February 27Feb 27 Author 44. ANGEL- Shaggy Featuring Reyvon (622,100) YEAR: 2001PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Shaggy’s second No 1 of 2001 arrived there on a sale of 178k, it samples Steve Miller Band’s “Joker” and interpolated “Angel Of The Morning” by Evie Sands in the chorus and became his fourth chart topper overall. That meant that he became the most successful reggae act ever (by that metric) and the first to top the singles and albums chart simultaneously fact fans
February 27Feb 27 Author 43. NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE- S Club 7 (627,500) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 18 “Children In Need” was the benefactor here for S Club’s 6th top 3 single- only the second UK group to score six top 3 hits from their first releases after the Spice’s. Co-written by the writer of choice for early 00’s hits (that’s Cathy Dennis) the song was first heard in demo form as the theme to the show “S Club 7 Go Wild” in the autumn of 2000 before getting the single mix and topping the charts, this is their 3rd track on the list!
February 27Feb 27 Author 42. TEENAGE DIRTBAG- Wheatus (636,400) YEAR: 2001PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART :20 First appearing in the 2000 film “Loser” (hence the promo), it actually took it’s inspiration from real life events as singer and writer Brown stated: “It came from the summer of 1984 on Long Island, when I was 10 years old. That summer in the woods behind my house, there was a Satanic, drug-induced ritual teen homicide that went down; and the kid who did it was called Ricky Kasso, and he was arrested wearing an AC/DC T-shirt. That made all the papers, and the television, obviously; and here I was, 10 years old, walking around with a case full of AC/DC and Iron Maiden and Metallica – and all the parents and the teachers and the cops thought I was some kind of Satan worshipper. So that's the backdrop for that song” It was released up against Atomic Kitten’s “Whole Again” and came off second best, it’s the 5th highest non number one on the list!
February 28Feb 28 Author 41. ROCK DJ- Robbie Williams (639,600) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 20 A song on the radio every 10 minutes in the summer of 2000, the controversial video which could only be shown after 9pm, the infamous tiger pants, and even a made-up relationship with Geri Halliwell, yes everything was thrown in to make sure that Robbie’s first single from his third album topped the charts. It did, in style, with 199k of sales in 6 days, and also helped the revival of Barry White who had already “assisted” Black Legend to No 1 a month before Robbie, his track “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Next To Me” is used throughout “Rock DJ”
February 28Feb 28 Author 40. SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND- Girls Aloud (642,700) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 21 The start of a beautiful relationship between production team Xenomania and one of the biggest girlgroups of the decade. The group were of course formed on the reality show “Popstars: The Rivals” and this was a launch single and a bid at the festive No 1 which it achieved in some style beating boyband (and rival group also formed on the show) One True Voice to the top by 213k to 147k. The song itself had been knocking around for a while and first recorded by failed girlgroup Orchid in 2001 who disbanded before getting a deal, then it was offered as a Samantha Mumba single for 2002 before “I’m Right Here” got chosen instead, all of which meant it was still available for Girls Aloud to record as their first single once the group had been formed. It was originally recorded with all the vocals of the last 10 girls left in the group with Zenomania removing the vocals of the eliminated contestant week by week until only the five winning girls were left!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsnzQ_SWBZk&list=RDJsnzQ_SWBZk&start_radio=1
February 28Feb 28 Author 39. YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL- James Blunt (658,200) YEAR: 2005PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 40 Famously this was a slow burner (for 2005) moving 12-6-2-3-3-3-1 in the charts whilst it embedded into all our brains. Inspired by a real life event it seemed to capture the public and grow into a monster hit, it was actually the slowest ascent to No 1 since Steps in 1998 and the first chart topper to enter outside the top 10 before it made No 1 since The Outhere Brothers in 1995- chart rule changes in 2006 would make this much more common though.
March 1Mar 1 Author 38. WHENEVER WHEREVER- Shakira (660,400) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 19 It had the bravery/ foolishness to go up against Will Young’s “Pop Idol” winning single so it is no surprise that this never made No 1 here but it belies the fact that it announced the arrival of Shakira to the world outside of Latin music and was something of a sensation itself for a memorable promo and some lyrics about her breasts. She was the first act from Columbia to score a hit on the UK charts, and to prove its credentials it sold an impressive 109k in its first week, enough to be No 1 in more than half the weeks of 2002
March 1Mar 1 Author 37. FEELS SO GOOD- Sonique (667,200) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 17 In many ways the chart race of June 2000 was a portent of the Spiller Vs Posh battle later that summer, highly promoted track by a pop act Vs an in demand club tune spread mainly through word of mouth- in this instance Sonique went up against S Club 7 (No 87) and once again the chart threw up a surprise. “It Feels So Good” was first released in 1998 peaking at No 24 and was largely forgotten about it started to make waves over in the US in 2000 and after it went top 10 a re-issue was inevitable and it stormed to the top.
March 1Mar 1 Author 36. IN FOR THE KILL- La Roux (670,390) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 33 Enjoying considerable support from radio and critics, La Roux exploded into the charts in the spring of 2009 with this little ditty which spent an entire month at No 2 behind Calvin Harris (No 122) and Tinchy Stryder (No 71) so as you can see it was the winner overall by the Y/E. The song re-emerged in 2022 on Tion Wayne’s “IFTK” where it went top 10 again.
March 1Mar 1 I only realised recently that Whenever Wherever peaked at #2, I always thought it got to #1.
