Traumatic Gay Midweeks

Does anyone remember when Radio 1 did a weekly midweeks ‘guess the chart’ competition, where you got points for correctly predicting where the new releases would land in the chart?

I won one week and got sent a box of cds including Michelle McManus’ album (which I already owned)
 
Dannii Minogue was a notable victim of STOCKING ISSUES.

Put The Needle On It was expected to contend for #1 and stocked accordingly, so when it tanked at #7, stores were much more conservative on I Begin To Wonder, which actually DID contend for #1. :(

Wasn't there a FURTHER PERVERSION in the story of Put The Needle On It, in that it ended up being released on a really difficult chart week having had the release date put back several times. Had it been released just ONE WEEK earlier with exactly the same sales it would have gone top 3 :D
 
And yes, I Begin To Wonder was one of the few times where a song had genuine STOCKING PROBLEMS. I think Dannii's team even sent out an email midweek asking fans to buy copies this week if they could as IBTW was really close to number one, and that more stock of the single should be in stores by the end of the week :D / :disco:
 
Did Woolworths also underestimate the popularity of ‘Whole Again’? Not entirely surprising as Atomic Kitten were very much in the last chance saloon, but I am sure they stuck it at something like #20.
 
It does make you wonder, though. Like Whole Again sold just under 70k in week one, which is probably 3 times what their prior single sold in total. So they must have at least been ready enough to press that many (and more, as it woukdnt have been sold out in every region even with stocking issues) at extremely short notice if they hadn’t already sent that amount out the weekend prior to release.

It just makes it quite odd when such things happened as you’d think it would happen so often that there would be a supply chain setup to do last minute runs and distributions etc. Especially with the labels having all the info on presales, airplay, public feedback etc for weeks prior to release.
 
It does make you wonder, though. Like Whole Again sold just under 70k in week one, which is probably 3 times what their prior single sold in total. So they must have at least been ready enough to press that many (and more, as it woukdnt have been sold out in every region even with stocking issues) at extremely short notice if they hadn’t already sent that amount out the weekend prior to release.

It just makes it quite odd when such things happened as you’d think it would happen so often that there would be a supply chain setup to do last minute runs and distributions etc. Especially with the labels having all the info on presales, airplay, public feedback etc for weeks prior to release.

Whole Again got a MASSIVE PUSH in the press I think. I remember stories in all the papers pleading for you to buy the song as it was their last chance, and how they were going to get dropped or had already been dropped. Also, the fact Kerry quit and left the sinking ship added to the extra POOR US.
 
I don’t know if that is WHY it was so huge, as I genuinely think it is a great song but I do remember thinking at the time it was strange how they were getting so much coverage.
 
Whole Again got a MASSIVE PUSH in the press I think. I remember stories in all the papers pleading for you to buy the song as it was their last chance, and how they were going to get dropped or had already been dropped. Also, the fact Kerry quit and left the sinking ship added to the extra POOR US.
Atomic Kitten got a million selling #1 single out of that tactic. Shame it didn't work for everyone :(

lisa-scott-lee-totally-scott-lee.gif
 
Whole Again was a genuinely massive crossover hit. If I remember rightly, it increased sales during each of its weeks at #1 or something. It was MASSIVE on request music video channels like The Box.
 
Whole Again was technically a #14 SMASH HIT this summer of course :disco:
 
I always assumed Whole Again was purchased en masse by Westlife fans in its first week, and then it crossed over thereafter.
 
#11s is a tragedy that writes itself

Precious - Rewind (for a start)

Never forget #11 Headlines (Friendship Never ends) even the general public did (and the girls themselves too!)

Wasn't it Top 10 in the mids? I Remember reading at DenDen that it was released a week AFTER the GH :basil: along with a shit tracklist, they're lucky it made the Top 75.
 
Headlines was absolutely terrible. How to get a comeback VERY WRONG.
 
I’m not sure I could even HUM Headlines. Did they sing it at the reunion gigs?
 
They've completely disowned it :D

No wonder. SURELY they could have got someone on board to write them something better than THAT, and I don’t mean DARKCHILD and his Forever misgivings.
 
there's no HIDING FROM this
MAGICAL STATE OF MIND
(I feel LOVE I feel, I feel LOVE)

😚
 
I've always wondered, not living in the UK and such, what was the ideal timeframe between a single being to radio or TV channels and a physical release back then? I assume 5-6 weeks?

All this midweek discussion brought back some memories where aside from STOCKING PROBLEMS, a late radio release would also be blamed for missing the Top10/20, apparently because a lot of people wouldn't know the song was already out :basil:
 
It is so strange now (or is it?) to think you would hear a song for weeks on the radio and television before you could own it. There are a few songs where I must have been speaking in tongues when I finally got hold of the physical version (…Baby One More Time comes to mind).
 
