27February
| Number One | Don't speak- No Doubt - 2nd week |
|---|---|
| Highest new entry | Encore une fois- Sash! - number 2 |
| Fastest climber (within top 40) | Let me in- OTT - up 2 to 16 |
| Fastest climber (within top 75) | Knockin' on heaven's door- Dunblane - up 17 to 52 |
| Lemming-like fall (within top 40) | Dark clouds- Space (down 18 to 32) |
| Lemming-like fall (within top 75) | My mum has gone to Iceland- Bennet (down 29 to 63) Just the way- Alfonzo Hunter (down 29 to 67) |
No top 40 place for DJ Prof-X-Or, ORN, or Jump, acts that never amounted to much. The combination of Chaka Khan and Me'Shell Ndegocello can only make 59. There was a huge promotional re-push for the Dunblane single during half-term, prompted by the imminent first anniversary of the massacre. Aloof's second single misses the top end by three places, and that just about ends their career. Van Morrison has a top 50 hit single, The healing game
is the first time he's ever been so high. Simon Mayo's favourite band, Delerious?, land at 41 with White ribbon day
, their first commercial hit single. The big hits lie ahead, though never the critical acclaim.
Ten new entries in the lower half of the 40, so deep breath... Lithium and Sonya Madan from Echobelly have their one week of fame, it's the last week for Us3, whose big hit was in 1993. There's an instantly-forgettable hit from Björk, and this quarter's hit single from My Life Story (The king of kissingdom
). It's the final week of top 40 fame for Belinda Carlisle, California
is the last of nineteen hit singles, and comes just six months after her career swansong, In too deep
. The Wonders are also enjoying their second and final week of top 40 action.
Jay-Zed and Mary J. Bilge combine for a minor hit, somewhat smaller than the major hits they'll both have. Maxwell, the soulful cup of coffee, is also in. Career highlight for the Ben Folds Five with the well-remembered Battle of who could care less
. Five singles after the huge smash of Missing
, Everything But The Girl are back to their career average, and Az Yet just miss the 20 - again, their hit lies ahead.
Remember Republica? Saffron of the bright red hair, loud braying voice, and songs that were ubiquitous because they were so damned catchy. Ready to go
had just missed the top 40 in spring 1996, but was re-promoted heavily in the opening months of the following year, and turned into the tremendous hit it always deserved to be, entering at number 13. Follow-up Drop dead gorgeous
would make the top ten barely a couple of months later, but the group rather lost their way afterwards; From rush hour with love
barely scraped the top 20 in autumn 1998, the second album Speed Ballads
was a grade 1 flop, and the group split.
Cathy Dennis (qv) had a cover of Waterloo sunset
was new at 11, her ninth and final hit as a performer. Nineoneone came down six places to 10, the Blueboy's Remember me
bounced back up a spot to 9, Warren G came down six to 8. New at 7 were Bush, huge in North America, but never really doing much in the UK. Swallowed
was their one and only top 20 hit for the group whose industrial goth was about eight years ahead of fashion.
Long runner alert! En Vogue came down a place to 6, and the Bee Gees were new at 5 with Alone
. They'd managed to pull precisely one huge hit single from each of their past four albums, stretching back to 1987, and here was the smash from their current release Still Waters
. The group had been given the Lifetime Achievement gong at 1997's ROPRA awards, and would have just one more studio album in them. Biggest-seller of the year so far from No Mercy came down one to 4.
Back amongst us was You've got the love
, from the Source featuring Candi Statton. The original had been a number 4 hit in the spring of 1991, part of the soundtrack to Gulf War II: Hussein Against One Hundred. The gospel song overlaid with an aerobic beat remained popular in the clubs, and was rewarded with a number 3 position in 1997. A good song doesn't go away; imports and downloads tickled the charts at the end of 2005, and a full release returned the song to the top ten in February 2006.
Highest new entry honours went to Sash!, performing Encore une fois
. A German happy-dance act, Sash! had three number 2 hits during 1997, and two more top-three hits in the years to come. Only two of these massive smashes were sung in English, making them by far the most popular foreign-language performer of the era.
Nothing would topple No Doubt from the top, though, Gwen and the boys spending a second week at the proverbial summit.