March 2Mar 2 Author 35. KILLING IN THE NAME- Rage Against The Machine (664,481)YEAR: 1993/ 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 3 Two claims to fame on this one, firstly that when the song charted originally in 1993 the uncensored version of the track containing an expletive repeated several times was accidently played on the Radio 1 chart show! Forward 16 years and it was chosen as part of a facebook campaign to defeat the “X Factor” winning single becoming the Christmas No 1 (as it had been for the previous 4 years), picked precisely due to its refrain of “f*** you I won’t do what you tell me” as a message to the show that (an element of) the British public won’t just make something the festive chart topper because the show told them to. It captured the public imagination with press coverage giving daily updates on the race for the xmas No 1, interestingly this track was ahead all week but never by a solid amount with the lead a mere 9k by the end of Thursday, a surprise come Sunday that it ended up a healthy 52k ahead of Joe McElderry.
March 2Mar 2 Author 34. UMBRELLA- Rihanna Featuring Jay Z (676,200) YEAR: 2007PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 51 Rihanna’s first No 1 came with the infamous “Umbrella” which was at the top of the charts for 10 whole weeks in the summer of 2007 (a record for the decade), a summer which ended up being a particularly rainy one by sheer co-incidence, but much commented on at the time. The lead single from her “Good Girl Gone Bad” album it was just the third track to make the top on download only sales overturning a midweek deficit to Maroon 5 and giving his Jay Z his second credit on a chart topper after “Déjà vu” the previous year. It was another track that did the rounds being written for Britney Spears whose label rejected it, then offered to Taio Cruz and Mary J Blige- odd to think it could have been anyone but Rihanna who recorded it- but there you go.
March 2Mar 2 Author 33. USE SOMEBODY- Kings Of Leon (698,695) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 61 Released in the slip stream of “Sex On Fire” it consolidated their position as the rock group of choice in late 08/ early 09. It had a 12 week climb to No 2 only held off becoming their second chart topper in a row thanks to Leona Lewis (No 45) so some revenge was gained on the decade list. It’s the third highest non No.1 on the list
March 2Mar 2 I didn't start listening to the chart until 2007, so missed many iconic moments over the years, but the Joe vs. Rage battle really stands out as a much talked about chart race that I actually do recall from the time! I was an X Factor U.K. viewer but the guaranteed festive chart-topper every year, with pretty uninspired covers, was getting stale. So it was great that something like Rage could bulldoze into the race thanks to that Facebook-fuelled fan campaign and actually triumph with eye-watering sales. At least Joe still got to have his moment at the top the following week after being the sacrificial lamb for the show in general.I've come to appreciate 'Killing in the Name' musically a lot more over the years as my taste became more alt-friendly.'Umbrella' stands out as an iconic late 2000s chart-topper as well. Rihanna had truly arrived as a mega star! What a run of achieving a U.K. #1 every year from that point until 2013 too.
March 2Mar 2 My favourite 10 of places 100 - 51:97. CLINT EASTWOOD- Gorillaz (486,800)96. NOW YOU’RE GONE- Basshunter Featuring DJ Mental Theo’s Bazzheadz (490,100)86. HUMAN- The Killers (512,100)78. HEAVEN- DJ Sammy featuring Yanou and Do (527,600)76. VALERIE- Mark Ronson Featuring Amy Winehouse (532,000)72. WITHOUT ME- Eminem (541,700)68. TOCA’S MIRACLE- Fragma (549,900)63. GOTTA GET THRU THIS- Daniel Bedingfield (564,100)60. I KISSED A GIRL- Katy Perry (577,455)53. GROOVEJET (IF THIS AIN’T LOVE)- Spiller (590,800)
March 3Mar 3 Author 32. A LITTLE LESS CONVERSATION (REMIX)- Elvis Vs JXL (700,900) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 An old Elvis B-side from 1968 which passed the UK altogether though it did get used in the Elvis film “Live A Little, Love A little”, it got a new lease of life when it was used in the film “Ocean’s Eleven” in 2001. That brought it to the attention of Dutch DJ Tom Holenborg (Junkie XL) who remixed the track bringing it up to date and got permission of the Elvis estate to release the track commercially. In turn it got picked up by Nike for use in its advertisement for the World Cup in 2002 and with the song getting promo for weeks on end it generated enough demand for the song which duly smashed in at No 1 on sales of 243k giving him an 18th chart topper and breaking the tie of most No 1 hits in the UK with The Beatles which had stood for 25 years and gave him the longest span of chart toppers at 45 years! A re-issue in 2005 saw the song go top 3 again- sales are combined here.
March 3Mar 3 Author 31. RULE THE WORLD- Take That (709,250) YEAR: 2007PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 72 Opening with a sale of 97k in its first week of full release was, to that point, the third highest weekly sales tally of 2007, shame then that it still missed the top thanks to Leona Lewis who was turning into the nemesis of the band knocking two of their chart toppers off No 1 and denying this one. It featured in the film “Stardust” and was the first track the band ever wrote specifically for a film and is the 4th track from them on the list.
March 3Mar 3 Author 30. THE CLIMB- Joe McElderry (716,358) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 3 We’ve already had the circumstances under which they became just the second “X Factor” winners single not to enter at No 1 (No 35) but McElderry got his week at the top the following week and ultimately sold more before the decade ended. The Original version of the track by Miley Cyrus had reached No 11 only 7 months prior to this cover and you have to feel slightly sorry for McElderry who did nothing wrong himself and sold more than any other track did to only make No 2.
March 3Mar 3 Those circumstances surrounding Take That's chances of #1 remain eternally frustrating! 3rd best weekly sale of the year yet stuck behind an even bigger phenomenon... 'Rule The World' is one of their very best for me, pretty magical and timeless sounding, so a shame it isn't part of their hefty collection of #1s. Although it has good company with 'The Flood'!
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