So It's all sorted in terms of embeds and pics. Was fiddly but it's my first time etc.

'Angel Of Harlem' is my favourite single from Rattle And Hum, happy to see that enter. 'Good Life' is great too.

Angel of Harlem is good but my fave from Rattle and Hum is All I Want is You.

Good Life is also a goodie

boo at Especially for you stuck at #2 despite those huge sales

I was definitely rooting for Kylie and Jason back at the time, I think this may be the main point that I can remember beginning to pay attention to what was happening in the charts

Kylie and Jason must’ve been thought a shoe in for number 1 at the time, pesky Cliff coming along to ruin it!

I like that we get bigger pictures of the sleeves now, so all good.

Who was buying Cliff? Old people? ;)

Cliff had a huge fanbase going back 30 years by 1988 and had remained dropping mature classy singles into 1987, and I know young 20-something-ish people like me and my (then-teenage) mate were buying his singles, so he was always going to be a risk of an occasional biggie outside of his usual synth-pop core audience. Sadly, it was M&W rather than Wired For Sound that did it as it brought back the older lapsed fan! I didn't buy it! Kylie & Jason was the better track. Good Life is fab, a great production. Angel Of Harlem is good, but I preferred Desire, and pretty much every single since Pride, New Years Day and Fire.

Burning Bridges was good, and I hadnt yet switched to full-price CD singles, but I would have been tempted by the bonus ex-singles if I didnt already have them. A lot of 90's hits, once the price of CD singles started dropping, became chart hits because they were essentially mini-greatest-hits even if the lead new track was a bag of shite. A quick hi to Rod Stewart, Rolling Stones and many others for no reason 😇

I don't hate the Cliff song as much as most of the rest of you, I can definitely see why it was so popular at the time. But I don't love either of the big christmas sellers tbh.

Cliff's was promoting a greatest hits so it was always likely to do well, and I can definitely remember it being everywhere along with the Kylie and Jason track - but the latter was probably more popular with kids who wouldn't have been actually buying the single.

I guess I was one of those kids who was a big K&J fan but didn't buy the single :D

instead I bought later the Jason album, which did include it

24TH DECEMBER




The Cliff/ Kylie & Jason stranglehold on the top 2 continues with both tracks shifting over 100,000 copies to remain more than double ahead of the rest of the field. Cliff now looks certain to become the festive No 1 after selling a new 1988 record of 174,148 copies last week, that’s 495,227 copies to date placing at No 5 on the YTD with 2 weeks of the year left- it’s going to be tight as whether or not it can pass Yazz to become the year’s biggest seller. The single is the first one to sell over 100,000 for three weeks in a row since Nick Berry back in October 1986. Cliff also has the double as “Private Collection” ascends to the top to give him a chart double for a third time in his career.

Meanwhile “Especially For You” spends a third week stuck behind “Mistletoe & Wine” selling another 109,174 copies, that’s a modest 16% decrease week on week but probably a decisive one as the far more overtly festive Cliff offering should sell by the bucket load next week taking in the full run up to the big day itself. Still 301,784 in 21 days is a prodigious rate of sales especially in 1988 and passes Jason Donovan’s “Nothing Can Divide Us” and Kylie’s “Got To Be Certain” and “Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi” in terms of their personal best sellers. It's also the first non-chart topper to sell over 100,000 for at least 2 weeks since Wham! 4 years ago.





The only new entry into the top 10 is a remix of Petula Clark’s 1964 No 2 hit “Downtown” which was only denied the top spot by the Beatles “I Feel Fine” originally. The track has been remixed by Peter Slaghuis who is most famous for taking “I Can’t Wait” by Nu Shooz and turning it into a hit, and it puts Clark back in the top 10 after a 21 year wait! It has been fuelled in part thanks to a campaign by Philip Schofield on BBC1 who has raised the track’s profile and prompted some of the success of the single.

Elsewhere Erasure continue to improve 4-3 (62,866), though they are in no danger of vying for the festive top spot, they do score their best 7 day tally ever. Angry Anderson takes a surprise fall 3-4 (61,727) as memories of that marriage fade and Inner City climb 6-5 (46,512). Status Quo are on the move 9-7 (32,912) and U2 also inch 10-9 (26,741), but both Bros and Phil Collins feel the winter chill tumbling 5-6 (33,813) and 7-8 (29,019) respectively, Bros have incidentally released the new promo for “Silent Night” and will perform the track to close the Christmas edition of TOTP, expect it to rebound.

