1 hour ago, gooddelta said:

Bloodbath week! I remember tuning in and thinking, where are all those singles (Lou Bega, Thunderbugs, Enrique, also Bryan Adams). And then being stunned as the chart further revealed TLC outside the top 30, B*Witched not in the top ten...too many big releases trying to squeeze out before the end of the year/century/millennium and not enough space for them all.

The most surprising flop was probably Lou Bega, it was a hit around Europe, and sure it was a carbon copy of Mambo No.5, but when did that hurt anyone? ATB and Eiffel 65 both went top three with the similar follow-ups to their huge Eurohits. If it had peaked at, say, No.20, I might understand it more, and still be surprised at its flop, but No.55? How did that even happen.

Thunderbugs were the most robbed though, gah. And that derailed their career completely. I wish they'd held it to January and got a top 20 hit out of it in a lower sales period, it was a good song! It spent five weeks in the top 75, which was unusual for a pop song that missed the top 40, so it definitely had higher potential had they not released it that week.

Looks like we were in more of a dance mood with six dance songs in that top ten, highly unusual for December where there is ususally only a token one. Progress and Len really overperformed against the fierce competition that week (although the latter is great and a bit of a classic).

The follow up flop from Lou Bega was a massive surprise. You're right in saying it's pretty much a carbon copy of his previous hit, but that hadn't stopped other artists scoring follow up hits.

Also I rememeber being really shocked B*Witched missed the top 10 with I Shall Be There.

I couldn’t really remember how I Got A Girl went, so I just popped it on.

Jesus wept there must be a law against reheating your own nachos like that 💀😂 it’s so beyond identical to MN5 it’s almost criminal!

Oh so close to Vengaboys having a clean sweep of peaks in the Top 4 (which may or may not have later become Top 5 or 6). That's probably my favourite song of theirs, as trashy as it is. In fact I enjoy all 4 new entries in the Top 10, although I don't return to the Progress one much.

The epic slow climb of 'I Try' from #10 to #6 was my highlight of the time covered since I last commented. Alice Deejeay also making it two out of two songs climbing in week 2 when that was becoming very rare indeed.

I’m really looking forward to seeing next weeks chart. The Christmas chart, although I know the results some what I’m keen to see the sales.

After all these years (I’ve been watching each week it’s been on since they were on 1986) of TOTP repeats they say goodbye to the 20th century.

I’ll miss the 90s (again).

That Len song felt like it was everywhere at the time! It's a tune.

The performance of that new Vengaboys single feels like it marks the beginning of their gradual decline.

These are all great:

2- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger (91,000)
3- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE)- Vengaboys (89,000)
4- BARBER’S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS- William Orbit (77,000)
5- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (64,000)
6- KING OF MY CASTLE- Wamdue Project (61,000)
7- EVERYBODY- Progress Presents Wunda Boy (57,000)
8- STEAL MY SUNSHINE- Len (56,000)

Great bunch of dance songs, with Ferry's remix of Barbar's Adagio stands out. My top 5 for this week:

01 BARBER’S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS (Ferry Corsten Remix)- William Orbit

02 KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE) (Airscape Remix)- Vengaboys

03 BACK IN MY LIFE (Thrillseekers Remix)- Alice Deejay

04 EVERYBODY (Yomanda Remix)- Progress Presents Wunda Boy

05 RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA (Original Mix)- Artful Dodger

Len is my highlight from that particular top 10. Such a childhood classic. I always associate it being a summer track though so it's time of year smashing feels a bit out of place imo.

I like the Vengaboys track and 'Barber's Adagio For Strings' is great too.

10 minutes ago, Roba. said:

Len is my highlight from that particular top 10. Such a childhood classic. I always associate it being a summer track though so it's time of year smashing feels a bit out of place imo.

I like the Vengaboys track and 'Barber's Adagio For Strings' is great too.

It was summer here in Australia when the song was smashing, so to me it kind of is a summer smash. 🤣

Lots of good dance hits. Its a pity only the most basic, Wamdue Project, seems to have inspired today's chart dance and Beatport dance.

Adagio is good, but I prefer Tiesto's Adagio even if it is a bit noisy in its buildup lol.

Was that Myleene Klass on backing vocals for Cliff?

11 minutes ago, chartjack2 said:

Was that Myleene Klass on backing vocals for Cliff?

Indeed it was 😂

I thought Len was around in the summer! Nonetheless, great track (and I love the movie Go).

There are actually three charts left to post in 1999 (December 25, January 1, and 8) so I'll post 2 charts on Friday and 1 the week after in this thread. It will mean that the TOTP episodes shown on 26/6 will be split between threads with the other show in the 2000 thread.

