Gezza

NO 26- BLUR (2,532,300) 21 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: COUNTRY HOUSE (645,000) There was little doubt that Blur would come off second best to Oasis on this survey as so it proves. Despite releasing more singles and getting more top 10 hits, 11 in total. The group first made the top 10 back in 1991 with “There’s No Other Way”, but it wasn’t until 1994 when sustained top 20 hits started to happen as the album “Parklife” and the Brit Pop movement took off. The following year they reached their peak singles sales wise with the big battle with Oasis was won and Blur shifted 770K singles...

NO 27- R KELLY (2,451,100) 16 UK TOP 40 HITS BEST SELLER: I BELIEVE I CAN FLY (676,000) Let’s file this one under he’s here and we can’t do much about it……..Part 2

NO 28- THE FUGEES/ REFUGEE ALLSTARZ (2,390,000) 8 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST SELLER: KILLING ME SOFTLY (1,355,000) Only the Spice Girls outsold this lot in 1996. Two chart toppers in the form of “Ready Or Not” and the million selling “Killing Me Softly” injected the majority of the sales here, but the group had only five singles in total before splitting after just one album, Lauryn Hill had a brief solo career, and Wyclef Jean soon started the guest rapper of choice and appearing on everyone’s else’s singles setting the blue print for Will.i.am a decade later....

NO 29- BACKSTREET BOYS (2,349,000) 10 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: AS LONG AS YOU LOVE ME (466,000) Yes those Girl Groups and Boy bands are falling like dominoes now and here’s the biggest US version of the genre. Though they took a while to take off in the UK where their third single was the one to break them, the band put together a string of nine top 10 singles between 1996 and the end of the decade to cruise into our top 30. The best year for the boys was 1997 when they sold over a million thanks in part to a delayed release schedule where the band released four singles to catch up with the US releases, all of which went top 4. They continued until 2002 when they took a break which proved costly, upon their return their success was only moderate and their last hit in 2009 reached the princely position of No 72.....

NO 30- ALL SAINTS (2,268,800) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BEST SELLER: NEVER EVER (1,253,000) Urban chic and a love of combats were the hallmarks of the All Saints. In the wake of the Spice Girls the market became flooded by girl groups of which All Saints are one of the better examples, despite many bust ups they managed to finish the decade together (though the inevitable split came in early 2001). The band released 5 singles of which three went to No 1 all in 1998 during which they were the 7th best selling singles act, and on our list are the 4th highest placed girl group of the decade.....

NO 31- SNAP! (2,220,300) 10 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: RHYTHM IS A DANCER (583,000) Nine top 10 hits and two chart toppers allow Snap! to make No 31 on our list. Their success was by and large confined to the first half of the decade where they were easily one of the top 10 best selling artists. The German production team were fine purveyors of euro pop, if not for tasteful lyrics (yes “Rhythm Is A Dancer” I’m looking at you) and outlived many of their contemporaries in early 90s dance grabbing top 20 hits as late as 1995....

NO 32- SIMPLY RED (2,148,900) 16 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: FAIRGROUND (785,000) Mick Hucknell & co had a great 90s- not quite on the scale of the album charts but they proved they could move singles as well. They finally got a No 1 after 10 years of trying when “Fairground” made the top in 1995 but over the course of the decade they had 13 top 20 hits, and were one of the top 10 acts of 1995. Had their greatest year of success not been in 92 (when sales were low) then there is every chance they could have been placed very much higher on the rundown.....

They are a bit like The Beautiful south- I doubt I would ever buy a studio album by them but then you get a GH and you know and like 90% of it!

https://www.buzzjack.com/forums/topic/287479-00s-top-10-sales-week-by-week-2000/page/3/#comment-7993607 maybe 😁

I've changed the pic to make you happy! haha

NO 33- BRITNEY SPEARS (2,128,000) 3 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: BABY ONE MORE TIME (1,445,000) BIGGEST SELLING ACT OF 1999 Here she is then. Just 3 hits in the space of 11 months took Ms Spears from obscurity to the decade top 40. The Mighty “...Baby one More Time” makes up more than 50% of her total of course but nobody sold more singles in the UK in 1999 than Britney, the tracks first week sale of 463K were a record at the time for a debut single and of course she’s still around these days knocking out a top 10 hit in 2022 but few debut videos created the impact that “Baby” did back in early 99.......

