This week's Official UK Singles Chart

1 MAMBO NO.5 (Lou Bega) 

For the second week running there are few surprises at the top end of the chart as Lou Bega clings on for a second week as the nation's bestseller. It is worth noting, as I never got round to making the point last week, that the success of Mambo No.5 and Mucho Mambo has given the late Perez Prado a surprise chart monopoly as he was of course the composer of both Mambo No.5 and Sway, the song upon which Shaft's hit is based - and both songs are Top 3 bestsellers for the second week running. Whilst a third week on top for Mr Bega cannot be ruled out he faces stiff competition next week - even if that competition comes in the shape of the Vengaboys. Whoever said life was fair?

2 THE LAUNCH (DJ Jean) 

Brace yourselves. The 1999 Ibiza season will grind to a halt over the next couple of weeks, thosands of blissed-out clubbers will swarm back home and the charts will be dominated by timely UK releases of the dance hits that have soundtracked the summer in the Mediterranean. The Launch is one such record. DJ Jean can lay claim to being one of Holland's most celebrated performers, resident at Amsterdam club It. His first ever single is really as camp as a dance record can get whilst still retaining some degree of credibility, the track is based around big beats, wailing horn riffs and at the centre a countdown - Five, Four, Three, Two, One... Hence The Launch. Get it? Of the many Ibiza-endorsed singles that are due out over the next few weeks this one possibily has the most commercial appeal of any of them and this Top 3 entry (giving Lou Bega a run for his money at the top as well) is far from undeserved.

4 BAILAMOS (Enrique Iglesias) 

[Superstar debut klaxon. Or does he not count?] The Wild Wild West soundtrack spawns another Top 10 hit in the shape of this debut single from Enrique Iglesias. Despite the hint of a reggae rhythm the track is an out and out romantic ballad complete with flamenco guitars and breathless vocals from the singer. Based on this evidence alone it is really no surprise that Enrique is of course the son of Julio Iglesias, the original Latin love-god who topped the charts himself in 1981 with Begin The Beguine and who was last seen in the British charts exactly 11 years ago, duetting with Stevie Wonder on My Love. Although a relative unknown in English-language markets Enrique is almost as massive as Ricky Martin in Latin markets having already recorded three albums. This marks his English language debut and strangely enough Enrique isn't the first junior member of the Iglesias dynasty to attempt to have a hit single this summer but he has fared a great deal better than his brother Julio Iglesias Jnr whose single failed to grace the Top 75 at all earlier this summer.

5 SUMMERTIME OF OUR LIVES (A1) 

After Be The First To Believe the latest pop sensations repeat their Top 10 feat with this followup single. If truth be known Summertime Of Our Lives sounds rather weak-kneed next t to the storming Eurodisco of their debut hit. Still the song has some pop pedigree behind it as it is co-written by D:Ream's Peter Cunnah and as another lightweight pop smash does everything that is asked of it. Rest assured that you won't have heard this in Ibiza.

6 I'VE GOT YOU (Martine McCutcheon) 

Second single time for Martine McCutcheon who now has to demonstrate that the massive Number One success of Perfect Moment was not a one-off. On the strength of this new release the jury is still out. I've Got You ups the tempo slightly with an acoustic backing that builds to a crescendo of a chorus that would sound perfect on a Sheryl Crow b-side. Those that are keen to shoot the former soap actress down will delight in the fact that the single has failed to make the Top 5, those who are keen to support her will enjoy the fact that this is an accurate representation of her debut album which is hardly going to set the world on fire but which will find a place in the home of plenty of Radio Two listeners. Personally I'm just enjoying the strange irony of a former soap actress whose character was killed off in a car crash happily forging a musical career that is also sat in the middle of the road! .

