9 minutes ago, Jade said:

There was a B-side on the 'Spaceman' CD single called 'Spaceman (The 5th Dimension)' which is built around the advert part more:

I enjoy the song the whole way through as well but maybe it helps that I wasn't around for that advert, so was never trolled

Never heard this mix, intriguing!

I was trolled at the time thinking the whole song was like the advert.

After 10 seconds I was ???? For most of the rest of the song.

Although I bought the CD single, I dint recall the b side so will give that a listen.

The chart run of 'Spaceman' is quite fascinating, it literally bombed down the chart after its 5 weeks at #1:

1-1-1-1-1-4-14-22-35-48-61-47-50-74

Was that solely down to public opinion souring, or was it deleted or something?

14 weeks is a good show for a record in 1996. I think it was just so frontloaded. Plus perhaps the ad had stopped airing after a few months.

I really like Spaceman and I much prefer the normal version to any attempt of a dance version (there are a few mixes out there)... I can very much remember the moaning that it wasn't all like the intro but would you really want 4 mins of that intro? It would become annoying very quickly imo and lose the impact it has when it only exists for a short period of time.

I may not want 4 minutes of the sped up one, but they could’ve done something much better as a compromise than what we got!

14. Baddiel, Skinner & the Lighting Seeds – Three Lions

3 non-consecutive weeks at number 1, June

Football’s most enduring anthem, “Three Lions” captured the bittersweet optimism of England fans ahead of Euro ’96. With its chant-like chorus “It’s coming home,” the track fused indie pop with terrace spirit, referencing legends like Bobby Moore and Gary Lineker. Its success was unprecedented: the song returned to No.1 during the tournament and has recharted during nearly every major football event since. It remains the only song to hit No.1 four times with the same artist lineup. A cultural touchstone, not just a novelty.

Not quite my favourite football song (hello Carnaval De Paris), this is good for a song of its type. I prefer this version to the 98 remake and really was a proper moment back in the summer of 1996.

Love Three Lions, I think it probably is my favourite football song, although I love Dario G too, and New Order. Just had a brief check of what's left and think it would end up about 7th for me in 1996.

I always find it funny that it returns to the top five every time we do well in a tournament, it really is the ultimate anthem. We'll see where I end up ranking the '98 version I guess.

“Spaceman” is great and I’ve come to appreciate the fusion of styles more recently. “3 Lions” is one of the first singles I ever bought and I’m still pretty fond of it - would definitely be in my Top 10.

Three Lions is iconic, and the best song ever about football - so good it's iconic in Germany too! I would also go Dario G for football themed hits, but this one is special, it can give goosebumps (and bear in mind I dont generally watch footie and I'm not usually bothered who wins or loses), full credit to Lightning Seeds who always deserved a biggie, they were fab (Ian Broudie, for the most part) and to Baddiel & Skinner who caught the sense of sporting history mixed with elation and disappointment. I dont tend to bother recharting it every four years these days as it's had enough chart runs - if I have oldies charting I'll go for ones that havent had a return run - but it still sounds good.

I think the songs I have ranked 14 - 9 are all very close and could be in any order depending on the day. I really like all of these songs tbh but it is a ranking so they have to go somewhere….!

13. George Michael - Jesus To A Child

1 week at number 1, January

George Michael’s first solo release in three years, “Jesus to a Child” is a hauntingly beautiful tribute to his late partner, Anselmo Feleppa. Blending bossa nova rhythms with elegiac lyricism, it marked a shift toward introspection and maturity in Michael’s work. The track debuted at No.1 in the UK and became a global hit, topping charts across Europe and Australia. Unbeknownst to fans at the time, Michael donated all royalties to ChildLine. A quiet masterpiece of grief and grace.

This is such a beautiful, haunting song. A wonderful comeback for George (though better is to come!).

I mean, I love George and he's my favourite male singer, but JTAC could be about 2 minutes shorter....

Love it and the parent album is a masterpiece!

Love George, the album, and this song - would pretty much be higher up for me as a chart-topper at the time. Emotional and quite a bold first single, George making a statement not quite overtly at this point.

12. The Fugees - Ready Or Not

2 weeks at number 1, September

Released in September 1996, Ready or Not became the Fugees’ second UK No. 1 single, spending two weeks at the top and rising from 2-1 which was unusual at the time. Built around samples from Enya’s “Boadicea” and The Delfonics’ “Ready or Not Here I Come,” it blended hip-hop, soul, and cinematic flair. The track was not commercially released in the US, making it ineligible for the Billboard Hot 100.

This is wonderfully dark and cinematic in feel, a fabulous follow up to a song still to come. I like that it rose from 2-1 in its second week as that was not normal at the time of instant number 1s. This will always take me back to a sunny University field trip to Sheringham, North Norfolk. Happy times!

Oh that one would be a lot higher for me I think, I suspect it would be top 5 but I'm not 100% certain of what is still to come. It's definitely their most enduring song in my opinion as the 'one time, two time' bits on their bigger hit haven't aged well at all for me

Never knew that about it not being commercially released in the US, that seems like a crazy decision and that they missed out on an easy massive hit?

Great single, I prefer it to Killing Me Softly actually, such a brilliant follow-up and I'm glad it was able to climb to No.1. Shame it never appears on any compilations, I'm not sure I have it on CD, I downloaded the track from iTunes at some point years ago.

Jesus To A Child is very beautiful although I don't actively listen to it very much and do prefer George's other song still to come.

Good song; prefer it's grittiness to the Delfonics original it covered. I think I do prefer it to Killing Me Softly now too although that was my preferred track at the time.

Edited October 12Oct 12 by TheSnake