So with their first four #1s under their belt Westlife started their second year on a role...
(5) Fool Again - #1
When I was reading about Westlife's split in a newspaper last week I was relatively surprised to see this listed one of the band's 3 hits that were mentioned. I remember listening to the chart on the radio as this reached #1 and they were moving straight on to their next project. I think this could well have been the last time an act managed to get five #1s from an album in the UK - sometimes we're lucky to even get a 3rd cut these days.
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
(6) Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) [feat. Mariah Carey] - #1
With Mariah having had topped the Hot 100 each year of the nineties in the US, and Westlife looking to break the record for the longest run of consecutive #1s since their debut - this was a combination of two artists very much on top of their respective games. This is a bit of a lazy cover with a lazier video but it still topped our charts!
★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
(7) My Love - #1
This was SM:TV live and CD:UK at their best; well this along with a certain Kylie performance that Oli is quite partial to. Possibly my favourite Westlife single up to this point, it had been a year since we'd been Flying Without Wings and this was just what the band needed to launch their second album 'Coast To Coast' which I seem to remember giving the Spice Girls a run for their money in a chart battle to become a #1 album. Oh how predictable the charts were at this point when the Spice Girls, Steps and Westlife each scheduled their single releases in consecutive weeks so they all could take a temporary perch atop our singles chart.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
(8) What Makes A Man - #2
After so easily obtaining the Christmas #1 the year before, why not try again? I didn't realise this was a cover until a few years ago when I truly discovered the true magnificance of their version. At the time I was unimpressed and quite pleased to see Bob The Builder hold them off the #1 as he (with the help of Scoop, Muck and Dizzy) racked up the sales over the Christmas period to make his way into our exclusive million sellers club.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
(9) Uptown Girl - #1
Speaking of million sellers, Westlife teamed up with Comic Relief in 2001 and covered a Billy Joel classic.
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
(10) When You're Looking Like That - Not Released
It's hard to believe that one of Westlife's greatest and most loved tracks was never granted a singles release in the UK or Ireland for that matter. It seems bizarre that a Westlife album track was actually a staple at our University Cheesy Pop night. They had broken their #1s streak by this point so why it never got the release it was crying out for is beyond me! Acts often struggle to follow up their million sellers effectively (see Gnarls Barkley) so maybe the management just decided to move on and focus on the preparation for album number 3. Since the inclusion of downloads in the chart this track has reached the lofty heights of #118 but I reckon there are quite a few people out there who have downloaded this gem.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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