This week's Official UK Singles Chart
Preamble:
After last week's relatively quiet chart, caused by the bank holiday at the start of the month, the action hots up slightly this week with 9 new entries, 12 climbers and only 1 non-mover.
Analysis:
No. 40: NEW ENTRY. Lenny Kravitz - Believe
Are You Gonna Go My Way established Lenny Kravitz in the minds of the public well and truly, becoming his biggest ever UK hit when it peaked at 5 back in March. With the Beatlesque Believe tipping a nod in the direction of I Am The Walrus coupled with an anthemic chorus it marks the first time Kravitz has ever charted more than one Top 40 single from an album, his first two yielding exactly one hit each. Believe may well deserve to be another massive hit, but with such a quiet start that may well be a difficult task for him.
No. 38: NEW ENTRY. Charles and Eddie - A House Is Not A Home
Desperately trying to avoid the tag of being one hit wonders, Charles and Eddie score a third Top 40 success. The 'One Hit Wonder' tag was attached when NYC barely scraped the Top 30 back in February as a follow-up to last November's No.1 Would I Lie To You.
No. 34: CLIMBER. Arsenal FA Cup Final Squad '93 - Shouting For The Gunners
A steady 6 place climb for the footballers who drew 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, forcing a replay this coming Thursday (20th) of the FA Cup Final at Wembley. The track also features the vocal talents of one Tippa Irie, who is well known on the specialist reggae scene but up until now has only ever had one Top 40 entry - Hello Darling which made No.22 back in March 1986
No. 31: NEW ENTRY. Dire Straits - Encores (EP)
The band, who in their 14 years together have sold more albums in this country than anyone else in the 1980s make a return to the Top 40 after an absence of nearly 2 years. They do it with Encores a selection of live tracks culled from their new live album which documents 1991s On Every Street Tour. It's the second time Dire Straits have released a live album. In 1984 the double set Alchemy produced a double-sided single of Love Over Gold and Solid Rock in live versions which only reached No.50. The success of this single is thus made even more interesting by the fact that the featured track is a version of Your Latest Trick which in 1986 became the least successful from Brothers In Arms by only reaching No.26.
No. 29: NEW ENTRY. Felix - Stars
The third hit for dance act Felix, to follow up the Top 20 double of Don't You Want Me and It Will Make Me Crazy. Stars is actually a cover version, the original written and recorded by 70s disco star Sylvester who took the track to No.47 in July 1979.
No. 28: NEW ENTRY. Luther Vandross - Little Miracles
First new single in a while from soul star Luther Vandross makes a strong entry. His last taste of chart action was last summer when The Best Things In Life Are Free duet with Janet Jackson reached No.2, marking the first time he had ever climbed higher than No.13. Solo though this is a return to form, his first Top 40 hit since a remix of Never Too Much made No.13 in November 1989, his last charted single Power Of Love only able to reach No.48 in May 1991.
No. 27: NEW ENTRY. Saint Etienne - Who Do You Think You Are/Hobart Paving
I made no secret of the fact that I loved the last Saint Etienne single You're In A Bad Way which made No.12 back in February. The new single shows signs of a clever piece of marketing, Hobart Paving being a fairly average track off the album [yes, one of the most tenderly beautiful songs ever committed to record was described by me at the time as "fairly average". I wish to disassociate myself from these comments, particularly given they are immortalised in a citation on Wikipedia linking to this page] whilst Who Do You Think You Are is a completely new track [and actually a cover, although I was clearly unaware of this at the time], a superbly crafted bit of pop which should be Top 10 if there is any justice in the world. We shall see.
No. 19: CLIMBER. Spin Doctors - Two Princes
One of a few rather startling leaps on the chart this week as the reissued track from the Spin Doctors vaults into the Top 20. in a 14 place leap, which in this day and age is quite an achievement but this week misses out on being the fastest mover by the narrowest of margins.
