'Someone Loves You Honey' is my favourite of the three Lutricia singles, I love it so much.

I remember all the kids at school singing the T-Spoon song for ages. I guess because they thought it was "controversial"

On 08/11/2025 at 10:10, gooddelta said:

It is funny to me that Sex On The Beach was deemed to be too risque to show on the main programme back in 1998, what if it had gone one place higher? Surely it was no different to playing I Wanna Sex You Up.

They had no problem with Generation Sex on the following week's programme!

On a slightly different note, it is interesting that, over a decade after teaming up on Walk This Way, that Run-DMC and Aerosmith have both scored their first subsequent top 10 hits within a few months of each other.

Like Horny 98, Sex on the Beach was an embarassing song to hear as a child at the time. I disapproved of it.

Millennium I liked, although it was a bit early to be releasing a Millennium themed song, maybe wait until 1999! Everyone was looking forward to the Millennium in 2000.

Edited November 9, 2025Nov 9 by TheSnake

3RD OCTOBER



Only three new entries in the top 10 this week and they all cram into the top 3 positions for just the 4th time in chart history! Congratulations go to B*Witched who become the first girl group (and only the second act ever with honorary mention to Gary Barlow) to enter at No 1 with their first two singles, “Rollercoaster” can boast 156,800 last week, some 4,000 more than “C’est La Vie” managed in its first week though of course their first hit has already sold over 840,000 copies.

B*Witched’s first album is out in a month and we’ll see if they really are heirs to the Spice Girls crown.

The Beautiful South have only been in the top 2 twice before, back in 1989 “Song For Whoever” peaked at No 2 and one year later “A Little Time” topped the charts for a week. Eight years later “Perfect 10” puts the group back in there at No 2 (89,000) proving just what a successful campaign “Blue Is The Colour” was. Time now for the follow up and “Quench” (the album) will go head to head with the B*Witched girls in a few weeks but they are beaten here this week, “Perfect 10” contains all you’d expect from a Beautiful South single, witty lyrics, a few innuendo’s and a singalong chorus, their stock has seldom been higher.

Lauren Hill completes the top 3 with the single “Doo Wop (That Thing)” a first solo single though she featured on The Refugee Camp Allstar’s “The Sweetest Thing” (#18) last year. Her debut means that all three former members of the Fugees have now scored separate top 3 singles in their own rights- impressive. The album “The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill” is out this week and will impact on the single’s ability to climb any higher but it’s a great start to her career, for now it sold 79,000 to enter at No 3 after being overtaken by The Beautiful South late in the week.

The arrival of the trio force last week’s top three down, Mel B Featuring Missy Elliott fall 1-4 (57,000), T-Spoon dip 3-5 (52,000) and Robbie Williams fades 2-6 (49,000). Further down Honeyz relax 6-7 (42,000) Boyzone tumble 5-9 (37,000) and Steps trip 7-10 (35,000), Aerosmith however buck the trend 8-7 (44,000) to score their biggest hit ever!



1- ROLLERCOASTER- B*Witched (156,800)
2- PERFECT 10- Beautiful South (89,000)
3- DOO WOP (THAT THING)- Lauryn Hill (79,000)
4- I WANT YOU BACK- Mel B Featuring Missy Elliott (57,000)
5- SEX ON THE BEACH- T-Spoon (52,000)
6- MILLENNIUM- Robbie Williams (49,000)
7- I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING- Aerosmith (44,000)
8- FINALLY FOUND- Honeyz (42,000)
9- NO MATTER WHAT- Boyzone (37,000)
10- ONE FOR SORROW- Steps (35,000)

10TH OCTOBER



After 4 weeks of new entries at No 1 there’s finally no change as B*Witched prove too strong for the opposition and shift another 112,000 copies of “Rollercoaster”. With a fortnight left until the album release there’s every chance that the girls can grab a third week next week, Never before has Ireland generated four No 1 singles in a year in the UK and the four weeks they have spent at the top so far in 1998 brings them level with Boyzone and All Saints and behind only Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins in that list.

