Posted December 13, 20177 yr The December 1999 market had been particularily busy, as with the turn of the millenium, there were the fears of the Y2K bug crippling IT systems worldwide and many music names had been keen on leaving some output just in time for that occasion. For the week ending on December 18th 1999, there was an absolute jampack of big names releasing singles hoping to cash in on the Christmas market. But when the chart was revealed on Sunday December 19, several acts fell way short of their ambitions, some even missing the top 40. So unusual was the situation that Radio One Chart Show took some time to read out all the singles by big names that missed the top 40 as did James Masterton on his Dotmusic chart analysis. That chart week became a cautionary tale for record label about the perils of mistiming big releases. 13 I SHALL BE THERE - B*WITCHED: After a record four #1 hits from their debut album and a decent #4 for comeback single Jesse Hold On in October, it was expected that the new release could do even better, as it leaned on the celtic ballad feel of their chart-toppers To You I Belong and Blame It On The Weatherman with an African flavor, added by the guest starring of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. However it missed the top altogether and marked the beginning of the end for the Irish quartet. 32 DEAR LIE - TLC: No Scrubs and Unpretty had been top 10 hits, so the following single only hitting #32 (their lowest hit in seven years) was a disappointment. Eventually and unlike the others mentioned in here, Dear Lie had some life in it, staying around during the New Year chart shutodwn and bettering the peak at #31 in January 2000, which was rare at the time for a single charting that low. This also became sadly the last TLC single released during Left-Eye's lifetime. 43 IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU WERE MINE - THUNDERBUGS: Sony Music reportedly was more than willing to throw serious cash promoting Thunderbugs as a priority project. With debut single Friends Forever hitting the top 5 everything seemed to be going according to plan. But when follow-up missed the top 40, everything came to a crashing act and the whole project was simply binned. 45 RHYTHM DIVINE - ENRIQUE IGLESIAS: Already a big star in Latin America, Iberian Peninsula and Italy, Julio Iglesias's son finally crossed over to the big markets during the Latin fever of the summer of 1999, with Bailamos hitting #4. But when Rhythm Divine got lost among the plethora of new releases of the week, hitting only #45, all the promotion of Enrique Iglesias halted in the UK, with third single Be With You being denied a British release, despite being a US #1. It would take Enrique two years to finally become a UK chart force to be reckoned with it. 47 THE BEST OF ME - BRYAN ADAMS: Bryan Adams had a remarkable UK chart career through the 90's, compensating for his 80's heyday being rather overlooked on British shores (where classics like Summer Of 69, Heaven and Somebody missed the top 30), but since the glory obtained with Everything I Do (I Do It For You), Adams had only missed the top 40 by guest starring on a Bonnie Raitt duet. His previous two singles had even been solid top 10 hits, so one would expect that the new release tied with a new greatest hits album would do decently enough. Alas, it didn't. But at least it wouldn't be long until Adams enjoyed a surprising second UK #1. 55 I GOT A GIRL - LOU BEGA: Mambo N.º 5 was one of the biggest hits of the year, selling over a million copies. Novelty act he might have been, but one would expect that Lou Bega could at least have one followup single doing respectably enough, right? Not so much. Whereas I Got A Girl didn't do that shabby on Continental Europe (#2 in Finland, #5 in France, top 20 in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. Heck it even made to #23 in Ireland and #31 in Australia!), it sank in the depths of the UK chart and Lou Bega joined the one hit wonder club, whereas Eiffel 65 were conceded a sizeable sophomore hit soon after. 83 BLACK VELVETEEN - LENNY KRAVITZ: Lenny never really had a consistent UK chart career, his big hits being few and far between. But after scoring a #1 with Fly Away, one would expect that his material would gather more public attention. But new single Black Velveteen was released ten months after Fly Away hit the topspot, thus all the mementum was lost and it even missed the top 75. Other new entries that week 3 KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON'T SHINE) - VENGABOYS 4 BARBER'S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS - WILLIAM ORBIT 7 EVERYBODY - PROGRESS FEAT. THE BOY WUNDA 8 STEAL MY SUNSHINE - LEN 14 UNDER PRESSURE 99 - QUEEN & DAVID BOWIE 17 BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE - TOM JONES & CERYS MATTHEWS 20 A CHRISTMAS KISS - DANIEL O'DONNELL 28 ALIVE - BEASTIE BOYS 31 MY BEAUTIFUL FRIEND - CHARLATANS 36 CRAZY - LEANN RIMES 39 WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER - NINE INCH NAILS 49 ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - Y-TRIBE FEAT. ELISABETH TROY 63 1999 - PRINCE 65 AVE MARIA - ANDREA BOCELLI The full top 100 for the week ending on December 18, 1999: http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singl.../19991212/7501/ Edited December 13, 20177 yr by N-S
December 13, 20177 yr The fact that Enrique's "Be With You" never charted in the UK is criminal. It's his best single.
