Musical Memories – 6 February 2005.

Time to have another look back at a top 100 singles chart, this time the date picked at random is 6 February 2005 which is almost 11 years ago now. Let’s go back then…

1 (new entry) “Like Toy Soldiers” – Eminem. This is a chart-topper that I only really remember because it sampled “Toy Soldiers” by Martika which was a hit in 1989 which led to everyone saying “who’s Martika?”. Honestly.

4 (down 2) “Only U” – Ashanti. One of my favourite singers around at this time, this was one of Ashanti’s biggest hits in the UK which is something that I was really pleased about. 

16 (down) “Shine” – Lovefreekz. Another great dance hit, this one sampled ELO’s “Shine A Little Love”, but again I don’t remember this act having any more hits. Terrific video, too.

26 (up 14) “One Night”/”I Got Stung” – Elvis Presley. Something rather odd happened in the singles chart at the start of 2005. The decision was made to re-release all 18 of the Elvis singles that topped the UK chart one week at a time, and some of them topped the chart again, including this one, meaning that this is officially the 1,000th UK Number One single.

30 (down 2) “Strings Of Life (Stronger On My Own)” – Soul Central featuring Kathy Brown. Another great dance song that sampled Rhythim Is Rhythim’s 1989 hit “Strings Of Life” with additional lyrics added. 

45 (down 16) “What You Waiting For” – Gwen Stefani. The debut solo single from Gwen who was also the frontwoman of No Doubt. I was a big fan of a lot of Gwen’s solo singles including this one which made the top ten. 

83 (down 7) “My My My” – Armand Van Helden. This is another song that had a second wave of success a couple of years after it was originally released when it was re-released with additional lyrics, and both versions are great.

92 (down 8) “Put ‘Em High” – Stonebridge featuring Therese. Another dance classic, and pleasingly the follow-up “Take Me Away” also features on the chart in this week and was a big success too.

Well that’s the end of this look back at some of the best songs on this chart for now. There’ll be more musical memories on here soon.

Musical Memories – 27 February 1999.

The next date I have picked at random is 27 February 1999. This will probably be the last look at a singles chart from me for now, I plan to do something different for my musical memories for a while, like looking back at my favourite hits of various years, and an A-Z of some of my favourite acts. But for now here’s some of my highlights from this top 100.

1 (new entry) “Baby One More Time” – Britney Spears. The first week on the chart for the debut single from the pop star who would go on to have many more hits. I’ve never been a huge fan of Britney’s songs myself but there was no doubt about how big this song was at the time.

11 (down 6) “One Week” – Barenaked Ladies. Not many classics in the top ten in this week, so we go on to this song, which was amusingly quirky. The Barenaked Ladies had been around for a long time but suddenly hit the big time with this one with this making the top ten, and they went on to have a few other memorable hits including “It’s All Been Done”. 

24 (down 7) “Can’t Get Enough” – Soulsearcher. Another great hit from a here today-gone tomorrow dance act. I did listen to the radio a lot around the late-90s/early-00s including a lot Kiss and BBC Radio 1, and it was always a pleasure to hear this one.

26 (up 1) “Chocolate Salty Balls (PS I Love You)” – Chef. This was a chart-topper earlier in the year. The cartoon South Park was a big thing around this time so a lot of people were eager to hear Isaac Hayes in character as Chef croon about how wonderful his, er, salty balls were.

31 (down 10) “National Express” – Divine Comedy. This was the only top ten hit for an act that had lots of quirky hits over the years, and this was another great one.

35 (down 11) “Tonite” – Supercar. This was another one that I used to think was terrific, I always enjoyed it on the radio and it’s another dance classic and one of my favourites from this year, although once again this was their only top 40 hit. 

45 (down 15) “More Than This” – Emmie. This was another one that I really liked, a dance remake of the Roxy Music classic, but again it was her only top ten hit. So many great acts in this chart who were in the spotlight for such a short time. 

