Gezza

15TH JULY The nation officially goes Soul II Soul crazy this week with “Back To Life” scoring a 4th week atop the singles chart and “Club Classics Volume I” finally makes it to the No 1 spot in the albums. The single is now the equal longest stayer of the year tying with Marc Almond & Gene Pitney’s “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart” and The Bangles “Eternal Flame”- could it make 5 weeks? Unlikely, sales are off 23% at just 50,592 and is now under real pressure from the rest of the top 3. Indeed was in runner up spot behind the London Boys for most of the week until TOTP gave it a boost. It will almost certainly lose the crown next week most probably to Sonia who is the new name from the S/A/W factory, she got her break after pestering Waterman outside the radio station where he does his Saturday morning show, he gave in and asked her to sing live on air and he promised to make her a star. The track “You’ll Never Stop Me Loving You” scurries 12-2 (48,365) nabbing the runner up spot from The London Boys at the death by just a few thousand copies. Spending its first 7 weeks in the top 40 “Life Is A Dance- The Remix Project” clearly isn’t done generating hits yet, after “I’m Every Woman” made No 8 back in May it’s now the time for “Ain’t Nobody” to be remixed, this time courtesy of Frankie Knuckles. It reached No 8 in 1984 but now rushes 18-6 (33,473) to become a bigger hit at the second time of asking. One of 1989’s biggest stars is Bobby Brown who at just 20 has already accumulated his third top 10 hit in 6 months as a soloist, he got the gig to sing the theme to “Ghostbusters II” which is already big news in the US though the film isn’t out here until Christmas. The video is a kind of remake of the original Ray Parker Jr theme with cameos by some big names such as Donald Trump, Christopher Reeve, and Lori Singer, the song debuts at No 8 (23,069) to become his most immediate hit. First recorded by Roger Whittakar in 1982 and subsequently recorded by artists such as Sheena Easton as Gladys Knight, “Wind Beneath My Wings” failed to become a major hit for any act until now. Featured in the film “Beaches” Bette Midler’s version now climbs 30-9 (20,451) to become her first charting hit in the UK unbelievably. It also means that with Gladys Knight dropping 6-7 (23,137) and Prince hurtling 4-10 (20,281) there are four cinematic related hits in the top 10 and all next to each other. Pet Shop Boys hold at No 5 (34,051) and will be hoping the UK leg of their tour this week will improve their position next week, they lodge behind a falling Beautiful South who themselves move 2-4 (34,357). 1- BACK TO LIFE (HOWEVER DO YOU WANT ME)- Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler (50,592) 2- YOU’LL NEVER STOP ME LOVING YOU- Sonia (48,365) 3- LONDON NIGHTS- London Boys (45,543) 4- SONG FOR WHOEVER- The Beautiful South (34,357) 5- IT’S ALRIGHT- Pet Shop Boys (34,051) 6- AIN’T NOBODY (REMIX)- Rufus & Chaka Khan (33,473) 7- LICENCE TO KILL- Gladys Knight (23,137) 8- ON OUR OWN- Bobby Brown (23,069) 9- WIND BENEATH MY WINGS- Bette Midler (20,451) 10- BATDANCE- Prince (20,281)

