Hits 21 - 1999 (10): The Race for Christmas Number 1 & Goodbye, My Friend, The 90s

Episode Date: July 3, 2026

ROB'S ALBUM: https://open.spotify.com/album/6EP0o8wuPnjU5L7saDYuih?si=_COzPN69RQqFMu-oARCHLQHello, everyone! Welcome back to Hits 21, the show that's taking a look back at every single UK #1 hit.You can email us: [e-mail] 21 DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO ANY MUSIC USED IN THE EPISODES. USAGE OF ALL MUSIC USED IN THIS PODCAST FALLS UNDER SECTION 30(1) OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT 1988

Hi there everyone and welcome back for the last time to HITS21, the 90s, where me, Rob, me, Andy, and me, Nostradamus, have been looking back at every single UK number one of the 1990s. If you want to get in touch with us, please do email us at Hits21 Podcast at gmail.com. Thank you ever so much for joining us again. We are currently, and for the final time, looking back at the year 1999, and this week we'll be covering the race for Christmas number one. So, normally there isn't any news at Christmas a new year,

but it was quite a big Christmas and New Year this one. So there are some brief news headlines. The Millennium Dome is opened in Greenwich, and the London Eye is unveiled on the banks of the Thames, as billions around the world welcome a new year, a new century, and a new millennium. Just in time for Christmas, beef on the bone is legalised once again in Britain,

three years after a ban was placed on it over fears of BSE and Mad Cow disease, and the Y2K bug, Millennium Bug crisis, is mostly averted. Thanks to the efforts of computer scientists and software engineers and general nerds worldwide, the nerds have saved us again. Ed, in America, you have the year round up for us,

don't you, and the Christmas number one over there in the States. I will start with the Christmas number one single and Christmas number one album because it feels a little bit of an anti-climax otherwise. 1999's Christmas number one

as I've indicated, the previous two episodes is still smooth by Santana and bankable friends and the Christmas number one album is the barrel scrapings of a dead man. Born again by Biggie puts the filler in stocking filler.

Anyway, best-selling albums of 1999 altogether in the United States. At number 10, evidently without the help of the M&M track that cribbed from it, no Angel by Dido rakes up 12 million sales. I'd no idea that was big over there, but there you have it. At number nine, human clay, creed. It was a different time. At number eight, Cristino Aguilera's self-titled rubs America the right way to the tune of 14 million sales. And number seven, a decent album that actually has a significant place in academic history,

being regarded as the album which heralded the death of dynamic mastering in the loudness war. In all its brick-like, clipping glory, the Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication sells 16 million coffee. as does our number six, presumably not exactly the same amount, though, which was roundly mocked at the time, but to which history has been considerably kinder. Enema of the state by Blink 182 evidently sells slightly more than the Red Hots. At number five, everyone's favourite fun-loving, shoe-slurping Latino cookboy, Ricky Martin, whose self-titled debut hit 17 million. At number four, her heart does enough go on a bit. All the way, a decade of song by Celine Dion reaches 18 million sales. Then, with a sudden leap up to 25 million, Arista strikes both

the Clapton Unplugged and Dave Matthews band demographics with Supernatural, nominally by Santana. At number two, not even that shitey 70s bathroom pink cover can stop baby one more time cresting at a lofty 27 million sales but at number one and it's not even close is Millennium by the Backstreet Boys which shifted 40 million units

goodness me no I knew they were big but it is easy to forget what a behemoth this album and its singles were especially in the States singles right Ricky Martin is upside but very much not outside. Livid Lovida Loka makes number 10.

Nobody's supposed to be here, but Deborah Cox is evidently caught loitering at number nine. Sugar Ray nicks the halo off the corner of their girlfriend's four-post bed. They pay for their covetousness by being cast into purgatory after a single huge hit. Every morning is at number eight. At number seven, Christina Aguilera's very perniquity, particular genie proves a hit with the bottled up and fidgety. At sixth place, none the wiser, sixpence, none the riches, sexless number slyly, sits there under five as kiss me, becomes part of America's clean-cut romantic tapestry. Oh God, I'll die it. Anyway, at number five,

it's Britney Spears with Hit Me One More Time. Yeah, I thought you deserved a break after that last one. At number four What the hell is this? It's Heartbreak Hotel by Whitney Houston, Faith Hill and Kelly Price. What? The Big Pea. Kelpie.

The Kelster. And number three, The Boy is Hers. At least according to a victorious multi-million dollar PR campaign. And now she's Nick Sugar Ray's partner, evidently, too. Monica, with Angel of Mine, at number three. At number two,

and also known as a chart buster, it's TLC with no scrubs. And at number one, would you believe it? Share, shares, no shares, as she shares the charts with Believe. Wonderful. Thank you, Rob. Thank you very much for that round up there. So, Toys and Games next. And I've stumbled across in the BBC archive, a video about something in 1990.

that was probably a bit of a, you know, a bit of a novelty fad. You know, they got very, very excited about it. And then it all went very quiet, didn't it? So I thought I'd go back and have a look at this video and show it to you all about the rise of internet shopping. Do you remember when people used to do that? Buy things online? Yeah, exactly.

