No worries- I think TOTP must just have accepted what the record labels told them based on shipments

All Saints was a nice chart-topper, and Bamboogie I felt justified at being a big UK hit as the fabulous original topped my chart in 1975 and I was disappointed it peaked at 21 when it was a US chart-topper. I was also outraged when the weekly History Of Rock magazine decided KC wasnt even worthy of a mention in the 80's, the disco sucks movement downgrading any act that had anything to do with the genre. Which was bollocks, KC was great, the first consistent disco hitmaker from 74 to 76, courtesy of The Sunshine Band and George McRae, so it was great seeing all of the hit covers and samples in the 90's and 00's. Bamboogie isnt near as good obv, though.

Lighthouse family were always pleasant but Lost In Space is prob my fave, Oasis turning into the best Beatles Tribute on record since The Beatles Movie Medley, I rated All Around The World but it needed 4 minutes coming off. Space were fun, always, a great run of singles. Radiohead continue to go over my head, No Surprises there. Robbie's long run indicative of me getting into Angels in about a year as it was still sticking around chart-wise. Obviously that's a piddling short run in the streaming era, but I would see Rob do it live in 1999 and my oh my it's a showstopper.

Catatonia had better follow-up singles than Mulder & Scully, though I loved and still The X-Files even though it's partly to blame for the gullibility of internet-based conspiracy-based nonsense so prevalent these days. I swear some thought it was a documentary not sci-fi/fantasy! Chumbawumba's follow-up is good, Usher's is passably pleasant, if forgettable, but didn't deserve to top the charts.

Catatonia had better follow-up singles than Mulder & Scully, though I loved and still The X-Files even though it's partly to blame for the gullibility of internet-based conspiracy-based nonsense so prevalent these days. I swear some thought it was a documentary not sci-fi/fantasy! Chumbawumba's follow-up is good, Usher's is passably pleasant, if forgettable, but didn't deserve to top the charts.

1998 is such a rich year musically. So many albums that I like/love and most of those providing excellent singles.

I too was anti-Lighthouse Family but loved High.

No Surprises is nice. I was never a fan of that Oasis song. In fact I lost interest in Oasis in 1997.

I loved Angels from the beginning. It had that Oasis trick of having a real long vowel sound in the chorus which meant that it could be belted out by drunk people in a pub or at a gig.

Edited June 24Jun 24 by Colm

1998 will return on the 18th July with a double bill at 7pm.

6 February - Zoe Ball presenting

13 February - Jayne Middlemiss presenting

On 27/06/2025 at 14:17, mrpopquiz said:

1998 will return on the 18th July with a double bill at 7pm.

6 February - Zoe Ball presenting

13 February - Jayne Middlemiss presenting

Personal highlights would be Saint Etienne - Sylvie, Spiritualized - I Think I’m in Love and Headswim - Tourniquet.

We have just had the provisional schedule for the 25th July and the 1998 shows continue at 7pm

:

7pm - 20th February - Jo Whiley ( Happy 60th Birthday today Jo !! )

7.30pm - Jayne Middlemiss

There will then be a Prom at 8pm and the retro hour from 9.40pm.

Hopefully that will be the pattern from now on during Prom season - according to my calculations, BBC4 can finish 1998 on the week before Christmas if there are no more breaks.

So at this rate -

2026 - 1999 and 2000 episodes

2027 - 2001 and 2002 episodes

2028 - 2003 and 2004 episodes

2029 - 2005, 2006, remaining seasonal episodes.

7TH FEBRUARY

1998 continues to produce a new No 1 every week, this week Aqua become the 16th act in UK chart history to start their chart career with a couple of No 1 singles as “Doctor Jones” takes the top spot on sales of 102,000. It trailed all the way through to the week to the outgoing No 1 from Usher “You Make Me Wanna” but came through at the death outstripping the latter by 6,000 when all was said and done. The group’s album “Aquarium” is yet to make the top 10 but gets a best position yet rising to No 13 this week, and they thought “Barbie Girl” was a one hit wonder! That single is still in the top 40 (No 34) in its 16th week!

Will Smith’s last single “Just Cruising” proved a surprising miss before Christmas when it only made No 23 so there was a lot riding on his new single “Getting’ Jiggy Wit It”. With samples of The Bar-Kays “Sang & Dance” and Sister Sledge’s “He’s The Greatest Dancer” he now enters at No 3 (64,000) to put his solo career back on track and even manages to push his album “Big Willie Style” 51-40, its highest position yet.

Aaron Carter finds success with his second single “Crazy Little Party Girl” which as you might expect is more of the pre teen pop which has supported his star. It enters at No 7 (34,000) and sets up his debut album nicely for when it is released in three weeks’ time.

All Saints drop 2-4 (48,000) but that sales drive the total to 1,007,000, the third million selling single by a girl group after “Wannabe” and “2 Become 1”- it took just 12 weeks to do it as well. “Angels” and “Together Again” both entered the charts 9 weeks ago and both are still there, the former at No 6 (37,000) and the latter at No 9 (29,000) both are big sellers with totals of 538,000 and 568,000 and they should both go platinum in the near future.



