Mo’ Wax and the UK charts
Did you ever wonder how Mo’ Wax was positioned in the UK charts? I did, and here’s the answer in this boring post!
Recently, in a random discussion on the UNKLE 77 forums, there was a question about how well Deborah Anderson’s Lonely Without You sold in the UK, which made me wonder how well EVERY Mo’ Wax release sold. Legit question from a fan, isn’t it?
I know how important the charts are in the musical culture in the UK. Whereas here in France, even if we used to have the Top 50 in the 80s and 90s but nowadays, nobody cares about the charts anymore. They’ve always been full of crap anyway.
So, I’ve looked out each and every Mo’ Wax artists at www.officialcharts.com and, well, I was surprised to find out that there were more than I imagined that made it to the UK charts. OK, peak positions are not really high, and Deborah Anderson is not one of them, but I was absolutely not expecting to find Peshay here, and even less Innerzone Orchestra. The absence of Attica Blues was a bit disappointing, too.
Here’s the full list, sorted by singles and albums in chronological order. I’ve also included the UNKLE releases from the Never, Never, Land era, even though I’m still not sure I want to see them as real Mo’ Wax releases.
Singles
| Date | Artist | Title | Peak # | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25/03/1995 | DJ Shadow | What Does Your Soul Look Like (MW027CD) | 59 | 1 |
| 16/03/1996 | DJ Krush | Meiso (MW042CD) | 52 | 1 |
| 07/09/1996 | Dr. Octagon | Blue Flowers (MW055CD) | 66 | 1 |
| 14/09/1996 | DJ Shadow | Midnight In A Perfect World (MW057CD) | 54 | 1 |
| 28/09/1996 | Innerzone Orchestra | Bug In The Bassbin (MW049CD) | 68 | 1 |
| 12/10/1996 | DJ Krush | Only The Strong Survive(MW060CD) | 71 | 1 |
| 09/11/1996 | DJ Shadow | Stem (MW058CD) | 74 | 1 |
| 11/10/1997 | DJ Shadow | High Noon (MW063CD) | 22 | 2 |
| 20/12/1997 | DJ Shadow | Camel Bobsled Race (MW084CD) | 62 | 1 |
| 24/01/1998 | DJ Shadow | What Does Your Soul Look Like remixes (MW087) | 54 | 1 |
| 28/02/1998 | Money Mark | Hand In Your Head (MW066CD) | 40 | 2 |
| 09/05/1998 | Peshay | Miles From Home (MW092) | 75 | 1 |
| 06/06/1998 | Money Mark | Maybe I’m Dead (MW089CD1) | 45 | 1 |
| 20/02/1999 | UNKLE | Be There (MW108CD1) | 8 | 6 |
| 17/03/2001 | South | Paint The Silence (MWR134CD) | 69 | 1 |
| 06/09/2003 | UNKLE | Eye For An Eye | 31 | 2 |
| 15/11/2003 | UNKLE | In A State | 44 | 2 |
| 27/11/2004 | UNKLE | Reign | 40 | 2 |
Albums
| Date | Artist | Title | Peak # | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21/01/1995 | UNKLE | The Time Has Come (MW028) | 73 | 1 |
| 09/09/1995 | Money Mark | Mark’s Keyboard Repair (MW034CD) | 35 | 2 |
| 11/11/1995 | DJ Krush | Meiso (MW039CD) | 64 | 1 |
| 28/09/1996 | DJ Shadow | Endtroducing (MW059CD) | 17 | 3 |
| 16/05/1998 | Money Mark | Push The Button (MW090CD) | 17 | 4 |
| 05/09/1998 | UNKLE | Psyence Fiction (MW085CD) | 4 | 9 |
| 04/10/2003 | UNKLE | Never, Never, Land | 4 | 9 |
Oh, and Rob Dougan’s Clubbed To Death reached #24 in 2002 on another record label, 7 years after the Mo’ Wax release!
8 thoughts on “Mo’ Wax and the UK charts”
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This is more interesting than I thought, didn’t know this info was available.
I remember being surprised at how well the Unkle stuff did.
Got some old newspaper cuttings of the charts with some Mo’Wax stuff in them if you ever want scans.
I remember being in London when Psyence Fiction came out, and how they promo-ed it like crazy, so I’m not surprised for this one and the singles.
As for the scans, yes that would make a good addition to the article, thanks!
Giles Peterson played innerzone orchestra and peshay quite a lot on radio shows and obviously shadow which I think helped mowax score some chart results. Most surprised by money marks album….
Cool write up! hmmm, I now wonder which MW tracks charted here in the states. Probably not much, but I do remember hear Money Mark a few times in the late 90s.
Just checked at http://www.billboard.com (is this the right place?) and all I could find is DJ Shadow, UNKLE, Blackalicious. But the only ranked Mo’ Wax release was Psyence Fiction at #107
There’s also Preemptive Strike at #118.
No Money Mark, and obviously not Deborah Anderson ;)
Yeah, Billboard is what we have here. Perhaps I am thinking of hearing Money Mark on college radio, which has always been more eclectic than than mainstream. I would sometimes be a guest on my friends radio show and I recall us playing: Be There, The Number Song (Cut Chemist remix), Hardcore HipHop, Meiso (Shadow remix), Swan Lake, 40oz For Breakfast, and various songs from the Quannum Spectrum LP that had just come out.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT: THIS IS NOT A BORING POST :) …THX
Hey Dale, I’ve made an updated version of your list with a few extras added that you may have missed: http://www.unklewiki.com/index.php?title=Charts