Absolutely love Release Me, such a brilliant tune. I remember my friend thinking it was Leona Lewis at first.

191. SOMETHING STUPID- Robbie Williams & Nicole Kidman (361,900)

 

YEAR: 2001

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS IN CHART: 12

 

The festive chart topper for the year was quite a rouse for Robbie Williams who secured the services of a Hollywood A-Lister in Nicole Kidman.  The song was written by C Carlson Parks and initially performed by he and his wife Gaile for their album in 1966, of course it reached a far greater level of fame when covered by Frank and daughter Nancy Sinatra a year later as it became a chart topper on both sides of the Atlantic.  Fast forward 24 years and Williams recorded it for his big band album “Swing When You’re Winning” enticing Kidman who had recently shown she could sing thanks to “Moulin Rouge”.

190. FREESTYLER- Bomfunk MC’s (362,000)

 

YEAR: 2000

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 12

The third release in their native Finland from their debut album, this was the first song released here in the UK and remains their biggest. It was denied the top spot by Craig David but did make No 1 on 10 European charts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n867LKnGgc&list=RD9n867LKnGgc&start_radio=1

189. HEY YA- Outkast (362,800)

 

YEAR: 2003

PEAK POSITION: 3

WKS ON CHART: 21

 

For a song to spend 21 weeks in the chart back in 03/04 pre downloads was quite a feat, still more impressive that reached its peak some 12 weeks into that run!  Apparently it was the first track to record 1 million downloads on i-Tunes way back in 2005 and caused a short lived revival in the sale of polaroid cameras in 2004 thanks to the namecheck in the song.

Echoing the love for 'Release Me'! Agnes may not touch the charts here now but has still been releasing some great stuff in recent years.

Nice to see even more Nordic representation with 'Freestyler', what a banger.

Crazy that 'I Turn To You' was as late as single #4 in the campaign. The Hex Hector facelift was a wonderful makeover.

'Hey Ya!' rivals 'Toxic' as my favourite so far another behemoth sadly bogged down by a poor sales period.

That is quite low for Mel C and one of my favourite songs from the Noughties.

Always disliked Release Me.

Both Toxic and Something Stupid are 9/10 material. Ghetto Gospel was interesting # 1.

On 05/01/2026 at 18:35, vibe said:

This sales for toxic are crazy low !

That's 2004 for you!

They certainly aren't now though.

Toxic and Hey Ya being so low is criminal!

Release Me is great though I prefer her more recent material.

I Turn To You is Mel C at her solo best. Again far too low.

188. THE BOY DOES NOTHING- Alesha Dixon (364,600)

 

YEAR: 2008

PEAK POSITION: 5

WKS ON CHART:24

 

A tumultuous decade for Dixon who saw Mis-Teeq disband, a high profile divorce from So Solid Crew member Harvey after he had an affair with fellow popstar Javine, and a flop solo career which saw her dumped by the record label.  Things changed however when she won “Strictly Come Dancing” in late 2007 and saw her snapped up by a new label to produce a new album from which this was the re-launch lead single.  Co written by Xenomania, it was performed on “Strictly” and in an instant outsold not only her previous singles but also all of her Mis-Teeq hits.

187. I WISH I WAS A PUNKROCKER (WITH FLOWERS IN MY HAIR)- Sandi Thom (365,100)

 

YEAR: 2006

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART: 23

 

Much was made at the time of Thom’s route to stardom which consisted of 21 “tour dates” which were actually webcasts from her basement, a PR stunt which brought her to the attention of the media.  She was eventually signed to RCA after label boss Craig Logan (ex-Bros member) saw a webcast (indeed the record contract signing was itself a webcast), her debut single was released and bam- a chart topper!  It was written after Thom had been mugged losing her phone and without a means of contacting her family so it’s nice that some good came from the experience!

186. TAKE A BOW- Rihanna (365,800)

 

YEAR: 2008

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART:23

 

Written by Ne-Yo and Stargate, this was an additional track recorded by Rihanna for “Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded”.  It became her second No 1 in the UK and her second appearance on this list.

The Boy Does Nothing still holds up as a great bop. I did find it a little cheesy at the time but it has an undeniable fun factor.

…Punk Rocker is nothing groundbreaking as a song but I appreciate the idea behind it and can certainly relate in ways.

Take A Bow is pretty basic and hasn’t aged well for me. Disturbia from that year blows it out the water.

Two major classics in Toxic and Agnes way too low! Toxic especially due to the RIP CD singles and home taping/downloading. One of the advantages of personal charts is the level playing field across different eras for "chart sales" - you dont get periods that sell in bucketloads across the chart and others that get no big sellers at all due to factors outside the music popularity😄

Not a vintage trio for me there.

I'd never really sat and thought about the fact that 'The Boy Does Nothing' had outsold all Mis-Teeq hits, wow! 'Scandalous' feels like a British girl-group classic but 2003 was of course bad for sales, so makes sense. Strictly Come Dancing really did work wonders for Alesha's career, both in music for a while and especially on TV long-term, with her still being a part of the Britain's Got Talent judging panel even now.

185. 21 SECONDS- So Solid Crew (367,400)

 

YEAR: 2001

PEAK POSITION: 1

WKS ON CHART:15

 

A title derived from the fact that the record company asked the collective to record a song 3 and half minutes long which meant that all the members got roughly 21 seconds to deliver their parts.  It was their first hit after their debut “Oh No (Sentimental Things)” was ineligible for the chart due to play time, but after the big time the group were mired in a serious of altercations with the law which overtook their chart success but many of the members went on to have successful careers outside of music.

184. HEY THERE DELILAH- Plain White T’s (368,600)

 

YEAR: 2007

PEAK POSITION: 2

WKS ON CHART: 31

 

The band were onto their 4^th album by the time this track was released, written by Frontman Tom Higgenson about his meeting with (and subsequent imagined relationship with) cross country runner Delilah Di Crescenzo.  She apparently was flattered (thou not enough to leave her boyfriend for him) it became a US chart topper and made No 2 here behind Sean Kingston, it remains their only top 40 entry here.

183. BREATHE- Blu Cantrell Featuring Sean Paul (368,700)

 

YEAR: 2003

PEAK POSITION: 2003

WKS ON CHART: 21

 

Ah 2003….the year of Sean Paul when he seemed to be on almost every weekly chart!  For all of his presence this was his sole stint at No 1 and even then only as a featured artist.  Blu Cantrell actually recorded the track as a solo track for her album using samples of Dr Dre’s “What’s The Difference” which featured (among others) Eminem thus awarding him another writer’s credit for a chart topper.  For the single release Paul’s rap was added and it shot to the top though it buckled at No 70 in the US.

Love "Hey There Delilah" and "Breathe"