Gezza

NO 80- DINA CARROLL (1,289,500) 13 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: DON’T BE A STRANGER (281,000) One of only four UK female solo artists to sell a million singles in the 90s here’s Dina. She started her chart career as a featured artist on Quartz’s 1991 top 10 hit “It’s Too Late” before pursuing her solo career with 1993’s “So Close” album (she had already released solo singles in 1990). It was the first album by a UK female solo artist to sell a million and what do you know she also shifted a million singles too. Her best year was 1993 when she sold half a million but a second album underperformed and she faded from the charts.

NO 81- N-TRANCE (1,280,000) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: SET YOU FREE (541,000) Co-incidentally rapper Ricardo Da Force appeared on both KLF’s “3 AM Eternal” and N-Trance’s “Stayin Alive” but anyway N-Trance were a rave act made good when first single “Set You Free” made No 2 on a third release in early 1995- subsequently they made a passable career rehashing other disco classics in an “updated” manner though their own material all missed the top 10.

NO 82- THE KLF/ JUSTIFIED ANCIENTS OF MU-MU (1,262,000) 6 UK TOP 10 HITS BIGGEST HIT: JUSTIFIED AND ANCIENT (332,000) Formed in the late 80s Jimmy Caulty had form being part of Brilliant (produced by S/A/W) and by 1987 had met Bill Drummond (formerly in Big In Japan) and formed the Justified Ancients of Mu-Mu. A minor detour into “Doctorin The Tardis” as the Timelords gave the duo a No 1 in 1988 before they adopted another moniker as the KLF. Underground limited releases followed throughout 1989, but it was the reworked versions with additional vocals that really propelled them back into the charts. They sold over 800,000 singles in 1991 as they clocked up 4 top 10 hits before bowing out in style at the BRITS 1992 by announcing their retirement live on stage before dumping a dead sheep outside an after party and burning a million pound.

NO 83- MICHAEL BOLTON (1,257,300) 17 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE WITHOUT YOU (267,000) Chart fame came late for Bolton as a performer at least, he was 37 before his first UK hit “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” but he was quickly championed by ladies of a certain age. In reality he was writing hits in the US back to the early 80s penning hits for Laura Branigan and a UK top 10 hit for Cher (“I Found Someone”) so had some form as a songwriter though it was his soul covers which helped him maintain his career in the early 90s, his new image with shorter hair in the late 90s caused minor comment but it was the end of his chart life.

Long overdue!

No there were longer climbs to the top. I thought you'd have the answer! I personally wouldn't count the 50s or early 60s given the chart was much smaller and the sample size of record shops was also smaller but up to people how they want to judge it.

no we had 16 weeks climbs for Jennufer Rush and Celine Dion by this point, however it may hold the record for most weeks taken by a song that debuted in the top 10 and never left it until it after it made No 1. @jimwatts loves a chart trivia fact! I can't think of a song before OAJALB to spend as long in that sense

Quite common now, or were you referring to before Gina G?

NO 84. PULP (1,233,400) UK TOP 40 HITS: 11 BIGGEST HIT: COMMON PEOPLE (332,000) One of three acts to make our rundown that I would consider “Brit pop” makes this a poor list in terms of representation of that genre. Perhaps this is because Indie music always sells primarily in the album format, not in singles, anyway I’m sure you can guess the other two acts. Pulp had made the top 20 before 95 but it was during that infamously hot summer that they struck it big with “Common People” before going even closer to the No 1 spot with “Mis-Shapes/ Sorted For E-s & Whizz” but with the demise of Brit pop in 97 the bands fortunes faded, sales fizzled out, and the band called it a day....for a time anyway.

NO 85- TEXAS (1,212,300) 13 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: SAY WHAT YOU WANT (258,000) Although they broke through in 1989, Texas spent most of the 90s in the lower top 40 with a limited fanbase and not a lot of interest. That changed in 1997 when “Say What You Want” suddenly caught the imagination of British public in a dull January lull and their radio friendly album “White On Blonde” provided them with a steady stream of hits for the rest of the year making them a major act for the remainder of the decade.

NO 86- GINA G (1,174,900) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: OOH AAH…JUST A LITTLE BIT (787,000) Australian by birth, Gina G moved to the UK in 1995 and within a year was representing the country at Eurovision with the all-conquering “Ooh Aah…Just A Little Bit”. Though it only made sixth on the night it was a massive hit on UK Radio and with the public who sent it all the way to No 1 (the last time a Eurovision entry track topped the UK chart). She got 5 top 30 hits out of it though before she ended up in legal wrangles with her management which dragged on for a decade and prevented any advancement in her career sadly.

Apparently he is known as "Hot Podium Guy"- otherwise known as Tobias Gough

Doesn't John Major count for his 92-97 term?

Sorry it was 12 for the shamen not 15.

