'You Don't Know Me' is just euphoric production wise and has a great vocal too! Amazing #1!

'National Express' is very Frank Sinatra vocally and production-wise. Not lyrically though, its more like the Beautiful South with that.

Edited January 16Jan 16 by TheSnake

'You Don't Know Me' and 'Maria' are both standout chart-toppers what a return to glory for Blondie.

Scott Mills still plays that Soulsearcher song a lot on his radio show but I had no idea about the Snap! connection until now, ooh!

Just caught up on the TOTP repeats and heard 'Madness Thing' by Leilani for the first time, including the following lyrical prowess:

Don't you just love the madness of it all? when your boobies are too small

and

...when your boyfriend comes home early to find you sucking on a Curly Wurly

I prefer the cover of the Soulsearcher track by Eye to Eye ft Taka Boom which was a top 40 hit in 2001.

Eye To Eye featuring Taka Boom Just Can't Get Enough

Edited January 17Jan 17 by TheSnake

The longevity of Heartbeat/Tragedy for Steps is mighty impressive.

Divine Comedy had much more better singles than "National Express".

20TH FEBRUARY




Still setting records we now have an 11th different No 1 in as many weeks as the revolving door at the top continues to spin, this week it delivers a chart topper for Lenny Kravitz. His previous best (and only top 10 single) came way back in 1993 when “Are You Gonna Go My Way” peaked at No 4 alongside 14 other hits of varying size, notably his biggest hit though came when he co-authored Madonna’s “Justify My Love” (#2, 1990). Thanks to its use in the new Peugeot 206 advert though “Fly Away” has gained a foothold in the nation’s brain generating enough demand for the song to make it Kravitz’s choice as third release from his “5” album and here we are with a new No 1 after a sale of 123,383 copies. The album reactivates at No 31 six months after it left the chart peaking at No 18.

2Pac’s death in 1996 started a spawn of hits from the late rapper which we seemingly haven’t had enough of yet- indeed Tupac has been more prolific than many live acts over the last few years drumming up his 12th hit (including singles under the name Makavali) with “Changes”. The song stems from 1992 with lyrics appropriated from another of his songs “I Wonder If Heaven Got A Ghetto” which was itself dusted down and became a #21 hit last year. Now remixed and featuring a sample of Bruce Hornsby & The Range’s “That’s Just The Way It Is” (#15, 1986) with the chorus sung instead by rapper Talent, the song debuts at No 3 (78,000) to give him his third top 10 single but by far his biggest yet! It’s taken from his new “Greatest Hits” album which hit the shops before Christmas failing to hit the top 70 but has lifted recently 55-45-33 to peak.

Trance is back on the rise in the form of DJ Sakin & Friends, Sakin is a Turkish born DJ who is now Germany based and had the “vision” to take the theme to the film “Braveheart” and transform it into a trance anthem. Originally released in 1997 it passed us all by but clearly its time has come as it slides in at No 4 (76,000).

Formed in Canada way back in 1988 Barenaked Ladies struck it big domestically in 1992 but it’s really the release of current single “One Week” which has really sent them international topping the US charts for (appropriately) 7 days late last year and now debuts here at No 5 (68,000) after substantial radio support.

Duo James Lavelle and Tom Goldsworthy make music under the name UNKLE with debut album “Psyence Fiction” surfacing last year produced by DJ Shadow (whose track “Entropy” was sampled on Fatboy Slim’s “Gangsta Trippin” you may recall). It contained a track called “Unreal” for which lyrics have now been written and sung by Ian Brown with a new title “Be There”, it becomes UNKLE’s first hit and fourth for Brown as a soloist as it arrives at No 8 (48,000).

Four former No 1 hits are all on the move down this week, Blondie 1-2 (107,000), The Offspring 4-6 (64,000), Armand Van Helden 2-7 (64,000) and Steps 6-10 (43,000). A+ drops 5-9 (46,000) to complete the rundown, sales overall buoyed by half term.

Next week could we be returning to school?