8TH JULY Soul II Soul score a third week at the top with “Back To Life”, it was an easy victory but its sales are plateauing at 66,470 although its total now stands at 259,794. Is that enough for the YTD top 10? Well take a look below to find out: 1- ETERNAL FLAME- The Bangles 486,625 2- TOO MANY BROKEN HEARTS- Jason Donovan 446,947 3- SOMETHING’S GOTTEN HOLD OF MY HEART- Marc Almond & Gene Pitney 444,125 4- HAND ON YOUR HEART- Kylie Minogue 410,346 5- LIKE A PRAYER- Madonna 401,948 6- LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING- Michael Ball 355,334 7- THE LIVING YEARS- Mike + The Mechanics 334,815 8- FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY- Paul McCartney, The Christians, Holly Johnson, Gerry Marsden, Stock/ Aitken/ Waterman 328,032 9- MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY- Natalie Cole 313,752 10- THIS TIME I KNOW IT’S FOR REAL- Donna Summer 311,933 S/A/W are responsible for 40% of the YTD top 10 underlining their fantastic year so far. Soul II Soul’s nearest challengers were The Beautiful South whose “Song For Whoever” inched 3-2 (38,216) but underneath them are doubtless the main challengers for next week if not the next No 1. The London Boys went to No 4 in May with “Requiem” but that was just a warm up for “London Nights” which flies 19-3 (37,332) and looks unstoppable on its way to the top, the album is out in 3 weeks just enough time for this to hit No 1 Recorded and released in 1987 the Sterling Void track “It’s Alright” featured on a fair few house compilations in 1988 coming to the attention of The Pet Shop Boys who recorded their version for the “Introspective” album in late 1988 and which they now release as the 4th single from the album. In between all of that Sterling Void re-issued their version scoring a No 53 hit this February, the PSB version is of course timed nicely with the boys first mini world tour which is currently in the far east and comes to the UK in a fortnight. It is their 10th top 10 single, a ninth on the trot and features the production magic of Trevor Horn. Queen’s return continues apace with their album “The Miracle” debuting at No 1 and selling 150,000 copies in the process whilst the single “Breakthru” becomes the second top 10 single to be lifted from it. It is actually the amalgamation of two songs, the main track by Roger Taylor and another song “A New Life Is Born” written by Mercury which is better heard on the album version of the song, it climbs 13-7 (23,392) to become the band’s 18th top 10 single. Registering a new peak at No 31 this week on the album charts, “G N R Lies” is officially classed as an album though it only 33 minutes long, the first single to be taken from it is “Patience” which scores Guns N Roses a third top 10 single in just 4 months! It finds the group in a more contemplative mood than their norm as it races 22-10 (20,145) having hit No 4 in the US last month. Prince dips 2-4 (35,105), U2 slide 4-8 (22,780) and Cyndi Lauper reverses 7-9 (22,729) but Gladys Knight is still heading the right way 8-6 (28,509). 1- BACK TO LIFE (HOWEVER DO YOU WANT ME)- Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler (66,470) 2- SONG FOR WHOEVER- The Beautiful South (38,216) 3- LONDON NIGHTS- London Boys (37,332) 4- BATDANCE- Prince (35,105) 5- IT’S ALRIGHT- Pet Shop Boys (30,192) 6- LICENCE TO KILL- Gladys Knight (28,509) 7- BREATHRU- Queen (23,392) 8- ALL I WANT IS YOU- U2 (22,780) 9- I DROVE ALL NIGHT- Cyndi Lauper (22,729) 10- PATIENCE- Guns N Roses (20,145)

There was no obligation to sing live on TOTP in the 80s (we all recall the change in rules in 1991 when they had to sing live and there was some, let's call them, issues 😆) Soul II Soul insisted on a live vocal (as indeed they did on "Keep on movin") but for whatever reason TOTP wasn't happy with that one.

