Oddly the track I'm most fond of from the last 2 batches of new entries is Tamperer's follow-up. Better than Material Girl, and fun. 🙂

28TH NOVEMBER

For only the third time in chart history but the first time in 1998 there are a massive 7 new entries in the top 10 this week, but there’s bad news for them all and that’s Cher! Yes “Believe” remains at No 1 for a fifth week and is still not losing sales at a rate you might expect so long into its run and with a parent album available- it lost just 15% week on week to put in a performance of 139,132. With total sales of the track now at 863,531 it puts Cher on track for her first million seller within a fortnight.

Last time it was the All Saints that denied Five their first No 1 single but now Cher inflicts another defeat on the boys who have, nevertheless, proved themselves to be one of the brightest of the recent influx of boybands. A fifth single from their chart topping album “Five” arrives at No 2 (84,000) in the form of “Until The Time Is Through” which is also their first ballad- Christmas must be coming. The promo is shot in Mentmore Towers which was also used for Roxy Music’s “Avalon” video.

If you’re thinking about collaborations that you never thought you’d see then surely R Kelly and Celine Dion would be on that list but new at No 3 this week with sales of 74,000 is just that duet! “I’m Your Angel” is another Kelly written and produced track is a fifth single from his “R” album which was released a few weeks ago and sinks 27-30 in its second week. It’s a 6th top 10 hit for him but a 13th for Dion who has scored three top 5 singles on the trot during the year.

Already tearing up the dancefloors in Europe over the summer Dutch quartet The Vengaboys arrive in the UK with “Up & Down” new at No 4 (70,000). The group is a front for the production work of DJ’s Danski and Delmundo who have already steered this to the top 10 in their homeland, the samples in the track come from CeCe Peniston and naturally Loleatta Holloway.

“Talk On Corners” is currently top 3 having sold over 1.3 million since its release making it the 3rd best selling album of 1998 and marks the arrival of The Corrs as a major chart force in the UK. Fifth single to be plucked from it is “So Young” which has been remixed by K-Klass for single purposes and heralds the a “special Edition” of the album which will contain the new mixes of the singles (both this single and “What Can I Do” and “Dreams”) which is out this week. The song was written by the group about their parents which will only serve to reinforce their rather wholesome image as it debuts at No 6 (63,000).

Here’s a major slip in chart form, all five of Sash!’s previous singles have made the top 3 but “Move Mania” looks like it’s about to break the mould entering at No 8 (37,000). Featuring the vocal talents of 80s popstar Shannon (biggest hit “Let The Music Play” #14, 1984) it perhaps suffers as the third single from the “Life Goes On” and of course the album now being available.

1998 has been a good year for country music as demonstrated by Shania Twain’s hat-trick of top 20 singles, the latest comes straight in at No 9 (32,000) entitled “From This Moment On”. This was originally written with the idea of giving it to Celine Dion apparently but then re-imaged as a duet with Elton John, but if you’ve picked up a copy of Shania’s album “Come On Over” then you’ll hear a version with Bryan White instead, he’s been edited out for the single version though presumably as the country star would supposedly add little here in the UK.

Ruff Driverz are production duo Brad Carter and Chris Brown who have so far scored three hits in 1998, the biggest of which was “Deeper Love” a #19 hit back in May. New single “Dreaming” does best of all though piling in at No 10 (28,000) and features the vocals of Arrola (real name Katherine Ellis).

Only three survivors from last week then, Cher at the top and beneath her Steps tumble 2-5 (69,000) whilst The Tamperer Featuring Maya trip 4-7 (43,000) and won’t be making the top now.

Next week sees Boyzone and All Saints going head to head to tackle the Cher domination.



1- BELIEVE- Cher (139,132)
2- UNTIL THE TIME IS THROUGH- Five (84,000)
3- I’M YOUR ANGEL- R Kelly/ Celine Dion (74,000)
4- UP AND DOWN- The Vengaboys (70,000)
5- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (69,000)
6- SO YOUNG- The Corrs (63,000)
7- IF YOU BUY THIS RECORD YOUR LIFE WILL BE BETTER- Tamperer (43,000)
8- MOVE MANIA- Sash! (37,000)
9- FROM THIS MOMENT ON- Shania Twain (32,000)
10- DREAMING- Ruff Diverz (28,000)

So with Christmas a month away let’s take our annual look at those contenders


SPICE GIRLS- Goodbye. Bookies favourite already before anyone has heard it- can they make it three Xmas No 1’s on the trot?

