Gezza

Yes it's my first ever 70s thread!

The 70s- that was a blast eh- probably but I was far too young to recall it personally. In early 1980 the BMRB compiled a top 100 best sellers of the decade which was immediately rubbished by several commentators including Alan Jones who stated that all BMRB had done was to compile a list of tracks based on panel sales in the shops they covered, i.e they did not account for the market at the time and applied nothing like a multiplier to the panel sales in order to cover the entire market. So what is this list? Panel sales have now come to light for weekly charts 1973-1975 and monthly tallies for 1976-1979 so we have a better idea (thanks to Robbie and Kobyhardian) but there are still some flaws in what we have 1- 1970-September 1973 does not have any panel sales and we are unlikely to ever get these 2- The official multiplier is not known for the years 1973-1979. However an exercise was undertaken in 1975 by BMRB to establish that they were covering 5% of the total market which would create a multiplier of roughly 20 for the mid 70s at least 3- Panel sales for the 70s only cover the time when the track was in the top 50 (1973-1975) and in the top 200 best sellers of the month for 1976-1979 so whilst we know the majority of the sales, it won’t track sales outside of those parameters though they would not be significant amounts (we are talking maybe 20k or so for the bigger sellers and less for smaller hits). 4- There were time periods (certainly in the mid 70’s and probably in the early 70s too) when data for Saturday was not recorded at all, this is because in order to get the sales diaries back to BMRB for the Monday chart they often had to be picked up on a Saturday morning. Multipliers for 1976-1979 have been calculated with the assistance of shireblogger by cross referencing BPI sales awards at the time and seeing what multiplier that might suggest. So the top 100 has been compiled from the panel sales we know and estimated sales for the pre October 1973 period have been generated based on its position in the original BMRB top 100 position which would indicate the panel sales (roughly) then apply the multiplier of 20. During the reveals there will be some surprises which can be accounted for in the following ways · Some bigger sellers are under-represented- this could be due to underestimates by the BMRB, or it could be (in minor cases) due to sales outside the top 50 or the top 200. · An error by BMRB over the figures it used in the decade end chart · The Christmas week was not compiled in the 70s at all- there are some who suggest that any sales collected that week were rolled into the subsequent week but we don’t know this. It’s possible that BMRB used some record label information from shipments to calculate missing weeks for the end of decade list but also entirely not possible! This chart however does include the week after Christmas (which was never included in the Y/E charts for respective years which normally ended in mid Dec). This may account for records not ending up in strict order in the way they do in the Y/E list for respective years. There are some unknowns still- it is unknown if the BMRB even bothered with a multiplier in the early days (pre the 1975 exercise)- they may just have been monitoring how many records were purchased in their sample base- this explains why they compiled the end of the 70s chart the way they did. Size of the market: BPI estimated trade deliveries in the 1970s as: 1970- 41 Million 1971- 43 M 1972- 46.2 M 1973- 54.6 M 1974- 62.7 M 1975-56.9 M 1976- 56.9 M 1977- 62.1 M 1978- 88.8 M 1979- 89.1 M This gives you a rough idea of the years most featured, for comparison 1992’s total sales (the lowest of the decade) were 52.9 M So here are the top 100 best selling singles of the 70’s (not exactly accurate but certainly better than the BMRB one produced) based on panel sales!

For those wandering why Lulu suddenly got a hit in 2000 it's because the CD single contained "Better Get Ready" which was the theme to "Red Alert With The National Lottery" which Lulu also hosted on a Saturday night plus the below club mix of "Hurt So Bad" which was popular in clubs in late 99/ early 2000. Both of these had flopped on first release but had since had a revival. I think was another stab of "post-Cher" dance overall for 60/70s/80s singers that had worked well for Diana Ross and Tina Turner around this time.

Can we avoid spoilers of future peaks for tracks please.

