April 18Apr 18 This thread is a reminder of how 1997 produced so many big hits / classics, including big sales etc. etc.!!!I don’t think any other year in 90’s managed to do that…maybe 1999 comes close to it but that’s about it!!!
April 18Apr 18 Stay is my favourite Sash single, love the video at La Defense, Paris.OHMSS is decent from the Propellorheads, taking in the best Bond theme imo.Spice Up Your Life and Barbie Girl are both pop classics. 2 great charts.
April 18Apr 18 I absolutely love On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the full version is epic and something I still listen to pretty regularly.
April 18Apr 18 TOTP episode #1 into #2 felt like a shift in the tides, the final week of Diana mourning at the top then reborn into fun, in-your-face pop as both of the top 2.Great sales for the Spice Girls, the line "yellow man in Timbuktu" has aged horribly but otherwise I like the euphoric carnival sound of 'Spice Up Your Life'Poor eternally blocked Sash! at #2
April 19Apr 19 love the Ash song, one of their best, also the Propellerheads one, Arnold is such a great producer.Sash I never really cared and Stay does little for me, but crazy for them to do >110K and still be #2, seems unthinkable nowadayspersonally I think Spice Up Your Life is total trash and a 0/10 of a song, total pile of crap. Just shows the demand that a terrible song like that can go sell 300K. Wannabe was ok, but this is disposable trash.
April 19Apr 19 I’m the opposite, these days I think Spice Up Your Life may actually be my favourite Spice Girls song.I’m with you on Sash! though, Stay wasn’t something I was mad on. Have listened to it again from the TOTP performance and I still think it’s just okay.
April 19Apr 19 I actually don't like anything from Spice Girls, I didn't mind Wannabe back there as a cultural thing, like Gangnam Style or Aserejé or La Macarena. But that's it. I wouldn't listen to it now or anything by them.
April 19Apr 19 'Stand By me' is my only big favourite to go Top 10 since I last commented, though I liked 'Stay' a lot back then. I couldn't stand 'Spice Up Your Life' at the time - it probably felt like they were selling mainly off hype and being so omnipresent, and I thought the song was a bit of a mess - although looking at it now it's fantastic they pushed something as quirky for their second album (rather than, say, a clone of 'Say You'll be There' or something equally safe). I do still prefer 'Barbie Girl' though...Below the top 20, older songs issued as singles to promote greatest hits gave a couple of bands their highest charting singles over these last few weeks - Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love reached #21, and an even bigger future favourite of mine made #23:
May 2May 2 Author 1ST NOVEMBERDethroned after just a week “Spice Up Your Life” becomes the first Spice Girls single to spend a solitary week on top, it took a mighty 49% cut in sales as it falls 1-2 (162,000). It is succeeded by Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” which is only the second chart topper by a Danish act following on from Whigfield back in 1994, and upped its sales to a mighty 190,000 to do it despite a lack of radio support which seems to be of the opinion that it is too novelty! The song also becomes only the third song to climb to No 1 (Puff Daddy’s return to the top aside) this year. With Elton John holding at No 3 (102,000) it marks another week when the top 3 all exceed the 100,000 mark.Sash! hold at No 4 (69,000) as their re-promoted album comes in at No 6, and once place below them is the highest new entry of the week from boyband 911. Although they’ve yet to get their first No 1 single they have now scored five straight top 10 singles in the last year and can rightly claim to be one of the biggest boybands in the UK at the moment. New single “Party People….Friday Night” is new at No 5 (64,000) perhaps a little low given that it is the first single not available on their debut album “The Journey”.The last three N-Trance tracks all made the top 20 without getting the boost into the big ten but the right cover is all they needed. Covering Rod Stewart’s 1978 chart topper “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” enables the man himself to get a credit otherwise it’s the standard rap over the verses with ad lib vocals from Kelly Llorenna but it does the trick to restore them to the top 10 for the first time in 2 years as it enters at No 7 (45,000), and ends an even longer three year wait for Stewart.Should we class “Phenomenon” as the official follow up to the chart topping “Ain’t Nobody”? In the interim you’ll recall that Ll Cool J formed part of the all star recording of “Hit Em High” which made No 8 in April but in terms of solo records this is the one that matters as it cruises in at No 9 (39,000). Sampling Creative Source’s “Who Is He And Who Is He To You” and lifting the chorus from Melle Mel’s “White Lines” it is co-written and co-produced by man of the moment Puff Daddy.Dario G continue the slow drop 5-6 (47,000), The Backstreet Boys prove they have longevity with a month in the top flight dropping 6-8 (42,000) and Chumbawamba fall 8-10 (31,000) but should sell its 750,000th copy sometime this week and also enters the US top 10.1- BARBIE GIRL- Aqua (190,000)2- SPICE UP YOUR LIFE- Spice Girls (162,000)3- CANDLE IN THE WIND 97/ SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT- Elton John (102,000)4- STAY- Sash Featuring La Trec (69,000)5- PARTY PEOPLE...FRIDAY NIGHT- 911 (64,000)6- SUNCHYME- Dario G (47,000)7- DO YA THINK I’M SEXY- N- Trance Featuring Rod Stewart (45,000)8- AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME- Backstreet Boys (42,000)9- PHENOMENON- LL Cool J (39,000)10- TUBTHUMPING- Chumbawamba (31,000)