1- FLY AWAY- Lenny Kravitz (123,383)
2- MARIA- Blondie (107,000)
3- CHANGES- 2Pac (78,000)
4- PROTECT YOUR MIND (FOR THE LOVE OF A PRINCESS)- DJ Sakin & Friends (76,000)
5- ONE WEEK- Bare Naked Ladies (68,000)
6- PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY)- Offspring (64,000)
7- YOU DON’T KNOW ME- Armand Van Helden (52,000)
8- BE THERE- UNKLE (48,000)
9- ENJOY YOURSELF- A+ (46,000)
10- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (43,000)

Changes by 2Pac is very good and emotive.

Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away is good too.

DJ Sakin is so good too, David Guetta kind of borrowed the bassline for his Love Tonight Shouse remix.

Edited January 23Jan 23 by TheSnake

27TH FEBRUARY





Wholesale support by Radio 1 and most music channels meant that the release of Britney Spears first single “Baby One More Time” was always going to result in a big hit here. The fact that it has already hit No 1 Stateside and made 17 year old Spears into a teen sensation has only helped to generate more interest in the youngster, it is helped by a promo which has certainly raised eyebrows and become a talking point itself featuring Spears as a schoolgirl making some rather suggestive moves. Incidentally the original concept for the video was an animated one before settling on the end product and the school used is Venice High, the same location that doubled as the school in “Grease”. All that meant that it was odds on to debut at No 1 but nobody predicted the sales that the single would generate. The song was allegedly written with a view to offering it to TLC who turned it down, and then to boyband Five- they must be kicking themselves now.

First coming to fame through the US show “The Mickey Mouse Club”, Spears toured malls and supported US boyband N*Sync who incidentally also make their top 10 debut this week but more on that shortly.

463,722 copies were sold last week of Spears’ single meaning that only Elton John and Band Aid have sold more copies in a week than Britney Spears did certainly over the course of the last 20 years, “Baby One More Time” instantly scorches to No 1 on the YTD chart as well as it outsold the rest of the top 7 combined and taking over 26% of the entire market in the process. An incredible achievement!

Britney’s arrival is bad news for The Corrs who would otherwise be celebrating their first chart topper in the UK tonight. Winners of best international group at the BRITS they performed the song “Runaway” which comes from their first album “Forgiven Not Forgotten” which has been selling consistently off the back of the larger success of “Talk On Corners”.

It finally pushed into the top 10 in the new year and currently holds at No 7, but the group cleverly got Tin Tin Out to remix the song adding the remix to the special edition of “Talk On Corners” just before Christmas (it’s back at No 1 this week) and now the remix itself is made into a single which is new at No 2 (92,000). That’s a 4th straight top 10 single for the band and all with remixes of their original tracks, “Runaway” was released twice in 1996 making #49 and #60 but regardless it is now their biggest hit.

There’s been some speculation that the new Lauryn Hill single “Ex Factor” is about former band member Wyclef Jean, whether true or not the song is new at No 4 (76,000) this week to give Hill her second top 10 single since The Fugees went on hiatus. It is based on a sample of Gladys Knight & The Pips “The Way We Were” via Wu-Tang Clan’s “Can It All Be So Simple”, her album holds at No 4 selling more copies last week than in any other week since it was released.

If you take the last letter of Justin, Chris, Joey, Jason and JC then you’ll get NSYNC who are touted as the next Backstreet Boys. The guys first hit the headlines in Germany as far back as 1996 where “I Want You Back” was a top 10 single before they broke all over Europe in 1997 and then the US with this single in early 1998. As per usual the UK proves a more resistant market with the song making No 62 in late 1997 initially but after the group supported Janet Jackson on her world tour they’re given another whirl here and now “I Want You Back” enters at No 5 (72,000). It’s written by Max Martin and the late Denniz Pop, the former also wrote Britney’s current chart topper as well as many a Backstreet Boys hit. The group have been supporting Britney in the US on tour and if you believe rumours then Britney and lead singer Justin Timberlake are dating which makes it appropriate that both acts score their first UK top 10 single in the same week.

