| Posn |
Tot
wks |
| Peak |
| Number One |
| Sureshot |
| 1 |
5 |
| THREE LIONS '98 |
|
| Baddiel, Skinner and the Lightning Seeds (wk 2) |
|
1 |
| The official anthem to Euro 96 was Three Lions, an upbeat retrospective of the heroes of England's last 30 years of (er) abject failure in international football. It spent a fortnight at the top, and made the year-end top 10. Denied the chance to record the official song again, the combination of two comedians and one established Scouse star re-make the track, referring to England's last two years. It took massive sales and airplay support for exactly as long as England lasted in the tournament. After their early exit - on the last day of the month - support dropped like a stone, and this may well not make much of a showing next month. Since "Three lions" was last out, the Lightning Seeds have launched four hit singles (including their first Top 10er), and both a studio and greatest hits album. David Baddiel's tonsils did not disgrace another record in the interim.
|
| Sureshot |
| 2 |
6 |
|
1 |
| The Irish four-piece feature Ronan from Boyzone's cousin (or something). On the strength of that, they got a record deal. On the strength of one of the most wonderful summer hits ever made, they appear on the lips of almost everyone able to hum, and in the heads of quite a few others. It is a total classic, with the upbeat singalong that provided list leaders this time last year for Eternal and Hanson. There are some wild interpretations of the lyrics going around. Denied a longer run at the top by the football records, they return to the top following England's demise, but this is probably for just the one week... |
| 3 |
4 |
|
3 |
|
Second of five World Cup-related entries this month is a track from Keith Allen ("comedian" and writer of 1990's Englandneworder record), Alex James of Blur and some other journeymen of rock. They've made something that pays homage to the favourite food of the new-lad England supporter: curry. The crucial difference between this and "Three Lions" is that this isn't stylish. Or feature the voice of MC Alan Green, the Five Live football commentator. Neither did it pick up the support that would take it to the top this month, always falling beind the competitor. I suspect this will drop like a stone.
|
| 4 |
6 |
| THE BOY IS MINE |
Never Say Never |
| Brandy & Monica |
|
2 |
| This slow, sultry hit comes as something of a pleasant surprise. Neither Brandy nor Monica had had a significant UK hit until now. Their pairing is one of the most sublime - and successful - soul records to hit the stores since Eternal's list leader of a year ago, featuring sensitive playing of classical instruments. |
| 5 |
6 |
| HORNY |
|
| Moose feat Hot and Wet |
|
4 |
| Possibly the worst record on the survey. Two women sing about how much they resemble rhinoceri. And, er, that's it. |
| 6 |
8 |
|
2 |
| This is a bit of a grower. I didn't like it when it first came out, but after saturation airplay, it's become more palatable. I still wonder just how much she owes to the fact her record label is part-owned by one of the largest radio stations in the UK. |
| 7 |
12 |
| FEEL IT |
|
| Tamperer feat Maya |
|
1 |
| Another month in the Top 10 here. Sampling the bass and chimes of the Jacksons' "Can you feel it" from 1972, the Tamperer has been totally resiliant to wishes that they would go away. Indeed, they took advantage of a very quiet week to sneak seven days at the top. The "what's she gonna look like with a chimney on her" line is sampled wholesale from the well known #51 Urban Discharge hit "Wanna drop a house (On that bitch)" from 1996. |
| 8 |
11 |
| DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY |
Trampoline |
| Mavericks |
|
4 |
| Slipping just two places this month, this breakthrough record - once described as Matchbox crossed with the Travelling Wilburrys - has become a mainstay of adult hit radio, and looks to be concluding a very long run. |
| 9 |
12 |
| UNDER THE BRIDGE / LADY MARMALADE |
All Saints |
| All Saints |
|
1 |
| Last month's Number One was originally slated for release way back on January 20. The follow up to the mighty hit "Never Ever" is a double A sided cover. "Under the Bridge", a wimpish cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' original, continues to hold the lion's share of the limelight. |
| 10 |
9 |
| DREAMS |
Talk On Corners |
| Coors |
|
6 |
| One of Ireland's better kept secrets, the Coors have been building a huge fan following amongst the Irish community and folk fans in general. Now, with the third single from their fifth album, success dawns for them. It's taken a cover of the classic Fleetwood Mac song to bring them success, but there's been movement forward for this family group for some little time now. This won't be their only hit, and slips just one place in the month they topped the album charts. |
| 11 |
20 |
| TRULY MADLY DEEPLY |
Savage Garden |
| Savage Garden |
|
1 |
| Now nearly five months old, and finally out of the top 10, Savage Garden's hit has an interesting career. It's a soft, plaintive ballad that had already been massive across the developed world, before its UK release back in February. The song started big, slipped a little, then rebounded in early April with increasing confidence to become a very unlikely Number One for a very long time. |
| Sureshot |
| 12 |
4 |
|
6 |
| This is Des'ree's biggest hit - and one of her greatest affronts to both punctuation and sensible lyrics, rhyming "thing I fear the most" with "have a piece of toast". It's workmanlike soul, not her best, but certainly not bad.
