Gunmen opened fire on tourists at the Luxor temple site in Egypt, killing 69. The authorities blamed islamist extremists; islamist groups blamed the police for opening fire. The United Nations sought to defuse the continued crisis over Iraq's reluctance to allow US weapons inspectors, pointing out that monitoring of Iraqi industry was effective, and it was almost impossible for them to conceal weapons. Iraq backed down after a week and a half. South Korea sought a loan of USD 20md (then ECU 17.6md) from the International Monetary Fund.

British Airways announced plans to start a no-frills airline. The NHS confirmed that waiting lists had risen since Labour assumed power. Labour suffered criticism from the back benches after talk of cuts in lone parent benefits. The Liberal Democrats won the re-run general election in Winchester; the Beckenham by-election was won by the Conservatives. William Hague withdrew the Conservative whip from Peter Temple-Morris (Leominster), who suggested that One Nation Conservatism was now the province of Labour. Retail analysts said that there was little chance of electronic shopping expanding rapidly in the UK: by 2007, it would still be a fringe activity, we were assured.

The death was announced of Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS, found hanged in a Sydney hotel room. The Spice Girls denied that they were splitting up. Gary Glitter was arrested on suspicion of possessing child pornography after staff repairing his compputer peeked into his hard drive. Gerry Francis resigned as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

UK Singles Chart for w/c 23 November 1997

Number One	Perfect day - Various - 1st week (Number 778 in seq.)
Highest new entry	Perfect day - Various - number 1
Fastest climber (within top 40)	Barbie girl - Aqua - up -1 to 2
Fastest climber (within top 75)	(as above)
Lemming-like fall	Over - Portishead - down 35 to 60
Top 40 debuts	Aaron Carter, The Firm, Steven Houghton, Lutricia McNeal
Top 40 exits	The Firm, Rosie Gaines
Top 75 debuts	Capricorn, Aaron Carter, The Firm, Steven Houghton, Lutricia McNeal, 98 Degrees, RIP Productions
Top 75 exits	Erykah Badu, Michael Bolton, Jon Bon Jovi, Capricorn, Happy Clappers, RIP Productions

Not a tremendous week for new entries beneath the top 40. Capricorn came in at 73 with 20hz (new frequencies). Truce put Nothin' but a party to 71. Boyband 98 Degrees had Invisible man at 66, they'd go missing until late 1999, and never showed any consistent ability to make hits. The Cure's Wrong number stuttered to 62, their second successive single to peak in the 60s. 702 put their song No doubt in at 59, at 58 came RIP Productions with The chant (we r). The Jungle Brothers had had a modicum of success in 1990, and Jungle brother hit 56; a re-release the following May would become the group's biggest hit, reaching 18. Third hit of the year for Teenage Fanclub, and the law of diminishing returns was now in full effect: Start again only made 54, their third-smallest hit in six years. Erykah Badu's third and final UK hit was Apple tree (to be free), making 47. And dance outfit BT put Love, peace and grease in at 41.

Rosie Gaines did have a second hit single: after the raucously entertaining Closer than close spent the early part of the summer selling like hotcakes, I surrender spent a week in late November selling like a number 39 single. Way Out West made 36 with Ajare, a re-release of a number 52 from 1994. The group's biggest hit was The gift, number 15 in September 1996. Missy Elliott and Da Brat put Sockit2me in at 33. Within a year, Elliott would have a UK number 1 single with Mel B of the Spice Girls, and we're still unsure whether I want you back was a work of genuis or genius.

Finley Quaye's third single in five months was It's great when we're together, peaking at 29. This was a slight stumble on what seemed to be an inevitable path to world domination, as follow-up Your love gets sweeter made 16 the following March. Surprisingly, his return in 2000 fell short - lead single Spiritualised missed the top 20, the album Vanguard entered at 35 then tanked, and dragged Finley into Ver Dumper with him.

Two linedancing songs just outside the top 20 this week: Steps's 5-6-7-8 dropped just four places to 22, and the Woolpackers came in at 25 with Line dance party. This group was a creation of ITV timefiller Emmerdale Farm, where there's nothing to do but shout, fight, shout, go line dancing, and fight. The cast had had a number 5 hit the previous December with Hillbilly rock hillbilly roll; neither song will be remembered as a classic. In at 24 came Salt 'n' Pepa performing R u ready. The rap duo had been to the top ten twice in 1988 and 1991, and had a couple of top 20 hits in 1994. Only one more hit lay in their future, The brick track versus gitty up made 22 in December 1999. They had fourteen top forty hits in an eleven year career, most of them finishing around number 20.

