Gezza

The genie is out of the bottle now I'm afraid and can't be put back in. As soon as tracks became 1) available forever and 2) free to listen to and that these metrics would contribute to the charts this was always going to be the outcome. When you release a song now you aren't just competing against the hits of the day but all hits of all time. Essentially it lengthens trail off times of hits and removes the urgency of having to buy or own the track. There's little the OCC can do now except to essentially create a chart where something can only chart for X weeks then gets moved off to somewhere else. But that's also artificial. In short it's a hot mess and probably can't be fixed now.

No. For that i would need access to the OCC database, streaming has made estimating a much more difficult process.

I think the difference in the main is that I quite like lyrics and a story and you don't get much of that with 2 Unlimited (especially with the UK mixes which stripped out the raps so we got even less)

I suspect that you will particularly enjoy the next two threads I have in mind......

I can't have any secrets these days!

You knew exactly what day it was- I've met you before😃

It isn't........but clearly now I have to write it!

Oh the next thread will be a time period I've never done a thread on before...

It's an interesting comparison. As someone who, by and large, loved S/A/W but definitely did not like anything done by 2 unlimited i can't agree😃

The gimp look was rocking in 2000!

It's a hot take for sure..........................haha

And that's about it- thanks as always to those that commented and made the thread!

Full top 100 NO 100. JIMMY NAIL (1,086,900) NO 99. THE TELETUBBIES (1,103,000) NO 98. RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS (1,109,100) NO 97. HANSON (1,119,000) NO 96. S CLUB 7 (1,129,400) NO 95- CHAKA DEMUS & PLIERS (1,131,200) NO 94- JASON DONOVAN (1,141.900) NO 93. EN VOGUE (1,148,200) NO 92- D:REAM (1,157,800) NO 91. THE SHAMEN (1,163,600) NO 90. TINA TURNER (1,164,600) NO.89- RIGHT SAID FRED (1,166,600) NO 88- RUN DMC (1,167,900) NO 87- BABYLON ZOO (1,170,000) NO 86- GINA G (1,174,900) NO 85- TEXAS (1,212,300) NO 84. PULP (1,233,400) NO 83- MICHAEL BOLTON (1,257,300) NO 82- THE KLF/ JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU-MU (1,262,000) NO 81- N-TRANCE (1,280,000) NO 80- DINA CARROLL (1,289,500) NO 79- NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (1,290,300) NO 78- LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY (1,298,000) NO 77- BOYZ II MEN (1,323,500) NO 76- LISA STANSFIELD (1,334,300) NO 75- NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1,343,100) NO 74. ANOTHER LEVEL (1,346,100) NO 73- EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL (1,351,600) NO 72- R.E.M (1,362,700) NO 71- BILLIE (1,375,600) NO 70- 911 (1,381,200) NO 69- SHANIA TWAIN (1,423,900) NO 68- WESTLIFE (1,432,300) NO 67- SAVAGE GARDEN (1,454,300) NO 66- T.L.C (1,486,500) NO 65- PET SHOP BOYS/ ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS (1,492,200) NO 64- ROBERT MILES (1,508,000) NO 63- MARK MORRISON (1,539,000) NO 62- VARIOUS ARTISTS- PERFECT DAY (1,539,000) NO 61- MEAT LOAF (1,547,200) NO 60- ROXETTE (1,550,600) NO 59- TONI BRAXTON (1,570,900) NO 58- PRINCE/ SYMBOL/ THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS… (1,594,400) NO 57- SHAGGY (1,603,000) NO 56- THE OUTHERE BROTHERS (1,651,800) NO 55- WHIGFIELD (1,668,900) NO 54- UB40 (1,676,800) NO 53- ROD STEWART (1,691,300) NO 52- MANIC STREET PREACHERS (1,709,500) NO 51- JAMIROQUAI (1,720,900) NO 50- M PEOPLE (1,801,500) NO 49- ERASURE (1,806,100) NO 48- KYLIE MINOGUE (1,834,500) NO 47- THE BEAUTIFUL SOUTH (1,834,500) NO 46- PUFF DADDY (1,903,600) NO 45- PETER ANDRE (1,910,000) NO 44- U2 (1,968,800) NO 43- FIVE (1,979,600) NO 42- COOLIO (1,989,600) NO 41- GABRIELLE (1,990,400) NO 40- 2 UNLIMITED (1,995,300) NO 39- ACE OF BASE (2,014,400) NO 38- BON JOVI (2,043,600) NO 37- CLIFF RICHARD (2,069,900) NO 36- THE VENGABOYS (2,079,500) NO 35- LIGHTNING SEEDS (2,110,900) NO 34 -SASH! (2,120,800) NO 33- BRITNEY SPEARS (2,128,000) NO 32- SIMPLY RED (2,148,900) NO 31- SNAP! (2,220,300) NO 30- ALL SAINTS (2,268,800) NO 29- BACKSTREET BOYS (2,349,000) NO 28- THE FUGEES/ REFUGEE ALLSTARZ (2,390,000) NO 27- R KELLY (2,451,100) NO 26- BLUR (2,532,300) NO 25- QUEEN (2,543,300) NO 24 B*WITCHED (2,651,800) NO 23- ETERNAL (2,655,200) NO 22- AQUA (2,808,000) NO 21- ROBBIE WILLIAMS (2,833,000) NO 20- THE PRODIGY (2,869,100) NO 19- JANET JACKSON (3,162,100) NO 18- WILL SMITH/ FRESH PRINCE (3,260,200) NO 17- GEORGE MICHAEL (3,301,100) NO 16- WET WET WET (3,361,200) NO 15- STEPS (3,472,400) NO 14- ROBSON & JEROME (3,484,300) NO 13- CHER (3,564,700) NO 12- EAST 17/ E-17 (3,865,400) NO 11- WHITNEY HOUSTON (3,935,000) NO 10- BRYAN ADAMS (4,030,300) NO 9- MARIAH CAREY (4,047,200) NO 8- MICHAEL JACKSON (4,402,700) NO 7- TAKE THAT (4,662,300) NO 6 MADONNA (5,142,500) NO 5- CELINE DION (5,552,100) NO 4- OASIS (5,690,400) NO 3- BOYZONE (6,793,500) NO 2- ELTON JOHN (7,084,700) NO 1- THE SPICE GIRLS (7,285,400)