On 12/06/2026 at 09:21, Gezza said:

18TH DECEMBER

DJ Rob Webster is otherwise known as Progress who “presents” Boy Wunda on the dance track “Everybody” which essentially samples the orchestral introduction used on Madonna’s 1986 #1 track “Papa Don’t Preach” and turns it into a techno hit.

Curiously Madonna's debut single was called Everybody.

I've been either at a festival or gig every weekend for the last two weeks so I've only just got as far as the 10/12/1999 episode (saving 17/12/1999 for next week along with the Christmas edition).

But my thoughts in turn on each episode...

19/11/1999 - A1 - "Everytime". Their best ballad for me, paired with "Ready Or Not" (with a dance routine that is basically the boyband equivalent of "Stop" by Spice Girls). Perfect double-A-side pairing that.

Robbie Williams "She's The One". By dint of the fact it was on my first Now, my favourite single of his by far, although I was here for him from "Angels" onwards.

Will Smith "Will 2K". Between that and wicky wicky Wild Wild West it felt like he had a bit of a wobble inspiration wise compared to his 98 singles. Not his best. I struggled to recall it until they showed the video on an earlier episode a couple of weeks back.

26/11/1999 - loved that Glamma Kid tune sampling Carly Simon. Inspired move, also done to great effect by clever but not quite big girl group SoundGirl about 12 years later in 2011.

Texas on that episode also fabulous, surprised "When We Are Together" missed the top 10.

Sir Cliff. Jesu... the PTSD that total abomination of a "song" gives me. It's success was torturous. My bloody headmistress at my primary school made myself and my best mate who were music prefects at the time (we were in Year 6 at this point) made us play it in every assembly leading up to Christmas that year.

Wamdue Project "King of My Castle" - banger. Although similar to Gala and her "trombolese" two years prior, it sounded like she was singing "Must be the reason why I'm free in my trassell". Also lols at them being nominated for Best British Newcomer at the BRITs the following year, only to be yeeted off the list quickly when Radio 1 clocked that they hadn't done their research and they were in fact from New York.

03/12/1999 - Melanie C "Northern Star". Still my favourite solo single of hers, a gentle ethereal quality to it and a beautiful vocal as well.

Martine McCutcheon - when she sang this single on Children In Need, which this was raising money for, for "Love Me" she had a massive kid's choir behind her. One of my classmates was in said choir and was hero worshipped for weeks afterwards as a result.

10/12/1999 - Artful Dodger, "Re-Rewind". Now THIS was a real dial turn moment. Even then I knew and understood it was a big record. I can remember rocking up at school the following Monday, with my black beanie on thinking I was Craig David, going "When the crowd say bo selecta" every five seconds. A big tune and a timeless and important one.

Cool to see Atomic Kitten make their debut as well, they looked super young and very hyper there!

On 12/06/2026 at 22:42, Lee_J11 said:

Indeed it was 😂

I was gonna say she reshared my story on Instagram tonight saying "Well spotted" 🤣

I much prefer the acapella version of that Cliff Richard song, particularly when the choir takes over in the second half.

Remarkably it allowed me to forget about the clunkiness of the lyrics!

25TH DECEMBER

Christmas, chart wise, falls as far from the big day as possible getting announced on 19th December and covering sales for 12th-18th December but that hasn’t affected sales too badly with most seeing a nice boost, and yes that includes Cliff Richard- but has he done it?

Well the short answer is no, “Millennium Prayer” sold a best yet 170,256 as it faltered at the final stage and drops to No 2 this week, it gives way to Westlife who become the second act in history to debut at No 1 with every one of their first four singles, they follow fellow countrymen B*witched in that respect but had to sell more than double the weekly sales of any of their previous hits to do it. “Seasons In The Sun/ I Have A Dream” are of course both covers of the Terry Jacks 1974 #1 and the ABBA 1979 #2 hits (though Terry Jacks version is a cover in itself it is the most famous version), by way of trivia Jacks was actually knocked off the top by ABBA’s “Waterloo” back in the day. Westlife’s versions are both available on album’s with “Seasons” on their debut album and “Dream” on the “ABBAmania” compilation CD which sprung from the ITV Special earlier in the year, but that didn’t dent sales as the double A-Side posted a tally of 213,000 copies last week to outstrip Cliff Richard. They are also just the third act in history to score four chart toppers in a calendar year following Elvis Presley (1961 & 1962) and The Shadows (1963)- illustrious company!

Of course with the Millennium just a fortnight away the fight isn’t over for Cliff and his tally of 723,618 is enough for 8th position on the YTD- keep your eye on it, it’s starting to look like a million seller!