53 (down 18) “Walk Like A Panther” – All Seeing I Featuring Tony Christie. Yet another act who only had one top ten hit, but I did like this one, the first time I remember coming across Tony Christie long before his “Amarillo” song was a Comic Relief chart-topper six years later. This group’s other songs “Beat Goes On” and “First Man In Space” featuring the Human League’s Phil Oakey are great too. 

68 (down 17) “Cassius 1999” – Cassius. Daft Punk aren’t the only French dance act who’ve had success in the UK by any means. This was a great song, and around this time there was another French group called Bel Amour who released a dance classic.

84 (up 8) “Would You…?” – Touch And Go. This was actually a hit at the end of 1998 but it was still around the lower end of the chart. This song came back into my mind when it was used a few years later for the Channel 4 teen drama As If which I used to enjoy watching. And once again, this was this group’s only top ten hit. The turnover of acts at this time on the singles chart was remarkable.

Well luckily that turned out to be an enjoyable look back as the late-90s was one of my favourite eras for hit music and I hope you liked some of those too.

Musical Memories – 12 December 1990.

It’s time to go back again and look at another classic top 100 singles chart. This time the date picked at random is 12 December 1990. Let’s find out what the hottest hits were in this week.

1 (non-mover) “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice. This was one of the biggest hits of 1990. I wasn’t really a huge fan of it but it was remarkable just how successful this song was at the time.

6 (down 3) “Unbelievable” – EMF. The biggest hit for this band, “Unbelievable” even went on to be a chart-topping success in America. 

15 (up 14) “Just This Side Of Love” – Malandra Burrows. I don’t remember this song but there is a curious fact about it – this was a song by an actress who was in Emmerdale at the time, and it was released on the Yorkshire Television label. So my question is, is this the only UK hit single to have been released by an ITV regional company? I can’t think of any others.

17 (up 1) “Sucker DJ” – Dimples D. One thing that I know and really like about this song is that it samples the theme from the 1960s American sitcom I Dream Of Jeannie, and it’s really great.

21 (down 5) “My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style” – Dream Warriors. Another great one, this one remains in my mind because I seem to remember it being played very regularly on the radio at the time for some reason.

25 (up 2) “24 Hours” – Betty Boo. Ooooh Betty! Betty was definitely one of my favourite pop stars for this era and it was always great seeing her in the chart, although she didn’t have many more hits after this. She has gone on to being a successful songwriter though. 

41 (down 7) “A Little Time” – The Beautiful South. The only chart-topper for this group who have had lots of great hits over the years, but it was really great seeing them there with this classic, even if it was for just one week.

51 (down 18) “Take My Breath Away” – Berlin. It’s back! A chart-topping single for this group in 1986, it re-entered the top ten four years later and it still sounded great.

54 (down 23) “Power Of Love”/”Deee-Lite Theme” – Deee-Lite. This group were great and “Power Of Love” was another terrific song of theirs, although it wasn’t as successful or memorable as “Groove Is In The Heart”, but then, what is? 

60 (down 21) “Step Back In Time” – Kylie Minogue. Kylie just couldn’t stop having top ten hits at this time, and of the ones produced by Stock/Aitken/Waterman I would have to say that this was my favourite one. 

I am a fan of a lot of hits from 1990, I do remember this era and I can’t believe how long ago it was now. Unfortunately in this week the top 100 is rather full of re-issues of very old songs from The Righteous Brothers and the like, daft novelty records, and the wave of irritatingly naff Christmas singles is beginning to take over the chart too. There were still a few good ones around though, it’ll be interesting what’ll happen next time.

Musical Memories – 18 May 1988.

Time for another look at a classic singles chart. The date I have picked at random is 18 May 1988 which is the earliest I’ve gone back so far, it really is remarkable to think just how long ago this is now. Let’s see what the big hits were in the top 100 in this week.