B*WITCHED- To You I Belong. Two No 1 singles so far this year and naturally a festive ballad plays right into those Christmas feelings- can we resist the charms of the Irish?

BILLIE- She Wants You- Another act whose first two singles went to No 1, don’t underestimate this

CHER- Believe- Yes she’s already done 5 weeks but some don’t think she’ll be moved before the big day!

JOHNNY & DENISE- Especially For You- Yes a cover of the Kylie & Jason Classic by “The Big Breakfast” stars for Children In Need. A powerful mix

CHEF- Chocolate Salty Balls- South park character who is threatening to do a “Blobby” and upset the odds- ignore at your peril

JANE MCDONALD- Cruise Into Christmas Medley- dismiss if you will but docu-soap star McDonald has already got a platinum album to her credit this year

FAT LES- Naughty Christmas- can they turn their World Cup charm into a festive follow up- time will tell

TRUBBLE- Dancing Baby- They call it one of the first internet phenomenon’s- can a dancing 3D baby steal the show?

WHITE CHRISTMAS/ LAST CHRISTMAS/ MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY- The usual rag tag bag of covers/ remakes and re-issues get an airing- no reason why they should suddenly take off but you never know.

5TH DECEMBER




First the good news for Cher fans, “Believe” tops the charts again for a sixth week becoming her longest chart topper and the joint longest of 1998, it lost 9% week on week to a still impressive 126,011. That means that she will sell her millionth copy of the single sometime this week, an incredible achievement, and she is fast closing in on the top 3 YTD tracks from Boyzone and Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins with Celine Dion a little way ahead of them.

Now the bad news, she’s becoming increasingly vulnerable and for only the second time during her run she was behind midweek to the new Boyzone single “I Love The Way You Love Me”. It’s another cover by the band, this time of a country hit by John Michael Montgomery in 1993 which has now been turned into Boyzone’s 13th top 5 single, by far the best start to any career in pop ever. Sadly for the boys it is the third of their singles to fail to hang on to a midweek No 1 and in the end it enters at No 2 despite a sale of 119,000. One of the CD versions contains a live version of their last single “No Matter What” and due to chart regulations which state that you can’t put a former an old hit single onto a new one unless it has left the top 40, Polydor therefore deleted the earlier single and put the dealer price below the threshold.

Will Smith is rapidly turning into a reliable deliverer of big hits, his fifth solo single “Miami” wastes no time in debuting at No 3 (94,000), only his second release “Just Cruisin” has missed the top 3 but that was by some distance (it made No 23). As per usual with Smith it relies heavily on a sample, this time the Whispers 1980 #2 smash “And The Beat Goes On”.

Madonna rounds off the year with her 43rd top 10 single with another track from her “Ray Of Light” album, the double A-Side “The Power Of Good-bye/ Little Star arrives at No 6 (58,000). The title was released in the US back in October and charted here on imports at No 91 but it’s now teamed with “Little Star” which is Madonna’s ode to her daughter, the album remains top 40 and has sold almost 900,000 copies so far.

There’s no fourth No 1 in a row for All Saints, a fifth release from the girls album “War Of Nerves” makes its presence felt at No 7 (54,000). It’s been remixed from the album version but it looks to have been a single too far. The album bounces back into the top 40 this week and although it has been certified 5 times platinum actual sales lag way behind at 1.2 million for the set, nonetheless the girls can safely say that they had a great 1998.

“Ally McBeal” has turned into a cult here with Channel 4 viewers and features singer Vonda Shepard as the bar singer in the series. Shepard herself first scored a hit in the US way back in 1987 with “Can’t We Try” (a duet with Dan Hill) but has been absent for some time, her UK breakthrough comes with “Searchin My Soul” the theme to the show which is new at No 10 (41,000). It’s taken from the “Songs From Ally McBeal” album which has already sold 250,000 in just 8 weeks.

