Charting 1997: 15th November

01. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
02. (2) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
03.(NE) Barbra Streisand And Celine Dion - Tell Him
Below the unchanged Top 2, this is the highest new entry, a song every bit as subtle and understated as you'd expect. Apparently from a film called The Mirror Has Two Faces.
04. (3) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
05. (4) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
06.(NE) The PF Project - Choose Life ft Ewan McGregor
Another film tie-in, sampling McGregor's opening monologue from Trainspotting. The track itself is obviously not in the film but appears on the second volume of the soundtrack album.
07.(NE) Gary Barlow - Open Road
Title track from his solo album becomes the fourth single from it. Actually not bad as solo Barlow goes, but for a song about leaving greyness behind it's a little, er, grey.
08.(NE) Moby - James Bond Theme
Back to the movies with our second Bond-theme hit of the year, but the first official one. This was connected to the soundtrack of that year's Bond picture Tomorrow Never Dies, though it's just a cover of the familiar Monty Norman theme.
09. (5) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
10.(NE) Texas - Put Your Arms Around Me
Another fourth single to remind people the album was out in time for Christmas shopping. I remember Sharleen Spiteri bringing a ghetto-blaster on stage to provide the (muted) beats for this song (shades of Stop Making Sense perhaps?), although the single mix is a bit more conventional. I see from the YouTube upload that this on the soundtrack to something called Ever After.
11. (7) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
12. (9) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
13.(NE) Jon Bon Jovi - Janie, Don't Take Your Love To Town
Technically, this is from a film too, but Jon Bon Jovi made a film of his own album so that doesn't quite count.
14.(NE) Cast - I'm So Lonely
A song that was never in a film at all, apparently! Another fourth single, and the track that ended their run of Top 10 hits (they did manage one more in 1999). It's not a bad track, if not earth-shattering. I'm tempted to say Jake Bugg was listening, but he'd only have been a toddler at this point. 
15.(10) Dario G - Sunchyme
16.(NE) 187 Lockdown - Gunman
Well, the video is a movie parody, so it fits the theme. It might actually date from the 1998 re-release of the track, but it's good enough anyway. 
17.(12) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
18.(11) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
19.(16) Clock - U Sexy Thing
20.(NE) Roni Size/Reprazent - Brown Paper Bag
Rare Top 20 appearance for the Mercury winners. One of their most commercially appealing singles, a great jazzy rap track, although I couldn't be bothered with the nine-minute album version.
21.(NE) Faithless - Don't Leave {1997 remix}
Third hit associated with A Life Less Ordinary, albeit a remix of a song that had already been a hit for them. A bit of a different sound from their most famous tracks.
22. (6) Peter Andre - Lonely
23.(19) Double 99 - RIP Groove {1997 Re-Release}
24.(NE) Peter Cox - If You Walk Away
Sounds like Westlife with a more soulful singer. 
25.(17) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
26. (8) Embrace - All You Good Good People EP
27.(13) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
28.(21) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
29.(15) LL Cool J - Phenomenon
30.(14) Michael Bolton - The Best Of Love/Go The Distance
31.(22) Toni Braxton With Kenny G - How Could An Angel Break My Heart
32.(25) Dannii Minogue - Everything I Wanted
33.(NE) Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Inkanyezi Nezazi (The Star And The Wiseman)
As featured in an advert for baked beans in case you were wondering.
34.(NE) Fabulous Baker Boys - Oh Boy
If house tracks with chipmunk vocals are your thing, enjoy this. Just don't expect to see Michelle Pfeiffer.
35.(30) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
36.(NE) Delirious? - DeEPer {1997 Re-release}
[Deeper; Summer Of Love; Touch; Sanctify]
Second appearance this year for the lead track, though the other three were new to the chart. Not sure what the point of this re-release was, it didn't seem to get any more airplay than first time around and charted lower.
37.(29) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
38.(18) The Bee Gees - Still Waters (Run Deep)
39.(40) Oasis - Stand By Me
40.(31) Diana King - I Say A Little Prayer

47.(NE) Dust Junkys - (Nonstoperation)
One of those many British acts combining hip-hop, dance and rock who were tipped for big things at the end of Britpop but never quite made it, led by sometime 808 State rapper MC Tunes. Maybe if they'd been able to spell the word "junkies" it might have helped.
50.(NE) Radish - Simple Sincerity

52.(NE) Gina G - Every Time I Fall
Six singles was at least one too many.
53.(NE) UB40 - Always There
54.(NE) Paul Van Dyk - Words/Moonlighting ft Toni Halliday
57.(NE) Quad City DJ's - Space Jam

59.(NE) D*Note - Lost And Found
60.(NE) Randy Crawford - Give Me The Night '97
68.(NE) Karen Young - Hot Shot '97

Charting 1997: 8th November

Would you like a Spotify playlist of this Top 75? Probably not, but I've already made one so here it is.

