February 17Feb 17 Author 19TH SEPTEMBERIt only registers an increase of 22% but it’s enough to give The Shamen a No 1 with “Ebeneezer Goode” ironically in the week BBC Radio 1 has its drugs awareness week. Anyway for obvious reasons radio has had a lukewarm response to the single and TOTP has reluctantly embracing it clearly having learnt the lesson that “banning” does little good. For now it seems therefore to be selling to some extent on controversy but that convinced 41,040 buyers last week.It helped of course that the main opposition it had is now so old, Snap!’s 6 week tenure at the top is over as it slides 1-3 (34,200) and Undercover finally rise 3-2 (34,860) in its sixth week on the chart, Snap!’s hit is in its 12th week and has now sold 497,055 making it the biggest selling single of 1992. Interestingly "Baker Street" was midweek No 2 on two occasions and ended up at No 3 on each occasion- last week they trailed in third place midweek and finally end up at No 2! If you want to look for the next chart topper however then Dr Alban is a real contender to repeat his Europe wide domination as it launches 8-4 (29,580), Brian May completes the top 5 as “Too Much Love Will Kill You” rises 6-5 (24,240) and becomes his biggest solo hit.Clearing the half million mark in 16 weeks, Lionel Richie’s new best of album “Back To Front” has never left the top 10 after spending its first 6 weeks at No 1 over the summer. The first new single from it “Do It To Me” only made No 33 but he’s done much better with his new single “My Destiny” and this week rises 11-8 (19,080), it’s his 8th top 10 hit as a solo act but his first in 6 years.Covering tracks for the forthcoming NME/ Radio 1 compilation album “Ruby Trax” Manic Street Preachers have covered MASH’s 1980 chart topper “Suicide Is Painless” whilst indie rockers Fatima Mansions have taken on Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do” and to help promote the project the tracks have been issued as a double A side. Mansions have never made it higher than No 59, but The Manic Street Preachers have seen, with the exception of a brief blip, ever higher peak positions of 62,40,26,16,20, and 17 so will be delighted to make the top 10 even if it is with a cover version.Being marketed as an alternative to Take That, East 17 are the newest group aimed at the teenage female audience and first fruits “House Of Love” has found fans as it rises 15-10 (17,400). They take their name from the postcode for Walthamstow where they all hail from and before finding fame the boys were a mixture of roofers, shop assistants, Printers, and a plumber. An album is already apparently in the pipeline (pun intended).Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson continue their slow descent 4-6 (23,955) and Jon Secada holds at No 7 (19,245).1- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (41,040)2- BAKER STREET- Undercover (34,860)3- RHYTHM IS A DANCER- Snap! (34,200)4- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (29,580)5- TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU- Brian May (24,240)6- THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE- Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross (23,955)7- JUST ANOTHER DAY- Jon Secada (19,245)8- MY DESTINY- Lionel Richie (19,080)9- THEME FROM MASH/ EVERYTHING I DO- Manic St Preachers/ Fatima Mansions (18,555)10- HOUSE OF LOVE- East 17 (17,400)
February 17Feb 17 'House of Love' is an utter classic ♥️ Interesting we have an alternative to Take That when they've only just made a top 10 breakthrough and not seen mammoth success yet. I know they'd been going at it for a while by this point, is it fair to say they seemed bigger/more well-known than their chart success suggested?Also what is that version of 'Ebeneezer Goode' performed on TOTP?! 😳
February 17Feb 17 House of Love is so Shamen influenced - is it better than Take That - It Only Takes A Minute? Yes, probably for me!
