In association with MusicWeek
The 1990s
On the eve of the Nineties, the single was about to enter one of its greatest eras - a decade which would include the biggest single of all time, one of the greatest chart battles of all time, three of the longest standing Number 1s of all time and the arrival of singles icons such as Spice Girls, Take That, Oasis, Britney, Eminem and The Prodigy, among others.
Millward Brown, on a new four- year deal. The company did a sterling job, they are still handling Official Chart duties to this day. Millward Brown increased the
sample size of the chart with shops using a barcode scanner to log sales into a central computer called ‘Eric’ which brought together 2,500 stores. The decade would prove to be
‘In 1995, the NME labelled the Blur/Oasis battle as a ‘British Heavyweight Championship’
The decade also started with
the first agreement between the UK industry’s retailers and labels (represented by the Entertainment Retailers Association (then known as Bard) and the BPI), a union which would eventually be consummated by the birth of the Official Charts Company. In 1994, the compilation
process also entered a new, hi- tech phase. Gallup handed over the data processing baton to
a halcyon period for the single. In the opening years of the 1990s, three artists established new records for endurance at the pinnacle of the chart, all three driven by their inclusion on smash-hit movies. In 1991, Bryan Adams’
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You (taken from the Kevin Costner- starring Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves) held the top spot for 16 weeks – and, a year later, Whitney
Houston’s I Will Always Love You (taken from another Kevin Costner movie, the Bodyguard) held the summit for 10 weeks. But it was in 1994 that Wet
Wet Wet would set a new record for a British act, holding as Official Number 1 for 15 weeks with Love Is All Around (taken from movie smash Four Weddings & A Funeral) – indeed, they might well have usurped Adams’ 1991 hit, had they not become so heartily sick of their own single that they decided to delete it after 14 weeks. Over the coming years, the
Official Singles Chart was set to become a battleground again, as Britpop was born. In August 1995, NME labelled the sales spat between Blur and Oasis a “British Heavyweight Championship”. The battle lines between the
North and South, working class and middle class, had been drawn: the two British guitar bands marched towards August 14 when two competing singles would be released on the same day. Blur won one of the most hyped ‘battle of the bands’ in UK music history, as their Country
Best-selling record of the decade: Candle In The Wind 97, Elton John (1997)
House topped the UK Singles Chart on August 26, 1995 selling 274,000 copies, Oasis’ Roll With It was a close second with 216,000. Country House’s sales were
paltry compared to those of Elton John’s tribute to Princess Diana following her death on August 31, 1997. Candle In The Wind 1997 – released in September as a double A-side with Something About The Way You Look Tonight - entered the chart at No.1 and became the best-selling single in UK history. It was also the fastest-selling
single ever, with 658,000 copies flying off shelves in its first day of release and more than 1.5m in its first week. John’s tribute remained at No.1 for five weeks and eventually sold 4.86 million.
The Britpop chart battle between Blur and Oasis would come to define the 1990s UK music scene 08
www.officalcharts.com
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