Toni Basil autocorrecting to Cyndi Lauper, I’ve seen it all now

Britney falling two spots in that second week but increasing in sales! I suppose it was a busy week in the top 5!

Oh god Ann Lee. I used to have an irrational hatred for her - I think it was because she stole my name

3 minutes ago, Lee_J11 said:

Oh god Ann Lee. I used to have an irrational hatred for her - I think it was because she stole my name

Omg, is your first name Ann?

To say Macy Gray - I Try was on the music channels a lot at the time is an understatement.

Genie In A Bottle is a good #1.

I really like Ann Lee Two Times, production is a bit Vengaboys but it is still good.

Interesting couple of episodes tonight. How timely that as Mel C enjoys her highest charting album as a solo artist this week that she should be on the first rerun with the first single from her debut. "Goin' Down" was definitely a risky choice in sound and style, but as we'll see into the 2000 reruns it paid off in the end for her with the Northern Star era.

Loved Gabrielle, Eurythmics and James tonight as well, "Just Like Fred Astaire" from the latter in particular is one of their best singles and it should have been bigger. Very surprised a few artists didn't make it on the episodes tonight, Adam Rickitt for one on the second episode. I actually thought "Everything My Heart Desires" was better than "I Breathe Again", and it was still top 20.

9 hours ago, Jester said:

I was on a wet holiday in Devon when Cristina Aguilera beat B*witched and it was a big shock!

Great songs from Ann Lee, Jordan Knight, Gabrielle & Christina.

I like Goin Down is a very overlooked and forgotten Mel C top 5.

Yeah B*Witched in my memory were expected to get to No.1 too, with Christina set for No.2 and Ann Lee for No.3/4 (I'm sure the Woolies chart of the time suggested the same). I bought the latter two that week and still love both now. Ann Lee did really very well there with over 150k at No.2, and she must be minted having also been behind Saturday Night and Rhythm Of The Night! The song is such an earworm. Genie In A Bottle is a pop classic though, a deserved chart topper of course for somebody who would become one of my favourite artists (if not favourite overall even from 2000-2003 until Delta emerged).

I didn't really get the point of Jesse Hold On, quite a limp effort, but then was there really anything better they could have gone with? Jump Down has the same issue and some odd lyrics while I Shall Be There would have been a massive risk of a lead single that I don't think would have paid off. Basically nobody wrote them any hits for the second album, or maybe they were a 1998 thing and everyone had already moved on by this point, I'm never quite sure, probably a combination of things.

I love Gabrielle's Sunshine <3 The start of a great era for her. I remember watching that first episode at the time for several reasons - my mum loving Gabrielle (and declaring that she would buy the album) and also not loving Macy Gray's song (which would become very overplayed in the weeks to come), and me being annoyed that they didn't play York's The Awakening at No.11 - which I loved and also bought that week! At least York and Fragma (who also ended up at No.11 in recent weeks) would both go onto bigger things in 2000.

Some nice performances as mentioned from James (good song indeed, classic sound to it), Macy Gray and Eurythmics. I do like the Adam Rickitt song that wasn't played too (also recorded by Mandy Moore on her 2000 album weirdly). I can't say I'm a fan of Goin Down, but it was a very brave lead which I respect Mel for doing, and she clearly knew she had the material to keep the era going. I will always love the fact she basically released songs from four completely different genres as the era's first four singles, and all were big hits.

I Try is one of my favourite tracks of the year, a classic <3

Is this really Mel C... or Celine Dion 😆

On 08/05/2026 at 20:26, Gezza said:

On 09/05/2026 at 18:46, dandy* said:

I Try is one of my favourite tracks of the year, a classic <3

I didn’t really like it much at the time but I really like it now.

Goin Down live is EPIC !!

Bwitxhed team going against Christina was a choice.

Sunshine by Gabrielle is bliss!!

Loved the chart run for Macy Gray!

Did anyone think that Jordan Knight track would sound pretty seemless on "Justified" 3 years later?

'Genie In A Bottle' and 'Get Get Down' particularly stand out as big favourites since I last commented

'Sometimes' was an okay follow-up for Britney but I thought '(You Drive Me) Crazy' was a step back in the right direction quality-wise, even if it peaked lower. The oomph of the 'Stop!' remix really elevated it.

