Who Is It is my favourite MJ track period, the production is just astonishing

I love the Dangerous album! 'Give In To Me' is also my favourite ever MJ track. :wub:

different generations of people, different MJ favourite albums, everyone seems to like the MJ album they grew up with?

different generations of people, different MJ favourite albums, everyone seems to like the MJ album they grew up with?

 

Not really, seeing as I heard Thriller and Bad before I heard Dangerous :lol:

 

I do love Thriller, Bad, most of Off The Wall and bits of the one in the mid-90s I forget the name of so it's not like I'm comparing the rest of his discography unfavourably.

22ND FEBRUARY

 

 

Wet, Wet, Wet lose both crowns this week and thusly “Goodnight Girl” fails to become their longest chart topper as it ties on 4 weeks alongside “With A Little Help From My Friends”, it will however sell its 300,000th copy this week and it descends 1-2 on 40,000 sales. The new chart topper comes from Shakespears Sister which rises 2-1 (43,000), a result which must validate Fahey’s decision to leave Bananarama 4 years ago, their last single “Long Train Running” peaked at No 30 last year. The duo’s album is out in shops this week so may impede its future success but the promo seems to have generated significant sales for the song.

 

 

 

Currently sitting atop of the Box office charts is of course “My Girl” featuring Macaulay Culkin and it utilises the old Temptations classic of the same name in the flick. That’s caused a re-issue of the single which incredibly only made No 43 on release in 1965, it’s been covered a multitude of times but only been as high as No 11 for Otis Redding that same year so it’s fitting that some 37 years later it finally becomes a top 10 hit here as it rises 12-5 (28,000). It is only the group’s 5th top 10 single ever and they’ve been higher than this once, back in 1969 with the Supremes on “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”. The group have actually been attracting some club attention for their song “The Jones’” which debuts at No 69 this week on Motown (“My Girl” has been licensed to Columbia for this release) so It may be that the label has shot itself in the foot on this occasion with the oldie getting the radio support.

 

 

 

Originally a No 55 hit last November Shanice’s “I Love Your Smile” has since become a substantial US hit (it drops 2-3 this week over there) and is now a hit back here though it has taken a remix by producers Driza Bone to turn the trick. Production on the original is by Narada Michael Walden and continues the modern trend for remixing songs into hits which has emerged over the last few years. Shanice rose to fame on the US TV show “Star Search” (a UK equivalent might be Opportunity Knocks) which made Tiffany a star, and signed with Motown and is now at No 7 (22,000)- this week’s highest new entry.

 

 

 

Simply Red’s album “Stars” celebrates its 20th week of chart action by dethroning Wet Wet Wet at the top of the album charts, it’s still selling at a fast rate with sales of over 1.3 million so far, becoming the biggest album of 1991, and never dropped lower than No 6 in all that time. It is now home to a second top 10 single in the form of “For Your Babies” which slides 12-9 (19,000) buoyed no doubt by the group’s success at the BRITS during the week.

 

 

 

 

Taking an old 1983 track by Jane and slinging a dance beat over it saw Opus III’s “It’s A Fine Day” become a club hit over recent months and now it gets a commercial release and crashes straight in at No 10 (16,000). It’s on the PWL International label a subsidiary of the PWL label which has branched out and along with PWL Continental is home to other chart acts like 2 Unlimited who themselves fall 3-8 (22,000), all of which are still generating money for PWL now that the hits are thinner on the ground for Stock and Waterman.

 

 

Michael Jackson improves 6-3 (34,000) but his last chart topper to take at least three weeks to reach the top was Billie Jean 9 years ago so its chances on making number one are slim, and refreshingly the Pasadenas hold at No 4 for a third week and are still increasing sales this time to 31,000, meanwhile Curtis Stigers slides back 5-6 (24,000).

