CHART: Uk Top 40 Analysis - Week Ending 16/1/93
James Masterton
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This time of year is traditionally known as the 'Post-Christmas
Shakeout' where many of the Christmas records drop heavily, leaving the
way open for a whole crop of new releases for the new year. For some
reason this has not happened to quite the same extent this year, with
the changeover being no more rapid than it would at any other time of
year. The chart this week boasts 10 new entries (5 of which are remakes
of old songs!), 10 climbers, 3 non-movers.
Analysis:
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No. 39: NEW ENTRY. Time Fequency - New Emotion. Another chart, another
dance crossover which in the current climate has little hope of
progressing any further. Interested watchers may care to note that many
of the dance records in the chart this week are symptomatic of the
latest trend of songs coming back into vogue, rather than just a
collection of bleeps. 'New Emotion' even has a tune to it.
No. 37: NEW ENTRY. Cher - Many Rivers To Cross. The surprise Christmas
album chart-toppper was Cher's Greatest Hits album and to celebrate the
one other 'new' track from it is released. Despite being a standard, the
song has only ever had one other chart outing, being taken to No.16 by
UB40 in December 1983.
No. 34: NEW ENTRY. Go West - What You Won't Do For Love. Remake Number 2
but this time a song that will be unfamiliar to the vast majority of the
British public. The original, despite being an American Top Ten hit in
the 1970s never charted over here. It's further progress is
questionable, however, Go West's brand of pop/rock being it seems lost
on the British public, although they are here following up the Top
Twenty success of 'Faithful'.
No. 27: CLIMBER. Paul McCartney - Hope Of Deliverance. The last time
Macca had a Top Ten hit was in 1987 with 'One Upon a Long Ago'. Since
then his track record has not been quite as impressive. Critical opinion
of the new single means this streak is not about to be broken but it is
worth bearing in mind that 'Hope Of Deliverance' (a gentle acoustic
ballad) is his biggest hit since 'This One' in July 1989.
No. 25: NEW ENTRY. The The - Dogs Of Lust. Another year, another outing
for Matt Johnson et al. The The survive these days on a dedicated fan
following, plus any interest on who he happens to have drafted into the
band this time. Their last chart outing was with 'The Beat(en)
Generation' in April 1989 with the interest then being Johnny Marr on
guitar. Sadly, the new single has nothing so simple to recommend it.
No. 22: NEW ENTRY. En Vogue - Give it up, turn it loose. The self-styled
'Funky Divas' at first had difficulty following up the No.6 success of
their debut 'Hold On' in 1990 but their latest album has produced 3 out
of 4 hit singles. If anything 'Give it Up' has less to recommend it
than some of the others and so is unlikely to end up one of their bigger hits.
No. 21: NEW ENTRY. S.O.U.L.S.Y.S.T.E.M. - It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day.
The Bodyguard soundtrack matches the achievement of its Wayne's World
equivalent last summer and places 3 songs in the 40. It's not the first
time in recent years that the Bill Withers classic has had a chart
outing, a remixed version having made the Top 10 in September 1988. The
new version, however, is as far removed from this as can be and may just
have enough novelty value not to be detracted by the cries of
'Sacrilege' from the purists.
No. 19=: FALLERS. Prodigy - Out Of Space; Lisa Stansfield - Someday (I'm
Coming Back). Until a couple of years ago, joint placings on the Uk
charts were almost unheard of. This was due to a chart rule which stated
that if any two records tied in their panel sales then the record which
had incresed its sales by the largest amount won the highest placing.
This was fine until one day in September 1990 when Steve Miller Band's
'The Joker' and Dee-Lite's 'Groove Is In The Heart' achieved exactly the
same score..... at No.1. The Steve Miller record won out under the rule
to an outraged cry of 'Foul' from WEA records and a threat by them to
boycott the chart. As a consequence the rules were changed to allow
joint positions, hence the rather unusual situation this week. The only
odd thing about it is that this is the second week running that the
records at No.19 have tied for the honours - a unique occurrence.
No. 17: NEW ENTRY. Peter Gabriel - Steam. It seems a curious fact of
life that Peter Gabriel is unable to have hit singles unless they are a
'Sledgehammer' clone. Consequently the first single from the 'US' album
entered low and had a difficult journey into the Top 30 whereas 'Steam'
becomes one of his highest debuting singles ever and becomes his biggest
hit since 'Big Time' made No.13 in 1986. The correspondingly ingeneous
video will propell this into the Top 10.
No. 14: NEW ENTRY. West End featuring Sybil - The Love I Lost. One of
the hottest dance hits over the Christmas holidays makes a strong
crossover onto the national chart. A fairly faithful cover of the Harold
Melvin original, the classic song, coupled with the powerful voice of
Sybil makes for one of those soul covers which if anything adds to the
original. Notice as well the production credits on the back of such a
trendy record - Mike Stock and Pete Waterman, showing that there is life
after Kylie and Jason.
No. 13: CLIMBER. Sunscreem - Broken English. Sunscreem make their third
hit the biggest with this cover of the Marianne Faithful original that
has enough popular appeal to propell it into the Top Ten next week. The
success of this song makes me wonder what is to come next.... The
Prodigy doing 'Lucy Jordan' perhaps??? There is no truth to the rumour
either that clubgoers wave Mars Bars in the air whilst dancing to it :)
No. 9: NEW ENTRY. Pop Will Eat Itself - Get The Girl! Kill The Baddies!
PWEI celebrated their most commercially successful year ever last year
by being dropped from their record label. Undeterred, they bounce back
with their first ever Top Ten hit. Despite the obvious quirky appeal of
the group, the records themselves rarely sell outside their established
fan base and the high entry can be atributed to this popularity, plus
the fact that this is a very slack sales period.
No. 6: NEW ENTRY. Faith No More - I'm Easy. There was a certain
inevitability about this one. This startlingly faithful cover of the
Commodores' original gives Faith No More their biggest UK hit ever,
having only slightly grazed the Top 20 on previous occasions. A strong
contender for No.1 in a couple of weeks, it has at a stroke beaten the
No. 9 peak of the original. Lionel Richie reportedly loves it.
No. 2: CLIMBER. Snap - Exterminate. Rapper Turbo B's words on being
presented with the lyrics to 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' were reported to have
been something along the lines of 'No way am I singing that shit!'.
'That shit' went on to be No.1 for 6 weeks over the summer and the
second biggest single of the year. It also represented the severance of
Turbo B from the Snap production team so 'Exterminate' is the first
track to be released without him on vocals. Its chart success so far is
somewhat of a surprise being, aside from the one vocal line, almost an
instrumental and certainly with little of the quirky appeal of the
earlier singles. Nevertheless its sales are strong and may well be
making an assault on the top slot next week.
No. 1: SEVENTH WEEK. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You. Then
again maybe not, Ms Houston's record still selling as fast as the shops
can stock it. Now confirmed as the biggest selling record by a solo
female ever, there is just one more obstacle in her way - the record for
most consecutive weeks by a female vocalist at No.1. The honours
currently go to Doris Day who managed 8 weeks with 'Secret Love' in the
1950s and it would take a very brave man to risk any money on that being
safe next week...
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James Masterton - 15/1/93
with acknowledgements to Alan Jones
All comments and questions welcome, and sorry this was so late!
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| James Masterton | You don't have a lot |
| hid...@cent1.lancs.ac.uk | But it's more than you've got |
| | And you can turn it into more |
| 'We are only here today | Than it seems |
| because of yesterday' | Jim Steinman, 1989 |
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