Poison was clearly from the same guy that was writing for Bon Jovi, great song

Toy Soldiers is great, loved Martika back then and thought she was gonna have a great career ala Madonna

I notice one of my fav songs of the year peaking at #14 this week,

Transvision Vamp-Landslide of Love, single #3 from Velveteen

I became a Martika fan immediately and bought her albums and all subsequent singles.

Toy Soldiers is an absolute tune!!

I think it was a big pity she gave up on music so quickly, think in 91 or 92 she said the pressure was too much and gave it all up

and never released anything again after album 2 (I think)-

19TH AUGUST

“Swing The Mood” finally starts to cool at retail but it still shifted 125,154 copies to raise the tally to 440,266 copies and means it should become the best seller of the year as early as next week! It even rose to the top of the 12” chart deposing Lil Louis who himself still climbs 3-2 (56,644) but as you’ll note has no chance of toppling the bunny, that gap between the top 2 is largest since Glenn Medeiros and Salt N Pepa last July. There is a rival version of "French Kiss" by Big Louis sitting just outside the top 75 by way of trivia.

Incredibly, given her fame and a long history of releasing music, Liza Minelli has never had a charting single in the UK, until now. Hooking up with the Pet Shop Boys they’ve produced “Losing My Mind” for her and it seems that the UK public love it with the single jetting 24-6 (27,387). The song was written by Stephen Sondheim in 1971 for the musical “Follies” and Liza’s version will be followed with an album called “Results” in October again produced by The Pet Shop Boys and should also include some updated versions of their own tracks performed by Minelli.

Formed by Siobhan Fahey after she left Bananarama in early 1988 and now including Marcella Detroit (who co-wrote with Eric Clapton such songs as “Lay Down Sally”) Shakespear's Sister take their name from the Smiths track of the same name which by extension comes from Virginia Woolf’s “Room Of One’s Own” and last year teased us all with their debut single “Break My Heart/ Heroine” which failed to chart. Better fortune now for their second single “You’re History” becoming a hit moving 13-7 (25,160) this week, the video features Fahey’s 2 yr old son in a bumblebee outfit and if you like the sound of the single then the album “Secret Heart” is out in a fortnight.

Not happy with Bros? So over Brother Beyond? Well making a bid for the boyband crown are Big Fun, three lads from the UK who are the newest act in the S/A/W catalogue to have a hit, originally their first release was a cover of the Carole King track “I Feel The Earth Move” which was circulated as a promo without much interest from radio causing it to be pulled and instead their version of Mick Jackson’s 1978 No 15 hit marks their debut. It was originally written in 1976 with the intention of offering it to Stevie Wonder but “Blame It On The Boogie” was snapped up by the Jacksons with their version plus Mick Jackson’s own version charting simultaneously in the charts, The Jacksons version came off best making No 8. 11 years later and the Big Fun version cruises 25-8 (24,973) to equal the peak achieved by the Jacksons, S/A/W’s other current top 10 hits are however falling, Kylie down 2-3 (55,709) and Sonia dropping 4-10 (23,664).

Alice Cooper climbs 5-4 (43,163) with Martika chasing him hard 9-5 (34,986) and Gloria Estefan is now out of the running 6-9 (23,868) though she is No 1 in the album charts for a third week.


1- SWING THE MOOD- Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers  (125,154)
2- FRENCH KISS- Lil Louis  (56,644)
3- WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING- Kylie Minogue (55,709)
4- POISON- Alice Cooper (43,163)
5- TOY SOLDIERS- Martika (34,986)
6- LOSING MY MIND- Liza Minelli (27,387)
7- YOU’RE HISTORY- Shakespears Sister (25,160)
8- BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE- Big Fun (24,973)
9- DON’T WANNA LOSE YOU- Gloria Estefan (23,868)
10- YOU’LL NEVER STOP ME LOVING YOU- Sonia (23,664)

loved Siobhan in Bananarama and was a big fan of Shakespeares Sister since day 1

I really liked You Break my Heart but You're History was miles better and a well deserved hit

