March 4Mar 4 Author 29. WHO LET THE DOGS OUT- The Baha Men (718,300) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 23 So here it is then, the biggest selling song of the decade not to top the chart, and who can forget the 13-14-2 chart run it had to surprise all of us chart watchers. That was put down to a TOTP airing but in truth it owed a lot of debt to a generally flat week and even that rise to No 2 was accompanied by a sale of just 24k- the lowest tally in 8 years. The song itself dated back to 1998 when the writer Anslem Douglas released it and it found its way to the ears of the Jonathan King who did his own version which in turn was played to King’s friend Steve Greenberg who was working with the Baha Men and asked them to record it as well. It was this version that was championed by Radio 1’s John Peel and though it didn’t pick up general radio support it was popular on “The Box”.
March 4Mar 4 Author 28. PURE SHORES- All Saints (721,400) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Recorded for the film soundtrack to “The Beach”, this was All Saint’s 4th chart topper and saw them working with the producer of the moment William Orbit. The producer of the film Danny Boyle was apparently reticent to put the band on the soundtrack and was only convinced once he knew that Orbit was producing it but it all worked out and sales of 199k in week 1 illustrated that we were glad it did.
March 4Mar 4 Author 27. FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE- Cheryl Cole (745,738) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 11 Released at a time when Cole was officially “the nation’s sweetheart” and could do little wrong with a judging spot on “X Factor” and a regular in the tabloids. The track got it’s first performance on the show’s Sunday night results programme giving it the best possible publicity from the off- it didn’t disappoint with 292k sold in week 1 outstripping anything Girls Aloud did in a week.
March 4Mar 4 'Who Let the Dogs Out' felt pretty ubiquitous, particularly standing out as a school disco staple, so makes sense as the top-selling #2!'Pure Shores' is one of my favourites of the entire decade so yay for that sneaking into the top 30 I'm a sucker for a William Orbit production and All Saints' lush harmonies fit really well with his ambient style.Cheryl felt pretty untouchable (if you pardon the GA pun) here for a good few years. As you say, she courted so much positive press under the 'nation's sweetheart' tag and of course had a lot of public sympathy for her marriage breakdown and malaria later on too. 'Fight For This Love' was a smart solo launch with that former drama being so high profile. The red military styling from the music video and live performances was memorable too. It's a solid pop song although doesn't quite touch the best of Girls Aloud for me. Unfortunately a lot of their hits fell foul to weak sales periods while healthier 2009 sales, plus a platform like the X Factor U.K. at its height, was great timing for Cheryl on top of the song connecting.
March 4Mar 4 I remember thinking the 14-2 jump for Bahamen was very WTF at the time. I was only 12 and never really seen much like it at the time. It’s only reading this I realise how low the sales were that week, I’ve been wondering why it happened for over 25 years! Aside from it being on TOTP, it hadn’t had a significant new push from anywhere. I guess grabbing that top 2 status only helped its sales increase.Fight For This Love is a great song but Cheryl is such a weak vocalist.
March 5Mar 5 Author 26. DON’T STOP MOVIN’- S Club 7 (747,800) YEAR: 2001PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 19 Their third No 1 and 7th straight top 3 single, this proved to be their biggest hit pre-downloading and of course had two separate stints at No 1 either side of Geri Halliwell’s “It’s Raining Men”, the first song to turn that trick in 3 years. Popular in the clubs at the time with a mash up with “Billie Jean”, it picked up best British single at the BRITS in 2002.
March 5Mar 5 Author 25. WHERE IS THE LOVE- The Black Eyed Peas (748,200) YEAR: 2003PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 19 Knocking around for a good few years and not doing much, it took this track and the appearance of Justin Timberlake on backing vocals to propel them to No 1. Timberlake remained uncredited (his label apparently concerned that it would be overkill for the singer given his great 2003 already) but it took off in a major way spending 6 weeks at the top (the longest since Cher in 1998) and becoming the best selling single of 2003.