|
| March's Single Of The Month |
| 13 |
19 |
| HOW DO I LIVE |
You Light Up My Life |
| Leann Rimes |
|
4 |
| When this first came out in March, I remarked on Leann's 26 week residence in the US top 10, and pointed out that she probably wouldn't repeat the feat in the UK. However, this record has now been in or around the top 10 here for very nearly that long, and is only now showing signs of weakness. The 15 year old American sensation has become the biggest act best described as country for a very long time, and looks certain to become the biggest breakthrough act of this year. |
| Single Of The Month |
| 14 |
4 |
| CARNIVAL DE PARIS |
Sunmachine |
| Dario G |
|
5 |
| Football song 3 is the follow-up to last year's smash "Sunchyme". It's a truly multi-cultural affair, sampling bagpipes, bozouki, trumpet and strings on a sublime instrumental. The tie-in with the world cup is primarily through the video, which features children painted to look like national flags playing footy. |
| 15 |
9 |
| RAY OF LIGHT |
Ray Of Light |
| Madonna |
|
3 |
| Second single from the comeback queen is a fast, uptempo number that's positively breathless in comparison with the ice slab that was "Frozen". |
| 16 |
9 |
| TURN BACK TIME |
Aquarium |
| Aqua |
|
1 |
| Although their first two singles topped the sales charts, Aqua never quite managed to take the top slot here, being held off by Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" and All Saints' "Never Ever". The tables were turned when the third single went straight in to the top, pipping the All Saints by the slimmest of margins. This soft ballad picked up significant airplay, but quickly fell out of favour with buyers. |
| 17 |
4 |
|
12 |
| The British version of the Backstreet Boys return with a cheap rap track that just gives them an excuse to show off their bodies. The difference between them and the BBs is that the Yanks make good records.
|
| 18 |
8 |
| WISHING I WAS THERE WITH YOU |
Left of the Middle |
| Natalie Imbruglia |
|
11 |
| The former soap star turned singer releases a third single from her well received debut album. It's not the soft ballad that was "Torn", nor is it the Alanis clone of "Big mistake". Instead, it's a gentle rocker, that laments a lost love. On its first release, it missed the top ten, after her two previous releases peaked at 1 and 2 respectively. |
| 19 |
4 |
| MY ALL |
Butterfly |
| Mariah Carey |
|
15 |
| Mariah Carey, someone who has never been flavour of any month with the fashion police, lifts the third release from her Butterfly album. It's interesting to note that this hit, like last September's "Honey", hit it big in the UK with dance mixes, while the November release of "Butterfly" stalled at a very lowly position indeed. Though she's not had a decent release since 1995, Mariah continues to benefit from her reputation as a high-class balladeer. |
| Sureshot |
| 20 |
3 |
| GHETTO SUPERSTAR |
Ghetto Superstar |
| Pras Michel, ODB and Mya |
|
2 |
| The third member of the Fugees opens his solo career, and has the biggest solo hit of any of them. Wyclef Jean produces, while the Mya singing is no relation to the Maya of the chimney on her. She is, however, performing to the tune of Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's hit "Islands in the stream". |
| 21 |
4 |
| LOOKING FOR LOVE |
|
| Karen Ramirez |
|
12 |
| Three years ago, Everything But The Girl were nonentities, known only for a Rod Stewart cover, and their status as perrenial student faves who never crossed into the mainstream. Then Todd Terry remixed "Missing" from their "Amplified Heart" album and turned it into a worldwide smash. On the same album was a track called "Looking for love", which has now been re-made by a rising British r&b singer. The effect is clearly meant to resemble "Missing", and it succeeds in doing that. The problem is that this isn't such a good song to start with, and the result is insipid. Radio seems to love it, though. |
| 22 |
3 |
| LOST IN SPACE |
Postcards from Heaven |
| Lighthouse Family |
|
4 |
