A bumper group here and lots of great stuff, but “There Goes The Fear” has to take the win as it’s such a special track that feels like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket. The Chemicals push it close though and The Sugababes with their stunning mash-up cover.

9	Doves	There Goes The Fear	Their biggest hit only available briefly: beautifully atmospheric and tender; a song that makes the whole world seem better
9	The Chemical Brothers	Come With Us/The Test	An epic contrasting duo: "Come With Us" has brilliant building intensity and "The Test" showcases Richard Ashcroft's vocals
8	Sugababes	Freak Like Me	923rd #1: covering Adina Howard and sampling "Are Friends Electric?": a marriage made in heaven and very striking track
8	New Order	Here To Stay	Chrmical Brothers appearing again as producers and it's an excellent track combined with New Order's usual vocal energy
8	Drowning Pool	Bodies	Only Top 40 for this US nu metal band: it's quite heavy but I love the passion of the explosive chorus and the spoken parts
7	Pulp	Bad Cover Version	Their last hit before they go on hiatus: it's a fun track and I really enjoy the lyrics which are delightfully miserable and bitter
7	Push	Tranzy State Of Mind	The last Top 40 for the trance DJ and it's a compelling floor filling theme like all of his hits, plus I enjoy the robotic vocals
7	Idlewild	You Held The World In Your Arms	Their only Top 10 hit: this has an anthemic and feel good quality to it with orchestral production and a memorable chorus
6	*NSync Featuring Nelly	Girlfriend	Last hit for the group before Justin goes solo: I really like the combination of Nelly's style with theirs and it's a good song
6	Kosheen	Hungry	An enjoyable electronic pop track with a strong melody quite similar to their previous hit "Catch", but nothing exceptional
6	Oasis	The Hindu Times	922nd #1: it's a big energetic twangy number to announce their return which somehow falls a little short of being great
5	S Club Juniors	One Step Closer	1st of a trio of runner up hits for the spin off group: good song but I do find children singing about romantic love jarring
5	Haven	Til The End	Their 2nd and last Top 40: this is a decent track and they're like a proto-Keane but without the poetry and big melodies
4	The Streets	Let's Push Things Forward	Their 2nd hit: there's some good lyrical writing here but it's also slightly full of itself and the melody isn't up to very much
4	Kristine Blond	You Make Me Go Ooh	Her last hit with a perfectly serviceable slice of garage pop with a jangly riff, it's very of the time and nothing remarkable
3	Pay As U Go	Champagne Dance	Only hit for this UK garage band which included Wiley: it's quite an in your face track but it doesn't do a whole lot for me
3	Mad Donna	The Wheels On The Bus	Sampling "Ray Of Light" with a voice that does sound very like Madonna singing the nursery rhyme: quite fun for 1 listen
2	Lyte Funkie Ones	Every Other Time	Their last hit and unfortunately it lacks the cheesy charm of earlier hits and is quite a grating listen as well as being naff

2002 Week 19:

#1274	11/05/2002	Holly Valance	Kiss Kiss	1	{1}-2-5-10-9-10-15-20-21-26-34-38-41-37-50-66->16
#1275	11/05/2002	Tweet	Oops (Oh My)	5	{5}-9-17-23-32-42-45-61->8
#1276	11/05/2002	Shakedown	At Night	6	{6}-13-20-34-40-52-57-68->8
#1277	11/05/2002	Mary J. Blige	No More Drama	9	{9}-16-24-38-47-62-59->7
#1278	11/05/2002	Moby	We Are All Made Of Stars	11	{11}-27-45-65->4
#1279	11/05/2002	4 Strings	(Take Me Away) Into The Night	15	{15}-21-27-41-69-74-67R(2)->7
#1280	11/05/2002	Lisbon Lions Featuring Martin O'Neill And The Celt	The Best Day Of Our Lives	17	{17}-25-50-72->4
#1281	11/05/2002	allSTARS*	Back When/Going All The Way	19	{19}-43-75->3
#1282	11/05/2002	Tiga And Zyntherius	Sunglasses At Night	25	{25}-44-70->3
#1283	11/05/2002	Cosmic Gate	Exploration Of Space	29	{29}-47-71->3
	11/05/2002	The Jam	In The City {2002}	36	{36}->1
#1284	11/05/2002	Timo Maas Featuring MC Chickaboo	Shifter	38	{38}-52->2

Don't know a lot of that bunch, but Sugababes - Freak Like Me is a great #1. Never knew it was an 1979 Gary Numan sample at the time, it just sounded good and I liked it.