Lighthouse Family ebb again 4-5 (39,000) and Catatonia hurtle 3-8 (32,000) with Bamboo rounding out of the top tier 6-10 (26,000).


1- DOCTOR JONES- Aqua (102,000)
2- YOU MAKE ME WANNA- Usher (96,000)
3- GETTIN JIGGY WIT IT- Will Smith (64,000)
4- NEVER EVER- All Saints (48,000)
5- HIGH- Lighthouse Family (39,000)
6- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (37,000)
7- CRAZY LITTLE PARTY GIRL- Aaron Carter (34,000)
8- MULDER AND SCULLY- Catatonia (32,000)
9- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (29,000)
10- BAMBOOGIE- Bamboo (26,000)

14TH FEBRUARY

Surprising many by holding the top spot Aqua breaks the curse of one week No 1’s that 1998 has so far given us. The run doesn’t quite match the record set in early 1997 but Aqua had to work hard to do it and indeed increase their sales albeit by a modest 15% to 117,000 and they can celebrate for another reason too, the “Aquarium” album rises 13-10 to break into the top flight for the first time!

Their challengers came in the form of Backstreet Boys who were never far behind all week with “All I Have To Give”. The boys last two singles “Everybody” and “As Long As You Love Me” seem to have propelled them up the teen stakes and can now validly claim to be the only really challengers to Boyzone’s current crown as the biggest boyband around. Parent album “Backstreet’s Back” has moved over half a million here and now boasts three top 3 singles with the latest debuting at No 2 (103,000) itself the highest opening tally for a BSB single. For all that they remain to have a chart topping single yet, this their 7th straight top 10 single and 5th top 3 appearance. Nick Carter therefore replaces brother Aaron in the top 10!

Girl groups which consist entirely of sisters are a rare commodity with only three groups ever having made the top 3, Pointer Sisters, Sister Sledge and The Nolans. Add a fourth now with Manchester trio Cleopatra, aged just 17,15, and 13 they’re certainly the youngest, and “Cleopatra’s Theme” announces their intentions to be major stars as it arrives at No 3 (84,000). In doing so it equals the peak of The Nolans “I’m In The Mood For Dancing” with only Pointer sisters "Automatic" and Sister Sledge’s “Frankie” ahead of the pair- maybe Cleopatra can replicate their chart topping ways later in the year?

Usher drops 2-4 (52,000) but keeps ahead of All Saints 4-5 (41,000) and Will Smith 3-6 (40,000), incidentally Usher rises to No 1 stateside with the follow up “Nice & Slow”. Lighthouse Family drop 5-8 (31,000) but the song has now sold 250,000 copies in all, and Catatonia slip 8-9 (27,000) as their album “International Velvet” cruises in at No 11. Janet Jackson is down 9-10 (23,000) and Robbie Williams slips 6-7 (35,000) both songs have now spent 10 weeks in the top flight.


1- DOCTOR JONES- Aqua (117,000)
2- ALL I HAVE TO GIVE- Backstreet Boys (103,000)
3- CLEOPATRA’S THEME- Cleopatra (84,000)
4- YOU MAKE ME WANNA- Usher (52,000)
5- NEVER EVER- All Saints (41,000)
6- GETTIN JIGGY WIT IT- Will Smith (40,000)
7- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (35,000)
8- HIGH- Lighthouse Family (31,000)
9- MULDER AND SCULLY- Catatonia (27,000)
10- TOGETHER AGAIN- Janet Jackson (23,000)

What a bunch of poor newbies :/

Oh wow, the biggest surprise for me there is that I always assumed that Doctor Jones had stormed to #1... genuinely really surprised to see it only scraped #1 in its first week

Both narrow weeks for Aqua, leaving Backstreet Boys waiting for a No.1 for another year!

Those two episodes were weak, I don't even recall the majority of those new entries. 1998 was great but Q1 wasn't really it, outside of a few songs.

Big sales for Cleopatra though was quite impressive for a debut single. They seemed very fresh at the time.

I hope to never hear that OTT song again, very amateur looking and sounding. I actually liked their cover of Let Me In too the prior summer and listen to that sometimes still.

I had a listen to that Cleopatra song just now... ooooo that's not great, I could recall the Cleopatra's coming atcha hook obviously but the rest of it was pretty poor imo, surprised it did so well aside from I guess the whole girl power movement still being very much in place. Glad the Backstreet Boys entered at #2 as well, that would have made a pretty rubbish #1

Huge sales for a number 3 from Cleopatra!

What a song and video!

A very kids-oriented top 3

I love 'All I Have to Give'!

I didn't even get the whole Cleopatra thing at the time as an 11-year-old, let alone now.

21ST FEBRUARY

Celine Dion sails effortlessly to No 1 this week with the “Titanic” love theme “My Heart Will Go On”. The film is of course currently No 1 and rapidly becoming something of a sensation as the must see film in the land and so naturally the single rushed to the top on a 1998 best yet sale of 234,685, in debuting at the top it means that Dion has both the fastest chart topper of all time (which admittedly she shares with over 90 other singles) but also the slowest No 1 of all time (with “Think Twice”), the two songs remain Dion’s only UK chart toppers thus far. That sale incidentally beats the 220,000 sold by Whigfield’s “Saturday Night” to become the biggest weekly sale by a female solo act ever.