We were all so young when it happened, and it all passed so quickly. Here's the clip. Many people are forsaking the high street and shopping mall this Christmas and doing their shopping on the internet. And electronic shoppers are expected to buy goods worth more than £200 million. As our international business correspondent Peter Morgan reports, the trend to spend online is growing fast. Gifts that will never see a shop. The books sold by Amazon.com are sent straight to customers who place their orders by computer, a new way of selling

that's been branded e-commerce. In what the marketing men are pleased to call the UK's first Eat Christmas, staff are working 24 hours a day here to keep pace with demand. Internet retailers of every description have similar stories to tell as more and more customers turn their backs on the high street. They don't have to get the elbow in the side, the parking, the traffic. They can sit in their pajamas at home at 1 o'clock in the morning and do all their Christmas shopping. So to give you one sort of dramatic example of that, on any given day right now, if you took

every book that we're sending out to customers and piled it on top of each other, it would be well above Canary Wharf Tower. The ability to deliver the correct goods swiftly will sort the winners from the losers in the new world of cyber retailing. Carriers like the Post Office and its commercial rivals have found themselves the happy recipients of a deluge of new business. We're very excited about the opportunities that the Internet is bringing because, of course, quite obviously, within the home shopping area,

we're seeing a real explosion of people buying online services and looking for home delivery. Conventional retailers have been swift to appreciate the threat. Tesco and the other big food stores are investing heavily in internet services. General stores like Argos are also online. Retail consultants are warning their clients to embrace e-commerce or risk being crushed by it. I think there will be very dire consequences for retailers who ignore

e-commerce. I think the opportunity is now and there are many retailers already capturing thousands of customers who prefer shopping in this way. Retailing is just one more industry that's being revolutionised by the internet. In the final frantic sale of the century, the crowds and the crush can already be avoided by anyone with a computer and a modem. In the new millennium, The mandamonium at the High Street will increasingly become an optional rather than a necessary part of the Christmas experience. Peter Morgan, BBC News. Okay, so we're back from 99, but then we have to go back to 99, away from the internet shopping, and over to the TV listings for the Christmas period, just before the millennium.

Andy, the BBC and ITV are fighting it out. What are they given us? Yes, it is the final week of 1990s television. in fact the final week of 20th century and second millennium television of course the medium itself is leaving behind its first century of broadcasting and entering into a bold new era that will bring with it such majestic innovations as fat families don't scare the hair and katie and peter the next chapter but before that let's see what the festive period of 1999 has in store on christmas day your bbc woman leads with a feature adaptation of David Copperfield, starring unknown nine-year-old actor Daniel Radcliffe in his first screen role, and presumably his last. I've never heard of him. The Vicar of Dibbley gets an entire four-part mini-season that airs across the week and gets a plump spot on Christmas Day. And I have to give a special mention to my husband's favourite ever piece of Christmas TV. It's

Robbie the Reindeer, Hooves of Fire. If no one's familiar with Robbie the Reindeer, they were a series of Claymation shorts which aired on Christmas afternoons in like four different Christmas years and we watch hoovers of fire every single year without fail. It's quite good actually and the cast is extraordinary. Robbie Williams, Steve Coogan, Ricky Tomlinson, Jeff Goldblum, Gillian Anderson, Natalie and Bruglia, Ozzy Osbourne, Graham Norton, Michael Palin and plenty more offer their voices to this. And in the American broadcast of it, Britney Spears starred in 1999. Pretty amazing. Also, one of my favourite Christmas TV shows aired in this year as well, which I remember very well

watching it live, The Greatest Store in the World, starring Dervlaiowin, Peter Capaldi, and S Club 7. It's a lovely, lovely little TV movie on CBBC. On ITV, well, we come full circle, because in our very first episode of Fitts 21, set in January 2000. The very, very well, people with very good memories amongst us may remember that Rob gave us a news item about the last episode of Gladiators erring on New Year's Day, which I tearfully watched as a huge fan of Gladiators.

Well, that was a two-parter. So part one erred on Christmas Day and the second one aired on the first day of 2000. The eras are colliding. Who wants to be a millionaire gets three different episodes on Christmas night. all in Christmas life. It's like 6 to 7, 8 till 9 and 10 to 11 or something mad. Like that. Truly millionaire mania kicking off.

And there's a 90-minute touch of frost in there as well for those with truly nothing to do at all. The big film battle is quite something for 1999. This is the afternoon pre-T time slot, of course. BBC One puts up the TV premiere of Jumanji, opposite ITV's Ace Ventura Pet Detective, also a premiere, which is best. I've never seen Jumanji, so I have to defer to the other one.

No, Rob, what's your vote? I'm an even bigger disappointment because I haven't seen either of those films. Oh, no. Well, I've seen them both, and I love Jumanji, and I hate Ace Ventura. I love Jumanji. So I don't care what you say. Jimangy wins. Sorry, it's my segment. Over to Sopland, and in Corrie, Martin Platt, cheats on Gale with his colleague, Rebecca, and Jack and Vera, finally have it out with their wayward son Terry and tell him how he's ruined their lives. And New Year's Day 2000 opens the Millennium with the show's first ever two-hander, as Kelly and Raquel say their final goodbyes.

