Gezza

Alexa

No 11 :o just 24.4k sold

23RD JANUARY Her album sprints 22-7 to reach a new peak, but on the singles chart “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” remains at No 1 for Belinda Carlisle though its increase cools to 25% but nevertheless sales register 83,538 last week with total sales at a respectable 312,409 far outstripping anything she sold as a Go-Go. j2F4INQFjEI She was under pressure for the first part of the week from Terence Trent D’Arby whose “Sign Your Name” flies 8-2 (60,350) to become his biggest hit and sees the parent album rise 4-3 to prove his biggest week overall. Post TOTP Carlisle pulled clear and indeed as “Sign Your Name” faded it was almost caught on Saturday by the fast rising “I Think We’re Alone Now” from the US’s newest sensation Tiffany. The track is a cover of the 1967 US No 4 hit by Tommy James & The Shondells and was written by Ritchie Cordell who was also responsible for “Mony Mony” which was a top 10 for Billy Idol a few months ago, by sheer fate Tiffany hit the top stateside last November for a fortnight and was replaced by Idol’s version of “Mony Mony” giving Cordell back to back US chart toppers. Her first single “Danny” failed to impress at retail not getting a release outside the US but her second single has made her an international star as it rockets 13-3 (57,919) in just its second week and looks to the world like the UK’s next No 1 in 7 day’s time. Like Elisa Fiorillo (who was in the top 10 a few weeks ago) Tiffany got her break on US talent show “Starsearch” where she was runner up in the Junior Female vocalist category in the same year (1985) but the 16 year old has now proved the first major star from the series. Her route to fame was an unusual one accompanied by her decision to promote this song in the US via a tour of shopping malls which certainly turned the trick. 9V8lHYIZTkQ No other new tracks to discuss but plenty of movement, Tiffany’s arrival means that Krush (3-4, 55,590) Morris Minor & The Majors (4-5, 54,961) and Cher (5-6, 36,091) all move down a space despite the former two tracks all getting healthy sales gains and indeed No's 2 to 5 were all within 5k of each other, whilst The Stranglers (No 7, 33,337) and Climie Fisher (No 10, 28,832) refuse to move. Joyce Sims improves 9-8 (32,640) while Wet Wet Wet complete the top 10 moving 6-9 (30,328). 1- HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH- Belinda Carlisle (83,538) 2- SIGN YOUR NAME- Terence Trent D’Arby (60,350) 3- I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW- Tiffany (57,919) 4- HOUSE ARREST- Krush (55,590) 5- STUTTER RAP (NO SLEEP TIL BEDTIME)- Morris Minor & The Majors (54,961) 6- I FOUND SOMEONE- Cher (36,091) 7- ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT- The Stranglers (33,337) 8- COME INTO MY LIFE- Joyce Sims (32,640) 9- ANGEL EYES (HOME AND AWAY)- Wet, wet, wet (30,328) 10- RISE TO THE OCCASION- Climie Fisher (28,832)

