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[ThePensmith]

Hello all! Inspired a bit by Andrew's ongoing Now review series and Plug.dj sessions (and after hosting this week's one for Now 62) it caught me with the bug of doing something similar on here and Plug.dj.

What with Radio 1 celebrating 50 years on air, and the recent 'Best of the Official Chart' show they had on Radio 1 Vintage with Greg James and Mark Goodier running down the current top 40 together, it got me reminiscing about the days when I used to listen to the weekly chart rundown with regularity and excitement. Now I've not been around as long as Radio 1 - I've been alive for over half it's lifetime - I decided it'd be a neat idea to do a series covering the 20 years from when I started listening to the chart aged 7 - which was in 1996. If there's the demand there, I'm happy to go back and do earlier in the 90s and maybe a bit of the 80s once these first 20 years are done.

So here's how I'm (hoping) it will work. Every week, I'll review the top 40 bestsellers from a given year, along with a poll for everyone to vote for their favourite. Then there'll be an accompanying Plug.dj session to go with it (http://plug.dj/uk-chart-of-the-year). As the Now ones are every Wednesday, I'm tentatively thinking Thursday nights for these ones, but if there's a certain night people have a preference for we'll go with that.

As with the Now Plug.djs, there'll be an opportunity for people to play their favourite singles from that week's year that didn't make the top 40 bestsellers of the year, followed by the playing all of the videos for the top 40 biggest sellers of that year from 40 through to the number one - with a break before the top 20 to play a track from that year's biggest selling album - plus some little news or interview snippets from some of the artists featured in that week's session to make it all a nostalgic experience.

My sources for the bestsellers lists each week will be the ChartArchive Scans website, using their copies of the Music Week or ChartsPlus Top 100 from that year.

With that in mind - let's begin. This week, as I mentioned, is the year that, aged 7, I started listening to the charts: 1996.

The Official UK Top 40 Singles of 1996
Source: ChartArchive/OCC

1. THE FUGEES - Killing Me Softly (#1, June)
2. SPICE GIRLS - Wannabe (#1, July)
3. BABYLON ZOO - Spaceman (#1, January)
4. SPICE GIRLS - Say You'll Be There (#1, October)
5. MARK MORRISON - Return of the Mack (#1, April)
6. GINA G - Ooh, Aah...Just a Little Bit (#1, May)
7. BADDIEL, SKINNER & LIGHTNING SEEDS - Three Lions (#1, June)
8. ROBERT MILES - Children (#2, February)
9. PETER ANDRE FEAT. BUBBLER RANX - Mysterious Girl (#2, June)
10. SPICE GIRLS - 2 Become 1 (#1, December)

11. OASIS - Don't Look Back in Anger (#1, February)
12. TAKE THAT - How Deep Is Your Love (#1, March)
13. TONI BRAXTON - Unbreak My Heart (#2, December)
14. THE PRODIGY - Breathe (#1, November)
15. THE PRODIGY - Firestarter (#1, March)
16. BOYZONE- Words (#1, October)
17. DEEP BLUE SOMETHING - Breakfast at Tiffany's (#1, September)
18. EAST 17 FEATURING GABRIELLE - If You Ever (#2, October)
19. ROBSON & JEROME - What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (#1, November)
20. 3T - Anything (#2, February)

21. GEORGE MICHAEL - Fastlove (#1, April)
22. LOS DEL RIO - Macarena (#2, August)
23. UNDERWORLD - Born Slippy (#2, July)
24. THE FUGEES - Ready or Not (#1, September)
25. MARK SNOW - The X Files Theme (#2, March)
26. ROBERT MILES FEATURING MARIA NAYLER - One & One (#3, December)
27. CELINE DION - Because You Loved Me (#5, June)
28. GABRIELLE - Give Me a Little More Time (#5, March)
29. TONY RICH PROJECT - Nobody Knows (#5, May)
30. BABYBIRD - You're Gorgeous (#3, October)

31. DUNBLANE - Knockin' on Heaven's Door (#1, December)
32. SUGGS - Cecilia (#5, April)
33. PETER ANDRE - Flava (#1, September)
34. LIVIN' JOY - Don't Stop Movin' (#5, June)
35. CELINE DION - It's All Coming Back to Me Now (#3, October)
36. DONNA LEWIS - I Love You Always Forever (#5, September)
37. OMC - How Bizarre (#5, August)
38. GEORGE MICHAEL - Jesus to a Child (#1, January)
39. JAMIROQUAI - Virtual Insanity (#3, August)
40. GARY BARLOW - Forever Love (#1, July)

KEY

(Number in italic brackets indicates peak position, and the month it reached this position.)
Singles marked in green were UK number one hits.

My Review

Well, if any year had to be the one I started listening to the chart and falling in love with pop music, I couldn't have picked a more ripe year, could I? Just over halfway into the 90s, but four years away from a new millennium, 1996 was an exciting and busy year to be watching the charts - sales were increasingly on the up, and 24 different singles went to number one, with only three of those failing to make the top 40 for the year.

Those singles making waves on the chart were from across a real hotchpotch of sounds and styles. And it was a year for some historic movements in the chart. We saw the nation's fangirls descend into mourning with Take That's last ever single (albeit for a decade). We saw Oasis cementing their status as the superstars of Britpop. Gina G's irresistible slice of Europop that proved to be almost too so for the Eurovision judges but that was a long stayer - and chart topper. Smooth R&B and soul from The Fugees, 3T and Gabrielle.

Huge, classic dance anthems from the likes of the late Robert Miles, Underworld and The Prodigy. Evergreen one hit wonders and radio staples from Donna Lewis, Deep Blue Something and er, Babylon Zoo. And then of course, the small matter of the rise of five girls who would go onto write themselves into UK and worldwide pop history as one of the biggest girl groups of all time. They were called the Spice Girls, I think?

Overall, 1996 was a really iconic and memorable year, and a great time to be a fan of music, whatever your tastes.

Most Favourite Top 40 Single of 1996
Tough one this, as there were so many classics from '96. But for me, it has to be Spice Girls - 'Wannabe'. A solid gold classic that acted as their mission statement for girl power and indeed pop for much of the next two decades, and inspired a wealth of young girls and women everywhere, many of whom are now in the charts themselves. No wonder it spent seven weeks at the top that summer.

Least Favourite Top 40 Single of 1996
Without question it's Peter Andre - 'Flava'. 'Mysterious Girl' I can just about get the popularity of, but Peter's attempt at faux R&B and new jack swing was pitifully bad. Thankfully it didn't stay at the top very long - and neither did his Christmas-y ballad 'I Feel You' that reached the top for a week that December.

This post has been edited by TheGhostPensmith: Oct 14 2017, 01:27 PM