1 (up 4) “With A Little Help From My Friends” – Wet Wet Wet/”She’s Leaving Home” – Billy Bragg With Cara Tivey. This was a double A-side of Beatles covers organised to raise money for charity. This was also the second of three times that “With A Little Help From My Friends” has been a UK number one single, and Wet Wet Wet’s first chart-topper.

5 (down 2) – “Blue Monday 1988” – New Order. A classic single if ever there was one, this was a remix of the song that was originally a hit five years earlier. But all the various versions are all terrific. 

6 (down 2) “Loadsamoney (Doin’ Up The House)” – Harry Enfield. Something of a novelty comedy single by Harry Enfield as his “Loadsamoney” character that was very popular in the late-80s but was soon killed off. Also taking part in this record were Enfield’s mates Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, long before all three went on to further success with the likes of Harry Enfield And Chums and The Fast Show. It just amuses me that Higson and Whitehouse once had appeared on Top Of The Pops alongside Enfield, and no-one even knew who they were then. Harry and Paul are also going on tour soon to perform as some of their favourite characters. Don’t expect Loadsamoney to be one of them. And you don’t get comedians having top ten singles any more, do you? 

7 (down 5) “Theme From S-Express” – S-Express. A chart-topper earlier in the year, this was one of the new wave of dance acts that came along in the late-80s, alongside the likes of M/A/R/R/S and Bomb The Bass, definitely having a big impact on music in this era and how the dance genre evolved.

10 (down 3) “Mary’s Prayer” – Danny Wilson. The only top ten hit for this band, but it remains popular to this day. A re-release of a song that missed the top 40 in 1987. As I said before this group has no connection to the Danny Wilson of the comic strip Danny’s Tranny who I was talking about on here recently, but it was nice enough. 

14 (up 14) “The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll” – Prefab Sprout. Well I must admit that I am a big fan of this song, it combines two things that I like about pop music. Firstly, it’s a rather daft song with nonsense lyrics about jumping frogs, but I also have to reveal that I like songs with squelchy keyboards, meaning that this is one of my favourites from this era. And it was their only top ten hit. 

And that’s about it for this chart really. There aren’t too many singles further down the top 100 that have made that much on an impact on me – but as I wasn’t even five years old at the time of this chart unfortunately I don’t remember a huge amount of songs on this chart, 1988 isn’t really my favourite year for pop music, although there were still a few classics around. That’s what’ll happen when picking a date a random. Who knows what year we’ll land in next time.

Musical Memories – 25 April 2000.

The next date that I have picked at random is 25 April 2000. I have decided that I might as well review two or three charts from each year from 1985 to 2012, so by the end the dates that I pick won’t be so random, but as this is the first chart from 2000 that I will be reviewing, let’s take a look at what was happening on the singles chart top 100 in this week.

1 (non-mover) “Toca’s Miracle” – Fragma. There were a ludicrous amount of chart-toppers in 2000, the turnover was ridiculous and over 40 songs ended up making number one in that year. This is one of the rare songs that spent more than one week at number one in 2000 but it deserved it as it was definitely one of my favourite hits of that year, being essentially a “mash-up” of Coco’s “I Need A Miracle” and Fragma’s own “Toca Me” to create a brilliant single that I still love to hear 15 years on. 

8 (down 4) “Flowers” – Sweet Female Attitude. I know that some of the entries on these pieces are rather simplistic in that they usually just consist of “I liked this one, it was great”, but when I look at these old charts, I go through the songs, and then occasionally when I see one a feeling goes through me of when I first came into contact with a song that I really liked at the time, whether it reminds me of the first time that I heard it on the radio, or when I saw it on TV. As I was in my mid-teens at this time and had access to MTV and UK Play via On Digital, I would watch them an awful lot as I was interested in the musical trends of the time. This song by SFA (not to be confused with Super Furry Animals) was one of the best from the genre known as UK Garage which I was really into and seemed to clog up most of the chart at the time as most here today/gone tomorrow genres do. I still love this, and their follow-up “Eight Days A Week” (not a cover of the Beatles song) was just as great, but didn’t make the top 40, and that was the last we ever heard of this duo which was a shame. 