Vengaboys increase sales by 8% to 75,000 but still remain at No 4, and it’s the same situation for Steps with sales up to 69,000 but have increased sales week on week despite moving 2-5-5. Definitely out of favour though are Celine Dion and R Kelly who fall 3-8 (46,000) and Five whose time is certainly through falling 2-9 (44,000).

Next week Cher has to fend off Robbie Williams, Mel C, the Manics, and Brandy.


1- BELIEVE- Cher (126,011)
2- I LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE ME- Boyzone (119,000)
3- MIAMI- Will Smith (94,000)
4- UP AND DOWN- Vengaboys (75,000)
5- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (69,000)
6- THE POWER OF GOOD-BYE/ LITTLE STAR- Madonna (58,000)
7- WAR OF NERVES- All Saints (54,000)
8- I’M YOUR ANGEL- Celine Dion & R Kelly (46,000)
9- UNTIL THE TIME IS THROUGH- Five (44,000)
10- SEARCHIN MY SOUL- Vonda Shepard (41,000)

3 episodes tonight so we're up to date!

These are like the defining charts of my adolescence.

So Young was my favourite song of the year, such an uplifting and joyful track but with a pang of nostalgia, especially with that beautiful violin instrumental middle eight. 63k to miss the top five is mad.

The Power of Goodbye is completely stunning and up there as one my favourite Madonna singles alongside Hung Up and Like A Prayer, Move Mania was massively underrated and another anthem from Sash!, Until The Time Is Through was a classic boyband ballad from Five, and I even liked that Boyzone song, which got very unlucky with such close sales (but glad it didn't unseat Cher at the same time). All of these bring back such vivid memories from the time.

Miami and Up and Down were great fun party anthems, War Of Nerves is stunning and deserved way more than No.7. From This Moment On is a Shania classic! This is what Q4 should be about, not what we have now.

I might comment more after I see the episodes to mop up what I've missed!

God, that Boyzone song is drippy as hell. Even by their standards.

The Power of Goodbye

Move Mania is great, and Up and Down is fun and sounds influenced by Gym and Tonic lyrically.

The Corrs song is quite nice too.

Ruff Driverz quite good too.

Got quite the TOTP fix tonight with three 1998 episodes to make up for just the one last week.

What an incredible run for Cher so far! The last few #2 records haven't done much for me so I'm pleased she's been outstripping the competition. Such a great chart story.

'Up & Down' reminds me of when I took a coach to see the Spice Girls and these really drunk girls behind me kept singing it

I'm not crazy about this All Saints single but their harmonies were on point during the chorus.

The lead singer of Stereophonics was really reminding me of Luigi Mangione lookswise in 1998 *_* I think it's the eyebrows!

'The Power of Goodbye' was my highlight of this week's episodes yet another gorgeous, ethereal Ray of Light single.

Next Friday, 1998 will come to a close with a triple header

11 December - Jamie Theakston

18 December - Jayne Middlemiss

25 December - hour long review of the year with Jamie Theakston, Jayne Middlemiss and Kate Thornton

4 hours ago, Jessie Where said:

God, that Boyzone song is drippy as hell. Even by their standards.

The Power of Goodbye

That Boyzone song just came on my 1998 playlist and it was the first time I'd heard it. I must say that you've described the song perfectly.

Some great songs in this fortnight. Believe and Heartbeat/Tragedy from the week/s prior.

Then new over this fortnight, From This Moment On, Up & Down, The Power Of Goodbye, So Young and If You Buy This Record.

That iconic Tragedy performance, this was the point where it was overtaking Heartbeat in everyone’s consciences.

Always love the Corrs, adored So Young back that and was a little gutted it missed the top 5. Great to see that Stereophonics performance again last night too.

The Power Of Goodbye is definitely one of my favourite ever Madonna songs. Don’t think I’ve heard Little Star though.

