Biggest Hits Of 2001

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by Matthew Dixon

It's another year gone - and before we look forward (to No Doubt, more S Club 7, more Westlife, George Harrison etc…) let us look back at what were the biggest hits of the year 2001.

Shaggy, Atomic Kitten, Robbie Williams, S Club 7, Hear'say, Blue and Westlife all topped the chart twice but in terms of chart success which one of them was biggest - and which one had the biggest single, or was that DJ Otzi, Wheatus, Kylie Minogue, Afroman or someone else?

To work this out - I've used a rather complicated formula that has 3 parts. First take 0.75 for a week at number one, 0.74 for a week at number 2 etc. down to 0.01 for a week at number 75. Then in each week, add on to that another factor to increase the importance of the top few positions. (This is e (2.718) to the power of minus half the chart position and works out at 0.61 for a number 1, 0.37 for a number 2, but only 0.007 for a number 10 - dying away rapidly). Finally multiply the result by a number that increases as the year increases but is always near 1, to take into account the larger sales at Christmas, and the smaller sales in the New Year.

The top end of the chart is very tight with a points difference of 0.00016 between the top 2. In the end, Atomic Kitten were victorious with their breakthrough hit "Whole Again". Their cover of "Eternal Flame" is also high up - at 17. The most unlikely hit of the year follows - DJ Otzi's "Hey Baby (Uhh Ahh)" showing that the music buying public do occasionally have spectacularly bad taste! His other big hit, "Do Wah Diddy" is way down at 126. He would have easily topped the chart - was it not for releasing one week before Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" which is at 3.

Shaggy had a massive year - and this is shown by "It Wasn't Me" being at 4, "Angel" being at 9, and further entries at 84 and 280. He is followed at 5 by the Record of the Year winner "Don't Stop Movin'" by S Club 7. Their Children in Need singles are at 48 ("Have You Ever") and 112 ("Never Had A Dream Come True"). Also in the top 10, at 6, are the year's biggest newcomers - Hear'say, with "Pure and Simple". Their followups could only make 47 and 134. They're followed by Wheatus - whose "Teenage Dirtbag" will surely forever be their biggest hit, and Afroman whose "Because I Got High" will make him remembered as little more than a massive one hit wonder. As previously mentioned, Shaggy is at 9, whilst Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim and Mya featuring Missy Elliott's version of "Lady Marmalade" brings up the rear of the 10 at 10.

Robbie's highest entry is with "Eternity / The Road To Mandalay" at 12 - his other hits landed at 90 ("Something Stupid"), 171 ("Let Love Be Your Energy"), 284 ("Supreme") and in at 529 for the year 2001, "Kids". Also in the 20 are the big hits not to top the chart, from Uncle Kracker, Gorillaz, Ian Van Dahl and City High, plus number ones from So Solid Crew, DJ Pied Piper and the Masters of Ceremonies, Geri Hallewell (whose other hits landed at 135 and 174!), the aforementioned Kittens, and the one and only Bob the Builder!

So what's missing from the top 20 hits of the year? Boybands! Whilst Westlife's "Uptown Girl" was a huge seller - in charting terms it only made 23, ahead of "Queen Of My Heart" at 40. Five enter at 24 with their last chart topper "Let's Dance" whilst Blue - who topped the chart twice - score highest with their track that didn't top the chart having the entries 32 "All Rise", 38 "Too Close" and 55 "Until You Come Back". Whilst topping the chart for two weeks, Limp Bizkit's "Rollin" is at 27 and Emma Bunton's "What Took You So Long" is at 39. Jennifer Lopez's huge year is rewarded by entries at 59 "I'm Real", 70 "Love Don't Cost A Thing", 85 "Play" and 89 "Ain't It Funny", whilst Destiny's Child are at 41 "Survivor", 57 "Bootylicious", 86 "Emotion" and 178 "Independent Women". Finally we can't forget the recently departed Steps who are at 43 "Chain Reaction / One For Sorrow", 78 "The Way You Make Me Feel", 108 "Here and Now / You'll Be Sorry" and 165 "Words Are Not Enough / I Know Him So Well".

Here is a chart of ten most successful artists of 2001:

Here are the 20 best charting singles of the year:

Disclaimer: The author of this analysis, as well as the UKMIX team realise this is just one of many ways of looking at chart success, and therefore it's a matter of your opinion whether you agree with this chart or not!