1ST JULY The charts attempt to make everyone happy this week, with Prince and Soul II Soul battling it out at the top of both charts. Soul II Soul see “Back To Life” hold at the top spot for a second week on a nice 33% sales boost to 66,368 and to add to that “Club Classics Volume I” also rises 4-2 to reach a new peak. It could have been better for Prince however had the “Batman” soundtrack not have been released, but it did and Prince gets his second No 1 album into the bargain, meaning of course that he gets revenge on the album charts as his single “Batdance” advances only 3-2 to become his second No 2 single as its sales increase to 46,138. Inevitably the album therefore scuppered the chances of the single for Prince but in the end karma serves both he and Soul II Soul a piece of the pie. Further drama occurred when Soul II Soul and TOTP came to blows last week, apparently the producers were unhappy with Carol Wheeler's live vocal and insisted that they either mime or the video would be shown instead. The group responded by walking out of the studio and so it was that they passed up on a live performance. We'll wait to see if the situation gets resolved! It might be tough for Prince next week though with both Beautiful South (8-3, 36,924) and U2 (5-4 36,091) pressing hard and in truth they all had TOTP to support them so the level playing field will continue next week in that respect. Further down the top 10 and we have a new Bond theme to speak of, Gladys Knight’s “Licence To Kill” is the next in a long list that includes Duran Duran, A-ha, Lulu, and Carly Simon. The song is written by Narada Michael Walden and at over 5 minutes long in its full glory it is also the longest theme, it moves 20-8 (22,117) this week to mark the first occasion that three Bond theme’s on the trot have made the top 10. Originally the theme was given to Eric Clapton to write but when fell through Knight and Walden stepped in, it’s her first top 10 hit in 12 years and fourth overall though she’s lost the pips temporarily at least, the movie is out August 4th if you want to catch it. After the controversy of their first single “We Call It Acieed” D-Mob finally get around to making their follow up, the rather more radio friendly “It Is Time To Get Funky” which comes with some guest vocals from LRS. The team are busy producing that first album which is penciled in for around Christmas but you know how these things go. In the interim the single moves 11-9 (17,969) and if you’re particularly keen eyed you might spot Soul II Soul’s Jazzy B in the promo for this. Last spotted in the charts back in 1987 on her No 8 hit “Serious”, Donna Allen has been plugging away with the occasional dance hit in the US but nothing else, she now returns in full swing with “Joy And Pain” which climbs 15-10 (15,861) to give her a 100% success rate when she does reach the charts! That sale incidentally the lowest required for the top 10 since January so she was fortunate in that respect. The song is a cover of the Maze track from 1980 which was in the charts just last month on re-issue peaking at No 57. Cyndi Lauper holds at No 7 (23,545) and above her are two fallers both from the PWL studios, Jason Donovan tumbles 2-5 (29,325) and Sinitta drops 4-6 (24,905) 1- BACK TO LIFE (HOWEVER DO YOU WANT ME)- Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler (66,368) 2- BATDANCE- Prince (46,138) 3- SONG FOR WHOEVER- Beautiful South (36,924) 4- ALL I WANT IS YOU- U2 (36,091) 5- SEALED WITH A KISS- Jason Donovan (29,325) 6- RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM- Sinitta (24,905) 7- I DROVE ALL NIGHT- Cyndi Lauper (23,545) 8- LICENCE TO KILL- Gladys Knight (22,117) 9- IT IS TIME TO GET FUNKY- D.Mob Featuring LRS (17,969) 10- JOY AND PAIN- Donna Allen (15,861)

snooker tonight......urgh. Resumes next Friday

The original theme to the "Batman" movie before Prince changed his mind)- naturally it would have gotten a single remix had it have happened.

The record company wanted S/A/W to do her second album but they wanted it in a very tight time frame and S/A/W were too busy and told the record company it wasn't a reasonable request. So not really Sinitta and S/A/W falling out. In the end it was passed to the S/A/W "b-team" to do much of the work (Phil Harding/ Ian Curnow/ Pete Hammond).

24TH JUNE It only took a 8% sales increase to take the crown but this week Soul II Soul surge 3-1 as “Back To Life” becomes the nation’s favourite song with a sale of 50,779 copies, it marks their arrival as major players in the chart with their sound set to become one of the soundtrack to this summer. The album from which it is culled “Club Classics” holds at No 4 but should get a boost now that it holds a No 1 single albeit in a very different form. Bad news then for Jason Donovan who loses both chart toppers this week with “Ten Good Reasons” giving way to Paul McCartney’s new album “Flowers In The Dirt” and his single “Sealed With A Kiss” dipping 1-2 (46,529). It isn’t due to open in UK Cinemas until August 11th but Prince is already on the promotional trail releasing the theme to the movie “Batdance”. It was apparently a last minute inclusion in the soundtrack (for which Prince contributes most of the music) after he pulled a track called “Dance With The Devil” which was intended as the theme, it seems he made the right decision chart wise at least with “Batdance” getting off to the best start of his career debuting at No 3 (35,819). His previous highest debut was the more modest No 13 start to “1999/ Little Red Corvette” in 1985 and thusly you must fancy this to be heading to No 1 and to give the purple one his first UK chart topper, the only potential joker in the pack is the release of the soundtrack this week which could detract sales from Prince’s 8th top 10 single. U2 are old hands at debuting inside the top 10 and this week they do it again with a fourth cut from “Rattle & Hum” entitled “All I Want Is You”. It’s the band’s tenth top 10 single of which 7 have arrived instantly there but somewhat unusually for any albums era it seems that the singles are only charting higher and higher, “Desire” became their first No 1 last year and was followed by “Angel Of Harlem” (No 8) then “When Love Comes To Town” (No 6) and now “All I Want Is You” debuts at No 5 (31,110). The Housemartins split last Spring but it hasn’t taken long for Paul Heaton and Dave Hemmingway to quickly form The Beautiful South and produce “Song For Whoever” which this week jets in 11-8 (27,880) to give them a far better start than the Housemartins got. Indeed the ‘Martins only scored two top 10 single though of course “Caravan Of Love” did go all the way to the top, again the group display the usual cleverness lyrically, more of which you should find on the debut album due in the autumn. Sinitta halts progress at No 4 (32,589), but that is at least considerably better than Cliff Richard who collapses 2-6 (29,988), Cyndi Lauper creeps 8-7 (27,880) but it’s all over for Guns N Roses who dip 6-9 (20,995) and Madonna who falls 5-10 (20,621) in perfect symmetry for its first 4 weeks on release. 1- BACK TO LIFE (HOWEVER DO YOU WANT ME)- Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler (50,779) 2- SEALED WITH A KISS- Jason Donovan (46,529) 3- BATDANCE- Prince (35,819) 4- RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED- Sinitta (32,589) 5- ALL I WANT IS YOU- U2 (31,110) 6- THE BEST OF ME- Cliff Richard (29,988) 7- I DROVE ALL NIGHT- Cyndi Lauper (27,880) 8- SONG FOR WHOEVER- The Beautiful South (27,557) 9- SWEET CHILD O MINE- Guns N Roses (20,995) 10- EXPRESS YOURSELF- Madonna (20,621)