01. (1) Aqua - Barbie Girl
Still there.
02.(NE) Natalie Imbruglia - Torn
Not being a regular viewer of Neighbours, I'd never heard of her until this charted, and when Mark Goodier explained who she was, I was pleasantly surprised that she could actually sing. For the same reason I was subsequently confused by the controversy surrounding the fact that this was a cover version as if anybody would expect a soap actor to have written their own debut single. This went on to be a massive hit - so much so that I believe the album was rushed forward - and goes down in history as one of those big Number 2 hits that was only denied by something even bigger. Rather like the original 'You Sexy Thing'.
03. (2) Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life
04. (3) Elton John - Something About The Way You Look/Candle In The Wind
05. (4) Sash! - Stay ft La Trec
06.(NE) Peter Andre - Lonely
Apparently he doesn't sing this one live any more, it's a bit too high now. It did reappear on a love songs album a couple of years ago though. 
07. (8) Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
08.(NE) Embrace - All You Good Good People EP
Listed on the chart as an EP, although in fact the two CD formats are different. One offers the full-length version of the title track and three further songs, whilst the other has three other versions of it - including the original version released as a limited 7" on Fierce Panda records earlier in the year - plus the Perfecto remix of 'One Big Family'. I remember Jo Whiley playing that remix on Radio 1 and describing it as sublime. "And from the sublime to... Ginuwine's version of 'When Doves Cry'". Anyway, this is just a single as far as I'm concerned, but if you disagree all eight tracks are on Spotify.
Even though this track is already a re-recording, it was re-recorded again for the album the following year, which is the version used in the US video.
09. (7) N-Trance - Do You Think I'm Sexy? ft Rod Stewart
10. (6) Dario G - Sunchyme
11.(11) Eternal - Angel Of Mine
12.(10) Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
13. (5) 911 - Party People... Friday Night
14.(NE) Michael Bolton - The Best Of Love/Go The Distance
His last major hit. The second track was in a Disney film, the first had no such excuse.
15. (9) LL Cool J - Phenomenon
16.(18) Clock - U Sexy Thing
17.(12) The Brand New Heavies - You've Got A Friend
18.(NE) The Bee Gees - Still Waters (Run Deep)
The last of their production line of little-known hit singles in the 1990s, not counting collaborations.
19.(14) Double 99 - RIP Groove {1997 Re-Release}
20.(NE) Stereophonics - Traffic
Not their best-known song, perhaps, despite (or because of?) moving away from the small-town subject matter of most of the rest their debut album.
21.(23) Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
22.(NE) Toni Braxton With Kenny G - How Could An Angel Break My Heart

23.(NE) Beck - Deadweight
 

As the video makes clear amid all the surrealism, this was the second single released from the soundtrack of A Life Less Ordinary. And the better of them too, as far as I'm concerned but in 1997 Ash were (and possibly still are) the bigger commercial draw in this country.
24.(25) Will Smith - Men In Black
25.(15) Dannii Minogue - Everything I Wanted
26.(26) Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray?
27.(NE) North And South - Breathing
Boy-band + third single + third quarter of the year = rubbish ballad.
28.(NE) Michelle Weeks - Don't Give Up
Not the Peter Gabriel song, no. 
29.(21) Janet Jackson - Got 'Til It's Gone ft Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell
30.(27) The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
31.(17) Diana King - I Say A Little Prayer
32.(20) Puff Daddy And The Family - Been Around The World
33.(NE) Sundance - Sundance
More instrumental dance fun. Odd time to release a song with this title.
34.(32) Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
35.(13) Goldie - Digital ft KRS One
36.(22) Roy Davis Jr - Gabriel ft Peven Everett
37.(NE) Rialto - Monday Morning 5:19
Their first hit and though not the biggest, the one that they seemed to keep re-recording, reworking and even translating into French for various releases. Still a pretty decent song.
38.(31) Smash Mouth - Walkin' On The Sun
39.(NE) Coco - I Need A Miracle
Technically already a re-release of a single released on an indie label, this is better known as part of what we'd now call a mash-up with Fragma's hit 'Toca Me'. When officially released (credited to Fragma) that version topped the chart in 2000. 
40.(37) Oasis - Stand By Me

41.(NE) Olive - Miracle {1997 Re-Release}
Clearly, the record-buying public only needed one miracle. 

46.(NE) Armand Van Helden - Ultrafunkula
48.(NE) 3 Colours Red - This Is My Hollywood
Like Embrace, they were reviving a limited edition debut single. Unlike them they already seemed to have peaked in interest. In fact, 3CR's biggest hit was still to come, but with a power ballad some way from this style.
50.(NE) Echo & The Bunnymen - Don't Let It Get You Down

51.(NE) Soul II Soul - Pleasure Dome
56.(NE) Echobelly - Here Comes The Big Rush
Clearly, Echobelly and Echo & The Bunnymen releasing singles in the same week was just too confusing and neither of them could make the Top 40 then or since. In fact I quite liked this at the time, although I'm not sure how well it's stood the test of time. I never liked that Bunnymen song to start with. 

58.(NE) Awesome - Rumours
59.(NE) Common - Reminding Me (Of Sef) ft Chantay Savage
60.(NE) Sandy B - Ain't No Need To Hide


70.(NE) The Knowledge - As (Until The Day)
Dance version of the Stevie Wonder song covered more successfully by George Michael a year later.