| The masters of laid-back pop take the genre to its limits with a song that is totally somnolent, but still remarkably listenable. It's not got the anthemic intensity of "High", but it's still head and shoulders above much of the competition. |
| 23 |
29 |
| HIGH |
Postcards from Heaven |
| Lighthouse Family |
|
2 |
| Good heavens! Them again! The second single from their second album, and quite possibly the best thing they've ever done. A swooping, soaring vocal, underpinned by a string arrangement even more lush than usual contribute to a wonderful, magical atmosphere, and has helped keep the single on the radio for the past seven months. The follow-up single, originally planned for March, is one place higher. |
| May's Single Of The Month |
| 24 |
7 |
| GONE TILL NOVEMBER |
The Carnival |
| Wyclef Jean |
|
3 |
| There's a certain familiarity about this: two Lighthouse Family tracks, now two ex-Fugees. Wyclef launched his solo career last year with the Carnival album. To many people's surprise, neither of the first two releases, "We try to stay alive" and "Guantanamera" turned into major hits. So it was with some surprise that "Gone till November" graced the monthly top 5. It's a subtle, understated rap track, that has most of its beauty in its fragility. |
| 25 |
7 |
| KUNG FU FIGHTING |
|
| Bus Stop feat Carl Douglas |
|
12 |
| Dodgy covers ahoy! Back in 1974, Carl Douglas hit the top with a tribute to Bruce Lee's martial arts films. Bus Stop come along, sample the "Whoo-ah-ho" hook at the start of the song, and rap over the rest. It's not the original - in fact, it's almost impossible to sing along to - but it's a reasonable pop hit. |
| 26 |
4 |
| ROCKERFELLER SKANK |
|
| Fatboy Slim |
|
19 |
| aka ex-Housemartin, ex-Beat International, ex-Cornershop remixer, ex-Pizzaman Norman Cook. This is a rather dull track, that doesn't go anywhere. |
| 27 |
11 |
| LAST THING ON MY MIND |
|
| Steps |
|
10 |
| The second single from the five-strong line dance supremoes is a cover of a very minor (#71) Bananarama hit from 1992. The all-girl group were down to a duo, and on the last part of their career. Steps take the upbeat song about a sudden end to a relationship and turn it into another happy, upbeat slice of wonderfulness. It took time to grow on the radio, but has begun to pick up spins - much more than their previous single, "5-6-7-8". |
| 28 |
8 |
| SAY YOU LOVE ME |
Blue |
| Simply Red |
|
8 |
| And they're back. The band that slimmed down to just Mick Hucknall, and is still best known for its 1991 magnum opus, "Stars". That sold over 3.5 million copies in the UK. The follow-up, 1995's "Life" stalled short of that huge total, in spite of having the massive, stomping, airplay favourite "Fairground". The sixth album is led by this slice of cool soul that's probably a cut above any slow track he's released in a very long time. |
| 29 |
17 |
| HERE'S WHERE THE STORY ENDS |
Always |
| Tintinout |
|
6 |
| In 1990, a Scottish three piece called the Sundays released an album, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. The critics acclaimed it as a masterpiece, but very few copies were ever sold and no hit singles came from it. Now, one of the country's leading remixers take the song, re-record it in a style that's very faithful to the original, and have a big hit with it. In fairness, Tintinout has been on the verge of a massive hit for the past two years, during which time they've put out a number of neo-ambient tracks, but commercial success has eluded them till now. |
| 30 |
16 |
| LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU |
Life Thru a Lens |
| Robbie Williams |
|
10 |
| The sixth and final single from his debut album is one of the hardest rocking tracks on the work. While it hasn't had the lasting power of "Angels", its predecessor, it has become the second largest hit of the six. |
| 31 |
3 |
| HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE ON TOP OF THE WORLD? |
|
| England United |
|
18 |
