2 minutes ago, Jessie Where said:

Mr Blobby absolutely terrified me as a kid, evil thing it is

Not a fan then John? 😂

Have to disagree with PCF on the Prince track... I wasn't particularly fussed at the time but since I've really grown to love Controversy, it's really very ahead of its time considering it was first released in 1981 and I really love the contrast between the stark verses and the chorus. The edit in 1993 made it easier to digest as well seeing as the original was pretty long.

'For Whom The Bell Tolls' should have been Christmas #1 great song although it is a sad song.

I remember it playing in a shopping centre when I was younger in the 90s.

18TH DECEMBER



Well they’ve done it! And in style! Take That become the first act in UK Chart history to enter the charts at No 1 with three consecutive singles, “Babe” is the track to do it and it sold a mighty 133,080 a best for the year so far and the first time we've broke through the 6 figure weekly mark! The song is Britain’s 699th chart topper and Take That are the 11th act to score three No 1’s in a calendar year and the first since Jive Bunny in 1989, the second to have three debuts at the top in a year (after Slade in 1973), but the first to have three consecutive singles all debut at No 1 ever. On top of all of that it means the group pull level with Queen as the only acts in the 90s to have as many as three No 1 hits. Parent album “Everything Changes” hasn’t left the top 10 since its release 9 weeks ago as it rises 6-4 with sales approaching half a million. The band have clearly benefited from a recent 20 date UK tour which has only just ended and has been evidenced by the group picking a record 8 awards at the annual Smash Hits awards.

All that is rather tough on Mr Blobby who himself saw sales of his single improve by 77% to 123,735 as he chased Take That from the off with the gap actually closing as the week progressed though not by enough and so Mr Blobby becomes the first one week chart topper since U2’s “The Fly” back in 1991. Meat Loaf completes the top 3 as he drops 2-3 (45,135) but that’s enough to make “I’d Do Anything For Love” the best selling single of 1993 and unless Take That continue to shift copies then it’s likely to remain there with 3 weeks left of the year.

Chaka Demus & Pliers have also had a great 1993 with two top 4 singles “Tease Me” and “She Don’t Let Nobody” , now they return with a cover of the Top Notes “Twist & Shout” which was made popular by the Beatles but was a No 4 hit for both Brian Poole & The Tremeloes and Salt N Pepa and now for this pair as it debuts at No 4 (39,060). It is in part thanks to a bit of re-organisation on the part of the record label, originally the duo were to release “Murder She Wrote” as their follow up but they had a guest spot on “Twist And Shout” which was officially credited as “Jack Radics & The Taxi Gang Featuring Chaka Demus & Pliers” and was intended as a rather low key release the week before “Murder She Wrote”. Plans changed and so did the credit and voila we have a major hit on our hands.

Andrew Lloyd Webber has a habit of generating chart hits from his musicals, see Sarah Brightman and Michael Ball in the 80s, and Jason Donovan in the 90s for examples, his new musical “Sunset Boulevard” is no different providing the song “The Perfect Year” which is a new hit for Dina Carroll. Her last single “Don’t Be A Stranger” holds at No 8 (25,290) as her new release rises 14-10 (20,385) , she becomes the first female since Whitney Houston to score two simultaneous top 10 hits, obviously with New Year a few weeks away this should continue to rack up the sales in the interim plus it isn’t on her 600,000 debut album “So Close”.

Bee Gees move 6-5 (38,145) and East 17 rise 9-7 (30,570), but it’s over for Elton John & Kiki Dee who drop 3-6 (32,025) and Bryan Adams is stuck in that Dina Carroll sandwich 7-9 (21,525).

So next week is the Christmas chart- Take That look to have it in the bag but their victory was only slender- could it be Chaka Demus & Pliers or even Mr Blobby, but then no record has ever returned to the top after being deposed (re-issues and re-makes aside)since 1969! Next week should be interesting.


1- BABE- Take That (133,080)
2- MR BLOBBY- Mr Blobby (123,735)
3- I’D DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE (BUT I WON’T DO THAT)- Meat Loaf (45,135)
4- TWIST AND SHOUT- Chaka Demus & Pliers (39,060)
5- FOR WHOM THE BELLS TOLLS- Bee Gees (38,145)
6- TRUE LOVE- Elton John & Kiki Dee (32,025)
7- IT’S ALRIGHT- East 17 (30,570)
8- DON’T BE A STRANGER- Dina Carroll (25,290)
9- PLEASE FORGIVE ME- Bryan Adams (21,525)
10- THE PERFECT YEAR- Dina Carroll (20,385)

19 hours ago, dandy* said:

Have to disagree with PCF on the Prince track... I wasn't particularly fussed at the time but since I've really grown to love Controversy, it's really very ahead of its time considering it was first released in 1981 and I really love the contrast between the stark verses and the chorus. The edit in 1993 made it easier to digest as well seeing as the original was pretty long.

Yeah playing it again I can see it as the template for his early 1999-onwards career, if that wasnt I Wanna Be Your Lover (which I liked at the time, Controversy I didnt hear till it came out 1993). It's a good jam making a point, but I was hoping some non-singles gems like songs he gave away, or Starfish And Coffee, or the very naughty Lemon Crush might get a single release.

Twist & Shout is fun, but it's no Beatles. No version of the song is, but it does cope well with any genre treatment. Dina Carroll getting a Lloyd-Webber gift but his peak days were Phantom Of The Opera and prior, he didnt really do those sort of timeless ballads from here onwards, the ones that sounded good in or out of the Musical. Babe was on the one hand preferable to Blobby, but on the other hand was also deadly dull. Terrible top 2, almost any other song in the chart would have been preferable.

For Dina Carroll, its like today's charts with the two songs of the same popular artist in the top 10.

Chaka Demus and Pliers sound like a electrician company and I like some of their songs but the Twist and Shout cover was not needed.

Take That - Babe is not one of my faves.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by TheSnake