"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....

Hmm, even the likes of Take That had the moment/year where they were bigger than the rest of their career though. 1993 in Take That's case.

 

I can't really comment as Spicemania was the first of that kind of buzz I was around for to remember (and even that's a bit hazy in my mind). Perhaps it's the case with Take That and Boyzone that they had more appeal to the old as well as young as they also dabbled in with the ballads, compared to Bros who (apart from that song with the title I refuse to type on principal) mostly did the same kind of packaged, upbeat pop which you tend to associate more with kids. And obviously self-respecting adults aren't going to be so involved in that kind of frenzy in the same way as they've seen it all before so to speak.

 

Also perhaps the thing with Bros is that it was still so relatively new that it felt exciting for both kids and older teenagers to be a part of. With the likes of Take That and Boyzone, while there's a new generation of kids around to enjoy it, the ones who were younger when Bros were big would have now been teenagers and would probably also have that sense of knowing and refusing to get sucked in by the hype again (as they did before).

Hmm, even the likes of Take That had the moment/year where they were bigger than the rest of their career though. 1993 in Take That's case.

 

I can't really comment as Spicemania was the first of that kind of buzz I was around for to remember (and even that's a bit hazy in my mind). Perhaps it's the case with Take That and Boyzone that they had more appeal to the old as well as young as they also dabbled in with the ballads, compared to Bros who (apart from that song with the title I refuse to type on principal) mostly did the same kind of packaged, upbeat pop which you tend to associate more with kids. And obviously self-respecting adults aren't going to be so involved in that kind of frenzy in the same way as they've seen it all before so to speak.

 

Also perhaps the thing with Bros is that it was still so relatively new that it felt exciting for both kids and older teenagers to be a part of. With the likes of Take That and Boyzone, while there's a new generation of kids around to enjoy it, the ones who were younger when Bros were big would have now been teenagers and would probably also have that sense of knowing and refusing to get sucked in by the hype again (as they did before).

I think you may be onto something with the wider appeal of Take That and Boyzone who probably kept themselves in the charts for longer by not relying solely on the support of teenage girls for their base. Bros were the first big sensation that I recall at school and literally EVERY girl loved them, and whilst a lot of them did move onto NKOTB a year later they never seemed as big. By the time TT and Boyzone were at their height I had left school so perhaps I didn't witness the frenzy first hand so they seemed a lesser deal, or as you point out, I'd seen it before so it was a case of "next".

Ugh, don't remind me of the whole If I Let You Go/Better Off Alone injustice :drama: The sad thing is, the former is easily one of Westlife's best songs, it all went down hill after the first three singles.

 

I have to comment on Picture Of You too, absolutely up there with Boyzone's best, it still gets quite a bit of airplay I think too, probably their most enduring song along with No Matter What, and deservedly so. Better known for their ballads they may be but Picture Of You and Love You Anyway prove that they can excel at the uptempos too.

70. LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX- Salt N Pepa (298,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Let's_talk_about_sex!.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1991

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 13

 

Any record that spends 16 wks at No 1 is going to rack up some casualties from the records which end up at No 2 behind it, and for Bryan Adams in 1991 this is one of them. The follow up “Do You Want Me” (No 174) gave them back to back top 10 hits for the second and final time, a tale of safe sex and AIDS prevention it of course had its critics at the time but for the first girls of rap they had overcome bigger hurdles.

 

69. A DIFFERENT BEAT- Boyzone (306,400)

 

http://djbrecord.free.fr/boyzone007.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1996

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 15

 

Hitting the top on the 2nd anniversary of their debut Boyzone had long established themselves as kings of the ballads with only one uptempo song (their poorest seller “So Good” at No 169) in their repertoire. This track follows in that tradition and nabbed a sneaky week at No 1 in the run up to Christmas No 1 1996, their second number one of the year.

 

68. IT’S ALRIGHT- East 17 (312,700)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e3/East_17_It's_Alright.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1993

PEAK POSITION: 3

WKS ON CHART: 14

 

Pre “Stay” this was East 17’s best selling single garnering significant sales thanks to its top 5 position over the Christmas 1993 period. It was their first top 3 hit and was most recently covered by none other than Kim Wilde just last year (along with Tasmin Archer’s Sleeping Satellite), it was a sixth! Release from debut set “Walthamstow” but was re-recorded and remixed from its album version which perhaps accounts in part for its large sales haul.

 

...and here it is. :D

 

After picking out 'Around The World' as one of my fave East 17 singles, 'It's Alright' is my overall fave by them. East 17 were another of those British pop groups I found incredibly inconsistant with their single choices. For every 'It's Alright', there was a 'Steam'. I shall just reflect on their hits I liked the most. ** plays YouTube clip **

Good to see east 17 out selling the ballads from boy zone and west life even if their singles did top the charts, east 17 at least wrote and produced a huge bulk of their material! Really enjoying this thread!

...and here it is. :D

 

After picking out 'Around The World' as one of my fave East 17 singles, 'It's Alright' is my overall fave by them. East 17 were another of those British pop groups I found incredibly inconsistant with their single choices. For every 'It's Alright', there was a 'Steam'. I shall just reflect on their hits I liked the most. ** plays YouTube clip **

I practically DEMAND an East 17 top 5 from you Hits before the day is done! :D

 

Really enjoying this thread!

Always nice to get positive feedback- Thanks Vibe!

69. A DIFFERENT BEAT- Boyzone (306,400)

 

http://djbrecord.free.fr/boyzone007.jpg

 

Somehow I believe that had this been recorded by someone with a little bit more credibility, this would be a classic rather than a throwaway boyband song.

Edited April 24, 201213 yr by Gezza7T6

90. HOLLER/ LET LOVE LEAD THE WAY- Spice Girls (236,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0d/Holler.jpg

 

RELEASED: 2000

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 17

 

With an inordinate amount of publicity and hype the girls returned to the pop charts in November 2000 with this double A-Side creation, the R N B Darkchild produced “Holler” and the gentler ballad “Let Love Lead The Way”. Naturally it debuted at No 1 though sales of 106k were hardly a return to the heady days of the 90s and the tracks were criticised for being “too American” or too aping of the current R N B style to make them individual, something that the group managed to do effortlessly previously. A high profile war of words with Westlife was the result of seeing their albums being released in the same week and when the girls came off second best (and with very poor sales comparatively) they took the hint and called it a day- for 7 years at least.

 

 

'Holler' and particularly 'Let Love Lead The Way' are incredibly underrated imo, two of their best and the album was great, people just didn't like their slight change in direction. But their vocals improved significantly as a band once Geri left.

Somehow I believe that had this been recorded by someone with a little bit more credibility, this is would be a classic rather than a throwaway boyband song.

 

Indeed, it's rather other-worldly musically, very different for a mainstream pop band single.

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.

 

 

one of Comic Relief's best charity songs, but one of Bananarama's least interesting chart singles..... worth checking out is the actual Comic Relief appearance of this, where the whole thing descends into a flan-flinging mess.

67. FLYING WITHOUT WINGS- Westlife (313,600)

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rDobpr8ps4c/Rw26sbqcktI/AAAAAAAAAbI/_Qw_3SEPHIM/s400/fww-cd1.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1999

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 13

 

Westlife’s third chart topper did what all their first 7 releases did, debuted there. It has also, as you may know, been covered by American Idol winner Ruben Studdard as his winning song and made the US No 2 spot, and in addition to that a live version of this track by the band became the first EVER download No 1 when that chart was first compiled in late 2004.

 

66. EVERYDAY I LOVE YOU- Boyzone (314,600)

 

http://www.poplife.info/Bilder/548632.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1999

PEAK POSITION: 3

WKS ON CHART: 13

 

We didn’t know it at the time but this was to be the final Boyzone single for 8 years tying in nicely with the end of the 90s. A Prague set video makes a Boyzone song by numbers into something a little bit special in my opinion, but within 12 months of this track all 5 members would feature in top 40 hits of their own, clearly everyone had moved on quickly.

 

65. I GOT A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOU- MN8 (316,800)

 

http://991.com/newGallery/MN8-Ive-Got-A-Little-499537.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1995

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 13

 

The one and only appearance for this lot in our rundown, MN8 were very briefly (about 6 months) big news in the UK charts. This got stuck behind Celine Dion’s “Think Twice” in Feb 95 and the group went on to have 7 top 30 hits in total before they “moved” record label and where never heard of again.

 

64. PUSH IT/ TRAMP- Salt N Pepa (318,000)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/30/Push_It_by_Salt-N-Pepa_single_cover.jpg

 

RELEASED: 1988

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 19

 

Like a fair few acts on this list Salt N Pepa’s biggest hit was their debut one, this track spending three long weeks at No 2 behind Glenn Medeiros’s “Nothing’s Gonna change My Love For You” during July 1988. It did finally reached No 1 here, albeit in sampled form on Timbaland’s “The Way I Are” in 2007.

 

I'm off on Holiday for the weekend so tomorrow's update will be the last until next Tuesday!

"Push It" is brilliant, I doubt there'll be many songs above it that I prefer.

Seems strange to see a forgettable Boyzone song above Westlife's most well known song, considering they were released around the same time!