This week's Official UK Singles Chart
Preamble:
12 new entries, 9 climbers and only one non-mover this week.
Analysis:
No. 39: NEW ENTRY. D:Ream - Star/I Like It
If there is any band I have gotten into over the last year it is D:Ream. The combination of a club DJ and a former rock vocallist has produced some of the best dance/pop hits of the year, if not quite as big hits as they deserve. This new one, their fourth hit of the year may underachieve as well, despite being pitched at two markets, I Like It being a typically Hi-NRG dance track with Star standing out as a dreamy ballad in the best George Michael vein.
No. 35: NEW ENTRY. Staxx - Joy
After much radio play and media hype the US chart hit crosses the Atlantic to begin what may well be a small but significant chart run.
No. 34: NEW ENTRY. Cocteau Twins - Evangeline
Of all the acts on the avant=garde 4AD record label throughout the 1980s, the Cocteau Twins were always the critics favourite, churning out a string of beautifully sung, dreamy indiepop hits. Despite all this hit singles always have and still are a problem. Evangeline representing no great departure from past works is in actual fact only their third ever Top 40 hit since their debut in 1984 with Pearly Dew Drops which peaked at No.29. The only other sniff of chart action since was 1990s Iceblink Luck which made No.38 in September of that year. This track, almost certain to vanish next week is thus their second biggest hit ever.
No. 32: NEW ENTRY. Cliff Richard - Never Let Go
Cliff's third chart single this year is destined to become his smallest, following on the heels of Peace In Our Time and Human Work Of Art and demonstrating that despite over 100 chart hits and a career lasting since 1958 he is still able to pick some useless songs to sing.
No. 31: NEW ENTRY. Go West - Tracks Of My Tears
The past twelve months have been the most successful for Go West since their debut in 1985 with Faithful and What You Won't Do For Love both being Top 20 hits and now this cover of the Miracles classic charting too, taken from a forthcoming Greatest Hits compilation. This may not be as big a hit as the last few singles, being as it is a rather lacklustre version of the song which originally made No.9 in June 1969 for Smokey Robinson et al and has also charted in versions by Linda Ronstadt and Colin Blunstone.
No. 30: NEW ENTRY. Crowded House - Distant Sun
And then there was one.... Neil Finn ditches brother Tim for a second time and hits back with the first single from a new Crowded House album and their first hit for over a year. 1991s Woodface album made the group here in this country and spawned a string of hit singles of which Weather With You was the biggest, peaking at No. 7 in March 1992.
No. 27: NEW ENTRY. Dannii Minogue - This Is The Way
You get the feeling in all honesty she would rather be an American star, given the direction of her material these days which amounts to rather bland, uninspiring pop. The second single this year from the younger Minogue is a followup to the No.10 hit version of This Is It from July. This song will progress no further though.
No. 26: NEW ENTRY. Bad Boys Inc. - Whenever You Need Someone
Whilst any other male teen group are destined to be second class in the wake of Take That, Bad Boys Inc are certainly managing to be top of that division. Whenever You Need Someone is their second hit to follow Don't Talk About Love which made No. 19 in August. The latest track is possibly not as strong as the last but is still another notch in their caps, and possibly a harbinger of massive Top 10 success that is surely just around the corner - provided your younger sister fancies them of course.
No. 21: CLIMBER. Paul Young - Now I Know What Made Otis Blue
A strong and really quite surprising climb for Paul Young but falling short of becoming what would in actual fact only be his tenth Top 10 hit ever.
No. 20: CLIMBER. Worlds Apart - Everlasting Love
It may be one of the most covered songs in chart history but after Robert Knight's original and the Love Affair's No.1 version Worlds Apart are only the third act to take Everlasting Love into the Top 20.
No. 19: NEW ENTRY. Cypress Hill - When The Shit Goes Down
The most popular hardcore rappers of note at the moment score a second UK hit and dramatically eclipse the No.32 peak of their debut Insane In The Brain. This newfound popularity is possibly helped by radio realising they have to get on the bandwagon and bravely playing the new single, despite the lyrical content although this may be due to them announcing the title as 'When the SHIP Goes Down' and if you listen carefully the lyrics are ambiguous enough for them to get away with it. [There was actually a radio and video edit which changed the profanity.]
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. Eternal - Stay
[Superstar debut klaxon!] Proving that anything the US can do the Brits can do as well, the first British New Jill Swing Group make their chart debut. Eternal's Stay makes a strong debut thanks to a good promotional campaign by the record company and is really so uninteresting I can't think of much more to say about it.
No. 15: NEW ENTRY. Manic Street Preachers - Roses In The Hospital
Something is going on here. Every Manic Street Preachers single from the album has been bigger than the last. Check for yourself, From Despair To Where made No.25, La Tristesse Durera made No.22 and now the new single goes straight in at No.15. How long before the Top 10 we ask ourselves?
No. 14: FALLER. Radiohead - Creep
When Creep crashed straight in at No.7 a fortnight ago it was expected to be the start of a meteoric chart run for the track. It makes a slow burnout, dropping just a place this week and may hang on in the Top 40 for a couple more yet.
No. 12: CLIMBER. Belinda Carlisle - Bigscaryanimal
Climbing to equal the peak of her last Top 20 hit Live Your Life Be Free almost exactly two years ago, Belinda Carlisle has even given the nation a new affectation - it now apparently being trendy to call your loved one a 'Yanimal', because apparently that is what she says in the song. I can't believe it myself.
No. 10: CLIMBER. Roxette - It Must Have Been Love
And thus the song from the 'Pretty Woman' soundtrack makes the Top 10 in the UK for a second time.
No. 9: NEW ENTRY. Gabrielle - Going Nowhere
Not many artists can claim to have had their first two singles debut inside the Top 10 but Gabrielle has done that. The girl and her eyepatch followup the summer's big No.1 Dreams with a track slightly more representative of her usual output and without the novelty value maybe not quite as big a hit. Still, behind 2 Unlimited it's one of the most successful followups to a No.1 hit by any act this year.
No. 6: NEW ENTRY. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax
_The_ record of the 1980s, one of the Top 10 best selling singles ever and one of the most charted records ever, managing 48 weeks in the Top 75 on its initial run. The reissue of the 1984 No.1 is prompted by a new greatest Hits album out soon, and crashes straight back into the Top 10, a far cry from first time round. First released in November 1983 it hung around the tail end of the charts at first until national DJ Mike Read realised what the lyrics were saying, dragged the needle off the record and refused ever to play it again. The publicity that generated and the resultant nationwide radio ban of the track caused sales to increase dramtically and a legend was born. In 1993 the subject matter of the record takes on a whole new meaning, with the band disbanded and Holly Johnson dying of AIDS [wait, no hang on. He's HIV+ which is a very different thing 1993 James. And he's reassuringly still with us too. Nobody has yet passed away from a blowjob].
No. 3: FALLER. Pet Shop Boys - Go West
Alas, twas not to be, no No.1 for Neil and Chris but it was a good effort anyway lads....
No. 2: CLIMBER. M People - Movin' On Up
Up they go indeed, to become the biggest hit ever for M People
No. 1: SECOND WEEK. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Boom! Shake The Room
Rarely can I say this with any confidence but this is definitely the last week at the top for the US rappers. It was never destined to be a big seller anyway, but competition next week from a record by a certain band of teen idols is just too hot to resist.