On EastEnders, Phil Mitchell finally ties of the endless drama that the Queen Vic has caused for his family, and sells the pub to Dan Sullivan for a fiver. A fiver! It's a giving it away. And on Emmerdale, cows! The Queen broadcast her usual Christmas speech and expressed her excitement at the arrival of a new millennium, 2.2% of which she would survive. The alternative Christmas message on Channel 4 was given by Ali G, who's still with us, mercifully. And speaking of Channel 4, they never let us down with their peculiar Christmas offerings.

there's a two-hour adaptation of the Thomas Iides, the Thomas Aides Opera Powder Hair Face. Two hours of that. A short ballet originally put together four Channel 4 called Duet for the Betterment of A, and most riveting of all, in the footsteps of Elizabeth David, a documentary where European Commissioner Chris Patton details the life of the acclaimed food writer.

Oh my God. But of course, the great event of the season is the dawn of a new millennium. The BBC dedicates an uninterrupted 17 and a half hour program to the seismic event in our history. We should mention Y2K in this because there was some suspicion, as Rob said, that something might happen with Y2K, with the Millennium Bug, as it's otherwise known. and so there was a little bit of a general election style live coverage of the event as it happened, as it didn't happen as it transpired. The broadcast is fairly infamous for nothing much happening at all. Nothing new to big tech around the world failed, except for presenter Peter Snow's auto queue, which hilariously did fail, and he had to improvise for quite some time in a delicious twist of irony.

Otherwise, before midnight in that programme, the highlights included, as Rob said, live coverage of Tony Blair, opening the London Eye and the opening of the Millennium Dome by the Queen, Prince Philip and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Jean-Michel Jarre also staged a live concert at the Pyramids of Egypt, which was shown in that programme, and Nelson Mandela handed over a torch of reconciliation. And as all glensign blurs through the nation at midnight, the air is full of excitement, hope and a united sense of purpose and fellowship. whether you're the Prime Minister, locking arms with the Queen in the Millennium Dome, or seven-year-old Andy attending a fancy dress party as Darth Mall. This was a momentous night that I feel truly blessed to remember, I really do.

And in the relatively tough times we find ourselves in now, it's worth holding on to that memory of hope and progress that we began this millennium with and ended the last one with. A million and one songs, poems, books and everything else were written about this moment, but I will finish with the words of the Magnetian. magnificent Maya Angelou. Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need for this bright morning dawning for you. The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change.

Happy Millennium, everyone. Oh, thank you, Andy. Lovely. Lovely, lovely segment. Do you know what my only recollection, I think, of the millennium celebrations was? we had a celebration around my parents' house so we had all the families and their kids over and what have you and one of our family friends who sadly passed on now

is a lovely chap called Manuel yes he got the joke a lot Spanish chap we used to do a Spanish New Year's countdown I don't know if you've heard about this where you're supposed to eat a grape for every bong of the of the clock counting down yeah it's a

one every second. It's just a Spanish tradition that we was introduced through him. All I remember is there was a stove in the room. We were watching the telly in. And somebody left their bag of grapes on the top of the lit stove. And so forever, after that point, there was this white splotch of plastic on the top of the stove where it had become, the plastic bag had become one with the stove. well what a thrilling thing to have seen in the new millennium with i had a um a fire related story from christmas ninety nine actually oh yes i um i got a woody doll for christmas woody as in toy story um and it was it wasn't a full woody doll it was like a little one that sort of had sort of movable parts and stuff um and i'd broken it immediately on christmas day

so a few nights after christmas it was sat there on the mantelpiece waiting for my dad to fix it and it fell into the fire Oh no. And not only was I sad about not only was I sad about my Woody doll burning, but I was also convinced that the house was going to burn down and we were about to all die. So I decided that the moment needed something to send us off.

So I went and got one of my tape cassettes and put on When You Wish Upon a Star as I waited for the house to burn down. I was a morbid little seven-year-old. Did another soft talk? fall into the fire with it and they held hands as they rode into the place. I mean, Woody absolutely withered. He melted.

He's less than ash now, unfortunately. RIP Woody. Bye, Woody. The only memory I really have of New Year from 99 into 2000 is being around at my grandma's house with my mum and dad and all of my mum's sisters and all their families, some are cousins and, you know, aunties and uncles and stuff. And I just remember really, really late at night. I think I'd gone to bed or I'd been told to go to bed because I was only about, I was five, five when it ticked over into the new millennium.

And I remember being in bed and I remember coming downstairs in my grandma's house. It's a really foggy memory coming downstairs in my grandma's house at about 1158 and just kind of like really, really, really quietly sitting on the stairs. and listening to them all in the front room, count down to the New Year moment. And then I realized that my cousin, who was about three years older than me and hadn't been allowed to stay up either, she had come down the stairs and sat behind me.

