This week's Official UK Singles Chart
1 DEEPER UNDERGROUND (Jamiroquai)
The film may be hated by the critics but it does not stop the soundtrack producing the biggest hit of the week. As 'Godzilla' finally opens in this country the song that plays over the end credits charges straight to the top of the charts, helped in no small way by the expensive video which sees lead singer Jay Kay survive a wave of computer generated destruction. It marks a triumphant first Number One hit for Jamiroquai, five years after their Top 40 debut with Too Young To Die. Since then the band have amassed a string of hits, five of which have made the Top 10 but until now only Virtual Insanity has penetrated the Top 3. Deeper Underground is duly the 796th Number One hit.
2 FREAK ME (Another Level)
Just a week at the top then for Another Level, even close sung harmonies cannot defeat mutant monsters (Godzilla I mean, not Jay Kay). For the benefit of the many who mailed me about this last week the answer is yes, Freak Me is indeed the same song that Silk took to Number One in America in 1993. Over here the original fared less well, peaking at Number 46 when first released in April 1993 and crashing out at Number 72 when re-released the following February. This of course isn't the first time a US R&B hit has become much more successful when covered by British artists, witness East 17's smash hit with Shai's If I Ever Fall In Love (retitled If You Ever) in late 1996.
4 YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT (John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John)
Does this single need any introduction? Re-released in the wake of the 20th anniversary reissue of the film, one of the biggest soundtrack hits in history crashes back into the UK Top 10 with ease. You're The One That I Want was first released in May 1978 and climbed quickly to Number One, staying there for a phenomenal nine weeks. To this day it is still one of the ten biggest selling singles of all time in this country and something of a timeless classic. A re-release (with the right excuse of course) could hardly fail and so it proves. This is actually the third time You're The One That I Want has charted in the 1990s. At Christmas 1990 it was part of the rather terrible Grease Megamix which somehow made it to Number 3 whilst in 1993 the song reached Number 13 in a version performed by Craig McLachlan and Debbie Gibson, the original stars of the revival of the original stage musical.
5 LIFE IS A FLOWER (Ace Of Base)
Believe it or not it is five years since All That She Wants, the massive international hit that made the name of Ace Of Base. Furthermore it is two years since their last hit Beautiful Life but clearly their commercial stock is as high as ever as this brand new single charges into the Top 10 to become their biggest hit since Don't Turn Around charted in June 1994. No longer "the new Abba" but the Ace Of Base of old and in many ways like a breath of fresh air. Or flowers.
9 KISS THE GIRL (Peter Andre)
Of the four biggest new hits on the chart this week, no less than three of them are connected to film soundtracks. Eight years after it was first released, Disney are re-promoting the film that marked a resurgence in the fortunes of the famous studio - The Little Mermaid. To help promote the re-release in the face of other summer competition they have arranged for parts of the soundtrack to be reworked by other artists, not to replace the actual songs in the film but to give the soundtrack a more contemporary feel. Hence Peter Andre has recorded this new version of Kiss The Girl which dutifully becomes the first song from the film to become a UK hit. Whereas the original song in the film is a happy-go-lucky calypso singalong this new version brings the tempo right down to turn the song into a sexy ballad. Personally I don't think it works as well but maybe I am looking at it from the wrong perspective, as a pop hit it appears to have revitalised the stock of Peter Andre who had seen his teen appeal fall away thanks to more credible urban-flavoured singles such as All About Us which were a world away from his more celebrated hits such as Mysterious Girl. Pop, Urban or soundtrack balladeer he is at least a consistent chart performer, this is his seventh Top 10 hit from 8 releases, the flow only broken by January's All Night All Right which peaked at Number 16. At the time of the film's first release Under The Sea was released as a single as sung by Sebastian the Crab but it failed to chart. Perhaps bizarrely on the 1998 soundtrack said song is performed by Shaggy.
