Official Charts Flashback 1999: S Club 7 – Bring It All Back

It’s 15 years since seven bright young things brought a little sunshine into our lives with their first ever hit, beating the mighty Madonna to Number 1.

If you want to beat anybody to the top spot when you’re a brand new artist, it might as well be one of the biggest stars in the world. And fifteen years ago this week, S Club 7 got a pretty impressive start to their career when they trounced all the competition to take debut single Bring It All Back to Number 1, leaving Madonna in the shade.

Formed by Spice Girls impresario and future Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller, S Club 7 were – yes, you’ve guessed it – seven shiny happy young stars sending out positive vibes and capturing the imaginations of young pop fans.

The group, made up of Jo O’Meara, Rachel Stevens, Hannah Spearritt, Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Bradley McIntosh and Jon Lee, launched a double assault on the media. Not only were they wannabe popstars, they had a TV show of their very own too. Add that to some accessible dance moves, a catchy singalong chorus and their path to Number 1 was super-smooth. The dancing in the video is brilliant, too.

In its first week on sale, Bring It All Back shifted an impressive 190,000 copies. Their nearest rival, Madonna’s Beautiful Stranger – which had the added helper of being on the soundtrack to the second Austin Powers movie – still sold 135,000 that week. But glory belonged to the S Clubbers.

Since its release, Bring It All Back has sold over 660,000 copies and is S Club’s second bestselling single – 2001’s Don’t Stop Movin’ is first, with over 790,000 copies sold.

Bring It All Back was the first of 11 consecutive Top 10 hits for the band, including four Number 1s – Never Had A Dream Come True (2000), Don’t Stop Movin’ and Have You Ever (both 2001) were their other chart-toppers.

Seven became six in 2002 when Paul Cattermole decided it was time to move on. The band carried on for another album, and their first feature film, as S Club before calling it a day in 2003.

Rachel Stevens went on to score some chart success of her very own, managing seven Top 40 hits. Jo O’Meara also had a solo Top 40 hit, 2005’s What Hurts The Most.

There have been rumours of a full reunion for many years, with various members performing together in different combinations, but as yet, the band have yet to make a total return.

Check out the video for their biggest seller before we count down the rest of the Top 5, kicking off with a no doubt furious Madonna…

2: Madonna – Beautiful Stranger

Madonna may have had 13 Number 1s, but she’s no stranger to the runner-up spot either, having seen 12 of her hits peak at Number 2. Beautiful Stranger, taken from the Austin Powers sequel The Spy Who Shagged Me, was her ninth hit to go no further than the silver medallist stage, despite being one of her instant classics.

Madonna can take comfort from the fact she’s had 59 Top 10 singles as a lead artist and had a record-breaking run of 35 consecutive Top 10 entries from 1984 to 1994. Beautiful Stranger has sold over 530,000 copies in the UK, which is more than seven of her Number 1 singles managed!

3: Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) (Class of ’99)

A former chart-topper, this quirky track brought together an article by a journalist meat to address a graduation class, a legendary director and a little bit of Rozalla’s 1991 hit Everybody’s Free (To Feel Good). The song spent a week at Number 1 and has sold over 600,000 copies.

4: Shania Twain – That Don’t Impress Me Much

Shania Twain was having a bit of a girl power moment in 1999, with this the first of two tracks she’d release that year which celebrated being a woman and not taking any nonsense from loser blokes. That Don’t Impress Me Much would peak at Number 3 and was the second of seven consecutive Top 10s for Shania Twain. It was a big seller too, notching up over 840,000 copies since its release. Let’s hope that impresses you, Shania!

Here she is singing the UK version on Top Of The Pops:

5: Shanks and Bigfoot – Sweet Like Chocolate

Another former chart-topper, Sweet Like Chocolate was the debut hit for Shanks & Bigfoot – and certainly their biggest. One more Top 40 entry would follow, Sing-A-Long in 2000. Sweet Like Chocolate has sold over 710,000 copies in the UK.