March 9Mar 9 Author 28TH JUNEThe loggerhead at the top is finally broken this week, on the album charts Hanson drop 1-3, Brightman tumbles 2-8 and Eternal recede 4-6 and on the singles charts they all drop too! Hanson dive 1-3 (70,000), Eternal plummet 2-6 (42,000) and Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli fall out of the top 10 entirely!The new No 1 comes from US rapper Puff Daddy and is a tribute to his recently killed friend and fellow rapper Notorious B.I.G. “I’ll Be Missing You” features a large sample of Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and has vocals courtesy of Notorious B.I.G’s widow Faith Evans as well as vocal group 112, it’s the first hit for 112 but the third for Evans and Puff Daddy and the biggest for any of them. It sold 109,000 copies last week to enter at the top and in so doing becomes the first track to enter at the top on both sides of the Atlantic where the song now song now spends its third week at the summit. It’s also the first “tribute” record to another popstar track to make No 1 in 16 years, yet it wasn’t the early leader in the chart race and indeed it was not the best selling single in any individual format this week- the first No 1 not to do so since "Spaceman" spent its final week at the top in February 1996.That was the return of The Verve. A band famed for internal battles they had built up a strong following including the Gallagher brothers who supported the Verve on multiple occasions when they started out even writing “Cast No Shadow” about frontman Richard Ashcroft. Having produced two albums they split in 1995 acrimoniously but have reformed to give us “Bittersweet Symphony” which samples a loop for Andrew Loog Oldham’s orchestral version of the Rolling Stones track “The Last Time”. The track comes with a promo which plays homage to the Massive Attack video for “Unfinished Sympathy” which is already on heavy rotation, it leapt into an early lead but finished on 91,000.1996 was undoubtedly a good year for Ocean Colour Scene and now they’re back with a new album due in the Autumn and a new single which is new at No 4 (63,000) this week. “Hundred Mile High City” is their 4th top ten single and equals the peak of “The Day We Caught The Train” last June.Meanwhile the Blur bandwagon rolls on and new single “On Your Own” enters at No 5 (54,000) to give them the honour of being the only act to grab a trio of top five hits in the first half of the year. The band are currently on a US tour to promote the “Blur” album which has still to go platinum here, sales of the single were boosted by the fact that one CD contains the non-album release "Popscene" a single in 1992, which is unavailable otherwise.It’s the week for reformed groups it seems with the Verve at No 2 and Echo & The Bunnymen at No 8 (34,000). Scoring 13 hits between 1980 and 1988 when lead singer McCulloch quit the band, Echo & The Bunnymen were one of the leading names in 80s indie music and though they limped on until 1993 in various incarnations it failed to generate much interest among fans and the public. “Nothing Lasts Forever” is therefore being promoted as their first single in 9 years and duly enters at No 8 (34,000)- that equals their best ever showing formerly achieved by 1983’s “The Cutter”, the extent to which the backing vocals by Liam Gallagher have helped is debatable.You can’t fault Cast for consistency. The Liverpudlians have quietly amassed 5 straight top ten hits in 15 months with “Guiding Star” being the latest new at No 9 (30,000). Parent album “Mother Nature Calls” has already sailed past the 100,000 mark and lifts 32-23 this week in response to the single.Ultra Nate relaxes 4-7 (41,000) and Mr President slips 8-10 (27,000).1- I’LL BE MISSING YOU- Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (109,000)2- BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY- The Verve (91,000)3- MMMBOP- Hanson (70,000)4- HUNDRED MILE HIGH CITY- Ocean Colour Scene (63,000)5- ON YOUR OWN- Blur (54,000)6- I WANNA BE THE ONLY ONE- Eternal Featuring BeBe Winans (42,000)7- FREE- Ultra Nate (41,000)8- NOTHING LASTS FOREVER- Echo & The Bunnymen (34,000)9- GUIDING STAR- Cast (30,000)10- COCO JAMBO- Mr President (27,000)
March 9Mar 9 I've always despised I'll Be Missing You, eurgh.Verve, Blur and Echo & the Bunnymen all with decent songs there. Ocean Colour Scene not bad, Cast just a bit meh again.Ultra Nate having very stable sales for its first three weeks, impressive staying power
March 9Mar 9 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' the very same week that Radiohead's OK Computer entered at #1, a sure sign that British guitar music was moving to a different place post-Britpop. Of course it's become pretty hard to escape even now, and the whole royalties saga was dispiriting to follow for a long time, but it sounded exciting at the time. 'Nothing Lasts Forever' I liked a lot too, although having become acquainted with much of their back catalogue many years later, it wouldn't be near my top 10 Echo & The Bunnymen songs now.
