Can we avoid spoilers on future chart positions please?

6 hours ago, Gezza said:

Can we avoid spoilers on future chart positions please?

Ok, have edited it out.

11 hours ago, Jester said:

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

It's certainly in my top 10 for them but when you have "Losing My Religion" "What's The Frequency Kenneth", "Nightswimming" "E-Bow" and "Strange Currencies" in your oeuvre then it's going to be tough to rank.

Haven't commented in this thread for a while, so a condensed catch-up:

MAY

The week with no new entries in the Top 10 was certainly unexpected, but I was happy to see 'Feel It' rise to the top on its 6th week - on Gezza's second stat, I believe the same All Saints song as in the first ('Never Ever') also covered all positions in the Top 5 (in fact the Top 6) before climbing to #1, but it's a great stat that they were the first to do so in more than 20 years. The chart run of 'How Do I Live?' was extraordinary to follow too, surviving in the Top 40 for 30 weeks despite only peaking at #7 (something that's now relatively normal e.g. 'back to friends' has had a longer run with the same peak).

JUNE

World Cup fever was everywhere, and I did enjoy the remade 'Three Lions '98' and 'Vindaloo' at the time, but it's only the original 'Three Lions' I go back to now. My favourite new Top 10 hit was 'The Rockafeller Skank' - that slowed down and sped up section in the middle is pretty epic - and it's interesting to see it opened with 67k sales, more than the #3 follow-up did.

JULY

'Intergalactic' was the highlight for me here, some of those rhymes are hilarious. I started to lose interest in TOTP around this time, as too often it was the same songs appearing, often in consecutive weeks when they were on their way down the chart, and with so many new entries not appearing even with a video, so it started to feel less definitive. The other music programme which had been essential viewing for me was ITV's The Chart Show video programme around Saturday lunchtimes, however that was soon to be brought to an abrupt halt...

AUGUST

The final episode of The Chart Show aired with Stardust debuting at #1, from whichever midweek they used - sadly not, and they didn't even have the video with the chart rundown to play. In real life, while waiting for my A-level results, I was commuting for a summer job, and on the train home one Friday I realised I had my first real life crush on a girl I worked with (we stayed as friends and kept in touch for the next few years), so was trying to process all that and didn't even watch TOTP that week, though I heard some of the vocals from the TV in the other room - the Babybird and Boyzone performances felt like they went on for ages.

SEPTEMBER

Some great moments with the Manics' first #1, the Sheryl Crow song which became my favourite of hers, and other future favourites of the time such as 'Celebrity Skin' outside the Top 10, although at the time songs like the Aerosmith one and especially 'The Incidentals' reflected the feelings I started to yearn for, in amongst my anxiety of being about to move away from home to university and begin a whole new chapter...

OCTOBER

These TOTP repeats are the first I've seen (or heard) of most of these episodes now - I had no TV in my uni room, and the only programme most of my new friends routinely watched was South Park on a Monday evening in the common room. However I kept a close eye on the charts and made sure to tape the Top 40 chart show rundown on Sundays, as I had to leave my room for dinner at about 6.30pm. If I still wasn't sure of any artists, I'd go to my local record shop to check what was in each chart place, the dedication! That's also where I bought 'Daysleeper' on release - the first R.E.M. single I was really excited about, as I first heard Automatic For The People in full the year before (still my all-time favourite album) - and I'd rank it among my favourite R.E.M. songs too, those lyrics about working at night instantly struck a chord in my new ad hoc study schedule. 'Gangster Trippin' is a fun one I later bought, probably my favourite of the four singles from the Fatboy Slim album for a while (awful video though).

19 hours ago, gooddelta said:

Mixed couple of shows for me but the first one yesterday was good, loved seeing The Cardigans do My Favourite Game <3

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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?

Whatever it was, we were about to be blown out of the water in 4 months time by a certain Swedish written and produced hit!

I forgot to mention 'My Favourite Game' above, but that's my favourite Cardigans song and had a fantastic run without going Top 10, good to see them on the show, as well as Garbage in a great run of singles from them.

Gave that version of the Cliff song a listen - it sounds like a template for 'Say My Name', who'd have thought it? And then he went and spoiled any credibility with 'The Millennium Prayer'...

