No fewer than 4 really strong indie tracks here but they’re all just about topped by this feel good dance pop banger. Am I allowed to say that I enjoy listening to this more than her sister’s recent hit “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”? :teresa:

 

9 Riva Featuring Dannii Minogue Who Do You Love Now? (Stringer) Only hit for these Dutch DJs which began as the instrumental "Stringer": glorious pop dance and Dannii's highest peak so far

8 The Charlatans A Man Needs To Be Told Another great song from them: a gorgeous riff and I think they're great at creating a particular sound world and atmosphere

8 Dave Matthews Band The Space Between Only hit for this long running US band: this has a really simple and earnest quality to it with a lovely melody and vocals

7 New Order 60 Miles An Hour The driving guitars on this really create a sense of motion: stylistically it's the same old but still a very compelling listen

7 Muse Hyper Music/Feeling Good Maybe the least essential of their brilliant singles yet, but "Hyper Music" is fun and frenetic and "New Born" is a great cover

6 Anastacia Paid My Dues Lead single from her 2nd album: I really enjoy the opening violin riff and all in all it's quite a punchy and powerful song

6 Jamiroquai You Give Me Something Another strong funky number from them: I think this is an enjoyable and polished single but not such a memorable one

5 U2 Walk On 4th single from "All That You Can't Leave Behind": I do like this song and it builds up nicely, but it isn't very memorable

5 Pharoahe Monch Got You Last Top 40 for him, sampling Hendrix's "Voodoo Child": it's a bit repetitive but I do like the strong melody and beat here

4 S Club 7 Have You Ever 914th #1 and their 2nd straight "Children In Need" chart topper: another quite nice but slushy track from them for this

3 Shaggy Dance And Shout/Hope The first side is a poor remake of "Shake Your Body" by the Jacksons: I prefer "Hope" though it's standard Shaggy fare

2 Staind Outside "It's Been Awhile" was also quite miserable but at least had light and shade: this is dark and dirge-like and not enjoyable

2 Marti Pellow I've Been Around The World His group will be back but this is his 2nd and last solo Top 40: this is very saccharine and plodding love song radio fodder

1 DJ Otzi Do Wah Diddy Another '60s cover: "Hey Baby" at least entertained millions; this really is a grim listen with rough vocals and chanting

 

 

2001 Week 49:

 

#1047 08/12/2001 Daniel Bedingfield Gotta Get Thru This 1 {1}-1-2-3-2-1-3-6-13-11-13-22-27-39-45-55-54-54->18

#1048 08/12/2001 PPK ResuRection 3 {3}-6-8-12-11-11-19-25-34-32-32-43-60-62-71->15

#1049 08/12/2001 Hear'Say Everybody 4 {4}-12-19-23-20-22-44-52-68-53-56->11

#1050 08/12/2001 Kate Winslet What If 6 {6}-8-11-11-9-8-16-17-25-25-23-32-47-60->14

#1051 08/12/2001 Geri Halliwell Calling 7 {7}-18-30-35-35-43-57-60-69-73->10

#1052 08/12/2001 Basement Jaxx Where's Your Head At 9 {9}-27-34-33-37-42-53-65->8

#1053 08/12/2001 Oxide And Neutrino Rap Dis/Only Wanna Know U Cos Ure Famous 12 {12}-26-35-37-31-38-50-69->8

#1054 08/12/2001 Alcazar Crying At The Discoteque 13 {13}-22-28-27-25-26-28-33-44-56-72->11

#1055 08/12/2001 *NSync Gone 24 {24}-46-73-72R(2)->4

#1056 08/12/2001 Fragma Say That You're Here 25 {25}-53->2

#1057 08/12/2001 Wyclef Jean Wish You Were Here 28 {28}-50-67-65R(2)-73->5

#1058 08/12/2001 Cypress Hill Trouble/Lowrider 33 {33}-54-73R(3)->3

#1059 08/12/2001 Belle And Sebastian I'm Waking Up To Us 39 {39}-66->2

Dannii's best song there, great trance atmosphere. That top 2 in the next batch :o , wonder will they be top 2 for you though!

