Gezza

Agree with this. I appreciate the point of the show is to promote the weekly shows but I think it also needs to reflect what went wrong with TOTP. Truth is that by 2000 it had largely lost its selling power overtaken not only by specific music channels but also terrestrial TV like CD:Uk and it was too late to make some changes whixh may have helped (for example moving the show to Sunday) which by the time they got round it had no effect at all given the damage was done. I think also it moving away from showing what was in the charts to "exclusives" didn't help as it should have reflected the charts and kept the prestige of appearing on the show only when you had a hit. I won't even mention showing the same performance sometimes 3 times! It wasn't like there was a dearth of new hits to promote weekly....

Yes certainly in terms of UK sales he was a lesser star compared to the others you mention, how far behind he was we'll see by the end of the thread! His 80s sales were 2.6 million compared to Jackson's 5.4m and Madonna’s 7m so even if you add Prince’s 80s and 90s sales together you don't equal the others 80s only sales....let alone their sales in the 90s....

NO 57- SHAGGY (1,603,000) 7 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: BOOMBASTIC (567,000) The most consistent reggae star of the 90s, Shaggy was a former Marine who abandoned the world of the Military for the life of a popstar. He had a rather erratic 90s and just when you thought he had disappeared he managed to emerge with another hit, debut hit “Oh Carolina” became his first No 1 in 1993 before waiting another two years for his next one “Boombastic”. Like Babylon Zoo he owed his success on that record to a Levi jeans advert, and it would be a further 6 years before he would collect another couple of number one songs in 2001 but all that is beyond the scope of this rundown.....

NO 58- PRINCE/ SYMBOL/ THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS… (1,594,400) 19 TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD (348,000) After going through more name changes than Fatboy slim in the decade Prince surfaces at No 58. He finally got a UK chart topper in 1994 after 11 years of trying but ironically, it was the beginning of the end of his commercial powers. His final “original” top 10 hit was back in 95 with “Gold” but 9 top 10 hits in the decade is nothing to be sniffed at and he deserves his place in our top 100.....,

NO 59- TONI BRAXTON (1,570,900) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: UNBREAK MY HEART (780,000) Her two smash hits “Un-Break My Heart” and “Breathe Again” are the two main contributors to Braxton’s total here, but the singer was always much bigger in the states throughout the 90s. She was unlucky not to make the top here with those two records as, together, they spent 4 weeks in the runner spot on the charts....

I think to be fair if people want to discuss the programs "Big Hits Of..." and "The story Of" then that's fine to discuss in the other thread. Just use this one for the weekly programes?

Ah I see. No they are all classed individually.

Not sure what you mean? The individual acts didn't receive the sales of "Perfect Day" plus their own sales from their solo releases if that's what you mean?

NO 60- ROXETTE (1,550,600) 16 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: IT MUST HAVE BEEN LOVE (428,000) Quite comfortably one of the biggest Scandinavian’s on this survey are Sweden’s Roxette. Like Savage Garden it took US success to prompt the UK to take notice, and even then we were luke warm, though “The Look” made the top 10 in 1989 follow up’s were unsuccessful and it took “It Must Have Been Love” (and a spot on the soundtrack of “Pretty Woman”) to re-launch them here in 1990. 4 top 10 hits was their tally in the 90s though a return to the charts in 97 with “I Wish I Could Fly” did make No 11 it was a brief return to their early 90s high...

NO 61- MEAT LOAF (1,547,200) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: I’D DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE (BUT I WON’T DO THAT) (761,000) Far outstripping his 80s sales the Loaf had a fantastic 90s with 1993 being a particularly standout year when Meat got the best selling single and album of the year, and he was the 4th biggest singles artist of that year with over 800K singles sold. In total 4 top 10 hits came his way through the decade, all unmistakeably Meat Loaf records delivered in his own high drama style....

NO 62- VARIOUS ARTISTS- PERFECT DAY (1,539,500) 1 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: PERFECT DAY (1,539,000) Originally put together by the BBC to promote its range of Music programmes they decided to use the new version of “Perfect Day” for that year's Children In Need appeal. Debuting at No 1 the single sold 385K in its first week , over a million to become the 4th biggest single of the year and the act (if they are that) were the 6th biggest single sellers of 97. It was the first of 6 CIN chart toppers but remains far and away the biggest selling and are the highest placed “act” to be here thanks to just 1 release .....