16TH JANUARY 1988 begins with some surprises in terms of sales and a new No 1 to boot, Belinda Carlisle shows she’s a star even Go-Go-less as “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” takes the final step 2-1 (67,303) and boosts sales by 44% to replicate it’s US success. Typically sales tend to nosedive in the new year (see last January for some particularly poor sales) but it looks like 1988 could be different. GgDn8AtweCs The Outgoing chart topper from The Pet Shop Boys trips 1-2 (43,707) as it moves over the 400,000 mark and should become their personal best seller in the next few weeks, and Krush climb 7-3 (42,874) to complete the top 3. The four new hits to the top 10 arrive neatly 7-10 this week and all are at varying points in their career. For example the Stranglers have been having hits for 11 years now but amazingly “All Day And All Of The Night” is only their 7th top 10 single in all that time. A cover of the 1964 UK No 2 hit, this single is a standalone single for the group who are between albums at present but maybe an album of covers might be a winner given this cover flies 19-7 (31,059) in just its second week, their biggest hit in 5 years. kZ-BT_SgSyQ Rather newer to the scene Terence Trent D’Arby started off brightly last year with “If You Let Me Stay” (No 7) and “Wishing Well” (No 4) becoming substantial hits. His third single “Dance Little Sister” petered out at No 20 but he’s back on form with “Sign Your Name” gliding 29-8 (30,549), parent album “Introducing The Hardline According To….” Debuted at No 1 back in July but hasn’t been in the top 5 since August but now gets a new lease of life hurtling 17-4, it has sold over 600,000 thus far. 5dalIoN1YRE No-one can claim Joyce Sims is having a hectic release strategy, she’s only released one single a year in both 1986 and 87 and now she’s got a third hit with “Come Into My Life”. To be fair she seems to be clocking up with the top 40 singles with those previous songs peaking at No 16, and No 34 respectively but now her new single is her most immediate hit powering 21-9 (29,002) this week. iHZcixYaTEo Climie Fisher are duo Simon Climie and Rob Fisher and “Rise To The Occasion” is not their first single but follows on the heels of two flops, “This Is Me” (Uncharted) and “Love Changes Everything” (No 67), but in between those two releases Simon Climie co-penned “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” for George Michael & Aretha Franklin which topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. So their third single has delivered the goods in part as the track is available in two different versions on almost all formats, the main radio ballad version and a “Hip Hop Mix” which is equally popular and in effect means that punters are getting two hits for the price of one. It explodes 23-10 (19,227) after a good spot of TOTP exposure. lxey-BpWqyU Morris Minor & The Majors swell 8-4 (41,412) followed by Cher 9-5 (39,406) which means that Wet Wet Wet are left out in the cold as they dip 5-6 (35,394) despite a healthy sales increase, mind the single serves its purpose as “Popped In Souled Out” finally reaches No 1 in its 16th week as it sells its 400,000th copy. Sales generally recover this week as we seem to have an abundance of new tracks for the public to choose from. 1- HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH- Belinda Carlisle (67,303) 2- ALWAYS ON MY MIND- Pet Shop Boys (43,707) 3- HOUSE ARREST- Krush (42,874) 4- STUTTER RAP (NO SLEEP TIL BEDTIME)- Morris Minor & The Majors (41,412) 5- I FOUND SOMEONE- Cher (39,406) 6- ANGEL EYES (HOME AND AWAY)- Wet, wet, wet (35,394) 7- ALL DAY AND ALL OF THE NIGHT- The Stranglers (31,059) 8- SIGN YOUR NAME- Terence Trent D’Arby (30,549) 9- COME INTO MY LIFE- Joyce Sims (29,002) 10- RISE TO THE OCCASION- Climie Fisher (19,227)

Are we sitting comfortably?....................