 

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (43,000)

2- GOODNIGHT GIRL- Wet wet wet (40,000)

3- REMEMBER THE TIME- Michael Jackson (34,000)

4- I’M DOING FINE NOW- The Pasadenas (31,000)

5- MY GIRL- The Temptations (28,000)

6- I WONDER WHY- Curtis Stigers (24,000)

7- I LOVE YOUR SMILE (REMIX)- Shanice (22,000)

8- TWILIGHT ZONE- 2 Unlimited (22,000)

9- FOR YOUR BABIES- Simply Red (19,000)

10- IT’S A FINE DAY- Opus III (16,000)

 

29TH FEBRUARY

 

 

Shakespears Sister take the name of their single literally and “Stay” at No 1 and increase their sales to 55,000 as their album “Hormonally Yours” debuts at No 3 seemingly doing nothing to impede the singles popularity. On paper it should be under pressure from The Temptations 5-2 (37,000) and Shanice 7-3 (34,000) but they aren’t even in the same ballpark at present, and neither are the Pasadenas who spend a month at No 4 though for the first time their sales are down to 28,000 so it’s now past its best, Opus III also improves 10-5 (26,000) and could easily be top 3 next week.

 

 

 

Bryan Adams of course spent 16 weeks at No 1 last year but his next two singles peaked at No 12 and No 32 evidencing perhaps that we had had our fill of Adams for a while. Fourth single “Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven” reverses the trend though as it lifts 11-8 (18,000) to become his second top 10 hit, the album similarly heads north 21-15 and has sold over 600,000 since its October release.

 

 

 

 

A new Madness compilation “Divine Madness” is released this week and their 1981 #4 cover of Labi Siffre’s “It Must Be Love” has been re-released to help promote the album along with tying in with Valentine’s Day. It bounds 15-10 (15,000) to become a top ten single all over again.

 

 

Michael Jackson slackens 3-6 (25,000) and Wet Wet Wet drop 2-7 (22,000) whilst Simply Red hold at No 9 (17,000). The KLF and Guns N Roses both release singles this week and both acts debuted in the top 10 with their last 3 releases so expect high debuts again…..

 

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (55,000)

2- MY GIRL- The Temptations (37,000)

3- I LOVE YOUR SMILE- Shanice (34,000)

4- I’M DOING FINE NOW- The Pasadenas (28,000)

5- IT’S A FINE DAY- Opus III (26,000)

6- REMEMBER THE TIME- Michael Jackson (25,000)

7- GOODNIGHT GIRL- Wet wet wet (22,000)

8- THOUGHT I’D DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN- Bryan Adams (18,000)

9- FOR YOUR BABIES- Simply Red (17,000)

10- IT MUST BE LOVE- Madness (15,000)

 

Stay is very good, amazing to think that a Bananarama member is part of Shakespears Sister and the complete change of genre. Its A Fine Day is brilliant, probably my favourite early 90s rave top 10 hit.

7TH MARCH

 

 

Sales decrease by a measly 2% meaning that Shakespears Sister remain way ahead of the field for a third week, however their winning margin is reduced from 17k to 14k with The Temptations holding at No 2 (40,000) and Shanice at No 3 (38,000), not bad sales in the context of 1992 so far. That’s the Temptations biggest hit of their long career and for Shakespears Sister total sales of “Stay” now stand at 234,000 easing into second place for the year behind the Wets, it is also their best seller.

 

 

 

Guns N Roses cement their place as one of the biggest bands on the planet at present with a fourth straight top 10 single and a third to be plucked from “Use Your Illusion I”. “November Rain” comes with a 9 minute promo which reputedly cost a million dollars and has quickly been heralded as a classic, it debuts at No 4 (32,000) but both “Illusion” albums remain outside the top 50 six months after release though the forthcoming European leg of their tour should help sort that out.

 

 

 

Following on from a “memorable” BRITS performance with Extreme Noise Terror during which they appeared to announce their departure from the music business, The KLF have released what could be their last single, a substantive re-working of their 1990 No 6 hit “What Time Is Love” rebranded “America: What Time Is Love?” which is essentially the US mix of the track which was released last year stateside. It features a guitar riff borrowed from “Ace Of Spades” and added vocals by former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes, and naturally it’s all OTT, but that’s why we love(d) them? Anyway it smashes straight into the No 9 position with 15,000 sales.