Edited March 31Mar 31 by TheSnake

Doves is a good track 7/10, though top Doves track is yet to come. They have a great single out right now, Cold Dreaming is lush and epic-sounding. The Chemical Brothers DNC for me, Sugababes was a classic 10/10 number one great sample choice. New Order a good 8/10 but not heard that one since. Drowning Pool also a DNC. Pulp a decent 7/10 and their last track to chart for me 😯

Push DNC, Idlewild a good 6/10, and their biggest track, *NSYNC n Nelly a strong 8/10 with Girlfriend. Kosheen's Hungry was their first top 10 for me, they were improving with each release as each did worse in the charts, tch. 9/10. Oasis I recently played Time Flies and was pleassntly surprised by a lot of 00's stuff, Hundu Times included on a good 8/10. S Club Juniors, it's a 3/10.

Haven's hit I have forgotten, but I liked it enough for a 7/10 rating. The Streets never really got that much, DNC. The 2 garage tracks DNC, Wheels On The Bus was my introduction to that nursery rhyme, it was amusing for 3 weeks and then done. 6/10 at best. LFO, oddly, I wasnt a fan of the cheesier tracks but this one a 7/10.

One of the Sugas' absolute best!

'The Test' is fab from the Chemical Bros.

I never got 'Girlfriend' at all unfortunately.

'Hungry' is really good, but the Tiesto remix of it was always the definitive version to me.

'The Wheels On The Bus' is simply hilarious, I remember when I first saw the music video on TV and I was in hysterics.

S Club Juniors/8 had some surprisingly decent material but I can't get into 'One Step Closer'.

I used to consider 'The Hindu Times' my favourite single from the Heathen Chemistry album but would now say I return to the follow-up more. I am still a sucker for the psychedelic riff though.

'Freak Like Me' is my #1 Sugababes single and favourite of this section 'Are 'Friends' Electric?' is an all-time great but I think Richard X's mash-up idea was genius, the two songs feel made for each other. It was a perfect initiation single and video for Heidi also, quickly making her mark with one of those dramatic middle 8s she often provides. It's so good for me indeed!

Chem Bros reliable for quality as ever. I think 'The Test' is my preferred song of the two.

'There Goes The Fear' is a highlight for me here as well. I ought to check more out from Doves. I'm still amazed that them and Sub Sub are one and the same!

Faithless/Dido is definitely the joint best track of the group before last. I actually thought this track would go to No.1, or No.2 at worst, as the first new material to feature Dido after the huge No Angel, I was a bit mystified when it came in at No.6 and then left the top 75 altogether after three weeks. Anyway, a better chart run thankfully for the excellent Lazy, and in fact I remember being surprised that that went in as high as No.2, I'd missed the hype around it pre-release, but it was a great, unusual hit to get so high, and now a classic.

I liked Infected quite a lot at the time, although it wasn't as good as On The Move. Weirdly it's labelled wrong on Spotify, this song listed as Infected on there is actually On The Move.

Not too much else of interest that week. Usher with another 'U' track, but this one wasn't much good. And Lisa Scott Lee's brothers song was pretty lightweight crap. Last Dreamer is right, 3SL stood for Three Scott-Lees. Which is ridiculously corny, but true. It quite likely also had the double meaning of Three Single Lads, but I remember the Scott-Lee angle is how they were marketed at the time.

The second larger group is full of good stuff. Doves were on top form this era, this is a great single that was on sale only for a limited time iirc, hence the very high debut. The next single was amazing too.