John Lennon’s “Imagine” becomes only the fourth track to be a top 10 single three times over for the same act reaching No 6 (1975), No 1 (1981) and now No 3 after shifting 148,000 copies last week, the others incidentally being “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”, “Holiday” and “You Sexy Thing”. It’s re-release in this case is prompted by the campaign to make it No 1 for the millennium and it hasn’t done badly in that respect.

The winner of the novelty single for Christmas are the Cuban Boys, a production team from Cornwall who only formed last year and found favour with John Peel for their cheeky songs. They’ve taken a sample from Roger Miller’s “Whistle Stop” and married it to music which is played on a loop when you visit the hamsterdance.com website, which is something of a cult hit, and is itself a sample of the music from the Disney film “Robin Hood”. Entitled “Cognoscenti Vs Intelligentsia” the song started as a viral hit but has had strong support from Radio 1 DJ Jo Whiley and debuts at No 4 (104,000) as a result. Fear the hamster!

After two top 2 singles S Club 7 may have to settle for a smaller hit this time around with double A-Side “You’re My Number One/ Two In A Million” debuting at No 5 (97,000). The former title first got its airing on “Miami 7” TV show whilst “Million” was the theme to their BBC special “Boyfriends & Birthdays” and is co-penned by former popstar Cathy Dennis, but both appear on their album “S Club” which remains top 20 and has gone Platinum already.

Another act who released a double A-Side this week were Steps, “Say You’ll Be Mine” is the third single to be lifted from “Steptacular” which has already sold over 750,000 since its release eight weeks ago and still sits in the top 10. The track has been paired with their version of the Kylie Minogue 1990 #2 single “Better The Devil You Know” which the band premiered on their recent “The Next Step” tour, together the tracks arrive at No 7 (83,000) to become the group’s 7th top 10 single on the trot but it is their lowest debut single “5,6,7,8” in 1997.

Last year Chef pulled off a surprise chart topper with “Chocolate Salty Balls” but it doesn’t look so great for Mr Hanky. “The Christmas Poo” is the offering this year from the South Park creators and featured in a recent episode to bolster the campaign, it's performed by the character Cowboy Timmy. 70,000 of you did buy it though as it premieres at No 8.

Elsewhere The Artful Dodger tumble 2-6 (83,000), William Orbit slips 4-9 (69,000) and The Vengaboys hurtle 3-10 (66,000). With all next week’s sales pre-Christmas don’t expect much alteration to the sales for a week at least!

1- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (213,000)
2- THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER- Cliff Richard (170,256)
3- IMAGINE- John Lennon (148,000)
4- COGNOSCENTI VS INTELLEGENSIA- Cuban Boys (104,000)
5- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (97,000)
6- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (83,000)
7- SAY YOU’LL BE MINE/ BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Steps (83,000)
8- MR HANKEY THE CHRISTMAS POO- Mr Hankey (70,000)
9- BARBER’S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS- William Orbit (69,000)
10- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE)- Vengaboys (66,000)

1ST JANUARY

With all the new releases crammed into last week there are no new entries in the entire top 40 but we’ve still got some interesting action going on. For only the second time in their short career Westlife manage to not only hold the top spot but this time around they increase their sales in doing so, “I Have A Dream/ Seasons In The Sun” sold a mighty 231,000 copies last week bringing its total to 444,000 after 14 days making it already the group’s biggest seller!

Cliff Richard remains ominously at No 2 (112,956) and with total sales of over 830,000 “Millennium Prayer” becomes his biggest seller since the 60s. With John Lennon holding at No 3 (107,000) it means that Westlife aren’t as assured a third week as it may look given the promo of these will have approaching the millennium next week.

The big winner of the week is Mr Hanky, his “Christmas Poo” floats 8-4 (92,000) and may grab a surprise week at the top once the festive period is gone in a fortnight. Other tracks getting a new lease of life are The Artful Dodger 6-5 (92,000), Vengaboys 10-9 (43,000), and a returning Alice Deejay 11-10 (43,000).

With S Club 7 dropping 5-6 (86,000) you’ll note that less than a thousand separated numbers 4-6 who could have ended up in any order. Cuban Boys dive 4-7 (78,000) and Steps fall 7-8 (67,000)- next week we’ll get the final chart of the 90s and the 20th Century!

1- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (231,000)
2- THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER- Cliff Richard (112,956)
3- IMAGINE- John Lennon (107,000)
4- MR HANKEY THE CHRISTMAS POO- Mr Hankey (92,000)
5- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (92,000)
6- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (86,000)
7- COGNOSCENTI VS INTELEGENSIA- Cuban Boys (78,000)
8- SAY YOU’LL BE MINE/ BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Steps (67,000)
9- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE)- Vengaboys (43,000)
10- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (43,000)