Better put that in spoilers!

NO 63- MARK MORRISON (1,539,000) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: RETURN OF THE MACK (838,000) Equally as famous for his stints in prison as his stints in the charts, Mark Morrison was probably the biggest UK R n B star of the mid 90s and strung together five straight top 10 hits in 96-97. Needless to say it all ended in ignominy when Morrison was sentenced to do community service and instead got a look-a-like to do it whilst he went off on tour. As a student in Leicester at the time I still recall seeing his jeep around town with “only God Can Judge Me” written on the spare wheel on the back.....nice...

NO 64- ROBERT MILES (1,508,000) 4 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: CHILDREN (764,000) Italian DJ/ producer Robert Miles who contributed a meagre four hits to the decade but was the 5th biggest act of 1996. Biggest hit “Children” was written about “Strage del sabato sera” (Saturday Night Slaughter) when clubbers would be involved in car accidents when driving back in the early hours of Sunday morning and falling asleep at the wheel due to too much drink/ drugs etc.....

NO 65- PET SHOP BOYS/ ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS (1,492,200) 20 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: GO WEST (187,000) 80s Survivor’s Pet Shop Boys are up next. 20 top 20 hits throughout the decade led to consistent, if not spectacular sales and that 90s chart topper evaded them though of course “Go West” came very close indeed, and 93 was their biggest year sales wise. The group of course continue to this day and have become pop royalty now....

And we're all up to date!

29TH JANUARY Now at the ripe old age of 18 Britney Spears scores her second chart topper this week with “Born To Make You Happy”- a fourth single to be plucked from the 750,000 selling debut album “Baby One More Time”. The single “Born To Make You Happy” dispensed with the opposition quickly to sell a healthy 91,000 to arrive at the top and make Spears only the third female soloist to score two chart toppers whist still a teenager after Helen Shapiro and Billie. There was some speculation that Scanty Sandwich was another alias of none other than Fatboy Slim, in part due to the single “Because Of You” being released on the Southern Fried label. As it turns out it is actually DJ Richard Marshall who has taken a sample of a Michael Jackson track “Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day” from his 1972 album “Ben” and turned it into a top 3 single this week. “Because Of You” sold 37,000 copies and despite a late surge couldn’t catch Donell Jones at No 2 (45,000). Dance music dominates the new entries this week as Des Mitchell powers in at No 5 (29,000) with “(Welcome) To The Dance”, a regional DJ initially Mitchell graduated to a residency in Majorca dance club BCM making a feature of his own turns at the mic to excite the crowd. “Pitchin’ (In Every Direction)” is the first track by Hi-Gate who are actually DJ’s Paul Masterson (who had a hit with “Synths & Strings” under the name Yomanda last year) and Radio 1 DJ Judge Jules. Allegedly Masterson send Jules a demo a track with his number on it and Jules noted that it contained the same area code as his own number and that both lived in the Highgate area of London. Once the tracks was finished it naturally gained the support of Radio 1 and now debuts at No 6 (27,000). Meanwhile at No 8 (24,000) is a new entry for Nu-Generation with the Fontella Bass sampling “In Your Arms (Rescue Me)”. Whilst it may sound very much like a Fatboy Slim record it has nothing to do with the man himself and completes the dance invasion of the top 10, it charts three place than the original did all the way back in 1965. DJ Luck & MC Neat’s “A Little Bit Of Luck” has indeed proved it has luck taking 6 weeks to make the top 10 and having moved 18-17-14-11-12-9 so far. The British duo consist of Joel Samuels (DJ Luck) and Michael Rose (MC Neat) and are the newest names on the garage scene and show their credentials with a top ten single which is actually a mish mash of three tracks, it sold just 23,000 copies last week which actually wasn’t its best week at retail. It’s the first track since Aerosmith back in late 98 to climb into the top 10 after it debuted outside it. Manic Street Preachers only dip 1-4 (36,000) surprising most, Artful Dodger fall 3-7 (25,000) and the fast fading Westlife collapse 4-10 (22,000). 1- BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY- Britney Spears (91,000) 2- U KNOW WHAT’S UP- Donell Jones (45,000) 3- BECAUSE OF YOU- Scanty Sandwich (37,000) 4- THE MASSES AGAINST THE CLASSES- Manic Street Preachers (36,000) 5- (WELCOME) TO THE DANCE- Des Mitchell (29,000) 6- PITCHIN (IN EVERY DIRECTION)- Hi Gate (27,000) 7- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO-SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (25,000) 8- IN YOUR ARMS (RESCUE ME)- Nu-Generation (24,000) 9- A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK- DJ Luck & Mc Neat (23,000) 10- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (22,000)