18TH JANUARY The Spice girls retain the top spot on the album charts but they hurtle 1-6 (53,000) on the singles front, the biggest fall in 6 years! It created such a vacuum at the top of the charts that a royal battle ensured to replace it with the top 4 being separated by just 13,000 copies. TOTP may have lost its ability to guarantee a big hit or even a climber in the charts post performance but on occasion it can make the difference in a tight race and so it proved this week. Tori Amos’s “Professional Widow (It’s Gotta Be Big)” is the new UK No 1 by under 1,000 copies after a late surge took it to 80,000 copies. Zqae5qyopok Bad luck then for the band who were leading right up until Friday night and that was the Backstreet Boys. “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)” was released on the continent late last year and topped charts in Switzerland, Germany and Austria and almost did the same here with 79,000 sales. Regardless it does become their biggest hit to date and a third top 10 single on the trot for the boys who are rapidly gaining a following in the country. KDvYCt2fn0Y Talking of boybands East 17 must now be considered the daddy of them all certainly in terms of longitude having been going over 4 years. With a greatest hits out now and Brian Harvey announcing his departure from the band after this single it seems that the end is near. “Hey Child” is the only single on that compilation which was waiting to be released as a single and here it is at No 3 (72,000) to give them an 11th top 10 hit (just 2 behind Take That)- not a bad record for a band in this day and age! 5IEn9-9TFJ4 The third track to top the midweek charts (albeit only the initial flash) was “People Hold On” an old Coldcut record from 1989 which made No 11 and introduced us to Lisa Stansfield. Six top 10 singles later and it gets reworked by Dan Bewick and Matt Frost who call themselves Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and to illustrate just how successful Armand Van Helden’s remix of Tori Amos has been, it has been used as the base of this remix. The bootleg white labels made a splash in the clubs and Arista snapped up the rights to what was going to be available for one week only but that’s now been dropped and it looked like it was going to steal a march on the Tori Amos track at the off but it eventually relaxed to sell 67,000 and enter at No 4. That’s seven places than the original and the first top flight for Stansfield in 4 years. 6S0LiTkXU8Y What do you get when sample Martika’s “Love…Thy Will Be Done” and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”?- the answer is the new Texas single “Say What You Want” which uses the tracks essentially as its backing. The single has had extensive support from radio and strong promotion coupled with a quiet spot in the year charts wise has provided the perfect opportunity for the band to have a comeback of sorts. Their debut “I Don’t Want A Lover” made No 8 back in 1989 but nothing since has even gone close to replicating its feat until now but at a stroke “Say What You Want” becomes their biggest hit entering at No 7 (48,000). PYuAKat0kc4 Having “masterminded” (if that’s the phrase) Boney M and Milli Vanilli, Frank Faron has now taken Marty Cintron and brothers Ariel and Gabriel Hernandez from obscurity to the charts. The group all loved Everything But The Girl’s “Missing”, or technically speaking the Todd Terry Remix of it, and released a cover last year which made the charts in Germany and Switzerland (No 83 here) and laid the ground work for “Where Do You Go”. A performance on the “National Lottery” helped create demand for the track which is also a cover (this time the original was done by La Bouche) which is again married to the drum arrangement from the Everything But The Girl single (they must really love it!). It’s new at No 10 (29,000) for the brothers who used to be waiters in Gloria Estefan’s restaurant in Miami apparently! f5gGyUp5tzk With the film out the “Evita” album lifts 10-2 and Madonna’s “You Must Love Me” re-enters at No 71, but more importantly her other single “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” is revived 10-5 (54,000) helped by a second CD of dance mixes which was out this week and is driving sales. Can this climb further? zgwMpJs-dCA Toni Braxton falls 4-8 (36,000) and looks finally spent as it nears the 700,000 mark, and En Vogue dip 5-9 (32,000). 1- PROFESSIONAL WIDOW (IT’S GOT TO BE BIG)- Tori Amos (80,000) 2- QUIT PLAYING GAMES (WITH MY HEART)- Backstreet Boys (79,000) 3- HEY CHILD- East 17 (72,000) 4- PEOPLE HOLD ON- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Vs Lisa Stansfield (67,000) 5- DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Madonna (54,000) 6- 2 BECOME 1- The Spice Girls (53,000) 7- SAY WHAT YOU WANT- Texas (48,000) 8- UN-BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (36,000) 9- DON’T LET GO (LOVE)- En Vogue ( 32,000) 10- WHERE DO YOU GO- No Mercy (29,000)

