Hey there,

 

Most of you will be familiar with my count downs in the main UK Charts section but I thought it was time to do something for the more indie kid-esque amongst you so here's the top 41 best selling Brit Pop singles of the 90s. I'm indebted to MFR for the figures, and these are OFFICIAL figures of the time so they're NOT my estimates. Ok it's a top 41 because I realised I missed a song out after I'd started posting- hey you get 1 extra! :D

 

Thanks to Wikipedia, Chart stats, You tube, and MFR for all their assistance in the rundown.

 

A few notes. "Brit Pop" is a hard term to define and many groups we could argue about all day over whether or not they should be included so I had to go with my gut instinct and I've erred on the side of caution. These are 90s sales only and the ones that were worked out at the time (these will have been revised since in many cases for the 94-96 period).

 

The songs had to have made the charts between 1993-1998, i'm aware that means acts such as happy mondays and the farm will not make it but then they may have influenced Brit pop but weren't part of the "movement. Anyway hope you enjoy....

Edited October 31, 201113 yr by gezza76

Great idea, I shall really look forward to this. I was quite the Britpop slave back in this era so I will be intrigued to see how many of these I own.

41.LOVE SPREADS- Stone Roses (145,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d0/Lovesprods.jpg

 

Yes, a much heralded return with a fabled second album was always going to ensure a high new entry in the charts, at it looked like this was going all the way to No 1 in early December 1994. It would have but for a late surge by Baby D with "Let Me Be Your Fantasy", but it remains the biggest selling single by the band of the 90s, all those re-issues of "Fools Gold" amounting to a little less then 100k all told (not taking into account the tracks 80s sales)....

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

40. TRASH- Suede (145,400)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Trash96.jpg

 

Another comeback here, of sorts, lead single from third album "Coming Up" saw Suede achieve their joint highest placed single of their career with "Trash", in the words of Anderson muses:

 

"I actually wrote it about the band Suede. It's a celebration of the band, but by extension, it's a celebration of the fans as well. And it was a kind of a song written about us, as a gang, it was written about the values we stood for. And even though it sounds like a love song, it was actually about the idea of the identity of the band, and what they stood for."

 

All I know is that it's one of my favourite songs of the decade and definitely the Brit Pop era, many, many. many a drunken night I've had to a suede Soundtrack back in the 90s, it seemed to mark a new focused angle to the band and remains one of their most commercial moments.

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

and finally for tonight...

 

39.PLACE YOUR HANDS- Reef (146,700)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/15516.jpg

 

Never a band I loved at the time (apart from the rather wonderful "Come Back Brighter") they accumulated 5 top 20 hits between 95-98, this being their largest. A song about lead singer Stringer's grandfathers death...

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

Gezza, I love you

Top 10 will be full of

Oasis

I was surprised when I discovered Reef weren't American.... Decent songs so far although I can't imagine me truly disliking anything in it, I imagine all songs bar Wonderwall I'll have on my iTunes.

I'm wondering if the

Manics

qualify as Brit Pop. If so they should have 2 singles in the Top 20 of this, possibly even in the Top 10.

 

Other bands in the Top 10 will be

Blur, The Verve, Pulp,

 

Notice how short the band names were back then.

Gezza, I love you

Normally I require at least 4 dinner dates and quick fondle before I get to that stage! :lol: :o

38. ROAD RAGE- Catatonia (151,000)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/16531.jpg

 

Along with Louise Wener and Sonya Madan, Cerys Matthews was probably the nearest thing the movement had to a pin up girl. They are the first of two Welsh bands to appear on this rundown, and spending just 5 weeks in the top 40 might account for the relatively low sales given that 1998 sales were very healthy indeed.

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

37. ONE TO ANOTHER- The Charlatans (151,300)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/15419.jpg

 

Oh yes their biggest selling single of the decade, outstripping both "North Country Boy" and "The Only One I Know", Ok so they're not really pure "brit pop" but they were fortunate enough to experience somewhat of a revival in the era and returned to the top 10 with this after an absence of some 6 years.

 

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

36.FEMALE OF THE SPECIES- Space (153,500)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c9/Femaleofthespecies_front.jpg

 

Drawing inspiration from a Rudyard Kipling poem, this was one of THE songs of the summer of 96, a jazz fused track with that summery feel was the perfect soundtrack to those warm barbecue nights.

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

Yep, I bought and loved every track included so far! Female Of The Species and Trash were my favourite two so far, I really obsessed over both at their respective times.

 

One To Another is a great track too, they seemed to be trying to adopt a more dance based sound after Tim had provided vocals on a Chemical Brothers track a couple of years prior. Only 'Just When You're Thinking Things Over' equals this one in my affections.

The two Tim Burgess Chemical Brothers tracks are great. Life Is Sweet is one of my favourite Chemical Brothers moments and The Boxer is one of their finest 2000s singles. Charlatans are a band who have some singles I do really like but I don't know that much by them. Somewhat predictably The Only One I Know is my favourite of theirs.

Good idea and I can understand the range. Was going to suggest you went back to '91 and '92 for the earlier work by Pulp, Blur and Suede - but only 'There's Not Other Way' might have managed to sell enough copies...and even then I don't think it would have...and The Auteurs wouldn't have had a look in.

 

Time hasn't been kind to most of these songs though...

35. LOVE IS THE LAW- The Seahorses (155,700)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/15868.jpg

 

Formed from the debris of the Stone Roses by John Squire back in 1996, The Seahorses only made one album before splitting up the magnificent "Blinded By the Sun" fails to make the list but this sneeks in, the debut single and a No 3 hit from May 97

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

34.PARANOID ANDROID- Radiohead (165,400)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cd/Paranoid_Android_CD1.jpg

 

And teh best selling Radiohead single is........... Yes "Paranoid Android" , it beat all competition in the 90s, it shouldn't be too much of a surprise as it was their highest charting single, again a No 3 hit, in a far better sales period than their earlier hits. "Creep" is probably their biggest seller download wise but it was over 80k short of this pre downloads and it may have overtaken this with under the radar sales.

 

Edited October 19, 201113 yr by gezza76

33. HEY DUDE- Kula Shaker (169,000)

 

http://www.chartstats.com/images/artwork/15418.jpg

 

Back in the summer of 1996 Kula Shaker and impossibly posh frontman Crispian Mills made it big and into every Indie rag going with their brand of psychadelic retro Music. This was the first of two No 2 hits for them, denied the top slot by those Spice Girls with "Wannabe". Mills is now called Krishna Kantha Dasa for reasons best known to himself!