And then our older cousin, who was 13, who had been allowed to stay up, we could hear her in the living room. And so we both really quietly sat on the stairs and then when it ticked over into midnight, we both walked into the front room and said like, you know, wished everybody a happy new year.

And then everybody sort of said, right now, come on, you know, of like, you know, do a chorus of old Langsine. And then it's like, right, come on, it's 1204. Get back in bed. Sort of. But yeah, no, that's my only, my only memory.

But as I've said a few times on this podcast, anything under like, anything before the age of 13 for me is a very, very foggy memory. So, as we, into the new year and as we celebrated Christmas the week before the top 10 I have to give you the Christmas Day top 10 and then we will go in to discuss or at least find a way to work around our discussion of the Christmas number one for 99 you'll understand when we get there in a

couple of minutes but until then here was the top 10 on Christmas Day in 1999 at number 10 Down seven places, the Venger Bus took up a lot of space in 1999 and they're making sure to be here to see the year out. It's Kiss from the Vanga Boys. Down five places at number nine, it's William Orbit and his rendition of Barber's Adagio for strings. Not content with chef's chocolate salty balls. The team behind South Park sent out Mr Hanky the Christmas poo to spoil the party, but he's stalled at number eight this week. At seven, a brand new entry, it's a dutchman. AA side from steps as they ask, say you'll be mine, while offering up their interpretation

of Better the Devil, you know. Down four places at number six, it's Craig David and the Artful Dodger. We wish it could be Christmas every day, but until that's possible, we might just have to re-rewind into the Christmas Day top five. It's another new entry and another double A-side, courtesy of another boy-girl group. It's S-Club 7 putting forward two in a million, and you're my number one. And yet another new entry at number five. The Cuban boys treat us to cognosciente versus intelligentsia.

Didid da, didodoo, do, do, et da, diddo, et cetera. For some reason, at number three, there's a massive re-entry after 18 years for John Lennon's Imagine, crashing back into the chart for the first time since 1981. Whatever. And at number two, missing out on the last Christmas number one of the 90s and the last Christmas number one of the 20th century and the last number one of the millennium, even though the charts have other been going for about 47 years at this point, it's down one place for Cliff and his Millennium Prayer,

which means the Christmas and New Year number one for 99 is this. A song to say to help me call with anything. If you see the wonder, Okay, this is I Have a Dream, AA side with Seasons in the Sun by Westlife. Released as the fourth single from the group's debut studio album titled Westlife and as the lead single from the compilation tribute album titled Abbermania, I Have a Dream with Seasons in the Sun is Westlife's fourth single

to be released in the UK and their fourth to reach number one. It's not their last number one overall, It is their last number one of the 1990s. I mean, it is the last number one of the 1990s. Both songs are covered. One of the song originally recorded by Abba, which reached number two in 1979, and one of the song originally recorded by Terry Jacks,

which reached number one in 1974. I have a dream with Seasons in the Sun, went straight in at number one as a brand new entry. It stayed at number one for four weeks. In its first week, atop the charts, it sold 213,000 copies, beating competition from the songs you've just heard about. In week two, which took us into the year 2000, it sold 231,000 copies in a week where there were no new entries or climbers in the top 10. In week three, it sold 35,000 copies in another week where there were

no new entries or climbers in the top 10, and in week four, it sold 35,000 copies again, Oh, our wallets are empty, beating competition from You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You're Drunk by Pet Shop Boys. After four weeks at the top, I have a dream with seasons in the sun fell three places to number four. It stayed inside the top 100 for 19 weeks. The single is currently officially certified, platinum in the UK, as of 2026. So, this is the first time this has ever happened on this show, where we have come across a song that we have already covered,

but me and Andy have already covered it, Ed will not be spared. So me and Andy, I imagine our opinions on the songs haven't changed much in the four years since we discussed it right back at the start of the 2000. Is that the case for you, Andy? Yeah, they've not changed at all, really. I have a dream remains a very uninspired

and very lazy cover of an already uninspired and relatively lazy song by Abba and Seasons in the Sun is just completely ill-conceived and not for them, to be honest. But it says a lot of our worst life that it's nowhere near their worst. So, Ed, we heard Lizzie's thoughts back at the start of the 2000s.

It's your turn now. How do we feel about Seasons in the Sun and I have a dream? I'm so glad you asked me that. Good. Goody Goody, what a way to end 1999 and the 90s. Now, as a special treat to mark this occasion, I've never done this before and I might be breaking protocol.

I am going to reveal my score for this song from our top secret ballot. I gave this as a combination of both tracks, two out of ten. That's one point for doing something slightly different with the arrangement of each. They've added that rhythm track to the Abba song, and they've added your stereotypical Irish tourist board shite on seasons in the sun. And the other point there is for not doing a disservice to either of the original songs.