25TH MARCH It opens with the smallest total of any of her four solo hits to date but Geri Halliwell proves that if you’re hot then you’re hot, her new single “Bag It Up” is another track that got a substantial shot in the arm after it was performed at the BRITS where she emerged form between a giant pair of legs to grab some headlines. The song sold a mighty 106,000 copies to crush the opposition and that despite the parent album moving 15-11 having already sold over 400,000 copies. It also gives her a 10th feature on a No 1 (if you count her 7 with the Spice Girls) making her the woman with the most appearances at No 1 in chart history and she’s also the first female soloist ever to score three straight No 1 hits. The track itself features backing vocals from 80s popstars Pepsi & Shirlie. “All The Small Things” marks the breakthrough of Blink 182 though they’ve been going since 1995, the only one of their previous releases to make our charts was the last single “What’s My Age Again?” which nipped into the top 40 at No 38 last October thanks in part to some minor controversy for its semi-nude video. This time around the boys are parodying several boyband promos which encouraged considerable MTV support and saw the song reach No 6 stateside, it does even better here running Halliwell close (if only initially) for the top spot as it slides in at No 2 (62,000), their third album “Enema Of The State” responds in kind soaring to a new high 42-21. Now a hit in a fourth version (and a making the top 10 on all occasions) “Killer” is back in our charts. Of course the song was written by Adamski and Seal back in 1990 when it spent a month at the top before returning in a solo Seal version a year later (#8) and then two years later was part of the “Five Live EP” when it made No 1 again this time for George Michael/ Queen/ Lisa Stansfield. Now trance act ATB have released their version as their third single and it bounds in at No 4 (48,000), the vocals here are from Drue Williams, incidentally no other song has been in the top 10 in 4 different versions within a 10 year period. Usually a feature on singles Dr Dre is finally the lead name on a top 10 hit this week, previously he’s been in the top flight as the guest rapper on hits by Eminem, 2Pac, and Blackstreet as well as with his production work. “Still D.R.E” is co-written by Jay Z and officially credits Snoop Dogg, in so doing it gives the controversial rapper his biggest hit to boot, but the promo for the track awards cameo’s to Eminem, Warren G, and Shaquille O’Neal, Dre’s a popular guy obviously. The single is new at No 6 (42,000) and is the lead track to his “2001” album which has already been available for 3 months but reaches a new peak of No 31 this week. Last week’s best seller by Chicane & Bryan Adams drifts 1-3 (57,000) and former chart toppers from Madonna and All Saints also see declines 2-5 (46,000) and 3-7 (35,000). Lene Marlin dips 5-8 (35,000), The Stereophonics & Tom Jones relent 4-9 (31,000) and Vengaboys slide 6-10 (25,000). 1- BAG IT UP- Geri Halliwell (106,000) 2- ALL THE SMALL THINGS- Blink 182 (62,000) 3- DON’T GIVE UP- Chicane Ft Bryan Adams (57,000) 4- KILLER- ATB (48,000) 5- AMERICAN PIE- Madonna (46,000) 6- STILL D.R.E- Dr Dre Ft Snoop Dogg (42,000) 7- PURE SHORES- All Saints (35,000) 8- SITTING DOWN HERE- Lene Marlin (35,000) 9- MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME- Stereophonics/ Tom Jones (31,000) 10- SHALALA LALA- Vengaboys (25,000)

18TH MARCH In the closest race for the No 1 spot so far in 2000 just over a thousand copies separated the top two but in the end Madonna couldn’t hold on. “American Pie” is bumped 1-2 (74,246) and instead it’s Chicane and Bryan Adams who are celebrating with “Don’t Give Up” moving 75,470 copies to arrive at the top, it isn’t the first time that Nick Bracegirdle (the guy behind Chicane) and Adams have collaborated after the producer made over Adams’ track “Cloud No 9” last year to give the Canadian a top 10 single. Whilst it’s a first No 1 for Chicane it marks a second time at the top for Adams who spent 16 weeks at the top nine years ago- with the merry go round that is the charts these days that’s unlikely to be repeated with this track. Written by Randy Newman and originally recorded by Eric Burdon & The Animals in 1968, “Mama Told Me Not To Come” is more famous in the version by Three Dog Night in 1970 which made No 3 here but topped the US charts. Tom Jones now plucks his version from his comeback album “Reload” and drags in the Stereophonics to help him out on the track, it was launched at last month’s BRITS awards were they performed it and it now becomes a hit at No 4 (56,000), a fourth top tier hit for Stereophonics but a 17th for Jones and his biggest for 13 years! A new Five single is normally a big deal with the last four all debuting in the top two and the last “Keep On Movin’” becoming their first chart topper. It’s surprising therefore that the follow up “Don’t Wanna Let You Go” can only debut at No 9 (32,000), it’s an 8th top 10 single and keeps their run intact but the group must be disappointed with the show and pay the price for not promoting the song at the BRITS and choosing a Queen collaboration instead. All Saints drop 2-3 (65,000) as the track cumulatively sees sales hit 530,000, and there’s a climber (unusually these days) for Lene Marlin 6-5 though she loses sales to 43,000. In fact she swaps with The Vengaboys 5-6 (39,000), meanwhile Artful Dodger fall 4-7 (34,000) as NSync rush by 3-8 (33,000) and Puff Daddy and R Kelly round us off 8-10 (30,000). 1- DON’T GIVE UP- Chicane Ft Bryan Adams (75,470) 2- AMERICAN PIE- Madonna (74,246) 3- PURE SHORES- All Saints (65,000) 4- MAMA TOLD ME NOT TO COME- Stereophonics & Tom Jones (56,000) 5- SITTING DOWN HERE- Lene Marlin (43,000) 6- SHALALA LALA- Vengaboys (39,000) 7- MOVIN TOO FAST- Artful Dodger Ft Romina Johnson (34,000) 8- BYE BYE BYE- NSync (33,000) 9- DON’T WANNA LET YOU GO- Five (32,000) 10- SATISFY YOU- Puff Daddy Ft R Kelly (30,000)

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....