Lenny Kravitz is bounced 1-3 (81,000) doubtless affected by his album “5” lifting 31-22, Blondie’s new album “No Exit” enters at No 3 (losing a midweek No 1 spot) whilst lead single “Maria” exits 2-6 (68,000). Other fallers include DJ Sakin & Friends 4-7 (65,000), 2Pac 3-8 (59,000) and Offspring 6-9 (57,000), “Pretty Fly” becomes only the second single of the year to sell over 400,000 copies (after Britney). Steps hold at No 10 (35,000) in their 15th week on release, total sales of “Heartbeat/ Tragedy” now stand at 984,000- the million mark awaits this week.

Next week should see Blur create a big splash but can they make a bigger impact than the new Cher single?

1- BABY ONE MORE TIME- Britney Spears (463,722)
2- RUNAWAY (REMIX)- The Corrs (92,000)
3- FLY AWAY- Lenny Kravitz (81,000)
4- EX-FACTOR- Lauryn Hill (76,000)
5- I WANT YOU BACK- N-Sync (72,000)
6- MARIA- Blondie (68,000)
7- PROTECT YOUR MIND (FOR THE LOVE OF A PRINCESS)- DJ Sakin & Friends (65,000)
8- CHANGES- 2Pac (59,000)
9- PRETTY FLY (FOR A WHITE GUY)- Offspring (57,000)
10- HEARTBEAT/ TRAGEDY- Steps (35,000)

<3 Such a memorable chart for me. Runaway never stood a chance but I'm so glad it got as high as No.2. Britney was a juggernaut, I was gobsmacked by the sales at the time, think I expected half that.

I love every song in that second top ten with the exception of Fly Away and I Want You Back, which I do still like anyway. Will comment more after the episodes though.

Edited January 23Jan 23 by gooddelta

Some thoughts on the last few shows/weeks:

Shame Britney didn't perform on her first week at the top, but what a powerhouse single ...Baby One More Time was indeed, it just blew the competition away. I did want to see The Corrs get to the top with Runaway but its sales weren't really enough to contend with the songs around it, shame they didn't put it out the week 911 got to the top. I note they performed the original version arrangement live on the first week (now wondering if this was pre-recorded at some point in 1998), but that version above must be from its second week when they switched to the Tin Tin Out mix.

Whitney was on amazing form this era, a great run of classic singles, a brilliant comeback. Lots of nice US R&B, soul and rap around, the Lauryn Hill song is such a classy gem and 2Pac's Changes is one of my favourite songs of the year too - shame that and DJ Sakin weren't played on the show.

The year properly got into gear in these weeks with the first big hit for *NSYNC, which is a bit of a b-tier Cheiron single especially comparing it directly with the song that debuted at No.1 on the same week, but then the track is a couple of years older than Britney's song so clearly the studio was just warming up its production technique. Also One Week is such a unique single, the way the guy spits the verse lyrics out, I can't keep up with that pace when I try to mimic it!

More good No.1s in Blondie (brilliant and unexpected comeback) and Lenny Kravitz - thanks to the ad campaign as he never had a big hit again and hadn't had one for some time up to this point. And amazing to see Steps STILL top 10 with Heartbeat/Tragedy.

Boy You Knock Me Out is a very forgotten top three hit but a nice sample on it, and Will Smith more or less recreating his rap from Summertime. I also really love that version of Good Life by Inner City, it's actually my go to mix, the Spanish guitar on it is very up my street.

Nice to see the Eurovision national finalists at the end of each episode. Say It Again by Precious in its original demo form with Jenny Frost at the back, Sister Sway with the brilliant dance track Until You Saved My Life (this would have been a great entry for us and for sure would have done better than Precious at Eurovision as dance-pop was in then, it's like the early Atomic Kitten singles), and then the Alberta song which is crap but she finished 2nd in the 1998 national final too so was a bit unlucky not to ever go to the contest. While neither of her national final songs were hits, she did have a 1998 top 50 hit with the very topical Yoyo Boy, which I knew well from Hits 99. No expense spared in that music video.

