Gezza

22ND JANUARY What did you do to welcome in the new millennium? Chances are you weren’t playing before 57,000 people in Cardiff but that’s what the Manic Street Preachers were doing and on New Year’s eve they premiered a new song called “The Masses Against The Classes” (the title is borrowed from a speech by Gladstone FYI) and just 2 weeks later it now becomes their second No 1 single and the first of 2000 and the 21st Century after selling 76,000 copies. It won’t be a long runner as the single is a limited time release effectively being deleted the day it is released so will become increasingly rare as the weeks go by- that means that it makes history with no song in history making No 1 with such a limited time availability. The quotes in the song are by Noam Chomsky (at the beginning) and Albert Camus (at the end) for anyone that may care, and means that after Tom Jones, Shakin Stevens and Shirley Bassey they are only the fourth Welsh act to score 2 chart toppers. Beaten by the Manics this week is the newest US R’N’B sensation Donell Jones, Jones is a writer for other artists too most notably Usher and whilst Usher’s “You Make Me Wanna” stormed to No 1 almost 2 years ago Jones may have to wait until next week to see if “U Know What’s Up” can rise to the top. It features a guest rap by TLC’s Lisa “Left-eye” Lopes though her rap is excluded on the main radio version and arrives at No2 this week after shifting 58,000 copies, it was produced by Edward Ferrell who is a member of Heavy D & The Boyz. Formed by Mike Stock and Matt Aitken (formerly of S/A/W) and doubtless spurred on by the success of Steps, their answer to Pete Waterman’s band is Scooch who formed in 1998 and won a competition on BBC’s “Live & Kicking” to have their first record released last summer. First single “When My Baby” dutifully made No 29 in November but it’s the second single “More Than I Needed To Know” that has really put them on the map smashing in at No 5 (20,900) buoyed by a support slot on the recent B*Witched tour. One listen will convince you this is aimed at being the new Steps- the former production teams in the two acts have of course been in litigation against each other in the last few years. New boyband time! The trio are formed of two former members of the “Byker Grove” cast Brett Adams and David "Ollie" Oliver who played Noddy and Marcus respectively and like Scooch only made No 29 first time out with “Do We Rock” in October. “Stand Tough” easily tops that peak scorching straight in at No 7 (17,400) and should ensure that the album sees the light of day now. The Artful Dodger’s chances of topping the charts has now passed and drops 2-3 (30,000) despite a minimal sales increase, a place above last week’s chart topping Westlife who plunge 1-4 (23,000). Alice Deejay spend a third week at No 6 (18,500) as S Club 7 shoot past them down 3-8 (17,100), Len maintain No 9 (16,600) and William Orbit completes the ten falling 7-10 (16,500). 1- THE MASSES AGAINST THE CLASSES- Manic St Preachers (76,000) 2- U KNOW WHAT’S UP- Donell Jones (58,000) 3- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (30,000) 4- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (23,000) 5- MORE THAN I NEEDED TO KNOW- Scooch (20,900) 6- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (18,500) 7- STAND TOUGH- Point Break (17,400) 8- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (17,100) 9- STEAL MY SUNSHINE- Len (16,600) 10- BARBER’S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS- William Orbit (16,500)

1.8 million now!

It's opening tally was actually lower than the 26,300 or 22,700 of their previous two singles yet the biggest chart hit. The joys of January

15TH JANUARY Welcome, chart wise, to the 21st Century! With the record industry still having a hangover there isn’t much new product around but we do at least have 1 new entry! Not at the top however where Westlife complete a month at No 1- double the length of time they ever managed before, “I Have A Dream/ Seasons In The Sun” also increased its sales, albeit minimally, to 34,738 bringing the monthly total for the single to 513,000. It’s the first song to have spent as many as 4 weeks at No 1 since Cher in late 1998 and keeps their album top 3, it has sold 800,000 so far. The rest of the top 5 are all the same as last week with some minor movements, Artful Dodger continue to climb back 3-2 (29,000), so far “Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta” has moved 2-2-6-5-3-2 selling 430,000 in the process. They push S Club 7 back 2-3 (28,000) and whilst it is easily explainable in terms of lack of new releases it does mean that this is the first week since W/E 23/10/93 when only the No 1 song sold over 30,000 copies- a worrying stat. Steps hold at No 4 (24,000) just ahead of the similarly Vengaboys at No 5 (22,000). Further down Alice Deejay hold at No 6 (19,000) and William Orbit storms back 11-7 (17,300), and accompanying him on his return to the top flight are Len who move 12-9 (16,200) just ahead of John Lennon who falls 7-10 (15,900). The observant will note that that leaves our solitary new entry at No 8 (16,700) which is from the Pet Shop Boys. “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk” is a third single from their “Nightlife” album and becomes the biggest yet, it is now their 19th top 10 single (including the “Absolutely Fabulous” single) and their first in 3 years even if it more down to fortuitous scheduling than a genuine surge in popularity. Next week 2000 really gets underway- phew! 1- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (34,738) 2- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (29,000) 3- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (28,000) 4- SAY YOU’LL BE MINE/ BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Steps (24,000) 5- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE- Vengaboys (22,000) 6- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (19,000) 7- BARBER’S ADAGIO FOR STRINGS- William Orbit (17,300) 8- YOU ONLY TELL ME YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU’RE DRUNK- Pet Shop Boys (16,700) 9- STEAL MY SUNSHINE- Len (16,200) 10- IMAGINE- John Lennon (15,900)