NO 66- T.L.C (1,486,500) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: NO SCRUBS (553,000) Outstripping Salt N Pepa, En Vogue, and Destiny’s Child, TLC are the highest placed all US female group of the decade. They had hits spanning from 1992- 1999 and were lucky to have several big hits with long chart lives to help their sales tally. The group had effectively split by 2000 as Lopes had fallen out with the remaining band members over her contribution to the TLC brand, and whilst a reunion was apparently on the cards all hopes were dashed by the untimely death of Lopes in 2002....

NO 67- SAVAGE GARDEN (1,454,300) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: TRULY MADLY DEEPLY (645,000) Whilst the smart money was on INXS ending up the top Aussie band of the 90s it actually ended up being Darren Hayes & Daniel Jones. “I Want You” was the breakthrough hit outside their native shores when it went top 10 in the US and helped the track make no 11 here, but it wasn’t until 1998 that they really got started. Three top 10 hits followed by close of play in 99, including a million singles sold in 98 alone making them the 10th biggest act of that year, they returned with a second album just before the end of the decade but only one single was released and thusly didn’t majorly contribute to their figures...

NO 68- WESTLIFE (1,432,300) 4 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN (479,000) From the 7th biggest act of 99 to the 4th, and what turned out to be one of the biggest acts of the 00s into the bargain. Westlife released only 4 singles in the 90s but clubbed together they moved over 1.4 million in the final year of the decade, all four made No 1 (as indeed did the first 7 hits eventually). They were of course famously co- managed by Ronan Keating in their initial years (though this was later to be revealed as just a publicity stunt) and even knocked their mentor off the No 1 spot in August 99 when “If I Let You Go” deposed “When You Say Nothing At All”......

If somebody had told me before completing this that Billie would be the 2nd biggest selling British female solo singer of the 90s Iwouldn't have believed them. The power of late 90s sales!

Give me a break I'm copy and pasting this on my smartphone 😆

NO 69- SHANIA TWAIN (1,423,900) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: THAT DON’T IMPRESS ME MUCH (763,000) It took three albums to finally break her in the UK but once done the flood gates opened for Twain. The five top 20 hits she lifted from the album "Come on over" during the 90s are entirely responsible for the million plus singles she was indeed the 7th biggest selling act of 1999 thanks mainly of course to “That Don’t Impress Me Much” which spent 10 weeks in the top 10 in May- July of that year....

NO 70- 911 (1,381,200) 13 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: BODYSHAKIN (192,000) The stats are very impressive on 911 actually, 10 straight top 10 hits between 1996-1999 including one chart topper “A little Bit More”, all racked up the sales. After the boyband split in 2000 lead singer Lee Brennan continued to write hits including a number one for Blue in 2001 with “If You Come Back” and married Lyndsey from B*Witched amongst other things (they split in 2011).....

NO 71- BILLIE (1.375,600) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: GIRLFRIEND (302,000) The second highest UK female soloist on the list was only producing hits for the last 18 months of the decade, five of them in total, all top 5. As one of the examples of “pure pop” that came to prominence in the late 90s Billie hit the top in July 1998 at the tender age of just 15 becoming the second youngest female to make the top after Helen Shapiro in the 60s and became only the second teenager ever to grab a hat-trick of chart toppers in May 2000 after Britney Spears. A high profile relationship with Richie Neville from boyband Five in 1999 was the cause of hate mail being received by the singer, and she retired from the pop world after the relative failure of her second album in 2000- no idea what happened to her after that........