This week's Official UK Singles Chart
Preamble:
Well at long last here it is. Apologies to all regular readers for the rather confused appearances of the postings these last few weeks and welcome to the new home of the UK Chart Analysis where hopefully it should be staying for the forseeable future [from that I'm guessing that this was the first piece posted via my own home internet connection and from my brand new personal email address]. On with the show then as usual, with a sluggish set of back markers and a somewhat dramatic shift near the top. 10 new entries, 9 climbers and 1 non-mover.
Analysis:
No. 38: NEW ENTRY. Sparks - When Do I Get To Sing 'My Way'
First up this week comes probably the most glorious sight seen in the charts for a long time. It is now a full 20 years since the enigmatic duo first crashed onto the charts with This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us which made No.2 and launched them on a run of hits that was to last for the next five years and with a debut album Kimono My House which is cited by everyone from Neil Tennant to Morrissey as a major influence on them. Despite not having made the charts since 1979 the duo have by no means been inactive but have simply failed to sell any records. Now, following an extensive promotional build-up they have achieved the breakthrough again, not least due to the single itself, as classic a record as they have ever made. Whether it gets any further is down to fate in many ways but it is worth marvelling at the return of the prototype group for people like Erasure and The Pet Shop Boys with a record that is better than anything those two have made in ages.
No. 30: NEW ENTRY. Moby - Feeling So Real
Another in a continuing stream of hits for Moby, his second this year following Hymn which made No.31 back in May. Few techno singles seem to be complete these days without a gimmick, hence the remixing competition that accompanies this release.
No. 27: NEW ENTRY. Terrorvision - Alice, What's The Matter
Terrorvision continue their remarkable run of consistency this year with a fifth Top 40 hit, more than any other act this year so far. Despite a keen commercial edge to their hits though they have still to actually chart for more than a couple of weeks at a time, without ever having made the Top 20.
No. 26: NEW ENTRY. Pink Floyd - High Hopes/Keep Talking
Despite the well-publicised stands collapse on the opening date of the tour, Pink Floyd are playing to packed houses and set out to demolish their reputation of not being a singles band by achieving the unprecedented feat (for them) of scoring two hits from one album. The mournful ballad High Hopes follows Take It Back into the Top 40 - only the seventh time they have done this in a career stretching back to 1967.
No. 24: NEW ENTRY. Massive Attack - Sly
Massive Attack first hit the charts in February 1991, retitled 'Massive' as a sop to the Gulf War, with the now classic Unfinished Sympathy. Whilst the singer on that track Shara Nelson has charged off with a string of hits of her own the group themselves have been silent until now. They return with a new mellow rapped style and a string of good reviews to give them their first hit since their cover of Be Thankful For What You Got made No.27 in March 1992. [Ladies and gentlemen, the trip-hop era has begun].
No. 21: NEW ENTRY. Maxx - You Can Get It
The formula continues here with a third hit of the year for Maxx. Their first two hits Get-A-Way and No More (I Can't Stand It) were both Top 10 hits.
No. 20: NEW ENTRY. Green Day - Welcome To Paradise
Without question the band of the moment in the States, Green Day stalled a little over here first time out but now crash straight into the Top 20 with their second single. Not being too much of a fan of this kind of rock I won't pretend to be able to comment objectively on the chances of it progressing - suffice to say that Top 20 first week out for a virtually unknown band on the commercial fringe is not to be sniffed at.
No. 19: NEW ENTRY. China Black - Stars
With the success of Searching back in August, China Black achieved a breakthrough that they had been searching for for a far greater length of time than most people realise. Now they are off and running with a second hit and one that seems destined to be equally as classic as the first. Stars is a fairly lightweight, pretty piece of soul but good enough for most easy listening stations to fall in love with immediately. Further Top 10 success is not out of the question.
No. 18: FALLER. Madonna - Secret
With the album out this week the decline of this hit may be accelerated but interest in it has been kept alive for slightly longer than would otherwise have been the case thanks to a blistering dance remix of the track. The small sticking point is the slightly bizarre decision of Warners to release the mix commercially on the CD single only. The result is every club DJ across the country scrambling frantically for the few white label 12" pressings of the track in existence.
No. 17: CLIMBER. Ultimate Kaos - Some Girls
Whilst continuing to applaud the success of this single, I should at least hold my hand up and admit I was wrong last week to label the youngsters as an American group. In fact they all hail from this country. Sorry guys. [And Simon. Say sorry to Simon].
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. Rozalla - You'll Never Love The Same Way Twice
At first sight it may have appeared that Rozalla had missed a beat when the rather lacklustre This Time I Found Love could only stagger to No.33 in August. Down but not out, she crashes back onto the chart with a far more impressive piece of pop dance to score her biggest hit this year and her biggest hit since Are You Ready To Fly made No.14 in early 1992.
No. 15: CLIMBER. INXS - The Strangest Party (These Are The Times)
I mentioned last week that INXS had only ever managed one Top 10 hit in their entire career. They could be on course to rewrite that record as this track from their forthcoming Greatest Hits registers a massive climb of 16 places.
No. 9: NEW ENTRY. Sting - When We Dance
Biggest hit and possibly most welcome achievement of the week goes to Sting with a release of one of two new tracks from his Greatest Hits album due out soon. Despite a steadily improving string of hits, he had never scored a Top 10 hit since leaving the Police until earlier this year when 'All For Love' made No.2 in January. That wasn't a proper solo hit of course so in reality this should count as his first, as romantic a song as he has ever written and finally deservedly giving him the biggest hit of his solo career.
No. 6: CLIMBER. R.Kelly - She's Got That Vibe
R Kelly also it seems off and running with She's Got That Vibe belying the understated success of his first two hits and also wiping out the unimpressive No.57 that the track made when first released in May 1992.
No. 4: FALLER. Take That - Sure
A not completely unexpected but no less surprising drop for Take That as sales of the single drop from the phenomenal totals of the two weeks it spent at the top. Despite being the biggest fall from No.1 since Erasure's Abba-esque EP also fell from 1 to 4 in June 1992, the domination of Take That is by no means over, their last hit Love Ain't Here Any More is astonishingly still on the chart (albeit at the bottom end of the Top 75) after 13 weeks - and that only reached No.3. To fall a long way from No.1 is comparatively rare, 90% of chart toppers fall to No.2 or No.3. The record is held my Harry Belafonte whose rendition of 'Mary's Boy Child' fell from No.1 to No.12 in January 1958.
No. 2: CLIMBER. Whigfield - Saturday Night
The demise of the Take That record gives a false second dawn to those singles immediately below it with both Bon Jovi and Whigfield's sales dramatically down on what they were a fortnight ago.
No. 1: FIRST WEEK. Pato Banton - Baby Come Back
It always had the potential and now it has done it. 26 years after the song first topped the charts, the old Equals song is a No.1 hit again. Pato Banton's playful remake means the song becomes the 17th song to be No.1 in two different versions. It is also a triumph for UB40 brothers Ali and Robin Campbell who also appear on the track. Coincidentally the 16th song to be No.1 in a second version was Can't Help Falling In Love - performed on one of those occasions by UB40. Baby Come Back also benefitted largely from the drop by Take That, losing sales over last week and despite the new impetus being at No.1 will give it it will not take much to topple it. The only question is by whom...