11 THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT (Offspring) 

In which thousands of disaffected Offspring fans sit back and exclaim "This is more like it." After notionally "selling out" with the two massive commercial smashes Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) and Why Don't You Get A Job the band rediscover their punk credentials with this upbeat rocker that is nicely propelled by chainsaw guitars and a healthy dose of attitude. Inevitably lacking the popular appeal of their last few hits the single is at the very least a reassuring demonstration that the band haven't quite forgotten their thrash roots and can revisit them with consummate ease.

18 RHYTHM AND BLUES ALIBI (Gomez) 

Well if Travis can suddenly go from indiepop also-rans to massive starts with a Number One album there is nothing to stop Gomez gradually working their way into the public consciousness as well. Certainly they are getting bigger with every single release as Rhythm And Blues Alibi creeps its way into the Top 20 to sail past the Number 21 peak of their last hit Bring It On. With the new album picking up rave reviews the future looks bright for Britain's most unique-sounding rock band.

24 GAMEMASTER (Lost Tribe)

More trance, more bleeps and more atmosphere from producers Matt Darey and Red Jerry. Those into the scene will love it of course, everyone else will surely be starting to wonder if these instrumental tracks aren't starting to all sound the same.

26 ELEVEN TO FLY (Tin Tin Out featuring Wendy Page) 

Something of a surprise here as Tin Tin Out's latest single scrapes weakly into the Top 30 this week. It is a strong contrast to the chart performance of past hits such as Here's Where The Story Ends and their stunning remix jobs on Corrs hits such as What Can I Do and Runaway. Singer on this hit is none other than Wendy Page... yes you know, former lead singer of Skin Games and currently one of pop's hottest songwriters. In conjunction with Jim Marr she wrote most of Billie's debut album and of course Perfect Moment, the track that Martine McCutcheon took to the top of the charts earlier this year. Sadly it seems she has been unable to work the magic on this track which will go down as one of Tin Tin Out's smaller hit singles.

30 SWEET CHILD O' MINE (Sheryl Crow) 

Here is another rather shockingly disappointing chart performance from an artist who is normally a lock for a Top 10 hit. Lifted from the soundtrack of the forthcoming Adam Sandler film Big Daddy this is surely one of Sheryl Crow's finest moments, a faithful yet folksky cover of the Guns N' Roses classic which was a Top Ten hit in this country back in 1989. It is a magnificent version of a very famous song and one which has had no problem at all in picking up airplay. Sadly it too will go down as one of her smaller hits, barely entering inside the Top 30.

35 SATURDAY NITE (Brand New Heavies) 

How can I talk about this without using the words "surprising" and "disappointing"? Tricky really as the Brand New Heavies barely scrape a place in the Top 40 with this new single, a taster for their forthcoming greatest hits collection. Rumour has it that none other than Carleen Anderson is being lined up to take over vocal duties for the group. By the looks of things they need the boost. [She fronted the group, subbing from N'Dea and Siedah, on their then-current Greatest Hits tour but never actually recorded with them which was something of a shame]. 

 37 DON'T DREAM (Dove) 

From the drawer marked 'bizarre' comes this single from rap duo Dove who have taken it upon themselves to perform a rap cover of the Crowded House classic Don't Dream It's Over. Stranger songs than this have been turned into rap singles before - but most have been bigger hits than this one.

39 BLUE (DA BA DEE) (Eiffel 65) 

Just a few short weeks after Lou Bega became only the second act in chart history to reach the Top 40 on import sales alone, French dance act [Italian, but you can see how that was an easy mistake to make] Eiffel 65 become the third. Blue has, just like Mambo No.5, been a massive smash hit on the continent for most of the summer and is due an official release very shortly. That hasn't stopped the single charting on import for most of the last few weeks and as you will see here this week it rockets from Number 51 tart placings for import copies of the Vengaboys' We're Going To Ibiza (released officially this week) and perhaps most amazingly of all (as it isn't even a dance record) Christina Aguilera's Genie In A Bottle which for the moment isn't scheduled to appear in the shops until the start of next month!