Edited September 11, 2024Sep 11 by TheSnake

I vaguely remember the Riva Featuring Dannii Minogue song from the time, but it's quite good.

Dannii very much in her peak rentadisco-diva era here, but better than Kylie's, ooh not so much :lol: it's a strong 9/10 though and great to jiggy along to :dance: The Charlatans have a nice run of singles for 27 years or so to date, and this was a good 8/10, though not heard it in over 2 decades. Dave Matthews Band were huge in the US in the 90's and early 00's, and I actually bought their album in 1998 to get hold of the fab single Don't Drink The Water, I think - but that was a one-off great track and generally they were a bit dull compared to the UK music scene rock-indie acts - this one I rated 3/10.

 

New Order, I dont what happened here, following on from the classic Crystal, but 60 Miles An Hour didnt chart. I'm wondering if I actually got to hear it! It seems unlikely I wouldnt chart New Order. Muse, I only listed Feelin' Good and gave it a 5/10 - the song had been big already for Nina Simone - but turns out it's a bit of a classic repeat charter, 7/10 in 2009, and I wouldnt put it out of a chance to come back someday bigger. Anastacia has def paid her dues and a 7/10 from me. As was Jamiroquai's You Give Me Something.

 

Walk On is good U2, probably an 8/10 though it went top 10 for me. Got You, DNC from me, and ditto S Club 7, Shaggy's Dance & Shout is not in my current memory cells, but I def liked it, top 30 and 7/10. Staind charted once for me in 1998. That is all. Ditto Marti Pellow solo, and it wasnt this one. DJ Otzi failed to chart even once with his attempts to ruin 60's gems.

 

 

Plan to catch up with this in the next few days. Must be approaching the week 'Murder On The Dancefloor' entered now!

Plan to catch up with this in the next few days. Must be approaching the week 'Murder On The Dancefloor' entered now!

 

SPOILER

 

For me though from December 2001 to spring 2002 is the time where some great dance songs made the UK charts and I am looking forward to them being revealed starting with two great ones in the next batch.

I think 'You Give Me Something' is actually my favourite Jamiroquai song.

 

And of course Dannii's renaissance, I remember the instrumental 'Stringer' being quite a big song in the trance scene all year and was kind of surprised at the time to see Dannii appear on it! The stars really aligned for her with this.

That top 2 in the next batch :o , wonder will they be top 2 for you though!

Absolutely. :cheer:

The public did relatively well this week with the 2 highest new entries being big classics.

 

9 PPK ResuRection 1st of 2 hits for this Russian trance duo: good chart run and one of the best hits of its kind ever; unadulterated euphoria

9 Daniel Bedingfield Gotta Get Thru This 915th #1: 1st hit for this UK singer with a garage track recorded in his bedroom, with a brilliant rawness to it as a result

8 Alcazar Crying At The Discoteque 1st hit for this Swedish Eurodance band sampling a 1979 disco hit: has become something of a camp classic and it's great

8 Belle And Sebastian I'm Waking Up To Us Another lovely single from them with rich harmonies, interesting use of orchestral instruments, and a homely 90s feel

7 Basement Jaxx Where's Your Head At Not one to listen to with a headache, but another very strong and complex track with sampling Gary Numan elements

6 Geri Halliwell Calling This is a very well written soulful ballad and my favourite of all her hits, but the vocals let it down and it underperformed

6 Kate Winslet What If Recorded for the animated "Christmas Carol", the only hit for this actress with a surprisingly lovely ballad, passably sung

5 Hear'Say Everybody Probably the best of all their singles, nothing remarkable but a nice upbeat pop record that doesn't sound too formulaic

5 *NSync Gone It's really sounding like the Justin solo show by this point, but this is quite a nice and convincingly delivered RnB track

4 Cypress Hill Trouble/Lowrider Their last Top 40: I prefer "Trouble" of these 2 which is full on heavy metal; overall this does less for me than earlier hits

