What a run of I Turn To You, Never Be The Same Again and Black Coffee! All 10/10 songs for me.

Black Coffee is so sophisticated and chilled, one of the best number 1s ever imo.

6. The Corrs - Breathless

Rank: 9/10

Rating: Shock? The final result for today sees the only UK No.1 single for my favourite band of all-time, The Corrs. Like many other acts in 2000, the Irish family group had almost set themselves up to succeed due to a huge era immediately prior, in this case with the wonderful Talk On Corners, the biggest selling album of 1998 in the UK. Still, they did release live single Radio from the Unplugged album in the gap between albums and that only got to No.18. But a new studio album is a big deal, and they brought in the big guns for the first two singles in the form of Shania Twain's then husband and producer Robert "Mutt" Lange. This was no country song, but it was poppier than The Corrs had ever gone before, a way bigger and more fully produced sound than their previous more Irish influenced singles (although single mixes by the likes of Tin Tin Out, K-Klass and Todd Terry did make them rather less so).

This had more in common with Belinda Carlisle's power pop of the 80s than anything The Corrs had put out before with 'do do' backing vocals by Sharon and Caroline almost sounding like a backing track instrument in itself. But of course it was Andrea's performance that was the star of the show here, looking and sounding like a pop star at the top of her game, this was a deserved No.1 single and one I wasn't certain would get there until the chart was released that week. My favourite Corrs single, Runaway, was released in its 1999 hit version in the same week as Britney's Baby One More Time so clearly stood no chance, but they didn't exactly have a clear run at the top with this either. They had to knock off Eminem's The Real Slim Shady after just one week, and Steps were deemed to pose competition at the time too but ended up at No.5. But they managed it, and their profile had probably never been higher than at this point, with the three sisters' looks into the camera in this video even parodied in an SM:TV skit by Ant, Dec and Cat called 'The Beautiful Corrs' (with Jim in a paper bag, naturally). Breathless is also their biggest song on Spotify, with nearly 250m streams, yet they were in some corners accused of selling out with this single and particuarly the parent In Blue album, which was basically a pop band album in parts, and a world away from their traditional Irish origins. This is a great single, but definitely not my favourite Corrs song - I will, however, always be grateful for that seven days they had in the sun, literally by the looks of it in this video in the desert.

Aw 'It Feels So Good' just missing out on the top 10! I had Kisstory on in the garden for a little while today and it came on and sounded glorious in the sun 😍 absolutely love the trance beats, euphoric strings and soaring chorus. Glad it was one of the songs to buck the trend of just one week at #1 in 2000, what a classic.

'Black Coffee' has been a slow burner for me over the years and now I hugely rate it. I'm a sucker for William Orbit ambience but the girls really shine with their harmonies too. Love the impact of the explosive outro after most of the song is so laidback.

The Mel C anecdote you shared was a great read! A cracking pair of chart-toppers from her too.

The top five will begin tomorrow and features three of the year's biggest dance hits (one sneak, some might say, but this is a personal rank after all), a seminal rap single, and a pop classic that narrowly missed out on being the biggest seller of 2000 in the closing days of the year. I bought four of these on single on release, and the other I owned on an album already.

All Saints - Pure Shores

Eminem - Stan

Fragma - Toca's Miracle

Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby

Spiller feat Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)

'The Real Slim Shady' is the song I referred to that I was pleased to have made the top 12 - understandably it was next out, but it was an important #1 as the one where Eminem truly arrived in the social conscience and threw off any remnants of the novelty tag. A few other good ones have dropped out, but the remaining two I bought in the opening week are still here.

Love the Mel C anecdote, quite a claim to fame there! Wonder if the glass of water will make an appearance regarding one of the songs left 😃

Just now, jimwatts said:

Wonder if the glass of water will make an appearance regarding one of the songs left 😃

<3 Now you've reminded me of it, it will have to.

Left Eye really makes “Never Be The Same Again”, what a talent.

“Black Coffee” is such a wonderful piece of writing and production. I think there is certainly a case to be made for it being at least as good as “Pure Shores”, but I have too much nostalgia surrounding the latter.

I generally liked The Corrs a lot more at the time but “Breathless” is still a strong piece of pop.

5. Eminem - Stan

Rate: 9.5/10

Reason: Eminem followed The Real Slim Shady with the angrier The Way I Am - his smallest hit to date when it peaked at No.8, but the album was far from done and its best song was being saved for the Christmas market, perhaps to maximise his album sales and profile at this lucrative time? Stan is a one of a kind single that needs no introduction, it's one of the most famous songs in music history, yet is still only Eminem's 8th biggest song on Spotify, albeit with a huge 1.3bn streams such is his profile. Sampling the verse of then little known British singer Dido's Thank You - which had been used in the film Sliding Doors - to use as a chorus (which gave her career the biggest boost possible despite her not getting an official OCC credit), Stan told the hard-hitting story of an obsessive Eminem fan and the song was so influential in popular culture that 'stan' is now a common term used to describe obsessive fans that has even made it into the Oxford English Dictionary.