A great, very inspired return for Sugababes, one of *NSync's best singles (and a template for what Justin's solo material was about to sound like), another lovely single from Kosheen, and a not bad track from Oasis, better than their last couple of lead singles anyway.

I very nearly put Bodies by Drowning Pool on Buzzjack Presents 2002, on account of it having nearly 600m streams, but despite that I wouldn't say it's super well known in the UK still, a very anthemic rock track though.

I agree with the review of One Step Closer - it's a catchy pop song, although at the time I found the concept of a replacement S Club for younger kids a bit jarring, as well as what they were singing about, which I think stopped me ever truly enjoying this. They were probably the first chart act who were younger than me at this time, which felt very unusual.

Let's Push Things Forward is decent, although there were certainly better singles on that album.

LFO were always naff but I agree that their first album material was far better than this song, which was like a teen-pop version of Sugar Ray.

Wheels On The Bus was conceptually brilliant, quite honestly. To get somebody who sounds exactly like Madonna, to sing this nursery rhyme over basically the exact backing track, was ridiculous but funny and I love that it went top 20 here. It happily is on Spotify, although under the artist name Mother Goose Rocks for some reason.

Also, the Top of the Pops performance was...something that happened. There was something in the water that year, with Mad Donna, Mad'House, the Kelly Osbourne cover of Papa Don't Preach, Madonna's own Bond theme...

Oh my, today I learned that they tried to launch a U.S. version of S Club Juniors called American Juniors and actress/singer Lucy Hale was a member!

Here they are doing 'One Step Closer' as well:

A really strong little group here. I love the quirkiness of “Shifter” so it’s another electronic winner.

8	Timo Maas Featuring MC Chickaboo	Shifter	His last Top 40 and an excellent dance track: I love the stream of consciousness urban poetry style rhythmic vocal on this
8	Moby	We Are All Made Of Stars	Another captivating track from Moby: the swirling guitar part against the slightly robotic vocal line really make this great
7	Shakedown	At Night	Only Top 40 for this group formed by some Swiss brothers: a very strong dance track with an incredibly memorable riff
7	Cosmic Gate	Exploration Of Space	2nd and last Top 40 for the German DJs: this is a really electrifying trance number and I enjoy it more than "Fire Wire"
7	4 Strings	(Take Me Away) Into The Night	1st Top 40 for this Dutch vocal trance group and it's lovely: one of thode euphoric tracks with a soaring female vocal
6	Mary J. Blige	No More Drama	The title track from her album: quite a serious track after its dancehall style predecessors, but good and well performed
6	Holly Valance	Kiss Kiss	924th #1 and 1st hit for this "Neighbours" actor based on "Simarik" by Tarkan from 1997: it's a very cleverly made track
5	Tiga And Zyntherius	Sunglasses At Night	Only Top 40 for this Canadian teaming up with a Finnish producer to remake the 1983 Corey Hart track: it's interesting
5	Tweet	Oops (Oh My)	1st and biggest hit for US RnB singer Charlene Keys: I enjoy the pulsating production on this but the song itself is lacking
4	allSTARS*	Back When/Going All The Way	Their last hit: both of these are perfectly pleasant songs, though a little syrupy and nothing I will feel the need to revisit
3	Lisbon Lions Featuring Martin O'Neill And The Celt	The Best Day Of Our Lives	A song about Celtic winning the 1967 European cup: not sure why it was a hit now but for a football song it's not too bad