16 (down 4) “Say My Name” – Destiny’s Child. I did enjoy lots of the hits of this American girl group. This wasn’t my favourite of all of them, but they were on a great run at this time, and this is a good as anything that Beyonce has done in her subsequent solo career.

25 (down 9) “The Time Is Now” – Moloko. Another act that I’ve always found interesting, and this was one of their biggest hits, it’s just as great as the instant dance classic “Sing It Back” that caused a sensation a year earlier, another one of my all-time favourites. 

43 (down 7) “Movin’ Too Fast” – Artful Dodger Featuring Romina Johnson. Another Garage classic (see I told you it was all over the place at this time) from the group that also launched Craig David on us (who had just had his first chart-topper with “Fill Me In”), but I think because this song is so great I can forgive them for that.

46 (down 26) “The Facts Of Life” – Black Box Recorder. Around this time I liked to listen to Mark and Lard in the afternoon on BBC Radio 1. They always liked to have a Record Of The Week, but hardly any of them were successful, and Mark Radcliffe once said that record companies were asking him not to make their records his Record Of The Week as it instantly killed them off. I think this was one of them though, but if not I still remember it being played regularly on his programme, and it was a rare top 20 hit that they backed. Also, I remember about a year or two later “The Facts Of Life” had a second wave of success when rather bafflingly it was used as the theme to MTV’s live request show Select in its final days when it was hosted by the likes of Natalie Casey and Russell Brand. 

48 (down 15) “Right Before My Eyes” – N ‘n’ G Featuring Kallaghan. Sorry to keep banging on about this, but this is yet another Garage classic that I am really fond of, a cover of the 1989 minor hit by Patti Day, which I am fairly sure was also on a volume of “Deep Heat”, the successful dance music compilation series of the late-80s/early-90s. 

61 (down 9) “Caught Out There” – Kelis. The debut hit for the American singer. Now this one definitely made an impact on me when I first heard it on the radio as this song mostly consists of Kelis famously yelling “Aaaarggghh!! I hate you so much right now!!“, which is something that you don’t forget hearing in a hurry.

79 (down 3) “Sweet Love” – Fierce. This was a super cover of the Anita Baker song by the girl band. Curiously though, even though this became their biggest hit they split not long afterwards. I was fond of a few of their other songs including “Days Like That” and I don’t know why their promising career stopped so abruptly. 

Well that was a pleasingly enjoyable chart to reminisce about, I can almost forgive all the awful boy bands that took up the majority of the other top 100 places. More soon.

Musical Memories – 3 February 1989.

The next date that I have picked at random is 3 February 1989. This is the first chart from the 1980s that I will be reviewing so we’re going back somewhat now over 25 years, let’s look at some of the big hits in the top 100 in this week.

1 (non-mover) “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” – Marc Almond Featuring Gene Pitney. This has been the only chart-topper for Marc Almond, who along with crooner Gene Pitney performed this memorable duet.

6 (down 1) “She Drives Me Crazy” – Fine Young Cannibals. This was one of two chart-toppers for this group in America, although they never had one in the UK. Even better than that, the video for this song won The Chart Show’s best video of 1989 award. What an honour! A re-mix of this song also made the chart in 1997 and was to be their final hit. 

10 (up 3) “Wait” – Robert Howard and Kym Mazelle. A while ago I found some old VHS cassettes featuring music videos from hit compilations. I remember there was “Hits 10” and “Monster Hits” (which was essentially “Hits 11”), and this was one of the videos on one of them. A great duet featuring the Blow Monkeys frontman and Mazelle. 

