1997 was quite the year on reflection. Look at this lot:

• We had a General Election which ushered in a new government after 18 years of Tory rule (that was a good day!).
• We had a new terrestrial television channel (the first new one since the launch of Channel 4 in November 1982) unimaginatively named Channel 5.
• The UK transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong, the largest remaining British colony, to the People’s Republic of China as the 99 years lease on the territory had formally ended (I was in China just weeks before the event).
• The first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published.

Overshadowing all of this though was the death of Diana, Princess of Wales which caused many of the UK (and indeed the worlds) population to temporarily lose their minds in grief over a person most had never met. That event would have consequences for the world of music with Elton John’s reworking of “Candle In The Wind” which was sung at Diane’s funeral becoming the biggest selling UK single ever and shifting 33 million copies worldwide when it was released. It continues to hold that record to this day.

There was another event that would impact the music industry though not in such a sombre way. This was the year that The Teletubbies first aired and would become a ratings sensation. The success of the show triggered multiple merchandising lines to be made available to cash in on its popularity one of which was the Teletubbies single “Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh!” much would become the fifth biggest selling hit of the year! Did we learn nothing for the Mr Blobby fiasco of 1993?!

Talking of singles, it was another bumper year for the sales of the format – from the 22nd of June right through to the end of the year, every single No 1 record sold at least 100,000 copies a week. As with the previous year, 24 singles topped the chart, double the amount we saw just five years prior in 1992. As for albums, there was stellar anticipation of the release of Oasis’s third album “Be Here Now”. Despite its initial sales and being the best selling album of the year in the UK, it would ultimately sell around a third of the units of “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” and its legacy and reputation is of a lumpen creation that killed the legend of Oasis. Yeah, that’s definitely it…maybe. If Noel and Liam were at a crossroads career wise, the Spice Girls were motoring on in top gear with two albums in the year end Top 5. One of the most critically revered albums of the decade (and perhaps of all time) was released this year as “OK Computer” by Radiohead came into our lives. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the year was the renaissance of Texas who would eclipse all their previous success with the album “White On Blonde”. Elsewhere in music, just one day after Labour’s General Election victory was confirmed, the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time since 1981. Yes, the winning artist was led by an American singer but that was no reason not to celebrate the achievement.

As for me, 1997 would also be a memorable year. My beloved Chelsea would finally win something capturing the FA Cup in the May which was also the month I went to China to see my mate Rob who was living out there. It was quite a time! It wasn’t all excitement though. Work-wise, there was an unsettling period of disruption at the Our Price store where I was employed when our manager Pete left and on a personal level, I started to experience some mental health issues that would see me ultimately leave the Stockport branch forever but that’s all to come in the future…erm…the past. Oh, you know what I mean!