4 Oxide And Neutrino Rap Dis/Only Wanna Know U Cos Ure Famous "Rap Dis" is a bit of a dirge; the other side is a more interesting rather manic track with some somewhat aggressive lyrics

3 Fragma Say That You're Here Their last hit and this isn't bad as such but very bog standard dance pop devoid of what made "Toca's Miracle" special

3 Wyclef Jean Wish You Were Here On paper covering this Pink Floyd track is a terrible idea but it's not too bad and the guitars have a bit of Wyclef's style

 

 

 

2001 Week 50:

 

#1060 15/12/2001 Sophie Ellis-Bextor Murder On The Dancefloor 2 {2}-3-4-4-2-7-11-16-16-16-21-25-36-48-60-61->16

#1061 15/12/2001 Stereophonics Handbags And Gladrags 4 {4}-4-5-5-5-10-13-20-18-21-28-35-43-57-72R(2)->15

#1062 15/12/2001 Steps Words Are Not Enough/I Know Him So Well 5 {5}-14-15-13-16-31-42-59-59-50-57->11

#1063 15/12/2001 Hermes House Band Country Roads 7 {7}-10-10-10-10-20-27-38-39-38-50-69->12

#1064 15/12/2001 Tweenies I Believe In Christmas 9 {9}-9-9-12-33-62->6

#1065 15/12/2001 Cliff Richard Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World 11 {11}-18-24-30-48-69->6

#1066 15/12/2001 Sum 41 In Too Deep 13 {13}-16-17-18-15-27-37-57-70-70-73->11

#1067 15/12/2001 Liberty Doin' It 14 {14}-33-39-34-37-52->6

#1068 15/12/2001 Dreem Team Vs Artful Dodger It Ain't Enough 20 {20}-39-46-43-57->5

#1069 15/12/2001 Roger Sanchez Featuring Armand Van Helden And N'Dea Davenport You Can't Change Me 25 {25}-45-59-62->4

#1070 15/12/2001 DMX Who We Be 34 {34}-47-67-66->4

#1071 15/12/2001 Baz Believers 36 {36}-61->2

#1072 15/12/2001 Hundred Reasons EP Three 37 {37}-58->2

#1073 15/12/2001 Tukan Light A Rainbow 38 {38}-49-71->3

#1074 15/12/2001 Tymes 4 She Got Game 40 {40}-72->2

I'd forgotten PPK, I have to admit, but it grabbed 8/10 from me by virtue of a 10-week chart run. It was prob getting played at The Magnum in Southampton, but the one that was an absolute anthem for me was Alcazar, Crying At The Discotheque still a 10/10 key track along with one coming next week. Loved it not least due to the Sheila B Devotion Spacer sample at it's core, Nile Rodgers getting love long before his 2010's critical resurrection. Daniel Bedingfield looked like a future dance monster-maker too with Gotta Get Thru This, what a 9/10 moment. Sadly the beats were a one-off!

 

Belle & Sebastian were generally pleasant and I loved the 60's throwback name to my childhood TV, but this one was their only top 10 for me, a very nice 8/10. Basement Jaxx had 1 cracker and a lot of decent fun dance tracks, but Where's Your Head At indeed did give me a headache 2/10. Calling did marginally better, but Geri can't do ballads, her voice isnt strong enough - 3/10. Kate Winslet was a novelty surprise hit, and she did a better job of it than Geri, What If was pretty good actually, a firm 9/10.

 

Hear'Say's best record comes in 2002 for me, this one was pretty decent though, 7/10. *NSYNC was a sharp change of style, so yes the solo career was obv on the horizon, Gone was a change of pace that didn't gel for me, those Max Martin/Deniz Pop catchy hooks and beats were much-missed, 6/10 though. Cypress Hill passed me by, ditto Oxide & Neurtrino, Fragma but Wyclef Floyd grabbed a 7/10, though again one I've forgotten and not heard since.