As we're 3/4 of the way through the year let's look at the YTD to see what is shaping up to be the biggest hits of 1998

1- MY HEART WILL GO ON- Celine Dion 1,300,000
2- IT'S LIKE THAT- Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins 1,089,000
3- NO MATTER WHAT- Boyzone  1,012,000
4- C'EST LA VIE- B*Witched 846,000
5- HOW DO I LIVE?- LeAnn Rimes 692,000
6- GHETTO SUPASTAR- Pras/ Maya/ODB 668,000
7- TRULY MADLY DEEPLY- Savage Garden 644,000
8- THREE LIONS 98- Baddiel/ Skinner/ Lightning Seeds 616,000
9- VIVA FOREVER- Spice Girls 611,000
10- DOCTOR JONES- Aqua 590,000

B*Witched are also proving something of a bad luck charm for Brandy, her last single “The Boy Is Mine” stalled behind the girls hit “C’est La Vie” and now her follow up “Top Of The World” suffers the same fate as it enters at No 2 (73,000). It features rapper Ma$e who has already worked up 8 top 40 singles in just 18 months though most are features, her former sparring partner on “The Boy Is Mine” Monica releases her new single this week- can that overcome the curse of B*Witched?

Two more acts who will be going head to head with B*Witched and The Beautiful South in the album charts also score top 10 singles this week. First up are Placebo with new release “You Don’t Care About Us” which smashes in at No 5 (49,000) who were on for a No 3 hit in initial flashes but fell back as the week progressed. That’s a third top 10 for the group who have stepped up a gear commercially from their debut period.

Ace Of Base return to the 80s for their new hit, a cover of the 1983 #8 hit “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama. You may recall that they covered Aswad’s #1 1988 hit “Don’t Turn Around” back in 1994 taking it to No 5 and now they take the Rams hit back to No 8 (40,000) 15 years later.

That other band entering a chart album battle in a few weeks will be UB40, they score their 43rd chart hit putting them fourth in the all time list as far as groups go with only Status Quo, Queen and The Rolling Stones ahead of them. Returning to what has always been pay dirt for them the group are about to release “Labour Of Love III” another collection of covers including “Come Back Darling” originally by Reggae singer Johnny Osborne in 1969, it becomes their 17th top 10 single (and first in 5 years) as it debuts at No 10 (36,000).

The Beautiful South slip 2-3 (64,000) but Aerosmith prove that “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” has mass appeal as the single powers 7-4 (52,000) and bucks the trend of chart hits these days. Lauryn Hill falls 3-6 (47,000) as her album debuts at No 2 behind the Manics, T-Spoon tumble 5-7 (41,000) and Robbie Williams escapes 6-9 (38,000).


1- ROLLERCOASTER- B*Witched (112,000)
2- TOP OF THE WORLD- Brandy Featuring Mase (73,000)
3- PERFECT 10- Beautiful South (64,000)
4- I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING- Aerosmith (52,000)
5- YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT US- Placebo (49,000)
6- DOO WOP (THAT THING)- Lauryn Hill (47,000)
7- SEX ON THE BEACH- T-Spoon (41,000)
8- CRUEL SUMMER- Ace Of Base (40,000)
9- MILLENNIUM- Robbie Williams (38,000)
10- COME BACK DARLING- UB40 (36,000)

Absolutely love You Don't Care About Us by Placebo. The single had their cover of 20th Century Boy as well which was also pretty decent. The album was great too. The Lauryn Hill song is also excellent, a strong start to her solo career.

Perfect 10 was a track I liked at the time, and I still do think it is catchy, but I wish the lyrics could be changed as they are a bit cringe in retrospect.

Perfect 10 and You Don’t Care About Us are both superb!

I agree about the formers lyrics, dandy, they are a bit 90s leaning….

