18TH APRIL





Easter arrives, and whilst it isn’t the massive sales boost that Christmas is, it brings with it a minor boom of its own. Behind all week to the highest new entry Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins had to battle back but it managed it at the death with an increased sale of 128,000 (up 13%) bringing its total to 791,000 during its 5 weeks at No 1 so far. The follow up hit looks like another Jason Nevins remix, this time of “It’s Tricky” which, just like “It’s Like That”, is already charting on imports at No 74 and is a big hit on the continent at the moment.

That midweek leader came from Busta Rhymes, a rapper whose previous biggest hit was 1996’s “Woo-Ha!! Got You All In Check” (#8) but an inspired use of the “Knight Rider” theme transforms an average album track into a great single choice. “Fire It Up (Remix)/ Turn It Up” had, as we’ve noted, sprinted into an early lead but slackened the pace as the week wore on eventually coming to rest on 123,000.

Scoring a massive hit last summer with “Free” Ultra Nate finally gets round to that follow up and “Found A Cure” duly arrives at No 6 (42,000). “Free” sold almost half a million so there will be much riding on the performance of this single, both hits will appear on her album “Situation: Critical” out next month.

The current US No 1 single enters here at No 8 (36,000) for K-Ci & Jojo (they’re brothers) who were of course formerly members of Jodeci, though they've been releasing the occasional track as a separate entity away from the group. Now with the group on a break they’ve decided to make their duo into a regular chart act and this is their third, and largest yet, “solo” track. “All My Life” leapt from 15-1 in the US and was written by Jojo using his daughter as inspiration, originally it was intended for another unnamed female vocalist but kept back- a wise move!

Celine Dion drops 2-3 (54,000) but Billie Myers holds on to No 4 (50,000) along with Savage Garden at No 5 (49,000). The notable increase for “Truly Madly Deeply” can only be attributable to the school holidays and has sold 342,000 copies so far after 8 weeks in the top 10. Sash! fall 3-7 (39,000) with LeAnn Rimes holding at No 9 (35,000), Robbie Williams rounds the top ten off moving 6-10 (31,000) but celebrates anyway as “Life Thru A Lens” finally makes No 1 in its 28th week in the chart!



1- IT’S LIKE THAT- Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins (128,000)
2- TURN IT UP/ FIRE IT UP- Busta Rhymes (123,000)
3- MY HEART WILL GO ON- Celine Dion (54,000)
4- KISS THE RAIN- Billie Myers (50,000)
5- TRULY MADLY DEEPLY- Savage Garden (49,000)
6- FOUND A CURE- Ultra Nate (42,000)
7- LA PRIMAVERA- Sash! (39,000)
8- ALL MY LIFE- K-Ci & Jojo (36,000)
9- HOW DO I LIVE- LeAnn Rimes (35,000)
10- LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU- Robbie Williams (31,000)

25TH APRIL





With a day of sales lost to Easter Monday Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins retain the top spot for a 6th week, that equals the total for a rap record held by “I’ll Be Missing You” and is now the longest uninterrupted stint at No 1 since “Wannabe” in 1996. Sales are predictably down at 87,000 which makes “It’s Like That” a sitting duck for the new Boyzone single out this week but its success has been astonishing!

Busta Rhymes remains in second spot (58,000) but will not now pose any threat to the top spot.

Straight into No 3 (46,000) this week comes another slice of Italian dance music courtesy of The Tamperer (production duo Mario Fargetta and Alex Farolfi) featuring Maya Days (credited only as Maya) and “Feel It”. Based extensively around a sample of the Jacksons “Can You Feel It” and taking lyrics from Heather Leigh West’s “Drop A House” the song has proved irresistible to both radio and clubbers.

British dance duo 187 Lockdown first appeared as a remix duo before grabbing a hit in their own right last year with “Gunman” (#16), follow up “Kung-Fu” does much better however coming in at No 9 (32,000). The mildly violent video has been avoided by some TV stations but it seems hasn’t hampered the progress of the single which uses samples from computer games “Mortal Kombat 2” and “Street Fighter II”.

Celine Dion continues her slow descent 3-4 (45,000) but “My Heart Will Go On” has now sold 1,136,000 making it the 14th biggest hit of the decade and just 100,000 behind her biggest hit “Think Twice”. Savage Garden are also long stayers, nine weeks in the top 10 as it holds at No 5 (42,000) and will sell their 400,000th copy this week.

Ultra Nate holds at No 6 (40,000) but hats off to LeAnne Rimes who climbs 9-7 (39,000) with “How Do I Live” equalling the peak of the track that it achieved 7 weeks ago, it’s chart trajectory this far has been 7-9-12-17-12-9-9-7 accumulating 258,000 copies thus far. Sash! dip 7-8 (35,000) and Billie Myers hangs on in there 4-10 (29,000).


1- IT’S LIKE THAT- Run DMC Vs Jason Nevins (87,000)
2- TURN IT UP/ FIRE IT UP- Busta Rhymes (58,000)
3- FEEL IT- Tamperer Featuring Maya (46,000)
4- MY HEART WILL GO ON- Celine Dion (45,000)
5- TRULY MADLY DEEPLY- Savage Garden (42,000)
6- FOUND A CURE- Ultra Nate (40,000)
7- HOW DO I LIVE- LeAnn Rimes (39,000)
8- LA PRIMAVERA- Sash! (35,000)
9- KUNG FU- 187 Lockdown (32,000)
10- KISS THE RAIN- Billie Myers (29,000)

What happened to It's Tricky in the end, was it cancelled? I don't understand why on earth they would do that, it could have been massive. It didn't chart at all in 1998 outside of that import.

36 minutes ago, gooddelta said:

What happened to It's Tricky in the end, was it cancelled? I don't understand why on earth they would do that, it could have been massive. It didn't chart at all in 1998 outside of that import.

One of life's mysteries, it was slated for release then just disappeared.

I loved It's Like That at the time, it felt like such a cool track and I remember being amazed when it did as well as this. Busta Rhymes was also pretty decent, the Knightrider sample was basically what sold it but it was an inspired idea.

A very hip hop top 2 there! Don't remember the Busta Rhymes track from the time but it sounds good listening there.

'Feel It' is iconic and great! Started a brief trend for chimes in songs! *looking at you Steps and Texas*

Misread that 187 Lockdown song title for a second and thought it was another similarly titled/themed chart song from 1998!

Edited Friday at 19:534 days by TheSnake

Liked the Tamperer and Ultra Nate ones

When Life Thru A Lens topped the album chart on the 18th April, the gap to Celine Dion in 2nd place was just 4 sales !

Life Thru A Lens - 42,995

Let's Talk About Love - 42,991

Edited Saturday at 12:064 days by mrpopquiz

What a run for 'It's Like That' at the moment the last few TOTP repeats have been lacking in major highlights for me but that stands out for a mile. Shocked to learn that 'It's Tricky' was a cancelled single here as I'm pretty familiar with that one too, argh.

I do quite like 'Feel It' as well though, the Jacksons production sample and wacky lyrics are a fun combination.

Oh my at 'Kung Fu' being a top 10 hit. I don't think I'd ever come across that until yesterday!