6August

Opposition militia fought the Taliban for control of Kabul. Robin Cook announced new restrictions on arms exports, so that sales of weapons that can be used by a country against its own civilians will not happen. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the gap between rich and poor was wider than at any time since 1886. One Week Wonder was Lord Simon, the new trade and industry minister, who had not sold his shares in BP. The government ordered a judicial enquiry into the killing of Stephen Lawrence; the MacPherson report will be published in 1999, and accuse the London police of being institutionally racist. The Conservatives retained Uxbridge at a by-election with an increased majority.

Robin Cook confirmed that he was leaving his wife. Channel 4 was released from the funding formula that meant it gave millions each year to ITV. The controller of Radio 4 announced major changes to his network. David Mellor was appointed to a football task farce. Dead this week: Gordon McMaster, Labour MP for Paisley South; William Burroughs, writer; Sviatoslav Richter, pianist.

Another week, another huge list of new entries: fully 26 in the top 75. Eleven of those fell outside the top 40; of these, we remember nothing about China Drum (Fiction of life, 65), Jimi Polo (Express yourself, 62), Richie Stephens Featuring General Degree (Come give me your love, 61), Moonman (Don't be afraid, 60), G Nation (Feel the need, 58), or The Heartists (Belo horizonti, 42).

Benz came in at 73 with On a sun-day, he had been part of Stakka Humanoid, a one-hit wonder in 1988, and would be the voice of Fats and Small for their hit singles in 1999. Victoria Wilson James (Reach 4 the melody, 72) was the voice on Soul II Soul's 1990 top-tenner A dream's a dream, but she's best known for being the female lead in 1999 musical Oh What A Night!.

Greater success would lie in the future for Trisha Yearwood's entry at 66; it wouldn't be her version of How do I live but Leann Rimes's that spent seven months in the top 40 during 1998. Greater success also lay in the future for Jewel, whose You were meant for me entered at 53. Much greater success was ahead for Belle and Sebastian, Lazy line painter Jane was the group's second hit single, coming in at 41.

David McAlmont came in at 40, performing Look at yourself, his first single since working with Bernard Butler in 1995. Dance act Code Red asked Is there someone out there? at 34; if there was, they weren't buying this. Damage had hit number 3 with their previous release; three months later, Love lady could only make number 33, finishing behind critical faves Spiritualized - Electricity was in at 32. Gene continued to have hits for no adequately-explored reason, though at least they were now small hits; Speak to me someone came in at 30. Dance acts Airscape (Pacific melody, 27) and Snakebite (The bit goes on, 25) were as forgettable as their tunes.

In at 18 came North and South, with their second single Tarantino's new star. The group had been put together as part of the plot for children's comedy No Sweat, but used that show as an excuse to release their own records. In a throwaway pop kind of way, these were amongst the best tunes of the era, and possibly of any era. Lead single I'm a man not a boy had graced the top ten in May, and they'd have a sell-out tour before the year was out. The law of diminishing returns struck - the second series yielded just one hit single, and the group rather gave up in 1998. Or, to be exact, BMG Enterprises - who co-funded No Sweat - threw these guys to the lions, cancelled their album at the last minute, and put their weight behind another project, this time guided by their pop svengali Simon Cowell. Whatever happened to S Club, anyhow? Anyway, this version is taken from the soundtrack of a Top of the Pops appearance. We'd not heard the song in nigh-on ten years, and reckon that it's a better three-minute Eurovision entry than about 80% of the UK's throw-ats since.

New at 17 for Stretch and Vern's Get up! Go insane!; new at 15 for Makaveli's Toss it up. Paul Weller was still boring the pants off everyone; his forgettable single this week was Brushed, in at 14 and gone within moments. New at 13 came the Levellers, with their What a beautiful day song. For a band that sold themselves as modern-day hippies, they certainly made a lot of money, and didn't reject success when it was around. This was by far the most commercial song the group had ever released, and became their eighth top 20 hit in nine releases, stretching back to May 1992; only a live release in 1996 spoiled their run, and then just by four places. The group never had a top ten hit, but had one number 11, four number 12s, and this number 13 success. We've never been entirely convinced by their claims to be green anarchists; it does show in their writing, but so does a desire for commercial success and hedonism. The singles collection emerged in 1998, since when hits have been at a premium, but the group continue to write and perform to this date.

Of last week's top ten, Ultra Nate and The Mamas and the Papas slipped three to 11 and 12, while U2 slumped from 10 to 29. Oasis came down from 5 to 10, Coolio and Meredith Brooks dropped two to 9 and 8 respectively, and Boyzone came down from 2 to 7. Notorious BIG came in at 6 with Mo money mo problems, by far his most commercial hit, and also his biggest. It's the one that samples Diana Ross's I'm coming out. Texas had their third top ten hit of the year as Black-eyed boy entered at 5. It was like their previous hit, Halo, only with slightly different words. Backstreet Boys dropped one to 4, and in at 3 came Peter Andre. Go on, do you remember All about us? We don't, even though it was his fourth top three single in five releases. Completely forgotten. Gala moved up two places to two, but there was no shifting Puff Daddy, number one for the sixth week.

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