedied during June.
2	7	THE BAD TOUCH (Hooray For Boobies) Bloodhound Gang	2	SS
The breakthrough single for this 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. It persisted as a popular tune right through May, finishing second only to the Spearsmeistress herself.
3	6	HE WASN'T MAN ENOUGH (The Heat) Toni Braxton	5
It's three years since Toni's last entry, and that was an airplay-led 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. It's not been a huge seller in the UK, but has become a firm airplay favourite. It's also spent three weeks as the planet's #1.
4	8	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. Radio proved far more friendly to this than anyone could have expected, and the track remained popular well into June.
5	2	IT FEELS SO GOOD (Hear My Cry) Sonique	1x1	May
Sonique was the singer with S-Express through their period of success, from 88 to 91. Since the group disbanded, she carved out a small niche as a club DJ who sang over the tracks, with a lucrative sideline as a session singer, belting out some great vocals to unappreciative audiences. Two single releases in 1998 drew minor attention, this track the larger of the pair peaking at #40 in late November. This track gained attention on farmclub.com, a dance music site. That led to massive play on US radio, where the single went top 10 - the first UK act to pull that trick since Five in November 98. Re-promotion in the UK led to a deserved #1 hit at the end of May. Two weeks at the top of the Canadian charts further advanced her international credentials.
6	3	DON'T CALL ME BABY Madison Avenue	4
Originally released in November last year, when it peaked at #55, the Australian duo's track is re-released owing to public demand. It's anodyne stuff, without an obvious attraction.
7	5	BOUND FOR THE RELOAD Oxide & Neutrino	1 x1
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, though airplay was almost non-existant.
8	7	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.
9	4	HEART OF ASIA Watergate	3	SS
The debut single from this trance collective is a speeded-up and souped-up version of Ryuchi Sakamoto's theme from the 1983 film "Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence." Never a hit in its own right, the theme has become a standard on chill-out, moody, and other tranquil albums. It was only a matter of time before some enterprising band spotted the track's potential and turned it into a major hit.
10	11	SAY MY NAME (The Writing's On the Wall) Destiny's Child	2
Third UK release from this album, second in the States, a typical Child number. Well-structured soul vocals, but it still doesn't showcase the band as well as it might. Three weeks as the US #1, one in Canada, and lingering airplay support in the UK.
11	6	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. In the UK, the record sold strongly and received major airplay, but without showing signs of quite crossing over to become the major hit it deserves to be.
12	8	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.
13	10	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, though attracted streets more airplay.
14	3	SEX BOMB (Reload) Tom Jones & Mousse T	13
The fourth single off Tom's album of duets with contemporary hitmakers is long on how sexy some people find the Welsh greasemeister, and short on anything approaching a groove.
15	12	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. The portents are good, though, as the record remained in the sales top 40 for eight weeks without breaking the top 20, an achievement that hasn't been equalled in donkey's years. By late May, even the most reticent of chains were considering that they might have missed the boat, and belatedly stocked the tune. It could yet turn into a massive hit.
16	2	DAY AND NIGHT Billie Piper	6
It's been a long time out of the spotlight for The Artiste Formerly Known As Billie. Originally launched on a pop magazine promo campaign in early 98, Billie took some slightly rebellious numbers to the top end of the chart later that year, before showing a more funky side on later singles. By then, Birtney Spears had stolen the innocent-ish girl crown from her, and Billie retired to consider her next album. Over a year later, she comes back with a track that - depending on your point of view - is aping Birts to the nth degree, or is a slice of funk that the US team wouldn't dream of. Either way, Billie has maintained a large fan base, though it's not big enough to better Spears' popularity in her first week out. Followers of the UK sales charts have Billie down as the youngest solo female to make three #1s; I'm still waiting for her to beat the #3 peak of second single "Girlfriend."
17	34	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 made an upswing during the spring owing to new success in foreign markets, spending five weeks leading the Canadian pack, and four leading the World Chart.
18	38	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.
19	15	MARIA MARIA (Supernatural) Santana	12	NB
Vocals this time from Wyclef Jean, under the name Product G&B. 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. Nine weeks at the top in the US, seven on the World Chart, two in Canada.