NO 34 -SASH! (2,120,800) 7 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: ENCORE UNE FOIS (472,000) It’s a much more continental rundown for the 90s (over the 80s). Now it’s Germany’s time with DJ Sash who not only hit the No 2 spot on 4 occasions without ever getting to the top but also famously became the first act to record their first four hits in different languages, French, Spanish, English & Italian. Their debut year of 1997 was far and away their best when they sold over a million copies to be the 5th biggest act of the year in what was a stellar year for sales anyway. Like the Vengaboys they found the new decade a struggle and failed to chart outside 2000 except for a remix of their first hit which made the top 10 all over again in 2008....

Quite why "Life's Too Short" didn't smash the top 10 is still a mystery to me!

NO 35- LIGHTNING SEEDS (2,110,900) 13 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: THREE LIONS (785,000) Ok, so without “3 Lions” they wouldn’t be on this list that's fair enough to say but the band also had 13 other hits outside that million seller and seven made the top 20. They were another band who seemed to hover under the radar for most of the 90s whilst silently accumulating hits and sales, by the mid 90s they were on a winning streak, and the band were a constant fixture on the top 100 best selling singles artists of the year 95-98....

NO 36- THE VENGABOYS (2,079,500) 5 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM (578,000) Selling a prodigious 1.7 million records in 99 to finish the year as the 2nd biggest act on the singles scene, the vengaboys first 5 singles are entirely responsible for their position here. All their singles went top 4 and in the Y/E 99 charts they placed three singles in the top 40 impressive by any one’s standards. As soon as the new decade came along however the hits dried up and 2001 saw the last time they graced the charts, brief and glorious....

NO 37- CLIFF RICHARD (2,069,900) 19 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: MILLENNIUM PRAYER (860,000) By far the oldest star on this countdown and certainly the one with the longest chart history, Cliff didn’t have a terrible 90s outstripping far younger, and more fashionable bands. Naturally “Millennium Prayer” allows him to finish in the top 40 for the 90s and without it he would have finished down in 86th on this survey. He had 7 top 10 hits throughout the decade but cannily, as he became associated Christmas, he made sure he had a single available over the high selling festive period which ensured he maximised sales for his annual single and come the decade end reaped the benefits.....

NO 38- BON JOVI (2,043,600) 15 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: ALWAYS (559,000) Despite pretty much turning out the same hit continually all decade long, 80s rockers Bon Jovi have proved many critics wrong and gone the distance- still producing hits into the 2010s. This total does not include solo sales for Jon Bon Jovi, yet despite that they are hardly needed to secure this lofty position, their biggest year being 94 when they finished in 6th place. Their biggest hit of the decade “Always” contributed heavily to that tally and indeed the decade end sales tally...

I'm here for the precision tunes version 😁

NO 39- ACE OF BASE (2,014,400) 12 UKTOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: ALL THAT SHE WANTS (603,000) The “Abba for the 90s” are the first act to break the 2 million mark for singles sales in the 90s and also struck it very big in the US. “All That She Wants” and “The Sign” contribute over 1 million sales between the two of them at a time when singles sales weren’t amazing. A spate of successes at the end of the decade when sales were much healthier helped them to climb up the charts perhaps higher than most thought they would get....