March 9Mar 9 I remember Woolies having The Verve at 1 and Puff at 6. If only that was the case!Bittersweet Symphony is one of THE songs of the 90s and yet another amazing 90s number 2.Echo’s comeback is superb - a song I still listen to today.Blur’s On Your Own is pretty decent, as are OCS and Cast.A Britpop-tastic top 10.
March 9Mar 9 Is that the only week ever that five British rock acts debuted in the top ten together? Seems like a super stacked week for the genre.Shame The Verve couldn't sneak in a week with that classic, I didn't realise Woolies had Puff Daddy as low as No.6, must have been something of a surprise chart-topper initially then?It's a period of songs that I don't care too much about currently. I used to listen to Coco Jamboo a lot, although it sounded very dated by 1997 as we were so late to it in the UK.
March 9Mar 9 51 minutes ago, gooddelta said:Is that the only week ever that five British rock acts debuted in the top ten together? Seems like a super stacked week for the genre.Shame The Verve couldn't sneak in a week with that classic, I didn't realise Woolies had Puff Daddy as low as No.6, must have been something of a surprise chart-topper initially then?It's a period of songs that I don't care too much about currently. I used to listen to Coco Jamboo a lot, although it sounded very dated by 1997 as we were so late to it in the UK.Woolies often misfired and under and over predicted. I don’t think Puff Daddy was a shoe in before that week so it’s understandable. But I remember going to buy The Verve on the Monday and Puff Daddy had sold out and the Verve hadn’t so I had an inkling.I have no idea why I distinctly remember this, my memory is shocking these days!!
March 9Mar 9 Bittersweet symphony is a classic of classics and one of the best of the 90s even if over-playedhated I'll be Missing you with a passion, so very bad result.the other Britpop singles I find them all quite disappointing. Especially OCS, I love all the singles off Moseley shoalsand many album tracks like It's my Shadow or Lining Your Pockets, so Hundred Mile was a very disappointing comebacknot on the same level as on the previous albumthat Blur single is also one of my least fav from them, I recall I was rooting for You're so great or MOR as single #3
March 10Mar 10 Author 5TH JULY1997 reaches the half way point but there’s no change at the top, Puff Daddy & Faith Evans continue to reign supreme with “I’ll Be Missing You” which had to increase sales by 44% to 156,000 to do it. It continues to top the US chart as well and should easily get a third week in the fray before the new Oasis single arrives.Proving a strong challenger to Puff & Faith Evans at the beginning of the week was the new Sash! single “Ecuador”. Sung in Spanish by vocalist Adrian Rodriguez the single equals the peak of their first release “Encore Une Fois” though it has a much stronger opening on 130,000 copies, both tracks are on the forthcoming “It’s My Life” album out in a fortnight.A No 38 hit last year No Doubt’s “Just A Girl” has now been re-issued as the follow up to the chart topper “Don’t Speak” and is predictably a much bigger hit second time around as it debuts at No 3 (81,000). Some revenge is gained by Sash! who was lodged at No 2 behind No Doubt earlier this year but now arrives a spot above them this time around.Incidentally both acts previous hits are still among the biggest hits of the year which looks like this at the half way point of the year:1- DON’T SPEAK- No Doubt 834,0002- I BELIEVE I CAN FLY- R Kelly 660,0003- WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE/ MAMA- Spice Girls 658,0004- MMMBOP- Hanson 595,0005- WHERE DO YOU GO- No Mercy 536,0006- ENCORE UNE FOIS- Sash! 472,0007- I WANNA BE THE ONLY ONE- Eternal Feat Bebe Winans 460,0008- BELLISSIMA- DJ Quicksilver 422,0009- DON’T LET GO (LOVE)- En Vogue 400,00010- TIME TO SAY GOODBYE- Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli 392,000Two tracks feature on the list above and on the current top 10, those being Hanson who dip 3-4 (59,000) and Eternal Featuring Bebe Winans who slip 6-7 (38,000).The Course return for a second top 10 single with another cover this time of the Chaka Khan & Rufus single “Ain’t Nobody”. A hit twice over the group in the 80s before of course becoming a chart topper for LL Cool J in February of this year, it charts again in this eurodance version at No 8 (34,000).The Pet Shop Boys have a residency at present in the Savoy Theatre in London, and to promote it we get their version of “Somewhere” a cover of the Bernstein/ Sondheim track from “West Side Story”. It made No 6 way back in 1964 for PJ Proby and is now a top 10 hit all over again as it charts at No 9 (32,000) to give the boys an 18th top ten hit, it was also featured on a new expanded version of their album “Bilingual” which is in shops in a fortnight. We’ll see if this single can do better than their last single “Red Letter Day” which became the first song to fall straight out of the top 40 from the top 10!The Verve collapse 2-5 (52,000), Ultra Nate bounds back up 7-6 (44,000) and Mr President show rare staying power too as they hold down anchor spot (26,000).1- I’LL BE MISSING YOU- Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (156,000)2- ECUADOR- Sash! (130,000)3- JUST A GIRL- No Doubt (81,000)4- MMMBOP- Hanson (59,000)5- BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY- The Verve (52,000)6- FREE- Ultra Nate (44,000)7- I WANNA BE THE ONLY ONE- Eternal Featuring BeBe Winans. (38,000)8- AIN’T NOBODY- The Course (34,000)9- SOMEWHERE- Pet Shop Boys (32,000)10- COCO JAMBO- Mr President (26,000)
March 10Mar 10 Great sales for Ecuador, didn't expect it to sell that much at all :o I much prefer it to Encore One Fois.A shame that Puff Daddy increased to beat it, but I guess we would never have had the Sash! #2 stats if it hadn't doneJust a Girl is a solid follow up from No Doubt, really like it but can imagine it wasn't what most fans of Don't Speak were looking for.