May 2May 2 Author 8TH NOVEMBERAqua continue to improve at retail lifting another 26% to 239,000 giving them a total of 612,000 and a platinum disc after just 3 weeks on sale. By contrast, and also after three weeks on sale, “Spice Up Your Life” drops 2-3 (117,000) giving them a tally of 600,000 exactly- still all of their 5 singles have gone Platinum a feat never before achieved. It also marks the 20th straight week that the chart topper has registered six digits- that puts it equal in the record books with the longest run ever (since 1980) back in 1982.Sitting in between Aqua and Spice Girls is this week’s highest new entry from Natalie Imbruglia who you may know better as Neighbours character Beth Brennon until she left the soap a few years ago. Recorded first in Danish by Lis Sørenson in 1993 then translated by former Johnny Hates Jazz and The Cure member Phil Thornalley into English when it was released by US group Ednaswap in 1995 before Imbruglia recorded her version but was not a hit, all that has now changed. The promo is already in heavy rotation and features actor Jeremy Sheffield which has helped the song power in at No 2 (135,000) along with substantial airplay.It’s a worrying time for Peter Andre, with his new album due in 3 weeks his single “Lonely” can only debut at No 6 (51,000). That’s not a bad position for an act but bearing in mind that the song is not available on an album at present he should be performing better given his double chart toppers last year. It is a sixth straight top 10 single but you have to suspect his chart topping years may now be behind him.Embrace’s may still be ahead of them! After a year of praise from critics and the “about to happen” tag the and ever improving chart positions “All You Good Good People” arrives at No 8 (43,000). Officially an EP the title track got an initial release in earlier this year in a limited edition and played a major part in getting the critics interested in them, two EP’s followed “Fireworks” (#34¬) and “One Big Family” (#21) before their current success. The band are currently recording the debut album due in the Spring and claim this song was "inspired" by Barry Manilow's "Made It Through The Rain" apparently.Elton John dips 3-4 (73,000) as he dips below the 100,000 for the first time in 8 weeks (a record) and has sales now totalling 4,438,000. Sash! falter 4-5 (57,000) and it’s back up for the Backstreet Boys 8-7 (47,000), no such luck for either N-Trance/ Rod Stewart or Dario G who both falter 7-9 (41,000) and 6-10 (37,000) respectively.1- BARBIE GIRL- Aqua (239,000)2- TORN- Natalie Imbruglia (135,000)3- SPICE UP YOUR LIFE- Spice Girls (117,000)4- CANDLE IN THE WIND 97/ SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT- Elton John (73,000)5- STAY- Sash Featuring LeTrec (57,000)6- LONELY- Peter Andre (51,000)7- AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME- Backstreet Boys (47,000)8- ALL YOU GOOD GOOD PEOPLE- Embrace (43,000)9- DO YA THINK I’M SEXY- N-Trance Featuring Rod Stewart (41,000)10- SUNCHYME- Dario G (37,000)
May 2May 2 oh love Torn so much, one of the best pop songs of the 90s, bit unlucky with the timingBarbie Girl is such a silly song but you cannot deny peopl loved it with those salesalso liked the Embrace singlesome hideous songs from Peter Andre and N-Trance covering the worst song of the 80s
May 2May 2 Love Torn.Such an amazing track that has stood the test of time and still sounds brilliant today.And then there's Peter Andre...
May 2May 2 Torn Never heard that Peter Andre song before, it sounds like a really bad clone of Michael Jackson - You Are Not Alone.'Stay' having some seriously impressive longevity here!Also 'Barbie Girl' far from being a "silly" song is actually a rather genius piece of satire/social commentary (something Samanda completely didn't get when they covered it later on) Edited May 2May 2 by Jessie Where
May 2May 2 Another huge fan of Torn here, it was such an unexpected moment to have a song like that from someone in Neighbours (no offence Kylie!) and it's a huge shame it happened to be up against Aqua doing incredible numbers.Not really a fan of anything else that's new over these weeks, with N-Trance being particularly awful. I bought the Embrace track at the time and whilst it was designed to sound anthemic, it always fell a little short for me. I don't think they ever released a single that I thought was amazing.
May 3May 3 Gravity is the best Embrace song for me. It was an early days Coldplay track so that might explain it.
May 6May 6 On 02/05/2025 at 14:00, Bjork said:oh love Torn so much, one of the best pop songs of the 90s, bit unlucky with the timingBarbie Girl is such a silly song but you cannot deny peopl loved it with those salesalso liked the Embrace singlesome hideous songs from Peter Andre and N-Trance covering the worst song of the 80sIf you mean Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ it was released in 1978!
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