-Jay-

I feel like the music industry at large is snobby to Steps, sadly! Not just then, but sadly still now. I felt that this was evident in the recent Radio 2 "best British groups" poll, a long list of groups and Steps weren't included. Fairly sure they have to be one of the UK's best selling acts not to have been included.

Step One's major strength is in its singles, plus a couple of album tracks. But then, being brutally honest, it also includes some filler (albeit filler which has sentimental value). It can't be ignored that it has two outright cringey songs slap bang in the middle. Tears on the Dancefloor hangs together better as an album overall, solid from start to finish! So I'm voting that.

I'm not surprised Free Me and Life in Mono tracks are pretty high up these results, but I would have had some A Girl Like Me highlights higher up the results, ahead of these particular Free Me/Life in Mono tracks (High on Love, A World Without You, Better Be Careful >>> Life in Mono, Who the Hell Are You, You Are, I'm Not Crying Over Yesterdays, Amazing). And that's my hot take for today, enjoy x :teresa:

For me this is not all that much different to listening to a fan-made remix, which aren't exactly real either in the sense that they're unofficial. It appears to be the case that this WOMAN upload is using technology to extract/separate vocals from the live performance, the leaked stems, and I'm assuming that behind the scenes video. Ultimately to create what the final song could sound like, in theory. It's interesting to hear, and in my humble opinion, well made! If they weren't upfront about it being AI created, I think it could have easily fooled people as a leak. I'm not holding my breath for WOMAN in 2025. I'll be thrilled if they stay true to their word and finally deliver it... after twenty six years... but as of right now I don't trust them lol.

Intrigued to find out what she sings! Feels like quite a random booking but get it, Bunton! :cool:

7" vinyl of Last Night's Mascara, available on 17th January 2025: https://shop.officialgriff.com/gb/griff/las...1732548269.html

I put £7 on Tom at 9/1 on bet365 (seems I missed the 14/1 moment there). Like others it's with the view to cash out at the right time. Fingers crossed!

I've edited the poll, so that it reflects the "68 voters" data, but also including votes made since the poll went back to 0. I hope it's ok that I've done this! I think it's about as accurate as it can possibly be. For transparency, this is what the poll looked like before my edits: Andy Williams - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of Year [ 8 ] ** [3.45%] Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me [ 6 ] ** [2.59%] Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Bing Crosby - White Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree [ 22 ] ** [9.48%] Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Burl Ives - A Holly Jolly Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Cliff Richard - Mistletoe And Wine [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Coldplay - Christmas Lights [ 14 ] ** [6.03%] Darlene Love - All Alone At Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] East 17 - Stay Another Day [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Elton John - Step Into Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] Justin Bieber - Mistletoe [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree [ 20 ] ** [8.62%] Kylie Minogue - Santa Baby [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Leona Lewis - One More Sleep [ 17 ] ** [7.33%] Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You [ 22 ] ** [9.48%] Michael Bublé - Holly Jolly Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Michael Jackson & Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Mud - Lonely This Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Perry Como - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone [ 21 ] ** [9.05%] Sia - Snowman [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York [ 32 ] ** [13.79%] The Pretenders - 2000 Miles [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping [ 27 ] ** [11.64%] Wham! - Last Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Wizzard - I Wish It Would Be Christmas Everyday [ 26 ] ** [11.21%] And this is what it looks like after I've edited, and there is currently 75 voters: Andy Williams - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of Year [ 8 ] ** [3.45%] Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me [ 6 ] ** [2.59%] Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Bing Crosby - White Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree [ 22 ] ** [9.48%] Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Burl Ives - A Holly Jolly Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Cliff Richard - Mistletoe And Wine [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Coldplay - Christmas Lights [ 14 ] ** [6.03%] Darlene Love - All Alone At Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] East 17 - Stay Another Day [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Elton John - Step Into Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] Justin Bieber - Mistletoe [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree [ 20 ] ** [8.62%] Kylie Minogue - Santa Baby [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Leona Lewis - One More Sleep [ 17 ] ** [7.33%] Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You [ 22 ] ** [9.48%] Michael Bublé - Holly Jolly Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Michael Jackson & Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Mud - Lonely This Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Perry Como - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone [ 21 ] ** [9.05%] Sia - Snowman [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick [ 0 ] ** [0.00%] The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York [ 32 ] ** [13.79%] The Pretenders - 2000 Miles [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride [ 2 ] ** [0.86%] The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping [ 27 ] ** [11.64%] Wham! - Last Christmas [ 1 ] ** [0.43%] Wizzard - I Wish It Would Be Christmas Everyday [ 26 ] ** [11.21%]

