This discussion was raised on Popjustice, but I tend to just lurk there - so I decided I'd make it a thread here instead of replying there.
I'm kind of surprised cassette sales were that high at that point.
I know most people at the time still had cassette players in their cars, but still.
That also surprised me! Cassettes contributed to 35% of its first week. It makes me wonder what the cassette/CD sales split was for Spice Girls singles!
I love Boyzone but that song was so boring.
Apparently she fired her WHOLE TEAM after it flopped!
It hardly flopped, it was a big seller and is in the top 10 solo Spice releases...
I find it incredibly frustrating they only did one CD release like seriously give her the very best shot at #1! Never knew that about Westlife a week earlier, damn wish she had released then, she would have had 5 consecutive #1s from debut single a record in its own right for a female artist (still now!?) and Spice Girls would retain their record #1s from a debut single overall!
Thank you Jay for all the facts and info. Much appreciated.
So frustrating sometimes reading these knowing if a release had been earlier or later by just a week things would have been so different.
I was amazed to see that Geri sold nearly 50k cassettes in 1999. How times have changed.
'Look At Me' definitely missed out on top spot because of an own goal re: formats, no bones about it. I think what's important to remember is that Geri was probably pumped full of ego at this point, it being her first release after leaving the Spice Girls and having a lot to prove, which is why the promo campaign was as big as it was. I remember that day when she bought it in to Zoe Ball on Radio 1 for it's first play on the Breakfast show, and then them showing the video on Top of the Pops that same night for the first time.
Everyone in school was talking about it the following Monday (I was in Year 5 at the time for context). It felt like a massive pop/media event and that's something she always did perfectly certainly in the early part of her solo career, there was always a massive fanfare and cloud of smoke that came with each new release from her, whether it was writhing around on a yacht in her bikini in 'Mi Chico Latino' or emerging pole dancing from a pair of legs at the BRITs 2000 for 'Bag It Up'. She got what pop was and where it was at at that moment in time.
A debut #2 single with that many copies sold first week out is nothing to be sniffed at - most artists would kill for that kind of success now - but the press trend for sticking the knife into all things Spice Girls that had started when they sacked Simon Fuller was still alive and well by this point. They set up the narrative that anything less than number one was a flop and obviously with how this played into Geri's head space at that point in her life, where her career meant so much to her, and which is quite well documented if you read 'Just For The Record', led her to make some of the decisions she did with her solo career - some of them were good, and some did her damage in the long run.
TBH I'm not sure even Boyzone fans are that fond of 'You Needed Me'. If you asked me to name five of their best singles that probably wouldn't be one of them, but equally you have to remember that they were riding a crest of a wave at that time where everything they touched turn to gold. They were the biggest boyband in the UK at that point. They'd had 'No Matter What' out, and also 'When The Going Gets Tough' for Comic Relief which had been both massive number ones. Also I forget if it was around the time of this single or not but it was also when Stephen Gately came out which had raised their profile and fanbase as well.
It’s so crazy looking at those sales and seeing how then an artist could genuinely be disappointed by a #2 debut.
I vividly remember buying the digipack it was £4.25! at my local Asda, the most I've ever paid for a single.
The digipack included the postcards which swayed most people to buying it I would expect. If the jewel case had had the b-sides then I'm sure that would have pushed it to number 1.
Geri's song is definitely more well remembered (I can't even remember how 'You Needed Me' goes?), I'd say it deserved the #1 unquestionably but as they did f*** up on the formats it's their own fault anyway (as others have pointed out).
As Jay has aptly pointed out though, Shania Twain actually won the marathon where that week was concerned. It never even made number one but 'That Don't Impress Me Much' ended up outselling and staying in the charts longer than either the Geri or Boyzone singles - in fact it sold more than all but six of the year's number ones!
^ Shania was so unlucky to be stuck at #3 for three weeks! She was rather close to climbing to #2 in her third week
Week Ending 29th May 1999
1- SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE- Shanks & Bigfoot (251,000)
2- YOU NEEDED ME- Boyzone (81,000) <--- Quite a decent second week sale tbh! Geri fell to 57,000 sales.
3- THAT DON’T IMPRESS ME MUCH- Shania Twain (64,000)
Week Ending 05th June 1999
1- SWEET LIKE CHOCOLATE- Shanks & Bigfoot (141,000)
2- OOH LA LA- Wiseguys (70,000)
3- THAT DON’T IMPRESS ME MUCH- Shania Twain (68,000)
I didn't remember Ooh La La based on title, but I'm playing it now and I recall it. I would venture to say it's fairly forgotten about 20 years on?
So impressive that Shania managed to outsell Shanks & Bigfoot by the end of 1999, despite those huge first two weeks for Sweet Like Chocolate!
End of Year 1999 Chart:
7 That Don't Impress Me Much – Shania Twain [3] 763,000
8 Sweet Like Chocolate – Shanks and Bigfoot [1] 706,700
49 You Needed Me – Boyzone [1] 343,300
56 Look At Me – Geri Halliwell [2] 316,100
75 Ooh La La – Wiseguys [2] 237,400
'Ooh La La' was used on a TV advert for Budweiser beer - the one with the dancing lizards and frogs going 'Bud WEIS ERRR'. Hence it's high debut. Largely forgotten otherwise without that context!
Wow looking at those sales poor Shania! She really deserved the #1 over both Boyzone and Geri! (Still wish Geri got it though)
I still hear 'Ooh La La' around a lot, and even people singing it from time to time. I wouldn't say it's forgotten, but then maybe it is entirely down to that Budweiser advert.
thanks jay for these info, it's true for a few copies geri not touch 'the number 1 but a number 2 is a great result, (i always hope in a chart error as it was' for mel b with word up haha)
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