'Doo Wop (That Thing)' I think I do remember from the time. Very good song.

'Perfect 10' I remember a lot on the radio at the time as a child! Had no idea about the innuendos in the song until much later.

Don't remember that Ace Of Base cover from the time compared to 'Life Is A Flower'.

Edited November 14, 2025Nov 14 by TheSnake

I can so clearly recall a memory from when Rollercoaster by B*Witched was released. My mum took the family to do the shopping and get dinner followed by going to Playtime, which was like an arcade with games where you win tickets for prizes. I had enough tickets to get a volley ball and Aqua necklace that night. Thanks to hitting the jackpot on one of the roulette type games.

199& was a killer year for me !!!

A mixed bag of shows for me, loved the first one and really didn't enjoy the second - a shame that Placebo and Lauryn Hill weren't on, even on video.

The highlight of the first show was the stunning Adia by Sarah McLachlan, it's a shame she never found the same success here as she achieved in the US because what a beautiful performance of such a wonderful song.

I also love Perfect 10 but agree that the lyrics have aged very badly, although I get that it was tongue in cheek to start with. That is one of the big songs that reminds me of Christmas shopping in 1998 in the new shopping centre that had just opened in Brighton, it was playing everywhere.

I didn't have any recollection of the Fastball song, but it was decent. And I do remember the Republica song - although it was far from their best, because like Adia and Rollercoaster, it was on Hits 99, the first album I ever bought for myself (it was between that and Now 41, but Believe/So Young at the start of the two discs won the day for me).

Rollercoaster, and then from the second show Girlfriend, were two No.1s that were just a touch too naff even for me at the time, the pure pop era was getting even more bubbly at this point. I do find the Rollercoaster dance hilarious though, but for sure it's my least favourite of B*Witched's four chart toppers. Big sales for the song, I don't really recall it being quite that big.

The second show was poor. When UB40 was my favourite song on it then you know it was bad, although that was a solid effort from their later chart career. I love Ace of Base but the Cruel Summer cover was the weak link of the era for me, although it reminds me that my younger sister bought it on single, after my older sister got All That She Wants, my brother got The Sign and I bought Always Have, Always Will - meaning they were the first and only group liked by all of my siblings, as we generally had such different tastes.

The Bryan Adams song was bad, glad he quickly had better to come. The Brandy song was also dull and did well to get up to No.2 in the slipstream of The Boy Is Mine's success.

4 The Cause - what a poorly executed cover - somebody on Twitter said 'what in the X Factor boot camp is this?' and it definitely had that feel to me. It was always a skip for me on Hits 99.

17TH OCTOBER





She’s just turned 16 and now Billie Piper claims her second UK No 1 single. “Girlfriend” sold 119,000 copies last week up 49% on the 80,000 her debut release “Because We Want To” managed to make the top in July, she follows Robson & Jerome and B”Witched in debuting at the top with their first two singles though honourable mention must go to Baddiel and Skinner who arguably qualify too (you'll note that makes her the first female to do so). She's also the first UK female act since Cilla Black to score two chart toppers in one calendar year.  Billie’s album “Honey To The B” is out in a fortnight.

Former bandmates in the Housemartins have separate top 10 singles this week. Paul Heaton’s The Beautiful South slump 3-7 (48,000) whilst Norman Cook’s most recent incarnation Fatboy Slim is new at No 3 (63,000) with “Gangster Trippin”. The song takes its vocal loop from Dust Junkys “Beatbox Wash” and contains samples of “Entropy (DJ Shadow), “Word Play” and “Turntablist Anthem” (X-Ecutioners) and “You Did It” (Ann Robinson), his second album under the Fatboy Slim name is out in a fortnight.

Natalie Imbruglia reached No 2 with her first two singles but third single “Wishing I Was There” mysteriously peaked at No 19 in the summer so hopes weren’t high for fourth release from “Left Of The Middle”. No need to fear as “Smoke” makes a stunning debut at No 5 (50,000) in a surprise about face thanks in part to some decent dance mixes doing the rounds.

