This week's Official UK Singles Chart
No. 40: NEW ENTRY. Edie Brickell - Good Times
Virtually everyone seems to be referring to this lady simply in her capacity as Mrs Paul Simon which in many ways is a crying shame. Edie Brickell first came to prominence in 1989 when she reached No.31 with What I Am. Five hitless years have followed until now, with the release of what is easily the best single she has ever made, loved to death by radio and which trips along nicely when suddenly up pops Barry White at the end. It hasn't a hope of getting any further sadly but is refreshing all the same. [The video for this would become notorious, bundled with every copy of Windows 95 a year later as a demonstration of its multimedia capabilities].
No. 38: NEW ENTRY. Dodgy - Staying Out For The Summer
A long-awaited Top 40 breakthrough by Dodgy, loved on the underground circuit for years and finally now getting around to charting hits. They first achieved recognition in 1992 with their Black and White single - a doubled-sided effort pressed on black vinyl on one side and white on the other...
No. 37: NEW ENTRY. A House - Here Come The Good Times
A long-overdue breakthrough too for the quirky Irish group who have been floating around for over six years now with their own unique brand of pop. This Top 40 entry has been built up to with a series of near misses over the past few months, building on the success of tracks such as Endless Art which narrowly missed on a Top 40 placing in June 1992.
No. 35: NEW ENTRY. Babyface - When Can I See You
If you ask me Babyface is no less silly a name than his real one of Kenneth Edmonds but still... the celebrated US producer who along with LA Reid virtually controlled American pop in the late 1980s, orchestrating the early careers of Bobby Brown and Karyn White amongst others. Now he charts a solo single over here, a full five years though since his first hit solo in America - it is such an average piece of US swingbeat you wonder if it was worth the wait.
No. 32: NEW ENTRY. Saint Etienne - Hug My Soul
They get rave reviews but never any big hits it seems. It's been a full eight months since Pale Movie staggered to No.28 and now Sarah Cracknell and the lads return with what is probably not the most straightforward single they have ever released, moving away from the pretty pop tunes they have produced of late and going back to their ambient dub roots and the sort of sound that dominates their albums. No major surprises then and no large hits - for now.
No. 26: NEW ENTRY. Roger Taylor and Yashiki - Foreign Sand
The second solo hit for Queen drummer Roger Taylor. It follows on from Nazis 1994 which made No.22 back in May which caused a stir when its subject matter caused adverts for it to be rejected for being too political and which attracted the chagrin of the singer when radio refused to play it, also on political grounds but possibly also due to the fact that it was a useless record. The new single moves back to the kind of multi-layered sound of Queen recordings of old, if a little pompous and ponderous - too much in fact to force it up much further.
No. 24: NEW ENTRY. Bomb The Bass with Justin Warfield - Bug Powder Dust
Bomb the Bass is effectively Tim Simenon, the teenager who in early 1988 released as a single the track he had made as part of a college sound engineering project. That track was Beat Dis which reached No.2 and spearheaded the House explosion of that year and whose effects are still being felt in the music today. Since then the project has careered on in a variety of styles, mainly underground but surfacing every so often in the mainstream, latterly in 1991 with the hit single Winter In July and the album Unknown Territory. Now he returns once again although sadly the result is not worth the wait. Gone is the smooth sound of Winter... and instead we have a fairly hardcore rap track that I suspect has got this high on hype alone - still enough though to give the band a fifth Top 30 single in the last six years. Interestingly enough every Bomb The Bass single to make the Top 40 has made the Top 10 - this may be the track to spoil that perfect record.
No. 20: NEW ENTRY. Cranberries - Zombie
If the forthcoming new album from the Cranberries seems like a rush after the chart success of their first earlier this year it may have something to do with the fact that it had been around for nearly two years before the British and American success of the single 'Linger'. Six months on then and a totally new single appears although sadly it seems not one with any of the charm of Linger or Dreams but instead a rather harsh gaelic reel with Delores at times sounding as if she would be better off singing in her native language rather than in English [a harsh assesment, as it grows on you and indeed would become one of the group's most iconic hits]. Still, criticism aside it becomes the second Top 20 hit for the group and with all the media coverage they are getting it may not be the last.