12 (down 4) “Buffalo Stance” – Neneh Cherry. One of my favourite songs of the late-80s, this also appeared on another of the video compilations that I had, it might have been “The Brits 1990”. This was Cherry’s debut hit and I don’t think she ever bettered it myself. 

19 (down 7) “Good Life” – Inner City. Another great dance song, “Good Life” returned to the top ten a decade later thanks to a great re-mix.

35 (down 10) “Suddenly” – Angry Anderson. I point this one out because it was used as the theme to Scott and Charlene’s wedding in Neighbours, while in this week Kylie and Jason’s “Especially For You” remained in the top ten. It really is remarkable to think how popular Neighbours was at the time.

67 (new entry) “Stand” – REM. This is one of the my favourite songs from the American rock group, and one of their earliest hits in the UK, before they had made the top 40 in this country. 

68 (down 9) “There She Goes” – The La’s. Another song that is considered an indie classic of its time, it was this group’s only big hit, and it seemed to be re-released about once a year for a decade after this.

72 (up 5) “Promised Land” – Joe Smooth. Widely considered to be a classic in the House music genre, and I wouldn’t argue with that myself. Also around this time a cover version was released by The Style Council, which unlike this original made the top 40. 

Musical Memories – 19 March 2012.

The next top 100 singles chart to be reviewed is from 19 March 2012. This was around the time that I stopped taking notice of pop music and the singles chart, I was 28 by this point and all these new were acts coming along that I wasn’t interested in, so there probably won’t be too many songs that made an impact on me in this chart, but let’s see what happens.

1 (non-mover) “Somebody That I Used To Know” – Gotye Featuring Kimbra. Well luckily we start with a number one single that I am familiar with and I do like. This was number one for five weeks but I don’t remember either Gotye or Kimbra having another hit. This song is not a bad way to be remembered though if you are going to only be a one hit wonder. 

11 (non-mover) “Domino” – Jessie J. After passing every other single in the top ten which all seem to feature David Guetta, Nicki Minaj and Sia in various combinations, we come to one of the few pop stars that I’ve enjoyed in the 2010s. I enjoyed a lot of Jessie’s early songs and I was pleased when “Domino” became her second chart-topper. 

34 (down 8) “We Found Love” – Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris. This isn’t my favourite Rihanna song but I just wanted to note the remarkable amount of hits that Rihanna was having at this time. “We Found Love” spent six weeks at number one and Rihanna has now spent more time on the UK singles chart than any other female artist, even easily surpassing her nearest rival Madonna. 

50 (down 1) “Rapture” – Nadia Ali. I remember this one because it was a new version of a song I was talking about on here recently that was a top ten hit for Iio in 2001. This version is actually a re-recording by the original vocalist Nadia Ali who is now credited as a solo artist. So does this count as a cover version of her own song? It’s all very confusing. A decade after “Rapture” was a hit this version barely made the top 40 though rather disappointingly. 

57 (up 14) “Gold On The Ceiling” – The Black Keys. As I have said before I’m not a big fan of indie/rock-type music but I’ve always enjoyed seeing some on the chart. This was one that I liked from this group, and although I heard it regularly on the radio, it didn’t make a big impact on the chart.

69 (re-entry) “I’m Not Alone” – Calvin Harris. This was Calvin’s first chart-topper in 2009 and it was great, I do like his earlier ones though such as “Acceptable In The 80s” and “Ready For The Weekend” but it’s great that he’s gone on to further success.

75 (re-entry) “You’ve Got The Love” – Florence And The Machine. I am cheating a little here by picking singles that were hits much earlier than this chart that have re-entered in this week. This is a cover of the Candi Staton classic that was originally a top ten hit in 2009 and this is its 63rd week on the chart which is remarkable. It was then a top ten hit again in 2010 for flame-haired Florence in a duet with Dizzee Rascal. 

78 (down 5) “Pumped Up Kicks” – Foster The People. Also skipping over the seemingly massive amount of singles in this chart for Adele and Katy Perry (for now at least), here’s another quirky one that I liked, but once again, this has been their only hit to date.