Nick Jonas came to mind yesterday when I saw the video for Jealous, I'm sure it was #1 in the first set of midweek only for Jess Glynne to come swooping in for a third week.
 
I've always wondered, not living in the UK and such, what was the ideal timeframe between a single being to radio or TV channels and a physical release back then? I assume 5-6 weeks?

All this midweek discussion brought back some memories where aside from STOCKING PROBLEMS, a late radio release would also be blamed for missing the Top10/20, apparently because a lot of people wouldn't know the song was already out :basil:

I think 5-6 weeks was about right. It took that long to climb airplay into the top ten (for those that did), with a video going into rotation about four weeks before and then TV promo and the like the week or two before.

It is nuts to think, there would’ve been countless weeks when the *actual* most popular song in the country wasn’t number one as it was still a good week or two before it could even be purchased. Explains the whole ‘enter high then fall down’ runs nearly every hit had for the 10 year period prior to downloads regulating it a bit more.
 
Whole Again got a MASSIVE PUSH in the press I think. I remember stories in all the papers pleading for you to buy the song as it was their last chance, and how they were going to get dropped or had already been dropped. Also, the fact Kerry quit and left the sinking ship added to the extra POOR US.

Oh yeah, definitely remember even internet buzz for it was very high given their stature. As Sheena said, it increased sales over all four weeks at number one :o

It’s just weird stocking problems existed for anyone, as even fanbase acts sold about double their first week tally in total over the course of their run, so to have stocking issues on week one means people at the label (or retailers) really must’ve been clueless as to how much a record would likely sell, which seems strange given the data and preorder information available to them for weeks before release.
 
I think 5-6 weeks was about right. It took that long to climb airplay into the top ten (for those that did), with a video going into rotation about four weeks before and then TV promo and the like the week or two before.

It is nuts to think, there would’ve been countless weeks when the *actual* most popular song in the country wasn’t number one as it was still a good week or two before it could even be purchased. Explains the whole ‘enter high then fall down’ runs nearly every hit had for the 10 year period prior to downloads regulating it a bit more.

I also recall there would be some major hoopla about the final chart position of a song that was already available in a NOW! album, talk about record companies shooting themselves in the foot. POOR OMERO MUMBA.
 
Oh the Woolies chart… where if the latest single by your current one-album-wonder pop fave wasn’t stocked then that was it for their career. They had so much power! Always found it interesting seeing where the weeks new singles were likely to place.

Whilst not at Woolies levels, WHSmith (and ASDA) did a similar thing. I recall WHS not stocking Alice Deejay’s Better Off Alone till it’s third week of release!

I did always find it off how a #15 predicted hit of Whole Again hit #1 as the quantity needed to hit #1 would have been more than the quantity of CDs made. Clearly other stores thought it would be bigger and stocked up.

I miss those days of going to Our Price, Woolies, WHS, Virgin Megastore and Andy’s Records to see who stocked what (and at the cheapest to maximise pocket money). Having casually wandered into some record stores and charity shops in Leeds today to see if there were any CD singles, I was dismayed to see not a single one. I find it incomprehensible and rather sad that something that was so important, such a dominant force, created so many headlines and allowed for songs to be ingrained in popular culture has just ended up eradicated like they never existed. (Don’t get me wrong I like streaming, if nothing else to justify my not buying a popstars album as it turned out to be duff bar the singles, but the excitement of having the new releases all laid out was great!).
 
I also recall there would be some major hoopla about the final chart position of a song that was already available in a NOW! album, talk about record companies shooting themselves in the foot. POOR OMERO MUMBA.
Wasn’t this No Tengo Dinero by Los Umbrellos?

On the same NOW album as Queen Kerri-Ann and Do You Love Me Boy
 
Wasn’t this No Tengo Dinero by Los Umbrellos?

On the same NOW album as Queen Kerri-Ann and Do You Love Me Boy

oh yes, I remember reading about their case too. There must be dozen of others who must have been affected by this awful strategy.
Were they ever advertised as being a NOW! album exclusive?
 
Talking of Atomic Kitten, Eternal Flame beating Bootylicious to #1 was and still is a travesty. I know Bootylicious isn't DC's best remembered hit, but it was absolutely epic at the time. Much better than anything containing that weird auto-tuned yet strangely off-key long note in Eternal Flame.
 
Talking of Atomic Kitten, Eternal Flame beating Bootylicious to #1 was and still is a travesty. I know Bootylicious isn't DC's best remembered hit, but it was absolutely epic at the time. Much better than anything containing that weird auto-tuned yet strangely off-key long note in Eternal Flame.
No lies detected. But also it was karma for keeping Loverboy off #1 in the US.
 
Considering Whole Again was the last throw of the dice, and then smashed, there must have been literally nothing left to follow it up with. I guess that did the job.
 

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