Top 40 w/e 19/02/94 with JM commentary...

[Robbie]

UK TOP 40
Week ending February 19th 1994

NO LW Title/Artist
1 NEW Without You MARIAH CAREY
2 1 Things Can Only Get Better D:REAM
3 2 Breathe Again TONI BRAXTON
4 3 Return To Innocence ENIGMA
5 4 The Power Of Love CELINE DION
6 5 A Deeper Love ARETHA FRANKLIN
7 NEW MOVE ON BABY Capella
8 6 All For Love BRYAN ADAMS, ROD STEWART AND STING
9 NEW Let The Beat Control Your Body 2 UNLIMITED
10 9 I Like To Move It REEL 2 REAL feat. THE MAD STUNTMAN

11 8 Come In Out Of Rain WENDY MOTEN
12 NEW Locked Out CROWDED HOUSE
13 7 Come Baby Come K7
14 16 Linger THE CRANBERRIES
15 10 Sweet Lullaby DEEP FOREST
16 NEW Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through MEATLOAF
17 12 I Miss You HADDAWAY
18 NEW Sail Away URBAN COOKIE COLLECTIVE
19 NEW Higher Ground SASHA
20 19 Up Tight SHARA NELSON

21 NEW Let's Get Married PROCLAIMERS
22 NEW Waterfall ATLANTIC OCEAN
23 13 Anything CULTURE BEAT
24 17 Now And Forever RICHARD MARX
25 14 Twist & Shout CHAKA DEMUS & PLIERS/ JACK RADICS/ TAXI GANG
26 22 Lover JOE ROBERTS
27 NEW Dirty Dawg NKOTB
28 NEW Pale Movie ST ETIENNE
29 NEW Can't Wait To Be With You JAZZY JEFF AND THE FRESH PRINCE
30 24 Hey Jealousy GIN BLOSSOMS

31 NEW Caffeine Bomb WILDHEARTS
32 11 Give It Away RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
33 18 Perpetual Dawn THE ORB
34 21 I Love Music ROZALLA
35 23 Why? D-MOB WITH CATHY DENNIS
36 27 Nervous Breakdown CARLEEN ANDERSON
37 15 Cornflake Girl TORI AMOS
38 25 It's Alright EAST 17
39 35 Spiritual Love URBAN SPECIES
40 NEW Wind Beneath My Wings BILL TARMEY

[Robbie]

James Masterton:


Preamble:
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Despite a flurry of activity at the top this is in many ways one of the most uninspiring charts for a number of weeks. Of last week's 12 new hits, 6 vanish from the chart completely and only 1 manages to climb from last week. With so many records falling at the moment next week looks like being a busy week indeed. The number of falling records does not necessarily mean sales have fallen, in fact much of the upper end retains the same order as last week, only to get shoudered out of the way by some very strong new releases. 14 new entries, only 1 climber and no non-movers.