Stan for me is one of those once in a lifetime kind of songs. I was halfway through secondary school at the time and my classmates were all obsessed with Eminem, but rightly so based on the material he was putting out. Even the heavily edited radio version kept enough of the lyrics in it to tell the chilling story of Stan(ley) and his ill-fated pregnant girlfriend, it was genuinely 'stop you in your tracks' stuff every time it came on the radio in between the likes of Robbie and S Club 7. A timeless rap single and a very deserving UK No.1, and that wasn't guaranteed either as it was obviously from an already huge selling album and released on the same week as the year's biggest seller, Can We Fix It? by Bob The Builder. Fortunately, Eminem managed a week in front to start before Bob leapfrogged him the following week in time for Christmas.

4. Madison Avenue - Don't Call Me Baby

Rate: 9.5/10

Reason: Moving into 'favourite songs of all-time' territory here, Australian duo Cheyne Coates and Andy Van Dorsselaer arrived in the charts in late 1999, when Don't Call Me Baby reached No.30. The infectious house track had reached No.2 in the duo's native country so it made sense to push it here but it wasn't given very much support or airplay at the time so limped out of sight quite quickly. Its low chart appearance was nonetheless enough for Now to include it on their late 1999 release Now Dance 2000 and I just kept thinking 'how on earth was this song not a big hit?'.

But fast forward to May 2000 and it was time to try it again, this time with the full weight of promotion behind it, and the song went straight to No.1 and is now a platinum seller in the UK. I was - and remain - absolutely addicted to this complete gem of a dance track which sampled the bassline of Italo disco song Ma Quale Idea by Pino D'Angiò, a small European hit in 1981. While the bassline is great, Madison Avenue's own vocal hook is just as good, with a great female empowerment angle and a massively catchy chorus. It has always been a huge earworm for me and I bought the single, as well as the follow-up Who The Hell Are You (No.1 in Australia), and even got their album on vinyl recently. In Australia they managed another few hits beyond those two but perhaps remain best remembered for singer Cheyne's bizarre improvised dancing with a glass of water during an infamous ARIA awards medley performance of a couple of their hits.

“Stan” winning the ultimate ultimate survivor, beating the likes of “With Every Heartbeat”, was quite a moment for the forum. Eminem’s level of self absorption is quite scary but it did produce something great here. “Lose Yourself” beats it though for me.

“Don’t Call Me Baby” is a fab out of the blue hit but probably would only be Top 20 in mine.

Stan is certainly one for the ages. Powerful and spellbinding. The story-telling is just incredible, and the video very haunting. It is one that everyone remembers. Elton John also performed the song live with Eminem too.

Madison Avenue would not be this high for me, but I saw it as more a novelty style dance #1 at the time, which is probably why I didn't pay it as much attention, and I was not impressed with the two follow-up singles, but their #1 is regarded highly by many and features on many many compilations I own. That video of a glass of water is suspect... it's a very murky glass and I wouldn't want to drink that!

Shock at Corrs being only 6 but we do like some surprises. 'Breathless' was a great track for them to get their only #1.

'Stan' is a classic. Would certainly be between that and 'Lose Yourself' fighting for Eminems best for me.

I don't mind 'Don't Call Me Baby' but it would be a fair lot lower imo oops.

I didn't chart "Stan", Madison Avenue, "Groovejet" and any All Siants songs in my retro weekly charts. "Breathless" was peaked at # 3.

2 minutes ago, Last Dreamer said:

I didn't chart "Stan", Madison Avenue, "Groovejet" and any All Siants songs in my retro weekly charts. "Breathless" was peaked at # 3.

Did you chart Fragma @Last Dreamer?

I think Breathless is too generic for me, it lost that Corrs sparkle in a bid to sound like the music doing well at the time. It’s good they had a number 1 though.

Stan is just superb, it’s certainly a ‘stop you in your tracks’ song and for me Eminem’s best.

Don’t Call Me Baby is just ok as a dance song for me.

1 hour ago, awardinary said:

Did you chart Fragma @Last Dreamer?

No. I don't like dance music. Only Rollergirl had big hits in my charts, possibly

Cascada will have any songs in a bottom of top 20, when I will reach 2007-2009 years in retrospective.

3. All Saints - Pure Shores

Rate: 9.5/10

Reason: All Saints were quiet throughout 1999, after a 15-month period where they had been everywhere and had scored three No.1 singles along with two other top ten hits. Evidently, they were busy working with William Orbit who was hot property following his collaborative work with Madonna on the Ray Of Light album plus Beautiful Stranger in 1999. Shaznay, Mel, Nicole and Natalie broke their silence in the opening weeks of 2000 when the blissful ambient pop of Pure Shores started to hit the airwaves. A hazy should have been summer classic released when it was five degrees outside and we all needed warming up, the song was more pop/electronic than the band had gone before and was described as "a dream pop song with ambient and electronic production, and a syncopation of synth delays, arpeggiated guitar and ethereal sound effects" - essentially the sound that William Orbit had become synonymous with (although he was a man of many talents and had also just scored a trance top five hit with his take on Barber's Adagio For Strings).