NO 40- 2 UNLIMITED (1,995,300) 14 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: NO LIMIT (531,000) Meanwhile these are only the 2nd highest placed Dutch act on our list. Pete Waterman recalls that he was sent their singles with Ray’s vocals on them which were, allegedly, so bad he had to remove them before they were given a release. No matter as they were hits anyway. “Commercial dance” (There’s a phrase you don’t hear that much anymore) was a powerful force in the 90s chart and 2 Unlimited rode into the charts on the back of it. All 14 of their hits were in this decade and all made the top 40 though after 94 the top 10 hits ceased, interestingly they were the 2nd biggest selling single artists of 1993, beaten only by Take That.....

NO 41- GABRIELLE (1,990,400) 10 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: IF YOU EVER (549,000) So here’s the best selling UK female soloist of the decade. A debut single and No 1 “Dreams” kick started her career which although erratic was successful, and by the end of the decade she had accrued 10 hits of which 6 had gone top 10. Often underestimated, her success was pretty solid for 10 years although she hasn’t really been seen for a while now she certainly left her mark on the 90s and is perhaps the surprise bigest selling UK Female Solo Artist of the decade....

Tomorrow we finally get to the 2 million mark!

12TH FEBRUARY It was quite a week for Gabrielle, not only does her album scorch 6-2 to reach new heights but her single “Rise” becomes the first of 2000’s chart topper to make it to 14 days. More incredibly it actually sold more than last week with sales up to 87,500 and was in no danger of losing the lead all week. The highest new entry this week comes from Sash! who rebounds admirably from the No 15 peak of his last single, the Dr Alban featured “Colour The World”. “Adelante” features vocals from Paul Faulhammer and Rodriquez who also helped out on “Ecuador” as you may recall, and becomes his fifth single to make No 2 (55,500) from 8 releases, still impressive by any acts standards. Third album will be with us in the summer we’re assured in the meantime he enters the record books- no act have had 5 singles peak at No 2 whilst never making No 1- maybe one day… With Cleopatra between albums it seems that the crown for biggest British RNB girl groups is up for grabs and with the Eternal comeback proving less than impressive hopes are high for the three piece Fierce. Their first three singles all made the top 30 with the biggest “Dayz Like That” narrowly missing the top 10 last May, but their cover of Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” finally gives them a massive hit debuting at No 3 (40,000). The track has been retitled “Sweet Love 2K” not to differentiate from the original Baker track but to denote that it is remixed from the album version courtesy of Stargate. The track was last in the top 20 just 6 years ago when M-Beat hit No 18. The power of ABBA is demonstrated again by the new Tamperer Featuring Mya single “Hammer To The Heart” which utilises the riff from the Swedes “Gimme Gimme Gimme” to provide them with a No 6 hit after selling 27,000 copies last week. A third top 10 from as many releases it is nevertheless their smallest hit to date, their album remains uncharted. Death In Vegas finally arrive in the top 40 with a splash at No 9 (23,000). The single “Aisha” is bolstered by vocals from Iggy Pop which has helped with radio play for the track and vastly improved on the No 51 position obtained by their previous best “Rocco”. Britney Spears continues her slow descent 2-4 (40,000) but keeps ahead of REM who also fall 3-5 (28,000). Andreas Johnson fades 4-7 (25,000) and Donell Jones ebbs 5-8 (24,000), DJ Luck & MC Neat are finally out of luck 9-10 (23,000). Next week sees a new Oasis single- expect another 6 figure opening week! 1- RISE- Gabrielle (87,500) 2- ADELANTE- Sash! (55,500) 3- SWEET LOVE 2K- Fierce (40,000) 4- BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY- Britney Spears (40,000) 5- THE GREAT BEYOND- R.E.M (28,000) 6- HAMMER TO THE HEART- Tamperer Ft Maya (27,000) 7- GLORIOUS- Andreas Johnson (25,000) 8- U KNOW WHAT’S UP- Donell Jones (24,000) 9- AISHA- Death In Vegas (23,000) 10- A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK- DJ Luck & MC Neat (23,000)