NO 72- R.E.M (1,362,700) 22 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: EVERYBODY HURTS (204,000) From US indie to the biggest group in the world, that’s where the band was by the end of 1993 after two million selling albums and a string of top 20 hits to their credit. Their march was probably stolen by the coming of Britpop which saw Oasis pretty much steal their thunder (Stipe takes aim at Liam Gallagher on “Wake Up Bomb” on the album ”New Adventures In Hi-Fi”).

NO 73- EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL (1,351,600) 14 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: MISSING (907,000) Saving a lacklustre, though admittedly long, career, EBTG allowed Todd Terry to remix their 1994 No 69 hit “Missing”. So impressed were they by the end product were they that they released it in late 1995 and low and behold it shifted over 900K!! They remained in the dance fold for the remainder of the decade but never quite recaptured their success of 95-96 where they sold more than their entire 1980’s output.....

74. ANOTHER LEVEL (1,346,100) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: FREAK ME (414,000) And these are the third of ten boyband acts on the list. Another Level were originally pitched as an urban boyband, more Five than Boyzone, and experienced quite a bit of success in 1998-1999 the only two years they were together. Lead Singer Bowers was of course famous for dating Jordan throughout the Another Level years, and after jettisoning the remainder of the band had some solo hits in the early 00s coupled with that duet with Victoria Beckham in 2000. Altogether they were not guilty of outstaying their welcome and they quit whilst ahead and before the boyband bubble burst in the early 00s....

Which is a good time to remind folks please no spoilers with peak positions (at least in the TOTP years) for those that want to follow this thread in (almost) real time. As for January 2000 yes it was dull, it felt like a hangover period, more than usual. I think because most of the big acts of the period had gone for releases in December to get the much discussed chart topper for the millennium

Sorry all, laptop died but I've found a way to post from my phone though it isn't ideal. I'll post a chart a day to catch up with the reruns. Starting tomorrow.

Yes it was considered so at the time so that's at least consistent

So finally we do get to the end of the 90s charts! Thanks everyone for contributing to 1999! And the 90s!

8TH JANUARY Once again a lack of new releases produces a static chart and none more so than the top 10 which contains no new songs at all. Westlife manage a third week at the top which puts “Seasons In The Sun/ I Have A Dream” in the record books as their longest chart topper even though its sales are off a massive 85% to a mere 34,500, that’s the lowest weekly tally since Boyz II Men's 32,520 in October 1992. Regardless the song becomes the third song to spend a third week at the top in 1999 equaling the record set by Cliff Richard, Ricky Martin, and Eiffel 65 and it means that Pete Waterman is officially the co-producer of the song at No 1 on both the first and last day of the 90s thanks to Band Aid II back in 1990 (and the final No 1 of both the 80s and 90s.) In the end neither Cliff Richard or John Lennon were any real competition and both slide this week, Lennon retreats 3-7 (24,700) whilst Richard’s time is definitely up as he plummets 2-8 (24,300), other Christmas novelty hits also take a hit with Cuban Boys ebbing 7-9 (16,000) and Mr Hanky screeching 4-10 (15,000). The collapse of those singles means that others get unexpected climbs and none can be more surprised than S Club 7 who suddenly burst 6-2 (30,000) despite a mighty 65% cut in sales but then everything is savagely cut saleswise understandably. Artful Dodger bounce back 5-3 (28,000) and Steps lift 8-4 (27,000) to reverse their declining fortunes in chart peaks, meanwhile The Vengaboys shoot 9-5 (27,000) and Alice Deejay float 10-6 (25,000) in a very packed top eight where only 10,000 separate top from bottom. Thank god 2000 starts next week and some new entries! 1- I HAVE A DREAM/ SEASONS IN THE SUN- Westlife (34,500) 2- TWO IN A MILLION/ YOU’RE MY NUMBER ONE- S Club 7 (30,000) 3- RE-REWIND THE CROWD SAY BO SELECTA- Artful Dodger Ft Craig David (28,000) 4- SAY YOU’LL BE MINE/ BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW- Steps (27,000) 5- KISS (WHEN THE SUN DON’T SHINE)- Vengaboys (27,000) 6- BACK IN MY LIFE- Alice Deejay (25,000) 7- IMAGINE- John Lennon (24,700) 8- THE MILLENNIUM PRAYER- Cliff Richard (24,300) 9- COGNOSCENTI VS INTELLEGENSIA- Cuban Boys (16,000) 10- MR HANKEY THE CHRISTMAS POO- Mr Hankey (15,000)