Co-written by William Orbit with the group's main songwriter, the talented Shaznay Lewis, Pure Shores was an instant classic from the first listen, I remember the first time I heard it I thought it could have passed for a career-best Morcheeba single, the vocals being so silky smooth and the music so relaxing and beautiful. But it was also cinematic in scope, particularly when the drama amps up and the music becomes more urgent in the middle eight, meaning it made complete sense that it was written for Leonardo DiCaprio blockbuster film The Beach. Pure Shores sold a shade under 200k on its first week out (199,084 to be precise) and went on to be the second biggest selling single of 2000, pipped at the post by Bob The Builder's Can We Fix It? And while Never Ever remains the group's biggest seller, Pure Shores is more popular today, with 190m Spotify streams way ahead of Never Ever. This was the sound of a great band - and an exceptional songwriter - at the peak of their career.

Pure Shores remains absolutely gorgeous!

2. Spiller feat Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)

Rate: 10/10

Reason: Michael look away now, because it's time for Posh's nemesis, Sophie Ellis-Bextor (from indie band Theaudience and daughter of presenter Janet Ellis) along with the very tall Italian DJ Cristiano Spiller. Groovejet had started life as an instrumental by Spiller that sampled Love Is You, a disco song originally performed by Carol Williams with the Salsoul Orchestra. Sophie Ellis-Bextor was asked to provide lyrics and vocals for the song, with a helping hand from Mud guitarist and pop songwriter Rob Davis. The resulting single was released on Positiva (the dance label that provided both of my favourite singles of 2000) and, for me, was a sound of absolute beauty. A looping disco sample used wonderfully by Spiller and complemented so well by the vocals from the unique and fresh voice of Sophie, this was my sound of summer 2000. I hadn't even thought about its chart potential when I heard it, and I gather they probably hadn't fully expected it to be so big either when they gave it to Now 46, which came out three weeks before this single was released.

But the hype was building and the single found itself in what appeared to be a battle it would never win - with media darling Victoria Beckham's first single away from the Spice Girls, the actually great garage track Out Of Your Mind with Truesteppers and Dane Bowers. It was the most publicised chart battle since 1995's Oasis vs. Blur and undoubtedly helped both singles to higher sales as the media got carried away in the battle of 'Posh vs Posher'. I had at this point already owned Now 46 for three weeks so didn't particularly need to buy this single, but I did anyway as I wanted to help out my favourite track. CD:UK gave the battle to Posh on the Saturday, and it looked a done deal, but never discount those Friday night clubbers hitting the shops on Saturday, as they bought Groovejet in its droves and it went straight to No.1 with a sale of just over 200k, about 20k more than Out Of Your Mind - and this was even despite hundreds of thousands already having it on that Now album. A true classic dance single that is still heard a lot today, it's a shame that both of those singles couldn't get their time at No.1, but I was very happy that it was this one that did. And it launched the solo career of the brilliant Sophie, who is still of course a star now. A dance classic.

1. Fragma - Toca's Miracle

Rate: 10/10

Reason: Over to Germany for my favourite UK No.1 single of 2000 and one of my all-time favourite songs (albeit actually my third favourite song of 2000 behind Vanessa Amorosi's No.7 cult party anthem Absolutely Everybody and Delerium and Sarah McLachlan's No.3 trance classic Silence). Fragma's Toca Me was one of many dance classics to chart in 1999 that had more potential than its initial chart placing would let on when it debuted and peaked at No.11. But the potential, in this case, was not fully realised with the instrumental track and, like Groovejet, the track needed a vocal to really fly. Mash-up culture was a very new thing back in the early 2000s but British DJ Vimto had the idea to put Toca Me together with British singer Coco's No.39 1997 hit I Need A Miracle - unbelievably co-written by Groovejet writer Rob Davis. Like all good mash-ups, the track and vocal fit together like a glove and - frankly - one of the most inspired and best ever dance records was created.

The trance backing track of Toca Me was left untouched, and Coco's vocal was laid on top and the result was beautiful and helped to bring mash-up culture from the underground right into the public eye and helping to inspire DJs and remixers across the world for years to come. The song was released on Positiva and sold 187,859 copies on its week of release - including my copy, naturally, and instantly became a dance classic that is still regularly played on the radio today and was one of the top ten biggest sellers of the year, with Fragma scoring two further top five hits in 2001. Sadly, since its release, Toca's Miracle has been caught up in licensing hell due to various issues on both sides, meaning that the version on Spotify now (which was only added a couple of years ago), is not Coco's voice but a re-recording by a soundalike, and the original music video is very hard to find too so a live video has to suffice here. We can only hope that one day this spat is resolved so Toca's Miracle can be heard and enjoyed in the way it was intended in the first place.

Thank you all for following along and commenting, I've really appreciated sharing love (or hate) for the big tracks of this year. 2000 was a great year for music for me at a very impressionable time of my life where I was developing my music tastes, but as a 12/13-year-old I was a dance fan more than anything else and that is reflected in my top two here. They are still two great records that I dearly love and listen to regularly now, and I'm delighted both made it to the top in what can only be described as an eclectic and extremely fast-paced era for the UK charts - one we will sadly never see again.