February 17Feb 17 Author 2 hours ago, Jessie Where said:'House of Love' is an utter classic ♥️ Interesting we have an alternative to Take That when they've only just made a top 10 breakthrough and not seen mammoth success yet. I know they'd been going at it for a while by this point, is it fair to say they seemed bigger/more well-known than their chart success suggested?Also what is that version of 'Ebeneezer Goode' performed on TOTP?! 😳Almost certainly, they did a lot of TV and magazines etc, there seemed to be enormous good will toward them from the industry who appeared to be eager to find the next big thing.As to the Shamen performance.............that was a choice
February 18Feb 18 Author 26TH SEPTEMBERNot much activity in the top 10 again this week so it was a relatively easy time at the top for The Shamen’s “Ebeneezer Goode” which is the top seller for a second week on 44,730 despite the arrival of the group’s album “Boss Drum” at No 3, a considerable improvement on the previous album “Progeny” which made No 23 last year. As predicted last week Dr Alban is the new challenger as he leaps 4-2 (33,945) but in truth he’s further behind the Shamen than Undercover were last week, and indeed Undercover complete the top 3 as they dip 2-3 (30,570).A new compilation of his work “Songs Of Freedom” is out this week and to help generate sales Bob Marley & The Wailers record label have released “Iron Lion Zion” which is a track which dates back to either 1973 or 74 when recorded. It is the group’s 7th top 10 single but only three of those were while Marley was alive making his chart career better since his death than before. The single climbs 11-6 (22,560).One place behind are Manic Street Preachers and Fatima Mansions who improve 9-7 (21,720).The rest of the chart are either fallers or stickers, the latter include Brian May at No 5 (22,575) and Lionel Richie at No 8 (21,600), whilst the fallers encompass Snap! 3-4 (23,955) as it trips over the half million mark, Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross 6-9 (18,645) and Jon Secada 7-10 (15,810).1- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (44,730)2- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (33,945)3- BAKER STREET- Undercover (30,570)4- RHYTHM IS A DANCER- Snap! (23,955)5- TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU- Brian May(22,575)6- IRON LION ZION- Bob Marley & The Wailers (22,560)7- THEME FROM MASH/ EVERYTHING I DO- Manic Street Preachers/ Fatima Mansions (21,720)8- MY DESTINY- Lionel Richie (21,600)9- THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE- Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross (18,645)10- JUST ANOTHER DAY- Jon Secada (15,810)
February 19Feb 19 'It's My Life' has all the ingredients of a track I should love, but I've always found it slightly annoying.
February 19Feb 19 Author 3RD OCTOBER“Ebeneezer Goode” remains ahead of the pack selling another 36,435 copies to take its overall sales to 184,845. It would be hard to deny that the controversy that helped to generate sales initially has also been harmful to it by the limited promo it has had on radio and TV overall. Having said that it is still good enough to hold Dr Alban off the top spot, he maintains No 2 though his sales are down to 32,775 and slashes The Shamen's lead to 3.7k, whilst Undercover hold the No 3 position on 24,375.Bradford lass Tasmin Archer is one of Britain’s new talents with her critically lauded first single “Sleeping Satellite”. Lyrically it deals with the Space race and subsequent decline in interest for it, relatively unusual thematically, it pushes 13-4 (24,150) and could easily challenge The Shamen next week though she won’t have TOTP to help her.At No 1 stateside for the last 8 weeks Boyz II Men’s “End Of The Road” has a much slower ascent here moving 36-31-22-14 so far in its first month. They take their name from the New Edition song “Boys To Men” which when you know how they came to fame you’ll understand. The US quartet got their break after they sneaked backstage at a Bel Biv DeVoe concert in 1989 and impressed Michael Bivin who helped to produce them and secure them a record contract, he even provides a rap on their next single here, a re-issue of “Motownphilly”. The US hits started coming last year and the boys toured with Hammer earlier this year which led to a request to provide a track for the new Eddie Murphy film “Boomerang” and “End Of The Road” was the result. It was written and produced by L.A Reid and Babyface and becomes the group’s first UK hit as it lifts 14-6 (20,325).Bob Marley & The Wailers “Songs Of Freedom” debuts at No 10 this week as the single “Iron Lion Zion” creeps 6-5 (21,000) whilst losing sales, and similarly inching up is Lionel Richie 8-7 (18,825) but sliding out are Brian May 5-8 (17,895), Manic Street Preachers/ Fatima Mansions 7-9 (17,295) and Snap! 4-10 (17,280).1- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (36,435)2- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (32,775)3- BAKER STREET- Undercover (24,375)4- SLEEPING SATELLITE- Tasmin Archer (24,150)5- IRON LION ZION- Bob Marley & The Wailers (21,000)6- END OF THE ROAD- Boyz II Men (20,325)7- MY DESTINY- Lionel Richie (18,825)8- TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU- Brian May (17,895)9- THEME FROM MASH/ EVERYTHING I DO- Manic Street Preachers/ Fatima Mansions (17,295)10- RHYTHM IS A DANCER- Snap! (17,280)
February 19Feb 19 Full on Euro in the top 3. "Sleeping Satellite" is a great song. "End Of The Road" is a masterpiece - one of my favourite R&B songs of all time. "Theme From Mash" is my least favourite Manics song, maybe because I don't like the original.