The Boyzone song was utter crap, to think is scraped top 40 of the year! That was a good All Saints track though but it being the fifth single will be why it struggled.

Love love the Power of Goodbye. Sonically the cousin of Pure Shores.

'The Power Of Goodbye' ❤️ a spellbinding single just like 'Frozen' was. A flawless era.

'So Young' and 'Up and Down' are fun too.

The Shania track would become my wedding song 💞

Stereophonics got their first Top 10 hit in style, still their best in my view.

'Up And Down' is quite infectious, always good to see songs gaining in sales after week one even if they didn't climb, as with the Steps double-A gaining sales in its first three weeks - I don't think I'd even heard 'Tragedy' at this point.

Thank U is top 5 of 1998 for me and among my top 50 singles of the decade.

Huge Madonna and All Saints sales for not even top 5 !!!

And after huge album sales

from both!

12TH DECEMBER




It had to perform a rear guard action again but Cher overcame another midweek deficit to grab an incredible 7th week at No 1, you have to go all the way back to Wet, wet, wet in 1994 to find a longer lasting chart topper. To top all of that it sold an astonishing 114,633 to do it bringing its total sales to 1,104,205 and in doing so leaps 4-2 on the YTD chart with just Celine Dion ahead of her and 4 chart weeks to catch her, should be easy! It is also the 6th single by a female soloist to hit 7 figures.

Jay-Z has become a chart regular over the last few years scoring his first UK top 10 single in 1997 as the featured rapper on Foxy Brown’s “I’ll Be” (#9) but although he’s been on 6 other hits nothing has scored big until now. His third album “Volume II…Hard Knock Life” contains the title track “Hard Knock Life” and yes it samples the track from the musical “Annie”, it took an early lead in the week but went the same way as George Michael, Steps, E-17, Five and Boyzone by entering at No 2 (107,000), it’s still his biggest hit to date so hardly a failure.

When the Spice Girls were on tour in the US this year they were very busy off the stage too it appears, Mel B swanned off to record “I Want You Back” with Missy Elliott whilst Mel C jumped into the studio with Bryan Adams to record “When You’re Gone”. Adams’ recent album “On A Day Like This” only managed to make No 11 (though it has climbed 72-63-47 in recent weeks) with the title hit disappointing at No 13, looks like the release of this single has turned its fortune around. It’s Adams’ 8th top 10 single though of course the first solo release for Mel C which is real headline grabber here and probably responsible for the No 3 (81,000) debut.

The expected challenge at the top from Robbie Williams failed to materialise in the end, new single “No Regrets” coming in at No 4 (76,000), an impressive sale regardless and a sure sign that Christmas is almost here. The impact of the track was doubtless influenced by the success of the album which is top 3 and has sold 500,000 in just 6 weeks. The song is allegedly about his failed romance with All Saints Nicole Appleton which has helped with promotion and features backing vocals from Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon and Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys. If you need even more of an incentive to buy it then check out Williams’ version of Adam & The Ants “Antmusic” on the CD which is taken from the forthcoming animated film “A Bug’s Life”.

Already a No 1 single in Sweden, Norway and Austria, Emilia Rydberg’s “Big Big World” makes it across the North Sea to enter at No 5 (73,000). Using just her first name for popstar purposes, this is the Swedish singer’s first release, big things are expected!

Christmas has officially started with the new entry at No 7 (63,000) from Blackstreet and Mya Featuring Ma$e and Blinky Bink. “Take Me There” is based the theme to “Rugrats” the Kids TV show which has been turned into a film due for UK release in the new year, and this hit was developed following Blackstreet being named as Nickelodeon’s favourite R’N’B group, it is a forth top 10 single for them and also for Ma$e, a second for Mya but a first for Blinky Blink.

With four new entries in the top 5 there’s no room for Boyzone who tumble 2-6 (66,000), Steps who have a tragedy as they fall 5-8 (58,000) or the Vengaboys who are definitely just down 4-9 (55,000). Will Smith suffers the biggest fall 3-10 (53,000)- perhaps a song about Miami isn’t seasonal enough?