Musical Memories – 7 December 2001.

The next date that I have picked at random is 7 December 2001, so let’s review what was on the singles chart in that week.

1 (new entry) “Gotta Get Thru This” – Daniel Bedingfield. At last we open with a number one single that I do like. The debut hit single for Daniel who burst on to the scene late in 2001. I remember there being a rumour at the time that he produced this song in his bedroom. Daniel went on to have a couple more chart-toppers, but I think that this was the best of them, and his sister Natasha’s had one too, making them the only brother and sister to have separately had UK number one singles. I don’t know what Daniel is up to nowadays though, maybe he is back in his bedroom. 

9 (new entry) “Where’s Your Head At” – Basement Jaxx. Another great dance single in the top ten in this week, one of many from this act.

13 (new entry) “Crying At The Discotheque” – Alcazar. This was another one that I liked, mostly because it sampled the disco classic “Spacer” from Sheila B Devotion. 

17 (down 2) “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” – Kylie Minogue. One of Kylie’s biggest hits and one of her seven chart-toppers, it really did seem to be a phenomenon at the time and it still sounds great.

19 (down 9) “Rapture” – Iio. Another great dance song that was popular at the time but once again like with most dance acts they only had about one more hit after this. 

31 (down 8) “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops)” – Blu Cantrell. The debut hit for this singer, she didn’t have many more hits but this is one of my favourites by her, and she did have a UK number one in 2003 with “Breathe”. 

36 (down 11) “Bohemian Like You” – Dandy Warhols. This is a curious one, the Dandy Warhols were an American group who I remember had a few hits in the late-90s, but when this song was originally released in 2000 it missed the Top 40. But then guess what, a year later it was used on an advert for Vodafone, re-released, and suddenly they’re in the top ten for the first time. I think they were also helped by the fact that Virgin played it about once an hour for a while so everybody became very familiar with it. In 2006 “Bohemian Like You” returned to the chart as a “mash-up” with Mousse T’s “Horny” as “Horny As A Dandy”.

40 (down 8) “One Night Stand” – Mis-Teeq. Hooray, it’s great to review a chart which features one of my favourite girl bands. I was really into them at the time, although they were only together for about two or three years. After this Alesha Dixon went solo and released a couple of great singles, but they weren’t big hits which was a shame, although of course her career would eventually become a big success. 

77 (up 12) “Young Fresh ‘N New” – Kelis. This is another singer who I’ve really enjoyed over the years. This was another great one but unfortunately it didn’t do very well which was a shame, although Kelis did eventually return to the top ten since which is great. 

89 (down 34) “Has It Come To This” – The Streets. This group who were fronted by Mike Skinner really made an impact on me right from the first time I heard this which was their debut hit. They went on to have lots of great singles, and when a few years after this they went on to have a chart-topper with “Dry Your Eyes” I was really thrilled, it was terrific.

Musical Memories – 5 June 1992.

The next date I have picked at random is 5 June 1992 which is the earliest one to have come out so far, from when I was just eight years old. The Official Charts site seems to be frustratingly inconsistent on whether it lists a Top 75 or a Top 100 singles chart, for this week it is only a Top 75, so if there is anything interesting in the 76-100 positions I won’t know about it. But let’s make a start.

1 (non-mover) “Please Don’t Go”/”Game Boy” – KWS. A lot of people think that 1992 wasn’t a very good year for chart-topping singles. This one for example was a cover of an song by KC and the Sunshine Band that was number one for five weeks.

2 (up 2) “Jump” – Kris Kross. This was another big song at the time from a duo who had a rather distinctive look, they liked to wear their clothes back-to-front and I think that they were both about 13 as well. It really was a song that did seem to be all over the place and it was even a chart-topper in America, but they weren’t heard of much after this success.