In the end the new Monica single was never in with a shot at the top. Prior duettist Brandy hurtles 2-8 (46,000) while Monica’s own “The First Night” slips in at No 6 (50,000). Build around a sample from Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover”, the song has just spent a fortnight at the top in the US and dips to No 2 this week but it won’t make such a big splash here by the looks of it, it betters the No 10 peak of the Ross track at least.

B*Witched cede the top spot then to Billie but sell another 89,000 in the process that makes 358,000 in 3 weeks with the group having shifted a million copies in the year so far. Aerosmith hold at No 4 (51,000) as they appear to have peaked sales wise, T-Spoon drop 7-9 (41,000) and Lauryn Hill completes the top 10 falling 6-10 (39,000) with sales overall helped by the half term break.



1- GIRLFRIEND- Billie (119,000)
2- ROLLERCOASTER- B*Witched (89,000)
3- GANGSTER TRIPPIN- Fatboy Slim (63,000)
4- I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING- Aerosmith (51,000)
5- SMOKE- Natalie Imbruglia (50,000)
6- THE FIRST NIGHT- Monica (50,000)
7- PERFECT 10- Beautiful South (48,000)
8- TOP OF THE WORLD- Brandy Featuring Mase (46,000)
9- SEX ON THE BEACH- T-Spoon (41,000)
10- DOO WOP (THAT THING- Lauryn Hill (39,000)

Smoke was a great single from Natalie, it deserved to return her to the top 5.

24TH OCTOBER





Christmas is coming! Well it’s the start of the last quarter at least as the album chart goes crazy and the singles chart has five new entries in it for the first time in almost 2 months. We have a new chart topper and a story that begins way back in the summer when French DJ Bob Sinclar released his album “Paradise” which contained a track called “Gym Tonic” co-produced by Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and featuring vocals lifted from an old Jane Fonda workout album. The song attracted considerable club attention and the record company asked Fonda for permission to use her vocals (after the event but hey ho)- she consented to the use on the album track but not for single release. Step into the fray Spacedust (Paul Glancy and Duncan Glasson) who recreated the song and got an actress to repeat Fonda’s chants and with a rush release the single sold 66,000, that’s the lowest weekly tally required for the top spot since the Tamperer way back in May.

Spacedust weren’t even ahead until right at the death, so time to give our sympathy to 911 who were ahead for the vast majority of the week but fell at the last hurdle. The boys cover of the Bee Gees “More Than A Woman” plows in at No 2 on a sale of 56,800 once all the counting had taken place still making it their biggest hit to date and an impressive 8th top 10 single on the trot. It features on the recent Bee Gees tribute album “I’ve Gotta Get A Message To You” which sees various artists taking on classics by the Gibb Brothers and has already yielded a #15 hit for Adam Garcia’s version of “Night Fever” but you can also find Robbie Williams, Steps, Cleopatra, Space and Louise doing their own take on the classics. It’s worth noting of course that the song was never released by the Bee Gees who gave it to Tavaras to record in 1978 making No 7.

Going head to head with the new Robbie Williams album in a fortnight will be the newest R.E.M album “Up”, and lead single “Daysleeper” lands at No 6 (43,000) to become only their 6th top 10 single of a decade long chart career. The title was inspired by a note Stipe saw on an apartment door in New York and tells of the struggle of the night worker who is out of synch with normal life.

US RNB four piece Dru Hill have so far scored 4 top 30 singles in the UK without ever making the top 10- until now. “How Deep Is Your Love” is not another Bee Gees cover you’ll be pleased to hear but an original composition which features in the forthcoming film “Rush Hour” and serves as the introduction to their second album. It also becomes their biggest hit yet at No 9 (37,000).