This week sees new releases by some chart heavyweights (for 1998 anyway) Beautiful South, Billie, B*Witched, and Fat Les. Can Cher do it?


1- BELIEVE- Cher (114,633)
2- HARD KNOCK LIFE (GHETTO ANTHEM)- Jay Z (107,000)
3- WHEN YOU’RE GONE- Mel C & Bryan Adams (81,000)
4- NO REGRETS- Robbie Williams (76,000)
5- BIG BIG WORLD- Emilia (73,000)
6- I LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE ME- Boyzone (66,000)
7- TAKE ME THERE- Blackstreet/ Mya (63,000)
8- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (58,000)
9- UP AND DOWN- Vengaboys (55,000)
10- MIAMI- Will Smith (53,000)

'When You're Gone' really should've at least grabbed the runner up position that week.

I remember 'Big Big World' being popular at school at the time. A real one-hit-wonder there!

19TH DECEMBER




The week before Christmas and all those that put a bet on Cher being there for the big day must now have lost their money. She’s no longer No 1 and is bumped to No 2 (114,452) as total sales move past 1.2 million and puts her on course to topple Celine Dion at the top of the YTD chart next week. The new No 1 comes from B*Witched who finally manage to unseat her and create a few records of their own, the girls are the 7th act to make No 1 with their first three singles, the second non UK act to do so, the third Irish act to get at least 3 chart toppers but the first to do so consecutively. The success of the single stabilises the album in the top 20 with sales just moving over the 300,000 mark.

Previous singles by the quartet opened at 153,000 and 157,000 and with remarkable consistency (especially given that the album is now out) “To You I Belong” opens with a sale of 150,000, will that be enough to fend off the Spice Girls next week?

Another act who took both their first two singles to No 1 was Billie, going head to head with B*Witched was always going to create a loser and Billie is the loser this week. “She Wants You” ends up at No 3 (86,000) to end her run, the song was originally recorded by Slovak singer Dara Rolins on her 1996 album “What You See Is What You Get” but it takes Billie to make it a UK hit and with a bigger opening tally than chart topper "Because We Want To". Her version of both “It Takes Two” and the seasonal “Last Christmas” are also on the CD single for those so inclined.

It’s billed as a dream duet the concept of bringing Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey together to perform a song has long been thought an impossible task as they presumably were deemed to be adversaries in the pop world. Recorded for the film “The Prince Of Egypt” (Disney’s new film) which is out this week, the song is actually sung by Sally Dworsky and Michelle Pfeiffer in the movie but clearly bigger names were needed to crack the top 10 and this arrives at No 4 (82,000) to become Carey’s 15th top 10 hit but only Houston’s 12th in part as she has been absent from the top flight for over 5 years.

Honeyz are fast developing into the kind of group that could easily steal Eternal’s current crown as the girlgroup of choice for those with a soul/ pop/ R’N’B inclination. Second single “End Of The Line” debuts effortlessly at No 5 (71,000) and will hopefully help shift their album which is now three weeks old having crept painfully 54-52-51 so far.

You’ll also notice that the entire top 5 consist of females, the highest man is Bryan Adams who slides 3-6 (64,000) with his Mel C duet “When You’re Gone”. Jay-Z plummets 2-7 (62,000) but Steps are selling steadily to hold at No 8 (60,000), Emilia falls 5-9 (57,000) and Boyzone round things off 6-10 (54,000) as the entire top 10 clear the 50,000 mark!

Must be Christmas next week!- Will it be a Spicy one again?


1- TO YOU I BELONG- B*Witched (150,000)
2- BELIEVE- Cher (114,452)
3- SHE WANTS YOU- Billie (86,000)
4- WHEN YOU BELIEVE- Mariah Carey & Whitney Houston (82,000)
5- END OF THE LINE- Honeyz (71,000)
6- WHEN YOU’RE GONE- Mel C & Bryan Adams (64,000)
7- HARD KNOCK LIFE (GHETTO ANTHEM)- Jay Z (62,000)
8- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (60,000)
9- BIG BIG WORLD- Emilia (57,000)
10- I LOVE THE WAY YOU LOVE ME- Boyzone (54,000)