16July

NATO invited Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia to join the alliance. British special forces moved into Prijedor, Bosnia, where there had been reports of genocide during the civil war. Basque group ETA killed a councillor it had kidnapped. The Nolan Committee on Standards in Public Life published its report, calling for a new criminal offence for elected representatives who abuse their powers. Following higher-than-expected inflation figures, the Bank of England raised its base rate by ¼% to 6¾%; the rate had risen by ¾% in the ten weeks since Labour had assumed power.

British Airways cabin staff staged a three-day strike, including a mass sickie, in a dispute over pay. Countryfolk marched through London to protest against the proposed ban on foxhunting, and the government's neglect of farming. In an attempt to calm a volatile situation in Northern Ireland, the Orange Order cancelled its march down the Ormeau-road in Belfast. Keith Hellawell, the chief constable of West Yorkshire, called for pop songs to be stripped of drugs references; this is why Ginger from the Wildhearts appeared on Newsnight. DNA testing suggested Neanderthal man was not part of humanity's heritage. Eurotunnel shareholders voted to restructure the company's debt. The government postponed its draft Freedom of Information Bill.

Nigel Jones LD, Cheltenham called for an end to pretentious and ridiculous pub names. Plans to run sleeper trains through the Channel Tunnel were abandoned as they wouldn't be profitable; the service would make money, but not enough to cover the sterile platforms demanded by the British interior ministry. John Prescott executed a U-turn and confirmed that the Birmingham Northern Relief Road would be built; it's scheduled to open in 2004. Australia won the third Ashes test, squaring the series at 1:1. Surrey won the Benson & Hedges cup final, beating K*nt by eight wickets; Ben Hollioake was named man of the match.

UK Singles Chart for w/c 13 July 1997

Number One	Do you know what I mean? – Oasis, 1st week, 771st in sequence
Highest new entry	as above
Fastest climber (within top 40)	I'll be missing you – Puff Daddy, up -1 to 2
Fastest climber (within top 75)	Midnight at Chelsea – Jon Bon Jovi, up 1 to 65
Lemming-like fall (within top 40)	Air we breathe – Alisha's Attic, down 20 to 32
Lemming-like fall (within top 75)	Copper girl – Three Colours Red, down 36 to 66
Top 40 debuts	Howie B, Gala
Top 40 exits	Az Yet, Howie B, The Braxtons, Silverchair
Top 75 debuts	Howie B, Gala, Tracey Lee, Scarfo
Top 75 exits	Diddy, Laurnea, Tracey Lee, Tito Puente Jr And The Latin Rhythm

Twenty new entries into the top 75, and re-entries for May's hits from Robbie, Yog, and the Wets. We remember nothing of Scarfo (Alkaline, new at 61) or Tracey Lee (The theme (it's party time), 51). Two blasts from the early 90s as the umlaut-tastic Mötley Crüe entered at 58 with Afraid. They hadn't had a hit since Hooligan's holiday in early 1994, the last in a series of seven top 50 hits, of which six made the top 40. And they wouldn't be back again until 2005. The Jungle Brothers, meanwhile, entered at 52 with Brain; they'd grazed the top 40 with a couple of minor hits in 1990, but would go on to put Jungle brother into the top 20 in 1998. Tito Puente Jr had his hit at 56 with Oye como va, as unexpected as it was welcome. In addition to the massive fall for Three Colours Red, there was a 33 place slump for the Supernaturals, a 32-place drop for Phil Collins, Robin S fell 27, Diddy dropped 26, and Teenage Fanclub slumped 30 places from 17 to 47.

This was the second of five charts we joined in progress during 1997, picking up the broadcast at number 20. Not a tremendous amount missed, to be honest. Silverchair were in at 40 with Abuse me, the group's second and final top 40 hit. They would have one more shot at stardom, putting Ana's song to 45 in May 1999. By then the lead singer would be better known for his taste in female company, for he was stepping out with wotzerface who played Beth from Neighbours. Whatever happened to her..? Howie B had the bizarrely-titled Angels go bald too at 36; it was the former Soul to Soul frontsman's only solo top 40 hit, two more releases would barely make the 75.

The Braxtons had their third hit of the year, Slow flow entering at 26, but the group would be dropped in a piece of record company carelessness by the end of the year. Paul Fab Macca Whacky Thumbs Aloft!!! McCartney entered at 23 with The world tonight, the second single lifted from the album, and presaging his next project, A Tribute to Radio 4, with the outstanding track being his interpretation of the theme to PM. Embrace put out their second single, and improved on their previous position by 13 places, the One big family ep entered at 21.