 

 

The arrival of GNR puts paid to a rise by Opus III who hold at No 5 (29,000), Madness rise 10-6 (21,000) as “Divine Madness” debuts at No 2, that’s four places higher than the new Pasadenas album which in turn means their single “I’m Doing Fine Now” dips 4-7 (19,000), and Bryan Adams holds at No 8 (16,000). Michael Jackson drops 6-10 (13,000) to round off the top 10.

 

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (53,000)

2- MY GIRL- The Temptations (40,000)

3- I LOVE YOUR SMILE- Shanice (38,000)

4- NOVEMBER RAIN- Guns N Roses (32,000)

5- IT’S A FINE DAY- Opus III (29,000)

6- IT MUST BE LOVE- Madness (21,000)

7- I’M DOING FINE NOW- The Pasadenas (19,000)

8- THOUGHT I’D DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN- Bryan Adams (16,000)

9- AMERICA: WHAT TIME IS LOVE?- The KLF (15,000)

10- REMEMBER THE TIME- Michael Jackson (13,000)

 

KLF do a Frankie Goes To Hollywood-style OTT rock meets dance epic for the rerelease! Great track!

Edited January 21, 20223 yr by The Snail

Shanice, Opus III, Guns N Roses, Shakespears Sister and The KLF :wub:

 

What a FANTASTIC top 10!

I remember I was obsessed with It's a Fine Day, one of my fav singles ever. Didn't know it was a cover or that it was part of PWL ;)

I also loved November Rain, in a way it's a bit like Taylor's All Too Well, with the song being so long ;)

Also had a soft spot for the Bryan Adams song, my fav from the album

 

Siobhan was always my fav Bananarama, sad when she left but super happy she managed to succeed with something so different as Shakespears Sister

Stay can remain at #1 as long as it gets, amazing and well-deserved #1,

I bought that Bryan Adams single, although I can’t really recall it now.

 

Also bought America… but hated it at the time, I wasn’t expecting the guitars and thought it ruined the original. Much prefer it now.

 

Nothing was coming even vaguely close to Stay in my affections though

I remember I was obsessed with It's a Fine Day, one of my fav singles ever. Didn't know it was a cover or that it was part of PWL ;)

 

Here's what I wrote about “It’s A Fine Day” for the 90s Dance #1 thread.

 

It gets a Top 40 revamp later in 1992:

 

Orbital, re-sampled, chopped up and reversed Kirsty’s vocals to create the hook in “Halcyon”, in which Kirsty even agreed to appear in the video - however despite this it peaked at a measly #37.

 

Obviously I've got to shout out to “Weather With You” by Crowded House which is a bit of a meteorological anthem but shame we won't see the 27 Feb ep of Top of the Pops with New Atlantic performing “I Know”!

 

 

Got to add that I really liked Femi Oke as a presenter - and she's even been tweeting about it too, which makes Adrian whatshisface seem like even more of a miserable bast*rd.

I loved Rozalla's Are You Ready To Fly at the time and still sounds good now.

I've just watched the most recent episode. I agree that's a very good top 10. The 12 inch version of the KLF song is nine minutes long so we have two over the top epics by them and Guns N Roses, two great songs by Opus III and Shanice and two classics by Madness and The Temptations as well as a brilliant number 1. I think Shakespears Sister have come into the studio four times now to perform their song. I can't remember that happening before. I've noticed that since the revamp, there have been no repeat showings of a studio performance so I suppose the producers kept asking them to come back to do a new one every fortnight.

Edited January 27, 20223 yr by King Rollo

14TH MARCH

 

 

“Stay” remains the nation’s favourite song but it’s now in serious decline- 20% last week to 42,000 in fact, but it isn’t an overly serious situation given that the records below it are mostly in decline too, Shanice rises 3-2 (32,000) but is still 10k adrift and the Temptations drift 2-3 (31,000). Don’t put too much hope in the KLF either as they thrust 9-4 (26,000) or Guns N Roses who lose traction immediately as they drop 4-5 (23,000), both show little sign of overturning “Stay”.

 

 

 

Excluding the 1987 import single “In God’s Country” U2 scored ten straight top 10 singles between 1984 and 1991 then “Mysterious Ways” underperformed making No 13 in December. “Achtung Baby” continues to deliver up hits though as the third single to be lifted from it “One” repairs some damage by launching 23-7 (22,000), picked out by many as one of the album’s highlights its debut last week at 23 was due to the single not being available on CD, a situation now rectified. With proceeds goings to AIDS research it was apparently written by Bono to reflect the band’s feelings about the reunification of Germany.

 

 

 

Formed in part from the remnants of Split Enz in the mid 80s Crowded House saw some initial success with “Don’t Dream It’s Over (No 27) which was remade into a top 20 single for Paul Young last year , but subsequent singles all failed to make a mark here until a first single from their third album “Woodface” made No 69 last year (“Chocolate Cake”) and they finally made the top 20 with the second single “Fall At Your Feet” (No 17). It’s a tale of improving chart positions for them though as a third release “Weather With You” breezes 11-8 (20,000). It leads on from Tim Finn’s departure from the group leaving them as a threesome, the album is the first to chart here in the UK and peaked at No 34 last July but now charges to a new peak 42-9, you can see the band who are also currently on tour in the UK.

 

 

 

Meanwhile new challengers to the throne Nirvana also return to the top 10 this week with “Come As You Are”. Some have noted the similarity to Killing Joke’s “Eighties” or the Damned’s “Life Goes On” but no doubt about it the current music press darlings are starting to rack up the hits with this single cruising straight into the charts at No 9 (18,000),

 

 

Opus III slips 5-6 (23,000) and Madness drop 6-10 (15,000) but do climb to No 1 on the album charts for just a second time in their career!

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (42,000)

2- I LOVE YOUR SMILE- Shanice (32,000)

3- MY GIRL- The Temptations (31,000)

4- AMERICA: WHAT TIME IS LOVE- The KLF (26,000)

5- NOVEMBER RAIN- Guns N Roses (25,000)

6- IT’S A FINE DAY- Opus III (23,000)

7- ONE- U2 (22,000)

8- WEATHER WITH YOU- Crowded House (20,000)

9- COME AS YOU ARE- Nirvana (18,000)

10- IT MUST BE LOVE- Madness (15,000)

 

What an amazing top 10 that is with some classic bands represented - Crowded House, Nirvana, the Temptations, U2, Madness, the KLF and Guns and Roses!

21ST MARCH

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RtMJ-VAHcnQ/S9Z7iml8nrI/AAAAAAAAANw/0hsgN__T7Po/s1600/Shakespears+Sister.jpg

 

The top four remain unchanged and are starting to form an impenetrable barrier at the top end of the charts which means that Shakespears Sister’s “Stay” is No 1 for a fifth week with Shanice, The Temptations, and The KLF completing the quartet, the figures behind this fact however show that all are in trouble with sales decreasing to 38,000 (-9%), 26,000 (-18%), 24,000 (-22%), and 23,000 (-11%) respectively with “Stay” increasing its winning margin from 10k to 12k ironically. It is now the longest chart topper of 1992 so far.

 

 

 

Opening in the US in January, the film “Rush” won’t be in UK cinemas until June but it will now contain a top 10 single in the form of Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven”. It was written specifically for the film however the inspiration clearly comes from personal tragedy, namely the death of Clapton’s son last year. He’s never been in the top 10 as a solo artist before this, nor as part of Cream, in fact only his involvement with Derek and the Dominoes has produced a bigger hit when “Layla” peaked at No 4 ten years ago though of course he’s featured on several top 10 hits uncredited officially.

 

 

 

A No 26 hit last October, and in the wake of the success of “We Got A Love Thang”, Ce Ce Peniston has re-issued “Finally” and finds herself with this week’s highest new entry at No 6 (19,000). Substantially remixed from the album version thanks to David Morales, it now encompasses a sample lifted from Cece Rogers “Someday” and immediately equals the peak of her previous single, the album made No 10 last month and re-floats 69-60 this week.

 

 

 

 

Toppled from the US No 1 position this week is “To Be With You” by Mr Big, here it accelerates 21-8 (17,000) to launch the band’s career.

 

 

Crowded House creep 8-7 (17,000) despite losing sales, U2 drop 7-9 (15,000) and Opus III dives 6-10 (14,000).