March 11Mar 11 Author 12TH JULYPuff Daddy and Faith Evans claim a third week at the top and once again “I’ll Be Missing You” increased sales (by 7%) to 166,000 to do it, it’s the first song to debut at No 1 and increase sales for the first three weeks since “Earth Song” which had Christmas to help it. In its first three weeks on sale the song has sold a total of 431,000 enough to put it in the top 10 for the year so far- an impressive feat.Sash! hold at No 2 (71,000) on a much decreased sale and will not be threatening the top spot this time around, and just below that is the highest new entry of the week. 911 are just over a year into their chart career but have accrued 6 chart hits each bigger than the last and culminating in their new single “The Journey” entering at No 3 (59,000) equalling their best start ever when their last release “Bodyshakin” made the same splash. Lead singer Lee Brennan’s battle with cancer at a young age proved the inspiration for the lyrics.Teaming up with Martha Wash and Jocelyn Brown again has brought more hits for Todd Terry, “Keep On Jumpin” made No 8 but “Something’s Going On” proves even more popular opening at No 5 (42,000).It’s a rarity that a fourth release and 4th hit from an album becomes its biggest but that’s just what happens to Sheryl Crow’s new single “A Change Would Do You Good”. It comes with two different promo’s and a healthy dollop of radio support which helps makes it be a No 8 (32,000) hit, only her 1994 single “All I Wanna Do” has ever gone higher for Crow.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veDcBWebaHA(Video won't embed for some reason)Ultra Nate rises 6-4 (44,000) more by virtue of the lack of big new hits than any drive upwards in its own popularity. Verve dip 5-6 (36,000) ahead of Hanson who drift 4-7 (34,000) and Eternal who retreat 7-9 (31,000). No Doubt complete the top 10 dropping 3-10 (31,000).So it’s finally here the first new Oasis single in over a year and about as much hype as you can imagine- the question surely is not whether it can debut at No 1 but by how much!1- I’LL BE MISSING YOU- Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (166,000)2- ECUADOR- Sash! (71,000)3- THE JOURNEY- 911 (59,000)4- FREE- Ultra Nate (44,000)5- SOMETHING GOIN ON- Todd Terry (42,000)6- BITTER SWEET SYMPHONY- The Verve (36,000)7- MMMBOP- Hanson (34,000)8- A CHANGE WOULD DO YOU GOOD- Sheryl Crow (32,000)9- I WANNA BE THE ONLY ONE- Eternal Featuring BeBe Winans (31,000)10- JUST A GIRL- No Doubt (31,000)
March 11Mar 11 love love love the Sheryl single <3 oh my how much I hated the Oasis comeback single :D
March 11Mar 11 Always interesting to find out when singles which entered at #1 increased in sales week on week, even if they happen to be for Puff Daddy. Cool to see that Ultra Naté had such consistent sales, 40-45k for five weeks!The hype for the Oasis single was huge as one might imagine, but more ridiculous were the lengths taken to guard it in case it got leaked or bootlegged - perhaps it was all part of the hype machine too, but it sure set them up for a backlash if it didn't live up to expectations...
March 11Mar 11 A Change Would Do You Good is my favourite this week <3The upcoming Oasis single definitely wasn't as strong as the ones from Morning Glory, but I did still like it. The version that Noel rerecorded a few years back is better imo. It was the final single I bought by them though, it was strange how quickly I dropped them after loving them for the previous 3 years or so.
