78. LET’S DANCE- Five (275,300)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/Let'sdance.jpg

 

RELEASED: 2001

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 12

 

Much more like it! The final chart topper for the band was one of their finest moments despite the band really being four after the departure of Sean Conlon in mid 2001. They tried to make a joke of it with the cardboard cut out in the video but there is a serious problem when you name yourself after the number of members in the group and one leaves. Rather than recruit they decided they had enough and a GH compilation followed just months after their final studio album was released, but with this hit the band became only the second boy band ever to make the top 10 with their first 10 releases.

 

77. SURE- Take That (275,400)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/Takethatsure.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1994

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART:15

 

Selling over 100k in its first week this narrowly managed to become the 5th Take That chart topper to debut at No 1. A more urban and Americanised record than previous attempts, not everyone was overly enamoured with the shift in musical feel that the band had made and it struggled beyond the hardcore fans falling 4-11-31 after a fortnight at the top, a total of 5 weeks in the top 40.

 

81. SURVIVOR- Destiny’s Child (260,500)

 

I love a bit of DC... but "Survivor" is a stinker of a song. One of the most annoying and chaotic things I've ever heard. Infact, I didn't think they were much cop once they dropped down to a 3 piece. "The Writings On the Wall" remains a great album though!

77. SURE- Take That (275,400)

 

RELEASED: 1994

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 5

 

Easily the worst "thing" Take That ever recorded. I'm surprised it sold over 100k in its first week. Then again, was this a new single that wasn't previously available on any album? Would explain why this managed to achieve what 'Love Ain't Here Anymore' failed to.

 

Safe to say the Take That boys more than made up for this with their next single.

Sure is absolute crap, one of the few Take That songs that I'll actively skip, surely sounded dated before it had left the chart, horrible production and no melody.

 

I'm not big on Let's Dance but the video was well executed and actually fairly funny, Until The Time Is Through is far more my sort of thing though, LOVE it :wub: Sounds like early Westlife though looking back, despite preceding their first single by 6 months.

 

As an aside, I love rewatching these old TOTP performances, I can even remember many of them from the first time round. But it's interesting looking at the crowd, the hairstyles and fashions of the era! Thank god I was never an audience member there, I'd cringe watching myself back 10-12 years ago.

Sure is absolute crap, one of the few Take That songs that I'll actively skip, surely sounded dated before it had left the chart, horrible production and no melody.

 

Rumour was that the band were actually gearing up for another stab at Xmas No 1 that year with a similar uptempo track to "Sure" but it's (relatively) poor perfrmance led them to cancelling plans- wonder how that would have panned out?

76. HELP- Banananarama (with Lananeeneenoonoo) (276,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/Banana_help.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1989

PEAK POSITION: 3

WKS ON CHART: 9

 

I’ve decided to include this record despite it being, technically a collaboration, as of course the collaboration is with a fictional group comprising comediennes French & Saunders and Kathy Burke. This was their 20th hit and the one that debuted the highest (No 12), in aid of comic relief, the band are a victim of the time period covered by this thread and had it been extended back to 1982 then many of their hits would be here. Written by Lennon as a reaction to the rapid rise in fame of the Beatles and his depression during the period, that was all rather lost on this S/A/W production which assisted them getting production rights on 21 top 10 hits in 1989.

 

75. PICTURE OF YOU- Boyzone (277,000)

 

http://www.avatune.com/pics/91414.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1997

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 18

 

Another tale of a lost midweek No 1, “Picture of You” became one of three runner up hits for the band in 1997, and tied in with the Mr Bean movie which hit cinema’s that summer. In part this was again put down to marketing at the time (and one of the reasons why the first week discount became so prevalent by 98/99, with insiders claiming that had the CD been priced at £1.99 and not £3.99 it would have given the band a No 1.

 

74. AROUND THE WORLD- East 17 (285,000)

 

http://991.com/newGallery/East-17-Around-The-World-50202.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1994

PEAK POSITION: 3

WKS ON CHART: 13

 

After a so-so 1993 during which 2 releases failed to go top 10 1994 was a far brighter year for the boys. All 3 releases made the top 10 of which this was the first, but being stuck in the chart with Wet, Wet, wet’s “Love Is All Around” pretty much meant its progress in the charts was never going to be all the way to the top, that treat was still some 7 months away, but as this was their second top 3 hit on the trot their intention was clear!

 

'Around The World' by East 17 is a really good pop song imo, but seems to be one their most underrated. Shame as "that song" 7 months later is a song I liked but not to the extent that I ever thought it deserved to be a UK #1 but that's just my opinion of course. :P

 

As for 'Picture Of You', that is quite easily the best Boyzone single from their entire career. Whenever I hear boybands singing ballads, I think of the term "boybland". It's just a bit too sickly sweet for my liking, so when tracks like 'Picture Of You' and even 'Let's Dance' by Five surface, I take more of an interest. Would explain why 'World Of Our Own' by Westlife is their only single I like.