Because I think both of the original songs are fairly piss poor. I mean, I love Abba, but God damn it, I don't think I've ever sat through the entirety of I have a dream once. But yeah, I'm sorry to end the decade and the millennium in the pie hole, but we've got two cover versions by Westlife. How good were they going to be, really? And how much was I going to find to say about them, in all honesty? So yes, my goodness, goodbye 99, goodbye 90s.

but most importantly, for me at least, ta-ta-westlife. Fuckerty-bye. Yeah, so we are going to now finish our coverage for 1999 before moving into a different section of this same episode where we'd look back at the entire 1990s. So, Andy, 1999's Born to Runner Up competition. Who has won?

Okay, so Born to Runner Up, 1999. for those who somehow haven't learned the rules in 20 seasons of this show it is the game where we look at every number two single that peaked at number two in the year 1999 and rankham and there are 26 of them this year I will get off the way that our dead last was if I could turn back the hands of time by some nobbed and apart from that Will 2K by Will Smith was the second load

best have to that. But other than that, it's a pretty good, solid year. I'm going to just completely selfishly shout out one of my favourists, which just missed out on the top 10, which got in there at number 11, which is macho Mambo sway, which is an absolute Blackpool Summer 1999 dance floor classic for me, and I really, really, very fond of that. But into our top 10. So, in 10th place, it's better best forgotten by Steps. Another real 99 classic for me. made up that day of the top 10. Yeah, good one. In 9th, Jerry's given orders to us again.

It's Look at Me by Jerry Halliwell. I'll certainly listen to you, Jerry. Yeah, definitely the best single of hers we covered. I think you'd probably both agree with me there. Of the 90s, yeah. I mean, bag it up, I think is much better. In 8th place, it is the final number two single of the whole second millennium.

It is re-rewind. In 7th place, it's tender by Blair. Hey, oh, I wish I'd been a little higher, but happy with it being in the top ten. I'd wish it had been a little shorter, in all honesty. In sixth place, there was one which I wish was a little bit higher, because I'm really very fond of this band and this song. It's Runaway by the Cause. They will eventually get a number one with Breathless in 2000,

so they're about to hit their people. And into our top five. So, number five for 1999. It's My Name is by Eminem. Yeah, good shout. It's kind of weird that he's in with all of the lot that we're currently covering, you know? Like he's in the charts at the same time. Yeah, yeah, indeed.

I love that track. In fourth place, well, how many times do I want to listen to this song? At least, it's two times by Anne Lee. Yay. I'm glad that got higher up. I wasn't sure quite how much people liked it, but I really liked that track. So in third place, it is. is former Born to Runner Up winner and Record of the Year winner, Madonna, with beautiful stranger,

which I loved so, so much as a kid, loved that song. And in second place, when do I want to listen to it, and where do I want to listen to it? It's right here, right now, by Fat Boy Slim, which goes into second place. I torpedoed that one, didn't I? You did slightly, slightly, yeah. which means I am going to quickly bring on Madonna, who I've just mentioned, and she's fuming that she came third with beautiful stranger.

Calm down, Madonna. It's okay. There's still possible trophies that you might win today. Oh, God, she's just falling down the stairs. Someone pulled their cape. Oh, God, oh, Madonna. Anyway, she's handing over a tiara to this year's born-to-run-or-up winner.

It's Alice DJ with Better Off alone. Oh, lovely. Yeah. A proper dance pop bang of that. It's lasted. And we all rated it really highly. It was in our top five for all of us. But so were, you know, a lot of the other top five. It was a close one this year.

So commiserations to the runners-up. But well done to Alice DJ. Yeah. All right then. So that means we are now looking at the bottom five songs of 1999 before we go into the top 10 songs of 1999. And it has not been the best of years for some groups in particular, but it has been a very good year for some act. So, the bottom five, the worst five songs of the year.

Starting at number five with a score of 4.2, piehold by me and Andy, if I let you go by Westlife. It's not the last time they'll be turning up in this countdown. at number four with an average score of 3.7 pie holed by me Boyzone when the going gets tough

and it's not the last time they're going to appear in this short little portion of the podcast at number three the Christmas number one for 99 3.5 pie holed by Ed I have a dream

with seasons in the sun by Westlife and that is them done for this year. At number two, the second worst single at number one in 99, average score of 3.3 piehold by me and Ed.

You needed me by Boisone. And that's the last time we're hearing from them at all on this podcast. Yes. Goodbye, Bozoin. And the worst. The worst number one of 1999. average score of 1.3, given a score of zero by Andy, piehold by all three of us,

the Millennium Prayer by Cliff, Richard, they go, the worst, the worst number one of the year. What a little room down we are here. West Life Boys own West Life Boys own Cliff. It's like you put some sort of voodoo care some people by saying that. God. That's my perfect day that is. Go on West Life Boys own Cliff. They go on. So now, We are going to look at the other end of the spectrum and look at the top 10 songs of the year, according to us. And we're going to hand over the trophy to a new winner for this year. So, before we start, the top 10, I guess joint 10th place, we have, Blame It on the Weatherman by Bewitched, a score of 7.5, vaulted by Andy.

in 10th place also with a score of 7.5 also vaulted by Andy You don't know me Armand Van Helden and Dwayne Harden So 9th 9th place a score of 7.6

Volted by me and Andy Sweetlight chocolate by Shanks and Bigfoot In 8th place With an average score of 7.7 Volted by Andy It's Blue Dabud

by Eiffel 65. In seventh place, also with a score of 7.7, also vaulted by Andy. Maria, you've got to see her. It's Blondie. You've got to bolt her. Yes, and Andy did. In sixth place, also with a score of 7.7. But the tiebreaker is that Andy and Ed vaulted this.