March 5Mar 5 Author 24. UPTOWN GIRL- Westlife (765,200) YEAR: 2001PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Billy Joel’s ode to his model (soon to be wife) Christie Brinkley had of course already been a massive No 1 in the 80s selling 828k- a proven hit. Westlife chose it as a cover for Comic Relief 18 years later and it easily became their 8th chart topper from 9 releases on a healthy sale of 292k ending up by far their biggest seller by the end of the decade. They even recreated the promo getting model Claudia Schiffer in to provide the model interest.
March 5Mar 5 On 04/03/2026 at 10:34, Gezza said:27. FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE- Cheryl Cole (745,738) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 11 Released at a time when Cole was officially “the nation’s sweetheart” and could do little wrong with a judging spot on “X Factor” and a regular in the tabloids. The track got it’s first performance on the show’s Sunday night results programme giving it the best possible publicity from the off- it didn’t disappoint with 292k sold in week 1 outstripping anything Girls Aloud did in a week.A childhood classic for me
March 5Mar 5 I'm not sure if I knew about that 'Billie Jean' mash-up version of 'Don't Stop Movin' before! Must search that out later. This is my favourite S Club song and one of the best hits of the year. They managed to find a sweet spot of mixing fun pop with a more 'cool' acclaimed edge. Pure unadulterated joy! This was a school disco classic, along with 'Reach', plus heavily reminds me of Now 49 as both my parents and grandparents had it on CD.I remember 'Where Is The Love?' well from the time... a juggernaut in a poor sales era. I don't think I knew the lack of Timberlake credit was due to overexposure, but I guess he was even doing that McDonalds jingle song that year, so fair enough A low bar but 'Uptown Girl' is one of Westlife's better covers for me, a bit of harmless fun. I can see why it brought in huge sales for Comic Relief.
March 5Mar 5 Author 9 minutes ago, Jade said:I'm not sure if I knew about that 'Billie Jean' mash-up version of 'Don't Stop Movin' before! Must search that out later. This is my favourite S Club song and one of the best hits of the year. They managed to find a sweet spot of mixing fun pop with a more 'cool' acclaimed edge. Pure unadulterated joy! This was a school disco classic, along with 'Reach', plus heavily reminds me of Now 49 as both my parents and grandparents had it on CD.I remember 'Where Is The Love?' well from the time... a juggernaut in a poor sales era. I don't think I knew the lack of Timberlake credit was due to overexposure, but I guess he was even doing that McDonalds jingle song that year, so fair enough A low bar but 'Uptown Girl' is one of Westlife's better covers for me, a bit of harmless fun. I can see why it brought in huge sales for Comic Relief.
March 5Mar 5 3 hours ago, Gezza said:25. WHERE IS THE LOVE- The Black Eyed Peas (748,200) YEAR: 2003PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 19 Knocking around for a good few years and not doing much, it took this track and the appearance of Justin Timberlake on backing vocals to propel them to No 1. Timberlake remained uncredited (his label apparently concerned that it would be overkill for the singer given his great 2003 already) but it took off in a major way spending 6 weeks at the top (the longest since Cher in 1998) and becoming the best selling single of 2003.what a classic love this song
March 6Mar 6 Author 23. DILEMMA- Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland (766,100)YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 21 Beating bandmate Beyonce to No 1, Rowland teamed up with Nelly in 2002 to give us this massive hit based around a sample of “Love, Need, and Want You” by Patti Labelle (Labelle appears in the promo as Rowland’s mother in a nod to the sample). A US Chart topper for 10 weeks it turned into a long stayer here with 9 weeks in the top 10 (unusual in 2002) and outsold everything Beyonce did in the decade.
March 6Mar 6 Author 22. JUST DANCE- Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis (767,558) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 39 Back to where it started for Lady Gaga, and a song which was offered to the Pussycat Dolls initially as the record company seemed not to have faith in the singer as a popstar. It was turned down thankfully as it became her first single instead, O’Donis was not the intended featured act, that was Akon who co-wrote the track with Lady Gaga, but Interscope refused to let him appear so his part was handed to Akon’s protégé instead.