5TH FEBRUARY The dearth of new entries so far in the year allowed for considerable interest in the new Gabrielle single which lifts the rift from Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” with Dylan’s blessing (he’s even waived his royalties). Gabrielle has of course form for this, her debut single “Dreams” sampled Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” until Chapman set the lawyers to work and got the sample erased from the song which went to No 1 anyway, since then she’s not been back at the top until this week! “Rise” is the title track to the singer’s third album which only made No 25 upon release last October disappearing after just 3 weeks on the survey, reactivated by the single it now surges 39-6 to reach a new peak though total sales are still slightly under the 50,000 mark. The single sold 77,501 copies to glide into the top spot, that’s her 7th top 10 hit in 7 years, Kevin Godley directs the promo, for Dylan it marks his 4th chart topper as a writer following the Byrds, Manfred Mann and Dunblane. Britney Spears falls 1-2 (58,000) but similarly her album reaches new heights powering 5-2 behind Travis selling 730,000 copies thus far. The top 3 is completed by R.E.M who get their biggest hit yet with “The Great Beyond”, the single features on the new Andy Kaufman biopic “Man On The Moon”. As you’ll note the film is named after the REM #18 1992 hit which was also about the comedian himself so it was perhaps inevitable that the band would be asked to write a song for the movie, whilst the film isn’t out here until the spring the song sold 49,000 copies last week to wind up third. Fluttering hearts up and down the land is new Swedish singer Andreas Johnson whose “Glorious” was tipped for the top by many but ends up new at No 4 (40,000). It is plucked from his second album “Liebling” which is due shortly, some have noted the similarity verse wise to Depeche Mode’s “Two Minute Warning” but the singer himself remains quiet on the subject. Both this and REM charted on imports last week at No 173 and 184 respectively showing that the phenomenon remains strong in 2000. Improving with every release, US trio Lyte Funkie Ones started out in the mid 90s and were close friends with former New Kids On The Block member Danny Wood which lead to a release of a cover of “Step By Step” in 1997. A change of personnel happened since and last year another cover (this time of Yvonne Elliman’s “If I Can’t Have You”) started the hits rolling making No 54, follow up “Summer Girls” was much bigger peaking at No 16 and now third hit “Girl On TV” goes as high as no 6 (36,000). If you managed to catch any Saturday morning kids TV in the last few weeks you’ll know Daphne & Celeste, the US duo have been promoting their first single “Ooh Stick You” which is equally catchy and annoying. The brash duo see the song land at No 8 (29,000)- is this just the start? Donell Jones relents 2-5 (37,000) and last week’s new entries from Scanty Sandwich and Nu-Generation fall 3-7 (32,000) and 8-10 (26,000) respectively. DJ Luck & MC Neat evidence their sticking power again holding at No 9 (27,000). 1- RISE- Gabrielle (77,501) 2- BORN TO MAKE YOU HAPPY- Britney Spears (58,000) 3- THE GREAT BEYOND- R.E.M (49,000) 4- GLORIOUS- Andreas Johnson (40,000) 5- U KNOW WHAT’S UP- Donell Jones (37,000) 6- GIRL ON TV- Lyte Funkie Ones (36,000) 7- BECAUSE OF YOU- Scanty Sandwich (32,000) 8- OOH STICK YOU- Daphne & Celeste (29,000) 9- A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK- DJ Luck & MC Neat (27,000) 10- IN YOUR ARMS (RESCUE ME)- Nu-Generation (26,000)

NO 42- COOLIO (1,989,600) 7 UK TOP 40 HITS BIGGEST HIT: GANGSRTA’S PARADISE (1.268,000) With “Gangsta’s Paradise” contributing over half his total, Coolio must be truly thankfully for the idea to sample Stevie Wonder. His remaining three top 10 hits topped up his tally and a further big hit was scored in 1997 when “C U When U get There” (which again contained a sample, this time Pachelbel’s Canon) sold a very healthy 300K +. A very quiet 00s peaked for him with an appearance in “Celebrity Big Brother” where he didn’t exactly come across well!....