| Entry number four of the soccer squad is the official England song, featuring Echo and the Bunnymen, a member of Space, one from Ocean Colour Scene, the Spice Girls, and Geri Halliwell. It has a decent enough chorus, but hasn't been adopted by the terraces. Unique selling point 1: this is the last studio recording for which there were five Spice Girls. USP 2: by the end of the month, this was charting in Canada's Top 30, but had stopped selling in the UK. |
| Sureshot |
| 32 |
2 |
| SAVE TONIGHT |
Save Tonight |
| Eagle-Eye Cherry |
|
4 |
| It's just possible that the guy got his record contract based on his sister's fame. You know, Neneh, heroine of "Buffalo stance", "Buddy X" and "Seven seconds". But this is a record good enough to stand on its own merits no matter whose brother made it. It combines a hard, almost grungy, beat with a fragility and delicacy that's a joy to behold. And it is one of the best records I've heard this year. Indeed, it's so good that I feared it was way too good to become a hit, and destined to join the Great Slipped Discs In The Sky. Thankfully, heavy radio airplay has prevented that fate. |
| Sureshot |
| 33 |
3 |
| WHEN |
Come on Over |
| Shania Twain |
|
19 |
| The second single from Shania's wonderful album is an upbeat track concerning the return of a lover. When elephants are flying, when John's back with the Beatles and they tour with Elvis. All set to a gorgeous tune that shows Shania's vocal range to its best. |
| 34 |
3 |
|
21 |
| Europap. |
| 35 |
3 |
| DON'T COME HOME TOO SOON |
Singles 88:98 |
| del Amitri |
|
18 |
| The band who have had as many hits as misses come back with the official Scotland World Cup song, a dull ballad that implores the players not to return after the first round. Like they've done on the previous seven occasions. del Amitri also featured on the last Scottish World Cup single, "Say it with pride", back in 1990. It's an odd taster for their looming greatest hits collection. |
| 36 |
4 |
| COME BACK TO WHAT YOU KNOW |
The Good Will Out |
| Embrace |
|
16 |
| It's never easy being the Music Press Darlings of the moment. Such luminaries as the Stone Roses, Charlatans, Lush, Jamiroquai, Oasis, Suede (twice), Robbie Williams and Reef have been flavour of the month at IPC Towers or 1 FM HQ, then dropped faster than a scalding hot potato when the next Hot Thing comes on. The latest Hot Thing is Embrace, a four-piece from Leeds who sound like any number of late 60s bands, all plangent chords and lazy vocals. There's nothing of substance in their songs, though. The backlash starts here... |
| 37 |
10 |
| ALL MY LIFE |
Love Always |
| K-Ci and Jo-Jo |
|
12 |
| The brothers from Jodeci come forward with a record that's already beaten the best of their group's work. It's crossed over to mainstream radio, including Radio 2, the new home of cool, and turned itself into a major hit. |
| Sureshot |
| 38 |
2 |
|
21 |
| The Eurovision winning song gets released in the UK, and becomes a decent sized hit, already as big as the runner up, Britain's Imani. Dana is Israeli, and becomes just the fifth hit-maker from that country; three of the five had won Eurosong. This is a high-energy, bouncy little disco number, that sings the praises of famous women throughout history. |
| 39 |
34 |
| TORN |
Left of the Middle |
| Natalie Imbruglia |
|
1 |
| Is there no getting rid of this? The debut single from the former Australian soap star held the top slot for the first half of November, and is looking to still be haunting us a year on. A hard-edged ballad, "Torn" came in for some stick in January when tabloid newspapers "revealed" that a very similar arrangement of the song had already been recorded by a Norwegian act, as well as defending Eurosong winners Katrina and the Waves. In April, it became the second record in the rock era to sell a million without hitting the top of the weekly sales chart. It also slipped out of the Top 40 in April, though just for one week, left again at the end of May, but has popped back twice since. |
| 40 |
2 |
| GO DEEP |
The Velvet Rope |
| Janet Jackson |
|
22 |
| Anchoring this month's chart is the fourth (I think... yeah, fourth) single from Janet's latest album. It's just as immemorable as the last one. Whatever it was. |