oh I actually though PSB had written Losing my mind for Liza Minelli

SAW starting to go really cheap with cover bands like Big Fun

26TH AUGUST

Jive Bunny hops home for a fourth week at the top and again was well clear of the field despite taking a 24% sales hit to 95,455 which means of course that “Swing The Mood” is now the best selling single of 1989 as it crosses the half million mark. On paper Alice Cooper could be a threat as he rises 4-2 but he sold just 44,319 copies to do so, hampered in part by the arrival of his album “Trash” which also hits No 2 behind Gloria Estefan, that’s still his best show on either chart for 15 years!

The only danger on the horizon, and admittedly very far in the distance, comes from Italy’s Black Box, consisting of a production team of three members and fronted by a French model (Katrina Quinol) who have sampled the Loleatta Holloway Dance hit “Love Sensation” from 1980 to make “Ride On Time” this week’s highest climber in the top 10 shifting 11-3 (42,126).

The fabled S/A/W written and produced track for Cliff Richard finally sees the light of day this week and crashes straight into the chart at No 10 (29,138) to mark the first time that three successive Cliff records have debuted in the top 10 and the first time in 7 years that he’s strung 3 ten singles together. Cliff has remarked that he’s never suffered such criticism in his career as he has had working with the S/A/W team but it seems he’s had the last laugh now.

Lil Louis dips 2-4 (40,409) with Martika holding at No 5 (40,035) despite increasing her sales and Big Fun hold at No 8 (30,651) but there are also a brace of fallers. Kylie falls 3-6 (37,876), Liza Minelli surprisingly reverses 6-7 (36,244) even though sales are up 34%,  Shakespears Sister fall 7-9 (29,359) sales up 18%.


1- SWING THE MOOD- Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers (95,455)
2- POISON- Alice Cooper  (44,319)
3- RIDE ON TIME- Black Box (42,126)
4- FRENCH KISS- Lil Louis (40,409)
5- TOY SOLDIERS- Martika  (40,035)
6- WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING- Kylie Minogue (37,876)
7- LOSING MY MIND- Liza Minelli  (36,244)
8- BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE- Big Fun  (30,651)
9- YOU’RE HISTORY- Shakespear's Sister (29,359)
10- I JUST DON’T HAVE THE HEART- Cliff Richard (29,138)

A few decent tracks since I last commented...

Ride on Time is the obvious one, I think I like it more now than I did at the time and it is definitely an all time classic of its genre.

Love the Liza and Shakespear's Sister tracks, both evoking a slightly bonkers vibe but both fabulous. I really like the PSB version of Losing My Mind, and probably prefer it a bit to be honest, but I do enjoy Liza's version and think she sells the track well. You're History is a great introduction to Siobhan and Marcella, really distinctive and quite sparse production, coupled with the amazing combination of vocals between the two - it's probably the only track from their debut that is as good as the stuff on their follow up album.

Yes great to see the arrival of 'Ride On Time'! I assumed it was a 90s song for years so was surprised to discover that it was actually late 80s. What a TUNE

Ride on Time is one of my favourite songs. Still love it to this day and played it obsessively back in the day.

Became a fan of Shakespear's Sister. Wasn't the name spelt incorrectly because of an error creating the logo for the band or something?

Ride On Time is a massive era defining track. The 90s were nearly there indeed!

'Posion' and 'Toy Soldiers' are my favourite additions since I last commented. 'Ride On Time' is great too and era-defining, soured only slightly for me by the saga of the uncleared / uncredited / replaced vocal sample (in a similar way to 'Toca's Miracle'), though Loleatta's vocals are a powerhouse and at least she had some credited chart success after this.