February 19Feb 19 I love Sleeping Satellite, it was such a nice change to see a singer/songwriter track in the top 10
February 20Feb 20 Author 10TH OCTOBERWhilst the charts lower down spring into action it’s still all quiet at the top of the charts with the Shamen ruling the roost for a month now though with just 34,515 copies sold it’s the lowest tally required for 22 weeks, it does at least cross the 200,000 mark though. It remains 5,000 copies clear of the nearest rival, that being Dr Alban for a second week, however it still hasn’t made the YTD top 10 which looks like this:1- RHYTHM IS A DANCER- Snap! 539,1752- STAY- Shakespears Sister 484,4553- PLEASE DON’T GO/ GAME BOY- KWS 484,2304- ABBA-ESQUE EP- Erasure 419,5205- AIN’T NO DOUBT- Jimmy Nail 380,8806- GOODNIGHT GIRL- Wet, Wet, Wet 319,0957- DEEPLY DIPPY- Right Said Fred 284,1608- HAZARD- Richard Marx 257,7759- BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY/ THESE ARE THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES- Queen 252,19510- BAKER STREET- Undercover 241,500Back in 1990 Snap’s “The Power” sampled Jocelyn Brown’s “Love’s Gonna Get You” and took it to No 1, now Bizarre Inc have used the same song (albeit it a separate part) on their new single “I’m Gonna Get You” and got Angie Brown to re-record the vocals. Guess what? It’s a hit again this time racing 17-6 (18,240). It’s their second top 10 single and previews their second album “Energique” next month.For the first time in 7 years Prince has back to back top 10 hits, his last single “Sexy MF/ Strollin” debuted at No 7 and now “My Name Is Prince” smashes in at No 9 (16,815). Both are from his new album “Symbol” which is issued this week and widely tipped to debut at No 1 next week, and the current single is the 12th top 10 hit for the purple one.Essentially an update of his 70s classic “Tubular Bells”, Mike Oldfield’s “Sentinel” is a shortened version of the album version which you can catch on Oldfield’s new album “Tubular Bells II” his first album for Warner Bros after leaving Virgin on bad terms. The album became his first chart topper in 18 years and third in total, the single “Sentinel” rises 16-10 (16,485) and a song you’ll doubtless recall from the film “The Exorcist”, whilst it’s only his 4th hit to make the top 10 they’ve now spanned 3 decades- impressive.Tasmin Archer continues to edge up 4-3 (29,520) along with Boyz II Men 6-4 (27,285) and making room for them are Undercover 3-5 (20,700), Bob Marley & The Wailers fall 5-7 (17,985) and Lionel Richie reverses 7-8 (17,370). This week sees the release of a new Madonna single- you might have missed that!1- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (34,515)2- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (29,565)3- SLEEPING SATELLITE- Tasmin Archer (29,520)4- END OF THE ROAD- Boyz II Men (27,285)5- BAKER STREET- Undercover (20,700)6- I’M GONNA GET YOU- Bizarre Inc/ Angie Brown (18,240)7- IRON LION ZION- Bob Marley & The Wailers (17,985)8- MY DESTINY- Lionel Richie (17,370)9- MY NAME IS PRINCE- Prince/ NPG (16,815)10- SENTINEL- Mike Oldfield (16,485)
February 20Feb 20 I'm Gonna Get You ❤️What a massive tune. I've seen Angie perform this all around the gay circuit and she's such a top lass.
February 20Feb 20 'I'm Gonna Get You' sounds like an admission the 1991-2 rave era is over (which it sort of was, after the novelty tracks), its very 1990 pre-91-2 rave era sounding a bit of an underwhelming hit compared to their previous ones but it is still catchy I suppose.
February 20Feb 20 5 minutes ago, TheSnake said:'I'm Gonna Get You' sounds like an admission the 1991-2 rave era is over (which it sort of was, after the novelty tracks), its very 1990 pre-91-2 rave era sounding a bit of an underwhelming hit compared to their previous ones but it is still catchy I suppose.Yeah - the second half of 1992 was not that exciting than the first half after the rave stuff diminished. Also I felt that whole 1993 was the weakest year of the 90's musicwise. 1994 was taking up pace again with the beginning of the Britpop invasion and also loads of brilliant UK-adapted house stuff.