Paul Newman is up next, he is normally known as DJ Tall Paul who scored a #12 hit last year with “Rock Da House” and is a much sought after DJ. He’s adopted another alias now as Casmira and the first release under this moniker is “Let Me Show You” which is itself a mish mash of samples from 4 tracks most notably Sandy B’s “Make The World Go Round”. It crashes in at No 5 (50,000).

The Bluetones are back, lead single to a new album “Solomon Bites The Worm” debuts easily at No 10 (26,000) to become their fourth top 10 single in a row. You only have to wait a month for the album.

We got the BRITS last week which as per usual affects the album charts much more than the singles chart but there are a couple of benefactors namely All Saints and Robbie Williams who both performed. “Never Ever” won two awards (Best British single and video) and lifts 5-3 (64,000) whilst Robbie ended up going home without an award but “Angels” responds 7-4 (56,000). That’s a new peak for the track 11 weeks into its run, an unusual feat in 1998 and it also becomes Williams’ first platinum seller with sales of 629,000 to date.

Will Smith slides 6-7 (43,000) whilst increasing sales, Cleopatra fade 3-8 (34,000) and Lighthouse Family fall 8-9 (28,000).


1- MY HEART WILL GO ON- Celine Dion (234,685)
2- DOCTOR JONES- Aqua (112,000)
3- NEVER EVER- All Saints (64,000)
4- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (56,000)
5- LET ME SHOW YOU- Camisra (50,000)
6- ALL I HAVE TO GIVE- Backstreet Boys (47,000)
7- GETTIN JIGGY WIT IT- Will Smith (43,000)
8- CLEOPATRA’S THEME- Cleopatra (34,000)
9- HIGH- Lighthouse Family (28,000)
10- SOLOMON BITES THE WORM- The Bluetones (26,000)

28TH FEBRUARY

Norman Cook is turning into quite the star of the year, the ex-Housemartin first remixed Wildchild’s “Renegade Master” into a No 3 hit last month and now he works his magic on Cornershop’s “Brimful Of Asha” and voila a No 1 single results! A very minor hit last year (#60) it clearly didn’t pass Cook by who allegedly got in touch with the record company offering his services to remix it and they duly obliged thankfully. Lyrically an homage to Indian film culture and actress Asha Bhosle it marks the official coming of age for Cornershop who have garnered much critical acclaim over the last few years without much sales to back it up.

Parent album “When I Was Born For The Seventh Time” also goes top 20 even though it doesn’t contain the current mix.

With most money on an easy second week for Dion but in the end she was easily defeated selling 176,000 as she slid to No 2 but Cornershop romp home on a sale of 208,321. She can console herself with the US No 1 spot which she debuts this week.





One of the most anticipated records of 1998 finally arrives at No 4 (59,000) for Savage Garden. The song hit the headlines last month when it became the song to dislodge Elton John at the top of the US charts after 14 weeks and already been a No 1 last April in their native Australia! The group had a false dawn here last year when their single “I Want You” made No 11 but follow up “To The Moon And Back” flopped at No 55 so it was back to the drawing board with this plaintive ballad.

You may know him better as Jambo in Hollyoaks but now actor Will Mellor is a popstar as well. His version of Leo Sayer’s “When I Need You” (No 1, 1977) comes straight in at No 5 (47,000) and comes with the announcement that Mellor will be leaving the soap this year.

New boyband alert! Another Level are a UK quartet who sent their demo tape to Jay Z who in turn passed it onto his UK label Northwestside who promptly signed them up, first single “Be Alone No More” proves the investment as it arrives at No 6 (42,000).

The UK isn’t normally too receptive to country music as it proved for Shania Twain who’s first international release “Woman In Me” generated no hit singles here and failed to chart despite making her a US star. She appears now to have made an impact here with a new single “You’re Still The One” which is new at No 10 (28,000) thanks in part to a slot on the National Lottery Show, the song is written by Twain and husband producer Robert “Mutt” Lange about their own relationship.

Aqua drop 2-3 (73,000) as “Aquarium” reaches a new peak of No 6, All Saints drop back 3-7 (38,000) and Will Smith glides 7-8 (33,000). Robbie Williams also dips 4-9 (29,000).


1- BRIMFUL OF ASHA- Cornershop (208,321)
2- MY HEART WILL GO ON- Celine Dion (176,000)
3- DOCTOR JONES- Aqua (73,000)
4- TRULY MADLY DEEPLY- Savage Garden (59,000)
5- WHEN I NEED YOU- Will Melor (47,000)
6- BE ALONE NO MORE- Another Level (42,000)
7- NEVER EVER- All Saints (38,000)
8- GETTIN JIGGY WIT IT- Will Smith (33,000)
9- ANGELS- Robbie Williams (29,000)
10- YOU’RE STILL THE ONE Shania Twain (28,000)

Brimful of Asha <3

One of the very best chart toppers of the 90s