To note- there is no TOTP episode for the last chart I posted as it was NYE when the show would have gone out (if made).

I have distinct memories of reading the entertainment section of the newspaper and seeing this Christmas chart. I can recall Westlife at #1 but mainly S Club 7 and Steps placing, as they were my favourites at the time.

This was back before I knew I could check the British charts on the internet and had to rely on the weekly entertainment newspaper.

What a fabulous week for new releases, and Double A-side overload!

S Club 7 and Steps both brought the bops but I admit 10 year old me was living for the Cuban Boys (and I even went to Woolys to purchase Mr Hankey)

The less said about the top 3 the better… although I didn’t actually mind Westlife’s effort.

Sorry not sorry for loving:

Westlife - I have A Dream

S Club 7 - You’re My Number 1

Steps - Say You’ll Be Mine & Better The Devil You Know

Poptastic!

Seeing the Christmas 1999 episode again last night was a delight - if slightly out of character to be seeing it in June whilst there's a heatwave on 🤣

I remember getting my first telly that Christmas and also Now 44 (my first Now) so it's instinctively made me dig my copy out for a spin today ☺️

Honestly been such a delight to see my favourite pop year all again.

That Chart Massacre week before the Christmas chart that year was insane. Poor Thunderbugs and also B*Witched, it sent both into a tail spin they never recovered from.

I naturally was backing S Club for Christmas number one that year and in my own personal chart they were by a country mile. That said, I do have a fond place in my heart for the Cuban Boys 🤣

7 hours ago, ThePensmith said:

Seeing the Christmas 1999 episode again last night was a delight - if slightly out of character to be seeing it in June whilst there's a heatwave on 🤣

I remember getting my first telly that Christmas and also Now 44 (my first Now) so it's instinctively made me dig my copy out for a spin today ☺️

Honestly been such a delight to see my favourite pop year all again.

That Chart Massacre week before the Christmas chart that year was insane. Poor Thunderbugs and also B*Witched, it sent both into a tail spin they never recovered from.

I naturally was backing S Club for Christmas number one that year and in my own personal chart they were by a country mile. That said, I do have a fond place in my heart for the Cuban Boys 🤣

I just checked the track list for Now 44, what a great set of songs!

#1 I Believe in Angels

#2 Our father who art in heaven

#3 Imagine there’s no heaven

If everyone is happy I can post the last few charts but without the picture sleeves at the end of the post (far too fiddly) or perhaps post them one the laptop is back and working?

Whichever is better for you Gezza. I’m happy to wait if you want to keep the thread consistent, but also fine with less formatting etc for these final few if you’d just like to get it finished ☺️

8TH JANUARY

Once again a lack of new releases produces a static chart and none more so than the top 10 which contains no new songs at all. Westlife manage a third week at the top which puts “Seasons In The Sun/ I Have A Dream” in the record books as their longest chart topper even though its sales are off a massive 85% to a mere 34,500, that’s the lowest weekly tally since Boyz II Men's 32,520 in October 1992. Regardless the song becomes the third song to spend a third week at the top in 1999 equaling the record set by Cliff Richard, Ricky Martin, and Eiffel 65 and it means that Pete Waterman is officially the co-producer of the song at No 1 on both the first and last day of the 90s thanks to Band Aid II back in 1990 (and the final No 1 of both the 80s and 90s.)

In the end neither Cliff Richard or John Lennon were any real competition and both slide this week, Lennon retreats 3-7 (24,700) whilst Richard’s time is definitely up as he plummets 2-8 (24,300), other Christmas novelty hits also take a hit with Cuban Boys ebbing 7-9 (16,000) and Mr Hanky screeching 4-10 (15,000).


The collapse of those singles means that others get unexpected climbs and none can be more surprised than S Club 7 who suddenly burst 6-2 (30,000) despite a mighty 65% cut in sales but then everything is savagely cut saleswise understandably. Artful Dodger bounce back 5-3 (28,000) and Steps lift 8-4 (27,000) to reverse their declining fortunes in chart peaks, meanwhile The Vengaboys shoot 9-5 (27,000) and Alice Deejay float 10-6 (25,000) in a very packed top eight where only 10,000 separate top from bottom. Thank god 2000 starts next week and some new entries!

1- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (34,500)
2- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (30,000)
3- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (28,000)
4- SAY YOU’LL BE MINE/ BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Steps (27,000)
5- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE)- Vengaboys (27,000)
6- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (25,000)
7- IMAGINE- John Lennon (24,700)
8- THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER- Cliff Richard (24,300)
9- COGNOSCENTI VS INTELLEGENSIA- Cuban Boys (16,000)
10- MR HANKEY THE CHRISTMAS POO- Mr Hankey (15,000)

So finally we do get to the end of the 90s charts! Thanks everyone for contributing to 1999! And the 90s!

Thanks again Gezza!

Thanks Gezza, has been such a great thread to follow.

Such terrible sales that week, I remember listening live and being surprised S Club 7 were still to come when they got top the top two. Shame they couldn't quite go all the way there. Glad Steps managed to avoid missing the top five too with that climb.

My favourites to appear since last commenting are: 'Steal My Sunshine', 'Imagine' and 'Cognoscenti Vs Intelligentsia' 🐹

('Barber's Adagio for Strings' is also great but a tough listen for me in any form as the original piece was used at a family funeral)

'Steal My Sunshine' with its 'More, More, More' sample coexisting with S Club 7 in the chart... Rachel pay close attention to that source material! 

...and just like that it's the end of these '90s threads and TOTP repeats! Thank you so much for these Gezza and I look forward to hopping over to the 2000s threads ❤️ I'd watched the odd TOTP episode in the past (even as far back as the '60s as someone had dumped decades worth of episodes into a folder which has sadly since been deleted) but decided that I wanted a neat entry point to start watching the BBC4 repeats every week... so that was from 1990 onwards! I've just checked the first one of these threads and the start of those episodes was almost 6 years ago now?! Wow! Where has time gone. My favourite moment from these years of '90s TOTP watching was definitely seeing The Cure's performance of 'Pictures of You' in an early 1990 episode for the first time, as that was my gateway into their discography and they've since become one of my favourite bands. Has been good fun!

On 08/05/2026 at 11:26, Gezza said:

Melanie C has already branched out on her own in the Bryan Adams duet “When You’re Gone” which went Platinum, and shortly she’ll be the second Spice Girls member to produce her own album. Her lead solo single is “Goin’ Down” which was actually as high as No 2 in first sales flashes but eventually relented to end up at No 4 (49,000). You can pick up her album “Northern Star” in just 3 weeks.

Lol am I delusional or is that not Celine Dion? It's definitely not Melanie C! 😂

PS you can probs tell I'm reading through the thread, been going for nearly an hour now! Some fascinating information in here, and loving the write ups! 🥰

Edited July 20Jul 20 by Spiceboy

On 08/05/2026 at 20:00, Jessie Where said:

Omg, is your first name Ann?

You are hilarious! 😂 Made me laugh so many times in this thread!! 🤣

On 15/05/2026 at 18:54, dandy* said:

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.

I was thinking this, so many of them where the week before or week after #1 and #2 would have trounced them. Geri ironically losing out to another Irish boyband with Look at me would have beaten Westlife the week before. Then Mi Chico Latino knocking them off #1 would have also beaten them the week before. Geri, could have kept that 6 consecutive #1's record for Spice Girls and given herself 5 solo number ones if she had played a bit smarter! 🤭

19 minutes ago, Spiceboy said:

Lol am I delusional or is that not Celine Dion? It's definitely not Melanie C! 😂

PS you can probs tell I'm reading through the thread, been going for nearly an hour now! Some fascinating information in here, and loving the write ups! 🥰

I've changed the pic to make you happy! haha

On 22/05/2026 at 14:08, Jessie Where said:

Love 'Keep On Movin' and the Savage Garden song!

'Waiting For Tonight' is one of the greatest pop songs ever (I kind of always think of it and 'On a Night Like This' as being sister songs)

I always felt there's a good song in 'Lift Me Up' if somebody else was singing it, those strained vocals are utterly painful. Baby definitely had the superior one here.

There is an AI version of it as a Spice Girls song on youtube and it's amazing so I think you are right! 😂 I think the lyrics are a bit too cringey for a Spice Girls song at their peak but with some adaption to the lyrics, it wouldn't have sounded out of place as a Christmas single for a 1998 / 1999 Spice Girls album had they continued.

I always have such a soft spot for Lift me up due to Geri using BSL as part of the songs promotions. As a deaf boy, I had never seen anyone in popular culture use sign language like this before and it made me feel so happy that she had. It is definitely one of the things that made me a huge Geri fan at the time. 🥰

Edited July 20Jul 20 by Spiceboy

OK just finished reading through, thanks for this @Gezza was an excellent read! Hope you are thinking of doing a Year 2000 one perhaps? 🥰