The top chart run is the one that I'm assuming will be my favourite, it's such a timeless song and it's one of those that makes me smile when it comes on.

 

I obviously know the one that is surely going to be #1 here but the others I'm not at all sure about so I'll be intrigued to find out what they all are. As for the three that have just gone, I never really liked any of them at the time (although oddly I did buy that Technoheads single) and I still don't massively like them now.

I really like Never Gonna Let You Go.

10 - M People - One Night in Heaven

 

 

42nd best seller of 1993

 

Chart Run

9-7-7-6-6-9-13-19-24-38-55

 

I've learned a few new things while on my search for interesting things to say about M People - all to do with Bizarre Fruit. Firstly, I would have assumed that Bizarre Fruit entered the album charts at number 1 in 1994 given how successful the Elegant Slumming era was. It wasn't able to outsell the top 3 from the week before - best of comps by Sting, Beautiful South and Bon Jovi.

 

Secondly, it didn't leave the album charts until 1997 - granted, it was helped by a repackaging called Bizarre Fruit II released in late 1995

 

The amazing thing is that it actually climbed the End of Year album charts.

 

1994 25th best seller

1995 18th

1996 14th

 

Its 1996 sales were due to the use of 9 month old single Search for the Hero in an ad for Peugeot 406 which in its full form lasted 3 minutes and was a television event when first aired during the New At Ten ad break. The ad campaign sent the album back into the top 10 for 11 weeks.

 

One Night in Heaven didn't outsell any number 1s from 1993 but was the highest selling not top 6 hit of the year.

Edited October 22, 20222 yr by Colm

For all the chart success M People had, it's perhaps surprising they never had a #1 single or album, and only 2 of their singles went Top 5 (and I expect most people would struggle to name the second one).

I think my favourite M People song is Don’t Look Any Further which peaked at #9 and was the 86th biggest seller of 1993, but looks like the cut off for this countdown was Year End #69. In looking that up I’ve realised that the glorious Sweet Harmony missed the countdown by a whisker as it was the #70 of 1993. :(

I might add positions 71 to 100 when I've finished.

Don't Look Any Further is also my favorite M People song. I didn't like them at all.

Edited October 20, 20222 yr by Colm

I like that Bananarama song and M People were always good, saw them back in their heyday, and it was a fun gig. The other two I barely remember :o

9 - Julian Lennon - Saltwater

 

 

41st best seller of 1991

 

Chart Run

64-44-41-33-29-13-10-6-7-8-15-30-54

 

Another song from that period in 1991 (Sept and Oct) where almost every top 10 hit ended up in the Top 40 of the year. I must do a full list of those when I've finished this thread.

This just missed out on being one of the 40 best sellers of 1991. It's an obvious successor to his father's song Imagine, bemoaning what we've done to each other and to the planet.

 

Hit number 1 in Australia and outsold Innuendo, Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter and The Fly in the UK.

Edited October 21, 20222 yr by Colm

Oh wow! That hadn’t crossed my mind at all, albeit I do immediately remember it now you’ve posted it.

 

One Night in Heaven is probably my favourite M People song

Saltwater is great, it’s the only song I know well from Julian but I love it so will have to check out more of his discography!

8 - David A. Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer - Lily Was Here

 

 

41st best seller of 1990

 

Chart Run

42-34-17-10-7-6-7-12-15-21-30-57

 

This was Candy's debut release and wasn't even intended for public consumption as it was just an end-of-day jam session between the two musicians. It was done in one take but shelved until David convinced Candy that it should be released in her home country of The Netherlands. It spent 5 weeks at number 1 there in 1989 and finished the year as the 15th best selling single.

 

It got an international release in 1990 and was hit in several territories.

 

It outsold New Kids On The Block - Hangin' Tough and is was the highest selling non-top 5 single of 1990.

Edited October 22, 20222 yr by Colm

Saltwater is nice but a bit whiny for me. Apologies to my namesake. Lily Was Here is lovely for chilling out.

That's it for singles that finished outside the top 40 of their respective years.

 

What we have left

 

1991 1

1992 2

1994 1

1998 2

1999 1

Oh, I thought the one from 1994 didn't finish in the EOY top 40, at least as it was announced on R1 at the time. That's still 8 songs which finished 41st-45th compared to 7 in the Top 40s, I hadn't realised how many non-Top 5 hits came so close, since there weren't any in the EOYs for 1994-1997which were the first I'd heard announced at the time.

I may need to do some verification on the 1994 one as I didn't cross check my source. ,😔

Two other sources confirm that it did make the end of year top 40. Unless they're all wrong.

I'm sure they're correct, must be just the one originally announced on R1 which was based on known sales at the time and has since been revised. Similar with Wonderwall for 1995 as that was 12th in the R1 rundown iirc.

One of the sources is Music Week 1994 Year End top 100

7 - Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories - Stay (I Missed You)

 

 

40th best seller of 1994

 

Chart Run

27-21-18-12-6-8-8-8-10-10-18-25-36-48-64

 

Here's the song with the formerly uncertain past. You're correct, jim. Here's the Radio 1 broadcast of the top 40 sellers of 1994 where CJ Lewis sits in 40th place with Sweets for My Sweets and not Miss Loeb.

https://www.mixcloud.com/1869300/uk-top-40-...-december-1994/

It appears that that chart is missing sales because Celine Dion's Think Twice was announced at number 39 but she's at number 34 in other sources.

 

The song title Stay has a rich and varied history. Twenty four songs have charted with the song title 'Stay'. In all, 92 song titles with the first four letters of 'Stay' have charted. Stay With Me being the second most popular title (13 entries).

 

Stay (I Missed You) is one of 4 with a bracketed subtitle but not the highest charting which was U2's Stay (Faraway, So Close) reaching number 4 in 1993.

 

This song was the highest selling non-top 5 hit of 1994 and outsold Take That's Sure which was a two week number 1 while Lisa was at number 8 for her 2nd and 3rd week.

I like Stay, it’s a nice little song. I appreciate it came before but it could pass for a good Natalie Imbruglia track.