10 MAS QUE NADA (Echobeatz)
After the original come the cover versions. The second version of Mas Que Nada to chart is by far the most popular dance version of the song from the Nike advert and beats the other versions floating around to land just inside the Top 10. Extensively reworked with female vocals and house pianos it is still just about recognisable as the same song although I suspect most of its sales have come on the back of its club popularity rather than as a modern day alternative to the Tamba Trio version that soundtracked the original advert. Wheel on Quincy Jones and the music from the other Nike World Cup TV ad.
12 CAFE DE MAR '98 (Energy 52)
The Cafe Del Mar is probably the most famous such establishment in Ibiza. Traditionally a relaxing place to sit and watch the sunset, since the island's transformation into a mecca for holidaying clubgoers it is the best place outside of a formal club to find Europe's hottest mixers plying their trade. This piece of instrumental techno was written by the German producers Energy 52 a number of years ago as a tribute to the Cafe Del Mar but has hitherto avoided being picked up for commercial release. Finally yet another 'long lost' dancefloor classic hits the UK charts, just missing out on a place in the Top 10.
14 NEW KIND OF MEDICINE (Ultra Nate)
Slowing down the tempo slightly for a more retro disco sound but still distinctly an Ultra Nate single, the hits are clearly set to keep rolling for Ultra Nate. This is the third hit of her revived career following Free and her most recent smash Found A Cure which both made the Top 10. In a way it is a shame this new single should see her chart positions slide as it is every bit as magical as its predecessors.
17 GUNMAN 98 (187 Lockdown)
Re-release time for this single, a move which comes hot on the heels of the brief Top 10 run of Kung-Fu back in April (it peaked at Number 9). Gunman was originally released in November last year when it reached Number 16 - a position which maybe this remix should have bettered.
23 CAN'T LET HER GO (Boyz II Men)
Boyz II Men post a slight improvement on chart placings following the rather spectacular failure of Song For Mama which became their smallest chart hit ever when it peaked at Number 34 at the start of December last year. Their 12th UK hit marks a surprising deviation from their usual syrupy romance and instead heads for the dancefloor on what is their hardest sounding single since Motownphilly and a glance at the writing credits will reveal why, this single is a collaboration with Sean 'Puffy' Combs. It is maybe unlikely to grow any bigger than this but you can rest assured they will be back in the Top 10 just as soon as the time is right for another treacle-laden ballad.
28 TELL ME (Billie Myers)
This is Billie Myers' second single and the one which has been creating headlines for itself over the last few weeks thanks to the slightly raunchy video that accompanies the track and which is unlikely to be shown on daytime television. Less immediate than Kiss The Rain its chart entry proves that Billie Myers needs more than a few bondage images if she is to start a sustainable career.
30 ANGEL (Massive Attack)
Eerie, enchanting and still quite magical, Massive Attack follow up Teardrop with this new single that sees them settle back into mid-table obscurity in terms of chart positions. Not that one can complain, commercial pop this is not, despite all the critical acclaim.
35 YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE (Carreras/Domingo/Pavarotti)
Just when you thought there couldn't be any more World Cup related records, here comes one to commemorate the end of the tournament. The 3 Tenors concert featured Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras is starting to become as much a part of the World Cup as the football itself. Their concert underneath the Eiffel Tower the day before the final was the third such event since the first in Italy in 1990. Just as in 1990 and 1994 a live album of the event is due for release and just as in 1994 a studio single has been released to tease it up. Last time around the trio reached Number 21 with the double a-side of Libiamo and La Donna E Mobile. This time around they have gone for a more conventional song, the Rodgers and Hammerstein ballad from Carousel that is the terrace anthem of Liverpool Football Club and one of the most famous show tunes of all time. It is the fifth version of the song to chart. Three of them have been Number One hits - most famously Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963 of course followed by the charity congregation The Crowd in 1985 (also featuring Gerry Marsden on lead vocals) and Robson and Jerome in 1996. What is less well documented is that Elvis Presley recorded the song, his version reaching Number 44 in 1968. You'll Never Walk Alone has also featured on one more chart record - the original film soundtrack to Carousel which sold enough copies in 1956 to register a couple of times on the old NME Top 20. This was back in the days when LPs were still a minority interest and a formal chart for the long playing format was not introduced until 1958, hence the albums presence on the 'singles' bestseller lists.