CHART: UK Top 40 Analysis - Week Ending February 26th 1994
James Masterton
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Some big new hits and a lot of movement at the top end but it still
belies a tale of chart recession. Only 2 records climb this week, with
most of last weeks new hits falling dramatically from their promising
starts. 12 others try their hand this week with 3 other records staying
the same.
Analysis:
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No. 40: FALLER. Richard Marx - Now And Forever
No. 39: FALLER. Saint Etienne - Pale Movie
No. 38: NEW ENTRY. Marradona - Out Of My Head
No. 37: FALLER. NKOTB - Dirty Dawg
No. 36: FALLER. Chaka Demus and Pliers - Twist And Shout
No. 35: FALLER. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Can't Wait To Be With You
No. 34: FALLER. Shara Nelson - Uptight
No. 33: NEW ENTRY. Cocteau Twins - Bluebeard
The second hit in recent months for the Cocteau Twins after
their return to form with 'Evangeline' in October which peaked
at No.34. The masters of the dreamy indie ballad, they seem
forever destined to never have a big hit. 'Bluebeard' is only
their fourth Top 40 hit ever in a chart career that stretches
back 10 years.
No. 32: NEW ENTRY. Sting - Nothing 'Bout Me
Notching up hits like there is no tomorrow, Sting's new hit
becomes his first since the remixed 'Demolition Man' made No.21
in November. 'Nothing Bout Me' goes back to the album and this
breezy uptempo track, its chart position helped no end by the
accompanying set of remixes of 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In
You'. In a way it's a shame they are not a single in their own
right, transforming the ballad into the kind of record
'Demolition Man' proved that Sting should be making in the
first place.
No. 31: NEW ENTRY. Jam And Spoon - Right In The Night
Culture Beat may be the ones to have international hits but
back home in Germany it is Jam and Spoon who are the true
superstars of German dance. They have never had an
international hit until now, previously only charting back in
1992 at No.49 with the 'Tales From A Danceographic Ocean' EP
from which the track 'Stella' has now become a club classic.
All that changes now as 'Right In The Night' charges into the
Top 40. It's combination of a brilliant pop tune and rampant
flamenco rhythms should be enough to make it the biggest hit of
the next few months. If I hadn't become so cynical about public
taste recently I would stick my neck out and say this will be
No.1 by the end of March... It could happend I suppose.
No. 30: FALLER. Sasha - Higher Ground
No. 29: FALLER. Haddaway - I Miss You
Probably the last gasp for Haddaway this week, one of only two
hits in the chart still left over from the end of last year.
No. 28: NEW ENTRY. Gabrielle - Because Of You
A major soul talent she may be but Gabrielle has stalled
slightly since the No.1 success of 'Dreams' in June last year.
Her fourth hit is likely to be her smallest so far, following
on from 'I Wish' which peaked at No.26 just before Christmas.
No. 27: FALLER. Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall
No. 26: FALLER. Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby
No. 25: FALLER. Urban Cookie Collective - Sail Away
No. 24: FALLER. Proclaimers - Let's Get Married
No. 23: FALLER. Crowded House - Locked Out
No. 22: NEW ENTRY. Level 42 - Forever Now
Times are hard for Level 42, the chart stalwarts who started
their career in 1980 as the forerunners of a new British
Jazz/Funk boom and who have steadily reinvented themselves over
the years, peaking in chart terms in the mid-80s with the pop
brilliance of the 'Running In The Family' album before
suffering a dramatic fall which culminated in their longtime
label Polydor rejecting their latest album in 1991 and dropping
them. Said album was 'Guaranteed' which was eventually released
by RCA but which produced only one hit single in the shape of
the title track which made No.17 in August 1991. 'Forever Now'
from a new album is their first Top 40 hit since, and is really
a typical Level 42 track. Fans of Mark King et al love it of
course, most others I suspect will be indifferent to it. It's
still and impressive 27th hit in a 14 year career. That in
itself is not to be sniffed at.
No. 21: RE-ENTRY. Cypress Hill - Insane In The Brain
First released back in July last year when Cypress Hill were
virtual unknowns over here, 'Insane In The Brain' peaked at
No.32. Since then their stature has grown with the US rap
superstars penetrating effectively the limited UK rap market.
The two followup singles both made the Top 20 and now, as the
country is poised for a string of live dates, the track that
first made their name is re-released and charges back into the
Top 30.
No. 20: NEW ENTRY. Soundgarden - Spoonman
Overshadowed perhaps by certain other Seattle garage bands,
Soundgarden are still one of grunge's best kept secrets. All
that may change soon as 'Spoonman' crashes in to give them only
their second Top 40 hit ever, eclipsing the No.30 peak of
'Jesus Christ Pose' back in April 1992.
No. 19: NEW ENTRY. SWV - Downtown
After months of struggling, SWV finally had a massive hit back
in the summer with the 'Human Nature' remix of 'Right Here'
which would up one of the biggest hits of the season. Reverting
back from that pop brilliance to their usual harder swingbeat
may not be the most commercial thing they could do but
'Downtown' at least gives them their first hit since, their
third Top 20 hit to follow the aforementioned smash and also
their debut 'I'm So Into You' which made No.17 in May last
year.