Ten new entries into the top 20, starting with Dubstar. It took far too long, but the group's Disgraceful album had finally become a sleeper hit during 1996, yielding the top 20 hit singles Not so manic now and the sublimely wonderful Stars. Not wanting to change a winning formula too much, No more talk was firmly and clearly in the same vein. Perhaps too similar - only the most devoted of fans could spot the progression, the second album received a cool reception, and the group just about went their own way. A shame.

BT's Flaming June came in at 19, obviously the right note to strike following the wettest Wimbledon since the invention of the tennis net. The group's biggest hit had been Loving you more, twice a top 30 hit in 95-96. For no adequately explored reason, Flaming June was re-issued in January 1998, when it made number 28. Lots of fallers form last week's top ten - Sheryl Crow from 8 to 22 the largest, 911 from 3 to 17 the most significant. Long runs came to an end for Eternal (9-16) and Hanson (7-14); No Doubt (10-15) held up well, but Todd Terry (5-13) didn't. The Verve (6-12) continued to attract critical plaudits like a steaming pile of dung attracts flies.

Quick, what was Massive Attack's biggest hit single? Penny to a pound you'll have said or thought of Unfinished sympathy, the 1991 hit that seems to get played on every radio station in the country at least once a week. Surprisingly, it's only their third-biggest hit, peaking at number 13. The biggest is 1998's Teardrop, the one and only top 10 hit, and that only just. One place lower, and hence their biggest hit to date, was Risingson. It's otherwise a completely unremarkable record, other than being the first of eight new entries into the top 11.

Which can only mean that we have seven new entries into the top 10, for the second time in two months. Beginning with Babyface's How come how long, a track recorded with Stevie Wonder. He'd had major success in the previous twelve months with This is for the lover in you and Every time I close my eyes, but here's the only top ten hit of his career as a performer. Surprisingly, Stevie hasn't been in the top ten since, though his work with Blue on a 2003 version of Signed sealed delivered made position 11.

From the Follow That! files, R. Kelly's Gotham city entered at 9. Young master Kelly spent more time with his constituents after this, not turning up again for a year, when he provided backing vocals on Sparkle's Be careful. I'm your angel with Sealion Dion followed before the end of 1998, with If I could turn back the hands of time the following year. It all rather went a bit rubbish after that, first in terms of chart placings, then in terms of quality.

Ultra Nate drops 4 to 8, and Shaggy is new at 7 with Piece of my heart. Marsha is the credited co-vocalist, and the song is a cover of the Erma Franklin classic. After this, Shaggy will vanish into the ether for almost four years before returning with the 1-1-2 triple punch of It wasn't me, Angel, and Me Julie. After that, nada. Sash! drops from 2 to 6.

It's the beginning of the end of Michael Jackson's career, as History comes in at 5. The single version was a remix of the track from his remix album, but still bore a close relationship with the title track from his 1995 album. Hope that's clear. All seven of the singles lifted from the History project had gone top five, and he'd had a number 2 hit with nephews 3T in the run. Jacko would be absent from the charts until October 2001, when the pedestrian You rock my world entered at 2. The second single from the album, Cry, could only make number 25, and he's had just one more new hit in the years since, when One more chance made number 5 in 2003. By that time, he was embroiled in a kiddyfiddling trial that ended in his acquital at law, but apparent conviction in the eyes of many.

New at number 4 came Italian house diva Gala, whose Freed from desire would become the final piece in this year's summer anthem list. We have no idea what the song is about, but it sounds good in a hot summer. Remember those..? Second highest new entry honours to Coolio, See you when you get there is in at 3. It's the follow-up to his number 53 flop The winner from just six weeks ago, and is by far his biggest hit since the 1995 smash Gangster's paradise, and is based on Pachabel's Canon in D major. Somewhat more surprisingly, Coolio hasn't had a top 10 hit since, and seems to have stopped recording after 1997. A shame. Puff Daddy drops from 1 to 2, becoming the fastest climber within the top 40.

In the week when the group's seven-minute video was played in full on Top of the Pops (and Puff Daddy was restricted to 72 seconds), when Noel Gallagher claimed the group was more important than god, it's no particular surprise to find that Oasis has the best-selling single. Do you know what I mean was a blatant re-tread of ground the group had covered on their previous two albums. If the likes of Slide away and Champagne supernova were like cutting your front lawn at the start of spring, Do you know... was the same lawn after it had been baked dry in an unyielding sun for two months. It was tired, predictable, staid, and joined the Verve in the litany of songs vying to be dropped in The Single Most Boring Single Bore. Oasis's lack of imagination was cast into sharp relief by their arch-enemies in Blur, who had gone off, reinvented themselves, and dropped from being massive hit-makers to being the country's biggest cult band in less time than it took to play this song once. Damon Albarn's crack about Oasis sounding like Status Quo was a joke, not careers advice.

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