It’s been 5 years since Cliff Richard was last in the top 10 but a rather interesting trick has resulted in a return trip. Remixed substantially and sent to DJ’s under the name Blacknight the single “Can’t Keep This Feeling In” was rapidly added to playlists that had long refused to play a Cliff single resulting in, as Cliff’s record label will tell you, an illustration of ageism in the music industry. The story has generated enough interest to propel the single to No 10 (34,000) his 64th top 10 single- more than any other act ever!- new album out this week- clever Cliff.

Last week’s No 1 from Billie slides to #3 (54,000) shedding over 50% of its sales week on week and B*Witched fall 2-4 (49,000). Their album only managed to enter at No 3 whilst the Beautiful South effortlessly surged to the No 1 spot, on the singles chart “Perfect 10” falls 7-8 (39,000). Fatboy Slim reverses 3-7 (42,000) and even Aerosmith falter 4-5 (48,000) with their sales now dwindling.

Next week sees the first George Michael single since THAT incident! Straight to the top?

1- GYM N TONIC- Spacedust (66,000)
2- MORE THAN A WOMAN- 911 (56,800)
3- GIRLFRIEND- Billie (54,000)
4- ROLLERCOASTER- B*Witched (49,000)
5- I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING- Aerosmith (48,000)
6- DAYSLEEPER- R.E.M (43,000)
7- GANGSTER TRIPPIN- Fatboy Slim (42,000)
8- PERFECT 10- Beautiful South (39,000)
9- HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE- Dru Hill (37,000)
10- CAN’T KEEP THIS FEELING IN- Cliff Richard (34,000)

I think I might remember that Spacedust song/video from the time, thought it was just a workout video though!

The video must have influenced the likes of Call On Me 6 years later though!

I didn't realise that Billie cleared 100k with Girlfriend in it's first week, that's pretty impressive.

Great to see Smoke debut top 5, though any idea as to why Wishing I Was There only got to #19?

I was def losing interest in the UK top 10 at this time, Fatboy Slim is fun dance, and I don't recall Monica's track but I was Euphorically dancing to Diana Ross' classic the last time I went clubbing - RIP Duckie - so I expect I liked the borrow. Cliff wasnt the first to drop a white label track, Gilbert O' Sullivan had already done a dance track and got a buzz before the word got out, but full marks for giving it a go. He should do it again!

The rest I'm largely meh about.

Daysleeper is my favourite REM song so great to see it top 10!

Smoke

Gangster Trippin'

Daysleeper

Even love 'Gym & Tonic' (sorry not sorry)

Both Brandy and Monica solo tracks completely unmemorable.

Mixed couple of shows for me but the first one yesterday was good, loved seeing The Cardigans do My Favourite Game <3 Also I'd forgotten 4 The Cause held up as a non-mover on its second week, quite unusual for a non top 10 single.

I've shared my views on both Girlfriend and Gym N Tonic in my current 1998 No.1s rank but in short, the former is fine, a little better than Because We Want To, but I'm not fond of the latter due to the tacky cash-in nature of its release, although I don't like their take on the track anyway. Gangster Trippin' was cool but the next two singles from the album were definitely better. And Smoke is lovely by Natalie Imbruglia, it is weird that Wishing I Was There did so badly as I like that too.

The First Night was dull from Monica, but I like it marginally more than Brandy's Top Of The World.

I do like 911's cover of More Than A Woman and they were very unlucky to be overtaken at the end.

Daysleeper is a great track, and I love All 'Bout The Money by Meja, yet ANOTHER 1998 hit from Sweden. What was in the water there?

Dru Hill's song was ok, I prefer These Are The Times. And the single version of the Cliff song is terrible, but the story behind it is genius, and the remix from the white label is actually something I listen to on occasion, I can see how he fooled radio with it, it sounds like a cool US R&B group single from the time produced by Darkchild, espcially with the rapper on it. It has to be heard to be believed.

Edited November 22, 2025Nov 22 by gooddelta