Yes Cyndi was the first version and I didn't much like Roy's version when I heard it at first but over the years it has probably become my preferred version. The build up to the crescendo in it is sublime.

Can we avoid spoilers on peak positions please?

17TH JUNE After last week’s big splash the top 2 (the first time the top 2 were both new entries since Band Aid/ Wham!) they hold their positions and both increase sales by 28%, Jason coming in at 89,692 while Cliff swells to 55,454 all of which means that Jason has increased his lead and also maintains the album top spot. Cliff will of course be playing his "Event" concert at Wembley this Saturday which will be his biggest concert ever and he will be hoping that can revive the single yet! The biggest new hit in the top 10 belongs to Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler, “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me)” which sprints 12-3 (47,940) to become their biggest hit to date. Their album is currently shifting in healthy amounts rising 9-4 this week and hasn’t left the top 20 since its release 9 weeks ago, the track that appears on the album is actually an a cappella one (in the main) and has thusly been much altered for the single release. Thematically it was written by Wheeler following a near death experience! From the hitmaking pens of Steinburg and Kelly comes “I Drove All Night” a song intended for, and recorded by, Roy Orbison, but whilst his version is yet to surface we have instead the first top 10 for Cyndi Lauper in 5 years! 1986’s “True Colours” surprised many by only making No 12 here but did go all the way in the US, and is the nearest she’s come to entering the top 10 in the interim, but this does the job of promoting Lauper’s third album “A Night To Remember” which sees daylight in a fortnight. Sinitta’s “Right Back Where We Started From” shoots 6-4 (36,057) leaving Madonna surprisingly stuck at No 5 (31,909) with Guns N Roses applying pressure 7-6 (30,481). Natalie Cole continues her descent 4-7 (26,112) as does Neneh Cherry 9-10 (21,114) but her album “Raw Like Sushi” debuts at No 2. Donna Summer goes up again 10-9 (21,267) though she loses sales and her previous single “This Time I Know It’s For Real” makes the US top 10, her first time there in 6 years. 1- SEALED WITH A KISS- Jason Donovan (89,692) 2- THE BEST OF ME- Cliff Richard (55,454) 3- BACK TO LIFE (HOWEVER DO YOU WANT ME)- Soul II Soul Featuring Caron Wheeler (47,940) 4- RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM- Sinitta (36,057) 5- EXPRESS YOURSELF- Madonna (31,909) 6- SWEET CHILD O MINE- Guns N Roses (30,481) 7- MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY- Natalie Cole (26,112) 8- I DROVE ALL NIGHT- Cyndi Lauper (21,267) 9- I DON’T WANNA GET HURT- Donna Summer (21,267) 10- MANCHILD- Neneh Cherry (21,114)

Yes, "Wicked" was released later in 1989.

i recall being so peed off at the time that Jason had done something Kylie never had (debut at No 1). 13yr old me was very extreme haha.

Indeed so. In fact "Express yourself" was itself subject to legal proceedings in 1991 as sailing too close to this track which happened to have been a top 10 single in 1987 as a cover for Bruce Willis. It was settled pre-litigation by giving 25% of the songwriting royalties to Luther Ingram and Mack Rice who wrote it.