February 21Feb 21 Author 17TH OCTOBERIt sold just 31,185 copies but Tasmin Archer takes the top spot this week, the first act from Bradford to claim a chart topper since Kiki Dee in 1976, but that’s the lowest weekly tally in 24 weeks, a sign that the charts have not fully recovered from the slump earlier in the year. Boyz II Men again chase her up the charts but they actually lose sales as they rise 4-2 (25,965) and had to fend off The Shamen who drop 1-3 (24,915), they have chosen to delete their single this week to clear the decks for their new single out in three weeks, so expect a sharper than usual exit from the charts as stocks dwindle.Hitting the shops this week is a new best of Simple Minds “Glittering Prize 81/92”, Virgin have coupled together two previous singles “Alive & Kicking” (No 7, 1985) and “Love Song” (No 47, 1981) to promote the album and they see the single shoot 13-6 (19,500). It’s the group 7th top 10 hit and should get the project off to a flying start, the group are currently on a hiatus after years of full on touring.Indulging in the modern fad of teaming popular children’s figures with dance music comes Dr Spin who are in reality Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright who were also responsible for Bombalurina back in 1990. They’ve taken the popular kids Gameboy game of Tetris and updated it to be chart worthy, the tune itself is based on an old Russian folk song called “Korobeiniki”. The single climbs 12-8 (16,485) and have no fear, Mario will soon be competing in the charts as his single gets released in a few weeks!Trying to keep themselves ahead of teen rivals East 17, Take That return with their 6th release “A Million Love Songs” which is an EP spearheaded by the title track. It’s their first ballad and is written by frontman Gary Barlow when he was just 15, the group’s debut album “Take That & Party” did make No 5 on debut before hurtling down the charts but does revive slightly this week 66-49 as the single flies 23-9 (15,510).Bizarre Inc rise 6-4 (23,160) to equal their previous best and Prince also advances 9-7 (17,070) whilst debut at No 1 on the album charts as expected. Dr Alban drops 2-5 (22,230) as his time is up and Undercover collapse 5-10 (15,165), Madonna incidentally only debuts at No 11 but should climb next week.1- SLEEPING SATELLITE- Tasmin Archer (31,185)2- END OF THE ROAD- Boyz II Men (25,965)3- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (24,915)4- I’M GONNA GET YOU- Bizarre Inc/ Angie Brown (23,160)5- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (22,230)6- LOVE SONG/ ALIVE AND KICKING- Simple Minds (19,500)7- MY NAME IS PRINCE- Prince/ NPG (17,070)8- TETRIS- Dr Spin (16,485)9- A MILLION LOVE SONGS- Take That (15,510)10- BAKER STREET- Undercover (15,165)
February 22Feb 22 Author 24TH OCTOBER“Sleeping Satellite” gets a much needed shot in the arm as it increases sales by 20% to interest 37,485 buyers, and it needed that boost as Boyz II Men hold at No 2 but improve sales by a far greater 30% to 33,060 and have gone from being distant no hopers to very real challengers to Archer. The song is still No 1 in the US for a record breaking 11th straight week and will also have to convince buyers to buy the single as their album goes head to head with Archer.Bizarre Inc & Angie Brown nudge 4-3 (26,520) to give the group a new peak, but right behind them is the new Madonna Single. Yes it’s been practically back to back promo for Madonna this week who has been promoting this single, a new album and a new “coffee table” book called “Sex” which has once more whipped up a media frenzy in a way that only she can. The book is out on Wednesday but has already generated a plethora of headlines and some eye popping exclusive pics of the material girl in not very much at all whilst the album surprisingly only debuts at No 2 behind Simple Minds despite sales that would normally guarantee a No 1. The lead single and title track for the album “Erotica” also bounces 11-4 (21,195) to become her 27th top 10 single, its debut at No 11 last week was partly accounted for by the lack of any 7” version available, that’s now rectified and in becoming her 27th consecutive top tenner she now holds the record, overtaking Cliff Richard in the process, it’s also her 9th top ten hit of the 90s, again more than any other act. The song’s themes of “S & M” have proved too controversial for MTV who have banned the promo with TOTP only playing selected shots from the video which features Naomi Campbell and Isabella Rossellini.Bon Jovi are back after Jon Bon Jovi’s little foray into solo work, it’s the group’s first single in 3 years and becomes their highest debuting single ever at No 5 (20,115). Somewhat incredibly it’s just their second top ten single of their long career and comes six years after “Living On A Prayer” made No 4. The album of the same name will be in shops next month but this must already be counted as their most promising start yet.Also entering the chart this week is “People Everyday” by Arrested Development. The group have already scored two US top 10 singles including this one and they been launched in the UK with a not inexpensive TV campaign which pays dividends now at No 10 (14,295). The song uses the Sly & The Family Stone single “Everyday People” (No 36, 1969) as its main hookDr Spin moves 8-6 (19,230) whilst Dr Alban falls 5-7 (16,770), The Shamen slide faster 3-8 (15,270) and Take That hold at No 9 (14,655).1- SLEEPING SATELLITE- Tasmin Archer (37,485)2- END OF THE ROAD- Boyz II Men (33,060)3- I’M GONNA GET YOU- Bizarre Inc/ Angie Brown (26,520)4- EROTICA- Madonna (21,195)5- KEEP THE FAITH- Bon Jovi (20,115)6- TETRIS- Dr Spin (19,230)7- IT’S MY LIFE- Dr Alban (16,770)8- EBENEEZER GOODE- The Shamen (15,270)9- A MILLION LOVE SONGS EP- Take That (14,655)10- PEOPLE EVERYDAY- Arrested Development (14,295)
February 22Feb 22 Lol at the two Doctors at #6 and #7A Million Love Songs is quite Spandau Ballet mixed with Wet Wet Wet, I prefer their more upbeat songs. The Boyz 2 Men ballad is a bit better.The Arrested Development song is a bit of a 90s R&B classic.
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