No. 18: FALLER. Aretha Franklin - A Deeper Love
No. 17: FALLER. K7 - Come Baby Come
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Two Tribes
With all the others reissued it was clearly a shame to ignore
this one. Ten years on it is easy to forget the impact this
record had. Proving that the naughtiness of 'Relax' was no
fluke, 'Two Tribes' was possibly the bands (and producer Trevor
Horn's) masterpiece. Crashing straight into No.1 in June 1984
it stayed there for 9 weeks, selling nearly 2 million copies
and joining 'Relax' as one of the Top 10 best selling single of
all time. The same success is of course unlikely this time
around, not least because it appears in a new remix which
effectively rips the heart out of the song, even to the extent
of missing out the dramatic orchestral introduction voiced by
Patrick Allen that was a central point of the original epic. Of
all these recent reissues, only 'Relax' has performed as well
as first time round, its chart run in October last year when it
peaked at No.5 was enough to make the track the third biggest
single of all time.
No. 15: FALLER. Cranberries - Linger
No. 14: FALLER. Wendy Moten - Come In Out Of The Rain
No. 13: NEW ENTRY. Elton John and RuPaul - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Oh dear. Arguably the most glorious record Elton and Bernie
ever wrote, 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' was the biggest hit of
Elton John's career wordlwide and for years here was his only
taste of No.1 glory. Following his chart reunion with original
duettist Kiki Dee with 'True Love' Elton now releases this new
version accompanied by drag queen RuPaul. Aside from the ironic
joke of having the male/female love song now sung by a man
dressed as a woman together with the openly bisexual Elton, the
record itself is what amounts to an unholy massacre, replacing
the glorious Philly pastiche of the original with a series of
anodyne electronics. Taken on its own the record is creditable
enough and sales are clearly boosted by the performance of the
singers as hosts of last week's Brit awards ceremony but in
comparison with the original it really does not deserve the
time of day, and certainly not a No.13 placing. It finally give
RuPaul a big hit though, following both 'Supermodel' and 'House
Of Love', neither of which could progress beyond the bottom end
of the chart.
No. 12: FALLER. Reel 2 Reel - Like To Move It
No. 11: CLIMBER. Meat Loaf - Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through
Only two of last week's crop of new hits improve on their
original place and this is the only move of significance.
No. 10: FALLER. Cappella - Move On Baby
No. 9: FALLER. Celine Dion - The Power Of Love
No. 8: CLIMBER. 2 Unlimited - Let The Beat Control Your Body
In a week of such uninspiring chart activity, any achievement
at all is to be credited so well done at least to 2 Unlimited,
even for only a 1 place climb.
No. 7: NEW ENTRY. Ace Of Base - The Sign
One of the biggest hits of last year was Ace Of Base's 'All
That She Wants' which made No.1 all over Europe and
surprisingly for a continental hit also became a smash in the
United States. Followup 'Wheel Of Fortune' could only make
No.20 though whilst a third single missed the Top 40
altogether. It looked as if they would become merely a flash in
the pan and hardly 'The New Abba' as the Swedish foursome were
labelled at the time. All that changes now though with this
track that was specially recorded for the American market and
did not appear on the European version of the 'Happy Nation'
album. Released now to coincide with its Stateside Top 10
success, 'The Sign' returns Ace Of Base to the top end of the
charts and must surely put them in contention for a second No.1
hit.
No. 6: CLIMBER. Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting - All For Love
The imminent release of the film helps the theme from 'Three
Musketeers' to sustain its sales slightly and actually climb
back up the charts after seemingly going into decline.
No. 5: FALLER. Toni Braxton - Breathe Again
No. 4: NON-MOVER. Enigma - Return To Innocence
No. 3: NEW ENTRY. Suede - Stay Together
A part of me is tempted to imagine Brett Anderson gathering the
other members of Suede around him and saying 'Look guys, the
hype is starting to die down and our career will soon be over
so we had better make our masterpiece now'. Well why not after
all. In terms of press coverage the glam revivalists were the
biggest band of last year, yet for all that only had two hits
'Animal Nitrate' making No.7 and 'So Young' crashing in at
No.22 before crashing straight out again. The epic 'Stay
Together' changes that, instantly becoming their biggest hit
ever and clearly made with 'this is a classic' written all over
it. I would be very surprised if it tops the charts, being as
it is still a fairly standard piece of what must now be
regarded as uniquely Suede.
No. 2: NON-MOVER. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better
No. 1: SECOND WEEK. Mariah Carey - Without You
Unassailable for now at the top, Mariah Carey spends a second
week in charge. When she went straight in at the top last week
it was a remarkable achievement. Although it is the 35th record
to go straight to the top of the charts it is the first ever to
be sung by a woman. By a strange quirk of fate, every single
instant No.1 has been either by a male soloist or an all-male
group, the only possible exception being Lulu's contributing
performance to Take That's 'Relight My Fire' back in October.
Other women have come close, most especially Kylie Minogue who
has missed out by a whisker on any number of occasions but
Mariah is the first to ever do it on her own terms. 'Without
You' is also the 17th song to make No.1 in two versions,
following the success of Nilsson's original version back in
1972. That original has also be re-released but has yet to make
it into the upper reaches of the chart, possibly as radio has
seen fit so far to ignore it. In a way it is a shame. The
recent tragic death of Harry Nilsson would have made it a
candidate for re-release anyway and without the competition of
Mariah's sound but still inferior version it may well have
become a massive hit all over again.
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James Masterton - 25/2/94
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| James Masterton | Give me some time, Lend me your hand |
| hid...@cent1.lancs.ac.uk | Reach into the dark and you'll understand |
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