7 (non-mover) “On A Ragga Tip” – SL2. Around the 2001-2002 mark there was a great programme on late-night ITV called The Dance Years, where Dave Pearce who has been a presenter of dance music radio shows for many years looked back at ten of the best dance hits from each year from the late-80s to the early-00s, and there were lots of contributions from people in the industry and fans, and it brought back lots of memories, and also helped me to learn a lot more about the development of the dance genre. Around 1992 there were a lot of Rave hits in the chart, and I do remember this one well, it had a rather simplistic lyric but it was a big success. SL2 did have another hit with “Way In My Brain” which is great too. A remix of “On A Ragga Tip” was a hit in 1997.

9 (new entry) “Something Good” – Utah Saints. Another dance classic from around the time which samples “Cloudbusting” by Kate Bush and it’s another of my favourites from this year. A remix of “Something Good” put the Utah Saints back into the Top Ten in 2008. 

15 (down 13) “Raving I’m Raving” – Shut Up And Dance. Another song that is considered a to be classic in the Rave genre and there is an interesting story behind its chart run. This was its second and final week on the chart. “Raving I’m Raving” sampled “Walking In Memphis” which Marc Cohn didn’t see the funny side of, meaning that the single was hastily withdrawn and vanished off the chart after just two weeks. I do remember though that the song was recently played on Radio 2 during Pick Of The Pops which was a rather odd experience.

24 (new entry) “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing” – Incognito. Another great dance song, this was by the group who are best remembered for “Always There” but this was easily as great and deserves more credit. 

29 (non-mover) “Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)” – Benny Hill. The famous funnyman had died earlier in the year, and his 1971 chart-topper was re-released as a tribute, it was definitely odd seeing this song in a chart with so many Rave hits but it was great that it was a hit again 21 years on. 

That’s it for now, there will be more chart memories from me soon.

Musical Memories – 14 June 1999.

The next date I have picked at random is 14 June 1999 so let’s discover what were among the highlights on the singles chart in that week.

1 (new entry) “Bring It All Back” – S Club 7. The debut chart-topper for another band that I was never that fond of, who also had a show on CBBC at the time. I did enjoy some of the solo singles by Rachel Stevens though.

2 (new entry) “Beautiful Stranger” – Madonna. One of my favourite Madonna songs from this era which was on the soundtrack to the second Austin Powers film.

5 (down 3) “Sweet Like Chocolate” – Shanks And Bigfoot. Now this is one of my favourite number one singles. Because I was in my mid-teens around this time I did like a lot of the hit music that was around in the late-90s/early-00s, and I still enjoy this one to this day, although as with most dance acts I think they only had one more hit. 

16 (down 4) “No Scrubs” – TLC. One of the reasons that I am pleased that I picked a chart from mid-1999 is because I remember that was when we got MTV for the first time, I had heard a lot about it and I was pleased to finally see some of it for myself, when they frequently showed music videos, and this song seemed to be played all the time, so along with some others I always associate it with that. 

29 (down 8) “I Quit” – Hepburn. Another girl band for which there were big things tipped, although this was their biggest hit and they didn’t stay around for long. 

31 (down 15) “21st Century Girls” – 21st Century Girls. Another girl band for which there were big things… oh wait. Even though I remember them being heavily pushed at the time, this was their only hit, and unfortunately for them their pop career was over in the 20th century. 

35 (down 2) “Red Alert” – Basement Jaxx. Another terrific dance hit that seemed to be everywhere in the summer of ’99 and another favourite of MTV.

51 (up 2) “Flat Beat” – Mr Oizo. The remarkable power of Levi’s adverts to have chart-topping singles continued here, partly thanks to the efforts of the lovable Flat Eric. Who remember the song now though. I remember someone on Capital saying after they played that a lot of people who bought it who finally heard the single in full would have thought “is that it?”. 

Well at it turns out there weren’t too many memories to share from this chart, we’ll just have to see what date turns up next time.