‘Space dust’ Must be the first no1 of the decade I’ve literally never heard of and don’t remember at all. Getting to the point now when the no1s in quiet weeks were getting there due to be held back to the right time rather than being big songs!

Edited November 27Nov 27 by Steve201

31ST OCTOBER



What a week- and a record breaking one! For the first time the whole top 5 are all new entries for some of the most anticipated singles of the year, coming out on top (to the surprise of many) is Cher! The 52 year old becomes the oldest female soloist to top the charts as she grabs a fourth chart topper if you include her work with Sonny and on the Comic Relief single in 1995, she therefore becomes the only female act to top the charts three times in the decade. The title in question is “Believe” which utilises a technique called autotune to produce a strange effect on Cher’s vocals which has the desired effect of making the song stick out and become memorable. Her move into dance music (or pop dance at least) is a further evolution for the singer who is famed for such makeovers, yet the song was trailing in the midweek flashes and was propped up by an appearance on the “Des O’Connor Show” which sent sales into the stratosphere and helped to an end sale of 167,751. The album of the same name is out this week to capitalise, but as one final footnote it means that Cher has a chart topping career spanning 33 years- a record.

That midweek chart topper had to settle for a No 2 splash in the end, and that belonged to a returning George Michael. “Outside” refers to that the incident back in April when the singer was arrested for engaging in a lewd act in a public toilet in L.A which made headlines around the globe, all of which is explored in the video which caused as many headlines. Michael will release his greatest hits set cheekily called “Ladies & Gentleman” next month and will feature this, his 18th top 10 single and 11th on the trot, “Outside” sold 116,000 copies last week and is also, unhappily, his 4th single in just over 2 years to lose a midweek No 1 position! Don’t feel too sorry for him however, this is still his biggest debut week sales ever (excluding Wham!).

Also gearing up for a Christmas Greatest Hits collection are U2, they take an old B-side from 1987, dust it down, and remix it for 1998. “The Sweetest Thing” was on the flipside of the hit “Where The Streets Have No Name” but now gets its moment in the spotlight and enters at No 3 (111,000) almost catching George Michael at the death. Written as an apology to Bono’s wife Ali Hewson, she also features in the promo along with Boyzone and Boxer Steve Collins and is their 10th top 10 single of the 90s as they become one of only 13 acts to reach the milestone.

Reunited for the first time in 12 years Culture Club were the best selling singles act of 1983 and after years of acrimony the group are back together with “I Just Wanna Be Loved” the product. A ninth top 10 hit for the outfit it precedes a new greatest hits album “Greatest Moments” out in a fortnight, the single gets the campaign off to an excellent start arriving at No 4 (71,000)- the highest placed single from the group in 14 years.

When you’ve sold over 2 million copies of your first album following it up must be a terrifying prospect but here’s Alanis Morissette’s attempt, “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” is out in a few weeks and leading the charge is the single “Thank U” which at a stroke becomes her biggest hit. Debuting at No 5 (59,000) it is only her second top 10 single following 1996’s “Head Over Feet”(#7) and comes with another eye catching video showing Morissette nude in the streets of New York.

This week there are more new entries in the top 5 than in the rest of the top 40 (odd fact) and with the average age of all the acts in the top 4 at over 40 that’s the oldest ever as well, remarkable.





A hit in UK urban circles in 1996, Kele Le Roc’s “Let Me Know” convinced 1st Avenue to sign her up for the big time and after a long gestation period her debut major release “A Little Bit Of Lovin” finally hit the stores. It debuts at No 8 (43,000) and acts as an intro to her first album due in the spring.

Phew- after 6 new entries there isn’t much left to cover. Spacedust collapse 1-6 (51,000), but Aerosmith prove more consistent slipping 5-7 (46,000) and 911 fall 2-9 (40,000). Billie’’s debut album limps in at No 16 as her former chart topping single “Girlfriend” slumps 3-10 (38,000).