2002 Week 20:

#1285	18/05/2002	Ronan Keating	If Tomorrow Never Comes	1	{1}-2-4-5-5-10-12-15-17-20-23-29-33-46-58->15
#1286	18/05/2002	H And Claire	DJ	3	{3}-12-26-37-47-55-63-49-34-37-69->11
#1287	18/05/2002	Nigel And Marvin	Follow Da Leader	5	{5}-8-14-20-24-37-55-67-58-71->10
#1288	18/05/2002	Russell Watson And Faye Tozer	Someone Like You	10	{10}-23-36-51->4
#1289	18/05/2002	Aaliyah	Rock The Boat	12	{12}-26-42-55-65-67-75->7
#1290	18/05/2002	Hundred Reasons	Silver	15	{15}-43-73->3
#1291	18/05/2002	Bellefire	All I Want Is You	18	{18}-32-45-71->4
#1292	18/05/2002	The Cooper Temple Clause	Who Needs Enemies?	22	{22}-53->2
#1293	18/05/2002	The Hives	Main Offender	24	{24}-48->2
#1294	18/05/2002	Lost Witness	Did I Dream (Song To The Siren)	28	{28}-49-75->3
#1295	18/05/2002	P.O.D.	Youth Of The Nation	36	{36}-57->2

'At Night' is great, Regard (and RAYE) kind of copied the riff style in the drop of Secrets (to good effect though)! :)

'Take Me Away (Into the Night)' is even better, great emotive trance track.

I much prefer the 4 Strings track as an instrumental! Absolutely glorious 🥰

'Kiss Kiss' I kind of liked at the time but not fully as I thought as a Eurovision fan that the production was like a cheap imitation of the south-east Europe Eurovision sound of the time. Now I know it sampled a Turkish song from 1997, fair enough!

Edited April 2Apr 2 by TheSnake

Shifter DNC for me, just as well as typing the title too fast can have an unfortunate result. Attention needs paying! Moby's hit passed me largely, I much preferred ancient sample-era Moby, a 3/10. He has a track coming, though, that topped my charts in a massive remix over Xmas/New Year a few months ago. Shakedown I loved , another clubbing-era gem that one, deserves to be better remembered. 9/10.

Cosmic Gate and 4 Strings troubled my chart not at all, but Mary J topped my chart, a classic soul ballad and a 10/10. Kiss Kiss was huge, and a bit of Turkish-styled fun, and an 8/10. Sunglasses at night is worth a 4/10, Oops as per with r'n'b of the time, tickled my taste buds and scraped into my top 10, but it's an 8/10. The other two mean nothing to me but sound like I would not enjoy them!

17 hours ago, TheSnake said:

'Kiss Kiss' I kind of liked at the time but not fully as I thought as a Eurovision fan that the production was like a cheap imitation of the south-east Europe Eurovision sound of the time. Now I know it sampled a Turkish song from 1997, fair enough!

I would say that this sound didn't really get going in Eurovision though until Sertab Erener won in 2003, so I don't think Holly was imitating anyone in early 2002 that had come before in Eurovision. Maybe Turkey's 1997 entry Dinle, but it's not alike or within a near enough timeframe for it to be an imitation imo.

Looking generally at the south-East Europe Eurovision entries of 1998-2001 (pre Kiss Kiss) doesn't bring up much of a similar sound. But of course, post Turkey's win in 2003 this style was everywhere for years. One could even argue the reverse - that Everyway That I Can did so well in many Western countries because it wasn't a million miles away from Kiss Kiss, which had been a hit a year earlier.

In other news, I've just realised I inadvertently sent the songwriter of the Turkish original and Kiss Kiss to BJSC in 2017, Sezen Aksu with Şahane Bir Şey Yaşamak. I had no idea of the link so thanks for this rabbit hole find!

---

That's not a bad group indeed. Kiss Kiss is not something I really ever loved a lot actually (or Holly's career generally tbh, although State of Mind was cool and ahead of its time) but it was a fun track to sing along to. Mwah!

Sunglasses At Night I used to listen to quite a bit, very fun version of that. And there are some strong dance songs there from Moby, Cosmic Gate, 4 Strings and Shakedown. Timo Maas sounds pretty good too, didn't remember that from the time.

No More Drama seems to have become a bit of a classic single from Mary J, but then that whole album was a great era for her.

Back When is quite a pleasant allSTARS single but they never really caught on in the charts, despite having a couple of hits at the start that deserved far better. My sister bought their album (and we watched their STARstreet show together) so I remember all of their songs pretty well. I think I'd have released Love Is instead of this double a-side, which could have been a top 15 hit at least.