20	7	BE WITH YOU (Bailamos) Enrique Iglesias	18	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.
21	7	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.
22	15	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.
23	15	PURE SHORES (The Beach OST) All Saints	1x2	SS
The biggest individual weekly sale of the year didn't go to Oasis, nor to Britney, but to the All 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. It's remained popular since.
24	15	BREATHE (Breathe) Faith Hill	15	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 should have followed, but it stiffed at #33 sales after one leading middle-market chain (the same one that hadn't taken "Amazed") refused to stock the single.
25	2	ACHILLES' HEEL (Onka's Big Moka) Toploader	13	SS
After the 70s cover that broke them into the big time, Toploader returns with something a little more typical of their work. Just for a change, this turns into a bigger hit than the cover. It's a sparse number that worms its way in and doesn't let go. After a dozen plays, it's genius.
26	1	REACH (7) S Club 7	3	SS
A year on from their debut, the smashing seven return with their second album, tying in with the UK showing of the second TV series. The lead single is a fantastic cod-Mowtown number, showcasing all the zip and zing of the group. They're beginning to conquer the US, though this won't be a single there for some months, if ever.
27	1	IT'S MY LIFE Bon Jovi	4	SS
It's been a very long time since the last BJ project. We have to go back to 1995 for the "Dry County" album, and 1994 for the group's biggest hit, the million-seller "Always." This is something of a return to the hard-rocking anthems that made the group's name in the mid-80s, while not sounding in the slightest dated.
28	10	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.
29	5	YOU SANG TO ME (Marc Anthony) Marc Anthony	23	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.
30	14	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 original.
31	14	RISE (Rise) Gabrielle	1x1	SS
The second single lifted from Gaby's third album becomes her second track to top the weekly sales lists. Like her breakout hit, 1993's "Dreams", this is a soft soul track, based on a classic sample. Then, it was Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car"; now, it's Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". This is the first time that the patron saint of folk rockers has allowed his work to be sampled, and marks the third time in the last decade that a variant of the tune has ridden high in the UK. Back in 1992, Guns & Roses took their metal cover to #2. A variant of the song with changed lyrics hit the top in 1996, and is generally regarded as the most crass chart-topper of the decade. Gabrielle, though, has remained an airplay staple for the year so far, and shows no signs of slacking.
32	1	KOOCHIE Armand Van Helden	10
The sample of Gary Numan's 1979 hit (and many subsequent re-releases) "Cars" is thrown into a heavy drum beat without care or attention. The vocals are heavily vocoded, and the result something of a crass mess.
33	4	EVERYTHING YOU WANT (Everything You Want) Vertical Horizon	27	SS
This starts out with a piece of guitar feedback that can only herald two types of tune: the abysmal, and the fantastic. This falls into the latter category, falling squarely into the sort of adult rock that ships by the bucketload in the USA yet never ever gets a crack of the whip in the UK. I hope this will turn out to be the exception to test the rule, but I doubt it will. Sigh.
34	1	MASTERBLASTER DJ Luck & MC Neat	7
The Stevie Wonder track is covered by the one-and-only genuine stars to emerge from the garage house scene that took the UK by storm over the winter. This remains reasonably faithful to the original, but has still not cut the mustard with airplay chiefs.
35	10	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. It's also showing a remarkable tenacity to remain in the lower reaches of the survey.
36	5	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.
37	7	THERE YOU GO (Can't Take Me Home) Pink	28	NB
One part Destiny's Child to two parts insipid R&B does not make for a memorable single. Small amounts of UK airplay may not lead to huge commercial success on release in June.
38	8	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.
39	2	CRAZY LOVE M J Cole	18
The latest in a long succession of here-today and gone-tomorrow rappers.
40	1	I TURN TO YOU (Christina Aguilera) Christina Aguilera	39
The scheduled third single from her album missed the release date on May 22 after Aggie fell ill with a knee problem. Or was that Birtney? Anyway, the record company isn't confident enough to release the single without the star promoting it - which suggests a distinct lack of confidence in their product. Try again in late June. This Diane Warren song was originally recorded by "I Swear" heroes All-4-One in 1997, without significant success.

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00-may-29