March 6Mar 6 Author 21. STAN- Eminem (772,700) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 17 The song that brought us Dido (though uncredited again), it invented the term to “Stan” for something and was also his biggest seller of the decade. Eminem naturally courted controversy with the promo which got several edits from MTV before being shown, it only added to the promotion for the track which sold almost 200k in week one to enter at the top ahead of Bob The Builder by around 10k before yielding to the eventual festive No 1 the following week but it stayed high in the charts through the festive season which helps it here.
March 6Mar 6 Author Recap 50-2150. LOSE YOURSELF- Eminem (598,100)49. MERCY- Duffy (604,700)48. CHASING CARS- Snow Patrol (611,400)47. HIPS DON’T LIE- Shakira Featuring Wyclef Jean (614,700)46. BOOM BOOM POW- Black Eyed Peas (616,981)45. RUN- Leona Lewis (617,415)44. ANGEL- Shaggy Featuring Reyvon (622,100)43. NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE- S Club 7 (627,500)42. TEENAGE DIRTBAG- Wheatus (636,400)41. ROCK DJ- Robbie Williams (639,600) 40. SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND- Girls Aloud (642,700)39. YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL- James Blunt (658,200)38. WHENEVER WHEREVER- Shakira (660,400)37. FEELS SO GOOD- Sonique (667,200)36. IN FOR THE KILL- La Roux (670,390)35. KILLING IN THE NAME- Rage Against The Machine (664,481)34. UMBRELLA- Rihanna Featuring Jay Z (676,200)33. USE SOMEBODY- Kings Of Leon (698,695)32. A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION (REMIX)- Elvis Vs JXL (700,900)31. RULE THE WORLD- Take That (709,250) 30. THE CLIMB- Joe McElderry (716,358)29. WHO LET THE DOGS OUT- The Baha Men (718,300)28. PURE SHORES- All Saints (721,400)27. FIGHT FOR THIS LOVE- Cheryl Cole (745,738)26. DON’T STOP MOVIN’- S Club 7 (747,800)25. WHERE IS THE LOVE- The Black Eyed Peas (748,200)24. UPTOWN GIRL- Westlife (765,200)23. DILEMMA- Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland (766,100)22. JUST DANCE- Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis (767,558)21. STAN- Eminem (772,700)
March 6Mar 6 I remember back in 2009 thinking Just Dance was a bit mid and much preferring PokerFace.Now I’d much rather listen to Just Dance.I remember being so intrigued by the female singer on Stan. Dido is one of my all time favourites artists and the love began here.
March 7Mar 7 On 06/03/2026 at 01:05, Gezza said:24. UPTOWN GIRL- Westlife (765,200) YEAR: 2001PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Billy Joel’s ode to his model (soon to be wife) Christie Brinkley had of course already been a massive No 1 in the 80s selling 828k- a proven hit. Westlife chose it as a cover for Comic Relief 18 years later and it easily became their 8th chart topper from 9 releases on a healthy sale of 292k ending up by far their biggest seller by the end of the decade. They even recreated the promo getting model Claudia Schiffer in to provide the model interest.Are they red nickers on t-shirts of the Westlife boys?
March 7Mar 7 22 hours ago, Gezza said:22. JUST DANCE- Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis (767,558) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 39 Back to where it started for Lady Gaga, and a song which was offered to the Pussycat Dolls initially as the record company seemed not to have faith in the singer as a popstar. It was turned down thankfully as it became her first single instead, O’Donis was not the intended featured act, that was Akon who co-wrote the track with Lady Gaga, but Interscope refused to let him appear so his part was handed to Akon’s protégé instead.I remember hearing Just Dance for the first time in August 2008, I was hooked from the first listen.
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