NO 1- THE SPICE GIRLS (7,285,400) 9 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: WANNABE (1,350,000) BEST SELLING ACT OF 1996 AND 1998 So here they are- the bestselling singles act of the decade, and I’m sure it’s of little surprise to anyone. It was that final single “Goodbye” which secured victory over Elton who had overtaken them post “Candle In The Wind 97”. They were the bestselling act of both 1996 and 1998, playing second fiddle to Elton in 97 never selling less than 1.8 million singles in any of those years and romp to the top of this chart by just over 200K (and making an average sale per single of just over 800k, so to celebrate here they are with their last Single of the decade and a farewell track to this thread and the 90s for now….

NO 2- ELTON JOHN (7,084,700) 19 UK TOP 10 HITS BEST SELLER: CANDLE IN THE WIND 97/ SOMETHING ABOUT THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT (4,859,000) BEST SELLING ACT OF 1997 He came close, very close to topping this survey, thanks in the main to THAT song obviously. “Candle In The Wind 97” is of course the bestselling single of the decade and allowed Elton to be the bestselling single seller of 1997 when he moved over 4 million copies of that single alone, stripping it out of his total and Elton would fall down this chart to No 30 whilst sales of “Candle” alone would place him at No 7 for the 90s. Let’s not forget of course he did have a total of 8 top 10 hits including two other chart toppers in the decade before that massive boost. Odd now to think that at the time we thought this sales tally would never be beaten!....

Only 1 episode this week and I suppose it's with grim apropos that it's this one- R.I.P William Orbit.