 

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (38,000)

2- I LOVE YOUR SMILE- Shanice (26,000)

3- MY GIRL- The Temptations (24,000)

4- AMERICA: WHAT TIME IS LOVE?- The KLF (23,000)

5- TEARS IN HEAVEN- Eric Clapton (20,000)

6- FINALLY- Ce Ce Peniston (19,000)

7- WEATHER WITH YOU- Crowded House (17,000)

8- TO BE WITH YOU- Mr Big (17,000)

9- ONE- U2 (15,000)

10- IT’S A FINE DAY- Opus III (14,000)

 

Finally is a good tune! To Be With You by Mr Big kind of continues the vocal harmony trend started by Extreme's More Than Words, I prefer To Be With You of the two songs I think!

 

One by U2 is good but I much prefer the Mary J Blige and U2 duet version from 2006.

Edited January 27, 20223 yr by Coal Statistics

28TH MARCH

 

 

 

Its lead is slashed to just 3,000 but “Stay” makes it 6 weeks at No 1 becoming the second longest chart topper of the 90s so far. It sold 34,000 copies last week which continues its gentle decline, total sales are now 348,000- is that enough to be the year’s best seller so far? Find out next week but it will certainly become Fahey’s biggest seller overtaking “It Ain’t What You Do, It’s The Way That You Do” which sold 350,000 in 1982.

 

 

The new challenger is CeCe Peniston who scorches 6-2 (31,000) with “Finally” and should be the new chart topper next week failing something unexpected, that something could be Mr Big who surge 8-3 (27,000) and are threatening Shakespears Sister as well.

 

 

Or if you don’t fancy either of those then how about the new Right Said Fred single “Deeply Dippy”?, Written off as one hit wonders with a novelty track when “I’m Too Sexy” spent 6 weeks at No 2 last summer behind Bryan Adams, they confounded critics when next release “Don’t Talk Just Kiss” made No 3 in January and now their third single charges 16-4 (25,000). That move is despite the arrival at No 3 in the album charts of their debut album “Up” which houses all their singles, of course they also scored a three week chart topper in the US last month with “I’m Too Sexy”- it seems for now nothing can stop them.

 

 

 

Just 5 weeks ago we had three new entries in the top 10 for only the second time since the chart went top 50 back in the 60s, now we’ve got that situation again. The highest debuts at No 6 (21,000) for a returning Def Leppard, “Let’s Get Rocked” was inspired by Bart Simpson and comes with a state of the art promo directed by Steve Barron who also produced “Money For Nothing” a fact that won’t escape you when you view the CGI video. It’s only the group’s second top tenner (“Animal” made No 6 in 1987) so any climb next week will result in the group’s biggest hit, a new album “Andrenalize” is out in a few weeks.

 

 

 

It’s a real victory for pops survivors this week, Def Leppard first hit the charts back in 1979 and one year The Cure debuted with “A Forest”, since then they’ve scored 20 hits but only two top 10 singles but they now have a third. “High” previews their 9th studio album “Wish” which is out in May and becomes their highest debuting single ever as it enters at No 8 (17,000).

 

 

 

Once place below them is the very first solo single by Annie Lennox, again she’s been knocking around since 1979 firstly in the Tourists then of course in Eurythmics enabling her to score 11 top 10 singles in total from those bands but with Eurythmics on hiatus it appears she’s done a solo album “Diva” which is in shops next month. First single “Why” becomes the first instance that she has debuted in the top 10 (17,000).

 

 

Eric Clapton finds progress is interrupted as he holds at No 5 (24,000) but it’s all over for Shanice as she plummets 2-7 (18,000) and Crowded House reverse 7-10 (15,000)

 

 

1- STAY- Shakespears Sister (34,000)

2- FINALLY- Ce Ce Peniston (31,000)

3- TO BE WITH YOU- Mr Big (27,000)

4- DEEPLY DIPPY- Right Said Fred (25,000)

5- TEARS IN HEAVEN- Eric Clapton (24,000)

6- LET’S GET ROCKED- Def Leppard (21,000)

7- I LOVE YOUR SMILE- Shanice (18,000)

8- HIGH- The Cure (17,000)

9- WHY- Annie Lennox (17,000)

10- WEATHER WITH YOU- Crowded House (15,000)