Quite weird that on the first show this week we had two young boybands with guitars who both went top 20 in the same week, Next of Kin and The Moffats. The latter were Canadian but the former were from Essex, not that you'd know it with the US accent they put on. I actually thought 24 Hours From You was a half decent song, which I remember fairly well from the time. File these two bands next to 21st Century Girls, Hepburn and Thunderbugs under forgotten 1999 pop bands with guitars that appeared this year and were rarely thought of again. There was no public appetite for this sound yet, they were ahead of their time (or behind as I guess they were formed as a reaction to Hanson's success?) and we had to wait for Busted and McFly for teen guitar pop to do well.

Love 'Runaway' fell for it instantly after hearing it on the radio, and very soon bought the album after liking but not getting carried away with the previous singles - Talk On Corners (in either form) rewards listening as a whole and was one of my most played that year. Those Britney sales were phenomenal though! DJ Sakin's was my favourite new entry of the previous week, but TOTP rarely bothered with videos at this point so no surprise it and 'Changes' didn't feature unfortunately.

(and the Leilani song from the previous fortnight always baffled me, those lyrics )

Wow, I knew '...Baby One More Time' was a phenomenon, but had forgotten it was 465k+ in one week levels of huge 🤯 what a perfectly executed pop package to launch Britney with, even if she would later better it for me, especially with her In The Zone era. It was fun to learn that Justin Timberlake, via *NSYNC, also debuted in the top 10 this week!

'Fly Away' is a pretty good #1 also, mostly for that funky instrumental, although that commentary reminded me of his involvement in 'Justify My Love' and I wish that was a #1 too - as it has been such a slow burn favourite for me over the years <3 maybe only surpassed in my affections by 'Frozen' and 'Like A Prayer' for Madonna.

Quite a lot of "who?" acts recently indeed. Next of Kin were very Hanson!

Love Runaway, but what can you do against such a monster hit?

I remember that Next Of Kin performing on Blue Peter and they indeed were British. They were clearly modelled on Hanson which is odd because that sound was leaving the scene at that time. I’d forgotten all about them until I watched this episode.

2 minutes ago, jimwatts said:

Love 'Runaway' fell for it instantly after hearing it on the radio, and very soon bought the album after liking but not getting carried away with the previous singles - Talk On Corners (in either form) rewards listening as a whole and was one of my most played that year. Those Britney sales were phenomenal though! DJ Sakin's was my favourite new entry of the previous week, but TOTP rarely bothered with videos at this point so no surprise it and 'Changes' didn't feature unfortunately.

(and the Leilani song from the previous fortnight always baffled me, those lyrics )

Leilani is a bit 'tin foil hat' these days unfortunately (but then so is Jim Corr, so we get a double from that post):

https://x.com/LeilaniDowding

I always found that single gloriously bizarre while also not being very good. It was on Trevor Horn's ZTT label interestingly.

Edited January 25Jan 25 by gooddelta

1 hour ago, gooddelta said:

Leilani is a bit 'tin foil hat' these days unfortunately (but then so is Jim Corr, so we get a double from that post):

And we have Right Said Fred right now on the 1992 thread too

Edited January 25Jan 25 by TheSnake

Runaway is by far the best pic from these two too 10s - my fave Corrs song actually.

5 hours ago, gooddelta said:

Leilani is a bit 'tin foil hat' these days unfortunately (but then so is Jim Corr, so we get a double from that post):

https://x.com/LeilaniDowding

I always found that single gloriously bizarre while also not being very good. It was on Trevor Horn's ZTT label interestingly.

I think that was an different Leilani as she would appear on the failed comeback of Survivor in 2023.

12 minutes ago, MackTheNuke501 said:

I think that was an different Leilani as she would appear on the failed comeback of Survivor in 2023.

You're right actually, my mistake, I was misinformed by Twitter last week when she was on!

Just Jim Corr in the 'tinfoil hat brigade' then and whoever this other Leilani is 🤣

Those Britney sales are incredible!

The weird thing for me at the time was I’d completely bypassed all hype so I was totally surprised to see it #1. I don’t think I’d even ever heard it before it was played on the chart show.