This week's Official UK Singles Chart

1 LET'S DANCE (Five)

It's oh so quiet. Something of a late August lull appears to have hit us at the moment, sales are low and for this week at least very few major new singles are released. All of this works in the favour of Five who spend a comfortable second week at the summit. As a result, Let's Dance can now lay claim to being their biggest hit ever, their other Number One singles Keep On Movin' and We Will Rock You both only staying at the top for a single week. Meanwhile, the rumours about the future of the band simply will not go away although something tells me that their run at the top is likely to be over sooner than their career. If this week represents a lull in new releases, brace yourselves for some potentially massive hit singles from Kylie Minogue, Victoria Beckham, Emma Bunton, Robbie Williams, Michael Jackson and dare I say it, even Bob The Builder and DJ Otzi. The race to Christmas starts here...
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4 TURN OFF THE LIGHT (Nelly Furtado)

With impeccable timing, the honour for the biggest new hit of the week falls to Nelly Furtado. The half-Canadian half-Portuguese singer made her singles chart debut back in March with I'm Like A Bird, the single peaking at Number 5 during a 5 week run inside the Top 10 and inspiring some strong sales of the album Whoah Nelly in the process. Her second hit goes one better in terms of chart placings and whilst it isn't quite as memorable as her first allows her to claim a second successive Top 5 hit.

6 HIDE U (Kosheen)

Kosheen hail from Bristol and consist of three members; Markee Substance, Darren Decoder and Sian Evans although of course, these may not actually be their real names. Hide U was first released in June last year and featured as a double a-side with Empty Skies, the single peaking at a rather miserable Number 73. Their next chart single came earlier this year when Slip & Slide Suicide peaked at No.50 in April. This remarkable turnaround in their chart fortunes has come thanks to the New York duo of John Creamer and Stephane K who have transformed Hide U in quite dramatic fashion. All but the vocals from the original drum n' bass version of the single have been discarded and instead the single has been transformed into a somewhat inspired club anthem that results in Kosheen landing their first ever smash hit single. It inspires memories of Boris Dlugosch's remix of Moloko's Sing It Back in 1999 which also removed all but the vocal track from the original. Moloko went on to notch up hit singles in their own right so let's hope the same magic works for Kosheen.
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11 HELP I'M A FISH (Little Trees)

The odd one or two of you who have been to see the animated film Help! I'm A Fish will be familiar with this song, being as it is the main theme to the soundtrack. The song arrives in the charts thanks to the teenage Danish trio of Little Trees although theirs is not the version that is actually heard in the film, the song having been originally performed by Creamy who also had the original Scandinavian hit. For whatever reason, this new version has been put together for international release and to its credit has become a reasonably sized hit in this country. The song prompts direct comparison with compatriots Aqua but whereas Aqua would infuse their songs with hooks so annoyingly catchy they had no option but to bury themselves into your brain this single is markedly more restrained. As a result Help I'm A Fish is little more than a bright, breezy, fun slice of Scandinavian pop but one which ultimately isn't actually that memorable.

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14 WONDER (Embrace)

Amidst speculation that their new album is to be their swansong, West Yorkshire's finest anthem-creators return to the singles chart. This brand mew hit arrives on the chart just over a year since their last, I Wouldn't Wanna Happen To You having charted at Number 23 in August last year. Wonder is their biggest hit single since You're Not Alone also charted this high in March last year but it is clear the days when near-classic tracks such as Come Back To What You Know and All You Good Good People were easy Top 10 hits back in '97 and '98.
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22 BLISS (Muse)

Muse's run of Top 20 hits grinds to a halt at 2 as Bliss fails to take advantage of the current lull in the market and can only land at Number 22. Still, let us not be too negative. It is, after all, their sixth consecutive Top 30 single in a run which stretches back to the release of Sunburn in March 2000.
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25 MIS CALIFORNIA (Dante Thomas featuring Pras)

Surprising some who expected this to be a larger hit single after being in almost constant rotation on MTV for the last few weeks, Dante Thomas can only creep into the Top 30. Not even the presence of Pras Michel (mentor of Dante Thomas and here making his first chart appearance in a long long time) can give the single a boost to the chart position its critical acclaim suggests it deserves. Maybe next time.
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40 SUN (Slusnik Luna)

Where Darude led so others are clearly set to follow. This instrumental dance single from Finland creeps into the bottom end of the Top 40 with almost as much energy as it will have falling out next week. Good grief it was quiet this week wasn't it? Thank goodness next week looks set to be much more exciting.