1- BELIEVE- Cher (167,751)
2- OUTSIDE- George Michael (116,000)
3- SWEETEST THING- U2 (111,000)
4- I JUST WANNA BE LOVED- Culture Club (71,000)
5- THANK YOU- Alanis Morrissette (59,000)
6- GYM AND TONIC- Spacedust (51,000)
7- I DON’T WANNA MISS A THING- Aerosmith (46,000)
8- A LITTLE BIT OF LOVIN- Kele Le Roc (43,000)
9- MORE THAN A WOMAN- 911 (40,000)
10- GIRLFRIEND- Billie (38,000)

7TH NOVEMBER

Becoming just the second track to increase sales in its second week at No 1 all year, Cher’s “Believe” shook off all competition to sell 205,236 copies last week and that despite the parent album of the same name entering the charts at No 8. George Michael plays runner up once again but there’s going to be no way through for “Outside” which sold just 67,000 copies to hold the position.

Fusing Jazz and pop together has brought success for Touch And Go. There track “Would You” is certainly one of the more unusual records in the charts tempting 57,000 buyers last week to debut at No 3.

Another Level’s debut album is out next week and will of course feature their last single “Freak Me” which made No 1, and their new single “Guess I Was A Fool” which enters at No 5 (52,000). It’s a third top 10 single for the boys who have quickly found a place for themselves in the charts and on teenage walls.

Pras must clearly value the work of the Gibb Brothers, his last single “Ghetto Supastar” featured the Bee Gees penned “Islands In The Stream” and now his follow up “Blue Angels” uses the melody from “Grease” which was written by Barry Gibb. It features vocals by Product G & B and gives Pras another top 10 single by making no 6 (48,000).

U2 slip 3-4 (53,000) but fare better than other new entries from last week’s top 5 which include Culture Club 4-7 (44,000) and Alanis Morissette 5-9 (38,000). Aerosmith sink 7-8 (42,000) but “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” has now sold 380,000 copies without going top 3, and Billie holds at No 10 (31,000).


1- BELIEVE- Cher (205,236)
2- OUTSIDE- George Michael (67,000)
3- WOULD YOU?- Touch & Go (57,000)
4- SWEETEST THING- U2 (53,000)
5- GUESS I WAS A FOOL- Another Level (52,000)
6- BLUE ANGELS- Pras (48,000)
7- I JUST WANNA BE LOVED- Culture Club (44,000)
8- I DON’T WANT TO MISS A THING- Aerosmith (42,000)
9- THANK U- Alanis Morissette (38,000)
10- GIRLFRIEND- Billie (31,000)

Is girlfriend Billies biggest selling single?

3 minutes ago, vibe said:

Is girlfriend Billies biggest selling single?

it was at the end of the 90s (in terms of her solo hits) but only just so who knows as of 2025. She's never managed a gold cert.

The whole media thing about the use of autotune kind of overshadowed and partly ruined my enjoyment of 'Believe' at the time tbh. Also my parents weren't a fan of the autotune.

I do like it now, classic! It has a good Todd Terry/Karen Ramirez style house instrumental behind it.

'Would You' and its brass riff were everywhere at the time.

'Outside' is good too. Big almost James Bond theme style production. Must have been influenced by Robbie Williams Millennium.

Edited November 28Nov 28 by TheSnake

Thank U is all kinds of wonderful. Also a big fan of Sweetest Thing.

'Sweetest Thing' was a really nice track from U2 forgot to mention that.

Thank U is a 10 !!

I remember it was a bumper week that week. I seem to recall that Woolworths opened early that Monday morning, not because of any of the singles released but because the DVD of "Titanic" was released. I bought George Michael, Cher, and Alanis that Monday morning before going to work.

I didn't know about the second week spike in sales for Cher, they were great numbers!

1 hour ago, Gezza said:

it was at the end of the 90s (in terms of her solo hits) but only just so who knows as of 2025. She's never managed a gold cert.

I would've never predicted that. I'd have had Day & Night (admittedly 2000's) and Honey To The Bee ahead of it. I know Honey To The Bee didn't get to #1 though.

56 minutes ago, TheSnake said:

'Outside' is good too. Big almost James Bond theme style production. Must have been influenced by Robbie Williams Millennium.

Given that "Outside" was recorded and finished by the end of May 1998 (promo filmed on 4/6/98) I doubt it had much to do with "Millennium" in terms of being influenced by it.

The Sweetest Thing has grown on me over the years, I wasn’t that keen on it initally.

"Sweetest Thing" is a nice little ditty, underrated and subtle which is unusual for U2.