Yay the PPK track is great, atmospheric, futuristic and rather unique and Gotta Get Thru This is also very good Daniel Bedingfield's best track.

 

The Alcazar track is good fun too, I think I prefer it to the original Spacer which is also good.

The layers of Resurrection are so well done.

Gotta Get Thru This is also great. I also love Where's your Head At and Everybody is certainly Hear'say's best single.

I must admit I have heard “Murder On The Dancefloor” more times than I needed to in 2024, but it’s absolutely one of the greatest pop songs made so far this century.

 

9 Sophie Ellis-Bextor Murder On The Dancefloor After the 2024 "Saltburn" resurgence this has had 4 separate runs at #2: it's a brilliant, sophisticated and classic pop song

8 Baz Believers Only Top 40 for this UK singer who is Monie Love's sister: this is an excellent and very individual track with soul elements

8 Tukan Light A Rainbow Only hit for this Danish trance group: this is classic trance with an exhilarating beepy melody and lovely female vocals

7 Stereophonics Handbags And Gladrags On one level this is a bland cover of the 60s song, but I do think it brings it up to date while retaining the song's character

7 Sum 41 In Too Deep This is surprisingly poppy from this punk band but a very well written song with a strong melody and instrumental break

6 DMX Who We Be 1st hit this century for the New York rapper whose best track is to come, but I enjoy the rhythm and production on this

6 Dreem Team Vs Artful Dodger It Ain't Enough Only hit for the trio and the last for the Artful Dodger: an energetic garage track with strong melody and production

5 Hundred Reasons EP Three Can only even find 2 tracks of this EP: "I'll Find You" and "Sunny" they're both good but not memorable indie tracks

5 Tweenies I Believe In Christmas 3 weeks at #9 in the Christmas rush is impressive for this and it's really quite a decent well written festive pop tune

4 Roger Sanchez Featuring Armand Van Helden And N'Dea Davenport You Can't Change Me Last chart hit for Roger: this is pleasant enough but quite an ordinary house track to follow up his magical chart topper

3 Tymes 4 She Got Game Their 2nd final hit: slightly more dynamic than the other but very of the time and I don't know what the title means

3 Hermes House Band Country Roads A Dutch group active since 1984: this well chosen but not very interesting John Denver cover is their only UK Top 40

2 Liberty Doin' It They'll be back much stronger, which you wouldn't expect after this rather tuneless and uninspired pop RnB 2nd single

2 Steps Words Are Not Enough/I Know Him So Well Last of their 14 straight Top 5s: the cover of "I Know Him So Well" is nondescript and the other side over-sentimental

1 Cliff Richard Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World Cliff still targeting the Christmas market with a mash up of 2 classics: this is extremely cheesy with no discernible merits

 

 

2001 Weeks 51 and 52:

 

#1075 22/12/2001 Robbie Williams And Nicole Kidman Somethin' Stupid 1 {1}-1-1-3-12-21-33-31-31-35-44-57->12

#1076 22/12/2001 Ian Van Dahl Will I 5 {5}-7-6-7-14-20-28-29-28-41-53-59-74->13

#1077 22/12/2001 Samantha Mumba Lately 6 {6}-8-8-6-15-18-26-28-30-44-64-61->12

#1078 22/12/2001 Feeder Just A Day EP 12 {12}-16-17-17-21-36-62->7

#1079 22/12/2001 Janet Featuring Missy Elliott, P Diddy And Carly Simon Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You) 13 {13}-19-22-24-30-44-65-71R(2)-66->9

#1080 22/12/2001 Kosheen Catch 15 {15}-22-23-23-29-39-52-66->8

#1081 22/12/2001 Emma Bunton We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight 20 {20}-34-32-35-49->5

#1082 22/12/2001 Michael Jackson Cry 25 {25}-41-42-52->4

#1083 22/12/2001 Starsailor Lullaby 36 {36}-53-61-75->4

#1084 22/12/2001 Delirious? I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever 40 {40}-64->2