March 11Mar 11 New at #17 that week was the biggest hit for Teenage Fanclub and one of my favourites by them too:Also just spotted there was a 'Spice Girls Medley' by Unlimited Beat which made the Top 100 the previous week (and #84 a fortnight later) - the Spice equivalent of No Way Sis?
March 12Mar 12 Author 19TH JULYWhen first sales reports came through for the week it was clear that Oasis’ new single “D’You Know What I Mean?” would debut at No 1 but few anticipated just how much it was going to sell. Moving 162,000 in its first day it had (as it turned out) done enough in those 24 hours to outsell everything else last week and promptly went on to sell an astonishing 377,000 copies cornering a fifth of the weeks singles market to boot. That’s not only the best start to any Oasis single but also the 4th highest tally of the decade, it’s also a third chart topper for the band which sets the group up nicely for the release of new album “Be Here Now” next month. Their sales total is over 4.4 million singles now as they regain second place on the decade chart which was briefly lost to the Spice Girls, Take That remain the biggest sellers of singles in the 90s, some 300,000 ahead, but that must only be a matter of time.Michael Jackson and R Kelly were also releasing follow up singles to No 1 hits last week and both enter the top 10 as well. Jackson picked double A-Side “History/ Ghosts” as his single and enters at No 5 (68,000), naturally as a Michael Jackson single it comes with another expensive video and if it all looks rather halloweeny then there’ s a reason- it was released in the US last October! Steven King once again directs it and it comes in at 32 minutes in its full version, it mirrors (to some extent) classic horror films but also the mayor in the promo who leads the mob resembles Tom Sneddon the real life prosecutor in Jackson’s child abuse case. “HIStory” is written by Jam & Lewis who of course normally provide hits for his sister Janet and is helped by Jackson’s world tour which rolls into the UK this week.Meanwhile R Kelly’s done another movie song and follows in the footsteps of Smashing Pumpkins in lifting a hit single from the “Batman & Robin” soundtrack. “Gotham City” becomes Kelly’s fourth top 10 single as it debuts at No 9 (45,000).There’s a record equaling 7 new entries in the top tier this week so plenty to be getting on with including the new Coolio single. “C U When U Get There” features 40 thevz and is based on Pachelbel’s “Canon In D Major” proving if nothing else the breadth of Coolio’s choice of samples, it was also the sample used by the Farm in “All Together Now”! It features in the new Tim Robbins film “Nothing To Lose” and becomes his second biggest hit as it smashes in at No 3 (87,000).Italian singer Gala Rizzatto has already a massive Europe wide hit over the last year with “Freed From Desire” which has also been hot property over here for DJ’s. Finally given a UK release it charges straight to No 4 (72,000).Cruelly overlooked by the British public until the boys at Levi Jean plucked it from obscurity and used it in one of their ads, Erma Franklin’s “Piece Of My Heart” became a belated hit here in 1992 making No 9. Shaggy could also spot a cracker of a tune and uses the chorus for his new single of the same title which becomes an even bigger hit cruising in at No 7 (55,000) and features the vocals of Marsha Morrison.As Todd Terry will tell you DJ’s are increasingly becoming popstars in their own right these days and Babyface is on the case too. His 1996 single “This Is For The Lover In You” was his previous best making No 12 but now “How Come, How Long” has done better giving him his first top 10 single as a named act. Inspired lyrically by the Nicole Brown Simpson case and spousal abuse, it’s co-written and sung by Stevie Wonder which is the true draw here (probably) for the 37,000 who bought it last week. It’s Wonder’s 18th top 10 hit but his first in 9 long years!The three survivors from the cull are Puff Daddy & Faith Evans who drop 1-2 (153,000) which nevertheless sold more to make the runner up spot than any track since “Roll With It” (ironically) if you exclude Christmas weeks. Sash! fall 2-6 (59,000), Ultra Nate falls 4-8 (46,000) and that despite selling more than any other week during its run!Next week will see the new singles by Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow go head to head- who can come out on top and can any of them challenge Oasis?1- D’YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?- Oasis (377,000)2- I’LL BE MISSING YOU- Puff Daddy & Faith Evans (153,000)3- C U WHEN U GET THERE- Coolio Featuring 40 Thevz (87,000)4- FREED FROM DESIRE- Gala (72,000)5- HISTORY/ GHOSTS- Michael Jackson (68,500)6- ECUADOR- Sash! (59,000)7- PIECE OF MY HEART- Shaggy Featuring Marsha (55,000)8- FREE- Ultra Nate (46,000)9- GOTHAM CITY- R Kelly (45,000)10- HOW COME HOW LONG- Babyface Featuring Stevie Wonder (37,000)
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