Two songs from the group at the top of this page made my top 10 of 2002, from Doves and Idlewild - very welcome first Top 10 hits for both, Doves with more of a Madchester-era sound than their debut, and Idlewild sounding more melodic with each album (albeit I really like their early singles too, especially 1999's 'When I Argue I See Shapes') with a Smiths-like feel to this one, however I would like their next single even more (spoilers for another of my top 10 of the year). Oasis didn't make any of my EOY top 10s of the 2000s, but 'The Hindu Times' is probably my second favourite Liam-sung #1 after 'Some Might Say' and made for an optimistic return for them.

'(Take Me Away) Into The Night' is my clear favourite from the second group, but one I've come to appreciate more over time - one of the most moving trance tracks to chart post-2000.

I have since become familiar with 'Şımarık' but it hasn't really knocked my enjoyment of 'Kiss Kiss' as a song. Those Turkish influences are implemented effectively and I enjoy the flirtatious, fast-paced chorus, even if the kissing noises are a bit gimmicky. Good fun really and Holly's limited range was utilised well.

'(Take Me Away) Into The Night' was a song I only vaguely knew but I've got into it more since its inclusion on Dan's BuzzJack Presents... Trance compilation, it's lovely indeed.

I couldn't put an artist/title to 'At Night' for years until I belatedly listened to Now 52 for the first time! That synth riff is so joyful.

I mostly know Go and Play era Moby but should revisit 'We Are All Made Of Stars' more as it's sounding great today. The guitar, vocals and melodies are reminding me of Bowie a bit, but loving the downtempo elements to the production as well.

Week 17 & 18

Top Highlight would be Sugababes, a genius release to launch them further. 'Bodies' is just an all out anthem. Was very much into S Club Juniors at the time too, have the album as well as 'Automatic High' CD but 'One Step Closer' wasn't something I raved over a great deal and am not a fan of that weird electronic voice on it either. Sounds like it's saying Boobies in that lol.

'Hindu Times' is fine but not an essential Oasis track for me. 'Girlfriend' is good too as is 'Let's Push Things Forward' and 'Hungry'. Doves song is knowingly the best I've heard from them but also not massively keen on all the same.

4 new entries in the Top 10 this week but they’re all rather limp. Luckily the lower part of the chart comes to the rescue again, and this fabulous wall of noise from The Cooper Temple Clause tops the bunch.

9	The Cooper Temple Clause	Who Needs Enemies?	This is marvellous: a very energetic track but it feels like it is mixing different genres with the brass band accompaniment
8	The Hives	Main Offender	This originally failed to chart in 2000 and now gets a re-release: it's another really electrifying one in their punky style
7	Hundred Reasons	Silver	Their highest peaking hit with a really strong and punchy emo style track that's quite heavy yet has a slight waltz feel to it
6	Aaliyah	Rock The Boat	Another single from her eponymous final album: a subtle track  without huge impact but it has lovely vocals and lyrics
5	Lost Witness	Did I Dream (Song To The Siren)	Last hit for the producer with a cover of "Song To The Siren" from 1970: it works pretty well as an ethereal trance track
5	Bellefire	All I Want Is You	Their 2nd #18 hit with a U2 cover: this actually works quite well in a girlband style and all in all is a decent effort from them
4	P.O.D.	Youth Of The Nation	Their 2nd and last Top 40: a good beat and rousing chorus but the lyrics to this are so dark I find it hard to really enjoy
3	H And Claire	DJ	The Steps duo will have a few hits: think this is trying and failing to emulate "Don't Stop Movin'" and the classic disco sound
3	Russell Watson And Faye Tozer	Someone Like You	Only Top 10 for the operatic crooner and the Steps star's only solo hit, but a drippy song not saved by being partly in Italian
2	Ronan Keating	If Tomorrow Never Comes	925th #1 and a cover of a 1989 Garth Brooks song without the country charm and with any interesting sucked out of it
2	Nigel And Marvin	Follow Da Leader	Only hit for this DJ duo using the same hit as "I Wanna Be U" from last year: it's a naff DJ Otzi style summer holiday track

