This week's Official UK Singles Chart
1 UNCHAINED MELODY (Gareth Gates)
No change at the top then as the commanding lead that Gareth Gates carved for himself last week is more than enough to ensure that he has at least a fortnight at the summit. Indeed his sales remain at phenomenally high levels, Unchained Melody selling around 228,000 copies last week to take it easily past one million in total. A quick glance down the rest of the listings shows that even without a six-figure sale, the lack of any direct competition for the Number One position would have ensured him a second week at the summit. The Pop Idol candidates have all been on tour with a specially produced ensemble show for the past week or so which has helped keep their names in lights but other than that the whole media circus appears now to be grinding to a halt. Something tells me the music is about to move on to the next big thing but for those of you who are becoming weary of the five weeks we have spent with the charts dominated by the TV-created stars, just scan the release schedules and take heart from the fact that we could well see the likes of the Sugababes at the top of the listings in a few weeks time.
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5 4 MY PEOPLE (Missy Elliott featuring Eve)
Last seen inside the Top 40 in August last year with One Minute Man, Missy Elliott lays claim to the highest new entry this week. Like the aforementioned hit and its predecessor Get UR Freak On, this track is taken from last years acclaimed Miss E... album. For this single release however, 4 My People has been transformed by none other than Basement Jaxx into a slightly subtler house groove but one, as this chart position indicates, works a treat. Three Top 10 hits from the same album is a level of consistency she has never before achieved in her career. The single also features a vocal contribution from Eve who thus makes her second Top 10 appearance inside a month after she also appeared on City High's Caramel which made Number 9 three weeks ago.
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7 SHAKE UR BODY (Shy FX & T-Power featuring Di)
In from nowhere (at least in commercial terms) to the Top 10 this week are Londoners Andre Williams and Marc Royal aka Shy FX and T Power. Shake UR Body is an enticing slice of drum n' bass given a slightly more commercial edge thanks to some latin rhythms and the added vocals of Di who has been borrowed from R&B trio Truce for this project. The duo have actually been making underground tracks for the best part of a decade now and indeed Shake UR Body began life as an instrumental track before they added the vocals and found themselves with a commercial smash. They picked their moment well to release this, the quiet nature of the chart ensuring they make a huge impact.
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11 ONE DAY IN YOUR LIFE (Anastacia)
Back on more familiar ground now as Anastacia scores with her sixth chart hit and the second to be taken from her new album Freak Of Nature, following on from Paid My Dues which hit Number 14 just before Christmas. Curiously enough despite the way each of her singles have been all over the radio upon release she has until now only notched up one Top 10 hit. Her debut I'm Outta Love made Number 6 in September 2000 and so One Day In Your Life (nothing to do with the Michael Jackson track incidentally) has the honour of being her joint second biggest hit to date, matching the chart peak of Not That Kind from February 2001. Coincidentally both I'm Outta Love and One Day In Your Life are penned by the same men, Sam Watters and Louis Biancniello. The pair were also responsible for Jessica Simpson's I Wanna Love You Forever which was a Number 7 hit in 2000.
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16 SILENT SIGH (Badly Drawn Boy)
A welcome return to the chart after almost a year away for Damon Gough, aka Badly Drawn Boy. His last hit single was Spitting In The Wind which made Number 22 in May last year, this following on from his being awarded the 2000 Mercury Music Prize for his debut album Hour Of The Bewilderbeest. His latest project is the soundtrack to the new Hugh Grant film About A Boy of which this is the first single. Silent Sigh is just what you would expect, another rather lovely strummed track featuring his own sweetly distinctive vocals. It gives this most unlikely of chart stars his biggest ever hit single in this country. Some may wonder why he is constraining himself with a movie soundtrack rather than stretching his wings with a totally original album but if the film is a success then the music of Badly Drawn Boy will be exposed to a far wider audience than before - and that surely cannot be a bad thing. [This single proves that if Ed Sheeran didn't exist, there would have been no need to invent him. We already had Badly Drawn Boy].
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18 FLOWERS IN THE WINDOW (Travis)
Travis make the singles chart for the first time in 2002 with their thirteenth hit single and the follow-up to Side which made Number 14 back in September. The Brit award winners have included their own tribute to George Harrison on this single, a live version of Here Comes The Sun gracing the CD single. All in all the Invisible Band album hasn't done too badly for them, producing some tuneful mid-table hit singles and of course garnering them the aforementioned Brit award to make them only the fourth band to win Best British Group twice. Their only challenge now of course is to come up with something a little more innovative before they stagnate.
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They may still be relative unknowns here but Outkast are about to release the the fifth album of their career. They mark the occasion by returning to the singles chart for the first time since So Fresh So Clean made Number 16 in June last year. Their biggest hit of course remains Ms Jackson which hit Number 2 in March 2001.
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A third hit single for Sum 41, this following on from Fat Lip (Number 8 in October 2001) and In Too Deep (Number 13 in December). The usual deal applies here, fun, bounding American (or in this case Canadian) rock with a killer chorus. Admittedly there is but a cigarette paper of difference between the likes of Sum 41 and Blink 182 et al but when the music is this enjoyable, who are we to argue?
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Back! Last seen in the charts in May 2000 with Autophilia, this is a brand new track that is taken from their forthcoming singles collection which gathers together their entire singles output dating back to 1995. Longtime music fans could be forgiven for mistaking this for an Electric Light Orchestra song, the thumping piano rhythm being oddly reminiscent of Mr Blue Sky but aside from that this is a quite uplifting reminder of just how good the Bluetones can be (just check out that honky tonk piano coda). Sadly it doesn't exactly represent a return to chart form, their last Top 10 single Solomon Bites The Worm from 1998 feeling like a long time ago.
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The first hit single for Marc et Claude since their Korgis remake I Need Your Lovin' (Like The Sunshine) made Number 12 in July 2000. Their only other chart success came back in 1998 when LA made Number 28. As for this track, well as always it makes a pleasant enough noise but it is little that hasn't been done before.
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37 WHERE'S MY... (Adam F featuring Lil' Mo)
A second Top 40 entry for Adam F whose main selling point is the way he has gone to the States to work with as many big hip-hop names as he could manage. Hence Redman appeared on his first single Smash Sumthin' which made Number 11 back in September last year and M.O.P. were on the follow-up Stand Clear (Number 43 in November). For this single Lil' Mo supplies the vocals, making this her biggest hit single since she appeared on Whatever by Ideal Us which made Number 31 in September 2000.