No. 17: NEW ENTRY. 2 Unlimited - No One
What a nuisance. Here I am all set to launch an account of a new 2 Unlimited single with a witty precis of the melodic and formulaic similarity to everything else they have ever released and what happens? They go and release a track that sounds completely different to all the others! Joking aside, it is absolutely true, No One being the closest they will probably ever get to a conventional pop song and more deservedly a smash hit than some of their recent output. It could well end up their third Top 10 hit of the year and is now their 11th consecutive Top 20 hit.
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. Pato Banton - Baby Come Back
More reggae covers only for a change a cover of a song that is a reggae classic already. Originally written by Eddy Grant and a No.1 hit for his band The Equals in 1968, Baby Come Back is one of those tracks which has remained timeless and an instant floor filler in a way that no other 1960s track can manage. The new version is to be honest not half bad with toasting from newcomer Pato Banton and singing supplied by Ali and Robin Campbell from UB40, following Bitty McLean as the second protege they have helped into the charts. Easily a hit then and a possible contender for a Top 10 placing.
No. 13: NEW ENTRY. Reel 2 Real - Can You Feel It
Fast becoming the 2 Unlimited of ragga, Reel 2 Real score a third hit with another variation on the formula that gave them their last two - still it is not to be knocked as I Like To Move It is still one of the bestsellers of the year despite never climbing higher than No.5.
No. 11: CLIMBER. Michelle Gayle - Sweetness
A small climb for Michelle Gayle to match the peak of her debut hit Looking Up. Its the kind of single that grows on you with each play and could well make the Top 10 next week with a push.
No. 8: FALLER. Wet Wet Wet - Love Is All Around
Its almost like an addiction to keep commenting on it I know, but it is worth pointing out that the single of the year is now spending its first week out of the Top 5 after 20 weeks on the chart - now that is some hit.
No. 7: NEW ENTRY. East 17 - Steam
The second hit single from the forthcoming new album from East 17 and it crashes straight in at the same point as the last one All Around The World. Whilst the last single was in truth a little wimpy Steam cranks up the pace and marks a return to the white-boy pop/rap the band have carved a niche for themselves with.
No. 6: CLIMBER. Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories - Stay (I Missed You)
Credit where credit's due, I did not rate the prospects of this track when it first charted but it has proved to be a sleeper, making the Top 10 now on its fifth chart week.
No. 5: CLIMBER. Cyndi Lauper - Hey Now (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)
A similarly impressive climb for Cyndi Lauper and her re-recorded classic which makes the Top 10 a full ten years after the original. Its only the fourth Top 10 hit of Cyndi Lauper's career and her first since I Drove All Night made No.7 in 1989.
No. 3: CLIMBER. Bon Jovi - Always
Climbing easily and Always now becomes Bon Jovi's biggest hit to date, overtaking the No.4 hit of the track that appears in a re-recorded form on this single - Living On A Prayer.
No. 1: THIRD WEEK. Whigfield - Saturday Night
Love it or hate it there is no stopping this single with another high sale this week. According to the record company they have now shipped 750,000 copies to the shops and although it will be a number of weeks before they are all actually sold it is testament to the demand for the track. When Saturday Night crashed straight in to the top slot a fortnight ago it joined one of the most illustrious lists in the record books. To go straight in at No.1 is still a comparatively rare feat, despite the flood of records to achieve this in recent years. Of the 710 records to hit No.1, Saturday Night is only the 37th to hit the top first week out but the pace is definately hotting up with the last 7 being in the last 18 months, a total inflated slightly though by the four instant chart toppers achieved by Take That - more than any other act ever.