Mary J Blige has a slow start to her career - not until her third album and seventh single, 1995's I'm going down, would she grace the top 20 - and never consistently attracted the attention of tastemakers. Even when she could have a top ten single with the first cut from the album, the record company would release more than even the most dedicated fan could stand. Missing you was the third and final single from her album Love is All We Need, and became the smallest hit, making 19. Her biggest hit single had been August's Everything, a number 6, but her signature album was 2001's contemplative and reflective No More Drama. The Firm that came in at 18 with Firm biz was no relation to the group that hit the top in 1987 with Star trekkin'.

New at 15 was Robert Miles with Freedom. After the tremendous success of Children, Fable, and One and one the previous year, Miles returned with a second album, 23AM. We actually prefer this to the original, it hangs together as late-night electronica in a way that Dreamland never quite managed. That's probably because there's an over-arching theme, a tale from birth to death and includes at least one sample from each city he visited while promoting Dreamland. And the first five tracks don't sound exactly the same. Vocalist on the lead single, Freedom, was Kathy Sledge of the group Sister Sledge, and marked her first new release (as opposed to repeats of old music) since her 1985 chart-topper Frankie. Miles would release new albums in 2001 and 2004, and doesn't get anything like enough play on Chill. (Hint.)

Third single for Shola Ama, Who's loving my baby could only make number 13, and it was becoming clear that she could become a one-hit wonder. Single four, Much love, gave us little information when it made 17 in February 1998. When Still believe (Oct 99) and Imagine (April 00) stalled outside the top 20, it became clear that Shola was only going to be remembered for the one hit. Out of the top 10 fell Pulp (8-27), Ocean Colour Scene (9-23), Spice Girls (10-20), Hanson (5-14), Hot Chocolate (6-12), and - after over 4 million copies - Elton John (7-11). Boyzone was already into the top 30 on airplay, the Lightning Seeds hit the top 40, and there were Network Chart re-entries for No Doubt (originally a hit eleven months ago) and Fastlove, eighteen months and four Yog singles in the past.

Six new entries into the top ten, including four cover versions, three of them entirely dodgy. First of those was Louise's version of Let's go round again, originally a hit for the Average White Band. By only making number 10, it beat the original by two places, but was the fourth-smallest hit of her career; half of her twelve releases made the top five. Ickle Aaron Carter was the kid brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, and his version of the Jets' Crush on you made number 9. The original had peaked at 5 in spring 1987, when Ickle Aaron was about two.

The Prodigy was on the most unlikely hat-trick of all time, following the remarkable success of Firestarter and Breathe the previous year. Owing to its title, Smack my bitch up was given as few plays as radio could get away with, though the radio edit's instrumental grooving was entirely inoffensive. Which brings us to Babs and Céline, dipping three to 7. New at 6 was Lutricia McNeal's Ain't that just the way. The Swede was signed to Capital Radio's record label, as was Finlay Quaye, and their acts received remarkably heavy levels of play from the Capital Radio group. Funny that. In fairness, this was a tremendous record, with a very catchy slow groove and sing-a-long chorus, all in an uplifting major key. The song would stick around well into 1998, and follow-up Stranded made number 3 in May of that year; two more hits would grace the top 20 before the year's end. Surprisingly, that was it for Lutricia in the UK, though she continues to have hits in Sweden. Don't think she's tried for Eurovision yet, though it can only be a matter of time...

All Saints slipped two places to 5, and Natalie Imbruglia dropped a couple to 4. New at 3 was another from the Dodgy Cover files: Steven Houghton's insipid version of Wind beneath my wings. The song had been made famous by Bette Midler, a number 5 hit for the diva in 1989. Houghton's version was cheap karaoke by comparison, but his role in East Street Farm (or whichever soap it was) ensured he could sell zillions of copies before anyone worked out just how rubbish his song was.

Which brings us to Aqua's Barbie girl, back to number 2 after three weeks in pole position. We've no idea how this song managed to sell 1.4 million copies in five weeks, nor how it was on the verge of ousting Puff Daddy as the year's second-biggest seller. New at number 1 was the BBC's Perfect day single, a song we discussed last year. This video clip was first seen in Radio 1 Night at the end of September, and demonstrated how the Beeb did all sorts of music, including the sort you love, and the sort you don't like. These days, of course, the BBC still does all sorts of music, though its impartiality has been compromised by the presence of commercials on its website.

| Permanent link