Charting 1997: 27th September

01. (1) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
Its first full week of sales and the biggest weekly sale in UK chart history: 1,546,688.
02.(NE) Dario G - Sunchyme
As a result, this record holds the unenviable record for biggest ever losing margin by a Number 2 single; it "only" sold about 86000. I was never a fan but I can deny it made its mark - if you're trying to remember it, it's the dance track that samples 'Life In A Northern Town' by Dream Academy.
03. (5) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
04. (3) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
05. (4) Will Smith - Men In Black
06. (2) George Michael - You Have Been Loved
07.(NE) Blackstreet - Fix
Not one I remember at all from the time, but it proves to be a soul-rock-rap crossover featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Slash. Despite that it's actually not bad, although one of Blackstreet keeps shouting over it annoyingly.
08.(NE) Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
Very much the era of the vaguely Latin dance track.
09.(12) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
10. (6) Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
11. (7) Hanson - Where's The Love
12.(11) Puff Daddy And Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
13.(14) Sly And Robbie - Night Nurse ft Simply Red
Not sure why this climbed. It hadn't got any better.
14.(NE) Robbie Williams - South Of The Border
Missing the Top 10 for the first time in his solo career (and the last time until 2006) with this poor-even-by-his-standards Oasis pastiche. The title would fit neatly with the Bellini song were it not blatantly about blowjobs.
15.(NE) Blur - MOR

Also the end to a long run of Top 10s: their previous seven singles had got there and only one missed the Top 5. That's despite this being heavily re-worked from the album version - though confusingly, the video is cut to the US single version, which is different again. The original idea for the video was for the stuntmen to be wearing realistic masks of the band members, but apparently when they arrived on set they were so unconvincing they had to be covered by balaclavas, which rather ruined the concept. I still like it though. 
Though not Blur's biggest hit, it did attract attention from lawyers for David Bowie and Brian Eno, who pointed out that the composition is not entirely unlike 'Boys Keep Swinging' and resulted in a change to the writing credit.
16.(10) Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
17. (9) All Saints - I Know Where It's At
18.(16) Mariah Carey - Honey
19.(13) Mark Morrison - Who's The Mack!
20.(NE) Adam F - Circles
Alvin Stardust's son with a dance track I actually do remember from the time. It's aged pretty well, better in my opinion than all the shouty rap records he made a few years later.
21.(NE) Brownstone - Kiss And Tell
This week's forgotten RnB girlgroup hit..
22.(NE) Joe - The Love Scene
...And this week's forgotten RnB loverman hit. Ever consider a more exciting stage name?
23.(19) N-Tyce - We Come To Party
24.(20) Gala - Freed From Desire
25.(NE) Wyclef Jean - Guantanamera ft Refugee Allstars
I'm not sure whether the Refugee Allstars actually existed or were just a subtle way to remind you which band Wyclef and Lauryn Hill came from, but either way his second solo hit was a version of the Cuban song known to football fans as 'There's only one [insert name here]'.
26. (8) Portishead - All Mine
27.(25) Finley Quaye - Even After All
28.(NE) TJR - Just Gets Better ft Xavier
Another anonymous dance act, but an OK song. 
29.(NE) Genesis - Congo
Their first single since the departure of Phil Collins. The two remaining original members recruited replacement singer Ray Wilson, previously of chart-topping grunge cash-in act Stiltskin, though he wasn't granted full band membership. I presume they brought in a new drummer too, but nobody ever mentions him.
Either way, this was the only Top 40 hit by this incarnation of the act, and the album performed poorly, particularly in America (it had entered at 2 here but tailed off fast) so they called it a day. They did of course reconvene a decade later with Collins for a tour but no more new material.
30.(27) Backstreet Boys - Everybody (Backstreet's Back)
31.(15) The Sundays - Summertime
32.(23) DJ Quicksilver - Free
33.(24) Cast - Live The Dream
34.(26) Shola Ama - You're The One I Love
35.(NE) Chris De Burgh - So Beautiful
His last Top 40 single, barring a guest vocal on a charity single at the back end of 2010.
36.(29) Dannii Minogue - All I Wanna Do
37.(NE) Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
One of those irritating US frat-boy hits that would make minor but persistent incursions to the UK chart around this time.
38.(28) The Notorious BIG - Mo Money Mo Problems
39.(36) Meredith Brooks - Bitch
40.(18) Jaydee - Plastic Dreams

44.(NE) Eat Static - Interceptor
46.(NE) Fluke - Squirt
48.(NE) Vicki Sue Robinson - House Of Joy
50.(NE) Mike Scott - Love Anyway
During the brief period when the only constant member of the Waterboys wasn't using the name. You can tell he wasn't keen on making videos.
55.(NE) Savage Garden - To The Moon And Back
For a while they looked like one-hit-wonders. We should have enjoyed it while it lasted.
61.(NE) JDS - Nine Ways
65.(NE) Niagra - Cloudburst

68.(NE) Freakyman - Discobug '97
69.(NE) The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty Ca$h {1997 remix}
Good song, poor mix. Can't remember whether there was any good reason for this.
74.(NE) China Drum - Somewhere Else