True- but they do occasionally get the ballads right- lots of great examples still to come! Personally I've always had a soft spot for Five (MINUS Richie who needs to be erased from pop history this second), "Let's Dance" will always one of the two greatest moments they had- the other is still to come as well!

73. MY LOVE- Westlife (287,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/7MyLove1.jpg

 

RELEASED: 2000

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 10

 

A song which always reminded me of Chicago’s “Hard to say I’m Sorry” I recall this came out at the height of their power back in late 2000. A war of words with the Spice Girls would result in a furious battle for the No 1 album the week after this entered the charts but sometimes in pop the division between who’s “top of the pile” chart wise is easy to see and those couple of weeks in November saw the transfer of power from the girls to these boys. This knocked “Holler/ Let Love Lead The Way” off the top to become seven No 1’s from debut thus breaking the record set by the girls in 1997, and when they won the album war it was game, set, and match to Westlife. It’s also incidentally one of their better songs IMO and when it won record of the year they became the first act to win the award twice and the only act, to date, to win back to back victories.

 

72. IF YA GETTIN DOWN- Five (291,500)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/31/Five-If-Ya-Gettin-Down-426738.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1999

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 12

 

But for the tenacity of Ricky Martin’s “Livin La Vida Loca” and a pricing policy again (yes the old £3.99 mistake) this would have held its midweek chart position of No 1. Based around a sample of “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life” by Indeep from 1983, it wasted little time become the band’s third No 2 on the trot (a sequence which was about to be broken by their next record).

 

71. IF I LET YOU GO- Westlife (295,800)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/2IfILetYouGo2.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1999

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 11

 

Much was made at the time of the fact that the students had toppled their tutor with this release. Ronan Keating was, in case you forgot, co-manager of Westlife at the beginning of their career and dethroned his “When You Say Nothing At All” at No 1 with this track in August 99. Another Cheiron production this was lucky to be No 1 at all triumphing by a margin of just 470 copies over Alice Deejay.

 

71. IF I LET YOU GO- Westlife (295,800)

 

Another Cheiron production this was lucky to be No 1 at all triumphing by a margin of just 470 copies over Alice Deejay.

 

A classic example of chart injustice. I love the Alice Deejay record, and it sold a lot more than 295k - but Westlife got there in the end :(

71. IF I LET YOU GO- Westlife (295,800)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/2IfILetYouGo2.jpg

 

One of Westlife's best, if you ask me.

 

82. I OWE YOU NOTHING- Bros (256,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/I_owe_you_nothing.jpg

An awful song that sounds like it's been overproduced to within an inch of its life to act as a smoke screen to the fact it's an incredibly poor tune. :no:

 

How much did their first album sell out of interest? I know that album sales were in better shape than that of singles in the late 1980s which might have helped their sales to match the hype a bit more. Although it's not uncommon for the opposite to be the case with these kind of things - why? Because kids are easily led to want to fit in with the rest of their class (so will be happy to buy the latest Bros merchandise, perhaps) and more importantly, the music always comes second with these kind of groups anyway. :D

An awful song that sounds like it's been overproduced to within an inch of its life to act as a smoke screen to the fact it's an incredibly poor tune. :no:

 

How much did their first album sell out of interest? I know that album sales were in better shape than that of singles in the late 1980s which might have helped their sales to match the hype a bit more. Although it's not uncommon for the opposite to be the case with these kind of things - why? Because kids are easily led to want to fit in with the rest of their class (so will be happy to buy the latest Bros merchandise, perhaps) and more importantly, the music always comes second with these kind of groups anyway. :D

"Push" did just over a million by the end of the 80s- I doubt it's been added to much since :D

 

Bros were bizarre in a way that's hard to retell now- they were MASSIVE for a good 18 months but i've yet to witness a group fall so far so quickly (admittedly they had higher to fall from), even the boybands that came later never seem to match the frenzy of 1988 bros-mania. It may be that as groups like Boyzone and Take That were just as big for longer periods it didn't seem so concentrated as the whole Bros thing, and looking back now it's much more of a curiosity as to just how it went SOOO wrong....

78. LET’S DANCE- Five (275,300)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/34/Let'sdance.jpg

This has always been one of my Five favourites as well. Great funky vibe, and one of the rare occasions where Abs raps don't make you cringe and only serve well in adding to the flow of the record. I would say it SHOULD be a radio staple (rather than being practically a forgotten #1 :() but I think Keep On Movin' already had that sewn up anyway. I imagine radio programmers would rather die than have more than one Five record in rotation... like most acts from that era they've been shafted to the uncool category other than that one solitary song.

71. IF I LET YOU GO- Westlife (295,800)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/2IfILetYouGo2.jpg

Oh dear, I was dreading the moment Westlife entered the picture here! At least we should be getting most of their songs out of the way in quick succession as all bar a few sold similar amounts - but on the other hand that's going to lead to a grim next few days in this thread. :o :D

 

As for this one, I would say it was decent but that's only in comparison to what came after. I didn't like it too much at the time at all. I say with any due amount of shame that I LOVED the debut at the time and also bought it - this, on the other hand, just did nothing for me.