This week in 1997
1 Perfect Day Various Artists
2 Baby Can I Hold You/Shooting Star Boyzone
3 Barbie Girl Aqua
4 Wind Beneath My Wings Steven Houghton
5 Torn Natalie Imbruglia 6 Never Ever All Saints
7 Lucky Man The Verve
8 Tell Him Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion
9 Ain’t That Just The Way Lutricia McNeal
10 Something About The Way You Look Tonight/Candle In The Wind 1997 Elton John
The late Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ was first released in 1972… as the B side of ‘Walk On The Wild Side’. A quarter of a century later it reached number one in its own right, thanks to the BBC, a host of star performers and Children In Need. The Beeb had persuaded Reed and a stellar cast to rerecord the song as a corporate message promoting the BBC’s diverse range of music coverage across its radio and TV channels. There was huge public demand for a commercial release so, in November, ‘Perfect Day 1997’ hit the shops in aid of Children In Need. It spent three weeks at the top in the UK and raised over £2 million for the charity. In Ireland, it had an even bigger impact, spending seven weeks at the top of the charts and becoming 1997’s Irish Christmas number one. Among the performers on the single were Reed himself, Bono, David Bowie, Elton John, Tom Jones, Shane McGowan… and Boyzone. To date, this version of ‘Perfect Day’ has sold over 1.5 million copies.