Analysis:
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No. 40: NEW ENTRY. Bill Tarmey - Wind Beneath My Wings
Well come on, life wouldn't be half as much fun if things were
predictable. TV actor Bill Tarmey made the most of his other
role in life as singer with a charity single last April when he
took his version of Barry Manilow's 'One Voice' to No.16. The
success of that single prompted a Top 10 album and now he
returns with a new single. His version of the song made famous
in 1989 by Bette Midler is a farily plausible pedestrian croon,
unlikely to set the world on fire and liable to vanish as
suddenly as it came.
No. 39: FALLER. Urban Species - Spiritual Love
No. 38: FALLER. East 17 - It's Alright
No. 37: FALLER. Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
No. 36: FALLER. Carleen Anderson - Nervous Breakdown
No. 35: FALLER. D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis - Why?
No. 34: FALLER. Rozalla - I Love Music
No. 33: FALLER. Orb - Perpetual Dawn
No. 32: FALLER. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Give It Away
Eight fallers in a row all of which next week will be replaced
by new hits, a busy chart is not too difficult to forcast.
No. 31: NEW ENTRY. Wildhearts - Caffeine Bomb
No. 30: FALLER. Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy
No. 29: NEW ENTRY. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Can't Wait To Be With You
Will Smith has been compared in some quarters to Eddie Murphy
although the difference is startling. Whilst Murphy is a comedy
actor who makes atrocious records, Smith is a clever commercial
rapper and fine comedy actor at the same time. The third hit
in recent months for the Fresh Prince comes in the wake of 'I'm
Looking For The One To Be With' which made No.24 in November
last year. The new single is in a similar vein, being a rap/soul
crossover and in this case wearing its influences heavily by
sampling copiously from Luther Vandross' 'Never Too Much'. I'd
love this to be a big hit but it has a way to climb.
No. 28: NEW ENTRY. Saint Etienne - Pale Movie
Something really has gone wrong when a band like Saint Etienne
make a string of such beautiful records and yet have still to
have a really big hit. 'Pale Movie' comes from their
forthcoming new album (impressively their third in four years)
and is the followup to 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' which
stalled at No.37 in December. I will happily dance naked around
campus if this is a massive hit - chances are though it will
stagger a few places and become yet another missed chance for
Sarah Cracknell et al.
No. 27: NEW ENTRY. NKOTB - Dirty Dawg
Ho hum. No longer 'New' or 'Kids', the five former proteges of
Maurice Starr return for what they claim is their swansong. For
a teen band to fly in the face and wisdom and refuse to split
up even though their audience has now long grown out of them
and their posturing will impress the credible crowd even less
than it did in their heyday. The New Kids have had phenomenal
success in the past though, between 1989 and 1991 notching up 9
Top 10 hits, the last of which was 'If You Go Away' which made
No.9 in December 1991. Early 1990 saw them rarely out of the
charts, owing to the fact that they took a year to break over
here. As a result, when they finally cracked the UK market,
hitting No.1 with 'You Got It' in November 1989, CBS records
had to rapidly issue all their old singles here so that Britain
could catch up before the 'Step By Step' album was released.
This meant that the last single released here from 'Hanging
Tough' was 'Cover Girl' - which charted a mere four weeks
before 'Step By Step' was released.
No. 26: FALLER. Joe Roberts - Lover
No. 25: FALLER. Chaka Demus and Pliers - Twist And Shout
No. 24: FALLER. Richard Marx - Now And Forever
No. 23: FALLER. Culture Beat - Anything
No. 22: NEW ENTRY. Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall
More dreamy dance instumental stuff, this time courtesy of
Atlantic Ocean who chart for the first time.
No. 21: NEW ENTRY. Proclaimers - Let's Get Married
The remarkable revitalisation of the Proclaimers made music
news all over the world. Seemingly in the wilderness despite
the success of their second album 'Sunshine On Leith', the
Proclaimers suddenly bounced back when their 1988 No.11 hit
'I'm Gonna Be (500 miles) became a surprise American hit last
year thanks to a film soundtrack. Chrysalis records here
surprisingly passed up on the opportunity to re-release the
track here and so as a result the timely 'Let's Get Married'
becomes their first UK hit since the 'King Of The Road' EP made
No.9 in December 1990. The new single is typical jovial
harmonies from the Scottish brothers, exactly the formula which
first made their name back in 1987 with 'Letter From America'.
No. 20: FALLER. Shara Nelson - Uptight
No. 19: NEW ENTRY. Sasha - Higher Ground
No. 18: NEW ENTRY. Urban Cookie Collective - Sail Away
Third hit in a row for the Urban Cookies, the dance act on
Pulse-8 records who had two identical sounding hit singles in
the shape of the summer smash 'The Key: The Secret' and Autumns
'Feels Like Heaven'. The new single is more of the same really.
No. 17: FALLER. Haddaway - I Miss You
Something about Haddaway singles makes them long chart runners.
'What Is Love' spent 13 weeks in the Top 40, 'Life' stayed for
7 and now 'I Miss You' is in its 10th and is still in the Top
20.
No. 16: NEW ENTRY. Meat Loaf - Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through
The 7-week No.1 run of 'I'd Do Anything For Love' means the
second single from the album comes a full 4.5 months after that
stunning first single. By far the most romantic track on the
album, Meat Loaf's single has had a long gestation, first
showing up as a bonus track on Jim Steinman's 1981 solo album
'Bad For Good'. Comparisons between this new version and the
Rory Dodd-vocalised original are inevitable but both stand up
as towering masterpieces of pop rock and it is perhaps with
some justice that the surprisingly well-known song should
finally become a massive hit - back in 1981 it could only
stagger to No.52.
No. 15: FALLER. Deep Forest - Sweet Lullaby
No. 14: CLIMBER. Cranberries - Linger
Only a small leap but this week that is the most impressive
thing of all. Despite a string of new hits last week, this is
the only record on the chart this week to improve on last
week's position.
No. 13: FALLER. K7 - Come Baby Come
No. 12: NEW ENTRY. Crowded House - Locked Out
By far the best track on the album, Crowded House's third
single in recent months smashes its way to a Top 20 place,
eclipsing at a stroke the No.19 peak of the first single
'Distant Sun'. In doing so it also becomes their biggest hit
since 'Weather With You' made No.7 in March 1992 - for now
their only Top 10 hit, though it would be nice to see this
progress further.
No. 11: FALLER. Wendy Moten - Come In Out Of The Rain
No. 10: FALLER. Real 2 Real - Like To Move It
No. 9: NEW ENTRY. 2 Unlimited - Let The Beat Control Your Body
A bizarre Top 10 begins with yet another hit for 2 Unlimited.
The feats of the Dutch Duo speak for themselves really, their
9th hit since 1991 - more than any other dance act ever, of
which only 2 have failed to make the Top 10. Who cares if they
all sound the same - there are few acts around at the moment
that are having hits so prolifically and consistently.
No. 8: FALLER. Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting - All For Love
No. 7: NEW ENTRY. Cappella - Move On Baby
The mini-dance invasion of the present continues with
Cappella's latest hit landing at the same place as their last
one 'U Got 2 Let The Music' which went on to make No.2 and
become one of the biggest sellers of last year.
No. 6: FALLER. Aretha Franklin - A Deeper Love
The events above it cause all of last week's Top 5 to shift
down, depriving the First Lady of Soul from further chart
success. As I mentioned briefly last week, 'A Deeper Love' is
one of her biggest hit singles ever. Since her UK chart debut
in June 1967 with 'Respect' she has only had four previous Top
10 singles. 'Respect' made No.10, 'I Say A Little Prayer' made
No.4, whilst the other two were duets, first with the
Eurythmics on 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' which made
No.9 in November 1985 and finally her duet with George Michael
in 1987 on 'I Knew You Were Waiting' which made No.1. 'A Deeper
Love' is from a new Greatest Hits compilation which covers the
years 1980-1994. How well this will sell is anybody's guess.
Aretha has made a string of records in recent years but few
have become hits, only 1985 'Who's Zooming Who' did anything of
significance, peaking at No.11 in the wake of the Eurythmics
single.
No. 5: FALLER. Celine Dion - The Power Of Love
No. 4: FALLER. Enigma - Return To Innocence
No. 3: FALLER. Toni Braxton - Breathe Again
No. 2: FALLER. D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better