December 13, 20177 yr The fact that Enrique's "Be With You" never charted in the UK is criminal. It's his best single. Agreed. Really dumb decision by his label
December 13, 20177 yr I remember this chart well and a lot of people focused the blame on there being too much competition around in terms of new releases, but really there were only 11 new to the top 40, when often in the late 1990s we'd see 17 or even more, so it's not like there wasn't any space for them. I think many of these flops can also be attributed to the other usual factors - lack of radio/TV support, weaker than previous material. It was a surprise though to see Thunderbugs, Lou Bega and Enrique in particular miss the top 40 with those singles, but I can't say I really expected to see any of them go top 10 or anything. B*Witched's star was quickly fading at this point and TLC's song was a real misfire of a single choice, even though it was quite a nice ballad. There was a week a bit like this in November 2010, when a handful of new releases that were expected to be a lot bigger ended up about 10-15 places lower than anticipated - Ne-Yo's One In A Million (20), Tinchy Stryder's Second Chance (22), Nadine's Insatiable (26), Roll Deep's Take Control (29).
December 13, 20177 yr Because they made people not buy it? What? How could they buy it if it wasnt released??
December 13, 20177 yr x Lenny Kravitz Black Velveteen was not the follow up to Fly Away, the followup was American Woman from the 5-re-release American woman also flopped never understood why they didn't try with Be With You in the UK, specially after hitting #1 in the US
December 13, 20177 yr See American Woman did seem to be everywhere at the time, I remember it very well, though maybe because I love the Austin Powers film it was on the soundtrack of. But I'm sure it got a decent amount of airplay or TV play, was it definitely released in the UK? Seems so odd that it would miss the entire top 75 as actually quite a strong follow up to a No.1 single.
December 13, 20177 yr Unlike now, around xmas sales across the whole chart would have been much bigger than usual so some big names flopping would have been expected. For instance 78,000 sales only enough for a no.3 position
December 13, 20177 yr Will never forget this chart! I remember Mark Goodier even announced the chart positions outside the top 40, which was really rare. It was also the week that Ace Of Base were due to release their "C'est La Vie (Always 21)" single. I went down to the Our Price on the Monday morning to buy it and was told it had been cancelled. Gutted!
December 13, 20177 yr See American Woman did seem to be everywhere at the time, I remember it very well, though maybe because I love the Austin Powers film it was on the soundtrack of. But I'm sure it got a decent amount of airplay or TV play, was it definitely released in the UK? Seems so odd that it would miss the entire top 75 as actually quite a strong follow up to a No.1 single. maybe you're right and it might not have been released in the uk i see on wiki it peaked at #177, guess it was an import only, cos sure it was released in the US
December 13, 20177 yr Probably least favourite weekly top 10 in this year, because I dislike dance music.
December 13, 20177 yr Will never forget this chart! I remember Mark Goodier even announced the chart positions outside the top 40, which was really rare. It was also the week that Ace Of Base were due to release their "C'est La Vie (Always 21)" single. I went down to the Our Price on the Monday morning to buy it and was told it had been cancelled. Gutted! Great track! Didn’t realise it was ever pencilled in for a stand-alone single release. I don’t recall it getting any radio support at the time so it probably would have stiffed with the others in the 41-75 region had it made it to the shops.
December 13, 20177 yr Probably least favourite weekly top 10 in this year, because I dislike dance music. Not everyone can have good taste.
December 14, 20177 yr Great track! Didn’t realise it was ever pencilled in for a stand-alone single release. I don’t recall it getting any radio support at the time so it probably would have stiffed with the others in the 41-75 region had it made it to the shops. Yeah it got absolutely no support at all! I hadn't even managed to hear it once prior to the planned release date, which had already gone back a couple of times. Seemed strange to me at the time, considering it hadn't been that long since they'd had some big radio hits. I can understand it more now. It was probably just that little bit too cheesy. I love it though! I think part of the problem was that they'd just been moved to Polydor from London Records, so became a low priority for the label.
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