10TH JUNE A flop when first released in 1960 by the Four Voices it was finally a No 3 hit for Brian Hyland in 1962 and a No 7 hit when re-issued for Hyland in 1975, and now 14 years later “Sealed With A Kiss” becomes a sensational new entry at the No 1 position for Jason Donovan. He turns 21 this week and can celebrate with both crowns as he tops the album charts as well with “Ten Good Reasons” so he’s pretty much the hottest thing in the charts at present. Of course the track is produced by S/A/W and gives Donovan his third chart topper on the trot and incredibly the third straight No 1 single for S/A/W who have now helmed 5 chart toppers in 6 months meaning they have produced 66% of the chart toppers in 1989- simply incredible. They are only the fourth production team to produce three No 1’s in a row the others being Mitch Miller, Norrie Paramor and George Martin, but it’s the first time in 25 years it’s occurred, PWL are also the first label in 24 years to pull the trick. Finally "Sealed With A Kiss" is the first non charity single to debut at No 1 since "Two Tribes" almost 5 years ago exactly! Donovan’s arrival is bad news for Cliff Richard who releases his follow up to “Mistletoe And Wine” with a song called “The Best Of Me” which has been extensively promoted as his 100th single release and now becomes his 56th top 10 out of that 100 with only “The Young Ones” ever debuting higher in his discography. Of course the irony is that S/A/W have composed a song for Cliff that he was going to release as his 100th single before deciding on “The Best Of Me”, and had he have chosen that then I dare say S/A/W would have delayed the Donovan single to allow Cliff a free run at the top spot. In the event he opted for the Richard Marx penned track (originally recorded by David Foster and Olivia Newton John in 1986), Marx has had a disappointing career in the UK so far not getting higher than No 50 but has already scored 5 US top 10 singles including a No 1, his new hit “Satisfied” is in shops this week. The song was picked with the help of some of Cliff's fans after he played 6 songs to them and asked them which they preferred. It is some revenge for Donovan after Cliff denied he and Kylie the festive top spot last year, this time around there wasn’t much competition with Donovan out in front from the off selling 70,261 to Cliff’s 43,894, indeed Cliff was always good for runner up being well in front of outgoing chart topper “Ferry Cross The Mersey” which dips 1-3 (38,845), recovering well from its midweek No 5 position, and of course gives S/A/W 66% of the top 3 as well for a record breaking 3rd week out of the last 4! Not convinced by their domination? Well here’s Sinitta to prove it with her cover of Maxine Nightingale’s 1975 #8 hit “Right Back Where We Started From”. Though the track is not produced directly by S/A/W (it’s actually Pete Hammond) it of course a hit factory production and becomes Sinitta’s fourth top 10 single in three years and continues her theme of scoring them with alternate releases. The track rockets 19-6 (31,892) and don’t worry she’ll have her second album out for Christmas. With the continued rise in stock of the Guns N Roses brand they’ve re-issued “Sweet Child O Mine” less than a year after it peaked at No 24 and hit No 1 stateside. The success of their last release “Paradise City” (No 6) has probably played a large part in the song thundering 14-8 (30,668) this week, album “Appetite For Destruction” returns to the top 10 in celebration. Just outdoing Sinitta, Natalie Cole recedes 2-4 (37,366) and Madonna soars 10-5 (34,867) but three ladies that are in trouble are Lynne Hamilton who looks like disappearing as quickly as she arrives 3-7 (31,042), Neneh Cherry drops 5-9 (29,801) as her publicity switches to the album out this week, and Donna Summer tumbles 7-10 (28,934) even though she increases sales. 1- SEALED WITH A KISS- Jason Donovan (70,261) 2- THE BEST OF ME- Cliff Richard (43,894) 3- FERRY CROSS THE MERSEY- Paul McCartney/ Gerry Marsden/ Holly Johnson/ The Christians/ Stock, Aitken & Waterman (38,845) 4- MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY- Natalie Cole (37,366) 5- EXPRESS YOURSELF- Madonna (34,867) 6- RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARTED FROM- Sinitta (31,892) 7- ON THE INSIDE (THEME FROM PRISONER CELL BLOCK H)- Lynne Hamilton (31,042) 8- SWEET CHILD O MINE- Guns N Roses (30,668) 9- MANCHILD- Neneh Cherry (29,801) 10- I DON’T WANNA GET HURT- Donna Summer (28,934)