These were the results when 68 people had voted, which was at about 4:30pm UK time (9 hours ago) - 7: Andy Williams - It's The Most Wonderful Time Of Year 5: Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me 16: Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas? 6: Bing Crosby - White Christmas 4: Bobby Helms - Jingle Bell Rock 9: Boney M. - Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord 21: Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree 6: Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 2: Burl Ives - A Holly Jolly Christmas 20: Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas 2: Chuck Berry - Run Rudolph Run 5: Cliff Richard - Mistletoe And Wine 5: Cliff Richard - Saviour's Day 11: Coldplay - Christmas Lights 11: Darlene Love - All Alone At Christmas 10: Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 5: Dean Martin - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 1: Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby 12: East 17 - Stay Another Day 7: Elton John - Step Into Christmas 2: Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas 2: Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 4: Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love 17: John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 2: Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born 18: Jona Lewie - Stop The Cavalry 15: Jose Feliciano - Feliz Navidad 0: Justin Bieber - Mistletoe 19: Kelly Clarkson - Underneath The Tree 9: Kylie Minogue - Santa Baby 16: Leona Lewis - One More Sleep 21: Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 2: Michael Bublé - Holly Jolly Christmas 3: Michael Jackson & Jackson 5 - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 6: Mud - Lonely This Christmas 5: Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song 10: Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmastime 4: Perry Como - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas 21: Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone 5: Sia - Snowman 20: Slade - Merry Xmas Everybody 5: Taylor Swift - Christmas Tree Farm 3: The Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick 17: The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) 31: The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale Of New York 14: The Pretenders - 2000 Miles 14: The Ronettes - Sleigh Ride 25: The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping 21: Wham! - Last Christmas 25: Wizzard - I Wish It Would Be Christmas Everyday At the time of me posting this, there's 75 voters in the poll (i.e. 7 more votes since the above list) Hope this can help to fill in some gaps in the poll!

Ooh thank you for sharing those sales back then! :wub:

In theory it could improve. The show was only aired on ITV on Sunday evening. So its Monday midweek sales doesn't include any Sunday streaming, plus only 3-4 hours of a physical/download boost (and that's too late in the evening for sales from her store to be allocated to the Monday midweek). Presumably the impact of the show's airing should mostly come from Monday's sales. This week also doesn't include vinyl sales because it's not released until 13th December.

New sales total for 'Ten' on 22nd November - 394,880 Presumably it exceeded 396,000 on 29th November. Nice that it's getting so close to 400k!

I’ve not heard either of these yet, but they’re this year’s two main “Alexa, play Christmas songs” songs :kink: - Tom Grennan - It Can’t Be Christmas Laufey - Christmas Magic Some new Apple Music/iTunes exclusives: Ruel - Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do Rachel Chinouriri - Christmas Lights Lizzy McAlpine - Celebrate Me Home Rachel Platten - Jingle Bell Rock

No Britney or Lady Gaga so far :o

#66 currently!

Heartwarming how close they've become again :wub: Really enjoyed reading the interview overall too!

Updated the thread! If any of you spot any mistakes, let me know :wub: Unfortunately since June I no longer have access to the Top 200 (101-200 positions) of the album chart 💔

Annoying that this happened, because without that source it's as if it's been stripped of its silver status :drama: If only Deconstruction could have given it... literally any other title instead of another self-titled <_< Looking back, I find it odd really that there was such a level of sensitivity regarding Princess Diana's death that they presumably thought the album title could cause great offence/backlash :mellow:

Kind of annoying of them to do that and not release the extended Nikki Nair or Michelle Manetti mixes <_<

When it comes to the UK, by my reckoning Golden could be about 72,000 sales ahead of Tension: Disco - 180,221 (on 29th September 2023) [Judging by how it was selling in 2023, this could have exceeded 190,000 by now] Golden - 167,761 (on 22nd September 2023) [Even if it only sold 50 copies a week on average since then, it would be nearing 171,000] Tension - 98,521 (on 6th December 2024) Based on the worldwide sales shared, the albums would have sold this much outside of the UK: Tension has amassed ~401,500+ units in a little over a year Golden has done a minimum of 229,000 in 6 and a half years Disco, possibly 560,000+ in 4 years

Ooh 1,800,000 for Underneath the Tree! :cheeseblock: Just realised this means it's overtaken Leona's One More Sleep's total sales (both released in 2013). I wonder how close Leona is to 3xPlatinum?

so festive! It's nice that the CD is in a plastic case, rather than just a cardboard slipcase!

I've just realised that 'Not Tonight Santa' is no longer on Spotify's Christmas Pop playlist :( I think that playlist was the main reason for it getting great streams, so that's unfortunate.

Flopped feels like a strong word! :thinking: The fact that it was only released to buy as a download (which is a niche way of consuming music these days) and crucially not receiving any meaningful support from streaming platforms, meant it was inevitably going to struggle in a chart that is almost entirely geared towards streaming. I'll Stand By You reaching #1 on iTunes, and #2 in the sales and download charts, is a better indication of how it was received (within the context of how downloads perform). Also, I don't think how a charity download single performed would have any direct correlation towards the label's decisions about any future Girls Aloud products. I forgot about that re: All Saints and The Corrs! I'll try not to lose faith yet. I'll spend most of my 2025 yearning for it though :teresa: :lol:

Mariah Carey's physical singles for All I Want for Christmas Is You have been released today! I wonder how well they'll sell and if there'll be any notable impact for the song in the midweeks? If any of you are interested in buying a copy, here are some links: CD single (3 tracks) - £5.99 Amazon HMV CD single (6 tracks) - £8.99 Amazon HMV Cassette single (2 tracks) - £9.99 Mariah Carey Christmas Official Store 7" single (2 tracks) - £10.99 Amazon HMV 12" single (3 tracks) - £10.99 Amazon (£10.99) HMV (£10.99) 12" single (7 tracks) - £15.99 HMV