No. 17: CLIMBER. Sonia - Better The Devil You Know
Protracted use of the track in BBC trailers for the Eurovision Song Contest Broadcast has undoubtedly helped Sonia this week as she reverses the fall of last week to surpass the No.18 placing the song achieved a fortnight ago. Whilst she failed to win (Better The Devil missed out in literally the final allocation of marks on Saturday night to the Irish entry In Your Eyes by Niamh Kavanagh) the fact that she performed it in from of a worldwide television audience of 300 million people will do the track no harm at all next week, quite aside from the fact that in my humble opinion at least hers was by far the most inspiring performance of the night.
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. House Of Pain - Jump Around/Top Of The Morning To Ya
In the summer of 1992 both America and Central Europe went jump crazy. Britain did its best to resist the craze, succumbing only to Kriss Kross' Jump which made No.2 almost exactly a year ago. Jump Around by House Of Pain was arguably one of the best, played to death in clubs all over Europe during the summer but despite this flopped completely when released in this country. Nonetheless, it has remained ever since a club favourite, put it on and people will dance to it despite its lack of chart success. Thus it was inevitable that a re-release would be on the cards so here it comes, straight into the Top 20 and destined for a massive Top 10 smash.
No. 15: NEW ENTRY. Tina Turner - I Don't Wanna Fight
Tina Turner has always been more popular over here than she has in America where she appeared to fade in the mid-80s. Over here she has notched up an impressive string of solo hits since 1983, of which this is the 20th. It's the first single from her first new album since 1989s Foreign Affair although she has charted since with the greatest hits compilation Simply The Best which spawned her last hit single Way Of The World. When you consider her first ever chart appearance was on 9th June 1966 with the classic River Deep Mountain High this gives her a chart span of almost 27 years.
No. 12: CLIMBER. Dina Carroll - Express
More chart success for Ms Carroll. As I said last week, her 5th consecutive hit single and with this climb also the biggest, beating the No.13 peak of Special Kind Of Love and Ain't No Man.
No. 9: CLIMBER. Bon Jovi - In These Arms
Now this, it has to be said, surprised everyone. Although the title track from Keep The Faith made No.3 to give them their biggest hit ever, most chartwatchers expected the remaining singles from the album to follow the usual pattern of being minor Top 20 or Top 30 entries owing to the usual reticence of the mainstream audience to rock, even when it is as commercial as Bon Jovi. Bed Of Roses conformed to this pattern but now the arguably better song In These Arms makes a dramatic leap of 15 places making it the fastest mover on the chart. It also means it is Bon Jovi's third ever Top Ten hit following Keep The Faith and Living On A Prayer.
No. 8: CLIMBER. Shabba Ranks featuring Maxi Priest - Housecall
Now a full 23 places higher than its 1991 peak, the remixed track goes from strength to strength to give Shabba Ranks a second consecutive Top Ten hit to follow Mr Loverman and marking the first Top Ten appearance of Maxi Priest since Close To You made No.7 in 1990.
No. 4: NEW ENTRY. UB40 - (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You
This was a hit almost before it had even been released. With the current vogue for reggae in the charts, it would not have been right for Britain's most successful reggae band in history to not make an appearance. They do so now and with style, the first time they have ever had a record enter the charts inside the Top 10 and the first time they have broken the 10 since I'll Be Your Baby Tonight made No.6 with Robert Palmer in November 1990. The song itself has a chart history all to itself. It's the 5th version of the song to chart and the 4th to make the Top 5. Elvis himself, Andy Williams and the Stylistics all had massive hits with it whilst Lick The Tins' version missed out at No.42 in 1986. UB40s moving cover has to be strongly fancied to climb to the top next week, the momentum is most certainly there.
No. 1: FIRST WEEK. Ace Of Base - All That She Wants
Ace of Base currently top the charts across half of Europe with this track and they do the same in Britain after just 3 weeks on the chart. In doing so they establish themselves a unique place in chart history, superseding Bryan Adams as second in the alphabetical list of acts to have had No.1 hits. First on that list are of course Abba, a position they are unlikely to relinquish unless a band called Abacus or the Aardvarks ever has a No.1 hit. It will be interesting to see if this can hold on next week, the competition from UB40 amongst others is very strong indeed.