1- MISTLETOE AND WINE- Cliff Richard (174,148)
2- ESPECIALLY FOR YOU- Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan (109,174)
3- CRACKERS INTERNATIONAL EP- Erasure  (62,866)
4- SUDDENLY- Angry Anderson (61,727)
5- GOOD LIFE- Inner City (46,512)
6- CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS/ SILENT NIGHT- Bros (33,813)
7- BURNING BRIDGES (ON AND OFF AND ON AGAIN)- Status Quo (32,912)
8- TWO HEARTS- Phil Collins (29,019)
9- ANGEL OF HARLEM- U2  (26,741)
10- DOWNTOWN 88- Petula Clark (24,667)

I wonder if this ever got played at the time seeing it was a christmas related track? I used to really like this as a kid, but it does sound very dated

I don't recall anything but "Stop" getting promoted

poor Especially for You, but at least it was beaten by quite strong sales from Cliff

that Bros cover of Silent Night is torture evil :o

Downtown is a classic. Loved it as a 6-year-old, and found the remix acceptable in the absence of the original. Pet is a forgotten national treasure these days and Cut Copy should have given her a 2010's boost but didnt, sadly. When this hit again she had already been singing and acting for 50 years, and was first recorded by the BBC during the height of the Blitz as a child😮 She is 92 and has an 85-year-long career.

Love 'Stop'!

1 hour ago, Popchartfreak said:

Downtown is a classic. Loved it as a 6-year-old, and found the remix acceptable in the absence of the original. Pet is a forgotten national treasure these days and Cut Copy should have given her a 2010's boost but didnt, sadly. When this hit again she had already been singing and acting for 50 years, and was first recorded by the BBC during the height of the Blitz as a child😮 She is 92 and has an 85-year-long career.

What is the link between Cut Copy and Petula Clark?

why did New Order release Fine Time so close to Xmas?

Peaked at #11 but don't get the December release...

2 hours ago, dandy* said:

What is the link between Cut Copy and Petula Clark?

Have since sussed out that Petula Clark had a song called Cut Copy Me - and that you were in fact not referring to the band Cut Copy who were around in the 2010s 🫣

31ST DECEMBER




So the big day arrives and somewhat bizarrely the Christmas Chart wasn’t revealed until Boxing Day but no matter for Cliff Richard who is celebrating both the festive No 1 single and album this week in a complete domination of the field. “Mistletoe & Wine” sold a simply astonishing 218,943 copies last week, the first single to break the 200,000 mark, and to sell 100,000 for 4 weeks on the trot, since Band Aid back in 1984. It brings the song’s total to 682,482 as it passes Yazz’s “The Only Way Is Up” as the year’s best seller inching past on Christmas Eve.

In the end the victory was relatively convincing for Richard, Kylie & Jason spend a fourth week at the runner up spot but they are back to increasing their sales- by 72% in fact to 187,255 to see “Especially For You” chase “Mistletoe & Wine” through the YTD chart with 489,039 copies to date enough for No 6 on that list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU7V9KUOGEU

Even though it’s Christmas there are two new tracks inside the top 10, Neneh Cherry is attracting pretty much universal critical acclaim at present with her single “Buffalo Stance” but most critics would be none too pleased to find out it started life as a S/A/W co-penned track for a group called Morgan-McVey and featured Cherry on guitar in the promo (McVey is Cherry’s boyfriend). The B-Side was an alternative version featured Cherry on lead vocals with alternative lyrics and it’s this version that forms the current “Buffalo Stance” single. She’s had the song produced by the infinitely more credible Tim Simenon of Bomb The Bass who has slung in some samples from Malcolm McLaren’s “Buffalo Gals” (which explains in part the title) along with Miami’s “Chicken Yellow” to give us the single that moves 13-7 (35,666)

“Two Hearts” dips 8-10 (32,266) this week but it’s now not the only Collins/ Dozier collaboration in the top 10 as it is joined by “Loco In Acapulco” which is performed by The Four Tops and comes from the “Buster” soundtrack hence the connection to Collins. The group have had something of a renaissance this year with a new album “Indestructible” and a remixed “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” making No 11 back in August thanks to a PWL remix, now they have a 11th top 10 single in their 25 year chart career though a first in 7 years.

As you might expect with a sales period of 18-24th December sales are all but two tracks are on the up saleswise with some spectacular sales even below the top 2, Erasure hold at No 3 (85,578) and Angry Anderson sticks at No 4 (69,632) with Status Quo getting the Christmas party started right 7-5 (53,329). Bros fall 6-8 but get a sales increase to 34,017.  The only fallers at retail are Inner city who sag 5-6 (45,849) and Phil Collins who drifts 8-10 (28,577). Of course after the high comes the drop, we’ll see just how bad in 7 days time!


1- MISTLETOE AND WINE- Cliff Richard  (218,943)
2- ESPECIALLY FOR YOU- Kylie Minogue & Jason Donovan  (187,255)
3- CRACKERS INTERNATIONAL EP- Erasure (85,578)
4- SUDDENLY- Angry Anderson (69,632)
5- BURNING BRIDGES (ON AND OFF AND ON AGAIN)- Status Quo (53,329)
6- GOOD LIFE- Inner City (45,849)
7- BUFFALO STANCE- Neneh Cherry (35,666)
8- CAT AMONG THE PIGEONS/ SILENT NIGHT- Bros (34,017)
9- LOCO IN ACAPULCO- The Four Tops (32,266)
10- TWO HEARTS- Phil Collins (28,577)