#1085 29/12/2001 Gordon Haskell How Wonderful You Are 2 {2}-3-12-25-45-70->6

#1086 29/12/2001 David Gray Say Hello Wave Goodbye 26 {26}-29-40-63->4

#1087 29/12/2001 Faithless Tarantula 29 {29}-36-45-66-60R(3)->5

#1088 29/12/2001 Mariah Carey/Mariah Carey Featuring Mystikal Never Too Far/Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica) 32 {32}-39-50-72->4

#1089 29/12/2001 Warp Brothers Blast The Speakers 40 {40}-41-53->3

I also feel Ive heard MOTD too much the last few years, first with her remake and then the film massive hit again, but it was my top track of 2001 at the time, and I feel justified in having it rated on top then, and it was totally big on the dancefloor well into the new year at my club of choice. As I had to drive home to Poole each night I was always annoyingly sober, but this was a guaranteed floor filler for those rat-arsed and getting there. 10/10.

 

Baz? Never heard of her, or this, or knew that she was Monie Love's sister. Ditto Tukan, Trance obv not big on the pop dancefloor, the upstairs chill-out and trance rooms I tended to avoid. Missed opportunity to record a track called Play That Game, cos Tukan Play That Game is a great gag. Handbags & Gladrags, despite being written by Manfred Mann's Mike D'Abo, was never a fave of mine in any version. Plodding and dreary, and this version is no different 5/10 is generous. Gimme Build Me Up Buttercup or My Name Is Jack any day for his 60's songs.

 

My 30-somethings nieces and nephews are aghast I dont rate Sum 31 much at all, and I never considered them punk (see Anarchy In The UK for that template, which none of them would get I suspect - I must try that theory out!) just upbeat uptempo chanty rock to me, but In Too Deep was comfortably their best record, 6/10. DMX similarly never impressed bar one track, the fabulous Deadpool soundtrack one still 2 years in the future. Ditto Dreem Team, but their 1999 Buddy X vs Neneh Cherry was good.

 

Hundred Reasons will chart in 2002 for me, but not just yet, Tweenies I have dealt with already on previous, Roger Sanchez is no Another Chance, Tymes 4 had the cheek to nick The Tymes' name, so on priniciple I expect I wouldnt chart it, Country Roads actually gets a mark! 6/10 for a reasonable revival of the song that Olivia Newton-John did way better in 1973. Bit of anthem by Denver by and large these days, the man who got covered many times but only ever had the one UK hit - a massive disservice to his fab back catalogue, one I have been discovering over the last few years.

 

I rather enjoyed LIberty, and Doin' It was a low 8/10, or in this motley bunch, the second best track :o Words Are Not Enough did enough to grab a 6/10 from me, though I dont recall it, for Steps, but the Cliff rating is one I can agree with. It's Cliff, a UK legend, but by this stage he really wasn't trying to get good songwriters and producers and was instead aiming for the oldies circuit. Cliff has had 3 new top 40 tracks over the last 25 years for me, and none at all since 2016.

The Sophie track was overplayed at the time on music channels I remember.

 

Hermes House Band's version of Country Roads I remember from the kids discos at the time (I was 9 in 2001). I particularly remember the gradual speed up bit near the end.

 

Also remember Sum 41 and In Too Deep from the time. I wasn't a fan of pop punk at the time really but I prefer it now.

Edited September 15, 2024Sep 15 by TheSnake

'Murder On The Dancefloor' really is the ultimate BC / AC moment.

