January 23Jan 23 Author 143. MUSIC- Madonna (404,100) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 23 A track that gave Madonna back to back UK chart toppers for the first time since 1987, her decision to use unknown producer Mirwais raised some eyebrows but this was a time when Madonna changed her sound album by album so it all seemed to work. With a promo that featured Ali G (before he became over exposed) in a role original designed for Chris Rock, it was designed to hide (or conceal) the fact that Madonna was pregnant at the time (hence the part animation) with everyone on set made to sign confidentiality clauses as this was not known at the time of filming in March 2000.
January 23Jan 23 Author 142. BAD DAY- Daniel Powter (405,900) YEAR: 2005PEAK POSITION: 2KS ON CHART: 38 A track with a long gestation period after being written in 2001 and touted to labels in 2002 with no takers. It was eventually picked up by Warner Bros in 2004 and licenced to Coca-Cola for a French TV ad that Christmas, that was all that was needed to push the track as a single and it became a hit on the continent. Cue a UK release that summer and it spent 3 weeks behind James Blunt whilst racking up reasonable sales for the period. It remains his sole UK top 40 single.
January 24Jan 24 Author 141. LONELY- Akon (406,300) YEAR: 2005PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Much was made publicity wise of Akon’s criminal past when he rose to fame and indeed he traded on it with debut release “Locked Up” and second album “Konvicted” but as it later transpired he had received only 1 conviction which resulted in 3 years probation! Anyway that was all in the future when “Lonely” was released as his second single and became his first UK chart topper- it features a sample of Bobby Vinton’s “Mr Lonely” so did at least give the veteran singer an appearance on a No 1 here.
January 24Jan 24 Author 140. HOW TO SAVE A LIFE- The Fray (406,700) YEAR: 2007PEAK POSITION: 4WKS ON CHART: 42 Written by lead singer Isaac Slade about his real life experiences as a mentor at camp for teenagers with behavioural issues, this was their breakthrough track and only top 10 hit here. It came with three promo’s, one intercut with scenes from “Grey’s Anatomy” after it was used in an episode.
January 24Jan 24 Author 139. THE LOGICAL SONG- Scooter (407,400) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 2WKS ON CHART: 15 Described variously as “happy Hardcore”, “Rave” or “Techno, this German outfit had been churning out hits in Europe since 1994 but only managed 5 charting tracks in the UK in the 90s with “Back In the UK” being the largest at No 18. Their 23rd single “Ramp (The Logical Song)” was released from a “Best fOf” compilation in December 2001 in Germany and becoming a hit all over Europe thanks in part to its extensive use of the Supertramp 1979 #7 hit “The Logical Song”. It then became their first substantial UK hit when it almost went to the top in the summer of 02 and remains their biggest seller here.
January 24Jan 24 5 bangers in a row there, some of them take me back to clubs on holidays and London, and then we get to ones that didnt work in clubs: The Fray, Daniel Powter, Akon! I liked Akon's for pushing ancient tracks the other two I can't understate how much I got sick of hearing them, oh and Scooter too. Bad Day Fray will have me reaching for the off button in 2026, sorry, but of the two I'd go for Bad Day in preference. Eek! 😄
January 25Jan 25 Author 138. KISS KISS- Holly Valance (409,200) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Taking the well established (by 2002) route from “Neighbours” into the charts, Valance quit the show in early the year to launch herself as a popstar taking on an English version of the Turkish hit “Simarik” by Tarkan which had been a hit in Europe in 1998/1999. The song had subsequently been turned into an English version by Stella Soleil in 2001 becoming a minor US hit but missing the charts here. So it was a relatively unknown track to the UK when Valance chose it as a first single, coupled with a suitably steamy video in which she appeared naked (disguised by strategic glare from lighting) was all we needed to send it the top.
January 25Jan 25 Author 137. NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN- Melanie C Featuring Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes (409,600) YEAR: 2000PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Debut solo era’s from the former Spice Girls were certainly the most successful as you might suspect, and Mel C’s was no different. After 3 consecutive top 5 hits her 4th release was this track which featured T.L.C’s Lisa Lopes and saw the pair make the top spot, it also saw the singer get embroiled with Westlife in the second week of the song’s release as the two acts fought it out for No 1 with Mel C making her thoughts on the band clear in interviews, ultimately she would lose out to them but had the bigger seller overall.
January 25Jan 25 Author 136. CLOSER- Ne-Yo (409,700) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 31 Returning to the production team that created his first No 1, Ne-Yo’s third album got launched with this chart topper. As was the norm at the time, the single went to No 1 with the help of the physical single release though the phenomenon was coming to an end by this point.
