Well hello to you! Now that the 90s have finished in terms of my Gallup threads and also the TOTP repeats it's time to reflect on the updated and more accurate top 100 best selling artists of the decade according to sales in the UK. Thanks again go to Robbie and Kobyhardrian for panel sales for 1990-1994 to improve this list.

In keeping with all my threads if an act is credited then they receive all the sales for that track, so (for example) both Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson get the full sales for “Scream”.

Now with all that said we can crack on with the rundown- each act will be revealed with their biggest hit listed and, where appropriate, he biggest selling act of individual years will also be indicated!

Just who did sell more singles than anyone else in the 90s? The answer will be revealed

N.B The above is just a reminder of the 90s music scene, it doesn't indicate that all the acts featured will appear on the list nor does it resemble the actual best selling singles of the 90s!

Looking forward to this, in particular seeing which artists from the mid to late 90's will feature as that's when I really started to get into music and the charts.

Excited for this!

Oooh yay a new Gezza thread!

yay! This will be fab! 🤩

Will be interesting to see how high certain acts can get off the back of (nearly) just one song

Right I'll do the first two today.......for the links I'll try to use non top 10 singles where possible as i fear we've discussed top 10 singles in the 90s to death recently! (or I certainly have)- but it may not be possible on all the acts...

NO 100. JIMMY NAIL (1,086,900)

6 UK TOP 40 HITS

BIGGEST HIT: CROCODILE SHOES (417,000)

 

Spending the 90s split between the TV screen and the charts proved lucrative for Nail whose highlight came in 1992 with the chart topping “Ain’t No Doubt”.  He was a singer before he started acting though it was rising to fame in “Auf Wiedersehen, Pet” that saw him finally crack the charts in 1985 with “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” which ultimately scuppered a release of the same song in the UK charts by Madonna. Later on the pair teamed up in the film “Evita” though Nail’s chart career was by that time pretty much over.

NO 99. THE TELETUBBIES (1,103,000)

1 UK TOP 40 HIT

BIGGEST HIT: TELETUBBIES SAY EH-OH (1,103,000)

 

There are just two acts who make it on this with just one hit. Here’s the first, BBC’s “Teletubbies” was a big hit not only with the kids but with Students who made the theme tune a million seller! Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po first got aired in March 1997 and by the summer was attracting audiences of 2 million, of course that led to the unleashing of merchandise such as dolls and figures all of which created a cultural moment by the end of the year and to this track selling 900,000 in just 4 weeks!  Wisely they quit whilst ahead and the original series ended in 2001 before the inevitable reboot.

Will be looking out for Erasure, KLF, The Prodigy and Manic Street Preachers. I don't think any of my other faves would be in contention.

Edited June 18Jun 18 by Colm

I should add (contrary to my own rules) that I decided to exclude Faith Evans and 112 as they would only make the list thanks to a million seller on which they were only featured acts. If I Hadn't then you wouldn't have got Jimmy Nail and Teletubbies which I'm sure you'll agree are more important....

Was it really on the cards for Madonna to release Love Don't Live Here Anymore as a single from Like a Virgin?

I always thought it surprising that they didn't release it in the UK in the 90s when it was on Something to Remember and got a music video and everything, yet they released One More Chance which didn't have a video and wasn't a great song.

But back to Jimmy Nail... he was good in Evita.

Teletubbies only being this low is very suprising but the whole top 100 being over 1m is wild

20 minutes ago, ChrisJK said:

Was it really on the cards for Madonna to release Love Don't Live Here Anymore as a single from Like a Virgin?

I always thought it surprising that they didn't release it in the UK in the 90s when it was on Something to Remember and got a music video and everything, yet they released One More Chance which didn't have a video and wasn't a great song.

But back to Jimmy Nail... he was good in Evita.

Initially it was down for a single release (in the initial planning for the 5 singles) but by the time they got round to it Jimmy Nail had done his version rendering hers pointless in the UK at least. Releasing "crazy for you" and "gambler " also delayed the scheduling.

'Ain't No Doubt' is good, the chorus is very Take That, I used to think it was a Take That song when I heard it on the radio.

How can his biggest hit be 'Crocodile Shoes' though?

Edited June 18Jun 18 by TheSnake

My entrance into the world landed at the height of tubbymania so a lot of my baby/toddler pictures have some sort of relevant paraphernalia in them, even a very colourful 1st birthday cake! They seem to have stood the test of time as a fab four for toddlers, at least for my cousin, who was watching them at a similar age into the 2020s. Po ftw.

Did not know about that Madge fact in the Jimmy Nail write-up, very interesting!

Do "Various Artists" count as their own act? 'The Brits 1990' which reached #2 was credited to this billing as well as the #1 'Perfect Day' - although obviously the groups of artists these comprised were different.

No they aren't all combined so it would only feature here if a various artists record had sold enough in its own right....

Oh that’s such a perfect rule, I’m glad we left it to you. Oh such a perfect rule, it just keeps us hanging on, it just keeps us hanging on.

2 hours ago, Gezza said:

Initially it was down for a single release (in the initial planning for the 5 singles) but by the time they got round to it Jimmy Nail had done his version rendering hers pointless in the UK at least. Releasing "crazy for you" and "gambler " also delayed the scheduling.

interesting i have never ever heard or read about the plan to release her original version as a single , it did get a soft release in Japan (i think there is a vinyl - 7inch)