Joining the 30+ hits club this year are Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson:
| |
Artist |
No of Hits |
New Hits |
| 1 |
Cliff Richard |
114 |
|
| 2 |
Elvis Presley |
102 |
|
| 3 |
Elton John |
58 |
|
| 4 |
David Bowie |
56 |
Survive,
Seven |
| 5 |
Madonna |
52 |
American
Pie, Music, Don't Tell Me |
| 6 |
Status Quo |
50 |
|
| 7 |
Queen |
49 |
We
Will Rock You |
| 8 |
Michael Jackson |
45 |
|
| 9 |
Rod Stewart |
44 |
|
| 10 |
Paul McCartney |
43 |
|
| 11 |
Diana Ross |
42 |
|
| 12 |
Stevie Wonder |
39 |
|
| = |
Rolling Stones |
39 |
|
| 14 |
Prince |
38 |
|
| 15 |
UB40 |
37 |
|
| 16 |
Frank Sinatra |
33 |
|
| = |
Depeche Mode |
33 |
|
| = |
Pet Shop Boys |
33 |
You Only Tell Me You
Love Me When You're Drunk |
| = |
Tom Jones |
33 |
Mama Told Me Not
Come, Sexbomb, You Need Love Like I Do |
| 20 |
Shakin Stevens |
32 |
|
| 21 |
Roy Orbison |
31 |
|
| 22 |
Lonnie Donegan |
30 |
|
| = |
Beatles |
30 |
|
| = |
Bee Gees |
30 |
|
| = |
Kylie Minogue |
30 |
Spinning Around, On A
Night Like This, Kids, Please Stay |
| = |
Whitney Houston |
30 |
If I Told You That,
Could I Have This Kiss Forever, Heartbreak Hotel |
| = |
Janet Jackson |
30 |
Doesn't Really Matter |
Madonna overtakes Abba into fourth place for most number ones and the Spice Girl equal them. Westlife are already up to seven number ones whilst Oasis and Queen both score their sixth.
| |
Artist |
No of #1s |
New #1s |
| 1 |
Elvis Presley |
17 |
|
| = |
Beatles |
17 |
|
| 3 |
Cliff Richard |
14 |
|
| 4 |
Madonna |
10 |
American Pie, Music |
| 5 |
Abba |
9 |
|
| = |
Spice Girls |
9 |
Holler/ Let Love Lead
the Way |
| 7 |
Rolling Stones |
8 |
|
| = |
Take That |
8 |
|
| 9 |
George Michael |
7 |
|
| = |
Michael Jackson |
7 |
|
| = |
Westlife |
7 |
Fool Again, Against
All Odds, My Love |
| 12 |
Slade |
6 |
|
| = |
Rod Stewart |
6 |
|
| = |
Boyzone |
6 |
|
| = |
Blondie |
6 |
|
| = |
Oasis |
6 |
Go Let It Out |
| = |
Queen |
6 |
We Will Rock You |
Whitney Houston continues her streak of hits every year since 1985:
| |
Artist |
Hits Every Year
Since |
| 1 |
Whitney Houston |
1985 |
| 2 |
Madonna |
1989 |
| 3 |
Mariah Carey |
1990 |
| 4 |
Bryan Adams |
1991 |
| 5 |
Daniel O'Donnell |
1992 |
| = |
Mary J Blige |
1993 |
| 7 |
Beautiful South |
1994 |
| = |
Celine Dion |
1994 |
| = |
R Kelly |
1994 |
We're now into the 21st Century and we have a first for the UK Top 40. For the first time in chart history no act who debuted in the 50s has a Top 40 hit this year. The earliest debutant to have a hit this year is 1960 debutant Rolf Harris who had his final hit with "Fine Day".
The other 60s debutants to have hits this year are Lulu, Tom Jones, Edwin Starr, David Bowie and Eric Clapton. Of those it is Tom Jones, David Bowie and Eric Clapton who have had new hits in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s to date.
We have another first this year, the first time we've had a staggering 42 number ones in a year which remains a chart record to this day. There were several acts who scored two number ones, but the only act to score three numbers ones was Westlife. They became the first act in chart history to reach number one with their first seven hits. However their final release of the year "What Makes A Man" became their first single not to top the charts reaching number two.