January 26Jan 26 Author 135. THE OFFICIAL CHILDREN IN NEED MEDLEY- Peter Kay’s Animated All Star Band (415,475) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 8 Becoming the first “medley” No 1 since 1989 (3 or more tracks) Kay became quite the successful popstar in the 00s thanks not only to his stint on Tony Cbristie’s “Amarillo” but also under his alter-ego Geraldine McQueen, Brian Potter and then on this “Children In Need” hit medley. It entered at No 18 on the strength of sales in 1 day, then shot 18-1 on sales for the first entire week and kept the top spot after the release a second DVD including an eye catching animation video. Great care was taken, where possible, to source the original puppets for the promo and to get the original voices and it all paid off!
January 26Jan 26 Author 134. JAI HO (YOU ARE MY DESTINY)- The Pussycat Dolls & A.R Rahman Featuring Nicole Scherzinger (415,500) YEAR: 2009PEAK POSITION: 3WKS ON CHART: 22 Based on an original Hindi song “Jai Ho” this appeared in the film “Slum Dog Millionaire” which was produced by Rahman. In turn it was picked up by Producers Jimmy Lovine and Ron Fiar who had the idea to convert it into a pop track and worked with Scherzinger to write the lyrics (among others). This was the result and was used as the launch to the re-release of the Pussycat Dolls “Doll Domination” but the solo billing for Scherzinger caused friction within the group ultimately leading to them splitting within a year.
January 26Jan 26 Author 133. THE TIDE IS HIGH (GET THE FEELING)- Atomic Kitten (417,200) YEAR: 2002PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 16 Second appearance for the Kittens with their cover of the Paragons “Tide Is High” which was taken to the top by Blondie in 1980, and to which they fused a bridge from a track called “Get The Feeling” which had been abandoned by the group in terms of a full track to record. It gave them their third and final chart topper.
January 27Jan 27 Author 132. FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK- The Pogues Featuring Kirsty McColl (417,400) YEAR : 2005PEAK POSITION: 3 (in the 00s)WKS ON CHART: 25 Who would have thought given what happened in the 10s and 20s that this would be the biggest festive retro hit of the decade. It was helped of course by getting a formal re-issue in 2005 making No 3 and then on subsequent Christmas charts hitting No 6, 4, 12 and 12 and giving it a two year advantage before download only tracks could chart from Xmas 07 onwards.
January 27Jan 27 Author 131. YEAH!- Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris (418,300) YEAR: 2004PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 14 A return to the top for Usher after a 6 year wait with this banger which also made No 1 in the US for 12 weeks! The song was originally composed by Lil Jon for an album by Mystikal who passed on a few tracks (including this one) and was offered out to Petey Pablo without Lil Jon’s consent. Jon was in the meantime asked to compose a lead single for Usher’s 4th album “Confessions” and used (what he thought) was the unused beat from one of his compositions which in the interim had been turned into the track “Freek-A-Leek” by Pablo. No matter as the songs ended up substantially different, even Usher changed his mind and go with this track over “Burn” as the lead.
January 27Jan 27 Author 130. DISTURBIA- Rihanna (419,700) YEAR: 2008PEAK POSITION: 3WKS ON CHART: 32 Third release from Rihanna’s “Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded” and a song which was co-written by Chris Brown for inclusion on his album “Exclusive” but it didn’t make the cut, Brown instead choosing “Forever”. It was then passed onto Rihanna as Brown thought it suited a female vocal better and voila- another top 3 hit for her, and her 4th showing on this list!
January 27Jan 27 Disturbia is a classic. So incredible to witness her rise to superstardom. Already by this stage she was a guaranteed hitmaker. The “featuring Nicole Scherzinger” crediting on Jai Ho and Hushx4 was audacious to say the least! If being the voice of the band wasn’t enough. 😅 Great song though - a rarity for them around that time imo (PCD >>> DD).
January 28Jan 28 Author 129. YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND/ ALL ABOUT YOU- McFly (421,300) YEAR: 2005PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 13 Comic Relief’s 6th straight (and 7th overall) chart topper alongside McFly’s third chart topper yet the only one that appears on this list. That was because their singles never stuck around long enough to rack up the sales generally but this had some legs moving 165k in its first week and of course had the charity link to carry it further.
January 28Jan 28 Author 128. YOU RAISE ME UP- Westlife (422,800) YEAR: 2005PEAK POSITION: 1WKS ON CHART: 17 Meanwhile here’s the third track from the Irish boyband turned manband (is that a thing?)- By 2005 they were certainly relying more on mums and grans than teenage girls (probably)- and this cover gave them a 13th chart topper. It had a history intertwined with Eurovision, it was composed by members of the group Secret Garden who won the competition in 1995 and wrote this song with Johnny Logan in mind (himself a two time winner of the competition)- but ultimately they changed their mind and wanted to give some distance between the track and the competition. It wasn’t a hit on release in 2001 for the duo but was picked up and covered by multiple acts in the next few years most famously by Josh Grogan (in the US) and Daniel O’Donnell (in the UK who made No 22 in late 2003) and eventually proved the just the right song to launch a new Westlife single in November 2005.
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