Keep on moving by five. Woo! Into the top five for the year. 5th place 7.7 is the score Volted by Ed and by me Rob Genie in a bottle

by Christina Aguilera In fourth place A score of 8.2 Volted by me and Andy It's the Backstreet Boys With I Want It That Way And into the top three

Into the top three A score of 8.3 vaulted by Andy and Ed Everybody's free to wear sunscreen by Baz Luhrmann What a little charm A very big hitting for this year And just missing out

I say just missing out by a whole point Average score of 8.3 But vaulted by all three of us Praise you By Fat Boy Slim Feels like a while ago That we covered up now So

The winner for 1990. We're going to take the crown off of Norman Cook and Corner Shop. I'm sorry, Norman. You've just finished second. And now we're going to take the crown off here. And he finished second in Baltimore Runner Up as well. Goodness me,

because we're going to get you to hand it over to a song which scored 9.3 was vaulted by all three of us. It's Britney Spears arriving on the scene. with Baby One More Time. So, well done. Brittany Spears. Best number one in 1999, baby one more time.

I take it we're all happy with that. Oh yeah. That's fairly clear. You missed a perfect opportunity to say, if Britney bitch is the winner. It is Britney bitch. There you go. We'll keep it in.

So that is it. 1999 is over. Ordinarily, at this point, we would be saying, oh, well, you know, see you next week when we'll be starting a new year. Nope. Not this time.

We're going to look back at the entire decade now. We'll have a little pause. I'll put a clip in. And then Andy will bring us back with the Born to Runner Up, champion of champions, for the decade that was the 90s. Well, it is now 2000 today. And to mark the birth of the new century, the river of fire on the Thames,

fireworks all over the country. This great stream of high, moving fire, going at the speed, the earth turns. Difficult to distinguish there, I must admit, from the fireworks. Turning in theory at any rate at the very speed of time. This is BBC won a happy new year. So Andy, born to runner up for the 90s, take it away. Yes, so we've had 10 winners across this decade.

We did this in the naughties as well, and just to remind you that the winner was actually the song from 2000, so only a few weeks round the corner from here. It was one more time by Daft Punk, which took the inaugural, Be Truecock, Born to Runner Up, Champion of Champions trophy, which I always have to say in the style of Bet Lynch from Corey, or perhaps Vera Duckworth from Corey,

Be True, cock! Anyway, it's time for the 90s to decide its ultimate Born to Runner Up winner, the best number two song of the entire decade. So we're going to cover the winner from each year as we go. our secret ranking system, just as we do with the normal competition. And here we go. In 10th place, it's the 1993 winner, The Key, the Secret, by Urban Cookie Collective.

And I should say, it may have come 10th, but there are no losers. All of these things have already won, Born to Runner Up already. So, well-toned. They're all good. In 9th, are we all hungry? Because it's 1990s winner, Tom's Diner, in ninth place. Okay In eighth place

I'm sure you may well have forgotten That this was around Because it's not a song from the 90s But it nevertheless won in 1992 It's My Girl by the Temptations Oh Well done And in seventh place

Well if you want to hear a little clip From the 1994 winner And you don't know who to talk to Confide in me By Kelly Willardook Yeah. In sixth place, you're going to hear a certain track for the second time in this episode because it's the 1999 winner Better Off Alone, which finishes in sixth place.

So into our top five. In fifth place, whoa, it must be breezy outside because I'm feeling like I need the cardigans. It's looomphoo. In fifth place, the winner from 1997. In fourth place Well Perhaps you are a slug Because you are born Slippy

The winner of 1996 Which was particularly adored by Ed, I remember at the time It might have done better if I loved it a little bit more This one, yeah So into our top three In third place It's Crazy by Seal

1991's winner Did very very well in the end that one. Yeah, well done. So, second place, the ultimate runner-off of Runner Ups. I'm sorry, man, it's you, it's 1998's winner, Ring of Light.

I am pleased about that because... Yeah, I'm very happy about that. I will reveal the undisputed winner which all three of us ranked at the very top and which I think even if we got to vote on the entirety of every number two single from the 90s, think this might well still

love one. And it is of course Common People by Pulp. Well done Pulp. What a bangers. What a classic. Common people wins the decade. Wins the B-True Cock. And it's been handed over from Daph Punk to Pulp.