[Robbie]

No. 1: NEW ENTRY/FIRST WEEK. Mariah Carey - Without You
With Valentines fever sweeping the country at large, there was
possibly never any doubt that this would be a hit in the most
dramatic way possible. Shouldering out of the way the
opposition, Mariah Carey's version of the classic love ballad
hits the top first time out to give her her biggest UK hit ever
and a No.1 after nearly 5 years of waiting. Opinions are
divided on the single, the late Harry Nilsson's original being
one of the greatest pop records ever made, untouchable by any
cover version. It is one of those singles that cannot possibly
be improved upon and to her credit, Mariah Carey does not try
to do that, sticking faithfully to the arrangement of the
original which made No.1 in 1972. The single was supposed to
have come out three weeks ago but was withdrawn at the last
minute. No reason for this was given, the death of Nilsson
himself may have been one reason but it is most probably that
by releasing it just before St Valentines day gave it the boost
it needed. The track is destined for a long residence at the
top, which is just as well as it establishes several records of
significance, which are all going to have to wait until next
week....

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Had to break the post up, there's a post limit of 10,000 characters!

Anyway, what JM failed to mention was that Mariah Carey was the first female artist to enter at #1 on the singles chart, a feat that was bettered later in 1994 when Whigfield entered at #1 with her debut single...

[Earl Purple]

he also incorrectly presumed that Nilsson's version of "Without You" was the original, when in fact the original was by Badfinger.

[AcerBen]

Mariah's version is the best :evil: