Posted December 2, 201212 yr Hi guys my retro Christmas charts are back for the final year as we move towards the modern era. Although most people think of the Fix Factor in recent years when it comes to Christmas there are some Christmas classics that have crept into the chart in the noughties - and the 2003 chart is one of the best of our era - its like our 1973 for me. Two massive hits entering at the top - one from a band that believe it or not in December 2003 were Britain's biggest band and a unknown outsider that came from no-where to implant itself in the British public's hearts in time for Xmas - it had all the makings of an Xmas chart battle classic and it proved right - surely there could only have been one winner? Another thing i loved about this chart is that the early favorites were the X-Factors equilvant back in 2003 The Pop Idols who basically limped in at no5 - poor for them with an awful cover of an Xmas classic - it would be a foresight of Christmas' to come though as Simon Cowell would learn from his mistakes of 2003 and return to revenge that failure for half the rest of the next decade :( i know the chart isn't 100% accurate but ive had to use EVERYHIT rather than Chartstats (RIP) The sales below are approximate can anyone clear them up? Let me know your thoughts!! :D Top 40 Hits of Early January 2004 1 (-) Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules - MAD WORLD 227,500 2 (-) Darkness - CHRISTMAS TIME (DON'T LET THE BELLS END) 222,500 3 (1) Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne - CHANGES 144,800 4 (-) Bo Selecta - PROPER CRIMBO 97,000 5 (-) Idols - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) 73,165 6 (2) Will Young - LEAVE RIGHT NOW 7 (3) Black Eyed Peas - SHUT UP 8 (-) Atomic Kitten FT Kool and the Gang - LADIES NIGHT 28,343 9 (4) Shane Richie - I'M YOUR MAN 10 (-) Sugababes - TOO LOST IN YOU 27,200 11 (-) Blue featuring Stevie Wonder and Angie Stone - SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED, I'M YOURS 27,100 12 (-) Ultrabeat - FEELIN' FINE 20,300 13 (5) Cliff Richard - SANTA'S LIST 14 (6) Westlife - MANDY 15 (10) Cheeky Girls - HAVE A CHEEKY CHRISTMAS 16 (22) Outkast - HEY YA! 17 (14) Katie Melua - THE CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY 18 (7) Evanescence - MY IMMORTAL 19 (17) UB40 / United Colours Of Sound - SWING LOW 20 (12) Girls Aloud - JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) 21 (9) Christina Aguilera - THE VOICE WITHIN 22 (16) Simply Red - YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW 23 (18) Kevin Lyttle - TURN ME ON 24 (8) Gareth Gates - SAY IT ISN'T SO 25 (-) Fast Food Rockers - I LOVE CHRISTMAS 10,000 26 (-) Billy Mack - CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND 9,600 27 (13) Nelly Furtado - POWERLESS (SAY WHAT YOU WANT) 28 (21) Lost Brothers featuring G Tom Mac - CRY LITTLE SISTER (I NEED U NOW) 29 (-) G Unit - STUNT 101 30 (24) Fatman Scoop Featuring The Crooklyn Clan - BE FAITHFUL 31 (23) Busted - CRASHED THE WEDDING 32 (20) Dido - LIFE FOR RENT 33 (11) Madonna - LOVE PROFUSION 34 (19) Alicia Keys - YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME 35 (15) Big Brovaz - AIN'T WHAT YOU DO 36 (-) Erin Rocha - CAN'T DO RIGHT FOR DOING WRONG 37 (25) D-Side - REAL WORLD 38 (29) Noddy - MAKE WAY FOR NODDY 39 (28) Lemar - 50 : 50 / LULLABY 40 (27) Ja Rule - CLAP BACK / REIGNS 41 (30) Britney Spears featuring Madonna - ME AGAINST THE MUSIC 42 (31) Alex Parks - MAYBE THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES 43 (36) Jamelia - SUPERSTAR 44 (-) Basil Brush featuring India Beau - BOOM BOOM / CHRISTMAS SLIDE 45 (26) Rachel Stevens - FUNKY DORY 46 (-) Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros - REDEMPTION SONG / ARMS ALOFT 47 (32) Jay-Z - CHANGE CLOTHES 48 (-) Travis - THE BEAUTIFUL OCCUPATION 49 (33) John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) 50 (39) Delta Goodrem - NOT ME NOT I 51 (38) Blazin' Squad - FLIP REVERSE 52 (34) Good Charlotte - HOLD ON / THE YOUNG AND THE HOPELESS 53 (35) Daniel O'Donnell - YOU RAISE ME UP / WINTER WONDERLAND 54 (37) Michael Jackson - ONE MORE CHANCE 55 (-) Mew - SHE CAME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS 56 (45) Kylie Minogue - SLOW 57 (40) Texas - I'LL SEE IT THROUGH 58 (41) Limp Bizkit - BEHIND BLUE EYES 59 (51) Missy Elliott - PASS THAT DUTCH 60 (42) Pink - TROUBLE 61 (44) No Doubt - IT'S MY LIFE 62 (43) Muse - HYSTERIA 63 (46) Blue - GUILTY 64 (65) Robbie Williams - SEXED UP 65 (56) Black Eyed Peas - WHERE IS THE LOVE? 66 (-) Diff'rent Darkness - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARKNESS 67 (54) Iron Maiden - RAINMAKER 68 (53) Atomic Kitten - IF YOU COME TO ME 69 (48) Blink 182 - FEELING THIS 70 (58) Sugababes - HOLE IN THE HEAD 71 (73) Holly Valance - STATE OF MIND 72 (47) Enrique Iglesias - ADDICTED 73 (59) Ludacris - STAND UP 74 (50) Meat Loaf - MAN OF STEEL 75 (57) Nelly - IZ U Edited December 3, 201212 yr by steve201
December 2, 201212 yr 1 Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules Mad World 220,000 - Horrible Christmas #1 suicidial song. 2 The Darkness - Christmas Time (Dont let the Bells End) 194,000 - Love this 3 Ozzy & Kelly Osbourne - Changes 100,000 - This was the moral winner imo - very touching song. 4 Bo Selecta - Proper Crimbo 65,000 - Disjointed but funny song. 5 The Idols - Happy Xmas (War is Over) 50,000 - Meh 6 Will Young - Leave Right Now - Brilliant if overplayed too much song from a true talent 7 Black Eyed Peas - Shut Up - This is probably their best song 8 Atomic Kitten ft Kool and the Gang - Ladies Night - This was their decline - too many cheesy covers 9 Shane Richie - I'm Your Man (Children in Need 2003) - This ain't that bad! 10 Sugababes - Too Lost in You - LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE! 11 Noddy - Make way for Noddy - Nah 12 Ultrabeat Feelin' Fine - Decent club track. 13 Blue featuring Stevie Wonder & Angie Stone Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) - Naff cover version 14 Outkast Hey Ya! - Overrated (sorry) 15 Alistair Griffin featuring Robin Gibb Bring It On / My Lover's Prayer - The former great track...the latter - nah even if I like Robin Gibb (RIP) 16 UB40 featuring United Colours Of Sound Swing Low - Interesting track. 17 Girls Aloud Jump - Worst GA track ever 18 Katie Melua The Closest Thing To Crazy - Nah 19 Evanescence My Immortal - Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. 20 Christina Aguilera The Voice Within - Gorgeous ballad 21 Kevin Lyttle Turn Me On - Annoying 22 Cheeky Girls Have A Cheeky Christmas - Ewwww. 23 Sophie Ellis Bextor I Won't Change You - I liked this. Shame she lost to VB 24 Simply Red You Make Me Feel Brand New - Crap cover II 25 Westlife Mandy - Crap cover III 26 G Unit Stunt 101 - Boring gangsta shit 27 Fatman Scoop featuring The Crooklyn Clan Be Faithful - HORRIBLE 28 S Club 8 Don't Tell Me You're Sorry - Decent track 29 Nelly Furtado Powerless (Say What You Want) - Why didn't she stick to Ethno Nelly instead of Prostitute Nelly? 30 Dido Life For Rent - OK 31 Busted Crashed The Wedding - HATE! 32 Gareth Gates Say It Isn't So - Decent song 33 Alicia Keys You Don't Know My Name - Gorgeous song 34 Big Brovaz Ain't What You Do - No thanks....Booty Luv were WAY better though I did like their Eurovision track "Big Bro Thang" 35 Cliff Richard Santa's List - Crap 36 The Lost Brothers featuring G Tom Mac Cry Little Sister (I Need U Now) - Don't know it 37 Lemar 50 / 50 And Lullaby - Crap songs 38 Fast Food Rockers I Love Christmas - ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww 39 D-Side Real World - I liked this! 40 Britney Spears featuring Madonna Me Against The Music - Overrated - two trollopes trying to lesbian kiss each other
December 2, 201212 yr The actual chart that week: 1 (-) Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules - MAD WORLD 2 (-) Darkness - CHRISTMAS TIME (DON'T LET THE BELLS END) 3 (1) Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne - CHANGES 4 (-) Bo Selecta - PROPER CRIMBO 5 (-) Idols - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) 6 (2) Will Young - LEAVE RIGHT NOW 7 (3) Black Eyed Peas - SHUT UP 8 (-) Atomic Kitten - LADIES NIGHT 9 (4) Shane Richie - I'M YOUR MAN 10 (-) Sugababes - TOO LOST IN YOU 11 (-) Blue featuring Stevie Wonder and Angie Stone - SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED, I'M YOURS 12 (-) Ultrabeat - FEELIN' FINE 13 (5) Cliff Richard - SANTA'S LIST 14 (6) Westlife - MANDY 15 (10) Cheeky Girls - HAVE A CHEEKY CHRISTMAS 16 (22) Outkast - HEY YA! 17 (14) Katie Melua - THE CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY 18 (7) Evanescence - MY IMMORTAL 19 (17) UB40 / United Colours Of Sound - SWING LOW 20 (12) Girls Aloud - JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) 21 (9) Christina Aguilera - THE VOICE WITHIN 22 (16) Simply Red - YOU MAKE ME FEEL BRAND NEW 23 (18) Kevin Lyttle - TURN ME ON 24 (8) Gareth Gates - SAY IT ISN'T SO 25 (-) Fast Food Rockers - I LOVE CHRISTMAS 26 (-) Billy Mack - CHRISTMAS IS ALL AROUND 27 (13) Nelly Furtado - POWERLESS (SAY WHAT YOU WANT) 28 (21) Lost Brothers featuring G Tom Mac - CRY LITTLE SISTER (I NEED U NOW) 29 (-) G Unit - STUNT 101 30 (24) Fatman Scoop Featuring The Crooklyn Clan - BE FAITHFUL 31 (23) Busted - CRASHED THE WEDDING 32 (20) Dido - LIFE FOR RENT 33 (11) Madonna - LOVE PROFUSION 34 (19) Alicia Keys - YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME 35 (15) Big Brovaz - AIN'T WHAT YOU DO 36 (-) Erin Rocha - CAN'T DO RIGHT FOR DOING WRONG 37 (25) D-Side - REAL WORLD 38 (29) Noddy - MAKE WAY FOR NODDY 39 (28) Lemar - 50 : 50 / LULLABY 40 (27) Ja Rule - CLAP BACK / REIGNS 41 (30) Britney Spears featuring Madonna - ME AGAINST THE MUSIC 42 (31) Alex Parks - MAYBE THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES 43 (36) Jamelia - SUPERSTAR 44 (-) Basil Brush featuring India Beau - BOOM BOOM / CHRISTMAS SLIDE 45 (26) Rachel Stevens - FUNKY DORY 46 (-) Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros - REDEMPTION SONG / ARMS ALOFT 47 (32) Jay-Z - CHANGE CLOTHES 48 (-) Travis - THE BEAUTIFUL OCCUPATION 49 (33) John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) 50 (39) Delta Goodrem - NOT ME NOT I 51 (38) Blazin' Squad - FLIP REVERSE 52 (34) Good Charlotte - HOLD ON / THE YOUNG AND THE HOPELESS 53 (35) Daniel O'Donnell - YOU RAISE ME UP / WINTER WONDERLAND 54 (37) Michael Jackson - ONE MORE CHANCE 55 (-) Mew - SHE CAME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS 56 (45) Kylie Minogue - SLOW 57 (40) Texas - I'LL SEE IT THROUGH 58 (41) Limp Bizkit - BEHIND BLUE EYES 59 (51) Missy Elliott - PASS THAT DUTCH 60 (42) Pink - TROUBLE 61 (44) No Doubt - IT'S MY LIFE 62 (43) Muse - HYSTERIA 63 (46) Blue - GUILTY 64 (65) Robbie Williams - SEXED UP 65 (56) Black Eyed Peas - WHERE IS THE LOVE? 66 (-) Diff'rent Darkness - ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARKNESS 67 (54) Iron Maiden - RAINMAKER 68 (53) Atomic Kitten - IF YOU COME TO ME 69 (48) Blink 182 - FEELING THIS 70 (58) Sugababes - HOLE IN THE HEAD 71 (73) Holly Valance - STATE OF MIND 72 (47) Enrique Iglesias - ADDICTED 73 (59) Ludacris - STAND UP 74 (50) Meat Loaf - MAN OF STEEL 75 (57) Nelly - IZ U IIRC, the top 25 all sold over 10000 (with the top 2 clearing 220000 and Idols selling enough to make #1 on a typical 2003 week). Bear in mind that this was all physical sales. We were however only 5 weeks away from #10 selling under 10k.
December 2, 201212 yr Author Ahh thanks mate i literally had to use everyhit.com and the top 10 was from the OCC website (they only give the top 10) Thanks for the sales and the top 75. Do you have a link to the site for this info?
December 3, 201212 yr More nostalgia... Mad World claims Xmas number 1 spot Sunday, Dec 21st 2003 by Alan Jones After a week of to-ing and fro-ing, The Darkness's Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) was pipped to the Christmas number one spot by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules' Mad World. Mad World sold 227,500 units last week, compared to Christmas Time's 222,500 units - a margin of just 5,000. The Mad World success came after it had consistently - although marginally - lagged behind The Darkness throughout the past week. The two singles helped pushed the overall singles market to its best week of the year, with Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne's Changes also selling 144,800 units. No previous week this year has seen more than one single sell over 100,000 units. The chart marks a massive success for Sanctuary Group, who co-released Mad World with Paul and Katie Conroy's Adventures label. Sanctuary's second number one single followed a week after its first, with the Osbournes' hit. The Darkness's singles' chart disappointment is more than compensated for by the fact that their album Permission To Land jumped nine places into the Top 10, selling almost 90,000 copies in the past week. The album is on target to top 1m sales before the end of 2003. The album chart is dominated by Dido's 270,000-selling Life For Rent, which beats Will Young's Friday's Child to the summit - it sold 239,000 units in the past week. In third place, Michael Jackson's hits collection defies recent negative publicity by remaining at three and selling 222,000 units in the past week. Overall, the albums market sees all Top Eight albums selling 100,000 or more, in what is traditionally the biggest week for sales of the entire year. from musicweek.com Sales Singles 1 227,547 Gary Jules - Mad World 2 222,561 The Darkness - Christmas Time 3 144,800 Kelly & Ozzy Osbourne - Changes 4 97,000 Bo Selecta - Proper Crimbo 5 73,165 The Idols - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 6 66,684 Will Young - Leave Right Now 8 28,343 Atomic Kitten - Ladies Night 10 27,200 Sugababes - Too Lost In You 11 27,100 Ble feat Stevie Wonder 12 20,300 Ultrabeat - Feelin' Fine 25 10,000 Fast Food Rockers - I Love Christmas 26 9,600 Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around Albums 270,652 Dido (1) 239,000 Will Young (2) 222,000 Michael Jackson (3) 164,000 Black Eyed Peas (4) 100,000 Busted (8) 99,000 Sugababes (9) 90,000 Darkness (10) 88,000 Daniel Bedingfield (11) 34,000 Kylie (39) sales from Dotmusic (the last ever posted there before the forums closed) / Music Week Edited December 4, 201212 yr by Robbie
December 3, 201212 yr 6 (2) Will Young - LEAVE RIGHT NOW 7 (3) Black Eyed Peas - SHUT UP 8 (-) Atomic Kitten - LADIES NIGHT 10 (-) Sugababes - TOO LOST IN YOU 17 (14) Katie Melua - THE CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY 18 (7) Evanescence - MY IMMORTAL 21 (9) Christina Aguilera - THE VOICE WITHIN 23 (18) Kevin Lyttle - TURN ME ON 24 (8) Gareth Gates - SAY IT ISN'T SO 27 (13) Nelly Furtado - POWERLESS (SAY WHAT YOU WANT) 28 (21) Lost Brothers featuring G Tom Mac - CRY LITTLE SISTER (I NEED U NOW) 31 (23) Busted - CRASHED THE WEDDING 32 (20) Dido - LIFE FOR RENT 34 (19) Alicia Keys - YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME 35 (15) Big Brovaz - AIN'T WHAT YOU DO 39 (28) Lemar - 50 : 50 / LULLABY 40 (27) Ja Rule - CLAP BACK / REIGNS 41 (30) Britney Spears featuring Madonna - ME AGAINST THE MUSIC 43 (36) Jamelia - SUPERSTAR 45 (26) Rachel Stevens - FUNKY DORY 49 (33) John And Yoko And The Plastic Ono Band With The Harlem Community Choir - HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER) 50 (39) Delta Goodrem - NOT ME NOT I 51 (38) Blazin' Squad - FLIP REVERSE 60 (42) Pink - TROUBLE 61 (44) No Doubt - IT'S MY LIFE 63 (46) Blue - GUILTY 64 (65) Robbie Williams - SEXED UP 65 (56) Black Eyed Peas - WHERE IS THE LOVE? 68 (53) Atomic Kitten - IF YOU COME TO ME 70 (58) Sugababes - HOLE IN THE HEAD 71 (73) Holly Valance - STATE OF MIND
December 3, 201212 yr Author More nostalgia... Mad World claims Xmas number 1 spot Sunday, Dec 21st 2003 by Alan Jones After a week of to-ing and fro-ing, The Darkness's Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) was pipped to the Christmas number one spot by Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules' Mad World. Mad World sold 227,500 units last week, compared to Christmas Time's 222,500 units - a margin of just 5,000. The Mad World success came after it had consistently - although marginally - lagged behind The Darkness throughout the past week. The two singles helped pushed the overall singles market to its best week of the year, with Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne's Changes also selling 144,800 units. No previous week this year has seen more than one single sell over 100,000 units. The chart marks a massive success for Sanctuary Group, who co-released Mad World with Paul and Katie Conroy's Adventures label. Sanctuary's second number one single followed a week after its first, with the Osbournes' hit. The Darkness's singles' chart disappointment is more than compensated for by the fact that their album Permission To Land jumped nine places into the Top 10, selling almost 90,000 copies in the past week. The album is on target to top 1m sales before the end of 2003. The album chart is dominated by Dido's 270,000-selling Life For Rent, which beats Will Young's Friday's Child to the summit - it sold 239,000 units in the past week. In third place, Michael Jackson's hits collection defies recent negative publicity by remaining at three and selling 222,000 units in the past week. Overall, the albums market sees all Top Eight albums selling 100,000 or more, in what is traditionally the biggest week for sales of the entire year. from musicweek.com Sales Singles 1 227,547 Gary Jules - Mad World 2 222,561 The Darkness - Christmas Time 3 144,800 Kelly & Ozzy Osbourne - Changes 4 97,000 Bo Selecta - Proper Crimbo 5 73,165 The Idols - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 8 28,343 Atomic Kitten - Ladies Night 10 27,200 Sugababes - Too Lost In You 11 27,100 Ble feat Stevie Wonder 12 20,300 Ultrabeat - Feelin' Fine 25 10,000 Fast Food Rockers - I Love Christmas 26 9,600 Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around Albums 270,652 Dido (1) 239,000 Will Young (2) 222,000 Michael Jackson (3) 164,000 Black Eyed Peas (4) 100,000 Busted (8) 99,000 Sugababes (9) 90,000 Darkness (10) 88,000 Daniel Bedingfield (11) 34,000 Kylie (39) sales from Dotmusic (the last ever posted there before the forums closed) / Music Week Thanks for this - that's great to have the MW report from then too - im pretty sure i was on Cool Clarity then finding out those sales but nearly spat out my sunday roast listening to that legendary countdown (think Wes was doing it then :rolleyes: ). I was the proud owner of both singles - i got the Mad World one for my dad for xmas and the darkness one had a quality christmassy cover. Its fair to say both are relative xmas classics although not to the same extent as mariah or the pogues. I think this would be the final high water mark of the physical cd market at xmas apart from maybe a slight revival for band aid 20 the following year but dont think we would see 1990s sales levels for the top 3 with all them selling over 100k again, until downloads came in - and yet i dont think we have seen a 100k plus top 3 even now - maybe last xmas was the closest? Edited December 3, 201212 yr by steve201
December 3, 201212 yr These charts have good memories for me as this was when my little brother was born.
December 3, 201212 yr It was around this time that Mariah and The Pogues began to be seen as the huge Xmas songs they are today - back in the 90s it was most definitely Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' that was seen as the definitive Xmas song, at least from what I would hear every year, but factors like Kirsty MacColll's death in 2000, Mariah's song being used in 'Love Actually' in 2003 and FONY being re-issued on CD in 2005 pushed them well ahead. I guess because the likes of Slade, Wizzard and even 80s songs like Wham/Band Aid had been a bit overplayed by then and more recent hits began to overtake them. It makes me hope that The Darkness becomes a high seller in years to come as I absolutely adored it back in '03, was gutted when it stalled at #2! Here's some more that I liked or at least remembered from the official chart that week: 4 (-) Bo Selecta - PROPER CRIMBO (a slight letdown comparing the video to the actual release as the video had a ton of celebs singing along (including soon-to-be-even-more-famous people like Jimmy Carr and Simon Amstell) but the CD single was just Avid Merrion on his own...but beating The Idols was amazing and it deserves legendary status simply for that) 12 (-) Ultrabeat - FEELIN' FINE (I thought this was much bigger than it was but nope, #12 was as high as it got. I saw them live a few years later, I liked them at the time) 20 (12) Girls Aloud - JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) (still one of the best things they've ever done) 23 (18) Kevin Lyttle - TURN ME ON )(weirdly I don't remember this much from the time but I've got into it recently after seeing it 59p on iTunes) 30 (24) Fatman Scoop Featuring The Crooklyn Clan - BE FAITHFUL (the staying power of this is ridiculous - STILL played in every club I go to even today!) 43 (36) Jamelia - SUPERSTAR (Noughties classic. Hearing this played in a club in Brighton this summer was pretty amazing :D )
December 3, 201212 yr Great chart. Three amazing songs were # 1 in my personal charts. My Christmas classic songs: Cheeky Girls - Have A Cheeky Christmas Fast Food Rockers - I Love Christmas + Sugababes - Too Lost In You # 1 singles in my personal charts: 21.12.2003 : Cheeky Girls 28.12.2003 : Cheeky Girls [Christmas # 1] 04.01.2004 : Fast Food Rockers
December 3, 201212 yr Author It was around this time that Mariah and The Pogues began to be seen as the huge Xmas songs they are today - back in the 90s it was most definitely Slade's 'Merry Xmas Everybody' that was seen as the definitive Xmas song, at least from what I would hear every year, but factors like Kirsty MacColll's death in 2000, Mariah's song being used in 'Love Actually' in 2003 and FONY being re-issued on CD in 2005 pushed them well ahead. I guess because the likes of Slade, Wizzard and even 80s songs like Wham/Band Aid had been a bit overplayed by then and more recent hits began to overtake them. It makes me hope that The Darkness becomes a high seller in years to come as I absolutely adored it back in '03, was gutted when it stalled at #2! Here's some more that I liked or at least remembered from the official chart that week: 4 (-) Bo Selecta - PROPER CRIMBO (a slight letdown comparing the video to the actual release as the video had a ton of celebs singing along (including soon-to-be-even-more-famous people like Jimmy Carr and Simon Amstell) but the CD single was just Avid Merrion on his own...but beating The Idols was amazing and it deserves legendary status simply for that) 12 (-) Ultrabeat - FEELIN' FINE (I thought this was much bigger than it was but nope, #12 was as high as it got. I saw them live a few years later, I liked them at the time) 20 (12) Girls Aloud - JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) (still one of the best things they've ever done) 23 (18) Kevin Lyttle - TURN ME ON )(weirdly I don't remember this much from the time but I've got into it recently after seeing it 59p on iTunes) 30 (24) Fatman Scoop Featuring The Crooklyn Clan - BE FAITHFUL (the staying power of this is ridiculous - STILL played in every club I go to even today!) 43 (36) Jamelia - SUPERSTAR (Noughties classic. Hearing this played in a club in Brighton this summer was pretty amazing :D ) Thanks for the reply - ithis is exactly why i put these up every december because xmas charts are my favourite charts and so people remind me and everyone of back then. Its true Slade probably was the xmas retro hit of the 80/90s and since then various re-releases for the Pogues and Mariah have meant people hear it more now but its true as you say that younger people would associate more with Mariah and The Pogues have been constants through this decade. Also as you say maybe in 20 years something from this decade will be played more like The Darkness and become flavour of the month round christmas. here's how id rank the most popular old xmas tracks in 2012 from sales, airplay and being widely known - The Pogues>>Mariah Carey>>Wham>>Slade>>Wizzard>>John Lennon Edited December 3, 201212 yr by steve201
December 3, 201212 yr 1 Michael Andrews featuring Gary Jules Mad World 220,000 - Horrible Christmas #1 suicidial song. Amazing Christmas #1 - an arresting cover, even still. Edited December 3, 201212 yr by AnthonyT
December 3, 201212 yr Sales were so low in 2003 that Andrews & Jules and Darkness sold enough in that week to be in the year-end top 20. I remember being apalled that Atomic Kitten's Ladies Night placed higher than Sugababes's "Too lost in you" (my fave SB track ever). And the Idols single flopping at #5. :) That and Michelle McManus's early drane-flushing, one could think UK had enough of these kind of shows and flash-in-the-pan singles. Little did we know...
December 3, 201212 yr Author Quite shocking the original re-release of Happy Xmas got to no33 and dropped on xmas week - thought it would have rose that week with the Idols hype etc!
December 3, 201212 yr Michael Andrews' version of 'Mad World' is gorgeous, by far the best Christmas #1 of the 21st century thus far, not that it has much competition. Slade kind of cheated to get the top Christmas classic before, since for about 10 years they re-released it every single Christmas :lol: It must be the song that has charted in the most years, especially as it's still a classic now and still recharts at Christmas every year (#80 last week). Edited December 3, 201212 yr by Bré
December 3, 201212 yr When were these re-releases every year? And even so, how is that different to how the Pogues/Kirsty and Mariah have become Christmas "classics"? Slade/Wizzard/Greg Lake were the three most played Christmas songs on the radio when I was growing up, every year.
December 3, 201212 yr When were these re-releases every year? And even so, how is that different to how the Pogues/Kirsty and Mariah have become Christmas "classics"? Slade/Wizzard/Greg Lake were the three most played Christmas songs on the radio when I was growing up, every year. 1980-86 (not quite 10 years then). Looking at Polyhex it looks like it may have only been formally re-released in '80, '81 and '85 with the years in between being re-entries of the '81 re-release though. I was joking saying they 'cheated' to get the top Christmas classic by the way. I realise The Pogues did the same thing with their '91 and '05 re-releases (although AFAIA Mariah never re-released 'All I Want For Christmas Is You'). Edited December 3, 201212 yr by Bré
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