What a dinner party that is. Yeah. Well done, Pulp. All right then. So, now it is time to put each of our yearly winners up against each other. Each year, obviously, we have been going through giving songs numerical rankings as we go along

and those songs end up at the top of the list you know the ones with the highest the highest rankings and then we're going to put them all together we voted on them all and this is how they have shaken out so in 10th place two unlimited no limit in ninth place Vogue

Madonna what I'm really surprised at that wow wow in eighth place he'll be spending most of his life here Gangsters Paradise Coolio In seventh place It's a single that's not even really

from the 90s but it's there anyway Bohemian Rhapsody Double A side with these are the days of our lives In sixth place It's Wigfield Saturday night It knocked wet wet wet off number one

And it's at number six in our year versus year champion countdown. In fifth place. One of our favorite discoveries, I think. Sleeping Satellite, Tasman Archie. Happy that that's made it into the top. Yeah, we'll see. In fourth place.

Oh, what you've done. It's Beetlebum. Blur. That would be some pretty stiff competition that year as well. In third place, it's our winner for 98 brim full of Asher corner shot with Norman Cook

I feel awful for Norman right now he has been second and third on a lot of countdowns in this episode oh god, walking away with nothing plus it in second place it's Britney bitch baby one more time is our second favourite

number one of the decade when you pin them all against each other which means that our favourite number one of the 90s, in comparison to all of the other years champions, is 1996 wannabe, spice girls. It topped basically all of our, actually it topped two of our rankings that came second and the other one.

So it was almost basically unanimous. Yes, I'm so happy at one. Oh, I'm so proud of those girls. Well done. Yes. I'm dead pleased with that as well. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, Ed, there should be a list in front of you

of the 20 worst number ones of the 1990s based on numerical ranking. We are going to be going back through some stinkers. Take it away. Right. Well, I should note that the very top of this list, i.e., the best one of the lot, has a combined score between the three of us of 3.5. So we're in for some absolute winners here at number 20.

The song we decided was the 20th worst number one of the 1990s. Right back in our first episode, Do They Know It's Christmas by Band-Aid the second? Piehold by everybody. That was our very first one, wasn't it? Because that got number one in 89. It was first episode. Piehold by all bar me.

I can't remember my reasoning for that holdout. It's the stunk by Hale and Pace. That should be so much lower. That really got away with it. At number 18, pie-hold by all three of us. Telitubbies say, E-oh! Moving down at number 17,

I want you back by Melanie B, featuring Missy Elliott, which I didn't pie-hole. Again, My reasoning alludes me at this time. It's our first entry, but not a last for the bozoin. You needed me, which was pie-holed by all by you, Andy. Anyway, number 15, starting off strong. It's the footballing season, as we all know,

so why not celebrate with, come on, you Reds! By Manchester United Football Squad. Wow. Yeah, I didn't pie-hole that either. That's bonkers. Anyway, at number 14, it's the boson again, with all that I need, which we all that I hated. And number 13, it's FHM, the song, which I didn't pie hole, which is a bit suss. It's Jim and Tonic by Space Dust.

Do you know what I mean by Oasis, which Rob was kind, but not too kind to, just keeping it out of the piehole. hanging tough by new kids on the block which honestly given the low quality of some of the ones beneath it maybe we were a bit harsh on it I don't know it's not good but still right in spite of my bad counting we have reached the bottom 10

so let's start off on a lighter note with Love Can Build a Bridge by Cher Chrissy Hind Nena Sherry and Eric Clapton which we all hated yeah At number nine, getting away with it, I feel, it's I believe I Can Fly by Ark Ellie,

which two of us pie-holed and one of us didn't even acknowledge the existence of. Nope. So fair do's there. And number eight, pie-hold by all three of us, it's perhaps the most annoying rap song of the 90s. Don't stop, wiggle, wiggle! By the out here. Oh, God.

It's so bad. To number seven, our first but not last appearance by Robson and Jerome. We all piehold this. It's unchained melody backed with white cliffs of Dover. At number six, again pieholed by two of us and denied entirely by one of us, I'll be missing you by P Diddy and Faith Evans featuring one one two. into the top five, right from our first year, I believe, of the 90s. Piehole by all three of us, it's Timmy Mallet with Bombolarina.

Oh, Jesus Christ. An itsy-bitsy-teeny, yellow poker dot bikini. Awful. And then, an absolute favourite of Andes, I know at number four, I can't help falling in love with you by the one and only UB40. Oh. The top three. And two of these are by the same artist and all.

Sorry. Right. At number three, unchokingly piehold by everyone, and with a score of 1.8 between the three of us, it's a triple header. It's a hat trick of hits from Robson and Jerome, with what becomes of the broken,

Saturday night at the movies and you'll never walk alone. But now... Good God. We've had to get an independent adjudicator for this, because there appears to have been a tie for the number one shittiest number one of the 90s. Thank you, Lizzie. I think she's chosen very, very well here. Thanks to Lizzie's tiebreaker, both of these songs,

scoring exactly 1.3, both of them pie holed by all of us and some of them given a zero by at least one of us. At number two, oh, it's I believe and up on the roof by Robson and Jerome. Which means at number one,

and I don't think anyone's going to be disappointed, number one for the second time this evening, it's Cliff Richard and his Millennium fucking prayer. Well done, Cliff. Beautiful work. You're happy now, Cliff. Are you happy now?