11TH JANUARY 1997 commences with the Spice Girls still ruling the roost though sales are now a mere 113,000 and may be beatable next week, not that they care as they sell their 3 millionth single in the process. The song has shifted an incredible 863,000 copies in 3 weeks and should become their second million seller within weeks. “Spice” remains the nation’s favourite album selling just 6,000 copies more than the single but both tallies are amazing given that we are now post Christmas. eOh2lBZIPpA Starting out as a remix on the US release of her single “Professional Widow” Armand Van Helden substantially remixed Tori Amos’s single so as to only use a few lines of the original song you can hear on her “Boys From Pele” album. It was featured as the double A-Side to “Hey Jupiter” when it got a UK release last summer peaking at No 20 but the remix has gone on to be a club favourite if only because of the fact that it pushes the more risqué lyrics of the original. Taking advantage of the lull in the new year sees Tori Amos enter at No 2 (66,000) a fact that makes the song already her biggest hit eclipsing the No 4 peak of “Cornflake Girl” in 1994 although how much is down to her and how much to Van Helden is debatable. Zqae5qyopok After some clever marketing? You could do worse than the new Orbital single called “Satan (Live)” which enters at No 3 (57,000), the original studio version couldn’t get any higher than No 31 back in 1991. It now comes in a live version and on three CD’s which combine to form the “Evil Santa” CD boxset (an anagram of Satan Live) each with a 6 on the spine. About as un-festive as you can get, at any rate it is their first top 10 single for the group who take their name from the M25 (the ring round being pivotal to the early rave scene from which they sprung). BERqL6KQrus The new entries continue with En Vogue at No 5 (31,000) who are also top 3 in the US with “Don’t Let Go (Love)” thanks in part to featuring on the forthcoming film “Set It Off” due here on the 24th. It is the second single from the soundtrack to become a hit following Simply Red’s “Angel” last year, for the group themselves this is their 4th top 10 hit and throws them slightly out of sequence given that previous top flight hits made their appearance in 1990, 1992, and 1994. bgrQ_wE8USg After being touted as the next big thing last year and promoted in the teen magazines and a support slot with Boyzone, Kavana finally gets a hit to justify the investment. His first two singles peaked at No 35, and No 26 but all the 19 yr old needed was apparently the right cover, step forward Shalamar’s 1982 #7 hit “I Can Make You Feel Good” and hey presto he’s in the top 10 and only one place lower than the original peaked with sales of 24,000 last week. The promo features model Melanie Sykes who features in the Boddingtons advert. y1BrhzaEHvs Toni Braxton continues to bounce up and down the top 5, she falls 2-4 (53,000) this week in her 11th week in the charts. Her near constant companion “One & One” also drops 4-6 (29,000) for Robert Miles & Maria Naylor, the Prodigy reverse 6-7 (28,000), Mark Morrison slips 8-9 (23,000) and Madonna falls 5-10 (21,000) but should be helped by the film being on general release this week and the release of dance remixes! 1- 2 BECOME 1- The Spice Girls (113,000) 2- PROFESSIONAL WIDOW (IT’S GOT TO BE BIG)- Tori Amos (66,000) 3- SATAN- Orbital (57,000) 4- UN-BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (53,000) 5- DON’T LET GO (LOVE)- En Vogue ( 31,000) 6- ONE AND ONE- Robert Miles/ Maria Naylor (29,000) 7- BREATHE- The Prodigy (28,000) 8- I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD- Kavana (24,000) 9- HORNY- Mark Morrison (23,000) 10- DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Madonna (21,000)

Absolutely this. I know it isn't to everyone's taste but 1988 and 1989 are high on the nostalgia list and I can't be mean about much in these years. Every chart just seemed to mean everything to me. Sad now but I don't think I ever cared as much about the charts as I did in this years. Certainly my love of pure pop stems from them.

Good news for you then that the gallup years go through to early 1994! :P

Probably starting on Tuesday

It's 1988 in this thread and the 80s are in their full pomp. We'll count down all the sounds of the year and hopefully generate a few "almost forgotten gems" along the way. As always thanks go to MFR, Vas tariner, Youtube, Wikipedia, MW, popscene, James Masterton and a few other sources who have helped over the years. Here's the links to previous threads if this isn't your year! Other 80s years In doing this I've tried to take into account TOTP performances and other factors which may have effected sales and chart positions throughout the decade. Actual weekly sales have recently come to light, my thanks go to Robbie and kobyhadrain for sourcing the information and presenting it. So sit back and enjoy every top 10 hit of the 80s (eventually), before spring you'll agree that nothing's gonna change your love for:

Commencing on January 3rd

Yes it's back, the title says it all, a thread designed to "best guess" the sales week by week for 1997. We'll count down all the sounds of the year and hopefully generate a few "almost forgotten gems" along the way. As always thanks go to MFR, Vas tariner, Youtube, Wikipedia, MW, popscene, James Masterton, Discogs, and a few other sources who have helped over the years. The format will be the same every week with TOTP performances where available for those songs new to the top 10. So sit back and enjoy every top 10 hit of the 90s (eventually) because we weren't torn over our love for.....

Thanks

Is the Wham figure just post 1994 sales?

187,566

The figures I use are the one given at the time and are based on using a multiplier. The revised one is just on the actual sales alone. The difference between the two is largest in 1996 as the amount of stores reporting data was getting nearer and nearer to 100% but the OCC (Millward Brown at this point) were still using the multiplier and panel sales method they inherited from Gallup in 1994. Panel sales were officially abandoned in early 1997 (Feb/Mar I think) so there ceased to be 2 figures doing the rounds and it only applies to the 94-96 period. Panel sales were probably more appropriate in 1994 and DUS (defined sales universe) more accurate in 96 as the amount of stores supplying data to the OCC increased over these years (hence the multiplier was in effect overexagerating sales certainly by 1996. It's still unclear at what point the OCC decided to start downgrading 94-96

Posted the final week of 1996 as then the thread is done and we can open another for 1997 before the repeats start. Plus nothing much happened!

4TH JANUARY 1996 draws to a close and as usual there is nothing new in the top 10 but some impressive sales anyway with 2 days pre Christmas included in the week. The Spice Girls are the main benefactors though as you might expect they are down saleswise 30% to a still outstanding 301,000, that brings its overall total to 730,000 copies in a fortnight! Another million seller seems on the cards for the girls who are already the 8th biggest selling singles act of the 90s so far in just 6 months- incredible. FA5jsa1lR9c Toni Braxton once again plays bridesmaid moving back up 4-2 (82,000) with a meagre 5% sales loss- impressive, “Unbreak My Heart” has sold just over 600,000 to become her biggest seller yet and for the first time in 5 weeks Braxton and Robert Miles/ Maria Naylor are not neighbours on the chart. “One & One” reclimbs but only 5-4 (46,000) and cannot overtake Dunblane which falls 2-3 (48,000). Madonna falls 3-5 (46,000) but will get a boost in a fortnight with a remix which is already going down a storm in the clubs along with the film being on general release. The Prodigy and Boyzone swap places at No 6 (32,000) and No 7 (29,000) but it’s a static week for both Mark Morrison at No 8 (27,000) and Celine Dion at No 9 (22,000) and The Woolpackers are back to celebrate new year by being played at many parties, they lift 12-10 (22,000). 1- 2 BECOME 1- Spice Girls (301,000) 2- UN-BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (82,000) 3- KNOCKIN ON HEAVEN’S DOOR- Dunblane (48,000) 4- ONE AND ONE- Robert Miles/ Maria Naylor (46,000) 5- DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Madonna (46,000) 6- BREATHE- The Prodigy (32,000) 7- A DIFFERENT BEAT- Boyzone (29,000) 8- HORNY- Mark Morrison (27,000) 9- ALL BY MYSELF- Celine Dion (22,000) 10- HILLBILLY ROCK, HILLBILLY ROLL- Woolpackers (22,000)

That rounds off TOTP 1996 however the first show of 1997 actually reflects 1996 sales so the thread isn't finished until January- just FYI

28TH DECEMBER A truly record breaking week in many ways for The Spice Girls. For the first time in chart history a song enters at No 1 in the Christmas week (albeit that wasn’t the original plan) and on such sales. “2 Become 1” might be a none too subtle plea for safe sex but the track sold an incredible 429,000 copies in 6 days last week, the second highest weekly tally of the 90s behind Robson & Jerome (whom they keep off No 1 in the album charts for revenge) but it is the highest opening week since Band Aid 12 years ago! It’s also the first time in chart history that four singles have debuted at No 1 in a row in consecutive weeks! It enables the girls to become only the fifth act in history to get their first three singles to the top (following Gerry & The Pacemakers, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers and Robson & Jerome) but the first female act to do so. It is a record equaling 24th chart topper of the year matching the record set in 1965 and 1980, and the girls are only the fourth act to hold both singles and album No 1 at Christmas drawing parallels with The Beatles, Queen and Cliff Richard. “Spice” has already hit the 1.5 million mark after just 7 weeks on sale. Incidentally if you’re wondering what happened to Robson & Jerome’s “Silent Night” well it got pulled with little explanation a few weeks ago disappearing from the release schedules. Along with Take That they can also claim 3 chart toppers in a calendar year in the 90s. For those with perceptive hearing you’ll note the altered lyrics in the second verse from “Boys and Girls look together” in the album version to “Love will bring us back together” allegedly because in the interim the girls have acquired a large gay following and wanted to change the lyrics to be more inclusive. _Iw-nY6RbKQ Although it only loses 12% in sales week on week to a still impressive 166,000 Dunblane eases 1-2 in the face of that Spice Girls onslaught and defeats the new entry from Madonna. Ever since it was announced that she got the gig after years of rumour Madonna’s starring role in “Evita” meant that sooner or later we’d be getting a version of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” arguably the most famous song from the musical. The song was originally recorded and released by Julie Covington in 1976 when it went to No 1 selling almost a million copies and was then covered by The Shadows (No 5) and Sinead O’Connor (No 53) and indeed is in the charts twice this week once by Madonna and further down by Mike Flowers Pops at No 30. Incidentally Madonna regains the crown of the biggest female soloist of the 90s thus far (though sixth overall) this week from Mariah Carey who is similarly over the 3 million mark. 9kWk6OFrU2c Madonna’s version comes in at No 3 (87,000) marking her highest placed single since “Erotica” over three years ago and her highest weekly sale since “Like A Prayer” back in 1989 helped by the high profile premiere of the film this week though you have to wait a few weeks for general release. It is her 20th top 10 hit of the decade and with the lack of a top tier hit from Prince it means that she alone is the only act to score a top 10 single in each year of the decade so far. With it being Christmas and all other big new entries thin on the ground, the rest of the top 10 re-arranges itself. Toni Braxton falls 2-4 (86,000) with a 44% sales increase and Robert Miles and Maria Naylor remain attached to her coat tails falling 3-5 (80,000). Boyzone dip 5-6 (64,000) and The Prodigy remain at No 7 (57,000), last week’s new entries fall in tandem Mark Morrison 5-8 (55,000) and Celine Dion 6-9 (54,000) and we welcome back The Beautiful South 11-10 (51,000)- you’ll note as its Christmas everything in the top 10 with the exception of Dunblane increases its sales regardless of whether it climbs or drops. It's the first time in exactly 13 years that the whole top 10 cleared 50k- sales are officially back! 1- 2 BECOME 1- The Spice Girls (429,000) 2- KNOCKIN ON HEAVEN’S DOOR- THESE GUNS AWAY- Dunblane (166,000) 3- DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA- Madonna (87,000) 4- UN- BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (86,000) 5- ONE AND ONE- Robert Miles/ Maria Naylor (80,000) 6- A DIFFERENT BEAT- Boyzone (64,000) 7- BREATHE- The Prodigy (57,000) 8- HORNY- Mark Morrison (55,000) 9- ALL BY MYSELF- Celine Dion (54,000) 10- DON’T MARRY HER- Beautiful South (51,000)

Christmas chart tomorrow

21ST DECEMBER Predictably the UK has a new chart topper in the form of the Dunblane charity disk “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door- Throw These Guns Away”. The events of March 13th this year are well documented but the murder of 16 children and a teacher by Thomas Hamilton was officially Britain’s biggest mass murder and resulted in a campaign for the ban of private ownership of guns in the UK. Musicians from the area wanted to record a tribute to the victims so they sought and obtained permission from Bob Dylan to not only record one of his most famous compositions but also to alter the lyrics to personalise it for the events of the tragedy and so we have the current track. This version features brothers and sisters of the victims on the chorus in addition to Mark Knopfler on guitar, the song itself has now been a hit four times with Dylan’s original making No 14 in 1973, two years later Eric Clapton took it to No 38 and of course the biggest of all was Guns N Roses who made No 2 four years ago. The Dunblane version scorches into the No 1 spot this week on sales of 189,000 copies and is the 15th Charity chart topper since Band Aid kicked it off 12 years ago. cKf_jt-sE64 With the Dunblane track out this week several releases (including Spice Girls and Madonna) were put back a week to avoid competition and ensure the track made No 1. Another consequence of the quiet week sees Toni Braxton and Robert Miles & Maria Naylor get new peaks as they climb 3-2 (60,000) and 4-3 (59,000) though both are genuinely improving at retail as you’d expect with Christmas next week. There are some new entries however. Mark Morrison is back with a fourth top 10 hit of the year with the unseasonal “Horny”, he’s been in the papers over the past few months for his exploits and brushes with the law but he’s now back at the day job with another cut from the “Return Of The Mack” album which has naturally been remixed for single purposes. It debuts at No 5 (51,000), his 2nd biggest hit ever. 4DPUnga2TSA Along with Morrison and Manic Street Preachers, Celine Dion is the only other act to score a quartet of top 10 hits in the year and she’s done it with another cover. Eric Carmen’s 1977 #12 single “All By Myself” which ran into problems when it was claimed (successfully) that the melody in the verses was lifted from Rachmaninoff’s “Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor”. Dion’s version is all that you would expect with the song reaching greater heights chartwise, with her vocals on it as it cruises in at No 6 (42,000) to become her 9th top 10 single. Ud6x2z9Gq20 Yes you’d have hoped the Smurfs would have had their 5 minutes back in the limelight but Christmas was too tempting to let it pass and so we got a “Christmas Party” album which is currently in the top 10 and another hit with “Your Christmas Wish” which is new at No 8 (44,000). It is, at least, not a cover of a recent chart hit, and it’s also the only expressly Christmas related hit in the charts at the moment. 6aPakKI0HoA Following the breakthrough of “Insomnia” Faithless have gone for another release of a previous minor release. “Slava Mea (Save Me)” was originally a No 30 hit in August 1995 as their first release, it went on to become a major hit across Europe and gets another shot in the arm for Christmas with some new mixes, it debuts at No 9 (41,000) to make it all worthwhile. 7BPYyA6fy28 Boyzone fall 1-4 (57,000) and another former chart topper falls 2-7 (40,000) for The Prodigy who finally fall out of favour, Damage round it off falling 6-10 (40,000). So next week is the big one- Are either Madonna or The Spice Girls strong enough to depose Dunblane? 1- KNOCKIN ON HEAVEN’S DOOR- THROW THESE GUNS AWAY- Dunblane (189,000) 2- UN-BREAK MY HEART- Toni Braxton (60,000) 3- ONE & ONE- Robert Miles Ft Maria Naylor (59,000) 4- A DIFFERENT BEAT- Boyzone (57,000) 5- HORNY- Mark Morrison (51,000) 6- ALL BY MYSELF- Celine Dion (42,000) 7- BREATHE- The Prodigy (40,000) 8- YOUR CHRISTMAS WISH- The Smurfs (44,000) 9- SALVA MEA- Faithless (41,000) 10- FOREVER- Damage (40,000)

Sorry it was the 22nd, not 23rd No 1 of the year so only 5 hadn't debuted there. The others were: Ready Or Not- 2-1 Wannabe 3-1 Breakfast At Tiffany's 3-2-1 Return Of The Mack 6-6-6-4-3-1 Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit 6-5-2-3-3-3-2-1

Might post the next two next weekend just so everything is not rushed now