This week's Official UK Singles Chart
Preamble:
A surprisingly stagnant chart this week, with many records dropping significantly and a higher than average number of non-movers. 10 new entries, 7 climbers and 5 non-movers.
Analysis:
No. 35: NEW ENTRY. Rapination featuring Kym Mazelle - Love Me The Right Way
A record which nails the lie that nothing ever sells steadily in the UK anymore, this record was released before Christmas and has bubbled-under for a number of weeks, finally making the breakthrough this week thanks to concentrated radio airplay. It also marks the fourth different billing Kym Mazelle has received in the charts having scored hits solo, in a duet with Robert Howard and as featured artist on Soul II Soul's Missing You.
No. 34: NEW ENTRY. Fargetta and Anne-Marie Smith - Music
More dance remakes, with this one sending most people running to the hills with horror. Regarded as one of the greatest records ever made [orly?], John Miles' epic classic made No.3 in April 1976 and now gets the dance treatment in a style which fortunately does not detract too much from the romanticism and grandeur of the original. I would not like to guess how well this will do, chances are most people will hate it compared to the original. One thing that did surprise me though - although it is one of the greatest records ever made [see above] the original never made the US Top 40.
No. 32: NEW ENTRY. Belly - Feed The Tree
Student time now, with Belly making their chart debut with a fairly standard girlie-singer-with-dark-haired-men-on-jangly-guitars type of record. It won't capture the imagination of the record buyers as a whole but has to be applauded for being an original song - something lacking in the charts at the moment. Belly, for those that don't know feature ex-Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donnelley on lead vocals, which may account for its strong debut.
No. 31: NEW ENTRY. Leila K - Open Sesame
Cleverly jumping on the ragga bandwagon, Swedish rapper Leila K makes her solo debut. The name and voice are familiar to many - along with Rob N Raz she had a Top Ten hit with Got To Get back in December 1989. Since then her records have struggled but this high-powered commercial rap coupling a rave beat with a ragga style delivery may just revive her career.
No. 22: NEW ENTRY. Bon Jovi - Bed Of Roses
No, I haven't missed anything out, every single record between 31 and 22 is either going down or staying the same. Bon Jovi break the chain with this, the second single from their Keep the Faith album. The title track made No.3 in November but this new one is unlikely to climb quite as high, being a ballad which the band carry off well but never inspire the British public as much as they might. Still, as everyone's favourite track off the album it may just have the potential to climb higher.
No. 20: NEW ENTRY. Del Amitri - When You Were Young
Fourth single off the Change Everything album and a fourth hit, far in excess of Del Amitri's previous track record of only a couple of hit singles at a time. When You Were Young at a stroke beats the No. 25 peak of Just Like A Man back in September. The reason for the long gap between releases is simple - the single was originally scheduled for November but was pulled to stop it from being lost in the Christmas rush. On reflection a wise move...
No. 19: NEW ENTRY. Alice In Chains - Would?
An example of a fan base propelling a record into the charts, the hardcore rockers score their first hit but the radio-unfriendly nature of the track means it will plummet dramatically next week.
No. 18: CLIMBER. Paul McCartney - Hope Of Deliverance
Clever marketing brings Macca into the 20 for the first time since 1989. The sudden leap is due to the release last Monday of the 12" club mix of the song - credited to 'Big Mac'. The single's profile has also been raised by the controversy of the bonus track on the CD single, dealing with the environment which *gasp* uses the f-word. [That would be Big Boys Bickering which contained the line "fucking it up for everyone" and which did indeed cause a minor stir given it was like hearing your favourite uncle suddenly discover a potty mouth].
No. 15: CLIMBER. Go West - What You Won't Do For Love
Highest climber this week, going up 19 places and easily beating off the challenge of a rival club version, the existence of which forced the rush-release of this version. The sudden interest in the song is curious - Bobby Caldwell's original never charted over here despite being an American Top 20 hit in 1979.
No. 10: CLIMBER. Peter Gabriel - Steam
As expected, the video exposure the song is receiving gives Peter Gabriel his first Top 10 hit since 1986. Coincidentally [I think you mean 'incidentally' 1993 James] this new hit has a club mix of his first Top 10 hit Games Without Frontiers on the b-side.
No. 9: NEW ENTRY. Beloved - Sweet Harmony
An example of the 'Genesis effect' I suppose - Beloved return with a new lineup and their biggest hit ever. The album Happiness was THE album of early 1990 but the biggest hit it produced was the No.19 of Hello. Now reduced to just Jon Marsh and his wife Helena, the new Beloved single crashes in at 9 and has to be favoured for a possible No.1. [Alas not, but the video would become rather notorious featuring as it does a pre-fame Tess Daly in the nip].
No. 8: NEW ENTRY. Usura - Open Your Mind
Just to show that nothing is ever what it seems, even at a time when hardcore dance is losing its chart edge, a rave track can come from nowhere into the 10.
No. 7: NEW ENTRY. Sister Sledge - We Are Family (The '93 mixes)
Your eyes do not deceive you. at a time when the 1970s are suddenly hip again, one of the best soul disco records ever made return in a new set of mixes for 1993. The record (which gave Sister Sledge their biggest ever US hit) has thus become unique in being the first track ever to hit the chart on 3 separate occasions in 3 different mixes. The original made No.8 in June 1979 with a remix going to No.33 in November 1984. It also marks a return to the chart for the Amiercan family group - last time they were seen here was in 1985 when Dancing On The Jagged Edge made No.50 as the followup to the summer No.1 smash Frankie.
Top 5:
Statistical juggling time here. Depending on which way you look at it, this is the first time ever that the Top 5 has consisted entirely of remakes of previously recorded tracks. Aside from Whitney at the top, we have West End at 5 with The Love I Lost, Take That at 4 with Could It Be Magic, and Faith No More at 3 with I'm Easy. The only questionable point is the inclusion of Snap's Exterminate at 2 which technically is only a re-recording of the original track on their Madmans Return album rather than a remake of an oldie.
No. 1: 8th WEEK. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Can nothing stop her? [No no, no no no no...] Whitney thus matches the feat of Doris Day back i 1954 by recording an 8 week stretch at the top. It is still not the most successful female No.1 of all time though - Secret Love by Doris Day did clock up a solitary week at No.1 before being displaced and returning for that marathon 8 week stay. With records queueing up behind her and sales slipping fast, Whitney may not have much longer to reign [no valley too deep].