Denying Westlife their eighth number one was the Christmas number one, "Can We Fix It" by Bob the Builder which was one of only two number ones which stayed there for more than two weeks this year. The other one came from Sonique with "It Feels So Good" which only managed to reach number 24 when it was originally released in 1998. Both records spent three weeks at number one.
Other boybands reaching number one this year were A1 with "Take On Me" and "Same Old Brand New You" and 5ive with "We Will Rock You", a cover of the Queen song which featured Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen on the record.
Backstreet Boys had three hits this year which all made the top ten taking their streak of top ten hits to 12 with only their debut hit so far failing to reach the top 10. It was a mixed year for N Sync with them having their first top three hit with "Bye Bye Bye" but three of their five hits this year failed to reach the top 10.
98 Degrees scored their only top ten hit this year as featured artists on "Thank God I Found You" by Mariah Carey and Joe. This was followed by their final hit "The Hardest Thing" which reached number 29. Lyte Funkie Ones also scored their only top ten hit with "Girl On TV" which was their only hit of the year. There was also a brief return to the charts for Hanson with "If Only" which made number 15.
Point Break had their only top ten hit with "Stand Tough" and had a further three hits this year which would be the last we'd see of them in the UK Top 40. We'd also bid farewell to Northern Line who didn't manage a top ten with their biggest hit being "Love On The Northern Line" which made number 15.
There were two new boy bands in the charts this year, both of whom had just one hit and are now mostly forgotten. There was Spin City with "Landslide" which made number 30 and Mero with "It Must Be Love" which made number 33.
There was no Boyzone in the charts this year, but all five members had hits of their own accord. Most successful was Ronan Keating who had his second number one with "Life is A Rollercoaster" and a top ten hit with "The Way You Make Me Feel". Stephen Gately got off to a good start with the number three "New Beginning / Bright Eyes" but just missed out on the top ten with the follow up "I Believe" which reached number 11. Mikey Graham reached number 13 with his only hit "You're My Angel" whilst the other two joined forces under the name Keith n Shane and made number 36 with their only hit, a cover of "Girl You Know It's True".
The most successful girl group of the year was the All Saints who had two hits and two number ones with "Pure Shores" and "Black Coffee".
Bidding farewell to the charts were Precious with "It's Gonna Be My Way", Hepburn with "Deep Deep Down", Cleopatra with "Come And Get Me" and B*witched with "Jump Down". The younger sister of the B*witched twins had her only hit as part of the duo Buffalo G with a cover of "Really Saying Something".
There were three other female pop duos to have their only hits this year, M2M with "Don't Say You Love Me", Sister 2 Sister with "Sister" and Fred & Roxy with "Something for the Weekend". Then there was Daphne & Celeste who managed three hits, "Ooh Stick You!", "Ugly" and "Schools Out".
Atomic Kitten had a couple of top ten hits with "See Ya" and "I Want Your Love" but only managed number 20 with their third hit "Follow Me". Chart debutants Sugababes reached the top ten with their debut "Overload" but failed to reach the top ten with the follow up "New Year".
There was a new Simon Cowell created girl group waiting in the wings to become the next Spice Girls, Girl Thing. There was a lot of hype around them prior to them actually releasing anything, but when their debut hit "Last One Standing" was finally released it made number 8 which was seen as a disaster. Their appearance on the Big Reunion years later implied that would be it for them, but they did manage one more hit with "Girls on Top" which only managed number 25.
There were another three not so well remembered girl groups making their chart debuts this year. Madasun had their only three hits with "Don't You Worry", "Walking On Water" and "Feel Good". Made In London had their only hit with "Dirty Water" and Supersister made their debut with "Coffee" but they would be back.
The Spice Girls themselves returned to the charts with their final number one, but all members except Emma also had hits this year. Most successful was Mel C who had two number ones with "Never Be the Same Again" and "I Turn to You" and also had a hit with "If That Were Me". Geri Halliwell reached number one with her only hit of the year "Bag It Up" and Mel B made number four with here only hit of the year "Tell Me". Then there was the debut of Victoria Beckham who had a number two alongside True Steppers and Dane Bowers with the UK Garage single "Out of Your Mind".