Wild in retrospect that 'Goin' Down' was released as the lead from Northern Star, especially when two future #1s were sitting there, but I suppose the sound and image were a bold statement, helping to create some distance from the world of the Spice Girls. A similar path to Robbie, who was initially presenting a Britpop sound away from that boyband world, but then really took off with the obvious big pop smashes.

I'm actually more familiar with Wookie's garage remix of 'Sunshine' than the original as a former Kisstory listener! I see that version is within her top 10 popular songs on Spotify right now, but the original still has nearly triple the amount of streams.

1 hour ago, Gezza said:

Did anyone think that Jordan Knight track would sound pretty seemless on "Justified" 3 years later?

I more think it was a precursor to tracks like Try Again and Holler from 2000.

Jordan Knight a surprise bit of quality at the time, first caught it on a Florida holiday and was a big fan - considering how low I rated NKOTB, that was unexpected to say the least! S Club and Genie prob my next closest faves in the top 10.

23RD OCTOBER

Christina Aguilera and Ann Lee form an unexpectedly strong force as they create a lockdown on the top two this week though both fade at retail 28% and 27% to post new totals of 123,000 and 110,000 respectively. Their success deprives us of a new No 1 by acts who might have expected more.

Include in that description the new single from ATB which uses a sample of the same track they used in their previous No 1 single “9PM (Til I Come)” which sold almost 800,000 copies and is currently the 2nd biggest selling single of 1999. That sample was of course Ricky Rich & Julio Posadas featuring Yolanda Riviera’s “The Way You Make Me Feel”, but it can’t pull the same trick twice as “Don’t Stop” arrives at No 3 (91,000) and that despite charting at no 61 on imports.

Steps last four singles have all entered at No 2 so the No 5 berth of “After The Love Has Gone” has raised some eyebrows who might suggest that the appeal of the fivesome is now in decline. 59,000 buyers purchased the track last week a notable decline in opening tallies of their singles and may be worrying for the release of their second album “Steptacular” in a fortnight. On the positive side it is however a 6th top 10 single from 7 releases.

As last year’s “A Message To You” album, the idea of a covers album where various acts interpret the songs of one act can yield commercial gold with both Steps and 911 getting top 2 singles out of it. This time around it is The Jam who are in the spotlight and some of the acts involved are Everything But The Girl, Garbage, Gene and Noel Gallagher but first release from it is a double A-Side “Going Underground/ Carnation” performed by Buffalo Tom (GU) and Steve Craddock and Liam Gallagher (C). Naturally the main draw is Liam Gallagher from whom this marks his first appearance outside of the Oasis work, Steve Cradock is the guitarist from Ocean Colour Scene in case you wondered, the entire set debuts at No 6 (53,000).

The Honeyz have done a Bananarama! Yes they’ve lost original member Heavenli Denton and have replaced her with ex Solid HarmoniE member Mariama Goodman, we’re promised a re-recorded debut album and the new single “Never Let You Down” has similarly been re-recorded in the new set up. It charges straight in at No 7 (50,000) to maintain their 100% strike rate of top ten smashes from their singles of which this is their fourth.

Eiffel 65 continue to ebb 3-4 (74,000) but “Blue” is already the 7th biggest single of the year with sales of 710,000. Further down B*Witched must be disappointed to drop 4-8 (47,000) and Shania Twain hurtles 6-10 (34,000) but still has the No 1 album in the land. Macy Gray bucks the trend inching 10-9 (35,000) and her album also heads to No 6- a new peak.


Next week we get the battle of the Boybands as Westlife go head to head with the Backstreet Boys!