Hpefully he takes Reeves and Lammy with him. Interesting to see how Burnham positions himself now, he's been trading on "anti-Westminster" and "anti-Starmer" ticket but clearly that won't work now once he becomes the national leader. He'll need to find someway to convince voters in other parts of the country and can no longer be "King Of The North" (though I appreciate that isn't an accolade he gave himself). He'll need to find a solution to the defence question promptly otherwise the press will go for him which could mean some difficult questions on his pre election priorities and announcements.

Someone hasn't been paying attention to my early 90s threads...😁

NO 87- BABYLON ZOO (1,170,000) 2 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: SPACEMAN (1,098,000) When your debut single is picked up for a Levi ad in the 90s the omen’s must be great for a hit. So it proved for Babylon Zoo as “Spaceman” was plucked from obscurity to be used though famously the ad only used the chorus which is substantially different from the verses which led to some complaints from consumers when they got home and played the whole thing! Nevermind it sold a whopping 417k in week one (a record for a debut single) and held on for 5 weeks though lead singer Jazz Mann’s self-aggrandising interviews didn’t play well with the press or public and to some extent contributed to their rapid decline thereafter.

NO 88- RUN DMC (1,167,900) 1 UK TOP 40 HIT BIGGEST HIT: IT’S LIKE THAT (1,093,000) Here thanks to the Jason Nevins remix in 1998 which made No 1 for 6 weeks on its way to a million copies. The 80s rap outfit had fallen from favour long before the 80s ended on the UK Charts and had seen no action in the top 40 for almost a decade when “It’s Like That” reminded us all how good they were, follow up “It’s Tricky” never got a proper UK release until 2003 for reasons unknown despite reasonable airplay in 1998.

NO.89- RIGHT SAID FRED (1,166,600) 6 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: I’M TOO SEXY (504,000) Lying to the bank manager to secure a loan to make “I’m Too Sexy” proved a risk worth taking as the track made the trio an international sensation topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Their quirky approach to pop proved popular briefly including some memorable TOTP performances on their way to 1.1 million sales.

Turner is here thanks to consistancy. As you can see her best seller never broke the 200k mark but she sold over 200,000 in 1990, 1993 and 1996

NO 90. TINA TURNER (1,164,600) 19 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: GOLDENEYE (127,000) LEGEND of course. Second of 16 acts to place in the top 100 acts of both the 80s and 90s, Turner had a consistent, if unspectacular 90s chart career with just 4 top 10 hits but plenty of mid chart hits which all mounted up. Biography “What’s Love Got To Do With It” highlighted her tough road to the major act she became including reinvention, and didn’t she seem always destined for that Bond theme?

91. THE SHAMEN (1,163,600) 12 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: EBENEEZER GOODE (277,000) Plugging away since the mid 80s, their move into Dance/Rave in the early 90s proved commercial gold as the hits started to roll. One of the bands most influential members Will Sinnot tragically died when he drowned in Ibiza where the band were shooting the video for “Move Any Mountain” which would become their first 10 hit back in 1991. They continued to see their only chart topper “Ebenezzer Goode” hit the top in 1992, a song essentially about drug taking was famously No 1 in the week of the BBC’s “Drug Awareness” campaign, a fact entirely lost on the BBC who were convinced by the band’s story (at the time) that it was about an actual person that they had met.

NO 92- D:REAM (1,157,800) 9 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: THINGS CAN ONLY GET BETTER (550,000) Equally famous now for once containing TV personality and scientist Brian Cox as much as their track “Things Can Only Get Better” the group had a changing composition even in the 90s though frontman Peter Cunnah has been ever present. TCOGB had three releases in the decade making the top 30 in each reincarnation, topping the charts in 1994 after they supported Take That in concert the year before, and making the top 20 after it was used extensively in the election campaign by Tony Blair in 1997.

NO 93. EN VOGUE (1,148,200) 13 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: DON’T LET GO (LOVE) (400,000) The first of 6 girl groups to sell a million are En Vogue. They were fortunate to come out in 1990 and therefore had the whole decade to build up their sales as the four top 10 hits they accrued (in addition to smaller hits) took 7 years to achieve. In 1994 they duetted with Salt N Pepa on “Whatta Man”, that enabled them to make this countdown- not so for Salt N Pepa though who are locked out at No 104 on this rundown. Originally a quartet they slimmed down to a trio in 1997 but by then their glory years were behind them.

NO 94- JASON DONOVAN (1,141,900) 11 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: ANY DREAM WILL DO (452,000) 1989’s Biggest chart act had a much tougher 90s though he started off brightly with 5 top 10 singles in the first two years of the decade including his personal best seller “Any Dream Will Do”. His suing of “The Face” in 1991 over claims he was gay resulted in a backlash against him, along with leaving “Neighbours” which meant that by 1992 the hits had all but dried up. One of 17 acts that repeat from the 80s equivalent list.