The OCC have updated to say that she is at No 1 at the moment though no sales are given or any indication of how much. Sienna Spiro " close behind" though this is the OCC so close could be 10k plus behind!

If everyone is happy I can post the last few charts but without the picture sleeves at the end of the post (far too fiddly) or perhaps post them one the laptop is back and working?

NO 75- NATALIE IMBRUGLIA (1,343,100) 4 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: TORN (970,000) The third of four entirely Australian acts by birth (yes Craig Mclachlan didn’t make it) on this rundown Natalie’s “Left Of The Middle” era produced enough single sales to push her into the top 100. In the main this is of course due to the immortal “Torn” which was unfortunate to come up against “Barbie Girl” when released in Nov 97 but the remaining three singles were enough to nicely top up her tally.

NO 76- LISA STANSFIELD (1,334,300) 14 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: FIVE LIVE (378,000) The second of four UK females on the list Stansfield first hit the big time in 1989 when "All Around The World" became her first No 1 single, and indeed near constant success remained with her from 89 through to 1993 when sales pushed over the million mark. A quiet part 2 of the decade, where she scored just two top 10 hits, slowed her sales pace down, but there is no doubt looking at sales between 90-94 she was the top UK Female artist of the first half of the decade...

Ok so I found my files on one drive and can so this on my phone. Which is very laborious but better than nothing until the laptop comes back!

NO 77- BOYZ II MEN (1,323,500) 12 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: END OF THE ROAD (437,000) If this was a rundown of the US equivalent then Boyz II Men would be in the top 10 but we were never that keen on them! The “Harmony Group” NOT boyband thank you very much, spent 13 wks at No 1 in the US with “End Of The Road”, 14wks with “I’ll Make Love To You” and 16wks with “One Sweet Day” which held the record until 2019! They didn’t do too badly over here either where all three of those songs made the top 10 but only “End Of The Road” made it to the very top! Their career ended in 1998 when they secured their final hit though they still continue to perform to this day....

Moderately interesting that Falco made No 1 with just 833 copies more than the track at no 2 and lost sales every week it moved 3-2-2-1 yet increased sales when it dropped to no 4. #nerdy

They never held that much stock in advance unless there were pre orders. No one was pre ordering so long into a chart run . They may get a few weeks extra based on stock already in the shops (see U2's "The Fly" for example)

Where do you get this stuff from? The story about deletion was an invention at the time to generate sales in its 15th week in the hope of getting a 16th week and equalling the record set by Bryan Adams. It was never really true and that's why the track was charting for so long after it fell from no. 1. If it had been deleted it would have fallen far quicker and left the chart far sooner.

So do I. We'll know in a few weeks it seems lol

Bad news folks. My laptop has died a death tonight so I'll have take it into the shop to see if they can recover anything. All the threads I've written are on there, so if they are non recoverable then it may be some time before I can resume threads here. Sorry about that!

NO 78- LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY (1,298,000) 9 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: HIGH (369,000) Easy listening 90s stylee. 7 straight top 20 hits ensure that the Lighthouse family make this list, and whilst they were primarily an album act there is no denying some fine “chill out” tunes back in the day and I always had a soft spot for them though I know they are a bland-a-thon for many. The band split after the comparative failure of their third album in 2002 but they had clearly made their money......

NO 79- NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK (1,290,300) 11 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: TONIGHT (219,000) BEST SELLING ACT OF 1990 The biggest act in the land in 1990, NKOTB overtook Bros as the premier teen scream act in late 89 with their posters on most teenage girls walls for the year. They sold over a million in 1990 alone including 8 top 10 singles (though one was a hangover hit from 89) as they made hay whilst the sun shone. In truth they were probably over exposed as the UK caught up with their US singles, and in 1991 the hits started to dry up, by 1992 they had split with their manager Maurice Starr, and by the time they attempted to comeback as NKOTB in 1994 we seemed uninterested as they missed the top 20. They are our first "best selling act" of a paraticular year in the 90s to surface, they were the only act to sell a million in that year.