Thy will be done, Cliff. That's the business. There you go. What do you sow, son? So, that means that with Cliff and all the shit stuff out of the way, we're going to go back up the other end of the chart

and look at our top 40 ranked singles. ranked number ones for the 1990s. Now last time in the 2000s, tattoo, all the things she said, that was our year-by-year champion, or year-versus year champion, and it was also our rankings champion.

So the question this time is whether wannabe can repeat that feat. Can it be a double champion for the decade? All three of us are going to read these out. We're going to go one by one by one, and then whoever gets number one gets number one. I haven't worked out how it all shakes out. So we'll just start. So in 40th place, we're going to do a top 40 countdown, vaulted by me and Andy.

Ebeney's a good. The shaman. In number 39, it's Killer by Adamski featuring Seal. At number 38, it's nothing compares to. By the late Chenade, O'Connor. At 37, setting sun, the Chemical Brothers. In 36, Colors of the Worlds, by Sopjealive by the Spice Girls. At number 35, you're not alone by Olive.

At 34, I'm a dreamer! By living joy. At 33, I guess it's time to reach number 33, It's back for good by Take That. At number 32, it's Snap with, I got the power. At 31, your woman, White Town, for the alternative choice, I suppose. At number 30, it's Don't Look Back in Anger by Oasis. That has done better than I thought.

At number 29, tell me why. It's the Backstreet Boys with I Want It That Way. Up next it's, I'm a. Barbie girl in 28th place. Acqua. Seameless. In 27th place, it's done well, or I might say, well it's done so well.

It's never forget by take that. At number 26, tune up your hockey organ. It's Sleeping Satellite by Tasman Archer. In at 25, it's a double A-side. Number one when my wife was born. Mama, double A-side. with Who Do You Think You Are by Spice Girls. At number 24.

It's block rocking beats by the Chemical Brothers. At number 23. I'm going to find you at this position. It's the Fuji's with Ready or not. Return of the Mac is in at number 22, Mark Morrison's massive career highlight there. At 21. Sorry, I said that wrong.

What I mean to say is, it's in the 21. Saturday. Night by Wigfield. Now, let's just take a minute as we enter the top 20. Just think about all the pressures on us in our lives. It's everybody's free to wear sunscreen by Baz Luhrman. Frozen in position at number 19 is Madonna, but I don't think she'll be too unhappy about that.

At number 18, I have to celebrate this one, baby. It's praise you by Fat Boy Slim. At number 17, it evidently wasn't two. much for the Spice Girls. At 16, I'm being asked, What about the top 10? By Michael Jackson, but the Earth's song is at number 16.

And number 15 is a song that makes no mentions of whether we could trust elephants. It's Gangsters Paradise by Coolio, featuring LV. At number 14, I'll be waiting. It's Viva Forever by the Spice Girls. It's twisting and turning and twisted 13th place fire starter, the prodigy.

At number 12, well, you've got to get up to get down, and it's done the first bit. It's Fast Love by George Michael. And number 11, Vogue. Madonna. Into the top 10. I made this joke before, but look what it's done. Beetlebone, blur.

At number nine. Well, it's me, bitch. I made it to number nine. It's sheer, I would believe. Ah, now, Shire. Share, you're no Asher Bosley, though are you? Brimful of Asher, Corner Shop and Norman Cook at number eight. Oh, I have the Prodigy again, this time at number seven, breathe. At number six, it is the rather beautiful and very highly becoming Jesus to a child by George Ruffling.

At number five, Bohemian Rhapsody in these other days of our lives by Queen. So as we go into the top four, I just want to say that there are three Spice Girls songs left and a Britney Spears song. And so this is the crunch moment really, something that we did wonder about earlier in the 90s, whether the Spice Girls would claim all three top spots. And I can tell you that in fourth position, it's Britney Bitch again. Maybe one more time is in at number four, which means that the Spice Girls are all the top three positions, but we just have to work out in what order? At number three.

They'll go to number three. Oh yes, they swear as long as you'll always be there. It is say you'll be there by the Spice Girls. At number three, well done. And enchanting us all at number two, it's to become one. Which means... And at number one, it's a double champion again, wannabe, the greatest number one single of the 90s, according to us three.

We're not wrong. We're not wrong. It's a double champion. A double champion. Amazing word. Absolutely. Brilliant. What a way to finish.

And that's it. That's the end of the decade. The 90s are done. They're over. Lord of hell. Jesus, just like that. So, thank you all very much for listening to our 90s coverage in this second era of the show. What we're going to do now is take about six weeks, maybe six weeks off, something like that.

the moment me and Ed are over at the longest night, a Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon podcast, covering the third and current season of House of the Dragon. It's got off to a good start. Please pop by if you watch the show. Yeah. Good first two episodes, which should have been

the final two episodes of season two, and they really showed it once we finally saw them. When we come back, there will be some fun additional content for you all. That's all I'm going to say. I'm going to tease it. Spend the next six weeks. Spend the next six weeks setting things up so that by the time

we return for the 2010s coming back close to the present day, you'll have some things that you may want to look at and be part of. So thank you very much for listening to our 90s coverage. We will see you in a few weeks. Thank you so much everyone and see you soon. Take care all.