1- GENIE IN A BOTTLE- Christina Aguilera (123,000)
2- 2 TIMES- Ann Lee (110,000)
3- DON’T STOP- ATB (91,000)
4- BLUE (DA BA DEE)- Eiffel 65 (74,000)
5- AFTER THE LOVE HAS GONE- Steps (59,000)
6- GOING UNDERGROUND/ CARNATION- Buffalo Tom/ Liam Gallagher & Steve Cradock (53,000)
7- NEVER LET YOU DOWN- Honeyz (50,000)
8- JESSE HOLD ON- B*Witched (47,000)
9- I TRY- Macy Gray (35,000)
10- MAN I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN- Shania Twain (34,000)

30TH OCTOBER




It didn’t quite turn into the battle we expected but a Boyband certainly won and to Westlife the spoils. “Flying Without Wings” becomes the band’s third No 1 single from 3 releases and was according to rumours earmarked for a Stephen Gately solo track but instead it become the perfect Launchpad for Westlife’s debut album in a fortnight. 92,000 copies flew out of stores last week, just 5,000 more than the outgoing “Genie In A Bottle” which rallied toward the end of the week almost catching them up in a re-run of the Alice Deejay situation last August when “If I Let You Go” won by under 500 copies for the band.

Interestingly in only 8 weeks so far in the year has the sale of the No 1 dropped below the 100,000 mark and Westlife singles have been responsible for three of them which illustrates the fact that they have been very lucky with their release weeks thus far!

Strong airplay has helped the new R Kelly single “If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time” become his 7th top 10 hit as it debuts at No 3 (80,000). The song is also a 7th hit to be plucked from his “R” album which has itself yet to sell 200,000 and has progressed no further than No 27 despite all the singles going top 20. It seems however we have a soft spot for his ballads with only “She’s Got That Vibe” in his collection of top drawer hits not to be classified as such, naturally this charted on imports too pre release (#57).

Backstreet Boys have been splashing the dosh on their new promo for single for “Larger Than Life”- a cool $2.1 million reportedly, and it gives them a No 5 hit and 56,000 buyers in week one. Of course it is the follow up to their first No 1 “I Want It That Way” and a ninth top 10 hit on the trot, if it progresses no further however it will be their smallest hit in over 3 years.

Destiny’s Child are starting to become top 10 regulars here in the UK scoring back to back top tier hits for the first time in their career with new single “Bug A Boo” arriving at No 9 (41,000). A second single from the “Writing’s On The Wall” album it proves a worthy follow up to “Bills, Bills, Bills” and contains a sample of Toto’s “Child’s Anthem” but it’s doing better here than in the US where it failed to make the top 30.

What’s the connection between Tina Turner and The Nightcrawlers (they of the “Push The Feeling On” fame)? The answer is John Reid, the mastermind behind the Nightcrawlers and the co-writer of Tina Turner’s new single “When The Heartache Is Over” which is new at No 10 (37,000). It’s produced by Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling who produced Cher’s “Believe” and now attempt to reinvent Turner into the dance diva they managed with Cher, it’s done its immediate job returning her to the top 10 for the first time in four years and gives her an 11th top 10 single if you include her credits with Ike. Her new album “Twenty Four Seven” is out in a fortnight.

Ann Lee recedes 2-4 (76,000) and former chart topper “Blue” takes a slip 4-6 (53,000) selling over ¾ of a million over the last 6 weeks, ATB fall back 3-7 (49,000) and once again Macy Gray continues to surprise inching 9-8 (42,100) to see new heights- at this rate it may be the Christmas No 1!




1- FLYING WITHOUT WINGS- Westlife (92,000)
2- GENIE IN A BOTTLE- Christina Aguilera (87,000)
3- IF I COULD TURN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME- R Kelly (80,000)
4- 2 TIMES- Ann Lee (76,000)
5- LARGER THAN LIFE- Backstreet Boys (56,000)
6- BLUE (DA BA DEE)- Eiffel 65 (53,000)
7- DON’T STOP- ATB (49,000)
8- I TRY- Macy Gray (42,100)
9- BUG A BOO- Destiny’s Child (41,000)
10- WHEN THE HEARTACHE IS OVER- Tina Turner (37,000)

I really like 'Don't Stop' but it is basically a clone of their previous.

One of my least favourite Steps singles, I don't really have any time for that one.

And possibly my favourite Honeyz track!

I Try really had that staying power didn’t it.

Christina nearly stopped Westlife's No 1'S right at the beginning!

I love Don’t Stop (the UK X-Cabs mix though) much more than 9PM.

I don't mean to downplay their achievements but it is amazing how close a lot of the Westlife #1s came to being beaten. At the time I always assumed they were massive first week sellers simply because they always made #1 but their team really did pick their release weeks expertly.