Victoria Beckham was kept off the stop by Spiller and Sophie Ellis Bextor with "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" which started life as an instrumental that failed to chart the first time round. This was a similar story to Fragma who had reached number 11 the previous year with the most instrumental "Toca Me" but reached number one after adding the vocals of "I Need A Miracle" by CoCo to it and renaming it "Toca's Miracle".
Although there were more House and Trance records in the charts, UK Garage seemed to be making more of an impact. This included the solo debut of Craig David with the number one "Fill Me In". He also scored a number one with his second solo hit "Seven Days" but the radio version of this was R&B as opposed to Garage. So Solid Crew members Oxide & Neutrino had a number one with their debut "Bound 4 Da Reload (Casualty)", but the So Solid Crew themselves were yet to make their chart debut.
It was also the year Hard House music had its strongest presence in the charts to date. There were only a handful of Hard House Top 40 hits but we had some of the better known tunes such as "Operation Blade (Bass In The Place)" by Public Domain, "Phatt Bass" by Warp Brothers vs Aquagen and "Blow Ya Mind" by Lock 'N' Load.
In the R&B world, Sisqo from Dru Hill began his solo career with four hits this year, the biggest being "Thong Song". We also had the debut of Kelis with "Caught Out There" which she followed up with "Good Stuff". There was also the debut of Pink who was an R&B singer at the time. Her debut hit was "There You Go" which was followed up with "Most Girls".
It was the last we'd see of En Vogue in the charts this year with their final hit being "Riddle". Former En Vogue member Dawn Robinson had her only two hits with her new group Lucy Pearl this year with "Dance Tonight" and "Don't Mess With My Man".
There were two Rap number ones this year which both came from Eminem with "The Real Slim Shady" and "Stan". He also made number 8 with "The Way I Am" and a number 7 featuring on "Forgot About Dre" by Dr Dre who himself also had a number 6 with "Still Dre" featuring Snoop Dogg.
Notable rappers making their debut this year was Nelly with "(Hot Shit) Country Grammar" and Mystikal with "Shake Ya Ass" whilst the Wu Tang Clan would have their only hit by themselves this year with "Gravel Pit".
The first number one of the year came from the Manic Street Preachers with "The Masses Against The Classes" which would be their only hit of the year. We also had Oasis return to the charts with the number one "Go Let It Out" which was followed by the top 5 hits "Who Feels Love" and "Sunday Morning Call".
Notable Indie groups making their debut this year included Muse with "Sunburn", Coldplay with "Shiver" and Toploader with "Dancing In the Moonlight".
On the heavier side of things, Iron Maiden were back in top ten for the first time in five years with "The Wicker Man" and followed up with "Out Of The Silent Planet" which didn't make the top ten. Metallica also had a hit this year with "I Disappear".
The more modern groups by this point tended to be classed as Alternative or Nu Metal. Korn continued to have hits this year but they were joined by the debut of Slipknot with "Wait & Bleed" and the debut of Limp Bizkit with "Take A Look Around". It was also the year that brought us "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock which could also be classified as Nu Metal. Probably the most notable Alternative record of the year came from the Foo Fighters with "Breakout".
In the Punk world, Blink 182 had a hit with perhaps their best known hit "All the Small Things". The Offspring had a had with "Original Prankster". There was also a return for Green Day who had moved away from their usual Punk sound to a more mellow sound with the hits "Minority" and "Warning".
We had the first act from Finland to have a UK Top 40 hit this year. This was Darude with "Sandstorm" in June, then in August we had our second Finnish act Bomfunk MCs with "Freestyler". We also had the only act to have a UK Top 40 hit at time of writing from Poland this year, "Love Will Come" by Tomski.
In many ways the year 2000 doesn't seem too different to 1999. Of the 42 number ones, only four are by acts making their debut this year and that includes Bob the Builder. The most notable difference is probably the rise of UK Garage.
Up next is 2001 where I recall in an interview at the beginning of the year with Ash, they predicted it would be the year for Rock music to make a comeback. Were they correct?