I agree with you far too often Julian... PPK and SEB would be my picks of those two weeks also

Weeks 37 and 38

 

allSTARS* Things That Go Bump In The Night/Is There Something I Should Know? (this should be playing on radio at halloween with the others :( very inspired spooky pop track and an easy top song here for me, 'If There's Something I Should Know' is fine as well but not quite as great) > Hunter (another strong track from Dido) > It's Been Awhile (really good rock song, am familiar with some Staind tracks but not so up on the titles lol) > Twenty Four Seven (shame Melanie didn't have more of a solo career as this was very nice) > Come On Over > Starlight > Out Of Control (Back For More) (liking the vibe on this) > On The Move > Let Robeson Sing (not sure I've heard this one of theirs before but it's a lovely listen!) > Souljacker Part 1 (good beat to this and decent tune) > A Song For Shelter/Ya Mama (Ya Mama is the superior track here for me, the thoughtful lyrics are good but the beat is rather plodding on 'A Song For Shelter') > In The Air Tonite (agree Lil Kim's bits are great, the mix with Phil's classic works in some parts but also not others, still quite catchy) > Mambo No 5 > Who? > Hey Baby > It Began In Afrika > Sweet Baby > The Nobodies > Stop Your Crying > Serious > Smash Sumthin' > Batter Up

 

Week 39

 

Can't Get You Out Of My Head > Smooth Criminal > F.E.A.R. > The Pain Inside > Papua New Guinea 2001 > Side (not as good as 'Sing' but still good) > Muhammad Ali > Alcoholic > Urban Train > Luv Me Luv Me > Area Codes > Finally > Not Such An Innocent Girl

'Murder On The Dancefloor' really is the ultimate BC / AC moment.

 

 

What does that mean?

This is the first time in this thread that the winner is only getting a 7. There isn’t anything outstanding here but Feeder deserve the nod as they’ve had a really strong run of singles and this EP is good. In fact “Just A Day” on its own is an 8; the Police cover I can take or leave but I enjoy the other 2 tracks especially “Emily”. And their drummer very sadly died just after this was released.

 

7 Feeder Just A Day EP It's a good EP all round but "Just A Day" has a real warmth and retro feeling to it, and the lyrics have a real poignancy

7 Faithless Tarantula Interesting poetic lyrics on this track which takes its time to get going but then explodes into another trance belter

7 Kosheen Catch This doesn't have the mesmerising beat of "Hide U" but does have good sizzling production and a compelling melody

6 David Gray Say Hello Wave Goodbye The 5th "White Ladder" hit with a Soft Cell cover: not as great as the other singles but a heartfelt and enjoyable version

6 Janet Featuring Missy Elliott, P Diddy And Carly Simon Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You) I enjoy a lot about this track and the "ha ha hoo hoo…" section is great fun, but not sure about the Carly Simon sample

6 Warp Brothers Blast The Speakers Their last hit and rousing and exciting like all of them, but not different enough from the others to keep the success going

5 Ian Van Dahl Will I This has a good melody and strong simple lyrics, but is not special like its predecessor, suggesting their shelf life is limited

5 Gordon Haskell How Wonderful You Are Only hit for this singer songwriter and a surprise Xmas #2: he's a very soulful performer but the track is a little pedestrian

5 Samantha Mumba Lately Another big hit though her only Top 5 miss: I like the warm production and soulful retro feel, but it's terribly repetitive

4 Starsailor Lullaby A nice melody here and gentle lilting rhythm that makes it like a lullaby, but there's also something rather twee about it

4 Emma Bunton We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight Not too bad a song but I think this is trying to be dynamic and powerful and not really pulling it off as it's not her style

3 Robbie Williams And Nicole Kidman Somethin' Stupid 916th #1: the Christmas chart topper with a functional but uninteresting and vocally not distinctive version of the duet

3 Mariah Carey/Mariah Carey Featuring Mystikal Never Too Far/Don't Stop (Funkin' 4 Jamaica) The 1st side is a big power ballad and the 2nd is more lkke "Fantasy": neither is a particularly good example of its style

2 Delirious? I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever This is a popular piece of Christian rock and probably their signature song, but it does go on and is very much not for me

2 Michael Jackson Cry Has a "Heal The World" vibe to it but nowhere near as memorable: very far from his finest moment and underperformed

 

Kosheen would be my pick this week but I preferred the single that is still to come. Not a great bunch this week… particular low point in Janet’s career with an absolute mess of a song, definitely didn’t recreate the magic of Got ‘Til It’s Gone