2002 Week 21:

#1296	25/05/2002	Liberty X	Just A Little	1	{1}-2-4-3-8-10-10-12-16-19-20-22-29-36-48-62->16
#1297	25/05/2002	Enrique Iglesias	Escape	3	{3}-6-7-11-17-19-20-25-30-35-40-55-65-70->14
#1298	25/05/2002	Fat Joe Featuring Ashanti	What's Luv?	4	{4}-9-8-13-25-43-52-64->8
#1299	25/05/2002	Pink	Don't Let Me Get Me	6	{6}-11-13-14-21-26-28-33-45-57-71->11
#1300	25/05/2002	Milk Inc	In My Eyes	9	{9}-15-21-27-39-58-72-71->8
#1301	25/05/2002	A1	Make It Good	11	{11}-33-48-60-47R(4)->5
#1302	25/05/2002	Jessica Garlick	Come Back	13	{13}-17-19-29-48-69->6
#1303	25/05/2002	The Reelists	Freak Mode	16	{16}-29-41-58-73-75R(2)->6
#1304	25/05/2002	Heartless Crew	The Heartless Crew Theme	21	{21}-43-70->3
#1305	25/05/2002	Green Velvet	La La Land	29	{29}-60->2
#1306	25/05/2002	Rammstein	Ich Will	30	{30}-54->2
#1307	25/05/2002	Luck And Neat	Irie	31	{31}-58->2
#1308	25/05/2002	KMC Featuring Dhany	I Feel So Fine	33	{33}-59->2
#1309	25/05/2002	R. Kelly And Jay-Z	Honey	35	{35}-63->2

The Cooper Temple Clause passed me by without noticing. Sounds like Liam Gallagher going 90's grunge. It's not bad. The Hives I liked, that's a 6/10. I didnt have a hundred reasons to chart Silver. I didn't even have one reason, apparently! Rock The Boat was doubly sad as it was the video she was flying back from filming when she died, I may have over-rated it a bit as a result 8/10. It's nice though.

Lost Witness whoosh, over my head, Bellefire I have zero recollection of, but I appear to have liked them and the U2 cover got a pretty decent 7/10 considering I wasn't that much of a fan of the original. P.O.D. made my chart once. This wasn't it. H & Claire's DJ I rather liked, it was a borderline 9/10 for me (but prob really an 8/10 or a bit less). Pop Dancefloor y'see...

Someone Like You is a decent enough 6/10 but Russell's theme to Star Trek: Enterprise should have been the hit, Diane Warren and all, Trek-fans hated it as they were used to instrumentals and this was pushing the boat too far for some of them. My mum loved it so they are wrong. Ronan sadly not recording Gregg Alexander material anymore. This single was so boring I couldnt be arsed to give it even a single week at 75 in my charts. I remember it got on my nerves, though. Follow Da Leader was a bit naff, indeed, but that didn't stop me liking it enough for a 7/10 at the time. I'm sure that's being generous though....

My mum endlessly played that Ronan song at the time, absolutely fooking DIABOLICAL. I hate it so much.

Not helped at all by the fact I can't bear his voice anyway.

Week 19 – pretty good week

'Kiss Kiss' was a banger and a pleasant surprise from Holly to some extent as I didn't really care for her character in Neighbours all that much. 'At Night' is a tune and as soon as it started playing it sound immediately recognisable. 'Take Me Away (Into The Night)' is trance to a tee and a great one at that.

Tweet and Mary J songs are fine as is Moby's but he has a better one to be reviewed later in this year for me. 'Going All The Way' is the best of those two Allstar songs but both aren't anything on the first three hits.

'Exploration Of Space' is a pretty strong trance discovery and 'Shifter' is a fine track to finish this week on. Timo Maas's tracks in general have been a great discovery the past couple of years.