11TH MARCH It may have drawn some savage reviews from the music critics but Madonna’s cover of the 1972 classic “American Pie” proves commercial gold regardless debuting at No 1 this week. It shares two important links to the outgoing chart topper “Pure Shores”, both are taken from films (“The Next Best Thing” and “The Beach”) and both are produced by William Orbit who replaces himself at the top, a feat not seen by a producer since the heyday of Stock, Aitken & Waterman back in 1989. This is Madonna’s 50th hit, 46th top 10 single and ninth No 1, in terms of top 10 singles she is beaten only by Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley, and in No 1 singles by those same two acts plus The Beatles, she is however now equal with Abba. She also becomes the first act to hit No 1 in the 80s, 90s and 00s and this comes with backing vocals courtesy of co-star in the film “The Next Best Thing” Rupert Everett. The original Don Mclean recording was kept from the top by Nilsson’s “Without You” which Mariah Carey took to No 1 six years ago, more on her in a bit. In the meantime “American Pie” sold 139,000 last week. The only real competition in the boyband stakes Stateside to Backstreet Boys, N*Sync currently sit one place higher than their rivals over there at No 6, here in the UK the Backstreet Boys flounder 3-9 (43,000) whilst the new N*Sync single “Bye Bye Bye” replaces it at the bronze spot after moving 77,000 copies last week. The song was allegedly offered to, and turned down by Five, but now finds a home as a lead single from the boys second album “No Strings Attached”, it’s their third top 10 single in just over a year. Vengaboys sixth release here in the UK instantly becomes their sixth top 10 single, “Shala-la-la” was originally recorded by the Walkers in 1973 which became a hit in some European countries though not here, the song is finally a smash here at No 5 (66,000) but if it climbs no higher it will become their smallest hit to date. The outfits second album optimistically called the “Platinum Album” is out in a few weeks. Lene Marlin is still just 19 years old but has already been a star in her native Norway for over a year, her debut international release is “Sitting Down Here” which gets the Tin Tin Out remix treatment for the UK release. The song enters at No 6 (51,000), her next single will be called “Unforgivable Sinner” and topped the Norwegian charts for a month back in 1998- it could be even bigger here! The Honeyz continue to produce top ten singles as “Won’t Take It Lying Down” becomes their fifth big hit from as many releases. It is another cut from the girls debut album “Wonder No 8” which has still get higher than No 40 itself, the single itself powers into No 7 (47,000). Equally famous these days for dating Jennifer Lopez and being a rapper, Puff Daddy may have been in the news for all the wrong reasons (a gun incident in a New York club) but that’s hasn’t affected his ability to have hits. His second album “Forever” has so far produced two singles with “P.E 2000” being the biggest peaking at No 13, but he beats that with third release “Satisfy You” in part due to the vocals of R Kelly on the song and the sample which is Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It”- itself a lift from Club Nouveau’s “Why You Treat Me So Bad”. The package lands at No 8 (46,000). Mariah Carey’s 15th US #1 makes a splash at No 10 (39,000) this week and features (uncredited in the UK presumably as they are unknown here) vocals from Joe and boyband 98 degrees. The song marks Carey’s first single with Jam & Lewis who co-wrote and co-produced the song “Thank God I Found You” with the singer and becomes her 17th UK top 10 single. Only three songs survive the cull from last week, All Saints drop 1-2 (111,000), Artful Dodger dip 2-4 (74,000) and the aforementioned Backstreet Boys. 1- AMERICAN PIE- Madonna (139,000) 2- PURE SHORES- All Saints (111,000) 3- BYE BYE BYE- N*Sync (77,000) 4- MOVIN TOO FAST- Artful Dodger Ft Romina Johnson (74,000) 5- SHALALA LALA- Vengaboys (66,000) 6- SITTING DOWN HERE- Lene Marlin (51,000) 7- WON’T TAKE IT LYING DOWN- Honeyz (47,000) 8- SATISFY YOU- Puff Daddy Ft R Kelly (46,000) 9- SHOW ME THE MEANING OF BEING LONELY- Backstreet Boys (43,000) 10- THANK GOD I FOUND YOU- Mariah Carey (39,000)

Much higher sales climate as well on late 90s vs first half of the 90s

Glad to see you back. What I can say is that there isn't much in it either way....

We'll wrap up tomorrow then with the top 2 which are both over 7 million!!

NO 3- BOYZONE (6,793,500) 16 UK TOP 40 HITS BEST SELLER: NO MATTER WHAT (1,074,000) Yes I bet nobody suspected when we started doing this that Boyzone would end up in the top 3! They never sold much less than a million in any year 95-99 resulting in the placements of 7-8-12-3-5 in the year end top selling artists. By 1998 they had outstripped Take That as the best selling Boyband of the decade and they managed to time their break up nicely with the end of the decade before that reunion in 2008. Ok they may not be to everyone’s taste but their position on this list should make it clear that the level of support they had in the 90s was unquestionable.....

This is correct and Divine is also a legend!

You'll kick yourself!

also @Spiceboy we're reaching the end and you're nowhere to be seen! 😁

So the top 3 are all over 6 million!