I guess you needto be older to really enjoy dance music cosI never got into Black Box, Technotronic etc as a kid

Was into pop, indie, rock, even new-age like Enya, but dance I never got it as a kid, dont think i ever bought a dance album until Prodigy

Well there is an argument that to enjoy and appreciate Dance music you need to hear it in the arena it was designed for (clubs) so I think that's true to an extent but even in the late 80s chart dance music was always at the more commercial end of the market, and most pop music incorporated it as well, even SAW plucked inspiration from the dance music. I was a pop kid 100% but even I had the 7" of "Ride on time" (and "Swing the mood" but let's glaze over that).

true, looking at the singles I own from the late 80s, the most dance I have is probably Mel & Kim

Depends what age you mean by being a kid? I loved dance music as a kid, certainly from about 8-10 when it began to feature more in the charts.

2ND SEPTEMBER

Experiencing a 13% drop in sales “Swing The Mood” holds the top spot for a fifth week making it the longest chart topper since Yazz last summer, it sold a still impressive 82,229 copies last week to take its total to 617,950 copies turning platinum (the first single to be classified platinum under the new certification level), we’ll see if it can make it 6 weeks next week, that hasn’t been done since “I Just Called To Say I Love You” back in 1984.

The gap however is now much narrower with Black Box climbing 3-2 (59,415) and Cliff Richard shooting 10-3 (42,789) both should have a shot at catching Jive Bunny next week if they can hold off the challenge of a new Jason Donovan single.

Former member of the She Rockers (they supported Public Enemy on tour in the US) Betty Boo (real name Alison Clarkson) is the fourth artist to be featured on a Beatmasters single. The group have now scored three top 10 singles out of five releases and were last in the top 10 back in May with “Who’s In The House”, parent album “Anywayawanna” only made No 30 in July though it now back 48-37 this week as the new single “Hey DJ (I Can’t Dance To The Music You’re Playing)/ Ska Train” rises 11-7 (28,169). The single “DJ” is apparently a swipe at the S/A/W phenomenon (the clues are in the video if you need convincing).

Tears For Fears are back! Clearly the UK has missed them as well as none of their six previous top 10 singles debuted in the top 10 but now “Seeds Of Love” has done just that at it crashes in at No 9 (26,197). Written in the summer of 1987 and reflecting the group’s feelings around the general election victory for Mrs Thatcher along with the occasion swipe at other musicians, it marks a controversial return for the pair, you can buy the duo’s first album in 4 years next month.

A bad week for Alice Cooper with his album dropping 2-3 and the single “Poison” moving 2-4 (39,508) whilst Martika makes it three weeks at No 5 (30,515) and has been a remarkably consistent seller, Big Fun improve 8-6 (29,988) which sees a new peak for the track in any version, and all that with a sales decrease! Lil Louis drops 4-8 (27,404) and Kylie is almost out of the top 10 as she falls 6-10 (25,279) but not to worry as the new Jason Donovan single is out this week- will he be having rabbit stew next week?


1- SWING THE MOOD- Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers  (82,229)
2- RIDE ON TIME- Black Box (59,415)
3- I JUST DON’T HAVE THE HEART- Cliff Richard  (42,789)
4- POISON- Alice Cooper (39,508)
5- TOY SOLDIERS- Martika (30,515)
6- BLAME IT ON THE BOOGIE- Big Fun (29,988)
7- HEY DJ...I CAN’T DANCE TO THE MUSIC YOU’RE PLAYING/ SKA TRAIN-
Beatmasters Featuring Betty Boo (28,169)
8- FRENCH KISS- Lil Louis (27,404)
9- SOWING THE SEEDS OF LOVE- Tears For Fears (26,197)
10- WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING- Kylie Minogue (25,279)

What a tenure at the top for Jive Bunny so far *_*

Love the grand Beatles-esque psychedelic sounds of 'Sowing the Seeds of Love'

oh I loved Betty Boo! Does she count as dance? (Then I liked dance after all)

Sowing The Seeds Of Love is wonderful, great comeback.

For me, kinda the opposite, never liked The Seeds of Love, too AOR, they totally lost the vitality they had in the first 2 albums

this sounds like a bad Beatles pastiche to me